The Coastal Bugger is an offshoot of the variety of small, sparse Sparkle Buggers that we've been fishing for coho salmon in our local and Lower Mainland BC rivers for years. The pattern was developed by Cat LaFlamme in BC and is commercially available from Rio Flies. We're really excited to stock them at the shop, especially since they work like gangbusters, particularly when the rivers are low and clear in the fall as they have been lately. Commercially, the Coastal Bugger comes in the purple version I tie here, an olive and copper, blue and white and chartreuse and white version as well. These are all tried and true combinations but if you're an ardent fly tier and make your own, the sky is the limit as far as mixing various coho catching colors.
I typically tie these on a size #6 or #8 hook and split my box between patterns on the Gamakatsu L11S-3H and the S11-4L2H hooks. The former is a 3X heavy bomber of a hook that's about as strong as they come, whereas the latter is still amply stout for a big coho but will ultimately bend out should you hopelessly find yourself connected to a sunken log. I'll use my forceps to bend the hook back in place and resume fishing. I'll typically catch several more coho on the S11-4L2H without it opening back up and it is my preferred option when fishing areas with a lot of submerged woody structure. Coho notoriously love to hang out around woody debris and it can be an otherwise frustrating endeavor to lose half a dozen flies before the sun has even climbed above the hilltops on a foggy autumn morning.
As a tier, you have the freedom to mix up the bead size and weight on the Coastal Bugger to suit your local waters. For the Skagit and Nooksack Rivers, I tend to use tungsten beads in the 1/8", 5/32" and 3/16" size range to get the fly down in the often deeper runs or areas with more current that I typically encounter on my home waters. In BC, I'll often use the same size beads but in lighter brass as the sloughs and backwaters along the Fraser that I fish are shallower and slower moving sections of river.
As for fishing this fly, I generally like to use either a single handed 7 or 8 with a clear intermediate slow sinking line in very "froggy" water or a 7 weight switch rod with a Scientific Anglers Skagit Lite and a variety of sinking tips from intermediate to 10' of T-11 depending on how deep or fast the current is. Make your cast, allow the fly to sink to your desired depth and begin a slowish but twitchy retrieve. I pause between strips and use a short rapid strip with a little bit of a wrist snap at the end. I want my fly to jump and fall in the water column, essentially like a jig. Coho love this action on a fly and mostly take it as the fly is dropping. The best part about the Coho Bugger is that it's pretty quick and simple to tie which is a huge asset when your nose is to the grindstone and you need to whip up a fast dozen flies the night before you fish. And always remember the immutable law of coho fishing is that you will lose flies when you're fishing a lot of the best spots so it pays to have a well-stocked fly box.
Tail: Electric Blue Flashabou #6908
Body: Kingfisher Blue Ice Dub and Small Purple Palmer Chenille
Confluence Beer Pairing: In the spirit of fall I've been enjoying Seattle Cider Company's Honeycrisp Hard Cider lately. It's got a little of the sweetness of Washington grown Honeycrisp apples but is well-balanced with an undeniable tartness that I really enjoy in a cider. The game's on, the Seahawks are either looking polished and efficient and dominating the field or painfully floundering like the Bad News Bears, I'm tying more coho flies, a rich aromatic stew simmers on the stovetop and I quench my thirst with a refreshing cider...this is the portrait of an idyllic autumn evening and one of the many things I absolutely love about this time of year.