THE BEAD GOES ON FOR COHO

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Bruce. “He’s even catching more salmon than the guys using eggs!”

A bead that was outfishing eggs? Bruce had my attention.

There were a dozen of us fishing a remote river in Alaska, one where I’d been finding good success using a range of presentations and techniques. But I had yet to try the soft beads I’d brought along. I’d let Ray borrow a few, and he was obviously finding success.

At lunch I chatted with Ray, who had been fishing all morning upriver and around the corner out of sight from me. He showed me his setup and it was simple: A 20mm Sweet Pink Cherry Soft Bead was pegged above his hook, with two medium-sized split-shot sinkers attached 30 inches above it. NEWFOUND SUCCESS Ray is an avid salmon and steelhead angler from Washington and he loves drift-fishing eggs. Ray had fished beads before – even in Alaska – but with nowhere near the results he was having on this fine morning. I chased Arctic char that afternoon, but the next morning I had a 16mm NW Steelheaders Soft Bead rigged and ready to roll for silvers.

I caught a fat, fiery coho on my first cast – and then again on my second. The action continued, and before I knew it, I’d landed and released eight coho. Things kept going, even when the sun hit Here is one of many silver salmon author Scott Haugen caught on 16mm and 20mm soft beads over the last two falls in Alaska. Note the clear bead stop, which worked like a charm for Haugen on a range

THE BEAD GOES ON WHY SOFT BEADS CAN OUTFISH EGGS FOR ALASKA COHO

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

“S cott, you have to try those beads; Ray is hammering the coho on them,” urged my friend

of bead brands. (SCOTT HAUGEN) the water of the shallow eddy I’d been drifting the inside edge of.

I know what you’re thinking. “It’s Alaska; anyone can catch silver salmon there, on anything.”

That may be true, but only partially.

After having fished throughout much of Alaska for 30 years, I wasn’t about to draw a conclusion after just one hour of fishing. I’ve also learned that even in the Last Frontier the bite turns off – and therein lies the challenge of being able to consistently catch salmon.

BIGGER BEADS, MORE WEIGHT Later that day, when the bite slowed, I upsized to a 20mm clown-patterned soft bead and fished behind water a half-dozen members of my party had been working all

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fridge, there’s always a jar of canned salmon in the pantry or vacuum-sealed smoked salmon in the freezer. Whatever you have on hand can be turned into this Even canned salmon can become a great dish. Tiany Haugen’s spin on salmon on flatbread features mango,

A ‘FLAT’-OUT DELISH SALMON DISH

BY TIFFANY HAUGEN

If there isn’t leftover salmon in the

simple yet tasty appetizer, which can also be served for lunch or a light dinner alongside a salad.

Flavor versatility is key in this dish; pineapple or diced oranges can be used in place of the mango and black or green olives can be substituted for the Kalamata olives. Warning: This is a tasty recipe you likely won’t be able to get enough of!

1 cup cooked, flaked salmon 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice ½ cup diced mango ¼ cup diced Kalamata olives olives, dill and other tasty ingredients. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

yogurt 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill Black pepper Flatbread of choice Fresh dill for garnish to remove all bones. In a medium bowl, gently mix lemon juice, mango and olives. In a small bowl, mix sour cream or Greek yogurt with fresh dill. Cut flatbreads into serving portions and toast in a skillet or oven.

Let bread cool before topping with salmon mixture. Top each flatbread portion with a spoonful of salmon mixture. Add a dollop of dill cream mixture and top 2 tablespoons sour cream or Greek

with freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with additional fresh dill and serve immediately.

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany’s popular book, Cooking Seafood, and other cookbooks, visit tiffanyhaugen.com.

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Haugen’s top-producing soft beads were these, in 16mm and 20mm sizes. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

morning. The bite had dramatically slowed and most of them took a break, but when I went in and drifted the soft bead through the same water they’d been fishing, the action picked up. I landed three coho in my first seven casts.

By mid-afternoon the salmon had moved out of another hole I’d routinely caught them in and into the middle of the river. Here, the current was moving quickly and it was shallow. I increased my weight so I could reach the holding zone, which worked. I’d just run spinners and floated a couple jigs through this spot, but without a bite. But there was something about the 20mm soft bead the coho loved.

CONTINUED SUCCESS Over the course of the next two weeks, I traveled to a few more rivers and streams throughout the Bristol Bay region, where the soft beads kept on producing. Then I fishing can be technical and challenging amid all the people.

Here, one of the small streams I fished was slow-moving and the clarity no more than 18 inches. Freshly cured eggs worked, as did large pink streamers on a fly rod.

I couldn’t get a jig beneath a float to produce, and the water was too slow and shallow for any success with spinners. So I went to the 20mm soft beads that had been producing in other waters. Suffice it to say, they kept on impressing me.

I fished the 16mm and 20mm models in a variety of rivers and streams, and I used different sinker setups to efficiently cover water.

Even in Alaska the coho bite will slow down, but the soft beads kept producing. headed to Cold Bay, where small stream

Whether they were drifted along the inside seams of deep, swirling holes, fished with very little weight in shallow water or cast and bounced through fast- moving riffles, the soft beads caught fish.

A WINNER IN MULTIPLE CONDITIONS One time I stood on the edge of a cut bank and tried working the outer edge of a swift current that ran by my feet. Due to the turbulence, I couldn’t get my bead into the sweet spot. So I tied on a 2-ounce sinker, ran it off a short dropper on a three-way swivel and proceeded to backbounce through the heavy current.

The coho weren’t holding in the upper or even the middle section like I’d thought; instead they were low in the hole in the deepest, most swirly part. The only way to reach this spot was with a lot of lead, and it worked. I pulled five bright, feisty coho from that one spot, and then headed back to camp.

I was impressed with the diversity of the large soft beads and how consistently they produced fish in a range of situations. I tried other beads, including hard plastic ones, heavier ones and ones that felt like super balls. But none came close to producing like the soft beads did for me.

One feature I really like about the soft beads are the clear bead stops that

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Haugen shows o a limit of coho taken on soft beads. He caught and released numerous silvers in multiple rivers in Alaska using magnum-sized versions of the salmon egg imitations. (SCOTT HAUGEN) BnR Tackle came out with. The T-shaped bead stop did a great job of not only holding on the line, but also keeping the bead from being repeatedly pulled over the stop. Only when my bead got thrashed by brutal attacks and multiple fights did it get tattered enough to slide over the stop. The clear bead stop works well on other brands of beads, too.

TRY IT FOR YOURSELF With late coho season here, now is the time to give magnum-sized soft beads a try. Once you experience the joy of fighting a hefty, hard-fighting coho this time of year, believe me, you’ll want more. ASJ

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen's popular book, Bank Fishing For Steelhead & Salmon, send a check for $17 to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489. This and other how-to books, including cookbooks, can be ordered online at scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.