Fishing the Miyawaki Beach Popper

[Leland Miyawaki]

I’ve been palmering seven wraps of white EP brush; topped with EP fibers Backcountry; and Black Pearl Sparkle Hair

Leland

 

[NRC]

SMB on the John Day LOVE a Miyawaki popper, noting here in case it ends up being of use to someone.

 

[Jack Devlin]

The Miyawaki Beach Popper (where I come from we call it a "slider") is a great fly but I've never had much success with it. Perhaps I just don't try it enough. Lots of swirls behind it and that's it. I've had much more success with Gurglers and more recently with the Titanic. Just my five cents.

 

[Jack Devlin]

Le

Here’s why I fish my Miyawaki Beach Popper off our Puget Sound beaches for searun cutthroat and coho salmon – These fish are always looking to eat especially when they swim close to the shore so I give them a crippled baitfish – one that is struggling slowly on the surface. My primary go to strip is long and slow with an “amphipod hop” while the fly is swinging across the current.

My gear is simple: A 9’ 6wt Sage SP rod; Orvis Mirage LT III reel; Cortland 200 grain Compact Float line; 9’ 1X tapered leader; and my fly which I use close to 100% of the time.

Casting to coho is easy. Cast as straight out as far as you can as often as you can. By far, I mean 50 feet or more. If you can cast all 90’ of your flyline, do it. That’s why I use the Cortland short head.

Casting my fly to searuns takes a bit more finesse. Most of the time, you’re simply fishing the water in the hopes that you and a hungry cutthroat will intersect. It pays to cover the beach. Pick a spot and cast and step your way down the beach. I look for morning tides – flood or ebb it doesn’t matter so long as I get some tidal movement. If there’s a breeze less than 8 mph, all the better. I position myself upwind of my end point and position my back to the wind and wade in mid-calf. If the tide is high I make my first cast 40-50 feet straight down the beach a couple feet off the water’s edge and strip. Imagine that cast was to my 9 o-clock. My next cast is to my 10:30. Finally, I make one to 11 or 12 before taking a few steps down the beach. I have found that the money cast is the one to 10:30 but I have caught my largest trout on the 9 o-clock straight down the beach at high tide. Of course, the reason is because searuns like to move in over food that they otherwise cannot get close to and when there are chum or pink fry around they are usually within inches of the water’s edge. My popper will always bring fish to strike. 100% of the time. No lie. They may not stick but they will always come. It’s in their DNA. They are too predatory not to. If you work the beach as I say and your casting and presentation skills are up to par, you will always know if there are searuns on the beach. Conversely, you will also know if there are no fish. And you know, of course, that they can be here tomorrow.

Leland.

Leland, you will like these. I tie them for a friend back East who fishes them for Sriped Bass and Bluefish.

 

[Leland Miyawaki]

Le

Leland, you will like these. I tie them for a friend back East who fishes them for Sriped Bass and Bluefish. View attachment 23829

Those look great Jack!
Leland

 

[davikenns]

I'm new to the site here and I'm getting increasingly more interested in Puget Sound fly fishing, and partly because of this fly! Hooked into this beast on my first outing with the Miyawaki popper last year in Sept. Incredible, I can see how addicting this can be.

 

[afried]

After two beach visits this season and about an hour into the third fishing my usual Clousers but with no grabs to be had, I decided I had to do something different. First I briefly tried a squidy kind of thing but no interest shown to it either. I had been carrying around a couple of Miyawaki Poppers for years without using them so why not give one a try? The only line with me was a full intermediate so presentation was subsurface. After just a couple of casts, bang - a nice, full-bodied hatchery Coho. Thanks Leland.

Andy

 

[Pink Nighty]

After two beach visits this season and about an hour into the third fishing my usual Clousers but with no grabs to be had, I decided I had to do something different. First I briefly tried a squidy kind of thing but no interest shown to it either. I had been carrying around a couple of Miyawaki Poppers for years without using them so why not give one a try? The only line with me was a full intermediate so presentation was subsurface. After just a couple of casts, bang - a nice, full-bodied hatchery Coho. Thanks Leland.

Andy

I've been finding they generate just as many strikes as a subsurface fly, but they hit it with more conviction subsurface.

Havent beach fished them as much as I'd like, that experience is coming from bulls and bass.