Background
- Andrew Grillos is an Alaska West alumnus, an Idylwilde Signature Tier, a Scott Fly Rods Pro Staffer, a Simms Guide Ambassador…and a guide based out of Seattle (you can contact him here).
- Silver salmon at Alaska West are incredibly plentiful and ridiculously aggressive, and you can catch them on all kinds of stuff.
- Andrew sent us this writeup on a … let’s just say ‘innovative’ way to rig for silvers. Thanks Andrew!
Grillos’ Quick Silver Popper
What You Need
- An Idylwilde Fox’s Sleech in the Pink Rubber Worm color.
- An Idylwilde Sindicator, pink, size medium.
- Some Maxima Ultragreen 20 for your leader.
Commentary
I began fishing this rig as a joke and ended up liking it so much that it became my go-to surface rig for silvers. Silvers aren’t picky. As long as you’re throwing something pink in likely holding water, you’re likely to find silvers.
To rig this I tie a small non-slip loop knot in the end of my 4 to 6 foot, 20 pound leader. I put both the Sleech and the Sindicator into the loop. The fly trails behind the Sindi as it pops and chugs along. I think the combination of the commotion on the surface combined with the Sleech hanging down in the water is irresistible to a silver.
It’s important that it’s an Idylwilde Sindicator as well. They’re actually brighter and tougher than any other indicator which helps catch more fish and makes you awesomer!
I have been lucky enough to fish with Andrew a few times and he’s constantly coming up with new tying ideas. He’s not afraid to step ‘out of the box’ and experiment and that usually means more fish to hand for me.