what are some good patterns for coho and chinook. This is the first year that I will be flyfishing for salmon, and I am wandering if they like different patterns than steelhead.
I have heard chinook like bright small flies.
wooley buggers?

Try this when you are in a drift with medium to slow current. Mixed blue/silver flashabou for a tail, spin a small light blue chickabou feather 3 turns or so right in front of the tail, spin some darker blue crosscut rabbit, or fox fur up to the eye, and finish it off. Jerk it now and then, especially at the end of the drift. A couple of years ago, I purchased some hinged hooks from Gary Lafontaine's news letter. On these I spin some blue deer hair, and form a muddler head on the front half, and form a blue krystalflash body and tail on the rear half. This is a great one to use when the fish are jumping and rolling in frog water.I like a floating line and a fairly long leader for this fly. Cast it out and let it sit!- a 2 inch strip every once in a while-patience is the key for this one. These are coho flys, I don't have much experience with kings on a fly. For me the color blue works well for cohos. These flys have worked on the Sky and Penninsula rivers- should work on S.W. rivers too. Let me know if they work for you too.

thanks DanO! I am curious, by hinged body do you mean two hooks connected to make a moveable body. There are a couple examples of this in the fly tiers benchside reference. (one includes using beaded chain to extend then wrapping rabbit across.( am I completely off what you were talking about?)

2 the muddler: basically a blue deer head with krystal flash body and tail correct?

3 the what is chickabou ( marabou? )
thanks for the color tip, Im feelin' tha' blues now!

The flex-hooks I purchased consist of a piece of s.s. wire, with a small loop bent on each end, and, a straight eye hook. these hooks were designed to tie hoppers and adult stoneflies, so I substituted a stronger straight eye hook, for coho flies. These hooks were spendy, about a buck apiece, I'm sure you could make your own. Get some small diameter s.s. wire,[smaller than spinner wire], and a pair of pliers. Pound a nail with no head near the end of a board, leaving about 1-2 in. sticking up, and anchor the board. Cut a piece of wire about 6-8 in., and bend it around the nail, and wrap once around the wire. Keep the loop as small as possible. Leave about 1and a half in. of wire for a body, and bend a loop in the other end of the wire, but do not wrap it around itself. Tie your fly- twisted krystal flash body, and a tail. Stick your fly through the open loop- clip the wire as close as you can, and tie a finishing head around the loop to secure the fly. Put the front loop in your vice, stack some blue deer hair, spin it on the wire, and add as much hair as you need to form the body, and clip the hair into a muddler-head shape, leaving a collar at the rear. That's it. the hinging effect gives this style of fly great action in slower water. You can also form a body on the wire using blue foam with blue deer hair as a topping. When the kids go swimming, they use those 6 ft. long cylinders of colored foam to float on, and play with. Pieces of these make great foam bodies. If you're a purist don't read this- these foam cylinders are also an excellent source of foam for making different colored ragg bodies. If all this is too confusing, you can purchase flex-hooks from the Book Mailer 406-443-1888. Online at www.greycliff.com Ask for a catalogue, they are great. Chickabou feathers are saddle hackles from a hen, instead of a rooster. They have a little more body, and are shorter in length. Marabou would work just fine too.