IFish Fishing Forum banner

Hogline Reflections

2K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  Bait O Eggs 
G
#1 ·
Like TV comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said about a lifestyle different than his, "No thanks. But not that there's anything wrong with that you know." Well, being a backtroller, that's kind of how I felt about anchoring with the "Hogliners"; no thanks, although there's nothing wrong with that. So no angry e-mail please. After watching significantly more springers caught in hoglines my first couple of times at O.C. this season, today (Sat.) I stumbled upon an open slot in the lower sandbar hogline at 5:30 a.m. as I prepared to backtroll the tailout. Hmmm. "Garrick, grab the anchor were gonna try it- good place for Ron to sleep". Well, about 15 minutes into fishable daylight Nick has his prawn hammered and he gets a good set. Due to an early area "bite", ours was the 3rd fish hooked. One thing I must say about the hogline brotherhood is that the fishers near a hookup get the lines out of the way quickly, unlike a few crowded trolling & backtrolling areas I know of. Respect earned. Didn't matter for Nick though as his fish took a quick lateral run into a couple of lines and slacked itself during the untangle efforts and wound up throwing the hook as we finally were dropping down after it. Back in the line for awhile and the bite shuts completely off seemingly everywhere. When that happens I either move & backtroll or stay & eat doughnuts. Gotta find a way to lose a few pounds so up anchor. The bite comes back on about 2 hrs. later and, sure enough, we watch a moderate but steady rythym of anchor bouys thrown and fish caught where we were. There were also a few backbounced hookups, but again at a slower rate than the lines. Might be due to less current than normal for April. Anyway, we had enjoyed the brief comraderie within the line. On the other side of the coin, we also enjoyed hearing these same guys loudly yell obsenities at the backtrollers below their line if anybody came remotely too close to their plunked rigs; even though I didn't think they were too close. Territorial fun. Interesting how experiencing both "sides of the fence" can change one's perspective about people.- So we scratched around the area and wasted some good bait at O.C. again. Only went up there 3 times this season, but had to leave tuck-tailed from one of my usually more productive places. Oh well, bring on the Clack. (will be later in the season for me). - Steve

[This message has been edited by RT (edited 04-22-2000).]
 
See less See more
#2 ·
RT-

Glad to hear you tried a hogline out. This is my first year on a boat, been a bankie all my life, and to keep things simple my buddie and I decided to fish hoglines this year. I found it to be a wonderful experience, after hearing horror stories about jerks in hoglines. I had only good experiences, and only saw one confrontation all year. I had 1 fish get tangled on another line, and we were able to boat it. All fish we lost were all our fault. I experienced very productive, also relaxing, fishing and will more than likely do it again next year. I found people in hoglines to be forthcoming with their techniques and food.
 
#4 ·
RT, glad to hear somebody had a good time in a hog line. The last time I hogged was a few years ago and only found less than ideal neighbors, drinking beer and eating Fritos waiting for daylight to fish. People not wanting to drop anchor and thinking it would just be easier to tie off to my boat. When fish were hooked nobody reeled in. Maybe times have changed. I have spent the last few years backbouncing or throwing spinners with the crowd at the upper boat boundry. I use to hate hog lines. I have grown to appreciate hog lines because it puts a lot of boats in a relatively small location, freeing up water for other methods of fishing. Nobody owns the water and we all have our favorite methods of pursuing the salmon. Hearing something positive about hog lines, maybe next year I will drop the anchor again, Hog lining is an effective method with minimal effort.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top