Strip Bait, Anchovies and Baitholders

Pilar · 06-13-2001, 07:27 AM

OK all you salmon slayers. There's a bunch of silvers headed for their summer feeding areas and a season to get after them. We have a few members reporting that herring are scarce and lots of talk about using something else. Yes there's hardware but I love to drag bait. It's more maintenance but it just works better.

I've been reading and some of the other methods that are used in BC are strips of herring and a special 'strip' baitholder. I've even seen some of this stuff at Fishermans. Never used it. Anyone?

The other thing that I noticed is that they have an anchovy baitholder. The one I saw was like a plastic nosecone with a narrow strip hanging back on one side. You put the nosecone on your bait and pin it down through the narrow strip with a toothpick. This shapes your bait so it will spin and puts the hooks where they need to be.

The last thing I've actually used is the 'Rotary Salmon Killer'. Yeah, I know what a name. I laughed too until I used it a few times. The one to get is the clear with chartreuse bigfin. This clamps on the head of the herring and has a fin you can move to change your spin. Easy and fast, this just slayed fish last summer.

Hootchies - much talk about this when I first joined the board. My favorite combo is an 'Abe and Al' silver flasher about 18" long, 3 ft 2 hook mooching leader and a glow hootchie with a glow corkie in the head. Slide beads on the leader for more noise. Squirt on a little WD-40, anise or sardine oil and go. This is the rig we could not downrig through the silvers last summer.

Does anyone have any other bait alternatives to whole or plugged herring?

finclipped · 06-13-2001, 08:18 AM

Whole anchovies work great. Just stick the top hook under the chin through the head, leave the trailer loose. They turn slower than a plug cut herring, but they still turn. I haven't ever tried the "bait riggers" but think they would work too. Whole sardines, in the herring size work well, and even baby shad have worked in a pinch.

Four years ago I started using the "other baits" and have noticed there are times when herring are the go to bait, but I have also seen times when anchovies out produce herring big time. Two years ago we received free bait in the form of Sardines and baby shad, when there were no fresh herring available. We caught fish on both. All the baits produced even when fish were scarce(Mainly Coho.) This year it may not make a difference. I am putting some shad strips in the freezer and will be using them with pink and green hoochies. I haven't fished this way for 10 years, but if there are as many fish as they are calling for, I am confident they will produce as well.

Ramstrong · 06-13-2001, 10:14 AM

Growing up fishing out of Winchester bay, It was pretty much a Hoochie show. We used chartruse, apple, pink and a very dark purple. We'd add a chunk of herring that would spin, the dodger would make it jerk. Coho can't resist.

blackdog · 06-13-2001, 10:25 AM

Ditto what Ramstrong said. I grew up working on Grandpa's dory as part of the Cape Kiwanda commercial fleet, and we never used anything but hootchies with a chunch of herring fished behind a flasher. We always seemed to catch enough fish to make a young kid get sick of cleaning fish real fast. On days when we went with the sport gear, I always did real good fishing with just a 4 to 6 oz. in line sinker with a long, shiny baitfish fly, in black, silver, and chartruse.

HOGTIDE · 06-13-2001, 09:37 PM

Fishing in Canadian Waters when bait was in short supply, we found that Bucktails work great behind a dodger. Bucktails and flashtails are easy and fun to tie up. White is the primary color, while combined shades of blue, green or hot pink add interest and a bite!

Lots of Canadians fish the salt with Apex lures / Hot Spots for Coho. A polar BuzzBomb is a saltwater Coho killer,too!

Mr. Fisherman · 06-13-2001, 11:09 PM

Pilar,

I fished those nose cone things on a charter last year. They worked great [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]!

I think you need to take me out to demonstrate the other methods [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img].

I sure am looking forward to it [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Later,

Mr. F.

Jeffhead · 06-14-2001, 09:24 AM

I quit using bait a few years ago. For silvers I run tube flies, tube flies, and more tube flies behind a flasher. Mixtures of greens, yellows and whites work quite well. 28" to 31" leader lengths for a metallic flasher like an Abe n Al, 35" to 38" for a Hot Spot, tip it with a herring or anchovie strip or make the special blend of filets in anise extract and WD-40. I have had better luck with bucktails on nooks', the tube flies I use are about half the size of bucktails. Biggest key to silvers is stay in the top 40 ft of water and troll FAST!!! If you do use bait, one way to have a flasher attraction and not have it in the fight is to use a rigger' and attach the flasher by itself to the ball, then attach the main line above it on the to the release clip on the rigger' wire. Last trip to Sekiu my Dad and I caught and released over 125 silvers, nooks', and pinks on the above setups in 5 days of fishing. What a blast!!!
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]