Solid tied hooks with fresh herring??

[Pitch Pocket]

Buoy 10 to the bridge Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, nothing but outstanding with limits each day. What a fishery. I think I’ll brave the weekend and take the kids to show em what it’s like.

I lost fish (Chinook down deep) because the top slider snapped off the bottom hook. Is there a way to rig a whole fresh herring with solid tied hooks so you have the necessary roll? I finally went cut plug with a 3 hook solid tie stinger setup and it worked just fine. So did everything else we threw at them. I’m wondering if there is a technique for the solid ties and whole herring. Any suggestions?

[Tanner]

Try rigging them whole with a solid tie and cut the tails off of them. Cutting the tail off really slows down the roll alot.

[4Salt]

Here's what I do:

Tie your solid leaders after you have the herring you're going to use, so that the trailing hook is about 1" behind the tail of the herring. Insert the front hook under the lower jaw, and out through the top of the head, between the eyes. The farther forward you put the front hook, the faster it will spin. Fresh hering tend to have somewhat of a natural bend in them, depending how long they've been crammed into the plastic bag with the other herring. I put the trailing hook in, just above the tail, on whichever side is bent inward. Sew it all the way through, and let it hang back. Set it over the side to check if it's rolling like you want it, and adjust by repositioning the front hook.

Good luck

[Perfect Drift]

4salt, man this is so helpful. the spin, I had never heard this before. Great tip thank you.

[Pilar]

Or use a 2 hook rig with the hooks 4 to 5 inches apart. The trailing hook a 4/0 silver Gammie and the front hook a 5/0 (any color) Gammie. I put a small chartruese bead on the leader between the hooks. The fish will come back and hit the bead even after they strip your bait off on a strike. Just free spool about 10 seconds after a missed strike.

Push the front hook into the herrings lateral line below the dorsal fin. Poke the hook point around the backbone and out the back behind the dorsal fin. Let the trailing hook hang. 1/2 hitch the leader around the fishes lips. Catch the 1/2 hitch under the transparent outer lips. the line should come off the knot at the top of the fishes head.

The first time you fish this bait hold it by the leader and keep the line tight with the weight of the fish until you get it in the water. After you drag it for a short time the 1/2 hitch will set in place and not come off.

Adjust the spin by the front hook position and the curve you pull into the bait when you 1/2 hitch the lips. This is the quickest setting rig I have ever used. I can get it back out in less than a minute. If set correctly you will get a foot wide spiral action. This is deadly on chinook.

Good luck.

[Pitch Pocket]

Great! Thank you for your help. Both tech's make lots of sense. I'll try it!