Pluggin, the Magician way......

FishinMission · 02-21-2004, 12:56 PM

Yeah...Zaq...Most say you should fish close to the boat..but I prefer going out there farther.

Glad you had success.

Mark

willametteriveroutlaw · 02-21-2004, 01:00 PM

To bad the weather was soo nice

. It was a great day, had no luck on my way home either. The BBND's weren't present at my slump buster spot.. So the drought continues :depressed: gonna end it tommorrow.. I can feel it.
Thanks for a great day on the water we'll have to try it a gain.

Iceman · 02-21-2004, 04:00 PM

Wow, sure nice to see winter fish still so bright this far into February

. Glad those brood stock programs got going, else everyone would on the Big C chasing springers by now. I've had decent success on my favorite coastal river for brooders, but it seems the 3 salt fish just aren't there this year.

As far as the plugging goes, I've generally marked my lines at 65' for typical db fishing. Is that in the ballpark for what's been successful for you FM or ZaQ? :whazzup:

ZaQ · 02-21-2004, 04:07 PM

That would definately work good Iceman. Have you been doing well on them?

Bobby Ray · 02-21-2004, 04:13 PM

Very nice brother Zachary [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] I want to see that picture of Ryan.....come on it's not that bad. :grin:

ANDYCOHO · 02-21-2004, 04:25 PM

Way to go!

I have just started getting back to the basics with plugs and have had a great season. There is nothing better than watching that rod tip bounce, bounce, bounce then SLAM, the rod just folds over as the fish rockets out of the water.

Its almost magical...

Fishin Magician · 02-21-2004, 04:29 PM

Nice fish man........Looks like it was an awesome day weather wise also.

John

Iceman · 02-21-2004, 04:34 PM

ZaQ,

I'm not much of a plug puller, so I don't have a lot of confidence when I do choose to go that way. So answering your question, no I don't catch a lot of steelhead on plugs at 65'. I mostly sidedrift from my db, on rivers that set up well for that style of fishing.

blacktail519 · 02-21-2004, 05:58 PM

:shocked: NICE FISH

stlhdr1 · 02-21-2004, 11:53 PM

The magic # is 55ft any more than that and you'll begin to have line drag... The line will defeat the plug diving (of coarse depending on line weight but I'd hope like hell you are using 12lb test to plug..)...

Forget the plugs and use bait, you'll catch a heck of a lot more fish....
Keith :grin:

ZaQ · 02-21-2004, 11:54 PM

I used to catch a lot of my steelhead with plugs. Than about 2 years ago I decided I was going to make things better and get real technical about how far out the plugs were from my boat. I did some line splicing and measuring and all kinds of crap. I went 2 seasons with only catching 2 fish on plugs. I blamed it on the fish, they must not be taking plugs this year. I couldn't figure it out. I was fishing last week with my good BBND Bobby Big n Brite, and just a brain blip I watched my plug go out to the distance I had the line marked. It wasn't very far from the boat!!!!!!!!!! I sent it out to where I USED to run them and was amazed about the amount line that I have not been letting out the past two seasons. I got so technical with measuring the line, I never took the time to stand up and look how far out the plugs were going.
So, I went out with Fishin Magician the next trip and took a refresher course. I have since changed my set up to what he does and actually stood up and watch where my plugs were going.

I took WillametteRiverOutlaw and a good friend from work fishing yesterday in the sun, armed with my new/old pluggin techniques and Sean landed his first ever steelhead. It sure was nice to see that plug rod pound down once again. And the smile on a rookie's face when tied into a nice 10 lb brooder was not that bad either.
Thanks John!

skrimmy · 02-21-2004, 11:58 PM

Nice job Zaq! No doubt about it, the Magician will dazzle you with his plugging expertise and fishing knowledge.

Fishin Magician · 02-22-2004, 07:33 AM

Keith I run my plugs from 45-65 ft out and run 30# tuff plus main and 20# leader. I also know that depending on the type of plug and water I am using determines how far out from the boat I run them. I run 15-20 lbleader depending on the time of year.....like now I am running 20 due to the larger flows and larger wild fish in the system. I want to get them in quickly and released and dont want to lose my plugs in the process........

JB

stlhdr1 · 02-22-2004, 08:57 AM

I too have used the Tuff or spectra lines in the past for plugging... Sure makes for a hell of a takedown and very little line drag on the plug too.
Keith