Hoochie Help

Bonk 1 · 03-21-2010, 06:10 PM

I need a little help using hoochies, to build my fishing arsenal. I am going to try and fit some trout/kokanee fishing in this summer at Hagg Lake, green peter and Diamond between spring and fall salmon. I have always used gang trolls and wedding rings and have always done pretty good. I have seen recently a lot more people are using them sucessfully. They may have always used them, I probably just missed something. When and where do you use them, how to rig, what color etc. Thanks.

salmontroller · 03-21-2010, 06:18 PM

I recommend you go to Rocky MountainTackle and Shasta Tackle web sites for help.

I fish Green Peter quite a bit and find wedding rings good early i.e. May and June and then hoochies after that. I think hoochies attract the agressive Kokes as they near spawning time..I find pink or pink and white the most consistent..although other colors hve their times..just keep switching until they hit what you have out...use a sling blade, uv ideally with no more than 8-10" of leader to the hoochie...the blade give the otherwise inactive hoochie some action. Downriggers a must...and don't forget,..in Oregon you can use two rods if want to. Good luck.

Splash · 03-21-2010, 10:50 PM

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthrea...ight=hootchies

Cannon · 03-22-2010, 08:15 AM

I have some by Shasta Tackle and some by Rocky Mountain tackle and some that I make up myself. If you want a good selection you almost have to buy some ready made. The ones I tie myself work just as well as the ones that are ready made, just that the colors are not all available to the do it your selfer. Early in the year I have good luck with pink, red and chartreuse in that order. Salmontroller has some good points but I would have to disagree in that I catch just as many on hoochies as I do spinners and other lures. Saturday, a pink UV hoochie was the hot setup along with a green spinner on another rod. The key to being successful at catching the elusive Kokanee is to be able to switch out baits until you find the hot setup and that will only last so long before you are trying to find the hot setup again.
As Salmontroller said, downriggers are a must. You will also want to run at least 100' of line out this time of year behind the ball to your offering. You can shorten that up radically as the water warms and the fish go deeper.