What's your favourite method for catching Sal

[thangfly]

Just wonder what set up you guys have for Salmon fishing in the ocean???
As for us in BC. Years ago Mooching live Herring was the most popular method untill about 10 years ago with the popularity of Down rigger increased. Trolling Hoochies,herring strip.... behind a flasher with down rigger is the way to go.
I saw a few of you prefer jigging instead. Is It true Jigging is more popular down south?? The only time we jigg in ocean is for Halibuts or Cod

Gill net :grin: ! Not much fight but they do catch the fish. Put out your net and start to drift. As soon as the fish hit the net the corks start to bob. Oops I'm not in Alaska anymore!!!!
I like to troll a cut plug on downrigers for sportfishing. I haven't caught many salmon in fresh water so I don't have a favorite there.

[PRINCEMASTER]

I brought my downriggers with me from Michigan,but did not have much luck with salmon last year. Can anyone tell me how far behind the downrigger to go and maybe a suggestion on color for the flasher.

[TH]

I prefer to troll cut herring, in our shallow rivers and bays we use about 2oz of lead.. great fun..

flasher color.. that's a good question... I like green and blues.. but last year the red was a great color...

[k9jeff]

Herring, whole with a nice slow lope for a spin,,

Prawns, again, a nice slow lope type spin,

sharpest hooks I can get, spreader, 2 oz of lead, place in rod holder, pour a cup of coffee, tell the kids to stop it (they are usualy doing somthing wrong by then) and enjoy the day. I have always had good luck this way.

Chrome flasher if the water color dictates it.

I love trolling in the rivers and bays.... life does not get much better......

[willametteriveroutlaw]

Drift fishing shrimp #1, then bobber fishing

[thangfly]

Originally posted by PRINCEMASTER:
I brought my downriggers with me from Michigan,but did not have much luck with salmon last year. Can anyone tell me how far behind the downrigger to go and maybe a suggestion on color for the flasher.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">25 to 30 pulls( around30+ feet)of freeline behind the down rigger work for me . Depend on how may rod you use but the lower line should be at least 20 feet longer than the top one.
The most important thing when trollng with flasher is you leader legnth(line connect between flasher and lure(Hoochies, cut plug, ....)It's the critical component to give your lure the desired action to strike. A 30lb test line between 24 to 32" long is my prefer set up.The longer the leader the slower the action of the lures. Winter feeder prefer fast actionwhere as summer or close to August where spawning Salmon prepare their journey home would prefer a very slow presentation.(in this case , herring strip or cured Anchovie are prefered).
Adjusting your leader line could make a big difference to your sucess.
Flashers are used to give your lures the needed action and also help draw the fish from lond distance. Colors are seldom make much difference. But a well balance flashers is very importance ., More often than not , the major factor for most fishless trips due to the use of cheap or damaged Flashers.

[HOGTIDE]

Coho - Polar Bucktail with no weight. Troll at about 4 knts through the crashing gulls!

Chinook- Whole Herring with 4 ounces. Winddrift mooching. Keep the rod in the holder and don't let yourself touch it, til the fish has the top 3 guides in the water!

[ 06-23-2002, 08:54 AM: Message edited by: HOGTIDE ]

[boater]

lately i have been hooked on ez-divers and herring in the ocean.

[Mofish]

I would say with a hook :grin: .

[Rodbender]

PrinceMaster-Being that you're from Michigan I assume you already know how to stack lines on a Downrigger.

Some of the advice given by Thangfly is questionable at best.

Having fished BC for 30+ years I've found that nothing less than 40# is suitable for leader material when fishing Spring Salmon.

The length between Flasher and bait/lure/WHY is indeed critical but the magic # is 42" with 11" Flashers-not the ineffective even amateurish lengths as given.

Spoons/Hootchies are fine with the 42" length that Commercials found works best but I never use a Flasher with a Plug it's a poor idea-Plugs are too bouyant to be fished behind a Flasher.

Baitwise-whether using Anchovy/Herring in a Teaser Head or Whole Large Herring-we're now using longer and longer Leader lengths up to 8' at times, trolling as fast a 4mph and fish are slammin' em hard!

Anyone who thinks Flasher colour isn't important hasn't fished much-at times it's the #1 factor in success when you see a certain colour is working put all that colour in the water until it stops working.

Red or Green are standard-Springs love anything Green-but lately I've had great results with Purple and Blue.

Also I find those mini-Flashers-I guess they're about 8" long-to be just as good and they have that much less drag when fighting a fish.

About dropback from the wire I've fished with everything from 6' to 100'-which is popular with certain WCVI Guides of reknown.

A Black Box will of course change how far you run your lines back but that's another whole subject.

Thangfly's assertion that "The only time we jigg in ocean is for Halibuts or Cod "(sic) is nonsense of the most vacuous variety.

It's possible that someone could live/fish in BC and never have heard of the Buzz Bomb/Zinger/RipTide Striker/Deadly Dick Classic Lure but I doubt it.

The idea that "the major factor for most fishless trips due to the use of cheap or damaged Flashers." is the second-dumbest statement I have ever read on this or any Fishing Forum ever!

I take that kind of absurdity as an indicator that Thangfly's advice is worth the paper it's written on.

[crabbait]

Mofish - I think we are isolating the problem. Maybe if you tried a little more specific technique...........................

My favorite has always been bobbers in tidewater. Even when my average has been less than a fish a day, I just love to watch that bobber.

As far as I am concerned, nothing can compare to the battle of a chrome bright fall hog up in the Wilson river sticks or Hanneman's on the Nestucca.

I'll troll if I have to but vanishing bobbers are the best. :grin:

[crabbait]

Rodbender - We appreciate your Canadian perspective but yours is not the only way to catch fish.

On this forum, differences are welcome. Calling other's advice "vacuous" and "stupid" is uncalled for and unwelcome. You do not need to disparage others in order to make your point.

Disagree if you like but with respect. You will find that it is returned in kind and that your welcome will last a lot longer.

[ 06-23-2002, 09:34 PM: Message edited by: crabbait ]

[boater]

although i have downriggers i do not use them in the ocean, i feel that it`s a dunce fishery and you dont need them.

[thangfly]

Obviously, some of us still having trouble growing up.
Seem like in every fishing forum there's always a few individuals who think they know It all and his way or the Hwy :blush: .

Everyone have a prefer method of rigging their lure as long as It work for an individual that's the way he believes and I fully respect that. But there are things we can all learn and improve every day eventhough for a 30 years veterant. And that's what this and most fishing forum are for. If one have a close minded attitude , Even after 30 years of fishing I doubt very much he'll learn enough to know how to fish.

[Flatfish]

Crabbait,
where is Hannamans on the Nestuc?
Mark

[corrirod]

I think the biggest benefit to using riggers in the ocean is the fact you can fight JUST THE FISH.

This is my technique, that has worked the last 2 weeks:

I rig my poles with just a snap swivel, this is so I can change baits quickly if necessary. I then attach my 2 hook(slip) setup to a bead chain swivel. I use either cut or whole herring. Here is the key, I attach my Flasher directly to my downrigger weight with approximately 3-4 ft. of string and a bead swivel. Nothing else. I then attach my line clip to the rigger, let the herring drift back approximately 5-10 ft. further than the flasher and BAM!

Now when the fish take the herring it's a fight between me and the fish, not me, the diver, the flasher, and the fish. I use them for coho for the very same reason.

Just my 2 cents but it landed me and my buddy 4 nice Kings Saturday.

Oh yeah, I have tried several colors of flashers including Red and Green but the one that seems to be red hot is the Silver Litho'd Triangle (Not sure the brand name) both with and without eyes.

Hope that helps.

[crabbait]

Flatfish - It's right at the bottom of the hill where Annie66 has her cabin............

From Woods bridge, upstream past the rip-rap and the stinky dairy, the river makes an almost 90 degree turn to the left. Just before that corner the river depth drops from 6-7' to almost 20' on the highway side. Unfishable from the bank due to the extremely steep bank.

It is one of many good bobber holes in tidewater and not a zipperlip. Salmon can stack there at times. The nice thing about it is that you can take a novice caster there and stand a chance at a fish because you do not need to run your bobber right down the brush line.

[boater]

thangfly wrote,

The idea that "the major factor for most fishless trips due to the use of cheap or damaged Flashers." is the second-dumbest statement I have ever read on this or any Fishing Forum ever!

what is the first dumbest thing you have read on one of these boards ?

[Flatfish]

Thanks crab,
I have haunted that spot once or twice.Just never knew the name.Or pretty much any other name on the river.
See you on the river.
Mark.