i use spinners like a silver or gold fox. single barbless hook. or a spoon if most others are throwing spinners.

 

What size blue fox works well there? 4's? 5's? 6's?

Do you add extra weight above the spinners, too, to get the spinner down in the water column and be able to cast further?

 

I've caught coho off the beach using pink and orange Mepps Flying C's, Blue Fox 5's and 6's in chrome/chartreuse, and homemade spinners using the big #6 Colorado blades (UV pink and white, black circle over redwhite background, green dot, etc) with beads. These have little weight so I added a 3/4 oz in-line sinker about 28" above them. Basically you want to cast out as far as possible even though the salmon may follow the spinners all the way to your rod tip (I've seen that). If you cast with in-line weight be sure to clamp down on spool just before the rig hits the water. That will lay out the set up on the water so it doesn't get all wrapped up from casting. I've also caught coho using 3.5 Maglip in chrome/blue and chartreuse pattern. No matter what type of hardware you cast it's a blast to have coho slam it. Lots of casting but when you get the bite it's great.
The other rig I use is an anchovie plunking set up. From swivel on end of mainline (30 lb mono, not braid) I add a spreader. From spreader I run a 12" dropper to 10-12 oz pyramid sinker. Leader set up for anchovie: from spreader add a 36-42" leader (again 30 lbs) with an inline float and then a swivel and bead chain. Have a bead above and below the float. From the bead chain add 16-18" more leader with a 2 hook herring rig at the end. You need the float to keep bait off bottom where crabs will steip it. Unexplained detail: I copied this rig from other fishermen at Soc Sec Beach. They were catching fish all around me. I wasn't. Same scent, same anchovie size. I watched closely and saw almost everyone was putting the anchovie on "upside down." Top hook through the back near dorsal then add double half hitch on tail to lock the anchovie on with head downstream. Bend to suit for spin and run a toothpick through the body to hold the curve. If anyone knows why upside down works better (it does!) please explain. Cast out anywhere from 25-75' and wait. It's exciting to see a school of salmon move down the beach with bells going off and you know they're coming through.
Good luck! I'll be over there a lot this year. Look for an unwashed mossy green 2015 Outback.

 

Here are some of my lures, mostly homemade except for the Blue Foxes.

- Note that I use only single sickle hooks. Easier to release natives; no noticeable reduction of landing rate.
- It looks ridiculous but some of the spinners have a spin n glo in the beads. It works. Maybe all the spinning stuff makes the coho dizzy.
- See the red and white blade. The little chunk of paint missing is from surf perch. I kept feeling something hitting the lure but couldn't get it to shore. Perch were biting the blade and holding on. What a kick.
- I put hoochies on almost all of the lures. Coho like those.
- There are chinook feeding along the beach too. The regular guys there use chrome/chartreuse to target them.

 

Seems you are def. in to using a Hoochie Coochie addition.
Have you every tried horsehair to your sickle instead?
Im just now ( more seriously) starting to design and build my own spinners ( Esp for winter steelhead fishing). Livin and learning everyday...........


BTW.... Will be back down the 19-20th and the same week following.

 

small sizes and a weight . single barbless hook. or you wont be fishing you will be dragging a piece of weed and the fish watch it go by and laugh at you.

 

We have weighted Spinners built for Clatsop Beach ( SS Beach) These are proven performers built by a professional Spinner builder. They are Pink, Chartreuse, and dark Purple. All have pink or green hoochies and Owner Treble Hooks. About a #5 Blade. You can throw these things a mile. We have had them the last 3 seasons and sell out every year. We have a bunch this year. Thanks Gene Come in and take a look, no shipping.

 

Are there any beaches on Washington side to fish salmon from shore like they do at Social Security Beach?

 

Not much on the Wash. side. I've seen a few people off the tunnel on the Wash side, but don't know how they do. North Jetty is good but it is closed .

 

catching a coho or salmon off the beach sounds great. my 10 year old would love this!! first question- kid friendly area? 2nd- waders? i am really wanting to take my son for a couple trips, anybody with any further info/advice please pm me or reply here. i have always thought about doing this and just haven't pulled the trigger. this year my son is really hooked on fishing and I want to keep it going! thanks again. cheers!

 

If distance is what your after, casting a spoon or maglip will get you out further than a spinner. Especially under windy conditions. Also for spinners it seems the #4 blue fox cast further too. Less flutter than 5 or 6.

 

This year with the large coho run pray plenty of fish will be caught by plunkers. Plunking would be safe. You could cast for him if needed. No prob.
For casting spinners you can stand back from the water and cast. Quite safe. However, most spinner guys stand about knee deep in the water to cast farther out. If you do that you need waders AND have to keep a serious eye on incoming waves. I've seen 3' waves come in that would have knocked me over if I hadn't backed up. I wouldn't recommend standing in the water for your boy- too much chance of getting knocked over in high current water.
Also there are times when the current on both flood and ebb stirs up lots of weed. You have to clean it off after every cast. Might be a challenge for a 10 year old. That said if you pick a mild tide swing day with little wind you might not run into any of these issues. Just be really careful around active water.
Good luck!

 

Thx for the advice! I am sorry if I am asking a redundant question but what weight should we use? Inline weight needed or is just normal spinner set up ok? Probably gonna cast spinners, spoons, mags and wiggle warts cuz I have those. I am gonna look into plunking but have never done it. Thanks again and tight lines!!!

 

DominicF ... I sent you a PM.

 

If you are going to cast buy a couple (or a few) of the spinners at Tackle Time. I'm not affiliated nor do I make a penny from the sale, they are just good spinners from good people.

ChateauL has some great tips. That rig works with Herring too.

My tip would be that of you are plunking, watch your rod. Sometimes the "strike" is just a slight pop up of the rod. One day the only way I could hook fish was to sit in the sand holding the rod. Once I figured it out I had a limit in 4 casts.

Good luck, have fun!

 

Right on thanks

 

Fished SS for the first time last year. Beach is kid friendly but we all know every fishermen is a little territorial of the strip of sand around their vehicle, and people driving around the back half of the beach sometimes go a little faster than they should. So use common sense when laying down the ground rules for your kids and everyone should have a happy experience.

The plunking was just not my style seemed like the guys whom were doing it were just single line gill netting for seaweed:laugh: Did see one or two caught though in the three days using this method.

I prefer just drifting float and herring, or casting spinners & Brad Cut Plugs. We managed to scratch out a couple of fish everyday during some pretty slow fishing. The prize fish was a beautiful #15 Coho (Brad's cut plug) caught by one of the kids I've been mentoring over the years, he was JACKED! and so were the rest of the us. The fish was a miss clip not wild.



Fish On!

BC

 

North jetty is closed due to construction. It will reopen, but not this year, as I understand it.

 

If you can cast distance ( yes fish runs by beach but in words and in person...there's different meaning of close to shore), everything works. Blue fox size 5 or 6, herring /anchovie with s 'big' 4 oz float (traditional way or float it off bottom like you run wobblers with float) ...or simply put a 'clearwater flash n go in largest size ( my personal fav with a green hoochie slid over hook)

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What is the presentation for a herring or anchovies under a float? Am I try it get it to lay horizontal like I was trolling or does it just sit vertical in the water column? I played around with it last year and rarely was confident that it was presented correctly. Or is it just a scent induced feeding bite on a dead herring and it doesn’t matter?

Thank you

 

Either/or...I casted herring/anchovie with 4 oz drum float ..like you typically cast while fishing tidal water......snip the end strings of the bobber stopper cuz you wanna make it bout atleast 8-10 ft..so slip bobber...and those end strings once snipped dont catch your guides and hinder your cast. To float it of bottom....10 inch to 12 inch dropper...very rarely longer....3 ft from rod tip to bobber (same 4 oz bobber)...and 2 ft from bobber to herring/anchovy....so like when you anchor fish wobblers with float...except your dropper is smaller here. Put a treble hook on top and single hook threaded through a tad bit up at the meaty part of tail or just skewer the hook tine carefully through tail. I never cared how bait sits under water. At times you can see cutrent in one direction but by jettiy and whst not..its goinh everywhich way. Heavy leader helps...very much. The bite comes solid...as in rod bending bite. I did this at social security fir yrs on easy days or walk up by jetty and keeping yourself within safe distance of pounding waves...cast as far as you can. Even with your almighty cast you dont go very far.... by the time line sinks and lead settles...more or less you are in the travel lane. Fish running hugging the shore/beach is still a great distance when tide comes in.
Very rarely I've thrown blue fox...but if I do its #6 with black spots on silver blade and chartreuse bell....maybe a spray of BANG in anise/shrimp/herring...depending what I got at the moment. Usually the spinner I fish is clear water flash n go...the silver one with big red bead...like size 14 or so.....on gray days I slide glo in the dark..green 2.5 inch hoochie. There's no bias in catch....both bobber and spinner catch silvers and nooks with an 'equal oppurtunity employer' outlook..lol

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How fast does the water flow at this location?

 

Sneaker- The water is moving fast when the flood is coming in or the tide is going out. I typically use 10 oz pyramid but it will move upstream or downstream if only a little weed catches on the mainline. At slack tide most people cast spinners because the current is slow for plunking. That said, some guys plunk the whole time and do fine. The silvers and chinook are actively feeding so whether your herring or anchovie is spinning or dangling, it might get hit.
Coastalhounddog- LOL, I haven't tried horsehair yet. First time at SSB we kept having coho follow the spinners all the way in but they wouldn't strike. I added a bass curl-tail plastic bait to the hook and they started hitting. Been using hoochies ever since. Thinking of trying a VIP tube bait hoochie sometime. Good movement, good sparkle.
My wife has to work tomorrow, so I might head over there in the morning even though it's a weekend. :meme:

 

Sneaker- The water is moving fast when the flood is coming in or the tide is going out. I typically use 10 oz pyramid but it will move upstream or downstream if only a little weed catches on the mainline. At slack tide most people cast spinners because the current is slow for plunking. That said, some guys plunk the whole time and do fine. The silvers and chinook are actively feeding so whether your herring or anchovie is spinning or dangling, it might get hit.
Coastalhounddog- LOL, I haven't tried horsehair yet. First time at SSB we kept having coho follow the spinners all the way in but they wouldn't strike. I added a bass curl-tail plastic bait to the hook and they started hitting. Been using hoochies ever since. Thinking of trying a VIP tube bait hoochie sometime. Good movement, good sparkle.
My wife has to work tomorrow, so I might head over there in the morning even though it's a weekend. :meme:

LOL as much as you want about horsehair. :excited:
I asked this as my Grandfather ( Who lived in Bay City) and taught me
fishing on most every coastal river north of PC to SSB back in the late 60's, 70's, 80's, and early 90's. He used horsehair ( Which Ive collected for years) spinners and flies he built ( He even added some to a few spoons). These worked fantastic in those days and was successful for me the last time I fished SSB 25 years ago.


I don't have them anymore and thought about building some with the similarity's to the VIP tube bait hoochie ( funny you brought that up).
I remembered you saying you started to build some of your own spinners.
There seems to be a way to add some sparkle to the hair, but I am still thinking that process out.








PS Bolded statement is falling back a few steps in your 12 step program :wink:

 

If you can rig up a spinner with horse hair I'd like to see it. Tail hair trimmed to length, mane?? Would be like tying a fly. Color selections: chestnut, buckskin, bay, strawberry roan and palomino!
I'll report how my old plastic hoochies work tomorrow. :thisbig:

 

Does anyone have a preference as far as the tide sets???


The Larger swings with stronger negatives or the softer sets?

 

Bumping this thread to ask how long of a cast is needed to catch fish here? If a fish can be caught with a 100' or less cast, seems like it's doable with a fly rod. I might try that next year.

 

I hook the majority of my fish BEHIND where most guys are waded out to. You don't need to cast super far in my experience, but they like to chase it and eat it before they run out of room. Not sure why guys think you have to wade out to your belly to fish this. I think you're actually lowering your chances.

 

...so what you are saying is, I don't need to think about purchasing a two handed overhead fly rod from a reputable washington based company?

It sounds like surf fishing out east. The fish are way closer than most people think. The real reason to cast far is to just give the fish more time to chase your fly to help seal the deal.

After learning about this fishery and rockfish and perch, I shoulda spent more time at the coast this summer.

 

Agree
I hate in when people are wading where I have hooked fish.
Recent report of one hooked 5 feet from the bank.

 

I've hooked at least a half dozen there this season that close or closer.

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Squid stingers from fish field are the go-to for me

 

Those are cool! Didn't know about fish field...going to have to check that store out. I'd use those in the rivers except at $9/lure...lots to leave on the bottom!

 

Squidy Mangler .... alm: