your gut is probably right....is it possible they were buzz bombs?

i have seen this technique employed a few times in different areas....and have seen very different results from some people...i have seen people do well with them from boats jigging, never foul hooking fish...i have seen others casting them and only foul hook fish.

the lure has a bad rep, and i have seen why...unfortunate for the guys who know how to "fish" them.

 

As a kid I fished buzz bombs a lot on Hood Canal, they can be very effective from beach or boat especially on seasoned fish that aren't interested in bait anymore.
I agree this sounds like snagging, and the results prove it, I guess.
Some folks don't know any better, and some don't care.

 

Snagging imo

 

Did he keep the fish that was belly hooked? If you know it was belly hooked then you saw them land it. If they kept it they were snagging and most likely that was the intention. If they released it it could have just been a foul hook for a legitimate technique. I think we've all foul hooked a fish or 10 using legit methods. Look at twitching jigs, that looks like snagging 100% but most of us know it's not. And I'm sure if you twitched in a school of fish you'd run the possibility of snagging one unintentionally. Snagging has more to do with the mind set and intention of the angler more so than the technique he's using.

 

From someone that has fished jigs, it is all in the slower motion. A fast hard up swing is a sign of snagging. A slower lift and drop is jigging; maintaining contact with and a feel for the jig as they generally bite on the drop. The bite is usually subtle, just a tap. Vertical is best; you can cast and jig but most Hookups will be snags when casting.

 

If you watch and they foul hook 4, to 1 in the mouth, they're not sportsmen using the method, they're snaggers. If it's the other way around, an occasional foul hook, it's not so bad. Nothing worse that wasting a bunch of time fighting foul hooked fish! It's not real good for the fish either.

Smj

 

It all in the method as previously stated. Flutter jigs are deadly for salmon in certain conditions with an angler who knows how to present them. All methods will foul hook fish on occasion. The idea with metal jigs is to present the jig over the fish. I always start shallow in the water column and gradually work deeper. Both horizontal and vertical can be good depending on the water type and where fish are holding. This is one of the few methods that will produce regularly during those tough rising water periods when bait is often ignored.

 

If they kept the belly hooked fish, they are snaggets. If they released the fish that you witnessed, they were paranoid u would rat them out. Like said above we have all snagged fish using every method under the sun. Its the next decision after landing a snagged fish that makes them legal or not. Probably a good idea that you left them to it. Dont be associated with people like that. A friendly tip to any authority figure wouldnt hurt either. Rock on, Jagosh!

 

Vertical jigging spoons is a legitimate way to catch fish, but unfortunately it is also an invitation for snaggers. Legitimate jigging is a slow lift of less than 2 feet and then a drop which allows the spoon to flutter downward. Almost all bites come on the drop. In fact, I can't remember ever catching a salmon on the lift that wasn't foul hooked, not that it never happens. I've jigged spoons for gamefish other than salmon, too, and it can be very effective, especially for schooling bass that are feeding on shad. What is really fun is to adjust the gain on the depthfinder so that I can see the spoon and then have a fish come into the cone and see the fish strike it. Caught my largest salmon ever at the mouth of the D jigging, and I watched the fish strike.

 

b ruff, when i was working in SE AK, i threw them a lot in the salt for pinks and silvers....of course never foul hooked one in the ocean, and very effective. they are absolutely a legit lure, i have heard lots of older stories about bankies casting them in rogue bay and doing well.

i'm not brave enough to throw one in a river, if there are lots of fish around, i don't even like casting spinners...nothing worse than a spunky 15lb king foul hooked on 20lb mono that you cannot break off. i have seen spinner guys cause havoc too.

like mentioned, most of it is intent.

 

i'm not brave enough to throw one in a river, if there are lots of fish around, i don't even like casting spinners...nothing worse than a spunky 15lb king foul hooked on 20lb mono that you cannot break off. i have seen spinner guys cause havoc too.

That surprises me. I've been tossing hardware at salmonids for 20 years and can only think of two times that's happened: one chinook and one coho, both hooked in the back with spinners sporting treble hooks. I have had a few mouth-hooked fish wrap in the line during the fight and then throw the hook, getting secondarily hooked in a fin. That's happened twice to me in the last year. One of them took in a soft, shallow seam and wound up hooked in the bottom edge of the tail (try and explain that another way).

I guess if they were kegged up, you could snag them with just about anything, especially with treble hooks.

First steelhead I ever foul-hooked was on a swung wet fly!

 

Every time ive seen it, it appears sketchy and like they're trying to snag. I wish f&g were around to clarify on the water.

 

Just a suggestion... I try to make the distinction in terminology between "foul hooked" (not legally hooked in the mouth, however it happened) and "snagging" (foul-hooked, intentionally). One is non-judgmental, the other is most definitely pejorative.

Whether or not they choose to retain the fish afterwards is a separate question ~ although like someone else stated, a guy who'll keep it too must not care about ethics/legality so there's a greater likelihood it was snagged on purpose as well, whereas a guy releasing a fish that's otherwise worth keeping suggests they know better and foul-hooked it inadvertently (unless perhaps it's a snagger who knows they're being watched).

 

Just a funny story this thread reminded me of. Years ago fishing for springers that were moving in mass and ignoring bait offering. Started throwing a spinner and swinging it across the tailout. Was so many fish moving through was scared I would accidently snag a fish so I ignored all line contacts hoping for a hammer down. My line stopped and I felt a slight surging action. Horse puckey, was thinking I had snagged a fish holding in the tailout. I lifted my rod carefully and could feel the fish. The snout of the fish broke the surface with my blade barely visible hanging from inside the nooks snout. Hey buddy I got your spinner.:doh:. Luckily the fish didn't want to let go and I got the hooks set appropriately. I limited in short order. Hardware can be deadly in the right situation, just have to use some common sense.

 

u say u saw a treble on the back of a "rapala" yo yoing and guy catches a fish in the belly and u want it explained as to what u were seeing and if it was legit or not?? REALLY!?