[Chris Nordling]

Here's a little tip for the Willamette that may help the bankies tie into a few more fish .

If you'd like to run a prawn spinner from the bank, give this method a try, you may be rewarded with some prime spring chrome. You'll want to have a stout rod capable of casting heavy leads, and a reel spooled with 30# test.

To a large spreader, attach a dropper line of 18-24" and a 16 oz. bank sinker with 15# test(in case of inevitable hang-up), to the other part of the spreader attach 24-36" of 30' test.

Add a bobber stop about 6-8inches from the tag end(the part not attached to the swivel). Slide on a cork bobber( about the size of a golf ball, maybe a tad bigger), then attach a heavy duty barrel swivel( 100# rated), this will be your other bobberstop.

Prawn Spinner set-ups

Next add a pre tied up prawn spinner(or spin-glow and beads/or corkies above the prawn), with a heavy duty snap swivel attached opposite end of the hook for easy attachment/removal from the other leader.

The cork helps float your bait 'in the zone', even with some of the bigger spinner blades.Note the the pictured rigs have plastic clevises for quick changes of blades.And like I said, spin- glos are excellent alternatives to blades, and with the cork, spin-glos remain right in the eyes of the fish.

This method will put fish on the bank, untill the bait thief fish show up in unbearable numbers, then it's time to plunk an Alvin.

Guess what? The cork set-up works for those too, just add the Wobbler attached to a snap swivel instead of the prawn spinner.

Hope this may help someone add a springer or two to their tag this year, I know it surely increased my catch rate when banking it.

With the Willy heading to being off color again, and the Clack still pumping green, this is the perfect time to give this technique a whirl.

Good luck all !! Any ????'s feel free to ask away.....

Chris

[ 04-26-2003, 08:28 PM: Message edited by: FWF1 ]

 

[TYEE-FISHER]

Learned something new today. Another piece of amo.
Thank You.

 

[FROGGY]

Thanks for the tip. Ill give it a whirl this week! I cant seem to get anything into my boat, so I am going to bank it for a couple outings.
Thanks again!!!

[ 04-26-2003, 09:21 PM: Message edited by: FROGGY ]

 

[Manimal]

FWF1~

Great stuff!

Cheers! :cheers:

 

[LIV2FISH]

Thanks for the info!!! :cheers:

 

[Bobby Ray]

Good post FWF1,

Before I got my boat I always fished the spinners this way, it works.

Good luck out there
Bobby

 

[Chris Nordling]

No problem folks, I always like to see fish hit the beach or net. Post a pic if you spank a fish :smile:

BNB-

Nice pic. Looks straight out of the How to Catch a Springer while plunking on the Willamette in Late April/ early May playbook.

A pic is worth a thousand words,or 20# of springer, depending how you look at things.

Chris

 

[Chris Nordling]

TTT for Steel-A-Matic.

Chris

 

[Land Shark]

Thats great ! I just figured out what I will do since I get off early tomorrow and will be heading south on 205 .......a little stop off at Meldrum with the big pole since I won't have my boat with me . Thanks!

 

[Bounty Hunter]

OK, I've got a question.

So how far out should we cast this setup for Springers. I know it varys, but take Meldrum for example. For Winter Steel everyone casts tight to shore, but do you just heave it for Springers? Do we estimate where we think the 12-25 foot depth zone is? Are there any rules-of-thumb?

Thanks for the set-up. I might just try it.

 

[Chris Nordling]

Bounty Hunter-

Yep,I just rear back and heave it out there (usually 40-50' will do). Normally you can stop short of the backtrollers and still be in super fishy water. The area from the bottom of the boil ( Upper Bulkhead) to the Garden area ( Just above Meldrum) is pretty much one giant flat that runs from 9-18' deep ( approx 100' from shore) with tiny dips and holes spread throughout.

I think the trick to plunking effectively is two parts, line angle and dropper line length.Ok good bait helps too, but how good can an Alvin taste :wink: ?

A good line angle is about a little more than 45 degrees( not straight out in front or too far below). Dropper lines to me are also key. For most salmon plunking I use fairly short droppers, between 12-20" and hammer fish consistantly when fishing this method. Leaders are usually fairly short as well, I like to cast as little extra line as possible.

Happy Springer Bonking !
Chris

 

[PapaHog]

Good stuff Chris and thank you. I will put this to work this week.

Do you think the same kind of rigging would work off the jetty at barview in the fall for chinook? Maybe change the bait to plug cut herring? May be even beef up the line, weight and underwater float.

No Boat so I am always looking for new and improved bank fishing procedures.

 

[dirtyCut]

I've been down on the west side of the Willy, just below and above the boat launch at Wheatland. One steely, no nooks and no other action (chubs). Prawn on behind a big spin-n-glow, 12-16 oz on a 30" dropper and 5-6' leader to the spin n glow. Gonna try to shorten both the dropper and the leader and put in some more time. Should I be out further than 15-20' from the bank? I feel like Ive been getting this to the fish, Ive heard to keep it within 20' of the bank. :shrug:

Thanks for all the tips people have posted on this topic for this specific area. It all helps, now to just put one on the beach.

KC

 

[Barviewrocks]

At Barview, I have had some luck on Chinook and (long ago) Silvers using herring under a bobber set about 18 feet. The challenge is landing a big one off the rocks. I always seem to leave the gaff at home ;-)

 

[Navigator]

Let's see. I plunked Meldrum Bar on Monday. I did not read this post nor 5-cents, Nanooks, Drachir, Big n Bright posts on the spinner. Did try Uglygreen's hoochie set up but without prawns :hoboy: (end of the month, bait money is scarce).

I got skunked

.

You guys are making it difficult for me to continue getting skunked, but I am up for the challenge.

The quest continues.

[ 04-29-2003, 11:16 PM: Message edited by: Navigator ]