Herring Strip - The Forgotten Bait

[TheBigGuy]

Herring Strip - The Forgotten Bait

http://www.bcoutdoorsmagazine.com/Herring_Strip_The_Forgotten_Bait

Awesome article on the history and use of Herring Strip. I don't use it often except in Aug & Sept. I have gone back to using it the last couple of summers around Vancouver and it still works well. I love Chum, and it's one of the few things they seem to hit regularly in Vancouver waters. A pain to cut, but a great durable bait that survives strikes (and often several landed fish).

Anyone know locations where commercially cut strip is currently sold.

 

[bones]

all i used in local waters last year, all hand cut and produced well. easy to cut, lasts forever and cheap

 

[island idiots]

So just to stir up some interest, way back when, in front of the flag pole at beacon hill park, in 44 feet of water, downrigger at 44 ft, with large strip in a green teaser head, in a strong flood, fathers day, I hit my biggest ever. 44 pound Spring. I was young, using the wrong hooks with the wrong knots and the wrong fishing line.
He ran 3 times. 3 times at the boat, line laying in the water. I'm reeling like mad. When he was finally in the net, and laying in the boat, the brass hooks just fell out, straight as could be.
Sorry to go on, but it was the best experience I ever had, next to a special day in Port Alberni with a dear friend who guided me to a 41 pounder. Memories for a life time....

 

[TheBigGuy]

Strip works great for big springs. All my Tyee from the Vancouver area I've caught on strip. On the west coast I never found it as effective and my Tyees all were caught on gear.

 

[Kildonan]

We used to use Super Strip back in the day at the regular haunts in Barkley sound. I haven't used that stuff in decades.

 

[TheBigGuy]

I started to cut my own a couple years ago because I usually have large frozen herring on hand for bottom fishing. I have always preferred strip to Anchovies, it takes a licking and keeps on ticking (as they also used to say in the old days).

 

[saanauk]

Strips work pretty well behind hootchies as well.

 

[fishin_magician]

I used to use strip a lot...and Herring almost exclusively....while everyone else was rolling anchovies and trolling junk...for me it was cut plug, strip...it was Herring in some shape or form. I recall one morning in late Spring a few seasons ago I cut a bunch and went out on charter in local waters around Vancouver. I elected to fish an area where I had caught a couple of legal fish the previous day. The other 2 guides headed further West. As the morning wore on, the other guys were clearly on the fish and had out produced me with 3 fish each.

About a little over half way through the trip with skunkeroo I couldn't take it anymore, I pulled lines and headed West about 20 minutes. In the next 45 minutes I trolled among the other 2 boats and went 3 for 5. The spoons and Hoochies they were hooking in earlier couldn't buy a bite.

I still have about 25 Strip Teasers tied up in a Zip Lock bag from back when. The Glow and Glow Green were staples. A few years ago I used to get a couple of 5 gallon Pails of Herring from the commercial dock for $20 and would spend an afternoon cutting and prepping enough strip for personal use in local fisheries...sadly...strip is but a memory and uncommonly used despite it's great actions and fish catching properties.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of guiding Tom Davis and a couple of other BC Fishing Notoriety out of Vancouver. That was a fun charter and he and his guests were a lot of fun. We lost a good fish after a couple of minutes and boated a 42 pounder that morning. What a great trip. I remember apologizing to him as I welcomed him aboard since I had Jimmy Gilbert's Krippled Heads on all lines. I remember him saying "That's ok! They work great too!" And he told me a few great stories...

When I was a kid I used to be Lee Straight's paperboy...and it was great learning important things from him.

I feel like the great innovators and classic techniques and tackle have departed us now and are but memories....sadly.

Regardless, the legacies live on in memory and fortunately, in the tackle I use.

 

[CIVANO]

how do you prep herring strip?

 

[fishin_magician]

how do you prep herring strip?

Exactly as described by Tom in the article.

I like it as it's a great way to get more mileage out of a pack of Herring.

I like to fish firecracker Herring...deadly....but damn annoying when there are sub legal fish around.

 

[Derby]

Use too love mooching strip at the Cap mouth..When we ran out of live herring..or for winter springs at the Cap. mouth..

 

[CIVANO]

So you don't brine the strip?

 

[fishin_magician]

Use too love mooching strip at the Cap mouth..When we ran out of live herring..or for winter springs at the Cap. mouth..

I know someone who went out and mooched with cutties and 6 oz...boxed 3....4 years ago in February...That's probably the last time that has happened. Old school to the max....including the K&C and 6 cylinder Mercruiser with an awesome heater... makes me want to go do it!!!

 

[bones]

no brine, run it straight up.. lasts alot longer and i think provides some scent because of the flesh side is exposed

 

[Derby]

I know someone who went out and mooched with cutties and 6 oz...boxed 3....4 years ago in February...That's probably the last time that has happened. Old school to the max....including the K&C and 6 cylinder Mercruiser with an awesome heater... makes me want to go do it!!!

Yup that would have been early 80's thing.. they work mighty fine

 

[TheBigGuy]

Thanks for all the great stories from the past guys.

Like most guys I love to tinker with my fishing tackle. That is one of the neatest things about strip teaser holders. They can be very easily modified to troll exactly how you like. It is not the bend you place in the bait that produces the action. You do not put the hook though the strip at all. That is one of the reasons the bait lasts so long, their is no hook through it to tear up the bait when a fish hits. The bend in the head, and the line exit position are the most important factors as to how fast your bait spins (aside from your trolling speed). Moving the hook more forward will speed the spin somewhat, but then you will miss more strikes. It is better to use a single hook without a swivel positioned near the tail of the bait (in my opinion) to maximize hookups. You can run tandem singles, but then you will have to use smaller size hooks as the extra weight will slow the baits action down.

The heads come in two models the "regular" and the "super" teaser models. The super heads are designed to troll at much faster speeds for Coho. However, you can tailor either model to troll at whatever speed you want. The action produced by the head can be changed by making a greater bent in the plastic or changing the leader exit hole position.

If you want to be able to troll a regular head at a very slow trolling speed immerse the head for about 10 seconds in a cup of boiling water. The plastic will soften and you can bend the back part into a more exaggerated curve. This will put more spin on your bait at slower speeds.

If you take a very small drill bit you can make up to 5 extra holes to change the line exit location and the bait's action. A straightened paper clip heated by a lighter till glowing hot works well for adding extra line holes as well.

Once I have the head the shape I want I customize the head by adding mylar tape. I add reflective mylar tape to both sides, and some stick on eyes. The colour of tape sometimes makes a big difference in the species that responds to it. Silver reflective mylar is a good all round colour for most Salmon species. If I'm targeting Coho specifically with a fast troll then I tend towards red or blue taped heads. The last few years I started taping my slow trolling heads for mature Chinook River mouth fishing with purple tape.

The combination of a modified head with purple tape and a purple haze flasher trolled slowly for springs at the Cap or Fraser mouths worked well. To my surprise I started to get chrome chums on this purple combination rig in August. I'm not saying I was killing the chums on this rig, as anyone who fishes Vancouver knows that the Chums here don't hit very well. The purple combination was getting Chums fairly regularly though, when I was using strip for mature springs. That was just an added bonus because I love the fight from a big chum, and I love them for smoking.

I only use bait for mature springs in Vancouver. Strip was always my go to in the old days, and it still works very well. You don't have to modify the heads at all for strip teasers to work well. I only do that so I can troll them at very slow speeds for big springs.

I'd heard last year that a company had started selling herring strip again on the Island. Is that company still selling pre cut frozen strip, and where is it being sold. Any info on pre cut Strips currently being sold would be greatly appreciated.

 

[advTHXance]

Ive been told I ate my fair share of tiny strip as a child, cant say I remember it first hand though.

Growing up fishing derbies with my dad it was all we used to use. A few people that fish the Sidney area still use it on occasion. Pretty sure they cut their own, and theres definitely a bit of an art to it. I recall a day 2 summers ago that somebody using strip in Sidney outfished our boat at least 5:1, and we were the only other boat catching anything.

 

[Dogbreath]

I'd heard last year that a company had started selling herring strip again on the Island. Is that company still selling pre cut frozen strip, and where is it being sold. Any info on pre cut Strips currently being sold would be greatly appreciated.

Just the plastic AFAIK.

http://www.durabaits.com/ made on the Island somewhere

http://www.mcrocket.com/ made in Ontario

 

[advTHXance]

Does anybody use durabait strip and have success with it? Looks like theyve got some deadly color combos available on their website.

 

[TheBigGuy]

No I'm not talking about plastic strips. A company had started cutting and selling real herring strips again. Maybe they couldn't make a go of it because there wasn't enough demand or it was too hard to find and retain skilled filleters. They only had retail strip sales outlets on the Island, but I'd read they were planning on expanding.