cut plug herring

[CIVANO]

Is it easier to rig and get the spin you want with cut plug rather than rigged whole herring? It seems like it would stay viable longer whole?

 

[fishin_magician]

Roger that on the low to high , I try to not pierce the spine but come through the back as close as possible on the opposite side,seems to work for me. As for flasher I have never run an inline with a cutplug, I'm sure with a long enough leader it would work fine , but I was always taught to fish them 6-8' above a dummy attached to the cannon ball.


P.s Fishin_Magician - get off you're high horse and give the guy some of your wealth of information since you're gods damn gift to fishing . You make yourself look pretty bad with comments like that when people are just trying to help another out .

Adanac, the other threads cover it. It's not about being on a high horse.

there's a ton of misinformation on these threads about cut plugging and as an experienced cut plugger you know that.., these threads are just that-a good portion of these posts are misinformation...--rehashes of misinformation putting people off the reasons why cut plugging when done right is so effective. I can see why some people get on these boards, try the other guys "this worked for me" and end up not catching. that's my issue with these rehash threads.

The "you don't do this, you do that" and " your hooks sizes are ridiculous" quarrelling is not helpful to people looking to try this technique. Some of the other comments about "only troll with the current" really annoy me.


I just imagine some eager novice headed into the tackle store spending good money on 2 packs of whole herring, spending money on Owner and Gamakatsu Hooks, buying swivels, buying a bait box, salt, Bluing, pouring in milk, yada yadda yadda only to go out and blow the bait out trolling way too fast and not having proper action on the bait, etc fishing in the wrong location blowing big money on gas for nothing.

I'm not going to recommend any one video on Youtube, but there are a couple of short videos done by Lodge dockhands or guides which do a good job and say what needs to be said.

 

[SpringVelocity]

Kinda gotta weigh in. What a great thread! If I could add my two bits it'd be:

- Use well brined bait. Herring responds best to a saturated liquid brine IMHO.
- In Nootka Sound you'll likely have a bit of company. I find mooching in a pack of trollers pretty much impossible, and is kind of rude as well.
- When trolling, use a fair bit of distance (10 - 20 pulls) behind your clip, and then power mooch the cut plugs anyway. It'll depend on the tide situation, but shifting out of gear for a while to let em slow right down, then kicking back in to gear can be really deadly. The issues arise if you leave it out of gear too long and your cut plug passes your cable...you'll see.
- Mooch or troll downstream, never try to drag a cuttie up tide.
- I always cut the a-hole out.
- I usually start with one large and one med herring on either side. Some times they want them all big and sometimes all small. Usually it doesn't matter.
- Staging fish like XL cutties.
- If you're planning on C&R, don't "feed" the fish too much. It'll hook it by the throat making a clean release a challenge.
- 'nuff said about how to get the cut plug to roll. Not much I can add to that.

Good luck and have fun!!

CP

Have you ever done it our area CP still? I always have been curious to try in late August just for fun... I know they do in renfrew still quite a but I don't know it wouldn't work down here...

 

[Chuck]

A lot of good info that I believe works for the posters.
I will be taking this info to the water and find what I can build confidence with. Might be what others use or might not. Have to see what works in my boat..
I do appreciate all the input I have read.

Great thread for the less experienced..

 

[seadna]

Is it easier to rig and get the spin you want with cut plug rather than rigged whole herring? It seems like it would stay viable longer whole?

Personally, I think it's easier to get the spin you want with whole herring as it's easier to adjust the spin if needed. Whole herring generally keeps viable and good looking longer which can be really helpful on those slow days of trolling the kelp beds for larger springs. That said, either technique when done well will produce a bait that catches fish. I used to do a lot of cut plug, but these days mostly fish whole herring.

 

[Samnjoe]

Opposite of the old days at Wilf Rock.
All the cut pluggers cursing the 1 or 2 guys buzzing thru the crowd with downriggers.

I don't advise dragging cutplugs slowly where everyone else is trolling....they will run you over

 

[Derby]

I remember those days...miss them too....

 

[Capt_Ed]

Personally, I think it's easier to get the spin you want with whole herring as it's easier to adjust the spin if needed. Whole herring generally keeps viable and good looking longer which can be really helpful on those slow days of trolling the kelp beds for larger springs. That said, either technique when done well will produce a bait that catches fish. I used to do a lot of cut plug, but these days mostly fish whole herring.

When I ran the lodge in the Charlottes ( and it will always be the Charlottes to me) whole herring is all we used and we caught more fish than the rigger boats.

 

[nicnat]

I remember one day guiding in the charlottes, the fishing was fast and furious non stop spring action, we were all cut plugging, back at the dock cleaning the fish a few of us found that they were also feeding on the discarded cut plug heads, soooo the next day out for a laugh I put a rod down with just the head on, another guide did the same and sure enough we got fish with just the head, not as many as the other rods mind you, lol. when they are feeding and lots of action you don't need to be as finicky as you do when it's slow and you may only get into a few a day.btw I do not recommend using the heads , lol. one thing I will recommend though is to handle your bait as little as possible when baiting your double hook set-up, the more ya fiddle the more scales you knock off and human scent ya put on the bait. watch the lodge videos fm recommended

cheers and gl nicnat

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

I'll chime in. I have been lucky enough to cut plug with some very talented guides in Haida Gwaii. Very exciting way to fish. One noticeable difference that is stressed over gear is if the fish hits and misses he will very often come back for a second shot so patience is key.

Its a good idea to leave your bait down and don't set the hook until you feel a take. Also, when it comes time to check your bait, a slower steady retrieve can trigger a strike on the way up...and slow a steady lowering of the ball will preserve your bait and often get a strike. Hang on tight.

 

[Confused]

Personally, I think it's easier to get the spin you want with whole herring as it's easier to adjust the spin if needed. Whole herring generally keeps viable and good looking longer which can be really helpful on those slow days of trolling the kelp beds for larger springs. That said, either technique when done well will produce a bait that catches fish. I used to do a lot of cut plug, but these days mostly fish whole herring.

What is the recomended way to rig a whole herring?

 

[Confused]

Personally, I think it's easier to get the spin you want with whole herring as it's easier to adjust the spin if needed. Whole herring generally keeps viable and good looking longer which can be really helpful on those slow days of trolling the kelp beds for larger springs. That said, either technique when done well will produce a bait that catches fish. I used to do a lot of cut plug, but these days mostly fish whole herring.

What is the recomended way to rig a whole herring?

 

[Aces]

Opposite of the old days at Wilf Rock.
All the cut pluggers cursing the 1 or 2 guys buzzing thru the crowd with downriggers.

Yup, i was one of those cut pluggers starting in 1985 and was horrified when those guys trolling showed up

 

[seadna]

What is the recomended way to rig a whole herring?

I like this method - [P7tXyJTngXc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7tXyJTngXc

 

[seadna]

I remember one day guiding in the charlottes, the fishing was fast and furious non stop spring action, we were all cut plugging, back at the dock cleaning the fish a few of us found that they were also feeding on the discarded cut plug heads, soooo the next day out for a laugh I put a rod down with just the head on, another guide did the same and sure enough we got fish with just the head, not as many as the other rods mind you, lol. when they are feeding and lots of action you don't need to be as finicky as you do when it's slow and you may only get into a few a day.btw I do not recommend using the heads , lol. one thing I will recommend though is to handle your bait as little as possible when baiting your double hook set-up, the more ya fiddle the more scales you knock off and human scent ya put on the bait. watch the lodge videos fm recommended

cheers and gl nicnat

I fished with head just down drift of party mooching boats in the ocean. With 15 -20 guys on board all getting rigged up with cut plugs, a lot of heads were going into the water. In that situation, heads alone worked really good.

 

[Tyeefisher]

Ran into a lot of head munching chinook and coho back in the old mooching days in Seymour Narrows. Bait is bait and a salmon in fast turbulent water doesn't have the time to decide whether it is rolling right or even whether it should be longer or whatever. I noticed that ever so often the bait would be right below the boat anyway and the salmon would be up high in that layer not down forty or sixty pulls. A few guys used to pull the lions share of big tyees out of the narrows and they were fishing a lot shallower than they were letting on. Even to the extent of having guests faking pulls off their reels in order to fool other guides who fishing right beside them.

 

[Mike_R]

I also used to manage a couple of floating lodges, one unguided where cut plug was used almost exclusively, one guided where downriggers were used. Some guides swore by hardware, some by bait, both would do well, but not always on the same day.

In addition to tips already mentioned, I try to handle my bait gently to minimize knocking off scales, wetting your hands first seems to help. I also use a sharp knife to get a sharp, clean cut, this seems to help with the baits action.

Seems like I'm lazier nowadays and tend to fish with hardware more, I also started fishing with strip lately and like the durability of it.

 

[The Jackel]

Yup, i was one of those cut pluggers starting in 1985 and was horrified when those guys trolling showed up

And now you have gone over to the dark side, trolling bling at mach 4, such a shame

 

[The Jackel]

And now you have gone over to the dark side, trolling bling at mach 4, such a shame

Yup, i was one of those cut pluggers starting in 1985 and was horrified when those guys trolling showed up