Large Salmon

You would be correct in regards to only a few lodges left fishing the old school plug cut herring and 6 or 8oz ball weight...... I believe one left in Lanagra area and a couple left in Rivers Inlet & Haika area..... Riggers cover the ground & give the lodges and guides more options in regrads to what gear they can fish..... :)
 
I only have one concern over the exclusive use of cut plug in an area where the majority of the fishing is catch and release. Would you guys that do a lot of cut plugging agree that many fish are hooked with the hooks further back in the throat and that often you are cutting hooks off and leaving them in the fish to prevent bleeding. Where as plugs, larger spoons and hootchies are more likely to be found buried into in the lips. Trolled natural baits would follow in the middle somewhere with hooks found from the lips to down the throat.
 
No, not my experience. I fish bait (Whole herring and cut-plug) 90% of the time I'm on the water. The fish hooked in the throat I could maybe count on one hand. They seem to do a swim-by, whack the bait on the way past, then turn and grab for the final hook up, either in the corner of the mouth, or under the jaw with the trailer hook.

I generally fish small tandem-tied singles. Plugs and spoons with larger hooks in my experience tend to do a bit more damage, probably because the gear weighs more while stuck in their face and gets thrashed around more on the jumps and near the boat when they see the net.

In my experience, what should be given consideration in a C&R fishery is:

1)) treble hooks (shouldn't be in the same sentence as C&R; cannot understand why Canadian fishery managers don't agree...down here you can only use them on jigs and they have to be barbless)
2)) netting fish that are going to be C&R'd (saw that this morning out on the water---clearly undersized winter springs, one after another, but these freaking idiots feel they just have to net it, let it flop around on the deck, discuss the length of the unfortunate fish while it thrashes on the deck wrapped in web, then they finally decide to throw back a fish that should have been turned loose while it was still in the water--idiots, every last one of them

Sorry for the politics--fantastic thread going on here!
 
BTW in response to "Fixer" my nickname Profisher was picked simply to reflect the fact that I fish for an income and therefor in the world of sport I'm considered "pro" not amateur. I do have an ego but to suggest that my nickname was picked because I want to advertise that I'm somehow better than others is a bit pretentious. I might be "pro" but that could still make me a number 6 D man on the last place team in the NHL and not Bobby Orr. :)
 
profisher said:
I only have one concern over the exclusive use of cut plug in an area where the majority of the fishing is catch and release. Would you guys that do a lot of cut plugging agree that many fish are hooked with the hooks further back in the throat and that often you are cutting hooks off and leaving them in the fish to prevent bleeding. Where as plugs, larger spoons and hootchies are more likely to be found buried into in the lips. Trolled natural baits would follow in the middle somewhere with hooks found from the lips to down the throat.
Click to expand...

Based on my expience targeting spring salmon.... the big singles that we us off shore with plugs and the spoons are nastiest...anything over a 4/0 91570... Cut plugging a (5/0 x4/0 92568XBLN) generally have been good to me ....a easy cut off if need be.... Cohoes a different story..... I believe hook size is the best way to control fish mort (singles or trebles no matter)and when you got your limit ...time to chase other fish...just my 2 bits... :)
 
Ok, just how many bait rolls are there. I have heard of bullet & tight (the same), wide roll and corkscrew. What else is there? Who uses what?
 
There are many variations of the ones you mentioned. Once you know what a fishy looking rolls looks like, then you can tweak it slightly or a lot and still have something you know will produce fish. I will tell you the guy who I think was a huge innovator when it came to making bait work properly, that was Jimmy Gilbert. He had things he did to bait that blew me away. I was at the Van boat show a long time ago and he was set up in a booth and had a water tank set up with bait being rolled around in a circle. We got talking about what works in different areas. I showed him a roll I use in Sooke and he was surprised that it would work there. He then showed me and the people standing there at the time how he used to fish strip in the Inlet when he was a guide. He started by taking all the scales off it...which had me thinking he is pulling my leg. He then rigged it with a nasty hook made kink about mid length...I don't remember what teaser head he was using. It looked super ugly as he lifted it into the tank to let it spin around the tank. i thought what the hell is this going to do..it looks like something that comes back up after a hard strike and it is totally screwed. That strip dance around like a spoon, darting and flipping around in a very fishy action. He had also used his knife to split the tail into 3 thin slivers so when it moved in the water it had more movement looking like a fish swimming. How he ever got from a great looking piece of bait to destroying it that much and still getting something that would fish is beyond me.
 
Theb55 said:
Ok, just how many bait rolls are there. I have heard of bullet & tight (the same), wide roll and corkscrew. What else is there? Who uses what?
Click to expand...

I love rolling cutplug herring with 8 oz ball weights, nice and slow with lots of turns, right up tight to the kelp. Totally sexy way of fishing, especially when you learn how to suck the fish in after they smack the bait. I like to speed up then cut it back completely and let the cutties drop a little then speed up, take a couple of corners etc... when you get good at it, it's the most effective way to slay hogs in shallow water. The roll that works is completely subjective to each guide, in my humble opinion, as long as it turns its going to catch a fish, although there are some secrets worth keeping in that regard. However, the chovy flasher is the best 'go to' fishing system for salmon bar none. Nothing will catch more springs more regularly, in every water condition or in any area than the good ol' chovy flasher. I caught a 61 and a 54 in the same day last summer on it, dozens of 35lb'rs+ and a few 40lb'rs. But if my clients say to that they want a hog, and they don't care about limits, then I drop weighted cutties everytime and pound the kelp from sun up to sun down, it won't catch you the most fish but it'll get you into the hog. my 2 cents.

Also, here's a little tip for those that would like a little less Coho mortality when spring fishing, tie up your single stinger hook less than 1/2 inch from the bottom of the main single hook. This works great with both hooks in the springs mouth and for the Coho, it reduces the deadly gill plate/leader wrap hook set that longer stingers will do. again, my 2 cents only.
 
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"........Ok, just how many bait rolls are there. I have heard of bullet & tight (the same), wide roll and corkscrew. What else is there? Who uses what?...."

You can surf YouTube for the next two hours to answer that question--- vids of cut-plug rigging, different cut-plug spins, whole herring rigging, different whole herring spins, plastic head bonnets to stick them in, and everything in between.

It is downright silly as to how many different approaches there are to get "the right spin".

A Quote from -steelhead- in an earlier post: ...." The roll that works is completely subjective to each guide, in my humble opinion, as long as it turns its going to catch a fish, although there are some secrets worth keeping in that regard....."

Truer words were never spoken. In my opinion, the best rigging technique and the best spin is the one that gets your bait back into the water the quickest.

Soak time is in direct proportion to catch time. The guys who manicure their bait and trim the tail and pierce the vent and kiss the head of each one before they deploy it make me chuckle. If the bait moves, it'll catch fish. Just get the freaking thing into the water column...

In my experience, if it moves slow (in the salt) , it'll catch more fish and bigger fish. Plug cuts in the river for big springs? Now that's a different story...
 
You know it's winter time when....
 
Definitely don't agree with as long as it spins it'll catch something...there are plenty of spins that don't catch jack...I've brought up bait and its moved in the teaser head and has a horrible roll and on the other rod its non stop action...there's definitely rolls that catch A LOT more fish.
 
I agree junior.... I said nothing of a bad spin... I am incapable of those. ;)
 
Larger Chinooks

Right out of the water.jpgA Larger chinook. Big anchovie, clear green teaser, Aug nite bite 05, No flasher Nootka Light, rod tip 15feet off the rock @33 feet and hour and half fight. 68
 
Best thread ever on this board IMHO. Great info folks. That's what makes this site so great.
 
Was that 68lb Nootka fish lost?? that's an amazing fish!! I think I was there at nearly the same time :(

In terms of targeting larger springs (40+...?), I think that only people who are able to catch lots of salmon (say a hundred or more) in a season or those with vast experience of one specific area can really claim results from their experimenting.

I know of a 2010 fish that goes against what most have said here. A 72lber from a flasher/hoochie combo, shorter leader, from I think 140ft deep :eek:
 
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X3!! I am learning a hell of a lot "lurking" here. Or is that a bad word...:cool:.

Almost makes me want to try fishing cut plug here off Sooke. Never fished a cut plug in my life but read plenty about it in magazines and have some books with the techniques described. Maybe I'm crazy but I'm going to study those vids that Sharphooks talks about and then maybe next summer........??
 
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