Tested/Testng New Tackle

[Pippen]

Hey guys im new to this Forum. I have been reading it for the last ~2 years & finaly signed up.

I have a question regarding the new AP Tackelworks 5" Herring spoons. Has anyone ran any of them & if so how did you do? I have been using the Sandlance spoons with great success. In fact I have even out fished bait with them.
This summer I will be fishing Hippa Island & hope to spend some time at Freeman rocks. They have BIG herring around there & I was thinking I should maybe give these spoons a try.


Thanks

Welcome to the forum......here, hold my beer.......watch this trick.

@Andrew P Can you shed any insight?

 

[Dorman Point]

I have had success with the blue/glow herring spoon in Howe Sound the past two winters.

 

[fish brain]

I had good luck fishing the green one in Homfray Channel last summer............then I lost it due to a bad knot........ I am going to replace it next time I am in Vic, cuz I think it had lots of potential. No flasher about 40 feet behind the boat

 

[Andrew P]

Welcome to the forum......here, hold my beer.......watch this trick.

@Andrew P Can you shed any insight?

Thanks for the nudge @Pippen! @I Love Haida Gwaii (if that is your real name! ), the 5" herrings are deadly....especially where there are big spawning herring around. You can run them the same speed you would run the sandlance too. They've done well for guys all over and I do know for a fact that they have done really well up in Haida Gwaii too! Because of the size, they are very effective with no flasher on the line and if you do run with a flasher try a longer leader than you would have for the sandlance. For the herring spoons I like to run about 3-4' for the 3", 3-5' for the 4", and 4-6' for the 5". Those would be the summer lengths that I find work well. Thanks. AP

 

[ILHG]

Thanks for the nudge @Pippen! @I Love Haida Gwaii (if that is your real name! ), the 5" herrings are deadly....especially where there are big spawning herring around. You can run them the same speed you would run the sandlance too. They've done well for guys all over and I do know for a fact that they have done really well up in Haida Gwaii too! Because of the size, they are very effective with no flasher on the line and if you do run with a flasher try a longer leader than you would have for the sandlance. For the herring spoons I like to run about 3-4' for the 3", 3-5' for the 4", and 4-6' for the 5". Those would be the summer lengths that I find work well. Thanks. AP

Thank you sir!

 

[TheBigGuy]

Anybody rig their own assist hook jigs. These type of jigs are becoming super popular for jigging in many parts of the world. My son brought me back my first one from Australia about 5 years ago. They are really popular down under and in the far east. Not many jigs sold rigged that way here, and if you can find them they're super pricey. I'm thinking about converting to top rigged hooks on an assist hook rig for a bunch of my old jigs. It should reduce bottom hang ups substantially, and many claim they hook more fish rigged this way.

I was thinking about just using 130lb dacron I already had, but most use kevlar cord. I ordered some 500lb kevlar cord, but it hasn't arrived yet. What hooks and line do you use. Do you add attractors like glow hoochies or synthetics like crystal flash when making your own.

 

[SteelyDan]

Speaking of assist hooks I switch out all the hooks on my spoons for open eye gami #510 assist hooks. Devistating hooks!

 

[tubber]

I've used these black nickle bait hooks from Singapore in sizes 6/0 and 5/0.

Sharp, very heavy wire, will rust eventually if not rinsed and dried. Price is great compared to Owner and others.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/27-pcs-6-0-...f958d88&pid=100005&rk=6&rkt=6&sd=171292859516

I use old 200lb downrigger braid (doubled). The knot is on youtube.

 

[RogersonCrusoe]

While casually browsing eBay, I gravitated to Supertackle's store and noticed that their hoochies are sold with a "quick change" system where it looks like the leader is snapped onto the ring. Anyone use/used something like this? I'm intrigued, but I find tying leaders to be very Zen.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/4-X-20-SUPER...6166&clkid=2653428845197001026&_qi=RTM2247627

 

[TheBigGuy]

I've used these black nickle bait hooks from Singapore in sizes 6/0 and 5/0.

Sharp, very heavy wire, will rust eventually if not rinsed and dried. Price is great compared to Owner and others.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/27-pcs-6-0-Big-Game-Hooks-Assist-Jigging-LiveBait-hooks-Black-Chrome-6-0-hook/181613281305?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=41404&meid=c6057a5662aa496cae76e1632f958d88&pid=100005&rk=6&rkt=6&sd=171292859516

I use old 200lb downrigger braid (doubled). The knot is on youtube.

Thanks for the link to the hooks. They look exactly like the style of hook most recommend. Although I do think I prefer the Owner SJ41 style with the slightly up turned eye. The offset helps the line exit without an obvious kink. I was considering simply using heavy dacron or old downrigger line as well. However, I decided to order kevlar as most sites recommend it for it's stiffness. It's supposed to help reduce wrap arounds on the lure and leader.

 

[spring fever]

Thanks for the link to the hooks. They look exactly like the style of hook most recommend. Although I do think I prefer the Owner SJ41 style with the slightly down turned eye. The offset helps the line exit without an obvious kink. I was considering simply using heavy dacron or old downrigger line as well. However, I decided to order kevlar as most sites recommend it for it's stiffness. It's supposed to help reduce wrap arounds on the lure and leader.

Thanks for the link~~

 

[TheBigGuy]

Thanks for the link~~

I've got lots of links to tutorials and cheap parts for tying assist hook rigs. Most of the parts are not available at Canadian tackle stores. Cheap from the Orient, but long delivery times.

Tutorials:

http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/threads/assist-hooks.2469579/

http://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/making-assist-hooks_topic23478_page1.html
http://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/diy-assist-rigs-for-slow-jigs_topic73395.html

http://www.fishing.net.nz/fishing-advice/how-to/jigging-how-to-tie-your-own-assist-hooks/

http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?PHPSESSID=2jlnh7e070vpkoa7f2189gtoq1&topic=63.0

http://www.hooked-magazine.com/extras/3-tying-an-assist-hook


Many YouTube videos suggest using super glue to hold the knot. I always prefer to use melted glue sticks to secure everything inside heat shrink tubing as one solid unit. You can buy marine heat shrink tubing with melt-able glue inside, but it is very expensive. I prefer to use a glue gun with a heat gun on shrink tubing, (but a hot hair dryer will work as well). I do not like using a lighter as it can burn the tubing and the line.

Video demonstration below (Spanish):

Cheap assist hooks:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=50pcs+10827+Live+Bait+Fishing+Hooks+Stainless+Steel+Saltwater+Fish+Hook+2/0-10/0+&_sacat=0

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Hot+20PC+Saltwater+Hook+Big+JIGGING+HOOK+1/0#-13/0#+Stainless+Steel+Fishing+Hook&_sacat=0

Solid Rings:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Decoy+R-6+GP+Ring+Super+Strong+and+Small+Solid+Rings+Size+4+(5045)&_sacat=0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shout-74-PR...411550?hash=item211b16fa9e:g:h8QAAOSwo4pYNXKa
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shout-74-PR...411550?hash=item211b16fa9e:g:h8QAAOSwo4pYNXKa

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Kahara+Solid+Rings+Stainless+Steel+Size+7+-+350lb+(5725)&_sacat=0

Extra strong split rings:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/HALCO-ULTRA-...hash=item237df8e8bd:m:mbqXLR-MoPiR3gU_5zo6fOw

Kevlar braid 300-500 lb:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Braided-Kevl...hash=item2ef7acad33:m:mokMckyQ6n61uetjX6wABng

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/BLACK-Roll-1...673425?hash=item41a3a99211:g:~b0AAOSwopRYax-I

That should get anyone started cheaply making their own assist hook rigs.

If you want high quality hooks these are often recommended:

BKK jigging hook smodel 8090-6x-HG

Eagle Claw L118 BP

Decoro live bait hook

Gamakatsu Tuned 35

Gamakatsu 510

Jigging Master bait hooks

Mustad 10827 Live Bait Hook

Mustad 92553S beak hooks

Owner SJ41

Owner SJ-38

Varivas seriola

VMC dynamic 7360R

VMC 9260PS

VMC 7264OB

 

[TheBigGuy]

I am considering rigging all my 8-10 inch Hali hoochies with the Kevlar cord rather than 100-300 lb mono. I would be able to swap out hooks if they got rusted using a simple loop to hook connection. Or if I rigged it to a swivel at the nose, the swivel could be removed with a loop connection and the whole rig could easily be swapped out. Two other advantages using the cord over heavy mono I think. The cord is more supple than 120 - 300 lb mono I use and might not be felt as easily if mouthing the bait. Unlike plastic you can soak cord in scents and they absorb the scent. It may seem bizarre but in Alaska guys use gangion cord for Hali leaders and soak them in herring oil. Does anyone know if Herring oil is sold here? Just a thought, but I'm going to play with it when all my assist tying stuff arrives.

Anyone use Kevlar cordage for Hali leaders.

 

[TheBigGuy]

Hi guys just looking for some opinions out there. What are your favorite Jigs for bottom fishing these days. What weight jig and line test in spectra are you usually running to fish Hali/Ling. The Gibbs floorwalker was one of my favs. It is still in the Gibbs catalog, but I haven't seen it in stores for a long time.

My kid has raided my jig supply and I'm looking for some reasonably priced alternatives to restock a decent assortment of bottom lures. Not looking for plastic tailed Jigs, just metal body bait fish imitations that can reach 300-350 ft depths if working deeper water. Any suggestions appreciated.

I will be converting to top rigged assist hooks on all of my Jigs, so Jigs with even weight, mid weighted or bottom weighted are probably the styles I'm looking for. I'm not really looking for lures that are top weighted with the bulk of the lures body weight near the head or eyes.

 

[ILHG]

Hi guys just looking for some opinions out there. What are your favorite Jigs for bottom fishing these days. What weight jig and line test in spectra are you usually running to fish Hali/Ling. The Gibbs floorwalker was one of my favs. It is still in the Gibbs catalog, but I haven't seen it in stores for a long time.

My kid has raided my jig supply and I'm looking for some reasonably priced alternatives to restock a decent assortment of bottom lures. Not looking for plastic tailed Jigs, just metal body bait fish imitations that can reach 300-350 ft depths if working deeper water. Any suggestions appreciated.

I will be converting to top rigged assist hooks on all of my Jigs, so Jigs with even weight, mid weighted or bottom weighted are probably the styles I'm looking for. I'm not really looking for lures that are top weighted with the bulk of the lures body weight near the head or eyes.

The last couple of seasons I have been using the jigs from "Lingcodjigs.com. (attached is a pic). I know its a big debate over ones preference to soaking bait vs jigging, however I can honestly say that these out fished just bait 4 to 1. The Halibut just love them as do the lings. I was amazed at how well they did the first time I dropped them in the water. I take the hook & add a small piece of sdalmon belly to it. Then jig it & its a killer.

** I use the 16 oz jigs**

 

[Dogbreath]

Use up your old mooching weights before throwing down large for anything new.

 

[Ruff]

Use up your old mooching weights before throwing down large for anything new.

Do you have a pic of how you rig them? I have a whole bunch of old mooching weights that are collecting dust and would love to utilize them before I get bored and melt them down to make cannon balls.....

 

[TheBigGuy]

Use up your old mooching weights before throwing down large for anything new.

Thanks for the suggestion DB, but I have hardly any mooching weights left.

@I Love Haida Gwaii -
Thanks for the post, I had seen those online and the looked good.

 

[Dogbreath]

Do you have a pic of how you rig them? I have a whole bunch of old mooching weights that are collecting dust and would love to utilize them before I get bored and melt them down to make cannon balls.....

As you can see I like Glo for bottomfishing jigs.

 

[Ruff]

Thanks DB. Looks awesome! I'm gonna rig a few of those up and give them a try. I agree with the glow for bottom fish. Especially when 200ft+. Is that plastidip or just glow paint?