Key Tips To Consistent Mature Chinook Hook Ups

I hear Roland is going to be offering a "how to spin herring " seminar standing room only now as first one is sold out.....LOL LOL
 
I hear Roland is going to be offering a "how to spin herring " seminar standing room only now as first one is sold out.....LOL LOL

Ha, ha. Good one Wolf. :D One thing I did notice was the herring being a wider flatter body (not torpedo shaped like an anchovy) it did seem to spin slower. Is that a good thing? I don't know but I'm sure you guys will have an opinion!
 
That will stir up a lot of opinions, Ford vs Chev etc.
some prefer a slow loopy roll, others a drill bit roll.
I'm a hardware guy, so my opinion don't count.:p
 
If a salmon was smart enough to pick up on L-serine, wouldnt it notice the fancy helmet the anchovy is wearing? Hooks? Flasher? You'd have to wear gloves throughout the entire process of setting up your gear?

I personally like using scent but am more concerned about it when using plastic and metal. Using bait is using scent.

Fish with whatever gives you confidence..... Like wearing sweat pants and a beer t shirt.

Hambone,

It is nothing to do with "smarts". You are confusing the capability for sensitivity to smell with "smarts". An eagle has better eyesight than us but that does not make him smarter. Dogs have a better sense of smell than us humans but that does not make them smarter (except maybe they are smarter than extreme right wing Republicans LOL:)

Anyway on the L-serine/ sensitivity to smell capability. Four things-

1) Salmon find their way to the natal streams by "smell" - this is a proven scientific fact. They are imprinted as smolts and that is how they find their way back to the local stream (I don't mean they find their way all the way from the Bering Sea by smell - long distance navigation is different. I mean that is how they turn into the correct estuary).
2) Even if it was a lab study that proved the sensitivity to L-serine, the capability exists!
3) Some people have different levels of L-serine in their sweat. If you are one of those guys with hard calloused hands like sandpaper, then maybe you don't have to worry. Unfortunately I am not one of those guys.
4) There would not be so many fishing articles about this effect if it did not have an impact (see my earlier post), nor interest in, and sales of, scents. (Not that I'm playing with those)
 
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Englishman you're falling into the mindset that happens to a log of anglers after a couple of years, they start to over think it. They start messing with adding scents, customizing tackle, black boxes looking for the new latest and greatest yada yada. The angler starts to thinks that the more complicated he makes it, the better the results will be.

The L-serine thing is clearly fact in a lab setting, but did you even read the study? It's done in an aquarium and not with fish that were actively feeding.

L-serine is a non issue, a red herring.


Look around at what others are doing, do you see any of the top sooke guides wearing gloves or anyone else catching fish for that matter? That's all you need to know.
I hear you Rum Buddies. There is a danger of over thinking. There are several factors that are much more important and guys on here have made some really good posts to explain those.
All I am saying is, I take this factor into account as well. Several guys on here have said pay attention to the little things, and that it is the details that make a difference that matter.
The scientific evidence is incontrovertible. This may be a little thing but for me I believe it does make a difference. Maybe not for others, but for my metabolism it does.
Meanwhile, I will concentrate on learning where the fish might be on any given tide. Even if all factors are A-OK, including smell, you can’t catch fish that are not there!!:cool:
 
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Roland..when the fish are of the bite..just be there, have gear working properly at the right depth....that is all it takes. The rest is really fluff....honestly when it comes to scent there is only one product that will keep any living thing away from striking your lure/bait/hootchies or whatever...that is bleach. I'm really careful when using bleach in the boat for cleanup not to get it on weights, flashers etc.
 
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:)
 
I'm just getting back into fishing after years of being boatless. I used spoons and 6' leaders and flashers at a 2.2 knot troll around Cape Caution, Bella Bella and QCI. I landed some nice springs my best fish was a 42 lb spring. I've been doing the same with spoons and 602 plugs in the gulf and have been just OK so far. Nothing too big but tomorrow I'll run the 602 and on the other side a glow spoon and purple flasher to see if that pattern works in the gulf too.
 
I think that many of us have got the general locations, the roll and the gear figured out which has led to some decent hookups with a few decent springs. However, for me, the timing of the locations and hookups have been by guess and by golly. I don't get the consistent hookups of springs that wolf or profisher do for this very reason - I don't know where to be and when to be there with respect to current and tide times.

Do you fish in close on a high tide? Do you fish behind structure on a fast current? Do you fish the slack current and when it's slack current, which types of locations are best? These are all things I'm guessing at and know that getting better at this would bring much improvement on spring hookup ratios. Any help on this would be enlightening.
 
I think this is my problem too. But one thing that I've taken away from this thread is that it's not the tide change that's most important, it's the current change. Not sure why this wasn't obvious to me earlier. I guess because so many posts talk about fishing the tide change, not the current change, and I also just assumed they were around the same time, which they aren't. Also, tide change info seems easier to come by for a specific location. Murphy tables seems to still be the best source for current info.
 
I think that many of us have got the general locations, the roll and the gear figured out which has led to some decent hookups with a few decent springs. However, for me, the timing of the locations and hookups have been by guess and by golly. I don't get the consistent hookups of springs that wolf or profisher do for this very reason - I don't know where to be and when to be there with respect to current and tide times.

Do you fish in close on a high tide? Do you fish behind structure on a fast current? Do you fish the slack current and when it's slack current, which types of locations are best? These are all things I'm guessing at and know that getting better at this would bring much improvement on spring hookup ratios. Any help on this would be enlightening.

The factors for learning and knowing that is networking and current local knowledge and the quantity of recent experience. If you fish the same locations and Tacs every day, it gives you a huge advantage in predicting what will be a good location and what time range the bite will come on and at what depth. You can even march the bite time forward as the tide/current change advances.

Further it is remarkably similar year to year in terms of the short day range the various runs of big Chinook are migrating through, migration routes, back eddies and structure holding spots etc. It is experience with a local area that accumulates over years but most critically it is knowing what happened the days before and tying that knowledge in with tide advancement and changes in current and what you see on the sounder on a particular fishing Tac. Are the bait balls tight and on the bottom or in the lee of a reef or point or have spread out and come up and the mature Chinook after them. If you fish frequently and progressive days like most guides do, you learn the patterns, it becomes almost instinctual for them and I suspect they don't even have to think about it too much. They just know what time range to fish where and at what depth and even the direction of the Tac (with or against current) that will get you the most hits based on what has happened in the previous few days. Not to mention their many years of experience and intimate knowledge of the local structures and how to fish them.

Networking is critical but for the most part that is often 'quid pro quo'. Why should you expect someone who has invested a lot of time and money being out their everyday to tell you exactly where, how and when to fish to maximize your chances, if you are not able and willing to provide the same kind of information. That said there is a lot of very valuable and well earned information generiously provided on this forum.
 
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Thanks Rockfish. No one is looking for handouts or specific locations. Moreso just trying to understand the logic behind why certain locations produce at certain currents or even certain times of the day. I'm out everyone weekend, so I have my theories but just haven't nailed down a consistent reason why they are there when they are there. Can't figure out the patterns in the matrix yet ;)
I have started logging the productive times so that I can try to repeat it, but....
 
tides4 fishing, waxing and waning.hear is a song to help understand [video]https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QtwIwAGoVChMIp5Py3vnCxwIVQ5mICh29UwOQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DHkv lrWpsnuQ&ei=P7PbVef3IcOyogS9p42ACQ&usg=AFQjCNGalLWc6Lk9-zpJiocTMSIsJgTmRQfish the bite the rest falls into place with time
 
hey Rockfish--- one of the most succinct logical write-ups on salmon strategy I've ever read. A pleasure to read! And (finally) someone mentions bait balls---not sure I've seen any posts on this thread even mention bait (though if I'm wrong, my apologies)

Quick story--- This summer I saw some guides exhibiting behavior I thought strange--- they dragged their gear from a 30 meter water column to a 10 meter water column (over a reef) and then back out to the depths again, not once reaching for the DR buttons to compensate

That told me they were skimming the top of the water column. And if there was nothing there in the top of the column, so be it: onwards to greener pastures

But the bait balls were clearly at 25 to 30 meters.

After they left to those greener pastures I dropped my gear to where I was seeing the bait balls and picked up 4 springs in 4 drops

Follow the bait---truer words were never spoken.

And your gem ..."march the bite time forward...."---- gotta love that bit of wisdom

You need to change your SFBC handle from Rockfish to....."salmon"
 
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tides4 fishing, waxing and waning.hear is a song to help understand [video]https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QtwIwAGoVChMIp5Py3vnCxwIVQ5mICh29UwOQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DHkv lrWpsnuQ&ei=P7PbVef3IcOyogS9p42ACQ&usg=AFQjCNGalLWc6Lk9-zpJiocTMSIsJgTmRQfish the bite the rest falls into place with time

Haha, that's great! It all makes sense now...
 
www.tides4 fishing.com[video]https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QFjAAahUKEwjM37i7jsPHAhUJOYgKHYFDC-4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tides4fishing.com%2Fca&ei=-sjbVcz6FYnyoASBh63wDg&usg=AFQjCNEq93EaSNnMxlwfF448euScZB_F3A2x a year the clocks change.
 
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A few questions for the pros. Do folks usually leave the kicker in gear and stay at same speed when playing a fish? I have done that some times however if the fish runs away behind the boat you can lose the angle to keep pressure on and line taut. I have also been looking for the Murphy current tables online without success. Are they in print only? Thanks in advance, this is a very educational thread ☺
 
The boat in gear question depends on the situation. Smaller fish and not enough time to clear the other gear...leave it in gear but slowed down. Double header by yourself and bigger fish leave it in gear and try and head away from the other boats, again slowed down a bit. The boat being in gear will keep some tension on the 2nd fish. Otherwise for me if I have a nice fish on once the other riggers and rods are aboard I kick it out of gear and let the client play the fish..not the boat. Fish are a lot easier to get into the net if the boat is stopped as well, especially if you are alone. Murray's table are available at local tackle shops.
 
Professionals take money for there time.I'm not a guide so a bit of a hijack to your question.Motor out of gear?no, nay,never ,no more. always circling the fish and on top of it.If the salmon, trout swims at the boat the opperator must be able to asist with a little more speed or slow to turn and catch up if the fish went the other way.Even the tyee club rowwing guides don't stop rowwing when fish is on.
 
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