Your Favorite Made In Canada or USA Salmon Plugs.

20240304_203720.jpg Quite the long code name on this one,any idea what it all means? RVP is from PNT?
those were the original numbers asigned to those plugs from Atomic as Rob and I worked on a couple model's... the RVP was asigned as Rob expanded and created so many others as time went bye..
We are seemly seen more sardines in are water so I maybe breaking these 2 out this season 😀
 

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One of the factors I’ve found most useful in tweaking plugs is balancing the hook size to the size of the plug. What I’ve found with what comes stock from Tomic is that the small plugs come with hooks too large for their bodies.

These are modified 3”, 4” and 5” tubbies with size 1, 1/0 and 3/0 hooks respectively. They’re also rigged with a split ring and small swivel on the front.

Work fine trolling in the mix of other gear. Wide range of speeds work up to near 6kts. Oftentimes they get hammered off the rigger when the boat is in neutral or near-neutral when netting another fish.

Love them when it’s near full moon and the fish are irritated in late July, August and September.
For most plug sizes, I run two to three times larger than the plug size for salmon, halibut and lingcod. So a 7inch plug I would attach an 8/0 to 10/0. Hook size in relation to body size isn't as critical at the speeds that I Normally run. In saying that running at 1.2 to 1.5mph to get just a lazy slow waggle on my 7's for terminal Chinook fisheries while towing the surface down to 30ft...my hooks are 10/0 to 12/0. I do downsize for specific species and in freshwater applications. I have been plug fishing for 50 years as of this year. I started with my step-dad in Victoria off Oak Bay, waterfront and Sooke, later in life Port Alberni, UCI, Tofino, Nootka, Hardy/McNeil, Campbell River, Parksville/Qualcum, Nanaimo and South. My experience with plugs is vast and I am always listening, learning and paying attention to detail. I don't live in a box and I certainly don't follow the majority. Hope that is helpful and make some sense. 🙂
 
For most plug sizes, I run two to three times larger than the plug size for salmon, halibut and lingcod. So a 7inch plug I would attach an 8/0 to 10/0. Hook size in relation to body size isn't as critical at the speeds that I Normally run. In saying that running at 1.2 to 1.5mph to get just a lazy slow waggle on my 7's for terminal Chinook fisheries while towing the surface down to 30ft...my hooks are 10/0 to 12/0. I do downsize for specific species and in freshwater applications. I have been plug fishing for 50 years as of this year. I started with my step-dad in Victoria off Oak Bay, waterfront and Sooke, later in life Port Alberni, UCI, Tofino, Nootka, Hardy/McNeil, Campbell River, Parksville/Qualcum, Nanaimo and South. My experience with plugs is vast and I am always listening, learning and paying attention to detail. I don't live in a box and I certainly don't follow the majority. Hope that is helpful and make some sense. 🙂

Interesting. I’ve played around with various setups, not 50 years worth of time, but I feel plugs are similar to an anchovy in a way. People find the waggle they like to fit their fishing system.

What I did like about the adjusting the trailering weight to body ratio is that I could get the different sizes to swim in a standardised movement.

I always found that if the hooks were bigger they would more frequently create injuries around the eyes and gills, and leave a bigger puncture wound. There are times where if I need to kill anything that comes to the boat then big hooks are what I use.

Maybe you have some ways around that? Open to ideas.
 
20240304_203720.jpg Quite the long code name on this one,any idea what it all means? RVP is from PNT?
Hi Ryan, as Derby quoted earlier we worked together to create a few plugs and they had custom series TOMIC numbers indicating the recipe for later orders. In the beginning we were just playing around and our ideas seemed to kick off pretty good.

As time went on after the fourth custom recipe I asked Catherine if I could create my own run of numbers, and she agreed. The very first plugs were RVP then the color number. The first number was RVP which was fire eye, fire nose, clear UV, plaid insert, silver under belly. Later adding other back patterns, the numbers started getting long. So it ended up being just RVP with a color number, that is until I added glow under belly, then it became RVP#2 followed by the back number. Then we switch from plaid to iridescent insert indicated by ii at the end of the numbers. So looking like RVP#2-500ii

Note that TOMIC has now added the series of colour patterns to there line up under Custom numbers that work better for their numbering system. If you order RVP numbers, your plugs will be labeled with the new custom number system.

There are over 30+ RVP series colour patterns under the TOMIC Custom number system.

hope that helps :)
 
Interesting. I’ve played around with various setups, not 50 years worth of time, but I feel plugs are similar to an anchovy in a way. People find the waggle they like to fit their fishing system.

What I did like about the adjusting the trailering weight to body ratio is that I could get the different sizes to swim in a standardised movement.

I always found that if the hooks were bigger they would more frequently create injuries around the eyes and gills, and leave a bigger puncture wound. There are times where if I need to kill anything that comes to the boat then big hooks are what I use.

Maybe you have some ways around that? Open to ideas.
Yes, in fisheries that do not allow retention of a target species than I will cnr and I switch to jigs.

Otherwise I am fishing for keeps. As I mentioned earlier in some scenarios that I do use smaller hooks. Also in some zone that I fish they had gap restrictions which forces me to use smaller hooks. I comply.
 
Seven inch tomic #203 seems to catch fish everytime i put it down. Kind of a mother of pearl finish. Usually run it deepest rod when running 4 rods, about 10 feet behind the rest of the gear.
 

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These ones because I designed them. They were a well kept secret until Pro-staff saw my order in the work shop and they went on to be a best seller.
 
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Is it basically a herring aid pattern?
Pretty much. There are some RVP inspired additions. Hard to believe 10 years has disappeared so quickly.
I was in Washington in 2013-2014 and bought the first bunch of Herring Aide spoons and a couple of the smaller Herring Aide Plugs. I tried them up here on my charters a full year before they really touched down in BC tackle stores and I really liked how the pattern fished so consistently.

It was then that I thought...I would like to do some changes and had Tomic paint up some up to my liking for open water large bait fisheries. They kill!

RSG Pesca had a couple of nice spoon patterns I really got good results with locally I am still really fond of and I might custom batch some of the them on smaller plugs next for sh*ts and giggles...and next time I'll have to tell the Tomic gals to keep them under wraps. :D
 
Pretty much. There are some RVP inspired additions. Hard to believe 10 years has disappeared so quickly.
I was in Washington in 2013-2014 and bought the first bunch of Herring Aide spoons and a couple of the smaller Herring Aide Plugs. I tried them up here on my charters a full year before they really touched down in BC tackle stores and I really liked how the pattern fished so consistently.

It was then that I thought...I would like to do some changes and had Tomic paint up some up to my liking for open water large bait fisheries. They kill!

RSG Pesca had a couple of nice spoon patterns I really got good results with locally I am still really fond of and I might custom batch some of the them on smaller plugs next for sh*ts and giggles...and next time I'll have to tell the Tomic gals to keep them under wraps. :D
Very cool. Thanks
 
Woopsy!

More TOMIC plugs.
 

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I want to run plugs up in Nanaimo area this year starting late spring especially when we will be in non retention. Anyone have favourites? Sorry I am totally green to running these.
 
I want to run plugs up in Nanaimo area this year starting late spring especially when we will be in non retention. Anyone have favourites? Sorry I am totally green to running these.
Plugs work year round. 6 an 7 inch in the deep.
 
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