Area 9

[fishngamereaper]

Cancel any plans you have for Chinook in Sekiu, they're closing it to Chinook retention plus the Skykomish and Tulalip Bubble. Sorry folks.

I'm up here right now and to many people are bragging about sub legal catch and releases... about a third of the quota has actually been caught and retained..

Whatever.. going back out for big king's again now.

[Stein]

Bubble closure was announced, nothing on Sekiu yet.

[Encore 280]

MA 5 closes to retention of Chinook the 19th according to WDFW website. Remains open for hatchery coho and pinks.

[MADMAX]

Area 9
Big skunk for me today
Jeez
Never saw a net all morning

[WAcoueshunter]

I got a pretty good one early today in 10, but couldn’t find a second keeper king for my daughter. A few coho though. Not many nets, was definitely slower today.

[Mfowl]

Things were slow for us in 10 today. 1 small coho and plenty of shaker blackmouth. Did not see a net worthy fish caught. Fish checker at Shilshole had 20 kings at 1:30pm but 18 of those were from area 9.

[steeleywhopper]

From the reports im getting from buddies they are catching our "Winter Blackmouth" all 5lb to 8lb fish.

[Skillet]

What speeds/wire angle have you all been having success with Chinook?  I still haven't finished my kicker motor steering linkage, but can run the main engine around 2.5 mph slowest.  Not ideal to use the main for trolling, but not the end of the world.


I usually troll at 1.5 for nooks 15-45 degree of angle max, depends on tide flow/ direction of flo
You can try dragging buckets, but that’s a p.I.t.a.fighting fish.
Shift out of forward  constantly to stay slow, bad on gear box?
Mooch, jig, not a bad way to go

Commercial trollers run at 5-6mph.  I rarely troll for Chinook less than 3mph.

No, we don't fish that fast unless it's for albacore.  I fish faster than a lot of guys at 2.7-2.8 knots for kings, but I run less flashers and more spoons than most.  Guys running lots of flashers stay closer to 2.4-2.5 knots.  3.0 knots (3.5 mph) for kings is considered "darn fast."
Coho, add .2-.3 knots, depending.

That said, I think most sport guys fish too slow. Lengthen your tail leader and speed up, you'll cover more water and encounter more fish at the very least.  You are aren't going to outrun a hungry salmon, that's for sure.

Good luck out there fellas 

[WSU]

What speeds/wire angle have you all been having success with Chinook?  I still haven't finished my kicker motor steering linkage, but can run the main engine around 2.5 mph slowest.  Not ideal to use the main for trolling, but not the end of the world.


I usually troll at 1.5 for nooks 15-45 degree of angle max, depends on tide flow/ direction of flo
You can try dragging buckets, but that’s a p.I.t.a.fighting fish.
Shift out of forward  constantly to stay slow, bad on gear box?
Mooch, jig, not a bad way to go

Commercial trollers run at 5-6mph.  I rarely troll for Chinook less than 3mph.

No, we don't fish that fast unless it's for albacore.  I fish faster than a lot of guys at 2.7-2.8 knots for kings, but I run less flashers and more spoons than most.  Guys running lots of flashers stay closer to 2.4-2.5 knots.  3.0 knots (3.5 mph) for kings is considered "darn fast."
Coho, add .2-.3 knots, depending.

That said, I think most sport guys fish too slow. Lengthen your tail leader and speed up, you'll cover more water and encounter more fish at the very least.  You are aren't going to outrun a hungry salmon, that's for sure.

Good luck out there fellas 

Skillet and I have talked about this a bit. I don’t think my times catching fishing going fast are a one off, especially when I’m not fishing cp herring in the dirt somewhere.

Also, I know salmon will hit fast trolled gear because I’ve caught salmon while trolling for tuna. Give it a try and you may be pleasantly surprised.

[Alchase]

What speeds/wire angle have you all been having success with Chinook?  I still haven't finished my kicker motor steering linkage, but can run the main engine around 2.5 mph slowest.  Not ideal to use the main for trolling, but not the end of the world.


I usually troll at 1.5 for nooks 15-45 degree of angle max, depends on tide flow/ direction of flo
You can try dragging buckets, but that’s a p.I.t.a.fighting fish.
Shift out of forward  constantly to stay slow, bad on gear box?
Mooch, jig, not a bad way to go

Commercial trollers run at 5-6mph.  I rarely troll for Chinook less than 3mph.

No, we don't fish that fast unless it's for albacore.  I fish faster than a lot of guys at 2.7-2.8 knots for kings, but I run less flashers and more spoons than most.  Guys running lots of flashers stay closer to 2.4-2.5 knots.  3.0 knots (3.5 mph) for kings is considered "darn fast."
Coho, add .2-.3 knots, depending.

That said, I think most sport guys fish too slow. Lengthen your tail leader and speed up, you'll cover more water and encounter more fish at the very least.  You are aren't going to outrun a hungry salmon, that's for sure.

Good luck out there fellas 

Skillet, when you say lengthen your tail leader, what do you actually mean?
Are you running cut plug with the trailer free?
How do I ou do this if  you are running spoons?
Just curious which spoons are your go for to?

[Skillet]

Skillet and I have talked about this a bit. I don’t think my times catching fishing going fast are a one off, especially when I’m not fishing cp herring in the dirt somewhere.

Also, I know salmon will hit fast trolled gear because I’ve caught salmon while trolling for tuna. Give it a try and you may be pleasantly surprised.

I think you're spot-on.

Especially when fishing coho in a big biomass, I'll skip the flashers entirely and run straight spoons at 3.2-3.4 knots.  Usually #4 Manistee's in some ungodly bright color combo.  I'll also run a hootchie without a flasher on a 1.5 fa leader.  They'll smash it when there are other fish biting the spoons above and below. Spoons fish better faster, and the faster I go the more likely the fish stays pinned while I'm waiting to get to it.  This is the combo for my 200+ coho days, almost every time. 

I don't fish herring unless it's early king season, I'd go broke with the pinks and coho around  Even then I don't fish cut plug, I'll put a 2-day salted whole Red Label herring in an anchovy helmet and run a 6/0 single hook with it.  It fishes longer than a cut plug for me, and the catch rates aren't bad.  I've tried trebles, but I don't like them.  You can see they need to be run with a longer loop to hook the tail, so they tend to tear the bait up a bit faster.  Also, I just think I don't get nearly as consistent of a hookup with a treble as I do with a big single.

* I guess I can't post more than one pic, so this is the one I'll show.  It's the bait rig I use the most in the winter and spring.

[Skillet]

What speeds/wire angle have you all been having success with Chinook?  I still haven't finished my kicker motor steering linkage, but can run the main engine around 2.5 mph slowest.  Not ideal to use the main for trolling, but not the end of the world.


I usually troll at 1.5 for nooks 15-45 degree of angle max, depends on tide flow/ direction of flo
You can try dragging buckets, but that’s a p.I.t.a.fighting fish.
Shift out of forward  constantly to stay slow, bad on gear box?
Mooch, jig, not a bad way to go

Commercial trollers run at 5-6mph.  I rarely troll for Chinook less than 3mph.

No, we don't fish that fast unless it's for albacore.  I fish faster than a lot of guys at 2.7-2.8 knots for kings, but I run less flashers and more spoons than most.  Guys running lots of flashers stay closer to 2.4-2.5 knots.  3.0 knots (3.5 mph) for kings is considered "darn fast."
Coho, add .2-.3 knots, depending.

That said, I think most sport guys fish too slow. Lengthen your tail leader and speed up, you'll cover more water and encounter more fish at the very least.  You are aren't going to outrun a hungry salmon, that's for sure.

Good luck out there fellas 

Skillet, when you say lengthen your tail leader, what do you actually mean?
Are you running cut plug with the trailer free?
How do I ou do this if  you are running spoons?
Just curious which spoons are your go for to?

I mean lengthen the leader between the flasher and the hootch, bait or spoon.  My leader lengths are as follows:

King hootch - from the middle of the settee table to the top of the divider between settee and galley.
King bait - From the far corner of the settee table to the magic marker "X" on the divider between settee and galley.

These measurements make it really easy for crew to cut a hundred or so while they're half asleep.

In reality, I think my king hootch tail leaders are about 38" long, my king bait tail leaders are 44" or so. If I was wanting to speed up my king fishing, I would lengthen those tail leaders.  The reason is that the flasher will rotate faster and impart a faster action on the bait.  Kings, in my opinion, seem to like a less erratic wobble to their baits.  Same with spoons.  A predictable pattern of wobble to the spoon seems to trigger more bites from kings than an erratic one.  It's the opposite with coho - it's my opinon that they seem to want much more erratic motion.

For spoons, I like big brass and/or gold colored hammered spoons the last few years.  Bigger the better, and I hang 8/0 hooks on them.  I don't pull them behind a flasher, but on a 3 fa (18 foot) leader of 100# test line.  As long as I have a few flashers down there somewhere, they'll get close enough to find the spoons.

This brings up a point - I use much heavier leader material than you guys do.  My mono leader to my flashers are 120# test, and the tail leaders are 100#.  I used to play with 80# tail leaders for my bait rigs, but lost too many fish to break-offs.  There's not nearly as much give in my operation as there is in a sport set-up, so I have to level-up the mono.  This causes the tail leader to be much stiffer, and I believe the flasher will actually swing the bait around more with a 100# leader than it will with a lighter leader. Using lighter leaders, you might be able to shorten up the tail leaders a bit to get the same action.  Just need to test it beside the boat to get an idea of what it's doing.

Final thoughts on flashers - it is my belief that the flasher is actually simulating a school of feeding salmon.  That's what brings the fish to the baits, in my opinion.  From afar, a flasher looks very similar to a salmon slashing at baitfish. I typically have as few as 4 flashers per wire (total of 16 flashers) for kings, up to about 8 flashers per wire.  For coho, it's twice that.  For chum, I'll run upwards of 40 flashers per wire, for a total of 160 flashers in the water at once. 

Under that theory, I started using flashers that mimic the fish.  My best king flasher for the last two years has been the blue mirror flasher, followed closely by the purple mirror, then either the purple or blue patterned mylar flashers.  Red is the standby, and I'll use if I need to, but I do believe the smooth mirror finish has upped my king catches.

Now you guys know all the secrets from the Diamond Lil - I'll see you out there on the grounds! 

[Angry Perch]

What speeds/wire angle have you all been having success with Chinook?  I still haven't finished my kicker motor steering linkage, but can run the main engine around 2.5 mph slowest.  Not ideal to use the main for trolling, but not the end of the world.


I usually troll at 1.5 for nooks 15-45 degree of angle max, depends on tide flow/ direction of flo
You can try dragging buckets, but that’s a p.I.t.a.fighting fish.
Shift out of forward  constantly to stay slow, bad on gear box?
Mooch, jig, not a bad way to go

Commercial trollers run at 5-6mph.  I rarely troll for Chinook less than 3mph.

No, we don't fish that fast unless it's for albacore.  I fish faster than a lot of guys at 2.7-2.8 knots for kings, but I run less flashers and more spoons than most.  Guys running lots of flashers stay closer to 2.4-2.5 knots.  3.0 knots (3.5 mph) for kings is considered "darn fast."
Coho, add .2-.3 knots, depending.

That said, I think most sport guys fish too slow. Lengthen your tail leader and speed up, you'll cover more water and encounter more fish at the very least.  You are aren't going to outrun a hungry salmon, that's for sure.

Good luck out there fellas 

Skillet, when you say lengthen your tail leader, what do you actually mean?
Are you running cut plug with the trailer free?
How do I ou do this if  you are running spoons?
Just curious which spoons are your go for to?

I mean lengthen the leader between the flasher and the hootch, bait or spoon.  My leader lengths are as follows:

King hootch - from the middle of the settee table to the top of the divider between settee and galley.
King bait - From the far corner of the settee table to the magic marker "X" on the divider between settee and galley.



These measurements make it really easy for crew to cut a hundred or so while they're half asleep.

In reality, I think my king hootch tail leaders are about 38" long, my king bait tail leaders are 44" or so. If I was wanting to speed up my king fishing, I would lengthen those tail leaders.  The reason is that the flasher will rotate faster and impart a faster action on the bait.  Kings, in my opinion, seem to like a less erratic wobble to their baits.  Same with spoons.  A predictable pattern of wobble to the spoon seems to trigger more bites from kings than an erratic one.  It's the opposite with coho - it's my opinon that they seem to want much more erratic motion.

For spoons, I like big brass and/or gold colored hammered spoons the last few years.  Bigger the better, and I hang 8/0 hooks on them.  I don't pull them behind a flasher, but on a 3 fa (18 foot) leader of 100# test line.  As long as I have a few flashers down there somewhere, they'll get close enough to find the spoons.

This brings up a point - I use much heavier leader material than you guys do.  My mono leader to my flashers are 120# test, and the tail leaders are 100#.  I used to play with 80# tail leaders for my bait rigs, but lost too many fish to break-offs.  There's not nearly as much give in my operation as there is in a sport set-up, so I have to level-up the mono.  This causes the tail leader to be much stiffer, and I believe the flasher will actually swing the bait around more with a 100# leader than it will with a lighter leader. Using lighter leaders, you might be able to shorten up the tail leaders a bit to get the same action.  Just need to test it beside the boat to get an idea of what it's doing.

Final thoughts on flashers - it is my belief that the flasher is actually simulating a school of feeding salmon.  That's what brings the fish to the baits, in my opinion.  From afar, a flasher looks very similar to a salmon slashing at baitfish. I typically have as few as 4 flashers per wire (total of 16 flashers) for kings, up to about 8 flashers per wire.  For coho, it's twice that.  For chum, I'll run upwards of 40 flashers per wire, for a total of 160 flashers in the water at once. 

Under that theory, I started using flashers that mimic the fish.  My best king flasher for the last two years has been the blue mirror flasher, followed closely by the purple mirror, then either the purple or blue patterned mylar flashers.  Red is the standby, and I'll use if I need to, but I do believe the smooth mirror finish has upped my king catches.

Now you guys know all the secrets from the Diamond Lil - I'll see you out there on the grounds! 

Note to self. Bring tape measure when you visit the Diamond lil.

[h20hunter]

Anyone jigging or mooching for  'em.

[carlyoungs]

Anyone jigging or mooching for  'em.

I saw another boat mooching and they caught a pretty big one.