river fishing help- exclusively saltwater guy trying something new- rivers......

[jeepster]

ok so... i have caught more salmon than i can count.... via boat... ive bought a boat... and never been able to justify fishing the river, after spending thousands on getting the engine running percisley the way i want, the downriggers, the saltwater gear.... for years, once the salmon stop running on the salt, the season is over... ive spent all of my spare $ on the boat... my boat is my baby...

all i know are flashers, plugs, spoons, plug cut herring, and downriggers...

 well now that i dont have a job, i cant afford to run the boat this year so i gotta go to plan b....um... plan r rather... the rivers.... i live pretty close to the samish, and the skagit... if i can muster up the cash, im gonna spend a week on the mouth of the skagit in my glasply...

but i wanna go fishing this week and for some reason i am having a hard time believing the huge kings that are super selective on the right color plug, the right size herring, cut at the right angle, going at a percise speed.... will hit a green and purple piece of yarn on tied onto a hook that will just float infront of them and....just happen to get them to strike.................

river fishing is a whole nother language.... i have never fished a river.......... gotta pop the cherry some time....

is it as simple as people say???

[Shootmoore]

Yes and No.  The samish is a basic fishery, float cured eggs under a bobber and hope that you put it in front of a kings nose that wants to bite.  (check the rules on the samish as there are some restrictions on what kind of gear is legal).

Fishing a larger river like the Skagit takes a little more experience.  Figuring out what lures or gear works is only part of the battle.  "Reading" the river is the other half of the battle.  Watching the current for rip lines on the edge of holes, what kind of "holes" hold the kind of fish you are targeting all play an important role in fishing a river.  Metalheads like more current, chum like slack water holes.  Silvers will usually hold up on the rip line of a hole, pinks fill up the entire damn river etc etc.

For the silvers that are running at this time, floating eggs under a bobber is always a good choice, drifting eggs with a corky is also a good tactic.  From a boat pulling plugs or light lures is also a good tactic.  Throwing spoons  and vibrax also work well.  If I am fishing lures I will usually target a hole with a 50/50 wicked willey or chart. butt dicknite and try and pick off any aggresive fish in the hole.  After I have hooked up on a fish or not I will usually switch to a jig and try and pick up the maybe less aggresive fish.

Try river fishing, I think you will like it.  It is a whole new set of fishing skills from fishing the big water.  Although I have fished rivers for years, next year I am hoping to learn how to fish the Salt so I can extend my fishing time.  Like you looking at rivers, I will be scratching my noggin trying to learn an entire new type of fishing.

Good Fishin

SHootmoore

[Dmanmastertracker]

 I was in the same boat when my boat went down last year, I just haven't had the time or cash to get it going. Did very well on the Puyallup last year and fished river's a ton as a kid before owning a boat. Make sure you have a great selection of lead, getting just the right drift speed is critical. Have quick changes ready so you don't spend all your time re-tying leaders as you will lose many in an average day. Don't expect a bite to be very transparent, most of the time you won't be able to tell from a hang-up so false sets are a must. A lot of times it's feast or famine, I don't waste a lot of time fishing holes that haven't produced for over an hour, I move on, you should hit them pretty quickly if they are there. Work from front to back, starting with shorter cast's, often folks overlook the fish that are right at their feet before they cause them to move upstream by walking around in the middle of them. I like eggs for coho and king's and corky's for pink's.

[jeepster]

oops sorry guys (result of a late night posting... i forgot about this post and created another....)

ok so.... what exactly is a hole? is it just a nickname for a good spot or is it a deep part of the river?

seriously... i know this is a sad thing to ask but gotta learn sometime right?

what is the purpose/function of jigs (i have a paintball gun ready for the guy who says to catch fish...)
? do you bounce off the bottom, retrieve and give em some action? when i think jig, i think of a 4-9oz chunk of lead you bounce off the bottom for big uglys... my dads buddy runs em under floats (details are fuzzy i dont know exactly what he does)

i tried floating eggs w chart. yarn but the real question is where.... where is that appropriate? how far up river do i go for it to be effective?

what i dont understand is at the mouth of the river (where i was today) there were TONS of fish heading upstream... 300 yards away in the salt i bet they would hit herring and spoons....  where the fish are, still in salty water... i see people throwing spinners in strange colors i would never ever consider using on the salt.... using funny colored gear.... at the mouth why cant i just float a plug cut herring or something.... or a dart or buzzbomb... or get in my rowboat and troll spoons like coyotes or something.....


maybe i am thinking too much into all of this...

[Shootmoore]

A "hole"  usually means a deep spot in the river.  But it is basically used as a slang term for any spot in the river that fish will stack up in "taking a break" from the upriver run.  It could be anything from a deep spot in the river, a back eddie (sp?) or just a deep channel in the river that the fish use as passage up river(not stacked up but putting the bait in front of fish activly moving upstream.  Also a "hole" will depend on the species of fish your targeting.  A good king hole may not be a good one for metalheads or chum and vise versa.  Some holes have the right stuff for more than one species.

When your looking at new water, your looking for slower current or smooth water to find the holes.  Rip lines where the current is running next to a back eddie (water swirls and runs up river).  This is more for a faster running river as its harder to spot the holes is slow water. 

Jigs for river fishing are usually maribou or bucktail in the 1/4 to 1/2 ounce range.  Some people use lighter ones but I like the extra weight to get down into the strike zone faster.  Most good jig fisherman will cast and sink the jig then "jig and retrieve".  jerk the tip of the rod for action to the jig, then drop the tip back down and take up line, jig, tip down, bring in line.  Most of the time the fish will take the jig on the flutter (when the jig is dropping back down after "jigging" it).  Jig real, jig, weight on the line, hook set.


As far as the samish, I can't really give you any good tips for that spot.  Its been several years since I fished it.  I quit fishing there once it became "popular" and turned from a few locals fishing it to the combat fishing of today.

I hope this is clear, anyone feel free to add to or correct my descriptions.

Shootmoore