Springers are in

[huntnnw]

wow! early!  maybe all those lost Japanese boats will mean more fish!

[Tealer]

I was on the river Sunday,me and 50 of my closest friends, saw one net fly all day. Was checked, they had seen 4 by 3pm. It is still early. There are fish around but, still pretty hit or miss.

[h2ofowlr]

It's pretty hit or miss for most.  Only have had one buddy boat a fish last week.  I think they are hitting it pretty hard.

[Blacklab]

Still a little early for me. Know a couple peple that landed one but that was with many many hours. Planning on going out Thurday for *censored*s and giggles, will see what happens. Last year was a big ZERO for me maybe this year I'll do one better 

[TheHunt]

Bill has been on that water soo much and has it dialed in so he can limit his boat out. 

Here is a few things he told me to be successful if you are plug fishing.

1.  Wash your plugs with Lemon Joy with a tooth brush.
2.  Spray the plug with wd-40 to get any scent other then the wd-40. 
3.  Wrap the plug with the cured herring (I think) fillet. 
4.  Test the plug in the water to get that swinging left to right action. 

He also add scent to the wrapped herring.
he only leave the plug in the water for 30 min max.  Then the removes (clips) one and adds a fresh plug.  starting with the 1-4 above. 

 

[TheHunt]

The herring...
He uses only Red an green label.. (What ever that means)

He has a chiped GPS fish finder.  So he uses that to find choke points in the bottom of the river.  He looks at that with the rate of the river to determine if he uses hering or plugs.

He tries to fish only 1 to 2 feet off the bottom. 

[YJ Guide Service]

Great info TheHunt. Hearing and Smelt come in packages that the label is diffrent colors I think because of the size of the bait, but I maybe wrong there.

[Huntbear]

The herring...
He uses only Red an green label.. (What ever that means)

He has a chiped GPS fish finder.  So he uses that to find choke points in the bottom of the river.  He looks at that with the rate of the river to determine if he uses hering or plugs.

He tries to fish only 1 to 2 feet off the bottom.

Red and Green label herring are the best sizes for trolling Springers.  They also come in black and blue I think.

Bill has been on that water soo much and has it dialed in so he can limit his boat out. 

Here is a few things he told me to be successful if you are plug fishing.

1.  Wash your plugs with Lemon Joy with a tooth brush.
2.  Spray the plug with wd-40 to get any scent other then the wd-40. 
3.  Wrap the plug with the cured herring (I think) fillet. 
4.  Test the plug in the water to get that swinging left to right action. 

He also add scent to the wrapped herring.
he only leave the plug in the water for 30 min max.  Then the removes (clips) one and adds a fresh plug.  starting with the 1-4 above. 

 

Yes, this is the process for fishing both the Columbia and the Willamette.  Bob's in Longview carries the Lemon Joy (NON CONCENTRATED) just for fishermen, since you can not find it in regular stores anymore.

Everyone has their favorite scents too.  Some like Anise, some like Krill, some like Sardine.   

[TheHunt]

He also has 12 plugs all ready wrapped the night before and in the refrig so he drives the boat to location.  Snappeds the plug on the rodsand they are fishing. 

He does not touch a rod, bait, or anything with out latex gloves on.

[TheHunt]

I do love the site for talking fishing.  All the other sites are nasty.  YOu can talk about rivers and what you use and no one gets pissy.  The only folks on here are the people who hunt and fish.  Got to love that...

[YJ Guide Service]

We started using latex gloves on the boat and it definitely makes a big difference when it comes to Salmon, man can they smell. My wife washes the reels that morning with the lemon joy along with flashers and plugs everytime we freshen up baits. Seems to work for us

[Mr Mykiss]

OMG!! Here's a springer of a little different color...

[carpsniperg2]

The springers seem to very very sensitive to human scent. When i started fishing with some guys last year that knew how to get the springers. They were very careful and always used gloves and washed them very well woth the joy soap. This is only going to be my second year fishing springers. I have always been a steelhead and fall fish guy. Those springers are so dang tastey!

[cohoho]

And Robo makes fun of my Purple Gloves....  It is all I wear and always have to include doing it in AK.  Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but when a fish can find it's way home by smelling the river it was raised in, they have a serious sense of smell and thus any contaminants on your hands will transfer to the bait and down not the water... Wasn't risking it, now it is habit.... Good stuff guys.  I wash every plug and then store them in a plastic box that was also washed... Of course I used eggs a couple years ago and slayed them hard core.  Here seems not alot use eggs and that was the only thing I used in AK, unless in the salt...    Everything is cut plug, granted alot are successful for sure, but try and put eggs on one rod and bait the others as here in Washington style and see which ones gets bit more..  Just my two sense as it worked for me..  The eggs would be a brilliant red cure with balls about the size of quarter.  I had a small Pink spin and glow forward to to lift and attack by movement...  Will be hitting spingers here soon for a couple trips..

[carpsniperg2]

I saw a lot of guys using herring wraps last year. One of the better boats I was on, he said to use sardines. The oil is a lot stronger seemed to work well for us. Might be something for you guys to try as well. Also tuna! One boat in the hog line hit them good a few days with tuna.