Post by: OltHunter on August 17, 2019, 09:16:07 PM
I feel comfortable with all of that, but I'm curious how you all get to a spot and decide it's time to move if it's not productive? I've been trying the before work trips so usually have 3 to 4 hours on the water and focusing on the hour or 2 before and after a tide change.
I went to Jeff's head for the 10 closure and was dealing with grass and sticks most of the time, didnt find any bait, and had 1 hook up that shook on the surface.
Now I know a bite can all of a sudden turn on, but how are you deciding if it's time to stay put or try a new spot?
Are you trolling around 5 to 6 mph first before you drop gear to scout it out?
Are you giving it a few passes with gear in before pulling up and leaving?
Or are you just picking a spot and hashing it out win or lose till you got to go?
Thanks all!
Post by: Crunchy on August 17, 2019, 10:55:39 PM
Post by: skidynastar33 on August 18, 2019, 12:20:20 PM
Did the bite turn on? Did they not like the plugs? I am not totally sure. I usually work spots depending on tide.
Post by: hollymaster on August 18, 2019, 01:52:26 PM
Post by: Stein on August 18, 2019, 05:58:50 PM
I would tend to stay put until it's obvious it isn't going to happen or you have too much grass or dogfish. If you can't keep the grass or dogs off your line it doesn't matter what else is going on.
For most seasons you can pull out binos and see if there are fish being caught within eyesight.
I rarely make big moves as the time and gas and odds of it actually being better almost never pencil out. Moving from one side of a bar to the other or around an area sometimes pan out but I place a ton of value in having hooks in the water in fishy areas for the most amount of time possible.
Post by: blackpowderhunter on August 20, 2019, 07:26:19 AM
Just gotta take time and learn areas for different parts of the tides, have them in your game plan, and go fish!
you'll have good days, and bad days, but as long as you're learning during both days...you'll be all good.
have fun, it's fishing afterall :tup:
Post by: gasman on August 20, 2019, 06:26:45 PM
Found trolling with the tide works best and "Salmon University" has great maps of the PS on where and how to fish. As well as John Martinez, "Saltwater Journal".
Post by: jeffro on August 20, 2019, 06:58:20 PM
Marking fish and or bait will make me stay put.
An over abundance of seals will make me pull-up and run elsewhere. Usually dragging coho flys at about 10mph, the seals will follow. I lead them to the biggest concentration of boats I can see and then run back to my spot at 50 mph
If I’m marking fish and there is lots of grass and debris, I’ll switch to mooching jigs, herring and buzz bombs.
Post by: CP on August 20, 2019, 07:47:49 PM
If you ha e a good depth sounder and know how to read it.
Marking fish and or bait will make me stay put.
An over abundance of seals will make me pull-up and run elsewhere. Usually dragging coho flys at about 10mph, the seals will follow. I lead them to the biggest concentration of boats I can see and then run back to my spot at 50 mph
If I’m marking fish and there is lots of grass and debris, I’ll switch to mooching jigs, herring and buzz bombs.
I'm sure the other fishermen appreciate your generosity.
Post by: OltHunter on August 20, 2019, 09:44:23 PM
But I was just curious how you all were determining when to stay or when to go or if you did any "scouting" trolling without gear in the water. It seems like I've seen a few boats, come screaming in around me, then move around in the water like 6 to 10 miles an hour and zig zagging around, with no gear in the water.
I think based on opinions, it doesn't make sense on short trips to pull up and run to a whole new spot when the grass, seals, or bait isn't playing well. Just move deeper, shallower, or east, west to try and bracket something different. I might try maybe doing a quick high speed check out of grass and bait first, but makes sense to just have the gear in the water and see what happens!
Post by: gasman on August 21, 2019, 01:18:34 PM
We have our normal spots here around Tacoma we fish, and crowds will send us else where. Running from one spot to fish to another is seldom more then 10 minutes away, so it's not uncommon for us to fish 3 or 4 different areas a trip.