Hunting Washington Forum

Other Activities => Fishing => Topic started by: CP on July 22, 2025, 12:23:17 PM

Title: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: CP on July 22, 2025, 12:23:17 PM: Anyone fish this way? I'm thinking just lock into a spot and jig or cast spoons. Should work great for pinks and for coho if you can find the right spot.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: O. Nerka on July 22, 2025, 01:52:30 PM: Man I was wishing for this fishing jigs last weekend for kings. I had the spot figured but the wind or tides made it a bit of a fight.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: Stein on July 22, 2025, 03:04:05 PM: It would be interesting to know if bait and coho stay in the same spot or move with the current. My bet is the latter as I have tried unsuccessfully to find the school by going back to the same spot but have had some success following it down current.

For chinook, it may more of a thing as structure is involved and they may be ducking out of the current and holding more than coho wandering around in 500' of water.

I'm trying to avoid going down the sidescan hole, I have talked with a few guys that have success seeing schools to the right or left and being able to drive over them.

All that said, if the forecast is correct it won't matter much.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: CP on July 22, 2025, 04:07:07 PM: Well, I fell down the spot-lock hole, the Bow mount motor thread turned out to be pretty expensive.

I used the autopilot feature on my one and only outing for kings and I did use spot lock for picking up the crab pots. It’s like having another deck hand onboard, pretty awesome.

Just trying to figure out how to put it to good use.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: ASHQUACK on July 22, 2025, 04:53:38 PM: I use mine all the time. That noted I am fishing a spot/spots that I know fish ball up and actively feed. I've fished these spots for years and years. I'll jig pinks and Chinook using the spot lock. Especially since I can move pretty silently back over the fish if they move.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: Feathernfurr on July 22, 2025, 06:07:31 PM: I’ve always thought it would super nice to use to set duck decoys when hunting solo from the boat.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: Stein on July 22, 2025, 06:08:58 PM: A bit late for this year, but the one fishery I have really wanted one for is lingcod. I think slow trolling around until you spot one under your boat and then locking and dropping would be pretty lethal. I'm sure it's pretty killer at working over structure as well.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: Happy Gilmore on July 22, 2025, 09:20:12 PM: Yes, set your spot lock right on the trolling lanes where hundreds of people are working together and catching fish trolling. Its awesome!
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: hunthard on July 22, 2025, 09:38:57 PM: Actually I'd rather have someone sitting static then have them cut in front of me, especially if they are long lining.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: CP on July 23, 2025, 05:30:14 AM: Quote from: Happy Gilmore on July 22, 2025, 09:20:12 PM
Yes, set your spot lock right on the trolling lanes where hundreds of people are working together and catching fish trolling. Its awesome!

Thanks for the tip, I'll do that. :tup:
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: nwwanderer on July 23, 2025, 05:45:21 AM: Molokai is so special, have 'fun' guys
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: CP on July 23, 2025, 07:20:31 AM: Before I give the trolling lanes a try, I thought I'd fish this spot, and others like it. It holds a lot of fish, but the currents are wicked, it's very weedy and has a series of underwater pinnacles. Lots of herring here and Coho migrate up this shoreline feeding as they go. It also holds a lot of Blackmouth.

Just a thought. Get out of crowds, cast a few lures, listen to the birds, the water and the pinnipeds instead of the drone of a kicker.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: snit on July 23, 2025, 08:04:37 AM: I used mine last year on schools of rockfish after we finished up on halibut and deep-water lings. Fishing along known holding areas closer to the beach, we'd slip along until we found larger schools of blacks, I'd then set the "anchor" on the MK, and we'd beat them up until they dispersed. Then I'd "pull anchor", and we'd go back on the hunt for another school. Maybe we'd travel up to a quarter mile until we found another thick concentration on the screen, and reset again. It was a game changer!
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: GWP on July 23, 2025, 09:03:43 AM: Every time I go out.
I also have Panoptix, but if I had to choose one item it would be the Bow Mount with Spot Lock. I go solo 99% of the time and it makes it much easier to fish by myself.
I will say when it 'Goes Silent' you pick up on it right away. I carry two batteries so I can switch out but usually charge (Lithium) every night on the one I was using but have gone 2 days before charging if it was not working particularly hard.
In high wind and large tide changes I have had it running hard (8-10) to stay put or working slowly fore or back trolling with the current. Mine is an 80lb thrust on a 19' boat, which is overpowered on a lake, but I would not want less on the salt.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: CP on July 23, 2025, 09:19:17 AM: Quote from: Stein on July 22, 2025, 03:04:05 PM
It would be interesting to know if bait and coho stay in the same spot or move with the current. My bet is the latter as I have tried unsuccessfully to find the school by going back to the same spot but have had some success following it down current.

This might be a use case for "Drift mode". I haven't figured that one out yet.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: CP on July 23, 2025, 09:37:05 AM: Quote from: GWP on July 23, 2025, 09:03:43 AM
Every time I go out.
I also have Panoptix, but if I had to choose one item it would be the Bow Mount with Spot Lock. I go solo 99% of the time and it makes it much easier to fish by myself.
I will say when it 'Goes Silent' you pick up on it right away. I carry two batteries so I can switch out but usually charge (Lithium) every night on the one I was using but have gone 2 days before charging if it was not working particularly hard.
In high wind and large tide changes I have had it running hard (8-10) to stay put or working slowly fore or back trolling with the current. Mine is an 80lb thrust on a 19' boat, which is overpowered on a lake, but I would not want less on the salt.

Mine is also 80lb but on a 16’ boat. Yeah, way too much, jerks the boat back and forth. I had to set the “boat weight” to the lowest setting to get it stable. Works great now, doesn’t seem to suck much juice.
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: GWP on July 23, 2025, 02:45:08 PM: I did the same with my settings.
I have wondered a couple times if I should have gone bigger, but I have never thought I should have gone less!
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: CastleRocker on July 26, 2025, 09:53:21 PM: Saw a boat last week that we thought was anchored. We figured he had a disposable anchor as he was sitting on pile of huge boulders. We talked to them at the ramp, and yep, they had spot-lock. Had some nice Lings, and their limit of Rockfish had a few hugr ones in it. I'd LOVE to have it for bottomfishing! We anchor when we fish Halibut in AK, and pulling anchor sucks sometimes! A friend of mine had to cut his anchor loose last time we were there a couple weeks ago. Tide changed, wind came up, got a little snotty, and he tried to pick his anchor loose with his pot puller, and boat got sideways, got to the end of the slack, and had to cut it. Spot lock would be VERY nice when the water is deep, and the bottom grabby. Waiting for the price to come down so I can afford it personally. I WILL have one (someday).
Title: Re: Spot lock in the salt?
Post by: GWP on July 27, 2025, 08:04:10 AM: I will make a prediction that you will regret not getting one sooner after you get one.
I have had one fresh (sold with the boat) and now one salt (Riptide) unit. Once I tried the remote I never even took the fresh water foot pedal out of the bag the remote worked so well.
The salt version (Riptide) does not come with a foot pedal.
I will occasionally use side/down scan to find a spot and lock up over it, but most of the time I am locking up by a Jetty or visible structure to fish bottom fish or flat fish.
I have trolled with it and as others have stated, I will run it for directional control while running the kicker, if I need more speed or am fighting currents, just above an idle in a fixed straight ahead direction but not high enough to engage the pull cord lock, so I can kill it while working a fish then just yank the start cord to get back to trolling again.
I had one “Heading Sensor” (the ‘puck’) fail and after troubleshooting with MK live on the phone they sent a new one out that fixed the issue.
You need the puck for the “Jog” feature that allows you to move 5’ any direction from your fixed location.