Snoho/Sky/Wallace Open for Coho!!!

[Bodofish]

Buying salmon at Safeway?!?!? Ugh!

Seriously, and not to argue with you jonb as you've been a good member of this site for a long time, why would you buy salmon when you're catching them? Are the coho you've been catching all wild? You've really caught my interest now! I'm seeing a thread hijack coming...

In some obtuse way I wonder, does buying salmon in a store encourage and support the commercial netting industry? Vs. sportsmen keeping their own catch?

Canada has lots of limits on where and how salmon can be harvested commercially. One big thing is no power skiffs for seiners and no power rollers for gillnetters and the Govt. actually proactively manage the fisheries, I can't claim to know how they deal with the Tribes and fishing but lets just say they have a lot more fish running than we do now. In the 80's they had quite a thriving aqua culture business going. Yeah, most of the Safeways around here ruin the fish they buy but that doesn't mean they all do and farm raised fish is a good way to protect the stocks and bring the freshest fish to market. Just because Costco decided to not stock farm raised fish is nothing more than pandering to a bunch of kooks that know nothing about the business, the whole dye thing was just ludicrous as they can make the meat any color they want but changing the ratio of shrimp in the their feed. On the whole it's a very eco friendly business It's been done in Europe for many decades, I'd be really surprised if you hadn't eaten some of it in the past.

PS, the Govt also has subsidized the commercial fishermen for ages to keep them competitive globally, its very tightly regulated business. You never see a crappy boat in the fleet.

[strider43]

Buying salmon at Safeway?!?!? Ugh!

Seriously, and not to argue with you jonb as you've been a good member of this site for a long time, why would you buy salmon when you're catching them? Are the coho you've been catching all wild? You've really caught my interest now! I'm seeing a thread hijack coming...

In some obtuse way I wonder, does buying salmon in a store encourage and support the commercial netting industry? Vs. sportsmen keeping their own catch?

Huh, buying Salmon at Safeway?????....

[fisherman92]

First off, I agree with all of your postings. I will definitely keep in mind that not all shared information is good next time, especially for such small river systems. I just know I always like when people post openings on here for my information (even though you can get the info from many other sources). I have seen lots of opening posts on here and enjoy this site for sharing information, especially in a year with such limited fishing opportunity compared to others. I am just trying to let fellow anglers like myself aware that there are more local rivers open now and I was pretty excited (maybe too excited..) about this information. Everybody makes great points in this thread and I am truly sorry if I have bummed some people out. I take no offence and hope nobody else takes no offence to any postings since we are all here for the same goal of catching a few good fish and having a great time out on our river systems.
Tight lines guys!

[jonb]

[Mike Carey]

One thing for, better fish those rivers soon cause they are all going to be blown out in a couple days!

[Goldrigger1]

My 2 cents - I don't like the snagging at all. I also don't like the tribal nets all over the rivers and I don't like the seals in the Columbia. I know this is a selfish view, but it is my feeling on issues like this.

I grew up in So. CA and the fishing there is pretty awful now. I saw the ocean fishery around Balboa Bay go from pretty good for Calico Bass and Halibut to nothing simply due to fishing pressure caused by population growth. At some point we will have to protect the NW fishery or the sportsman will be left out.

[jrodell27]

What's a clear cut way to identify someone snagging? Only been in this area a handful of times and mostly up on the Skykomish and haven't seen anyone doing this yet. What - wide horizontal long swooshing motions with the rod on a weighted treble or something? I'd just like to know how you guys can tell so I can tell if I'm ever out seeing it happen.

[jonb]

Anyone who constantly rips a hookset at the end of every cast. 6feet of more of leader between hook and weight. anyone who sets the hook more than once during a cast. Anyone who when jigging is lifting their rod more than 45 degrees constantly. Salmon fishing is like any other fishing. If it seems off it probably is.

[jonb]

Ill further clarify the leader length comment, say your drifting roe, 18 inches on leader is all you need. Anymore than that and your chance to floss goes up. Adding more leader puts your bair ABOVE your weight which will put it out of the strike zone. If your looking for legitamate bites shorten your leaders.

[jrodell27]

Thanks for the tips and what to watch for. Do you usually confront people who snag?

anyone who sets the hook more than once during a cast.

I guess I am guilty of doing this at times. When I feel a snag or a hang up sometimes I'll jerk the rod straight up slightly to get the weight out of the rocks. Sometimes I just think it could be a fish so I attempt to set a hook too. I guess as a somewhat newer river angler to the area it's a bit of a learning curve to know when it's a snag on the bottom or a fish hitting the offering. There have been casts where I've thought I've almost hung up or gotten a fish on the other end and have attempted to set the hook a few times in one drift. I guess I should watch this technique and work on getting my weights dialed in better.

Thanks again for your advice.

[rpbfishin]

Just trying to show, our little corner of the fishing community is pretty small.

Not trying to stir the pot, but Mike, I must disagree. Please don't try to minimize the fact that you have created the biggest fishing hot-spotting website in the northwest. If not for the reports section, this would be only just another decent fishing forum. And the fact that the hot-spotting is so encouraged is almost as ridiculous as the censorship. Heck, you can't even call someone out in a well-intentioned effort to educate them about it without your response being deleted from the comments section by admin. Your site has done more damage than you might know, or at least that you're willing to admit in public. But I don't blame you. I'll bet its a decent money maker.

I have posted way less than most in my 15 years lurking here and was not even a member for most of that time. I have seen a ton of hot-spotting go on that makes a lot of people sick, myself included. Like many others, I admit that I have not always been the the ever-striving-to-be-better ethical angler that I am today, but we live and we learn.

Please Mike, know that I don't intend to personally offend you with my above comments. Having met and talked to you in person a time or two, I know that you are a very nice guy and that you do extremely meaningful, selfless work for a living, and there's a lot to be said for that in itself.

I also understand that you will probably ban me for this, but I felt the need to speak up about that comment because I think you know its bogus.

[jonb]

pulling your gear out of the rocks is normal it isnt snagging. Snagging is yanking multiple times per cast without hitting bottom. Often evenly timed. Its becomes blatantly obvious with experience. One piece of advice i have though is if your constantly hanging up on bottom your doing it wrong. Try another technique.

[jonb]

Snagging is attempting to force your hook into the fish instead of letting the fish take the bait/lure. Perhaps thatll give you a better idea of what were taking about.

[jrodell27]

@Jonb - thank you and gotcha. That's exactly what I was thinking "snagging" was all about. Timed long pulls trying to foul hook the fish. Thanks again for your help.

PS: I think you're on to something about "doing it wrong"! I was snagged up a handful of times until I dialed in the pencil lead weight and that helped. Once I snipped some off the snags weren't as bad although I did get some grass a couple more times. When you say, "doing it wrong" do you casually mean something with my rig or that the water conditions should have presented another technique to fish for (say, float fishing instead of drifting).

[jonb]

I use and own 0 pencil lead. I swing spoons and spinners and twitch jigs. Very rarely ill float fish and catch litterally 100s of salmon per year.

[jrodell27]

@Jonb - interesting! You must have the art of the drift down pat! Do you mind me asking if you weight down your lures at all when drifting or is it more of a free drift type setup? Are you running a light rod for those types of offerings? I only have a couple boat rods and a single salmon rod right now that has a medium action. I struggle throwing light gear and my trout rods just won't hold up to any salmon if they hit it. I might have to invest in a lighter action rod so I can try those techniques as well. In order for me to get a good cast I'm usually adding a couple large piece of split shot to my main line and running a 2' leader to the spinner or spoon. Not getting much luck on those yet. Sorry for the 1,000,000 questions.

[spokey9]

What's a clear cut way to identify someone snagging?

unfortunately most times you cant judge snagging based of the rig being used. In my adventures I've seen spoons & spinners, free drifting eggs, various float setups all being used to intentionally snag fish along with the "drift rig" with oversized or hooks or excessive leaders. Identifying a snagger is more about watching the intent than the how they're "fishing". Unless you see a treble wrapped in pencil lead, that's easy to spot as a snagger.

Done properly though drift fishing isn't snagging or flossing, unfortunately most don't take the time to learn the proper way to drift fish.

[jonb]

Jrodell, i dont drift fish at all. I find it inferior IMO. For twitching i use a short fast action (stiff tip) spinning rod, typically 6'6 lined with 12lb maxima ultra green monofilament. On the pointy end is usually a 3/8th oz twitching jig (marabou, rabbit fur or plasic grub) for a spoon rig i go with a 9 ft fast action spinning rod lined up with 17lb braid then i use a bumper of 6 ft of 10lb monofilament (this makes it easier to break off if you get snagged up on bottom.) and on the pointy end of things is a 2/5th oz or 2/3 oz bc steel spoon or size 3-5 blue fox spinner. No sinkers, swivels or leaders on either set up.

[Mike Carey]

rpbfishin,

Thanks, I would never ban someone for posting their opinion in a civil manner.

I and our mods make no apologies about deleting comments and people that harass the members that post reports. Or even post public criticisms, no matter how well intended. The last thing someone wants to see is their enthusiastic fishing post being criticized, especially by people that never post their own reports.

As to damage, your opinion, which I and many others don't share, but to each their own. My point of view is very different. We provide anglers a valuable tool to learn about and discover new fishing methods and opportunities. I'd call it sharing the wealth, and I'm glad to have been a small part of it. So much great information has been shared freely over the years on this site.

Obviously if you've been lurking for 15 years you're as interested as everyone else. When I find something that irritates me I don't come back, so there must be something you enjoy about the site.

Good Lord willing we'll be at it another 15 years.

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OK, back to drift fishing. Another variation that hasn't been mentioned is rather than using pencil lead to try slinkies. The plus is much less hang ups. The negative is less feeling of the bottom because the slinky is sliding along (most of the time) vs. tick-ticking along.

Drift fishing is how I got my first steelhead and how I fished for steelhead the first few years, until I got a boat. Nothing more exciting than feeling that take on drifted gear.

[riverhunter]

I'm gonna have to disagree with drift fishing being inferior. While yes there is those that use it for snagging there is others that do it the right way. I don't use long leaders usually staying under 3 ft depending on what I'm drifting and only use the minimal amount of lead to barely tap bottom every few seconds. I mostly drift fish dick nites and at times slowly reeling in to give action to lure. Most of my bites are fast and furious. Now I also enjoy drift fishing eggs as that puts them in the right strike zone with only about 1-2 ft leader at most. Personally I don't twitch as often simply for the fact of foulhooking. That being said I've caught countless of steelhead drifting small beads and believe me its a subtle bite. Don't use glow beads or off the wall colors. I'm simply matching the hatch with colors that look like small single eggs and always use some sort of scent. While it takes time to learn the feel of the bite they do bite. For different salmon species I use different techniques and light rods I won't go into detail as that should be saved for another forum. While I enjoy throwing spoons, spinners and do twitch at times that can become exhausting. That being said each his own and shouldn't be judged out on the water as to what is inferior or not. Like jonb said guys setting hooks to often or timely are usually snaggers. Guys throwing leaders 4 ft or longer with just a corky and hook are usually flossers salmon fishing to me is an art an we all have different tools we enjoy to use the most. Like mike said slinkys are the way to go. You don't hang up as often and are lighter than solid pencil lead or at least the sizes I use. I also enjoy seeing my float go down with my favorite colored jigs or even some good roe