Nanaimo Area

[Sculpin]

That's them. I typically tie octopus hoochies with 40-42" leader. That was what to original inventor recommended and it seems to work for me...can't remember his name right now.

Right on. I am with you and Charlie on the 42" thing lol. Lot's of folks on here that go shorter but I think the inventor did his testing and I like to go with that. I run 50# leader material.

 

[jeffywestcoast]

ohhh tastey...do they sell them t-rex at harbchan or do you have to get those at PNT?

 

[Seafever]

They sell those at both places you mentioned in the squid version...I have seen them in both stores.....

However.......Good luck on finding the T-Rex around in a needlefish version........


Got me curious.....in all this time I never knew who invented the "hoochy"..

Who was it?......and is that 42" overall length(including hoochy)? or is it the length of the leader only..

I believe standard commercial is 42" "overall".

 

[jeffywestcoast]

how bout supertackle?..could of swore i saw them in needlefish pattern at the pirate sale.

 

[Degree of Freedom]

Jack James...that's the guy I was thinking of...and I was wrong, he recommends 36". It was a guy I used to work with who guided for many years who first recommended 42" to me when I first took up downrigger fishing...tried it, it work so I stuck with it. Here's Jack James' article. I may start up a new thread on this.
http://www.tyeetackle.com/howtofishahootchie.htm

I've only seen that exact one at PNT...there are similar ones around but that's the killer. Chuck the rest of the crap you've got in your box in the garbage, that's all you need! LOL

 

[jeffywestcoast]

I only have maybe three hootchies i ever run, splatterback green&white armytruck n white pearl.. I wanna see it produce! Have to take your word on it

 

[Sculpin]

Jack James...that's the guy I was thinking of...and I was wrong, he recommends 36". It was a guy I used to work with who guided for many years who first recommended 42" to me when I first took up downrigger fishing...tried it, it work so I stuck with it. Here's Jack James' article. I may start up a new thread on this.
http://www.tyeetackle.com/howtofishahootchie.htm

I've only seen that exact one at PNT...there are similar ones around but that's the killer. Chuck the rest of the crap you've got in your box in the garbage, that's all you need! LOL

Cool stuff man. Start a new thread .

 

[Degree of Freedom]

I only have maybe three hootchies i ever run, splatterback green&white armytruck n white pearl.. I wanna see it produce! Have to take your word on it

funny thing on that is I've given lots of them away to friends after telling them how awesome it is...nobody seems too impressed with it after trying it out.

 

[Sculpin]

funny thing on that is I've given lots of them away to friends after telling them how awesome it is...nobody seems too impressed with it after trying it out.

I have used it many times out at the rat's nose on the WCVI with beyond outstanding results. It does work.

 

[Seafever]

In the article......his leader is 36" but overall would be 40" including hoochy.

Curious where he says don't use single salmon hooks with a swivel because it will cut your catch rate by 50%.
Instead, he says, snell a 4/0 Mustad and use that.

I assume by "single salmon hook with a swivel" he means a Siwash hook,which he says is a no-no.
You wouldn't snell a Siwash.

The T-Rex has been around for years......and has had it's moments of glory.

It goes through phases......a few years back it was the hottest ECVI hoochy you could get.

Then it died out a bit.

Guess it's one of those T-Rex years again..

I've fished then off and on over the last couple of years.....and the green Splatterback would smoke it's butt evry time.....

 

[Sculpin]

In the article......his leader is 36" but overall would be 40" including hoochy.

Curious where he says don't use single salmon hooks with a swivel because it will cut your catch rate by 50%.
Instead, he says, snell a 4/0 Mustad and use that.

I assume by "single salmon hook with a swivel" he means a Siwash hook,which he says is a no-no.
You wouldn't snell a Siwash.

It is interesting. I use a single Siwash and swivel on ALL my hootchies and catch quite a few fish using this set up.

 

[Seafever]

Yes.....very interesting...because in the book "Bucktails and Hoochies", Jack Gaunt (inventor of the Hotspot flasher) goes into great detai about how to rig a hoochy with a Siwash and a swivel.

Here are the OVERALL leader lengths (including length of hoochy) he recommends:-

Chinooks (Winter-fast troll)-----------42 to 48"
Chinooks (Winter-slow troll)-------36 to 42"
Chinooks (Large Summer -fast troll)------44 to 50"
Chinooks (Small Summer-slow troll)-----40 to 44"
Coho (Small bluebacks)-----26 to 32"
Coho (Large -fast troll)-----36 to 44"
Coho (Large-slow troll)----32 to 36"
Sockeye and Humpies ---(slow speed only)----25 to 31"

 

[Sculpin]

Yes.....very interesting...because in the book "Bucktails and Hoochies", Jack Gaunt (inventor of the Hotspot flasher) goes into great detai about how to rig a hoochy with a Siwash and a swivel.

Here are the OVERALL leader lengths (including length of hoochy) he recommends:-

Chinooks (Winter-fast troll)-----------42 to 48"
Chinooks (Winter-slow troll)-------36 to 42"
Chinooks (Large Summer -fast troll)------44 to 50"
Chinooks (Small Summer-slow troll)-----40 to 44"
Coho (Small bluebacks)-----26 to 32"
Coho (Large -fast troll)-----36 to 44"
Coho (Large-slow troll)----32 to 36"
Sockeye and Humpies ---(slow speed only)----25 to 31"

Thanks for that sea fever.

 

[jeffywestcoast]

I think it's time for me to diversify , cant be a spoonman all my life,i think i was turned off hootchies after picking up the "turd" for 12 bucks , never had any luck with it all though the biggest fish i had on last year was on the pearl white hootchie from PNT think i have a few still left in the box.

 

[Seafever]

Jeffy......one hoochy I never leave home without around here is the Green Splatterback Needlefish.......on days when spoons don't work I put that on and it almost always gets a hit.

You cut the fish open and they are on Herring.......but they hit that hoochy anyway.

I run 'em 37" knot to nose behind flasher.

Maybe it's because it has a smaller skinnier profile...I don't know.....

The 12 dollar Dooky Hoochy works good off WCVI I'm told.....

 

[jeffywestcoast]

ya that is kinda what i have been experimenting with bait or spoon one side, hootchie on the other, cover all the bases that way, if they start smashing it hard, i will go to both sides for whatever they are hitting, an i have adopted your single siwash setup, way easier to gaff release the shakers and no more time wasted digging double singles out of the fish or net. tandem setup are a thing of the past for me.

 

[Seafever]

I don't know about anybody else......but If I don't get a hit in 1/2 half hour or so, up comes the gear and I change it out.

On average, 5 hours in the water, I will go through around 8 spoons, 4 or 5 hoochies, 4 or 5 different flashers. (If no hits at first......and I get an 'intuition' that things are going to be slow on that day.

For some reason I find I get better results if both flashers are the same, rather than a different flasher on each side.

Sometimes a particular lure will get a hit...and then it won't work after that.

Some people say that flasher color makes no difference.......but I've ran a lure behind a certain flasher...got nothing, and then changed the flasher to another color with same lure...and whammo.

The Needlefish hoochy is always on deck, ready to go......if other lures aren't producing...

I just keep throwing stuff at them until they bite.........make 'em an offer they can't refuse......

 

[jeffywestcoast]

Sounds good, to me, my friends like to let the gear swim a little longer , but i like about an hour on each, the otherday we couldn't get a bite but then i put the mountain dew flasher and yellowtail down and it was the only thing the produced strikes, lots of shakers but strikes none the less,with the that last spring i took home hit the yellowtail so hard it knocked the black circle right off the spoon. In other news, we have all the bolts out of my powerhead ready for the swap waiting to here back from the guy with the transplant powerhead. Im lucky to have friends knowledgeable in two stroke motors, beer n pizza seems to be quite a motivating factor

 

[spring fever]

I just keep throwing stuff at them until they bite.........make 'em an offer they can't refuse......

Agree with you! I have seen guest on my boat fish the same thing with no results for hours even though the other side is pulling fish. Try suggesting they switch and it's like you told them that there girl was fooling around. No this always works is the usual reply-that's when I usually ask the big guy upstairs to have a little mercy on a poor misguided soul. Not everything works all the time!!! (cept anchovies-I had to say that)

 

[arima arima]

I love to run the same thing on both sides usually but sometimes changing it up can be a cooler for the side producing. I have trolled for an hour with one side killing all the fish changed the other side out to match it just to be shut down on both sides, changed back to original and started producing again. Fishing is like women, most of the time you can have it figured out then out of nowhere your running around in circles trying to understand the logistics of the situation.
On another note got a nice 16 pound keeper this morning off of neck point, red hot spot and 5 inch irish cream spoon down 80 in 400. lots of action but a bit windy more like a rodeo out there then fishing.