why give line when kings bites

[mark]

I dont understand why you are to give line out when a king salmon
bites. I always set the hook on other fish. I know a king has a hard mouth but dont coho also have a hard mounth. dont you go ahead and set the hook on cohos. Whats the differents????

 

[highlights]

Hey Mark,

I have always given line to a spring when I am cut plugging. Usually out of the rod holder with two big pulls of line very quickly. Feel a few more tugs and slam she's on .

Downrigger fishing is a bit differant. Rarely are we seeing freight trains smashing it off the clip. Springs tend to pop it and swim to the surface. Most guests of mine would assume a foul trip and casually walk to the rod only to be run over by me . Reeling as quickly as possible to take up slack and a fish is almost always on the end just waiting to have the hooks set in.


So for cut plugging , feed it and for downrigger fishing I say reel as quickly as you can to take up the slack and slam it.

 

[spring fever]

Ahmen to that!

 

[KoneZone]

Location seems to be the key to answering the question. In the Columbia River system I usually get HAMMERED by Kings and Drive by bites from Silvers. Generally when they do the drive by we will strip off a few pulls and get them back for a second try. I think that this resembles a wounded fish as they loose momentum on their direction of travel.

 

[A Dollar Short]

Chinook (King) salmon initially hit the herring to stun it. After that I have watched big chinooks stop and mouth the herring. Spitting it in and out. What they are doing is turning the herring around so they can swallow it head first. I have not found a large herring in any chinook that have been swallowed backwards.

 

[mark]

thats all great information thanks guys-----------any and all hints are welcome. I head up to BC in 4 days. I live in Louisville KY and just cant say enought about the beauty of Canada and the BC area.

 

[Charlie]

quote:Originally posted by mark

thats all great information thanks guys-----------any and all hints are welcome. I head up to BC in 4 days. I live in Louisville KY and just cant say enought about the beauty of Canada and the BC area.

Mark,
Listen to what highlights wrote! Depending on where and what kind of fishing you are doing is the answer. I haven't fished "all" of BC, but my fishing is with downriggers and you don't need to feed them any line, unless you are having a "soft" bite! The end of the rod will just tap when that happens. Then just pop the line off the downrigger which is enough to get them to take the bait... then set the hook. They usually hit like freight trains and will also usually set the hook themselves.

 

[megabite]

Mark

Haven't cut plugged for a few years, but the method I was taught was to slowly reel in a few turns when you see the line being played with - presumably as the fish mouths the bait - in an attempt to set the hook. If that fails to cause a hook up, strip out a few pulls of line, in this case presumably to make it look as if the wounded bait is stunned and falling, in an attempt to entice the fish back. Most times the slow reeling in works - 4 of 5? - and when it fails, sometimes - 1 in 5? - the stripping out of line worked.

Downrigger fishing: if the fish has pulled the line off the clip, it's pretty much set the hook.

Good luck.

 

[yo mama]

I used to belive into the couple pulls thing untill one trip I had guest that insisted on wearing gloves all day long. With the gloves they could not pull line off the reel. I got fed up told them to just gently pick up the rod and wait... I work out to be the ticket and I used it that way from that day on. A couple of reasons why you shouldn't feed line to a spring.... You spend all day trolling around trying to find a spring and when you finally get a hit, you tear off line dropping you line down the water colum making a fish chase something he was already trying to eat. The other reason is area dependant. Where I used to fish, sometimes the water was only 40 feet to begin with and with my gear basiclly on bottom, feeding off line would put it on the bottom where the salmon would just seem to give up on it. When you see the hit, alot of the time the spring has the bait already in it's mouth and letting more line out could yank it out of it's mouth instead of just waiting till the fish turns and swims away alowing the line to tight giving a good opportunity to set the hook. and finally the big boys don't want to work harder then they have to to catch food and a bait steady in the water offers a better consistant presentation to the slabola. I definitly noticed way more hook ups over the years not feeding the fish line. (That's saying the idiot picking up the rod dosn't reef on it!)

 

[Klob]

It seems that different areas require different tactics. I remember fishing Rivers Inlet years ago and was always told to feed line after a bump. It worked, sometimes 10 pulls, you had to be patient. But that was there. These were very light hits and you had to be zeroed in on your rod all the time, but I'am a believer in feeding a light hit. The line does not necessarily drop lower but is fed back to the fish as you are trolling inevitably pissing the fish off to hit again. Try it sometime.

 

[Mrtrailer]

Instead of giving line back could the boat speed be decreased and or rod be tipped towards the rear,(fish)? If there is drag set how easy is it to pull line out? When fishing for hours on end without a strike I don't want to add one more thing into the equation as far as 'stripping line' back. How many pulls is correct? 1,2,3...

 

[Striper Sniper]

Hey guys, I am suggesting that this thread is referring to "mooching" in the truest sense..... I have trolled terminal gear for 40 years and have yet to feed any line to a bite....... though I have missed a few SS

 

[Tanglefoot]

Our Ucluelet guide always sets the line deep in the throat of the snap so that the hook is usually set by the time the fish pulls it free from the downrigger. Works for him. I agree with SS, the thread does seem to favour a mooching scenario.

 

[tubby]

Gents, I have to give my two cents. First I'm assuming were talking about some type of mooching (drifting or power) since the answer is obvious if your hooked up to the downrigger. The answer lies in regards to what is happening on the end of the rod. If it's a simple bump than I agree feed it a few pulls since the fish is telling you that it probably needs something else (simulant) for it to take it hard. A falling bait usually does the trick. I found too many pulls is not good either since a fish will take it as it falling, feels the hooks and tries to spit it out before you can tighten up. The other scenario is if the rod is bouncing, if its bouncing when you grab it, than its felt the hooks and shaking its head to spit the hooks. I don't know how many times I've seen guys on both my own boat and other boats give it line when the fish is already on there. Then I watch how they slowly reel up and set the hook - too funny. Which type of bite (i.e bump or full take) is mainly dependent upon if your power mooching or drift mooching. If your power mooching (i.e. swimming your cut-plug) than I will tell you >90% of the time the fish will usually be grab your bait, turn, feel the hooks and then shake it head - undewater cameras have proven this scenario. I've found the bump take only occurs <10%. Summary, look at the rod when you grab it and make a decision. One thing I truly believe is the faster you grab the rod and tighten up the more fish in the boat you will get. Feeding line to a fish that has already grab the bait is lowering your odds of getting it into the boat.

 

[mark]

Great information guys. I will be in the rivers inlet area and I will be motor mooching with cut herring. The fishmasters up at the sportsman club tell you to give 2 or 3 pulls unless you got a screamer hit. I found in my limited salmon fishing history that most screamer hits are cohos not kings. I do like what tubber said when he said "grab the rod and tighten up". I have fished in the states all my life {Bass} and salmon fishing must be the only fishing in the world where you give line. At least some of the time. Keep the advice and tips coming. I leave for BC in less than 48 hours and it cant get here fast enough.

 

[Spring Drifter]

Ah, Mark, you've hit upon the most delicate part of the art of mooching (cut-plugging): "The Bite". There aren't many of us cut-pluggers still around now, not like the '80's when just about everyone was cut-plugging. Pulling hardware seems to be the way to go.
Here are a few theories on how a King (a Spring as we locals call them) takes the bait.
Bite One: a Spring approaching its spawning territory, can have one or two things on its mind: food or ***. Maybe both. They are usually slow moving, fat, sometimes lazy and can have an empty stomach. A Spring may take your bait, mash it around in its mouth and spit it out. Perhaps it thinks the herring is competition (just kidding). You, in the boat get a mixed signal: usually a fast rod tip twitch of from one to two inches. You will wonder in amazement how a herring could be so smashed, just pulverized, without a hook touching the bugger.
Bite Two: a Spring will take your bait, usually when you're looking at your other rod tip, and move forward just a few feet taking up the weight of your sinker so that your rod tip will staighten (a very good sign). When your eyes and mind adjust to what's happened, gently pick up you rod, crank down smoothly and quickly until your rod tip is buried in the water. Set the hook. Chances are it's swallowed the bait.
Bite Three: a Chinook who hits your bait and runs will not give you time to "pass, kick or fumble". Just hang on.
Thanks for asking about giving slack line at the bite. It's usually your opportunity for the Spring to get a better "grip" on the bait and a time for you to start an "Our Father or a Hail Mary".
"The Bite" is the most important part of mooching and you'll remember it for the rest of your life.
Spring Drifter