River Salmon fishing. Avoiding lining and snagging.

[MikeyMikey]

Question as I have yet to done any river fishing.

If you are either float fishing or bottom bouncing, all the hookups are legit? There is noway that a float/bottom bouncing can lead to lining?

I am yet to understand that difference. Please help me understand better.
I guess steelheads aren't the once being lined because they are little smarter?

Now as for salmon either salmon swim by your line and get shocked and take off and get hooked or have a line from float flow down and run into swiming salmon. What is the difference?

Now bottom fishing for steelhead is ok? I mean they don't swim up with it's mouth open~close like salmons, right?

Also, as for bottom fishing, does it depend on where the hook is place at? either at the end (like carolina rig) or weight at the end with hook up the line.

Sorry for being little bit off topic.

 

[Rapala Boy]

Re: Port Credit: Salmon “pier” fishing tips for noobs

Question as I have yet to done any river fishing.

If you are either float fishing or bottom bouncing, all the hookups are legit?
Sorry for being little bit off topic.

Don`t worry about the topic mate, but I laughed when I read the first line cause there`s always a possibility of snagging and lining fish. I`m a float fishing newb, but I`ve seen salmon open their mouths to take in bait, but thats usually when their not scarred. It`s very fun stocking a pool of salmon that you can see. It`s so excitinggggg!!!!

 

[openfire]

Re: Port Credit: Salmon “pier” fishing tips for noobs

If you are either float fishing or bottom bouncing, all the hookups are legit? There is noway that a float/bottom bouncing can lead to lining?

This is a topic that has been hotly debated over the years.

To my knowledge, once the salmon are holding in pools upstream, they will and do bite bait that drifts by them. It is unclear whether this is an act of feeding, or an act of aggression. Either way, a salmon hooked in this fashion is a legitimate hookup.

Now, can bottom-bouncing lead to lining? Absolutely yes it can, but that is not to say that all salmon hooked while bottom bouncing up-stream are lined... some are legit, some are foul-hooked.

On a side note...If you fish for salmon in the rivers, you are bound to eventually foul hook a few by accident.

The best way to avoid lining them is by float fishing.

I am yet to understand that difference. Please help me understand better.
I guess steelheads aren't the once being lined because they are little smarter?

I've never seen a steelhead lined in the traditional sense. Steelhead are smaller, stealthier and spookier. And don't forget, steelhead return to the lake after spawning... so a large steelhead in the river has multiple years experience navigating the river and avoiding danger. It would be a waste of time to even attempt to line steelhead IMO, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that there are poachers out there who've invented new and innovative ways of snagging steelhead. Now that I think about it, I once saw a guy at Bronte upstream use polarized glasses to bottom bounce a wooly bugger through a shallow pool with a large rainbow in it... and set the hook once his bait had gotten under the fish. He was intentionally snagging, even worse than "lining". I think the technique is called "lifting", but I could be wrong on the terminology.

Now as for salmon either salmon swim by your line and get shocked and take off and get hooked or have a line from float flow down and run into swiming salmon. What is the difference?

There's no difference.

Now bottom fishing for steelhead is ok? I mean they don't swim up with it's mouth open~close like salmons, right?

Yes, it's OK. I'm pretty sure they don't swim with their mouth open. Like I said, it's OK, it's almost impossible to line steelhead AFAIK.

Also, as for bottom fishing, does it depend on where the hook is place at? either at the end (like carolina rig) or weight at the end with hook up the line.

Sorry for being little bit off topic.

The "weight at the end with hook up the line" is the preferred method of lining salmon. It's pretty obvious what the intentions are of people who use this rig.

 

[Rapala Boy]

Re: Port Credit: Salmon “pier” fishing tips for noobs

it wouldn't surprise me to learn that there are poachers out there who've invented new and innovative ways of snagging steelhead. Now that I think about it, I once saw a guy at Bronte upstream use polarized glasses to bottom bounce a wooly bugger through a shallow pool with a large rainbow in it... and set the hook once his bait had gotten under the fish. He was intentionally snagging, even worse than "lining". I think the technique is called "lifting", but I could be wrong on the terminology.

There's new ways alright. Legal ways! Last spring I saw a group of nice friends picking out a fish in shallow water at wilmot and they would drift the hook right into the fishes mouth and get them legally. They did it with my rod too to show me how it's done. One of the easiest ways and with a bit of practice it's a new skill lol. I kind of had a similar experience as I was standing on the log jam at the red bridge and would lower a jig to a group of giant steelies beneath my feet and tease them up on the nose and get one to take it. But it cut my line on a log 8) . A second fish attacked my offering from the side out of anger and I ended up losing that one too . It's o.k, ill be back there soon, but it shows that on different waters there are different methods of catching a popular fish like rainbow trout.

 

[openfire]

Re: Port Credit: Salmon “pier” fishing tips for noobs

There's new ways alright. Legal ways! Last spring I saw a group of nice friends picking out a fish in shallow water at wilmot and they would drift the hook right into the fishes mouth and get them legally. They did it with my rod too to show me how it's done. One of the easiest ways and with a bit of practice it's a new skill lol.

Force feeding. Too funny!

"Oh, you don't like chartreuse? Too bad, eat it!"

Now if only this would work for all fish all the time! J/K

*edit to add - This is a grey area as far as I'm concerned. I would love to see what people think about the ethical implications of this technique. By extension, what if I had a magic wand that made all fish bite my lures... would I use it? Also, what if I invented a spray on scent that made fish bite 100% of the time... would it be ethical? My guess is the scent would be made illegal.

In the end, it wouldn't be much of a sport if you remove the challenge of getting the fish to strike. 8)

 

[superduperfly]

Re: River Salmon fishing. Avoid lining and snagging.

float fishing is one of the better ways not to snag a fish. A lot better fight and easier to guide the fish or turn it.
But even with float fishing you snag fish.
Once you get used to it and not set the hook on every little nudge you see on the float you are less likely to snag a fish.

I have never done bottom bouncing but from seeing people do it, it's not my thing. The tunnel at the willie is usually filled with atleast 5-10 guys bottom bouncing while they come in. Usually end up snagging the fish or another bottom bouncer.
Most the yahoo's you see bottom bouncing for salmon at the willie will snag the fish. They don't know the difference and just consider it fishing. Then they wonder why the fish is hard to pull in and get offended when you tell them the fish is snagged. It is quite easy to recognize when a salmon is snagged.

I have only seen a few times where the fish didn't get snag from bottom bouncing. And only a few bottom bouncers that's willing to break off when they snag a fish. A lot of them snag the fish, drag it on shore and gut it there...not knowing that keeping a snagged is a no no.

and for the drifting it into the mouth....isn't that somewhat flossing/lining the fish? Illegal or not I don't know.

 

[openfire]

Re: River Salmon fishing. Avoid lining and snagging.

On a side note, a few years back I hired a guide on the Salmon River (Lake O trib in NY) for a steelhead fishing trip. Let me tell you, they have bottom bouncing nailed down to a science. I don't know if they use that technique for salmon because it didn't occur to me at the time to ask my guide. Now I'm curious... I will look into it.

 

[openfire]

Re: River Salmon fishing. Avoid lining and snagging.

I have never done bottom bouncing but from seeing people do it, it's not my thing. The tunnel at the willie is usually filled with atleast 5-10 guys bottom bouncing while they come in. Usually end up snagging the fish or another bottom bouncer.
Most the yahoo's you see bottom bouncing for salmon at the willie will snag the fish. They don't know the difference and just consider it fishing. Then they wonder why the fish is hard to pull in and get offended when you tell them the fish is snagged. It is quite easy to recognize when a salmon is snagged.

I have only seen a few times where the fish didn't get snag from bottom bouncing. And only a few bottom bouncers that's willing to break off when they snag a fish. A lot of them snag the fish, drag it on shore and gut it there...not knowing that keeping a snagged is a no no.

This is why I cast spoons at the river mouths for salmon 95% of the time. I just don't see the appeal in fishing the streams for salmon, unless I'm really, really bored. First off, it's just more fun, but more importantly, do I really feel like competing with guys throwing size 2 treble hooks at salmon in a stream? (I've actually seen this) It's ridiculous.

 

[Rapala Boy]

Re: River Salmon fishing. Avoid lining and snagging.

but more importantly, do I really feel like competing with guys throwing size 2 treble hooks at salmon in a stream? It's ridiculous.

Very True openfire. Just yesterday there was an old man that could barely speak and saw him with a weight and a big treble 10 inches bellow it at the ice breakers. All of a sudden a salmon came from the depths and got the man excited. Excited enough to throw his rig over a center pinners line! Well, he got tangled! A classic happening at the breakers. What was sad was that the old man probably didn't have a licence either so if an officer were to catch him he'd be screwed real bad.

 

[superduperfly]

Re: River Salmon fishing. Avoid lining and snagging.

This is why I cast spoons at the river mouths for salmon 95% of the time. I just don't see the appeal in fishing the streams for salmon, unless I'm really, really bored. First off, it's just more fun, but more importantly, do I really feel like competing with guys throwing size 2 treble hooks at salmon in a stream? (I've actually seen this) It's ridiculous.[/quote]


I love fishing rivers. That's just my thing. Pinning. But I enjoy fishing for rainbows much more in the river.
I can honestly say I'm slowly becoming less and less of a fan river fishing for salmon.
If everyone knew how to fish rivers LEGALLY and be open to learning new things I wouldn't have such a problem.
I just feel like shit when I see a salmon with eleventeen hooks in it all around the body.

That being said, I will probably be at one of the rivers this weekend either way getting into an argument with some snagger 8)

I agree with you on casting spoons. I hooked a salmon on a cleo for the first time 2 weeks back at the ganny and what a rush. Nice water for them to take off in. They hit it so hard. Very nice. Very Very Nice....

 

[openfire]

If everyone knew how to fish rivers LEGALLY and be open to learning new things I wouldn't have such a problem.
I just feel like poop when I see a salmon with eleventeen hooks in it all around the body.

Precisely... But I won't hold my breath.

I agree with you on casting spoons. I hooked a salmon on a cleo for the first time 2 weeks back at the ganny and what a rush. Nice water for them to take off in. They hit it so hard. Very nice. Very Very Nice....

That's what I'm talking about! Nothing beats that feeling! The best is the adrenaline rush you get when your spoon just stops like it hit a brick wall and you see a big swirl/splash on the surface, then your rod doubles over and your reel starts screaming... you just can't get that in the rivers, it's just not the same.

I love fishing the rivers for rainbows too, but that's whole different ball game.

 

[desi]

... The best is the adrenaline rush you get when your spoon just stops like it hit a brick wall and you see a big swirl/splash on the surface, then your rod doubles over and your reel starts screaming... you just can't get that in the rivers, it's just not the same.

I just experienced that last Friday at Credit when I had my first Salmon. 9'6'' ML rod folding in half. Fought it for 15 minutes, then I ran out of line!!! Yes, all 130 yds gone. Broke at the leader at that point (8 lbs test)... Would have loved to land my first salmon, but even playing for 15 minutes was a LOT of fun.... can't wait till this weekend. 8)

 

[jc53]

Re: River Salmon fishing. Avoid lining and snagging.

This is why I cast spoons at the river mouths for salmon 95% of the time. I just don't see the appeal in fishing the streams for salmon, unless I'm really, really bored. First off, it's just more fun, but more importantly, do I really feel like competing with guys throwing size 2 treble hooks at salmon in a stream? (I've actually seen this) It's ridiculous.

I love fishing rivers. That's just my thing. Pinning. But I enjoy fishing for rainbows much more in the river.
I can honestly say I'm slowly becoming less and less of a fan river fishing for salmon.
If everyone knew how to fish rivers LEGALLY and be open to learning new things I wouldn't have such a problem.
I just feel like poop when I see a salmon with eleventeen hooks in it all around the body.

That being said, I will probably be at one of the rivers this weekend either way getting into an argument with some snagger 8)

I agree with you on casting spoons. I hooked a salmon on a cleo for the first time 2 weeks back at the ganny and what a rush. Nice water for them to take off in. They hit it so hard. Very nice. Very Very Nice....[/quote]

The rush of a big hit from a chinook is what I love about casting at the piers.
I will stay away until the the end of the chinnok runs usually @ mid October or so. Even into November I will run into a person of two at the most.
J

 

[openfire]

Re: River Salmon fishing. Avoid lining and snagging.

The rush of a big hit from a chinook is what I love about casting at the piers.
I will stay away until the the end of the chinnok runs usually @ mid October or so. Even into November I will run into a person of two at the most.
J

Did you mean that you stay away from the rivers, or the piers until mid October?

 

[openfire]

I just experienced that last Friday at Credit when I had my first Salmon. 9'6'' ML rod folding in half. Fought it for 15 minutes, then I ran out of line!!! Yes, all 130 yds gone. Broke at the leader at that point (8 lbs test)... Would have loved to land my first salmon, but even playing for 15 minutes was a LOT of fun.... can't wait till this weekend. 8)

You want at least 200 yards of good line for the piers!

edit to add: Wait, you were using a leader? Where you using lures, or bottom fishing?

 

[Rapala Boy]

Ya pier fishing has its place, but who can resist sight fishing for a steelhead?
Hunting down salmon in legal waters is just as exciting for me, but definably not in places their're stuck in. It's not very sportsmanlike IMO. I guess it's whatever turns you on...

 

[desi]

I just experienced that last Friday at Credit when I had my first Salmon. 9'6'' ML rod folding in half. Fought it for 15 minutes, then I ran out of line!!! Yes, all 130 yds gone. Broke at the leader at that point (8 lbs test)... Would have loved to land my first salmon, but even playing for 15 minutes was a LOT of fun.... can't wait till this weekend. 8)

You want at least 200 yards of good line for the piers!

edit to add: Wait, you were using a leader? Where you using lures, or bottom fishing?

My new reel holds 350+ yds!!

I was using roe with a slip float... about 15 ft deep.