The best tip I can think of that will cover most situations, is to maintain a mental edge. Sometimes after hours of casting, drifting, etc... with no results, it's easy to just kind of go through the motions. If you try to remain focused, no matter how bad the fishing seems at the moment, I think the end result will always be better. This doesn't mean be obsessive, and forget about everything and everyone around you, just try to be a little more in tune with the feel of the drift, or the look of the water etc...

Awareness of what other fisherman around you are having success with, and being sure that you have whatever technique you are using dialed, should equal more hookups, and more fish landed.

Here's another top secret post.
For those who fish chums in rivers will love this one.
Many fish bobbers and jigs, kwikfish, plugs, corkies, ect. But one thing I have came up with that I have never read or heard about before is:
Go and buy some size #50 and #60 hotshots that are silver, also buy some cherise paint (pink) take them home take the hooks off and dip them in cherise paint. Now drift fish these with a 48" leader just as you would a bait of eggs. FISH ON!!!
Also do the same with some real small dick nites, and seps in pink drift fishing these just drives them nuts. Many of times I have wore a school of fish out with bobbers and jigs, corkies/yarn etc. and backed it up with this and had a hayday!!
Now that they have closed my favorite chum river with no catch and release, I guess I don't really need the secret unless I go and fish some puget sound rivers, or down on some southern oregon rivers!
Keith

[ 05-04-2001: Message edited by: stlhdr1 ]

[ 05-09-2001: Message edited by: stlhdr1 ]

A couple rules I fish by is to use bait/tackle I have confidence in, as an example, I am a diehard believer in Gami. hooks as well as Maxima line, Loomis/Lamiglass rods and Shimano/Penn reels, I have used these items for years and they work great for me. As for baits, I have a personnal preference in how my eggs are cured and I am very picky about how my plug cut herring roll, if it doesn't spin properly I won't use it, its all a matter of confidence, I know if I pay attention to a few detail, I catch more fish.
Rule #2, which I apply more to guiding in Alaska then here in Wash. is to stay in a spot that I have confidence in, if I get to a spot and I'm marking either fish or bait or both on my graph and there not biting, I'll wait them out, more times then not it pays off, stick and stay, make it pay.

when fishing in open ocean water and you get a fish on, i carry an orange ball and throw it out in the water where the fish hit, this way you can go back to the spot and usualy pick up some more fish.

Remember that some of the fun non-serious tip posts are copied over to the TIP DUMPSTER thread. You can also put up some funny jest tips over there too. I think some guys, especially if they are from the Oly area, will actually try them out.

RT

I greatly increased my strike to hookup ratio drift fishing, when I started "pegging" my corkies down snug against my hooks with a broken off toothpick. Keeps the corkie from floating separately from the hook, keeps the bait in the strikezone better too. Old bass worm fishing trick.
Greg

RT, I wasn't gonna tell this one, but you've seen those Lindy floating jigheads the walleye guys use? put a pink grub on one and drift it through your favorite steelhead hole, and hang on! I rigged it just like I would a corkie rig, with a 24" leader and a slinky.
Greg

When you tie a knot, apply a dab of your favorite bait oil to the line before you pull the knot tight.
This helps the knot "seat" well and adds scent to whatever you are connecting to....

here is my tip #2
Whenever I fish from the bank, I always take notice on who has fish on the beach, or I ask if anyone has caught anything. Invariably, someone is always willing to tell you who has hooked fish that day. I then watch to see what they are doing. How long is their leader? What are they using? (corkie, jig, eggs. shrimp?) How much weight are they using? Where are they casting? (short casts, middle, long?) What color are they using, maybe I can find out what test line. All these thing are easy to notice thru observation and quickly give me an idea of how to get an effective presentation into the zone fish are present and active, giving me a better chance at a hook up

Lots of great tips here guys. My tip is to open up a word document and copy/paste every tip here into it. If your like me you'll remember about 10% of these down the road. Now I can go back and put them into categorized documents to review later.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff

This contest is a great idea. I don't check the site very often - but am glad I did today. I especially like the preparation-h and aerial photo tips (for different reasons).
Ok, my tip is different: Bring a girl along. I truly believe it ups your odds, and it certainly makes the most mundane day on the water a pleasurable and memorable one. This of course assumes that you treat her with respect, don't chew her out, grab her rod, etc. Like many of you I have tried to unscent and then re-scent myself, hands, gear, lures, bait - but all my girl does is be herself. Statistically, she's batting 2.000 for steelhead! One trip (guided) on the Sol Duc on a cool March day. We hit +10 together, landed 6 (all released of course). Our usual haunt is Pacific salmon in the salt. Most days she outfishes me. Not very many things in this world beat watching your girl haul in that big one either. We're like a team now, trying different techniques, depths, baits, lures, etc. The day is always interesting, and we usually outfish our all-male counterparts on the water too.
And for you girls out there: You are a catch (many a fellow fisher has hoped wistfully for a permanent partner on this river, ocean, and life) - know that you have a secret weapon to haul in that very big, important one: yourself. Have a good one.

Lingcod love rocks and I hate to lose gear hung up in the rocks so before I go I get a bucket of 6oz to 12oz rocks and take 20# test and wrap the rock about 6 times (no knots) then take a piece of duct tape and wrap arround the line and rock and leave a foot out for a dropper. Most of the time when the rock gets hung up the 20# dropper will pull out of the tape. Lingcod love rocks SO feed them with rocks ! The tape holds best if the rocks are dry

when trolling plugs and getting no hits, try putting the trolling motor in reverse until the plug pops up behind the boat, then put it back in gear and speed up. alot of times a fish will take a plug as its diving, especialy if fish are jumping in the area.

Wow, some great tips!! Here are a couple of mine, hope they are new to some of you.

1. I make all of my slinkie weights with solid or hollow core lead instead of buck-shot. First pull out a foot or more of the coiled up lead. Now being careful not to cut all the way through the lead, gently begin sectioning the lead into pea-sized pieces with a pair of side cutters. I generally section up an entire roll of lead. Next slip the desired length of split lead into a piece of parachute cord and melt both ends with a candle. The lead pieces within the cord can now easily be broken into their individual parts by rotating them back and forth. Very easy, inexpensive, works great!

2. One problem with scents is keeping them on your bait. To solve this problem, melt petroleum jelly (Vaseline) in a pan on the stove, low heat. Once it's melted, add in your favorite scent; I often add anise oil. Remove from heat, and stir gently as the concoction cools then pour into your chosen container. I generally use empty film canisters. Once fully cooled the scent will take on the consistency of P-jelly, perfect for plugs, etc.

3. My final tip would be to make damn sure you get a pre-nuptual agreement before marriage!!


Happy Angling

RM

I have a few tips I'll share. Some are ones that were given to me, I've thought of, and some were ones I've read about over the years.

With rags that you plan to use bait/scent with. What I like to do at times is poke holes throughout a dozen or so of them. Just after I do that I throw them into a jar and cover them with the scent I plan on using. They will soak up the scent through those small holes you've punched through them and the yarn on the rag. I don't pre-thread mine so don't worry about having to throw leader and hook in. The key is to throw them in IMMEDIATELY after you poke holes through them!!!

Ok, to make a quick and easy spinning lure with plenty of flash. Keep pack of reflection tape (the type you buy in sheets to cut and put on flashers/spinners/etc) cut into about a 1/4 inch wide by 3 1/2inch long strips (you really need to check for what's best for you length wise, I cut it by sight and am guessing on dimensions). What you do is take a corkie and center tape strip on it. Only let it wrap around half corkie so that you have two wings on both sides. Then fold tape down on one side and up on the other so it makes alternating wings. You'll get spin and flash and ALOT less stress on losing it over a S n G. Is a quick fix to have handy if you run out of your S n G and only have corkies left and the tape strips take virtually no room.

Ok, lastly. I've shown a few people this. I do believe Os is one and a few friends. Here's a really easy shrimp threader to make that makes baiting whole sandshrimp much easier. Get a round piece of wood, roughly 3/4 inch in diameter and maybe 3 inches long. Next get a piece of brass piping, maybe 1/16 in diameter (I'm not sure on exact dimension of tubing, but it's pretty small) and cut it about 3-4" long. Must be HOLLOW. You can buy it at hobby stores, they use it for fuel systems for remote control airplanes. Drill a hole in wood just a hide smaller then tubing anywhere on wood you prefer and tap tubing into wood. I put mine near end. You can easily push shrimp onto without damaging it (except internally). Once you put shrimp on, put point of hook into open hole of tubing sticking out of shrimp. You can either wrap line around handle so it's tight or hold in fingers while you easily thread shrimp onto line. Shrimp isn't crushed and lasts many times longer then if you impale it by hand.

1) when i use a slip float i first tie on the float stop, bead, float, bead, then i tie on a snap swivel, snap first. that way i can add a slinky weight to the snap so that i can throw lighter jigs without re-tying to add more weight.

2) when drift fishing i also tie on a snap swivel snap first so that i can change weight just by snapping your slinky weights on or off.
(this also helps keep your line from twisting)
p.s. i use a no.2 ball bearing swivel

I've got a good one for the contest which I picked up from an old timer at Barrier Dam. To add weight to your drift gear, or float set up just leave a little extra line after tying on your leader and crimp some hollow core on. The weight will pull off easy, or harder depending on how you crimp it. It makes adding/changing weight a snap without the snap swivel, surgical tubing, or parichute cord. I've had a lot of success with this. Hope it works for you too!

Tip (1) this tip is just for the bobber and jig fishermen. How many times have you tied your favorite knot to your jig head and hope that it will not slip in the eye and then making your jig float straight up and down instead of horizontal, especially when you really got to get it way out there? Hears a simple way to prevent your knot from moving on your jig head. Just carry a small tube of supper glue with you and dab a little drop of glue right on the spot where the eye and line connect. You'll be amazed how many more casts you can make without your jig changing its floating position.

Tip (2) this one is for the fishermen that use bait-casting reels. How many times have you gotten backlashes and had fits getting them out? It seems that you never have the right tool with you and end up trying to get it out with a hook or what ever is avaible. This method is slow and awkward and usually leaves a nick in your line. Trying using the tool that almost every fisherman is always caring with him and just doesn't think about it. It called a "comb". It works great. The comb won't nick your line because they are usually made of nylon. The comb is usually long enough so that you can really get some real leverage to pull the nest out. Use the end pong of the comb to pick out the nest. This method works really great when your hands are so frozen that you can hardly move your fingers. I have passed this trick on to hundreds of other fishermen over the years and now it your turn.

Cowlitzfisherman,

Is the taste of the bait worth the sting of the hook????

This one is the best money saver that you will ever see on this BB!(I think) This one is for the guys that love to use their favorite scent generously! This one will save all you big bucks! Try this little trick. Go down to your local drug store and buy a couple points of "mineral oil". This is what all the food handlers use to oil there food cutting and grinding tools. It has no odor, nor taste, and its all natural oil base! Mix one "new" bottle of your most favorite scent (i.e. sand shrimp, hearing, or what ever you use) to 1 pint of mineral oil. You now have "one pint" of your most favorite scent! You now can bathe your lures more then you thought possible. The bait stores will hate me…but I bet you wont! Try it, you'll love it!

Cowlitzfisherman,

Is the taste of the hook worth the sting of the hook????

Hey guys and gals, I have a sure steelhead taker rig. It consists of an egg loop leader and 1/3 of an ear plug, yes I said ear plug. The ear plug is hot pink and light green swirls. Needle leader through ear plug, place pale pink and white yarn in egg loop and if you want to spruce it up in low conditions add an egg cluster. It takes them every time. Have caught natives and hatcheries. All in the 15 lb. range. Also, we all must remember to try to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. If we practiced being courteous to all fishermen at all times. Then we wouldn't have near as many problems on the rivers. Try not to interfere with their fishing and you would be real suprised how polite they will be to you. Remember, keep fishing and always try to have a great attitude and turn the other cheek every now and then. Good things come to those who practice these habits.