1m 23 and bought my first boat last year, not a pretty boat but a new motor any ways i did real on the salmon season flyfishin to trolling. but i cannot catch a blackmouth over 3lbs. couldnt keep them off my line trolling a cutplug off the downrigger in sekiu. mainly fish from point no point to southworth ferry terminal. my downrigger will only go to 50ft thats with 90 ft of wire out. i know where some good ledges sre that hold bait but can never get those purple fish to commit. for mooching do you guys recommend fishing the bottom by just lifting up on the rod and dropping back down in slow moves, not reeling up all the way like for summer run fish. much thanks Ben

Mooching like that will do you just fine. Having a good depth sounder that gives you a lot of detail is probably the next most impertant investment youll need (besides the boat & motor). I usually fish plugs when I'm trolling because they will generally catch bigger fish. Dont hesitate to fish in shallower water. Some of my biggest fish have come from depths less than 70'. You also might try Jigging with darts and buzz bombs on the bottom

Rockfish first of all you need to slow down your speed just a hair; second you need enough cable to get down to at least 90 feet. For a beginner I'd skip herring ...go with a flasher/dodger with a green glow coyote spoon. Also try Point Wilson darts for jigging.

Gooose

The best spots locally to mooch are Point No Poimt and Jeff Head, of course both are going to be closed for a while. I would recomend keeping your bait close to bottom when mooching as long as there are not tomany sharks around, or if you see the bait higher in the water colum. But when the sharks are out the only way to go is trolling off the down rigger or jigging. I would recomend getting more wire for your down rigger and may be a heavyier wieght too, I run 12 lbs. I fish the local waters on the west side when I have time, give me a shout if you have any other questions. and welcome to the Board.

NEN

Rockfish, I would agree with what others have already said, it sounds like you're trolling to fast or don't have a big enough downrigger weight, or both. I think a 10 lbs. weight at 2.5-3kts. and 90 ft. of cable should get you to 80 feet.
I would also suggest artificials, especially if you do have to troll fast, I like to stack a couple plugs (Tomic white/green back) on 1 side and spoons on the other (Coyote's, Apex's, Superiors) you cannot troll hardware to fast, especially plugs, I've watched commercial trollers troll at 5-6 kts.
Last tip and I think probably the most important, keep your gear within 10-15 feet of the bottom, mature kings can be found anywhere throughout the water column, blackmouth on the other hand are predominantly on the bottom. I hope this helps a little, good fishin

Thanks for such a quick response. i got a depth sounder hummingbird 2oox. not the best but it works. i got a 8lb bal. i think even with a 12lb ball ill have to much line out when i get a hook up. i have this problem, i got a cannon rigger thats manual so i got my pole in one hand with a fish on and reeling up my downrigger ball dragging the bottom. i tried keeping the boat in gear while ill hold the pole and real in the ball but almost always lost the fish. do you guys have this problem. but i have to 6 1\2ft popping rods in casting and spinning for doing some seriouis jigging this winter. rivers to crowded for my blood. later Ben

If your by yourself don't worry about crankin in your ball...leave it....throw into neutral and concentrate on the fish. Yeah you've got a handicap with the cable but itsounds like your in a small boat so just clear the fish around the bow to keep it from fouling the cable...usually never a problem until you got it right at the boat. I'm probably not blackmouth fishing til March but if you want I'll give you a day on the water then.

Gooose

Rockfish, sorry, didn't realize you were fishing solo, that will eliminate the ability to stack the riggers. I have fished downriggers solo many times and I to use manual crank, I fish them down to 140ft. and have not lost a fish to a hanging ball yet, what I like to do is set the hook and gain a little line before I begin bringing up the ball, you will also want a fairly tight drag, gives you more control over the fish. (to many people fish with to light of drags) once you've gained some line start cranking on the downrigger, being the only rod you also have a lot of room to play a fish without crossing other lines, basically, I guess what I'm trying to say is that is not crucial to get the downrigger up in the first 10 seconds, you'll just want it out of the way before the fish gets into net range.
I learned from watching commercial trollers who are usually by themselves with multiple lines in the water that running a downrigger solo could be done, and with a little practice it really isn't hard to do. Good luck