Before I go out and p1ss everyone off Anyone want to give me a quick bit of advice on this hog line deal. What are the general etiquette rules, and proceedures?

Thanks!
EB

Depends on your "heat" caliber Just kidding, I don't fish the big rivers. Kids please do not take my comments serious and do not try this at home.

I have fished Columbia with friends and they just follow everyone else. You will see the line just don't cross anyone or zig-zag. Just go with the flow. Also use down rigger and don't float too much line if you don't have one. If you did, follow Gooose's advice and bring extra beer.

Bring extra beer to feed neighboring hogliners. The arseholes be your friends then....and beat up offenders either side of them for you.

Number one hog line rule:

Bring your golf shoes...

Shoot, here I went and thought you were going to give us a 1-900- number.

I see that most guys use those big anchor floats. Do I need to be able to pull anchor quickly EVERYTIME I hook a fish? Is it considered very poor form to stay anchored and fight/net fish?

When in a hogline it is a very good idea to have an anchor bouy for three reasons: your hogline buddies won't want to pull their lines out for extended periods of time while your fish runs up and down the hogline, your fish might decide that it liked the taste of saltwater better and head lickity-split downriver, or something coming downstream (tug, log, etc) may require you to drop out of the hogline in a hurry.

Other things to keep in mind:

• Before you anchor, look at where everyone else's anchor lines lead to and try not to cross those lines
• Ask the permission of the boats owners before you go sliding down between them. They might be buddies who want to stay together
• Loud music or loud, drunken boaters are seldom welcome
• When someone has a fish on next to you, reel up during the brief time it will take them to either boat the fish or drop outta the hogline
• When they do drop out of the hogline, help them come back in gracefully

I spent a lotta time as a kid in a hog line, and mostly there was a lot of comradery and friendships to be made out there. As long as everyone out there understands that it's a nice way to spend the day and doesn't get all crappy about it, the hogline experience can be a great time for all.

Fighting a fish while on the "hook" in a hog line is not only bad form it could also lead to bodily injury!! Those big floats you see on the anchor line are there so you can throw your anchor line over and drift with the fish and then run back up and reclaim your anchor and your spot. Make sure your float and trailing line don't hang back behind the other boats too far.
P.S. If you haven't had much experience anchoring in crowded conditions you should bring plenty of beer!!!!!!!

Dave did a good job of summing things up. Depending on the spacing of the boats in the line you may also be able to hand your anchor line to one of the boats that are next to you while you drop out to fight a fish. Also if it's your first time, you probablly don't want to try hoggin up alone. one at the motor and another on the bow with the anchor will make it a bit easier. As previously stated, look at the angle of the other anchor lines and don't cross them.

Thanks guys, that's exactly the type of info I needed. I'll have to stay away from the hoglines for now until I get a buoy.

Cheers.

Goharley,

Coupla additional points.

1) the first time you try to go into one of the lines, don't try to go between the boats, just go to the outside or inside. Don't try to split the line until you know what you are doing. As Dave said, don't do it unless you have good reason to believe that it won't be resented. Asking first is a good idea.

2) a sort of a practical execution point. Set up to anchor by motoring up to the spot you want to anchor to, and then use the existing boat as an indicator of the direction you should take to motor upstream. Then motor quickly, rather than slowly, in that direction, so the current has less time to take you off course. Drop the anchor, and then point your bow awaay from the other boats a bit while you are dropping line and easing down, which you should do by giving just a bit of motor against the current. The reason for this is that the current will push your boat away from, rather than into the line,

3) When you drop anchor, make sure that you use enough rope, ie, go far enough upstream. In most areas, the minumum rope you should have out is 100 feet, and 120-150 feet is better. In areas where the current is smokin, you need 200 feet of rope, minimum.

4) Make sure that you have the proper anchor. If you don't have a rocking chair anchor, don't try to hog line. You'll just get frustrated, and people will just get mad at you.

A lot of hog line etiquette is proper equipment and proper technical execution. Nobody get's mad if you don't screw up.

The Columbia rule is 7x anchor rope to the depth. This is a good idea for a newbie for safety and also as you are nearing the other boats slow yours down with the motor and the bow facing upriver and then cleat off at the bow and see how well you have lined up. I would try this at least 50' above the line. Once you are settled with the current, let out line and ease on down till you have lined up transomes. Not like an O'city shad fisherman in helter skelter fashion.

good points given. I would add that if you have a kicker, start it and leave it running before you drop anchor in case the main motor quits. Saves you bouncing off the other boats.

Giz...

A tip I would add is that when you quit the line, and run upstream to pull anchor, run STRAIGHT upstream parallel to the other anchor lines. And go FAR upstream before making any turns. You may have put 120' of line out, but you cannot tell if your neighbor has perhaps 240' or even 300' of anchor line out. If you turn too soon, you'll drag your anchor across the bottom and snag their rope.

Giving other hogliners an un-requested tow is very bad form at least, and can be very dangerous at worst.