I thought I'd seen it all @ Blue Creek during the summer time but this one took the cake. Some guy was throwing 30 foot leader. Hard to believe, but completely true. Even though the guy was flossing to the max, I had to give it to him. That's some pretty impressive cast control. Strangely enough, he left fishless..... I however, got my first ever springer on a pink worm. What a blast!

go take a look at some of the guys drifting barrier...same thing

Tyler

hey TT.

I'm gonna mis her too!!!! hold on I got a bite!!!

dc

I hear they call that good ol' boy with the 30' leader "The Dentist"!

Wow, a 30 ft leader, I've gotta try that.... That being said, all you really need for flossing is an 8 to 10 foot leader.

Rock & Row

"The Dentist"

Now that's funny!!!!!

Come on guys don't you know fish on the cowlitz are real spooky. You need that long leader in order to get any strikes.

OK serious question:

I heard a 10 foot leader and a small glow corkie was really effective for Silvers at night. My cousin had a lot of luck with that last fall.
Has anyone ever tried that? I was thinking about giving it a shot.
Now I'm wondering if that's really just flossing?

(Not that flossing is wrong)

Yes for the most part it is really flossing but also it is really effective. I usally run about a 24" leader for the silvers and then on up for the steelies.

How would one manage to cast that?

Matt

Wouldn't being deemed a flosser require one to have actually been successful at it to be called as such? How does one floss to the max yet go home fishless...sounds like the guy was just fishing to me.

Not the way I or you may go about catching fish...but hey...some guys call that fishing. Complaining about it on here will not change the way some go about catching fish...so why bother?

If the regs. do not make a distinction about not being able to retain fish hooked outside in...then people will continue to use this tactic. If flossing is distainful...then use your energies to shed light where changes can be made!

Just my .02

FJ...out.

Does it actually suprise you, its the freakin' cowlitz! His name was probably Ben, and hes dam good at what he does as unethical as it may be! :p

I fish a lot up on the north fork of the lewis for silvers and all the regulars who consistantly catch fish all use an 8ft. leader, sometimes more. Bounty hunter, your cousin is right. That works awsome on silvers at night. Give it a try and i guarantee you wont be disapointed.

That works awesome at night for Silvers...from what you've seen in any terminal zone wouldn't you say that it works awesome anytime?

Stacked zipperlip fish will leave some to use alternate means to hook up...the rest may soon be seen lenghtening their own standards as well! I usually try to match my leader lenght according to water condition while usually never going any longer than 5ft. however I see Joe Floss bust em in my face with his 10ft. leader...I might be inclined to bump up to at least a 6ft.er!

FJ...out.

As one Canadian angler explained his long leader to me on the Fraser (a total floss fest) last summer "my 12-foot leader is nothing more than a single line gill net".

To me flossing is not "unethical", now soaking a gill net in the water and indescriminately killing every fish that swims into it, now that is unethical!

BD

Yeah, That's always been my point when it comes to flossing and terminal fisheries like the Cowlitz.... the fish are all hatchery Brats, made to be killed, and they're coming in head first, so what's the problem? As far as I'm concerned, flossing has it's place on certain rivers. And yes, the ten foot leader/ glowbead set up is extremely effective.

Agreed! They are surplus, we do pay for them, and they are bad for the native gene pool!

My opinion is let them floss the hatchery fish. They are still not going to catch them all. I find it hard to believe someone can cast a 30 foot leader without snagging themself in the ass. Am I missing something because I have not seen anything in the regulations that limits leader length. I have fished Blue Creek from time to time but prefer to stay away because of the attitudes that are sometimes there. I prefer to fish areas where people work together.

Y'know, I used to fly fish for terminal fish a lot - thought I was pretty good at it too - could always catch fish when bait tossers, and even snaggers, went home skunked, until one day a couple years ago, during extrememly low water on the Satsop, I was fishing a hole that had chum stacked in it in a way that I could see them all as I was presenting the fly to them. All the "bites" I got were from the leader running through their teeth. I use a long one too on a Spey type rod. The little up eye long shank hook I used almost always hooked them well into the mouth - usually in the tounge or the corner towards me - so I always thought they were biting until I saw what was really happening. That hook would ride right into their mouth, disappear, and catch on the way out - then fish on. Real easy to see with the chartruse leech I was using. I pretty much quit fly fishing for terminal fish after that - at least now when I use bait on a short leader I know the fish get hooked because they want to eat it.

As you can tell, my philosophy is that the fish are supposed to bite. The sport for me is in getting them to. You guys that want to use the "single strand gillnet" (I like that one!), that's fine with me - but don't call it sport fishing.

Your right spawn...nothing beats a bait take...and doesn't leave any doubt!

FJ...out.