Hey-

I posted earlier on winter blackmouth fishing from the beach. From the response I got it sounds like a not so attractive idea. Would it be any better had I substituted resident silver for blackmouth? Also, I would be very interested in searun cutts too. Any help would be very much appreciated as I am trying to accomodate a friend (spinners) and myself (fly angler). Thanks again for being so helpful.

Josh

steelieblue,

This technique is very effective when the fish are around.

We have takin both kings and silvers in very close to shore, (even fishing off shore).
I don't know much about blackmouth and there feeding habits but I guess wherever the bait is thats where the fish will be.
Try a bobber above a strip cut herring and a couple split shots to help get it down. Cast against the current direction sort of like drift fishing a river. Keep feeding line out to extend your drift. Also try to find structure like a point or a rock jetty that breaks the current up.
Hope this helps!


Oh yeah pay attention or they'll riop the rod out of your hands!
It's always nice to avoid crowds and this is a good way to do it.

minibear-

thanks for the suggestion...how far below the bobber do i put the cut herring and how do i strip cut, as you can see i am a complete novice at this sort of thing. i usually chuck and duck flies but i like to catch fish once and awhile!

thanks

Josh

blue,

Stick with the flies if you are targeting sea-run cutts or resident silvers. Long streamers work well. Find a point and work the "downstream" side of it as the tide moves. South Puget Sound has many areas that are productive pretty much year-round..........I'm not familiar with areas north of Tacoma.

Good luck............

Now your talking!

As far as your buddy the gear guy, small Vibrax spinners or Kastmasters will do wonders.

Flinging feathers... This time of year, you'll want to throw euphasid or amphipod patterns in small sizes (10-14). Some guys like a floating line, but line control in the currents and a clear intermediate with 10 to 12' leaders tapered to 4x (maybe 5x) will out fish the floaters. If you tie up a few, be sure to add a small silver bead. When schooled and feeding heavily, silvers tend to be fairly selective. Remember, that zooplankton will be floating mostly in the upper 10 feet of water and there are literally hundred of thousands of them.
That little bead does wonders.

My favorite pattern is a simple tie.

Hook: TMC 2457 (10-14)
Small silver bead
Body: Clear antron dubbed on orange or pink thread using the split thread method
Trim top and sides down so it not too fuzzy.
This pattern will work for both Euphasids and amphipods.. It is a killer!


You might find a few fish wanting to hit small Clousers... (Cutts especially) In which case, size 8 - 10 tied in pink or chart will put you in business. Baitfish patterns don't usually turn fish on until May/June.. Another pattern worth throwing at the Cutts is a Muddler....

Downriggin'

downriggin

you don't happen to have a picture of that amphipod pattern do you! my ability to imagine is pretty weak. sorry. thanks if you do, no biggie if you don't

Josh

Steelieblue,

First off don't make me type all of this for nothing! You better READ IT!
Strip cutting your herring is the most effective way I've ever fished for silvers in the salt.
They have a very fast action to them when rigged properly.


All you do is fillet your herring as if you were filleting a fish but you don't want to much meat on your strip or it want have the right action you want. You can make them long and skinny strips or short and fat strips believe me sometimes one way will out fish another way.
Make the top of the fillet longer than the bottom by cutting the front part at an angle tapering back as you get closer to the bottom of the fillet. Then cut a tiny piece off the top of the fillet right at the head area tapering back as you cut up. So your finished product will come to a point just where the silver body meets the blue coloring of the herrings top part of it's body.

OK if your still with me I will tell you how to hook it on.

Start with your standard double hook tie ups but don't make the hooks more than a few inches apart we usually use size 2 hooks.
YOur top hook you will want to put in just behind the little notch you took out of the top front part of your herring. Poke it through skin side do not pull it all the way through instead only pull it through to where the hook bends and poke it back through so you have your front hook set up with the point coming through the skin side as slose to the top of the fillet as possible.
All you do with the bottom hook is poke it through the skin side a half inch back from where your front hook is poking out and pull it all the way through and let it dangle back on the meat side of your herring.
It is much easier to show someone than trying to tell them.
I hope you understood all of this.
Let me know.

Unfortunately I don't have a pic available. If you can tie a scud, you can tie this baby. The split thread method is nothing more than a modified dubbing loop. Instead of doubling the thread over the hook, just take your bodkin and split the thread in half and apply a sparse amount of clear antron between the two sides.

Hope this helps!

Downriggin'

thanks you guys are sincerely great

Josh

blue,

Downriggin' is your guy here. He's obviously spent some time flinging fur and feathers into the Sound. I'm not a flyfisher.....so I'd tune into what he's telling you.

The resident silver action in South Sound can keep you busy most of the summer, and cutties are around all the time. By late summer, the silvers are getting good sized and I see fly anglers doing well for them all around the South Sound.

If your buddy is a gear angler.......small spinners work well as do Rapalas. As you get later in the summer and candlefish are all over the place, I often use a SlugGo worm. I use the silver/black ones and put a bend in the body so it spins when it drops. Cast around the edges of the bait schools and the action can be good.

LOTS of places to explore around the Sound.

STRIP CUT HERRING

STRIP CUT HERRING!

STRIP CUT HERRING!!

STRIP CUT HERRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEED I SAY MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!