what length leader do most of u perfer to run from swievl to herring while trolling, what about when tying on a kiwik fish?

Go get em Ray

Herring - 6'

Kwikfish - 5'

I just fished with Clancy Holt for springers. he uses 54" on the Kwikie.

How was that trip Dave?
Clancy is a pretty cool dude, always has that jolly look on his face

Catcher: It was a fine trip. Clancy is a great guy, but he can get a bit tense when someone is outfishing him. Fortunately Clancy does not often get outfished. We went two hours without a strike then had a double header. I crackered mine off but Nick landed his. That evening Nick and I got one fishing in Nick's boat. The next day we had three to the boat and kept two clipped fish. One of the clipped fish had a small part of the adipose remaining, but we could clearly see where it had been clipped. The fish checker ran a wand over it and if beeped cuz it had a wire in its head planted there at the hatchery. All in all a good trip. Four keepers in a day and a half.

I've always used long leaders while trolling plug-cut herring for springers, 9 to even 12 feet, for all lower Columbia fisheries, from Drano, Wind and on down to Cathlamet. Usually use it with just a drop sinker, 2-4 ounces, but this year at Cathlamet tied on a green 6-inch Fish Flash and/or Kone Zone about 18 inches behind the sinker to good success. Fished there Wednesday and Thursday with that rig and limited both days. Used 12 pound test main line and leader.

I thought the kwik fish got tied to the main line?

JK: Most folks use a sliding sinker. Thry thread the mainline thru a swivel or sinker slider then tie it off to a swivel. From the swivel to the Kwikfish is the leader length they are talking about. This may help.

Updated May 13, 2003
Kwikfish For Salmon

By Buzz Ramsey

What started over 30 years ago as a local favorite, wrapping a sardine fillet to the belly of large size Kwikfish, is now the most widely used salmon combination on the West Coast. Sacramento River anglers were the first to successfully use Kwikfish in combination with bait for Chinook Salmon. This bulletin focuses on the proper use of this high-action plug, how to correctly add a sardine fillet, plus some rigging tips that will help you catch more salmon.
The Luhr Jensen Kwikfish® is a "banana-shaped" plug that has high action at even slow trolling speeds. Its body shape, weight, and lip design make it a great diving lure. It can be plunked, trolled or backtrolled from a boat and fished on a flatline (without a weight), in combination with a Jet Diver or with a sinker depending on river size, water depth, or current speed. Bank anglers use this popular lure by employing the cast/swing/retrieve method.

BACKTROLLING
With your boat headed upstream above the area you wish to fish, row or run your motor just fast enough to hold even with the current, as though you were anchored. Work your lure downstream below your boat. When you stop letting out line, the current will cause your lure to dive and wiggle. Then allow your boat to slowly slip downstream, keeping the lure actively working in the current as you back your boat and trailing lure downstream through the holding water.

FLATLINING
When trolling or backtrolling in water less than 10 feet deep, the standard Kwikfish® can be fished without any additional weight. Simply let out 30 to 50 feet of line behind the boat and allow your lure to work in the current. Current speed and the distance your lure is behind the boat will affect how deep your Kwikfish will dive. Slow current or a short trolling distance (30 feet) produces a shallow dive, while strong current or a long trolling distance (50 feet) will produce a deeper dive. Remember, you want your lure to work close to the river bottom.

USING A JET DIVER
To make your Kwikfish dive deeper add a Jet Diver. The Jet Diver can be used instead of a sinker when trolling, backtrolling, or plunking a salmon size Kwikfish®. Rigging is identical to the free-sliding back-bouncing set-up (see illustration on back), except you replace the sinker with a Jet Diver. Although there is a size 10 (popular for trout and steelhead), the most popular size Jet Diver for salmon are the 20, 30, 40, or 50. The number designation denotes the maximum diving depth each respective size Jet Diver is capable of reaching. However, this can vary greatly depending on the diameter of your line and how much you put out, current speed, and the size Kwikfish you’re using.

BACK BOUNCING KWIKFISH®
Back-bouncing with a weight is the most productive way to fish Kwikfish® in deep (even roily) salmon holes that lack the right current to fish your lure on a flat line or in combination with a Jet Diver. The technique is much like back-bouncing bait, as the amount of weight you use is critical. Use too much weight and your lure won't bounce out below your boat. Not enough weight and you may not feel the weight hit the bottom or you may not be sure where the bottom is in relationship to your Kwikfish®.
Once you’ve selected the right size sinker, you'll want to back-bounce or walk your outfit downstream from your boat until your line is at a 45-degree angle. With your weight suspended off the bottom 6 to 12 inches, backtroll your outfit through the slot. Since the depth can change, you will need to check for bottom occasionally. Backtrolling Kwikfish is identical to backbouncing bait except that once your Kwikfish is in position, it’s important to hold your rod steady and let your Kwikfish work.

BAITWRAPPER
The best way to make your salmon-size (K14, K15 or K16) Kwikfish® even more deadly is to add a fillet of sardine to its belly. It’s just a fact that you'll get more strikes and better hook-ups if you keep a fresh bait wrapped on your Kwikfish®.
Although you can use herring, anchovy, smelt or sardine as your bait wrapper, sardine is most popular and available in most sporting goods stores. Start by filleting the sides off your baitfish and cutting them into rectangular pieces 7/8" x 1-1/2" for the K14 size, 1" x 1-3/4" for the K15 and 1-1/8" x 2 1/2" for the K16. A pair of scissors works great for cutting your fillets to size and notching them so they fit around the belly eyelet. Your bait fillet doesn't have to be exact, about a third the length of your lure, but you'll find the above measurements handy when starting out.

When wrapping a bait fillet to the belly of your Kwikfish®, you will need to center it around the belly eyelet, which is the balance point of the lure, with the skin side next to the lure body. You can use two pound test mono or Luhr Jensen Kwikfish® Stretchy Thread (elastic thread) as a wrapping material. By making 20 to 30 wraps, your fillet will conform to the shape of the lure body and not interfere with lure’s action. You can finish your wrap with two or three half-hitch knots. For best results, your fillet should be changed often - at least every hour. Tip: Wrap several lures the night before or (better yet) the morning of your trip and keep them in a small bait cooler.

WAIT BEFORE "SETTING THE HOOK"
The first time you feel a salmon pull your rod tip down while using a bait-wrapped Kwikfish® you’ll swear a Great White Shark just struck. And although a salmon striking a Kwikfish will likely be the hardest strike you’ve ever felt, don’t set the hook until Mr. Salmon has pulled your rod down at least two more times. (That’s a total of three.) For whatever reason, waiting will increase your chances of actually hooking the monster, and if you’re using a levelwind (baitcasting) reel, make sure your thumb is firmly planted on the reel spool when you finally do set the hook. The only place I know of where anglers using Kwikfish don’t wait to set the hook is on the salmon rivers in Northern California.

ROD, REEL, AND LINE
My favorite rod for fishing Kwikfish is the Berkley Air-IM7 8'6" XH model in combination with a 5500 or 6500 Ambassadeur Reel filled with 30 to 80 pound test Berkley Gorilla Tough or Stealth Spiderwire line combined with a 15 to 60 pound test leader. Generally speaking, lighter lines and leaders can be used when fishing the K-10, 12 and 13 size Kwikfish or when fishing Steelhead or Spring Chinooks, but if you’re after Summer or Fall Chinook (that might be much larger) don’t be shy about moving up to a leader heavier than your main line.

TUNING
As with all diving plugs, your Kwikfish® may require tuning to achieve the best possible action; this can be checked by pulling your lure through the water. It should have a side-to-side wobbling motion. However, if it dives to the left, turn the line-attachment screw eye to the right (clockwise). If it dives to the right, turn it to the left (counter-clockwise). A small pair of needle-nose pliers works best for this fine-tuning.
Your lure can be thrown off balance if your sardine fillet is lopsided. If this occurs, try tuning your bait wrapper by flattening the lopsidedness with your thumb. Note: All standard Kwikfish are rigged with screw eyes, however, the new Luhr Jensen K-13X and K-16X is equipped with fixed eyelets. These new “X-treme” models should not require tuning. However, they can be tuned by bending (not turning) the line-attachment eyelet.

KWIKFISH SIZES FOR SALMON
The most popular salmon sizes in the standard model Kwikfish are the K14, K15 and K16. In recent years, Luhr Jensen has added the new Kwikfish “X-treme” models (13X and 16X), which are also available in lighted versions. These models have more extreme action, do not require tuning, and will dive deeper than the standard models. The blinking LED lighted versions, equipped with a water-activated blinking light, will outperform unlit models during low light, darkness, or turbid water.

"HOT TAIL" FINISHES
After more than a year of in-the-water testing to prove their effectiveness, Luhr Jensen introduced a series of “Hot Tail” finishes. “Hot Tail” finishes have the accent color painted on the tail or hook end of the lure rather than the head (e.g. Silver/Chartreuse Head). Fish will almost always zero-in on the colored end of the lure that, with “Hot Tail” finishes, is where the hook is located. It’s proven so effective that many anglers remove the belly hook from Kwikfish having “Hot Tail” paint jobs, which make it easier to release fish and add your bait wrapper.

PLUNKING KWIKFISH®
Besides trolling, plunking Kwikfish® is growing in popularity. Your outfit can be rigged like the diagram below, except that the dropper line for your weight should be longer, usually 18 to 30 inches. Plunking can be particularly effective for Fall Chinook in the upper ends of bays or tidal areas when there is sufficient current to work stationary lures. Try plunking for Spring or Summer Chinook as they migrate upstream, especially where bottom structure will funnel fish into a narrow traveling zone. When water conditions are clear, try dropping down to a K10, K12 or K13X size Kwikfish®, and although these small sizes won't carry a sardine fillet, they can be scented with a strong fish attractant like Berkley Power Jelly.

PRODUCT INFORMATION
Kwikfish® are available in 13 standard and two “X-treme” models ranging in length from 1-1/4 to 5-1/2 inches. In addition to the many Kwikfish finishes (most available with or without rattle) that Luhr Jensen stocks, dealers can order custom finishes, which require a minimum order of 72 each of the same size and color. You can identify custom finishes by the finish code located on the back of the product package. If the last set of 4 numbers in the complete 11 digit product code begin with a “5” it is a custom finish, which is not stocked by Luhr Jensen and may only be available for a short time.
For a catalog showing the complete line of Luhr Jensen's quality lures and accessories, send $3 (they'll include a $3 certificate which can be used with your first order of $20 or more) to: Luhr Jensen, P.O. Box 297, Hood River, OR 97031, Attn: Customer Service or check out their web site at http://www.luhrjensen.com.

I like a 5-6' leader on both ......Ross

Probably not less than 3.5', otherwise the fish probably see it more than you'd like.

If it's more than 6' then, with a bent rod due to a king on the end of your line, it's tough to LAND the fish.

5' is what I use.

American made ball-bearing swivels spin a LOT better than any type of swivel that I've tested.

When done at the end of the day, consider putting WD-40 inside the swivel, then wipe it off the outside. It will spin better next trip.

Also, if in saltwater, you MUST wash it off real well in fresh water or it won't work next time.

We carry a fresh-water tupperware bucket with a lid in the boat, and toss swivels, flashers, hooks, etc. into it at the end of the day of saltwater fishing...then maybe an hour later we empty the water out and dry off the swivels. We NEVER have problems doing it this way....used to have plenty of problems in the saltwater prior to doing it that way.

Good luck!

(OK, I'll bite.)

Why?

Vedder, lots of good info there, you wrote a book right?

Okay here is a rig that I have seen catch, and I have been nailed on. Oaky, you have a dropper to weight on your main line and a swivel tied. Take a 36" line bead chain one end, slide a very large spin and glow chartrues or red/pink, and a couple beads then a chain or swivel. then a 3 or 4 leader with a herring.

So, you have main line with a dropper to weight. Then a line with the big ass spin and glow, and then a 36" or so leader with a cut plug or oter herring how ever you like it. Basically the big ass spin and glow is just in the place wher you would try a tangle flash or small dodger.

Good Luck and watch out!

Mooch, stealth. I want the plug cut to be as far away from the sinker as possible so the fish won't associate the two. I don't use a spreader either, just a split ring with three bead chains, one to the main line, one to the drop sinker and one to the leader. Its less obstrusive and gets down better with less weight. Boating fish with long leaders is harder. You need to have a good man on the net. When the fish is ready and up to the boat, you have to raise the rod tip high with your arms extended. But believe me, we get 'em. I'm convinced that lighter lines (12 pound test generally) and long leaders results in more bites, especially when fishing is tough. Another key to springer trolling is to keep that herring right on bottom all the time.