When out on Saturday (25-09-04) from sunup till about 11:00 and between the two of us we got one bright chum of 12 pounds. Green squid behind a chrome flasher a few hundreds yard out from the Shilshole breakwater. We only saw one other fish landed and the fish checker had only counted four by the time we quit.

We fished West Point from 6:00-10:00 and got our 4. 2 -5lbs,2-10+lbs.the 2 smaller fish were at 35ft.and the other two at 100ft. of cable.We had to troll 2.7 or faster to get a hit.Red hotspot and green/white hoochies with herring strips did the trick.We were out in the shipping lane 500+ft.Going back next weekend.Hope it holds up.

Launched from Alki on saturday and fished off West Point with my brother. Started fishing at 7:10, limited by 9:45. Caught 5 lb, 6 lb, 7lb and 14.7 lb silvers (the 14.7 lber was weighed by the fish checker).

Followed MrBill's suggestion as to setup (Thank you very much MrBill!), but fished in water depths from 350 to 950 ft. Also the 14.7 lber was caught by my brother with the downrigger at 100 ft instead of 70 to 90 ft as the others were, and a little south of the mid-channel bouy.

I fished West Point this morning for the first time. I picked up one 8 lb. silver for about 4 hours fishing in the morning. :rolleyes: I saw only one other fish netted during that time. I was using a green flasher and green squid at about 110' tried from 60' to 90' with no luck.
Seems kinda slow ? is this the end of the run ?

In some past recent years, after the bulk of the coho run has finished then most of the big Hooknose males make their run last.

I'll bet that catch averages keep going down the next two weeks but that some BIG silvers will be caught...

Fireguy,

Did you use a herring teaser on the front hook? Seemed like if we weren't getting a bite on the same setup you were using it meant that the herring strip was gone. I finally got smart and started tying them to the top hook with some elastic thread and then the fish really had to strike it to get it off. After making this change to our setups we started hooking fish. Also, the last 2 times we've gone out and had good success, we were fishing just after the low tide change. Hope this helps!

Benfishin,
I was just using a squid no herring strip. I've never done a herring strip before, I've been trying to getout and use the boat more and learn new areas so I'm really new to this fall ,winter fishing thing. If you could give me some pointers that would be great. Are you using frozen herring and then fillet them and using some type of borax on them ?

Fireguy,
If you keep reading this website plus check out salmonuniversity.com you will really improve your technique fast.

In response to your question I prefer fresh bait, but can't readily get it so frozen is what I used 90% of the time. The problem with frozen is it turns mushy after it thaws. To toughen it up I take a package of frozen herring (the night before fishing), put it in a zip lock bag, mini cooler or tupperware container, add a splash of water then generously cover with rock or pickling salt and let it thaw. The salty water sucks the moisture out of the skin and makes it tough. I suppose borax would do the same, but I have never tried. After fishing for the day I put it back in the freezer and use it again and again until its gone or the quality suffers.

My basic setup for coho is flasher (smeared with herring smelly jelly), 32" leader, hootchy with twinkle skirt and a small herring strip. I usually filet the herring and get approx 6 small strips from each side. My two top producing hootchies are white glow and green/white glow with blue splatters on the back. One day one works, the next day the other works. I also work different depths until I find fish. Once I find the depth and the best lure/bait combo I dial all my rods in. Remember to check your gear every 15/20 minutes for schmeg, shakers and bait.

Fireguy,

I'm just a novice like yourself, but it sounds like Little Fish is pretty knowledgable. Personally, I have been brining frozen herring at least the night before. Since I'm kinda lazy, I've just been saving the brown sugar/ kosher salt brine I use for smoking my fish in a big jar and tossing a few frozen herring in as I use them (And no, I don't reuse the brine for smoking!). I beleive there are actual herring brine recipes on this website if you do a search for them.

As far as the actual teaser, I've actually just been filleting the whole side of the herring off and putting it on both hooks and tying it on with elastic thread. I'm sure that getting 6 fillets out of 1 fish saves bait, but last Saturday we only went through 4 full herring to get 4 fish.

Also, I've heard its important to spread the tenacles out so they are on the outside of the teaser. We've been using 31 to 32 inches between the hoochie and the flasher also, but using green glow for both.

I'm sure others can give you a lot better advice, this is just whats been working for us.

Thanks Guys for all the suggestions, I really hate this time of year when I get back the fish better be watching out for me