BW - It's opened up a bunch of water for me - THANKS!!

The hoochie/jighead thing has me looking for bass tubes in the right colors - bright greens, orange, pink...ect. It's much easier than tying jigs.

For those who suggested using jigs for coho I owe a thanks. My boy and I each caught one today on jigs, one about 5# the other about 15#...beautiful fish. We fished them just as suggested, cast out, let them sink, hop once or twice, let sink, repeat. We also caught and released about 4-6 others that we foul hooked. All were caught on blue/black marabou 1/4oz. We tried throwing blue fox spinners and wiggle-warts with no success.

Thanks again!

RM

TC: I bet you wont be surprised that I learned about jigs for coho on the Alagnak. They are my go to coho lure anytime I can find fish in water soft enough to work them properly.

They are not yet popular in B.C. But I'm headed to the Vedder next week and hope shoe those Canadian coho how well they work.

Hey Dave ,hope your not coming up till we get some rain ,it's mostly white chinooks right now,although there fun on the light tackle.Looks like rain is to start tuesday or wednesday ,then the coho will come in droves.I have been trying the jigs ,but under a float ,this week I'll give em a shot as you mentioned ,the harrison has some nice dead water that will suit this technique.Only problem is I'll probably end up catching every chum in the vicinity ,good for the roe supply I guess.

DK:

I'm coming up Wednesday. If the river is still low I will fish sturgeon. If the rains are on time it may be good by friday.

I find the chums are much more apt to take a jig under a float that one that is jigged. I tried the jigs in the Vedder last year but the chums were so thick I kept foul hooking them. I did do very well on coho using the jigs at the mouth of the Vedder.

You ever try fishing the Harrison ,fly fishing for coho off one side of the boat with a sturgy rod off the other ,gotta love it.If you see a blue North River with Bent Rods on the side ,stop and say hello.

I would like to thank everyone for their excellent advice. Unfortunatelhy nothing we tried yesterday worked but I'll be sure to continue to try them.

Thanks!

Hi All

Just a little piece of information. I noticed a few boats on the OP using the jig/pink hoochie method for the 1st time 7 or 8 years ago. I tried it over there with no luck. On the other hand, I have talked to people who have had great success with it over there.

I have had success using the above for humpies. They just slam it.

Dave

I am going to have to get a lesson on the jig technique from ya, I have yet to catch a fish doing this. The only way I can catch those Silvers is with the Dick Nites.

Instead of hoochies, I prefer to use the pink steely worms. The pinks and silvers nail them. Kings and steelhead will gobble them now and then too.

Just grab some gammi jig heads in the 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 ounce range, and some 4-6 inch pink worms and you are in business. Cut off the first inch or 2, and push the worm on the hook like you would for bass fishing. You want it swimming to you with good rising and falling action.

The thing I like best about this method as opposed to the dnite approach is that the strikes are much harder and you can often watch them chase it down and smash it. If the fish are biting - you'll know it. If they aren't - you just accept it and move on. No one can say you are 'floosing' with this approach. But you do have to be careful not to snag. If done improperly, this method can result in lots of fish snagged - especially if the fish are in thick. In that situation, a float and jig or float and bait is the ticket.

BTW - looking back on the post about catching 2 fish and foul hooking 5-6 others - all I can say is that you were not doing it right or you were fishing in an area with too many fish and jigging should not have been tried. That foul hook to legit hook ratio is terrible. Reminds me of the drift fisherman who snag 10 fish per 1 legit at the mouth of the wallace when the chum are in. Terrible sportsmanship in my opinion. Accidently snagging fish here and there can't be helped sometimes, but if you accidently hook fish after fish - is it really considered an accident? (off my soap box now)

*** edit to add that I'm not attacking the guy who shared his trip success with his son above. When you are new to salmon fishing, foul hooking them accidently is to be expected sometimes. It's the guys how do it for 'sport' just so they can brag about the 30 salmon they caught that get to me. **********


My guess is that you were just jigging wrong. You see buzz bombers make the same mistake. Yes, sometimes yanking the jig 2 to 4 feet straight up and letting it drop back down can draw savage strikes - but it will also result in many snagged fish. THe upward motion should be deliberate, but not forceful. Just lift the tip 4-18 inches, and then drop it down allowing a slight bow \ slack line to form. I purposely do it slow enough that if I feel a bump, I stop, so as to not drive the hook into the side of a fish. Since 90% of the bites will come as the jig free falls, you don't have to worry about missing strikes while raising the jig.

Cast out, let sink to bottom, but don't let it settle or you'll risk losing it between rocks. Once you do this enough, you'll get to know the snaggy spots vs the clear spots very well. I rarely lose jigs now. I hit bottom, then start cranking the reel and jigging as I slowly crank - raise tip, drop, raise tip, drop - sometimes I'll drop back down to bottom once or twice - but jigging at mid depth or near athe surface is often just as good as being on the bottom.

Anyway - the approach is not 'bottom bouncing' or 'hopping' the jig off the bottom - it is swimming the jig (I call it "free jigging") through the water in an effort to draw a strike from any aggressive fish in the hole. And they will chase these jigs from quite a ways away. It's a very exciting way to fish. But it can be a downer if you do it wrong and have to waste a bunch of time dealing with foul hooked fish...