The Outdoor Line Forum

Thanks to Kevin Klein, Friday Harbor,PSA San Juans, CCA Northsound for this report!

The last day of 2011 was a party from the get go, with an easy limit of Blackmouth close to Friday Harbor. Still not a lot of bait around, and some of what is out there is suspended "fire cracker" herring. This season has been different in that fish are being caught 10' to 20' off the bottom, and above. Without the huge schools of candlefish, the salmon are spending more time looking up for feed. New Years day brought another quick limit of Chinook.

Karen Rhinehart with a standard size Blackmouth. A fishbox full of these scrappy 7-10 lbers is a good cure for the New Years hangover.


This 14 lb Winter Chinook fell to a Berkley Gulp! baitfish imitation trolled a long ways behind an Oki flasher.


I've been experimenting with these scent infused soft baits as an alternative to herring and anchovies. After some time spent dialing in this untried method, I can say it has been productive, and has some advantages over bait.
The Gulp's stay on the hook very well, and don't deteriorate as they are being trolled. this cuts down on the time spent checking real bait, and maximizes time in the water actively fishing. They must look and smell pretty realistic too, as the salmon really inhale them, and the Sea gulls dive on them when trying to deploy off the 'riggers. This is a great time to experiment with new methods, and you just might put a unique weapon in your arsenal for the next tournament.

I've talked about trolling swimbaits for salmon since they catch every other fish in the world but I haven't done it. I am curious about hook placement and lengh of leader behind the flasher. are you using a two hook setup?

I was wondering that myself and if you scroll down to the bottom of the last pic in the report above you'll see the rig.
It looks as if Kevin threaded a "Sand Eel" gulp worm up a 4/0 or 5/0 hook.
Does Mustad make a heavier wire "Slow Death" 'crawler hook? if so I know you've got one in your garage...
The spin of a crawler-rigged Gulp worm mighg be interesting to try..?

Salmonhawk wrote:I've talked about trolling swimbaits for salmon since they catch every other fish in the world but I haven't done it. I am curious about hook placement and lengh of leader behind the flasher. are you using a two hook setup?

Ken got a nice size Coho on a Big Hammer anchovy this August. He just grabbed his tuna rod that had one on it and hucked it out and got slammed.

Mark Colemans clinent hooked a nice king while fishin Lings up in the Juan's.


But they weren't trolling them behind a flasher.


Summer can't come fast engough.

I went out to Thatcher Pass yesterday morning on a friends boat. We fished the outgoing tide in the am, no hits. Tide shifted just after noon and it started getting pretty rough in Rosario Straight. We decided to go over to Guemas Channel where it was protected from the northerly wind. Had one takedown on a cookies and cream spoon with a hootchie on it. Fish 1, Dan 0.
Anyway it was a great day on the water, but would have been much better with fish in the boat. I will be back out there soon.
L8R
Dan