Andy,

Great question!! From my limited exposure to that fishery, I agree with ZoZo and Keith's advice.

I've done the spinners, quickfish and herring down on the Columbia, out of Kalama. Did OK on the herring, tight roll on the bait. I really didn't know about the finer points of sardine wrapping the quickfish until last year, but I'm ready to have a whack at it again this year. Got my magic thread...

Clearly, anise is a great attractant and has been recommended many times. So if I were to use any herring it would be with the anise at least.

I've considered getting the gear to hog up but so far have used my kicker to troll real slow, even back trolling when the current is really running. If you don't want to hog up you can still hook up to a piling. I've seen a lot of guys doing it catch fish. It's nice and kick back when your not trolling...I like that.

Andy, we will get to hammer some blackmouth when it opens back up. I'm gettin' the boat ready...I saw a pic the other day from 12/23/2001 at Manchester, 3 old timers had 3 nice ones, 10-12 pounders. The opener should be good. I'll get in touch...

Jeff, yeah, we've gotta get after 'em sometime. Maybe the 3 of us can hit Pt. Defiance. I've been watching my Charlie White videos again and want to test some ideas.

I may make the Flotilla, I'm penciling it in.