aka Rotary Salmon Killers, Krippled Herring, Herring Aid, Salmon Angler, Bullet Bait Holder, etc. These are the little plastic thingies that attach onto the nose of a herring/anchovy, and are supposed to give it a realistic rolling motion, keep the bait intact, etc.

Are they worth the trouble? Plug-cuts work fine for awhile, but they fall apart pretty quick. Brining helps, but they still go to pieces. I'd like to be able to rig everything up and troll peacefully for awhile, instead of constantly wondering if my bait is still intact.

Regards.

Mike
Woodinville

I have used the luhr jensen one (can't remember what it is called)off and on for 25 years and have had some success. I used em almost exclusively for blackmouth for an entire season fishing out of Oak Harbor. I limited most times out or at least caught one. The visibility that year was terrible due to the Skagit and many storms and high winds. I did not use a flasher or anything just the herring off the downrigger. Did extremely well when I was the only one in the boat but my success rate dwindled to 50% or less when other people were with me. When alone in the boat I would pay closer attention to the rod and notice exactly where I was gettin bites and which direction I was goin and would then concentrate on that area duplicating the speed and direction that had produced the most "bites". It may have been my imagination but I was sure that I was gettin bites without actually hookin the fish, the indications were most times very subtle. Hard to believe that you could tell that you are gettin a hit while fishin 60-120 feet deep usin a downrigger. The area that I was fishin is a rather non-descript smooth mud bottom with not much in the way of structure. Hope these random ramblins are of some help.

Sincerely,
RRR

Hi Mike,

I have used them before, again like RRR for Blackmouth, when I was going to be trolling and unfortunately my bait would be in the water for a while. They do save your bait, and I would only use whole herring.

These things are relatively cheap, so head off to Sportco or Outdoor Emporium and buy one of each brand to try for rotation speed, etc. My best success has been with the one that, forgot the name, is reddish pink, and is basically a u-shaped-clip with a vane on one side that makes it spin.

There was one of these things out there that you had to buy specific triangularly cut pieces of herring filet for that was all the rage up on Orcas when I live up there. A lot of the blackmouth fishermen swore by them, but you had to buy that company's specially prepared bait.

I brine my herring the night before in a VERY heavy salt solution when I am fishing plug cuts, and I will change baits every 30 minutes or less. Luckily, that has yet to be an issue up a Sekiu.

Andy

Thanks for the tips. I'll be out on 8.2 Sunday morning. I'll mix a few brined plug-cuts and Helmeted Herrings in with the spoons and hootchies. I'll have three rods in the water this time instead of just one, so I'll do some casual research.

Mike
Woodinville

I use them every time I fish after being turned on to the Canadian version that Dogfish is talking about a few years ago. I can't remember the name of the company either, but the strips come in different sizes and have matching helmets. The tiny strips are killer. They have excellent flash and rotation. I've caught BIG salmon at Sooke and Sekiu on them and they slam em' at Southworth too. They are hard to find down here, so I go with the Luhr-Jensen caps day to day and fish whole herring with great success.

I use them all the time. I like the anchovie sized even with whole herring. Make sure to use a toothpick to keep the leader from pulling against the rear hook and causing the bait to bend which results in a non-realistic presentation. They are spendy...about a buck apiece. They will save your bait especially in heavy current. Highly recomended!

Hey Finegrain,

I think the U-shaped ones with the little vane on the side that Dogfish spoke of are made by Scotty, they are called a "Herring Devil", or something like that, they come in a couple of sizes and a bunch of different colors. I was at Seattle Marine Supply (on West Commodore Way, behind the fishermen's terminal in Seattle) the other day, and they had lots of them in stock.

The other one that you buy the specifically cut bait for, I think is made by Ryse Davis (not sure of the spelling) they are a BIG bait distributor up in Canada. Their one for herring strips I think is called the "Strip Teaser"

I've tried a few different ones while fishing in Canada, my favorites were the full helmet ones that you use a whole herring in, your leader runs right through them, and they have a red plastic pin that goes through the herring's head. You can tune the roll of the herring by where you seat the upper hook and how tight you set the line going to the pin.

Like Dogfish said, buy a few and give them a whirl, they definitely help keep your bait together, but you should still check it often to keep it free of seaweed, etc.

-N.

Mike (Finegrain),
The Herring Hat that StorminN mentioned "the full helmet ones that you use a whole herring in, your leader runs right through them, and they have a red plastic pin that goes through the herring's head. You can tune the roll of the herring by where you seat the upper hook and how tight you set the line going to the pin." sound like the Luhr Jensen ones that I was usin except you had to push a toothpick through and break it off.

I'm intrigued by the u-shaped ones and will have to try them after I finish my sentence in california.

Let us know what yer research turns up!

Sincerely,
Roger

First thing I found is that the rigged up herring is a lot bigger than the equivalent plug-cut would have been. I wish I had brought something smaller than red label.

The one I tried was the "Rotary Salmon Killer." It imparted a real nice motion to the herring, but I have to wonder about the hook arrangement. The instructions said to just let the hook dangle out the back. What I found was that after trolling for a couple minutes, the hook ended up looped around the tail of the herring, which made a good hookup pretty unlikely. I had at least one strong release from the downrigger without a hookup.

Regards.

Mike
Woodinville

I've had excellent success on kings, silvers, pinks and chums with the "Krippled Herring" helmets. You can get complete instructions for their use at Krippled lures or in my "Advanced Downrigger Techniques" article in the June/July 2001 STS. Good Luck, Nelly

finegrain, Parker fished with me this morning at 8.2 and we were done by 7:30. On that herring set up, an old salt friend of mine sticks a piece of wire through the mouth down to the anus, then puts top hook in below the chin and out the nose to keep mouth shut then lets trailing hook trail. This allows you to bend the bait for a fast
or slow roll and more inportantly, troll fast.