I come from the old school of mooching with a herring and 3-5oz. weight,or dodgers and hoochies, anyway I would like to know more about spoon fishing for kings & silvers. Would like to know leader lengths between flasher and spoon, how far back from the downrigger clip should I run the flasher and spoon, when should you use just the spoon without the flasher and if you troll with a mooching weight how much leader should you have between the spoon and weight. It would help to know what size and colors to use for kings and what works better for cohos, thanks for any advice

Seaweed,

Leader lengths are governed by time of year and personal preference: The standard rule of thumb for leader lengths is 2 1/2 times the length of the flasher. And it's a personal preference...

Here's mine for the record:

From the end of August through May, 42" of 20# leader off a 11" flasher for Blackmouth.
June - Third week in July, I add 3 to 6 inches.
3rd Week in July through August (Kings)- 4 or 5 inch spoon 48 - 60 inches with 52" as my main length.

Your next question deals with distance between the clip and flasher. Again, this is a personal preference. Additionally, there are many factors which govern this distance. Let me sum up two answers without getting you confused. For boats that are non-polarity controlled (Black Box), 20-30 feet will be about right. If you have a BB installed, 10-20 feet is in the ball park. www.protroll.com has excellent information on polarity...

One problem with running a lot of line from the clip to the flasher is the rod losses it's hooking power. You can corrrect this by setting the line further back in the clip or doubling the line before placing it in the clip. However, your clip strength should be set at a pressure to have a small 4# salmon release.

Flasher or no flasher? For Blackmouth and Kings always use a flasher. You want to make noise in the water so these guys can find your offering. Once they hear it, they need to see it.. Use glow in the dark or colors that maintain a silhouette in the deepest of depths.
For Silvers, I won't use a flasher unless it is late morning to late afternoon when the fish are deeper. I like a Plain Jane rig early in the morning/late evening. A standard mooching rod with 2oz with 5' of leader seems right for me. The great thing about this set up is it can be motor mooched until you find the right depth. Then change weights. A Peetz slider above a chain swivel is great for this and saves time.

As far as color for Silvers. The standard green or blue 3.5 Coyotes are constant producers. Don't be afraid to try big #6 Vibrax sprinner in flo green, flo pink and orange....

Downrigging pretty much covered it. Dont hesitate to try shorter lengths. The set up with 30 - 36" leader between the flasher and coyotes was the hot one for me last season. For the flies it was the one with the 27" length between the flasher and fly! Good Luck

I have a question for you guys. What types of spoons do you guys normally run in the ocean? Is it mainly coyotes? Just curious, thanks.

The coast is pretty much a bait thing in the upper layer of water. Just about any color or size will work. 'Yotes are always a good choice.

Funky chicken and army truck colored Coyotes both work good.

I have done well with 3.5-4 inch coyotes in green glow, and coho killers in green glow and cop car. all behind a green glow hot spot dodger.

Thanks Guys, I'm sure all of your knowledge and advice will really help, now I can't wait to get out there and use all the info. Thanks again.

I have used Coyote spoons since they first came out. I fished them in Homer Alaska where no one had ever heard of them at the time. I use 6' of leader quite a bit for Kings. Last year we hooked and released a fish that calculated out to be around 47-48# (measured)..this was at Sekiu with a Chartreuse and white 4" spoon with 6' of leader behind a green Hot SPot...an hour later another of about the same size....so don't be afraid of the long leaders. they work.