I have a friend that insists the ONLY way to take kings consistently is with a downrigger, flasher, and hoochie. I disagree. I have never fished Point Defiance, but I can't belive there aren't just as many guys hooking them with a good old lead and herring. Anyone else fish down there? Anyone troll/mooch a cutplug instead of downrigger fishing? Brass

A person could take Kings with just a weight and herring and they do. IE. the moochers at the point, etc. but I think that you are probably talking about trolling.
So with that in mind, a person with a downrigger and not much knowledge could take that setup and put in at a certain depth every time, and probably be able to hook up.
The same person doing this with a mooching sinker is probably just shooting in the dark and will probably be the guy getting snagged by the boat passing by with the downrigger out.
Keep in mind that I am talking novice here.....before downriggers, that is how all of us fished, unless you count the meat-line.

Ng

My two brothers and I fish Defiance all the time. We mooch 99% of the time. We've been fishing for salmon that way since we were 9-10 years old. We catch alot of fish,but have been doing it this way for 20 years. I think mooching is the most difficult tecnique to master,but can be really deadly if done correctly. The other 1% of our salmon fishing,is trolling for Silvers at Sekiu. Then we just troll a mooching set-up.


I'll bet your friend thinks mooching,is putting your line out and putting your rod in a holder. To be effective you really need to work your bait non-stop. If you let your bait just sit there,you either won't catch anything,or you'll just be feeding Dogfish.

Although I've never tried it, I know people who have done will jigging at the point.

I have fished the South Sound areas for years using a Hoochie, almost exclusivley (since I had success with them). They are a consistant producer and easy to adjust for any speed or action. Having cofidence in a setup and knowing how to tune it is critical to my success. About the only thing I change anymore (and only slightly) is color and depth. We tried lots of other artificials, wraps, frozen, fresh,but the hoochie is what catches the Kings.

Plus, if they wont bite in the usual places, and you know the terrain pretty good, (good enough to stay within 5-10 feet of the bottom), pick a depth of @35'-65',and follow the contour of the shore at that depth. Tough to do without losing the occasional Hoochie, but I can lose 6 Hoochies for the price of one artificial.

Bottom line, fishing with Hoochies lets you cover alot of water and to "go and get them" if you have to. They're so simple, even I can use them!

Brass,

There is a pretty good chance of catching a king on a slow trolled cut plug at PD. However, this is more likely to happen before sunrise than after it (or right prior to absolute darkness in the evening). Although many fish migrate in the 40-80 foot range, once sun light hits the water they start dropping deeper.

Nonetheless, it is still worth a shot if you are confident you can fish this deep.

Personally I don't like to waste a lot of time fishing these ranges levels after sunrise and elect to head straight for the bottom in the 110-150 foot range trolling a large spoon or hootchy behing a flasher. An exception to this would be off the mouth of the Pew.

A common mistake many make at PD is trolling close to the shore or the comon Blackmouth water. Although many fish are caught, remember that these Kings are migrating and the majority will be further out than believed.
This is just outside the normal trolling paths of nearly every boat. The opposite holds true the further east you fish.

One area I can suggest to try your method is along the piers off the slag pile. Or possibly the grain elevator toward the Pew when the water is open.