LMFAO! I am with ya brother!

ok I cant take it anymore! Define flossing.......... My definition is a fish that is lined through the mouth placeing the hook in the corner of the mouth on the far side of the river from the outside in. Right ? So basicly a fish caught in the mouth. Fish caught in the mouth are legal to retain, Right? So where is the F-ING problem, really? I am sure I will get flamed, so what, I am dieing to know. On another note I have incedently foul hooked fish with almost every method! Freak things happen, like a coho slapping a wiggle wart and getting hooked in the tail , from a boat mind you. Doeas that make me a snagger? I have seen many fish eat eggs with there azz holes, but bait isn;'t considered snagging. This is getting so old. Buzz bombs are frowned upon yet I have seen tons caught in the salt on em. WTF


Later...........

so in other words I guess I am asking is flossing legal or not?

No flame from me, but this is a sportfishing website. Isn't the "sport" part about trying to get a response from the fish? I don't care if you floss fish, it is legal in my book, but don't call yourself a sportsman, if you have to justify your catching technique.

The "grab" is where it is at, everything else is totally secondary. I have heard snaggers say "They just like the fight". But that is bullsh!t.

Its the chomp, and the few seconds after that has the most exciting moment in all of sportfishing. If you are going to deprive yourself of that, just buy fish at Safeway.

right on. Not defending just wondering. I would say that not letting a foul hooked fish go would mean that a guy wasn't a sportsman. I would definatley agree with the Grab comment. Saw some time as a bait bitch this past year and handed off tons of fish . After getting my 3-5 seconds of love!


LAter.....

what size of DNs are you guys putting behind a diver. I have only used DNs for shad but know a guy who tells me he has hooked silvers on them. are you putting new hooks on them? just curious. I might give them a try some day when they arn't biten the normal stuff. I have tried all sorts of things behind a diver but never a DN.


Kris

Parker,

Do you put any weight on your DN when you cast it straight down river behind your drift boat and put it in your rod holder? How about when you're casting and retrieving - what kind of weight and how long of leader?

Thanks

Okay I will bite too. New to using Dick Nites for silvers, if I am trying to provoke a strike what is the primary choice of color? The only problem with DN's is there are too many color choices.

Sue n I have caught 100's of Ho's on D.N.s (even in Forks).Coho bite D.N.s simple as that.
You can floss fish easier w/ a 2/0 hook on a long leader than a D.N. The "SLOW" UP river retrieve is the most effective when on anchor or bank fishin w/ deep water at your feet... a longer and lighter lb test leader allows the D.N. to wobble the way its made to...20lb ain't gonna let the spoon do its job...Almost ALL the fish are near the BOTTOM so enuf lead (1/4-1/2oz) is needed to get it NEAR the bottom...turn the handle on your reel about the speed of the second hand on a clock...Color is easy 50/50,frog,chart. tip,red tip... all in the 1 size will work...2's work and so do pee wees, but 1's are the norm...The FACT is if YOU want to be an ILLEGAL ASSHOLE DON"T FISH NEAR US... and it doesn't take a dick nite on the end of your line to be an A@@HOLE... seen LOTS of people throwing eggs on the Hoh when it's artifical only...Don't think ALL dick nite fishers are flossers...enough said...

Good Info Rog. So do you use a mainline weight or a dropper for that style of fishing?

rognsue,

thanks for the info. I will give them a try. Are you running the factory hook?

I have had salmon take the pee wee size when I had them behind a brads divers when fishing for shad but them little tin hooks didn't stand a chance.
oh and as for the A holes I'm with ya
Kris

Thanks for all the good info. Plus, I learned that everyone thinks everyone else is the flosser.

I too haven't used a lot of them over the years as I really like the wobble of a "real" spoon. I have known a ton of people that have sworn by the DN, especially for ho's and humpies. They are also notorious trout slayers in the lakes. Coley showed my the DN on the bug rod this summer and although you could argue the umm... "historical purity" of the technique, it is undeniably effective when you might otherwise be throughing huge, heavy streamers (which isn't exactly delicate either!).


Rog, what type of pound test are you stepping down to on the leader (8-10)?

Thanks.

I have caught 100's of Ho's on a Dick Nite in #1 and the wee size with the stock hook. most people who have never used a DN much don't trust the stock hook but when you catch a few with them you will see that that little hook holds up just fine but by all means change the hook but keep the same size if you want it to work right. In really fast water at anchor and tossing out a DN and put it in the rod holder with a dropper on I sometimes change the hook to a bigger size in really fast water, it seems to make the action work better and brings more fish to the net. colors I use the most are as follows:

Nickle Chartruse head.

Nickle back frog.

Nicle Dark green Head.

Half and Half.

Nickle Red Head.

And I will use Purple for chum...Purple is hard to find unless you order it from Dick Nite.

And I use the DNA scent from Dick Nite in all the flavors. Some days the Kokanee scent works the best but the Salmon scent is good all around. Trout and Shad scent work to on the Ho's.

Leader size I will go as far as 3 1/2 to 4 feet in gin clear water but colored water will be from two to three feet long.

Get your DN on the bottom that is where they bite!...Some guys see the Silvers flying out of the water like Rockets and fish the top water only to get mad and wet.....Get it on the BOTTOM!...

In gin clear water with the sun out and no clouds I will use the same colors but in Brass instead of nickle. The size that I use the most is #1 and the Wee size second and yes the wee size can catch 20lbs Ho's....Depending on the speed and depth of the water I use 1/4 oz and 1/2 oz in egg sinker or a dropper and sometimes split shots...you can go to the Dick Nite web site for a diagram...And when you think you are fishing a DN to slow go slower! When you get woke up and almost get your rod ripped out of hands try to remember how slow you were going after the rush!

I don't see how flossing with a DN would be very productive with such a small hook? Wouldn't a bigger hook and a corkie or yarn be more productive to a Flosser?......I said Flosser not Sportsman!......

Bigchump,

Not flaming, just my read. As I see it, flossing is snagging. From page 30 of the regulation pamphlet:

"SNAGGING
Attempting to take fish with a hook and line in
such a way that the fish does not voluntarily
take the hook(s) in its mouth. In freshwater,
it is illegal to possess any fish hooked
anywhere other than inside the mouth or on
the head."

So if the point of flossing is to put the line in the fishes mouth without the fish voluntarily doing so, then you are snagging. I don't believe that you can say that because the fish has to open its mouth to breath and the line runs across its jaws, that it is voluntarlily taking the hooks in its mouth. Justify it any way you want, but as I read it, it's illegal.

every technique and lure has its time and place, and although the dick nites don't get much play from me, they have saved the day on a few occasions. a couple in particular were late piggo silvers on the satsop that wouldn't hit anything for a couple days straight. after digging through the backpack i opened a small box, saw the dicks and said what the hell. rigged one under a small cork float and hit one on the very first cast. white w/ red tip. ended up hooking at least 8-10 more before making the final bonk and calling it a day. have drift fished them with some success but definitely much better for me under a float. and please, just let the old flossing vs snagging dog lie.

I have never fished a dick nite for salmon, but it would seem that fishing it under a float would help eliminate the likelyhood of flossing a fish. That being said how do you fish a dick nite under a float? What sort of weight set up do you use? Slow retrieve? Let it drift? Thanks in advance for any insights you can give me on this technique.

thanks rog, gonna give it a shot on the elwha here in a couple days

The dropper is supposed to be of lighter lb than anything else, so when you get hung you lose your .12 sinker instead of your $2.00 dicknite
i'll run 12lb off a diver 8-10 the rest of the time and the only time I change hooks is on the rusty ones ya reel up hung on a "snag". It can be an expensive way to fish, if your not losing lures every once in a while your mot getting it in the fishes face...

i'll usually set it up with a couple split shot to sink it quicker, but not hamper the action.

and to answer bigchump's question, it depends on intent. i'm sure i've flossed fish over the years incidentally, but i have never once done it intentionally. it is sort of a gray area, but when i see a guy with a 6' leader and a corky or DN jerking at the end of every drift, there's about a 102% chance of them being a snagger, which seems to be about 7 out of 10 guys on any given river in recent years.

"trying" to floss a fish = snagging by the very definition in the rulebook, which = ILLEGAL and un-sporting. end of story.

I've written articles for Salmon/Trout/Steelheader before and I think I'll contact Nick to see if he would like one on how to fish Dick Nites. There are many things to consider when using Dick Nites.....river current, is the river tidally-influenced, sunny or cloudy day, high water or low water conditions, etc. But my basic Dick Nite set up is as follows:

10# mainline to 3-way "black" swivel. Dropper is either 1/4, 3/8, or 1/2 oz bass casting style sinker on a 12 to 18 inch 5# leader (breaking off this is cheaper than breaking off your lure). My lure leader is 6' of 8# Maxima ultragreen. Keep in mind that when you are reeling in, the dropper runs nearly parallel to your lure leader, so you really only have 4 1/2 to 5' of "clean" leader. I prefer size 1 Dick Nites, usually chartreuse, green or combinations of those with silver. No wee sizes. Sometimes #2 size when river is up.

I like to fish slow-moving flats. No riffles or tailouts. Sometimes a deep pool is good, but flats of 8 to 12 feet deep are ideal. I cast 45 degrees downstream, let the sinker hit bottom(yes, risky), then "swim" the lure back to me. No jerking, no jigging, just a slow methodical retrieve. I don't like to tick the bottom, but rather visualize the spoon fluttering about 3' off the bottom. To know the right speed of retrieve, start your day with a short cast of 20 feet and reel the spoon in. Watch what speed you use to make the Dick Nite just flutter..........no spins, that's too fast.

When a salmon(I've caught coho, chum, king, and pink on Dick Nites) bites the spoon, you'll know. A$$ cracking, not a tick-tick floss thing. Good luck.

Snake

How's that Rocket Red?