Plunking Tips

With all this high water, and rain, I'm in need of some plunking tips.

Plunk your butt down, have a beer, watch the boob tube, and tie up gear until the water drops.

Where you thinking about plunking.location can be more imortant than presentation.Key is knowing travel paths on river.P.m me if it is out on the west end I might be able to help you out.

Big pyramid sinker, 3-way swivel, 3 feet of leader, spin-n-glow, glob of eggs, chuck it out as far as you can, place bell near rod tip, stick rod in ground holder, sit by fire with several friends, drink Rainier, when sleds go by too close, flip them off, repeat as necessary.

Not trying to be a smart a$$, but that's how I see it done.

High water= fishing at your feet not "as far out as you can"

+50

Plunking tip....."Higher the water, the closer to shore"....remember this, can't tell you the amount of times these 6 words paid off with fish and strange looks from the "cluck it out as far as you can" clans.

Objective is not to show your "casting skills", object is to get your terminal gear in the most highly possible fish lanes.

Like said above stay home & tie gear or cast real close to the shore.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Mainline to 3 way swivel. 12" leader to double spin glo's off the middle ring (add lots of scent), and a 14" leader to another 3 way off the bottom ring. 12" leader to spin glo with eggs. Pyramid sinker clipped to the bottom ring.

Find a bubble line and cast inside of it.

2 stick method for rod holders. Lay rod nearly parallel with ground, light drag. Bell on front stick.

Build fire, wittle some wood, cook venison, enjoy.

I like the flipping off the sleds that come by too close also.

Don't forget to toss sticks on your buddies rod and "ring his bell".

Having a spare bell in your pocket is also good for getting your buddies up and running. Good stuff.

I still think that the biggest steelhead every year are caught by the plunkers not the guys in there living rooms tying gear.This comes from a couple of years of interaction with a very friendly fish checker on the Hoh.The plunkers kicked ass.

edit:When the river is coming DOWN and the fish are swimming up,The current is up and visibility down.I believe the guy with his presentation parked in the fish lane has a better chance at a fish seeing,smelling and taking interest than the guy who is A: in office giving out free advice like myself or B:swinging his presentation down river,opposite direction the migrating fish is swimming.

i've seen winter steelhead plunk caught the length of the rod out. and at a boat launch. no joke at the boat launch. the family got 3 that day.

Gotta have a blue tarp in case the shack needs patching and some pallets from the back of Safeway are always handy if the driftwood runs out.
Rubber mallet, because I hate the sound of a 4# maul on a steel stake.

You can pass as a taco man with a bell on your rod tip and one in your pocket


Oh yeah, short cast unless there's a girl around and you want to show off your railroad spike launching capabilities.

Correction, only crackers have the bell attatched to the rod tip, mine is carefully placed on the front stick just up from the "V".

You're right, CP.
I stand corrected

Crap, my plunking noobness has been exposed to the world

Add a 2nd swivle about two feet above the 3 way swivle with a bead above it and then once your spin-n-glow/shrimp is set slide a tadpolly down the line with about 2 feet of litre.

Not that I've ever plunked

You know, I'd like to plunk more .... but my liver won't handle it

Some of you guys crack me up. I dont understand what the knock on plunking is all about. I think its a method everyone should know. In a pinch its the most reliable method to catch a fish (hook and line fishing, not explosives, nets, etc.). I dont know the percetage but in know most of all fish spend a lot of time at the bottom of river. In either case you have a weight on your line, an atrractant with a hook, casting it into the river, and waiting for a fish to bite. Or maybe you use harware, bobber fish, or back troll plugs, it dosent matter they all catch fish on the bottom. So the knock must be what you do in the mean time. One guy makes one cast and waits for a fish and another guy makes 20 casts and waits for a fish. ITS THE SAME THING. The more methods you have in your arsenal the greater likleyhood of catching fish.

Its the same with the fly fisherman. I dont get that situation either.

Hooks, line, rods, and reels. Its all the same to me.

J7...Hell everything gets a good knocking around here. Doesn't matter what you say, someone will knock it, then maybe a couple of someones.....it don't mean nothin'.

It's diversity, dude! Oh, and if you have trouble with diversity or are delicate, there's always the ignore button.

A little wire brush treatment on the bare skin can be used to thicken the hide, if need be.

Tackle segregation (especially on those rough trips) and diversity. Thats what I'm all about. Its a wave thats sweepin' cross the nation.

I always keep my tackle segregated too......steelhead, salmon, trout, wife's....you know.

j7 you take 2 guys in a driftboat sitting on thier fat aces watching rod tips bounce around... serious fisherman. take the same 2 jokers and put them on a gravel bar watching rod tips, it's plunking and a joke. same goes for all the guys anchored up on the columbia hog lines. somehow not plunking i guess if your on a boat huh?

i know guy who punched 56 summer steelhead!!! all plunking. who this year has filled nearly 2 catchcards this year?

What Brewer said.

They wouldn't fun ya if they didn't like ya.
Hope to flip off a sled together with you someday

I was always told to concentrate the inside of a bend in the river?!?!

Don't know why that is tho. Any enlightenment would be great!

Other than that... Try prawns instead of roe and cast close to the shore.

wanna know how to plunk---go up to the Fraser-they will learn ya. It aint plunkin its Bar fishin and them hosers got it down. They hook some HAWGS--_nice to be 60 yrs old plus and come home with a 40lb+ spring and not have to deal with the boat. Pretty much how Drifter wa says get er in the LANE eh. Its Fishin

the inside bends often create a easy to find transition water. where the heavy flow creates a seam with slower buffer water. it's all part of reading water. lob the plunking rig to the transition line.

This is probably the most useful thread that's been posted here in at least a year.

Too bad there's been so much pissin' & moanin' from the drifters. I guess they don't like being shown an easy way to do what they spend hundreds on tackle and hours standing balls deep in freezing water to do when they could spend 1/10th on leaders & lures and kick back off their feet and accomplish the same. I guess not having Simms Waders renders one unworthy to angle the same stream.

I see nothing wrong with sitting in a chair with a cooler full of beer and setting the rod out. That's supposed to be fishing as it's supposed to be: Relaxation, not labor.

If I wanted fishing to be WORK, Id buy a commercial vessel and work the Gulf of Alaska and die of stress at the age of 55. Fvck that.

This is supposed to be FUN.

What kind of idiot forgets that?

I just googled plunking.I was surprised at the amount of info.ESPN even has directions to all the hot plunking spots.Even on the west end, richwine,allen bar etc.

Energy conservation!

Water is up = Mom said get up river.

Inside corner is generally the most efficent route.

Have you ever wondered what those random piles of rip rap and/or concrete are doing in the river bed so close to the high water mark?

Hint, there is usually a plunking shack not too far away



Not advocating such practices of course.

I would plunk more, but I finally realized that plunking was just an excuse to drink and build a big ass fire. No need to be on the river to do that I guess, but it can add to the experience.

I've had some success just taking my drifting setup, increasing the amount of pencil lead, and just let my bait/yarn sit on the bottom or swirl around. Finding a spot right where the hatchery creek enters the river. I call it drift plunking. Its difficult finding perfect river conditions this time of year.

I mostly plunk for Chums.