Lock Jawed Silvers Question?

A buddy and I floated from Whitcomb-Dimmel to Rayonier this past Friday. Rain and clouds lead to prime fishing conditions. Tons of fish moving up river all day. We each caught a few fish, but most just ignored our offerings. With that many fish it seems we should have been hooking up more often. It was pretty fustrating for ourselves and some other folks we spoke with. We tossed spinners, spoons, corkies and eggs under floats.
The fish seemed to have one thing in mind and that was getting up river to the hatchery.
Based on other reports on this board, some folks had alot better success then us. Does anyone have any techique or gear suggestions for getting more hook-ups when the fish seem to be in the non - biting mode?
Thanks,
Brian

Eggs under a float are rarely a sure-fire technique on these streams.

Dick-Nites and jigging are a couple of othe roptions for you as well.

Take some of the reports with a grain of salt as well ... the lining rigs have been all the rage this year out this way. Personally not my cup of tea, but something that has accounted for a very high percentage of silvers hooke din the mouth ... whether the angler truly realizes what they are doing or not

Iksna on the implication a.

90% of the silvers we hooked were hooked inside the mouth with a jig. Something my two compadre's were amazed about, but were unable to crack the code on, on day one. I'll let you do the research on what color and size.

Here's a big tip. Don't target moving fish as they will seldom bite. Find a run with holding fish, preferably one with moving water, and beat them to death. The biters in the group will eventually play. Also, expect the bite to go "on" and "off" several times during the course of a day. Every fish we caught in the course of two days came from one 100-yard stretch of river.

Implication towards you, nah

But plenty towards those with 6-8 foot leaders and a pegged corky

Good advice on the patience ... you gotta have it. It all might be moot now though!

Bob & Sol,
Thanks for the advice. Not sure what you mean by "lining rigs". Sounds like some type of flossing or snagging set-up. Not my cup of tea either.
We saw a few snagged fish that people caught that got bonked. They don't even try to hide the fact that the fish is snagged.
I also snagged up on the bottom with my spinner. I got it loose and reeled in a real snagger special. Two trebles with short leaders tied to a big barrel swivel. Each leader had about 3" of hollow core pencil lead on it. Crazy. Hard to believe people are that desperate to snag fish.
Thanks again.
Brian

Ah, the joys of salmon season. Doesn't matter how it comes in, just get it!

Lining = Flossing

You had me wondering.

I was sceptical on the jig thing last year. This trip was the first time I've used them in earnest and I am still amazed.

Growing up on the Snohomish I have learned you have to take everything you own and throw it at them. Last year you could not get them to hit a plug and this year they are all overthem. Someone else posted my secret the small apex trolled. For some reason these catch the biggest fish. Have every size color jig ready, drift wet flys on a spinning setup,Spinners you name it take it.

try all black or green and black spinners!

If you're in a boat, don't overlook wrapped Kwikfish...flat line 'em in fairly heavy water where fish are holding.

The usual sardine wrap, and douse it in shrimp oil.

No flossing with those!

Fish on...

Todd

I don't believe the "moving fish don't bite" thing anymore. I've seen too many lead fish in a school of moving coho go 3 feet to take eggs. I think why finding a pool full of holding fish is a good idea is because a person can swing bait through them countless times. On a school of moving fish you get usually less then half a dozen casts.
Also depends why the fish are moving. If they are in high gear because they are being chased in thin water by guys trying to floss them, fat chance on getting them to bite. If they are lazily cruising through undisturbed then chances of biters go way up.
I've also seen schools move through pockets of holding fish. That sometimes means fish in the smoker later. I've been lucky to be able to fish spots where I can see the fish turn to chomp on the hook, shake his head, spit my hook, and leave me crying. But at least I can learn what's going on below the water.
Sorry Sol for disagreeing with you on this one. Maybe after I have as much experience as you I'll revisit my opinion on this.

I think the moving fish situation calls for different tactics...the Kwikfish I mentioned above are excellent for moving fish. Anchor in the travelling lane, lower a few plugs down into the bottlenecking areas, and hold on.

Let the fish come to the plugs, when fishing Kwickies if the fish are moving. If they're corked up, lower the plugs right into their faces, or cast jigs.

Fish on...

Todd

Thanks for the info fellas.
Sounds like it is time to re-stock the box with more goods - jigs, dick-nites and plugs.
Thanks again for the suggestions.
Brian

here is another one i have seen this year that worked. 1/4oz. black jig with power grub. like they use for bass. toss out in slow water and lift and drop. snag some, hook some. go figure.

I've fished the quilayute system for close to two decades now (i grew up a block away form the sol duc). I'm a bank angler, but my best luck is a vibrax, color depends on water conditon. #4 and #5 work the best. Over a three day weekend on the 7th-9th I hooked around 20 salmon (95% in the mouth, couple of accidental snags). The trick is to work the lure as slow as possible and lots of patience. If you use treble hooks, be prepared to loose some lures. Try to find holes where the deepest part of the river is in or close to the middle (sand bar, for instance) and let your lure almost drift, bouncing around not really spinning until you near the end of your drift. Then wait for the bite.

Good Luck

VHAWK, YOU ARE RIGHT. MOVING SILVERS WILL BITE QUITE WELL, ESPECIALLY IN FASTER WATER. I FISH THEM WITH "PEGGED CORKIES" WITH A LITTLE SCENT AND THEY JUST HAMMER IT. ITS A LOT BETTER THAN TRYING TO CHASE THEM AROUND IN A LARGE HOLE OR IN SLOW CLEAR FROG WATER ON INBOND TIDES. GOOD LUCK. DH

Alright, I might as well ask now. What exactly is a pegged corkie?

Pegged corkies are small lap dogs, fished under a bobber. Big coho love them. I put anise on the fur before fishing them. No need for extra yarn.

Try throwing a sardine wrapped K-16 at em if they are lock jawed. Water flow pernmitting of course.