Faviorite Hoochie for Chinook

Kelper

2014-02-26 00:14:21

My number #1 hoochie for years was o39r. Worked so well for me I wondered why other colors even existed. The last few years OG153R has really done well though. Pretty much those two colors are all I use for kings, with a few diamond king spoons. I'm sure other hoochies work, and perhaps better, but I feel good when I have those colors down. It's all about feeling good, right? :D

I put a 0237r over a 039r and it caught kings really well too, and they seemed to be of the bigger variety on the bottom spread. I was trying to imitate those little cod down at the bottom. (doubled up hoochies) I look forward to experimenting with different color combinations with doubled up hoochies. Pretty much have an endless amount of color combinations you can make. I find that when I'm fishing in an area with lots of pressure, putting down a new color they haven't seen before can put a nice one in the boat.

Salty

2014-02-26 03:02:03

Big Chinook,

I fished hootchies, spoons, and plugs exclusively for kings from 1982 to 2002. Since then I have been fishing quite a bit of herring.

Here is a summary of what I learned:

You can get by with a couple of handful of reliable hootchies. It is much more important to have a good hootcie in front of fish when they want to bite than the best one on your deck or in the water where the fish aren't.

However there are times where the "hot" hootchie will catch 3-4 times a good reliable one. Some feed and some places demand using particular hootchies to optimize production.

Then there is the problem that every batch of hootvhies, even the same brand and color #, is unique and might not fish like a previous batch. That is why partners are so important in sorting out what is working here today.

OC 29 R. Discontinued years ago. My partner bought all he could find on the west coast about 20 years ago and doles em out sparingly. Funny thing is they fish way better with a certain flavor and size of gumpucky.

There are some guys who do well just fishing the omw 39r.

I prefer the og 144 to the 153. But, for me, the best one in that series for both king and coho was the og 139 before they screwed it up. Fortunately I have about a thousand of the originals left.

Alas, we have hardly any time to fool with kings and coho in the summer as we have been fishing chums and pinks since 88. Chums take the idea of picky biters to a whole different universe.

Looking forward to getting out and catching one. This string of skunks is making things real stinky around here.

The colors in my granddaughters jackets looked like they would do just fine in hootchies. I posted them because my hoot hie pics aren't in this iPad yet. ~~[attachment=0]~~image.jpg[/attachment]

Crawfish

2014-02-26 03:52:50

Salty is right on with having running partner's to find a general trend. It may change day to day , week to week or tide to tide. If there is a lot of hard bait around like anchovies you may try North Pacific G42-W another good standby is North Pacific G76-W.

Salty

2014-02-27 05:34:05

~~[attachment=0]~~B 29 Hootchie.jpg[/attachment]Favorite Hoochie for Chinook. Here is the OC 29 without the hot gumpucky.

Salty

2014-02-27 05:42:43

Make a $50 or more donation to the site and I will send you a PM of the hot gumpucky. Already described it to a long time site supporter.

I was thinking that all the tips posted here from various sources are well worth $50.00. Karls idea on the wire spooler for the gurdy should be worth it all by itself.

Actually there are several hot tips revealed in the preceding picture that were shown to me and I have used for years.

I know it is a little bit mean to post a picture of a killer hoochie that is no longer made, but some of you might have some stored somewhere.

Crawfish

2014-02-27 19:12:08

Salty,

Interesting looking. Cuttlefish nonetheless. I like the tinsel insert, we used insert's in very deep water in a clear octopus style when fishing 80-90 fathoms on the bottom. We called them red racer's. Cant remember the number right now. They were really good at catching splitters. By the time we got them to the surface the were easy to get to the boat. Its fun watching the way the springs pumped with 4 or 5 30LB fish down deep on a line.

carojae

2014-03-01 19:12:46

I know one particular good fisherman who's favorite hootchie color is all white.. (#012 I think) - wish I could name boat names but it wouldn't be right of me.

I also know of others who like all black hootchies and versions (#34 or the likes). I have a couple I use and have even gave them nicknames lol. Octopus we call Tyrone and a cuttlefish version who we call Bubba - crew always knows what I am talking about haha.

I remember one of the first pointers I got from a respected troller was to use........"a hanky" hahaha. He said, just cut your red handkerchief, red T-shirt or rag into small strips and give it a try; yes I caught a few. That's how bazaar this can get.

I guess my message is there are a lot of colors between white and black but certainly the variations of blues, greens are your dependable constants like ol' 39.

I say if you believe, then you have won a bigger battle. And that's exactly what that magical hootchie will do for you.

Here's a interesting link: http://www.silverhorde.com/squid.html

Click on the listed items to see the different colors. Pretty.....

Jim

JKD

2014-03-01 21:29:43

"Hi, my name is Joe. . .and I am an unapologetic hoochie addict." I suspect this is how I should be introducing myself to people who may not already know me. I've been known to buy packages of the ugliest damned things "just in case they start working some day". My condition borders on the ridiculous. When I sold my last troller I had a collection of two [30 gallon] black plastic garbage bags of partial packages of hoochies. As I recall, nearly every package had produced at least one King, some had produced dozens.

I went a couple of seasons where I left my "favorite" King hoochie (O 39R) on the port side of the boat and experimented with different patterns on the starboard lines. I kept pretty good records. Depending on the height of the sun, degree of overcast skies, type of feed available in the area, water clarity, and probably a dose of "dumb luck" - my favorite produced more fish nearly every day - to the degree that a number of days ended with the favorite showing-up behind most of the flashers on the starboard side. I now have a short list of "kinda" favorites that will hit the water if production is particularly slow. All of these share the following qualities: they have either green or blue on them somewhere, and have at least one strand of tinsel tied to the eye of the hook and cut off just behind the hoochie tentacles for 'glitter appeal'.

Just to drive everyone a little more crazy - here is the link to another site that has some interesting hoochie patterns that could some day become a 'favorite hoochie for Chinook'.

http://www.supertackle.ca/RETAIL.html#p=1

Trnaround

2014-03-02 14:39:23

Ha ha, a hoochie addict. I get that. It seems like some trollers change their gear a lot and some just give up and use one color one way and that's it(wisdom?). I know a couple of seriously good fishermen that do that and catch many more than the average. I don't fall into that category, I always have to mess with things until I feel like I have the perfect spread. I admire the documentation approach, although I can't find enough time to do that because I am always messing with the gear. My favorite King hoochie is usually the one I just caught the last fish on but I agree with JKD about that color he prefers. It seems like during the day or the trip one hoochie wins out and most of the lines are rigged with that one. When all of the rigs have that one on, then it definitely is the best producer because there aren't any other choices (logic 101) but it has a proven track record and now I can quit messing with it. Which would be fine until you get one on the one of two different ones you have left just in case and then it starts all over again. There must be therapy for hoochie addicts and gear OCD so if anyone has any references it would be much appreciated. Maybe even a support group.

fveureka

2014-03-02 19:34:06

Good post Joe re: supertackle in Canada. My favorite is the Irish mist and it worked well in Salty's backyard and south of Spencer with another Canadian product the #203 tomic #6 spoon.

fveureka

2014-03-04 02:43:20

Good post Joe re: supertackle in Canada. My favorite is the Irish mist and it worked well in Salty's backyard and south of Spencer with another Canadian product the #203 tomic #6 spoon.

fveureka

2014-03-09 23:08:34

Looking to buy the Highliner brand hoochie that is chartreuse on top and baby blue on the bottom. They sold highliner at Murray Pacific in Sitka.

Salty

2014-03-10 07:23:50

I will go take a. Look tomorrow. I think I have some.

fveureka

2014-03-10 16:29:35

Thanks again Salty

Big Chinook

2014-03-10 19:10:18

Can I buy some to and maybe a few of your stash of OC29R Salty. PLEASE

Salty

2014-03-10 20:54:40

Some things are not for sale.

Salty

2014-03-10 21:35:31

I just checked at Murray. They aren't carrying the one you want anymore.

fveureka

2014-03-10 22:12:13

Thanks for checking your stash and at Murray Salty. The Kings in the photo in the pictures and stories section bit on that one. I was willing to also trade a pack of the Benny hoochie with that peanut butter stripe...Probably someone is going to konk me for naming things on here.

Big Chinook, the OMW 39R is the replacement for that OC29R also not made anymore, best of fishing to you both..Dan