plugs
yak2you2
2008-11-26 16:10:04
Plugs sure are a lot of fun to run, when their on. Nothing quite like the erratic, darting action, and the full figured look, to call the kings in. Must have been a serious sense of accomplishment that came with carving you own, painting it up, and getting it to catch, back in the day. I would like to try building one someday actually, just to say I did it. Pretty hard to beat the modern plastic ones though, there tough. Speaking of building stuff, Eric, I've noticed you reference stamping out your own spoons. Might have to get you to tell about that someday, that sounds like it could be a fun hobby too.
What set me to thinking about plugs though, is how you deep south dudes are always talking about how you like your black hootchies down deep at times. I'm just curious how a black plug works? I've tried the black hootchie thing, doesn't seem to work this-a-way. The little white #5's have been working a little again this year though. so odd how much it varies from place to place.
There's a thousand different colored plugs, and a thousand different styles of running them, and just when you think you've got it all figured out, POOF!, you won't be able to catch a single fish on one for months, me least wise.
I get a kick out of trying out some of the loudest, most obnoxiously colored ones on the shelf, the dust covered ones that nobody else would ever even consider buying. i enjoy the challenge of seeing if i can get something to bite something that ugly. Half the time I wonder if, rather than hunger, it isn't just that the kings are trying to do mother nature a favor and take something that ugly out of the gene pool before it gets a chance to breed.
I once went to smack a fish, and bashed my plug instead breaking it in half, didn't lose the fish though. It was a strangely design little thing, with a solid wire from the nose ring to the hook swivel that split with another wire running towards the tail. it cracked clean in half just past the hook, but the back half stayed attached to the wire and trailed behind the front half about a half inch or so, kind of like a jointed job, but much uglier. It started out as a 50/50, and once liberated, the back half had spun around 180 out, giving my plug the Exorcist look. trouble was, it was the hottest rig I'd had all day, having already landed me a few other nice fish before hand, and I didn't have any others on board. So, I set it back out, and caught three more fish with it before the day was done. Makes it all seem silly when things like that happen. :lol:
I'm curious if anyone else has any good stories or tips.
Salty
2008-11-26 22:04:20
I used to live on plugs when we were scratching kings. My father also loved fishing plugs. I will not reveal any big secrets here other than to say there are times when plugs will outfish flashers and spoons. We used to go to 10 fathom very light leaders on five inch plugs on the third day of an opening in a big fleet to keep the bite going. Now I just move or go deeper on the third day if there is a crowd.
And there are lots of ways to rig a plug. Try taking the ring and metal rod out of it and running your leader through the plug to your hook. My dad always wired the plugs onto the leader to create a totally different action.
Got to get on the plane now.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
cletelord
2008-11-27 07:09:29
Yak
Plugs are my favorite,but as times change here in Puget Sound with hatchery vs. almost extinct wild, the "bite "has changed.I still favor a plug over a flasher.If you want I'll send you a box of 7 inch plugs(about 40) you can cut ,take out a inch. or manipulate any way you please or just use them. They are yours if you want them.
Clete
yak2you2
2008-11-27 08:07:57
yeah, I'm into that, i'll PM you my address. Thanks a lot for that.
yak2you2
2008-11-27 22:42:58
I like long leaders too when I'm running plugs, gives the plug scope enough to swim like they want to. I love it when you stop on a snubber thats stretched 3 feet long and the only hint you get as to what's on it is if maybe a fat tail breaks the surface. Then the hand to fin combat begins if it's a big one.
Salty
2008-11-28 05:03:40
I used to live on Plugs. But they work best on long light leaders. Long light leaders in a good King bite leads to lots of time playing fish which equals less gear being run, less fish on deck, less time for crew to handle fish, etc. But if you are only catching 20-30 a day plugs are great. Oh, my god, I should be running plugs again.
What is really fun is to be working a big one in on a shallow drag and have another one come try and take the plug out of his mouth. Or, be trailing the long plug leader behind the boat while checking the rest of the line and have a nice salmon, most often coho, take it on the surface.
Once, at the peak of the halibut abundance in Shelikof Bay, I had a chicken halibut take a trailing plug while I checked the rest of the line. That really depressed me as I was shaking way to many of them anyway and had just taken one off of that plug.
yak2you2
2008-11-30 06:24:40
Whenever king salmon are feeding on big herring, i.e.- 8"plus, cut their stomachs open and have a look. 9 times out of 10 you'll find that they swallow those big herring head first. Maybe the scales feel better going down that way, I don't know why, but they do. So, in order for that to happen, they must go through and try to wing the herring first, then spin around on them and swallow them by the head while their stunned/wounded. I Always check stomachs to see what their feeding on, and when I see those big herring is when i like my plugs. Now, having said what I've said, I don't think it's the king's intention to deep throat your plug on the first pass, they only intent to wound it, consider that when your rigging it up.
Nobody's tried black plugs? or, nobody's saying? I like white plugs like a tomic #156 a lot of the time, but some times a baby blue like a #500 works good.
yak2you2
2008-11-30 12:03:26
As an interesting side note to checking stomach contents, salmon can be kind of garbage shoots when they want to be. I've found all manner of things in their stomachs over the years. Baby cod, shrimp, worms, rocks, seaweed, lures, all kinds of baby fin fish, even smaller salmon. Last year I gutted out a king that had about a 3 inch long frayed out chunk of groundline in it with pink and green tracer. A friend of mine told me he got one that had a folded up silver mylar Pop Tart rapper in it. Crazy fish, maybe we all should be dragging around chunks of groundline and pop tart rappers for bait!
Salty
2008-11-30 19:53:40
Have you ever noticed that kings have scratches on one side of their head from digging out the sandlance, worms, etc. from the bottom? In the late winter early spring here we get Chinook that are primarily feeding on worms.
Have you also noted that in late August and September when the large coho start targeting the small blackcod the kings in the same area don't ever have any of the small blackcod in them? It is kind of weird to clean coho and king from the same line and the king will have herring and the coho little blackcod.
gumpucky
2008-12-01 19:50:10
I tried a black plug once but this one had a streak of yellow on the back third and covered in glitter,looked like one of my kids kindergarten projects.By the time I lost it,probably to a nicked leader,I was working on the fifth fish on that line,only one under 20#.It was the only line working.Probably just a fluke of nature and I only used it as a joke more or less,hell I found it dumpster diving, someone left a box of plugs out front of the new Thompson dumpsters,but was sure sad to see it go.Learned to keep an eye on that last foot of leader though.
Salty
2008-12-01 21:24:51
Was it mono? :cry:
gumpucky
2008-12-02 01:38:14
Might have been back in those days.Have long since gone to the green for plugs.
yak2you2
2008-12-02 13:31:36
Speaking of trailing plugs from the overhead rack, a friend of mine told me an interesting story. He said that he hauled everything in one time to move from one spot to another, but forgot to pull in a plug he was trailing on a 5 fathom leader. He bumpered her up to 12 kts. and ran for about 30 minutes. When he got to where he was going he ran back to start setting out and noticed the trailing plug and that it was jerking around. He said he hauled it in and got a 12 lb. king off of it. So, they obviously can and will hit at speeds a lot faster than we usually troll, provided the action isn't to ridiculous.
After hearing that story my usual intense curiosity kicked in. I sent away for a couple of big game fish style jet heads, which are designed to be trolled about that speed and make some really cool bubble trails, but i'm sorry to say that i've honestly never remembered to try them yet until just now.
Another thing that I was always going to try, but never have was to fill out all my stops with just cut plug herring when herring's whats wanted. I'm sure they would fish, It just seems like it would be to much maintenance. The thought remains though, you couldn't miss that scent trail.
Salty
2008-12-02 18:18:44
What I have not figured out is how to rig whole herring on the commercial gear so it fishes like my rolled herring on 30 lb test with the double swivels and double 4/0-5/0 mooching hooks. This is such a killer set up when I am sport fishing either from my skiff or off my troller. It outfishes flashers with herring or hootchies, spoons, plugs, etc. at least 3-1 when we are over kings in fairly shallow water. Part of the problem is that I mooch these rigs at about chum troll speed, 1.3 knots. Trolling that speed on the regular troll trags would add to my already highly popular status.
cletelord
2008-12-03 02:06:14
Yak
The goods are on their way.Mailed out today postal flat rate,so maybe five days or so.There are two pt. specials also.Pull the screws and front eye,fill the holes.Drill a new hole and glue in a coffee type straw for a "floated" plug.Don't trust the factory screws.
Prepare for the best fishing of your life.
Plugs Rule! :)
Clete
yak2you2
2008-12-03 11:38:19
thanks again Clete, I'll definitely introduce them to salmon.
yak2you2
2008-12-06 14:48:37
Got my early present from Santa Clete yesterday, thanks again Capt. Pretty fast delivery, for here. I'm going to drag a couple of them around today, just for luck! There are several there that I think might work for me. I think I might buy an airbrush and experiment with some of the others. I'll be sure and send some postage funds your way.
Bigwave jim
2008-12-17 00:22:55
If I was going to re-paint a plug, what type of paint would you suggest using?
Riversong
2008-12-17 15:35:06
Ocean Gold
2008-12-17 16:48:41
Plug are fun but don't buy the lures that Tomic sells I thought I had a new mouse trap they catch good at least for the first one then they are so bent they don't fish. http://www.tomiclures.com/color_chart.htm I just noticed Tomic repaints lures/plugs
Ocean Gold
2008-12-17 21:24:21
404 and 185 early, Eric look they have a new UV plug Ed :lol:
Salty
2008-12-18 01:05:44
Are you talking color? Or oil based vs. latex or air brush vs hand brush?
Here are some of the most famous plug colors in SE. 232, 700, 228, 114, mother of pearl, 84, 500. The plug color depends on lots of things, depth, brightness, feed, area, and what your partners are catching on. More important than color is the right hook, the right leader, the right size of plug, the location on your gear, and the length of your leader. If you have the right hook, the right size, place it right, and have a long enough light enough leader then you might fool around with color. It is also true that certain plugs in every box seem to fish better than others. I always usually marked every plug when it caught a fish.
I always threw the ones that weren't fishing over so other fishermen and charter guys would pick them up and thereby reduce their catch rate. Although one of the hottest plugs I ever had came aboard with a bunch of kelp and I almost cried when it came up with a broken leader about 30 kings later. It was a flourescent green 84 five inch tomic. I bought some of those and have hardly ever caught any fish on them.