Flossing (i.e.snagging) is what most people who catch fish on the Nisqually are doing, I've caught a few on blue foxes, some catch them on eggs or herring under floats.Bob R

Flossing is not snagging. When the fish is hooked in the mouth and shaking their head to get the hook out of their mouth, how on earth do you consider that snagging? Everyone should learn the difference between flossing and snagging because they are two totally different terms that most people seem to link together. I really don't understand why people hate others who know what a hook in the mouth feels like. I catch 95% of my fish in the corner of the mouth with the hook inside the mouth! Completely legal. Any other fish that isn't hooked in the mouth goes back in the river to be caught another day. As soon as I hook up on a fish, I can tell right where the hook is at by the way the fish is fighting. If you don't have enough experience drifting longer leaders, don't link snagging and flossing together because they are two seperate terms.

Bob R is right freak. KRH find slow moving water and fish eggs under a float. under the bridge upriver you will find fisherman fishin roe.

Flying-C from meps in yellow color works really good, just replace the treble by a single barbless hook (it can be hard to cut the treble with a pliers).

If a fish swims into a line and the fisherman pulls back and the fish turns slightly the hook winds up in the corner of the mouth, thus the fisherman thinks the fish bit his eggs. While some fish biting eggs or corkies and yarn certainly occurs the majority of fish swim into the line and thus are "snagged" when the person jerks back to drive the terminal end into the fishes mouth. .If you fish with longer than a 3 or 4 ft. leader you are snagging the majority of fish you hook.I'm not alone in thinking this, many respected salmon and steelhhead journalists and LOTS of river fishermen feel this way, they are just not into confrontation. I don't bug people fishing this way on the river "cause most of these guys can't be told ANYTHING while they are fishing and be open to it.If you want to be sure, fish a bobber.Not many ways to swim into a vertical (or semi-vertical) line.I don't think most folks pay attention to whether the POINT of the hook is on ther inside or outside of mouth, just that is in the corner of jaw. While this is a little marginal compare to snagging fish with leadcore wrapped trebles it is still what it is. There are "people " defending snaggers on the Big Quilcene , whether they are "featherheads"( really a racist comment) or just sporties the effect is the same, a lot of fishermen are disgusted with what passes for spertmanship (or fishing manners if you don't get that). Thanks for comments, esp. R.Ton. As far as "hating", well, if there is anything in my post that expresses my hate, point it out. Me thinks thou protesteth too much,Freak, a litle close to home?Bob R

legally the set up drifting is "legal". the happy trigger is due to frustration of not getting bites...so fisherman pulls it hard and whip it good! if you don't watch out it mught hit u. thus the term "combat fishing" came to be known. i wish santa will help us and put a claus that says" no combat fishing" anti-snagging rules means "no leader can be longer than your pole". c'mon just check the length of your pole. hahaha. if santa claus says i will believe every young n old will believe that christmas is true! and raindeers do fly! hahaha.

By hating, I meant that you don't like the way flossing occurs therefore i.e.Snagging was added. I didn't mean that you hate me. You just don't agree with the way I fish and I don't agree what you consider my type of fishing to be. There is no proof behind your argument that the fish don't bite. No one is down in the river snorkeling and watching each and every hook. I'm positive that fish do bite at the corkies or beads, (especially when I'm adding scent attractor to the setup) because when the fish hits the set up and takes off upriver with the hook right in the mouth, I'm pretty sure he just bit. Silvers and chum are notorious for sideswiping setups and if you watch in clear water you will actually see them swim out of their way to try and bite the setups that are being thrown(granted its an aggression bite, not a hunger bite.) I fish a 10'6" rod and the longest leader i have ever used is 7.5 feet, usually about 4-5feet, the reason i use long leaders is because it gets the presentation away from the weight and gives it a natural float look in the clear water. I hook and land a lot and I mean a lot of fish. Do you honestly believe that my so called "snagging" technique has to do with that? There is no way that just because of a long leader and "flossing" (snagging, as you would call it), I would hook and land as many fish as I do, especially when 95% are inside the mouth.

Fischer 83. The guys who do hook sets every 5 seconds have no idea what they are doing. I won't set the hook unless I know or think its a fishy bump on the other end. Fish with me sometime and you will see how the difference between someone who knows a bite and someone who doesn't. You will be amazed that there are people who can tell the difference. "combat fishing" is when people are standing should to shoulder and fishing a river, not because they cast the line or set the hook ferociously.

man like Bob R wrote try using your setup under a float. if they are biting it driftin then they will bite under a float too right?

Fish in the Nisqually are notoriously tight lipped when it comes to actually biting on drifting bait (or spinners!), some do bite from aggression but as was asked in orig. post, do these fish need to be flossed?Well, compared to rivers like the Chehalis where the kings and silvers actually attack lures on a reg. basis, yes.It may be that the Nisqually is the southernmost river in puget sound and the distance they must travel makes their throats swell up even earlier then most other rivers,Making them more resistant to striking baits. There is no doubt that some fish are taken by people fishing with long leaders when the fish are aggressively reacting to the bait but the majority of fishermen using long leaders are hoping that the fish WILL swim into the line and thus be hooked.Since the hook tends to be inside the mouth when fish swim into the line and it comes tight (one way or another) there is no way of knowing short of , as you said, a solid take.Where did the term flossing come from in respects to river fishing? A dentist?Some of the most successful steelhead fishermen use only 3 to 4 ft. leaders and have no trouble with lead interfering with bait presentation on drift. (Bill Herzog for one). If the majority of your hookups are aggressive takes and that's what works for you,, more power to you. Just answering orig. question concerning flossing on the Nisqually. Bob R

Yes thank you Bob R and others that have given me tips, hopefully I can put them to use in catching my first salmon. And to all the people fighting or trying to defend what "snagging" consists of, sorry for the unexpected controversy I've caused by asking for a few pointers.