Gordo McNaughton
9/12/2015 4:37:00 PMHey Ian, i think i shouted across the river at you the other day to ask whether you were using spoons, and what color.. ? I wasn't snagging, but i kept getting snagged on some persistent crap. had to be you, because no one else was catching fish every other cast, not even the eastern european guys skewering the spawners. i wanted to ask, what's your setup for shallower riffles, specifically the weights? i was using 1/8 teardrop weights on a sliding snap swivel above my leader, or, pencil lead with the same. also there's the inline weight which i use for deeper water downriver. you must be positioned next to a good trough because even 1/8 oz hangs up where i'm at. do you fish dick nites in calm, deep water too? if so, what's the tackle for that? i love drift fishing these spoons, and have had a lot of success at that hole in previous higher-water years, but i'm struggling this year and can't really get the rig just right. and don't worry, i'm not blowing up your spot. thanks, man!
Ian Horning
9/12/2015 9:56:00 PM@ Gordo McNaughton Yeah that was me, and no need to worry about blowing up the spot its already trashed as it is haha.... As for weight, pencil lead, a relatively small amount. Probably around 1/8th as well. I really just play it by feeling the bottom. If I'm dragging the bottom, I reel slowly to get the lead off the bottom, so it ticks across, not drags. Really its about getting the correct action on the spoon though, so experimentation is crucial. As for deep, slow stuff, I generally throw jigs instead of Dick Nites, but they probably work there as well. Color hasn't really mattered, when its bright and sunny I use metallic colors, and when it gets darker switch to the Frog/ Chartreuse and Pinks. Hope this helps
Gordo McNaughton
9/13/2015 9:43:00 AMThanks, Ian. Yeah it's a shame about the characters on your side. a couple of the guys i've fished with have called 911 before and it passed without event. i saw wdfw patrolling in a 'tricked-out sled' by the highway nine bridge yesterday, but other than that haven't noted their presence. in other news, i drifted a 50/50, also downriver from the 9 bridge and caught one of the only fish i saw caught all day on the lower river. really nice bright hen in a deeper current near a bend and a bluff. they're still seaworthy in the tidal waters.
one more question: is your weight usually fixed or sliding? i've heard of tying or pinching weight to the tag end of the mainline after you attach your swivel. rather than cut the excess, just leave a good three inches on the knot. seems to make sense, right? i think i lose a lot of spoons by attaching weight to a snap swivel instead of tying it on a drop.
you must be the exception because there were a lot of sad-looking people under the 522 bridge yesterday. even the guy with the bobber and night crawlers was coming up empty handed, haha!
one more question: is your weight usually fixed or sliding? i've heard of tying or pinching weight to the tag end of the mainline after you attach your swivel. rather than cut the excess, just leave a good three inches on the knot. seems to make sense, right? i think i lose a lot of spoons by attaching weight to a snap swivel instead of tying it on a drop.
you must be the exception because there were a lot of sad-looking people under the 522 bridge yesterday. even the guy with the bobber and night crawlers was coming up empty handed, haha!
Ian Horning
9/14/2015 11:04:00 PM@Gordo McNaughton I use a sliding weight but I don't think it really matters. My pencil lead I attach to a barrel swivel or straight on the mainline and let it slide. You do lose spoons this way; I've never actually tried using a fixed weight. I'll give it go sometime. Using hollow core lead and mashing it around a dropper line of Mono apparently works well, the lead should slide off with enough force or the line will just break.