Flossing or Not

[Maurice]

All this input helps, I started using a longer leader but dont rip the hook, and dont rip the hook on every little bump. I let it bounce until I get a take down. I release all Foul Hooked(anything not in the mouth). I even released on hooked in the gillplate that some guy said its in the head you can keep it.

Here are some things I do see that really bother me, I know alot of people think that Pinks are a stupid little waste of the word salmon but I dont, I enjoy catching them. I really enjoyed the fact that I got my mom and dad and my son out to fish them this year at least a couple times, something that my parents havent done in over 20 years.

What bothers me is I see several people catch the pinks and then instead of simply releasing them into the water the huck them like there throwing buolders into the water or slam them into the water like there trying to kill them or kicking them like footballs. Excuse this but WHAT THE HECK, I want to say more but because of the rules I wont. Anyway then they show there kids there to do the same thing, so theres kids 7-10 years old or so and there throwing the fish and kicking them and even throwing rocks at them trying to crush them. WERE ARE THE ETHICS IN THIS. OK I know I am rambling but this really erks me to no end.

Thoughts?

[crankbait42]

maurice i definitly agree that ethics seem to be lost while pink fishing. people holding them against there shirts getting rid of all the slime or throwing them or hauling them up on to sandy or rocky banks and letting them flop around until they decide they dont want it. out of all the humpys i have caught this year (alot) i think 3 or 4 left the water because they were hooked weird or the just flew up onto the bank. i gladly take the time to not remove them from the water and make sure they are strong enough to swim off before i go back to fishing. if they dont take off or start floating on there side i keep them.

[MizzMo]

I am going to give flossing a try. A friends ol man does it and catches them left and right. I want him to be my lucky charm. Anyways, I went into the tackle store to stock up on some pink stuff, and the guy told me that theres a new law that you can only use leader under 3'. He says its in the rule book, and I'm going to go to the online version so I can find it. Anyone know about this?

[tonymiller7]

I think the flossing theory is mostly crap. Granted you snag a couple while making your drifts but not many, unless you are an obvious snagger. I hook over 90 percent of the fish I catch on THE INSIDE OF THE MOUTH. That resembles a bite to me. I payed close attention this year while fishing the Puy. I caught significantly more fish just after applying scent to my corkie. And the bite went in spurts. It would be hot for awhile and then turn off. It wasn't due to the amount of fish in the water either. The whole time I was there the water was boiling with pinks. In addition I caught significantly more fish that day than others on the bank. I was the only person using a particular color combo and I was the only person applying scent. No need to floss when they BITE the hook. Just my $0.02.

[scott080379]

I think the flossing theory is mostly crap. Granted you snag a couple while making your drifts but not many, unless you are an obvious snagger. I hook over 90 percent of the fish I catch on THE INSIDE OF THE MOUTH. That resembles a bite to me. I payed close attention this year while fishing the Puy. I caught significantly more fish just after applying scent to my corkie. And the bite went in spurts. It would be hot for awhile and then turn off. It wasn't due to the amount of fish in the water either. The whole time I was there the water was boiling with pinks. In addition I caught significantly more fish that day than others on the bank. I was the only person using a particular color combo and I was the only person applying scent. No need to floss when they BITE the hook. Just my $0.02.

care to share this sent and color combo??????

[Blackmouth]

Flossing is just a gentle term for snagging. Figure out how to catch them legally or don't go fishing at all. I can't stand people justifying flossing.

"Flossing" has lead to the demise of many of our river fisheries

If ya have to resort to flossing pinks ya got serious problems!

[G-Man]

Last time I checked, there was no restriction on leader length and hooking a fish in the mouth or on the head is legal. BTW, when is the last time you swung a spoon, spinner or wet fly through a drift? How is that any different?

[crankbait42]

no matter what you do you are going to floss fish if you are in an area with fish. flies drift fishing swinging spoons or spinners free drifting eggs. the only way you wont is with a float and even then whos to say it did not just drift into an open mouth? and how do you know it was flossed? corner of the mouth hooked outside the mouth obviosly but what if the corky bounced the hook around the corner of the mouth and then drifted into the mouth? or what if the fish was biting the corky and the corky was between the lead and the hook and the hook just slid up? i have seen a trout setup like this in a magizine where a fly minus the hook was tied to the leader with a hook below it.

[BassDood]

no matter what you do you are going to floss fish if you are in an area with fish. flies drift fishing swinging spoons or spinners free drifting eggs. the only way you wont is with a float and even then whos to say it did not just drift into an open mouth? and how do you know it was flossed? corner of the mouth hooked outside the mouth obviosly but what if the corky bounced the hook around the corner of the mouth and then drifted into the mouth? or what if the fish was biting the corky and the corky was between the lead and the hook and the hook just slid up? i have seen a trout setup like this in a magizine where a fly minus the hook was tied to the leader with a hook below it.

I agree. It can't be helped when there are huge numbers of fish. I seldom reply to the flossing threads as it gets heated rather quickly. I know I floss fish...or maybe they are hitting my offering..so? Instead...just go fishing and don't worry about the floss debate. It will never end. Just get out and enjoy yourselves. Just my .02

[aTrOcIoUs]

Welp new to fishing and the term flossing i caught 2 pinkies in the mouth while flossing and disagree that it is any different. my term of snagging would be a guy with a huge hook yanking it thru the group of salmon in one area to intentionally snag one. i saw alot of good anglers letting fish back after snagging them in the tail etc. i guess it comes down to if u are a POOR sport or a REAL SPORT! altho i will not deny loving and cooking my salmon catch. i wont keep something thats alive unless i caught it fair and square. its like kicking another male in the balls to win a fight. Do u think u really should stand tall after that? I hope not hehe Just my 2cents.

Tomms and jens we gotta meet up again. Had a blast on the Yup flossen with u sallys hehe

[Mike Carey]

aTrOcIoUs, that is a pretty good analogy you just used. ouch.

[rseas]

I know that the flossing debate is a heated one and I almost feel bad for bringing it up again but recently the subject of flossing has hit home a number of times and I thought that I would try to find out what’s up.

Within the last couple weeks the subject has come up three times. The first, while fishing a gravel bar on the lower Stilly somewhere between I-5 and Silvana I was having quite a day. Every cast resulted in a fish, mostly humpies with a few silvers thrown in to spice things up a bit. For quite a few hours it was fish-on! I was using my usual drift fishing gear, a very small tuft of yarn, a small metallic corky, number two barbless hook and about 4 feet of 10 pound fluorocarbon leader. Most of the fish were hooked in the mouth and with the exception of retaining a very nice coho, I was fishing catch and release so even the legally hooked fish were released. I was gathering quite a crowd and the suggestion that I was flossing the fish started to be vocalized. After some time the situation started to feel uncomfortable so I gathered up my fish and headed home. While driving I was contemplating on the whole incident and knowing that I was fishing legally I wrote it off to jealousy.

The next time the subject came up was just a few days ago. My fishing partner/girlfriend/housemate who is working at a tackle store, is quite knowledgeable and is also a good fisherperson. While working with a customer, she was giving Stilly advice based on my recent success. As I understand it the customer got in her face citing the legalities of flossing and stated that it is not allowed by the WDFW. On hearing this I picked up my well worn copy of the regulations and studied it yet again…nothing about flossing, the concept and in fact I determined that my setup was clearly legal. Very good news, I have been using the basic setup for drift fishing for 39 years (I'm almost 50)!

Yesterday I was fishing the upper Skagit and I was having another banner day. Again every cast was another fish. I was catching a mix of humpies, chinook and I caught 1 silver. As usual I was fishing catch and release and every fish caught was hooked in the mouth. As I was using my tried and true corky/yarn setup the whole flossing thing was on my mind. Until… As I was getting ready to release a very large humped up pink salmon, I had removed the hook but had not let go of the fish yet. I was holding the fish in the water to admire it and contemplating whether or not I could keep holding the fish, get the phone out of my waders and shoot a pictured before I dropped the phone in the water. About at the moment I decided that I couldn’t the fish flopped and wiggled out of my hand. He swam around my feet for a moment or two and then made a beeline for my corky that was dangling/floating on the surface 10 feet downstream from where I was standing. That crazy humpy exploded out of the water to attack my rig, the same one that I had just released him from.

I guess that in my mind I am now satisfied that I am not flossing the fish. Some days I catch a lot of fish and some days I am just fishing. Either way, I consider myself very lucky to have the opportunity to fish our PNW rivers. I wonder if the people who express such distain for the gear that is typically associated with flossing, be fly-fishing or drift fishing gear are just envious and use the flossing controversy as their vent?

[crankbait42]

ive been thinking about the whole flossing thing and i think its bs. i was watching silvers the other day and they were not opening and closing their mouths much maybe a 1/8"- 1/4" so you would have to do pretty good to get your line to slide through that little gap. also when drift fishing your lead drags on the bottom and has more resistance than your hook so your hook should be directly downstream of the lead, it seems to me it would be pretty hard to floss them when your line is parrallell with the river. and finally if they were flossed setting the hook quik would not matter becauase the line would be caught in there mouth and they would probably hook themselves.

[Toni]

No, flossing is not snagging in the WDFW regulations. The definition of flossing, I have learned from this sites members, is extremely long leaders. Then the extreme side...long leader with corkies or even the use of corkies at all. Flossing isn't even a term in the regs booklet.
If flossing were snagging the anti-snagging rule would limit the length of leader like it does the size of the hooks, where the weight is in relation to the hook, and the amount of points the hook can have. There isn't any leader length regulation.
Only an under water camera of that specific individual fish could reveal whether the fish took the hook in its mouth or the line was drug through it.

[Anonymous]

As previously pointed out, when you are side drifting, your lure will typically be straight downstream from your weight, this makes it very difficult to "line" a fish. Fish don't hold in a river or stream sideways to the current, rather they face upstream 99+% of the time. If you get a large belly in your line or you are retrieving your gear throughout the drift then you have the potential to line a fish as the leader may move perpendicular to the current. If you ever get the chance, watch from a bridge how a side drift rig moves in the water. I suspect those proficient at flossing cast and retrieve through the entire drift, similar to spoon and spinner fishing. Other reasons why long leaders may work better are: spooky fish, bait/lure location relative to the bottom (as previously mentioned) and lure movement.

[fishermom]

As a guest in your state, and coming from Southern Cali, where there are no salmon, you can take my opinion with a grain of salt. This is the first time I've ever caught any salmon, so the term "flossing" was very new to me. I think I finally understand the concept.

However I have a hard time believing that someone could actually toss a hook into a salmon's mouth. Had real good luck and caught a bunch of Humpies on some days, especially during the last rain storm, and they were BITING, because I felt it on my line. Hooked over 50 one week and landed about half. And all of mine were hooked inside the mouth.

Then there were the long days I spent at the Boe landing on the Stilly, where I got ZERO bites, even though there were thousands of Silvers jumping. I jokingly told my son that our best chance was if a jumping Silver accidently landed in the boat! Tried fishing 8 hours a day for 3 days, and got nothing. With that many salmon in the river, if flossing were possible, I think we would have caught at least one. They were jumping a foot from the boat, and often 5 at a time.

That being said, my belief is that every angler needs to be certain that his fishing practices protect the salmon for the future. It can't be left up to the Game Wardens, it is our responsibility. You all are blessed to live in the PNW and have such wonderful fishing.

[crankbait42]

toni flossing would be against the law because it involves a fish involuntarily getting hooked which is essentially snagging.

[Jake Dogfish]

toni flossing would be against the law because it involves a fish involuntarily getting hooked which is essentially snagging.

Bingo!

[Jake Dogfish]

The line drifts parallel to the otherside of the of the river. It drifts down the river when it gets stuck in a fishes mouth, you set the hook driving the hook into the fishes mouth. It works similar to a drift net. That is flossing for the many that don't understand it.

[SAPIplate]

It is true that Salmon don't eat for nutrients once they enter fresh water, but by Maurices theory, drifting a bait such as cured eggs or shrimp would be pointless? Just because a fish isn't activly consuming food for nourishment, doesn't mean something they recognize as food won't elicit a stike for whatever reason. So Maurice, when you drift fish, do you use nothing but a piece of lead and a hook? Because according to your theory, thats just as effective as some fancy corky/yarn/egg mix?

I guess when I swing flies, and Salmon chase it until it hangs below me in the current, they really want a good Flossin'..........