FishwithJD

The web's best fishing magazine

3 Hot Salmon Plug Wraps…that aren’t Sardines!

By Leave a Comment

There’s no debating that wrapping the belly of a banana-shaped salmon plug (MagLips, FlatFish, KillerFish, Kwikfish, etc) with a fresh sardine fillet will get your more bites than an unwrapped lure. That much we know.

But what if you don’t have any ‘dines handy…are you out of luck?

Not at all! Try these three plug wrap alternatives — you just may find that they even out-fish the old tried and true sardine!

I stared messing with different plug wraps for kings when sardines got scarce in California. One fall, the only baits we could get in the shops were old, yellow and completely freezer burned.

Rather than use garbage sardines, I looked to other “meats” to add to my plugs. Another season, I was in the Alaskan bush and sardines just weren’t easy to come by so I turned to experimenting with other baits. Through these tests, I have found that all is not lost of you can’t find sardines!

Tuna

Salmon love tuna — in fact, lots of guides add tuna oil to their eggs so why not wrap a plug with the stuff?

Well, the bottom line is tuna works at least as well as sardines — and sometimes better. If you can get some fresh tuna bellies from your buddies who chase albacore, you’re golden. The real stuff works great — it’s oily and durable and the fish really chomp it.

In the absence of fresh tuna, simply head to the grocery store and buy oil-packed tuna (not water packed!). Canned tuna has some obvious upsides: it is readily available and easily portable. It works well, too!

At first, you’d think that there’s no way tuna from a can will hold onto the underside of the plug, but it actually wraps pretty well.

I’ll start with several wraps of Miracle Thread around the plug to give the tuna a little something to cling to and then will add a bunch of meat and then wrap it tight. Start with a lot more fish than you think you’ll need as at least a third will crumble off in the wrapping process — then you’ll lose some more when the lure hits the water.

Wrap it tight enough, however, and the tuna will stick nicely to the plug — and it gives off oily scent longer than a sardine fillet would.

Coon Shrimp

“Coonies” have become quite popular in many Northwest fisheries in recent years and I have found that they also make excellent plug wraps.

Put a small one on a 3.5 size MagLip and you have a steelhead slayer — go with a large one on a salmon sized plug and you have a very good sardine replacement. In fact, in some waters shrimp works better because it is something the fish haven’t experienced before.

Coon (coon-stripe) shrimp have a natural “U” shape to them, which makes them perfect for wrapping.

Simply snug the bend where the tail and body meet against the forward side of the plug’s belly hook attachment point and wrap him on there tight. Coon shrimp give off a scent the fish really seem to like and they stay in place.

Cured Eggs

We know that kings are sulfite junkies, they love eggs and are attracted to bright red and pink colors — so why not add eggs to a plug and make the perfect combo meal?

Well, I’m here to tell you the “steak and egg” program works really well. Plus, it’s just too cool to watch the plug wiggle while trailing a white egg “smoke” trail!

Wrapping eggs is similar to tuna in that there is some waste. Be sure you have a good piece of skein attached when you cut a chunk for wrapping. I like rectangular pieces that stretch from the belly hook to about an inch or two from the tail of the lure (depending on plug size).

Again, I like to make some wraps on the plug itself first to give the eggs something to stick to before I get started. Then I’ll vigorously wrap the eggs on tight and then will wrap thread right under the leading and back edges of the cluster as well before finishing off with a few half hitches.

After you get a grab, most of the eggs will likely be gone, but a good base of skein and thread will remain. Use this foundation to wrap your next bait on — it will hold much better than the first one.

It takes a little more time, but you can greatly extend the life of your eggs (and tuna) by making some “bait pouches” out of spawn sack mesh. Simply cut some rectangle shaped sections of mesh, fill them with eggs, tuna or a combination of both and then fold the backside closed (like wrapping a present). Then, apply the pouch to the lure and then wrap it in place just as you would a sardine fillet.

You’ll be surprised how well these sardine alternatives work when you are plug fishing — give them a try this fall and let me know how you do!

Hot Steelhead Technique: Pulling Plugs without a Boat!

By 8 Comments

tory_plug

Here’s a fun trick to help you catch more steelhead in small waters: Pulling plugs on foot!

I know it sounds kind funny at first, but this little trick I call “Back-Footin” is deadly effective – and highly addictive – on small streams that are tough to float and fish with traditional methods due to size and/or lots of overhanging wood and brush.

I first started fishing this way during my college years at Humboldt State University, which is a short cast from the banks of the Mad River. I didn’t have a boat in those days, but I couldn’t help but notice how the drifters working the stretch below the Blue Lake bridge with plugs boats absolutely molly-hocked those hatchery stleeies.

So, one winter when the Mad dropped out and got extremely low, I decided to wade out into a run that looked fishy (and shallow enough) and backed a lure through it, just as I’d seen the guys in the boats do. Fish on! In fact, I nailed 8 chrome hatchery brats that day and was an instant convert. I started messing around with the technique a lot after that and found it to be even more effective on really small creeks.

back_footing

As with anything, the more you do something the better at it you get. I’ve learned a lot about back-footin’ since those early days, particularly from fellow guide, river rat and buddy, Fred Contaoi, who’s also long been an aficionado of the method. Together, we’ve had some awesome days fishing this way and now I’m going to share with you the basic nuts and bolts so you can get out and try it.

Technique

Back-footin’ is pretty simple. Find a good-looking piece of steelhead holding water and get into position as far upstream of it as you can. Try to stay in a crouch to avoid spooking the fish and be careful not to dislodge any silt that will cloud up the hole.

When you’re above the spot, drop your plug into the current. Put the reel into free-spool and work the lure slowly downriver by putting pressure on the spool with your thumb. Hold the lure in place occasionally and even give the reel a forward half-crank every now and then to get the plug to slightly dart upstream.

Back footing for steelhead

When you get the plug all the way to the tailout, you can slowly crank it back through the run again – its amazing how many fish will ignore the plug the first time but hit it as it works back upstream. After a pass down and back, reel up and try a different line down through the hole. Don’t spend a ton of time at each spot – when your lure wobbles into a small pool, you’ll know pretty quickly whether or not there’s a steelie in there.

[convertkit form=1914587]

Be advised – when you get a screaming takedown, you’ll need to clamp down on the spool with your thumb. With the reel in freespool, the spool is going to spin out of control when a fish starts running and a very ugly bird’s nest is the likely result. When you get a chance, click the reel into gear so you can fight the fish with the drag instead of burning flesh!

Lures and Baits

Okay, one of the greatest aspects of fishing this way is you don’t need a whole lot of gear. Pop a few plugs, snaps and leader material into small box and you’re in business. And you don’t have to get too crazy about your lure selection, either. Most tiny streams harbor only wild, non-discriminating steelhead and in close quarters, they’re pretty territorial. Simply put, get something in front of them and they’re likely to try to blast into shrapnel.

Steelhead Plugs

I carry a selection of Yakima Bait Co. MagLips in the 2.5 and 3.0 sizes, some No. 50 Hot Shots, and a few Brad’s Wee Wigglers and that’s it. I  replace all the stock trebles with upgraded hooks, but with small plugs you have an inherent quandary: Too much hook will overwhelm the lure and kill the action but small hooks will often get destroyed by big fish, so you have to experiment and find the happy medium for the particular lures you are using.

As far as lure colors go, pinks, chrome, gold, blue pirate and copper will cover you in just about any situation.

If you really want to get fancy (and I rarely do when back-footin’ – keep it simple, you know?) you can also run a diver/bait rig. There are times when a pink plastic worm fished behind a No. 10 Jet Diver works better than anything on the planet, but a complex rig like that can also be a major pain in tight quarters.

Gearing Up

Since you’re likely to hook some extremely hot fish in tight quarters, you’ll need a reel that can put the brakes on a fish that’s speeding towards a root wad, a rapid or tree limb. So with that in mind, don’t try this with cheesy reels. The are lots of quality reels out there — you don’t have to spend a million bucks but make sure you get one thats going to hold up to the stress you’re likely to put it through. The Daiwa Fuego is a nice mid-priced reel that will get the job done. If you want to a higher-end model, check out the Luna.

As far as rods go, you’ll need something with a soft tip to allow those small plugs to work properly but it also will need enough power to muscle fish out of the brush. My go-to stick is the Douglas Outdoors DXC 9642MF.

steelhead fishing

As far as line goes, you can go straight mono (15-pound) or 30-pound braid with a 10-foot topshot of 15-pound mono. Mono is good because it has some stretch — which comes in handy when a steelhead decides to try to rip the rod right out of your hands. However, braid is very tough and can stand up to the abuse that a big steelhead in confined quarters can dish out. It’s kind of a case-by-case judgement call for me, depending on the individual stream I’m fishing.

Safety

When fishing small streams, you’re usually walking in the water all day long, so always, always, always wear a wading belt and felt soles on your boots. Even small streams have deep spots that can get you into trouble, so move slowly and, when in doubt, use the tip of that long rod to check the depth before you pass though a spot you’re unsure about. Also, it’s a really good idea to wear an inflatable life jacket… just in case!

back footing stream

Conservation

As I stated earlier, the best back-footin’ waters are usually small creeks that hold modest runs of wild steelhead. Streams like these can’t handle much pressure and every single fish you keep accounts for a decent percentage of the population. So, killing a fish you catch with this method is really not an option — unless, of course, you’re fishing a hatchery stream there are plenty of ad-clipped fish around.

Also, as you walk downstream, pay close attention to anything that looks like a spawning area and give it a wide berth. An ill-placed footstep in the middle of a redd can wipe out a whole bunch of steelhead or salmon before they ever get a chance to grow up and smack your plug and leave it hanging from the trees…

More Information

If you want to learn more techniques, check out my book, the Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing.

Sneaky Tricks for Catching more Spring Chinook

By 4 Comments

One of my many bass lure-caught springers!

One of my many bass lure-caught springers!

Springers: Some days chew like they’ve got a good dose of rabid barracuda in their genes. Other times, they act like they’re trophy brown trout in a spring creek. They’ll drive you nuts…

To consistently get at them, you’ve got to be prepared to bust out some outside-the-box thinking! What follows are some of the tricks I like to keep in my back pocket — to be used when the chips are down and the fish are moody…sort of my “in case of emergency, break glass” techniques.

Bass Gear?

They say that necessity is the mother of invention but dumb luck also has its moments. While fishing for stripers over the past several seasons, I’ve found…quite by accident…that spring-run Chinook (fall fish, too!) have a real taste for bass lures!

Springer on a rip baitMy most consistent accidental producers have been jerk (“rip”) baits — flashing/slashing/rattling minnow imitations. It’s really not that big of a stretch to see why these things work — they have characteristics similar to the plugs like Flatfish and Kwikfish that have been salmon staples for decades.

I’ve also caught spring chinook on swimbaits.  It seems to happen just above tidewater most often, but I have also had them take these things way upriver as well. I guess it’s not that hard to understand why a fish that’s recently removed from the salt would eagerly chase down a 5-inch lure that looks a heck of a lot like a herring or anchovy, but what about one that’s 100 miles inland? Kinda makes you think, doesn’t it?

Swimsuit springerThere are plenty of companies making swimbaits these days – I like the 5-inch white or purple/blue flash models from RoboWorm and I’ll run them on ½-ounce jig heads. In deep, slow pools, work them at an easy, methodical pace just off the bottom and don’t give up on the retrieve until your lure is out of the water. I’ve had kings mash these babies right at the boat.

Bass lure springers are by no means an every day occurrence, but the more fish I catch on them, the more confident I get. It’s to the point now that I have them on board at all times and periodically bust them out when all else fails.

Downsize

Everybody from government to corporations seems to be downsizing these days — and so should you. While springers can gulp down a whole herring, a giant Toman spinner or a K16 Kwikfish without any trouble at all, there are times when giving them something a little less “meatier” makes sense.

I typically scale down the size of my offerings on days when the fishing pressure is high and the fish seem to be off the grab. I’ve written in the past about how much I used to love to pull the original STORM Pee Wee Warts for spring Chinook. In case you missed it, I stumbled onto small plugs like the Pee Wee’s and size No. 50 Hot Shots for springers quite by accident years ago while fishing for trout. After getting my trout gear blown up enough times by marauding kings, I started intentionally fishing with little wigglers for salmon and found that they work more often than not.

small plug salmonWith Pee Wee’s long hunted to extinction, I’ve moved onto K11X Kwikfish for my small plugs. You can go down to the K9X without any problem but I like the fact that I can put a mini wrap on the slightly larger No. 11’s.

Of course, pulling small plugs requires that you use lighter rods and thinner-diameter lines. The tiny hooks that you have to use to ensure that the plugs run properly means you’re always flirting with disaster when a monster king comes calling. My take on the whole thing is, however, I’d rather get bit and then worry about how to land a fish than to not get any bites at all…

I’ve also had success on those tough days by scaling down the size of my spinners when chucking hardware from shore. Generally, I’ll toss a size No. 4 spinner for springers under normal conditions and then bump it up to a size 5 if the water’s super cold or off-color. But there are times, too, when dropping down to a size No. 3 is just the ticket. I know, it feels kinda strange tossing what amounts to a trout lure at big Chinook, but on the right day you can go from zero to hero in a few short casts with one of these! Regardless of size, the three best spinner colors I’ve used are: silver blade/fluorescent orange body; silver blade/metallic purple body and gold blade/fluorescent red body.

Tuna Balls

It’s no secret that springers love tuna. Guys have been wrapping their plugs with tuna bellies, dipping their eggs in tuna oil…and now, Pro Cure’s even got tuna egg cure. But not a lot of people use straight tuna for spring kings…but they should. For reasons I don’t fully understand, the use of tuna balls for springers has been popular for eons on the Trinity River in Northern California, but you’ll rarely see them used on any other stream. The bottom line is they work away from the Trinity and will probably catch some fish on your home water too.

Basically, you make them up just as you would spawn sacks. First, buy some oil-pack tuna and put the juice into a small plastic container (with a good sealing-lid). Cut some netting into squares and fill it up with enough tuna meat to make nickel to quarter-sized clusters. Add a Fish Pill or two to the sack for buoyancy and then tie the netting closed with Miracle Thread or Ghost Cocoon. Soak the tuna balls in the tub of oil until you’re ready to fish them.

You can fish tuna balls any way you’d use eggs or sand shrimp – drift gear, under a float, behind a diver or back-bounced. The stuff holds it scent very well and looks good – particularly when you add a bit of yarn to the rig. They’re also cool because you can extend the life of the bait by re-dipping it in the juice. Again, springers can be moody buggers and tuna isn’t the answer every day…but there are times when it is like crack to them as well so be sure to give it a try this season.

Kooky = Fun!

The same moody tendencies that make springers so frustrating at times are also what makes them so interesting to fish for. I really enjoy tossing convention to the wind and trying to come up with something a little different they might like. Some days they do; Some days they don’t…but it’s always fun!

To learn how to anchor fish for springers, click HERE

How to Back Troll Plugs for Trout

By Leave a Comment

Dolly Varden
Much has been written about pulling plugs for salmon and steelhead, but what about taking this extremely effective method any applying it to stream trout? Well, the bottom line is “mini steelheading” as I call it, is a super deadly way to hook lots of river trout – and, oh yea, it’s a total gas!

What’s really cool about pulling plugs for trout is you can do it on all sorts of streams. It’s highly productive on larger rivers out of a driftboat or even a sled, but you can also access smaller creeks with a pontoon boat, pram or Tote-N-Float type of vessel. And, there’s a pretty good bet that wherever you do it, the trout haven’t seen the lures you’re presenting to them!

RAINBOW TROUT ON A PLUG

On anadramous waterways, trout plugging gets even more interesting when the occasional spring Chinook, summer steelie, dolly or sea-run cutt latches onto your offering.

Technique

Pulling wigglers for trout is a lot like fishing for steelies, with a few subtle tweaks. As with backtrolling for larger species, you want to run the lures the same distance behind the boat – generally 30 to 60 feet, depending on the size of the stream and water clarity. You can keep tabs on how much line you have out by counting passes of the levelwind eye as it travels back and forth across the spool of your reel or by placing fluorescent bobber stops on your line at a pre-measured spot.

Once the lures are in the drink and swimming properly, work them slowly downstream at about half the speed of the current. What’s really nice about this technique is that it allows you to back your bugs into those hard to reach places under cutbanks and overhanging wood and into the heart of boulder gardens – areas that don’t get touched by other anglers.

Brown trout

Again, we’re talking basic backtrolling here – but there is one variation on the theme that seems to work wonders for trout. When you’ve fished your lures to the downstream edges of a particular spot, don’t immediately reel up and move on. Instead, pull on the oars a little harder to get the plugs to start working back upstream. There are days when this subtle tactical adjustment will blow your mind!

Plug Selection

Mini Plugs
Since pulling plugs for trout isn’t super popular, nobody really makes a technique-specific lure for it. So, you’re going to have to troll the aisles of your local tackle shop for inspiration. And, honestly, this may be the part of pulling plugs for trout that I like best. I’m always on the lookout for some tiny crappie crankbait or sexy finesse bass plug that looks like it might make a good trout lure. To that end, I’ve got boxes full of a thousands different “impulse buys” from my travels – some of them work great, others, of course, were duds. To get you started, you can’t go too wrong with [easyazon_link identifier=”B002QFYGP2″ locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Size 50 Hot Shots[/easyazon_link], old school Pee Wee Warts (if you can find ‘em), [easyazon_link identifier=”B000LF1T36″ locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Norman Deep Tiny N’s[/easyazon_link], [easyazon_link identifier=”B009BQYKWS” locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Yakima Bait MapgLip 3.0[/easyazon_link], Wally Marshall Crappie Cranks, Matrix Flea Bittys from Shasta Tackle and [easyazon_link identifier=”B002QG0B0U” locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Strike King’s Mini 3[/easyazon_link].

Hot Shot rainbow

As far as colors go, you’ll often find that the plugs designed for warm water species don’t have all the cool metallic finishes that we in the cold water arena are so fond of, such as Dr. Death and the various Pirates, etc. But, if you look around, you’ll find some trouty-looking colors. I’m always a believer in silver, gold and copper, but trout also seem to really like craw and frog finishes as well. As with plug fishing for salmon and steelhead, always attach your line to the lure via a plug snap.

Help support this website: When you purchase a product through one of the Amazon links you find on this site, I get a very small commission – there’s no extra cost to you. I only highlight products that I have used and believe in. By using these affiliate links you can help me keep this website up and running. For more info, check out our Affiliate Disclosure page here.

There are some days that the fish will crush your lures with reckless abandon and others when they seem a bit more tentative. On the tougher days, a little scent oftentimes will help motivate the trout into biting. A small dab of [easyazon_link identifier=”B0010FS82G” locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Atlas-Mike’s Shrimp Lunker Lotion[/easyazon_link] under the bill will often do the trick.

Trout Plugging Tackle

Back in the day, it used to be hard to find a rod that was really well suited to backtrolling for trout. But then the whole kokanee craze hit…problem solved! Kokanee rods are light, with soft tips and make pretty good plugging sticks. There’s a hundred different koke models out there from every manufacturer under the sun, but the one that I really like is the 7’[easyazon_link identifier=”B000PCDGCW” locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]GLoomis MF65436[/easyazon_link] – the tip is plenty soft enough to allow the plugs to work properly and let fish pull it down without feeling a lot of resistance, but the rod’s also got a surprising amount of power in the lower end. I’ve caught wild rainbows and browns to 5 plus pounds on that stick and it handles them fine. If you’re looking for something a little less expensive, check out the [easyazon_link identifier=”B003XXH0H2″ locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Okuma SST-C-702L[/easyazon_link].

In the reel department, you don’t have to get too fancy…after all, we’re not talking 20 pound steelhead, here. Still, you’re going to want something with a smooth drag because you’ll be using light line and occasionally dealing with big fish. I’ve always used a 100 series [easyazon_link identifier=”B001448TE0″ locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Shimano Calcutta[/easyazon_link] or Curado, but any small baitacster of reasonable quality will suffice.

Rainbow trout

You’ll notice that all the gear listed so far has been conventional style. I just like fishing with –and fighting fish on – baitcasters more than spinning tackle. However, if you’re going to be doing a little solo plugging out of a pontoon boat or pram, you may want to switch to spinning. Light plugs don’t cast well on levelwinds and it can be a pain to get them back behind the boat when you’ve got both hands on the oars. With a spinning rod, you can cast the lure straight downstream, close the bail and be fishing in about 3 seconds flat.

When it comes to line, there are a couple trains of thought: braid and mono. I’ve used both and kinda go back and forth. Generally speaking, mono is the better choice for plug fishing because it has some stretch that acts like a shock absorber when a fish mollyhocks your lure. The give in the line helps keep fish buttoned much better than no-stretch braid, but there are some downfalls as well.

Tiny plugs are pretty temperamental little buggers and you really need to run a light line to get them to dive down in fast water. Four-pound test is about ideal. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of room for error with line that light if you happen to hook a wayward springer or summer steelie. Additionally, little plugs will kick to the surface when they pick up even a slight bit of moss or weeds. If a plug spins, unnoticed, on the surface for more than a few seconds, you’re going to have some seriously twisted mono.

Sometimes you get a bonus fish when plugging for trout!

Sometimes you get a bonus fish when plugging for trout!

Braid solves those problems – it is very resistant to twisting and enables you to use a heavier-rated line in a thin diameter. I’ve had great success with [easyazon_link identifier=”B00Q08EUMA” locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Pline braid[/easyazon_link] in 10-pound (it has a the diameter of 2-pound mono). It’s expensive and breaks down fairly quickly, but it’s also durable and very supple. With any braid, just remember to run a 5- to 10-foot section of mono or fluorocarbon between the lure and the end of the braided stuff. As I mentioned earlier, however, you’re going miss more grabs due to braid’s lack of “bungeeness.” A soft rod really helps combat this issue and the other thing you can do is run a super light drag until you’ve got a positive hookup.

Final Thoughts

Well, there you have it – the basic concepts of trout plugging. All that’s left now is to get out there and give it a whirl. But before I turn you loose on the trout in your neighborhood, here’s one last thing to consider: It’s not a bad idea to swap out the stock trebles on your plugs with barbless siwashes. Trebles can really tear up a trout’s small mouth and there’s no sense leaving a trail of carnage in your wake.

PLUG TROUT