Do you use spoons or buzz bombs for pinks?

[p.t.]

I started trying fishing for salmon from 2009. I did some research on the techniques. I found many websites (including WDFW, Salmon University, among others) recommended methods like float fishing (bobbder + jig/bait), drift fishing (bouncing the sinker on the bottom), plunking, etc. But I don't seem to have seen any website recommend using hardware like spoons, spinners, buzz bombs, etc. But if you go to the stores, you will see lots of these hardware on the shelves. So, I'm confused. Why websites don't recommend them but stores are selling them?

For two years (2009 and this year), I've been using mainly spoons (like Humpie Specials or Needlefish or Krocodile) and buzz bombs (2" or 2.5"). So far I got nothing, not even a bite, very frustrating, especially when this is a great year for pinks. So I can't help but wondering, in general, are spoons and buzz bombs really an effective way for pinks? Are you using them? How do you use them?

A related question: How do you add weight to a spoon? I fish from shore, so I need distance. I've tried putting the egg sinker on the main line like this: sinker --> swivel --> 3' leader --> spoon.

Please, share with me your experiences on this. It's been two years and didn't have a bite. I really can use some tips here. Thank you.

(BTW, this year so far I've been to Snoho twice. Spent 3 - 4 hours from 6:00 AM on the shore on Lowell Snohomish River Rd. The problem with this place is the river is very wide, like 380ft, but I can cast only 150ft or less. I can see fish jumping out of my reach, boat people keep getting fish right in front of me! Frustrating. I've even thought about hiring a guide boat!)

[Fish_Bait111397]

I never fish buzzbombs in rivers, in salt yes. I do fish spoons, but only where its legal and i only fish 'em at the mouth. Further up I just go with good old corky and yarn ! Or as well as pink marabou jigs work really good for pinks as well.

[Mike Carey]

I have had some excellent success in the past with spinners for river coho. Spoons - well, a DickNite is a spoon and again can be deadly effective on pinks and cohos. Larger spoons I've not really fished, and buzz bombs in a river, not my style. Now salt, that's a different story.

I think guys settle on the lures that they have the most success with, but it is nice to have some options when the tried and true aren't working. Or, just the opposite, if you're slaying them and C&R ing try some of the stuff you wouldn't normally use to try to build some confidence in those lures.

[tnj8222]

Corky and yarn.

[Gringo Pescador]

Of course I will qualify this with "IMHO" But over the years I have tried spinners, buzzbombs, spoons, corky & yarn, etc. But I have had my absolute best luck for river pinks with jigs. I used a new setup this year that so far has out fished everyone around me using buzzbombs, spoons and spinners on both the Snohomish and Duwamish. You would be surprised how close to the bank the fish will come, I have had hits within 10'of me on the Snohomish.

I have described my setup here:
http://www.washingtonlakes.com/ReportCo ... =11668&t=3

And the jigs I am using here:
http://www.washingtonlakes.com/ReportCo ... d=8746&t=3

I have heard that using a float and jig works just as well, but never tried it myself. I also saw a guy and his kid fishing the Duwamish last weekend. Their setup was one of those little red & white bobbers, about 4' of line, a small splitshot, and a pink & white dick nite. Just cast it out and wait. The Dick nite flutters in the water. Saw em hook into 5 in about an hour that way.

I think it is the quick, short motions (jig twitching) or flashes(flutter of the Dick Nite) that drive em nuts more than the bigger presentation and/or steady movement you would get from buzzbombs spoons and spinners. I am not saying you wont catch fish with those - many have already proved you can, but I do think you can catch more with smaller, quick-motion presentations.

Hope this helps!

[The Quadfather]

P.T.

+1 on what Gringo said about jigs. Personally I think all the stuff about scent, and floats and Dick Nites etc. is way too much work. Either the Jig that Gringo describes, which is pretty much a Pink Marabou jig as found in any store, or I like very much the rubber squid jig that you can find in many places (Ted's Sportcenter, Everett) The jig is cheap, and easy to cast and twitch. Some people just real them in without even jigging.
I am not a fan of buzz bombs in the river, myself. I think that maybe the buzz bomb does not spend enought time in strike zone (water colum) it is much heavier than a jig. I think the jig spends more time in the upper half of the water. But, what do I know. They just work well for me. Don't get too fancy for these fish.
(Thanks for the jigs, Gringo... fish on!)

[natetreat]

First off, go light. Line line and smaller gear. Once the fish get in the river they tend to be less aggressive than in the salt. They will avoid your weight and line. 10 pound mono is as high as I would go.

I have been nailing them with a dick nite. The wee dick nites in 50/50 have been working great. Size 1's tend to stick the hook better though. Rig it like the dick nite website says With a long light leader to keep it as far as you can from your weight. Let it drift downstream. The pinks don't hug the bottom as much as steelhead do, so use a dropper for your weight.

Get a long sensitive rod. If you're using something too short, with too heavy of line you can't cast worth beans.

Buzz bombs work when fish are really aggressive. If you're the only one casting at a school of fish that haven't been spooked very much, you could get a bite on it. But the fish in the river are already on high alert for predators, and not eating very much, so buzz bombs won't work nearly as well as something more subtle.

I'd recommend jigs like Gringo, but the truth is I've never caught a fish twitching a jig. I've caught them with a float and a jig, but not twitching one. But drift fishing a dick nite is the way to go. And fish where there are lots of fish. You'll get one.

[islandbass]

No need to be too worried. It simply means that there are a number of methods to catch them and only in trying them will you come to conclude which work best for you.

BBombs can work in rivers, but for some reason, and I don't know why, I just don't want to use them there. I know how to make BBombs work well in the rivers, but perhaps it's because I am on a jig fix right now.

I bought a few dick nites awhile ago and can't remember where I put them in the garage or else, I'd be using them too.

I also want to try some inline spinners. In the tukwila area this morning, they only hit inline spinners. The two guys downstream from me caught 3 pinks in the same time I took a hook into and lose one.

Yet the previous trip, one dude nailed two on a pink bbomb and I got one on a jig in the same time frame and both of us weren't even fishing for 20 minutes. The guy next to us was using an inline spinner and had been there for a few hours without even one hit.

This is what I love about fishing... Figuring out what they are willing to hit. It is also why it behooves the angler to be as prepared as possible. I have got to find my dick nites in the garage. Arrghh!

[Kockmandoo]

PInk dick nites absolutely slay pinks. I rig them lke a corky and yarn. just put a 3/8 ounce lead on your swivel and use about 4-5 feet of leader. medium size nite is the best. The trick is to reel it really slow, the pinks like the spoon to wobble side to side, not turn over. I was at the skagit last week with some friends, I just gave them this rig and told them to reel it slowly along the bottom and it worked, one of my friends who doesn't fish hardly at all hooked 8. As for bigger spoons like your humpy special. I like those in slower moving water and in back eddies. With the humpy special I cast it out, let it sink to the bottom, and twitch it just like I would a jig. just twitch twich, reel slack, and repeat. again, go slow.

[Matt]

Spoon fishing is an interesting technique in the river. I like to fish them very slowly, much like you would drift gear. For the most part, if there is some current the spoon will do the work itself in the current, by reeling on it you are causing the spoon to just go too fast and turn over which is not effective. Also, a stop and go retrieve is a must. Cast upstream a tad, then SLOWLY reel, then pause, then reel, etc. Often times the fish will nail the spoon right after the pause as the spoon is fluttering down. Most casting spoons are made to be flung quite a ways, any lead based spoon over 1/4 oz is really made to be cast just the way it is. Needlefish and other plated metal spoons are trolling spoons and not designed for casting, although with the addition of weight it is possible, I would avoid it. Buzz bombs, in my opinion, have no place in the river. If you lose them you are adding a ton of derelict lead to the bottom, you will have just as much or more success fishing with jigs (marabou, or squid jigs) than you will with the buzz bombs and they are half the price, and funner to fight fish on. Don't get caught in the idea that you NEED to cast far to catch fish, unless there is a huge sand bar right in front of you which you have to cast beyond there will be fish right at your feet. In the sandbar case, just walk out there and cast into the slot. Most of my fish caught shore fishing are withing 20 feet of the shore not out in the middle of the river.

[Gringo Pescador]

Don't get caught in the idea that you NEED to cast far to catch fish, unless there is a huge sand bar right in front of you which you have to cast beyond there will be fish right at your feet. In the sandbar case, just walk out there and cast into the slot. Most of my fish caught shore fishing are withing 20 feet of the shore not out in the middle of the river.

+1

I only have 150' of 8# braid and 3' of 6# leader on my jig setup - then it goes into some cheap 20# mono backing. I have probably c&r'ed 100 pinks this season from the banks and have yet to see the backing.

[racfish]

There are different types of fishing people. You have those who say buzz bombs are bad,too long of leader is bad (flossing) Spoons are bad and so on. I use what I need to to catch a fish. I fish my buzz bombs on a single hook,spoons spinners the same. I really dont give a rats petoot on how people think I fish. I fish according to the WDFW guidlines. All is fair if its legal. I find the same folks that give lectures are usually the ones to break the ethics laws themselves. I personally refuse to pay over a bill for a knotless net.I cant afford it . I use the nets I got. All sites have their so called fishing rule makers and elite fisherpeople. I pay no attention to those folks. Go out ,fish legal have a great time. Thats the ticket. Use whats gonna catch you a dinner. (Legally)..

[EAmon___hoffman123]

When your using corky and yarn, don't be afraid to try green yarn and a smaller our larger corkey. I've seen alot of people use pink every thing(not saying that's bad) but ive tried different color's ans slayed them twice as much.

[p.t.]

Thank you all for your responses. I guess I have to slow down the retrieving, don't jerk the rod too hard, be subtle. Or maybe not reeling in at all until the line is directly downstream. )When come to think of it, I may have scared them away!) Then, people all say that I shouldn't worry too much about the distance, ok, so I'll try not to. (But I'm sure it'll be hard when, like this past Tuesday, I saw fish jumping everywhere, but they're all out of range!) And, use lighter setup.

Thank you again, hope I will be able to put a mark on my catch record card this year.