Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3815 July 5-19 2019

12 HOW TO... July 5 - 19, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 15 Roe-ing Your Way To More Kings! presents Roe Tactics For Norcal River Salmon! O ^ Most river salmon fishing is done with conventional tackle, but when it’s time for boon doggling, spinning gear is the best choice. ^ Roe is a versatile bait that can be used several different ways to tempt big chrome bright fall run king salmon, like this incredible fish. < In order to have top notch roe you’ve got to utilize top notch cures and scents. Pro- Cure has been supplying anglers and guides with egg preparation products for decades and they offer some of the best cures and scents available. < This huge king smashed a Flatfish plug. When the salmon are aggressive plugs can produce fast results, but when the salmon play hard to get, roe can be a great alternative. cean going chinook salmon may not be simple to locate, but once found they are fairly simple to catch, given that they feed voraciously on various baitfish that are similar in appear- ance, such as anchovies, herring and sardines. Troll past them with a rigged baitfish or baitfish imitating lure and very often your next task will be firing up the smoker. Once kings hit the river they are a different critter entirely. They stop feeding and their entire focus becomes pushing up river to spawn. Despite the fact that river salmon aren’t feeding they can still be fooled into mouthing or striking various offerings presented in a number of different ways. The methods for hooking river run chinooks are as diverse and colorful as the guides and anglers that pursue them. There are two basic categories of fishing techniques when it comes to hooking river run kings in northern California. The first category is made up of various roe fishing strategies. The second category is focused on plug fishing. Let’s take a look at some of the proven roe fishing techniques that are sure to help you bag a king this fall whether you fish from a boat or the bank. For boat anglers fishing with roe, a technique known as “Boon Doggling” is all the rage for a number of good reasons. While this technique sounds more like something done by cowboys rather than salmon anglers, I can assure you that it is both a simple and highly effective method for nailing kings. To boon doggle you’ll need a 7 to 8-foot fast action spinning or casting rod rated for 10 to 20-pound line mated with a reel spooled with high quality abrasion resistant 20-pound monofilament or 20-pound braid. To the business end of the main line attach a three-way swivel. On one eye tie on a 6-inch dropper of 10-pound test tipped with a slinky weight. On the third eye tie on a 36 inch 20-pound leader tipped with a No. 4 octopus style hook on an egg loop snell. Place a quarter size piece of cured roe in the egg loop, tip the hook with a puffball for floatation and you’re ready to fish. The presentation consists of trailing the rig 30 to 60 feet behind a drifting boat and allowing it to tick across the bottom of pools and riffles. When a strike occurs, it is signaled with sharp taps or steady weigh. At that point set the hook and start fighting the fish. This technique is simple, effective and allows you to cover a lot of water quickly and thoroughly. In deep holes that feature current seams and eddies, jigging with roe is an effective approach that keeps your bait in the salmon’s strikes zone for a sustained period of time. Jigging is done with heavier gear than that used for boon doggling. The slinky weight is replaced with a 2 to 6-ounce ball sinker. Conven- tional rods work best, but spinning tackle will work too. The key is having a rod capable of handling fairly heavy sinkers. To present the roe, drop the rig to the bottom and then bounce the sinker by raising and lower the rod. Bouncing the sinker keeps the sinker from becoming snagged. When jigging, the boat is allowed to drift with the current, keeping the presentation vertical. Once again, a strike will be signaled by sharp tugs or a sustained pull. Back bouncing is a compromise between boon doggling and jigging. Back bouncing is a technique that is used during the middle of the day or early in the morning when the salmon are inactive and holding FISH SNIFFER HOW – TO by Cal Kellogg CONTINUED ON PG 23

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