Miscellaneous

Can you jig with a mooching reel?

Can you jig with a mooching reel?

If wind and water conditions are calm, you might want to jig, but if the flow is a little strong, mooching five or six ounces of lead may be the best way to get at ’em.

Do you use a leader for salmon?

Salmon isn’t leader shy, but I don’t like the idea of any fish seeing my fly line too many times. Therefore I use leaders from 12 to 17 feet. In normal situation when I’m swinging the fly downstream, I think that 12 to 15 feet is quite enough. Especially with the clear floating shooting head from Vision.

What do you need to know about mooching salmon?

Mooching is Slow Fishing. Remember, this is slow fishing. Salmon have time to inspect and re-inspect the bait. Baits need to be neat and clean. They need to have as few missing scales as possible. Once a bite is missed, it is fruitless to fish with the same bait, even if it is still on the hook.

What’s the best way to hook up a salmon?

Salmon are often short strikers, so leaving the hook back will improve your chances of a solid hook up. If drift mooching, but also trolling, you can insert the tail hook on the opposite side of the herring. “Wait a minute,” you say, “I’ve got too much leader and it’s got a loop hanging free.”

How are the hooks tied on a mooching leader?

A mooching leader consists of a leader line, with two hooks tied at the end. The last hook is always hard tied, with the forward hook either hard tied or slip tied. Slip tied hooks allow adjustment which can be convenient.

How much line do you need for a mooching reel?

Reels need to hold at least 300 yards of line. Remember, you are fishing with the twenty-pound test line or less, and a fifty-pound salmon will spool you in a hurry if your reel can’t hold that much line. In general, mooching reels are conventional reels, although a number of anglers will use spinning tackle.