There are knots around that are 100% knots. In fact 50% would be a terrible knot. Worth googling knots by name online and checking.
Mooching Rig Question
- Thread starter healerf18
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There are knots around that are 100% knots. In fact 50% would be a terrible knot. Worth googling knots by name online and checking.
.338WM
New member
I am fully aware of that.
kasilofchrisn
Well-known member
You can also check out berkleys knot wars.
Pretty informative professional knot reviews.
I guarantee the knot in question is better than 50% hold strength.
I have landed 65# kings on 20# test with that knot and Berkley big game leader material.
Pretty informative professional knot reviews.
I guarantee the knot in question is better than 50% hold strength.
I have landed 65# kings on 20# test with that knot and Berkley big game leader material.
Good points .338. Definitely true. On our last trip out we landed 14 Silvers and broke off 5, way more than usual. I don't remember the last time I personally broke off a fish, but I had 4 people on board with varying degrees of fishing experience. Given all the great discussion here, I have a feeling it was a combination of things - older mono, knots I hadn't moistened while tightening, and abrasions I hadn't detected. I'll bet my 30 lb mono was down to a 10 lb tensile strength, or less. Thus, even with drags set to my usual "normal", they were too much for the damaged leaders!
tzieli22
Member
I've completely changed my mooching rigs this year and have increased my hookups by "a lot". Went from 2 hook slip rig to a single hook with a B-2 squid. I won't go back. Besides saving a ton of money on mooching rigs and bait, I am getting much better hookups and less line breaks. I'm using 40# line with 5/0 hooks. Need to keep an eye on the line after several fish as they nick the line, so I change it out often.
270ti
New member
A drag too loose will lose a pile of fish when mooching, particularly cohos. You can't punch that barb into the fish with a loose drag, and fish easily shake those hooks after they've run around awhile with just point of the hook in them. You want a firm drag that you can punch that hook into that coho's mouth by reeling hard and bending your rod all the way over. Once you've got him with the barb in him, you've got him. Half hearted hooking and loose drags results in a lot of tossed hooks with how fast cohos react and run to the surface. When clients are having trouble getting fish into the boat, I really tighten those drags down.
25lb test line, if in good shape, is really strong. We've brought up many 100lb + halibut with it, and you don't do that with a loose drag. As I said, when volume is happening with kings/cohos/silvers, 40lb test leaders are necessary, as you don't want to change 20 leaders a day. You'll get much more life out of a 40lb test leader than a 30lb test leader. When it's just kings in may/june, a 25-30lb test leader is fine. I think a lighter leader fools those bigger kings.
25lb test line, if in good shape, is really strong. We've brought up many 100lb + halibut with it, and you don't do that with a loose drag. As I said, when volume is happening with kings/cohos/silvers, 40lb test leaders are necessary, as you don't want to change 20 leaders a day. You'll get much more life out of a 40lb test leader than a 30lb test leader. When it's just kings in may/june, a 25-30lb test leader is fine. I think a lighter leader fools those bigger kings.
.338WM
New member
About cohos reacting and running to the surface so quickly. Another tendency they have is to run directly at the boat/angler at full speed and fool people into thinking they lost the fish. I have had to tell people repeatedly not to give up and "reel, reel, reel as fast as you can", low and behold, they catch up and the fish is still hooked. I have witnessed this so many times, never give up on them until you KNOW for fact they are free of the hook. It is one of the more exciting aspect to catching and fighting cohos in my book.
Absolutely. We often have kings do the same thing- trolling, mooching and jigging. We call them kamikaze runs.
Haha, so true. I'm constantly hollering "reel reel reel!!" with visitors on the boat. They just can't believe that Silvers will come straight at the boat so frequently. Another interesting twist is when all is quiet, then a rod suddenly straightens and the line goes slack. People don't realize a Silver has picked up the bait and is heading for the surface. Again, "reel reel reel!!" So much fun.
Great comments mono test and drags 270ti. Thanks. I'm a bit slow, so it also took me a while to realize that rods with overly soft tips will cause the same problem - difficulty with properly setting the hook.
tlingitwarrior
Well-known member
Sage advice from 270. When mootching i reel as fast as i can, loading up road until tip is burried in the water. Then and only then do i do a hook set.
aksportfisher
New member
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Now u would get a good hook set, search the net on breaking strength of knots u are using. Then set drag using weight scale. If I was mooching with bobber herring set up I would use advice given above. Another trick since I'm openly typing brine your herring with salmon university recipe. Then inject herring belly full pro cure scent.
270ti
New member
Don't make mooching too complicated. The beauty of mooching is that it's simple, finesse fishing for salmon. Brine is unnecessary too. You can pull them out of the package semi-frozen and do just fine. Nobody will out fish you using a secret brine, scent, whatever. Believe me, if I thought I'd catch 1 more salmon by using brine, I'd use it.
Mooching is about knowing exactly where that fish is going to be, and putting a herring right in front of them. Boat control, knowing how to read your sounder, and knowing fish really matters when it comes to mooching.
Mooching is about knowing exactly where that fish is going to be, and putting a herring right in front of them. Boat control, knowing how to read your sounder, and knowing fish really matters when it comes to mooching.
270ti
New member
Getting a good hook set while mooching is an art form. It's really up to the individual angler, which makes it so fun. The way you described is perfect. I've had a handful of clients over the years who I can say are truly masters of mooching. They feel every fish, hook everything, and catch a lot of fish. It's insane at what a good angler can catch mooching. The average angler will miss a lot of fish.. cohos.. sometimes they'll miss 3 for every 1 they hook. For example, yesterday we got our limit of 30 cohos in 45 minutes, fishing off of Roller. That included about 15 pinks we shook. (5 anglers) That took a little over 8 dozen herring. (and a fast moving captain) That means that my guys missed around 50% of the bites. And that's one of the better days as far as hooking up goes. Kings are a bit easier to hook.
Agreed! I troll and mooch depending on the conditions and whether or not I think fish are in the area, but increasingly my wife and I turn to mooching. Properly hooking a Coho takes some skill and there is definitely a challenge to consistently getting it right. Our hook up rate over the past couple of years has improved dramatically - mostly by simply waiting until the fish has fully committed to the bait. As I'm constantly telling our guests on board - "Wait, wait, wait, reel a bit, HIT IT!" Too much fun!
When mooching do your people always have the rods in hand ? Does one keep their finger on the line like in drift fishing ? Thanks...Elfin cove in sept.
I always have rod in hand, finger on the line. Another point of mooching that is worth discussing that I haven't seen in this thread is leader length, longer leaders means you don't feel the fish as fast on the fall, I'm curious what lengths folks are running?
270ti
New member
Always rod in hand. work the bait with your reel, not your rod. I like the bait spinning up, or spinning down. Fish hit it both ways.
My leader length is my wingspan. Not sure how long that is..(grin)
You also need to realize there is a difference between mooching, and motor mooching. Most of the guides in my area motor mooch. I mooch. Makes for an interesting drift sometimes.
My leader length is my wingspan. Not sure how long that is..(grin)
You also need to realize there is a difference between mooching, and motor mooching. Most of the guides in my area motor mooch. I mooch. Makes for an interesting drift sometimes.
I am no expert, but over the past year I've lengthened my leaders from 4 to 6 feet (1 wing span!) 
I'm not exactly sure why, but I get much more consistent hookups with the longer leader. I wonder if the bait feels more natural to the Coho, but of course, it could be that other factors are involved.
I'm not exactly sure why, but I get much more consistent hookups with the longer leader. I wonder if the bait feels more natural to the Coho, but of course, it could be that other factors are involved.
