Sockeye on the Columbia for the bank bound

M
madoc
Howdy all,

Since I am bankbound, I was wondering where they might be good spots along the Columbia to try for sockeye, and what sort of rigs work for them. I know I could try Cascade Locks, because I caught one there last year while shad jigging.

Where else?

Cheers,
Madoc
 
O
osmosis
they are from the mouth all the way to the tribs they enter. so for good spots, the whole river is a good spot since fish cannot teleport. fish the same water you would for steelhead.
last year even the sandy river had some sockeye return to it.

very small and red is my favorite way to go.
 
T
The Nothing
Social Security Beach on Sauvies Island is a popular place for plunking. Expect to find sockeye, steelhead and chinook right now. chinook will be legal keep next monday.

Most people will run a 6-8oz pyramid weight on the bottom of a 3-way splitter, 18-24" leader to a spinglo and 1 or 1/0 hook. bait (cured shrimp/prawn tails) optional. You can run upto 3 splitters and get 3 hooks running. Some will also run just one or two splitters and then slide a small kwikfish down the line also (i'm not so successful with that)

if ya need a pic, lemme know, easily done
 
T
Troutier Bassier
The Nothing,

I would like to see a pic, Cause I am too going for Sockeye on the bank And I could probally get to Sauvie Island.
 
T
The Nothing
there are a few things I'd change about that post above. The FIRST thing would be that dropper length. Look to see what others are doing. The spreader and a duosnap will give you a few inches, and from what i've been doing lately, that has been enough, especially if you run a dual or triple rigging.

Let me talk more on rods... It doesn't take a special rod. If you've got a good drifting, mooching, or trolling rod, they'll likely suffice. you don't need to cast across the river, just 50 feet or less... A rod rated to 1 or 2oz will be able to get that 6-8oz lead far enough away.

Did what I could on the pics. For Sockeye you can get away with smaller and lighter riggings. No more than 20# main, and I've been using 12# leaders.

Picture sucks, but was all I could do in a short time frame to make sure pretty much everything comes through (mono is hard to photograph btw)

From the top left you'll seem my main line tied to the first splitter. The long arm is attached to the first leader which includes a #4 spinglo and a 1/0 hook.

The short arm of the splitter is attached to a dropper about 28". Its a bit long, so you can experiment with this. The important part is that your first leader is shorter than this dropper length, lest massive nests of monofilament horror descend upon you.

The dropper ties to the corner of the second splitter. Again the long arm attaches to the second leader; this one is a pre-made #4 spinglo w/ treble.

The short arm of the second splitter goes to the lead. I didn't have a pyramid handy (left my last one at the bottom of the Willi today). I've been running with no dropper for the most part, unlike the diagram above. Alternatively, you could run a dropper to yet a third splitter with a third spinglo and then the lead as well. Casting triples are a royal PITA though.

plunkingspinglos.jpg

You can get everything you need for $100 new right now at Fishermans. Abu Garcia salmon casting combo (8'6" rod and Abu 6000 - on sale for $55!!), handful of bulk spinglos, 20# flouro, four hunks of lead, and some prawn tails.
 
T
Troutier Bassier
I've tied up this rig before, But never used it.
Thanks for the pic though.
 
P
Plunkalot
Last year while fishing for summer chinook and steelhead off the beaches of Sauvies Island, I caught and released four sockeye. Interestingly enough - three of the four were caught right at first light or slightly afterward. The other was caught a little later in the morning. These sockeye hit size #4 Spin-N-Glos with a lot of bright color on them. All were baited with pink prawns. My rigging consisted of a single Spin-N-Glo that I cast out, followed by a second Spin-N-Glo on slider. I use a sliding 8oz. pyramid lead weight on a 6" drop line.
 
M
madoc
Good info, thanks guys.

Now to actually go out.
 

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