Herring?

[diggindan]

Hey all,
Where is the best place to buy herring in the eugene area? We're hoping to try the cut plug approach soon.
We've been on the Siuslaw a couple times trolling flashers with only a small native coho for our efforts.
Thanks for any tips and for all the great posts.
Cheers, Dan

 

[Thuggin4Life]

2 Bros tackle but if you are hitting the slaw you can get them at bridgeport market. sign says 6 but he opens at 5:30 during fishing season.

 

[diggindan]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks for the reply. Are their prices better than Bi-Mart? $5.49 per package could get kinda spendy. I guess it depends on how much bait you lose.
Thanks again, Dan

 

[Kodiak]

Thanks for the reply. Are their prices better than Bi-Mart? $5.49 per package could get kinda spendy. I guess it depends on how much bait you lose.
Thanks again, Dan

Expect to go through 2 pks of blue labels/rod/trip, if you fish herring all day. Once your bait is has less than 60% scales it's no longer bait, then it's river nutrients. It's the price we pay for epically large fish.

 

[diggindan]

More thanks

More thanks

Thanks Kodiak,
That's good info.
After the origional sticker shock wears off I'll be OK.
Add in the cost and effort of brining and custom spinners start looking like a bargain!
I understand why you would freeze the leftovers with such care.
Thanks again, Dan

 

[Kodiak]

Bait selection when frozen in the store is huge! Look for trays with bait that is at minimum 80% scales, also look at the eyes, they should be bright and clear, the foggier the eye the older the bait, don't be afraid to dig through all the stacks looking for good bait, i've been known to hit three to four stores to find what I need. Beening picky isn't a bad thing, make the store owners deal with good bait instead of pawning off left over sturgeon grub!

 

[qwapaw]

We bought some herring at the Mapleton Store. They open early, well before daylight. We have to stop there and get our parking pass anyway so we bought sand shrimp and herring there. Nice folk, a man named Terry owns it and fishes the river and can give you some tip too. Hope this helps, Good luck, Dan

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

We will be doing a video on how to rig up for fishing cut plug the next time we go out. Also a second video on how to actually cut them and get the gutts out for those who are trying it for the first time.

 

[osmosis]

the cloudy eye thing is actually a complete myth.
and one that drives me crazy at that.
It does not tell you how old the bait is at all, or how soft/firm it is. rather all it shows is that particular fish had a higher lactic acid build up when it hit the shock table before being packaged. thats it. There are many things to be picky and paranoid about in fishing, that is not one of them.

I get herring that has been vaccuum packed for less than a week most of the time, and there are still some with cloudy eyes..

Now scale condition is VERY important to me.
also make sure you poke the package when you start thawing it, by poke I mean break the vaccuum seal in a couple spots on the top. If you thaw the herring under vaccuum it sucks the blood out of them and ruins the potential of the bait.

 

[CFishRun]

I fished cut plug herring the past weekend out of New Port and we ended up two for two. First Coho of the year...love popping my cherry on some native beauties.

Fished all day until the high tide change at 1PM and the fish turned on. We trolled our cut plug herring with a 1 oz in line weight and that's it. No flasher, dodger, spinner, sparkly thing. Straight lined herring trolled 5-10ft deep. KISS (keep it simple stupid)

 

[CFishRun]

Sorry New Port- Yaquina Bay.

 

[qwapaw]

:shock:Steelhead-Stalker, You mean you were just kidding when you told me to suck the guts out of them with my mouth. Man I wondered why that tasted so bad. At least I could tell they were fresh. Just kidding, Good idea guys. Dan

 

[steelhead_stalkers]

:lol: That's funny! That's the best way or you can use some needle nose pliers, or something similar.

 

[wormosa]

where is the best place to get herring in lincoln city ? chinook bend is not the place

 

[diggindan]

Confused

Confused

O.K. Thanks for all the info but I'm getting a bit confused. Remember I play in the dirt for a living.
Are we buying frozen herring and going fishing? Using it as is?
Or, do we buy the little fishes, thaw them and brine them the day before we go fishing?
My wife is still getting over my last salsa making escapade. I better do the brining in the shop.
Thanks again for the input. We're hoping to have time to get the boat wet Sunday.
Cheers, Dan