The Sandy was good to us

[Lovefishing]

bigdog,

Thanks for the encouraging words. Will be out next weekend to try again.

Peace

 

[FishSchooler]

Did anyone happen to retrieve a thin wood float with a lead washer-like object glued to it several miles downstream?
If you look at the tree overhanging over the cave thing in the rockwall... there will be a pink egg cluster if a fish doesn't jump up and eat it. :lol:

 

[fisch]

Sandy is AWESOME. I tagged 10 fish on it this week. I'm total rookie to salmon fishing but I read OFF forum and follow advices of some experienced people over here

Today's story is another example on how I got a fish:
Tried spinners for an hour - no go.
Saw people drifting eggs(big chunks) - no go.
Water was clean and someone (I think OSMO) once wrote: clean water = small presentation. Rigged bobber with small hook and put few amerman eggs on it. Second cast bobber down. I set the hook and 8lb SUPER CHROME buck is instantly 3ft out of water making flips. Oh that's attached to my line and my heart goes 300bpm. Nice fight and few minutes later I killed it. First fish on bobber for me but everything is first for me since I'm new to this SALMON FUN.

I had to buy new freezer on Thu. Thinking about buying hatchary harvest tag cuz mine combined is getting kind of full. This catching is expensive but FUN!

 

[kirkster]

Hey Bigdog,
Right on bro, :clap:Im glad you finaly got to scribble some ink on your tag. That nate looked like it was on steroids. I took both sat. and sun. off from fishing and Im going to hit it hard all five days next week. Once again great photos and nice fish.

 

[bigdog]

Hey Bigdog,
Right on bro, :clap:Im glad you finaly got to scribble some ink on your tag. That nate looked like it was on steroids. I took both sat. and sun. off from fishing and Im going to hit it hard all five days next week. Once again great photos and nice fish.

Thanks bro Yeah I was starting to think only the nates wanted to come to the banks for me.

 

[alm21]

Sandy River seemed good yesterday. People were hooking into a lot of natives. I'm a rookie at Salmon fishing and learning as I go. I hooked into three fish and they broke my line every time. I just put 12lb PLine Premium CX on my reel too. I am taking that off and will go with something different. It seems that Maxima UG and Berkley Big Game are safe bets from what I have read here.

 

[youngbuck307]

that p line whould of been fine your drag is set to tight.... only thing i can think of that would break you off on 3 fish... they need to be able to run..

 

[alm21]

that p line whould of been fine your drag is set to tight.... only thing i can think of that would break you off on 3 fish... they need to be able to run..

Yeah, I was thinking that could have been a contributing factor. I tried to loosen it on the fly as the fish was hooked but that may have been too late. In each case, they did pull line off the reel but it certainly could still be too tight. How "easy" should it be for the fish to pull line off the real? I realize that the drag will depend on the size of fish.

 

[youngbuck307]

well to start make sure you can grab your line and with not to much force at all your able to pull line out... kinda something you have to be there to show..... I would much rather have to tighten my drag during a fight rather than try to loosen it. by then it could be to late...

 

[fishin_fool]

You may have bought bad line to begin with.. I haven't heard of anyone doing it yet but they should put expiration dates on line spools because they will go bad if enough shelf life and exposure to the sun or even flourescent lightingwill cause line to deteriorate quickly... I have always been a trilene xl and xt fan and maxima is also a great line but drag is so important...

Good luck
Mike

 

[alm21]

well to start make sure you can grab your line and with not to much force at all your able to pull line out... kinda something you have to be there to show..... I would much rather have to tighten my drag during a fight rather than try to loosen it. by then it could be to late...

Ok, I think I know what you mean based off your description. So, do you lock the drag and unlock it when you set the hook? thanks!

 

[youngbuck307]

well i have a bait caster so i always have my thumb on the spool when i set the hook......

 

[GDBrown]

I'm just heading out today. Should I go Cedar Creek or the Sandy?

Answer quick it's a long drive from Hillsboro.

GD

 

[mgdguy]

I'm just heading out today. Should I go Cedar Creek or the Sandy?

Answer quick it's a long drive from Hillsboro.

GD

Cedar Creek is on the Sandy, but I'm assuming you meant Cedar or somewhere else on the Sandy.

AnyfishisFine and I will be at lower Oxbow this evening above Camp Collins. Join us!

 

[bigdog]

Sandy River seemed good yesterday. People were hooking into a lot of natives. I'm a rookie at Salmon fishing and learning as I go. I hooked into three fish and they broke my line every time. I just put 12lb PLine Premium CX on my reel too. I am taking that off and will go with something different. It seems that Maxima UG and Berkley Big Game are safe bets from what I have read here.

Well seeings how that is the exact same line I'm runing with 10 lb leader and I landed that big nook on that line I wouldn't say it is the size or the brand you are using. With that said there is a chance you got some bad line if you bought it somewhere that they don't sell a lot but Pline is well used so I'm thinking that wouldn't be the case.

I would lean more to user error, such as not good on your drag setting or not playing the fish and trying to horse it in. These aren't trout you are going for here and these are some of the mistakes I made when I first started fishing for salmon. Another thing to make sure of is that your line is clean and free of any nicks or bad scrapes from rocks. Also don't make the same mistake I did this weekend and be lazy seeing a knot in my leader and not replacing it, I paid for that one. I knew better just didn't want to change the leader and wouldn't you know it the same cast after seeing the knot I lost a fish I had on.

What ever you do don't get berk big game:naughty: I tried that line and it is crap.

If you are using a spinner reel like I do then you can run your drag loose and use your hand on your spool to control the fish when the time is right. You don't want to force the fish to much just enough to keep your line snug and reel in the slack.

 

[FishSchooler]

What ever you do don't get berk big game:naughty: I tried that line and it is crap.

Yo... that's an opinion. I think that Maddog loves big game. I have 6000 yds of it in 10 lb I got for 20 bucks and 3000 yds of Trilene XL smoothcast in 12 lb for $4.

 

[osmosis]

I've not been impressed with XL or XT, but only on one occasion have I gotten a bad spool of Big game. Other than that one spool that must have gone bad on the shelves, I like using it in for my big water plug leaders. often in 40lb.
Sometimes I have the #65 braid I use as mainline in the Columbia on my diver and k-16 rods break before the #40 big game.

 

[FishSchooler]

I've not been impressed with XL or XT, but only on one occasion have I gotten a bad spool of Big game. Other than that one spool that must have gone bad on the shelves, I like using it in for my big water plug leaders. often in 40lb.
Sometimes I have the #65 braid I use as mainline in the Columbia on my diver and k-16 rods break before the #40 big game.

Hey, it was 4 bucks... why not?

 

[bigdog]

I've not been impressed with XL or XT, but only on one occasion have I gotten a bad spool of Big game. Other than that one spool that must have gone bad on the shelves, I like using it in for my big water plug leaders. often in 40lb.
Sometimes I have the #65 braid I use as mainline in the Columbia on my diver and k-16 rods break before the #40 big game.

Well heck 40lb most rods would break before the line lol. Maybe the reason I didn't like it was because I use spinner reels and it seem to have a lot of memory. Was always unwinding, same for the braided line didn't care for it to much but a lot of people like it. When I was using big game was when I first started fishing salmon and seem to break easy but that could be from the same mistakes I was saying to watch out for.

 

[alm21]

Well seeings how that is the exact same line I'm runing with 10 lb leader and I landed that big nook on that line I wouldn't say it is the size or the brand you are using. With that said there is a chance you got some bad line if you bought it somewhere that they don't sell a lot but Pline is well used so I'm thinking that wouldn't be the case.

I would lean more to user error, such as not good on your drag setting or not playing the fish and trying to horse it in. These aren't trout you are going for here and these are some of the mistakes I made when I first started fishing for salmon. Another thing to make sure of is that your line is clean and free of any nicks or bad scrapes from rocks. Also don't make the same mistake I did this weekend and be lazy seeing a knot in my leader and not replacing it, I paid for that one. I knew better just didn't want to change the leader and wouldn't you know it the same cast after seeing the knot I lost a fish I had on.

What ever you do don't get berk big game:naughty: I tried that line and it is crap.

If you are using a spinner reel like I do then you can run your drag loose and use your hand on your spool to control the fish when the time is right. You don't want to force the fish to much just enough to keep your line snug and reel in the slack.

Guys, thanks for all the great advice. So, I decided not to change my mainline but rather buy some new leader, learned a couple new knots and loosen my drag. I went back out to the Sandy this morning and landed my FIRST EVER salmon! A nice bright chrome Coho. I'm feeling dialed in now!