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[Robert_G]

Had to release a chrome 12 lb wild Coho today. Not an easy thing to do. At least I kept it in the water, unlike the guy down from me who snagged his wild coho and reefed it up the bank without checking it and then bonked it immediately and then continued to fish after he had half a dozen guys yelling at him. 3 ounce bouncing betty and an 8 foot leader too.
"I thought it was a Spring"......or so he says.

[rymack]

Went out mid river at first light. Nothing happening at the first spot so I moved on. Saw a nice coho taken at the next pot I was at. Ended up at a spot that had been successful for me in the past. First cast with a blade had a 15 pound or so spring which was lost close to the beach. second cast nothing. Third cast ( switched to roe at this point) coho on! It jumps and takes off down river and pops off. Not sure if it was a hatch or not.

Ended up hooking and losing 2 jacks in the next 15 minutes...and losing them both! Finally landed a 3-4 pound jack spring. Bonk!

Wondering if anyone use's a spinning reel to float fish? I don't have alot of experience river fishing and I haven't invested in a baitcaster or cp yet. The spin caster is easy to use and cast but harder to use for drifting. Anyone have any tips?

[doja]

Wondering if anyone use's a spinning reel to float fish? I don't have alot of experience river fishing and I haven't invested in a baitcaster or cp yet. The spin caster is easy to use and cast but harder to use for drifting. Anyone have any tips?

I use a spinning reel to float fish and it works just fine as you don't need to drift the whole run in one shot and if you did/wanted to you can just open the bail and move the rod tip up river in effect leaving ~20' more line out (close bail) and just follow the line with the rod tip so when a fish bites it has direct resistance and ensures a good hook set.

If you have a free drifting setup like a pin or bait-caster and a fish bites with no tightness on the line you better be watching close and quick to set the hook or you may loose the fish. I usually swing the presentation to the spot I want to drift and then I'll start lowering the rod tip from up river to lover river and allow the float to drift naturally threw the spot with a small amount of tightness which helps if you want to slow down the drift (just hold back more). And if the run is big I just step down a few feet and repeat until the run is covered.

Keep in mind every presentation has a different way it should be fished but they can be achieved with a spinning reel. Just learn to use the rod more to your advantage.

A 13' rod definitely helps but I also use a 10' rod that works just fine as well but I would not want any smaller.

Hope this helps and if you have any questions just ask as I only fish with spinning reels (and fly reels),

Doja


PS what the heck happened? This thread was just split into two?

[NiceFish]

Was out today as well in the lower river, moved around a few spots, ended up hooking up with only one fish....a 20pound spring...which had nice red meat....counting myself quite lucky today!

[BCfisherman97]

Went out today and it was pretty slow for the most part, but did get my first Ho of the year.
First fish of the day came around noon and was a nice 10 pound wild coho taken on a roe and wool combo. In a 4 hour span managed to hook up with another 7 stinkers but lost them all.

Cheers

[dennyman]

Periodically I will use a spinning reel for throwing spoons and spinners. Disadvantage with a spinning reel, is trying to get a drag free float, and line twist (due to the way the line comes off).  Also heavier weights of line can be used on bait casters, which works in your favour if targeting big fish like the White Springs.

[doja]

Periodically I will use a spinning reel for throwing spoons and spinners. Disadvantage with a spinning reel, is trying to get a drag free float, and line twist (due to the way the line comes off).  Also heavier weights of line can be used on bait casters, which works in your favour if targeting big fish like the White Springs.

I've never noticed line twist before??? Maybe with mono???

However I do use power pro (35lb) braided line and would use not ever use mono again.

[BBarley]

Fish seemed to have lockjaw where I was fishing today. I could have reached out and smacked a few of the big springs that went airborn 10 feet in front of me. I happened to tie into one big spring on a nice jig someone left for me on the river bank.

[prairiefire]

Fish seemed to have lockjaw where I was fishing today. I could have reached out and smacked a few of the big springs that went airborn 10 feet in front of me. I happened to tie into one big spring on a nice jig someone left for me on the river bank.

I experienced the lockjaw yesterday. Countless fish rising and I couldn't get them to bite? I chucked everything at them. My buddies went to the same spot today and slayed them. Once they found the "magic" wool colour...Fish On!!!! They keep texting me about their sore arms and busted knuckles. 

[DionJL]

Hooked 15 springs today. Landed 3 jacks and 1 adult.  Most of the fish I lost were adults. I also landed two Dollies, one on roe the other on a spoon. I saw one coho retained, but not much else happening. I left around 2pm.

[DragonSpeed]

Spent a few hours down below Peach working some really nice fishy water.  Apparently it was fairly fishless.

I did pick up a little 8-9" Dolly on red wool though.  Savage strike for a little fish!

Realised that I'd been fishing next to "HookMe" and had a nice chat before moving on.  I hope things went well for you Hook_me.

Drove up to around Wilson road area and worked on the springs.  Managed to connect with a few but lost them pretty quickly.  One big brute took me down river for a while before deciding that that he had had enough.  He snapped my leader on his way back to the ocean.

A good day fishing, just not so successful in the landing category.

Cheers!

[FishOn36]

I had a pretty successful day at Tamahi yesterday. There was a lot of people out there, most of them were competent fishermen so that helped a lot. I caught a really feisty wild coho, a jack spring, a chum and this nice hatchery coho  Early morning was the most productive time, after about 9am things slowed down. I'm assuming the water clarity had a lot to do with that.

[Blackrt03]

What a beauty
nice catch...fish on
will be heading out tomorrow morning

[hookme]

Hey Dragoonspeed nice to meet you on the water.  After you left i took your spot hook up another 2 more Chum all male all release that area became busy when one guy hook a big spring didn't landed though nice chatting with you   

[adriaticum]

Went out mid river at first light. Nothing happening at the first spot so I moved on. Saw a nice coho taken at the next pot I was at. Ended up at a spot that had been successful for me in the past. First cast with a blade had a 15 pound or so spring which was lost close to the beach. second cast nothing. Third cast ( switched to roe at this point) coho on! It jumps and takes off down river and pops off. Not sure if it was a hatch or not.
Ended up hooking and losing 2 jacks in the next 15 minutes...and losing them both! Finally landed a 3-4 pound jack spring. Bonk!
Wondering if anyone use's a spinning reel to float fish? I don't have alot of experience river fishing and I haven't invested in a baitcaster or cp yet. The spin caster is easy to use and cast but harder to use for drifting. Anyone have any tips?

You can fish with a spinning reel. You can fish with line only and no rod too. Throwing spoons by hand.
It's just more difficult and you will spend more time on other things then actually fishing.

If you want to float fish on a river, get the right tools.
Get a baitcasting reel or CP only if you want to fish seriously.
Baitcasting reels are a bit more versitile and cp are a bit more fun.