Bass Fisherman learning to salmon fish...

scottsweet · Post by **scottsweet** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 6:42 am

I had the good fortune to go fishing in BC for salmon. I was helping out the staff with their Humminbirds and giving some training to the guides. What a great trip. However, we bass fisherman need to learn to improve our technique...we need to stop the whippy whippy

. Check it out...

Caudawg · Post by **Caudawg** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 6:58 am

Nice vid Scott! I don't think I've ever done the whippy whippy thing on bass but maybe i'm doing it and don't realize it?

scottsweet · Post by **scottsweet** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 7:20 am

Caudawg wrote:Nice vid Scott! I don't think I've ever done the whippy whippy thing on bass but maybe i'm doing it and don't realize it?

What Brian is talking about is exaggerated from a humorous perspective. It is the normal way we fight a bass, or a tuna for that matter, with the fast/hard movement of the rod and reeling. You can't set the hook on a salmon like a bass either...that is probably the most "whippy whippy" thing we do. The thing that is interesting is that I was fishing with a barbless hook...the slightest slack in the line and you could lose the fish. Also, if you pull too hard or move too fast, you literally can pull the hook through the flesh of the fish and rip it out. When Brian explained this on the boat the first day, I just laughed and decided to make a video for posterity

.

With salmon, I really never set the hook. We trolled and the rod would load up and the only real fast action of the rod tip I ever did was to release the line from the downrigger. I actually never really pulled up and reeled down to speak of. I really had to slow down and just let the rod do the fighting. I now understand why salmon rods have such a long soft tip. When I was fishing with the knucklebuster, which was a hoot, I had a 9 ft 4 or 5 power fly rod. The tip literally bent below the butt of the rod and touched the water as I brought the salmon to the boat. Pretty amazing!

Oh, what was also very surprising was when we talked about fishing line. While on the boat, they asked me, "do you use fluorocarbon and is it really worth it?" It was funny, they only use monofilament and didn't trust that there was much of a difference using fluoro. We had a long discussion on that too. Actually for salmon, other than the possibility of line shyness which I doubt really is an issue due to the way they rig, I think mono is better. The salmon have such soft mouths that the stretch of mono is really their friend.