Northwest Fishing Reports

Hi,

Ok, I have read that using herring might work well when trying to catch cutts. I have almost solely used needlefish, but would like to give this a go on Lake Washington soon.

I have attached a picture of the herrings I bought, and they are about 5 inches from head to tail each.

Unfortunately I am not sure how to rig these. Which size hooks? how many hooks? How to attach them etc.

If someone know, please describe in detail, or even better, show a picture.

Also, I will be using downriggers, would it be a good idea to use the rig behind a dodger or something else?

Thanks

Go to the salmonuniversity.com website and follow the how to brine herring link. They will also show you how to cut and rig your herring. Trust me, you'll want to brine them first or they'll fall right off the hook. You can use them whole as well, you'll need to custom tie your rigs to the size of the bait, use a toothpick to put a slight bend in the bait or use a sliding hook rig to get a nice slow roll.

G-man has given the best site to get your rigging answers. On the left side of the main page you will find links to general rigging and brine questions.

I would try to get orange (the best) or red size herring. I like to rig my orange cut plug on a solid tied two hook rig. I typically use a 1/0 or 2/0 for the top hook and a #1 for the second hook. I like to space the two hooks so that the trailing hook will hang "free" an inch or so in front of the tail. I use 6 or 8# leader about 6 feet long with a swivel in the center and usually a 1oz "mooching" sinker.

Put the whole rig 50 to 100 feet behind the boat and troll 1.5 ro 2 mph. Include lot of turns and speed changes in your trolling (I even kick the motor out of gear for a momment or two). This allows the bait to move up and down in the water. You can also troll off the downrigger setting the cut plug 30 to 50 feet behind the wire.

Good luck
Curt

Perfect. Thanks for info.

Is it possible to re-freeze brined herrings?

Those green label are too big to rig whole. Plug cut them and troll them as slow as possible.

fishdane -
You can keep brined herring in the brine itself if kept refrigrated. However that does take some space.

If I have high quality bait after the brining I have had good luck taking the the individual baits and roll them in borax, putting them in baggies with more borax and then freezing them in lots of a dozen or so. Such baits will keep for several weeks and be in excellent shape. If you want to keep them longer you probably want to vacuum seal them.

Even so I usually pitch my baits at the end of the day if I'm not going fisihing in the next few days unless as I said I have some high quality bait (freshly jigged) I want to keep.

Tight lines
Curt

Thanks for all the advice. I will hopefully post a fishing report soon, where I have been successful with herring as bait.

fisherdane wrote: Is it possible to re-freeze brined herrings?

No!

If you follow the instructions on how to brine herring you will be able to hold them for about 2 weeks at least. I usually brine my fish in two large pickle jars. I have a small cooler I take along with one jar of herring and leave the other in the fridge for the next trip. I keep them cool until I am ready to plug them or fish them whole. When I return from the salt I just add more herring to the brine. That way they have time to firm up and shine from the brine. I believe the secret to successful brining is allowing the herring to fully thaw before dumping them into the brine. Sometimes I will sprinkle them with sea salt as they thaw before dumping them in. Scents do work well in brines. Don’t be afraid to add a little shrimp oil or some garlic to your brine.