Mooching - How To

From the best sources we find that mooching originally started in the late 1920's or early 1930's in Seattle's Elliott Bay because of the competition between all the boathouses. The boathouses developed mooching as a popular way to fish to increase revenues thru the sale of bait, rather than relying completely on boat rentals, as in those early days trolling plugs were the method commonly used to fish for Salmon. Mooching was developed mostly by the Japanese, & is carried on even today thru the Tengu Derby - a mooching tournament interrupted by WWII when many members were interred, and then has run continuously every year since 1946 in Elliott Bay.

The word is that when this method started, the Japanese fishermen in the area did so well using it that when they came back to the dock with their fish, other plug fishermen would "mooch" the rest of their bait from them, so they could go out & mooch themselves. These Japanese got to calling the other fishermen "moochers" and the name stuck.

The first time my uncle & I (I was only 12 at the time) saw the results of it, was about 1948 in Sekiu. We spent a morning trying to troll flashers using wire line & sliding snap sinkers in a windy-choppy water & had to come back in empty handed & early because it was too rough even inside the bay. Back at the dock was 2 Japanese fishermen with some nice Chinook. When questioned how they caught them, the word was mooching. My uncle, an avid Salmon fisherman had never heard the word before then. But we soon learned what it was & how to go about it. He soon moved to Westport & put the method to work catching Salmon. I believe that he was partially responsible for the start of the great Westport charter boat fleet, that used mooching exclusively.

The Gear - This originally consisted of using 25# mono line, a kidney sinker attached to the end of your mainline, and a leader usually 6' long with 2 hooks tied in tandem hooked into a herring for bait.

The Rod - The original fiberglas rods were usually from 8' 6" or 9' medium or heavy mooching rod. You will however notice a few 10 to 11' rods being used. Lately you will see graphite rods slightly lighter, especially if spectra type lines are being used.

The Reel - The reel is usually a spool type reel with a star drag. In the last 10-20 years the level wind has become the dominate type. Size is usually anything that is designed to hold about 200 yards of 25# mono. Some dedicated "moochers" will use a direct drive reel so that they can be in more direct control while letting the line/lure out by thumbing the spool. The Penn 310 GTI was designed with this feature in it with a switch lever to disengage the anti-reverse. Many fishermen will use the AmBassadeur 5000/5500/6000/6500 Steelhead reels.

The Line - Line can be either the mono or spectra type lines. However with the advent of the spectra type, they have taken over and are now being used by more fishermen all the time. The good thing about this type of line is that you can feel the lightest tap & you don't have to "rip the lips", just sweep the rod tip to set the hook. Using spectra lines you can use from 14 to 20# and do fine. Using this line also allows you to use a sinker of about 50 percent lighter since the line drag is significantly less because of the smaller diameter line.

The Swivel - If the swivel does not work, your mainline will get twisted. The kidney sinkers have bead chain swivels on the front of the sinker to keep the line from twisting. It has been found the best swivel is a ball bearing type. There are different prices on these swivels, the cheaper ones being about $1 each while the Sappo brand running $5 a package of 2. To make your own test, take one of each, the bead chain, cheap ball bearing, & the Sappo, & tie a looped line long enough to go from the top of each swivel, around your hand & back to the swivel. Put a short leader, 6" to a 2 ounce cannonball weight & tie it to the bottom side of the swivel. Now spin the weight & watch the reaction on the line you are holding onto above the swivel. If the swivel is working right, the line you are holding above the swivel should not get twisted.

The Sinker - Since the advent of barbless hooks being required for most all Salmon fishing, the method has changed slightly. Everything is the same except the sinker is different. Place on the mainline above your swivel to the leader, a sinker slider, sometimes called a Slido, (the same that the Sturgeon fishermen use) on this you can snap a round cannonball sinker. The cannonball will go deeper for the same weight than than the kidney, as the kidney has a tendency to to "float" somewhat. There is less resistance for the cannonball. Metzler also makes a slider similar to a kidney that is removable & that attaches to their slider. The reason for the slider, is that with the barbless hooks, this slider does not give the fish as much advantage to use the weight of the sinker to shake & throw the hook. With the kidney sinker tied solidly into the system & a fish that jumps & shakes it's head can use the sinker to help pull the barbless hooks out if not hooked deeply.

One good thing when using the round cannonball sinker is that, if conditions change, you can quickly change sinker weight simply by snapping on a new different weight sinker. You want to use the lightest sinker that will get the bait to the bottom.

The Leader - The average length of pre-tied leaders are 6 foot. Some guides however recommend a leader of up to 10'. The hooks can be either tied solidly into the leader with about 2" between them, or the top hook being tied as a slider. In use, the solid tie is used mostly for cut-plugging herring, while the slider will be used with whole bait. The slider can be adjusted after it is inserted into the herring to bend it & give it the desired action. Sinkers will range in weight from 2 to 8 oz. depending on the depth fished & the current, with a 4oz. the most commonly used size when using mono. The kidney sinkers are equipped with a swivel on both ends. You want to tie the barrel swivel onto the mainline, leaving the bead swivel rearward to allow the leader to rotate & not twist your mainline. Hook size for ocean fishing typically will be 3/0-4/0. Leader strength will usually be about 25#. Hook size for Puget Sound fishing can be smaller as the baitfish & therefore the bait should be also smaller with a lighter leader in the 15# class.

Washington State laws allow 3 single hooks per line. At times when the fish are striking short, the third hook may be an asset. As with it you can let it dangle behind the bait.

The Bait- When buying herring look at the eyes, they should not be bloodshot, but have a white dot or clear in the center. This white dot indicates the bait was fast frozen & will usually be a better bait than the ones you find that have bloodshot eyes, which means the bait may have been dead for some time before it was frozen. These bloodshot bait could be somewhat deteriorated before they were frozen. During the peak part of the season, good herring will get hard to come by. Buy what you will need ahead of time & keep it frozen yourself.

To toughen the bait, soak them in a mixture of 1 cup rock salt to 1 quart of water. The most important thing is to ALSO keep them cool. Put the brine in a refrigerator. This brined chilled bait will last for 2 months. You can add more herring as needed. When using, take a small insulated lunch box/1 quart large mouth thermos with the bait & keep it in a larger iced cooler until needed.

Hooking the Bait- When hooking or cutting your bait, you want to leave all the scales possible on the bait. To help facilitate this, put the bait into saltwater to thaw out, plus wet your hands, knife & cutting board. Wetting everything will help keep the scales from sticking on you or the board & on the bait. You want to present a bait that is as natural & attractive as possible. When cutting a cut-plug, the angles should be near 45/45. That is a 45 degree angle front to back & a 45 sideways. To increase the spin change the front to back angle more straight up & down. For hooking cut-plugging herring the simplest & known as the West Port hook up is to just hook the front hook in thru the belly cavity & out the top at the backbone, leave the back hook dangle. A modified version of this would be to run the back hook thru the belly cavity & out the short side, back about 1", then let it dangle.

One trick when using a cut plug, is to cut a slight "V" notch out of the rear of the lower body cavity. This will allow the water to flow thru the bait & not create a problem with tearing the cut angle. It can also allow air bubbles to escape thru this hole, creating an attracting feature also.

For using whole herring, the slider hook is best as it can be adjusted for the proper spin on the bait. Run both hooks thru the bait, starting just below the lower jaw, & coming out the top of the head between & rearward of the eyes. This helps to hold the mouth shut. Hook the rear hook into the herring on one side so that the hook is pointing forward & comes out the side about the location as the anis, insert the slider front hook on the same side & with the eye of the hook laying behind the gill cover. Hold onto the front hook & pull the leader enough to put a bend in the bait. Put the bait in the water & pull it thru the water to see if you have gotten the proper spin in the bait. It should have a spinning action. The old saying was that Chinook liked a slow roll, while the Coho liked a fast roll, may have some validity, as many fish have been caught using this idea.

Scent- Yes, I would recommend injecting scent into the bait, or smearing Smelly Jelly into the body cavity of a cut plug.

The Technique- Initially the method was just dropping your gear to the bottom & let the tide carry your boat & the bait along. As time went on, the charter boys at West Port found that if everyone on the boat would drop down & then reel up, they created what the fish thought was a school of baitfish. This also allowed for the Salmon to be "searched out" in different water depths. So the recommendation is to drop the gear to the bottom & reel it up a handle crank at a time, stopping between the cranks for 20 seconds or so. You can also let your gear down in this same manner.

You want your line to run out at about a 45 degree angle, as baitfish do not swim STRAIGHT UP. To do this adjust your sinker weight. If this does not give you the proper angle, then you may want to "Motor Mooch". This is not trolling, but running your kicker motor & moving along a little, then putting it into neutral, for a long enough time for your gear to sink, then put it in gear again.

This type of fishing means you DO NOT put your rod in the rod holder & forget it until it hopefully goes down. You want to have control of the rod & reel at all times, & have the rod tip pointing at least horizontal or even downward near the water, so that you can set the hook with the least amount of effort, & as soon as you feel a bump.

One thing if you are using the cut-plug setup with the back hook trailing, when you net the fish, do it GOOD the first time, as sometimes the rear hook may not be in the fish. If you get a near miss with the net & happen to hook the loose hook in the net, you now have the line attached to the net & the fish is outside of the net, spooked & wanting away very badly.

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