Different techniques when fighting river salmon using centerpin vs spinning

[Guest Fishing For Life]

went to another eastern lake-o trib yesterday afternoon and it was non-stop action until I left at 7:00pm.

those salmons were so aggressive that there were a lot of hook-in-the-mouth hits.

 

I was the only one who used centerpin and others were using spinnings. Just like before, I had lost

6 fish because the line broke when I tried to pull/stop the fish from going under logs or running into

other pools (landing rate 1/7 = 14%). people using spinning were having more success landering fish

(3 of 5 and 4 of 9)

 

the pool is 4 feet deep, 15 feet wide 25 feet long. However there are heavy logs & snags at both

downstream & upstream of the pool. It is a 100% game-over if the fish ever gets close to there.

 

This is how my fight usually went. I could very well control the fish to stay in the pool for a good 5mins until they

decided to drift down or to swim up as if there is no tomorrow. I tried to turn them around with side-pressure at all times as suggested by other more experienced OFC members. But as soon as I knew what they were doing to do, i could not stop them at all then bye bye.

 

since my centerpin does not have a drag system and I still could not figure out how to tire the fish with consistent drag by plaming down the reel, I usually do full-stop on the reel and let the rod fight the fish until I think it is getting too much pressure then I let go the reel for a bit and full-stop again.

 

What I noticed is that spinning reels with drag systems seems to be able to tire the fish in a much faster and consistent manner. Those people didnt seem to try to control the fish as much as I did and just let the fish run in the pool with the drag on. For whatever reasons, those fish seems to get tired pretty fast and almost never decided to burst down/upstream at the last minute like mine always did.

 

Is it the way I fight the fish to push them to get our of control?

or, should I try to figure out how to use palm-drag-system to tire them,

rather than using the rod's flexibility?

 

or, is it just that there are times where salmon just overpowered your line and equipment .. if so, why me? (haha). BTW, i found 10+ pounders are much harder to land as oppose to 20+ ones ..

 

any other advices/tips are very very welcome

[CLofchik]

If the fish are remotely fresh, you simply can't hold them with trout tackle on small rivers. A fresh king will simply just kick the arse out of light trout gear & whippy rods.

 

It comes down to hard choices, instead of finding fish you need to find spots where you can land them if you hook up, even if that means passing up biting fish. Have you tried fishing the mouth of your trib, with lot's of room to fight them?

[Reef Runner]

Very nice catch FFL! I use a spinning combo with ALOT of line capacity and a decent drag system, never centrepinned but I would suggest employing the palm drag you described. Don't full stop and let the rod do the work, a head shake may throw the hook if there is a little slack in the line.

 

My guidelines for fighting fish after its set and on:

-keep pressure on the fish with rod tip sort of high and drag set so if it wants to run it can but with resistance

-if it jumps, bring the rod tip down low

-if it turns to the right, use your rod to steer left, vice versa

-never let the line get slack

-as I'm 99% CPR, keep the fight as short as possible with a good net, camera and release tools on hand

[Guest Fishing For Life]

just in case if someone is wondering ..

 

it was in the mouth and yes it was released for another journey

[ccmtcanada]

Great fish! Congrats...they are fun to land.

 

With my spinning gear, I use 30 lb power pro, 250 yard capacity and a Medium Heavy 7 foot rod. I set the drag fairly tight. Would be interested to hear what lb test your line is....and if you happened to sneak a peek at what the other 'spinning' guys werer using. The problem I have is when they run at you in closed quarters....I cant reel fast enough...LOL.

 

I only fish for them from piers now, so I cant really help with the trib aspect of it.

[Guest Fishing For Life]

I use 12-lb mom-main-line with 8-lb-fluro-leader (tried 6-lb ... and it is IMPOSSIBLE)

[napjohn8]

hey i love the fish you caught, btw i have experimented with both the center pin and the spinning combo

 

my take is that a spinning system is better for fighting a fish because you are able to control more elements of the line however with a centerpin and longer rod setup it allows you to control the drift and allow for more accurate casts. I found that with the centerpin i was able to avoid objects on the side of the river such as trees of logs because where i fish the river where rocks are higher than the water on the side for flood protection. Spincasting reels are my favourite for salmon. i use a 9'6 rod and a big game reel just for the fact that when a 20+ hits you gotta be prepared for it. I always hear of 6lb leader failing.

 

this might sound bad but i use 30lb main line and 8lb leader works wonderful.

[kemper]

You have to be realistic about what you are trying to do, think about it..

 

-VERY large, VERY angry and VERY strong fish in shallow water, this means that they will move horizontally instead of vertically and guess what, they CAN and DO pull harder than your line can handle.

 

In most cases, unless perfectly equipted the angler is outmatched by a salmon in our small water systems because the fish can run only a short distance and wrap you around a tree stump, shopping cart, oil drum, old car bumper, or WHATEVER else might be in the river.

 

I tend to walk past pools that I know have a very small landing success rate, and focus on areas of a river where I know I have 200m up and downstream to walk with the fish, because they sure as hell will swim that far!

 

Dont beat yourself up over losing salmon, they are big and strong.

 

That said I only target salmon a few times each fall to scratch the itch while I wait for the trout and I run a 12 lb mainline to a 8 lb lead (sometimes as low as 6) on a 13'6" medium power rod and I also use a center pin. The only downfall about the pin is that the guys with spinning gear can pick up line faster, possibly keeping more tension on the fish that turns towards them.

 

That said, I will never fish the river without my pin, its more fun and more natural.

[Canuck2fan]

Congrats on hooking up so many fish. I don't want to sound like a broken record but as I said in another similar thread the reel/line doesn't tire the fish the ROD does. So if your setup is too light on any component it breaks at the weakest points ie line usually near the knots, if not then the fish is breaking you off an a snag. (nothing can help you there)

 

However, realistically you aren't likely going stop a big salmon in a small run with lots of snags even if your rod is the thickness of a tree trunk, without using braid or heavy mono. There are a couple of things to try though.

 

One if the salmon goes for a run and you can't hold it try letting your line go as free as possible for a second or two. Hopefully when the fish doesn't feel resistance that may make it stop.(believe me it is TOUGH to let the line go slack as that goes pretty much against all you have ever been told about how to fight a fish) If that happens wait a second or so, before you try bringing it back to you. A few times I have been lucky enough to have that happen. However on a pin reel that be bad as usually when the fish feels pressures again after stopping sometimes it comes at you instead of away from you.... That is a whole other problem keeping up reeling a basically one to one ratio pin.

 

The second thing is to do as many others have already suggested pick the spots for you battles where you have the advantage.... Screw around for an hour of so getting hookups in the spots you are having trouble landing them in, but before or after go up or down stream to other drifts where you have room. ie trying the end of the pier if you have one and drift out with the river current it could be the time of your life getting something on and having a couple hundred yds of line out playing with it in the lake. (not so good for the fish though if the fight lasts a half hour or so)

[salmon]

I have a 10 1/2f t Avid casting rod and a Calcutta 250GTB. This is what they call BC (British Columbia style) fishing.

No need to put more stress on a chinook.

I run 12 lb main and a 6lb Drenn Fluro ledaer. I can put a lot of pressure on the Chinooks. I can bring them in much faster than my centerpin setup. My centerpin only comes out later October and November when the bows come in.

 

Jose

[kentooley]

Talk to Dave(DMASSE).

 

He knows his stuff.

[jdmls]

I broke my backup Okuma Aventa rod a few weeks ago playing with fresh chinny's...Since then I have been looking for a 12+ foot beefy noodle rod , just for chinny's....Lets just say I still haven't found one and its been 3 weeks and a dozen fishing shops...It looks like it would have to be custom made or special ordered which both are to much money, just for chinny's ...What am I getting at you say !! You need a stronger rod.....Trout gear is fun but you just don't stand much of a chance with a light or medium light action noodle rod..Guarantee all the guys with spinning reels had 11ft rods or smaller with a lot more backbone than your noodle rod. They can afford to just sit on the fish at full bend, YOU CAN'T !!! trust me I tried and look where it got me...cracked it about 2 ft from the handle at one of its strongest points !! I guess I shouldn't blame it all on the rod, as I got what i was asking for , trying to outfight it more than I should of

[kemper]

ouch, Ive often played chinnys with my 13' Okuma Aventa and wondered when that was going to happen...

 

I wont be doing that anymore!

 

Nor will my 11'6" custom be going near any fat ugly chinooks!

[super dave]

Check out the Gloomis sale for a new rod.

 

Closing out sale next Saturday, September 20th and Sunday, September 21st.

Hours 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.both days at Loomis Canada in Mount Hope.

 

Frontier rods, Loomis rods, float rods, spinning rods, bass rods. Loomis Hats, jackets and T-shirts.

[super dave]

Hey JDMLS,

 

You can repair your broken rod as long as its not part of the female or male piece. Just stick another piece of a graphite rod inside with some flex epoxy. Then wrap the outside like you would a guide with thread and epoxy the outside. I have done that with some old spinning rods and they are still holding up after 3 years of use. I had enough confidence in its strength to use a repaired rod as my primary on fishing camping trip.

 

Try it out.

 

Dave.

[Rich]

Well since my landing rate for salmonoids on the centrepin is about 0/50 I'd have to say the spinning gear lands them better.. but that could just be cuz I'm a noob to the pin.

[hurraylien]

heres a tip that works on occasion if a fish is going for a run i bang on the top of the rod which gives slack for a sec and they sometimes turn around try and make them run against the current as well i dont go as heavy as you guys for line iam using six pd andes for main and four pd leaders and a 11 ft shimano power mesh with a whisker 1300 and have landed one 30 + and dont care to much if they break off cause iam not keeping them anyways i get alot of eggs from dead fish on shore and actually get more hooks bending than line breaking on 4pd raven line strong stuff

[l2p]

i use 8 lb main and 6 lbs fc lead with a hmx which is a fairly light rod and its

handled 30+ lbs salmon, its not just all about having back bone, playing the

fish right also plays a role in succesfully landing your fish.

 

next time a fish goes under a log dip ur rod tip in the water and pull out that way istead of just

pullin the breaks and breakin ur line.

 

just my 2.

[solopaddler]

Without getting into the mechanics I'll say this: properly manipulated a centrepin reel will land fish much quicker than a spinning reel.

Personally I rarely if ever apply drag by palming with my left hand. It's all done with the pinkie finger of my right hand which is holding the rod.

Once you're adept at applying drag it's impossible to achieve the same kind of control with a spinning reel.

As far as why you're having problems, I'd wager a guess your rod just doesn't have the bones to turn a chinook.

A lot of guys myself included are running spey conversions for early chinooks and steelhead in large rivers with heavy current.

There aren't too many stock float rods with that kind of beef out there.

One of the few that does and isn't overly expensive is the 15' Raven IM9...

[troutologist]

The 15' IM9 rod is solid! I've been catching chinooks in the st marys both the rapids and main river with it. You can handle them pretty well, even down to 4lb lead. But 12lb mainline and 8lb leader can horse 15-20lb salmon in current with that stick.

[Guest Fishing For Life]

I thought my 10' medium-heavy Shimano rod was powerful enough to do the job ...

 

Ok, am I right to conclude that,

equipment-wise, I should a longer ans stiffer rod?

[kemper]

I thought my 10' medium-heavy Shimano rod was powerful enough to do the job ...

 

Ok, am I right to conclude that,

equipment-wise, I should a longer ans stiffer rod?

 

 

A 10' medium heavy will do the job, Ive landed them with a 9' medium heavy before I got into the float gear.

 

Also, your pin will definatly do the job, just learn how to apply drag smoothly with a fingertip instead of grabbing or palming with the reeling hand, this is probably why you are getting so many break offs because a quick sprint when you are locked down will snap the line before you have the time to react and loosen off on the pressure. It does not take much pressure on a pin to get a good amount of resistance going, and your finger can react faster and more precisely than your entire hand can.

[jdmls]

Hey JDMLS,

 

You can repair your broken rod as long as its not part of the female or male piece. Just stick another piece of a graphite rod inside with some flex epoxy. Then wrap the outside like you would a guide with thread and epoxy the outside. I have done that with some old spinning rods and they are still holding up after 3 years of use. I had enough confidence in its strength to use a repaired rod as my primary on fishing camping trip.

 

Try it out.

 

Dave.

 

thanks for the tip, I just made a quick trip to KTL in sauga and traded her in for a new one...Okuma warranty is awesome...

 

SOLO , 15ft Raven IM9 you say... I Have yet to see one on the shelf in the GTA.. any idea where I could check one out ?

[solopaddler]

SOLO , 15ft Raven IM9 you say... I Have yet to see one on the shelf in the GTA.. any idea where I could check one out ?

 

Have no idea bud, but they've been around for awhile and are pretty common.

Any retailer that carries Raven products could likely order one in pretty quickly.

[Canuck2fan]

Streamside are making some pretty sweet 13.5 float rods for under 100 bucks lifetime warranty too. I don't know if they make shorter ones however, I have seen guys who know what they are doing stop and turn big fish with them using pins or spinning reels. If you are ever at Angler Outfitter's in Woodstock ask Joshlin about them. I just saw a 3pc 17fter but I didn't even look at the price..... tv blew up last week and Nascar ain't over yet so.... there will go part of this falls fishing equipment budget LOL.