Outdoor Tips

Late summer and early fall is coho fishing time in most of the coastal waters of Alaska. And typically anglers fishing from boats in the saltchuck will use a wide variety of tackle and bait to tempt a strike from these silver bullets. So on a recent charter trip out of Seward for silvers I learned of a new rigging for mooching coho from the depths. Its not only very effective but turns out to be very easy on the wallet by turning a single baitfish like herring or sardine into six individual offerings....and potentially six silvers from one bait. **Forgive me for the quality of the herring used in this demonstration. It was all I had in the freezer for putting this tip together.

High quality herring or sardine should be used for this type of cut bait offering. Some sporting goods tackle shops sell "gourmet" sardines shipped in to make the typical "sardine wrapped Kwikfish" used by guides on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers for kings. These are the correct size. Finding the right size of herring is more difficult. The size you need is larger than the largest green or blue label troll herring but smaller than the typical halibut bait herring (which is usually too deteriorated to use as salmon bait anyway). If you have to use the largest troll herring your baits will be pretty small and might not be as productive.

There are two secrets about this rig that entice silvers to gobble it up. First is the fresh herring/sardine baitfish scent it provides. The second is the irresistible spin this bait has when mooched from a boat. Based on what I saw from our own results and those of other charter boat anglers all around us, its the Cat's Meow now on the bay!

Its best to keep your bait frozen in your boat cooler and only remove a couple herring or sardines at a time to make your mooching baits. The filleting and trimming process is best done when the bait is just getting flexible and still partially frozen.
 

Using a very sharp fillet or narrow blade bait knife, make a diagonal cut from behind the head down past the front pectoral fin. Cut down to the spine but do not cut through the backbone. Turn the fillet knife on its edge and cut the fillet from the fish going from head to tail. The ribs which are in the fillet will help keep the bait stiff when fished on the hook.
 

As any old bait cutter knows, its difficult to cut through herring scales on the skin side. So this photo is a bit misleading. Turn the fillet SKIN SIDE DOWN and trim off the edge of the belly to make a straight edge. On the dorsal edge of the fillet, you want to trim this edge so that there is no rounded "shoulder" edge; you should cut straight down about 1/8" to 1/4" from the edge to eliminate the round curve of this side. This becomes an important factor in making the bait spin properly in the water.
 

While the fillet is still skin side down cut the fillet into 3 or 4 "parallelograms" like in the photo, keeping all the cuts symmetrical. This large herring made 4 baits but typically you will only get about 3 per side with the sardines or herring available. Discard the tail piece and the other trimmings from above.

The rigging is really pretty simple. A snelled 3/0 or 4/0 hook with 25 pound leader is made up with a red or chartreuse bead on the leader.
 

The hook is inserted from Dark to Light. Push the hook through the top corner of the dark edge and then bring out the point right next to the edge in the white portion. The hook must parallel the diagonal edge of the bait. If you have cut the dorsal edge properly when it was trimmed, that edge should maintain a flat surface which acts similar to the nose on a diving plug and causes the rig to spin like an injured baitfish.

A typical terminal mooching rig is a 2 or 3 ounce banana sinker on your pole line with the snelled hook & 30" leader attached to the sinker. Drop the rig down 10 - 20 feet below the depth where fish were marked on the fish finder, then retrieve the bait back to the surface. Repeat the process, keeping close tabs on the fish finder for knowing how deep to drop your rig. It spins going down as well as when retrieved and I have actually caught most of my fish the other day on the down cycle.

The major thing you need to watch out for when fishing this rig is keeping it from spinning/twisting around your main line on the way down. To prevent this, swing your bait out a little ways from the boat and then start letting line out. The angle back to the rod will help prevent the sinker from dropping straight down and causing a tangle. A little practice is all it takes. Pay attention and you won't have any problems. Good luck!