Hi I FINALLY made a fishing pal with a boat, so I'm off the shore and into the open ocean!! Anyways, I worked and fished up in the Queen Charlottes and all we used up there was herring cut plugs....no flashers, nothin'. When I chat people up who are fishin' around sooke area, everyone seems to be using lures and hoochies. Is this just cause of the pink run? What are your thoughts and opinions?
On a side note......why/how do those pinks always spit the hook when they go to the surface? Not when their jumping and being spastic but it's like they use the waves to get off! any thoughts?

My neighbor always used cut plug herring (fished saanich inlet/sooke/sidney)
He would only catch monster chinook...smallest being maybe 30lbs.
He was what we might call an old-fashioned guy by todays standards, i personally don't know of many people that use cut plugs around here anymore.
He's gone now, but i inherited most of his fishing gear - less the boat.

As for the pinks...i hear what you're saying, im sure its happened to all of us this year.
Pinks have really soft mouths, so that might have something to do with it..

What is it about cut plug that are so effective on big fish? I've never tried it, but you're right, you don't hear of many guys who use this technique around Victoria, guides included. Seems like many guys cut plug up in Renfrew.

I've not gotten into cut plug myself but it does seem that guys who do it well catch big fish. I think it really depends on having a good concentration of fish as the slower speed doesn't cover much ground and there is no flasher to help draw them in.

Up in QCI its no comparison, they have huge concentrations of fish and can get away with using this style of fishing. Down here we don't have the fish to make it worth while for most guys. I think you see this in renfrew is because of the way the fish stack up at certain spots along the beach and they also tend to be very shallow, compared to other areas.

Anybody on the board spend much time cut plugging?

Back in the late 60's early 70's, that's how we fished!
Either a Herring Dodger or a Kelp Cutter with a 6' leader and a tandem hook set-up. We either trooled slow, 1/5mph or drift mooched.
Of course I was only a little kid back then
Oh ya, forgot to mention, this was off of Victoria and Sydney!
Lots of BIG Coho and Chinook there back then

It was my introduction to salmon fishing out of Toquart Bay and also Campbell River back in the mid 70's.
It was common . Down riggers were not as widely used back then as they are now . Cutplugging around kelp beds (no down riggers) seemed popular as well. I dont see why a cutplug would not be a good bet as much as any artificial plug we use today. Messier and the potential to catch dogfish is a drawback like any other bait. However we were hooking lots of dogfish back then too.

thanks for all the imput guys....next time I'm out I'm gonna rig a cutplug and I'll post my results. Kinda fun to take it back to the old school!! we'll see what happens.

I contemplated cut plugging a couple weeks ago as I had a couple large herring in the brine. Instead I opted to shove them into a JDF head. We'll look forward to hearing how you make out.

Wow… the good old cut plug!

First, I guess I would not call anyone "old-fashioned by today's standards", for using a cut plug? There are a lot of us old-farts floating around that still use it, maybe because we are the only ones who know how to cut one? I will often switch to cut plug, if I have herring and am targeting larger fish!

The QCI is not the only place that still uses cut plugs. Unbelievably, it is still a practice that is used up and down the entire west coast. A lot of us still practice it, very much. I just used a cut plug about a week ago. It can be used with or without a flasher and depending on how you rig it and your cut, it usually will produce better results at a very slow troll (less than 1.5 mph), motor mooching, or just plain mooching. If you do decide to use a flasher, use at least a 6-foot leader not impeding the action of the bait!

All the rumors floating around about large Chinook? Could be some truth there? The presentation of a cut plug is usually very slow and if done right, a tight spiral roll, making it ideal as bait for the "very large", and "very lazy" Spring.

The use of cut plug did indeed slowdown a lot with the use of downriggers and the development of the very effective artificial baits, especially the "teaser" heads. Nevertheless, it can still be a very effective way to fish particularly around kelp beds. Try "casting" the cut plug next to the kelp where you cannot get your boat close.

There is a bit of an art to it! Just do not go out and by some herring and chop off the heads. Make sure the initial cut is made at an angle allowing the herring to roll smoothly and mimic a wounded baitfish. That is very important! If rigged properly the cut plug should turn over smoothly in the water in a spiral roll. If you are targeting Coho, leave the side hook free, as Coho will normally attack from the side, with Chinook rig it with the rear hook in the tail, as they will attack from the rear.

The instruction at Salmon University is not bad; however, the instruction from Pro-Cure has some good pointers as well. Read them both! Most importantly, use either "live" or "brined" herring. Frozen and fresh herring, not brined will blow out very quickly! Good luck!

http://www.pro-cure.com/technique.html
http://www.salmonuniversity.com/ol_htrh_pc1_index.html

Great links Charlie, back when my Grandfather taught me, we never had the angle jig, and all we had were live Herring, that we caught, before we could Salmon fish I haven't cut one since about 77 or so, but I still remember the angle. I see I have some of the old yarn Flies we used to catch the Herring on, it was as much fun for me as a kid, jigging the bait as it was fishing for the Salmon. We used old Penn plastic reels and 4oz. lead, mostly at 35 pulls!
Man this post brings back some good memories.