Don't think you can attribute the word "mooching rod" strictly to those
short, stiff rods wrapped with roller guides. Some very good "moocher rod"
fisherman live in the Port Angeles area. They employ long, sensitive tip
rods designed to fish bait deep and detect the light pickup of a King, often
"motor mooching." These rods are not that unlike flyrods and 6lb test is
often employed so that they can use light lead and get the bait down deep.
Smaller, bait casting reels can then balance the tackle..Jere Canadians
often use these type of rods, even longer.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kent Lufkin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2001 11:51 AM
Subject: Re: Circle Hooks
> Circle hooks are very much for real and I believe are the only type
> of hooks allowed for offshore salmon sport fishing in California.
>
> A couple years ago I joined my 78 year old uncle on a charter salmon
> boat out of Berkley, CA. We left San Francisco Bay as we motored out
> under the Golden Gate, fishing an utterly flat ocean about 5 miles
> off Stinson Beach in Marin County.
>
> We used herring bait tied onto a 1-1/2 inch circle hook on about 8
> feet of 20 lb mono leader off mooching rods (not particularly
> exciting fishing, but my uncle enjoyed it!) When the fish hit the
> herring, the trick is to avoid the reflexive yank on the rod to set
> the hook. All that does is to pull the circle hook out of the fish's
> mouth. Instead, by leaving the dipping rod tip alone until the line
> starts to pull out against the drag, the fish literally hooks itself
> with the more gentle pulling action as it tries to swim off with the
> herring in its mouth.
>
> Fish thusly hooked are invariably hooked in the lip which makes
> releasing them much easier. That is, until a deckhand skewers them
> with a gaff and hauls them up to the deck, whacks them with a
> lead-filled metal baseball bat, tags them with the fisherman's
> number, and pitches them into the fish well.
>
> Our boat had about 18 fishers on board and we limited (2 chinook each
> per angler and crew) in just a couple hours. Some folks caught none
> while others caught more than two each until the total limit was
> reached. A lottery system using drawn playing cards then
> redistributed the excess fish to the fishless customers until all had
> their 2 legal fish limit.
>
> BTW, for those not familiar with a mooching rod, it is almost the
> exact opposite of a fly rod - 4 or 5 feet long, as thick as your
> thumb, stiff almost to the point of inflexibility, with pulleys
> instead of guides at the tip and nearest the reel. Even the 28 pound
> chinook I caught that day (the largest was 32 pounds), barely caused
> the rod to arc. Combined with a large Penn saltwater reel loaded up
> with 200 to 300 yards of 30 - 40 lb mono, a mooching rig is more like
> a crane than a fly rod.
>
> I'll take my 4wt any day.
>
> Kent Lufkin
>
> >Several months ago I read an article or 2 on the newest and best thing to
> >come along for catch & release fishing. They called it circle hooks and
one
> >of the articles rated the various brands that had come onto the market at
> >that time (mortality rates). Since then I don't recall hearing much more
> >about them.
> >
> >Can anyone shed any light regarding the circle hooks, where they over
rated
> >and really didn't perform as stated by the Manufacturers? unable to tie
> >very many flies on them so no one really uses them? work great for
other
> >types of fishing but not for fly fishing? or am I just out of the loop
and
> >everyone is using them but me??????
> >
> >Thank you,
> >Ray :-)
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
