How-To Fishing Videos

by George Krumm Every angler knows what a spinner is, but not nearly as many know what a mono spinner, sometimes called a soft spinner, is. Simply stated, a mono spinner is what it sounds like—a spinner built on monofilament (or fluorocarbon) instead of wire. In this video, Fish Alaska Editor George Krumm explains the versatility of mono spinners and shows you how to tie them. Who knows when the first angler decided to build a spinner on monofilament line? What we do know is that in the past seven years or so, anglers in the Lower 48’s Columbia River began using mono spinners instead of wire spinners behind Pro-Troll-type flashers in an effort to find a hook configuration that was more effective and versatile than the usual treble hook found on wire spinners. Initially, the use of mono spinners was kind of an underground movement, but it’s moved into the mainstream now. Mono spinners have several advantages over wire spinners. First, there is no wire to get bent up. Second, they are extremely easy to make. Third, you can easily change the hook configuration and spacing to fish the spinner naked, or with a small bait such as a herring strip or coon shrimp, or with a larger bait such as a plug-cut or whole herring. Fourth, the plastic clevis allows you to change the spinner blade without having to cut and re-tie. To tie a mono spinner, you’ll need monofilament or fluorocarbon line (25- to 50-pound-test; we generally lean towards heavier line as long as it will fit through the hook eye), hooks (size 1/0 to 4/0 depending on what we’ll be doing with the mono spinner), 6 mm and 4 mm plastic beads (your choice of colors), plastic spinner clevises, size 3.5 Colorado or Cascade spinner blades, and size 4 Duo-Lock snaps. Additional materials that can be very useful include 1.5” Gold Star hoochies, 1/8” fluorescent red, pink or green surgical tubing, Hawken Fishing Wild Wings, and Mack’s Lure Smile Blades. We have used mono spinners for Chinook and coho salmon in a variety of freshwater and saltwater fisheries up and down the West Coast. Mono spinners are extremely effective fished behind Pro-Troll-type flashers (Pro-Troll ProChip 11, Shortbus Super Series, and Brad’s 360 Evolution are good examples) for both Chinook and coho. Incidentally, we’ve also caught large numbers of saltwater pinks and some chum salmon on them. Fished behind this type of flasher, they are extremely effective for maturing coho in August at virtually every saltwater port in Alaska, especially with a sliver of herring fillet on the top hook.

The Reaper Halibut Rigging By George Krumm Halibut rigging in Alaska often involves size 12/0 to 20/0 circle hooks fished on or near the bottom, baited with chunks of large herring, salmon parts, octopus, or other baits. Many anglers have problems getting fish hooked with circle hooks, though. As an alternative, the Reaper halibut rig employs large J-hooks from size 9/0 to 11/0. The advantage of the Reaper halibut rigging is that the ratio of bites to hooked fish is quite a bit higher than it is when using circle hooks. If a fish bites, you’ll generally hook it. The disadvantage with using J-hook halibut rigs is that fish are sometimes hooked deep—in the esophagus or gills—so if you decide to use this halibut rigging method, you need to be committed to keeping any fish that bites is it may be hooked in a way that decreases its chances for survival. If you do plan to release a fish that’s hooked deep, the best way to do so is to cut the leader as close to the hook as possible. To tie the Reaper halibut rigging as shown in the video, you’ll need hooks (size 9/0 to 11/0 Maruto Barbed Octopus hooks are our favorite, followed by Gamakatsu Big River Bait hooks in the same size range), heavy monofilament or fluorocarbon (we like Izorline First String or Mustad HD Fluorocarbon in 135- to 150-pound-test), appropriate size aluminum crimps (we like Izorline Premium Aluminum Sleeves in the appropriate size), two size 6 glow Corkies, a Wally Whale Scent Tube, a 7.5-inch P-Line Sunrise Squid in glow, Hi Seas Glow Thimbles, and a good set of crimpers (P-Line Stainless 10” Heavy Duty Crimper is a good one). The halibut rigging shown in the video uses a single hook. We sometimes tie the Reaper with two size 9/0 hooks and eliminate the Scent Tube so the rig isn’t too long. To tie it with two hooks, crimp the first hook as shown in the video, then tie the second hook above the crimp using a snell knot or a bumper knot (AKA egg loop knot). These knots are very difficult to tie using 150-pound-test or higher, so we usually tie two-hook Reapers with 135-pound-test line. If you struggle hooking halibut with circle hooks, give the Reaper halibut rigging a try and we guarantee you’ll hook more fish.

Fish Alaska magazine presents How to Fillet Halibut with Captain Rafe Oliphant from Kodiak Legends Lodge. This is an excellent technique resulting in pristine fillets.

Publishers Melissa Norris and Marcus Weiner spent time on the Togiak River in July 2020 catching kings.

Learn how long to cook salmon and a lot more from viewing this how to cook salmon perfectly video with Chef Al of Kincaid Grill & Bridge Seafood in Anchorage, Alaska.