Page 1 of 1

crocs and plugs?

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 10:21 am
by pomfret1uku
Was wondering if anyone favors crocadille spoon or plastic plugs? One of my 1st boats had about fifteen pounds of each but I ran them a few times with no bites or maybe one bite on a plug but that was all. Someone said they must be run a lot faster. Also I don't see the plugs for sale much and am wondering why they aren't out there like before.

Re: crocs and plugs?

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 3:59 am
by Mat
Tried crock once, nothing, never bought enough for a real test.

Plugs work, but I find hoochies, spoons or bait usually better. I have a good set of plugs, 3" to 7", and use them occasionally. I have had good luck with 3" 232, 700 and 178's when salmon eating small fish like small rockfish. In a good school of salmon with lots of shorties, 7" plugs will select for keepers. You'll maybe have less hook-ups in a day, but more keepers.Generally I don't start trying plugs until mid summer.

Another way I use the 7" plugs is when fishing deep, like leads at 60 fathoms, and there are cross currents that threaten to cross the float line and the forward line when letting out the float. When I put the gear in I put out floats with the big plugs, usually 700's or 185's in clear offshore water, and run the forward gear as usual. When I have a couple of fish, usually splitters, on a float line I pull it and don't try to put it out again. That methods gives me a couple of bonus fish without risk of wasting time with tangled lines.

Re: crocs and plugs?

Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:56 am
by pomfret1uku
Very interesting on the plug useage. Ah , the bonus fish....can really add up. Thanks. I love to hear about these tactics!

Re: crocs and plugs?

Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2015 1:53 pm
by Lulu
I've used both and have plenty stored some where. What I've learned is you have to learn how your boat catches. Generally, and there are exceptions, deep heavy boats don't fish spoons or plugs as well as shallow lighter boats. I believe the reason is the heavier deeper boats don't surge forward as quickly or as far as a shallow drafted boat giving the spoon or plug the quick wiggle of an escaping bait fish. I've learned on my boat straight flashers with one spoon on the top leader keeps me in the game

With that said, krocs are heavier and need to be pulled faster to work. Plugs are a mystery to me. I've tried 40# test up to 10 fathoms long. I can't make the damn things catch like I want them to. I'm sticking with the flashers.

Re: crocs and plugs?

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:49 am
by Mat
Two things to remember about plugs. They are speed sensitive, with different sizes acting differently. And of course the weight hook you swing on them effects action. I use mustad 95170 hooks same size as plug length, going to durinickle 8/0 for 7" jobs. But others do as well or better with other choices, depends on boat speed. Second, most of the highliners say that out of a box of 6 plugs only one or two will be real catchers, for whatever reason. So iff you lose plugs to leader breaks from sea lions or massive hogs, you are losing the good ones, and the quality of your plug collection declines.

Interesting idea about boat size, but I fish a 30' 6 ton boat and lots of bigger boats outfish me.

Re: crocs and plugs?

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2015 1:31 pm
by Lulu
Didn't say the bigger boats couldn't fish. What I said is my boat (25 tons with a 7' draft) does better with flashers. Other factors enter the equation of a bigger boat's production vs a smaller. To list a few; wider boat beam which should equal a wider presence in the water, higher natural hull potential, more people on deck and a dedicated captain focused on keeping the boat in the fish. I don't except to keep up with bigger boats in a good bite because I'm a one man operation, but I can and do keep with 80% and hold my own in a scratch with flashers only. The real point is each boat is different and will catch better given a set of circumstances. The challenge is to learn the boat and not lean on what everyone else is doing.

Re: crocs and plugs?

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:29 pm
by Mat
Amen to all that. Does flashers only mean few or no spoons, and if some spoons, do you find your flasher speed works for your spoons? Seems to me flashers are more forgiving speed wise than spoons.