J plug help

[ErieBuck]

Headed out to Wilson/Olcott later this week and was going to give j plugs a go. Never ran them before, any advice would be appreciated. I assume they are best to run off riggers? I have 30lb mono on my Tekota rigger rods.... probably a good idea to add a fluoro leader right? 20lb okay or bigger? Cheater spoon above? Mag or regular - how long of a leader for the cheater?

 

 

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[tuffishooker]

Not sure of your question but #4 J-Plug in lemon/yellow has been working for us recently 30 ft. lead fluor leader 20 lb. ok plus a stacker spoon NK 28 plus others ; they seem to work together IMO ! J-Plugs for us seem to work early on or not at all , so if no hits go to SD dodger fly green or purple plus stacker on rigger or just 2 spoons ! Hope that helps ?

[tuffishooker]

ps. 6 ft. lead for the cheater !

[ErieBuck]

Great thanks for the info, appreciate it!


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[Sk8man]

Just be aware they go from side especially in current pretty extremely so try to keep them either tight in or as far away as possible from other stuff. They also dive so keep them up a little ways from bottom

Edited September 7, 2020 by Sk8man

[whaler1]

No cheaters, no special leader. They bight them because they’re mad, not because they’re hungry.
J plugs don’t track true, keep them at least ten feet from each other.


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[ErieBuck]

No cheaters, no special leader. They bight them because they’re mad, not because they’re hungry.
J plugs don’t track true, keep them at least ten feet from each other.


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No cheaters because they are so erratic?


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[Sk8man]

Yes and they can (and usually will) get all  wound up in your J-plug. By the way Whaler made an excellent point that should not be overlooked.  mature salmon will be hitting out of aggression not a feeding response so your strategy has to be modified a bit. Bright colors highly active lures, sometimes close to the weight for greater action. Make sure your hooks are very sharp as their mouths harden up considerably and the males may have beaks or Kypes" which may impede their bite. You are trying in this case to irritate them and stir up their aggressive urges to eliminate competitors or foreign objects from their environment. Their urge to feed is suppressed to non-existant as it gets closer and closer to spawning.

Edited September 7, 2020 by Sk8man

[whaler1]

No cheaters because they are so erratic?


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They ain’t scared they’re pissed!


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[whaler1]

Not a finesse bait


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[ErieBuck]

Right but don’t put a cheater above it?


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[HB2]

J plugs are pretty much all I run now till the end of the season. But maybe not this year as I have testing to do .  

 

I have 30# and put 25 ft of 15 or 20# on . 

Tie direct to the j plug , no swivels . I use #3 ,#4 size . 

 

I have 2 riggers on my small boat and run 1 rod on each . That's it . All I need . 

 

First light in close 12 to 20 ft depth , setback both same of 50 to 75 ft . One Ball 10 ft off bottom on one  half way down on other . Ball may be just under surface . Deeper , setback of 35 ft . I know the plugs dive 7 ft in 35 ft . And the fish like to sit on the bottom when Sun comes up . Mid day I have run them back 150 ft to get a hit and it works sometime . 

 

Colors ... sliver bullet , w/ w/o red head , glow green florescent , white black dot ( first light killer ) watermelon ,  and there are others . 

It's a misnomer that they need to be run fast . I get fish going slow with them also so vary your speed and turn a lot . 

 

 

[tuffishooker]

Lots of good comment ! #1 Sharp hooks a no brainer ! As post tie directly to the J-Plug [ that is the way the plug was made in the 1960s ] and no snap ! It was a J-Plug that got me my first salmon in 1984 and  " hooked " me on the sport ! 

I can only post what works for us ! Last week our #1 salmon was a mature hen chinook ~ 20 lbs we released hopefully to spawn , that was in 100 fow off a NK 28 stacker with the #4 J-Plug on the main line ! We have not had a problem with stackers and J-Plugs , but the longer the stacker line the more tangles ! Unlike sliders [ not fixed to line ] which will always tangle coming up , but seem to work some days when stackers do not !

Agreed in close long leads , stackers would be  " pointless " lol !

Another J-Plug that was working for us , but not recently was a #5 [ big ] flo white / black ladderback first light !

[ErieBuck]

HB2 and Tuff -- good stuff thank you!  Would you guys say J-plugs are most effective at first light and not as much during the day?  Trying to get a strategy together for my 3 day trip.  Going to stick with Wire flasher flies on dipsey's but will need to figure out a winning combination of twinkie meat rigs, J-plugs, spoons on the riggers.   I know the staging Kings are not wanting to eat but people are still catching a lot of fish with meat rigs I'm hearing.  The flashing and spinning combined with the scent I guess is enough to get their attention and elicit a strike.  Obviously, I'll see what the fish are wanting by throwing everything at them, but it would be nice to have at least a starting strategy for the riggers.  

[HB2]

You definitely want  to get out very early and late for staggers  . I find it slows way down after the first 2 hrs , USUALLY ,and just before dark they turn on . 

. 

Sometimes it's good all day ,especially if  it is choppy or cloudy and raining .