FG

[Redrebel]

Well, my experience has been that long lining is frowned upon at the gorge as if kokes in area there will be some concentration of boats.  Best to keep the riggers short drop back.

To those who don’t understand how the long lining works I get why they get frustrated. Long lining is the old-school way of doing things at the gorge and it’s frowned upon by those who became lazy with their presentation. I can easily get out of the way of Downrigger’s and they can easily get out of the way of me if you pay attention. There is a guide up there, who has been steel line fishing for nearly 30 years. I can say that getting called out in the middle of a sportsman’s expo presentation by Jared, and then him trying to dig himself out of a hole, Gave me a better perspective on his Outlook On steel line fishing.
To give you an example, Saturday morning, my first two runs. I had no boats in my area. On my third run, Jim came in with his charter and came right in the line that I was trying to run. trying to stay on specific structure is important when steel line fishing. He is a well respected guide, and I know exactly what area he was going to. I kindly adjusted and went to different structure and had a bite. I didn’t worry about him coming into the area or the other four boats that came and join me once I turned around. We all got around each other just fine. The gentleman that ran into my lines on Thursday when there was zero boats in the area and he was zigzagging all across swim beach. He wasn’t paying attention and I got vocal and told him to stop his boat and thank you for the extra work, pulled in my lines and I didn’t pull his balls off his downriggers  like I easily could have . Frowning upon another man’s way of fishing is looked down upon. You fish the way you want fish and I’ll fish the way I want to fish. 
Lastly, please explain the difference of a steel line coming off of a downrigger going down 90 feet and a steel line coming off of a fishing rod going down to 90 feet. The only difference is you have a heavier ball and you will go directly down. There’s still a piece of line going through a school of fish that will simply swim away and come back. Sometimes I think people overthink things.

Most fisher people have no clue that long lining consume the entire water column from top to bottom 800ft behind the boat  using this method. This method was and is unpopular because it requires so much space that is no longer available at the George or anywhere else. Cut behind a long liner with down riggers and you will hang 125 lb steel cable and the contest begiins for each party to retrieve there gear first and start cutting cable to do so.

Dude, if I had 800 feet of line out I would respectfully say that you really have no idea how steel line fishing works at the gorge. At the most when I’m dragging I’m usually out maybe 175 feet maybe 250 if the wind is bad. Yes, I may take up more water column than a downrigger but if you usually wait about maybe 90 seconds you will pass my lines when you are going 1.5 miles an hour. I think it all comes down to respect on the water. I’m not perfect. I’ve made my mistakes, but it’s easy to avoid a steel line fisherman even if you are going after the kokes.

---

RedRebel!!  Back in the day I used to outfit guys going to the Gorge for Lakers. Penn 49M reels, Sabre 210 rods w/carbide guides, 120lb steel line, Berkley 210lb crosslock snapswivels, and Henlin T55 Flatfish.  They also had to have spare treble hooks and split rings to replace the ones they pulled apart when they would hang up!!  Didn't know anyone still fished that way!!  What is your rig, as  Penn no longer makes the 49M, Sabre is made in China, and Henlin is owned by Yakima and they don't make the T55 any more!!

I have two different rod set ups. One is an off the shelf Shimano Tallora And the other is a custom rod built by a gentleman here in Salt Lake. If anyone wants his information, I can get it to you. They run about 200 bucks. I prefer them over the Shimano because I can read what my plug is doing a little better. Both rods have a Okuma cold water line counter. It is designed for steel line and copper line. The guide has yet to wear out with a few years on each one. I run a 90 pound seven strand stainless line. I run flatfish from fifties to 60s. Only one Tail hook, larger split rings and I dress some of the hooks with tails of different colors. Yakima does make a bait that is close, but you do have to alter it slightly.