Salmon Mooching 101

Mooching is about as low-tech as salmon fishing gets: a whole or cut-plug herring on a leader, fished just off bottom or at whatever depth the fish are holding, with the boat drifting or moving just fast enough to give the bait a subtle roll. No downriggers, no diving planers -- the technique itself is the whole appeal for a lot of anglers.

Rod choice matters more than tackle box depth here. A longer, softer-tipped mooching rod lets a taking fish load the rod before it feels resistance, which matters a lot with herring's soft hook-up compared to a hard-bodied lure. Pair it with a level-wind or a simple single-action reel with a smooth drag -- you're feeling for subtle takes, not cranking hard on a fast retrieve.

The single biggest variable most beginners get wrong isn't gear, it's bait roll. A properly cut-plug herring should spin in a tight, fast roll, not wobble loosely -- test it boat-side before it goes down, because a bait that isn't rolling right won't get bites no matter how good your spot is.

Depth is trial and error more than science on any given day: start where you marked fish or where the fleet is concentrated, and don't be afraid to change depth every 15-20 minutes without a bite rather than waiting it out.