PorkchopXpress:
Im looking to give mooching a try this year and I have some questions. I noticed most people use a levelwind or a mooching reel. Do I really need a levelwind or can I use my Avet? Are line counters necessary? Im also curious about rod length. Seems people like a longer noodly rod. Any recommendations and advice? I searched the forum but thought Id ask too
oysterer:
I am having similar thoughts....The Eddies are your friends...
Eddie:
I'll be your huckleberry... :smt005 :smt006
I'm using a thunnus 4000 and 8.6 lamiglass...I'd mooch with anything though...gotta be a little bendy...salmon are a bit wiley from what I remember back in the old days...
fishemotion:
Level winds seem convenient for less distraction when dealing w/ them guile maneuvers. My two reels are either abu revo toro(lefty) or shimano tekota paired w/ shimano tallus rod.. just my beat up gear for kayak fishing from back in the day.
I find the thumb bar on revo more efficient for changing depth. Other rod is a cousins SSW 799XFT. Cousins rod for rockfish/ling.
ex-kayaker:
I’m glad to hear people are mooching again, this was by far the funnest way to fish salmon. You don’t need a mooching reel, line counter or a level wind, your avet will work fine. People used to use a lot of level wind baitcasters back in the day but they were really the only option for a reel that size. The smallest conventional reels regularly available were 501 Penns and then we started seeing 220 newells in local shops around the late 90’s but those still weren’t all that common. To get your bait in the zone, thumb the spool and put your reel in freespool, the start pulling line off one foot at a time, counting each pull.
Salmon have a “soft mouth” and hooks can get pulled pretty easily (I think it’s more a result of wonky hookups due to their drive by and slashing at baits over having soft mouths however). The long noodly, or parabolic, rods help to absorb some of the shock and keep fish pinned without pulling hooks when they run or headshake. I’d say you don’t really need an 8’ rod on the yak, you can probably find a moderate parabolic action 7’ rod and it’ll be easier to handle fish when it’s time to land them.