Hope your sitting down

Got my Won today and it had a Article about " Fishermen " ( and I use that term loosely )

On The American River,

 " Lining with Beads " to catch salmon, an then Release...

Where is the On site Hanging team when ya need them???

Anyway, it also directed readers to this youtube video...

 Be Warned,,, It's absolutely sickening.....

Flossing has been going on in a few places for too long...how its not snagging befuddles me, but one of the reasons I avoid the klamath and the feather.

Stuff like that will cause the American River to be closed to all fishing.

Flossing is what people do at the mouth of the Klamath. No ifs, ands or buts about it!

I quit fishing the Mad cause it made me sick Flossing for Steelies. DF&G should shorten the max leader to 18" maybe 24" for Fly Rods on all Coastal Streams.

From the looks of the background that video was taken from the wall at Nimbus Dam on the north side. I don't agree snagging a fish period is right let alone in the tail or any other place and I don't agree that having a 6 foot of leader is right either. There is a lot of snagging going on with longer leaders especially at the Feather river line up or at Hazel.

On another note I personally don't think that there is much difference between either using a lure "spoons" or your typical 24"-30" leader with beads to catch a salmon in the mouth.The whole idea behind using either of these methods is to agitate the salmon enough that it strikes at the object in front of it.(hence "fishing") The reasoning behind it is that once a salmon leaves the ocean and comes up the rivers to spawn they stop eating,the only legal way to catch them is to agitate them to the point that they strike at a hook, this either being with a lure or with leader and beads. Just my 2 cents!   

Not being aware of this "flossing" BS previously, I Googled it and found this article:
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1197426.html

The thing is DFG has known about this technique for years and they have done nothing about it. They could easily make an enforceable rule to stop this by limiting the leader length to 2 or 3 feet from the weight. They have no problem shutting down entire entire fishing seasons, so how hard can it be to simply make a leader length restriction? I get the feeling there is more behind this failure to act than we are aware of... 

I personally don't think that there is much difference between either using a lure "spoons" or your typical 24"-30" leader with beads to catch a salmon in the mouth....the only legal way to catch them is to agitate them to the point that they strike at a hook

Snagging is ugly, as is taking advantage of fish that are stacked up with nowhere to go.

I gotta offer a correction on this statement though, Abdiver.  I've caught quite a few salmon on the river - almost always on a Little Cleo (spoon).  You do reel in slow in hopes that you get the lure right in the fish's face, but the theory that they just strike out due to agitation is wrong.  I've seen salmon come up out of the depths and strike my lure when I was hauling it across the top of the water.  It is true that they have no reason to eat in the river, but it's also true that they will, at times, continue to display predatory behavior and seek out your lure.

My 29 cents!   

When hooked a lot of the ripe fish will either milk or drop their eggs during the fight. 

-Brian G

The thing is DFG has known about this technique for years and they have done nothing about it. They could easily make an enforceable rule to stop this by limiting the leader length to 2 or 3 feet from the weight. They have no problem shutting down entire entire fishing seasons, so how hard can it be to simply make a leader length restriction? I get the feeling there is more behind this failure to act than we are aware of... 

Snaggers would just find another way, if they really want to protect the Salmon they would just close the rivers during the peak runs.
Maybe they figure that flossing is not as bad as Old School Snagging with treble hooks and heavy weights.
Many River Fishers feel that jigging for Salmon is just another form of snagging.
The attitude by many on the American is that the fish in the basin are fair game because they are just going to die and not spawn anyway.   

Salmon caught above Tidewater are not the best tablefare and many are caught just for the roe or the smoker.

I gotta offer a correction on this statement though, Abdiver....but the theory that they just strike out due to agitation is wrong. 

How so... typically isn't it that a female will dig and defend her nest. While doing so doesn't the dominate male  aggressively strike and chase away other males who are attempting to enter the redd area before spawing? Or in your case an object such as your Little Cleo.

I've seen salmon come up out of the depths and strike my lure when I was hauling it across the top of the water.  It is true that they have no reason to eat in the river, but it's also true that they will, at times, continue to display predatory behavior and seek out your lure.
My 29 cents!   

   Over the years I  have encountered such aggressive behavior while diving in the American in late September during the salmon run. I have had numerous Salmon aggressively charge with one lucky SOB ultimately smacking into my face mask.... Predatory.... does this mean that they were trying to eat me?
 

29 and raise you 2   

How so... typically isn't it that a female will dig and defend her nest. While doing so doesn't the dominate male  aggressively strike and chase away other males who are attempting to enter the redd area before spawing? Or in your case an object such as your Little Cleo.

They can exhibit both behaviors but I think Erik is saying that even though they don't really eat sometimes the instinct to react to a baitfish (lure) is still there. Eriks not the kind of guy to be fishing on the redds.

I have also heard that the salmon, in hanging on the redds will move stuff with their mouths, such as debris floating downstream.  Hence sometimes the soft bite, and not necessarily and aggression but maintenance.

When I was a grom and would go fishing on the Eel with my dad,  (He did most of the fishing, I just hunted for toads), they would use whole anchovies.  Lots of big fish were caught. 

Not going to address snagging or flossing as we all know what is ethical and legal . I personally yhink DFG screwed up big time not just closing down the season completely , whoever heard of C&R for and endangered/protected species . Just plain ignorant in my opinion !