By: Mark Romanack Larger salmon plugs such as the Mag Lip 4.0 and 4.5 are ideally suited to plug wrapping. A practice of using a herring strip to create a fish attracting scent stream in the water. Mag Lip is designed to handle the weight of the herring strip and still deliver its signature “skip beat” action. The Yakima Bait Mag Lip plug is one of the most productive hard baits on the market. From the Pacific Northwest to the Great Lakes region, everywhere anglers target salmon, they depend on the Mag Lip family of baits to catch them. Part of the success Mag Lip has enjoyed boils down to th ..read more

By Andy Martin (original article 2011) Within a couple of minutes after his plug disappeared in the dark green water of the Chetco River, Rich Ariza felt a violent jerk on his rod. The tip dipped down, lifted up again, then buried over. There was a big splash right in front of the boat. Line began to scream off of Rich’s reel. The scene repeated itself over and over for Rich and his son Johnny, who fished with me early last fall. In the first couple of hours of fishing, the two hooked six salmon, and landed three in the 30- to 40-pound range. During that time, the pair learned several of the ..read more

Trolling Tips for Lower Columbia by: Bill Herzog for Salmon, Steelhead Trout magazine Ten percent catch 90 percent of Lower Columbia spring Chinook. Jarod Higginbotham of Yakima Bait tells us how to join the 90 percent club. When I was hosting Northwest Wild Country radio show in Seattle nearly twenty years ago, we invited newly minted head of sales and marketing manager of Yakima Bait, Jarod Higginbotham, to come into the studio for the show. My first thought when he barely fit through the studio door was “his poor mom” and “we ain’t got no chairs in here gonna fit that boy.” Those who know ..read more

By: Bill Herzog It’s 2023…do you know where your Rooster Tails are? If you are as passionate about the grab a trout executes on a spinner as I am, then you have them in every zippered pocket in your pack, vest or wader pouch. “Executes” may be the perfect word for how large trout treat a well-presented spinner. A recent early spring trip to Western Montana featuring Rooster Tails of various sizes and colors proves still (in this era of almost daily constant improvements on a better mouse trap) a tackle bag “must have” for trout. Western Montana has been ground zero for trout fishermen for a h ..read more

By Mark Romanack Arguably the most popular artificial lure of all time, the Yakima Bait Rooster Tail Spinner has been catching fish for generations. The Rooster Tail in-line spinner comes in six different versions, dozens of different sizes and literally hundreds of different color options. It’s safe to say that no matter what species of fish an angler is interested in catching, there is a Rooster Tail Spinner perfect for the job. ORIGINAL ROOSTER TAIL The original Rooster Tail is the in-line spinner design all other spinners are compared to. The modified willow leaf blade design makes this s ..read more

By: Buzz Ramsey Fishing a jig in combination with a float is one of the easiest fishing methods to master and can produce quick limits, even for inexperienced anglers, as all you need do is watch your float and set the hook when a fish pulls it under. By positioning your jig above bottom, even if only a foot or two, you can avoid the hassle of having it snag bottom. I’ve had success catching many different fish types by suspending a jig under a float. And while it’s generally true that smaller fish prefer tiny jigs, it’s amazing how even big fish like steelhead will go for 1/16 and 1/32 ounce ..read more

By: Mark Romanack with Jarod Higginbotham One of the cool things about sport fishing is there is always something new and interesting to try. When it comes to catching coho or cut throat trout the traditional methods of casting spinners, back-trolling plugs and back-bouncing spawn have caught fish for decades. The new kid on the block is a jig casting technique called “Twitching”. “The new Twitcher Jig is most effective way of catching coho in rivers I’ve ever seen,” says Jarod Higginbotham of Yakima Bait Company. “Not only is this presentation simple and easy to master, it works in rivers, l ..read more

by Mark Romanack The SpinFish is deadly effective on adult Great Lakes chinook salmon Rotating plugs have become a salmon fishing staple in the Pacific Northwest for many years. It took some time, but this unique trolling presentation is gaining a foothold in the Great Lakes. Rotating plugs such as the Yakima Bait SpinFish are designed to replicate the action of a cut herring spinning in the water. The SpinFish is unique in that the two-piece design allows the hollow center of the bait to be stuffed with cut bait, canned tuna or scent products such as Pro Cure Super Gel. The combination of th ..read more

By: Mark Romanack Back-trolling plugs is a river steelhead fishing presentation that got it’s start on the west coast where ocean run steelhead run a host of tributaries. These days, the art of back-trolling has penetrated every major river fishery were steelhead make fall, winter and early spring river spawning runs. The art of back-trolling involves presenting several wobbling plugs downstream of a drift boat, jet sled or small skiff. The effectiveness of this unique presentation is legendary, but there are some do’s and don’t every angler should know about back-trolling plugs. Gabe Denniso ..read more

By: Mark Romanack There are lots of ways to catch a steelhead during the winter months, but nothing is more productive or exciting than back-trolling plugs. Plugs allow anglers to fish a multitude of lines/lures at the same time, creating a presentation that is impossible to compare with “rod in hand” river fishing methods. Most river guides will back-troll with four or even six lines/lures at once. With so many lures in the water, it’s a foregone conclusion that eventually a steelhead will become frustrated and strike out of pure anger. When a steelhead slams a wobbling plug, the rod bucks w ..read more