Hooked on Herring
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| This fun event usually takes place in and around the first part of July when the mayflies (sometimes called shadflies) are hatching. The herring (also called cisco) come into the shallower water to feed on the hatching mayfly and this fishing opportunity lasts approximately 2 weeks. Large numbers of seagulls diving and darting about actively feeding on the hatching mayfly are a good sign of where to fish. Fishing is good all day and you won’t be alone. I have seen as many as 30 to 40 boats all in a cluster and there are plenty of fish for everyone. | ||
| We fish in about 15 to 30 ft. (4.5 m to 9 m) of water and use light line (4 to 6 lb. test) on a rod with a sensitive tip. Although herring will ‘whack’ your baited hook they do have a tendency to bite very softly. Some people use long rods (10 to 12 ft./3.5 m) with soft tips but really any regular light action rod is okay. | ||
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| The hooks used are quite tiny. Small tear-drop hooks or small salmon egg hooks are good. I bait these with wax worms or mayflies and add just enough split shot to take the bait down placing it a little off bottom. Occasionally, I lightly jig my line a few times and once in awhile bring the bait up almost to the surface in a long sweeping motion of the rod and then let the bait fall back down to the bottom. Every now and then I also suspend the bait at various depths and jig it lightly trying to entice any suspended fish to bite. | ||
The average size of the herring is about 12 in. (30 cm) long and they are great eating. I like to smoke them. You can just gut them and smoke them whole or smoke the fillets. Make sure you leave the skin on. They are also very tasty pan fried or deep fried. Fillet them and skin them as described in the article on “Filleting Fish”. Prepare your favourite batter or bread crumb mix and into the frying pan or deep fryer they go. | ||
For their size herring are terrific fighters. They will dart and dash here and there and bend your rod right over. This adds to the challenge because they have a relatively soft mouth and it is easy to rip out the hook if you bring them in too aggressively.
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Conservation Note: With these fish, I would like to urge anglers to limit their catch to the number of fish that they can realistically consume over a given period of time. In the area where I live, there is no catch limit on angled herring and because they tend to be there in rather prolific numbers, some people take them in large quantities filling coolers full of them. To me this goes beyond sportsmanship and just shows disrespect for the resource. As well as providing a good meal, fishing should be a relaxing and fun time, not a “mission’.
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 Relaxing Fun and... |
...a nice catch! | |
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