Pick mooching when salmon are stacked deep and bait is thick in the water. Pick trolling when fish are scattered or riding shallow and you need to cover ground fast. Start mooching around 100 to 200 feet and troll the top 50 feet first, then adjust from there. Here are the exact rigs for both below, so you can get tied on and fishing the same day.
TL;DR:
- Mooching is most effective when salmon are located between 100 and 200 feet deep, especially over structure or baitfish concentrations.
- Trolling excels in shallow waters up to 50 feet and when fishing for scattered salmon across large areas.
- Heavy current, rough seas, crowded parties, or muddy water conditions favor trolling or motor mooching for better control and coverage.
- Proper rigging involves specific gear: mooching requires light sinkers and a soft-tipped rod, while trolling uses downriggers, planers, and heavier weights.
- The choice of method should be guided by depth, salmon distribution, water visibility, and bait presence to maximize the chance of success.
Table of Contents
- Mooching and Trolling, Defined
- When Should You Choose Each Method?
- Rigging Up for Mooching and Trolling
- Running Each Method on the Water
- Weighing the Trade-offs
- Your Pre-Drop Checklist
- Field Fixes from Nick at High Class Tackle Co.
- My Rule of Thumb After a Lot of Mornings on the Water
- Rig Up Before You Hit the Water
- FAQ
- Sources
Mooching and Trolling, Defined
Three terms get thrown around on the dock, and they are not interchangeable. Drift mooching is the classic: the boat drifts with wind and current while a light banana-shaped sinker and a cut-plug herring sink and flutter below. No motor, no constant movement, just the boat riding the water and the bait doing the work. It is a finesse game built on bait action and depth control.
Motor mooching changes the pace. You run the same mooching gear, the cut-plug herring and light sinker, but you idle the motor to add slow, controlled movement instead of drifting blind. Many anglers slip the motor in and out of gear to vary the bait’s spin and fall, a hybrid technique WDFW describes as a bridge between pure drift mooching and true trolling.
Trolling is the third animal entirely. The boat moves continuously at a set speed, and anglers lean on downriggers, diving planers, or heavier inline weights to hold bait or lures at a target depth across a wide swath of water. Where mooching asks you to find the fish and park, trolling asks you to search until the fish find you.
When Should You Choose Each Method?
Depth is the first decision point, and it is not a close call. Trolling covers the top 50 feet of water efficiently, while drift mooching tends to win when salmon are holding 100 to 200 feet down, according to Game & Fish. If your fish finder shows marks hugging bottom structure in deep water, rig a mooching setup before you do anything else.
Fish distribution matters just as much as depth. Scattered, roaming salmon reward trolling because you can swing lures through more territory per hour. Tight schools holding over a specific hump or ledge reward mooching, where you can park baits right in the strike zone and let the fish come to you.
Bait presence often flips the switch mid-season. Experienced skippers historically trolled through early summer, then pivoted hard to mooching once baitfish schools showed up and salmon stacked on them, a pattern Game & Fish has documented for years. When herring or anchovy balls appear on sonar, mooching gear belongs on the rail.
A few other conditions shift the call:
- Rough seas or heavy current favor trolling, since a drifting boat without power can get pushed off productive water fast.
- Crowded party boats often do better mooching, since more rods fishing stationary baits in one zone tends to produce more hookups than scattered trolling lanes.
- Small private boats without downriggers lean naturally toward mooching or motor mooching, since the gear list is shorter and cheaper.
- Low visibility or muddy water generally favors trolling, since covering water compensates for salmon that cannot see bait from far off.
When conditions sit in the middle, motor mooching is the compromise: mooching presentation with enough boat control to stay on fish that are only semi-scattered.
Rigging Up for Mooching and Trolling
Your rig list looks completely different depending on which method you choose, so get it right before you leave the dock.
For mooching, you need a cut-plug or whole herring on a two-hook leader, paired with a light banana sinker in the 6 to 8 ounce range to keep the bait’s natural roll intact. Pair that with a soft-tipped mooching rod and a level-wind or mooching reel that lets you feed line on the drop without fighting the rod’s action. WDFW recommends mainline in the 20 to 25 pound range with leaders between 10 and 20 pound depending on species, running lighter for coho and heavier for chinook, according to state guidance.
Trolling calls for a different toolbox entirely:
- Downriggers or diving planers to hold bait or hoochies at a repeatable depth across a long troll.
- Heavier inline weights for shallow trolling without the added hardware.
- Flashers and bumpers to add flash and vibration ahead of your lure or bait.
- Matching mainline and leader strength to the species you are targeting, same ranges WDFW lists for mooching gear.
Line management separates a good day from a tangled mess. Trollers count “pulls,” the number of times line is pulled to the first rod guide, to standardize depth and repeat a productive show once they find fish, a method WDFW documents in detail. Set your line angle near 45 degrees off the rod tip to keep multiple rods from crossing. For full diagrams, our salmon trolling rigs post walks through quick-swap setups rod by rod.
Running Each Method on the Water
Depth control is everything once you are rigged. Trollers set a pull count, run it, and mark whether fish show, then repeat that exact count to return to the same depth. Moochers adjust sinker weight instead, going heavier to sink faster through current or lighter to slow the bait’s fall and extend hang time in the zone.
Rod handling differs just as much as the gear. Mooching rewards patience: lift and drop the rod tip gently to keep the cut-plug spinning, then watch for a subtle load instead of a hard strike. Trolling runs steadier, with the rod loaded in the holder and the bite announced by a sudden bend or a screaming reel as the fish takes the lure at speed.
Bite detection timing changes the hook-set too. On a mooching rig, a soft tap means let the fish load the rod before you lift. On a troll, the rod does most of the work, and a premature grab off the holder can pull the hook before the fish is fully on.
Tangles are the most common complaint from both camps. Mismatched line angles cause crossed leaders on multi-rod trolling spreads, and spinning too fast on a cut-plug wraps the leader around itself on the drop. Slowing your drop rate and trimming the cut-plug’s bevel angle fixes most mooching spin problems fast.
Weighing the Trade-offs
Mooching delivers a natural, lifelike bait presentation and lets you fish precise depth with minimal gear, but it demands real skill, more patience per fish, and covers almost no water compared to trolling.
Trolling covers water fast and reaches depth reliably with downriggers, which makes it the better search tool when salmon are scattered, though the bait or lure action never matches a hand-worked cut-plug and the gear list runs longer and pricier.
Motor mooching splits the difference well: mooching-grade presentation with enough boat control to stay on fish that will not sit still for a pure drift.
Your Pre-Drop Checklist
Run this before the first bait hits the water:
- Check bait condition, since a soft or torn herring will not spin right no matter how it is rigged.
- Estimate depth from your fish finder before picking a method.
- Pick your weight, light banana sinker for mooching, heavier inline or downrigger for trolling.
- Set speed or pull count, then write it down the moment you get a bite.
- Test one bait first, watch the roll, and adjust before deploying a full spread.
Pro Tip: If your cut-plug keeps over-spinning and wrapping the leader, trim an eighth-inch more off the bevel angle before you re-rig. It slows the roll without killing the action.
Field Fixes from Nick at High Class Tackle Co.
Most cut-plug problems trace back to an uneven bevel cut, and the fix is almost always the same: re-cut the angle shallower and test the roll boatside before it ever hits depth. A herring that spins too fast tangles leaders and looks nothing like a wounded baitfish trying to escape.
On pull counts, I run light setups around 2 to 3 ounces at 20 to 25 pulls for coho in shallower water, then step up weight as the fish push deeper through the season. Every boat’s rod angle and line diameter shifts that number slightly, so log what worked and repeat it.
For the full walkthrough with photos, our mooching setup guide covers the cut-plug trim step by step.
My Rule of Thumb After a Lot of Mornings on the Water
My go-to plan is simple: troll the first hour to find fish, then switch to mooching the moment bait balls show up tight on structure. If marks stay scattered after an hour, I stay on the troll and keep covering water instead of forcing a method that is not working. Check our chinook trolling rigs post for the exact setups I run when making that call.
— Nick
Rig Up Before You Hit the Water
Whichever method fits your morning, the gear decides whether it works. We carry the terminal tackle, weights, and flashers you need to switch between mooching and trolling without a second trip to the shop. Our weights collection covers everything from light mooching sinkers to heavier trolling weights, and our flashers and bumpers add the flash trollers rely on to draw strikes from scattered fish.
Build your leaders from our terminal tackle and components collection, grab fresh bait before you launch, and keep your deck running clean with gear from Ultimate Flags, which covers the one-inch-per-foot rule for boat flags so your rig looks as sharp as it fishes.
Browse the full lineup at High Class Tackle Co. and get rigged for whichever method the water calls for today.
FAQ
Is mooching the same as trolling?
No, mooching and trolling are different techniques. Mooching uses a drifting or slow-moving boat with a light sinker and cut-plug herring, while trolling keeps the boat moving continuously with downriggers or diving weights to hold bait at depth, as WDFW explains.
How do you mooch for salmon?
Rig a cut-plug or whole herring on a two-hook leader with a light banana sinker, then let the boat drift naturally while you work the rod tip gently to keep the bait spinning. Mooching sinkers commonly run light enough to preserve a slow, natural roll as the bait sinks and rises.
Why use a mooching reel?
A mooching reel lets you feed line smoothly on the drop without fighting the rod’s bend, which keeps the cut-plug’s natural spin intact. That smooth feed matters because an uneven drop can cause the bait to spin too fast and tangle the leader.
What are the disadvantages of trolling fishing?
Trolling covers water efficiently but the lure or bait action rarely matches a hand-tuned cut-plug herring worked on a mooching rod. It also requires more gear, downriggers, diving planers, or heavier weights, which adds cost and setup time compared to a simple mooching rig.
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