New! check out John Beath's halibut fishing site.

Saltwater tackle boxes belonging to Pacific Northwest anglers have one universal likeness - they're heavy and they have lots of green in them. Take my box for instance. It has several sizes of crescent sinkers for mooching and a dozen proven jigs that catch everything from rockfish and halibut to chinook, coho and pink salmon. With a few small cannon ball weights {used for mooching, trolling andbottom fishing} a few trolling spoons, flashers and several ounces of "fish attractant" the saltwater angler can "tackle" most situations. Outfitting a tackle box for every situation seems impossible, but it's not, if you concentrate on purchasing the basics for trolling, mooching and jigging. Having the basics enables me to troll for blackmouth in Puget Sound one day and jig the San Juan Islands for lingcod and salmon the next. I've taken the same gear throughout British Columbia and Alaska with equal success. Here's what I consider "must have" items in my tackle box and why.

The basic moocher's tackle box
The basics include 2, 4 and 6 ounce crescent sinkers. Add a mooching-style, solid-tied leader and this simple setup sweetened with a herring will catch almost every Pacific Northwest sport fish. When it comes to hooks, I prefer Mustad #9263 when fishing with light line. These fine wire, light weight hooks easily penetrate with a light hookset.

If I'm using heavier lines, beyond 15 pound test mainline, I like Gamakatsu #02014-100 hooks. When going light with 8 to 15 pound mainline, I tie double 4/0 Mustad leaders with Trilene XT 12 or 20 pound test. When I go heavy, with 20-pound test mainline and up, I tie 30pound XT leaders with 4/0 or 5/0 Gamakatsu hooks. {I carry a 330 yard spool of 12 pound and a 300 yard spool of 30 pound XT for leader and emergency reel refills}. The 30 pound setup enabled me to land a 60pound chinook without fear of breaking the leader or straightening the hooks. My tackle box also has a selection of lead cannon balls ranging in size from 2 to 8 ounces. A Slydo, a device that has a hollow tube and swivel, slides on the mainline, allowing the fish to strike without the pressure of the weight. These cannon balls can also be used on the end of a gangion rig or doubled together when more weight is needed to fish deeper.

High quality ball bearing swivels and bead chains have a home among mygear. I always use a ball bearing swivel or bead chain on my mainline and leader.

Cutting a precise cut-plug can be a difficult task in rough seas. It can also be difficult to train someone else to make an angled cut that works. A small, miter box-like device insures a proper cut every time. Here's something relatively new in the PNW tackle box; green food coloring. Either whole or cut, my herring gets a healthy dose of green along with a dab of Berkley Power Bait or Salmon Jelly. In most situations, the green herring out fishes non-colored baits 4 to 1.An inexpensive tide table in addition to a more comprehensive tide and current almanac fill space in my tackle box. A compass, whistle and small mirror round out the basics in my tackle box.

Total expense of basic mooching gear: $125.00

Trolling & moocher's tackle box
The use of downriggers has made trolling deep for salmon a mainstay in the Pacific Northwest. While thousands of lures will work, the handful in my tackle box will put fish on the line almost every time.

First and foremost, I always carry my own familiar downrigger release. Flashers come in every color but the red-striped chrome Alaskan Eagle, red Hot Spot and Gold Star F4 Piscator #942 models have served me well. I use the F4 with whole herring and a 5 to 6 foot leader. {This setup has earned me over $2,500 in salmon derby money}. When trolling herring without a flasher, I add a Gold Star green spatterback trolling rudder for an added attraction. The Alaskan Eagle gets the nod with spoons, Luhr Jensen's Coyote #188, 150, 580 or Gold Star's Sonic Edge #826 or Kingfisher #942. The Hot Spot with either a glow-green Golden BaitNG142R needle squid or glow-green OG142R octopus squid puts fish to the boat regularly. As an added attractant, I use a dental irrigator to insert Power Bait into the nose of the squid. This has increased my catch and proven its value over the years. 42 to 48 inch, 30 pound leaders work best for the spoons and squids.

No tackle box would be complete without at least two plugs, the Silver Horde size 5 #300521 and #300062.

Total expense of trolling gear: $72.00

Jigging has fast become a method of choice in the Pacific Northwest. Lead jigs shaped and painted to resemble herring, anchovies and candlefish routinely fool salmon and bottomfish into biting. The invention of super braids has made it easier to effectively jig all species. My usual setup consists of 30 pound Gorilla braid or Fireline. I tie a ball bearing swivel to the mainline and use a short two-foot length of 30 pound leader to the jig. After each fish I check the leader for abrasion.

Several brands, sizes and shapes of jigs strike my fancy, however, I can't possible afford to buy them all and I could never carry them if I did. Some jigs are suited for salmon or bottomfish and a few work best for bottomfish because of their size and shape. Regardless of size or shape, greens, whites, chrome and glow-in-the-dark spend the most time on the end of my line.

Salmon jigging with Pt. Wilson Dart needlefish in 2 ¼ & 4 ¾ ounce green back/chrome belly or plain white work well when candlefish are present. When herring show, 2 ½ ounce Zzingers or Spinnows in green back/white belly or pink back/white belly get the nod for chinook. When jigging for coho or pink salmon it's hard to beat a perch/green Buzz Bomb in anysize. If the salmon, either chinook or coho suspend between 50 feet and the surface, I like a 2 ounce Luhr Jensen Crippled Herring.

Any of these jigs will take bottomfish, but I always have a 9 ½ ounce Halibut Special Spinnow and a couple of B2, triple glow Reef Fisher jigs along to reach the bottom for halibut and lingcod.

In addition to these jigs, I also bring a shrimp fly rig and Berkley Power Grubs. If I'm fishing a rough bottom, I'll add a Power Grub to one fly, attach enough weight to the rig to reach bottom and forget about losing an expensive jig.

Total expense of jigging gear: $100.00

The "all inclusive" Pacific Northwest saltwater tackle box costs roughly $272.50 not including tax. Add tax and the cost of the Plano model #922018 box and the expense hits $350.00. Surprisingly, my tackle box has lots more room for luxuries like a hand held Garmin model 175GPS unit.

"A tackle box this size holds $500.00 worth of tackle," jokes John Martinis Jr., owner of John's Sporting Goods in Everett Washington. "I know because we do a lot of insurance claims!"

Maybe it's time for you to inventory your tackle box and only keep the necessities that catch fish. And if it's lost or stolen, you'll know how much money to claim on your insurance or how much to start saving. Regardless of price, my Pacific Northwest saltwater tackle box is ready for any occasion. Is yours?