Has your brother ever tried those patches folks wear to prevent sea sickness. My wife wears them all the time and they work well for her. The hoochie is the large one about four inches at least. I use a mooching rig with a bead on ahead of the first hook to keep the hoochie from sliding over the hook. Then a couple of beads a plastic clevis then a small blade about the size of my thumb. I can't remember the actual size. I've used that set up for a few year and it work well.
Last year at about this time there was an incident on the Columbia River bar. That is probably what you may have read about.
What's you boat I'll look for you next time out. Hopefully next week if the winds are good.