Salmon Fishing Tips and Techniques

Saturday, September 06th 2008.

A fish tale has been out there for years! I know you've heard it! Well if you haven't, for years the tail has been that only ten percent of the anglers out there are catching a staggering ninety percent of the fish! Well I’m here to tell you that this tale has been true for as long as I’ve been fishing.

I’m not an advanced angler by any stretch but know enough to tell you that fishermen who catch salmon on a regular basis have two factors in the palms of their hands – literally. Factor one is time on the water. The more time your line is in the water, the better chance you have…bar none! Second is the skill factor or technique. Finding where the salmon are holding, when to fish at that spot and how to choose which lure or what type of bait or tackle, is possibly the most important factor of all!

First you need to realize that there are as many techniques to catching salmon as there are salmon...LOTS! So what we may find successful you may not. We may not even know what techniques you use to be successful out there, but we would love to hear about it. In the mean time though let's look at some of the basic ways of fishing for salmon and then we'll move forward in breaking them down further;

Trolling For Salmon - Freshwater and Saltwater - J-Plug Trolling, Trolling Spoons in Freshwater, Trolling Spoons in Saltwater, Downrigging and Anchor Fishing for Salmon.

River Fishing - Bottom Bouncing or Bar Fishing for Salmon, Drift Fishing and Backtrolling or Backbouncing.

Jigging For Salmon - Jigging in Freshwater For Steelhead, Jigging For Salmon In Saltwater, Jigging for Coho.

Gear Fishing With Lures, Spinners and Spoons in Freshwater Systems - Lure Fishing for Steelhead, Lure Fishing For Coho, Spin-n-Glows for Chinook.

Lures, Spinners and Spoons in Saltwater

Flyfishing - Spey Casting With Flies (Saltwater Fly Patterns), Flyfishing In Rivers for Coho, Flyfishing Lakes for Coho, Flyfishing In Rivers for Steelhead, Flyfishing for Pinks / Humpies.

Bait Fishing and Baitcasting - Using Bait In Saltwater, Fishing for Salmon with Bait In Freshwater.

Winter Steelhead Fishing Techniques - Summer Steelheading In BC

Gear Fishing Useing Floats - Fishing Gear For Coho and Steelhead, Gear Fishing Using Bait, Gear Fishing Using Lures.

Using Flashers and Dodgers for Salmon

River Fishing For Salmon
The art of river fishing for salmon has really earned it's name, especially in recent years with the numbers of returning salmon being lower than ever before. River fishing, simply put, is a skill that anglers need to hoan to become productive in freshwater systems. Go Salmon Fishing wants to expose these tactics to you and hopes that you are a practicing catch and release fisherman that only takes out of our rivers what you have to, to conserve for generations to come. Here are some of the great articles that we've written on how to catch salmon on the river:

Bottom Bouncing For Sockeye And Chinook

Reds and Kings, Bluebacks and Springs, no matter what you call them, they are most definitely the largest recreational fishery out of the five Pacific Ocean species and the most effective freshwater tactic is called bottom bouncing or flossing!

These two species often spawn during the same time with the Chinooks a little ahead of the Red’s, which results in the possibility of catching either species. Remember when I said finding where the fish are holding? Well if your line is in the water with more than one species of fish holding there…you can guess what’s going to happen. It’s like winning the Lottery! Especially when you’re bottom bouncing or “flossing” for salmon.

Bottom bouncing or bar fishing, is a technique used in freshwater river systems during the salmon spawning periods where the fish are moving up the river to lay eggs and then die after their life cycle is completed. This tactic is often used on the mighty Fraser River in British Columbia

As the fish move UP the river and your line moves DOWN the river you are essentially “snagging” the salmon. Some are snagged illegally in the tail or fin, resulting in a badly injured salmon that needs to be release immediately due to regulations, while the others are snagged in the mouth by the line acting like a “floss” before the hook is dragged across the mouth.

Many anglers aren’t too fond of the bottom bouncing technique as skill is minimized and many fish are wasted due to regulations concerning “foul hooked fish.”

Bottom Bouncing employs the use of a casting rod, baitcasting or spincasting reel, monofilament line or “super” line, hook and bait (often a small piece of wool and a corkie). To learn more about bottom bouncing for Salmon click here.

Anchor Fishing (Chinook)

Forward Trolling (Kings)

How to Find and Attract Salmon

If you are going to catch salmon in open water the first thing you have to do is to find where they are. The Pacific Ocean and its inlets present a vast expanse of water. So do the larger lakes and reservoirs. Some of these waters will hold salmon and some will not. Knowing the habits of salmon can help a lot. If you are contemplating fishing out of a certain port or harbor the first thing you should do is get the salmon fish reports. The newspapers, marinas and bait shops can tell you if the salmon fishing has been good or bad in a given area. Over their lives salmon may migrate hundreds or even thousands of miles. They are constantly in search of food and ideal water temperatures. If baitfish are abundant and the water is in the 55 to 57 degree range, salmon will stay in one locality sometimes for months. If the baitfish disappear the salmon will soon disappear also. If the water gets too warm the salmon will either go deep to cooler water or move out of an area.

Once you establish that salmon have been caught in the general area where you want to fish, the next problem is finding the schools. They may be shallow, they may be deep and they may be concentrated or scattered. If they are shallow (in the top 40 feet of water) your best strategies are to look for baitfish schools on your electronic fishfinder or look for birds diving and feeding. Salmon attack shallow baitfish from underneath and push them to the surface. Sea Gulls and other birds will then dive on the same baitfish. Diving birds are usually an excellent indicator that salmon are present and are feeding. If the salmon are not at the surface look for deeper balls of bait. Sometimes these will be near the bottom or along reefs or rocky structures. These will usually be herring (in the saltwater) which are another good food source for the salmon. In this instance you will need downriggers to get to the salmon which may sometimes be hundreds of feet down. In finding salmon you should also look for concentrations of boats that have found the school and are catching fish.

Salmon have some definite likes and dislikes. Knowing these can help you find and catch them.

He likes large schools of baitfish in the three to seven inch range. He will follow and stay close to these baitfish as long as his other likes are also met.
He likes other salmon. They depend on each other for company and assistance in navigation and will usually travel in loose schools. Smaller salmon will follow the larger ones back towards the spawning rivers.
He likes cloudy water full of plankton or other particles so he feels safer from larger predator fish and mammals.
He likes a disturbed surface on the ocean or lake. Whitecaps make him feel more secure in coming to the surface to get food.
He likes to be ready to spawn when his biological clock says go. He will forego all his other likes including food in order to be at the appointed river on time.

By the same token Mr. salmon also has some very strong dislikes.

He doesn't like warm water. Temperatures of 58 degrees and higher will send him elsewhere, either down deep or north. He may enter the warm water briefly to eat, or if he is moving towards his river to spawn.
He doesn't like bright light or clear water. He will come to the surface at night or as dawn breaks, but sun or clear water will usually send him deep in a hurry - unless he is mighty hungry and the baitfish are on the surface.
He doesn't like calm water with lots of boats on it. This particularly applies to chinooks. If the water is choppy he doesn't mind the boats nearly so much.
He doesn't like predators. Sea lions, sharks and other large fish will usually convince him he is not very hungry.

As salmon begin to mature and start their move back to their spawning rivers, they become very predictable in their habits. They will usually migrate along the same paths each year at approximately the same time. This migration starts months ahead of when they enter the fresh water. If you know these patterns or can get information about them you will frequently be rewarded with abundant catches of large salmon.

Attracting Salmon to Your Bait or Lure

Under the section on fundamentals we pointed out that the most important factor in attracting salmon is action on your bait or lure. Erratic or wounded fish action is the best. When salmon get ready to feed they will look for a tight school of baitfish. If they find one, they will go crashing through the middle of the school hitting the baitfish with their heads and tails. They will then turn around and look for the cripples which they will eat. If you are fishing this same school of baitfish you want your bait or lure to look like the baitfish and to look injured. If the salmon are feeding on anchovies you want an anchovy bait in a harness or a lure that is the same size and color as an anchovy. If they are feeding on squid or krill you want hootchies and if they are feeding on herring you want herring or herring imitations. I will often open the stomach of the first salmon I catch to see what it is feeding on and what size.

Downrigging

Downriggers

Modern downriggers have revolutionized trolling for salmon. With a downrigger the sport fisherman now has the capability to take his lures to the exact depth where salmon are feeding. Sometimes this can be hundreds of feet below the surface. The counter on the downrigger tells the fisherman exactly the depth of his lure. A downrigger coupled with an electronic fish finder is a deadly combination. The fish finder locates the fish and the downrigger takes the lure to the depth.

Both manual and electric downriggers are available. In recent years more salmon fishermen have moved to electric downriggers because they can be easily and quickly brought to the surface and out of the way when a salmon is hooked.In concept a downrigger is not a complicated device. A spool of wire is mounted on a boat gunnel. A heavy weight (typically ten pounds for salmon) is connected to the end of the wire. A salmon lure is rigged on your rod and reel and ten to twenty feet of line is pulled out from the reel as the boat is trolling. This places the lure ten to twenty feet behind the downrigger wire. The fishing line is then connected to the downrigger wire with a downrigger release. This release is going to pop open when a fish hits and the fish is then landed on the rod and reel. After the release is hooked to the line, the downrigger is lowered to the desired depth. As it is lowered the fishing line is pulled out from the rod and reel. For a complete discussion of different downriggers and how to use them go to the new Pro-Troll book Downrigger Fishing Techniques. This will explain how to select downriggers, rigging techniques, weight sizes needed and much more.

Scotty Electric Downrigger

Rods and Reels

Most fishermen using downriggers prefer long and light rods in the ten to twenty five pound class. Fiberglass works very well and holds up to the heavy loading on a downrigger. The author uses eight foot six inch Seeker fiberglass rods #SA 853. They are excellent for both trolling and mooching. For non downrigger trolling applications you will need a heavier rod to hold the weight or planer device used to take the lure down. A long light rod helps catch more fish particularly when you are fishing deep with your downrigger. After the downrigger is at depth we recommend tightening the drag just enough to be able to bend the rod tip in a big arc. When a fish strikes there is a momentary period of slack line. The rod tip will spring upward helping take the slack out of the line.

There are three important characteristics in selecting a salmon reel. It should have the best drag you can buy, a retrieve ratio of at least four to one to keep up with your downrigger and plenty of line capacity. The author fishes with Shimano Charter Specials with lever drags. Twenty pound test monofilament line represents a good compromise between enough strength to land large salmon and a thin diameter which minimizes the drag through the water when hooked to your downrigger. Some fishermen prefer to fish with twelve or fourteen pound monofilament but line this light will frequently twist during trolling. A lot of salmon lures spin as part of their action and will badly twist light line. Heavier line in the thirty to forty pound range will create a strong drag in the water. Extra heavy downrigger weights will be required to compensate for this drag. Some fishermen like the new spider wire types of lines for salmon. They cut through the water very nicely while trolling. The drawback comes in landing fish with no stretch line. The stretch in monofilament helps get a lot more fish into the boat.

The Black Box

Salmon have a strong sensivity to very weak electrical charges in the water. Your boat and your downriggers generate small natural charges of electricity anytime your boat is in the water. If these charges are in a salmon's comfort range he will be attracted to your boat and your downrigger wires. If the charge is too high or too low salmon will be repelled. A Black Box is a device you can hook to your boat and downriggers that allows you to set the ideal charge for salmon. Most experienced salmon fishermen use a Black Box. You can learn about it on the Pro-Troll website. click on Black Box Technology.

Sockeye Fishing Techniques for the Alberni Inlet" - by Marilyn Murphy

Technique: Fish as many rods as you can, as close together as possible, but without getting tangled up. And troll is long straight tacks. Use a sounder to locate the depth and locations of the main schools. Then position your gear ABOVE the fish, as much as 20 feet or more. The fish that break away from the school and follow your gear are the ones we are after. Usually after one or two strikes, keep trolling, don't stop completely to play your fish, keep trolling slowly because more than likely the rest of the gear may load up with the following fish. We usually troll our gear using downriggers (a must) fishing 35-95 feet deep; the preferred depth may change year to year depending on the depth of the thermocline.

Where: If you were to look at a chart of the Alberni Inlet you will notice a series of narrows, the fish generally stack up and hold on either side of the narrows, about quarter channel to the shoreline. When deciding where to fish, let your eyes to the work. Start at the top of the inlet, run down (south) and look for groups of boats with action. The sockeye are attracted to "groups" of gear, so don't be discouraged by large groups of vessels fishing, this is a good thing.

Gear: The well known pink hootchie is your best way to go, there are various version of the same from manufactured to homemade using surveyor's tape. Here are my favourites:

Lure: MP16, MP44 (MP stands for "mini-plankton, and the number is the colour code). There are a many colours that are similar to, which are equally as effective. Local shops will have the "hot ticket".

Hook: Just as important as the lure is the hook you choose, single is by far the best. Sockeye twist and spin, so using trebles often works against you. The idea is to get a good solid hook set (let the virtues of a very sharp hook do this, since physically setting the hooks on sockeye result in pulling gear out of their soft mouths.) A single tied Gamagatsu or Eagle Claw LASER SHARP or ACCUPOINT hook is recommended, and many prefer red or black over Chrome. Tandem hooks work too, but these often get tangled up in your net and are not entirely necessary unless the bite is slow and you want to make every strike count.

Leader: It is very important to choose a dense enough leader that will transmit the action of the flasher to the lure, although 25-30 pound seems over test, this is ideal for getting the desired performance to the lure. We prefer an ultragreen or clear line. (Not brown or Chameleon)

Flasher: Hot Spot or Oki Flasher are the ones to use, in colours red or chartreuse, but usually red. Avoid the imitation flashers, their swivels are usually poor quality, I prefer the Hot Spot Commercial version which has Ball bearing swivels on both ends. Nothing worse than trolling around for half and hour to check your gear and find they are all tangled up in a spinned cluster of what now has to be re tied and re rigged. If you have flashers with regular barrel swivels, cut them off and attach good ball bearing swivels at both ends using large split rings.

When: Over the years its pretty much proven that the big action is early in the morning before the full sun comes over the hills of the Alberni Inlet and hits the water. These are tall hills so there are hours of morning action before this may happen. Usually once the wind picks up and we start side tracking, we become ineffective. If the weather says calm, some days the bite just goes on and on.

Sounds exciting? Well it is, so have fun!

Trolling:

TROLLING SPOONS FOR FRESHWATER SALMON AND TROUT
submitted by Luhr Jensen

Trolling with spoons is a technique practiced and enjoyed everyday by thousands of fresh water anglers across the country. It's an easy-to-learn and use method which is particularly effective in lakes and reservoirs for large fish such as coho and Chinook salmon, brown, cutthroat and lake trout, striped bass and several varieties of rainbow trout including landlocked steelhead and Kamloops.

Spoons are effective because they closely resemble and imitate the action of crippled baitfish . . . food which makes up a large part of the diet of predatory gamefish.

Anglers who employ trolling as their #1 technique and understand fish and their habits usually will outfish anglers using other techniques. The reason is simple: You cover a large area of water thoroughly in a short time, pinpointing concentrations of fish or scattered lunkers with minimum effort. Trolling allows you to cover more water faster, easier and more completely than any other fishing technique.

A spoon should wobble from side-to-side and will produce its best all-around, fish-catching action when trolled at speeds between the slowest that produces a wobble and the fastest darting action that does not cause the lure to revolve or spin. For fast trolling try the Tom Mack®. Medium speed trolling spoons include the Diamond King and Rattlesnake. For general trolling at all speeds, the Flutter Spoon, Krocodile®, Loco®, Super Duper® and Alpena Diamond are excellent choices.

The best trolling spoons are lightweight and thin which will provide the most erratic, darting baitfish action in the water. Many spoons such as the Krocodile® and Super Duper® are manufactured in casting and trolling models and it is important that you select the lightest weight models. For example, one die may stamp several different thicknesses of a spoon, such as the No. 5 Krocodile®, which produces 3/4-, 1-, 1 1/2- and 2 1/2-oz. models. For trolling, you would choose the lighter 3/4- or 1-oz. size.

SPOON TROLLING RIGS
Diagrammed below are seven proven ways to rig a spoon for trolling. Note that dodgers often are used as attractors in conjunction with spoons when fish are scattered or are in deep water.

FLATLINE
With the surface or flatline technique, the spoon is tied directly, via its attachment device, to 8- to 20-lb. test main line. No additional weights are used or, at most, a small 1/8- to 1/2-oz. keel-type sinker may be placed 6 feet up the line from the spoon. The spoon is let out behind your moving boat 50 to 200 feet and the troll begun. This technique is particularly effective when trout, steelhead, stripers or salmon are feeding near the surface, especially during low light periods

SHALLOW TO MEDIUM
With the addition of a keel sinker 4 to 6 feet up the line from the spoon, shallow to medium depths can be trolled effectively. Sinker weights, depending upon the depth desired, usually run from 1 to 8 ounces with main line testing from 12 to 30 pounds. As in flatlining, let out 50 to 200 feet of line behind your moving boat and begin the troll.

DIVERS
One effective way to get a spoon or spoon/attractor rig deep without lead weights is with a diving sinker such as the Pink Lady®, Deep Six®, Dipsy Diver® or Jet Diver. The Dipsy Diver® is particularly unique diving sinker as the lead weight in its base plate can be shifted in degrees to produce starboard, port or behind the boat running. With the Dipsy® you now can troll off to either side of the boat without interfering with flatlines or downrigger lines and cover an extremely wide swath of water. Divers also act as fish attractors due to their color and shape. Standard rigging with a diver is 4 to 6 feet of leader between spoon and diver and 20- to 30-lb. test main line to your rod. A second way of rigging a diver adds a #0, #040 or #00 small Jensen Dodger 24 inches up the leader from the spoon. Use 48" of leader between the dodger and diver.

DOWNRIGGERS
Spoons often are fished off a downrigger, either by themselves or in conjunction with a dodger or flasher. With a downrigger you will be able to work all depths and will have the added advantage of no weights between you and the fish once hooked. Anglers who troll spoons by themselves behind a downrigger, especially when seeking wary fish such as Chinook, lake trout or browns, often prefer 10 to 29 feet (some as much as 40 to 60 feet) between the line release and spoon.

Dodgers can be used as attractors in conjunction with a spoon behind a downrigger with good results. Size #0 or #1 Jensen Dodgers are recommended. Allow 12 to 18 inches of leader between spoon and dodger. Shorter leaders produce more frantic and faster spoon action while longer one result in slower action.

Flashers are yet another kind of attractor that can be used with a spoon behind a downrigger. Flashers such as the Alaskan Eagle or Abe 'n Al® produce a deliberate, slow roll which often is favored by species such as Chinook and lake trout. Because of the rotating nature of the flasher, spoons trailed behind must have more leader than that used with dodgers.

FISH PREFERENCES

Certain fish species, particularly when it comes to larger fish, display specific preferences when it comes to trolling spoons and/or colors. The following species-by-species breakdown will provide valuable information you can apply immediately.

COHO SALMON
When the temperature is right in fresh water, coho salmon are surface or shallow water oriented and can be found, for the most part, at depths less than 50 feet. Coho especially like fast action spoons and the added action of small #0, #00 or #040 dodgers ahead of a spoon (see rigging diagram). Specific spoons geared for coho fishing include the Loco®, Rattlesnake, Coyote, Krocodile®, Flutter Spoon and Super Duper.

CHINOOK SALMON
When compared with coho, fresh water Chinook prefer deeper water. They often shy away from unnatural movements in the water so longer leaders often are used. Proven Chinook spoons include the Loco®, Tom Mack®, Alpena Diamond, Diamond King and Point Defiance®. These spoons all have a deliberate, wobbling side-to-side action when trolled at medium to fast speeds. Because Chinook often are found deep, blue or green painted finishes are effective, as are blue or green Prism-Lite® finishes and metallic patterns with blue or green stripes. Silver or pearl also are know Chinook color favorites.

LAKE TROUT
Lake trout prefer slow, deliberate-action lures and/or attractors. Popular spoons include the Krocodile®, Loco®, Alpena Diamond and Slow-Sam with top colors being Genuine Silver Plate, Pearl, Nickel/Blue Stripe, Chartreuse/Fire Dot, Glo Green and 50/50 Hammered Brass/Nickel. Lake trout generally lie close to the bottom or in the lower level of the thermocline.

BROWN TROUT
These fish are slow to react and very wary of any unnatural movement or noise. They often are boat shy so let out more line when trolling (100 to 300 feet). Their diet consists primarily of small fish so spoons are a natural when it come to fishing for them. Browns show a definite preference toward natural fish-finish spoons such as Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout. Other popular finishes include Brass/Gold Prism-Lite®, Chartreuse/Silver Prism-Lite®, Brass/Fire Stripe and Brass Bikini. Four excellent spoons to use are the Alpena Diamond, Super Duper®, Krocodile® and Flutter Spoon.

RAINBOW TROUT
These fish and their cousins, landlocked steelhead and Kamloops, normally are fast-moving and are found scattered at different depths in lakes and reservoirs. They will concentrate where food and/or oxygen sources are located and frequently can be found feeding near the surface during low light periods. Metal finishes such as Chrome/blue, Chrome/Fire or Chrome/Green in either hammered or plain and painted finishes such as Chartreuse/Fire Dot, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Frog and Blue or Green often produce strikes. Genuine Silver Plate is a finish which has proved irresistible to rainbow, steelhead and Kamloops. Additionally, the Prism-Lite® finishes of red, gold or green in combination with Nickel or Brass and the Prism-Lite® painted finishes are excellent choices. These fish strike at medium to fast trolling speeds with spoons such as the Krocodile®, Loco®, Canadian Wonder®, Super Duper® and Flutter Spoon solid bets for success.

TEMPERATURE AND OXYGEN

In large fresh water lakes and reservoirs time of day isn't nearly as critical as locating the preferred temperature level for the fish species you are seeking and the thermocline. Lakes stratify into three separate layers with the onset of warm weather and generally stay that way until fall. The middle layer of water, where there is a large concentration of dissolved oxygen, baitfish and therefore predator fish is called the thermocline and can generally be found from 10 to 80 feet down. This is not only an oxygen-saturated layer, but a temperature layer as well and fish relate to it as both a comfort zone and a zone where their body metabolism functions efficiently.

The peak feeding and optimum temperature for coho and Chinook salmon is 55° with an active range of 44° to 58°. For lake trout, peak feeding and optimum temperature is 50° with activity from 43° to 53°. For steelhead trout, optimum temperature is between 50° and 55° with activity from 40° to 75°. Brown and rainbow trout have an optimum temperature preference between 55° and 60° with activity from 44° to 75°. Striped bass exhibit a range of temperature preference from 60° to 78° with the optimum temperature between 70° and 72°.

Fish rarely venture out of these preferred temperature zones, except to catch a meal and then will return quickly. One thing to remember when fishing temperature layers such as the thermocline is that it can change from day to day because of wind and/or wave action and you'll have to locate it each time out.

SPECIALIZED FINISHES & COLORS

Fish definitely see color and/or shades of color and can be very fussy about it. One of the big advantages of trolling with spoons is the wide variety of specialized finishes available . . . there's a color to fit every angling situation.

GENUINE SILVER PLATE
The ultimate in metal finishes, Genuine Silver Plate, is available on the Flutter Spoon and Diamond King. This finish produces a highly reflective shine not achievable with nickel or chrome plating . . . it simply reflects a much higher percentage of light, like a baitfish, under a variety of different light conditions and at different depths.

FISHSCALE®
The natural, iridescent look of baitfish scales has been captured on the FlutterSpoon and Loco®. This finish has proved extremely productive at all depths.

GLO FINISHES
Both the Flutter Spoon and the Loco® are available in a Glo/Fluorescent Green Stripe finish which is particularly effective in deep water.

"HOT TAIL" FINISHES
The Krocodile® and Diamond King now are available in special Hot Tail finishes including Crystal/Hot Tail Pearl/Green/Chartreuse, "Hot Tail Nickel/Fire, Hot Tail Brass/Fire, Crystal Hot Tail/Chartreuse/Fire, Hot Tail Silver/Fire and Hot Tail Gold/Fire. These finishes focus strikes to the rear of the lure, where open hooks ensure more and better hook-ups.