Salmon fishing in the salt - technique and methds

[rogerbum]

I thought it might be useful to summarize my favorite lures and methods for salmon and hope that others will add their own. In this thread, I'm only looking for peoples favorite/most productive technique - e.g. your "Go To" methods. Here's mine:

1) a) 11" green glow flasher (I prefer these


- not due to the e-chip but due to the fin) +

b) 24" of leader (you can tie your own or buy premade) +

c)green spatterback hootchie +

d) a silver or crystal twinkle skirt insert

Onto the leader slip on the twinkle skirt, then the hootchie and tie it off to the flasher so it trails about 24" back. Use 40# leaders so that the action of the flasher is better transmitted to the hootchie. Cut a fillet of herring and put it on the front hook. Troll from a down rigger as indicated in the first link.

2) Flasher + spoon - I use the same green glow flasher as above and any number of different kinds of spoons. However, the favorite spoons are:
a) 3.5 or 4" Coyote Spoons in the color patterns of
i) Funky Chicken (purple with some glow green and red/orange)
ii) Cop Car (black and white)
iii) Green splatterback
b) Coho killer green/white is a favorite color. The sonic edge spoons (at the same link as the coho killer spoons) are also good. Typically, spoons are run a bit farther back from the flasher (36") and on lighter line (15-20# test).

3) Cut plug herring There's a number of ways to rig these. If you don't have down riggers, a cut plug herring on a 4-6oz banana weight. This can be trolled out the back with a combination of weight, line out, line thickness and speed controlling the depth. For coho in the summer, just under the surface is fine. For returning coho or kings in the summer in the early AM, 20-30' down is good. You can use the same setup to mooch for salmon - e.g. jigging with a herring.. A cut plug herring on a simple banana weight either jigged or trolled is one of the simplest ways to catch salmon and the gear is cheap - a weight(with chain swivels attached), a couple of hooks and herring. The only down side to cut plugs is that if there are a lot of dogfish around, you often go through a lot of bait an leaders on the dog fish. Trolling faster will reduce that (sometimes), but when there are a lot of dogfish around, I go to spoons.

So that's my top 3 salmon catchers. If I was to recommend what someone new to salmon fishing should buy I'd say the following is a good basic set of tackle for saltwater salmon trolling:

1) 2 green flashers - 11" Pro troll with the fin (about $11/ea)
2) 1 red flasher - 11" Pro troll with the fin (about $11)
3) 1 silver prism flasher - 11" Pro troll with the fin (about $11)
4) 4 - 4 oz. banana weights (about $2-3/ea.)
5) 4 - 6 oz banana weights (about $2-3/ea.)
6) 24 pre-tied leaders 40# test (you can tie your own - I like the Owner cutting point hooks - buy barbless hook or de-barb after tying). If you wish to buy pre-tied leaders the Gamakatsu leaders are good. Figure $1-3/leader.
7) 2 coho killer spoons in green glow ($4/ea).
2 coyote spoons in each of the following colors - cop car, funky chicken and green splatter back ($4/ea).
9) On flasher storage bag $16
10) Reel - there's a lot of good reels out there - an Abu garcia 6500 is nice and can be had for around $100 new, less used. A shimano Tekota reel with the line counter is great for trolling banana weights or for bottom fishing. They go for about $150.
11) Rod - again lots of choices - I like the 9' Lamiglass downrigger poles. For down rigger use, you want fiberglass rods as graphite rods tend to break after spending a lot of time in the bent shape. The Lamiglass rods are $110 on line - I got mine new for $65 at Outdoor Emporium's garage sale.
12) Line - I like to use 50-65# test Power Pro or Spider Wire braided line. These types of line are very strong and have a line diameter that is similar to much weaker monofilament line - e.g. 65# spider wire is the same diameter as 15-20# monofilament. Also, these braided lines have much less stretch are MUCH better for bottom fishing. 300yds will run about $25-30.

[gljjr]

Great post Roger! I have a couple of additions.

My number one flasher is the 105 in Rogers picture. Although, I caught 3 kings in Elliot Bay with Clear Crushed UV flashers this year (2 on aerofly's and one on a hootchie). I use both Hot Spots and E-Chips. Haven't really noticed much difference either way unless the fin breaks off the E-Chip. Then they should go in the garbage (but usually don't).

For the leader to a hootchie you want a very stiff leader to impart the action from the flasher into the hootchie. For this I will use either 40lb or 50lb Seaguar Flourocarbon leader. I try to tie my leaders so that the hooks are offset 180 degrees from each other. I also tie them so that the trailing hook will be further back than store bought leaders. I like to use a typical egg loop to tie the hooks on.

I like to set up the hootchies to have the bend of the trailing hook even with the ends of the tentacles. In my experience, most fish are hooked with the trailing hook.

[Sea Wolf]

Gary-

Thanks! I knew you'd bee here pronto!

Who's next, Tom?

Roger-

See what you've started?

Joe.

[tsturm]

I always start with a #104 & a #105 30-40 inches of leader w/ herring. Witch ever color flasher picks up the first fish the other line gets changed to.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I don't know if this is legend or fact, but I tend to use longer leaders (60") when using herring and fishing for kings. The roll is a little slower and it is perportedly more effective.

Another great lure per-legend that is used on the mid-Vancouver Island is the Googly Eyed Wild Thing. I bought two, but have never had them in the water. Anyone else ever use them?

Steve

[oldgrowth]

Roger - thanks for the post/thread. I always wondered what some of these strange sounding names of lures were and with your post/pictures and links, I now have a better idea.
________
Dave

[Doryman]

Roger, thanks for all the great tackle tips! Now, how about some tips about when & how to go -- what I have learned so far is to fish with the incoming tide from an hour or two before high tide to an hour or two after. Is that what you do also?

I've also heard that salmon come up the Strait in waves and that somehow you can monitor commercial fish catch records to determine when a new group of salmon decide to head up the Strait but I have not been able to find out where that information is available.

Care to share some additional info about these aspects of fishing?

Warren

[rogerbum]

Warren,

As far as the when - I agree with the conventional wisdom that slack tides are best - e.g. an hour before to an hour afterward is good but in my experience that matters more in the sound/straits than it does in the open ocean. However, the one thing that does seem universal is that I get the most boats just before sunup to an hour or two afterwards. Most days, the first few hours is 90% of the fish. So definitely get out early.

As to the where - that's easy where the fish are! As to how to find them -
1) Places that have been successful before are more likely - so experience helps with this.
2) In the open ocean, plateaus and edges of canyons are much better than other places.
3) The radio and radar can be very useful - In the ocean - locate the commercial trollers and/or good charters and your odds go up. Those guys have #1 (experience) all over us guys. Stay out of their way but fishing nearby (not too nearby) is OK.
4) Diving bird flocks are indicators of bait and bait draws fish. So look for those. Also, bait balls on the fish finder. Set the depth of the down rigger to just under the bait ball.

While salmon do come into the strait in waves - if you wait for info to show up on commercial or even recreational records, you've missed that wave. Better to make the reports than to wait for them. The only place I have really dialed in is Neah Bay and the waters just outside of there. I can always find fish outside of the strait in July and August. Inside the strait then is hit and miss - it's actually better inside the strait early in July than it is in early August (but the fish are smaller in July - with the exception of kings).

For bottom fish and especially for rock cod, I've found it to be far more effective to look on the map for appropriate structure (e.g. rocky areas) but then to drive around a bit a low speeds until I find a good school on the fish finder. This is more effective than simply fishing where the should be fish. Once I find a big school, I set up so that my drift will carry me back across the school and then drop jigs down. Again, I know areas that are historically better than others and fish those first. Another tip for bottom fish is to use your depth finder to find plateaus and rock piles that are not at the typical contours on a map. E.g. plateaus that rise from 110' deep to 80' deep generally won't show on a map as most have contours at 120' and 60' deep. Hence rises that go from 140-110' deep will show on the GPS as a nice little circle on the chart while those that go from 110' to 80' deep will. Both can be the same size 30' high rock pile but the one that shows on the map will be targeted by many fishermen in the area while the other will be largely unfished.

[Captain Downriggin]

Well it certainly has been a long time since I posted....

Oh boy...favorite setups - All the new UV hoochies...


[IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc204/Captain_Downriggins/CDRSpecialUV.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc204/Captain_Downriggins/DownrigginsJellyfish.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc204/Captain_Downriggins/UVHerring.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc204/Captain_Downriggins/BlueberryJellyfish.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc204/Captain_Downriggins/Jimi-1.jpg[/IMG]

[Sea Wolf]

Captain Downriggins-
The "IMG" has to be lower case letter, or "img". Also, the "[" and '"]" must be exactly positioned. Nice photos! Thanx! Joe.

[1TUBERIDER]

Hi fishermen brats

I almost always have a chovie on the hooks. If seems to increase my catch wether I am bottom fishing or trolling for salmon.

I have been using the elures by apex with some success. In fact my first hookup with a chovie on straightened the stock hook. It was a big fish. So I usually tie on a double hook set up for the chovie.

We have to remove the barbs on the hook for salmon.

1tuberider
Jeff

[flapbreaker]

Wow, it's hard to add anything here.

Here's what I do.

Ocean coho get a clear/UV 00 hotspot dodger/flasher, 24" leader, and either white/blue or purple haze hootchie with a small peice of herring fillet on the upper hook. Then I put it down 10-15 feet on the downrigger.

Ocean Chinook I usually try a red 00 hotspot flasher 3-5 foot leader and a cut plug herring.

Bay chinook just get the cutplug herring treatment with 6oz of lead on a slider or splitter. To much seaweed to use flashers usually.

[Doryman]

Holiday Sports (tackle dealer in Burlington) sends out a Yahoo newsletter each week with the latest info. The also advertise their specials and right now they have herring in stock, and say that the harvest was poor, so stock up now. I have never worked with herring (only spoons and hoochies) , so would appreciate some advice on what color to get (what does the color refer to, the size?) and any other tips you'd care to share. Also how many herring do you typically go through in a given day of fishing (I assume they deteriorate after X minutes/hours of trolling)? And when do you prefer herring over lures, and how do you like to rig them?

Thanks,
Warren

[flapbreaker]

[breausaw]

Great information Roger and thanks for sharing with us, my limited sport fishing experience for salmon has been here in Alaska.
The only way I’ve ever caught salmon in salt water is using pink ladies and herring that was over 15 years ago on a charter boat outside Resurrection bay. What I remember is it took each of us about 30 minutes to catch our 6 fish limit. I also hooked into a dolphin, that was fun almost striped my real before the skipper cut the line.
That’s about the extent of my salt water salmon fishing experience other then catching pinks and silvers from shore using pixie lures.