What depth do you troll for salmon?
Two mph is a good trolling speed for coho salmon, but a speed of 1.5 mph is a better speed for chinook salmon, and you will be fishing even deeper at the lower velocity. With 50 feet of line out, you would be 44 feet deep at a velocity of 1.5 mph – not the 37 feet deep at 2 mph.
What is the best trolling speed for salmon?
The best trolling speed for salmon will lie somewhere in the range of 1.5 to 3.5 mph depending on your exact setup. Dodgers are designed to dart from side to side without much spinning. If you start to run at speeds above 2.5 mph you may well end up making the dodger spin.
What time of day is best to catch salmon?
In general, the magic hours of early morning just before sunrise, and late evening just after sunset are the best for salmon fishing. The phases of the moon come into play, high and low tide, and even low-pressure systems moving in can enhance your opportunity.
How much line do you need behind a downrigger ball?
For trout, you’ll want to run your offering from 50 to 200 feet behind the downrigger weight depending on the depth you are fishing. The deeper you fish the shorter your line can be. When kokanee and kings are the target you can shorten your lines considerably.
What line do you troll for salmon?
For larger fish, like Chinook salmon, use 20-25 pound line. For smaller fish, like pink salmon, use 10-15 pound line.
How do you rig a flasher for salmon trolling?
Pro-Troll flashers are normally tied to your fishing line. You will then rig a bait, hoochie fly or lure two to five feet behind the flasher. With your boat in motion, let the flasher out up to 30 feet back.
Tail Leader Lengths.
| Hoochies or Flies | Bait or Lures | |
|---|---|---|
| 8″ flasher | 20 to 27″ | 22 to 48″ |
How far behind the boat should I troll?
Every boat is different and you should make your boat your own study. Proper distance for most boats will be anywhere from 20 feet to 150 feet behind your boat. Whether you have inboard diesel or outboard gas engines, your power dictates the distance you troll your baits and lures.
What kind of lures do salmon like?
In a broad categorical sense, the best salmon lures for rivers are spinners, buoyant drift rigs, casting spoons, flies, and wide-wobbling diving plugs. Silver or chrome are especially popular hard-lure finishes, and many river salmon lures are enhanced with a bright color, particularly orange or red/pink.
How long should a salmon leader be?
Leaders. There seems to be as many opinions on leaders as fishermen, however in general, leaders for a floating line should be 9 – 12 ft. long and tapered. The section of the leader that attaches to the flyline should be approximately 2/3 the diameter of the fly line and be made from stiff material.
What is the best color for salmon?
Use any color, as long as it is green. The colors that show up in the deepest water are greens, blues and blacks.
Is rain good for salmon fishing?
Rain does help wash the chemical “scent” of the watershed downstream, making it easier for returning adult salmon to navigate back to the streams where they were born. Rain also raises the level of rivers, which can help salmon travel into locations that are otherwise inaccessible during other times of the year.
How do you attract salmon?
Salmon are attracted to bright colors, so use lures and bait that will catch the attention of the fish and make them want to bite. Master anglers recommend red, blue, fluorescent pink and fluorescent orange as colors that will most often attract salmon.
How many rods does a downrigger need?
Stacking is more affordable than buying more downriggers, and on a small fishing boat, there often isn’t enough room to attach more downriggers anyway. One typical method allows you to fish two lines per downrigger.
What weight downrigger should I use?
Six to eight pounds is typical for most moderate depth freshwater applications and ten pounds is typical for saltwater. (see Weight Table). The amount of weight needed on a downrigger is a function of the speed you are trolling and the depth you are fishing.
Are downriggers worth it?
Downriggers are an efficient way to put live bait and lures in precise zones of the water column, and all anglers know that being in the right depth leads to more fish in the box. Downriggers are consistently used to target king mackerel, amberjack, cobia, grouper, among others.
What color line is best for salmon fishing?
What pound test line should I use?
| Test | Line Type | Species |
|---|---|---|
| 6-10 lb | Mono | Trout/Char/ Pink Salmon |
| 12-20 lb | Mono/Braid | Coho/Chum/ Sockeye Salmon |
| 25-50 lb | Mono/Braid | King/Coho Salmon/ Rockfish/Near-shore salt water species |
| 60-100 lb | Mono/Braid | Salmon/Rockfish/ Halibut/Lingcod |
Why do salmon eat their own eggs?
A young fish is programed to feed on eggs, probably the richest source of protein in the river. Just like humans have a taste for sugar fish are wired to like eggs. In fact all fish eggs are sought after by other fish-bass have to protect their nest and eggs from other fish that pray on bass eggs.
Do I need a leader for salmon fishing?
For fishing a fly or hoochie I use no less than 40-pound leader (usually, 60-pound leader, in fact). Flys and hoochies have no action of their own and you need a stiff leader to impart that action. For a fly or hoochie I use 40 to 44-inches of leader from where it ties onto the flasher to the tail hook.
Can you run a spoon behind a flasher?
To me, if the fish are eating primarily spoons at the time, it makes sense to run a flasher off one of my riggers to attract the Salmon & Trout to the spread and pair it with a spoon four feet or so behind that (so its action is independent of the flasher).
How do you attach a flasher to a downrigger?
Clip the flasher to your downrigger ball or just above. Lower the flasher into the water, let out a little cable, just until the flasher starts to roll over, then clip on your line with the lure. 6 feet or more should separate where the line clips to the cable and the ball where the flasher is attached.
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