Second is the skill factor or technique. The easiest way to resolve this confusion is to check for a black gumline and spots on both the upper and lower lobes of the tail. River Fishing – River fishing is the most popular way for sports anglers to get out there especially because of it’s many possible techniques. Salmon fishing tips and techniques have been an oddity when it comes to finding out what the best gear is to use from the best fishermen around! 2. Sockeye salmon responds well to typical spinning and fly fishing lures, and is also caught on animal heads. Back bouncing eggs is a method of egg fishing that is very productive. Fishing for this fish is exciting and exciting. You might ask what these Steelhead and Salmon fishing techniques involve. Finn Fishing Techniques coho salmon, king salmon 0. Thus, a popular approach is to begin fishing estuary waters at a low tide and “ride the tide” upwards into the stream or river, essentially following the fish. Fishing for these Pacific treasures begins with understanding Alaska’s five different ocean-run salmon. Additionally, a Coho will only have spots on the upper lobe of the tail fin whereas a King will have these spots on the top and bottom. Sockeye salmon fishing techniques. A dual salmon hook rig is often used for a hootchie or herring. There are many techniques for catching salmon in a river, and I aim to cover them all at some point. Well if you haven’t, for years the tale 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. Although not typically targeted for their table fare, Pink Salmon are a blast to catch and often more willing to take a bait, lure or fly than any other Alaskan salmon. Salmon will often hug the banks especially if the rivers are full. Salmon fishermen should keep a distance even when elbow-to-elbow conditions prevail. Maintain a safe distance to avoid hooking someone or encroachment. Fishing techniques are methods for catching fish. Sockeyes arrive in Southeast Alaska around the end of June through August depending on location, with freshwater anglers favoring the later end of that timeframe when the spawning Reds will be in the streams/rivers. Fly Fishing for Salmon Fly fishing is a method of fishing typically done while standing on a ­river bank or in the water with hip waders on. 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! These fish are a flat out impact to get. Always be on the lookout for “jumpers” – salmon leaping out of the water is always a good sign that countless more salmon are likely lurking below the surface. The King Salmon is the ultimate prize of Alaskan salmon fishing. Not surprisingly, the first approach is more effective when the fish tend to be spread out while the second approach is best when a large school of salmon is located at a specific depth range under the boat. Constantly bouncing the weight on the bottom keeps the bait in the strike zone. Three to twelve weight rods satisfy most angler requirements, and the weight should be chosen by paying close attention to river size and fish size as well as water speed. Go Salmon Fishing covers the absolute beauty of spey rod casting of flies – including both fresh and saltwater patterns. The salmon run begins in the saltwater since the salmon are returning from the ocean and then proceeds to the freshwater where salmon are returning to spawn. Remember, these fish are staging with the intent to enter the stream and proceed upstream. Flyfishing – Catching a trout on a fly rod is one thing, but when you multiply what’s on the other end by 10 or more it becomes a work of art (work being the operative word!). Most fishing targets Kings and Cohos but angling details about all 5 salmon are included below. Casting is another popular approach. Salmon fishing can be insanely intimidating to a new angler. Salmon Fishing Techniques. The top-secret to catching salmon fish is through having a very sharp hook. We walk you through the steps of both systems as well as cover various other topics such as trolling spoons in both salt and freshwater, how to downrig and what anchor fishing is all about. The beads will cause the hootchie to sit slightly above the first hook, letting the bottom hook dangle free just beyond the length of the hootchie legs. I have found the best color for trolling King Salmon to be green. For fishing at the beginning of the season, in large and cold water, sinking bombards and large shipped flies are used. Drift fishing for salmon usually involves floating downstream on a drift boat and bouncing or drifting you bait along the bottom. Kings prefer a slower and wider roll behind the flasher so a longer leader is preferred while Cohos like a faster/shorter roll thus would prefer a shorter leader. The downsides are that it can be tricky to get the spin just right and also a bait can be easily fouled by passing debris or wear and tear. Compared with trout fishing, flyfishing for salmon is easy. Salmon fishing in the ocean comes in two forms–trolling and mooching. Techniques and rigs for salmon fishing in a river. Kings tend to prefer a wider-spinning bait at a slower speed, often 1.5mph or less (sometimes as slow as .5 or .7 mph). Pink Salmon arrive in Southeast Alaska in early July depending on location. Anglers in estuary waters target salmon with a wide range of tactics. Since Sockeye Salmon feed almost entirely on plankton, sport fishing for these tasty Alaskan fish can be tricky. Trolling for Salmon Without Downriggers: Beginners Guide . Check out my post on the 2019 Juneau Salmon Derby to see trolling action for Cohos and Kings firsthand! Jigging For Salmon – Jigging for salmon in freshwater systems is becoming very popular among anglers seeking the ever illusive steelhead in freshwater rivers. First you need to realize that there are as many techniques to catching salmon as there are salmon…LOTS! Drift fishing is the most effective technique to catch fish from the shore. Salmon Fishing Tips and Techniques. Go Salmon Fishing.com exposes both Winter and Summer Steelhead fishing tactics in B.C. To fish from the shore you will have to apply some techniques. While photos and videos of salmon fishing brown bears are very popular and tend to portray bears as skilled fishermen, it can actually be quite challenging for a bear to catch a salmon and they have to employ a variety of techniques to do so. When fishing estuary waters tides are key. The big benefit of this approach is that you “set it and forget it” knowing full-well that your bait is spinning correctly. While this approach is repetitive to some (making similar casts again and again), it often yields some of the best salmon stream fishing results! Mooching is a different saltwater approach that offers the benefit of “rod in hand” instead of watching a trolling rod. Proponents of cut plug herring claim that this is the most natural bait thus produces the maximum amount of strikes. Marine trolling approaches work will in these areas, especially if the area has deep water nearby the stream mouth (i.e. When you become a little bit more familiar with salmon fishing, you start to explore different ways to catch fish. Saltwater Salmon Fishing Techniques (marine / shore casting) Trolling is a popular approach to catch Kings & Cohos. Weighing in at 8-12lbs and known for their jump-filled fights and excellent table fare, it is no wonder why many anglers travel to Southeast Alaska specifically to target these “silver bullets.” Cohos typically arrive in across Southeast Alaska mid/late July through August (depending on location). A few distinct features allow anglers to confidently identify a Coho. Fishing techniques include hand-gathering, spearfishing, netting, angling and trapping. I first fished in Iceland in 2007. JUNE 2020, Barn Door Battle! Here is another very crucial tip for all the salmon fishers. The overwhelming majority of salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska is done utilizing the following general techniques. Salmon Fishing on Maine's East Grand Lake. Trolling is a popular approach to catch Kings & Cohos. Trolling involves downriggers or planers that will take a trolled herring or flasher or drone spoon down 150 feet or more. This approach most typically employs a medium/heavy spinning or conventional gear paired with a slip bobber and a hook. Fishing tactics vary by salmon species as well as location – saltwater or freshwater. Hover fishing is when we fish slower currents and fish more on top of the fishing … Move out of the way of an angler who has a salmon on his line. Their unmistakeable “tiger stripes” and “canine teeth” have many anglers wondering if they have hooked a prehistoric fish. Mooching is a much slower, and some say calmer method of fishing. We cover how to properly bottom bounce or bar fish, how to drift fish out of a boat, and the differences of the ever popular American Backtrolling and Bottom Bouncing methods. For this, you will need 12 to the 36-inch line to fish. Float fishing can be deadly effective for Chum Salmon. Fly fishing is another popular approach. Alaskan Wildlife – Juneau, Alaska, Monster 43lb King Salmon! Often anglers use downriggers to present … Visit Bass Pro Shops Fishing – Click Here, Wets and Streamer Flies For Salmon Fishing, Fly Fishing Combos For Saltwater & Freshwater, Attractant & Bait For Bass, Panfish And Walleye, Attractants, Bait Keepers, Aerators and Lights for Fishing, Tackle Craft – Handle Kits and Components, Downriggers, Outriggers and Planer Boards, Trolling Rods For Freshwater And Saltwater Fishing. Behind the flasher, a tail leader ranging from 20-48″ is typically used. A variety of productive salmon fishing techniques are used by steam-side anglers. We expose the art of jigging for salmon in saltwater as well as Coho and freshwater steelhead in this article. At the bottom of low tide, the fish are most concentrated at the mouth of the stream thus fairly easy to locate (look for “jumpers”) and target. We teach you the ropes of flyfishing for Coho on rivers and lakes as well as the exciting pursuit of Steelhead and Humpies on a fly. Then, a series of methodical upstream casts are made, allowing the bait to drift through high-potential salmon areas. Note: Some cut-plug herring anglers use this approach quite successfully without a downrigger. Fly fishing is common within streams, however, there is more focus on using egg patterns and achieving a natural drift. Trolling For Salmon – Doesn’t matter if you’re in freshwater or saltwater, plug trolling is one of the most effective ways to troll for salmon and remains one of the top techniques for early season salmon fishing because of water coverage. Keep in mind that when trolling in tidal areas, which is most of Southeast Alaska, it is critical to account for the current.  Pay attention to whether salmon are striking while trolling with or against the current – sometimes both are equally productive but it can also be the case that one direction significantly out performs the other!  Additionally, when tracking your trolling speed, take account of the speed with which the current is moving the boat.  If your boat is drifting at 2mph and you are trolling with the current, you will have to troll at 2.5mph just to “pull” your baits at .5mph through the water.  Conversely, if you are trolling against a 2mph current, proceeding at just .5mph would have the affect of pulling your bait through the water at 2.5mph. Halibut Fishing – Juneau, Alaska! While mixing and matching different color variations (silver, black, purple, pink etc. This is by far the most common technique for salmon fishing in the river. to give you the fight of a lifetime that you will never forget and keep you heading North for more. Like in estuary waters, spinners, spoons and jigs are a go-to method for catching salmon. A 20lb test rig is great for Cohos. A potential downside is that the extra hardware on the herring’s head could present as less realistic than a cut plug. Often with medium/heavy spinning or conventional (bait casting) gear, anglers use a variety of artificial lures to entice salmon strikes. Cured eggs or fresh eggs in netting (“an egg sack”) are often used which stay on the hook better than a cluster of fresh eggs. Click here to see a video on how to rig a cut pug herring, courtesy of Rob Endsley from Prince of Wales Sportfishing in Craig, Alaska. Here we’ve put together a set of tips that will help both novice and veteran fishermen. Enjoy! Be polite and follow the New York State Fishing Regulations and Rules. JUNE 2020, Solid Chicken Halibut! This often creates a convergence of hundreds or thousands of salmon during the peak of the run as these fish are returning to spawn. Casting is a very common approach for estuary waters. by Justin Maxwell Stuart. Most of the time, you want to have your bait as close to the river bottom as possible. 1. The most typical method of curing eggs utilizes powder cure (e.g., a borax based powder in a variety of colors) that is sprinkled on the eggs to dry them out after a few days. For herring, the most common rigging approaches are a cut plug or a helmet – both achieve the same goal of spinning the herring. Lord salmons otherwise called Chinook salmon are by a long shot the biggest salmon species in North America. See more ideas about Salmon fishing, Fish, Fishing tips. Weighing in around 3-4lbs, Humpies deliver a pound-for-pound great fight which can wear out any angler after a day of non-stop rod-bending action! Float Fishing for Salmon Nice king caught via float fishing eggs Float fishing is one of the most effective and popular techniques amongst serious salmon anglers. At times color can have a profound impact on catch rate. Of course, salmon fishing along the bank of a stream or river is a time-tested approach. It’s useful if you’re fishing in freshwater. Every spring for the past 25 years, our small group of guys has headed up to East Grand Lake in Maine for a week of landlocked salmon fishing. Although Captain Zac is constantly creating detailed articles and videos on specific aspects of salmon fishing, a foundational set of salmon fishing tips is included below – a useful resource for novice and experienced anglers alike! Jig fishing offers a near-endless variety of retrieval depths and speeds, which can often yield strikes on days that other methods are not producing. Fly Fishing Salmon From Shore. So what we may find successful you may not. You can avoid getting hung up on the bottom, keep your offering in the strike zone longer and more effectively fish prime holding water compared to … 3. MAY 2020. Another mootching approach is to lower your bait to the target range and then slowly lift the bait and let it fall every 10 seconds or so, working a smaller depth range more intensely. Spoons fit different and rotating or oscillating. Mar 19, 2020 - Explore Garry G's board "Trolling Techniques", followed by 138 people on Pinterest. This toothy salmon is often overlooked given their less than inspiring table fare but they certainly can be an absolute blast to catch and release! Cover water closest to you and then begin to branch out. Float Fishing for Chinook Salmon Bobber fishing with cured salmon eggs is one of the best Chinook Salmon fishing techniques in the river’s deepest and slowest pools. Destination: Iceland. These rigs are generally inexpensive so I suggest stocking up on extras – especially when fishing for big Kings! You’ll want to make sure that your hooks are razor sharp when fishing for salmon. This salmon fishing approach requires anglers to adjust the slip bobber to the correct depth so that the bait is drifting just above the bottom. For Kings, I prefer a 30lb rig with a sliding hook, which allows me to adjust the length of the top hook to accommodate size of the bait so that the trailing hook is in perfect position to maximize hookups. To create a cut plug, anglers use a miter box to cut the head off of the herring at and angle – be sure to use the correct side – the King/Chinook side will create a wider and slower roll while the Silver/Coho side will yield a tighter and faster spin. Often this occurs when “feeder Kings” move into near-coastal areas to feed on herring. Their wonderful table fare is know worldwide, producing some of the most vibrantly red salmon fillets on earth. Kings tend to feed deeper in the water column than Cohos thus it is not uncommon to have lines set at 50ft or even 100ft deep (where glow colors truly shine, literally!). When fishing for Salmon from shore, it’s tempting to make long casts as far out into the water as you possibly can. Some fast streamer stripping is still employed (often to create a “reaction strike), but given that eggs are a naturally occurring food source, egg patterns with lots of maribou such as the Egg Sucking Leach tend to produce results. Salmon Fishing In Iceland Tips, Techniques, Observations and Advice report. If the gumline is black and spots are present on the top and bottom of the tail, it’s a King! Trolling for salmon with downriggers is the most common technique. These Kings tend to be smaller and are often feeding during the coho run. Anyone who masters all four can enjoy sport throughout the game season lenging aspect of the exercise is to be on the right river at the right time and place. King (Chinook) Salmon Fishing Tips and Techniques. I will however start with the most popular and applicable to the most rivers and situations. For deeper water (50ft+), adding a glow element (flasher and/or hootchie) can help salmon locate the bait more precisely. Other anglers prefer a herring helmet, such as the Pro Troll Roto Chip, which is attached to the herring’s head and helps ensure a perfect spin – the plastic fin on the helmet forces the herring the rotate. Okay, if you read the above you should have some basic scientific knowledge of salmon, but let’s face it you came here to learn to catch salmon. A fish tale has been out there for years! 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