My jigging setup is a pair of 66MH2 Trevalas paired with Ambassadeur C4 6600 reels. The retrieve rate of 6.3:1 is mostly fast enough to keep pressure on a salmon hooked deep and rocketing to the surface. A 1000 ft spool of Depth Hunter 40 lb coloured braid splits nicely between them. About 3 ft of 50 lb fluoro leader material ahead of the lure so it stands off from the line and doesn't tangle on the drop. Nice light, balanced setup that isn't at all fatiguing for jigging. If I were a more frequent visitor to salt water, I'd probably upgrade to an all-metal reel like an Accurate Valiant 500, but the Abu reels are pretty good for the money. Plastic components do keep the weight down and that's an important consideration for an active setup like this.
The go-to lures for me are Shimano's flat fall jigs in the 160 g and 130 g sizes. Wind and current on the BC coast move things around a lot,; lighter jigs will struggle beyond 80-100 ft unless anchored or with someone full time on the boat controls. The lateral fluttering action on the drop is impressive with the Shimano lures, amazing to see 5 oz of lead going sideways. As noted, they're expensive (north of $20 apiece), so when in areas I'm not familiar with, I do a few test drops to bottom with some lesser lead to see if it's 'grabby'. Or just stay off bottom altogether - the colour indicating braid is great for this. I haven't seen the need to move the assist hooks to the top of the lure as some do, more of a bottom fishing thing.
For salmon, I'll chug around semi-slow looking for feed and fish marks, and to get a read on wind and current conditions. Then I'll set up on a promising tack with the transom pointing into the wind/current and with the kicker running, bumping it in and out of reverse to keep the line as vertical in the water as possible. I have a 10" sonar screen set up where I can see it at a glance. Drop either to bottom and jig up, or just below bait if the feed is suspended up higher in the water column.
The initial drop from the surface is the most important: get the boat stationary, then hover a thumb over the spool to provide very light control of the free-falling jig, and, more importantly, to feel a hit - press that thumb down hard and rip its lip. Most of the strikes come as the jig is falling, so you need to be ready. Once at desired depth, lift the rod tip up 6-8 ft, take one turn on the reel, let the jig flutter down 3-4 ft, repeat. I keep the drag set fairly light and use my thumb on the spool to prevent slip as I lift the rod tip. Again, the strikes will almost always come as the jig falls, the first clue you'll have is when you lift the tip again. Yes you could set the drag heavier as for bottom fishing, but salmon strikes are usually hit-and-run, so excess drag could be too much and that first head shake breaks you off.
Salmon jigging is a blast. Feeling the strike the instant it happens, the rod coming alive in your hands. Trolling has its days, especially if the fish are holding deep, but playing feisty fish in close on light gear is addictive.
