Need a hand with salmon trolling

Another thing i forgot to mention is make sure you’re trolling with the tide, as opposed to against it. Chinook are lazy and ambush their prey as it comes to them.

Picture a river. picture fish holding in a river. they are barely moving; and when something catches their eye, they leisurely swim up and grab it.

Same as the ocean: present your tackle to them, not coming up behind them with your gear spinning erratically and waaay too fast
 
RiverBoy said:
Another thing i forgot to mention is make sure you’re trolling with the tide, as opposed to against it. Chinook are lazy and ambush their prey as it comes to them.

Picture a river. picture fish holding in a river. they are barely moving; and when something catches their eye, they leisurely swim up and grab it.

Same as the ocean: present your tackle to them, not coming up behind them with your gear spinning erratically and waaay too fast
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This summer, I asked a commercial salmon troller why I always see them going against the current. They told me it improves catch as it slows down the lure. When you fish the current, then your presentation is going fast. On the other hand, it makes sense that the fish would be waiting to ambush the bait. I know that is how it works with lings, but I suspect that salmon in the water column are different.

I always thought you fish the current but do know that I’ve hooked some nice kings while trolling against the current.
 
Do you dip your net?, do you talk to your gear?, how about a little sacrifice for the fish gods?, it seems like you're doing everything everyone else is but still you're snake bit,maybe lose a few cannonbals or chuck some gear over board maybe that will get the skunk off of you. I've been there it's not a great feeling keep plugging away it can only get better....
 
The wife said a sacrifice to the fish gods may be a good thing although I've lost a cannonball and a few flashers this year. I'm going to try the morning or afternoon tide tomorrow off flores. Ill run east west at the 200' mark off the bottom and north south in the horseshoe to off the point. I'm going to clean all my spoons and sharpen my hooks. I haven't had a chance to check downrigger line Voltage yet but I think I'm going to rig a copper wire from my negative battery post to my downrigger line and zero the line; better the line be neutral rather than repelling the fish. Also going to try and run the flasher 40 feet off the clip. Anything else?
 
I run my flasher 10 ft off the clip and catch more fish while going against the current down here in Victoria.keep switching up and you will have success. Everyone goes through the skunk.
 
lowlandsavage said:
The wife said a sacrifice to the fish gods may be a good thing although I've lost a cannonball and a few flashers this year. I'm going to try the morning or afternoon tide tomorrow off flores. I’ll run east west at the 200' mark off the bottom and north south in the horseshoe to off the point. I'm going to clean all my spoons and sharpen my hooks. I haven't had a chance to check downrigger line Voltage yet but I think I'm going to rig a copper wire from my negative battery post to my downrigger line and zero the line; better the line be neutral rather than repelling the fish. Also going to try and run the flasher 40 feet off the clip. Anything else?
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I don’t think that’s how it works lol. And I’ve never put 40’ of line out. More like 20’ max but I stack lines often
 
40’ is nuts.the more line you have out the less action on your flasher and therefore your lure. i run about 12’ behind the stern
 
Great article here. They recommend 30’-50’ back from the clip. Start long and shorten up until the action happens. You’ve already tried short between clip and flasher and nothing so change it up and see what happens.

islandfishermanmagazine.com

Demystified: The Flasher and Spoon Setup - Island Fisherman Magazine

How to set up a fishing lure with a flasher for successful salmon angling. Leader lengths, and test considerations as well as tips.
islandfishermanmagazine.com islandfishermanmagazine.com
 
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Clint r said:
Great article here. They recommend 30’-50’ back from the clip. Start long and shorten up until the action happens. You’ve already tried short between clip and flasher and nothing so change it up and see what happens.

islandfishermanmagazine.com

Demystified: The Flasher and Spoon Setup - Island Fisherman Magazine

How to set up a fishing lure with a flasher for successful salmon angling. Leader lengths, and test considerations as well as tips.
islandfishermanmagazine.com islandfishermanmagazine.com
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I think it says 3 feet to 10 feet behind a dummy flasher, not 30’ to 50’.
 
I'll chime in.... first I'd get a 80 foot section of 40 pound mono top shot on that main line. Lots of swivel, bead chain and ball bearing is best. I like fluorocarbon for my leaders but that's a different debate. For me its always been 15/18 feet or so back from the wire for springs. This year I've been targeting coho and getting springs at like 3.5 mph so i don't believe speed is as important if they're in the right mood. Talk to as many other guys on the water as you can without being a pest. Only other thing I've been wondering what boat are you running aluminum or glass ? Keep up the effort hopefully you'll be rewarded with a slab.
 
My $0.02;

Enjoy the process. Not catching is just as much a a part of fishing as catching is, for me personally I enjoy the figuring it out and the reward of catching something is more enjoyable than the catching itself. No data is still data! If something isn't working just try something else, until there's some success to work off of.

I've found a lot of fisherman have pet theories about what does and doesn't work, which is typically a result of doing the same thing until it does. If nothing else, ask or see what commercial trollers do. Nothing like having your living depending on what you catch for motivation.
 
Sticktoitness is also key. I'm always amazed at how often guys will change gear, or locations or depths trying to make the fish bite. You could be doing everything right, but the bite only lasts 30 minutes or less. In winter, we sometimes do the same tack, running the exact same gear, over and over and over just knowing that it will turn on eventually. Sometimes 4 straight hours of repetition before you get that one chance. Good luck.
 
Rain City said:
Sticktoitness is also key. I'm always amazed at how often guys will change gear, or locations or depths trying to make the fish bite. You could be doing everything right, but the bite only lasts 30 minutes or less. In winter, we sometimes do the same tack, running the exact same gear, over and over and over just knowing that it will turn on eventually. Sometimes 4 straight hours of repetition before you get that one chance. Good luck.
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^^^
This! Patience and persistence.
There's lots of good advice here, on this thread. We usually fish Kitty (cause it's close to P.P.) very early and at the slacks. My son-in-law fishes plugs but sometimes we go back to spoons when the plugs are slow.
Explore - Definitely find and fish the bait balls! Experiment with speed and depth but for us 200 - 230 feet and 2.5 to 3 mph has been golden for springs this summer. It's all about the action. The rest of it is variable.
 
lowlandsavage said:
Hi, having some trouble winning with the salmon. I'm fishing in the comox area ( hump, Flores, Qualicum Bay) I can see the fish on the finder, and I can see my gear. I'm running my gear right through the fish. I've been running spoons (Kermits, army trucks, no bananas, herring aid, cop cars) behind flashers or false flashers (green, purple iridescent, blue, no bananas). Spoons are all tied to 20lb mono anywhere from 36-60 inches. Flasher is clipped directly to my braided main line. Running gaps of 3-30 feet off the downrigger clip. I'm trolling between 1.8 and 3.5 knots. I make a habit of starting to fish 1 hour before slack until well after slack. I'm so tired of getting skunked, am I missing something?
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Try booking a charter for 5 hours with island pursuit one time with him you should no all the tricks he seems to catch the most salmon every day
 
Releck said:
Try booking a charter for 5 hours with island pursuit one time with him you should no all the tricks he seems to catch the most salmon every day
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This is what did it for me when I was starting out. I was like you and was doing what I thought everything right but no fish. It wasn't until I did a charter with a local guy that broke the deadlock for me. Pay close attention to everything they do from flasher type to downrigger angle. Take notes!! You will find the tweaks needed to make your lines go off!
 
Going out with a guide is the best advice .
I’ve been salmon fishing for 45+ years and still learning things. Just the other day Doug from D&D showed me the right way to insert the treble hook into the back of an Anchovy ~ welded hook goes into the bait fish, so the eye of the hook lays flat.
Never too old to learn something
Good luck
Stosh
 
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