5 Tips and Tricks to put more Salmon in your boat

Downrigging for Salmon doesn’t have to be like solving a rubix cube.  Keeping it simple can put fish in the boat; however, become a good Salmon fisherman on the Great Lakes takes time, experience and attention to detail.  In this article I will discuss 5 basic things you should know about (without going into great detail) that will make you a more capable angler.

1)      Electronics – How important are electronics on the boat?  In my opinion, they are essential.  GPS and fish finders are a must.  Let’s go over the benefits of each.    A GPS system will allow you to do a few things; 1) mark your position when you go over a highly concentrated area of bait or fish, and 2) allow you to use a Navionic’s chip.  When trolling over an area where you have hooked a few fish or gone through a big ball of bait, many anglers hit the “mark” button on their GPS system immediately.  Trying to find the same spot could be next to impossible but by using the GPS to your advantage, you can never lose track of your “hot spot”.      Secondly, the Navionics chip is crucial when determining structure and staying on a particular contour line.  Most new model GPS/fish finders come equip with the capability.  You basically plug it in and the hydrographic chart comes up giving you an underwater lay of the land.  The Great Lakes chip has everything you need for Great Lakes downrigging.  (www.navionics.com) .  Fish finders are even more essential on the water as you need to find depth first and foremost,  as well as marking schools of bait and streaking fish.  Remember to set the sensitivity up high on the finder; travelling at speeds of 2-3mph requires a higher than normal signal speed to mark fish and bait.                 

2)      “Cheating” – One way to add a second lure to your line is by clipping a cheater line to your main.  This is completely legal; in fact most anglers do this until they find a pattern. Take 6 feet of quality fluorocarbon leader material; Seaguar is best in my opinion. (www.seaguar.com)  Tie a quality snap swivel to each end of the piece of fluorocarbon.  Use a palomar knot for each snap swivel.  This is your cheater line. Your main line of your downrigger rod is attached to a release clip at the downrigger ball.  Drop the downrigger ball to the preferred depth, and you’re half way there.  Take the snap swivel of the cheater line that is not connected to the lure and clip it to main line right at the tip of the rod.  Throw the lure in the water and it will slide down to the cusp of the bow in the line, approx. half way to about 5 feet above the downrigger ball.  This will allow you to fish different depths on one line.

3)      Trolling Speeds – These vary from time of year to current speeds.  I won’t get into temp/speed probes at the downrigger ball but generally you should be trolling between 2-3 mph.  Slower in the spring due to cold water and faster as the summer and fall approaches.   I’ve found that mature Chinook Salmon like the 2.4-2.8 range.  Once you start trolling faster, you will notice that the species of fish that you’re hooking now will be Coho Salmon and Rainbow Trout.  These species prefer the bait to be moving a little faster.    You also want to pay attention to your rods when turning while you’re trolling.  If an inside rod fires, the fish might be telling you they want it slower.  If an outside rod fires, then it’s the opposite.  Attention to these details may be the difference in putting 5 fish the boat and 10.  

4)      Popular Baits/Lures – Having an arsenal of baits on your boat is the key to success.  Sometime fish want spoons one day and flasher/fly the next.  Some of my favorite lures are Lyman Lures (www.lymanlures.com)  which is a plug style bait.  Use the size 3-4 in the spring and summer, for the staging fish, up the size to 5 and troll slowly.  These baits can be deadly.  As for spoons,   I like running Warrior Spoons (www.warriorlures.com) , Pro King Spoons (www.prokingspoons.com) , Matrix (http://www.rapala.ca/products/bluefox/matrixx.php)  off of lead core lines as they are a bit heavier) and NK’s (www.northernkinglure.com) predominantly.    Flasher and Fly or Meat rigs can be a bit more complex to use but are well worth the investment.   Pick yourself up a good selection of styles and sizes.  Spin Doctors (www.dreamweaverlures.com) , Bechhold & Son (www.fishcatcher.com) , O’ki Flashers (www.okitackle.com) , and Coyote Flashers (www.luhrjensen.com) , are great choices.  For flys, I would go with Attomik  (www.atommiktrollingflies.com) ,  and Sushi Fly’s made by Great Lakes Tackle Supply in New York (www.gltsupplies.com) .  Run them about 18-22” behind the flasher for the most part.  GLTS also supplies herring strips and whole alewife to run with the sushi fly, on its own or with a teaser head.  Rhys Davis teaser heads are by far the best when running a full herring strip.  Run the whole alewife or herring strip about 4-5 feet behind the flasher.  All leader material should be a bit heavier, in the 40lb test area, again Seaguar is the way to go.   A quick note on colours: greens, blues, oranges, blacks, and purples are great colours for the Great Lakes and Lake Ontario specifically.  

5)      Fishing Line (Brand and Strength)- Here’s what I run on my rods.  I have 2 dipsy rods loaded with 40lb Tuff Line (www.tuf-line.com) which is a really great braided line.  It is definitely one of the better ones on the market.  Braid is good for its low stretch and resistance to abrasions.    It also allows the dipsy to go deeper with less line out, another nice advantage.   On my downrigger rods I run 20lb Seaguar and if the flea’s are bad, I’ll put on 100 yards of flea flicker which is a oval shaped line that prevents flea build up.  I’ve tried a lot of different lines and Seaguar and Tuff line are the way to go, don’t waste time with others.   At the beginning of the season, I usually pre tie all of my leaders.  I have my slider leaders which are 20lb test and 6 feet long.  I have my dipsy leads for spoons in 20 lb test and are anywhere between 6-8 feet long.  And lastly, my flasher leaders which I run behind my dipsys to the flashers are 40lb test and 8 feet long.  

These tips will definitely make you a better angler out on the Great Lakes.  The best advice I could give anyone is don’t be hung up on one set up, because every day is different.  Run a variety of baits and let the fish tell you what they want.  Once you have a pattern going, just duplicate it.   

Good fishing everyone!