New to salmon fishing....

[Dizle]

My stepdad and some friends have convinced me (they didn't have to twist my arm) to take up salmon fishing and buy a rod/reel on my next payday,

I plan to study the synopsis and hit the water this next weekend

any suggestions or tips?

Any gear I should stay away from or things I shouldn't do?

im from Albany and love bimart, any info and advice is welcome, bear with me I am a newby to salmon fishing

 

[Raincatcher]

Welcome to the forum and a new lifetime addiction! I love fishing but haven't actually gotten into the salmon side...yet...so, I'm not going to even try to give you any advice. Check back though, someone will OFFer you some, I'm sure. Again, welcome to OFF!

 

[jesse202505]

any suggestions or tips?
QUOTE]

Welcome to OFF! What kind of water are you fishing ? There can be different gear restrictions for different waters. Get yourself an up to date fishing regulations book they come handy when fishing new waters And can save you s hefty ticket. Try looking in the forums under salmon fishing in Oregon there are previous posts explaining different methods. Good luck

 

[DirectDrive]

My stepdad and some friends have convinced me (they didn't have to twist my arm) to take up salmon fishing and buy a rod/reel on my next payday,

I plan to study the synopsis and hit the water this next weekend

any suggestions or tips?

Any gear I should stay away from or things I shouldn't do?

im from Albany and love bimart, any info and advice is welcome, bear with me I am a newby to salmon fishing

Right now Fall Chinook are in the bays and in tidewater (cork water).
There are many areas along the coast where good bank access to tidewater is available.

The technique that most use in tidewater for Chinook is float and eggs.
That's cured salmon eggs under a sliding, depth-adjustable float.
You will have to learn how to set up this rigging....get the technical aspect correct by having an experienced person show you.

Stay away from spinning reels for this fishery....you'll end up with a big honkin coffee grinder that will sit in a closet for the next 30 years after you figure things out.
I have one of those !

A very good reel for this fishery is a ABU Garcia Ambassadeur in the 5000 (5 series) size. You don't need the line capacity of the 6000 size because in this fishery the fishing is close in.
Look for the Made in Sweden models.
These reels are available used often for $40 - $50....skrimmy OTOS (on the other site) has some of his super-clean Ambassadeurs up for sale right now...don't know what's left.

I use 25#-30# Maxima Chameleon on my Ambassdeurs when targeting Chinook. Berkley Big Game is popular in the heavy monofilament sizes and it's inexpensive/strong.
Some like braid (Power Pro for example) because it floats (advantage in float fishing) but it's more expensive.
Not sure how well the bobber stop knot slides on this stuff but the knot is easily adjustable (depth adjustment) when on monofilament.

The rods I use are 8'-6"...if I were to purchase today I would go 9'-6" or 10'-0" because a longer rod is an advantage when float fishing because of better line control.
The 8'-6" does work and it's easier to find that size.

For power, these rods are 10-25 on the line weight and 1-4 oz on the lure weight.
It's important to get the correct power rod.
The Berkley Buzz Ramsey rod series may offer something in this power.

I use these rod setups also for trolling herring/spinners, anchor fishing with lures/bait and backbouncing eggs.



Good luck

 

[Dizle]

What size spinners are good to use, and what color combo is good?

 

[JHawk]

What size spinners are good to use, and what color combo is good?

I'm certainly no expert and we're learning too. I've been reading Jed Davis' book and he generally likes 4's or 5's, although he'll go down as low as a 2 depending on the water. He has a whole methodology for picking colors that is pretty lengthy. It's a decent read from the library. Never could find the book as an ebook though.

 

[troutmasta]

For spinners I would agree on 4 or 5s for coastal chinook- maybe even a 6 in tide water-

Also I would highly recommend braid for a bobber setup - as DD pointed out it floats which is helpfull in mending your line, (making sure it doesn't effect the way your bobber floats). Bobber KNots Ive found hold much better on braid than on wet mono as well-

 

[Moe]

I'd stick to float and eggs til you get the hang of salmon fishing. Starting with spinners can suck when you're losing $5 every few casts hanging up. With the float it's easy to tell when you get a bite, few hang ups and Its a very good way to catch fish.

 

[fishinshawn]

Honestly you are pretty late in the game for salmon fishing. They will be around for a few more weeks, but steelhead will kick off around thanksgiving at the coast. If you want something that will work well for both steelhead and salmon I'd recomend an 8-17lb shimano clarus with a quality 4000 series spinning reel. A penn battle or shimano sahara or higher would do the trick. You would end up with a quality set up that would last you a long time, and work well for both Chinook and Steelhead.

Float fishing is easy, by an assortment of floats and see which you prefer. I like cleardrift floats, 11grams works well for me in most situation. Bimart sells Beau Mac floats which will work fine, they just aren't my favorite. I'd start out with 1/4oz for tide water and see how that works...

 

[Dizle]

So I got my rod setup and tryed it out. I'm happy with everything for the most part. Other people that I have talked to told me that my 25 lb test line might be too big for Chinook. Is that true?
I'm using 25 lb main line and 20 lb leader

Id like to be able to use this same setup for steelhead ( don't want to have to buy another rod and reel.)
Is my 25 lb main line and 20 lb leader too heavy for steelhead.

What would you guys and gals recommend for steelhead?

 

[Moe]

Personally I run 10lb line for steelhead. Although that is a bit light for winters. In my opinion 12lb is ideal. For salmon 20lb is a good test to go with. Ofcourse I was bringing in chums today on 10lb line but I have a lot of confidence in my line.

 

[Bhaley85]

I run 14 pound leader for all salmon and steelhead, I've found it to work great for me. Haven't lost a fish yet due to the line breaking. You just gotta be able to tell when you're about to break your line, and how to set your drag. I personally wouldn't feel good with 10lb leader if I hooked a decent sized fish.