When to fish spinners for salmon

[bubbarockies]

Hi all,

New to Oregon and trying to learn about some different techniques. When/ where is a good time to fish spinners for salmon? Are they good for the fall run in bays, rivers etc?

Any tips are greatly appreciated.

 

[troutdude]

This book, is the Bible of Spinner fishing in Oregon. Hands down. I got my first edition copy, way back in the early 80's. The information, is priceless. You will learn a lot, in a fairly short period of time. You can find a copy, at most sporting goods stores, tackle shops, etc.

 

[BaldTexan]

Spinners are excellent for the fall bay run of chinook!

x2 on the book mentioned above. It also has good info on building your own spinners but nowadays there are plenty of YouTube videos you can find for the DIY person. Making your own is a lot of fun, saves on the cost, and you can make whatever you can dream up. I started making a lot of my own because I couldn't find a color combo I was looking for.

Are you fishing from boat or bank? I almost always troll spinners for fall salmon in the bays and larger rivers including Buoy 10 where I have had success with trolling spinners and hoochie spinners assembled on a mooching rig.

I'm not opposed to trolling bait, and do often, but I seem to have as much success with spinners as buddies do using bait while trolling. When I do use bait, I typically thread a couple of beads and a small spinner blade on in front of the bait. Bank fishing in larger holes in smaller tributaries, I cast #4 to #6 Blue Fox or homemade spinners for salmon with success when they aren't crowded with anglers. This fall I hope to try casting heavy spinners and weighted trolling spinners from jetty's a couple of times. Once the rains come and the fish are heading up the smaller tribs, it's hard to beat bait or bait wrapped plugs, but I'll still get a few on spinners when I find the elbow room.

 

[troutdude]

Forgot to mention that, Jed explains the science behind fishing w/ spinners. Also what color combinations work best, for specific conditions. There is LOT to glean, from his book.

BTW, all Black spinners (black body, black beads, black blade, black plastic tubing on the hook's shank) are KILLER for Fall Nooks, on cloudy / foggy fall days in streams! Maybe not for waters that, can be trolled. But definitely upstream, when bank casting.

 

[bubbarockies]

Thank you for the great info. I do have a 15 ft smokercraft, so I could do some trolling. How do you get the spinner down deep enough?

 

[GaryP1958]

Troll herring behind a dodger just OFF the bottom in Central Coast Tidewater! The fishing should start picking up in the next few weeks!

 

[bubbarockies]

Is that using a mooching rig? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

 

[TheKnigit]

I tend to use a mooching rig hook when I troll with them. I know guys that don't. I like having the second hook though.

As for spinners, they work great. Whether you are tossing them from the bank or trolling. I always have a couple just as a fall back. or something else to try when the old herring doesn't work. Plus I never have to worry about running out of bait with spinners.

 

[DrTheopolis]

How do you get the spinner down deep enough?

There's lots of ways to rig it, some simpler than others. Since I'm super-lazy when it comes to rigging, my setup goes something like: 30# mainline (lots of people use 65# braid, I like mono). I put a small corky on the mainline, then attach it to a bead-chain. Then I'll usually run a flasher about 12-16" below the bead chain with 30#. Below the flasher (which I'm not always convinced helps in the upper bays), I run about 3 feet of 25# leader to the spinner. Before dropping it in the water, I'll run about 24" of 10# down to a cannonball (or more environmentally-friendly chunk of railroad spike, cut to length for the appropriate weight) from a duo-lock, or even a snap swivel. The snap goes above the corky on the mainline, so it can slide (there's a ton of ways to rig it, including sliders that go over the mainline. My setup is extremely crude and simple, but i works). The amount of weight depends on the depth and speed of current. In the bays (Nehalem and Tillamook for me, usually), it can be from about 4oz in the upper bay on a soft tide, up to 12-14oz in the lower bay on a strong tide.

Since you won't be alone, your best bet getting started is to look for the lines of boats... follow them, at their speed (probably about 2MPH, give or take a little). Red and white is always a safe bet, but experiment.

 

[DrTheopolis]

When/ where is a good time to fish spinners for salmon?

As to this, the answer to "when" is... always. Bank or trolling.

As to "where"... depends where you live.

 

[DrTheopolis]

And to clarify -- when trolling, you use non-weighted trolling spinners. They come in a variety of sizes, although a 3.5 blade behind a ProTroll flasher is all the rage these days (because no one ever caught a fish before ProTrolls came along).

From the bank or casting, weighted bodies.

 

[bubbarockies]

Haha, great point. I love it when people say the only way to go is using gear that's only been out a few years.

Would you recommend baiting up the trolling spinners?

 

[DrTheopolis]

I just smear Smelly Jelly on the hooks (keep it OFF the blade, or it screws up the action of the spinner).