| A few things you should know about salmon | | | | for a light bight? Try drift fishing. Cast your bait, |
| fishing: | | | | or a bait and drift bobber combination, slightly |
| 'Pacific salmon' is a generic term that covers ten | | | | upstream; if you use the combination, attach a |
| species. Chinook, chum, Coho, pink salmon and | | | | small lead weight thirty inches up the line. Let your |
| sockeye are all described as 'Pacific salmon.' | | | | lure swing down and across the current. When |
| Captain Doug Stein suggests that you pay | | | | the fish stops the moving bait, strike fast and |
| particular attention to temperature. Choose to fish | | | | strike hard. Eggs make great bait for salmon. |
| when the temperature's between 53 and 55 | | | | Are you looking for Alaska king salmon? Go after |
| degrees. He also suggests that fluorescent red, | | | | king salmon between May and October. While the |
| blue, or yellow spoons and plugs give the best | | | | fish will average 25 to 35 pounds in weight, they |
| results. | | | | can reach 70 or more. Trolling, mooching, and |
| Pacific salmon species like an offering that passes | | | | jiggling are the methods most likely to get you |
| slowly through the fish's field of view. One | | | | the results you want; you may even find you |
| technique you might try is a backtrolling the plug. | | | | hook two at the same time. |
| Let about fifty feet of line, with the plug | | | | If you don't want to look too long, consider |
| attached, and then hold it against the current as | | | | obtaining the services of a professional. State of |
| the plug dives to the bottom and wriggles. Move | | | | Alaska Department of Fish and Game statistics |
| the boat slowly downstream into the most likely | | | | suggest that an unguided angler will spend just |
| fish holding area. Ideally, the plug's action irrigates | | | | about 40 hours on the water, before they hook a |
| the fish enough to strike. | | | | king salmon, while guided anglers will hook and land |
| Are you a skilled caster, and do you have a 'feel' | | | | a king salmon after only a few hours. |