Tips to help make you a better Salmon fisher:
* In the lake stage you will find that Salmon that are feeding tend to hang-out in a 53 degree thermal layer which is where the bait fish usually are.
* In the river mouth stage try using spawn bags with a little Styrofoam in them to make them float. Just cast out with a sinker and let the spawn bag float off the bottom.
Once the Salmon go up small streams, they stop feeding. In a bigger river the Salmon will still feed for the first few days in the river. Salmon have nothing on their minds beside spawning. At this time, they are very aggressive and territorial and will defend their spawning ground from Rainbow and Brown Trout which tent to follow Salmon up stream to feed on their eggs. If you throw a Rapala or spinner that has Rainbow or Brown Trout colors, the salmon will hit the lure. They do not hit to feed, they hit to defend.
* When the sky turns black and the waves start to build Mother Nature gets up and going. The odds of huge fish are definitely on your side if you have the guts to stay the course.
* Big Chinook Salmon are a cold water species so look for them in temperatures below 45 degrees. The exception is when they come into spawn.
* The better lays will hold Salmon for days or weeks, but the best lays are the running lays as the fish are fresh and active and take a fly much more quickly (the fish's hormone called thyroxin is very high and it is agitated and hyper).* For trophy fish I have found it good to wait for a good rain and fish a pool when it is nearly empty of fish....except the biggest ones that didn't move.
* Fresh and stale large Salmon often lay in deep water lays during early morning and late evening. However, they may start to migrate (if the water is rising hard) or travel around a small area or pool to familiarize themselves with the various lays available so in late evening and early morning large fish may be caught in very shallow water if they have just arrived in those areas.
* Remember Salmon have noses and often chase flies with their nose an inch from the fly.
* Salmon like silver bodied flies with blue and red in them, they like dry flies, they like green, yellow, and red flies, and black flies.
