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Chinook salmon feed aggressively on
candlefish, herring, smelt, and other baitfish while cruising the briny
water of the ocean and its inlets. Once in freshwater, of course, kings quit
actively feeding, but they are usually still willing to strike at the same
sorts of baitfish-imitation lures that work well in the salt, either out of
ingrained tendency, irritation, curiosity, or simply the desire to protect
their territory.
As J.D. Richey notes in his feature later in this issue, a
number of different brands and color combinations of lures will probably
work in most situations. Quite often, it just comes down to personal
preference. However, there are a few things to mull over before making that
first cast, whether you’re planning on trolling the saltwater depths or
tossing metal from a riverbank. In the end, your choice should be dictated
as much by the conditions and style of fishing you plan to employ as by the
predilections of the fish.
Spoons in the Salt
First of all, saltwater angling of any sort requires the
angler to understand and be willing to adapt to an ever-changing
environment. Conditions vary hourly due to tide and current fluctuations,
and no matter what your intended style of fishing, finding the fish is the
first obstacle. To that end, trolling with spoons is an excellent tactic for
hunting saltwater kings, as the lures resemble the action of a crippled
baitfish and the method allows the largest area of water to be covered in
the shortest amount of time.
Generally speaking, the proper action of a spoon should
range from a side-to-side wobble to a faster darting action, depending upon
the trolling speed. From there, your choice of which spoon to employ comes
down to color.
Chinook can be notoriously fickle when it comes to color.
They’ll display an unmistakable fondness for one pattern and then suddenly
change their preference completely, sometimes within as little as a few
hours time. Again, the angler’s willingness to experiment and remain
flexible are keys to experiencing repeated and prolonged success, but there
are a few simple factors to consider that can narrow the list of color
possibilities to a select few, namely the amount of available light, which
is proportional to the depth of the fishing, and the clarity of the water.
Colors change depending on depth. In approximately the
first 30 feet of water, red is filtered out of the color spectrum; yellow
and chartreuse are next, filtering out at about 60 feet. White also turns to
gray at about 60 feet. Blue and green are the last two colors to fade to
gray, and black, of course, is always black.. Thus, a deepwater king salmon
will primarily see only blues, greens, and a mixture of dark shapes, while a
shallow-water chinook will see all the colors of the spectrum. When
prospecting for saltwater kings, a good rule of thumb is to run spoons with
red or metallic finishes toward the surface, yellow and chartreuse spoons at
medium depths, and spoons touched with green or blue at the deepest levels.
Because they imitate natural baitfish colors, though, green and blue spoons
are effective at any depth.
Luhr-Jensen (www.luhr-jensen.com) manufactures a number of
spoons geared towards taking kings in the salt, among them the Loco, Diamond
King, Point Defiance, and Coyote series. Each comes in a variety of color
combinations, including the company’s blue and green Prism-Lite finish, and
all display a deliberate, wobbling action when trolled at medium to fast
speeds. Mepps (www.mepps.com) likewise offers a range of spoons that have
proven to be effective chinook attractors, including the recently introduced
Saltwater Syclops. These newer spoons come in three sizes, ranging from
one-half to a full ounce, and are available in gold or silver. Mepps Giant
Killers, designed to run deep with a large, heavy willow-leaf blade, are
another good lure choice for open water trolling.
Stream-fishing with Spinners
Spinners are as versatile as any type of lure on the
market and can be effectively worked in virtually all water conditions,
whether they’re to be cast or trolled. But again, as with spoons, the
conditions seem to be one of the most important items to consider when
choosing a spinner for a given situation. Then it’s just a matter of putting
the choice to work in the proper—and most effective—manner, as professional
fishing guide and Fish Alaska contributing editor Greg Brush explained. “An
ultra-slow and steady retrieve, just enough to feel the pump of the blade
and an occasional tick off the bottom, is far more critical than what
particular spinner you choose.”
In a stream, the current will pretty much take care of the
action of the spinner by forcing the blade to revolve, leaving the angler
with the task of making sure it remains running just off the bottom, where
the kings will be concentrated. To remain productive, an angler must choose
a spinner with enough weight to counteract the river’s current. “In a river,
kings generally hold on or next to the bottom, and trying to get a
lightweight #3 spinner to stay down in deep and heavy water is unlikely, if
not impossible,” explained Brush. “Experienced chinook fishermen favor #5
(H-ounce) and #6 (O-ounce) spinners, as they get deep and stay deep, give
off lots of flash, and create a larger profile. Remember, big fish usually
like big baits.”
Choosing from the myriad of spinner colors available again
has much to do with the angler’s personal preference, but there are a few
general patterns that are proven producers on Alaska’s best king salmon
waters. “As a starting point, river chinook seem to love green, orange, and
flame red,” Brush said, “though chartreuse remains the most visible color,
which is something to bear in mind when you’re stuck with murky water
conditions. As a general rule, gold and bronze blades are preferred under
dull skies, while bright chrome blades seem to work best when the sun is
high and bright.”
A few different kinds of spinners can be seen with
regularity on Alaska’s waters, especially Blue Fox’s Super Vibrax spinners,
but as Brush noted, a new series of hand-made spinners are beginning to make
waves. Tony Davis, whose Kodiak Custom Fishing Tackle (907-486-6559)
spinners are designed specifically for the state’s salmon, explained that
while he’d been making lures for most of his life, he just recently began to
market them, after co-workers at a remote hatchery began requesting versions
similar to his own. “Being a spinner fisherman myself, I wanted something
with more durability,” Davis explained. “I was getting tired of constantly
changing lures, straightening hooks, or having to wire everything.”
The spinners are currently available at most tackle shops
in the state and come in two sizes fit for kings, the #5 (H-ounce) and #6
(O-ounce). There are also a wide variety of color combinations to choose
from, ranging from solids to patterns designed along a holographic scale,
which seem to provide a superior flash.
Mepps, as well as a host of other companies, also produce
a few salmon spinners that border on the classic. The Mepps Aglia Long is a
particularly notable choice for Alaska’s king streams, as its willow leaf
blade hugs the body of the spinner as it turns, allowing the lure to run
deeper than most other spinners of the same size.
In the end, when looking for hardware with which to target
the largest of Pacific salmon, a variety of spinners and spoons can fit the
bill nicely, but as Greg Brush concluded, choosing the right lure for the
job is only the first step in initiating a successful outing. “Like so many
other specialized methods, the real key to effective spoon and spinner
fishing for kings appears to be the location of one’s offering and the
proper presentation of it,” Brush noted. “Thus, the accuracy of the cast,
the rate of retrieve, and the depth you are fishing is often more important
than the size, color, or brand of lure.” In short, whatever you choose, make
sure it gets down close to the bottom and is swimming properly—then keep it
there.
—Troy Letherman
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