Trophy King Techniques

Shallow, fast-moving rivers with select pocket-water typify many of Alaska’s king salmon streams. And when it comes to king salmon techniques for Alaska, the water commonly dictates the approach anglers will use.

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Scott Haugen 

In many of Alaska’s fast-water streams, the moment salmon enter they are on a steady push to the spawning grounds. This means fish are on the move, and anglers can target moving fish in shallow water in a variety of ways. [emember_protected custom_msg=’This content is available for subscribers only.’]

Should salmon hold in classic holes or deep slots in the river then other windows of opportunity open up for anglers. Maybe kings are staging in shallow, slack water, or slowly moving as they hug a shoreline; there are tactical approaches that work here, too.

Following is a look at four of the most effective ways to get on Alaska’s kings, no matter what river you fish. The key is having the gear to effectively make each presentation, and knowing when and where to use them.

Back-bouncing

When back-bouncing and drift-fishing, using a spider setup to encase the sinker greatly eliminates hangups, thus increasing fishing time.

While back-bouncing is normally confined to boats, it can also be done from the bank in the right situations. Fortunately, many of Alaska’s streams feature cut banks, which allow bank anglers to work off the inside corners. This means presentations can be made down the inside seam of a current, and possibly down the middle of the main current if the situation is right. These are usually the deeper slots, where moving kings travel through and sometimes congregate in.

The beauty of back-bouncing is the controlled delivery. The setup itself is rather simple, typically nothing more than a dropper tied to a 3-way swivel, a 30- to 40-inch leader to the other eye. If looking to get the bait or plug further away from the sinker, the dropper can actually be made longer than the leader, so when it rests on the bottom, the bait is carried well downstream of where the sinker is hanging up.

In back-bouncing, when the pumping action begins, the bait will drop downstream every time the sinker is lifted and set back down. If the terminal gear is carried downstream too swiftly, then add more sinker. If it’s not moving downstream when you pump the rod, then decrease the amount of weight. How much weight you use when back-bouncing is key to the overall presentation.

The beauty of back-bouncing is that it lays a distinct scent line as the presentation is carried downstream in a straight line. This enables salmon to follow their noses directly to the bait. In turbid water, a large drift-bobber helps further lift the bait off the bottom and doubles as a visual attractant.

If fishing from a boat, you can either back-bounce from an anchored position or on the move. When fishing a slow, deep hole, anchoring will allow you to back-bounce a presentation through a hole all day long. This is ideal when awaiting the arrival of fish, be it from a tidal push or simply the daily migration of fish.

When back-bouncing on the move, there’s the luxury of covering a great deal of water, in a very controlled manner. By guiding the boat to precisely where you want it, you can back-bounce a specific section of water. In fast-moving streams, motors help maintain proper speed and positioning. In drift boats, it’s more work pumping on the oars, but it’s still a very effective way to introduce baits. Not to mention, the strike that comes when back-bouncing can be voracious.

Back-Trolling

Back-trolling, be it with baits or plugs, allows anglers to control where the presentation is delivered and regulate its rate of travel. Back-trolled baits can be offered in a way that appeals to a salmon when nothing else seems to work. This is especially true in off-colored water. Slowing down the presentation means fish have a longer window in which to view and smell it.

Both baits and plugs can be back-trolled (check Alaska regulations as per bait-use restrictions). When and where legal, baits are hard to beat. Of all the baits, eggs, or cured roe, are tops when it comes to targeting kings. At the end of a three- to six-foot leader, attach a big glob of eggs, say from the size of a Ping-Pong ball to that of a tennis ball; kings have large mouths: use a big bait so they can see and smell it.

Plugs such as a K-16 Kwikfish can be highly effective when back-trolled. They can be flat-lined (tied directly to the mainline) or fished behind a diver. For salmon on the move, a diver setup is ideal for getting down. A Luhr Jensen Jumbo Jet Diver performs well, even in shallow rivers. Though the big diver will be hitting bottom, the plug will remain just off the bottom, in the strike zone.

When back-trolling, you can either cover the width of the river or travel straight downstream. Which approach to use depends on the type of water being fished, river levels, water clarity, holding zones, travel routes and how well the water can be read.

Main currents and seams can be the best places to back-troll through. This is where a straight line is chosen and stuck with on each pass downstream. If you have a motor or can row upstream, then making multiple passes will allow you to cover more water. This is a good way to learn where fish are traveling, or perhaps, holding as the straight line presentation targets a specific zone.

If you don’t have the luxury of a motor, or any way to get back upstream after making a pass, then work from side-to-side when back-trolling. The back-and-forth action allows more water to be covered. The key is slowing down the presentation so as to avoid unnatural swings.

When it comes to back-trolling, don’t forget to spend time in shallow stretches and near shore. It doesn’t take much water to hold a king salmon, and this is why back-trolling can be so effective. Putting the presentation before the boat means the fish are less likely to be spooked. Some of the best close-to-shore spots sit above a riffle, where salmon shoot through the fast water then seek less taxing water, often near shore. Back-trolling through shallow runs can be highly effective, especially in turbid conditions, where fish are less wary.

Free-Drifting

Free-drifting, as it’s commonly known in Alaska, is also referred to as boondogging or dragging. It’s not to be confused with side-drifting, which is another method of bait presentation. The idea of free-drifting is to keep the bait on the bottom, thereby dragging it in front of salmon, hoping for a bite.

Moving salmon are often aggressive biters, so a quick presentation such as free-drifting is very productive in eliciting a strike. The key is to present the bait at a rate nearly matching the current, but this is not always easy given that surface flow rates commonly differ from subsurface flow rates.

To achieve the desired drift rate, experiment with the amount of weight. The objective is to find the precise amount of weight that travels at the target speed without getting hung up or floating too high off the bottom.

However, correlating the movement of the boat, water and bait is not always possible, especially in deep stretches. If attaining the perfect speed is a challenge, it’s better to have the terminal gear dragging the bottom at all times and moving a bit slower than the natural current flow than floating higher in the water and moving too fast.

The terminal gear setup for free-drifting is simple, typically consisting of a snap swivel slid on to the mainline, with a cannon ball sinker attached to the snap end. Slip a bead between the sliding swivel and the barrel swivel, to which the mainline is tied, in order to eliminate knot abrasion. A relatively short leader of 24 to 30-inches is preferred so as to keep the bait near the bottom.

When it comes to covering water, free-drifting is one of the best tactical approaches there is. If looking to learn a new river, or if traveling to Alaska, renting a boat and fishing a river on your own, this approach is tough to beat. Not only will it allow you to cover a great deal of water, but it will help you learn a river. Once you start feeling what the bottom is like, and reading the water, you’ll be able to figure out where kings are laying.

Because it allows you to cover so much water, free-drifting is good way to search for fish. Once you discover where fish are congregating, then you have the option of pulling over, dropping anchor and fishing them by other means. It’s a very wide-ranging method, one that can be applied in most Alaskan rivers that are boat accessible.

Drift-Fishing

Drift-fishing is likely the most commonly used salmon fishing method in Alaska. It can be done from the bank or the boat, and allows a wide variety of water to be covered. The key, however, is to avoid getting caught in the rut of casting, casting and casting some more, without some sense of direction.

When drift-fishing, every cast should fall in a precise spot. Once you’ve found a stretch of water to drift-fish, break it down and cover every inch of it with however many casts it takes. Some anglers like starting close to their position and from there working each consecutive cast farther into the river. This eliminates the risk of spooking fish with your line.

If fishing a wide stretch of water, it may take a few hours to thoroughly cover it all. However, if fishing a small slot, it may take only a half-dozen casts. When parking and drift-fishing narrow sections of water; repeatedly casting over the same water means you’re likely awaiting the arrival of fresh fish. This is where checking tidal flows, freshets and historical run timings can really pay dividends.

There are several ways to rig-up for drift-fishing, and how you choose to do so will be dictated by the water flow and river bottom. In small, gravel bottom streams, current flows are likely minimal, meaning not much lead is required. For this, pencil lead or caterpillar sinkers will suffice. These sinkers can be run off a dropper or be left to slide along the mainline.

Many anglers prefer using bank sinkers, or teardrop sinkers, when drift fishing. The design of these sinkers concentrates the mass around the bottom end, which means they are easy to control because you can feel what they are doing under water. Cannon ball sinkers are also common, and work best in rivers with small gravel bottoms. Because cannon ball sinkers move about so easily, they can be challenging to control in certain conditions. The result is more hang ups, thus less time spent fishing.

Choose your sinker setup wisely, and go with the one that optimizes your fishing time. One option that helps prevent hang ups – not only in drift-fishing, but when back-bouncing as well – is cradling your cannon ball or bank sinker in a wire cage, or spider system. Spider sinker setups are easy to make, and because they act as a cage around the sinker, they keep the lead from sticking to the rocks. This means fewer hang ups, thus more time spent fishing.

On a dropper approximately twice the length of your leader, attach a spider setup. A spider can be made from tournament grade steel leader in 180-pound test. By twisting strands of cut wire into a cage and suspending a sinker in the middle of it, the stiff wires bounce off rocks, keeping the lead from sticking to or becoming wedged between rocks. The long dropper maximizes separation between the bait and sinker.

Alaska’s salmon streams often lend themselves to the application of multiple fishing approaches. The more diversified your king-fishing tactics, the better your chances of catching fish. The key is matching the method to the conditions, and this can only be accomplished through practice. This season, be prepared to apply multiple methods, and get ready to catch more kings.

Scott Haugen is a contributing editor for Fish Alaska. To order signed copies of his latest book, 300 Tips To More Salmon & Steelhead, visit www.scotthaugen.com. Other how-to books, including cookbooks, are also available. [/emember_protected] [emember_protected scope=”not_logged_in_users_only”]

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