Just wanted to ask around and see what everyone uses as far as hook sizes while drifting for salmon? This past steelhead season I down sized and seemed to land more fish. Not sure if that was luck or coincidence, or if it truly made a difference. In the past I've used 2/0 for salmon.
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I believe that there are many variables that determine the size of hook to be used. The size of fish expected, the size of the bait, water depth, current speed, are you using a corkie, etc....
In Alaska we use a 3/0 octopus style hook due to the possibility of hooking fish over 50 lbs, with either a single, or double #8 corkie, depending on current speed. On the Little Salmon I usually use a size 1 while the water is above 1,500 cfs, dropping to a #2 when the water flows subside. The same holds true on the upper Salmon River. On these Rivers I also run a #10 corkie with my eggs.
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Thanks huntsman. I've always used larger hooks mainly because that's how my dad and grandpa traditionally did things, but as you've said, and as I have read, many things seem to dictate what hook size to use.... I tend to use smaller presentations with small corkies and and just a small piece of yarn for steelhead (which I have spent far more hours chasing than salmon) and the smaller hooks I used this spring looked better and performed better. Sounds like it would be a good idea to scale down for salmon too. Thanks again
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On the little salmon I've been using 3/0 owners with the cutting tips on them. They work fantastic. Super sharp and I've been able to turn a bunch of fish I probably wouldn't have been able to last year.
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Have you been using corkies, yarn, all the traditional gear with the 3/0 hooks?
I have a buddy that's been using 3/0 up there too and has done well. I guess each guy has their preference.
What were you using last year and what made you change?
Last year I was using Gamakatsu 2/0 big river bait hooks. I was having a heck of a time holding on to fish when I would kick my rod over and try to turn them out of the current at the glory hole. I just wanted to have a little more power and those owners looked nasty so I tried them and now I love them. Yes I still use yarn on them.
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Far more steelhead are caught using a four hook which is universally used by all the clearwater guides I know most of which are using roe with a stinger egg-looped. For the very aggresive steelhead at the confluence who are voracious eaters they use a 2 with and egg-looped 4 stinger using the coon-shrimp. A !.0 for me drift fishing for salmon produces about twice as many lost fish. The best hook for landing salmon is the Brad's which is about a third as expensive as the Owner or Gamagatsu. A friend at Clear Creek is 30-30 without a missed hookup on the Brads 3.0. The reason it is so effective is becouse with a good hookset it is impossible to eliminate the nubbing on these hooks. You cannot effectively eliminate the barb totally without a grinder. The best plunkers use a 3.0 with an egg-looped 2.0 stinger mostly using shrimp with garlic. The flossers at the mill-hole who are the best salmon catchers are using 2.0 with egg-looped yarn and adjusting colors with the sunlight like we do for steelhead and trout. Longer leaders and end of line egg-loops or a standerd steelhead rigging. The handffull of drifters out of the boat who catch triple the fish of anyone else use a drop setup of a three way without any corkie fish it vertically upriver from the boat with the hook six inches above the lead at about 24--18. We fish straight down the current line and slow the drift with a lot of weight and recast when line gets below the boat. The more expensive and bigger the boat the less fish they catch. Best handled with a tiller. The vertical drift produces twice the fish and is why the bank fisherman cannot duplicate this method.
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Thats how we boat fish also. Only we drift the boat also
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We call it drifting but do slow the boat as much as possible to get better presentation. Where possible Backbouncing like the guide in the mill hole this weekend is the most effective. Hard to do on these flows. His technique is similar to the Big Eddy and Mertle holes on the Clearwater. Gary sure pounded them last week.
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Presentation is the key for that method. Do it right and you catch fish. Garys a good guy, great fisherman. I fished with him Wed/thur last week, then went out on a smaller boat. With all the bigger boats it was a little hairy but still hammered the fish.
Its real hard to back bounce other than the mill hole with the 30 yard shoreline buffer. You can when the flows drop and the fish move out, but last week the fish were 30 feet off the bank. Kept telling the bank guys this but they kept on throwing way out where the boat was...even though we were throwing right up againt the bank. LOL
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