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I picked up some of the spinning gear I used to use jigging for salmon in salt water when I lived near Seattle. The rod is a heavy action 8'6" Ugly Stik Lite with a Pinnacle reel that holds 12-14 pound test mono. Caught plenty of silvers and kings up to 15 pounds on it casting Buzz Bombs and herring strips off the Puget Sound piers.
Thought I would try for Idaho kings this year, but I've never fished for salmon in fresh water before. Can anyone offer any advice or resources on setups, where to go, etc? I live in Boise.
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First thing is ditch the 12-14 lb test. Kings aren't leader shy and in the swift rivers you catch em in, you'll need some 20+. I go with 25-30 leader and 40-50 main line, both mono. I'm not trying to just winch them in, but the line gets really banged up on the bottoms of the river. Lots of people like ugly sticks, should work fine. I like to drift fish with corkies and roe or tuna, but I know a few people that catch em on flying c's and things like that. Have fun!
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Thanks. I figured I'd have to go heavier on the line. In the salt water you can let the fish run all over the place without having to worry about heavy current or breaking off on branches or rocks, so most people stick with lighter mono since it's easier to handle.
I wish the rod was a little longer, but at the time I needed something that could throw 2-4 ounces of weight over and over without tiring out my arm or being too unwieldy.
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My advice is get your gear and head to Riggins right now! Fishing is stupid good and they just raised the limit to three adults yesterday 7/8. I and a buddy brought home 10 fish after about 8 hours of fisihng the past couple days. Expect lots of company.
I use 50# power pro and 30# P-line for leader.
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expect to deal with lots of idiots while youre up there too. i try to stay away from riggins during salmon season. keep tabs on the south fork of the salmon. thats a pretty fun river to fish, and you can actually get some holes to yourself. since i have family on whidbey, i like to do my salmon fishing up on the sound every year.
but like others have said, use the heaviest line you can get away with. lots of abbrasions and current up there.
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I've got family back there too, but I won't be going back to the Seattle area until the end of next month. Hopefully I can do some fishing while I'm there.
I dug out the box of saltwater stuff I brought when I moved out here three years ago and managed to find one package of 3/0 and three packages of 1/0 Gamekatsu octopus hooks, a giant weighted Styrofoam salmon bobber, shrimp scent paste, and a whole load of egg shaped Corkies in a ton of different colors. I used to use the Corkies for panfish slip bobbers before I switched to braid.
I bought some yarn in different colors, lead, tubing, and a couple of Flying Cs at Sportsman's. Besides new line and leader, is there anything else I should get?
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Eggs! Quality eggs will pay dividends while salmon fishing!
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Unfortunately, it's kind of a catch 22... Can't get eggs without getting a salmon. I'm hoping to catch a hatchery hen to fix that problem, though. I do have a roll of spawn netting and magic thread I'm going to bring along, since I use it to tie up chicken livers when I'm fishing for cats.
I've seen the trays of cured skeins at sporting goods stores, and Atlas Mike's sells pretied spawn bags in oil. They're both kind of expensive. Do they work?
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the absolute only time i would worry about using quality eggs, is if you are tying them directly to the egg loop on your hook. if you're planning on tying up roe bags, it does not matter. in fact, take a can of cheap tuna in oil, in case you run out of roe. i've caught my fair share with it. i like to add creel oil to any roe/bait when salmon fishing. just remember to add enough weight to keep your presentation down on the bottom.
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most of my fish come off tuna in oil.
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stacy, post a report when you get back from seattle. i'll be up there about the same time as you.....last week in august. just curious, what area do you fish? we'll be fishing out of coupeville, area 9. i hear the silvers are supposed to be coming in pretty thick this year. hope to get into some decent kings before the closer too.
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