King Salmon commonly referred to as “Kings” is one of the most exciting fish to target in the river. Known for brute strength and hard runs they truly are the king of the river. Kings are a very accessible fish, running many of the rivers across the Midwest and New York as well as the West Coast. I target Kings along Western Michigan but this information applies to anywhere you might be targeting these fish. The tactics we will be talking about in this article are geared towards targeting salmon in the river and will cover a few different techniques and tactics as well as the gear and equipment you need to get started.
The most important part of catching kings is being able to identify the kind of water they will hold in. As they migrate upriver to spawn they stop and rest in certain locations, these are the premier locations to target them. Look for outside bends, slower swirly water and structure such as laydowns or boulders to break up the current making it easier for them to rest without fighting the current. Don’t stray away from the wood and snags as they typically gravitate to them to break up the current. They typically push through the night into early morning and continue again during the last bit of light, making those periods great opportunities to cast artificials at them.
Kings can be targeted using a variety of different techniques. Back trolling plugs, back bouncing, casting crankbaits and spinners, and float (bobber) fishing skein and beads. Casting crankbaits and spinners is an effective and simple way to catch these fish especially if you don’t have any cured skein which is used to bobber fish.
Crankbaits tend to be most effective in the early morning and later in the evening and are a great way to catch some fish and also get some eggs to cure and use for bait. Thundersticks are one of the most popular and most effective crankbaits to target kings with, either the Deep Jr or regular size. Keeping additional treble hooks and some split ring pliers is a must as hooks will need replacing after some fish or snags. After the stick bite slows down usually around the first hour or so after day break I start bobber fishing skein and beads.
My favorite way to target salmon is float fishing with skein and beads. The float fishing rig for salmon is very simple, you need a slip or fix float, bobber stoppers (size of float depends on the river) or floating tubing depending on the style,weights to match your float, a rod rated around 8-17lb or 10-20lb, a 3000-4000 size reel spooled with 30-40lb braided line, 15-20lb fluorocarbon leader line and some swivels. Float fishing is great for both wading and boat anglers and is extremely effective no matter where you are fishing. Beads can be extremely effective, I typically fish sizes 14-20mm in variations of red. If you don’t have skein or roe, beads are a great option to bobber fish with to catch bait. If you have bait definitely don’t abandon the bead bite, especially during the afternoon.
Skein fishing can be intimidating at first because there are a lot of steps and you have to get some eggs to work with. However, it isn’t as difficult as it seems. Fish beads and crankbaits to catch eggs. Purchase some cures such as Fire cure or Boraxofire or Procure (red is usually most effective), beforehand and follow the instructions. For more detailed information on how to cure eggs visit this (https://www.getbentguideservicemi.com/post/how-to-cure-salmon-skein) article. Once you have your cured skein, you’re ready to fish. Use a snell knot to attach your hook( 1/0 or 2/0 octopus) to the leader and cut various sizes of skein chunks and place in the snell knot. Kings are known for suspending in the water column so start a few feet deep and slowly work your way towards the bottom until you start getting bites. Alternating some different colors and some different cures is a great way to trigger some extra bites.
Tight Lines,
Capt. John Wielinga
Get Bent Guide Service
269-277-9293
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