How to Fish for Silver Salmon

Silver salmon are considered the best fighting salmon and are famous for making spectacular jumps. They're good eating (though their flesh is a little softer than that of reds or kings) and can weigh up to 20 lbs.

Things You'll Need

• Fishing Hooks
• Fishing Lines
• Fishing Lures
• Fishing Poles
• Fishing Reels
• Fishing Rods
• Fishing Tackle
• Fishing Vests
• Lead Weights

Instructions

1. Choose an overcast or rainy day.

2. Obtain 15-lb. test line and a rod rated at the same weight.

3. Use a reel rated for your line weight. Casting and spinning reels can be used, but line off a spinning reel tends to twist and fray in rivers with fast currents.

4. Add lead weights to your line to keep them bouncing just off the bottom. Use more weight in faster currents.

Tips & Warnings

• Use heavier line and gear if you're fishing for meat, not for sport.

• Silver salmon, also called coho, have spawning runs all along the north Pacific coast up to Alaska. Runs are seasonal and can last only a few weeks in each river.

• Salmon stop eating when they start a spawning run, but will strike at flashing lures like Pixies, Mepps spinners and vibrating lures. They will take cured salmon eggs, but eggs are illegal on many rivers.

• Clear-running rivers are preferred, but some of the best runs are in silty glacial runoff rivers, such as the Kenai.

• Regulations on salmon fishing can be complex. Contact your local Department of Fish and Game for a complete list of license fees and fishing regulations.