What Bait to Use for Salmon Fishing
Salmon are found in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, and in interior bodies of water, including the Great Lakes. They are one of the top sport fish to catch, and are incredibly good eating with a high protein and omega-3 content. There are two distinct schools of thought as to what bait to use for salmon fishing. Both are linked to the fact that salmon are meat eaters and will be attracted to something that appears to be meat or something that actually is meat. Both methods will yield good results. It is up to the angler to decide what will work best on a particular day.
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Instructions
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Attract the salmon by putting together a rig that includes color and movement, in addition to the bait.
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Pair your bait with a flasher, which may be silver, pearl, blue or green. This will attract the salmon. Using anywhere from 2 to 5 feet of fishing line, you can include flies and spinner blades for movement, again working toward attracting the salmon. You are building a trolling rig.
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Pick your bait. Many Great Lakes salmon anglers have turned to "cut bait" in recent years. This is a strip of fish, usually herring or smelt. This has the added plus of smell to attract the salmon. In lieu of the cut bait, anglers have traditionally used a "spoon" to catch salmon. A spoon is a thin, artificial lure that mimics the movement of a swimming fish when it is pulled behind a moving boat.
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Get your line with the attractions and the bait, either cut bait or spoon, in the water. Let your line play out to between 50 to 150 feet behind the boat as it slowly moves forward. Note, this is not surface fishing. You will be using a heavy, leadcore line that will get your cut bait or spoon deep down into the water.
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Tips & Warnings
Some anglers are marinating their cut bait to add to the attractive smell. It is all about attraction with salmon. If you are not having any luck, try switching up on your flasher colors. It may be more likely that the salmon will see different colors depending on the color of the water you are fishing in. And if you are not having any luck fishing forsSalmon with spoons, try fresh cut bait.
Cut bait will probably not be effective unless it is very fresh and gives off a good fish scent.
