How to Fish for Chinook Salmon
Prized for its flavor and highly regarded by sport fishermen, the chinook salmon is a favorite on the West Coast. Also known as king salmon or red salmon, chinook are found in rivers, lakes and reservoirs of the western United States and Canada. Chinook are a challenging quarry, but their flavor is considered by many to surpass that of all other salmon. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, spawning populations of chinook are found from the Ventura River in Southern California north to Point Hope, Alaska.
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Things You'll Need
- Heavy salmon rod
- Lures and miscellaneous tackle
- Sardines, herring, anchovies
Instructions
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Choose a medium or medium-heavy rod of 10 to 12 feet with a line rating of at least 12 lbs.---or 30 lbs. if you're fishing coastal areas known for large, heavy salmon. Use line rated at least 15 lb. test. Attach a snap swivel to your line, add a sturdy leader of 30 to 48 inches, then use a single hook with an egg loop. Try using a corky on the line above the hook; adding a small piece of yarn to the hook itself can be effective.
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Push the snap swivel through a 9-inch piece of rubber tubing, then shove a pencil weight into the tubing. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, you can also just push the snap through the parachute cord of a slinky weight. Troll the egg loop from a boat, or try back-bouncing this rig. Try other lures such as magnum Wiggle Warts, and choose the color of lures and plugs to correlate with the weather---bright colors on bright days and dark colors on dark days. Check with tackle shops for local favorite lures and riggings.
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Cast spinners or Wiggle Warts from riverbanks. Try Crippled Herring lures of 3 oz. or larger for jigging. Use a sardine wrap on Kwikfish lures to increase their effectiveness---these banana-shaped plugs can be fished alone, but in the 1960s salmon fishermen learned that tying a strip of bait to the underside of the lure worked even better. Use sardines, herring strips or anchovies tied to the lure.
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Try adding a 12-inch dropper of monofilament line with a 6- to 8-oz. lead sinker or slinky weight attached. Use spinners in strong currents---Flatfish and Kwikfish don't work well in heavy currents. Try chartreuse spinners with brass or copper blades. Polish the blades with Nevr-Dull or another metal polish to increase visibility.
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Use scents on lures when fishing for lake chinook; shad-imitation lures work well for inland chinook in reservoirs in the late summer and early fall. Target deep water near islands or other structures in reservoirs; chinook are often found between 125 and 175 feet in the autumn. Fish near stream mouths where they empty into lakes or reservoirs; salmon often seek out the fresh, cool water at inlets.
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Check with state fish and game agencies to learn about seasonal salmon runs. According to NOAA Fisheries, different runs from the ocean to freshwater streams occur even within a single river system. Target salmon with lures that resemble fish; though young salmon feed on insects and crustaceans, adult salmon eat primarily other fish.
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Target tidewater fisheries for fall chinook. Try bobber fishing with plug-cut (also called cutplug) herring; your local tackle shop can show you how to rig it, and you can find step-by-step directions online (see Resources). Use scented bait in tidewater areas; tide changes cause poor visibility and slow-moving water, but chinook have a sharp sense of smell. Buy wet-cured salmon eggs for slow, murky waters.
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Tips & Warnings
Try spinners with colored beads or crystal beads.
Give other anglers plenty of room, whether you're in a boat or on the bank.
Check state seasons and fishing regulations carefully before heading out.
Reel in when another angler near you hooks up---tangled lines with two salmon on them is no fun.
