- Hire a certified fishing guide to help you navigate the many fishing sites in Alaska. Statistics from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game show that anglers fishing with state certified guides land their first fish after a few hours of fishing, but non-guided anglers average about 40 hours before their first catch. An extensive list of fishing guides can be found at outdoorsdirectory.com.
- Use salmon roe, nightcrawlers, drift bobbers or fresh herring as bait for salmon. A malin bag of salmon roe, ranging from one-half inch to one inch in diameter, is suitable. For nightcrawlers, thread them onto a hook with about an inch dangling free at the end. Drift bobbers, which attract fish using bright colors and vibrating motions, are threaded right to the end of the hook. Green label herring, which is about six to seven inches long, can be prepared at home through brining and filleting procedures. Thread the herring onto the hook in the same manner as the nightcrawlers.
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Use a mooching technique when you are fishing in areas where schools of salmon are known to dwell. To mooch, simply stop your boat and float with the waves while letting out a leader with bait straight down to the depths.
Use a heavier weight, like a two- or three-pound cannon ball weight, to keep your line straight and deep. If you use a sinker release, your line can release the weight after the fish has been hooked, giving you less weight to fight against.
Use a depth finder to approximate how much line you need to let out. Salmon are deepwater fish, and you need to make sure you're using enough line to mooch that low. However, if you use too much line, your bait will rest on the bottom of whatever body of water you're on and will fail to catch fish. -
Go trolling when salmon are scattered in your general vicinity. Trolling requires lines with lighter weights being dragged along at low speeds, generally around 2 mph.
Use a depth finder again, but because of the boat's movement, the length of line you'll need operates on a bell curve. To reach depths of 20 feet, you'll need to use about 22 feet of line; for 40 feet, use 55 feet of line; 100 feet of line will reach almost 60 feet.
Multiple anglers on the same boat should use different weights for their lines while trolling. This will prevent the lines from tangling.
