Salmon Fishing Techniques
Clearwater River Salmon Fishing Techniques
Want some Salmon fishing tips? Our fishing guides have chased salmon all over the Northwest and offer their favorite techniques. The Spring Chinook Salmon season is here and we’d like to share a few of our most effective techniques to catch Clearwater salmon. Our company is proud of our guides and their ability to adjust to the fishing conditions that change on our rivers. Most of the recreational anglers will troll plugs around in the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater river which early in the season can be effective. The separating factor for sure on the Clearwater itself is our bait that we use. All our guides have their special egg recipes and one thing we know for sure, we have the right cure.
Backtrolling is key
Most of our salmon fishing consists of back-trolling cured salmon or steelhead roe on a 5-6 foot mono 30lb test leader behind a jumbo 50′ lure Jensen jet diver. For rods I like to use 9′ 6″-10′ 6″, 4 or 5 power rod. Reels need to have a good drag and enough line capacity to hold a sufficient amount of line and line counters are essential. Our company is sponsored by Gary Loomis Edge Rods who happen to make the finest fishing rod in the World. Our rods have the right amount of sensitivity and backbone to handle our fish on the Clearwater.
Reading Water
The Water we fish will varies anywhere from 6 to 25 feet deep. Using this diver and eggs technique allows our baits get out a certain distance. Depending on the water we’re fishing, rods will be place in the rod holders. We will slowly back down our bait until we stick it in front of the fish which they can’t resist our sweet baits. These Salmon devour our cured eggs with no hesitation at all. We won’t tell you what’s in our cures but we will assure you the lines will be tight.
Some of the water we fish is 40-60 feet deep and very boils and full of hydraulics. In this case a diver will not get your bait to the bottom so we use large cannonball type sinkers that weigh from 10-16 oz. We’ll send the bait to the bottom feeling the heavy lead hit. We’ll gently lift and drop the bait back down, keeping in constant contact with the bottom. This is a more hands on method and we will feel the fish eat the bait. In the right conditions this method can be deadly effective.
Flashers, Spinners, SuperBaits
There are other times that we will troll with the typical flasher and herring. This technique is more designed to be used in the pool of the Confluence and most effective early in the season. Once our Kings arrive, they usually hold around the area where the Snake and Clearwater meet. The fish will travel in large schools giving us ample opportunity to whack on them. Salmon for the most part are on a mission to get to their spawning grounds which lies up towards the Orofino area and all the way up to the South Fork.
Our Spring Chinook Salmon Season on the Clearwater River is growing vastly. Many of our clients that are use to traveling to Alaska have chosen to stay closer to home. The Clearwater is becoming a destination fishery and is giving us almost 12 months of fishing. Thanks to our tribal, state, and federal hatchery programs, we have one of the finest fisheries in the U.S