Salmon with this rod?

[MuskieBait]

A 6'6" medium is a little short and light in general. It all depends on your spot.

If fish are further from shore, and covering water is important, you need a longer rod for a further cast. 6'6" is a bit short in that case. You may want something in the 8' to 9' range.

If you are fishing an area where there are lots of obstacles, or you do not have open areas to follow a fish, a medium rod is a bit light. You want something in the medium-heavy to heavy range.

Is it possible to land a salmon using a 6'6" medium rod? Yes. But you need room to fight the fish, and your reel needs enough capacity to hold enough line to allow the fish to run, since your rod will not have enough back bone to put enough pressure on the fish to tire it out quickly. You would want a reel at least in the 3000 size, holding 200 yds of 10lb mono. However, I would suggest 20lb braid instead of the mono. You get less stretch for better hookset, a thinner diameter for longer cast and less water resistance, and you can pack more line on the reel.

You do not need a metal leader for salmon. It is completely unnecessary. Their teeth are not sharp enough to cut your line. The reason you need a leader is for abrasion resistance. You do not need metal for this. You can use mono line from 15-30lbs, about 5-20 feet of it, as a rub leader.

If you spoon action is bad, it could be the swivel, or it could be your spoon. Use a good barrel swivel and get some quality spoons that can roll and wobble at different speeds.