Opinions on a drop shot rig for salmon

[MuskieBait]

Most salmon fishing upriver from the mouth is questionable. I'm of the opinion that most of the salmon caught in the river are 1) intentionally snagged 2) unintentionally snagged 3) intentionally lined/flossed 4) unintentionally lined/flossed.

That being said, I have personally experienced, as well as witnessed friends, salmon that chased down a spinner, spoon, and even roe bag on the retrieve, or taken a nightcrawler deep down the throat so far you can't even see the hook anymore (while fishing for steelhead and brown trout in mid-October)! So there are the ODD occasions where they will legitimately bite/hit in the river.

But after fishing for them for over 15 years, I can honestly say that most of the time, they avoid anything drifting toward them. In clear water, they can see an object (either debris, split shots or roe bag) drifting to them over 15 feet upstream of them and they do avoid the drifting object.

A lot of times, people use long leader (especially proponent of fluorocarbon leader) and try to fish for them "legally", but most of the time, the low visibility line simply just drifted into the gaping jaw of the salmon and the salmon spooks and run off, at which point the line is pulled tight and the hook is "set" on the outside of the jaw...sometimes on the eye, the gill plate, the pectoral fin, the side of the body, the corner of the jaw...and if you are lucky, it may hook somewhere inside the jaw to make it SEEMS like the fish legitimately took the bait.

I've casted spinners, spoons and crankbaits, things that people say would also work in the rivers...I've casted big, bright aggressive fly patterns...I've drifted roe bags, single eggs, marabou jigs...and most of the salmon ignore my bait and lures. That is after 15 years of experience.

The only exception is salmon at the rivermouth which will and do chase and bite spoons, J-13's and other diving plugs. I've fished alongside with friends who do very well fishing rivermouths for salmon. I'm not there yet...

So what I'm trying to say is that try not to get sucked into the snagger/flossing crowd of the salmon "fisherman" and put in your time to do it ethically. Casting spoons at the rivermouth from now until late September is your best bet to hook a salmon legally.

I was taught to fish for salmon by lining/flossing them. At the time, I was young and I didn't really know I was being taught to incorrectly fish for salmon. I was taught to drift the roe bag or yarn fly INTO the mouth of the salmon and set the hook when the line comes tight. That is totally lining and flossing. I am much more educated now and I consciously make the decision to not fish in this manner. I do fish the streams around the spawning run to find the odd steelhead, brown trout or even (once) an Atlantic Salmon (that jumped off). I do line/snag some salmon here and there since they can be so thick you cannot avoid them, but I do not go out actively snag/line salmon like many people do.