Avoiding bad Salmon river fishing practices

[MuskieBait]

You can use the same rigs you use for float fishing. I fish salmon, steelhead and brown trout with float rods and spinning reels. It's just the same, only that it is harder to get a controlled drift with a shorter spinning rod or with a spinning reel (sometimes I take the anti-reverse off and "back reel").

Bottom bouncing is not flossing necessarily. I bottom bounce on the Niagara and all my fish are legitimately taken. In fact, sometimes they hammer your bait so hard it bends the float rod into a semi-circle! If you are just bottom bouncing, and not intentionally drifting the line into the mouth of fish, that is legit. People who are truly using the technique to floss salmon will use leaders in excess of 24 inches such that they increase the chance of the line catching in the jaw of the fish. Again, there is a very fine line between intentional flossing and proper bottom bouncing. Only you will determine that by how you intend to fish.