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Hello all, I'm going to try fishing for land locked salmon for a few days in late september in maine's east grand. Although I have fished the lake many times before for bass, my salmon experience is lacking. I was wondering how most of you would fish this style? I have a good boat with downrigger and spinning tackle. Any rec's on flies, line, setups and trolling tactics would be greatly appreciated.Thanks so much, John PS Can you fish for salmon and trout at the same time? Thnaks
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cow bells
the old timers swear by these, unfortunatly for me I have yet to find some one who can/will show me the proper way to hook them up. I know you hook them up on a down rigger. that is all I can tell ya.
hope some one can give yo a little more info on them. I see them on the shelves at all the major fishing equipment outlets. unfortunatly the kids there dont realy know how to hook them up and how to present them or what speed to maintain.
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I've never fished up there, but landlocked kokanee salmon is the one species I'm truly serious about these days. I imagine your landlocked salmon are very similar. I love fishing for the silver rockets... see my reports on the board here and plenty of reports on the WY board too (from me and others). Lots of fun.
I'd check out [url "http://www.rockymountaintackle.com"]www.rockymountaintackle.com[/url] and use some of their dodgers, hoochies, spinners, and spoons. They are amazing for the landlocked salmon out here and friends of mine have used this gear up in BC with great success too (for dang big salmon!).
As far as cowbells go, they are easy. Not my first choice (dodgers are #1 for me) but they work. First I would start with a good line. Cowbells are a bit pricey to risk losing to a line that is of low quality or too light test for the fish you're after. A good flourocarbon, like pline is ideal. But, mono or braid will work too. Tie a quality snap swivel to your line. This will help prevent line twist. Then snap the rudder to the swivel. The rudder, on the cowbells, should always be in front. The rudder further helps prevent twist and keeps the "lake troll" tracking true. Behind it I use about 18 inches of leader tied to a #2 octopus hook (gamakatsu is best). Thread a nightcrawler on there and that is a great trout rig.
Salmon seem to prefer a little more though. Check out the beaded spinners on the website from above. I run them about 18-24 inches behind the back of the cowbells. If I'm using dodgers I run them closer to 14 inches for a 4 inch dodger. The bigger the dodger though, the further you need to run the spinner back. I also use spoons, apexes, tasmanian devils, etc behind dodgers and cowbells. I generally use a bit longer leader for these fluttering lures though.
Speed, for cowbells I like to troll from 1.0-1.7 mph. These speeds have worked very well for salmon out here. If I'm trolling dodgers I like to go 1.6-2.2 mph. If I'm using spoons, apexes, or other lures that need some speed to work I will sometimes go as fast as 2.5, but I never go any quicker. Usually the 2 speed ranges I listed first get the job done. But, don't be afraid to speed up or slow down until you get it figured out. Hopefully you have a gps. This is very valuable both for marking schools of fish, and for keeping tabs on your true speed. Sometimes even small changes in speed, caused by wind changes etc, can make a big difference in your catch rates.
One last thing, check out [url "http://www.pro-cure.com"]www.pro-cure.com[/url] Scent can be a huge advantage for salmon fishing. They should have a species list and recomendations for specific flavors on that website. I'd suggest using the super gels rather than the oils though. The super gels stick on the baits better, bleed into the water nicely, and keep their scent longer.
Hope this helps. I don't have a lot of time tonight, but if you're interested maybe I could take a few minutes and give you a top 10 or so rigs/color combinations/size scents, etc that has worked for me. I might even be able to throw together some illustrations, or find some that I've done in the past to help people. Let me know, and good luck to you!
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Wow BK that was alot of great info. I can't wait to try it out. I'll keep you posted on how I do up there, they say the fishing is pretty good, thanks again, john
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No problem! Hopefully you can decipher some useful tidbits from all of that! Also check the other posts about trolling here on the salmon/trout board. We've had some good conversations here about trolling that should be very useful. And as always, if you have any other specific questions about trolling, downriggers, gear, sonar, trout/salmon, etc. Just ask! Good luck, and be sure to post up a report when you return. I'm interested to know how it all turns out for you!
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