Trolling for Salmon Question

Once the Salmon start getting closer to point where you can troll for them, what is the best way to troll?

How much lead would you troll with from a kayak,  Having done it for the first time from a Charter boat we were using 2.5 pounds of lead, which from a slowe r moving kayak would seem to be an excessive amount, but what do I know.  What do you guys use for trolling or do you just straight mooch, or???

Thanks

My co-worker trolls from his boat with lead & a release rather than a downrigger.  Other option is a downrigger, planer/diver or the time teated release/lead ball method.  Depends a LOT on the fish & if they will hit a mooch or not.

The kayak fishing for salmon bible:





Most everyone is using a deep six from the yak.  The Hobie guys will use a downrigger too.  Other than that,   best to find out what they are hitting in the area I think, AKA time to lurk on other boards.

Thanks for keeping me from having to self-promote, Eric!   

DeepSix is my favorite, but banana weights work too.  Earlier in the morning, very generally speaking, the fish may not be very far under the surface.  Dreamy days are when you catch big kings at 15 pulls.

I advise trying the DS.  Get a feel for the resistance it causes.  Get used to paddling mostly on one side or even elongating the amount of paddle that you use on one side.  If you don't like it then you'll need another method.

It's been my experience that you rarely stumble onto conditions where mooching would be more productive than trolling.  So many people have asked over the years, "so, you catch salmon from your kayaks?!  you must mooch for them, right?"  Uh, no!  I point out that if my M.O. were to paddle around looking for a bait ball to mooch on I'd already have been able to troll a ways just getting there.  Trolling is very rewarding if you like to paddle lots of miles.  It's a discipline, and I love it.

Thanks for keeping me from having to self-promote, Eric!   

DeepSix is my favorite, but banana weights work too.  Earlier in the morning, very generally speaking, the fish may not be very far under the surface.  Dreamy days are when you catch big kings at 15 pulls.

I advise trying the DS.  Get a feel for the resistance it causes.  Get used to paddling mostly on one side or even elongating the amount of paddle that you use on one side.  If you don't like it then you'll need another method.

The drag from a ds is no joke.I tried once for kokanee after almost a half hour of almost going in circles I came up with this idea.http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=40081.msg435204#msg435204