Salmon Tackle

I've had many people ask over the years "isn't it difficult to troll from a kayak?"  It's not.  At all.  1-3 mph is the ticket for kings.  Troll too fast and you may get silvers or nothing at all.  Expect rockfish too...

I cannot wait for the joy of pinning on and dragging some chovies.   

Im same as Craig on chartreuse.. when I had a boat(the gasguzzlingmoneyholeinthewater kind I mean.. )  the ticket for me was always chartreuse rsk, sometimes a flasher and sometimes not.. and I preferred going off the back with 2lb ball instead of the downriggers.. no idea why.  mojo I guess!   

Speaking of 2lb weights.. I about fell over the other day when I saw the price of lead.  I might have to sell some of my wifes stuff! 

Hey guys on a yak is two pounds needed.

What type of rod rating do most go with???

What size lure should be trolled?

Black Ab, how much is on that deep six? your not using a DR are you?

Whats the scoop on the mooching? is that just drifting with bait?

Drifting with dead bait. I use a 3ft leader. with a circle hook2/0 or 3/0 Put the hook in the jaw up from the bottom and out the top, Put a half-hitch around the tail so it jigs vertically head down. 3 to 6 oz banana weight between the leader and the terminal end of your line. You have to have patience as the salmon will take its time swallowing the bait let the tip load up the reel. No need to set the hook the circle does it for you. a 2.5 lb ball on a pb is pretty standard. You want it trolling  as deep as the fish are. I wouldnt know how much weight is needed on a kayak. But I am going to find out in April.

how much is on that deep six? your not using a DR are you?

Whats the scoop on the mooching? is that just drifting with bait?

Even a "Double DeepSix" only has around 8oz. - it's the planer that gets it down deeper.  There's no downrigger.

I've never really mooched - only trolling.

If I were using sinker release I'd start at 1 pound balls on the yak for sure.

My last question was poorly written by me, sorry. I guess I meant do you ever use a down rigger or just the deep six. But sounds like the deep six.

Good info here, only had one chance to fish for these many years ago. I thought I was mooching, but not really after reading this

Lots of good advise here. I don't have any kayak experience but have caught lots of salmon from powerboats. Watermelon apex's work great but the leaders they are tied with are junk. Be sure to re rig them with some quality 25# to 30# mono.

Crokadiles work very well as do RSKs and cable baiters or crowbars. If you want to fish bait I would suggest the RSK because they would be easier to rig on a kayak. I like the chartruese one with the larger size fin so it gets the nice slow rolling action.

Lures and bait both catch fish. I think bait tends to catch bigger fish but needs to be checked more to make sure its running right and doesn't have a bite taken out of it. Lures probably catch more and smaller fish in my experience.

Good luck with the pink meat!


-Eliot

Squid no but a Purple Haze Hoochie behind a flasher works well.

I saw a purple haze hoochie behind a flasher in santa cruz saturday nite?

Stoggie

Sounds like a good party there Stoggie.

ok guys here is another newbie question, i have never caught a salmon outside of a river and have only caught them on fly rods, so my question is which of these rods would you suggest and which of these reels would you pair it with for the upcoming ocean salmon season

rods

biadarka bk-c-761mh 12-25# 3/4-1 1/2oz
pacificstix fenglass 1665hc 30-80# 2-8oz
pacificstix fenglass 15-50# 3/4-3oz
california calico special cs80xh 15-40#
seeker black steel g870 15-40#(25#)
diawa vip saltwater vip80j e-glass 30-60#

reels
fin-nor ofc 20L
penn 155
penn 930 levelwind
newell 229-5
shimano tld15
 
thanks for any advice you can give me, cameron

For trolling the seeker 870 for mooching the trevala

Sorry meant the Baidarka.

thanks gb2, cameron

ok guys here is another newbie question, i have never caught a salmon outside of a river and have only caught them on fly rods, so my question is which of these rods would you suggest and which of these reels would you pair it with for the upcoming ocean salmon season

rods

biadarka bk-c-761mh 12-25# 3/4-1 1/2oz
pacificstix fenglass 1665hc 30-80# 2-8oz
pacificstix fenglass 15-50# 3/4-3oz
california calico special cs80xh 15-40#
seeker black steel g870 15-40#(25#)
diawa vip saltwater vip80j e-glass 30-60#

reels
fin-nor ofc 20L
penn 155
penn 930 levelwind
newell 229-5
shimano tld15
 
thanks for any advice you can give me, cameron

The Seeker G870 on your list is actually a 15-25# rod that I like for tossing live bait for Albies. It would probably bend to the butt if you were trolling with enough weight to keep your bait down 40' or so.
Calstar makes a 870 that is 15-40 and I like that rod a lot for Party Boat salmon trolling. I have a couple (one being a blank I had Acid wrapped) and they're in the West Coast series. It's a blend of graphite and glass. I prefer a glass rod for salmon because there is more flex. The old Harnell 525's were a great rod before graphite. A little whippy for my taste but the graphite blend of the Calstar West Coast (and Seeker Black Steel) make for a soft tip with a strong butt.

If you want to make do with what you have I'd go with the Pacificstix 15-50#.

Of the reels you have I'd pick the TLD. I fished one of those for a number of years and liked it. Not too sure how beach-proof it is if you dunk it when landing though. They are pretty easy to take apart and clean. Upgrade the drag and you're set.