trolling for salmon

Wanted to ask you guys with the experience,
What is better to troll in the salt for salmon.
1.down rigger with 3lb ball
2.deep 6
3. 2lb ball with release.
I just hate the thought of   loosing a 2lb ball every time.

From what I have seen Ken the deep six works well. Ask Loleta Eric or Mantanaska.

I just hate the thought of   loosing a 2lb ball every time.

+1. good for you ken.
 
I went the downrigger route, but who cares 'cause i haven't caught a salmon yet

If you pour your own lead then 1 or 2 pounders on a release is a good option for opportunities to fight salmon without lead along for the battle, but a place like Shelter Cove or MB might be costly in lead due to rockfish and lings that may cause sinker loss from unwanted species. I like the DeepSix option because you only lose gear to snags and strong fish. It's easy to get a DS down deep, but the resistance it causes while paddling can be a pain as you often end up paddling on one side.

Banana weights are another option to consider - especially when the fish aren't too deep.  I like to run the banana with no flasher when trolling around the reef and have caught some nice ones that way as well as craploads of rockies and lings.

The smallest DS, a size zero has been getting me on the kokes up here at Tahoe, but they don't trip it!   

Best of luck. 

I use a spectra downrigger with a 3 pound ball.

Thanks guys for the info, I picked up a bunch of gear the other day.  want to go for the salmon!

Eric, when you use the banana weights how heavy? And  do you rig a anchovie mooching style or a plug or a crippled anchovies or non of the above.  Will be bringing all my salmon gear to Albion.

Speaking about fresh water species, used my down rigger for trout the other day picked up a few but non of them poped the release.

It's hard to get a FW fish to pop a release, even the small FW scotty releases can be a little too snug sometimes.

I just hate the thought of losing a 2lb ball every time.

You won't be dropping lead unless you're hooking fish, and if/when you do it won't seem like such a bad thing

Whether you use downrigger or release, the difference in the workout over the mileage between 1, 2, or 3 lbs is bigger than you'd think

If it's the environment you're thinking about, the deep 6s are a good way to go, what I like about releases is there's nothing swinging between you and the fish

Deep Six all the way. I like the middle size. They drag a lot, but I don't see any way around it if you want to get down deep.
If you don't want to deal with the Deep Six dragging on you, you can always try mooching...uh oh, I said it! 

I want more details on the spectra downrigger/3 lb ball.

Eric, when you use the banana weights how heavy? And  do you rig a anchovie mooching style or a plug or a crippled anchovies or non of the above.

Ken - I like 4 or 6 ounces, but it depends on how deep the reef is - less is better, but it's good to have 8', 10's and 12's too.  My terminal tackle and bait of choice is frozen chovies on a mooching slip rig.  That's caught all my kings and a silver this year.

I have used either a 1 or 2lb ball with a release.  The 2lb is better as I can usually see it on the fish finder as the line is more vertical (which helps with depth confirmation).  1lb is ok if you are fishing in the top 20 feet or so.  I pour my own lead, so losing sinkers is not such a big deal, and so far I don't think I have suffered any dain bramage....   If I did not pour my own, I would probably go with a deep six or in line sinker.   I have never tried to set up a downrigger, but it seems like one more thing to complicate matters.

my 2 cents.

I have not caught a salmon on my DR set up yet but I can say if you are deep (over 50 ft) it's a threat to getting a fish twisted if you don't real up the ball, are stationary, and with barbless hooks, I'll likely switch over to DS in the future..Albion 

Ken - I like 4 or 6 ounces, but it depends on how deep the reef is - less is better, but it's good to have 8', 10's and 12's too.  My terminal tackle and bait of choice is frozen chovies on a mooching slip rig.  That's caught all my kings and a silver this year.
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thanks Eric,
Hope to see you at Albion. Keep those awesome vids coming

Thx, Ken!  I'm actually sitting on footage of my last few salmon since most of my last half dozen or so vids were salmon. Maybe I'll pump one out later this week before I have to go back to work.