When it comes to choosing the right salmon fishing lures, it really depends on the time of year and the type of water. Situations often dictate which lures to use and when to use them. These situations can range anywhere from tides and water clarity, to river flows and spawning runs. To have the best success, often a varied approach will help out. Don’t be stuck on a single lure being the ‘silver bullet.’ You could waste an entire day fishing one lure in a bunch of spots only to find that that particular lure is a dud on that day. Be flexible and ready to change the point of attack when necessary.
For simplicity, we will break the salmon fishing lures and bait down into two main categories: sea lures and river lures. Sea can refer to lakes in the case of the great lakes or other lakes that salmon spend most of their lives in.
Sea Salmon Fishing Lures
When it comes to sea salmon lures, the most popular types are associated with trolling gear. Trolling for salmon allows you to cover a lot of water with different rigs. Outriggers and downriggers allow you to cover different depths while you search for schools of feeding salmon. Lures to use when trolling in the sea include: spoons, spinners, pop gear, divers with attached bait, and flashers. The shinier the spinning blades and spoons, the more attractive they will be to feeding salmon. More conventional lures that can be used with trolling or without include plugs, spoons, crankbaits (think wiggle warts), and baits such as anchovy, prawns, and shrimp attached to a spinning treble hook.
Below is an assortment of 30 salmon fishing lures ranging from spinners and spoons to flatfish and divers. Click the image for more information.
River Salmon Fishing Lures
There isn’t a whole lot of crossover from sea lures to river salmon fishing lures. When salmon make their way into river systems to start their journey to spawn, they are basically done feeding. That is taken care of out at sea. A different strategy is needed to induce strikes when fishing for salmon in rivers. Threatening or even annoying them with a shiny lure or spinner bait is the best bet to incite a strike. Remember that they are not taking your lure out of hunger, but because of some reactionary strike. That is the key when fishing in the rivers.
The most popular lures to accomplish this are anchor plugs and wobblers, like the flatfish or kwikfish. Backfish or anchor them close to the bottom of rivers in areas where salmon will be moving upriver. The erratic side to side motion of these lures targets a reactionary strike in spawning salmon, and the fact that they are basically sitting on the bottom in front of moving fish makes this method even more potent. Working different patterns and colors of flashy spinner baits and spoons through deep runs is another successful technique.
The Bottom Line
If you are planning an Alaska salmon fishing trip, either at sea or in one of the many spawning rivers, be sure to stock up on these lure patterns. Shop for cheap salmon fishing lures online, and buying them in bulk and out of season will ensure that you can get discount salmon fishing lures a plenty. Good luck wrangling in these large fish, and happy fishing!
What is your favorite salmon lure pattern? Do you prefer to deep sea fish for salmon or fish in the river during the spawn? Let us know below.
