My Set Up: Salmon and Steel

by Jeffl

This is my first attempt at writing anything similar to an article so please have patience. This is my explaination of a simple but effective fly rod/reel set up that I use on the SR for both Salmon and Steelhead.

First is the Rod. For Salmon I prefer to use an 8 or 9 wt 10 ft. rod. I primarily fish the DSR durring the salmon run and find that anythng less does not have enough backbone to properly and efficiently fight these large, strong, fresh fish, especially if you practice catch and release. I'm not saying you can't do it with a lesser rod, its just doesn't work as well. It will take longer to land the fish, you have the possibility of breaking the rod, and the fish will be running you farther up and down the river than if fishing with the higher wt. rods. Upstream and at the end of the season as the fish lose strenght a lighter rod will do the trick but at the start of the season, I strongly suggest the heavier rods.

For line I have 2 different reels with 5 total spools for different conditions, but 90% of the time I use Cortland running line, for Salmon and steel, I use a 10ft leader attached to the line with an albright knot. 12-15lb leader for Salmon and 8-10lb leader for steel. I either use Max. chameleon or drenan floro. I use the albright because it is easier for me to tie than a nail knot and it has not failed me on the river. I then use a snap swivel to attached the tippet, but not in the traditional way. The leader and the tippet are tied to the two barrel holes. I use the snap part of the swivel to attatch the wieght. I take 15lb max. chameleon line and loop it through and tie it off in a knot at the end. This "tag" is only 1-2 inches long. I will post a picture to show in the next few days. This way, if I get caught on the bottom, the majority of the time, I only loose my weight. It tends to slide off the tag end when snagged on the bottom.

Next is the tippet, I have found that drenan is the best floro out there. Salmon I use 8-10 lb and Steel I use 4-6lb. I usually fish the standard 4 ft tippet but modify it based on the water I am fishing. The longer the tippet, the higher up in the water column your fly will be. If the fish are hugging bottom or I am fishing fast water I shorten to a 2-3 ft tippet.

Wieghting the line. This is probably the most important thing. The majority of the people I see fishing and it took me years to learn this is that they are using too much weight on their line. I prefer to tick bottom only twice on my drift. As far as fishing this set up. Please refer to linescreamers post on high stick nymphing.

I usually cast out to 10 oclock, have the first bottom tick directly infront of me at 12 oclock and then have the second tick at 3 oclock. I am following the drift with my rod the whole time. Once the drift is past 3 oclock I lower my rod and point it down stream in an attempt to 1 keep the fly/ bait down as well as causing the fly/ bait to swing at the end of the drift. The fly will then rise to the top of the water at the end of the swing and thats when I start to pulll in the line.

Because I use running line, it is not traditional fly fishing. I am using the weight at the end of the leader to throw the fly and not the flyline. I find I have more control over my casts and my drift using this method as supposed to a spin set up. I can control the length of my cast and placement much better than I can on a spinning rod. It is just personal choice.

The other thing that is worth mentioning about the ticking on the bottom, since I know where bottom is and therefore hesitation is on my drift, any other pause or line movement is usually a fish. If you have too much weight, you are dragging bottom throughout the drift and it is very hard to tell the difference between bottom and a fish in that scenario.

You can fish almost any type of fly or bait using this set up. It is not just for flys. Eggsacks, single plastic eggs, etc. are all effective.

The other important point worth mentioning is keeping the rod tip high and up so you feel (tight to) the weight. This way you do not get hung up on the bottom and you feel what is happening under the water. If your not tight to the weight, your not feeling whats happening.

Keep in mind about what lscreamer said regarding keeping the line out of the water. That is why I use a 10ft long leader. The thinner the line, the less drag caused by the water creating a better "dead" drift.

I use the running line for two reasons- First as mentioned above it is thinner in diameter than fly line and Second it shoots through the guides very well.

I have caught more fish using this technique/ set up on the salmon river than anyother technique. Personally, I only get to fish the SR a max 6 times a year, this past year it was only 3 times so I want to maximize the amount of fish I hook. Once the urge is satisfied I switch over to different traditional techniques, but in my opinion this one of the most effective ways to consistently hook fish on the Salmon River.

I hope you all find this post informative. Please ask any questions/ comments you might have.