picks up the bait, it is going to chew it or begin to swallow it. At some point, you will feel a different sensation and a steady pull on your line and that’s when it is time to set the hook. Do it sooner and you’ll pull the bait out of the fish’s mouth. Wait too long and the salmon will spit the bait out. Having the right equipment is important. You need to be able to feel the bite through the rod, and in order to do that you need a stout, but sensi- tive graphite rod. I prefer an 8- to 9-foot rod with a sensitive tip and a stout butt section. An 8-foot, medium-heavy rod with a fast action that’s line rated for 8- to 20-pound line and rated up to 3 or 4 ounces is about perfect. The tip sensi- tivity allows you to feel the bite and the stout butt section gives you plenty of hook-setting power when you need it. When I’m back-bouncing, I prefer a level wind reel with a thumb bar release. When you back-bounce, you are constantly moving your bait on the bottom. After I free spool the bait to the bottom, I’ll engage the reel and bounce for a short while, then move it down farther into the hole. To do this, you have to free spool, and a thumb bar release makes it quick and easy to do with one hand.
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For salmon in the Columbia River, you need a bait or lure that allows you to troll and cover a lot of water, and using a down- stream troll has become the norm for spring Chinook.
For spring Chinook, my reels are loaded with 50-pound braided line. The sensitivity you get with braided lines is night and day from monofila- ment. That pays dividends when back- bouncing. On your mainline, you need a sliding weight system. You can use a simple swivel system that slides up and down the mainline. Use three or four beads (8mm) as a bumper system before tying a barrel swivel to your mainline. The beads will keep you from reeling your barrel swivel through the rod tip, and will reduce stress on the knots. Experiment with leader length,
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but a good rule of thumb is 3 feet. I pre- fer 25-pound monofilament. Pre-tie those with an egg loop knot to a 4/0 hook. Add a drift bobber above your hook to give your bait added buoyancy. History tells us that cured salmon
roe and a sand shrimp tail is one of the most enticing salmon baits around. I recommend a bait slightly smaller than a golf ball. The eggs should be firm and when lowered into the water they should produce a milky-white trail. Add a sand shrimp tail and you have the perfect bait.
TROLLING HERRING
For salmon in the Columbia River, you need a bait or lure that allows you to troll and cover a lot of water, and using a downstream troll has become the norm for spring Chinook. Good bait is essential — the herring should be firm, have its scales intact, and cured or dyed. Herring cures are important for firmness, and dying bait has become popular recently. There are a variety of colors to use, but char- treuse seems to be the favorite. Herring come in a variety of sizes,
and are labeled by size. The largest her- ring are referred to as black label her- ring, followed by purple, blue, green
TIDE
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