1. Pink, pink, and more pink! Silver Salmon love pink flies and spinners. Their reputation for reckless abandon aggression is especially evident when you have pink on the end of your line. Bright colors initiate an attack response from the pre-spawn salmon for various reasons. Other colors that work well are purple, chartreuse, and orange. Get your pink on!
2. Find the right depth. You’ll find Silver Salmon in various water conditions with respect to depth and current. It is important to get your flies, spinners, and spoons into the “strike zone”. Too often, anglers are simply not deep enough and their attractor flies sail over the head of beautiful chrome Coho Salmon. Sometimes, the fix is as simple as waiting 3-5 seconds once you have made your cast to allow your terminal tackle to get to the bottom.
3. Keep your lures and flies moving. Although there are always exceptions with Silvers, it is a good rule of thumb to keep reeling your conventional gear and/or stripping your fly line (even once you see a fish chasing). The retrieve motion keeps the spinner blade rotating further enticing the aggressive response of the fish.
4. Fish the slack water. Salmon rest in soft water, back eddies, and even sloughs as they continue their voyage to their spawning grounds. It is in these frog water locations where silvers congregate and are easily targeted. Look for fish rolling and hitting the surface in these types of river settings. Finding fish is 80% of the battle with respect to Coho Salmon.
5. Consider Catch and Release. While Alaska is world famous for its abundance of Salmon, practicing catch and release will help to ensure the health of the returns. If you are planning your Alaskan fishing adventure, consider just how much salmon your family will consume in the next six months. Keep enough salmon to enjoy it at home for a few months and catch & release the rest. There is no worse feeling for a fisherman than having to throw away freezer burned salmon.