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Does the Johnson silver minnow qualify as a Salmon lure?

The advice on tackle is spot on for coho in my experience. Mooching is killer for coho, if you just have to troll I like a 3.5 coyote spoon in cop car, blue magoo and funky chicken colors for coho. Cop car, or uv green typically for kings. If hootchies are what you want to run its hard to beat the uv green, purple haze, triple glow white etc.

But that time of year mootching would likely get the nod. I also run 30# maxima mainline, 20-25# leaders at 6-8' with 4/0 Matzuo sickle hooks as I feel they hold better then standard salmon shanks.

I use the newer 9'6" Lamiglass E-glass Rods on my riggers or trolling with Shimano Tekota 500's, 9'6" x96j casting rods with a Quantum cabo for mooching if level wind trips my trigger but most of my mooching is done with a 10'6" loomis and an Islander MR2 ( antireverse direct drive single action reel, no knuckle busting and a [bleep] ton of fun with the soft rod and no gears, but its not cheap reel)

Vapodog, The Johnson Silver minnow is Silver plated and would work, but I would cut the weed guard off first. You won't need it where you are going and all it would do is ward off a strike. I don't know if it would be any good for mooching, because it's not very heavy. Better to wait until you get up there and check with the locals.

Hard to find much any lure from. 2.5-6" that a coho won't try to eat that time of year. More then once we have played the try anything in the box to see of there was something one of those dumb bastards wouldn't bite when the bite was on. If there is hungry coho around they don't seem to care what you use

This seems to be a good piece of advice....thanks...It's off to the tackle shop again.....LOL

You missed a species Here is a breakdown:

King/Chinook the largest salmon, it's flesh is red/orange with a high oil content and the distinct salmon flavor, great grilled or smoked, best in the saltwater but still fairly palatable in the rivers when it's begun it's spawning run. As to why it's prized, if you get the opportunity to eat a grilled or smoked king belly, you'll never ask that question again.

Red/Sockeye, it's flesh is red with a high oil content and the distinct salmon flavor, great grilled or smoked, best in the saltwater but still fairly palatable in the rivers when it's begun it's spawning run.

Many argue about which tastes better, reds or kings, both are excellent table fair in my opinion.

Silver/Coho it's flesh is orange with a lower oil content and milder salmon flavor, great grilled or smoked, best in the saltwater but still fairly palatable in the rivers when it's begun it's spawning run. I love catching coho in the salt, agressive biters and fighters. They'll hit just about anything, hootchies, jigs, spoons, buzzbombs, spinners...

Pink/Humpy it's flesh is a pail orange with a lower oil content and to me it tastes more like a trout than a salmon. They deteriorate rapidly when they enter the rivers so if you plan to eat them, they really should only be taken dime bright from the salt water. They smoke up fairly well, grilled is ok but they just don't taste much like salmon. They typically run the same time as coho's and many people mistake them and think they've landed a silver when in fact it's a humpy. Learn to distinguish them. They are also agressive feeders and will take anything you're using to catch coho.

Chum/Dog, generally not eaten by Alaskans. The reason they are called dogs is that they are used for dog food.

As to gaffs, see if you can find a shark hook vs bending one out of wire. I got a shark hook for ~$16 from the K-bay gear shed, ground off the barb and attached it to a wooden rod with kevlar cord and fiberglass. Better than most commercial gaffs, and cheaper to boot. Honestly I rarely use a gaff for salmon, I prefer netting them. But when you have two or three people hooked up at once and somebody is busy with the net, a gaff is a good way to quickly land a salmon and get the rod back in action.

458...thanks for that post....I think it's dead on by my experience with buying Salmon at the grocery store....

Hopefully when I buy licenses in Ketchikan there will be photos of Salmon by which I might identify them when I catch them.

I've been told that one must keep everything he catches as returning them to the waters is not allowed....so If the catching isn't what I'd really want.....well try something else.

This will be a very grand learning experience for me!

Don't know who told you you are required to keep everything you catch... They're wrong.

The only requirement to retain fish is that (in Southeast Alaska) you must retain all non-pelagic rockfish caught until your limit is reached.

As to other species, if you catch an undersized fish, or catch fish in excess of your bag/possession limit, you must release them. Few folks here will keep limits of chums or humpies unless keeping them for halibut bait, so most humpies and chums will get released. I tend to keep dime-bright saltwater caught chums for the smoker, but generally send every humpy we catch back into the water. There is no problem releasing halibut, but you cannot gaff a fish and then release it, so if you intend to release a fish either net it or pull the hook at the side of the boat.

There are pictures of the different salmon and rockfish species at the back of the regulations booklet, so be sure to pick one up when you buy your licenses. That way you will have pictures and regulations all in one neat package.

Enjoy your trip!

Chris

double tap,
Thanks for the post.....always good to know what the game is all about and especially if one is playing it for the first time!

No worries! Alaska's hunting and fishing regs can be somewhat convoluted, so when you arrive (or just before you leave on your trip) also check the ADF&G website for any "Emergency Orders" in effect for Southeast Alaska. There will likely be Emergency Orders for salmon, rockfish, and ling cod. Regulations issued by Emergency Order can supersede those in the regulations booklet, and can relax or further restrict regulations in the booklet.

It's really not as bad as it sounds.

Holy stuff.....had Halibut for dinner tonight.....that stuff is costly but darn good table fare.....I loved it!

great thread and I can relate to every bit of it. Several inbound reels from the classifieds and I'm pumped.

Halibut is worth whatever they are charging. Especially, when right from cold waters.

does this include $25 a pound?

At that price one can almost afford lobster!....and as a matter of fact the next time I have Halibut it'll be with clarified butter just like lobster......it's some great stuff

Halibut will go up and up, as it gets scarcer. Commercial limits keep getting cut.

Calvin,
Is there any other fish in SE Alaska that compares even moderately with Halibut?....by that I mean as table fare....

Halibut is close to the bottom of the barrel as far as table fare goes for me. I like ocean caught salmon above all else, but I'd take lingcod above halibut for bottomfish, followed closely by yelloweye and other rockfish.

I started dumping a good amount of mayo,sour cream, and cheddar cheese on my Halibut steaks. Not good for the waste line, but damn good on the lips..(grin)

an afternoon of fishing, within sight of town. (me and boyz) We've done better. This should get you excited though.

That's personal preference. Fresh I prefer yelloweye rockfish and ling cod for white fish. But halibut wins out in it's ability to hold up in the freezer long term. Also I prefer the texture of halibut.

Yeah, Ling is good, so is yellow eye. But hali rules for how it keeps in the freezer. Plus, you can do just about anything with it and it tastes good.

I do love ling...



and pretty much all seafood.




Black rockfish fresh is very good. I microwave em. I get my sweetie over schools of them, and she loves it. Dumbest fish in the world.