Fast Tips

Finding the Right Offering

Jigs, Spinners, Flutter lures, Flies, Corkies, and Crank-baits should be predicated on the species of fish, barometric pressure, depth, light filtration, and current speed. It's tricky to find the right offering at first, but once done fish on the hook becomes the norm rather than the exception.

Timothy Kusherets

Finding the right lure is an annual dilemma. Every single year I go through the same thing. I locate the fish and then have the daunting task of finding out what it is the salmon will take. The nice thing is that I have been able to narrow it down to a few choice artificial lures once I go through the process. The lures that I have and the variations in combination change with each run for each year, which translates into figuring out what the fish will take at least five to six times a year based on the various species. Coho will not strike the same offering that a chum will, and by the same token, Chinook and sockeye will not strike at the same things. It's not just the lure that is important but also the size of the lure, color, texture, and movement as it goes through the water, and the depth in which to find the fish. You need to consider the different areas as well. Salmon on the coast will not necessarily take the same offering that fish in the Puget Sound or the Great Lakes will strike...at least not during the exact same time of the year. More often than not, fish change their habits by locations and that can be as little as a few miles apart solely on the basis of physical natural environment changes. It sounds simple but it's not if you don't know what to do next. Science is key to finding out what fish will take. Barometric pressure and light control go hand-in-hand and subsequently influence what fish want. The color of your lure will change with the depth of any presentation. The deeper the water is, the darker it becomes, and as a consequence, the offering becomes darker and more visually distorted, giving it a diminished profile. It is at this time that movement of any lure or offering becomes critical. If the fish is unable to see what you are trying to catch it with then it should be enticed to sense the movement and smell of the offering. Light intensity, depth, water clarity, and barometric pressure all contribute to what offering you will use whether it is artificial or natural. Wind velocity, water height, time of day, and the month of the year are all components that aid you in locating, hooking, fighting, and landing salmon.

© Timothy Kusherets 2007