fishinggod,
I hooked up with this web site and BB to learn from all of the other folks about river fishing as I am a "river rookie". Talkin' about salt water is another issue, the past five years I have spent quite a few hours "in the salt" with some pretty decent results. The local area that I like to fish most is Pt. Defiance (me and 400,000 of my best friends). I like to troll. I use scotty downriggers and have had the best success with a flasher that I bought in the discount rack at Auburn Sports, a chartruese Les Davis "Kelp Kutter" (size 1) and a "skunk pattern" (black top, glow in the dark underbelly) squid. The best distance for this set up I have found is 28" behind the flasher. I also like the hot spots with squid rigged 42' - 44" behind the flasher. One other squid pattern that has worked well for me is the "army truck". For Coho I switch to tube flies exclusivly, I fished Sekiu last august for five days and we brought over 100 fish to the boat (yes no B.S twenty fish days), all on flies. This included Coho, Pinks and Kings (tough to put the Kings back). I did buy a new fly at a shop there called a Grand Slam Bucktail. First time with it we caught a couple of nice Kings, I'm looking forward to using it this year. I also use a scotty "black box" which I feel has improved my catch by at least 20%. My dad and I bought a new sled two years ago just so we could extend the salmon season and get into steelhead fishing. The good seasons here in the south sound last from about mid July through mid September (if the Coho decide to show up). So like some of the other fellows have said the best action is to hit the rivers. Anyway enough for one post.
Tight lines, Jeff