Gearing up for salmon

I live in Des Moines and plan on traveling to Waukegan, Illinois to fish Lake Michigan for salmon in the coming months.

I’ve got a Triton 216 Fish Hunter with a 350 vrod on it and all the gear for trolling walleye you could have.

What I need to know is will my walleye stuff work for salmon most of the time…

6 rods/reels, 10lb xt
6 rods/reels, 10 colors leadcore
6 rods/reels, 20lb fireline
2 magnum dipseys and rods/reels with 60lb fireline
4 – 50′ tru trips
Snap weights up to 6 oz
I use 15 lb seagaur AbrazionX flouro for leaders on everything

Are my setups to light for big Cohos, Kings or Rainbows on lake Michigan?

I can get to 60′ a couple different ways but not sure if I need to go even deeper? I read the thermocline usually starts at 60 feet so that’s what’s got me nervous too.

Did a charter last year to steepin’ the learning curve and we fished over 250′ of water in August for Kings so I need downriggers if I want to do that.

On the charter boat we used green or white flashers with 2 foot fluoroleader and a fly that was green and white.

What other baits/presentations should I get?

Mainly looking at couple trips in April May this year though. Thanks in advance for any help.

Let me start by saying that I’ve never fished Lake Michigan. I fish Superior quit a bit though. I don’t have first hand experience on depth but I believe most kings are caught between 60-120’. Your mag dipsys will get down probably 80-90’. Maybe 100’ if you are going less than 2.2 mph.

I have heard that cohos are ferocious and can easily destroy 20 lb test line. Mono or braid. I’ve also seen steelhead tear a jointed rapala in half.

I fished Superior for years using 20-30 lb test line but this past year I upgraded everything to 50 lb and very glad I did.

What lb leadcore are you using? I assume 12 or 18. That’s pretty light. Don’t be afraid to use snap weights on lead core too.

For leaders I would definitely use at least than 30 lb. 50 is much better. Flasher/fly rigs usually are rigged with 50 or 100 lb.

Sorry I can’t five first hand advice but this is what I’ve been told and what I was told to use on Superior where the salmon are usually much smaller.

For cohos your gear will be fine. The vast majority of cohos you catch will be in the top 15 feet of the water column. For kings, it all depends on the weather. Most years, there are a few weeks where kings are in shallow 50′ or less. I’ve caught them on walleye gear doing that.

Last year was a strange year, because we never got the sustained west winds to drive the warm water off shore, so the fish were out super deep all season. Most years, magnum dipsies will get you deep enough, especially on braid.

Cohos are small this time of year. I fish kings in summer with my same walleye setups. I user 20# line vs 10#. I use 20# floro leader. most fish in spring will be in the top 30ft. small jointed rapalas and small flasher flys. Apparel may will pretty much be coho. not to many kings around. no need for much 2 color lead or less is likely all you will need.

Ok, sounds good and thank you.

A couple more questions…

So is it too early to go in the next couple weeks?

I’ve read the average Coho is 3 to 5 lb this early in the year. Is that even really worth it from a fillet perspective as I love to eat these things!

When you say fish shallow down to 15 feet what water depth is that.? 15 feet in 60 feet of water?

I’ve kept 14” cohos on Superior. They’re great for the women and children of the family. Fewer contaminants.

Grawler wrote:

When you say fish shallow down to 15 feet what water depth is that.? 15 feet in 60 feet of water?

Again I haven’t fished there but yes. 15’ over any depth. I catch them in the top 2-5’ on Superior. Jointed raps and x-raps on the surface are coho and steelhead killers. Just gotta find the right water temp.

Cohos are being caught now on the south end. The trick is finding the fish they can be over 120 or in 35. Really anywhere. Not usually far off shore this time of year depends on the port. Just find the bait and you will find the cohos. Probably be other boats around to follow to cut the curve down a bit. Best colors have always been pink, orange and red. #7-#9 jointed raps and originals. 6″ orange red dodgers with flys red or green 18-20″ back. they are easy to catch when you locate them.

3-5lb will be your average most of the year. You might run into some up to 10-11 lbs, but I would say your average is probably right around 4 most of the season (unless you catch the big ones in the fall).

A 5lb coho will feed a couple people pretty easy, just gotta get all those dang pin bones out. On the WI ports, Milwaukee and Port Washington, I caught cohos out to 220′ last year, but the vast majority were in the top 15′ of the water column. I did catch some 45′ down on riggers too, but those made up maybe 10% of the fish I caught last year.

Too early for Cohos in WI, except for nursery fish at the power plant.(A whole different ethical discussion) They are getting fish in Indiana right now. Waukegan, Illinois will be next, and then they will show up in Wisconsin. Typically early to mid April. Primetime is in May.

Your walleye gear will be fine for cohos and browns (which are available now, but inferior table fare) I might suggest bumping up to 12lb Big Game over the XT though. Similar dive curve and quite a bit stronger in case you hook into a big Brown or early king. Even cohos can wreak havoc on lighter line, just because they roll so much. A good fluorocarbon leader can pay big dividends.

Cohos will eat cranks when they first show up, or when shallow. Then move onto a heavy dodger\fly program for their duration here. They typically move offshore sometime in June, but we caught them into July last year…

As far as Kings go, your asking for trouble with walleye gear. It will work to an extent, but big fish are going to own you. Fishing for kings seriously is an investment. You can start off small, but the addiction gets expensive real quick. It’s a whole different ball game compared to browns and cohos. We had really big Kings last year, and I fully expect we’ll have them again this year. If you want to tangle with them, get ready to spend some coin.

eyecatchum hit it spot on. Fish are hitting in warm water discharges in Wi but Michigan City and Indiana are better for coho now. Your lead cores will be fine. I started running 18ld lead I used for eyes when I started hitting Michigan in my Skeeter. Most bump up to 27lb for dedicated salmon gear.

Your dipsey rods are perfect. You could add 2 more of those and get them 1′ difference in length from what you have, that way you can run 2 at a .5 setting and 2 at a 3 setting.

I use braid for my high lines as well as riggers. Use snap weights and you are set. Cohos and most bows you are fine with. The kings will eat you up if you get a big boy, and we started getting 20lb fish by the end of May last year.

Captain Mike Finke
SalmonChasers.com

Ok, thanks guys.

eyecatchum wrote:

As far as Kings go, your asking for trouble with walleye gear. It will work to an extent, but big fish are going to own you.

The advice above is good! I started with walleye gear about 10yrs ago. Caught a couple smaller salmon then the big kings moved in. Three rods set. Three lines snapped at the initial hit. Lost some money but learned some lessons after asking similar questions. The Kings will own you!!! Classic!!!

The guys were much kinder to you than me…LOLOLOL