Trolling for Salmon: Upstream vs. Downstream
When fishing for salmon on the Sacramento River or Feather River you can find many areas where trolling is very effective. Knowing how to target the best fishing areas is critical to your success.The Sacramento River from Tisdale to Vierra’s and the Feather River from just below the Yuba to Verona is the best places to troll for salmon. This water in general is slow moving water with no riffles. The two rivers are also wide with mostly a silt bottom. Knowing how to read the water so you can target the productive areas is going to save you crucial fishing time. In this type of water, depending on flows and water temperature, the salmon may slow down but in general kings move through this area heading up to their spawning grounds.This is why you have to decide if you are going to troll upstream or downstream when fishing for kings. I would say I troll downstream about 90% of the time when fishing these sections. When trolling downstream I can cover much more water in a day to locate the fish. The more fish I can get my lure in front of in a day the more fish I’m going to catch.
When you troll downstream, the salmon hit differently than when trolling upstream. Trolling downstream the salmon have to turn and follow the lure to strike it. When the strike occurs your lure stops working and you cannot see any action on the end of your rod from the spinner rotating.
I tell all my clients if they feel anything different, set the hook, and set it very hard because you will need to penetrate a very hard mouth.
When I find large school of salmon bunched up tightly (usually because of the river’s bottom will have a contour that slows salmon down) I will troll upriver.This is a slow presentation that can trigger fish that are not as aggressive as salmon that will hit a trolling downstream. The hit is usually very hard because the salmon will grab it and turn which will cause your rod tip to go down hard. You will still need to set the hook with the same vigor as a salmon that hits while trolling downstream. Both methods will catch salmon, but if you want to increase the number of fish that you put in your ice chest, try trolling downstream. The rewards are well worth it.
