Lifecycle

Salmon eggs are generally laid in riverbeds and streams during autumn. They remain there for the winter, normally hatching sometime in spring. These hatchlings often remain in streams for several months before changing color and migrating to the Great Lakes. Adult salmon will normally remain in the Lakes for 4 years. They will then migrate back to the streams and tributary rivers to spawn. Following this, they will migrate upstream to die.

The spring time brings much warmer waters to Lake Ontario. The baitfish present will often cause a frenzy of feeding. Following the warming of the Niagara area, the warm waters migrate to Lake Ontario. The visible feeding of salmon of all ages can be seen around the shores of the lake as the baitfish population explodes. This time of year provides great salmon fishing all around Lake Ontario. It is not unusually for 40 lb salmon to be caught on a regular basis.

Techniques

While people employ many different methods of fishing for salmon on Lake Ontario, trolling is one of the most popular and effective. This is the process whereby a baited line is drawn through the water behind a boat, moving very slowly. A downrigger is often used to maintain bait at a certain depth in the water and improve the chances of a catch. This is important as the majority of salmon will be in the layer of water that is closest to 54 degrees, a temperature enjoyed by baitfish.

It is also common practice to catch salmon when they are in the rivers on the way to spawning grounds. The equipment used for this type of fishing includes crankbaits, spinners and spoons. Spoons represent distressed fish, crankbaits are plastic or wooden lures, designed to resemble prey fish. Spinners are lures that have a hook, usually hidden by feathers or fur to disguise the hook from the salmon.

While it may seem obvious, even the most experienced fishing enthusiasts fail to ensure that hooks are sharp from time to time. The condition of the hook should always be checked as some of the larger salmon varieties can escape dull hooks. A hook file should be used on a regular basis to ensure that the hook is kept in the best condition possible and sharp enough to snag the largest salmon that Lake Michigan has to offer. The file should be moved in a smooth and even motion from the thickest station to the thinnest. The abrasive surface of the hook should be used. It is advisable that hooks are sharpened both before use and then again before the hook is stored away in the tackle box.

Because many of the fish that feed through daylight hours are sensitive to color, it is always a good idea to use bright and colorful fishing lures. An eye-catching lure that is clearly visible in daylight will make a salmon much more likely to take the bait. For the best results, bright reds, oranges, yellows, blues and greens are effective colors for the daylight fishing of salmon on Lake Michigan. It is generally agreed that for the darker hours of the day, silver and natural colors deliver the best results. It is commonly agreed that the color of a lure is the main factor which cause the salmon to bite.
Salmon in Lake Michigan are much more likely to bite at loose eggs or skein during the spawning season. They will often ignore other forms of bait and fishing lures during these times. Skein are naturally occurring sections or pouches of eggs. They are ideal for attracting salmon as they are naturally occurring and biting at them is a natural thing to do for salmon.

Down rigging for spring Chinook salmon in the great lakes is a preferred technique of many open water anglers. Some think that with this method of trolling you don’t need a lot of skill to hook a big King. Luck you say! Well, if you are at the right depth, trolling at the right speed with the right bait, and in the right temperature. Oh! And you just happen to be right on top of them; well then maybe; just maybe it’s not luck, but skill?

Within days of the first ‘ice out’ of the spring, the place to start your search is in deep water. If I want good quality Kings then 85 to 120 ft of water is where I troll. This is especially true in the deep Lake Huron and Georgian Bay waters. At ice out I have checked the temperature on the surface and then run my temp probe down to 120 ft. Depending on the lake, I’ve found a 5 to10 degree temperature difference, the bottom being warmer of course. Trolling this early in the season for big Kings requires a slow approach. A speed of .9 to 1.3 mph is a good pace to keep. Remember, the water is cold so fish ‘slow’.

As the days pass, the lake water starts to mix because of wind. At this point, start your trolling deep again and work shallow keeping a close eye on your sonar. Once you see fish on your screen, work them thoroughly adjusting the cannon balls to just above the fish’s depth. Temperature does not play as an important role as it did, but it will become important again soon. With this in mind, I keep a watchful eye on my surface temperature. As the days and weeks go by, and once it reaches 40 to 45 degrees then the fun begins. This is when trolling with planer boards or dipsy divers, as well as, downriggers comes in very handy. The King tends to roam and become very aggressive as the temperature warms up. By now they are eager to hit anything in their path. That is why I like to use the planer boards. With them being out and away the fish don’t have the boat to spook them. Potentially, you can also fish 40ft of water under the boat and have the one board deeper as the opposite board runs shallower depending on bottom structure. This method covers a lot of water fast and is effective.

As the spring progresses and the surface temperature starts to climb above 45 degrees, it’s time to go deep again. At this time I run as deep as 120 to 150ft with my bait literally scraping bottom. During this deep trolling I like to use light spoons because they don’t tend to pick up as much bottom debris as heavier lures. With good sonar you will see them hugging the bottom like walleye. Perseverance really pays off at this stage of the game.

This spring Salmon extravaganza can last as long as 4 to 8 weeks or as short as 2 to 4 weeks. Basically, this three phase window of opportunity depends on one all important factor, temperature. As it is in the summer, the fall or any part of any season temperature dictates what a good angler will do on any particular day.

Finding spring Kings is not rocket science. I have found that by using these simple tactics, it can help me locate the Salmon. But getting the salmon to cooperate is a completely different matter altogether!

Visit Nic DiGravio at http://www.probassfishing.ca

The beginning of fall represents the start of a new school year, a new hunting season and my favourite; the annual run of chinook, pink and coho salmon. With the runs of salmon coming into the tributaries to spawn the food present is amazing which attracts hungry steelhead that then enter the river systems gorging themselves on roe, invertebrates and small minnows.

From Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay, Ontario there is a smorgasbord of rivers, streams and creeks that all receive annual runs along highway 17. These rivers on the north shore of Superior are generally smaller and made up of various kinds of rocks and stones. Although I fish some stretches of the bigger rivers that do offer slow water stretches with sand and mud bottoms. Most of the rivers being relatively shallow, fast with a ton of rocks. Bottom bouncing can be the most effective method to consistently hook up with salmon or trout along Superior’s tribs. Pencil weights from 1/2 to 1 ½ oz will cover all depths and currents. A good tip for anyone bouncing with a pencil weight is to give the weight a slight bend like a banana. This small bend seems to help the sinker from hanging up. Another option many anglers use to combat snags is slinky weights. A fluorocarbon or mono leader anywhere from 18-36” to bait is sufficient. I run a slightly longer rod than most on the tribs north of Sault Ste. Marie which is currently a 9’6 St. Croix Wild River with a Shimano Stradic 3000 spooled with 10 pound test.

Float fishing the northern tributaries is another exceptional method to hook up with fish. Even though these rivers are ideal for bottom bouncing, float fisherman do extremely well. Typically, I run a 10 pound monofilament mainline to a fluorocarbon or mono leader which is usually 8 pounds but will go as low as 4 pound test when needed. My season usually starts targeting fresh run coho salmon in September with worms then roe for steelhead during most of October and into November. From this point up until freeze up is when artificial baits such as pink worms and micro tubes shine. Also small stone flies, prince nympths and wooly buggers are all deadly flies to drift below your float. Fish these baits along current breaks, back eddies and the tail outs of pools. Most of the time you will find steelhead set up just downstream of the salmon where they wait for single eggs to drift by. Float rods I use on my home waters on Superior are a 13’6 Raven RV9 and a 12’6 Raven Matrix with a Raven SST-3 attached.

Casting hardware for salmon and trout produces a ton of fish for anglers during fall. Small wide wobbling crank baits such as storms hot n tot are responsible for some of m y catches each fall. Another go to for me is an inline spinner such as a Panther Martin, Mepps or Blue Fox Vibrax bare or most often tipped with a worm. Casting spoons such as a Little Cleo, Mepps Cyclops and EGB are all excellent casting spoons for salmon and steelhead. Cast these lures in the pools found in the river or directly at the mouth on Lake Superior. I use the same rod for bouncing as I do casting hardware.

Lake Superior boosts healthy populations of salmon and steelhead which are accessible by shore from September until December each year. These unpressured waters offer anglers not only as great shot at catching a fish but the scenery is second to none. Come and enjoy what northern Ontario has to offer!