Freshwater salmon fishing, fishing rivers and bays for salmon in tidewater

Freshwater Salmon Fishing

One of the hottest ways of making a Salmon-size Kwikfish (K-13, K-14, K15 or K-16) even more deadly is with the addition of a bait wrapper of herring. Developed and used on California's Sacramento River, it remained a local secret for 25 years before being attempted on other rivers. Veteran guides all agree, you'll get more strikes and better hook-ups if you keep a fresh bait wrapper on your Kwikfish®.

It's fast becoming the most widely-used lure/bait combination and is consistently an excellent Salmon producer.

When wrapping a bait fillet on a Kwikfish®, remember it should be centered around the belly screw-eye which is the balance point of the lure. Be sure it is tied on with the skin next to the lure. Use a fillet of herring, anchovy or sardine (sardine is the most popular and is available in most sporting goods stores).

Fillet each side away from the backbone and cut into rectangular pieces 3/5" x 2-1/4" for the K14 size; 1" x 2-3/4" for the K15 and 1-1/8" x 3" for the K16. Your bait fillet doesn't have to be exactly those dimensions, but you'll find these sizes to be a handy reference. It's important to have the fillet correctly positioned so that you maintain proper lure action once it's all put together.
Split the fillet halfway so it can be fitted around the belly eyelet, then begin wrapping with transparent thread. I prefer Kwikfish® Stretchy Thread which can be found in tackle shops, or small diameter monofilament (2- to 4-lb. test). Secure it with 30 to 40 wraps and finish with at least three half-hitches. Some anglers use small orthodontic rubber bands to hold the baitwrapper in place.
A fresh baitwrapper puts out the best scent trail so it's recommended that you replace it every hour or so. Many anglers will wrap up several lures the evening before and then freeze them for use the next day. This saves valuable fishing time. The fillet lays out a scent trail and the Kwikfish's® action provokes the strike. A real winning combination!

Meet Luhr Jensen's buoyant Jet Diver System. No lead, no downriggers, no hassle. It's a simple-to-use trolling system that accurately positions a lure at 10, 20, 30 or 40 feet with the added attractions of motion and color. Simply tie on the correct Jet Diver that matches the depth you wish to reach, attach your favorite lure 3 to 4 feet back, let out 100 feet of line and begin trolling . . . the Jet Diver does the rest!

This straightforward, no-nonsense trolling system is the result of angler demand for specific depth capability without all of the complexities of downriggers, lead weights or wire line. It produces the right depth, each time, every time . . . no gimmicks, no complicated instructions, and no mistakes. PRODUCT:• Luhr Jensen's Jet Diver Buoyant Diving Planer . . floats at rest.

ADVANTAGES:

Four depth-specific models provide a complete trolling system to 40 feet-plus. Using electronics or fishing knowledge to determine the fish-holding levels, attach the correct Jet Diver and quickly be at that exact depth.

Quick-change snaps allow instant change of diver size and/or lure-and-leader.

Dives only when motion is applied by trolling or by natural river current. (The only diver that can be used in river current!)

Injection molded plastic is tough and virtually indestructible. No Lead! Environmentally safe!

Line attachment hole choices allow fine-tuning for different dive angles.

The combination of color and action acts as a fish attractor. It's particularly active when trolled between 2.3 and 2.5 mph which gives side-to-side bonus action.

In research tests, for example, on 17-pound test main line a "Jet 20" with 100 feet of line out trolled at 2 mph reached 22 feet carrying a No. 4 Diamond King, high-action trolling spoon. This same outfit trolled at the same speed with 150 feet of line out reached 27 feet. Beyond 150 feet of line out, tests show buoyancy of the Jet Diver and upward force of the line combine to limit further diving capability.
Adjustment holes engineered in both the forward fin of the Jet Diver and the underneath fin allow fine-tuning of depth control. On the front fin, attaching your main line to the top hole will result in maximum depth, while the bottom hole forces a bit shallower dive. On the lower fin, where your leader and lure are attached, the hole nearest the front produces the deepest dives on slow troll (1.5 to 2.5 mph) while the hole behind is best for faster trolling speeds (in the 2.5 to 3 mph range).

IT FLOATS!
One big advantage of Luhr Jensen's buoyant Jet Diver is that you can see how far out behind your boat it is, before the actual dive begins. In river situations, buoyancy becomes a huge advantage because the diver will not sink to the bottom and get hung up . . . a little slack line will immediately push it downriver and off of most any obstruction. If you do happen to break it off while trolling, the diver will pop to the surface, allowing for easy retrieval.

Use a Jet Diver instead a lure such as the Hellbender as the diver/planer. The Jet Diver won't foul when it hits underwater obstructions whereas the Hellbender gets bent in the bill area. It doesn't cross up in turns and pulls two-thirds less than a Hellbender when trolled at optimum speeds.

SPECIAL QUICK-CHANGE FEATURE
Your Jet Diver comes equipped with two quick-change snaps; one on the forward fin for main line attachment, and one underneath for leader-and-lure attachment. By attaching your main line to the front fin snap, you can then change Jets in seconds by simply unsnapping one and snapping on another.

The second quick-change feature involves the underneath snap to which your leader-and-lure is attached. By pre-rigging several leader-and-lure combinations with snaps already attached, you can instantly change from one to another by simply opening and closing a snap. You can conveniently protect and store these pre-rigged combinations in one of Luhr Jensen's handy Magnum Leader/Lure Wallets.

SHARP HOOKS PAY OFF! One of the easiest things you can do to improve your fishing success, is to maintain super-sharp hooks on your lures at all times. A fine-toothed file such as Luhr Jensen's Sharp Hook File is the absolute best hook sharpening tool available. Hold the file parallel to the hook point and with gentle, one-way strokes, remove a small amount of metal on at least two sides of the point to obtain a sticky-sharp point with a knife-like cutting edge. These top-quality, high-carbon steel, ultra-fine tooth files are available in two sizes (4 1/4" x 5/8" and 5 1/2" x 3/4") and four models (tang-end, thumb handle, unbreakable plastic handle and with a lanyard and snap ). Keep the file clean and dry and occasionally spray it with a non-corrosive lubricant such as WD-40 to prevent rust.