Mastering Salmon Fishing Bait: The Complete Guide to Lures & Rigs

How do you choose the right salmon fishing bait? This expert guide cuts through the noise, comparing artificial lures vs. natural baits, revealing rigging secrets, and providing actionable tips to catch more salmon in rivers, lakes, and saltwater.

Let's get one thing straight right now. There is no single "best" salmon fishing bait. Anyone who tells you that is selling you something, or they've only fished one river their whole life. The real secret—the one that fills coolers while others just get follows—is matching your offering to the specific salmon, in the specific water, on that specific day. It's part science, part intuition, and a whole lot of avoiding the mistakes everyone else makes. I've spent over ten years guiding and fishing from the Great Lakes to Alaska, and the most common error I see isn't bad casting; it's stubborn anglers using the wrong bait for the conditions.

Your Quick Guide to Salmon Bait Success

The Bait Breakdown: Artificial vs. Natural

This is the first fork in the road. Your choice here dictates everything about your setup and approach.best salmon fishing bait

Artificial Lures: The Workhorses

These are your consistent performers. They're durable, reusable, and excel at covering water and triggering reaction strikes. Don't think of them as "fake"; think of them as highly specialized tools.

My take: I always start with artificials when scouting new water. They tell me if fish are active and willing to chase. If I'm getting hits on a spoon but no hook-ups, I know fish are there but maybe fussy—time to switch tactics.

Here’s a breakdown of the major players:

Lure Type Best For Key Trait One Pro Tip
Spoons (Krocodile, Little Cleo) Trolling, casting in currents. Great for aggressive fish. Flash and erratic wobble. In clear water, use thinner, more natural finishes. In murky water, go thick and brightly colored.
Spinners (Blue Fox, Mepps) River fishing, especially for trout-minded salmon like Coho. Vibration and flash from the blade. Vary your retrieve speed drastically. Sometimes a slow, bottom-bouncing roll works; other times a fast, steady retrieve triggers strikes.
Plugs & Kwikfish Slow trolling or back-trolling in rivers. Deadly for lethargic salmon. Side-to-side swimming action. These need to run true. Test them beside the boat before sending them out. A slightly bent eyelet will ruin the action.
Soft Plastics & Hoochies Trolling behind a flasher, especially in saltwater or deep lakes. Lifelike pulsing action. Scents are your friend here. A quick squeeze of pro-cure gel can make a world of difference.

Natural Baits: The Irresistible Feast

When salmon get lock-jawed or are focused on a specific food source, naturals are your ace in the hole. They offer the real deal: scent, taste, and texture.salmon lure selection

  • Roe (Salmon Eggs): The legendary bait. It's not just the look; it's the scent trail of amino acids. Use cured eggs, not fresh. Fresh eggs are too soft. A good borax or commercial cure toughens the skein and amplifies the scent. I prefer skeins over individual eggs for longer presentation life.
  • Shrimp & Sand Shrimp: A killer in estuaries and saltwater. Pacific salmon love them. Thread them on a hook or use them in a shrimp fly behind a spinner.
  • Herring & Anchovy (for trolling): The saltwater standard. You can use whole, plug-cut, or fillet-cut. The key is the roll—it needs to be slow and natural. This is an art form in itself.

Local Regulations Alert: This is non-negotiable. Many areas have strict rules about using natural baits, especially roe, to prevent disease spread or over-harvest. Always, and I mean always, check the current fishing regulations for your specific body of water. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state agencies are your primary sources.

How to Match Bait to Your Fishing Scenario

This is where the rubber meets the road. Let's talk real places and real fish.how to rig salmon bait

Fishing Rivers for Spawning Salmon (Chinook, Coho, Sockeye)

In rivers, salmon are often not feeding aggressively. They're focused on spawning. Your bait needs to drift right in front of their face or annoy them into biting.

Top Choices:

  • Drifted Roe: Under a bobber or on a bottom-bouncing rig. This is the classic for a reason. It mimics loose eggs drifting downstream.
  • Woolly Buggers & Egg-Sucking Leeches: Don't overlook flies, even on spinning gear. Use a fly-and-bubble setup or a sink tip line. The subtle movement is killer in clear, shallow water.
  • Vibrant Spinners: In deeper, faster holes, a size 4 or 5 spinner in orange or pink can pull fish up from the bottom.

I remember a tough day on the Kenai. The kings were ignoring everything. I switched from a big plug to a small, bright orange spinner fished slowly right on the bottom. It looked ridiculous, but it worked. They saw it as an irritant worth removing.best salmon fishing bait

Trolling Lakes & Reservoirs (Landlocked Salmon, Trout)

Here, you're imitating baitfish like alewives or smelt. Depth control is everything.

Top Choices:

  • Spoons & Plugs behind Downriggers: This is precision fishing. Use your fish finder. If baitfish are at 40 feet, your lure should be at 35-45 feet.
  • Cowbells & Ace-Hi Flies: An old-school but devastating combo for trolling deep. The flasher (cowbell) attracts, the trailing fly gets eaten.
  • Smaller Profile Lures: Match the hatch. If the primary forage is 3-inch smelt, don't troll an 8-inch plug.

Saltwater & Estuary Fishing (Sea-Run Salmon)

Salmon here are actively feeding. Match the local forage.

Top Choices:

  • Hoochies & Squid Skirts behind a Flasher: The standard for a reason. The flasher (like a Delta or Pro-Troll) creates commotion, the hoochie looks like a fleeing squid or small fish.
  • Plug-Cut Herring: It's messy, but it's magic. The oily scent trail and wounded action are irresistible.
  • Buzz Bombs & Jigs: For casting from shore or jigging near bait balls. A vertical jigging motion mimics a dying baitfish.salmon lure selection

Pro Rigging Secrets Most Anglers Miss

How you attach the bait is as important as the bait itself.

The Snell Knot for Rigs: When tying a hook to a leader for a roe bag or bait loop, learn the Snell Knot. It aligns the hook point with your line for better hook sets. A poorly tied knot can cost you 50% of your hook-ups.

Leader Length is Critical: Trolling a flasher? Your leader from flasher to lure should be between 18 and 36 inches. Too short, and the lure action is killed. Too long, and the fish might strike the flasher instead of the bait. Experiment, but start at 24 inches.

Swivels Are Not Optional: Especially with spoons and spinners. Use a quality ball-bearing swivel to prevent line twist. I've seen more terminal tackle disasters from line twist than anything else.

Busting Color & Size Myths

"Use green on a sunny day, blue on a cloudy day." That's mostly nonsense. Here's a more practical framework.

Water Clarity Dictates Color:

  • Clear Water: Natural, subtle colors—silver, blue, green, black. Think mimicry.
  • Stained/Murky Water: High-visibility colors—chartreuse, fluorescent orange, hot pink. Think silhouette and contrast.

Size Should Match Energy Level: When fish are aggressive (cool, oxygen-rich water), you can go bigger. When they're sluggish (warm water, post-spawn), downsize your offering. A #3 spinner might get ignored where a #5 gets hammered, and vice versa.

Carry a selection. I organize my tackle box by type, then by color spectrum within each type. It saves precious fishing time.how to rig salmon bait

Your Burning Bait Questions, Answered

These are the questions clients ask me every season, the ones that really matter on the water.

What color salmon fishing bait works best in murky river water?
In stained or muddy water, contrast and vibration beat subtlety every time. I've had my best days with high-visibility colors like fluorescent orange, chartreuse, or hot pink. The goal is to create a silhouette the salmon can detect. Pair these bright colors with a blade or rattle to add sound. I once stubbornly stuck with a natural blue-silver spoon on a glacial river and got skunked; switching to a garish orange Kwikfish was the instant fix.
Is cured salmon roe better than fresh eggs for bait?
For durability and scent dispersion, cured roe is far superior. Fresh eggs are fragile and can wash off the hook quickly. A properly cured egg skein using a borox or commercial cure toughens the membrane, making it stay on the hook through multiple casts and fights. More importantly, the curing process releases amino acids and oils that create a potent scent trail salmon can't resist. Think of it as marinating your bait.
How far behind the boat should I troll my salmon bait?
There's no single answer, which is why a downrigger is a troller's best friend. Start with the 50/50 rule: let out 50 feet of line, then check your depth finder. If you're marking fish at 80 feet, you'll need to send your bait down. A common mistake is letting out hundreds of feet of line thinking it goes deeper—it mostly creates drag. For precise depth control, a downrigger set 10-15 feet above the marked fish is the professional's choice. In lakes, 1.5 to 2.5 mph is the sweet spot; in saltwater, match the baitfish speed, often 2-3 knots.
Can I use the same salmon bait in saltwater and freshwater?
You can, but you shouldn't ignore the local diet. While a flashy spoon works in both, saltwater salmon (like Chinook and Coho) are often keyed in on specific forage. In the Pacific Northwest, lures that mimic herring, anchovies, or sand lance—like a green-glow hoochie or a plug-cut herring behind a flasher—are deadly. In freshwater rivers, they're thinking about eggs, fry, and insects. Carry both universal lures and location-specific options. Also, rinse your gear with fresh water after saltwater use to prevent corrosion.

So, what's the final word? Stop searching for a magic bullet. Build a versatile, scenario-based arsenal. Pay more attention to the water in front of you than the latest hot lure in a magazine. Start with a proven artificial to search for active fish, and never be afraid to switch to a natural presentation when the bite turns tough. Rig it right, match the conditions, and you'll spend less time guessing and more time landing fish. Now get out there.