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Low Water Plug Pulling for Chinook

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Tony-king
So fall is just around the corner and that means that Chinook salmon are, or will soon be, pointing their noses up into their natal streams. Unfortunately, there are lots of rivers up and down the West Coast this season that are running very low.

Of course, early season kings are notoriously big fans of backtrolled, sardine-wrapped plugs like FlatFish and Kwikfish, but low/clear water conditions can make things tough. Luckily, there are some things you can do to help improve your odds…
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Backtrolling for River Kings

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Flatlining kings
Flatlining Kwikfish for king salmon is one of my all-time favorite things to do. When a big chinook eats your plug and starts shaking his head, it’s a feeling like no other. Ready to get in on the fun? I’ll show you how.

First, a quick definition: Flat-lining refers to backtrolling plugs like Kwikfish or FlatFish without any weight — kinda like you would run a Hot Shot for steelhead.

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Bait Drifting Tips for Kings

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First off, let’s get you rigged up. Here’s a good basic rig to use as a foundation:

  1. Tie a snap swivel to the end of your main line.
  2. To the snap, attach either a piece of pencil lead or a Slinky weight
  3. To the other eye of the swivel, run an 18- to 36-inch leader with one or two 1/0-4/0 octopus-style bait hooks. (The roe is fastened to the forward hook via an egg loop snell, which you can learn to tie in a video on this very website).

Most king anglers also like to add a driftbobber – such as a Spin-N-Glo, Cheater or Lil’ Corky – to their line just above the hooks to add buoyancy, action and a splash of color to the bait.
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