# Atlantic Salmon



## Rysalka (Aug 13, 2008)

Fish out of Cheboygan and basically new at salmon fishing, boat is set up with downriggers, out riggerboard, dipsy divers. As of this time have ruled out using weighted lines, used them in salt water and really don't care for them.
I am a sport fisherman not a meat, trophy or tourniment fisherman, have nothing againist them, but I just basically catch and release.....keeping one to eat once in awhile.

What I would like is to learn how to catch Atlantic Salmon, techniques, baits, lures Etc.
We do well on Steelhead with incidental Atlantic caught.

Any advice would be apprieciated.

Thanks


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## walleyeman2006 (Sep 12, 2006)

I'm going to preach a bit...you may as well keep your fish and give them away mortality rates on fish caught trolling are not good...

that being said try more body baits...rapalas smelt imitations...Atlantics feed more like browns then kings

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## steelyfish (Mar 19, 2013)

I can agree with walleye man...it would be better if you or a family member/friend got some good out of the fish. I've done quite a bit of salmon fishing in the big lakes and 90% of the fish we land would die if we put them back. Occasionally a skipper will have enough life left to toss them back because you can reel them in and release them quickly but a 15-20# fish fights to the death usually. 

Not bashing on your methods or trying to be a dink, just what I have observed over time spent on the lakes. Good luck fishing and tight lines!


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## dryfly24 (Mar 18, 2009)

So where are you guys getting these statistics? I've had guys tell me the same thing after playing a fish to.exhaustion, only to watch it swim away as strong as ever after a proper revival session. 

I think a lot of times people just want to feel good about keeping the fish so they say stuff like this. It's a myth. If you want to keep the fish, keep the fish, but please don't put out bad information like "a fish will almost certainly die if caught while trolling". It's not true. 

Spend some time brushing up on revival techniques if you really want to release them - or dont if you want to keep them. But please don't propagate myths that can hurt the fishery. Not trying to be a dick, just trying to do my part for conservation.


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## wyandot (Dec 5, 2013)

dryfly24 said:


> So where are you guys getting these statistics? I've had guys tell me the same thing after playing a fish to.exhaustion, only to watch it swim away as strong as ever after a proper revival session.
> 
> I can't provide any specific links, but every piece of info. I've ever read on catch and release says exhaustive battles are rough on fish. They look fine at release, and go belly up hours or days later. When you add rough seas, tangled lines, big ***** landing nets, big ***** treble hooks, hard fiberglass or rough carpeted decks to the picture, the odds of survival go down even more in my opinion. I'm not saying it can't be done, but trolling is typically harvest work.


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

dryfly24 said:


> So where are you guys getting these statistics? I've had guys tell me the same thing after playing a fish to.exhaustion, only to watch it swim away as strong as ever after a proper revival session.
> 
> I think a lot of times people just want to feel good about keeping the fish so they say stuff like this. It's a myth. If you want to keep the fish, keep the fish, but please don't put out bad information like "a fish will almost certainly die if caught while trolling". It's not true.
> 
> Spend some time brushing up on revival techniques if you really want to release them - or dont if you want to keep them. But please don't propagate myths that can hurt the fishery. Not trying to be a dick, just trying to do my part for conservation.


Just because the fish swam away does not mean it will not die. After thermoclines set up deeper in the great lakes playing salmon above the thermocline and releasing them into warm water is just wasteful in my opinion. Kind of like the guys who go floss skams at creek mouths and release them into 70 degree water. Just because they swim away does not mean they live.


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## Minner_Chaser (Jul 9, 2013)

Just because the fish DID swim away doesn't mean it's going to die. It's funny, I've caught large, old fish with lures still in their mouths with rusted hooks. Sorry but that is such an invalid theory it's not even funny - if it's going to die it's going to die; if not, and if you want to release, may as well let nature run its course after you've already disrupted it.


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## 19rabbit52 (Jul 15, 2007)

Too me fish with lures and hooks in their mouth mean they broke off before they were wore out. I know I have watched skamania get caught in rivers, released, swim off as if plenty lively, only to stop within sight. Then an hour later turn belly-up.


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## DXT Deer Slayer (Nov 14, 2009)

In my own experience, I can certainly see releasing Lake Trout to be a wasteful scenario most of the time. They aren't exactly a favorite of mine to eat, so often donated to friends or family to be smoked. Steelhead, not so much. They also aren't a favorite of mine to eat, but I've released quite a few of them back into Lake Huron without losing sleep over their potential mortality. They seem to swim away quite ferociously at times. 
And I haven't caught enough Kings over 20 #'s on the big lake to comment.

Biggest thing in my opinion is to keep fish in water for as long as possible and if brought in the boat to remove hooks, make sure they don't smash their head into any surfaces!


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## chuckinduck (May 28, 2003)

Three years ago out of Manistee I caught a small skipper king that was maybe 14 inches long. It was a short fight and the fish underwent little stress. I removed the hook and tossed it back in against my better judgement. The fish tipped upside down and almost certainly died. Last week I tossed back an undersized laker. It floated away and probably died as well. It's just not worth wasting a fish. Catch and release has it's place. But it's not in big lake fishing. Trout and salmon are not durable like bass.


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