by Jared Garrett

Created on: September 18, 2009

If you're fishing for salmon, you're probably not playing the catch-and-release game. You're probably interested in getting some of that deep red fish flesh grilled and on your plate next to a helping of potato salad and corn on the cob.

Is your mouth watering?

So, given that you are most likley looking to pull in some salmon for food, let's get down to business. Tips for fishing for salmon depend entirely on where you are fishing and the stage that the salmon run is in. We'll first focus on location, then move on to the stage of the run.

LOCATION

Not everyone can fish on the Kenai River or off the Aleutian Chain, but the principles are pretty much the same.

If you are fishing for salmon in a river, you have a few options. You can fish from a boat as you float down the river, which is called trolling by a lot of people. You can also fish from a boat that's tied to the bank of a river. If you've got some good chest waders, you can also fish from a river bank.

*Floating and fishing: When floating a river and fishing at the same time, there are a few basics to keep in mind, as well as a few expert tips. First off, you need to make sure you have a nice amount of weight on your line. For weight, you have plenty of options, including lead sinker coils that you can cut to certain lengths and both lead and lead-free sinker weights. You'll find that sinker weights work better than the flexible lead coil when floating.

The sinker weights work better when you are floating because they won't catch on river rocks nearly as often as the lead coil will. So get a nicely rounded sinker weight of several ounces for your line if you plan to float and fish.

Next, when floating, you need to make the distance between the sinker on your line and your fly/hook apparatus longer. This is because you will be moving and the water will be tugging at the hook a little more actively, thus, you will want a little more play so that your hook doesn't just drag on the bottom of the river. You have plenty of options for how to set up your line with its sinker and hook. See these images to get an idea for how this might look.

If you're a purist, you can simply tie the sinker into the line coming directly off your rod. This is easily done. If you do this, tie it about three feet up from the end of the fishing line. With your weight on, go ahead and attach your hook/fly set up.

This leads us to what type of fly or spinner you want to use when floating and fishing. Keep in mind that some

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