Wasting Time on Staging Salmon

I wasted some time last weekend not catching anything... and I'm going to waste some more time this weekend!

Last weekend I spent a few hours after sunset trying for staging salmon near my local trib mouth. I was casting glow spoons out into the Bay right at the river mouth but I didn't get a single hit. If you've seen my posts before you'll know that I really don't know what the heck I'm doing and I ask for even the most basic of advise. So, any advise? Is it still too early to catch salmon from shore? I vaguely know that they time their migrations based on water temps, day length, and rain flowing from the river. But I don't really know how to apply that knowledge yet. I definitely need more time on the water!

A couple more direct questions:

If I'm fishing in the dark, are glow spoons the only way to go? (I used my head lamp to recharge the glow every 4-5 casts).
Is the river mouth the best spot or should I maybe just find some deep water that is close to shore?
Would I have better luck with a float and roe bag or are lures a good bet at this time of year?

Thanks in advance for helping out!

I don’t think you’re wasting time at all. Fishing without success yes but I bet when you put it all together for future success these outing will pay off with knowledge you have learned.

The mouths of rivers are all about timing. Fish will stage and will run but so many factors are involved. Water and air temp, water clarity, time of day, time of year, sun penetration in the water column, Bait fish, wind and barometric pressure can be a big factor. Keep a log of these things of both successful and unsuccessful outings and what I as going on. Also keep an eye on what happened the days leading up to the day you fished.

Once you put the right pieces together try to duplicate those outing with the conditions you had experienced on successful days.

Good luck.

I find not catching fish is the best way to figure out how to catch em =) If you're at the river mouths now, you will be right there when they do start coming through in big numbers. Time fishing is never time wasted =)

No waste of time I did the same elsewhere on a trib

Try casting chartreuse or orange #4 spinner I had luck with them prior to last weekend but last weekend itself was a bust fish moving but not wanting anything plus it's still early I feel lucky I got the three I've caught .

If history repeats its self the salmon fishing at river mouths and harbors should pick up in about a week ..We,ll see ..

I don't ACTUALLY feel like I'm wasting my time! Even if I don't "learn" anything while I'm fishing - i.e. certain weather conditions = better or worse fishing - I'm still enjoying myself out there.

Disco - thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm trying to pay close attention to the conditions each time I hit the water so I can start piecing things together. Should probably write down some notes otherwise I'll never remember

MedicinalAngler - I've heard that chartreuse and orange are hot colours for salmon, basically because they are visually intense and they p### of the fish into a reaction bite. Would those still be effective in the middle of the night?

Stealheader - I'll be out again tonight and probably one evening next weekend as well. Stay tuned and I'll let you know if history has in fact repeated!

I agree, a week or two with some nice cool nights. that will get them moving,


as far as the lure colour on a nice clear night, yes, at least before sunrise I've seen them hit . a couple guys on the river swear by using glow in the dark but will still throw chart or orange sometimes or they will sink a couple big roe bag if they got it.

good luck

They will start to stage out front of the shallower tribs and then when we get a good rain its like the gates have opened.

I'd stick with glow spoons but other baits will work at night. Jointed Rapalas and rattlin' raps are pretty popular. The mouth is usually the best bet until we get a cool rain. A longish rod and a larger reel packed with braid will help getting your lure out there. The more you can extend your range the better.

So, I did make it out of a couple of hours - from 10PM to midnight - on Friday. I know we all agreed that I wasn't wasting my time if I was trying and failing, however, this was probably a waste of time! The wind was blowing so hard from the NW that despite my longest cast with a 3/4oz spoon, the lure was landing like 15 yards from where I stood. And I would have 50 feet of slack line flopping around in the breeze. Couple other guys near me weren't catching either. I wandered past that same spot on Sunday morning while walking my dog and it was packed. Everyone was tossing brightly coloured jointed rapalas. Chatted with some people and only one guy caught anything - 2 chrome hens full of eggs. No colour on them at all.

Firetiger J13, one of my fav staging salmon baits

I'm going to pick up a couple of jointed raps before the weekend. There were too many people fishing those for me to ignore! J13 is the size to go with?

Do seasoned anglers have a preference for after sunset or before sunrise? I was under the impression that just after sunset was best but what do I know...

You can catch staging fish at all times of the day, but if the sun is high it will usually put them down. Early morning/evening/middle of the night usually works. Plays the winds as well, offshore breeze sucking in all the cool water from the bottom is usually the ticket (It at least is for me on the north shore tribs)

OFFshore breeze, eh? I assumed that onshore was best because it would push bait fish in to shore and stack up the water at the river mouth. But I'm learning something new every day on this forum!