Headed out of converse in the morning

[ReelInvestment]

Launching out of converse in the morning in search of some silver. Waking up early to be there at first light, about an hour and a half drive for me. I had a quick question on length of line behind the ball for salmon. I recently purchased a fish hawk and it made a huge difference for finding Kings on Ontario, so when I headed to Champlain with it I was figuring it would help put more Atlantic’s in my boat, but I’ve struggled this season more so than ever with catching silver. And I’m wondering if it has something to do with line distance behind my ball? I’ve always heard long line behind the boat in the spring because of water clarity and shorten up in the summer, is there truth to this? I’ve thrown just about everything I’ve got and even spoons that were mentioned on here for salmon this season and only landed 4. I’m not trying to beg for spots because I know there are salmon around converse because I’ve caught plenty over the years, even a 10 pounder a couple years back! (Check my avatar pic) but maybe just a couple tips on speed and length behind ball?

I’ll be on ch68 in the morning,
Thanks guys,
Tight lines!
-REELINVESTMENT

[Reelax]

Right now tight to the ball, like 4-8ft back is working best for me. You are right that in spring a longer setback seems to work better... speed is around 2.3-2.4 for me right now on fishhawk, but turns are what really produce the bites, so variation in speed can trigger more action...

Good luck and let us know how it goes good or bad..

Thanks for the post.

[Dead lake]

The deeper the ball the shorter the lead, shallow water longer,say 30 down 50-70 back. 80 or more 4 to 20 plus try different lengths until you figure what the fish want. Experiment

[tamiron]

IMO - If you are using the same temperature that you do for Kings, you may be running too cold. This time of year, you also probably need to try some aggressive presentations in your pattern (blades). The young of the year smelt are high in the water column preferring warmer temperatures. Running one long line might not be a bad idea if it is high. The trophy salmon could be very deep with the adult smelt and alewives, but less aggressive - find deep bait balls and work them hard.

[ReelInvestment]

Thanks for the info! I usually look for 55 degree water for Atlantic’s, we’ve boated a salmon this morning 60ft down 10 feet back crazy Ivan sausage gravy milkshake taking the bulk of our hits at 2.5mph at the ball. Lots of SMALL lakers around too.

[tmcaul]

That sausage gravy milkshake along with a purple people eater Honeybee have been historically the top producing colors for salmon for my son and me.

[Just Rite (Taycon)]

I use vertical and horizontal flash hooked to the ball. Line clip on top of the vertical flash. I run my lures 3-10ft back caught lots of salmon this way at 15ft down to 60. My favorite speeds are 2.0-2.6. the longest I run would be spring time out to 50ft when running shallow like 2-15ft. I like running spoons or spin live bait in the propwash. I do not run in line flash. I don't like a lot of junk on my line. I believe it helps with better hookups and less dropped fish. I will occasionally run cheaters.

[billfishermc]

Thks, good info for next time.