Setting Up a Small Boat for Salmon Fishing​

A downrigger mounted to a boat

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Have you always wanted to chase big lake salmon, but weren’t sure that you had the space in your boat to handle the task?  If so, this article is for you.  Here, we will go over the things I have learned to optimize your layout for small boat salmon fishing. For the purposes of this article, we will define small boat as any boat with an 8′ 6″ beam or less, with no cabin (open-layout), and that is 20′ or less in length.

Equipment

To begin, let’s go over the trolling equipment that is typically used for salmon trolling.  This can obviously be tailored to your boat based on how many lines you intend to run, the space you have available on your boat, and your budget.

Track System

While not necessary, a track system is highly recommended as it makes your boat layout much more versatile, allowing you to experiment with different layouts until you find the perfect one for your boat.  Many owners choose to add them as options with their initial purchase and get them right from the dealer.  But you can easily add these on later.  If you’re on a budget, you can purchase longer sections of track and mount them yourselves.  These tracks are made from aluminum and a good miter saw with a blade with 8-10 teeth per inch will cut through them like a hot knife through butter, allowing you to maximize the material by cutting them specifically for the available space on your boat.  We use track from Bert’s Custom Tackle, but there are several different manufacturer’s that make tracks systems.

Downriggers

Having downriggers allows you to fish the lowest portions of the water column.  While absolutely required for deeper water, downriggers aren’t really necessary if you spend most of your time fishing water in the top 100′ of the water column. If you are just looking to fish a time or two in the spring or fall each year, you can probably get away without them.  But during the hot summer months, many of the salmon go deep and downriggers are about the only way to get down there.

If you are considering downriggers, a great budget option for small boats is the Cannon Uni-Troll 5 Kit.  These units will get your baits down to 200′ which is likely deeper than you would ever need to go.  When choosing a location for mounting downriggers, it is important to be sure that units are easily accessible to operate and that the boom gets the cannonball away from your boat without the likelihood of swinging back into the boat and causing damage.  The Cannon Uni-Troll 10 has an extendible boom for situations that require one.  The ideal placement of downriggers on a small boat is at the 2 back corners of the boat.

Downriggers can be mounted right to your boat or using adapters to mount to a track system.  They can also be placed on swivel bases that allow you to swing the boom to the ideal angle for your setup.

Divers and Diver Rods

These are key items for smaller boats as they allow you to get your baits fairly deep (up to ~100′) without the use of downriggers.  Dipsey divers are the most popular, due to their ease of use and versatility. Dials on the back of the diver allow you to set the angle the diver will dive away from the boat.

The depth of the diver is determined by the amount of line you let out, making a line-counter reel a must for these rods. A great choice here is the Okuma Cold Water Linecounter Trolling Reel

For the rod, we use rods made for dipsey divers, which are typically made with a stronger backbone to handle the hard pull of the diver.  But you can get away with any stiffer standard trolling rod for this.  A good length for the rod is 8’6″ – 10′.

Weighted Lines and Planer Boards

A weighted line is a lead-core, copper or other wire line that will sink and go deeper the farther the line is let out.  While I won’t be getting into too much detail on the difference between these (that’s a whole article by itself), just be sure that if you choose to use a weighted line, you get the appropriate reel to handle it. 

In-line planer boards are the most popular way to use weighted lines.  They allow you to spread the lines out horizontally from the boat, increasing the number of lines you can run at one time.  This is where use of lead core and wire line comes into play because these tend to be the lines that will sit highest in the water column.  Of course, you don’t need these lines if you intend to use plugs or other diving lures, but the weighted line will allow you to get as deep as 50 feet with your trolling spoons and flasher/fly combos.

As with the reels, the rods you need for your planer boards will largely depend on the type of line you choose to run.  A standard 8′-10′ trolling rod can handle lead-core and standard mono or braid.  However, should you choose to run copper wire, you’ll need to select a rod with stainless steel guides as the wire will damage the ceramic guides in a standard rod.

Rod Holders

In order to place your rods on the boat, you’ll need some fairly stout rod holders to handle the stress applied when a big fish hits.  Typically, the downriggers come with their own rod holders, but you’ll still need some extras for your diver and planer board rods.  A great choice for individual holders with track mounting is this one from Bert’s Custom Tackle. The ratchetting actions allows you to get the right angle for the rod while trolling, while also providing a place to hold the rod upright when running to and from your fishing grounds.  Another popular way of handling rod placement is to use a rod holder tree which gives you the ability to stack the rods vertically.  This works great for the planer board rods and keeps more of your rods near the back of the boat where they are more accessible.

Rod Layout and Spread

Now, let’s talk layout.  Below is a diagram of the way a typical rod layout would look in a smaller boat.  Starting from the back, downriggers are mounted on each corner of the boat.  For small boats, 2 downriggers are ideal as there is not typically enough room to run more.   Four downriggers are possible, though and if you intend to fish deep a lot, a second set just back of the first set along the side with an extended boom is often possible.  This keeps the back of the boat open for landing fish.

Behind the downriggers come the low and then high divers.  These are the next highest in the water column.  Finally, the wire lines on planer boards which should be the highest lines in your spread.  You can really run as many of these as you like.  You are really just limited to the spacing of rod holders on your boat (and of course, regulation restrictions).  If you use a rod holder tree as mentioned above you will likely not need to place any rods in the bow section of your boat.

In the water column, the spread should form a ‘V’ pattern as depicted below.  This puts your deepest lines straight behind the boat and your shallower lines out and away from the boat.  Not only does this maximize the distance between the baits and your boat, it reduces the chances of tangled lines when a fish hits. This is because a hooked fish will tend to move up in the water column and towards the area straight behind the boat as that is the path of least resistance for the fish.  Because each line it passes is lower in the water column, there is little chance of a tangle.

Other Considerations

Once you have all of the trolling gear laid out, you’ll need to consider room for a few other things.

Fish Storage

Some smaller boats have a built-in place for fish storage, but many do not.  You need a pretty good sized cooler to put salmon in, and you’ll need to store it somewhere.  The best place on these boats is in the bow area.  This clears the back end of the boat, allowing for room to operate your equipment and fight and land fish. You’ll probably want to secure it somehow as having a salmon land in your lap after hitting a wave on the run back in is no fun. 

The Net

You’ll also need a landing net large enough to land a salmon.  This is again best stored in the front of the boat.  A spare rod holder works best and can be placed in any open track you have up front. 

People

The biggest limitation with small boats is the number of people you can have on board, comfortably.  By the time you load the boat up with the appropriate equipment to make the trip worthwhile, it can start getting crowded if you have more than 4 on board.  Of course every boat is different so depending on your layout and boat length, you may have room for 5, but for most boats, four is the most you’ll want before people start getting uncomfortable.