Surface Trolling with Salmon Buster Spoons

Adapted from Capt. John King's 8-part "Top Tier Trolling Tactics" series (2015–2016) and his Salmon Buster spoon development page (2014), first published on MichiganSportsman.com. Originals: Top Tier Trolling Tactics · Salmon Buster spoons.

John spent decades trolling the top of the water column for Browns, Steelhead and Coho. When he designed the Salmon Buster spoon, he built a complete surface program around it.

Line and terminal tackle

  • 20# main line with a 15# mono leader.
  • A bead chain keel weight at least 5' ahead of the spoon stops line twist and keeps gulls off.
  • Attach the spoon with a plain Duo-Lock snap, no swivel, on the spoon's split ring.
  • Keel weight depths: 3/8 oz = 3–4'; 1/2 oz = 4–6'; 5/8 oz = 5–7'; 1 oz = 5–10'. Use 3/8–5/8 oz along the shoreline in spring and 1 oz offshore later.

Planer boards

  • Big board leads: 150' in flat water, 125' with a ripple, 100' in a chop.
  • Inline boards: 70–100' back.
  • 3–4 lines per side. Keep lead lengths equal.
  • 200# board line; 7–7.5' medium rods with line counter reels.
  • Check lines for weeds often.

Speed

  • Salmon Busters bite best at 2.0–2.6 mph and work from 1.2 to 3.0+.
  • On the surface, John's sweet spot was 2.5 mph speed over ground.
  • The spoons don't stall when you slow down to fight a fish, so the rest of the spread keeps fishing.

Hooks

  • #1 treble on the 4.0 spoon; 1/0 on the 4.65.
  • Light-wire VMC 9649 trebles for jumping Steelhead and Browns.
  • Sharpen every hook, including new ones. John's landing rate was about 80%.

Finding fish

  • Surface fish hold on the cold side of temperature breaks. Check NOAA surface temperature charts.
  • Troll east-west across fish moving north or south.
  • Use speed to cover water and eliminate dead zones.

Colors

Every Salmon Buster color matches one of John's flasher or meat rig colors. If a combo color is working, run the same color in a spoon.

Videos

April shoreline Browns · October surface Steelhead · Salmon Buster spoon action

Shop the setup: Salmon Buster spoons · Glow spoons · Keel weights and board supplies

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