Salmon Buster™ Spoon Selection Guide

How to pick a Salmon Buster™ spoon by season, water clarity and target fish, based on Capt. John King's fishing logs from 2014 to 2020. Every spoon color matches one of John's flasher and meat rig colors, so if a combo color is working, run the same color in a spoon.

LIFETIME GUARANTEE: Salmon Buster™ spoon bodies won't crack or split. Standard 4.0" and magnum 4.65" spoons. LED spoons excluded. Details

Step 1: Pick the size

Size Best for Base hook John's results
4.0" standard Brown Trout, Steelhead, Coho; surface and shallow water Size 1 VMC treble April Browns off boards; fall Steelhead; Kings to 90' down on 12–15' rigger leads
4.65" magnum King Salmon; riggers, divers and deeper water Size 1/0 VMC treble Kings 100' down on a 10' lead; a big King 50' down before dawn on July 4, 2020

John switched to light-wire VMC 9649 trebles for jumping Browns and Steelhead on planer boards, but not for Kings, where light wire can bend.

Step 2: Pick the color by season

Season Target and water Size John's producing colors
April Shoreline Browns, 36–47°F, often stained 4.0 Copper and gold with red or orange: Copperhead Mamba, King Midas (gold) Mamba, Gold HRP, Monkey Puke Mamba, Laser Glo HRP. Mamba patterns took 75% of his spring 2015 bites.
May–June Spring Kings inshore; Steelhead on offshore temperature breaks 4.0 and 4.65 Black Mamba SUV for inshore Kings 30–70' down; Laser Glo HRP on surface breaks; Undertaker 4.65 for deep Kings
Early July Adult Kings staging 4.65 Whites and chrome: White Lightning, Moon Jelly, silver patterns
Mid-July–September Peak adult Kings, deep and low light 4.65 Glow and X-Glow: Ghostbuster, X-Glow Frog, Undertaker. Charge with a UV light.
Fall (Oct–Nov) Steelhead and young Kings, top 20' 4.0 HRP patterns and Bluetail; orange and red

Step 3: Adjust for water clarity and light

Condition Choose
Clear water, bright sun Silver, white, blue and green (Silver Bullet, White Lightning)
Stained or cloudy water Copper, gold, orange, red and chartreuse. John had no bites on silver in cloudy April water.
Deep water or overcast UV and SUV finishes
Dawn, dusk, night and very deep water Glow and X-Glow, charged with a UV light

John's reminder: "Boat location is everything!" Adjust depth and speed, or move, before making big color changes.

Step 4: Run it right

  • Speed: best bites at 2.0–2.6 mph; works from about 1.2 to 3.0+. See the Trolling Speed Chart.
  • Surface: big boards 100–150' back (inlines 70–100'), 15# leader, and a bead chain keel weight at least 5' ahead of a plain snap. 3/8 oz runs 3–4' deep, 1/2 oz 4–6', 5/8 oz 5–7', 1 oz 5–10'.
  • Riggers: under 30' back at 50' down; shorter leads as you go deeper.
  • Pulsing rod tip: normal. That's the spoon's action, not a small fish.

Learn more

Salmon Buster Spoons: Rigging, Leads and Tips · Surface Trolling with Salmon Buster Spoons · Color Guide · Fishing Calendar

Shop: Salmon Buster Spoons – Standard · Salmon Buster Spoons – Glow · Keel weights and trolling supplies