Best Methods for Rigging Trolling Spinners for salmon

With over 40 years experience fishing the Pacific Northwest, we knew were were on to something big when we created our Dirty Troll line of salmon trolling spinners. Today the Dirty Troll has proven itself to be among the most effective trolling spinners on the market and are considered by many as one of the best fishing lure for catching salmon, trout, and steelhead. If you haven’t fished our trolling spinners or are new to this technique, here are some of the best methods for rigging trolling spinners for salmon.

One of the most basic and simple rigs for trolling spinners utilizes an inline trolling sinker or banana weight.  Typically you’ll need 4-6 oz. weight to get the spinners down to the preferred depth with 3′ to 6′ feet of leader. This is not only the easiest set up to prepare it’s also the least expensive.

Basic Salmon Trolling Spinner Setup

Another very simple and effective Trolling Spinner set up incorporates a three-way swivel with a lead dropper and 3′-6′ of leader with running the trolling spinner at the end. 4-8 oz Cannon ball weights work very well for this setup and can be modified to run a flasher between the Spinner and swivel.

Cannon Ball Salmon Trolling Spinner Setup

When your looking to get your lure down deep, an excellent method to achieve this is incorporating a diver into your setup. Here’s an example of a common salmon trolling set up that utilizes a diver in front of a flasher. This setup is fairly common when fishing in the salt water or deep fresh water fishing.

Salmon Trolling Spinner setup using a diver and flasher

Probably the most common salmon trolling spinner setup incorporates the utilization of a down rigger. Downriggers offer the most effective depth control when attempting to get your presentation to the same depth as the fish your targeting. When trolling for salmon a down rigger requires weight to get the flasher and lure down in the water. A 10lb-15lb rigger ball is about the perfect amount of weight. Above the weight the fishing line from the pole is attached to a release clip. This clip hold the line in place until a fish is on or the lure gets snagged. A flasher like a 9″ Pro-Troll runs behind the clip with about 3′ to 6′ leader and the trolling spinner trailing behind.

Most Common Salmon Trolling Spinner setup

These are among the best methods for rigging trolling spinners for salmon that we know of and will get you on your way to catching more fish when trolling Dirty Troll salmon spinners for your favorite species of salmon, trout, or steelhead. We hope you find this information helpful and look forward to hearing some of your fishing adventures with us soon. If you love catching salmon give our lures a try. There nothing quite as satisfying as fishing dirty with our Dirty Troll.