What do you suggest

[nickoftime]

We are brand new to salmon fishing and have not caught anything we have got propably 7 poles that we aquired what do you guys suggest we run. What Kind of lures anything that can be of help. Thanks:D

[Priority1]

Depends what kind of rods you have. To pull Dipsys you need a heavy rod designed for the tremendous pull the divers exert on the rod. Also make sure your have some stout rod holders for the Dipsys. It sounds like you have a couple of Penn riggers. I would start by running two riggers, two Dipsys, a couple of halfcores with a few 4 0z dive bombs to give the cores extra depth when needed. You will want to get a couple of in-line planer boards for the core.

[nickoftime]

Thanks We just bought a set of in-line planer boards.

[tangled mess]

2 down riggers 2 divers 2 10 colors and 5 color and get some mag spoons and some flashers and flys and a good graph and radio and you should have every thing you need to catch a few fish .

[1mainiac]

I agree with Don those rods are a good start or if you prefer you can go with my method take your father in law fishing and buy 2 of everything till your wife threatens you with divorce. Then remind her you are taking her dad fishing and cut back a little on purchases. Honestly I had to move up to a bigger boat last year cause my 18ft would probably sink under the weight of my fishing tackle. Even though I have over 20 rod and reel setups on board I can always see something I should buy. Also for some wild fun don't be afraid to bring along some small gear it is hard to beat the fun of catching Salmon or Steelhead with a 7.5ft Ugly stick and light line I know a few guys with these poles and 20 series reels running 12 to 15 lb test on their down riggers. I have even used my 10ft Steelhead rods with 8lb on downriggers what a blast. So don't think all we use are winches for reels.

[Nailer]

Like Tom said. 2 riggers off the side or back corners. Take a six foot piece of mono and tie a swivel on each end, clip it to your line with a smaller spoon on it , and let it go. 2 divers (dipsey) one on each side, use a fly and flasher 5'-7' behind the diver. Then the cores go out on in line boards. Use the Church Walleye brand boards (other boards don't seam to run as good pulling core)

You need to let the core out far enough to clear the diver poles ( 75-100' min)

You also need a big net with a long handle.

What part of Grand Rapids do you live in?

[Paulywood]

Sounds like you have some good suggestions already. I would suggest 15#-20# mono on your rigger rods. I buy Ande in bulk from Cabela's. 30# braid for divers. Power Pro is what most use, I use Cabela's Ripcord. Daiwa Heartland rods are good all around rods and very reasonable. Penn 209's make good, inexpensive rigger reels. Almost indestructible. Okuma Convector's or Catalina's are good for dipsey's, get linecounters. Daiwa Sealines are very nice too. I really like the Okuma's for leadcore. Large diameter handles and good retrieve rates. If money doesn't matter buy all Shimano Tekota's but they cost almost $200 each. I own exactly 0 Tekota's, LOL. The reels I listed are all solid, economic choices. Good bang for your buck. Cheaper reels tend to fail at inoppurtune times.

[tray19682005]

Look at line guide on reels b4 buying some will wear leadcore quicker than others.I may upset some but I fish daily and we run 8-12 poles at a time and I gave up on Okuma reels as the gears are mostly plastic and they do wear out n break .I have 4 Diawa accu-depths model #57lc I run full and 3 cores on and on 3rd yr now no problems, But my workhorses are Pen 320gts i have 10 of these and never a problem and all metal gears and they run about $15 more than competiors but they will last a lifetime!Depending on your boat setup, run shorter rods on downriggers and 10ft or longer on your planers and dipsey rods, less tangles makes for better fishing.And as mentioned b4 only use a stout rod holder as alot of strain gets put on these.Dreamweaver spin doctors are great with flys but run these on deepest riggers or they will tangle with anything within 5ft of them and they do tangle into a nasty mess. Finding fish and learning to read the water is hardest to learn but most important.WE have had tape peel on spoons and superglued them back on and had a fish on 10 min later! When they are biting they are not as picky but you must stay on them,as they will bite anything close its when they are scattered that you have to find your system that works . I would strongly suggest ,if you can afford it, to hire a charter and watch n learn and apply what you see to your own fishing.

[Yoda]

Tell us what you have for poles,reels,rod holders,ect. might be a bit easier for everyone to point you in a useable direction ..