Hey BenD,

The "hot" lures this year we don't know yet... but the consensus was that the hot new color last year was the "Cop Car" pattern.

Try to match your lures to the bait that is present, ie. if there's big bait, use big lures, and vica versa. Generally, early in the summer, the bait will be small, and it will get bigger as the summer goes on (but this isn't always true)

So try starting with Coho Killer spoons and needlefish hootchies (squids), they work well when the fish ore feeding on candlefish and smaller bait. As the bait gets bigger, switch to #3 Kingfishers, Sonic Edge spoons, and #35 Golden Bait hootchies. As the bait gets even bigger, you can try #4 Kingfishers, or maybe a Silver Horde 5" plug.

Other general rules to remember are that spoons have an action of their own, so you can tie them on (relatively) long 25lb. mono leaders. Hootchies, however, have no action of their own, so they need action imparted on them from the flasher. Tie your hootchies on (relatively) short 50lb mono leader, so the stiffer, shorter line will impart action on the lure.

Downriggers will make you the most affective fisherman out there. You cover lots of water and can dial in precise depths. If you don't have downriggers, you can use divers or regular old lead weights. I haven't had luck using divers for Chinook, I'm just not convinced they dive deep enough. If you're going for coho, the diver work great, but so do regular old lead weights. Remember, the fish will be closer to the surface early in the morning, and go deeper as the sun comes up. Work the top 30-40 feet of the water until the sun comes up, then start going deeper, maybe 10ft deeper every half hour, it depends on the light and the bait present. Most coho will be caught from 50ft to the surface, while chinook could be anywhere down to 120ft or deeper, depending upon conditions.

As far as colors go, well, Tom Nelson always says, "Use any color as long as it is green." Green & glow stripe, green/glow spatterback, and any other green/glow combination are never a bad choice. Other popular colors are Army Truck pattern, Cop Car pattern, and, most recently, the silver/watermelon/black pattern.

As far as distance behind the flasher, there are some general rules of thumb, you can check them out on the Salmon University site here.

Above all, "Fish where the fish are" If you use the tackle listed above, you WILL catch fish... have all your tackle tied up and ready when you hit the water, and concentrate on fishing where the fish should be, you'll get them.

I hope this helps.

-N.