Noodle rods are a big deal over in Michigan, and are used primarily on steelheads and a few salmon.
The thing that seems to work best, is using a very fine wire hook and light line. They were created by Dick Swann, and were made to land big fish on light line. They were a big fad about ten years ago, and everyone had one. The bummer is that you hook a fish in a tight spot, and it puts everyone else out of commission until you land their fish. This caused tempers to flare on crowded rivers.

You have little or no hook "setting" power with a noodle rod. It's more of a lean and lift, as it takes these rods a while to "load up". Same thing with casting them. Casting is more of a sweeping motion, if you want to get more distance. The fish get beat up by fighting against a rod with virtually no bottom to it.

I don't think you will ever get a heavy hook to drive in to a salmons mouth using a noodle rod on a consistent basis. It just isn't set up to work this way. The other thing is, if fishing warm water, you can count on killing most of the fish you hook and land. They have their place, and I enjoy using them in extremely cold water temps (39 F or less) for winter float fishing steelies with crappie jigs and waxies on 4 pound test. They are really nice for fishing ice cold frog water. Makes the fish fight a little better in icy cold water, and I think the mortality thing is OK when the water is this cold.

I have two of them in the closet that get used about twice a year. Good luck, and hope you have better luck with your noodle rod on salmon than I have.