Many may disagree, but in the long run, it's hard to outfish BAIT. All the lures, hootchies, flies, and spoons on the market all all trying to imitate the real deal, so why not just fish with it and avoid the guesswork? If fishing fairly shallow water, 100ft or less, I try to focus my gear around the middle of the water column. Forty feet down in eighty feet of water, 20 feet down in forty feet of water, and so on. It has been my experience that no matter where the marks on the fishfinder are, most my fish still come from near mid water. Don't be afraid to vary your speed. As mentioned before, the angle of your downrigger wires is the best way to judge speed. Find a boat that's catching fish, place yourself off his beam for half a mile or so, and adjust your speed so that you match his progress. When you're going the same speed, check your downrigger wires, and note the angle which they go into the water. Keeping this angle in mind, continue to adjust your speed when going with or against the current, always trying to keep the proper wire angle. Often a slight increase or decrease in speed can trigger a salmon to strike. If I'm going through lots of mark on the fishfinder, I'll often speed up for 30 seconds or so, then slow down again. This is like jigging with your downriggers. As you speed up, your gear rises in the water column, and then falls as you slow down again. This covers more water, and changes the action of your baits.
If I could only have two flashers, one would be a white Lee&Bechold with the swivel on the wide end set in the far right hole, the other would be a red sided HOT SPOT. There are many other flashers which imitate the HOT SPOT, but in my experience, none of the imitations are as effective.
These are general guidelines I follow when trying to find fish in a new area. If you hear about a hot spoon and a hot depth, by all means try it. Also if you see people back at the dock or launch who caught fish where you didn't, go up and ask how their day went. Generally once you ask the first question, they share every thing they know with you. Where I live in Alaska, I don't hesitate to ask or share with the other charter boat captains over the radio every specific of how fish are being caught. Water depth, lure depth, bait, lure, color, anything to give you a bit of an edge.


good luck, take up one of these offers for a fishing trip.
david