Hi
I fish spinners all the time for salmon. I rarely use any weight above them There are a few things you can do as far as the weight issue goes. I've learned one of the keys is getting down just off the bottom.

More companies are offering heavier variations of standard spinners. I saw some "Long Cast" version of Mepps that were 7/8 ounce last weekend in Forks. I know of a few other companies that make good "heavier" spinners out there that you can buy off the shelf. I also know of a few people who dis-assemble Viberex spinners and put "bell" weights in them to make them heavier.

My favorite option is to buy the parts from Mor-Tac or Pen-Tac and assemble my own. You can make a #3 or #4 spinner with a heavier weight and they work great in low water. I've found that the blades are thicker and heavier than a lot of the standard off the shelf spinners. This time of year my favorite spinner is a #4 or #5 that I make. They get down great. I used 1 this weekend to get a 25 lb King and 12 lb Coho within a 1/2 hour of each other. And then one of the drawbacks to being just off the bottom is that I got hung-up and lost the spinner soon after.

I hoep that helps. I have yet to hook-up a hoochie. I've done a few variations of that and they seemed to work.

Good Luck!!!