I'd like to pick the brains of some of my more esteemed brethren when it come to ocean fishing for chinook. We use a ton of bait out there and would like to know what lure to use instead, what color and how many pulls. Tired of spending a ton on bait and looking for better alternatives.

~Steelymann~

In Puget Sound my favorites are a white/glow hoochie or a 4.0 Coyote spoon (silver) trolled behind a green or white/glow Hot Spot dodger. You can troll shallow for Coho or go deep for Kings.

If your in an area where your marking alot of bait and/or fish, try jigging, I've had some phenominal days with Pt. Wilson Darts, Buzz Bombs, Zzingers, PL69's, and various other jigs.
I've tried many different colors and caught fish on most but my preference is green, blue also works well. I also try to match the size of the jig to the size of the bait.
If you're not finding much bait I would troll hardware, and start covering water, in this situation I like to drag either spoons (Coyote's, Superiors, big Canadian Wonders) or plugs (Tomic's white with green back) and troll fast, by fast I mean 3-4 mph, or faster, this may seem to fast at first but I've learned from the trollers in Alaska that this is how these lures are most effective, they troll this fast and faster and I watch them pull 1 king in after another on hardware and none of them troll slow. Trust me, if a fish wants your offering, he will get it "easily", don't believe this, checkout Charlie White's underwater video sometime.
Hope this helps you out a little, good luck.

Thanks for the info! I'm heading out tomorrow out of Area 1 to give it a try. I'll let you know how it went. I've never tried jigging before but might give that aa whirl too. Thanks.

~steelymann~

Try a half chrome / brass size 6 canadian wonder with a 6/0 gammi siwash on the down rigger from 40' to 80' down and troll fast 2.5 to 5 mph.This works well but will take a little time getting used to it,due to the fast trolling and your confidence level.Trust me it works out at westport and lapush real well.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Try big Castmaster or Kastmasters, can't recall spelling, but in 3/4 ounce or larger. Blue/chrome, green/chrome, and solid chrome work great. They also have glow. Just an early tip for pinks, paint a chrome one flo-pink and try that. I nailed a 12 pound pink off Bush Point in 1993 on one. Warden said it was biggest pink he had seen. And I brain farted and smoked the darn thing. Still kicking myself. They can be jigged, cast, or trolled.

My favorite is the smalles B2 Squid in triple glo color behind a green or purple Hot Spot flasher. Jon Keizer of Salmon University and owner of Puget Sound Salmon Charters once said that if he could only take one lure fishing, it would be the B2 Squid.

Went to try out my new found techniques only to be turned around by the Coast Guard at the mouth of the Columbia. Winds picked up and they wouldn't let small craft out. Thanks for the info. Plan on using it again on Sunday. Any tehniques specific to the area outside the mouth of the Columbia? Heard that north of the jetties is a great place to find the 'nooks but not sure where. Thanks for the info

~steelymann~