New to Salmon Shore Fishing. Starter Set-up?

Hello,

I went Salmon fishing from shore once last year, and while I didnt catch anything, I am tempted to try some Lake Michigan fall shore fishing in Two Rivers this year. I was hoping I could get some advise on the basics for gear.

Lure starter kit (i.e. most common lures, colors, and sizes the knowledgeable fisherpeople use.   ) 

Pole strength / Pole Length / tip speed?

Pole/Reel type?   Spinning / Bait Caster ?

Type of line (mono - braided?) and test rating (.lb)

Anyone have a cheap combo setup they would recommend? I would only go fishing once or twice a year for Salmon. I may even just using my large walleye trolling rods and swap out the lead core reels for whatever I choose to use for salmon.

If you are going to float fish with skien, use a Shakespeare Wild Series 9' ML rod, with any 20 or 30 size reel, 30 pound braid, and 25 or 30 pound fluorocarbon leader.

I literally went with medium action perch rods and 6lb mono years ago, if fishing in a river.  Open lake would not be so good.  Made for a heck of a fight.  We probably caught half of what we hooked, depended if they wanted to run the entire river or not.  We didn't care if we lost some either though, it was more using what we had.

With bottom fishing in a river, some may bite but others get 'flossed'.  By that I mean they swim with their mouths opening and closing.  They swim into the line, it slides through their mouth and you hook them.  When I bottom fished, some had the hooks in the mouth and some on the outside.  Outside typically means they didn't actually bite it.  I usually put on a hook, followed by the sinker at the very end of my line.  We just started using nightcrawlers after a while and caught fish, even some browns.  That was before gobies though.  Have seen guys use marshmallows too.  The flossing thing is debatable, but I see it done in rivers a lot as you get away from the piers.

Everyone throws spoons. I feel like Im the only guy that tosses cranks religiously. The strikeking 5xd is my go to for casting. Launches a mile on a spinning rod and still easy enough to reel in. Mckinley Marina area and the castable distance from the wall is only around 25 feet deep max. The end of the rocks in the gap is over 30. I personally use a 7.5 medium action bass rod, 20 lb braid on 3000 size reel. Good swivel, 3 foot section of 15 lb floro to a snap. 

From what I recall the gas station on 29 as you're coming into town from the west sells them. Might be other places in town that do too, but not sure. 

Does anyone know where you can buy Spawn sacs in Kewaunee and about how much they run?    I was told to try these along with casting.   ????

bone fish,

if your looking for any gear I have TONS of gear specifically for big lake piers I'd like to move.

I'm me if your interested

Thanks all for the tips. I'll see what I can come up with in the garage and buy the rest.

Seems others agree with the “use what you have” advice.  I did not buy either of my combos mentioned below specifically for salmon fishing.  The 7’ combo was purchased for pike and bass fishing and the 8.5’ casting rod was purchased to throw spinnerbaits and buck tails for musky.  So each is a dual purpose rig.

I love the net advice.  Use the money you would have spent on a rod/reel and get a good quality telescoping net.  Those aren’t cheap but you’ll be happy you have one when you have a 20 lb King laying in the water in front of you.

I wouldn't even go out and buy new gear if I were you.  Just put some of the afformentioned line on a reel, and use the spoons suggested by BT and give it a go.  You might want to invest in a long net eventually.

Use what you got for casting the earlier mentioned spoons and such but, toss out a sliding sinker bottom rig with a crawler or floating spawn sack too. Some guys put out a float rig for a third rod. I tried walking a planer board and plug after I saw it done by others on the empty side of a pier years back. Go for it. Braids aren't as popular with the higher visibility in the clear water. So I use the lighter 8# mono like Mr. Trout suggests.

I don’t think there’s a standard set up.  I’ve used, and seen others use, anything from heavier spinning gear to bass casting rods to light musky rods.  My two rods I usually use are a 7’ med fast action St Croix spinning rod with a size 30 reel spooled with 8 lb XT and my 8.5’ med heavy casting rod spooled with 50 lb Power Pro (12 lb diameter) with a 3’ mono or fluoro leader.  I have an Ambassadeur 6500 for a reel.  Both have caught fish plenty of fish.  I use the baitcasting rig if I’m casting heavier lures like Kastmasters or big Cleo’s and the spinning rod for lighter spoons or cranks.  Crocodiles are good lures too.  All spoons in 3/4 or 1 oz.  Moonshine lures came out with a line of casting lures that I have heard work pretty well.

A lot of guys have combos that can chuck a spoon a country mile.  That’s great for covering a lot of water but if you do that, go with a braided or fluoro line.  I’ve seen it happen many times where someone will chuck a 1 oz lure across the channel to the other breakwall, hook a fish and loose it because they were not able to set the hook properly because of all of the stretch in their mono line.  I don’t believe you have to cast that far.  I’ve caught many fish casting nearly parallel to the breakwall ( no other fishmen in my casting path of course).  But to each their own.

I am by no means an expert, but I usually use a 7 or 7.5 foot medium spinning rod with a 4000 size reel, spooled with 20 or 30lb braid.  Depending on what I'm casting I'll either use 8lb or 12lb Seaguar STS leader, at least 6 feet of it.