how far back?

[Home wrecker]

how far back off the riggers for kings?

[LongLine]

It's trial & error.  Generally the closer you can go the deeper you are.  Some guys never go more than 30 ft back when below 60 ft.  I believe a lot depends on your spread.  i.e some low, some high, some close, some back. 

 

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[MTpockets]

Less is better sometimes too

[Tim Bromund]

I seldom ever go longer than 15-20 with spoons, no matter how far down. 8-15 feet back for flasher/flies.

[jekyll]

I'm with Tim unless above 50 then I stretch them a bit more.

[NickR]

Play with it- one day you can take them close to the ball- others you get them 30-40 feet off.

Start off every day with a variety of lures and lengths and work from there. If you notice your rigger with a short lead is taking fish, shorten them up and vice versa.

[King Slammin]

If I'm fishing deep (50' and below), I lead spoons 10-20'. If I'm fishing shallow ( less than 50') I may lead spoons 30-40'. My thinking is closer to the surface and the boat, farther back so as not to spook the fish. Sometimes coho and steelies like it in the prop wash though. It depends on what your targeting. I have caught a few while letting my lead out and as soon as I snap the release shut, there's a fish on it. Flashers, I primarily run spin doctors and echips, are always 10-12' for me.

[K Gonefishin]

8-10 on spin docs for me. 15-22 on spoons for me. 

[Sk8man]

Ditto on Tim and Jekyll. I've also had them hit dodger/squid 4ft. from the ball but down deep. I think that when that close and down deep they see it as one unit rather than discrete objects

[on the lam]

Anywhere from 10 to 75 for attractor/fly. Depending on the bite. Early aggressive bite; short.. if coppers are hot n riggers are not.. long leads. Generally 20 if I don't know what's going on.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[king of kings]

I go 25 for flys and meat and 10 back for spoons

[bluewater]

I usually run 8-12 ft for FF and 10-20ft for spoons

[Fish Hunter]

We are generally 20 on the F/F's and 30 plus, for the spoons.

[Has Been]

I find king Salmon to be super aggresive at times & very skittish at times, kind of like a  fox . There  are times that even when fishing down to  100 ft  I will run the spoon back 100'.,and this has saved the day for me.

 

If we see fish & don't hook up we will run our spoon  set  back 75' or  farther and sometimes it works well . Especially this time of year.

 

 But generally  15 - 25' to start.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Has Been

[Sk8man]

At this point I'm kinda chuckling to myself as I read our responses to this interesting question...we all have our little favorite distances and habits that seem to work for us (or we probably wouldn't be as attached to them as we are). It also occurs to me that we are are a rather curious (and perhaps "superstitious") breed because we think our own systems are perhaps the last word in fishing (myself included) . It is entirely possible that another factor is at work here in terms of the distance between the lure and us and that it resembles a "random event".  Kings are thought to hit lures for a couple of reasons a) a feeding response, and b) out of aggression/territoriality. At the point they are "homed in" on their imprinted ancestral spawning area the feeding response is considered to be significantly reduced if not entirely gone and the urge to reproduce takes over and along with it territoriality and aggressive defense of it...this is what happens in the streams....but it also happens before they arrive while still in the lake looking for their "home base" It is no accident that bright colored or shiny objects become their targets....anything that stands out in their environment is a potential"rival", "intruder" or "foreign object" to be attacked and both males and females respond to it. The feeding response on the other hand is often thought to be increased in that period immediately prior to spawning and while the kings are still largely "silver" and out in the lake roaming. My hunch is that a) they are in an active "looking" state and anything that is in close proximity to them and presents itself as a vulnerable, wounded, or solitary "target" that might have been separated from the baitfish school (and the action of it suggests this to them) it will be aggressively (and sometimes "savagely") hit and consumed, and b) if our lure happens to be that target operating at 8, 15, 20, 25, or 50 ft. from our boat and these conditions apply we will be on the other end of a King salmon. Many of the latest patterns and colors of lures don't resemble anything even remotely looking like their natural food but they do look foreign to the environment perhaps triggering the aggressive response while looking for food. If something about the action and appearance of the lure on the line looks suspicious or "off" somehow they look but "don't touch" and move on to something  appearing more vulnerable or "right" to them. That's my theory of it all and I know that it won't fit all my fellow fishermen's belief systems but I'm throwing it out there especially for "newbies" to think about as they pursue these great creatures.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Sk8man

[steelfire]

I think your right on the money Sk8ma with your theory.!     And  I think we are all very "superstitious" when it comes to setting up our spreads.

[Kevin J Legg]

Confidence is definitely a big factor in fishing. The more success we have using a given technique the more confidence it breeds. We also tend to fish more with a method we are confident in and thus catch more fish with it. I have some starting points when setting both spoons and FF but change up if they are not producing. I believe patience is very over rated in fishing! 

[MTpockets]

I love to stack a spoon over dodger flys. Put dodger 15 back down 20 then the spoon over that back 20 get a lot of hook ups on the stacker a LOT