Flatline Trolling for Salmon

[Lucky Craft Man]

I am planning a trip to flatline troll for salmon.  I have two line counting reels, but realized I have no idea what line to put on these things.  Do you guys who flatline troll for salmon (or steelhead) use mono or some type of braid?  Thanks for the help.

[Lund Explorer]

Don't know why I didn't see this earlier......  

You've got two choices here, but the one we use up here is to put lead-core line on your reels.  Depending on the depth the fish are holding, you'll either need to put on a "full-core" (100 yds) or a "half-core" (50 yds).  A full-core rig will get you down into the neighborhood of 100' down, and of course the half-core will get you down about half of that.

I use 20lb Big Game as backing on my reels, and a six foot length of 20lb leader to the lure.  If you use these with side-planers, you can usually get two of three rods off to each side of the boat by staggering the amount of backing you let off of each rod.  When we run three rods off of each side, the far outboard line usually has about 75yds of backing out.  

Your other option would be to use snap-weights or some type of keel sinker tied onto the line.  I know they work, but I've just never used them.  You would have to experiment with what weights you would need to get to a certain depth.