why so many salmon are lost on paddles

[Lucky D]

I was reading fishing posts ant wondering why salmon seen to be able to not stay hooked on a cutbait rig and paddle,Are they possibly grabbing a teaser instead of the meat.

 

[Silver Fox]

I don’t think it’s a widespread issue. My flasher bites this summer have been pretty solid. Today had a paddle/meat rig on a 350 copper that maybe went 5 times and lost one due to bites off and a paddle/fly on a diver that went maybe 7 times and I can’t remember if we even lost one on that. 
Now I just jinxed myself for the morning…..

[chinook35]

18 hours ago, Lucky D said:

I was reading fishing posts ant wondering why salmon seen to be able to not stay hooked on a cutbait rig and paddle,Are they possibly grabbing a teaser instead of the meat.

 

Maybe you need a shorter paddle lmao 

[BRsnow]

I think with larger paddles they can also get leverage, I feel it sometimes with 8". When they are sideways and start to run you can feel or if near the boat see the paddle creating leverage. Worth the risk though:-)

[chinook35]

With cut bait rigs  , especially Twinkie rigs with attractors , an 8” FLASHER is not big enough to impart action to the rig. 

[whaler1]

In my opinion it happens when running trebles. Dual singles hold fish so much better. 

[13owhunter]

 

 

I have pretty good luck most of the time.  Id say I land between 8 and 9 out of 10 pretty consistently.  Harder to get tight to a fish when fishing deep especially when downriggers and planer boards are involved.  Rotating flashers also lead to slack in the line by design.  Salmon also have hard mouths especially as the season gets later so good hooks are important.  I like double single hooks myself.

[chinook35]

8 hours ago, 13owhunter said:

 

 

I have pretty good luck most of the time.  Id say I land between 8 and 9 out of 10 pretty consistently.  Harder to get tight to a fish when fishing deep especially when downriggers and planer boards are involved.  Rotating flashers also lead to slack in the line by design.  Salmon also have hard mouths especially as the season gets later so good hooks are important.  I like double single hooks myself.

I totally agree that hooks must be very sharp  I use trebles on cut bait rigs 

the Gamagatsu 2x strong are my go to

I’ve had single strength hops straighten out on a big salmon  Another point is always use hooks that are welded shanks. An unwelded hook can let the line slip between the shanks and that gives the salmon a lot of leverage to throw the hook. Ask me how I know 😂 

 

[Sk8man]

It also may have nothing to do with your setup etc. If you look at videos of salmon trying to catch spoons they often seem to have difficulty actually getting ahold of the spoon while traveling sideways; even after multiple tries. When you look at this in terms of the erratic action of a flasher combination e.g. on turns, across current the hook-up becomes a question mark. Many years ago when using dodger/squid combos during the Fall derby fishing out of Point Breeze I kept having hits without hooking up. It was frustrating  so I put a large 4/0 xxx single hook on the dodger itself. The dodger had red tape on it. Soon after putting it out I hooked up and yes the fish was on the dodger itself....little bit of a lesson there and there were teeth marks on the tape in a couple hits afterward. If you think about it fish may not always be accurate in attacking the hook part of the setup itself and maybe grab either the dodger or even the leader briefly. All this is assuming you are using sharp hooks as toward spawning season the mouths of salmon harden up Sometimes running too fast may be the problem especially if the problem is repeated.

Edited August 10 by Sk8man

[J.D.]

When I look at a trolling spoon, there is the spoon body, a split ring, and the hook trails behind and away from the lure body. I tie my own flys and have had much better hookups with the hooks behind the fly rather than hiding the hook in the fly body. 

 

 

 

[zach]

I think its all about drag or lack there of. When fighting fish the paddles create drag and keeps the line tight.

When the paddles then come outta the water they swing back and forth and to me, thats when alot are lost. Keep that pressure tight especially the moment the paddle breaks surface. 

Edited August 10 by zach

[Gill-T]

With the big paddles, I slow turn the boat  on hooked fish to try to keep the paddle in front of the fish instead of over its back flapping when they turn and burn straight away. Less likely to have the hook cam out. 

[Legacy]

On 8/8/2026 at 5:55 PM, Lucky D said:

I was reading fishing posts ant wondering why salmon seen to be able to not stay hooked on a cutbait rig and paddle,Are they possibly grabbing a teaser instead of the meat.

 

 

If you mean short strikes when you barely get a chance to even fight the fish for more than 5 seconds??? The answer is yes. Fish do grab teasers and its way more common than people imagine.