Perhaps the most effective lure for catching salmon on the North Puget Sound rivers in the fall is the Dick Nite Spoon. Year in, year out, the Dick Nite has been a big producer for salmon in the fall on all the North Puget Sound rivers. Originally designed as a trout lure, the Dick Nite has an action that drives salmon crazy, which is why you'll find them in just about every North Sound river guides tackle box when fall rolls around.

Presentation
Dick Nite Spoons can literally be fished anywhere in the river, but my favorite areas to fish them are deep holes with slow current or deep side channels where they meet the main flow of the river. In a pool with a slight current make a quartering cast upstream and allow the rig to bump along the bottom until it’s at the end of it’s swing and stops drifting. This is the most important part of the presentation! Once the rig has stopped drifting begin retrieving the spoon slowly all the way back to the boat, or to the bank if fishing from shore.

The action your looking for is to have the spoon wobbling slowly along the bottom. In an area with no current it may be necessary to reel a bit more quickly to achieve the desired action, and in an area with more current reeling more slowly can be the ticket. The trick to this is not giving up until the spoon is all the way back to the boat, as many strikes can occur within a rods length of the boat.

Setup
For driftfishing the Dick Nite a light action spinning rod such as the Lamiglas EC96LS is optimal, matched with a suitable reel to balance the rod. I personally use the Shakespeare Intrepid and Cetera reels that will carry roughly 140 yards of 10 lb test.

A common way of rigging the spoon is to attach a three way swivel to the mainline and attach a 6” to 10” dropper of equal or higher weight test to the bottom of the swivel. Depending on current speed and depth a weight from 1/2 oz. to as much as 2 ounces may be necessary to properly fish the lure and will be attached to this dropper. On the business end of the swivel attach from 4 to as much as 8 feet of lighter test leader, to which the lure will be tied. As in all river fishing, leader length is entirely dependent on water clarity and should be matched accordingly. For a typical days fishing with 5 to 6 foot of river visibility I’ll run 6 feet of 8 lb Maxima Ultragreen leader from the swivel to the lure. (Tip: Running a dropper of slightly stiffer line can help reduce twist. For this setup 12 lb Maxima Chameleon is my line of choice.)

Another way of fishing the spoon is to rig it with a sliding dropper, shown below. While both methods work excellent, the sliding setup tends to reduce line twist and allows for a better feel when salmon bite the spoon softly.

Backtrolling Dick Nites from a boat can also be extremely effective. For this setup I use a lighter plugging rod such as the Lamiglas Hot Shot Composite (G1336T) and direct tie a Luhr Jensen Size 20 Jet Diver to mainline of 20 lb Tufline. If backtrolling in water less than 18 to 20 feet deep is may be necessary to run a dropper to the Jet Diver to keep the Dick Nite above the river bottom. Since most of the fishing I do is in deeper water, however, I prefer to direct-tie my Jet Divers. From the swivel provided with the Jet Diver attach 5 to 7 feet of Seaguar flourocarbon leader, with the overall length dependent on water clarity. Attach a Dick Nite Spoon to the leader and your set to backtroll your favorite run. (Tip: A drag that’s on the loose side is desired for backtrolling spoons, as strikes are often hard and with a tight drag a large silver can straighten the small hooks or break the leader.)

Lure Choice
The best all around color choice for silvers always seems to be the 50/50 nickel/brass Dick Nite, but you should have other colors on hand for varying water conditions. Silver with a chartruese or red tail can be extremely effective when visibility is limited to 2 to 5 feet and chartruese/frog is also an excellent choice for silvers on both the Snohomish and Skagit systems when water clarity is reduced.

For pink salmon any spoon that incorporates pink will work, but hands down the top producer is usually the pink/white Dick Nite. The 50/50 nickel/brass spoon is a must for silvers and the pink/white spoon a must for pinks, but experimenting is always encouraged.

Don’t be surprised if you pick up a chum or king along the way while fishing the Dick Nite, as they’ve been known to hit these spoons with regularity. As far as sizes are concerned, I seldom fish anything larger than the size 2 for silvers or pinks and in crystal clear water with unlimited visibility the Wee Dick Nite in size “0” can be the ticket. For backtrolling, even in low and clear conditions, I prefer at least a size “1” or “2”, as their larger hook size allows for less misses when a fish smashes the spoon.