Photo by Scott Haugen

A Rogue River springer doesn’t always come easy. To improve your chances, avoid touching your bait and tackle and use scents to mask smells.

The past few springer seasons have been a bit spotty around Oregon. Some rivers have been red-hot, while others have struggled. Some rivers had runs come in nearly two months late, while other runs seem to have missed the chance of coming in to spawn at all. Maybe that means more four and five salt fish for this spring.

No matter which Oregon springer stream you choose to fish this year, you can take five steps to increase your overall fishing time. You’ll have your line in the water longer, which dramatically raises the odds of catching fish. Whether fishing from a boat or off the bank, here are steps you can apply on virtually any river that springers occupy.

NO 1: USE THE RIGHT SCENT
Since the 1990s, scent products have taken salmon fishing to another level. I literally cannot count the number of fish I’ve caught over the years that I’m positive were caught because of the scent I used.

Even anise oil -- the egg-cure I grew up using as a kid, and the primary scent in the recipe -- was always present. I’m sure it played a major role in the bait’s ability to catch fish. It still does today.

But scents have progressed so much, and they continue to improve and expand every year. No question, they’re a key component in catching more fish, especially salmon. Salmon can detect smells measured in parts-per-billion. Their noses should be key targets for anglers. The more variety of scents you can offer these fish, the better your odds of catching them.

Scents can be applied to any terminal gear you fish. They can be mixed into egg cures during the curing process, or added later. They can be injected into shrimp, herring or crawdads. The sticky pastes can be applied to lures and plugs, without their washing away.

They can even be spread onto drift-bobbers and rubbed into yarn to help carry scent to where the fish are.

No matter what flavor of scent you use or what you use it on, remember, you are delivering smell to a fish. Do it in a way so they can find it.

This means laying a scent trail that travels downstream in a consistent path so that fish can detect it, follow it and snatch the bait. This is why plunking, back-bouncing and backtrolling plugs are so effective when using scents, because they are either staying in one position or moving downstream in a constant, steady path where fish can track them.

If you haven’t yet jumped on the scent craze, do it now. Experiment with a wide variety of scents until you find what the fish like best on specific rivers or under certain conditions. Our sport is growing ever more competitive, and these scents can give you the upper hand needed to catch more salmon.

NO 2: CHANGE BAITS
Not only is altering the size of your bait important, but changing the kind of bait you’re using is critical. In those times when springers are around but not biting, try offering them a different bait.