Snagging Chromers

Trevor Guernsey, Sendy Sledder
September 21, 2021

Snagging Chromers

Seward has many amazing opportunities to catch salmon; however, buying a fishing boat can be expensive and time-consuming. There is an alternative, and one of my personal favorite fishing methods is snagging chrome salmon hogs.
All you need to snag is a stout salmon pole and a robust reel, 20 to 40-pound test line, lots of snag hooks, sunglasses or safety glasses (losing an eye would be lame), and a fillet knife. That may seem intimidating, but you can pick up a decent rod and reel new for about $70, and you can find used sets for pennies. Another way to create a drastically cheaper day of fishing is NOT buying premade snag hooks! My method to make snag hooks is to use 3x strong Mustad treble hooks wrapped with rope lead. The real cash-saver way involves going to the beach and picking up snag hooks (conveniently left behind by people who were scammed)! Lastly, I prefer the 30-pound monofilament line on my snagging pole, as it is the best of both worlds of strength and casting distance.

There are many excellent places to snag salmon in Seward. A good spot for reds is the far side of the bay. For the silvers, the best place is the culvert next to the harbor. The run timing for reds is early to late June. The silvers are in late August to mid-September. The limit is six fish per person, which means you can fill your freezer relatively quickly when the fish are in.

Good luck fishing Seward’s plentiful salmon runs with this inexpensive and fun hog-slaying method!