the number 1 bait right now is roebags below a float.
Always luved using freshly made (on the spot) bags as the fall run Chinook came into the creeks, for the steelhead that are following. Someone was always pulling in a dripping female, or cutting them open on shore. There is no natural reproduction so it's not as bad as it sounds and eating the too old and dying (and rotting) salmon is not a viable option.
The Indiana creeks are quite shallow so I seldom used a float. When they were running good (you could see them fluttering along) I just used some these shoved onto a #6 baitholder hook with some split shot, letting them drift through the riffles.
Used spinnerbaits with the treble switched to a single large gap siwash hook for a change of pace now and then. In my area seems any kind of water flow/discharge attracts the fall Chinooks. We used to fish off some rocks at the Amoco Water Filtration Plant discharge. Used big, narrow glow in the dark spoons also fitted with a single siwash, and fished at night. Had a cheap camera flash to 'charge' the spoon periodically. Urban fishing at it's best.
