I’ve got a suggestion if and when you head for Alaska to take a whack at the tremendous coho salmon angling available in that part of the world.

My suggestion is this: Make darn sure you take some Sledge Hammers along with you.

I can almost hear somebody snort: “Old Stan’s finally flipped. Now he’s saying we should take Sledge Hammers along on an Alaskan fishing trip. What the heck’s he talking about? Does he figure we’ll need them for protection should one of those big Alaskan bears invade our fishing area?

Well, friends, my elevator is still reaching the top floor. And I’m right about advising you to make sure you’ve got some Sledge Hammers when your fishing adventures take you up north. The Sledge Hammers I’m talking about, you see, aren’t the metal headed type used to drive stakes in the ground. The Sledge Hammers I have in mind are the tremendously effective salmon trolling lures of that name marketed by Mack’s Lure.

I’m not asking you to take my word for it. Let me introduce you to a man named Eric Adams. Eric has lived in Alaska for 30 of his 42 years. Eric, his wife, Susan, and their two children, live in Anchorage. Adams is one of the advertising managers for Fish Alaska magazine.

Eric will tell you that his whole life is centered around fishing. The man knows Alaska and its waters. He’s fished all over the state for a variety of species. His favorite summertime angling activity is fishing for coho on Resurrection Bay out of Seward.

Eric will tell you he discovered Mack’s Lure Sledge Hammers about six years ago. Those unfortunate Resurrection Bay coho have undoubtedly been regretting it ever since. I say that because once he got his hands on the first of these lures he’s been knocking the daylights out of the coho nearly every time out.

What does Adams have to say about these lures? “They’re awesome!” he says. “My catch ratio has jumped about 70 per cent since I started using them.”

Expert salmon anglers like Eric Adams will tell you lures like the Mack's Lure Sledge Hammer pictured here are tremendously effective for Alaska's coho salmon.

Now that’s saying a mouth full about just one lure, but Adams knows what he’s talking about. He’s put countless coho in his boat that made the mistake of latching onto his Sledge Hammers. There’s a six fish limit for coho on Resurrection Bay. Adams will tell you that he comes in with his limit on most trips and that he’s on the water at least once a week during the summer months when the coho are running.

Just recently he made a trip where he and his friends boated 72 salmon in just four days. All but one of those fish were hooked with Mack’s Lure Sledge Hammers.

My good friend Ron Stirtz, of Eugene, Oregon, knew what he was doing when he came up with the design for the Sledge Hammer. He showed the lure to me at the time and was convinced that it would be a super salmon catcher. Ron, as experienced anglers like Eric Adams will tell you, knew what he was talking about.

As I mentioned before, Eric Adams is one of those fortunate individuals whose whole life centers on fishing.

When he’s not helping his fishing magazine’s customers with their advertising, he’s out catching fish himself.

I expect he’s had access to most of the salmon lures known to man. He’ll tell you the same thing he told me: The coho lure that is more productive than the Mack’s Lure Sledge Hammer just hasn’t been made.

Stay tuned. In my next column I’ll tell you exactly how this Alaskan salmon fishing expert goes about using his Sledge Hammers to put all those hard fighting, good eating coho into his boat.

-To Be Continued-