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[Damien]

Good post KNNN,

Further to all those great techniques, a great way to shorten the learning curve is to fish with a couple friends and/or pay for a guide for a day to two.  Pay for your friends lunch/gas or hire the guide.  You will erase 100's of hours of frustration (no exaggeration) and cost. 

MONEY.WELL.SPENT

You will be good to go before you know it...

Have fun.

[Navy Seal Fisherman]

I don't think the OP was asking for locations, more a general appeal for help on equipment, techniques etc. 

OOowl, I was in your shoes two years ago, only ever having fly fished in the UK and the river sizes, speeds and all the different techniques for all the different species at so many different locations can be overwhelming.  Just don't try too assimilate too much too quickly and trust that if you stick with this forum and stick with the fishing and are willing to put a little effort in it will all come together.  Because I think I understand where you are coming from, here is some info I think might help.

You already mentioned fly and spoon so I presume you do not need any help there.  You will probably just need to gear up to beefier equipment depending an what salmon you want to target.  For salmon on the fly your best bet, if you do not know how to use a spey rod, is to go with a decent 8 weight single, but you will see lots of different opinions on this.  A bit big for pink and sockeye (your 5-6 wt will work for those), perfect for coho and steelhead, ok but a little under gunned for the bigger chum and OK for small Chinook, but anything over 20 lbs and be prepared for long distance jogging.

So that leaves the bait road.  Without jumping straight into the deep end with a center-pin, your best and most versatile combination will be a 10-6 to 11 foot medium action rod (handles 12-20 line) such as a Trophy XL or Fenwick HMX, with an Abue garcia 6500 (level wind), spooled with 20 lbs mono, with 8-15 lbs leader depending on species and water clarity. Again opinions will vary, but i have experience with these and they work well for almost everything except big Nooks.

Note the level wind is trickier to use than your conventional spin casing reel.  expect lots of birds nest initially, understand the spool resistance as opposed to line drag.  Google is your friend.

Terminal tackle, will be a float, pencil lead or shot lead, above a black swivel/quick release, which is attached to a swivel 12-24 inches (max) leader (see above to your bait or lure of choice, as follows:

Size 1-4 or 1/0 - 3/0 hooks (species and water conditions dependent)

Egg loop knot to attach clumps of roe, or different colours of wool or in combination with roe.

Hook with other bait, such as shrimp, prawns, ghost shrimp, can be scented and coloured.

Single or multiple fake rubber eggs in all types of colours and scents, you can directly on the hooks, often with a touch of contrasting wool.

Colorado blades, hammered, silver, brass or gold, size 2-4.

Jigs, just big bright coloured fly's with a 1/8, 1/4, 3/8 weighted head.

pink worms, gooey bobs, spin and glows, combinations with prawns and shrimp, roe bags, garbage bags, it almost endless.

It's very important learn to Short Float, do not try to copy (as I did initially) the guys fishing in 4' of water with a 3 foot leader with 4-6 feet between float and weight (research flossing).  You should aim to have your bait (not the weight) approximately 1-2 feet off the bottom.  If your float or bait is dragging the bottom you need to shorten up.  Do not be afraid of going too short.  I have caught 10-15 lbs chum in 2' of water with my float sitting on top of the lead.

My recommendation, use Google maps to find likely looking places on a river like the Vedder.  Look up Keith Wilson Bridge, Peach Road, Lickman Road, Browns Road.   Go there and look where anglers are fishing and then just watch what people are using and how they are using it.  How they fish the river.  Some won't have a clue but you will spot the guys who know what they are doing.  Don't be afraid to ask questions.  Don't expect everything to be given to you on a plate, but if you are polite and explain you are a novice and would appreciate some advice on how you set up your rod and gear, you find plenty of folks willing to help. 

Reading other article here you will find out how to check water levels in the rivers and, with time, how this impacts the fishing.

Please also read the regs and look up articles on how to make sure that you can catch and release fish with minimal harm.  Please do not drag fish up onto the rocks, watch it almost beat itself to death and then decide ohhh that's a Sockeye, not a Chinook, and must go back and subsequently turn belly up.

My recommendation is try to learn 2-3 locations on a river and stick with 2-3 set ups.  The easiest would be Colorado blades, jigs, wool and/or with jensen or mad river eggs under a float or try Roe.  Roe is messy and a little difficult to first learn on but is one of the most effective baits for most species.  Youtube egg loop knot.

There are probably a whole bunch or terms I have used that you are not familiar with, but youtube will provide most of the answers.

Sorry for the long and somewhat incoherent splurge, hopefully some of this will help

MODS - I REALLY WISH THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION WAS READILY AVAILABLE ON A FAQ OR FAQS SOMEWHERE.  I know there are good articles around, but for a novice they are not easy to find and digest.

Good luck and once you have digested this please feel free to PM me.

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts as not only the OP benefits from your experience. I have stuck with bottom bouncing on the Fraser as my finesse on the Vedder has a lot to be desired. I have not successfully landed a fish in a dozen attempts...ya I suck....but my BB is fine tuned to match up with the rest of the orchestra. The issue has always been free time to walk up and down the river. It would be good to know what to look for, a good mentor would be ideal. I guess you need to put in your time, hopefully your are successful before you give up. I am just glad most people don't raise their kids by withholding their wisdom. Great post, thanks again.