Pat AV's advice on tippet is a good one to go with. I don't flyfish for salmon much but will let you know what I generally use when gearfishing for them. For spincasting with a spinning reel in the Tidal Fraser River and Fraser Valley tributaries, I always stick with 8lb test Maxima Ultragreen as my main line and tie the lure directly to it. It has never been a problem, for fish up to 15lb, but I generally fish in waters where current is slow or does not exist. On my baitcaster, it is spooled with 12lb test Maxima Ultragreen, the leader is either 8 or 10lb test depending on the amount of chum salmon in the system. 8lb test is strong enough to land both chum and chinook salmon, but it does take longer to bring them in. Most people just choose to break it off as you are only losing one hook and avoiding exhaustion on the fish. If I am spincasting in water where all coho are big (12lb+) and chum salmon are abundant, I choose to use 12lb test as my main line. This way I can bring in the fish faster and avoid losing my lure.