THE POWER OF ELECTRICITY
Back in the early 1900s researchers noted that fish react strongly to weak positive and negative electrical charges. During the late '70s scientists researching how salmon are able to navigate the ocean and return to the river of their birth discovered that salmon are highly sensitive to both magnetic and electronic fields. In layman's terms, salmon have an internal compass and can "feel" which direction is north.

Salmon have special nerve cells in their snouts and along their lateral lines that pick up both magnetic fields and electrical impulses. As part of their same research, scientists discovered that salmon and other fish are repelled by low voltage negative charges and attracted by positive charges.

More recently tackle innovators such as Pro Troll's Dick Pool, in their zeal to unravel the mystery of why salmon bite and why they don't, have taken these discoveries and applied them to sportfishing. The knowledge that positive charges attract salmon and negative charges repel them led these innovators to test the currents given off by their boats and downriggers. They found that boats and downriggers often emit negative charges that actually drive salmon away from an angler's bait.

Naturally the next question was how to neutralize these negative charges and replace them with positive charges. These questions led to the invention of the Black Box. This is simply an adjustable device that transmits a minute positive charge to downrigger cables. Research has demonstrated that salmon are strongly attracted to a positive charge of .5 to .6 volts.

Using a Black Box, it is a simple matter to transfer that intensity of current to your cables and ensure that salmon will be attracted to your gear. Black Boxes have the capacity to greatly increase your productivity. They run about $100 and are one of the best investments any avid salmon angler can make.

Salmon don't utilize electrical currents only for navigation. They also use them to identify prey items. All living things emit electrical charges. Salmon can sense the impulses put out by baitfish and from these impulses, they can sense which baitfish are vulnerable. Think of lions in Africa. They are surrounded by healthy game all the time and they don't attack. However, let them spot an animal with a limp, and they pounce. It's the same with salmon: They attack when they sense impulses that are consistent with a wounded baitfish. Rigged baitfish and lures that move erratically through the water send off impulses that fool the salmon into thinking they are injured prey items.

A recent innovation by the Pro Troll Company has taken this concept to a new level. Pro Troll produces a device called the E-Chip. It is a simple stainless steel tube with a stainless steel ball inside it and a special ceramic crystal at one end. When the ball strikes against the crystal, it puts out a small electric impulse that mimics the nerve impulses of an injured baitfish.

E-Chips come in 1/2- and 3/4-inch sizes and are attached to rotating bait rigs, lures, flashers and dodgers to greatly enhance their effectiveness.

"E-Chips are so effective I won't fish without them," asserts Barry Canevaro, a West Coast charter skipper with more than 30 years on the water. "Initially I experimented with them to see if they worked. I found that baits and lures teamed with the E-Chip consistently had a two-to-one advantage over other offerings in terms of salmon hooked."