Clean pata and slit skin (3-4 slits on both sides) without cutting bone. Place in a deep pan with a tight cover. Add water, 7 Up and salt. Bring to a boil after 15 minutes, add baking soda. Baking soda will hasten the softening of the pata's skin.
Hook 4 to 7 pound sockeye salmon from June 10 to August 1, with a peak from July 1 to August 1. Take your pick from 50,000 three to five pound pink salmon from July 20 to August 20. Silver salmon runs of 150,000 strong stop to bite from mid-August to their peak in late September.
September is a great time to fish for salmon because there are fish in both the marine areas and the rivers. Most chinook salmon will already be pushing into the rivers to spawn, but the marine areas will be at their peak for coho, and September is the time to find those big âhooknoseâ coho, fish pushing 15-20 pounds.