One of these days I'm gonna smoke one. I plan to use an untreated cedar plank to lay the salmon on
Anyone have a simple set up I could try? Oh and what kind of wood would I want to smoke it with?

I have used chunks of  hickory or mesquite wood for my smoked salmon in the past and it has turned out pretty good. I haven't tried a cedar plank yet, but I will give that a try eventually.

Here is a link to an old thread that had some good recipes for smoking salmon:

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=977837

I could never get them to stay lit.

I am pretty sure those cedar planks are for grilling / cooking  method ( not slow smoking )

When you 'smoke' a salmon .... you need free airflow all around the fish ( on a wire rack or hanging )

The brine is just as important as the smoking method / flavored wood.

Experimenting is 1/2 the fun.

Don't over do it or all you end up with is smoke flavored dust particles.

I don't know anything about smoking, but I have done it this way and it was very good.  This is a "shore lunch" smoked fish.  

Build a small ground fire - you need coals only

Get a metal pan.  

Put some wood shavings in the bottom of the pan.  I used maple saw dust from a wet maple tree.  

Put some small twigs in the bottom of the pan to suspend the fish about one inch above the bottom (you do not want the fish to touch the pan).  

Place the fish on the twigs skin side down.

Place foil over the top of the pan and completely seal the top.  

Put the pan on the coals and let smoke for about 12 minutes.  

Enjoy.

Were you puffing on the mouth or the anal opening? Seriously though here's a decent recipe:

1 qt. water
1/2 cup non iodized salt
1/2 cup sugar
- stir till completely dissolved.
2 Tbsp. liquid smoke ( optional)
4 Tbsp. Worcestershire
2 stalks chopped celery

Brine 4-6 hours, rinse, air dry - use a fan - till the pelicle forms ( sticky when touched - this is very critical, and may take hours).
oil up the smoker trays, place fish skin down and start smoking.
I normally only put wood chips and/sawdust in the first 2-3 hours, then it's only heat. This is using an electric type smoker and "cold smoking" method
Smoking time will vary on the thickness of the fillets or steaks and may take up to 2 days.
Let cool. Rub a little butter on the fish ( another option) and enjoy.
Mind you this will require storage in the refrigerator.

Simple but tasty:

Brine salmon in half cup of salt in two gallons of water for about six hours.

Start charcoal fire in "Weber" or similar grill.  ( use about 12 briquettes, few more depending on size of fish)

Set salmon, skin down, on one side of the grate and have the charcoal on opposite side of the grill.

Once charcoal is red, put wood chips on top of charcoal (mesquite/hickory)  and when the coals are done
so is the salmon.

Salmon isn't very oily and doesn't need to be smoked as long as some other fish.

As someone else said, experiment and have fun.

ETA: This is a easy beginner way to get some good eating results and shouldn't be mistaken for the more professional "cold smoking" method of the poster above.



GM

I've had good luck lately smoking salmon.  Favorite recipe so far is to take some of your favorite rub and lightly cover the fillet.  Drizzle a little honey on top.  Then apply skin down directly to the smoking grate.  Smoke for about an hour at around 250 (depends on how done you like your fish, and the size of the fillet).  If you do it right, the skin will stick to the grate and the meat will come off cleanly.  

If you want a more traditional approach, squeeze lemon juice over the fillet and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Smoke the same as above.  If you want a stronger lemon flavor you can cut thin slices of lemon and put them on the top of the fillet while you smoke it.  Only trouble there is that when you are done, you will have circles of lighter colored meat (where the smoke couldn't contact the meat).  You could also try a marinade/brine, but I think that will mask the salmon flavors especially when combined with the smoke.  If you are going to marinade/brine the fish, use a cheaper fillet.

I'd save the cedar plank for grilling.  

Native way is really good and simple.

Our smokehouse is 10ftx12ft and has a peaked roof.
Have racks made out of small trees about 6.5ft off the ground.
Use drums cut in half or at the bottom ring and they are filled with sand so's not to start the tundra on fire.

Add a cup or two of rock salt to about 10gal of water. Enough to float a patatoe.
Soak the salmon for up to 5min.
Then you can eiither hang them under a drying rack or straight to the smokehouse.

Then you start smoking for up to a month or so.
We use cotton wood,alder and another type of wood i cannot remember.
When it is raining/wet you kind of want a hotter fire and when the weather is hot you smoke late at night/early morning with only smoke.

Now this is on a bigger scale then most people in Lower 48 do it.
There is room for more than a 100 slabs in the smokehouse.

Since I've lived in Alaska (11 years), I've smoked more salmon than I could ever count.
This is the best recipe I've found, and have been using it for the past 3 years. It's a very easy recipe, it just requires a little time. But it's well worth the wait. The only two additional ingredients I add are Johnny's Garlic Seasoning and black pepper. I also cut back a little on the recommended salt since the Johnny's is kind of salty. I use half Alder chips and half Cherry chips. One trick I experimented with this year and have since adopted is to slice the fillets width-wise (back to belly) down to the skin (not through the skin!) into Snickers bar sized strips. This makes perfect snack sized strips that are easy to peel off the skin. As a side benefit, it helps the brine and the smoke get into the thicker parts of the meat.

http://www.anglingbc.com/articles/smokin.html

I actually got some fillets ready for the smoker last night (They're sitting in the brine in the fridge right now)

Alton Brown


and ... Watch episode here

Man those are nice looking fillets. Down here ours are a much lighter orange color.

Good recipes guy. I'm startin to get hungry now

Major fail in his recipe verbage :


Brine:

I honestly don’t understand why so many brine recipes include such large quantities of water – if any. The whole point of the brine is to draw out the excess water from the fillets, so why the bath? I’ve found that the dry brine mix works perfectly.



A brine is a salt WATER solution designed to put moisture INTO meat.

He calls it a "dry brine" its really a rub or cure.

I noticed that the very first time I read the recipe.
He's Canadian, give him a break

The farm raised fish are rather orange, but they are cheaper and I like to use them for marinades and smoking.  You are going to be adding flavor to the meat anyway.  If you want to splurge, look for wild Alaskan salmon.  They cost more, but have much more flavor and better color.