Well guys I just wanted to say a big thank you for all the help and advice on this and my previous thread.
I managed to get out to the Squamish/Mam confluence on Friday and got this one:
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/fishseeker/FirstSalmonIt was the first Salmon I have ever caught and the culmination of much effort. I am glad I got that 9wt to handle this because this fish was strong and it would almost certainly have broken my 6wt.
By the way, thanks for your advice on 'switching it up' Derek. For the first few hours I was not having any success - it was a bit of a gong show on the Squamish river and I could see most other people were not doing too well either. I watched those who were being successful moved about, tried different strategies and eventually ended up getting multiple hookups with only one caught. (All except this one broke off)
This one was not the Silver Chum I have heard so many people talk about but the fight was still very hard - a real adrenaline rush! Also, thanks to bbronsky on that reel you recommended, the drag performed brilliantly - I am very happy with it. I played around with different options and I did find that I could keep the drag low and palm it but I had to make bloody sure to keep my fingers out of the way - the speed of those runs were really something.
Xgolfman, I have just read your post and I wish I had looked at it more closely before I took off. I observed much the same thing - all the hits I got were on the swing - I didn't try lifting my rod a few times but it's something I am going to remember next time (PS: Chartruese wool seemed to work best for me.)
PS: Any ideas on how much this fish weighed? Looking at the picture i would guess it was about 70cm long.