Smoked salmon is awesome but like Ohiochris noted, quality fresh salmon is just not available in my area. Ham, pork shoulder, pork loin, turkey, cheese and my favorite, Kielbasa sausage, are what I usually smoke. I love brisket but smoking it is an art unto itself. Sometimes tender, sometimes tough.
My favorite woods are apple, pecan and cherry. I like apple for ham and pork loin, cherry for pork shoulder, pecan for turkey and anything is good for the sausage. The milder flavor of the pecan is in my opinion the wood of choice for brisket. I have to be careful using hickory because I think it is easy to overdo the smoke flavor due to the amount of time needed to truly slow smoke meat. The stronger flavored woods can be used if the cooking time is split between the smoker and an oven, like many barbeque joints do.
I make my own rub based on the rub recipe developed by the Kansas City Barbeque Society. BTW, the event rules developed by the KSBS are the rules most barbeque cookoffs around the county use.
Their recipe is:
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup seasoned salt
1/4 cup smoked salt (your own or a commercial brand)
1/4 cup onion salt
1/4 cup celery salt
2 tblsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tblsp pure chili powder (not a blend)
2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Makes about 2.5 cups of rub. Will keep for several months. Quite honestly I usually do not have all of the ingredients available so I use what I have on hand. That is my version of this rub. To use it I slather the meat in yellow mustard and liberally apply the rub.
This thread makes me want to fire up the smoker and break out some home brew beers.