Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Coho?!

This past Sunday out of Wilson we went 3 for 8 on coho. They were extremely tough to keep on. My question is how does anyone specifically target coho besides running lines up high. We caught or had coho on from 8 to 100 ft of water. Seemed there was no rhyme or reason were they were. As far as targeting coho what water conditions are you looking for?  Why are they spread out over vast areas?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure if its common knowledge out by you guys....but this is how we roll in Lake Michigan - Milwaukee.  Often in April/May, you will see boats leaving the marina with 12 to 18 rods with the exact same setup.

 

Double 00 Orange metal dodger followed by a peanut fly or trimmed king fly.  16 to 18" inches behind the flasher.  Colors of the fly are silver/green/blue.  

 

Run 1 through 4 color of lead or keel weights on boards.

Run normal flashers on rigger down deeper to draw in or if kings are around. 

Run 2 dipseys on a 1.5 setting.  Run them just to the point where you lose sight of them in the prop wash.  

 

Sit back and when you hit a pod of them you will have 4 to 5 on :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are catching them on small spoons or stickbaits, they are going to come off every time with their aggressive nature and easily ripped mouths.  Peanut flies are the way to go since they are trebble with the tinsel wrapped right on it which gives them nothing to torque/twist against.  Running close to the boat (they are attracted to the boat anyways) means less reeling time and their diet is more geared towards bugs this time of the year so they are up toward the surface.  In Milwaukee we had a freak class of them that stayed around all year.  By the end of the year it was impossible to tell them apart from 3 year old kings they were so big - many in the 10 to 12lb range.  At that point you have to throw out the gum color ID - we had to count anal fin sticks to tell them apart....man last year was fun.  

Edited by vetting
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To target coho, as you say we would run high lines this time of year, focusing on top 15 ft of water. Also, there are specific coho setups involving a orange dodger and a twinkie fly (silver fly that is short around 2 to 2.5" long).

 

I had good success getting them on an all blue mepps syclops lure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, RD9 said:

Coho?!

This past Sunday out of Wilson we went 3 for 8 on coho. They were extremely tough to keep on. My question is how does anyone specifically target coho besides running lines up high. We caught or had coho on from 8 to 100 ft of water. Seemed there was no rhyme or reason were they were. As far as targeting coho what water conditions are you looking for?  Why are they spread out over vast areas?  

 

Warmest green water with bait showing on graph. They roam in loose schools constantly on the move terrorizing bait. Usually upper levels of water column. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coho?! This past Sunday out of Wilson we went 3 for 8 on coho. They were extremely tough to keep on. My question is how does anyone specifically target coho besides running lines up high. We caught or had coho on from 8 to 100 ft of water. Seemed there was no rhyme or reason were they were. As far as targeting coho what water conditions are you looking for?  Why are they spread out over vast areas?  


I think we saw you out there Sunday. I was fishing with Carl on the Dublin Up. We got a couple coho on 3 colors with red dodger/ peanut fly. We were after kings mainly though. Got a few of them too.
I have had success on temp breaks in deeper water right about that time when the lake starts to set up. They usually ride higher in the water column and are schooled up. A four rod spread is key when you find them, that way you can turn on a dime and keep running baits through the school. I remember maybe 3-4 years ago we made 5 or 6 passes through one school and doubled or tripled up every time.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep that was us. We actually had the most hits on a small dipsey back 20 or so ft on three with a geezer moonshine spoon. I tried running a spiny with a coho fly on a riggger with no luck. I don't know if it's just me but my best coho/brown bait has been a f11 blue and silver rapala.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This time of year, coho and steelhead run in the same area. Top to about 40 down. They like red stuff, small flasher/fly


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...