Coho?!

[RD9]

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?  

[vetting]

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

[vetting]

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 April 26, 2017 by vetting

[TyeeTanic]

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.

[Gill-T]

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. 

[dwiese77]

I was out if Olcott Sunday and went 4/4. They hit green Bay Rats running shallow over 15-20 fow 100 ft back on in line boards. I was doing about 2.0 and they hit in the turns so I'm thinking i was going too slow.

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[wishinfishin]

Me too, but early sunday letting out a brown trout candy colored bay rat that was only about 30 ft from the boat going 1mph , i caught one .
Caught them slow and fast .

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[wishinfishin]

Meant to guote deweisse77

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[King Slammin]

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.


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[RD9]

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.

[King Slammin]

That stick catches everything. It's a great time of year to be fishing, and now the kings are showing up.


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[RD9]

It is. Now its king time though. 

[rdebadts]

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


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