Coho fishing

[Mrm31790]

Does anyone target spring coho? Been interested in them on ontario. Mostly fish around sodus and east. Any info would be appreciated. 

[whaler1]

Coho are typically incidental catches.
In the spring they wii be with kings just outside the browns.


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[Mrm31790]

Yeah that’s the only way I’ve caught them. I know they like water armed than kings. Just looking to target them in general. 

[Zinger11]

We use 6" flashers or dodges with peanut flys

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[luv2rapala]

We target them pretty heavy on the south end of Lake Michigan in the spring. Small dodgers and peanut flys and thin fins -orange/ red is far and away the best color


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[tuffishooker]

As previously posted coho are incidential catches for us ! They used to school up not sure now !In the spring go with the body baits ; old faithful J-13 Rapala , black/purple Bomber then what ever you have in the box . Spoon du jur color rules ! as always best bite in tight first light ! Start in close in the spring !

[tuffishooker]

Ps. re Rapala J-13 or J-11 ; colour again rules ! First light chartreuse , no bites orange out further blue then black ! IMO I would go for Kings, Rainbows, Browns if you can get a handle on what is working but the problem now is the " tight lip syndrome " which we id not have before in the CB days !

[Mrm31790]

Right right. That’s my spring brown lineup. Last year had the most luck with spoons. Was thinking of running red/orange dodgers and peanuts on the outside board line this spring. Either on 1-3 core, jet diver or snap weight. Might have to play with it. Being from Michigan Where the coho bite is insane at times makes me wonder why it’s not in Ontario?? No one fishes them or they’re not so populated?

[Sk8man]

Less common than kings and not stocked in as great numbers

[mr 580]

I like to run a small red flasher/dodger with coho fly or small spoon high and tight in the prop wash early in the year.  Keep the drag loose as it is exciting when it goes- takes coho and steelhead.  Good for some bonus fish.

[tuffishooker]

Lake Michigan is a different fishery than Lake Ontario ! As previously posted stocking on Lake Ontario has cut back for Coho [ perhaps also little natural reproduction ] in favor of Chinook salmon [ a more constant fishery ; Coho would school up in close in the spring for a fantastic in close sport esp. for the small boat guys then would " disappear " into the lake ] 

Our spring fishing was " shot " due to COVID 19 restrictions ; when we could get out most fishing was off shore [ ie. blue zone ] , at times closer to the north shore not a good place to be with a south blow as those fishermen found out off Pont Breeze NY a few years ago !

[jimski2]

Coho salmon were the first salmon stocked in Lake Erie.They quickly matured faster than chinook salmon and were easily taken in the fall spawning runs up the tributaries. during the pheasant hunting season..The chinook stocking took precidence over coko stocking.

[Sk8man]

Back when the numbers of them were greater we used to get them on 6 inch flashers (often painted or taped red with medium spoons trailing them colored from orange to hot pink to bright red trolled fast with short leads often right in the prop wash. They seemed bolder than chinooks or steelhead As Bill mentioned they are pretty much "incidental" catches now and you don't see the small schools of them as in the past. Lake Clear Wabblers (largest size) with small light weight spoons also worked with them

Edited December 21, 2020 by Sk8man

[Yankee Troller]

Unless you want to head over to the Niagara Bar they are an incidental catch. They seem to consistently be there every spring. Some years are better than others. There's plenty of threads and YouTube videos on spreads that will catch them, but they like Orange. 

[Mrm31790]

All good info. Much appreciated guys.