Downrigger for coho
- Thread starter Airon
- Start date
bigbruce
Crew Member
OK, I'll start the bidding on this thread, IMHO it is best to have riggers for any kind of salmon fishing. You can target whatever depth you want. I generally fish coho between 30' and 60' with about 15 "pulls" of line out behind the clip. Today this advice resulted in a s**tload of pinks at whatever depth I tried.
I'm sure there's a whole lot of folk on this Forum more experienced than I who will provide more sage advice than what I have just suggested...
I'm sure there's a whole lot of folk on this Forum more experienced than I who will provide more sage advice than what I have just suggested...
trophywife
Crew Member
do not worry about boat noise, i have coho rip the line outa my hand all the time as i am putting it in the clip. use downriggers, something with some flash.. eg,spoons!! dam i have even had the clip snapped at a few times!! run the spoon 30' back drop it down anywhere from 6' to reel deep.. i have caught coho at the bottom in 200', noses all worn down from them diggin for prey, i am guessing lance.
Fish Assassin
Crew Member
Coho are not afraid of noise...... If they were I wouldn't be watching them in the prop wash of my 9.9 with in inches of my boat 
IMHO downriggers are usually unnecessary for coho in the open ocean but more useful in areas like the strait or Puget Sound. While I have caught coho at all depths, if I want to select for coho (especially in years with lots of pinks) I don't fish below about 25' deep. Divers and herring or spoons near the surface will do the trick.
Karma-Kazi
Active Member
I am a huge fan of getting them on bucktails and large flies in the prop wash on light gear. No flasher required they are attracted to the prop wash and will follow your boat for long periods of time. 2 Years ago I had about 20 coho in my wash at once and caugh 6 of them in about 40 minutes. The fish would just chase the one I was fighting around somtimes even bumping the hooks loose. When fishing gets like that the long patient trolls with no touches for chinooks are forgotten.
-KK
-KK
Seafever
Well-Known Member
I use my downriggers for Coho.
Where I fish I find that going about 70 to 90ft produces Coho but that depth mimimizes the amount of shakers , dinkers and other small fish surface fish.
If fishing tight in near reefs I will go shallower but use planers and a spoon instead of riggers.
At certain times of year, bucktailing and running lures behind the boat in the prop wash can work wonders.
Coho have a reputation for being a shallower fish...but they can be caught on down to 200 ft. or more.
Ironically most of my bigger Coho are taken on normal Chinook gear when I'm running it in the 70 to 120ft zone.
But I'm talking mid ECVI........there are other places around the island where the Coho are much more plentiful and shallower......
Where I fish I find that going about 70 to 90ft produces Coho but that depth mimimizes the amount of shakers , dinkers and other small fish surface fish.
If fishing tight in near reefs I will go shallower but use planers and a spoon instead of riggers.
At certain times of year, bucktailing and running lures behind the boat in the prop wash can work wonders.
Coho have a reputation for being a shallower fish...but they can be caught on down to 200 ft. or more.
Ironically most of my bigger Coho are taken on normal Chinook gear when I'm running it in the 70 to 120ft zone.
But I'm talking mid ECVI........there are other places around the island where the Coho are much more plentiful and shallower......
That sounds similar to my experience in the Puget sound. For some reason the bigger coho (usually late season - Sept. onward) on the insize tend to be in the 60-100' range for of. However for WCVI or off the WA state coast, I don't see much of a size selection in deep vs. shallow for coho. I do catch some coho on gear down deep - even Tomic plugs at 300' on the cable. I catch more coho in the 60-120' range than at <120'. But if I want to select for coho (especially to avoid pinks), the upper 25 feet is best.
Rum Buddies
Well-Known Member
in JDF you'll find most coho between 30-100' - not to say you can't get them on the surface but the bulk of the fish will be deeper, sometimes really deep.
Something to be said to fishing simple and just using a little weight behind the boat though.
Something to be said to fishing simple and just using a little weight behind the boat though.
Dogbreath
Well-Known Member
It's a similar situation around Vancouver I occasionally see them tearing up bait on the surface but it's a real crapshoot you're better off fishing 60'+.
