Coho are fun. They jump, race around the boat, flip all over the place. They are my second favorite salmon to catch and even thought they are my third favorite eating salmon, I would rather catch Coho over Sockeye.
I guided people catching Sockeye salmon for a few year in Port Alberni. I write about catching sockeye salmon here.
So where it the best Coho salmon fishing?
Northern BC for Northern Coho.
This is where if cut plug fishing you can get a triple header of large Coho. This normally happens later August or early Sept.
Its possible here to have 3 Coho on larger than 10lbs. That is chaos. But lots of fun.
The normal questions you should ask when booking a trip to fish Coho is:
-what are the chances of bad weather
-what are the chances of very good Coho fishing?
-what species (Chinook, Coho, Halibut, Lingcod) are the most important to you-what are the chances of going home with not many fish? I saw this more than you would think while guiding at Hakai Beach Resort and its isn’t uncommon in some spots considered “Hotspots”
In many places on the coast if you ask a guide how many fish he has I will give you the number of Chinook salmon he has.
That doesn’t mean Coho aren’t fun. Guests who haven’t ever been on the ocean don’t care.
To many people a salmon is a salmon whether Chinook, Coho or Sockeye. Ok there are two other kinds I cover here called Pinks and Chum.
We has guides often call Coho bonus fish but they are a very good “bonus”.
Something else to consider is that on the northern half of Vancouver Island’s west side and Haida Gwaii you can keep wild Coho.
This means Coho without its adipose fin clipped in a hatchery. Most Coho are hatchery Coho but DFO doesn’t clip all coho and there is some politics around Coho retention on the southern part of Vancouver Island. Hopefully that will get resolved soon but you know, politics.
So go have fun with Coho. Don’t me a snob 🙂 Coho are lots of fun. They are great eating.
They are active and will probably surprise you in some way.
Coho often hit very hard. While fishing for them you generally miss quite a few as they come like a tornado towards your bait or lure.
You better be ready to reel like crazy when the make a wake on top of the water swimming towards the boat before veering off in another direction.
The Coho over 15 lbs can fool you into thinking they are Chinook because there is a lot more weight on the other end of the line.