How to Catch Lake Ontario Coho Salmon
Lures and Baits that catch Great Lakes Coho Salmon
Coho in the Great Lakes
How to key in on these overlooked, delicious Great Lakes Slamon.
The Coho Salmon plays second fiddle to the Chinook Salmon across the Great Lakes even though they are great fish to catch and eat. Both were introduced around the same time to the great lakes, and on Lake Ontario, most of the coho salmon caught are either from the New York State stocking program, or are natural fish that spawn in the north shore tributaries.
Averaging 4 to 8lbs, Coho are usually much smaller than Chinook, which probably explains why they are less popular.
At different times of the year, Coho are a great option to fish for with with my clients, as they offer a great fight, and fantastic quality meat for the bbq or smoker. Even late season fish maintain fantastic meat quality even while their appearance begins to darken as they prepare to spawn.
Despite being primarily catch and release while fishing, during the spring and summer, there are not many coho released from my boat because they are my favourite salmon to eat fresh on the bbq. Check out my go-to salmon recipe here.
How to Catch Coho Salmon
The majority of coho fishing in the Great Lakes happens in super shallow and super deep water. In the early spring, Coho are some of the first fish to head to the shoreline in search of stained, warmer water along beaches where rainbow smelt are running.
As temperatures warm in the spring, coho move offshore quickly, and occupy the top 20 to 30 feet of the water column over deep water (150 plus feet) where they hunt schools of shiners and smelt.
Now that Coho are over deep water, they will move around chasing the temperature they prefer (53f to 58f) and baitfish throughout the summer. If you are targeting Coho, don’t be afraid to run sliding spoons on a downrigger (free sliders) or short leadcores (3 to 5 colour) to get lures into the 20 to 40 foot zone. This is where most of the Coho will be living, unless the water is very warm throughout the water column.
Short leaders off of downriggers are usually the most effective for Coho, which are aggressive in almost all sky and time of day situations.
A fishhawk probe is a helpful piece of equipment when chasing fish offshore around temperature breaks and bait balls.
What to Use for Coho
Because Coho prefer to feed on smaller baitfish than Chinook, it is important to use smaller spoons and flasher/flies if you plan on targeting them.
Orange and pink take the cake for spoons, while oranges and green/blue get the nod on my boat for flasher flies.
Some of my best coho spoons are Michigan Stinger Stingray size spoons, or Northern King NK28 spoon, which are 3.75 to 4 inches in length. This seems to match the profile of the alewife that Coho eat, and are also good sizes to catch rainbow trout on.
Pictured below are a few of my go-to Coho spoons.
Spin Doctors
Mini spin doctors and peanut flies are also a winning presentation for catching coho. These mini versions of the attractors used for kings are a great way to target coho almost exclusively when they are around.
To rig a mini spin doctor, tie 18 inches of 20lb fluoro to a Howie’s Peanut fly. Unlike when fishing for chinook salmon, where I adjust leader length frequently, I have never adjusted my leader when fishing Coho on mini doctors - 18 inches is just perfect!
Final Words
If you are a salmon fisherman on the Great Lakes and want to sample some of the best eating fish on the lake, try targeting Coho salmon this year, especially if Kings are slow. Don’t overlook these fish because they are so close to the surface, and hold on tight because these fish will jump and pull drag!