The Great Lakes region is blessed with a host of hard fighting and good eating fish. Just some of the popular species targeted by anglers include walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, muskie and northern pike. All these fish are popular with anglers, but as soon as the ice melts in the spring the focus is on one species in particular.
Coho salmon, more than other species, symbolize the beginning of another open water fishing season. As soon as ice leaves the boat launches, coho are fair game and countless anglers line up to try their hand at catching a few. Modest in size compared to king salmon, most anglers would agree that the coho more than makes up in table fare for what it lacks in size.
ABOUT COHO
Coho can be found in all the Great Lakes, but the biggest concentrations live in southern Lake Michigan. Thanks to a cooperative stocking effort undertaken by Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, coho numbers in this region are amazingly high and fishing success is off the charts. Collectively these three states share the burden of raising in hatcheries a species that otherwise would not be able to reproduce in most Great Lakes waters.
"Coho salmon don't reproduce as well as king salmon in the Great Lakes region," says James Dexter, Lake Michigan Basin Coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. "Coho require exceptionally cold river water to reproduce in. Because the young remain in the river for several months, most streams at this latitude don't supply cold enough water during the summer months to support coho. Stocking is the only way to keep the coho fishery in the Great Lakes alive and well."
The Great Lakes coho fishery may be a man-made phenomenon, but no one seems to mind a little intervention when it comes to fishing success. The opportunity for fast coho fishing action is equaled by no other trout or salmon species. Limit catches are normal and the bite is so good it's common to catch not one, but two cohos on the same line!
The only thing better than catching a spring coho, is catching two at a time! Adding a slider rig to any downrigger guarantees that sooner or later an angler will be treated to not one, but two coho on the line at once! A slider is simple to rig and use. Nothing more than a six foot length of monofilament line with a snap swivel mounted on each end, one swivel is armed with a spoon, while the other swivel is clipped over a fishing line already set into a downrigger. The spoon on the slider is tossed over the side and allowed to sink.
A bow in the fishing line caused by the friction of trolling forward only allows the slider rig to sink approximately half way down to the downrigger ball. When a fish strikes the lure on a slider, it slides down the line as the angler reels in the fish, eventually stopping at the main lure. When the action is hot, it's common to catch a coho on both the slider spoon and the main lure, making for double the fishing fun.
TOP COHO LURES
Coho will bite a wide variety of spoons, crankbaits and trolling flies. Among crankbaits favorites include the Salmo Hornet, Rapala Taildancer, Dave's Lures Winning Streak and Reef Runner Rip Shad. Each of these baits create a high vibration action at speeds from 2 - 3 MPH, making them ideal for spring coho trolling.
Trolling spoons are of course also top bets for spring coho. Despite the smaller size of coho, these fish eagerly strike both standard and magnum sized trolling spoons.
"In the spring salmon are used to seeing and eating bigger, mature bait fish," says Chip Cartwright of Wolverine Tackle producers of the popular Silver Streak series of trolling spoons. "Coho and other salmonids won't hesitate to strike a magnum spoon early in the year."
The third lure option that catches a lot of coho include trolling flies fished in combination with small dodgers, flashers and rotators. Gaudy colored attractors seem to produce best on coho. Bright orange is a top choice among local charter captains who fish dodgers extensively for spring coho. Green or blue flies cut to about 12 inches in length seem to produce the most strikes in combination with these attractors.
The limits for coho salmon vary by state. In Michigan anglers can take up to five trout or salmon per day, but no more than three may be of any one species. In Indiana and Illinois anglers can take up to five trout or salmon per day.
In all three states a mixed bag of coho, kings, brown trout and steelhead is likely. Lake trout season is closed until May first. Top ports include Michigan City and New Buffalo Indiana and St. Joseph Michigan.
