Coho like to hang out in soft froggy water. This water doesn’t have enough current to pull plugs in, but can be a great place to cast plugs into.
Rod and Reel
For the rod a spinning reel is preferred, as it is easier to cast. It should be around 8 to 9 feet long, have a sensitive tip and moderate action. A line weighting between 8-15 lbs is usually ideal.
Use a spinning reel that holds about 100 yards of line. I usually use 10 pound maxima ultragreen for casting plugs.
Terminal Tackle
If you walk into a tackle shop you’ll see quite a variety of plugs – sizes, color and styles. Each has its own ideal water conditions to use.
To keep things simple I suggest focusing your initial plug fishing on 4 colors:
- Red
- Firetiger
- Purple
- Silver
While you can cast any plug, I prefer the fish style – Wigglers, Wiggle Warts, Hot Shots and Fat Fish. But if you prefer the banana style like Maglip, Flatfish and Kwikfish then that is OK.
How To Fish It
Casting plugs is pretty dang simple. Cast out to where you want to fish, then reel it in. You should reel fast enough so that the plug dives and wiggles.
Strikes fishing this way are usually pretty arm wrenching. When that happens, set the hook and yell “Fish On!”
Don’t forget to check out the coho fishing page, and the fishing gear page.
I am 62 years old fished all my life including guiding in the queen charlottes, I find your web site to be one of the most informative sites out there, really enjoy your articles , as we all know fishing is about continuing to learn new techniques for all types of fishing no matter how experienced one thinks they are. thanks again Rich Erickson Canadian ..eh
Thanks. Glad you like the site and find it helpful. Make sure to subscribe to be notified of new content.
I’m new to salmon fishing in rivers. I fished for pinks last year and am hoping for a coho this year.
I expected to have to spend hours finding answers to my questions….but it’s all right here.
Thank you
Agreed!
Great collection of info here. Thanks for the work!