Freshwater Coho Fishing – Casting Plugs

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.