Five Wacky Tricks for Finicky Coho
by Greg Brush
If you’ve fished silvers before, you likely know that they can be one of the most unpredictable salmon around. These great gamefish can try to rip the rod out of your hand one minute then refuse to acknowledge your offering the next.
Sometimes catching silvers seems almost too easy: child’s play offering little challenge for a serious Alaska angler. Enjoy it, because next thing you know, the proverbial switch gets flipped and that same fish gets a bad case of lockjaw, taking you from hero to zero in the blink of an eye. Like a Hollywood diva, coho are often described as finicky, unpredictable and downright moody.
Most experienced silver anglers know to try a different color spinner or to vary their presentation a bit when the action starts to wane. Often, that’s all that’s needed to inspire another hookup, but what do you do when the fish totally shut down, going from aggressive to lethargic, totally refusing to bite? [emember_protected custom_msg=’This content is available for subscribers only.’]
Do what I do: get wacky! Over the years, I’ve tried nearly everything on these stubborn fish and have discovered that sometimes an off-the-wall presentation or crazy lure selection will reignite their fire. Tuck these five strange techniques deep in your mental tackle box, retreiving them the next time finicky coho have you pulling out your hair. Just don’t let any of your fishing buddies see you; they’ll think you’ve lost your marbles…until you hookup, that is.
Rippin’ Eggs
Like some other new techniques, I discovered this method accidently. I was fishing a remote fly-out destination where the coho were stacked up, the water was clear and the bite seemingly done for the day.
My group and I had found a large school of silvers staged at a small freshet that tumbled into the bay of a medium lake. The coho were suspended in five feet of water and milling lazily around. Success with spinners had shut down once the sun came up, so we resorted to eggs under a float, figuring the lazy salmon would eventually sniff-out our irresistible roe and munch it down.
Frustrated by watching fish after fish ignore our bait, I began reeling in my bobber and egg combo at a very fast rate, creating a large V-wake with a pink trail of scent. Suddenly, a fresh fish peeled from the group, chasing the eggs down and almost ripping the rod from my hand.
My group and I spent the remainder of the day “rippin’ eggs” with great results. I now frequently resort to this method when a large group of lethargic fish is located. Give it a try next time you have silvers that won’t cooperate.
Dark Grubs
A good friend who is an extraordinary silver fisherman turned me onto this trick. It’s not necessarily that his skills are any better than yours or mine; he is just very open-minded and always willing to think outside the box, adjusting, adapting and experimenting when need be. Most likely, that is how he stumbled upon this killer technique.
When you know coho are present but they refuse to bite, try casting small, lead-head jigs with bucktailor marabou feathers. If that doesn’t work, switch quickly to plastic baits like Mister Twister grubs. Always cast beyond the fish, retrieving the lure through the school with a lift and fall movement, à la bass fisherman. Try various colors; they all work, but I have had outstanding luck using dark tones like purple and black.
Get Sneaky
This technique has been around for decades, but it gets little play anymore for some strange reason. Pulling plugs or running eggs behind a jet diver are very popular methods while river fishing for silvers from a boat, and for good reason: they frequently work well.
But sometimes, for reasons only the good Lord knows, silvers will get fussy, refusing to hit a plug and only mouthing eggs before gently blowing them out. That’s when combining the two methods—running eggs behind a fast-action plug like a Hot Shot or Wiggle Wart—really shines. Seasoned guides call it “running a sneak,” as the roe sneaks along behind the plug, which is actually used as a diver. I suspect the flash of the plug catches the salmon’s eye and the wiggling eggs follow up with an offering that coho just can’t resist. Try it—you’ll like it.
Casting Kwikfish!
I discovered this one the hard way, by being out-fished by one of my pals. Sure, I had a little success by hooking a couple silvers on my favorite spinner, but nothing like the constant action that my pal Jim was enjoying. He hooked fish after fish by simply casting and retrieving a huge wide-action plug. Everyone knows that Luhr Jenson Kwikfish are designed for back-trolling, right? Well, try casting and retrieving one the next time you find a group of holding silvers that have lockjaw. It often works like magic.
Eggs on a Spinner… Say What?
The first time I saw a fellow guide do this, he instantly lost all credibility in my mind…until he hooked up. When silvers turn off of spinners, try reigniting their flame with this trick: tip your treble hook with some extra-firm salmon roe and cast again.
As you retrieve, you will see a very slight pink trail of scent behind your lure, followed by a highly aggressive silver homing in on it. Hang on, because the added element of scent to the vibrating and flashing lure is often more than stubborn silvers can handle.
Tucking these Tricks Away!
So there you have it: five wacky tricks for finicky coho. Granted, these probably won’t become your “go to” methods day-in and day-out, but that’s okay. Tuck these unorthodox techniques away for that rainy day where nothing seems to work or the silvers just unexplainably go off the bite. You may feel silly, but not nearly as bad as the thrashin’, jumpin’ silver at the end of your line that just fell for one of these seldom seen tricks.
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Greg Brush is a longtime Kasilof and Kenai river guide and frequent Fish Alaska contributor. For questions or comments, he can be reached through his website www.ezlimit.com or by e-mailing fishme@ezlimit.com. [/emember_protected] [emember_protected scope=”not_logged_in_users_only”]
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