Coho Salmon: Silvers

Fishing for silvers is someof the most fun you can have and Valdez has no shortage of it. These fish can weigh from 6 to 20 pounds and are between 24 and 30 inches long.

Coho have dark metallic blue or greenish backs with silver sides and a light belly. There are small black spots on their backs and upper lobe of the tail when you find them in the ocean. Spawning river coho have reddish-maroon on their sides. To tell them apart from Chinook, the gumline in their lower jaw has lighter pigment.

Silver salmon tend to like slow moving, finely graveled, water and live closer than other fish to the shoreline of the ocean. This makes for good fishing from the banks like at Allison Point. Silver salmon are one of the strongest fighting, most popular, and sought after fish in Valdez.

When fishing for silvers use a medium weight 7-8.5′ rod with a high quality bait or spin-casting reel. Utilize at least 200 yards of 10 to 25-pound test, and keep a variety of swivels and weights available. Boat anglers in saltwater can troll with a flasher, herring dodger, pink lady, or hootchie, in addition to herring. Coho will strike at roe, flies, spoons, spinners and plugs. A typical bank angler at Allison Point might use a Blue Fox Pixee or Vibrax, as well as many other brands of spinners and spoons to catch silvers.

Bait should look like a wounded fish. Four hours around high tide is a productive time for catching silvers, although when around in large numbers, anytime is a good time and moving objects, scent, and other fish will draw more silvers to you.

Check local regulations prior to fishing for accurate and up to date information.