This fall was plentiful for the coho salmon this season. Inland rivers like Eagle Creek and the Sandy both received large runs of hatchery coho salmon. Much of the fall was plagued with low water, and not enough rain to really send those fish up in droves, but a few days proved to be good for consistent biting action.
Sandy River Coho
Much of the action was fishing like you would for a lot of winter steelheading. Egg patterns in oranges and pinks seem to be most productive, and the best fishing is within heavier pocket water and tailouts above heavier rapids. The fish seemed to run from about 5 pounds to 12 pounds on average, and some occasional larger and smaller fish. There were a lot of jack cohos this season, and the bright ones were a nice added bonus.
The coastal rivers this fall seem to be very down in the chinook counts, but the coho counts are rather large. It is a shame that ODFW has it open for chinook and closed for cohos; being that the runs for coho this season could easily have had a harvest of some sort. The chinook on the other hand should be closed on all of the central and north coast streams, and it is open on many of them. None the less, while targeting chinook, the coho catch and release fishing was off the charts.
Coastal Coho
Fishing a travel lane on just about any coastal river will provide you with the key variable. Fish being there, and the next thing is to know what to use while targeting them. Many travel lanes could also be considered “slots’ and nymph fishing the slots can be very productive. Egg patterns are always a proven thing when fishing for any anadramous fish species; so you can bet that nymphing with an egg patterns and fishing slots will produce salmon. Too bad we have to wait until next year for more!
Admiring another beautiful coastal coho....
Coastal Chromer