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[mko72]

I'm really interested in trying jigs for coho. How do you guys fish them? Just short float?  Do I still need to add lead weight to get the jig down, or is 1/4oz enough to omit the extra lead?
How about fishing them without a float in slack water? I imagine a jig and retrieve along the bottom could be productive, but maybe fly fishing is a better option for this type of water?

X2

[BCfisherman97]

Even jigs with pink and red duct tape for the body have made a killing on the river lol  Something about jigs just seems to trigger a respose out of the fish.

[hue-nut]

Even jigs with pink and red duct tape for the body have made a killing on the river lol  Something about jigs just seems to trigger a respose out of the fish.

yo BC how many hoes have you actually landed on jigs   Chum are one thing but chrome Coho hammering jig after jig? Its hard enough getting them to hammer nicely cured roe consistently. 

[younggun]

Northern coho = lots, local fraser valley fish.... few

[bbronswyk2000]

Northern coho = lots, local fraser valley fish.... few

Thats my take as well. I get the odd coho on a jig but way more on spinners, blue foxes, spoons, and of course the main one FLIES!!!

[BCfisherman97]

yo BC how many hoes have you actually landed on jigs   Chum are one thing but chrome Coho hammering jig after jig? Its hard enough getting them to hammer nicely cured roe consistently. 

Sloughs and in the Canal last year, blades and jigs were my go to. Only fished roe for my first trip in September and then stopped bringing it. Coho in the Nicomen Slough loved them. Once the tide turned and fresh fish came in, it was game on. Small jig heads and a sparse body. The canal just after first light was killer. Easily over 20 Coho landed on jigs last fall, but again, I only get to go out on weekends, and sometimes had to skip for practices/tourneys. You can call is BS if you want, but I will always fish a jig for the larger chunk of the day, I have so much confidence in them.

[LP89CG]

Sloughs and in the Canal last year, blades and jigs were my go to. Only fished roe for my first trip in September and then stopped bringing it. Coho in the Nicomen Slough loved them. Once the tide turned and fresh fish came in, it was game on. Small jig heads and a sparse body. The canal just after first light was killer. Easily over 20 Coho landed on jigs last fall, but again, I only get to go out on weekends, and sometimes had to skip for practices/tourneys. You can call is BS if you want, but I will always fish a jig for the larger chunk of the day, I have so much confidence in them.

You just toss em under a float, cast/retrieve, or twitch them?

[BCfisherman97]

Really short length from float to jig, and just drift them, dint hold back, and if you do, just slightly. You can add a prawn tail but Ive never really had too much luck when i put a piece on. Experiment with jig sizes and colors. You can retrieve slowly at the end of your drift if you want, but mainly just a dead drift will do it.

[hue-nut]

Sloughs and in the Canal last year, blades and jigs were my go to. Only fished roe for my first trip in September and then stopped bringing it. Coho in the Nicomen Slough loved them. Once the tide turned and fresh fish came in, it was game on. Small jig heads and a sparse body. The canal just after first light was killer. Easily over 20 Coho landed on jigs last fall, but again, I only get to go out on weekends, and sometimes had to skip for practices/tourneys. You can call is BS if you want, but I will always fish a jig for the larger chunk of the day, I have so much confidence in them.

interesting to hear, I sure have never given them much of a chance for salmon. I might dedicate a few days this fall to fishing em and see for my self

[BentRodsGuiding]

I put clients into plenty of coho every season and I never use bait at all, nothing but spinners, jigs and the odd spoon.

When you are getting chasers on the spinners that turn away its time for the twitchings jigs IMO.

Keep in mind though, that I am fishing out of the boat and not walking the faster water sections of the Vedder. We target Coho in slower moving areas and sloughs.

It is generally accepted that jigs are killers for Coho in all the pacific northwest, the Skeena river and Alaska.

Its is only here in the lower mainland where float fishing roe is still the favored method, that jigs are not taking large amounts of coho.

I have done extremely well on Chinook float fishing jigs and have caught enough Coho float fishing jigs and had many jig customers report back stellar success float fishing jigs to know that it is in fact deadly and far less messy than bait.

I have noticed that Coho are far less interested in bait tipped jigs than Steelhead and just a jig is just as good.


I am not here to suggest that people give up their roe fishing and use jigs, but those looking to try somrthing else, its a great alternative, cleaner and different that what others are using, which can often be the difference.

[rln]

with local distribution having these Yakima 3/pk Owner jig heads in stock most tackles can get them in very quickly. Only 1/4oz is in stock at this time with 1/8oz available in another month.

[FlyFishin Magician]

I haven't tried using jigs much at all but I can imagine they would work under the right conditions.  They look pretty close to marabou flies, but the presentation would be different under a float as opposed to drifting from a fly line.  I know flies can work well for coho, and have experienced pretty good days when the conditions suited the fly.  But I have to admit, quality roe can be absolutely lights out!  Stratocaster and I have experienced "fish a cast" days using our "secret sauce" roe.  I would say that experience is similar to chironomid fishing for rainbows in the interior when you've dialed into the right pattern.  Another comparison for me is using pink flies for pink salmon (Dereke & Stratocaster know about the "staple" pattern).  Fish on every cast!!!  Coho on roe, rainbows on chironomids, and pinks on pink flies.

Back to the original post - I'd like to learn more about jigs.  Bent rod has given some good advice about colours, so I should either get out and tie my own, or place an order!!! 

[rln]

Seen very few coho ever hooked on jigs. Bait ,blades or flies work best, thats why theyre the go to for coho. Chums on the other hand cannot resist em

all the products you mention "work best" because that's what most people tie on all the time. It's a confidence issue and guys like Bent Rod have all the confidence in the world with jigs so they fish them alot and catch lots of fish on them. Others head towards bait or blades or whatever first and guess what works best for them?  Many, many days have been saved by jigs you just need to have the confidence to try them first.

[DanL]

It’s a good point in that we don’t see a lot coho caught on drifted jigs because fisherman don’t not to use them much. But in the times I’ve seen them used, or used them myself, the results simply have not compared favorably with other methods (read: roe). Maybe I just haven’t figured out the proper technique for drifting jigs for coho, or maybe they just don’t like jigs presented that particular way.

No doubt jigs can be effective in the right conditions like slower moving or frog water. Unfortunately I have yet to see them produce coho reliably in faster type moving water that we typically drift fish in. I would absolutely love to see that, because all things being equal, I would use hardware over bait any day of the week if it was equally effective.

[prairiefire]

my favorite all around jig purple/cerise.

X2

I just picked up some of these jigs at Riverside. Excited try some out this year. Usually I tie on either Jim's Jigs X-strong hooks or Mustad 32833BLN w/pin and brass bead. No problems so far but I mainly fish jigs for Chum.