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Roe

23 (24.5%)

Beads

14 (14.9%)

Wool

7 (7.4%)

Spoons

16 (17%)

Spinners

12 (12.8%)

Flies

14 (14.9%)

Jigs

8 (8.5%)

Total Members Voted: 94

Voting closed: January 10, 2022, 06:07:44 PM

[VictorBai]

FWIW, while twitched jigs can be very good for coho, dead-drifted jigs under a float do not seem to be nearly as effective, unfortunately.

It's not impossible, as you have found out, but really not as successful a float method compared to say, roe or even beads.

Thank you for pointing this direction. I was fishing in Vedder river for 7 hours yesterday and there wasn't even a bite. I've been wondering what went wrong and now I think this could be it. I've been considering locations, weather, time, tidal, presentation depth, jig colour, etc but I haven't doubted the floating jig method. Since I have succeeded once and there is even a catagory of "floating jigs" in many tackle stores, I would trust this to be an efficient method. But now on second thought it may not be the case.

I read a lot about roe and bead. This is my first year fishing so I don't have any cured roe in stock and they don't sell it on-line. Can I buy cured roe at local tackle store? As for bead, I would assume the fish would actually attack the bead while the hook is 3 fingers width away. To be honest, I am not very confidient with myself to set the hook properly. But now I am going to try bead next weekend no matter what. A missed bite is better than 7 hours' no action.

Thanks again for taking your time and helping me out. Really appreciate that.

[Fish Assassin]

Local tackle shops such as Berry's should carry cured roe.

[VictorBai]

Local tackle shops such as Berry's should carry cured roe.

Thanks for the info. Will check that out before my next trip.

[DanL]

Thank you for pointing this direction. I was fishing in Vedder river for 7 hours yesterday and there wasn't even a bite. I've been wondering what went wrong and now I think this could be it. I've been considering locations, weather, time, tidal, presentation depth, jig colour, etc but I haven't doubted the floating jig method. Since I have succeeded once and there is even a catagory of "floating jigs" in many tackle stores, I would trust this to be an efficient method. But now on second thought it may not be the case.

What they call 'float jigs' are really just tied on lighter heads, and you can add them to your regular setup without having to change the weight or float. They might still run a few grams, so if you have your lead weight is close to the buoyancy limit of the float (for max sensitivity), then even a float jig may bury it. They also tend to be smaller, and not have the huge profile some twitching jigs have.

FWIW, float jigs are commonly used for chum (and pinks earlier in the season). For some reason, chum really take dead-drifted jigs, while coho 'usually' do not. Not 100% sure why they dont like drifted jigs, but coho like to chase stuff, so active presentations like spoons, spinners, jigs, flies, really benefit from some motion to trigger that response. In the right conditions, sometimes you'll see coho follow something like a spinner quite a long ways before biting or losing interest.

Passive presentations like roe, beads, wool, will be readily taken dead drifted. There must be something about the color, size, or shape of those things that triggers that response. (and scent, in the case of roe). If you dont have access to roe (or dont want to deal with the mess) consider adding some beads to your arsenal. They can be surprisingly effective, and so easy to use.

[notso5]

Ok, you can call me a fishing snob for using flies (on a fly rod!) but the thought of drifting a #2 or bigger hook and lure through a salmon run is an invite to snagging which I think is happening 50% of the time as I see it. For coho I am using a #8 or #6 olive or brown arrow with and without flash.
I'm in it for the sport so if I go home empty handed it's ok. There's always the next trip to look forward to.

[Phronesis]

Ok, you can call me a fishing snob for using flies (on a fly rod!) but the thought of drifting a #2 or bigger hook and lure through a salmon run is an invite to snagging which I think is happening 50% of the time as I see it. For coho I am using a #8 or #6 olive or brown arrow with and without flash.
I'm in it for the sport so if I go home empty handed it's ok. There's always the next trip to look forward to.

Whoa...you are a snob.

[psd1179]

Whoa...you are a snob.

No he is not unless only skate bulky deer hair fly with dry line.

[RalphH]

No he is not unless only skate bulky deer hair fly with dry line.

none of this has to do with snobbery. Personally I'd love to catch coho on skated deer hair flies. Bill McMillan wrote of doing this with muddlers on the Washougal and it does get done (and for chum too) in Alaska as long as  it tried quite close to tide water. I've caught pinks with poppers on the Vedder  and know of people who have done the same. Snobbery is when people insist it is the only way it should be done and no one else can do any different and be taken seriously.

[VictorBai]

What they call 'float jigs' are really just tied on lighter heads, and you can add them to your regular setup without having to change the weight or float. They might still run a few grams, so if you have your lead weight is close to the buoyancy limit of the float (for max sensitivity), then even a float jig may bury it. They also tend to be smaller, and not have the huge profile some twitching jigs have.

FWIW, float jigs are commonly used for chum (and pinks earlier in the season). For some reason, chum really take dead-drifted jigs, while coho 'usually' do not. Not 100% sure why they dont like drifted jigs, but coho like to chase stuff, so active presentations like spoons, spinners, jigs, flies, really benefit from some motion to trigger that response. In the right conditions, sometimes you'll see coho follow something like a spinner quite a long ways before biting or losing interest.

Passive presentations like roe, beads, wool, will be readily taken dead drifted. There must be something about the color, size, or shape of those things that triggers that response. (and scent, in the case of roe). If you dont have access to roe (or dont want to deal with the mess) consider adding some beads to your arsenal. They can be surprisingly effective, and so easy to use.

Thanks for your explanation. That really helped me to get some concepts straight. Now you've mentioned buoyancy and sensitivity, I am going to measure my weight and presentations on a scale and check if they matches my float. I haven't really thought about this before and just grabbed some float and weights and put them together. As long as the indicator was up-straight I was happy with it. Nice to learn something new!

I didn't know Coho loves chasing stuff. I know they like to stay in slack water and structures so I thought they are the "lazy" type and wouldn't be bothered to chase aggressively. Clearly I was wrong. Now I have the itch to try spoons and spinners. Their setup is much easier compared to float fishing, in my opinion, which gives me confidence.

Floating bead and spoon casting would be my major method this weekend. Thanks a lot for these advice. I wish I had been to this forum earlier. There are so many nice anglers here.

[psd1179]

Snobbery is when people insist it is the only way it should be done and no one else can do any different and be taken seriously.

 I thought that explanation was for dumb.  Thank you for enhancing my vocabulary.

[DanTfisherman]

Ok, you can call me a fishing snob for using flies (on a fly rod!) but the thought of drifting a #2 or bigger hook and lure through a salmon run is an invite to snagging which I think is happening 50% of the time as I see it. For coho I am using a #8 or #6 olive or brown arrow with and without flash.
I'm in it for the sport so if I go home empty handed it's ok. There's always the next trip to look forward to.

I would not agree with this assertion.
I have been using the fly rod, drift rod, and spinning rod with great success this year.
I would say all three techniques can be used to snag fish.  I would say all three techniques can be used to entice fish and catch them ethically.

To be honest, the hardest of all these techniques depending on the water and what you are fishing is the fly and fly rod, and I have seen many individuals snagging and flossing fish in certain types of water with heavier sink tips, or even just tungsten beaded flies.

Fishing is what you make it to be and what you want it to be.  If you decide to "envision" something is happening, and due to a personal bias of a method, then you will come to believe in your head this is indeed happening and accept it as a truth.

Dano

[DanL]

Ok, you can call me a fishing snob for using flies (on a fly rod!) but the thought of drifting a #2 or bigger hook and lure through a salmon run is an invite to snagging which I think is happening 50% of the time as I see it.

Not sure where you are observing this, but a properly short float setup will foul very few coho, if any. At least the area's I've been at, I've seen a handful of fouled coho all season, vs too many legitimate hookups to count from all float fishers this season. Low single digit %'s, if I had to guess.

Coincidentally, twitching jigs has the highest propensity for fouling, due to the nature of the motion. One can mitigate that with lighter jigs, smaller range of motion, etc, but fouling the occasional one is unavoidable, unfortunately.

The next most common method that I've seen foul is actually fly-fishing, swinging heavy sink tips. It was especially noticeable during pink season.

[RalphH]

Not sure where you are observing this, but a properly short float setup will foul very few coho,..

The next most common method that I've seen foul is actually fly-fishing, swinging heavy sink tips. It was especially noticeable during pink season.

solution is simple - don't use heavy sink tips. I hooked somewhere close to 40 pinks in 2 trips to the Vedder last month. Only one was snagged. I used a slow sink clear tip and a fly tied on a jig hooked weighted with a bead if necessary. I quartered the cast downstream and  also used an active retrieve. Almost all  fish were hooked in the mouth and not flossed My experience in lots of situations is that this approach produced a very low foul incidence of hooked fish on the Vedder, Harrison, Fraser and the Squamish for over 30 years.

[DanL]

haha dont tell me, you should pass that along to those doing it.

DanTfisherman is correct in that the technique is what one makes of it. Every method has it's share of ethical and unethical actors

[RalphH]

 Oh I have shared this information frequently both on this discussion website and others. The bad advice mostly comes from sport shop staff who don't do a lot of fly fishing and guides - likely not all that experienced with fly fishing as well.