Snoho Coho: Tips and Tricks

[Steelheadin360]

Mike, are we gonna put another river clean up together this year?

I think we should have a WA Lakes Coho Derby

I'd like to if I can make it work with my schedule. May be short notice. No derbies! Way too much hassle.

No permit required for Food Fish derbies

question about twitching jigs. I tried with a bait caster and doesn't cast out more than 10 feet. I understand the twitching action but fear that my bait caster is not casting as far as it should. is the distance a major factor?

When I use twitching jigs, I dont use anything under a half ounce. For two reasons, Number 1, they cast a mile, and number two, the get down to where the fish are holding. I have twitched jigs using a bait caster and it works fine. I use a 8'6" medium rod paired with a low profile reel. When you set your casting brake be sure its not to tight. If you hold the rod straight out from you and let it free spool it should do a slow controlled drop if its set correctly. If it drops like a rock, tighten it, doesn't drop at all, loosen it up a touch. Now this is just something to get you started, adjust it if your not comfortable with it.

My preferred rod for twitching for Coho is a 8'6" Medium (mod fast action) Spinning rod. Pair that with a good reel and 30# braid and you have yourself a great combo.

[strider43]

When I use twitching jigs, I dont use anything under a half ounce. For two reasons, Number 1, they cast a mile, and number two, the get down to where the fish are holding. I have twitched jigs using a bait caster and it works fine. I use a 8'6" medium rod paired with a low profile reel. When you set your casting brake be sure its not to tight. If you hold the rod straight out from you and let it free spool it should do a slow controlled drop if its set correctly. If it drops like a rock, tighten it, doesn't drop at all, loosen it up a touch. Now this is just something to get you started, adjust it if your not comfortable with it.

My preferred rod for twitching for Coho is a 8'6" Medium (mod fast action) Spinning rod. Pair that with a good reel and 30# braid and you have yourself a great combo.


Why use 30 LB line for Coho's?

[Steelheadin360]

Because its braid, so its the size of 8# mono. Put a bunch on your spool. And its not if, but when you will get hung up. With the heavy line you can pull your jig out of the log most of the time. Straighten the hook out and get back to fishing. You can also put the wood to the fish when they are stacked up in cover and you dont want them returning to the root ball you just yanked it out of.

[sealegs]

Outstanding information. thank you. I was on the snoh on opening day for Coho. I used DN green#1 and didn't catch a coho but did catch what appeared to be sea run cut x 4. Sent them home and tried again for Coho without luck.
question about twitching jigs. I tried with a bait caster and doesn't cast out more than 10 feet. I understand the twitching action but fear that my bait caster is not casting as far as it should. is the distance a major factor?

Before you start thinking you're not doing something right, check what the lure rating is on your rod and tell us what type of baitcaster/line it's paired with. My rod has a minimum rating of 3/8oz lure weight, which means it does not want to cast 1/4oz-3/8oz lures very far. A lighter action rod would do better. If you're gear is adequate then it might just need some adjusting.

got home looked at my Baitcaster. i was using a 1/2 ounce jig on a 8'6" Berkley IM* med/heavy Lure size 1/2 to 1 1/2 ounce trilene 10/20.. My line, I believe is 12 pound. Anyway, I will take another look at my settings and re-adjust. I'm becoming the King of the bird nesting and should really practice more.

[sealegs]

Oh and I am using a Citica bait caster

[BentRod]

Outstanding information. thank you. I was on the snoh on opening day for Coho. I used DN green#1 and didn't catch a coho but did catch what appeared to be sea run cut x 4. Sent them home and tried again for Coho without luck.
question about twitching jigs. I tried with a bait caster and doesn't cast out more than 10 feet. I understand the twitching action but fear that my bait caster is not casting as far as it should. is the distance a major factor?

Before you start thinking you're not doing something right, check what the lure rating is on your rod and tell us what type of baitcaster/line it's paired with. My rod has a minimum rating of 3/8oz lure weight, which means it does not want to cast 1/4oz-3/8oz lures very far. A lighter action rod would do better. If you're gear is adequate then it might just need some adjusting.

got home looked at my Baitcaster. i was using a 1/2 ounce jig on a 8'6" Berkley IM* med/heavy Lure size 1/2 to 1 1/2 ounce trilene 10/20.. My line, I believe is 12 pound. Anyway, I will take another look at my settings and re-adjust. I'm becoming the King of the bird nesting and should really practice more.

Although doable, the jig you're using is the lightest rated lure for that rod. Meaning, you can cast it, but it's going to take some casting skill and having the reel set just right. When casting a lighter lure on a heavy rod it's harder to load the rod on the backswing which hampers the rods ability to aid in launching it any distance. Again, doable, but it's going to take some work on your part and you still may not be happy with the distance results.
FWIW.

[sealegs]

Thanks bent rod. I also just considered the braking mechanisms on my bait caster and will adjust those plus try a heavier weighted jig and see how that works

[BentRod]

Thanks bent rod. I also just considered the braking mechanisms on my bait caster and will adjust those plus try a heavier weighted jig and see how that works

We'll I hope you can get it to work for you. I know I spent a lot of frustrating days trying to figure out what I was doing wrong when it was my rod/lure combination tripping me up. Once I switched to a more limber lighter rated rod things got a lot better. But, getting the spool tension, centrifugal, and magnetic brakes adjusted properly is important too. Good luck!

[Steelheadin360]

And just when you get everything adjusted right, you will do what I do everytime. During that backcast your lure will nestle nicely down into a bush or tree branch. Then when you do the mother of all casts, you're reel will give up all hope and unleash a fury of loops and knots that will have you grabbing the knife.

That happens to me anyway

Hitting the river with BluRock! Will report this evening

[sealegs]

And just when you get everything adjusted right, you will do what I do everytime. During that backcast your lure will nestle nicely down into a bush or tree branch. Then when you do the mother of all casts, you're reel will give up all hope and unleash a fury of loops and knots that will have you grabbing the knife.

That happens to me anyway

Hitting the river with BluRock! Will report this evening

wow! that sounds like me. I'm the stubborn guy that will climb that tree or get into the bush to retrive the lure and lessen the ego bruising!

[spenny1823]

I use a 10' 6 med heavy tica and have no problem casting jigs as low as 3/8. I have a lews laser mg baitcaster and have had to tweak it quite a bit to get it to cast the way I want, but it is possible. I really only bank fish and this setup has worked beautifully for me, but if I was fishing from a boat a smaller rod would probably be more practical. Just get out there, cast and then tweak a little until you find that sweet spot. Keeping a light thumb on the spool doesn't hurt either. It will keep you from fouling up your line more often than not. I only run 12lb mono on the river....I'm sure braid would be fine or a higher pound test, but this works just fine for me fishing the skagit or nooksack. After I snapped my shimano convergence in half I decided losing a lure to a snag is better than losing a rod and having to call it quits for a day lol