Coho salmon

Oncorhynchus kisutch

Native to the Pacific coast, coho have been stocked by Michigan since 1966, a year before the state introduced Chinook. They migrate later than Chinook and travel farther, with tributary runs from early September to November and St. Joseph fish caught as late as Christmas. The Platte River, home of the state coho hatchery and about half of Michigan's plants, peaks at its mid-to-late October egg take, and the Manistee has a notable late-October fishery. Like kings they stop feeding in the river, but coho are famously responsive to flash and bright color, so swung flash flies, pink or chartreuse Clousers and Egg-Sucking Leeches on 7- and 8-weights are the standard approach. Their eggs are a secondary drift source behind Chinook through October and November. The fishery is largely stocking-sustained at roughly 1.5 million fish per year.

aggression striker

Find flies for coho salmon

Coho salmon, adult — © Quinn · CC BY · iNaturalist · Platte Bay, Michigan · 2020

Coho salmon, juvenile — Gordon Shepherd · CC0 · iNaturalist · Grand Traverse County, MI · 2025

What they eat in the river

Larger coho feed primarily on smelt and alewife in the lake and are opportunistic feeders there, but on the spawning run they do not feed and strike from aggression. Coho respond especially well to flash: flash flies, chartreuse-and-white or pink Clousers, and Egg-Sucking Leeches swung through runs and tailouts, plus eggs and beads behind spawning fish.

does not feed in the river; strikes from aggression
1. J
2. F
3. M
4. A
5. M
6. J
7. J
8. A
9. S
10. O
11. N
12. D
Evidence
S
eggs and beads behind spawning fish, flash flies and Clousers (chartreuse/white, pink), Egg-Sucking Leeches with chartreuse, orange, red or pink heads
1. J
2. F
3. M
4. A
5. M
6. J
7. J
8. A
9. S
10. O
11. N
12. D
Evidence
A

Food	Months	Evidence
does not feed in the river; strikes from aggression	J F M A M J J A S O N D	S
eggs and beads behind spawning fish, flash flies and Clousers (chartreuse/white, pink), Egg-Sucking Leeches with chartreuse, orange, red or pink heads	J F M A M J J A S O N D	A

Runs and spawn

fall run

Platte and Betsie September to October (Platte peak mid to late October), Manistee late October to November, Grand, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Boardman and Big Sable October to November, St. Joseph into late December. Largely stocking-sustained (about 1.5 million per year, half in the Platte); the Anna River is the best Upper Peninsula coho water in September and October.

Spawning

September, October, November · eggs 6–8 mm

Egg colors: Steelhead Orange, Sockeye, Salmon Egg, Oregon Cheese

DNR: coho spawning runs occur from early September to November depending on the tributary; the Platte weir egg take typically falls in the third week of October (October 16 to 28 in 2025, nearly 6 million eggs). No spawning temperature was found in an agency source. The 6 to 8 mm egg size is a bead-vendor figure, not a Great Lakes measurement.

Same August 1 to November 15 single-hook terminal-gear rules as Chinook on the listed salmon rivers; the DNR passes 20,000 coho above the Platte weir under a consent decree and harvests the remainder.

Staple flies

Reference photo

Green Caddis Larva

Larva / pupa#6–16GreenChartreuseOlive+3

A Michigan steelhead staple: the green Rhyacophila larva is 'effective on the Muskegon River for steelhead' and Current Works lists caddis #6 to #12 among its top five, bright green or chartreuse for stained water and olive or cream naturals for low clear flows. Betts names green caddis larvae with Hex nymphs and eggs on the Pere Marquette flies-only water. Fish it as the trailer behind an egg or stonefly, year-round.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Reserve · $2.75

Reference photo

Black Stonefly Nymph

Nymph#6–18BlackTed's Early Black StoneMercer's Biot Epoxy Stone (dark)+1

The Little Black Stonefly (Allocapnia, Taeniopteryx) is the first insect steelhead see in numbers, peaking late February through April, and Current Works ranks it among Michigan's top five steelhead flies, best on sunny days in clear water. Nymphs stir at 36 F water and crawl on shelf ice; fish a weighted #8 to #12 stone as the point fly with an egg on a tag, and #14 to #18 for the tiny winter stones. Chuck Hawkins ties it large during spring runoff.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Reserve · $2.75

Reference photo

Nuke Egg

Egg#6–12Oregon Cheese over Steelhead OrangeApricot Supreme over Steelhead OrangeEgg over Sockeye+4

A McFly Foam or Glo Bug yarn core under a yarn veil that goes translucent when wet, imitating the milky, non-viable eggs that make up most of the drift. Tied on a Gamakatsu C14S or TMC 2457 #8 to #12 (TMC 105 #6 to #10 for salmon); natural combinations for clear water, Chartreuse over Flame and Flame over Cerise for high or stained flows. Fish it behind spawning salmon from September through November, with aging-egg colors through winter, and natural steelhead-egg shades in March and April on the Manistee, Betsie, PM, Muskegon and Au Sable.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Reserve · $2.25

Reference photo

Glo Bug

Egg#6–16Oregon CheeseApricotPeach+6

The original yarn egg, still in every Michigan steelhead box in Oregon Cheese, Golden and Chartreuse per Current Works, with a #12 short-shank scud hook the all-around Pere Marquette size and #14 to #16 for low clear water. For salmon, Trails to Trout advises blue, black and chartreuse pre-spawn and red, pink and orange during the spawn, in #6 to #8. Cream and pale yellow versions carry through the winter and the April to May sucker spawn.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Euro / tight-line nymphing

Reserve · $2.25

Reference photo

Clown Egg (Rag Egg)

Egg#6–14Pink/orange (pre-runoff, dime-sized)Chartreuse/orange/bright yellow (runoff, quarter-sized)Muted natural (post-runoff)

A multi-color yarn rag egg that Hawkins calls 'a deadly fly' under a float on the Manistee and that 'will fool most salmon and steelhead.' Chuck Hawkins sizes it dime-sized in pinks and oranges before runoff, quarter-sized in chartreuse, orange and bright yellow during runoff, and muted afterward; Kraimer fishes a quarter-sized Clown as the attractor above a smaller realistic egg. Fish it under an 8 to 20 g float or chuck-and-duck from fall through April.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck

Reserve · $2.25

Reference photo

Egg-Sucking Leech

Streamer#2–8Black with chartreuse headBlack with orange headPurple with pink head+2

A leech profile with an egg hot spot, recognized as one of the most effective flies on Great Lakes tributary steelhead streams and, per Current Works, less intrusive than most patterns for selective fish. Betts fishes it for Pere Marquette fall salmon, and Michigan coho anglers swing it through runs and tailouts. Dead-drift or swing black, purple or olive bodies with chartreuse, orange, red or pink heads from September through April; #8 versions take pink salmon.

Swinging flies (spey / switch) · Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Streamers

Reserve · $6.50

Reference photo

Steelhead Bugger

Streamer#4–8BlackOliveBrown+1

Current Works' Steelhead Bugger #6 sits in its Michigan top five, and U.P. guides run a beadhead Woolly Bugger #8 in black or green in the nymph rig. Dead-drift it as the point fly with an egg trailing, or swing it through tailouts; it covers leeches, sculpins and crayfish at once.

Indicator nymphing · Chuck and duck · Swinging flies (spey / switch)

Reserve · $6.50

Reference photo

Feenstra's Halloween Leech

Streamer#2–4Black and orange with peacock and pink/copper flash

Black marabou and schlappen over peacock and orange Ice Dub with pink and copper Flashabou, on a 25 mm Senyo shank with a trailer or a Daiichi 2461. Originating on the Muskegon, it is 'great through fall' when steelhead have switched from lake alewife to river shiners and respond to flash. Swing it from October through December.

Swinging flies (spey / switch)

Reserve · $6.50

All coho salmon flies