Coho Salmon Fishing in Alaska

Coho (Silver) salmon are a fishermen’s dream come true. Coho’s are abundant, roam in large schools, are voracious predators, and are extremely acrobatic fighters.

Coho salmon also are excellent table fare.

Coho Salmon move into Icy Strait in July, peaking in August and early September. By the middle of September they start moving up our local streams to prepare for spawning in October.

Coho are a crazy and reckless salmon known to attack baits dangling over the side of the boat and bite propellers.

Coho average 6 pounds in July, 12 pounds in August, and can exceed 20 pounds in September as they gorge themselves to fuel their exhausting Fall spawning journey. Most Coho are caught around Pleasant Island, a short ten minute drive from the Gustavus dock.

Current Alaska Fish and Game regulations allow anglers to retain 6 Coho salmon per day.

Other salmon:

Three other species of salmon are caught in Icy Strait. Pink (Humpy) salmon and Chum (Dog) salmon are commonly caught in July and early August.

Pink salmon are small (2 to 5 pounds) and relatively weak fighters unless caught on very light equipment. Pink salmon are generally released due to their small size and poor table quality compared to the other available species of salmon.

Chum salmon are large (10 to 20 pounds), hard fighting salmon that are sporadically caught in June while fishing for Chinooks.

Sockeye (Red) salmon are rarely caught in saltwater due to their specialized diet of microscopic organisms such as krill and plankton. They are pursued in local rivers in early July.

Current Alaska Fish and Game regulations allow anglers to retain 6 of each species per day.

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