Coho Salmon

Where to go

Coho Salmon lake by lake

Ranked by how good the fishing actually is, not alphabetically. If a lake is not on this list, it is because the fish is not worth targeting there.

1. 01

   Lake Michigan

   The April and May coho run in southern Lake Michigan is the most beginner-friendly big-water salmon fishing in America — the fish school tight in the top 25 feet within a few miles of Chicago and the Indiana ports. A 4- to 6-pound coho on light tackle in 45-degree water is a better introduction to Great Lakes trolling than any king trip.

   Prime time: Late March through May in the southern basin, then north to Ludington and Manistee by July · Depths: 5–35 ft down over 20–90 ft of water in spring

   Full guide
2. 02

   Lake Superior

   Lake Superior grows fewer and smaller coho than Lake Michigan, but almost all of them are wild fish and they are catchable in the top 20 feet of water within sight of the North Shore highway. Spring and early summer off Duluth, Knife River and the Apostles is the most consistent coho water on the lake.

   Prime time: May through July, with a second shot at maturing fish near the river mouths in September · Depths: 5–40 ft down over 40–200 ft of water

   Full guide
3. 03

   Lake Ontario

   Coho are the second salmon on Lake Ontario, not the first, and most anglers catch them incidentally on a chinook program. The exception is late summer in the eastern basin, where maturing coho gather off the Salmon River and Oswego River mouths in numbers worth targeting on purpose.

   Prime time: Late July through September, concentrated in the eastern basin · Depths: 25–80 ft down over 60–300 ft of water

   Full guide
4. 04

   Lake Huron

   Lake Huron has the thinnest coho fishery on the American side of the chain, a consequence of the same alewife collapse that took the chinook down. The northern shore from Rogers City to De Tour and the water off Alpena still give up coho in early summer, usually mixed into a lake trout and steelhead program.

   Prime time: May through July, best in the northern third of the lake · Depths: 15–60 ft down over 60–200 ft of water

   Full guide