Coho Salmon

Habitat Distribution

• Native to the BC coast from Vancouver Island north through Haida Gwaii and into Alaska; they use roughly 800 short coastal streams and rivers to spawn.
• Introduced to the Great Lakes in the late 1960s; self-sustaining populations now run tributaries in Ontario, giving freshwater anglers a fall run fishery far from the Pacific.
• At sea, coho forage in shallow coastal waters and along the continental shelf edge — areas like Haida Gwaii and Kyuquot Sound on northern Vancouver Island concentrate fish reliably.
• Juveniles spend 12–24 months in their natal streams before migrating to salt, making small coastal creeks and their riparian buffers critical habitat.

Key Locations

• Haida Gwaii, BC — remote archipelago on the edge of the continental shelf; consistent saltwater coho fishing through the summer and fall season.
• Kyuquot Sound, northern Vancouver Island, BC — reliable Chinook and coho fishing from July through late August, closer to shore than Haida Gwaii.
• Skeena River system, BC — major north-coast river system with coho runs accessible by fly and conventional gear in fall.
• Ontario Great Lakes tributaries — rivers flowing into Lake Ontario and Lake Huron see fall coho runs, giving inland anglers a Pacific-style salmon fishery.

Specific Spots

• In tidal saltwater, coho stack along kelp lines, current rips, and the edges of baitfish schools — follow the birds and the bait.
• In rivers, fresh-run fish hold in the deeper slots and tailouts of pools, resting out of the main current before pushing upstream.
• In the Great Lakes, tributaries concentrate fish at the river mouth and in the first deep pools above it once water temperatures drop in fall.
• On the BC coast, coho move into estuaries and tidal reaches before committing to the freshwater push — these transition zones fish well on an incoming tide.