Big Fun in Small Packages Springtime, Near-Shore Great Lakes Coho Salmon

Big Fun in Small Packages

Springtime, Near-Shore Great Lakes Coho Salmon

By Jim Edlund

MUSKEGON, Mich. (April 15, 2025) – There’s an electricity in the air this time of year along the Great Lakes as anglers turn out for an annual bite that’s tough to pass up. As soon as the launches open, you’ll see all manner of small boats (and pier fisherman, too), forming lines to chase near-shore coho salmon.

Although these fish leave something to be desired in size – with most fish between a pound and 3 pounds – their table fare is excellent, with many anglers preferring the young, bright red flesh for everything from grilling and baking, to pan frying and filling up smoker racks – to the larger species that occupy the Great Lakes.

One angler who loves the annual rite is charter captain and Great Lakes Angler editor, Mike Schoonveld, of northern Indiana, who started fishing them this spring in March.

“What happens is the cohos that were two years old last fall migrate to the south end of Lake Michigan, because that’s where the water temperature stays in their comfort range the longest. Once they get down here, there’s no place to go. Then, in the spring, when the water starts to warm up, the fish that are in the southern basin of the lake storm the beaches in Indiana, southern Michigan, and the south side of Chicago, because those are the parts of the lake that warm up the quickest,” noted Schoonveld.

“Basically, what you’ve got are two-and-a-half year-old cohos in the lake crammed within a few hundred yards of the shoreline and streams,” added Schoonveld.

Where Schoonveld fishes off the Indiana coast, limits are five cohos per person, but he says you can also catch the errant brown trout, lake trout, steelhead, or Chinook salmon. And the chance of a mixed bag only increases as spring progresses. Average cohos right now are 16 or 17 inches to 22 inches – “basically eater-walleye size.”

The bite is ongoing and will last until the water temperatures reach the mid 50s, around May 1^st during a typical, warm spring. The bite can last through the middle of May if temperatures stay cooler.

Even when it does warms up, Schoonveld says you don’t have to abandon the fight, just move a few miles offshore where the fish migrate to colder water. But then you lose the advantage of fishing near the shoreline and have to be cautious on what days you go out if fishing from a smaller boat.

And when the fish leave the Indiana coast, they tend to follow the shorelines up the Lake Michigan coast. There are typically fish off the north coast of Chicago by May 1^st, as well as up around Kenosha and Racine, Wisconsin. The same thing happens over on the Michigan side with fish moving from St. Joseph towards Grand Haven.

Small Boat and Tackle Friendly Bite

One of the coolest things about the annual coho bite is that it’s accessible to anglers with smaller, multi-species boats, as well as pier anglers. You don’t need a large charter boat to access these fish, with a lot less worry about the weather given proximity to shore. And you won’t see a lot of large boats out on the bite either; most are still iced up where they’re moored for winter.

Plus, you don’t need downriggers to fish springtime cohos. The fish are high in the water column and susceptible to shallow-diving crankbaits fished on standard gear.

“For whatever reason, they love orange,” says Schoonveld. “There are literally millions of cohos so you can catch them on pretty much anything, but you’ll probably catch them faster if you’re using orange-colored lures – and most bite in the top several feet of water. There’s no reason to use riggers to get your baits down 15, 20, 30 feet or whatever. Most anglers are running bigger planer boards or walleye-sized line planers.”

Of all the crankbaits Schoonveld runs, his favorite is the Storm Rattlin’ Thin Fin, but says Flickr Shads and Rapalas are fish-catchers, too.

In terms of gear, when fishing occasionally with buddies, Schoonveld runs 12 pound hi-vis monofilament on his trolling rods, but if he’s making daily trips, he’ll size up to 20-pound, which stands up better to the use and abuse.

Schoonveld says orange is the color de jour for spring coho salmon.

“I like the anti-freeze colored lines so I know exactly where all of my baits are when running planar boards. And I use 20-pound fluorocarbon leader to attach to my crankbaits.”

With three lines allowed per angler and up to four anglers total in his 21-foot boat, Schoonveld has become accustomed to running up to 12 lines – typically three planar boards off port; three off starboard; plus Dipsy Diver’s and downriggers in the rear, just because he has them.

“But 85% of the fish will come on the planar board lines. I don’t use weights or anything, just whatever the lure will dive. And maybe 10% of the fish will come on the Dipsy Divers and you’ll catch one or two fish on the downriggers. The ‘riggers are permanently mounted on my boat, so I figure why not use them.”

As far as rods, he’s using the same kind of gear walleye trollers use – in his case, 8’6” medium light trolling rods for the planar boards. He does go heavier and to nine feet with the Dipsy rods and the same thing for his downriggers.

“We’re not really expecting huge fish, so I stick to light walleye gear for the cohos. Later in the season, we’ll start catching bigger fish regularly, so I’ll move up to medium or medium-heavy rods.”

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DRESS FOR COLD DESPITE WARM LAND TEMPS

While the tendency is to dress for fishing according to land temperatures – which might even be in the 70s as spring progresses – Schoonveld advises anglers not to forget that we’re in a time of year when Lake Michigan water temperatures are in the 30s to low 40s.

“Even if it’s 50 to 60 degrees on shore, it’s more like late-season ice fishing out on Lake Michigan. You’ve got wind, rain, sleet, snow, and squalls will blow through. It can get chilly if you’re not dressed for the part.”

To combat the weather and stay comfortable on his daily coho forays, Schoonveld has been wearing the aptly-named Whitewater Great Lakes Pro Insulated Jacket and Bib, and has been impressed.

“The past few weeks have been pretty cold and I’ve worn the Whitewater suit and it’s performed. From shedding water, spray, and easy clean up from blood and scales, it’s been great. And comfortable. It bends at the knees and elbows and all the places you move when getting in and moving around a boat setting up a rods and fishing.”

He also says that the suit is warm in and of itself, not requiring the layers he’s normally worn underneath other winter parka and bibs he’s used in the past.

“Besides warmth, you also need to make sure you take the precautions necessary for this time of year,” added Schoonveld. “I wear an inflatable PFD underneath my Great Lakes Pro jacket, and I file a flight plan.”

TABLE FARE

When asked if he has a favorite way to prepare cohos, Schoonveld says he has “dozens of favorite recipes.”

“There’s really no bad way to prepare them. The easiest is to fillet them, leave on the skin, add a little bit of seasoning and salt and lay them on a high grill for six or seven minutes. That’s absolutely perfect. But I’ve had them fried, which my kids used to like, and lately I like to smear them with a Panda Express Thai Chili sauce and grill them like that. My wife likes them grilled with ranch dressing. And you can smoke them. Bake them. Whatever. I’ll also make salmon cakes, fry them up, and eat them on a sandwich with a slice of cheese and some tartar sauce. In fact, that’s what I just had for lunch. But like I said, there’s no wrong way to cook coho. They are probably the best eating of all of our Great Lakes salmon.”

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