Coho Fishing in South East Alaska
Coho are my favorite salmon. That alone is a controversial statement within Alaska. Many love the oily richness of kings or the bold salmony flavor of sockeye. For me it’s the humble coho. Mild and versatile, it goes well with almost everything. The underloved coho also isn’t known outside of the country that well. Only a few million fish are harvested each year and although that sounds like a lot, it’s nothing compared to the sometimes 50-plus million sockeye harvested in Alaska. It makes sense why, with such a disparity of abundance, the coho is less understood.
I was lucky enough to grow up in southeast Alaska where cohos are plentiful. They thrive in the small streams and rivers of southeast Alaska and grow big from the abundant feeding grounds off the coasts. That means they bite hooks well and when the bite is on salmon trolling, we can catch over 300 in a day! The only thing that slows you down in a good coho run is removing the gills and guts immediately after they are landed and bled. It’s tedious, but necessary work because they have strong stomach acid and their bellies will burn if you don’t clean them quickly. This extra care in handling is another reason the humble coho is less adored.
Cohos are the bread and butter of the southeast Alaska troll fleet. Kings have a relatively short summer season, but cohos bite from early July through the end of September. For a successful season, much of the summer is spent chasing cohos up and down the coast. The fishing grounds for coho vary throughout the summer as the fish are frequently moving to feed on species up and down the coast to fatten themselves up for their journey upriver. Trollers acclimate to daily machinations of running through their lines cleaning their catch with a short break for a cup of coffee or a sandwich. Along the rugged coast they anchor in small bays and inlets for the short summer nights and charge back out the following day at first light. It’s a tough job, but when you get to land beautiful cohos in the untouched wilderness, it’s hard to complain!
When you are lucky enough to catch a few cohos you are struck by their silvery flesh, which gave them their popular nickname silvers. Silvers are so versatile in the kitchen — great on the grill or served up raw as sushi or sashimi. Their mild salmon flavor blends into a variety of preparations without overpowering your dish. Cheers to the humble and delicious coho, the unheralded star of your next meal!
