Northwest Reel Life November - December 2023 Volume 3 Issue 3 - Flipbook - Page 9
I use light reels to help avoid
wrist fatigue. You can twitch
jigs with longer, heavier rods,
but I like my 7’6 rod because
it translates even the smallest
flicks of my wrist to the jig. I
never hit the river without my
twitching rod! There is a bit
of a learning curve, as most
fish will pick up your jig on
the drop. You might feel the
line tighten, or you may feel
nothing at all. Most fish won’t
simply grab the jig and take
off. The majority of bites are
subtle. Watch your line and
pay attention to how it moves.
It pays to fish high visibility
braid so you can see exactly
where your line is and what
it’s doing in the water. Give
twitching jigs a try, you’ll be
hooked!
If I can’t get a fish to bite on
twitching jigs, I’ll switch to
my spinner rod. This is my
9ft, fast-action, moderate
power rod, rated to throw
up to an ounce of lead. It has
the springiness to be able
to launch spinners across
long rivers, but the backbone
to bring a monster coho to
the shore. I often start off
beginner river fishermen
with spinners because bites
are hard to miss. There are
two types of spinners, and
they both fish differently.
Heavy-bodied spinners
sink right away and can be
cast perpendicular to the
opposite shore. Light-bodied
or unweighted spinners
don’t sink as quickly and are
better for shallow rivers. You
can cast them out and swing
them into the current like a
spoon. Keep your rod tip low
and reel slowly. Make sure
to do 1 or 2 solid hook sets
to really drive that barbless
hook into the fish’s mouth. In
murky water like the Carbon
or Puyallup River, I’ll go with
a bright-colored spinner, like
chartreuse or pink. On clear,
coastal rivers, I’ll fish a silver
or copper-colored spinner. It
never hurts to try something
different, though! Don’t forget
to pinch your barbs and
switch out the treble hook to
a single hook if required.
My third go-to technique for
fall coho fishing is floating
eggs. This technique isn’t very
well suited for combat fishing,
but if you can find a patch
of slow-moving water all to
yourself, this is a great way
to get finicky coho to bite.
Floating eggs is a relaxing
way to spend the day. You
tend to lose a lot less gear,
and watching your bobber
is therapeutic. You’ll want a
10ft to 11ft rod and 3000/4000
size spinning reel. Don’t use
gear you don’t mind getting
egg dye on! You can either
use store-bought eggs or
experiment with curing your
own. I usually bring along 2
or 3 different recipes when
I fish eggs. Sometimes the
fish want pink eggs, other
days they like red. You can
experiment with adding
different scents to your
eggs, like tuna or herring. No
matter how good your eggs
are, you want to make sure
you’re fishing them correctly,
however. Experiment with
your leader length by moving
your bobber stopper until
you’re hitting the bottom.
NOV - DEC 2023 | 9