Is it only my observation that Coho dont seem to bite in the salt until around 2 hours or more after sunrise?
I cant tell you guys how many times I have been on the water at dark & fished hard only to start catching fish at 8:00 am or 10:30 am, and then it is fish every 15 minutes or so.

It is getting to the point where I want to start getting out of bed a little later so I dont waste time.

Anyone else experience this?

good point... nobody fish for silvers before 8:00 am..

That should give me time to limit...
hee hee hee

S-G .We have caught some first thing at 6:00 but most from 8 to10 and later.DO you keep a log of when ,where ,what ,and how deep ?

Personally, I never get up early any more to fish first light and here's why:

I'll NEVER beat everyone to the ramp in the morning, and I HATE the clusterf*ck situations that usually occur when I try.

I'll NEVER get to the river before everyone else to get first water, and again, see above.

I usually like to put in a full day when I do get to fish, and I find that when I get up super early and fish till late morning, I'm so tired for the rest of the day that I'm not very productive anyway!

How all of this pertains to fishing coho in the salt you may wonder... My theory:

Coho are visual feeders mainly, meaning they see and chase their prey, more than relying on their other senses, like smell, to locate a meal.

Logic would dictate that the more light that is available, the easier it is for them to see their potential meal. Plus, flashers reflect more light when there's more light to reflect.

So it's either that, or in all my years of chasing them in the salt, I haven't been lucky enough to stumble across a feeding school of coho till at least 9 a.m.

I dont keep a logs Ron, [Bleeeeep!], I couldnt even tell you the last time I changed my oil in my rig or what appointments I have tomorow!

I think 4Salt theory (s) Make sense. Just seems like they never hit like they do a little later in the morning.

YEA,me either have the log but notten in it .

My experience on the salt is silvers aren't picky about light. However, the best bite seems to be from 7-10 give or take then the seem to take a little break. The bite usually picks up again later in the day, but by that time I usually home flushing the engines and planning the rest of my day.

Ditto here. Noticed all my Silvers caught have been usually after an hour of day light and up intill around 10'30ish. Been thinking the same here lately. Being that the Alki ramp isn't busy no need to be on the water by 5 am. But the Kings we caught a few weeks ago were happining right before day light. Looks like I'll be on the water this weekend at 5:45 .

I have found that silvers are very unpredictable as to when they go on the bite. I have tried looking at my logs and charting tides, day light, depth, etc... and can't find a real pattern.
The only thing is you want to have lines in the water when the bite turns on because when it turns on it is usually fast and furious action. Put in your time and you will get fish!

Several thoughts on the silver bite.
1) As they near their home rivers they become more and more finicky. This makes they unpredicatable. At times it takes time to solve the riddle for the day.

2) Like Fishstick I have noticed that the tide stage is important - different areas may have different high percentage tides. If I don't know a marine area I start around the low; seems to me that most areas fish best one side or the other of the low slack (better rips?). For the tidal portion of rivers the last of the flood has been most consistent for me.

3) Early in the day the fish often are more scattered - both shallowed and deep. Those fishing wire may find more consistent fishing once they group up at a given level (several hours after daylight).

4) Tend to find more consistent surface fishing (upper 20 feet -reachable by flies and other shallow presentations) during calm water rather than rough or choppy water.

5) Traveling fish tend to be shallow, milling fish deep.

6) Fish tend to travel more during low light periods - Prehaps that is why beach fishing is often best early and late in the day.

Just my observations, take them for what they are worth - that is - not much. I'm sure that others have lots of exceptions and different observations.

The best bite remains when I can go fishing - have never caught one staying home!

tight lines
Smalma

Best action for me has been first light. last year glow anything at dark thirty and down deep(80 - 90') was the ticket. This year its 40' and shallower. After the sun rises, time of tide is everything as this will determine where the schools will be. You just have to pattern them for the area you are fishing.

You will catch most of your Coho during the times that you normally fish at the depths you normally fish and with the lures you normally use.

I like to get out on the water early, and like nothing better than to be running out in the dark and have to charge up the glow spoon and flasher with the camera flash before I put it in the water. That said, if you really want to catch coho fish on the tide. Where I fish on the coast the hour before high tide and right through until the tide changes enough to start pushing you the other way is the hot time. Low slack can work too, but usually the water is so turbid from the silty tide flats that visibility is bad and the fish won't see your gear. So I pretty much fish the high - if the fish are around at all an hour or so is more than sufficient to fill the punch card for the day

First.. ALWAYS keep a journal!

I am with Spawnout on this.. tides are probably the most important items- especially within the sound. And...fish the rip lines!

Sky- I have found the same thing! After several red-eye trips just to hit coho in the sunlight I no longer bother getting up for the pre-dawn bite.

The first light bite has always been best for me . Normally I fish no deeper than 20 feet in the first hour of light, and then go deeper to as the light hits the water. Sometimes I even catch a fish
regards,
Neal

One of the favorite fish memories is a 10 lb hooknose silver, just south of Pt. No Pt. The sun was setting, the water smooth as glass, and I was trolling a cut plug with no weight on the surface with a trout rod. I was by myself and there was only one other boat on the water. WOW! Mark

One aspect I have wondered on the first light fishery is:

Do Coho "lay-up" for the night? And if so, would it be best to hit these areas at first light and then move out to the tide rips after the sun hits the water?

Smalma's point about Traveling fish vs. Milling fish is interesting. I expect that my local fishing grounds (West side of Whidbey) are "Traveling grouds" more that say Shipwreck or the Hat Island, where I would expect the fish to mill around until the river conditions are right.

From my limited experience, I feel my best shot at landing a fish is first light or high tide.

But I prefer first light, as the rest of the family is still sleeping and don't even know I'm gone

I've experienced both Sky-Guy, some excellent early morning bites and then bites that didn't happen until later in the AM. I've started loggin some recent days and have to agree with Spawnout and DR that I really think the bite can be tide influenced. Noticed that the bite tends to pick up on the High and will fish pretty good for several hours afterwards.

Kev

I may be in the minority here but I have found the last few moments of the day at sunset to be the most consistent and productive time of the day for silvers in the sound. It is the only time that seems to be independent of other factors such as tide, etc. I have come to conclude that the fish generally see this as the last best opportunity to attack before the dark really sets in. On the waning light they will strike opportunisticly when the light conditions pass through the most advantageous predatory light conditions. If I had only 1 hour everyday to fish for silvers it would be then, hands down. The problem with this time is that it is a very compressed period and when it is over fishing is over. As fisherman we generally prefer to fish the same period in the morning so that if we miss catching a fish during the "ideal" period we still have the ability to continue fishing with the hope of catching one in less that ideal light and/or tide conditions. Either way, most fisherman know instintively that early or late are consistently good times to fish for silvers or any other predatory fish for that matter, even if they aren't always the best or optimal conditions. But then maybe it's just that fisherman are really closet sunrise and sunset aficianados? But if so, how does that explain steelheaders who tread where no sun shines?