Non-Fly Dirtbag river Coho '24'

Broke my beloved SST 6-12 9'6 coming home from San Juan Island. Out for a replacement to use as a Steelhead/Salmon spoon and spinner rod. G Loomis has a sale going on and I am tempted, but the main debate isn't between the E6X and SST (Might just get two SSTs, one for twitching and one for spoons and spinners) but rather a 4-10lb class rod or a 6-12lb rod. Besides not being able to cast buzz bombs with the lighter rod which I do on rare occasion, would it be wise to go a little heavier in the event that I tangle with a larger Steelie or Chinook?
 
Broke my beloved SST 6-12 9'6 coming home from San Juan Island. Out for a replacement to use as a Steelhead/Salmon spoon and spinner rod. G Loomis has a sale going on and I am tempted, but the main debate isn't between the E6X and SST (Might just get two SSTs, one for twitching and one for spoons and spinners) but rather a 4-10lb class rod or a 6-12lb rod. Besides not being able to cast buzz bombs with the lighter rod which I do on rare occasion, would it be wise to go a little heavier in the event that I tangle with a larger Steelie or Chinook?
Heavier is better IMO. Better hook sets, more backbone when you need it, handles heavier weighted lures. My two favorite spin rods are rated 8-17# and 10-20# respectively. I don’t see a reason to go lighter IMHO
 
Beautiful S river morning, probably should have just looked for cutthroat on the fly though. Tons of fish jumping in front of me, including what looked to be a lonely Larry colored up humpy. Absolutely none of them had the slightest idea interest in whatever we threw, be it blue fox or kastmaster or dick nite.

Was nice to be out on a gorgeous October morning though. Kingfishers, geese, deer, bald eagles. Would have been nice to round it off with a fish on the bank though!

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My hardware spinning rods braid is getting frayed, nasty, and prone to tangling. Thinking of putting some new line on. Do you guys run mono or braid for throwing spinners and spoons? Added sensitivity of braid is nice but i constantly worry about snagging up, especially as I’m not mending like the way I do with floats. Although my double unis to attach the mono bumper are pretty good it is an additional point of failure to consider
 
My hardware spinning rods braid is getting frayed, nasty, and prone to tangling. Thinking of putting some new line on. Do you guys run mono or braid for throwing spinners and spoons? Added sensitivity of braid is nice but i constantly worry about snagging up, especially as I’m not mending like the way I do with floats. Although my double unis to attach the mono bumper are pretty good it is an additional point of failure to consider
Just braid for me. I run a mono topshot but I don't have reels for anything set up with a mono mainline
 
When the bite isn't happening, and you're trying to dial it in before moving on to other fish, do you guys like to switch lure types first, or switch colors? Out on the salt, I am reluctant to switch gear (Or fly) until I have tried changing my retrieve (Or troll speed) depth, and even lure type before I start messing around with colors. I like to take my jig rod, bead rod, and spinner/spoon rod all to the water the same day. Today I started with a 50/50, moved up to a frog dick nite, before finishing with my copper blue fox. I am confident from my research and conversations that the spot was suitable for pretty much all those techniques
 
When the bite isn't happening, and you're trying to dial it in before moving on to other fish, do you guys like to switch lure types first, or switch colors? Out on the salt, I am reluctant to switch gear (Or fly) until I have tried changing my retrieve (Or troll speed) depth, and even lure type before I start messing around with colors. I like to take my jig rod, bead rod, and spinner/spoon rod all to the water the same day. Today I started with a 50/50, moved up to a frog dick nite, before finishing with my copper blue fox. I am confident from my research and conversations that the spot was suitable for pretty much all those techniques
I keep switching between twitching jigs, spinners, and wigglers. Every spot gets the combo.
 
I keep switching between twitching jigs, spinners, and wigglers. Every spot gets the combo.

I never get them on spinners. Is there a method or technique you'd like to share.

Wigglers and twitching is effective for me.
 
I never get them on spinners. Is there a method or technique you'd like to share.

Wigglers and twitching is effective for me.
Spinners are super effective for me in just about every type of water. They're not always in the mood for them, but if I had to pick only one method to target coho for any situation, spinner would be it.

No particular technique. Just get it out there and retrieve. I have come to really like white as a color for them. The First Strike Dancer being my favorite

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Never heard of that lure. I like it. Looked it up. The Cotton Candy ‘pink’ should be good for casting odd years off the PS beach.
If you're targeting pink salmon, I actually found white to be my preferred color for those as well when I still lived in the puget sound region. I also found twitching to work far better for them, especially in saltwater.
 
Spinners are super effective for me in just about every type of water. They're not always in the mood for them, but if I had to pick only one method to target coho for any situation, spinner would be it.

No particular technique. Just get it out there and retrieve. I have come to really like white as a color for them. The First Strike Dancer being my favorite

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I need to restock a few spinners for later this week. Looks great color combo for murky conditions, but I'll be fishing a smaller/clearer river. Been a while since I've bought any lures, so open to suggestions on newer stuff. My old standard was a bluefox with brass blade and orange body.
 
I need to restock a few spinners for later this week. Looks great color combo for murky conditions, but I'll be fishing a smaller/clearer river. Been a while since I've bought any lures, so open to suggestions on newer stuff. My old standard was a bluefox with brass blade and orange body.
I've made my suggestion 😂

They have a few other colors too. I should probably expand a bit.
 
George at First Strike is a good guy to work with for spinners. I still like Rob's R&B (https://www.randblures.com/) but have to order components at least 6 months out from when I actually want to use them. First Strike has theirs in stock and ready to go.

Who's going to be out this week with the rain in the forecast? I'm hoping to find some fresh fish Friday with a decent CFS bump.
 
George at First Strike is a good guy to work with for spinners. I still like Rob's R&B (https://www.randblures.com/) but have to order components at least 6 months out from when I actually want to use them. First Strike has theirs in stock and ready to go.

Who's going to be out this week with the rain in the forecast? I'm hoping to find some fresh fish Friday with a decent CFS bump.
Yeah I greatly prefer dealing with FSL.

I'll hopefully be fishing locally Thurs - Sun
 
Hit a lower tidal S river portion today, total lack of fish, except maybe some small smolt I saw jumping. Experimented with the twitch jig I tied up (Now at the bottom of a river, but such is twitching!) a wiggle wart I salvaged out of the Sky one time, and dick nites.
 
I know a lot of very good anglers getting blanks on these coho in my section of the Columbia. The fish are absolutely there, and in numbers. I checked and I caught plenty of fish by now the last several years doing the same program and in water that was actually warmer than this year. So not sure what's going on, but finding out it isn't just a "me" thing.
 
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