Non-Fly SRC & Coho Lures

As a kid I slayed SRC trolling a triple teaser with a small swivel and splitshot 2 or 3 feet up the line. Tying a rubber band above the swivel helped to catch and stray seaweed and keep it from fouling the lure. Silver with the fluorescent orange head was a killer color combo for the triple teaser. Plain silver and silver with silver prism were also good.

Small plugs also worked well.

Those lures work from the beach, but their castability isn't the best. Small kastmasters and vibrax spinners cast better and are what I used to throw when on the beach.

Some of the trolling takes on a light spinning rod can rival anything. Seeing that light rod hammer down from a hard take was really exciting.
 
From the beach you can't beat the simplicity of going Ricky Schroder on them (silver spoons). I got board with that and used a scaled down version of a Whidbey Steelhead rig. Tiny spinglow and Kokanee hoochie. After I got board with all the different ways to catch them with a spin rod I started fly fishing. I would use a spinning rod while my dad fly fished. At times I would get 10 to his 1 so if that's gonna bother you make him fly fish.😉
 
I have had success using a Bluefox Vibrax with a fluorescent orange bell and gold blade. However, that color combo is no longer made. So I now go with a fluorescent red bell and gold blade. Treble hook is removed and replaced with split ring, barrel swivel and either an open eye siwash hook or open eye sickle siwash hook.

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I used to get these blank bodies on eBay and paint them myself because Rapalas are expensive and you lose a few. This is a larger one for bass but you get the idea.View attachment 138740

Hmm, just had an evil idea. Use one of those clear plugs as is, with no hooks, as a "casting bubble". Run a fly 18"' or so back connected to the front hook eye.

The plug wouldn't be completely invisible, but would surely attract attention by sending out vibrations, while leaving the fly a more obvious, and wiggling, visual target.
 
I don’t fish for SRC a lot, and almost never with gear, but if I did I would spend some time trying out a few topwater lures for them - just because fishing topwater is fun. Smallest size of Zara Spook perhaps? (With the trebles swapped out, obviously)

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I don’t fish for SRC a lot, and almost never with gear, but if I did I would spend some time trying out a few topwater lures for them - just because fishing topwater is fun. Smallest size of Zara Spook perhaps? (With the trebles swapped out, obviously)

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I have few small yozuri top waters that I swapped over
The bone one looks juicy
Just haven’t fished one yet
 
I bought a bunch of rooster tails. How do you make them regulation compliant? Just snip off two of the hooks from the treble hook?
No, cut the treble off and put on a single point siwash hook.
SF
Snipping off two of the three Roostertail hooks with heavy wire cutters or nippers because I didn't know any better has worked for me in high lakes. I have not tried it in saltwater.

BTW for lures in high lakes with a light spinning rod or even a fly rod with a spinning reel attached when I can't get anything with a fly rod-reel-line from the shore, I usually start with and have always caught fish; Cutthroat, Rainbow, and Brook Trout, with a (3/16 oz) Daredevel Midget that has two of the three hooks snipped off. I have not tried it in saltwater.
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Using a casting bubble with a fly sounds like a great idea for a spinning rod. In high lakes with a light spinning rod I am partial to something like this from Double X.
Again, I have not tried it in saltwater.
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I don’t fish for SRC a lot, and almost never with gear, but if I did I would spend some time trying out a few topwater lures for them - just because fishing topwater is fun. Smallest size of Zara Spook perhaps? (With the trebles swapped out, obviously)

View attachment 140821
I fished a baby spook and a small Pop R quite a bit for SRC and never had too much success but I do remember a nice bull trout on the spook that ate it like 5 times before I finally hooked the damn thing, but one fall the Zara spook was pretty deadly for coho, I can still picture coho leaping and rattling that plug across their faces. After that “AHA moment” I got really into throwing bass lures for staging and often very lockjawed coho at the family beach trying to find something they would attack. A pearl white 6” senko was the deadliest. Great memories. Buzzbaits were another really fun coho lure.
 
I fished a baby spook and a small Pop R quite a bit for SRC and never had too much success but I do remember a nice bull trout on the spook that ate it like 5 times before I finally hooked the damn thing, but one fall the Zara spook was pretty deadly for coho, I can still picture coho leaping and rattling that plug across their faces. After that “AHA moment” I got really into throwing bass lures for staging and often very lockjawed coho at the family beach trying to find something they would attack. A pearl white 6” senko was the deadliest. Great memories. Buzzbaits were another really fun coho lure.
I always thought coho would smash a spinner bait but never tried it.
 
I always thought coho would smash a spinner bait but never tried it.
I never tried a spinnerbait I skipped right to a buzz bait but I could imagine it would probably be just as deadly. The whistle of the blade spinning when a coho leaps is legendary. When I made my very first cast with a buzz bait in saltwater and watched the bubble trail and spraying water as I retrieved over the waves I knew I was on the right track lol. I even took off the rubber skirt and tied a clouser on the hook but that was probably not necessary.
 
White paddle tail swim baits get a lot of coho attention, but the strike to hookup ratio isn’t the greatest.
Most lures will catch fish but a tight spinning herring beats all
 
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