Silver salmon, or cohoes, are fighting fish. Their acrobatics and reel-humming runs make stream and saltwater fishing a thrill.
Description
Saltwater silvers (Oncorhynchus kisutch) are bright silver with small black spots on the back. Spawning males develop a prominent hooked snout with large teeth. Spawners of both sexes have dark backs and heads with sides colored maroon to reddish.
Alaska record
26 pounds, caught in 1976 in Icy Strait, near Glacier Bay National Park, by Andrew Robbins. The average weight is 8 to 12 pounds.
Tips for fishing
Silvers move into streams from July to November. In salt water, these acrobatic jumpers are taken by trolling or drifting with herring or by fishing along the shore with flies or lures. In fresh water, silvers hit salmon eggs, flies, spoons and spinners.
Best time to fish
Southcentral Alaska
- Anchorage, Palmer and Wasilla areas -- August
- Susitna, Talkeetna and rivers flowing into western Cook Inlet -- August
- Kenai Peninsula / Cook Inlet -- / July, August
- Kenai Peninsula rivers -- June, July
- Resurrection Bay -- July, August
- Prince William Sound -- July, August
- Prince William Sound streams / Copper River basin / Upper Susitna basin -- August, September
Inside Passage
- Inside Passage offshore, north of Stikine River -- August, September
- Inside Passage offshore, south of Stikine River -- July, August
- Inside Passage streams, north of Stikine River -- September, October
- Inside Passage streams, south of Stikine River -- July, August, September
Western, Interior and Northern Alaska
- Bristol Bay and Kodiak offshore -- August, September
- Bristol Bay streams and Kodiak -- August, September
- Fairbanks and Tanana River drainage -- October
- Arctic Alaska and Yukon-Kuskokwim drainage-- October
Sources of information include the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
