# Kayaking for coho in lake Michigan!



## Wayne R (Oct 25, 2013)

I know every kayaker here probably has a fantasy of being able to troll for coho in lake Michigan, or maybe it's just me but I doubt I'm alone. I don't have any experience fishing for salmon except for a few charter trips. Is there anyone here that has done this? I would like to go do it but solo kayaking on a great lake probably isn't the best idea. I'm looking for some insight on rod setup for coho and what is the margin of safe kayaking with wind and waves?


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## Northernfisher (Jul 29, 2010)

Wayne R said:


> I know every kayaker here probably has a fantasy of being able to troll for coho in lake Michigan, or maybe it's just me but I doubt I'm alone. I don't have any experience fishing for salmon except for a few charter trips. Is there anyone here that has done this? I would like to go do it but solo kayaking on a great lake probably isn't the best idea. I'm looking for some insight on rod setup for coho and what is the margin of safe kayaking with wind and waves?


I believe there is / was someone on here that did it with a Hobie Proangler. If he does not post send me a pm and I will see if I can get you in touch.

I have emailed with a person that fishes Mahi Mahi with a Hobie.





You can try emailing him if you have questions.

If yon can fish Mahi in Guam you should be able to target coho here.

There is a fellow in the Northwest that has a video on how to down riggers.

Hobies can handle big water - but be careful!!


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## Wayne R (Oct 25, 2013)

Safety is for sure my number one priority, I appreciate the help.


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## Mike (Nov 26, 2000)

Always thought that would be a cool experience. Maybe try someplace like Platte Bay, so it's somewhat protected?

Good luck if you go!

Mike


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## fisheater (Nov 14, 2010)

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Jason posts regularly on the Cold Water section. You need to be very aware of weather, I like to tell myself to figure in waves and wind you are lucky to paddle three miles an hour. That means you are looking at an hour to get in if you are three miles out. You can bet it will take longer.
If you want to fish a port, whether on Lake Michigan, or Lake Huron, post a question on the Cold Water Fishing forum asking about what wind directions to be wary of, and what winds are a no-go. I know sometimes the wind does not always listen to the weather man. I have been up at 3 AM so I could launch with the sun, only to arrive to snotty conditions. I will usually take a nap, and see if it settles down, but I have had a few trips where the canoe didn't come off the roof.
Be very aware of the rule of 120. It is when the combined temperature of air and water is below 120 degrees, risk of death from hypothermia is high. So that perfect day with water temps at 50, and 50 degrees and sunny is a dangerous day to be on the water. It is advised to wear a drysuit. I wear one, but you also need to practice self rescue. I need to do that more often, because self rescue is one thing on a warm flat lake. It is quite another, when there are three foot peaked rollers, or worse yet Christmas trees adding to the challenge.
I also advise going to the cold water section and checking out what they are saying about the coho. It seems like they may be deep this spring. Don't be disappointed, the steel still come in close, and browns, and lake trout. Be careful, but there is not anything like paddling the big water. You need to pick your days, I don't get out nearly as much as I would like. Maybe that is what makes it so sweet, daybreak launches, the solitude of the big water, and sometimes big fish.
Good Luck, the video below has some nice Lake Huron info.
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## Eighties (Feb 28, 2017)

There are a few guys down in Chicago that fish salmon out of kayaks. Look up chicityyaker on youtube for some info. Michael is very friendly and happy to share tips. Safety is extremely important and things can go wrong very quickly on the big lakes. Be careful and have fun.


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## Jim_MI (Jul 9, 2012)

I have been trolling Lk MI for "predator species" from my Hobie Pro Angler since 2010. I have never caught a coho, but have landed some nice chinook, steelhead, brown's, lakers, cisco and smallmouth. I generally troll 2 lines: one lead core and one on a Scotty Depthmaster manual downrigger. Occasionally I stack 2 lines on the DR but that can get complicated. Prior to getting the DR, I would use the largest (12-oz?) Torpedo Divers for deepwater trolling and that works too. That said, don't dismiss jigging! Vertical jigging from a kayak works very well for cisco, lakers and fall chinook and is much simpler, equipment-wise. Wind can make it tough to stay on top a school in a paddle kayak and is much easier to deal with in a pedal kayak like the Hobie's. My personal best for deep jigging is a laker identified on my ff at a depth of 230 ft, successfully caught and (more surprisingly) succesfully resuscitated and released. Regardless of technique, I seldom head more than 2 miles offshore and always pay attention predicted and observed conditions as things can go bad in a hurry out there. Drysuit is an absolute must for spring and fall. GPS-Enabled FF (with smartphone GPS backup) is necessary for the spring fog that can roll in quickly and totally blind you. Navigational lighting is necessary for fishing the morning and evening bites. Waterproof 2-way radio, air horn, flares and good quality PFD rounds out the basics. So fishing the big water from a kayak is technically challenging, but that makes it a lot more interesting too. It definitely beats bass fishing on the local pond!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk


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## STEINFISHSKI (Jan 30, 2001)

You can park and launch at the beach at St Joe any time. Pick a calm warm day and troll inside 10 fow with an orange crankbait or two and you should catch coho. Hot and tot, wiggle wart, thinfin or anything really. Pack a dry bag with a change of cloths in case you get wet, you should have no problem getting to shore inside 10 fow and you shouldn't have to go far. Later in the morning when the sun starts warming the water they start getting real active if you don't want to hit first light.


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