TC -
Not uncommon to see/catch late coho in the upper Skagit well into February. Spawning adults can be found in a couple of the Skagit tribs into March and even rarely into April.

While the Skagit seems to have most of these late coho I have seen late fish (mid-February to March) in the Snohomish, Stillaguamish, and Nooksack systems as well. These late fish indicate just part of the diversity found in the wild coho - certainly outside of the hatchery box. While these fish are not a major portion of the wild population that doesn't reduce the importance of them to the population. An interesting side note is that 4 year coho have been found in those systems; some of which are likely offspring of these late spawners. In more than 40 years of fishing the North Sound rivers have caught in river unspawned coho as early as late June and as late as the last day of March.

A common topic on this site is the need to preserve the genetic diversity of wild steelhead. This is an example of the divesity that can exist in all of our wild salmonid stocks. Further support of the need to treat these other species no differently than steelhead. Fisheries management needs to considered the biologicial needs of the species, not the social/emotional values that we anglers may place on our current favorite species.

Tight lines
Smalma