I'm heading to Sekiu this September to fish salmon and various bottomfish. I fished Neah Bay a few years back and had good luck with trolling a whole herring behind a banana sinker. I was wondering what are some other good rigs to use for the coho? I've heard of using the hoochies and trolling plugs as well. Not too sure how those are rigged up. Also, people have said that they have just casted spoons and caught fish also.

Run cut-plugged herring off the downrigger. Nothing between you and the fish but hooks and a swivel. Or you can use bannana weights. Troll or mooch. Darts and other jigs work well too for jigging. There is no reason to change what you are using. To save having to rebait, try trolling Coyote spoons instead of herring.

Flashers are really not needed, unless the fishing is extreamly tough (which is almost never) and it just hampers the fight and will harm wild fish that have to be released.

For some real fun, use a fly rod and toss streamers and poppers in the morning and evening. Or troll streamers or poppers to make a wake. Latter in the day, switch to a sinking line and use the same streamers.

Sekiu is very simple. The fish will bite anything. If you're not catching fish, then check to see if you have a hook!

Thanks for the info FJ-15, it sounds like there are alot of ways to lurch the silvers up there. The only other time I was in that area it seemed like you could just find a herring ball and troll around with whatever you wanted to throw in. We had lines hanging over the boat and those aggressive silvers were flying up damn near out of the water to nail junk that was only an inch in the water.

Luke, Fishinjunkie is correct. A cut plug with no flasher off the downrigger works just fine.
Last year we were up there in August and the fishing was fast and non stop.
My brother was fishing with a flasher, hoochie, and a herring strip and did real well. Late in the moring our bait supply was getting low and while I was searching in the bait cooler, I noticed an abundance of half filleted herring.
I ask my brother if he ever thought of using up a complete herring before he filleted another.
So I cut a fillet and got it to roll a litttle and still caught fish. They will hit cut plug bananas up there.

Last time I was up there, we got tired of the heavy salmon gear and grabbed our steelhead gear.

For a while, it was just stupid right out in front of Olsen's fishing a 1/2 oz banana weight and two 1/0 hooks with a Slug-Go worm. Put a bend in the worm head on the hook shank, and it will spin when it sinks. Cast it out next to the kelp and let it drop.

When we ran out of worms, we started running up current and jigging Pt. Wilson darts as we drifted past the kelp. I'd lose the trebles off the darts, it makes unhooking fish a lot easier.

You can run out deeper and use a plug-cut herring or a flasher hoochie combo and get bigger fish.........most of the fish around the kelp beds were 3-7 lbs.

Have fun.

It was stupid how many fish we caught in a weekend.

Try jigging with Buzz Bombs. No noise and no stinky exhaust to contend with. On a relatively calm day jig off the back of the boat and it is like fishing in an aquarium, no kidding!

As you are probably realizing anything works up there. I think you could catch a coho using a hotdog.
I prefer coho killers or coyotes over bait just because they work/are less mess and you can use the same one all day.

I just use my steelhead rod riggerd with 20 pound line (incase of a suprise king) and my 8 wt. I only brought the heavier rods as backups. These fish are great fun on lighter rods. But then again we where there mid-August on an odd year and that means lots of pinks that are smaller than your silvers. Still they where just as agressive and loved herring (they would take the herring off the surface while you were clipping it into the 'rigger!)

All very good suggestions. Here's a couple of different tips.
While we usually like to keep it simple, we often add a couple of twists to eake out even more action when trolling. First, we don't bother messing with clipping our lines to DR's but we do use them to fly Fish Flashes below the surface (not too deep) to attract meandering schools when prospecting the outer rips. Secondly, when someone gets a hit on a trolled cut plug or spoon, the others will reel up and, while the fish is brought in close, will proceed to cast Buzz Bombs around the boat. What's amazing is that quite often this is when multiple hook ups occur. Seems like the first hooked fish attracts others to the boat and they just can't resist the falling Bombs.

We hook fish flash flashers to the DR balls with about 3' of 50lb leader and two BB swivels. About 4' Above this we run a stacker rig (two offshore releases) and then run a plug cut about 5-10' behind the fish flash. The fishflash draws them in, then they hit the cut plug. Use two Sampo BB swivels on your line, and a relatively short 25# test leader. No twists, and it makes for quicker releases of the fish with too many fins. Downriggers are run off of both sides on the boat. Out the back we run a deep six (medium size) with the same swivel and line test rating.

Many 40+ and 50+ fish days up there if you know what you are doing. The heaviest rod I use is rated 10-15lbs. Rigger rods are 8-12's. It makes for an interesting time when Mr. King jumps on your line.

I second the hot dog. If I'm using cut plug I just go with the banana weight, put the kicker in gear, drop down approx 80 feet and let it troll up. It covers all depths and you should have one on by the time it trolls to the top. of course you don't want to be in a crowd if you are going to have 80 feet of line out.

4oz weight to a cut plug herring @ 15 to 20 pull's.Zig while others Zag.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

Ditto Strike Zone...I go just til you cant see the bait in the prop wash...WOW June already....ITS ALMOST HERE!!!!

COHO

I always angle cut the hot dogs to get a quick tight roll. Use the Kosher brands, better skin. Oscar Meyers just won't stay on the hook.

I put my hotdogs on Bechhold Bullet Baitholder

We just buy the holders and tie our own leaders. A bobber stop is used in place of the tube and we use a ball bearing swivel. The bead chain isn't necessary.

Troll on downriggers, with or without a flasher. Because you don't have to cut your bait, you can use smaller herring and lower quality bait that would fall apart if cut, can also be used.

It's quick to bait up and get back in the water because you just open the jaws, insert the bait's head, hook the first hook in the side and fish. Works with divers too.