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Coho salmon Run in Michigan
Oncorhynchus kisutch, silver salmon — 37 Michigan rivers on this map carry a run of it, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. 37 of them are inside a window as of 1 October 2026.
Coho salmon, *Oncorhynchus kisutch*, the silver salmon, run 37 Michigan rivers between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Michigan's window is written out as dates rather than months — 1 Sep – 30 Nov, peaking 15 Sep – 15 Nov — but it is one statewide figure, the same on every named river, so the dates say nothing about which water a fish enters first. The longest corridors all drain to Lake Michigan — the Pere Marquette at 59.5 miles, the Little Manistee at 57.3, the Muskegon at 52.0, the Grand at 42.2, then the White at 36.6, the Kalamazoo at 36.4, the Manistee at 29.9, the St. Joseph at 24.3, the Platte at 17.3 and the Black River at South Haven at 13.1.
A coho shows white gums with a dark tongue and spots on the upper lobe of the tail only, smaller and brighter than a king of the same date. Four to twelve pounds. They run behind the kings and further into the autumn, and stay aggressive longer.
Where these rivers are
37 run rivers on 2 shores, drawn one shore at a time and each river in the colour of its own run stage today. One frame over all of them would be mostly open water.
Drawn 1 October 2026. The ground is the subbasin mesh the app scores in, so the coastline is where the mesh stops rather than a separate shoreline; the mark at each river is its mouth, drawn for every river including the handful whose whole run corridor is under a mile and has no line to show.
Where it runs, and when
Ranked by the rivers the staging estimator models first — the sixteen systems with a USGS temperature gauge behind them — then by corridor miles. Neither is a measure of fishing, and nothing on this page ranks a fishery.
| River | Lake | Window | Peak | Miles | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pere Marquette River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 59.5 | Peak run |
| Little Manistee River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 57.3 | Peak run |
| Muskegon River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 52.0 | Peak run |
| Grand River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 42.2 | Peak run |
| White River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 36.6 | Peak run |
| Kalamazoo River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 36.4 | Peak run |
| Manistee River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 29.9 | Peak run |
| St. Joseph River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 24.3 | Peak run |
| Platte River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 17.3 | Peak run |
| Black River (South Haven) | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 13.1 | Peak run |
| Betsie River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 12.5 | Peak run |
| Boardman River | Michigan | 1 Sep – 30 Nov | 15 Sep – 15 Nov | 1.1 | Peak run |
| Ford River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 107.3 | First runners |
| Cedar River (Menominee County) | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 66.2 | First runners |
| Sturgeon River (Baraga County) | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 41.3 | Peak run |
| Days River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 28.1 | First runners |
| Big Iron River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 24.6 | Peak run |
| Ontonagon River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 23.7 | Peak run |
| Jordan River | Michigan | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 23.2 | Peak run |
| Two Hearted River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 22.6 | Peak run |
| Chocolay River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 20.5 | Peak run |
| Trap Rock River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 19.2 | Peak run |
| Salmon Trout River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 18.4 | Peak run |
| Firesteel River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 16.4 | Peak run |
| Tahquamenon River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 16.4 | Peak run |
| Whitefish River (Delta County) | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 11.7 | First runners |
| Pentwater River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 10.4 | First runners |
| Anna River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 7.6 | Peak run |
| Rogue River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 5.6 | First runners |
| Brevoort River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 5.5 | First runners |
| Falls River | Superior | Sept–Oct | Sep–Oct | 5.0 | Peak run |
| Boyne River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 4.0 | First runners |
| Menominee River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 2.3 | First runners |
| Manistique River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 1.5 | First runners |
| Escanaba River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 1.4 | First runners |
| Big Sable River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 1.1 | First runners |
| Bear River | Michigan | Sept–Nov | Oct–Nov | 0.1 | First runners |
Stage as of 1 October 2026. It moves every day and this page does not — current conditions are here.
Identification
White gums with a dark tongue, and spots on the upper lobe of the tail only. Smaller and brighter than a king of the same date.
Size
Four to twelve pounds.
Behaviour in the river
Coho run behind the kings and further into the autumn, and they stay aggressive longer — a fish that will still chase a spoon three weeks into the river.
Tackle and tactics
- Spinning: a medium 7'–8'6" rod, 10–14 lb line, small spoons and spinners. Coho chase, and a moving bait outfishes a still one.
- Fly: 7–8 weight, streamers and egg patterns, 8–12 lb tippet.
Regulations
Great Lakes tributary rules are not the inland trout rules, and they differ by river and often by reach. Michigan's regulation summary is here; the state's own guide is the regulation.
The rest of the run
- Lake Michigan runs
- Lake Superior runs
- Coho salmon in Minnesota
- Coho salmon in New York
- Coho salmon in Wisconsin
- The run calendar
- What is running right now