Best Bead Size & Colour for Coho in Green & Dropping Water

The acrobat — pound for pound, the fighter of the family. That makes reading the water the first real decision on any Coho trip — before size, before colour. Green & Dropping water asks a different question than clear water does: is the fish finding the bead by sight, by silhouette, or barely at all? Coho are aggressive to bright colours — chartreuse is a classic coho trigger. For coho specifically, that means leaning on chartreuse, bright pink / cerise, orange-roe in the 12–16mm range rather than a one-size-fits-all pick. Quick ID if you're new to the species: black mouth, white gums; spots on upper tail lobe only. That points to a 14mm bead as the starting point today — dial the colour in from the shop links below. Conditions on any given river can change fast, so it's worth checking back here before your next trip rather than assuming today's call still holds. The full picture for coho across every water condition — low, prime, high and blown out — is available in the interactive Bead Match tool, linked below this recommendation.