Cohos were stocked into New York State waters along with chinook salmon in the late 1960s. Today, they are routinely stocked into Lake Ontario (and its tributaries) and provide excellent lake and river sportfishing opportunities. While natural reproduction of coho salmon has occurred in New York State waters, it is too limited to support a viable fishery. Therefore, DEC annually stocks hundreds of thousands of coho into the Lake Ontario system.

The behavior and distribution of coho salmon is very similar to chinook salmon. In early spring, cohos move inshore where they can feed upon smelt and alewife and find warmer water temperatures. During this part of the year, coho can provide extremely good fishing. As summer approaches, they move progressively offshore and anglers have less success in locating them. In the fall, sexually mature fish move back to the areas where they were stocked or hatched to spawn. Cohos spawn a little later in the fall then chinooks, with peak spawning runs occurring in October and early November. Anglers generally use the same techniques and gear for catching coho as they use for chinook.