Rec and Sports

About Salmon Fishing

For most amateur fishermen or women one of the toughest parts about salmon fishing is having the ability to obviously identify which particular sort of salmon that they have caught. Since fishing laws are based on species it is highly critical that you can tell each from the other to prevent being in violation of the license and probably facing fines or even more serious outcomes. Learning about salmon fishing and various species isn’t too difficult, and the general outlines provided below should be all that is needed to spot the salmon species.

The following tips about salmon fishing species identification will apply only to grown up salmon and may not apply to juveniles and smelts.

Chinook – it is important to keep in mind when talking about salmon fishing that many species go by different names. The Chinook is also called the King and blackmouth. It’s the biggest of the Pacific salmon, and is easily identified by the distinct black coloration to the lower gums. They’re olive or brown in coloration on the back with darker black coloration on the sides. They have many little, dark spots on the back.

Coho – AKA Silver salmon, are smaller than the Chinook or King salmon. They have a bluish green color to the skin on the head and back. Depending on the time of year the sides of the Coho might be wine colored or even a particularly brilliant red. The cover of the gills will be extremely reddish throughout the year.

Chum – one of the less common salmon it is important to grasp about salmon fishing this species to achieve success. They will generally not move far inland and will stay close to salt water. Chum is the second largest of the Pacific salmon species and are simply distinguished by their red to purplish blue color and horizontal bars. They also have a particularly distinctive and voiced set of teeth.

Sockeye – this salmon is terribly red in color and may often be mistaken for the Coho thanks to the coloration. Sockeye spend up to 2 years in a fresh water lake before moving out the sea, and are unique in this aspect. They have no distinct spots and the female is less brilliantly colored than the male. Male Sockeyes have a noticeable hump on their back just before the dorsal fin.

Kokanee – this is the actually land locked salmon, living its complete live cycle in a fresh water lake, never venturing to the salt water. In physical description they are almost identical the Sockeye, being red in color and males having the dorsal hump.

When studying salmon fishing and fish identification it is a brilliant idea to bring a salmon identification book and do not forget to practice conservation and return fish to the water whenever boundaries are reached.

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