What Anglers Need To Know About Salmon Fishing Species Differentiation

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What Anglers Need To Know About Salmon Fishing Species Differentiation

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

For most novice fishermen or women one of the hardest parts about salmon fishing is being able to obviously identify which particular kind of salmon that they have caught. Since fishing laws are based on species it is extremely important that you can tell each from the other to prevent being in violation of the license and most likely facing fines or even more serious outcomes. Learning about salmon fishing and assorted species is not too difficult, and the general outlines provided below should be all that is required to spot the salmon species.

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

Chinook - it is important to recollect when speaking 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 small, 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 could be wine colored or even a very brilliant red. The cover of the gills will be extraordinarily reddish throughout the year.

Chum - one of the less common salmon it is important to understand about salmon fishing this species to be successful. They will generally not move far inland and will stay close to salt water. Buddy is the second biggest 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 pronounced set of teeth.

Sockeye - this salmon is awfully red in color and may sometimes be mistaken for the Coho due to the coloration. Sockeye spend up to two 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 outline they are almost identical the Sockeye, being red in color and males having the dorsal hump.

When learning about 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 limits are reached.

If you enjoy cooking and making food, visit cooking101.org for more recipe and guides on how to cook quality meals. Along the way, you might want to check out recipe for bourbon salmon.

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