King salmon

Okanagan · August 07, 2008, 09:36:05 PM

Got distracted from calling critters last week by the fins side of life. Didn't take many pics but below are a couple of grab shots of releasing king salmon.

FinsnFur · August 07, 2008, 10:08:29 PM

The Fins side of life :roflmao: dat's what I'm talkin bout

Nicely worded Okanagan

Now about that Salmon...holy cow! :shck: That thing looks like it's mouth is big enough to fit two hands in.
Nice catch

Coulter · August 08, 2008, 06:45:01 AM

Very nice...is that Okanagan as in Okanagan, WA?

Steve

Okanagan · August 08, 2008, 10:27:47 AM

Quote from: Coulter on August 08, 2008, 06:45:01 AM
Very nice...is that Okanagan as in Okanagan, WA?

Steve

Yes, only the spelling is the Canuck side, where I used to live.

Jim, thanks. I like the fins & fur combo, great name for this place. The two keep life in balance.

Coulter · August 08, 2008, 11:18:06 AM

Cool...I had a friend that moved there years ago. He was a big fly-fisherman, I haven't talked to him for a long time though.

Those pics make me want to head up to Lake Ontario

Steve

cb223 · August 09, 2008, 10:21:59 PM

Nice fish!

How come it is pink? We catch what are called Kings in Lake Michigan, they are bright silver until they run up the river to spawn. Then they turn black.

Okanagan · August 10, 2008, 04:16:35 AM

Quote from: cb223 on August 09, 2008, 10:21:59 PM
Nice fish!

How come it is pink? We catch what are called Kings in Lake Michigan, they are bright silver until they run up the river to spawn. Then they turn black.

Kings, also called spring salmon, tyee and blackmouth, are more properly named Chinook salmon I think. They are silver in salt water with a darker back and gorgeous yellow and purple spots that disappear within minutes when they die. As they get closer to spawning, as you say, they change color and the jaw on the males curves into a bit of beak shape. The ones I've seen tend to get more green on the back at first, and begin with a copper tint on the sides that gets more pink and then red while the belly and back get darker and darker, grey and then black. In each river system the fish turn color at different rates and sometimes slightly different tones, though by the end they are usually red and black and some lose the red as you say.

So I have caught Chinook that were already quite dark, red and black, in salt water off the mouth of a river that had less than a mile of spawning channel a salmon could swim up. And I have caught silver ones with sea lice still on them nearly 60 miles upriver from salt water in big rivers like the Fraser and Columbia, where some of them will travel hundreds of miles further up river before they spawn. The fish we caught last week were way upriver from salt water and were turning color. Some were kind of a greyish with pink sides and some were further along, red and black. I've never fished for them in the Great lakes but the pics I've seen looked like the most purely silver Chinook I've ever seen, lighter/whiter than bright, uncolored Pacific fish in salt water.

These fish were in Alaska. Here's a photo of the only one we kept. It was the brightest, least darkly colored fish we caught. Flattering pic as the fish is being held out slightly to the camera, but it is a nice one, 32 lbs.

Hawks Feather · August 10, 2008, 01:05:21 PM

That is an awesome looking fish. While I am not the biggest fish eater, the salmon that I had in Alaska was EXCELLENT. I had tried it here a few times and it is NOT the same - even thought it was billed as "fresh Alaskan salmon."

Jerry

Okanagan · August 11, 2008, 12:06:42 PM

Quote from: Hawks Feather on August 10, 2008, 01:05:21 PM
That is an awesome looking fish. While I am not the biggest fish eater, the salmon that I had in Alaska was EXCELLENT. I had tried it here a few times and it is NOT the same - even thought it was billed as "fresh Alaskan salmon."

Jerry

My wife will eat really FRESH unfrozen king, sockeye or coho salmon, nothing else when it comes to salmon. Fresh means caught yesterday at the longest if it was iced immediately, and caught an hour ago is preferred. The best salmon I've ever tasted (with two individual fish exceptions) has been BIG kings from the Kenai River, 60 lbs. and up. The second best is any sockeye (red) salmon still silver bright in salt water or not far upriver.

The two exceptions were kings caught a few years apart. One was caught in salt water on Hein Bank, WA waters, and the other was in the lower Fraser River, BC. The second one appeared to be some kind of sexless mutation. Each of those fish, about 22 lbs. had fabulous, almost sweetish flavored reddish orange meat, noticeably better than excellent normal salmon, attested by several experienced salmon tasters from two families.

For a long term diet, I'll take halibut, but for one zinger meal, make it fresh unfrozen salmon. Gonna settle for cod fish & chips today.

Hawks Feather · August 11, 2008, 04:08:39 PM

O.K. now I am hungry for Halibut and am going to a place tomorrow night that will have some. I guess it won't take long for me to order.

Jerry