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Chinook Salmon
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha |
Adult male in spawning colors (below), non-spawning female above.
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RON PITTARD GRAPHICS
TEXT BY DENNIS BITTON
There's a reason experienced chinook fishermen call
their quarry king salmon. They get big . These are the
largest of all the pacific salmon species. They spend
more time in the ocean than any other pacific salmon,
and they feed on baitfish like herring, eulachon, and
mackerel--not on tiny shrimp and plankton like some of
their smaller cousins.
About a decade ago, a 63-pound king was taken with a fly
rod in Oregon. The all-tackle record fish is 97 pounds.
Fish weighing 40-50 pounds are still taken quite
regularly in Alaska and British Columbia. Tales of
broken tippets, broken rods, and broken hearts abound
among any group of fly fishers who have fished for them.
The proverbial "there's fishing and there's catching"
phrase certainly applies to chinook salmon. Hooking up
is no guarantee of bringing this largest of all the
Pacific salmon to hand. Their brute strength, especially
fresh from the sea, is astounding. Native American boys
used to try to wrestle spawners to shore in high
mountain creeks -- and usually lost.
Chinook Salmon are the largest, most powerful member of
the Pacific salmon family. They sometimes travel more
than 2,000 miles upriver to reach their spawning
grounds, making a fresh "king" hooked at tidewater a
formidable quarry.
Mother Nature has used her eons to guarantee the
species' survival. Nearly every month of the year, there
are some kings in waters between northern California and
any ice-free waters in Alaska. Unfortunately, some of
mankind's activities in the last 100 years have
circumvented the original flow of waters, polluted
streams, destroyed spawning habitat and erected
impassable dams. Only their original proliferation
(which supported entire cultures) has prevented them
from becoming extinct. In some streams, too many
streams, they already are. In the Columbia River basin
alone, chinook salmon have disapeared completely from 95
streams.
There are remanant runs of chinook salmon in California,
Oregon, and Washington (many are listed as threatened)
but the most prolific chinook fisheries remaining today
are in British Columbia and especially Alaska. The
Kenai, Alagnak, and Kenektok rivers are among the best
rivers in the world. Chinook salmon have also been
planted in New York state streams with considerable
success, and fly fishers in states near the Great Lakes
have enjoyed fishing for kings and steelhead for
decades.
In their native environs, chinook salmon enter the
rivers from June to September to spawn. Fresh-run fish
caught close to the ocean on a high tide are the most
sought-after fish. These "chromers" will have a dark
back, white belly, and be predominantly silver along the
sides. As the fish begin to sexually mature and move
upstream, they turn dark red, or almost black. Mature
chinook salmon have a black coloration around the inside
of their mouths and gums, and are often called
blackmouth salmon.
Chinook salmon have more nicknames than any other
species of salmon--perhaps becuase they can be caught
over such a wide expanse of territory and their size and
appearance is often so diverse. Canadians use three
distinct names for chinook based on size. Big chinook,
weighing up to 40 pounds or more, are called tyee, or
sometimes spring salmon. The smallest chinooks, weighing
from two to eight pounds, are called jack salmon. These
immature fish are often caught at sea, but sometimes run
up the rivers with spawning fish. Chinook weighing less
than tyees and more than jacks are called king salmon.
King salmon usually seek out the deepest slots on the
river for their upstream migrations and resting. The
most successful fly anglers use heavy grain lines (300
to 500 grains) and large, heavily weighted flies. To
cast these flies and lines, and to play the fish
properly, at least an 8-weight rods is required. On many
rivers in Alasak, where typical kings runs from 30-50
pounds, a 10-weight is recomended.
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