| Chinook (King) Salmon | |
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Family: |
Salmonidae (Salmons) |
Genus and Species: |
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha |
Description: |
The body of the chinook salmon is elongate and somewhat compressed. The head is conical. The color is bluish to dark gray above, becoming silvery on the sides and belly. There are black spots on the back and on both lobes of the tail. While five species of salmon occur along the Pacific Coast, over 99% of all salmon caught in the ocean off California are either chinook or cohos. Chinook and coho salmon can be distinguished by the color of the lining of the gums at the base of the teeth. In chinook salmon, this lining is blackish, while in cohos it is white. |
Range: |
Chinook salmon occur from San Diego, California, to the Bering Sea and Japan. Generally, the fishery begins off San Luis Obispo County, California, and continues north. |
Natural History: |
Chinooks and all salmon are anadromous
that is, they spend part of their life in the ocean and then enter fresh
water to spawn. The adults spawn principally in large river systems, primarily
from the Sacramento River system north. At spawning time, male chinooks turn
very dark and usually have blotchy, dull red splotches on the sides and develops
a hooked nose. Most all chinook spawn when either 3 or 4 years of age but some, predominately males, will spawn at age 2. These precocious males are called jacks, chubs or grilse. Some rivers have large chinooks that do not spawn until 5 or 6 years old. Sacramento River female chinook salmon produce an average of 6,000 eggs each. This, however, is an unusually high number since female chinook salmon from other river systems normally average only 3,500 to 4,500 eggs each. |
Fishing Information: |
In the ocean, chinook salmon are fished principally by trolling dead bait or artificial lures. Occasionally, live bait will be used while still-fishing or drift-fishing. Chinook salmon normally stay well beneath the surface of the ocean, usually 40 to 250 feet or more and a heavy weight or downrigger is necessary to keep trolled bait at the desired depth. |
Other Common Names: |
king salmon, Sacramento River salmon, spring salmon, black mouth, Columbia River salmon, tyee. |
Largest Recorded: |
4 feet 10 inches; 126.5 pounds. |
Habitat: |
Pelagic Environment |
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