Mystery Fish Contest #1 Result
Answer: Sockeye Salmon
The mystery fish species in our December 2011 mystery fish species contest is sockeye salmon. Because we did not specify where the fish was caught, we also accepted kokanee as a correct answer. Kokanee is the landlocked form of sockeye salmon.
There are several key features used to identify this fish. The slightly red body and green head show that it is the start of the spawning phase of a Pacific salmon. The absence of spots along its body and tail suggests that it is a sockeye salmon. This is a sockeye salmon caught in the Harrison River, a large tributary of the Lower Fraser River in British Columbia.
Out of 309 entries, 159 contest participants (51%) submitted the correct answer. The most common incorrect answer (42% of all entries) is pink salmon, or male pink salmon. While a male pink salmon has a hump back like this fish, pink salmon have large oval spots along their back and across their tail.
The winner of this contest is Josh Howat, who will receive a pack of six Rooster Tails from Yakima Bait Company! Rooster Tails are excellent spinners for both trout and salmon. They come in ten different sizes and hundreds of different colour patterns. Check out our recent video on catching bull trout with these lures.