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[halcyonguitars]

I'm going for pink, coho, and/or chinook, which I've done my best to bone up on for identifying.

What other mystery fish might be encountered?

[Knnn]

Rainbow
Steelhead smolt
Moldy Sockeye (probably mostly gone by now)
Bull Trout/Dolly Varden
Cutthroat?

[halcyonguitars]

Eek.

I think I will recognize what I'm fishing for. The first doe pink I caught a few weeks ago freaked me out cause it was green and I'd only seen them silver from FC.

Dang fish, why can't they come with labels?

[Fish Assassin]

Chum

[Sandman]

Chum

Yes, lots of chum.

[halcyonguitars]

Will the chum likely be silver or green? Those guys once they turn colors are very recognizable. Are they good eats?

[Canuck]

Will the chum likely be silver or green? Those guys once they turn colors are very recognizable. Are they good eats?

I've personally never tried a chum but from what I've heard they're terrible. I've heard people call them dog fish before because the only thing that they're good for is to feed to your dog. They put up a really good fight though!

[Animal Chin]

Will the chum likely be silver or green? Those guys once they turn colors are very recognizable. Are they good eats?

By the time they get to the Vedder, they're pretty colored up. You'll know a chum when you run into one. As for eats... they're fine if you get a fresh one (silver with barely visible stripes). Just not a whole lot of flavor.

For those who don't like the taste of salmon, chum would be a good bet. Cook it in a recipe with lots of added flavor. Beer batter, fish and chips, pan fried with butter etc? They're great smoked. Ideally it would be a clean one, but you could get away with a slightly colored one if it has a white belly and you're going to smoke it. 

All else being equal, a male is better table fare IMO.  Handle your fish, especially with pinks, properly (bleed well, on ice or cooled in timely manner) and the flesh should remain decently firm. Pinks go soft really quick because of the warmer weather. Chums in freshwater just look toxic..haha.

[halcyonguitars]

Thanks. Lots of folk say pink is no good either, but I find it tasty, just not super salmony tasting,even less so from fish water. Haven't noticed a degradation in texture from freezing either.

[Noahs Arc]

Quite a few will keep a doe chum for the roe and toss the carcass back in the water. Not sure how desperate for roe one needs to be to do that but if you can find a clean one they're fine in the smoker.
Us west coasters are just spoiled by the other salmon species (that used) to be more abundant.

[swimmingwiththefishes]

IMO coho roe works just as well for steelhead and way better eating so load up then and enjoy eating them as well.

As was mentioned earlier Chums are good eating when fresh from the saltchuck otherwise gnarly.

[Burbot]

Chum are great in the smoker. So are whitefish for that matter too.

[Sandman]

Chum are fine tasting but, like pink, they turn quite quickly once they enter fresh water. That said, you can get fresh ones in the lower Vedder/Sumas River.  This one was caught as the pink run was wrapping up one year.

[halcyonguitars]

Nice...

Got skunked today though...

[mojo7]

Moldy Sockeye (probably mostly gone by now)

Not necessarily moldy sockeye. Caught a chrome sock by the Sardis bridge. It was most likely a Cultus sockeye. They're an endangered  run so if you encounter one handle it with great care.