Excellent and informative video. Thank you for covering this topic.
I have always thought the same, and cannot understand why they are so underrated when they are relatively easy to catch and put up a very strong fight. An excellent beginners fish.
I wonder if the prejudice against this fish is entirely due to the perception of the value of the meat? Because of the commercial harvesting to obtain the eggs, the flesh is, as you mentioned, sold off as pet food. I have often heard the expression, "I would not even feed my pet dog chum salmon". This may have resulted in the perception that this is all the meat is good for. Also many angles catch other salmon such as sockeye, coho and early springs which have a very pleasing colour, while chum flesh is very pale in comparison. As a consequence, anglers are spoiled for choice and will tend to reject and may look down on Chum because of the other species.
When I started fishing in the lower mainland about 7 years ago, the perception that Chum meat is not as good as other salmon was pervasive and I never thought to try one. Then one year I caught a fresh chum and coho on the same day and decided to have a back to back comparison with both fish served at a diner with guests. I was surprised at how good the relatively mild flavour of the chum was and even more surprised when 5 out of the 8 guest mentioned how much they enjoyed the chum in preference over the coho. The chum was prepare with a mayo, dill and lemon dressing.
Is the perception of lesser meat quality also why this fish appears to be abused most often and badly? So often you see chum dragged up onto a rocky shoreline, unhooked, photographed and finally kicked back into the water. It makes my blood boil. I recognize it could be out of fear, due to the size of the fish and those very prominent gnashers. However, even without a net they are relatively easy to tail in shin deep water and slip out a barbless hook, so there is no reason ever to need to beech a fish, unless you have decided to keep it.
Respect da Chum!
Thanks again Rod.