Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: knotbadman on October 17, 2021, 04:35:11 PM
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Are there hatchery (clipped) sockeye in Nicomen Slough or just clipped coho?
I am losing sleep regarding a hatchery fish I kept. White gums, clipped adipose fin.
I honestly wasn't even thinking about sockeye but then I noticed a lack of spots after I bonked it.
I submitted the head so I guess, I'll find out.
I am such a rule follower and thought I was pretty good at identifying my catches.
Thanks in advance for any info.
No need to beat me up if this was a sockeye, I'll beat myself up enough for everyone.
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Caught a hatchery chinook from the Cap last month. A first for me.
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Are there hatchery (clipped) sockeye in Nicomen Slough or just clipped coho?
I am losing sleep regarding a hatchery fish I kept. White gums, clipped adipose fin.
I honestly wasn't even thinking about sockeye but then I noticed a lack of spots after I bonked it.
I submitted the head so I guess, I'll find out.
I am such a rule follower and thought I was pretty good at identifying my catches.
Thanks in advance for any info.
No need to beat me up if this was a sockeye, I'll beat myself up enough for everyone.
That could easily be a stray Cultus Lake sockeye, they have been known to show up in strange places. Some Cultus fish are reared at the Inch Creek Hatchery so some imprinting could have occurred.
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(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51601072683_0215843758_b.jpg)
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they raise some sockeye at Inch creek I believe. There are no native sockeye there and usually by now they will be red with the green head.However coho will have white gums but a black tongue. They do have spots, particularly on the back and the top of the tail. Maybe it was an usually silvery chum? Don't stress out over it.
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looks coho to me
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Both of those fish in the photo are coho. So if one of those fish was the 'sockeye" then you just have a misidentification. I've seen lots of coho ( and chinook ) with either no spots or very few so there are always exceptions to the general rules on identification.
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(https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58ad386f1b10e36e94f1c75f/1508371758400-S4NEP8T9A2ON710Z4YNH/sockeye_web.jpg?format=750w)
Thanks for the feedback. I waffled back and forth all day as my main concern was just the lack of spots. But then I saw the picture above here: https://www.bcsalmon.ca/five-species
and that picture of a sockeye looks remarkably like the bottom of my 2 fish. Mainly the size of the scales and the lean look.
I used to catch lots of sockeye when I grew up in Port Alberni but that was 35 years ago.
So I started to question myself.
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the lower fish is a chum
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the lower fish is a chum
Are you talking about the photo with the two fish in it? They're both coho...
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the lower fish is a chum
They both are cohos.
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No spots? No coho!
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Are you being serious? lol...
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Some people need to bone up on their fish identification.
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Are you talking about the photo with the two fish in it? They're both coho...
Coho
Latin Name: Oncorhynchus kisutch
Other Common Names: Silver, Medium-red (when canned)
Average Commercial Weight: 2 kg – 5.5 kg (4 lbs – 12 lbs)
Average Commercial Size: 56 cm – 66 cm (22 inches - 26 inches)
Life Cycle: 3 years
Migration: Adult coho usually return to fresh water between late summer and early fall. Most choose streams close to the ocean, although some will journey as far as 1,500 kilometres (932 miles) inland. Young coho fry are different than the other salmon species as they stay in their spawning stream for a full year after they emerge from the gravel.
Outer Appearance
White gums
Spots above lateral line and on upper lobe
Thick caudal
Silver colour adjacent to caudal
Flesh Colour: Vibrant reddish-orange colour is maintained when cooked
Flavour: Moderately full and versatile
Texture: Firm and fine textured
Suggested Cooking Methods:
Bake
Broil
Grill
Poach
Sauté
Chum (Keta)
Latin Name: Oncorhynchus keta
Other Common Names: Silver-bright, Keta (when canned)
Average Commercial Weight: 3.5 kg (8 lbs)
Average Commercial Size: 56 cm – 66 cm (22 inches – 26 inches)
Life Cycle: 3 – 5 years
Migration: Chum salmon generally spawn in late fall and usually in the lower tributaries along the coast, rarely more than 150 kilometres (93 miles) inland. Fry emerge in the spring and go directly to sea.
Outer Appearance
Dark metallic blue-green back with silver sides and belly
Develop dark vertical bars called watermarks on their sides as they mature and migrate to fresh water
Large pupil
Large mouth with maxillary extending behind the eye
No spots on the back, dorsal fin or tail
Narrow caudal
13 – 17 anal rays
the lower fish has no spots and the maxillary extends behind the eye while the upper fish has spots and the maxillary does not extend past the eye. I can't count the anal fun rays. How about you?
Do you like a Gershwin tune?
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I'm a little surprised lol...
Ok, what are these?
(https://i.imgur.com/1UbL1kl.jpg)
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That's a photo from your Knight inlet trip? I was just looking for it.
Upper coho, lower chum. Chum have a bigger dorsal fin and thinner caudal wrist. In this photo you can really notice the difference in the maxillary length.
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Yes but . . . white gums and clipped adipose fin. There aren't any hatchery (clipped) chum are there?
And the flesh was very red/orange. (Tasted great for dinner)
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No spots on coho is common in the ocean in port hardy. Caught plenty that have no spots.
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Some people need to bone up on their fish identification.
Yup!
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Both those fish are definetly coho . If you are still indoubt drop head sample of at a hatchery and ask them todo a identification
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No spots on coho is common in the ocean in port hardy. Caught plenty that have no spots.
i caught a coho in Norrish Creek with spots on the entire tail. it wasn't heavily spotted but they were there! there is some individual variation.
I would bet that the coho you caught in PH had spots but were all but invisible. Just like the lower fish in knotbadman's photo. If that fish were a clipped chum it would be quite a unicorn.
Actually what people are pointing out is not that I can't properly identify a fish - that people will have that experience from time to time is almost as common as dirt - it's that the common methods of identifying species is not infallible.
I have also caught fish that I had no idea what they were other than I was pretty sure it was a species of Pacific Salmon though I wasn't sure what species.
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Both those fish are definetly coho . If you are still indoubt drop head sample of at a hatchery and ask them todo a identification
re-read the his first post. He did that.
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i caught a coho in Norrish Creek with spots on the entire tail. it wasn't heavily spotted but they were there! there is some individual variation.
I would bet that the coho you caught in PH had spots but were all but invisible. Just like the lower fish in knotbadman's photo. If that fish were a clipped chum it would be quite a unicorn.
Actually what people are pointing out is not that I can't properly identify a fish - that people will have that experience from time to time is almost as common as dirt - it's that the common methods of identifying species is not infallible.
I have also caught fish that I had no idea what they were other than I was pretty sure it was a species of Pacific Salmon though I wasn't sure what species.
I find on the ones that look like they have no spots there’s usually some very faint spotting on the upper loab of the tail.
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That’s ok. Even geniuses make mistakes too.
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I don't know any geniuses, just schmucks like you & me. :D
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It looks to me like Ralph identified Rodneys fish correctly with the added note that the pupil in the lower fish is very big. For the original fish I am in the 2 coho camp
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No spots? No coho!
That’s a coho in the first picture by the original poster. Admit your wrong dude.
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That’s a coho in the first picture by the original poster. Admit your wrong dude.
LOL! I have been and will be in future wrong about a lot of things, no problems there 'DUDE'. It is a coho.
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Okay, I am feeling much better about keeping this fish. It is a good reminder to brush up on species identification for those times when you find an anomaly. I now feel like I have a few more tools in my pocket when I am confirming that my coho, is in fact, a coho. Unlike the calm, unmoving fish in Rod's videos, mine all seem to be thrashing around in the net when I am trying to identify them. I used to use a "clipped adipose, white gums, bonk!" sort of process. Now I'll add a look for spots and maxillary length.
Funny thing is that I've never had any trouble identifying species before but I think you all got insight into my paranoia around breaking the rules that had me wondering if my spotless salmon with red flesh was a hatchery sockeye.
As always, I appreciate the wisdom and support on this board.
Back to Nicomen on Wednesday, I think.
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Props to your integrity, knotbadman. It takes courage to 'fess up about a potential mistake on a fishing site and ask for advice.
Maybe it's a thing with that system, but I've caught Norrish coho too with little to no spots on upper third of the caudal fin and had to do a double or triple check to make sure of my ID.
If they were both hatchery sockeye though, I'd be buying a lottery ticket :)
Keep up the good work. Cheers