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[Rodney]

I'm a little surprised lol...

Ok, what are these?

[RalphH]

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.

[knotbadman]

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)

[wildmanyeah]

No spots on coho is common in the ocean in port hardy. Caught plenty that have no spots.

[Dave]

Some people need to bone up on their fish identification.

Yup!

[tuna]

Both those fish are definetly coho . If you are still indoubt drop  head  sample of at a hatchery and ask them todo a identification 

[RalphH]

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.

[RalphH]

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.

[wildmanyeah]

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.

[Rodney]

That’s ok. Even geniuses make mistakes too.

[RalphH]

I don't know any geniuses, just schmucks like you & me. 

[fishdreamer]

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

[Wiseguy]

No spots? No coho!

That’s a coho in the first picture by the original poster. Admit your wrong dude.

[RalphH]

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.

[knotbadman]

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.