Know Your Fish -
Chinook Salmon
Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus
tshawytscha)
Ocean Phase
Identification Characteristics:
Typical silvery sides common to all Pacific
salmon
Bluish-green on the back
White to silvery-white on the belly
Many black spots on head, top of back, and
entire dorsal
BOTH upper and lower part of tail fin have
spots
Few spots on fins
Inside of mouth and gums are dark gray to
black.
Spawning Phase
Identification Characteristics:
Olive brown to dark brown in color, almost
black on back and sides
Males develop typical hooked
snout
Identification
Characteristics:
Olive brown to dark brown in color, almost
black on back and sides
Many spots on it's back
Few spots on fins
BOTH upper and lower part of tail fin have
spots
Lower gum line is black
Records:
Range in length from 24 to 60 inches
Freshwater record: 68.26 lbs, Mark Salmon,
Elochoman River, Wahkiakum Co., 10/5/92
Saltwater record: 70.50 lbs, Chet Gausta,
Sekiu, Clallum Co., 9/6/64
First and foremost
among salmon-fishing trophies is, of course, the chinook.
Chinook are the largest of the Pacific salmon, occasionally
growing to over 5 feet and 120 pounds, which is part of the
reason for their nickname, king salmon. They are the largest
of the species and they also live the longest. They are also
commonly referred to as "blackmouth" because of the black gum
line that anglers use to help identify them. However, the term
"blackmouth" is generally reserved for immature feeder chinook
resident in Puget Sound.
Chinook may be found migrating
upriver almost any month of the year, but they favor the
spring and fall. Their life in the ocean is not as firmly set
as the other species of salmon and mature chinook can range
from three to eight years of age. The majority are four to
five years old when they spawn and range in weight from 15 to
40 pounds. Some monster fish have been caught in both the
commercial, 120 pounds, and sports fisheries, 70
pounds.
Although the biggest saltwater kings are caught
in summer and early fall when mature salmon move toward
freshwater spawning grounds, Washington offers saltwater
chinook fishing all year long. Productive saltwater fishing
techniques for chinook include trolling or mooching (drifting)
with herring, jigging with any of several baitfish-imitating
metal jigs, or trolling with plugs, spoons, plastic squid, or
other artificial lures. Fishing near the bottom is often the
key to success.
Besides the well-known saltwater
chinook fisheries that exist on the coast, in the Strait of
Juan de Fuca, the San Juan Islands, and Puget Sound, chinook
also provide some great freshwater angling action. Spring and
fall chinook fisheries in the Cowlitz, Lewis and other coastal
rivers around Forks, Washington, including the Hoh,
Quillayute, and Sol Duc, are very popular with anglers.
Freshwater chinook-fishing techniques are similar to those
used for steelhead, except most anglers prefer heavier tackle
for these bruisers. Chinook are not easily seen in their
spawning grounds because they normally choose deeper spawning
waters. Unlike the other Pacific salmon (coho, chum, pink, and
sockeye), their body shape does not change much during
spawning. Their color generally turns from the bright silver
of ocean life to a dark brown, or almost a black, when they
enter fresh water for spawning.
For more information
about Washington State's game fish you can download these PDF
files: Pacific salmon identification (1446KB), trout and
salmon identification (560KB), and selected game fish
(2553KB). To read these files you will need the free Adobe
Acrobat PDF Reader that you can obtain from Adobe's PDF Reader
web page.
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