Salmon Chum
name: Salmon Chum
other names: Dog Salmon, Autumn Salmon, Calico Salmon
Ocean fresh chum salmon are metallic greenish-blue on the dorsal surface (top) with fine black speckles. They are difficult to distinguish from sockeye and Coho salmon without examining their gills or caudal fin scale patterns. Chums have fewer but larger gillrakers than other salmon. After nearing fresh water, however, the chum salmon changes colour-particularly noticeable are vertical bars of green and purple, which give them the common name, calico salmon. The males develop the typical hooked snout of Pacific salmon and very large teeth which partially account for their other name of dog salmon. The females have a dark horizontal band along the lateral line; their green and purple vertical bars are not so obvious. They are known for their fierce strikes and powerful runs and are a thrill to catch for both spin and fly fishermen alike.
Chum like all Salmon spend their adult life at sea. Juveniles spend time up stream until the parr are large enough to travel down stream into the sea. Although normally found in small coastal streams, chum, like other salmon perform great feats of physical effort in reaching their mating waters. During ocean migration, salmon travel distances as great as 35 miles per day, and, once in their home river, may swim over 10 miles upstream each day.
Chum salmon will feed on small fish, squid, plankton, crustaceans, and crab larvae while at sea. They will stop feeding once the spawning run starts and they enter fresh water.
Females lay 2,000 to 4,000 eggs in stream beds during the November to January period. Hatching as yolk-dependent fry two months later, young chum remain within the gravel until emerging as fry in spring. At this time chum migrate immediately to the ocean and rear in calm bays in May and June. Schools of two inch chum roam the smooth waters hazing the surface with the splash of their delicate bodies. This jumping behaviour distinguishes them from many other newly-hatched fish species, herring for instance.
Chum Salmon fight extremely hard and very fast therefore tackle required needs to match the size of fish. There are various methods to fish for these salmon to many to mention. Contact us and one of our guides will help with your tackle selection dependant on your fishing location.
