Salmon Pink
name: Salmon Pink
other names: Humpback Salmon, Humpie
Pink salmon is usually about 18-24 inches long reaching an average weight of 3-5 pounds with a conical head and small eyes. Prior to spawning, the males develop a pronounced hump in front of their dorsal fin. For this reason the species is often called the humpback. Though spawning pink salmon seldom feed, some will strike at live bait in the early stages of this transformation, whereas the female changes little except in color. A steel-blue to blue-green with large black dots and silver sides characterize the coloring. A less brilliant yet similar color is in permanent freshwater pinks.
This salmon can be found in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans , the Bering and Okholsk Seas and the Sea of Japan . Young and spawning adults are found in most tributary rivers of North America and North East Asia . Adults migrate up rivers to spawn in Sep and Oct; eggs laid in gravel reds and fry emerge from Mar to May and migrate directly to estuary; may remain in tidal channels of estuary for several days but school and rear in shallow (less than 1 m) near shore water for 1-2 weeks (35-45 mm); rear in adjacent, deeper water as they grow; in July juveniles begin to migrate from inshore to ocean; make extensive ocean feeding migrations over 18 months; adults home to natal river to spawn at 2 yr, but may hold at mouth for several days or weeks before migrating upstream
The humpies feed mostly on small shrimp, squid, bait fish and other small crustaceans fry feed on epibenthos ( i.e. harpacticoid copepods) in shallow water; juveniles prey on zooplankton (copepods, barnacle larvae, euphausiid eggs and amphipods) and terrestrial insects; smolt's and adults eat euphausiids, amphipods, copepods, squid and small fish ( e.g. herring, eulachon).
From June to September adults can be found migrating from the sea into freshwater anywhere from 40 to 300 miles upstream. Spawning takes place from mid-July to late October. The female prepares the nest or red where she lays and average of 1500-1900 orange-red colored eggs. She guards her nest as long as able but the spawning adults die in a few days or weeks. Hatching occurs from late December to late February. The average life span of a pink salmon is two years; generally they return to the river they were hatched in to spawn
Since pinks are relatively small salmon, small baits and lures are most effective. The safest rule for color is simple - use pink for pink. Small pink spoons and hoochies are productive in salt and fresh water. Small spinners are also effective. A small tuft of pink yarn will produce dozens of pink salmon per day during peak runs in British Columbia streams and rivers. Pink or red is also the best for fly colors. One of the favourite methods of angling for pinks is to wade from shore and there is a definite technique to this. Slow retrieves are the key, and when you combine slow retrieves with the soft takes of these fish, it makes the strikes almost undetectable sometimes. It feels much like hooking into floating weed and knowledgeable anglers always set the hook at the first sign of resistance. They end up setting the hook into a lot of weeds but they also hook into a lot of salmon. A sure-fire method for catching pinks is the jig-fly combination. Just tie a small pink jig on your line, then tie a four to six-inch leader on the line about 10 inches above the jig. At the end of this leader, tie a small wet fly. Pinks that manage to turn down the jig presentation will be unable to resist the fly.
