Chinook Salmon ( King Salmon )

Chinook Salmon Parr.

A Bronte Creek Chinook Salmon.

What a Chinook Salmon looks like:

• Elongated, moderately deep-bodied fish;
• Blue or green back;
• Silvery side;
• White belly;
• Spotted tail;
• Black mouth and gums;
• Leading ray on anal fin extends 1/3 the length of the fin;
• Short, narrow caudal peduncle (where body and tail join).

A Chinook Salmon’s Size:

• Length: 30-100 centimetres (12-39 inches);
• Weight: 3.1-6.8 kilograms (7-15 pounds);
• Ontario record: 21 kilograms (46.4 pounds).

A Chinook Salmon from a Lake Ontario Eastern Tributary.

Where Chinook Salmon are found:

Chinook salmon in Ontario spend most of the year in the cold waters of the Great Lakes return to tributary streams to spawn.

Chinook Salmon Habitat:

Chinook salmon in Ontario gather at the mouth of rivers in the late summer and early fall before migrating upstream to spawn.

A Credit River Chinook Salmon.

Chinook Salmon Angling Tips:

• Strong fighter, popular with anglers for its size;
• Extremely light-sensitive, so unlikely to feed on the surface;
• Usually stop feeding once they move upstream in fall, but are aggressive and territorial and will hit lures in defense — try rattle baits, spinners and plugs;
• Downrigging and trolling work best when fishing in the Great Lakes;
• Troll deep with plugs, spoons and live or dead bait;
• Still-fish in moderately deep water using live, salted or fresh-cut herring.

An Early Lake Huron Chinook Salmon on the Centerpin Float Rod.

Common baits:

Lake Fishing: Plugs, spoons, trolling flies, live or dead bait.

River Fishing: Spawn, spoons, spinners, flies, and beads.

Chinook Salmon Habits:

The streams in which spawning takes place are of large size and good flow, probably correlated with the size of the fish, since the spring salmon usually range in size from 16 to 30 lb.

Spawning takes place in the fall, from mid-September to mid-November, at a temperature range, approximately, from 10°C. to 3°C.

Broad, shallow nests or redds, two to four feet wide, are dug in the gravel by the female in fairly deep, fast-flowing water.

By the movements of her body, the female loosens the gravel, which piles up behind the excavation, which may vary in
depth.

Mating occurs over the pit of the nest.

A Spey caught Chinook Salmon Release.

Milt from the male and eggs from the female are discharged at the same time, and fertilization of the eggs takes place as they fall to the bottom of the nest.

In the nest there are successive layers of gravel and eggs, which are usually buried to a depth of one foot, but with the shifting of the gravel in winter, this depth may be increased.

It is the gravel that is loosened in front of the excavation that is used to cover the eggs.

The average number of eggs laid by a single female is about 5,000 and these may be deposited in several nests.