What did I catch?

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Anadromous

• Feb 25, 2021

Hello all. I have been fishing streams for trout since I was a teenager, and am now a recent convert to the pursuit of steelhead.
This the first large fish I caught when targeting steelhead. I was in a rush to release this fish, and didn't really give much thought that it could be anything but a steelhead. I did notice that the roof of the mouth was white when I removed the hook. I pulled up the picture on my phone and am now wondering if this could be a chinook or coho.
Can anyone offer an opinion?

 

Admin

• Feb 25, 2021

Whatever it is, congratulations! Nice catch. )

 

troutdude

• Feb 25, 2021

Good on you for quickly releasing that fish!

White mouth/jaw = Coho.

 

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Pni_fisherdude

• Feb 25, 2021

Chinook 100%

 

Admin

• Feb 25, 2021

I have no idea but will say steelhead just to cover all the options.

 

TheKnigit

• Feb 25, 2021

I am in the Chinook boat also.

 

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Anadromous

• Feb 25, 2021

I never looked a chinook in the mouth before and I expected the roof of the mouth to be black, hence my confusion, but I do think it looks like a chinook. Thank you for the replies!

 

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BrandonBeach

• Feb 25, 2021

Jack Chinook

 

Irishrover

• Feb 25, 2021

Chinook based on the that back. The black mouth is variable as they age and it's the gum line that needs to be black. I dug up an old picture of two chinook from B-10. One is a up river fish on the other a lower river fish. The lower river fish was loosing the distinctive black jaw line. Just my humble opinion.

 

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jamisonace

• Feb 25, 2021

Chinook jack

 

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Chrisd1990

• Feb 26, 2021

Definitely a chinook jack. 100% not a steelhead or coho. Doesn't matter what the mouth looks like. Its a male and the coloring would be very different if it was a coho jack.

 

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supertodd

• Feb 26, 2021

Chinook

 

copperjohn

• Feb 26, 2021

king salmon

 

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cchinook

• Feb 27, 2021

Jack , nook .

 

Grant22

• Feb 27, 2021

Anadromous said:

Can anyone offer an opinion?

Click to expand...

The white gums is a sign that it is a coho but that fish is 100% a chinook. Usually black gums=chinook and white gums=coho but their colors get messed up and distorted when they start spawning and after they spawn. Chinooks have much larger spots than coho do.

 

brandon4455

• Mar 5, 2021

Jacks can be tricky, I’ve seen some odd ones. That fish is definitely a chinook you can see the black gums in the bottom jaw, but I’ve caught many small/ jack cohos that color up a bit different than you’d typically see on adult fish and similar to that chinook. Always check the gum line. Not the actual mouth of the fish but the gum line. And of course whenever in doubt, just let it swim.

Here’s a small coho I caught late November. You can see the white gum line