Chum Salmon
If you find a salmon with rusty red and blue streaks that seem to drip up from its belly--the 'calico' pattern that gave this fish another one of its names--then identification is easy. These colors typically appear when the salmon arrive for breeding, and there's a good chance that is what they will look like if you catch one in freshwater.
While they are in the ocean, though, chum salmon are bright silver and can be hard to differentiate from other species. In that case, a lack of black spots is the key to identification. If they do not have any spots on their body, dorsal, or caudal fins, then you can be fairly sure you have a chum salmon
Chum salmon typically do not travel far up the freshwater rivers to spawn. They are, however, one of the most abundant salmon in the Pacific Northwest, ranging from Oregon's Tillamook Bay to the Arctic Circle. Find a not-too-degraded stream or estuary some time in October (earlier at the higher latitudes) and you've got a good chance of seeing groups of these fish getting ready to spawn.
There may be more information on these fish in the forums, trip reports, and other posts. Click here.
Oncorhynchus keta
