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Ask the Pros
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Fish
species & identification questions
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| Q: Are Dogfish
any good eating or not in your openion? Thanks. Rob |
| A: Never tried
one and never will. You let me now. Just for your information they
urinate through their skin. Capt. John |
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Q: Hi Tom, I am
wondering what the difference is between blackmouth and chinook? How
can you tell the difference? Thanks, Dale
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A: Sometimes it
is very hard to tell the difference between the two because essentially
they are the very same fish. Most of the winter blackmouth that we
catch are delayed release stock and when they migrate, if they do,
return usually smaller than Chinook that have gone north to Alaska.
Adult Chinook can usually be distinguished by larger scales and mature
eggs. Tom
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Q: John, I
have found that your sharing of information in the past has greatly helped my
fishing. So much so that I must ask you this question. I am getting different
answers from fellow fishermen. Do we have to release Chinook salmon that do not
have the clipped fin? I am catching fish in area 11 if that makes a difference.
As I read the regulations it seems that you should let them go. Some buddies
are agreeing saying that you have to let them all go, while others are saying
that is not required and they are keeping the fish. I am confused. What do you
say? Thanks in advance for your help on this! Good Fishing, Marty
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A: Marty,
You may retain up to two Chinook per day per angler fin clipped or not in Area
11. Capt. John
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Q: John, I
recently went fishing for coho up in area 9. I was trolling off of point no
point. I was watching people drag them in off of the bank left and right. I
caught about 6 or 7 juvenile kings in the 5-8 pound range but caught no silvers
to speak of. All of the fish I caught had a black tongue and black gums. So my
question is this, am I using the wrong tackle? I was using squid with a flasher
(pink,green and blue and blue and white.) Or are these people on the bank just
pulling in kings and taking them home as silvers? Or did I keep throwing back
good size silvers? I went today on Sept, 9. Thanks for such a great site.
Stan
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A: Stan,
what you're describing is a blackmouth or king salmon and you were right in
releasing it unharmed. My best guess is you were either fishing too deep or
trolling too slow. Coho like a fast trolled bait. Try picking up your speed to
3 MPH and you might try a Silver Horde Sonic Edge spoon 40 inches behind your
flasher. Capt. John
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Q: Hi john,
I love your web site. Here's my question. Had lunch today along the Cedar river
and noticed a large number if fairly large fish in the river as if they are
spawning. They can't be salmon and probably not trout so what the heck are
they. Maybe squawfish or carp. If they are squawfish from lake Washington
wouldn't it be a good idea to catch them as is being done on the Columbia
river. I should tell also that I saw this run > of fish in the Cedar river
last spring as well. Thanks. Ps. We are > talking about the river in
downtown Renton by Williams street bridge. Keijo Hyvonen
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A: Keijo,
The fish you see are squawfish. They come into the river every spring to eat
the sockeye smolt. They actually follow the smolt all the way to the Ballard
Locks. Because of their extremely fast digestive tracts, they often don't even
fully digest the smolt. As long as there are a great number of smolt available,
they eat almost non-stop. This has been a problem in the Cedar River for my
entire lifetime. The WA State Fisheries Dept. has refused time and time again
to address the issue. The only reason you are paid to catch squawfish in the
Columbia River is because the power companies are working to recover the salmon
in that river. However, there is no real effort to recover salmon or steelhead
in the Cedar. It's true that sportsmen could help a great deal by catching and
killing these squawfish but that suggestion has been rejected time and time
again. By the way, it's no longer politically correct to refer to these fish as
Squawfish. There are now known as Northern Pike Minnows. Tom Nelson
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