Mailbag: What Fish is This?
Hey folks,
Walking along the Lake Ontario shore out in Port Union Village (south of the Rouge Hill Go Station) we discovered this rotting fish – I smelled it before I saw it.
I was thinking muskie…but my son is sure there was a dorsal fin more towards the centre of the body, so we’re now thinking pike.
Your image here sort of captures that “snarling upper jawline” I saw on our images.
What do you think?
Regards
The gills, head shape and snout all immediately scream salmon to me. Definitely not of the esox family. Here is an Atlantic Salmon as an example.
Definitely a salmon. Port Union has some salmon runs too, if I remember correctly… looks like a salmon after a proper spawning
Salmon for sure. It’s hard to tell without knowing the size or the living skin colour but I would bank on it being a Chinook. I’ve seen monsters like this all along the river banks of the Humber.
*Note: KokeMachine is not a scientist.*
*Note: KokeMachine is not a scientist.*
I read this in your voice. lol
Chinook.
Chum male Salmon in river phase
I think that this fish is a Chum Salmon freshwater phase
The tooth looks really similar.
So did I, the monster truck anouncer voice that is…
HA!
“Monster truck anouncer voice”, I like that. I sometimes like to think of it as a “pro wrestler calling on another wrestler”-voice but I think monster truck announcer is even better.
Clive, are you still making those suped up spinners? I’m in need of some Christmas presents for some fishermen family members and I like the idea of custom made.
Do we have Chum salmon in lake Ontario? I thought they just stocked Chinooks, Cohos and Atlantics and then some Pink salmon somehow snuck into lake superior. I may be wrong.
This is a familiar sight in Central Washington State. Thousands of Chinook salmon return to the Upper Columbia and its tributaries here, and we have the best freshwater salmon fishing found anywhere. Well over 30,000 fish made the 500-mile journey to their home streams this year, and sport angling was excellent. Right now the steelhead fishing is good to excellent on the Upper Columbia, Methow and Wenatchee rivers. Bobber and jig fishing is the most popular method in the winter months. http://www.fishingmagician.com
I agree that it is probably a Salmon.
Yeah the mouth on that thing is a dead give away its a salmon.
If I were to make a guess without seeing the rest of its body I would say it’s a chinook salmon, not an atlantic.
I fish the salmon run every fall, and I see them every year.
Its a Chinook Salmon…period..lol..just a small jack..lots of stray Chinook Salmon and Brown and Rainbow Trout in that area.That creek is not stocked so all the fish are strays.
[…] you think you can identify this species please leave a comment! Also check out this previous mailbag species identification request. No Comments August 29, 2012 by Jonathon Marshall Filed Under: Fishing, Freshwater […]