Alaska Fishing Trip Packages

By Author: Terry Johnson
Total Articles: 1

The Pacific Ocean is home to five separate salmon species, all of which can be caught in the rivers, streams, bays, inlets, and open ocean.

King Salmon

The largest of the Pacific salmon, king salmon are also the most sought after by sports as well as commercial fishermen. King salmon are the first salmon species to return to Alaskan waters after winter is over, and in most parts of the state, king salmon season begins in May and is over by the end of June. Most king salmon has creamy orange flesh, but a certain percentage are known as "white kings" and have ivory or creamed colored flesh that is often marbled with streaks of orange.

Sockeye Salmon

Famous for its vibrant, ruby-colored flesh, sockeye salmon provides the most eye appeal of the salmon species. Its tasty firm flesh is prized by locals as well as by those who live in the lower forty-eight states as well as citizens of other countries. Sockeye is a difficult fish to catch with traditional angling methods because it feeds on krill and plankton rather than on other fish, and the bait used in angling isn't appealing to them. They are most often caught by using nets.

Silver Salmon

Silver salmon has pleasantly flavored orange flesh and a shiny silver skin. Also called coho salmon, they are the salmon most often caught by visitors to Alaska who go sports fishing. They are less fatty than either sockeye or king salmon, but nonetheless are prized for their excellent taste and texture. Silver salmon is often smoked for added flavor. Other ways of enjoying silver salmon include grilling on a cedar plank, baking, broiling, poaching, and barbecuing.

Chum Salmon

The least fatty of the five Pacific salmon, chum salmon is also the least flavorful. Its cream-colored flesh bears little resemblance to vibrantly-hued sockeye or fresh, firm silver, and it's certainly nothing like rich, velvety king salmon. Nonetheless, chum salmon can be quite good if it is caught on the ocean. All salmon begins to disintegrate as they get closer to their spawning grounds, but for some reason, this seems to happen more quickly and more thoroughly with chum salmon than with kings, sockeye, and silvers. Chum salmon is sometimes called "dog salmon" by Native Alaskans because it is commonly fed to their dogs.

Pink Salmon

The smallest of the Pacific salmon, pink salmon are also the most abundant. Like chum salmon, they begin to rapidly lose flavor and texture once they reach their spawning grounds. Ocean-caught pink salmon resemble king salmon in taste and texture, but if they are caught in the river, they are rarely worth eating.Visit at Salmon Catcher Lodge for more info.