Tom Larimer hosted one of our spey instruction weeks at Alaska West this summer, and on his way home he wrote up a couple of guest posts for us. Today’s is all about the awesome chum salmon.
Thanks Tom!
Ode to the Chum Salmon
While Mr. King, Mr. Rainbow and Mr. Silver are the reasons why many anglers make the journey to Alaska West every year, they often over-look the majestic Mr. Chum. “Chumley” has gotten a bad rap for years – nicknamed the “dog salmon” because his meat is supposedly only fit for canines to eat.
Plus, Mr. Chum likes to ravage our king flies, especially in the soft water into which our flies inevitably swing. It’s sad that we’ve gotten to the point as anglers where we turn our noses up to one of the hardest fighting game fish on the planet.
Mr. Chum deserves more! Next time you’re headed north to AK West, pack a 7 weight switch rod rigged with an Airflo Skagit Switch. When you get tired of fighting huge king salmon, bust out your small gun and tie on a pink fly. Let it rip through the soft water and hold on! Big strong fish and small rods equate to one thing – laughing like a kid.
Isn’t that why we all started fishing in the first place?
I know most of us are into catch and release. But has anyone ever tried eating chum salmon? What does it taste like compared to the more popular species? Can anyone describe it’s flavor and just why it’s considered inferior?
I personally don’t eat fish. I don’t care for the taste and as an angler, I consider it unsportsmanlike. When you play tennis, you don’t have the losing player smoked and served in slices on a bagel.
I had smoked chum for dinner tonight. Really!
Chum tastes great when it’s either
– a chrome fish eaten really quickly, especially on the river that day, or
– a chrome male, smoked.
Chum is ‘less good’ when it’s not a very fresh fish, and/or when it’s eaten a while after it was caught. It just starts to taste more fishy and less fatty.
All hail the chum for pound-for-pound late season action. Sea-to-sky country chum and Oct/Nov storm flows here in SW BC dictate that I use 8/9 skagit and I’ve know nothing else. They take the fly so gently and then rip the rod outta your hands.
A lighter rig in a smaller flow would be a hoot I’m sure! Down here they color-up pretty quickly in the salt in their estuary phase, so finding a chromer upstream is a rare treat.
I knew that post would get a little attention! Love the Chum, cause he’s not going away! Also -Fresh smoked chum is actually pretty darn good… And if it does suck, your dog will love it.
I never understood the snubbing of the chum salmon (Dogs, Calicos, “Ewww’s what’s that?”). I target them on the Fraser River every year at the end of October into November. I have fished every species of salmon and pound for pound in that fast glacer water, they will make you hurt when you catch “big brutes” 15 to 27 lbs. I break more rods and burn out more drags catching them than all the rest. I usually have 50 to 75 fish days unless the first nation is illegally netting past their quotas, then its 15 to 20 fish. As far as table fair, they may not be the best but many old timers I feed won’t turn them away. I will have to get a “stimulus” advancement from our government but I will try to get up there next year to give it a go. Good fishing Boys (and girls)!
“unsportsmanlike” indeed. This is the the kind of elitist snobbery
which sometimes makes me loathe to admit I am a T.U. lifer. A touch of Native American blood courses my veins and as such have always enjoyed living off the land, i. e. dining on wild berries, nuts, mushrooms, game, and fish. I took some filets of smoked Chum salmon home with me from A.W., am enjoying them much. I’d call it fine dining, but that’s just me. Of the some thousands of stream trout I have caught in 50 yrs., give or take, of fishing, I should think I have released 90-95% of them to grow larger, fight again. Live,
let live.
The insightful comments of NYCFlyangler force me to reconsider how I dealt with my last few tennis opponents. Maybe it was harsh. I will consider releasing the little ones in the future. (Tip: don’t eat the actual tennis ball: too chewy, terrible texture)