Fish color

[FISHFINDER]

I just talked to a friend of mine who lives on the coast. He said that there are chrome bright chinook stacked in tidewater that can't go up for the lack of rain and are spilling eggs when caught and the meat looks pale like a dark fish. A while back there was a thread about pale salmon flesh. I am wondering if this is the reason for it on a chromer and if it would still taste okay.

FF

[Salmonator]

I think that once an orange-fleshed salmon loses it's meat color to spawn production (and the eggs in the spilling fish are as far along as they'll probably get to fully developed) then generally the taste and firmness is gone. The white meat salmon mentioned before, as far as I understand are never orange meated, even fresh out in the ocean. Thats my take on it anyways...

[This message has been edited by Salmonator (edited 12-11-2000).]

[David Johnson]

Those "white meated chinook that are white out in the ocean" are common in some parts of Southeaast Alaska. I have caught them while running a charter boat in Sitka. They are missing a gene that retains the pigment that colors salmon meat. That pigment comes from crustatians, namely krill. They taste every bit the same as a red meat fish.

In Oregon it's safe to say any fish with pale or white meat would be poor quality.

It's common for our "winter" chinook that we catch in December to be ripe and ready to spawn and have pale meat as they do not have a long distance to go before spawning such as the fish that come in earlier.

Also, those fish in tide water are not "trapped" they have enough water to go up if they need too, they just are not ready to go. I have seen fish go up in a lot lower water than we have now.

David Johnson

[Steve]

It's good to see David on the BB, he has a lot of good things going for him,,,heard nothing but compliments, even watched him clean fish at Kampers West..one of these days I will be booking with him...hopefully..

[David Johnson]

Thanks Steve

David Johnson