N2013's post in the Sooke reports about a possible Chinook/Chum hybrid made me realize I should probably post here for folks to watch out for Coho/Chinook hybrids. As part of our juvenile research in the Cowichan area in 2015 and 2016 we encountered some first ocean year fish that were identified by the lab as Coho Chinook hybrids. We did not see a ton, but enough that if these fish survive to maturity some are being caught by anglers.
More of these fish were around in 2015 (in their first ocean summer)... and a lot of these would be maturing as 3 year olds this year... There will still be some around next year. If you are fishing the Strait of Georgia and you catch a funny looking Coho or Chinook that looks like it could be a hybrid take a ton of pictures and measurements and write the details down. I assume that most people would want to eat the fish, but cut off the head (with gills) and all the visceral organs and stick it in a bag and freeze it. Scrape of some scales onto paper and leave them to dry. Fire me a message and I will arrange to pick up. In particular watch out for fish where the lateral line does something funny (disappears or jacks up or down) just before the tail.
More of these fish were around in 2015 (in their first ocean summer)... and a lot of these would be maturing as 3 year olds this year... There will still be some around next year. If you are fishing the Strait of Georgia and you catch a funny looking Coho or Chinook that looks like it could be a hybrid take a ton of pictures and measurements and write the details down. I assume that most people would want to eat the fish, but cut off the head (with gills) and all the visceral organs and stick it in a bag and freeze it. Scrape of some scales onto paper and leave them to dry. Fire me a message and I will arrange to pick up. In particular watch out for fish where the lateral line does something funny (disappears or jacks up or down) just before the tail.