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[kellya]

I might be wrong im sure some people hear can confirm this

[No_way]

The biologist i worked with this week told me no there is 6 year fish i could see some 7 year fish maybe but not 8. The average chinook would definatly not be an 8 a 4-8 year.

Well, I've done some research and I find some conflicting information.  I've found species descriptions that very widely in the lifespan of the Chinook Salmon.  So, I would suggest that we view the life span to be highly variable both between individuals and populations.  My conclusions are that while some fish do live to be 8 or 9 years old (see my reference below) this is quite rare.  So, for the most part Chinooks return in their 4th, 5th or 6th years, with some individuals returning as late as the 9th year.

To 6 years:
http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/chinooksalmon/

To 7 years:
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/angling/protalk/reid/chinook.phtml

To 8 years:
http://www.psmfc.org/habitat/edu_chinook_facts.html

To 9 years:
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=244

NOTE:  internet resources are notoriously unreliable.  If any one out there had books covering this matter could you please post your findings?  Publishers are a little more scrutinous about the content of their products than webproviders are.

[kellya]

Those websites are a bit off. It also says max size 61 lbs

[FISHIN MAGICIAN]

hmmm...River's Inlet and the Whonnock River have some real brutes.

I worked in Rivers Inlet in 1994 and the lodge owner there who was also a fisheries biologist from the States showed me pictures of fish 80, 90, and one that was estimated to be over 100lbs from up that way--in Rivers Inlet---he told me none of the fish that size are 5 year fish in that system. They are very rare, and in some cases, many of the spawned out carcasses had leaders and hooks in their mouths--as did one shot he showed me.

I believe it. I have had several fish which I believe were well over 60 lbs on my guests lines which they ended up breaking off from being tired.....and hate to say it, potentially over 80 lbs. I remember one year that a guest from QCL caught an 82 lber and the guide was a "contract" guide. The guide is on record as saying that there was a leader with 6/0 hooks in it's mouth. Guess what I had tied on my leader? LOL. I was north of QCL and my guest may have played that fish as it was hooked and caught 24 hours later.

Oh well.


I am not saying it was that fish, but it could have been. 

[kellya]

Rivers inlet i think gets late fish probaly 5th years and 6th years. When i worked at the hatchery this week there was a spring about 35 lbs with a spoon and 4 foot leader in its mouth.

[Rodney]

I believe that the coho jacks are infertile. Can anyone confirm this?

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2001/1201_01.html

[kellya]

Never knew there was jack chum!

[kellya]

Yea most guides deifinatly do. I once got stuck with one though that didnt know much. I woulda easily outfished him It was really a waste of money and we caught nothing. This only happens with the large services though i was with oak bay marine group.

[FISHIN MAGICIAN]

Ah...Oak Bay...er Joke Bay.  I just HOWL at the guys I see on the Marabelle and Charlotte Princess when I am up at Langara.....those guys catch fish, and do ok..but honestly now, if someone pays the big $$$ to go there, just get a GUIDE. I remember one time a new guide that came over from "the west coast" and was shooting his mouth off about fish here, and fish there..and blah blah blah...I went back to the dock that after having kept 4 tyees, 1 for each of my guests, and having released 36 Springs of which none were under 20 lbs, and that was in just 5 hours! The new guide....shall we say... managed 5 springs in that same stretch.

This was a very tough year up at Langara from what I am hearing from my buddies...not a Langara year at all, and it took a while for something resembling Langara fishing to show up.

If anyone on these forums does book for trips out on the coast, I sincerely recommend a guide for many reasons, but in the end, the trip of a lifetime is worth it.

[bkk]

A bit of misinformation on Jacks. They do indeed happen in all of the salmon species except Pinks and are very much viable as spawners. Over the years I have watched many Jacks do the deed as two big males fight for the right. Kind of like the little mouthy guy we all knew in high school, the big guys get to fighting and he scoops the girl . Chum jacks are the most infrequent with coho and chinook jacks being the most common. Some stocks of sockeye have lots of Jacks while other stocks have none.
 I personelly feel that they are a very important component of the salmon runs as they allow gene flow between different brood years and contribute to genetic diversity. I bet most people do not know that in the Federal salmon hatcheries they are used as part of the broodstock programs in the same proportion as they appear in the escapement (ie: less than 10% normally).
 In regard to chinook ages, it is generally true that the farther north you go, the older the fish become. Most Fraser and Van Island chinook are 4 or 5 years old but the Skeena has more 6 year old fish. If you go to Alaska, Yukon or Kamchaka you will find chinook that may reach 8 or 9 years of
age (but that is rare). The oldest chinook on record was a 9 year old fish from Kamchaka. Part of the reason for the older age is it takes the juvenile fish more years to get to the smolt stage in a cold northern river than in a southern river. Hence the older age. A 5 year old chinook with a 1 year of freshwater residency will often be the same size at adult as a 4 year old that old reared in freshwater for the first spring. Both of smolts once they have moved to the marine environment will have had 4 years of saltwater feeding, hense they should be about the same size.

[FISHIN MAGICIAN]

haha...PUKERS!!!!! lol !

I can hardly wait for next spring to get out there and get fishing again...

[kellya]

I got my first jack coho this morning. Not a great pic but you can see it. About 1.5lbs . I can see chinook being much older in alaska. Look at the average size of some in rivers like the kenai 50lbs is pretty common.

[redtide]

my first coho jack was caught just under the highway bridge in very little water(vedder canal) on red wool.last week of september this was just before the rains came and it had a little bit of kype jaw already.they are a cute little fish and i must say he was very tasty.

[SnaggedADuck]

I have caught and released like 100 jack Steelheads in my day........ they ranged from 2 inches to 10inches.   And no they werent just regular trout.

[Sterling C]

It doesn't count as a jack unless they are sexually mature.