Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[clarki]

I bonked my first chum on Saturday; the cleanest one that I have caught in many years.  A big firm doe, lightly barred and belly white (ish). But in cleaning her I noticed that the flesh is pale, like the colour of a white spring. The eggs were still in skeins and not loose. When I filleted her at home, the flesh is indeed white, albeit firm and not mushy.   

What colour is chum flesh normally when they are ocean fresh? In other salmon (except white spring of course), white flesh indicates that the fish has matured to a point that the flesh is no longer edible. Is this the case with chum and did I get seduced by its outward appearance?

The proof will be in the smoked product, but I'm still curious...

   

[BIG T]

Pinkish color

[FishiN AddicT]

I brought home 2 chum doe this week from the Vedder and both had an orangey pinkish color.  I didn't know the meat can also be white, but then again, i usually release all my chums (except 1 or 2) so i don't see the meat too often.

[Morty]

Yesterday Rob and I were fishing the Harrison confluence and each bonked a clean Chum.  (bars barely showing, white bellies & chins).  Rob's buck had red flesh, and my doe was quite pale.  Cooked some up last night and I was impressed. 

Anyone have any new data on why some are red and some are pale?
Is it a buck / doe thing?

[Nitroholic]

Could it be something they eat? After dressing hundreds of coho this summer I was wondering the same thing, some fish were dark red like sockeye, others were almost as pale as chum.

[milo]

Chum flesh comes in all shades of colour - from very pale pink to very intense orange.
it depends what strain of fish it is and its diet.

You might find this hard to believe, but these are chum fillets:



That fish was caught in the Squamish three years ago. Bright like a dime.
Here's the whole fish before filleting it:



After this fish, I no longer target chum in rivers. You can't beat that one. 

[dennisK]

rediscussed

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=15177.0

[gman]

When I caught my first chum that was bright red meat from the ocean I was excited becasue I thought it might taste the same as coho or sockeye, sice the colour was the same. However the bright red chum still tasted like the other lighter chum, not like a coho. IMO the meat colour of the chum does not matter much.

[milo]

When I caught my first chum that was bright red meat from the ocean I was excited becasue I thought it might taste the same as coho or sockeye, sice the colour was the same. However the bright red chum still tasted like the other lighter chum, not like a coho. IMO the meat colour of the chum does not matter much.

You are right. Chum has a distinct taste, regardless of the colour of its flesh.
That said, I find ocean caught chum very palatable.

Can't say the same about river caught chum, however.
Most of them plainly stink, with bright Squamish chum being a notable exception.

[Morty]

So, from all your great replies I see 4 theorys:

- depends on what they eat
- it's a buck / doe thing
- depends on how long they've been in freshwater
- strain (genetics)

Any biologists out there that have access to broader research?

[dennisK]

When I caught my first chum that was bright red meat from the ocean I was excited becasue I thought it might taste the same as coho or sockeye, sice the colour was the same. However the bright red chum still tasted like the other lighter chum, not like a coho. IMO the meat colour of the chum does not matter much.

You are right. Chum has a distinct taste, regardless of the colour of its flesh.
That said, I find ocean caught chum very palatable.

Can't say the same about river caught chum, however.
Most of them plainly stink, with bright Squamish chum being a notable exception.

'

you saying chilliwack chum meat stinks?

[milo]

you saying chilliwack chum meat stinks?

Yes. It does to me.
Just like white springs' meat does.
But hey, that is a subjective opinion. To many people they are OK.

I am very spoiled. I get 90% of my edible catch from the ocean off Ucluelet.
You simply can't beat that. Once you try a fresh ocean caught chum, the toothy river tigers become mostly very unpalatable.

Cheers,

Milo

[fishseeker]

On a related note what are River chums like smoked?

I tried smoked chum yesterday and I thought it was excellent.  I have tried it before and was not very impressed so I can only think the results vary significantly. 

Are the colored ones any good for smoking?  (....and I don't mean the ones that are half dead rotting already - just those that are colored but still very lively)

[Fish Assassin]

The fresher the better.

[troutbreath]

Years back I asked a old first native guy who was netting chum at the mouth of the Harrison. These were chum with the teeth pointing hither tither, tail hanging off. Did he feed them to sled dogs or what? "No" he replied almost in the same tone that one of those rotton chum would sound like if they could speak. " These fish make best smoked salmon because there is less fat on them to go rancid, so they keep longer".

So there is another good reason to keep a booty chum.