Confusing Coho?

Falcon

Falcon

Active Member
Anyone ever seen a large Coho (10 lbs) with a sparingly spotted tail, top to bottom, and white meat? It almost looked like a cross-bred salmon. I've never experienced a white meated Coho before, I was a bit confused by it.

Fishing with a buddy who's allowed to keep what ever he catches by the way!!
 
It was strange because I thought it was/is a Chinook but it had larger scales and a small bullet head but some of the markings of a both....still not sure?
 
White "ish" gums...not your typical back mouth the you see on a Chinook. I wish I'd have taken some more pictures but it was the end of the day and I was pooped.
 
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Did it smell like a spring. If all else appears confusing that is tell tale.


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Falcon said:
Anyone ever seen a large Coho (10 lbs) with a sparingly spotted tail, top to bottom, and white meat? It almost looked like a cross-bred salmon. I've never experienced a white meated Coho before, I was a bit confused by it.

Fishing with a buddy who's allowed to keep what ever he catches by the way!!
Click to expand...

We caught a weird looking chinook last weekend at renfrew. It was purple rather than golden, and it had distinct spots down the gill plate. It was about 10lbs as well.
 
white coho do exist although very rare, I caught one in Alaska 2 years ago, the guys that were fishing with me mentioned that they had also caught some in previous years.
 
it could have been a chum, the younger ones look very similar to coho. you see them in the charlottes early and can easily be mistaken for coho if you don't have a lot of experience with them, some of the guides a few years back were calling them cochums, lol. never seen or heard of a white coho. do you have a pic of it???.
 
no he dosent have a photo. he caught it on a blue fox spinner (if that helps) he said he definitaly thought it was a coho. he said I have fished for chum before and i have never seen a chum like that before.
 
did some reasearch about it found this online. The familiar orange-pink colouration in salmon is produced by carotenoids, which appear as photosynthetic natural pigments. Carotenoids are produced only by phytoplankton, algae, plants, and a limited number of fungi and bacteria. Salmon absorb carotenoids as they eat, and usually the carotenoids are deposited in their muscles, resulting in that familiar orange-pink colour.However, it's genes that determine the distribution and storage of carotenoids.
In some salmon, the gene(s) responsible for depositing carotenoids into muscle are simply missing or present in low amounts. When this happens, salmon flesh won't turn the colour we're accustomed to seeing, and instead appear white, cream, or marbled
 
What colour gums do Atlantic salmon have? Does anyone know if they clip the adipose fin on them? I'm wondering if the spring we caught might have actually been one...
 
Falcon, my bet is that it was a spring. That is just my thoughts, as I have never heard of a white coho. The idea it was perhaps an atlantic salmon is possible, but an atlantic salmon is quite easily identifiable with a quick google search. 777, I your fish sounds like a steelhead. Salt water steelhead confuse many anglers, working at a lodge we seen quite a few come in mistaken as either springs or coho.
 
Chaster Byng said:
Spots on the gill plate makes me think it was an Atlantic.
Click to expand...

It had a weird atrophied adipose fin that looked almost half clipped. I asked my fishing partner, but he didn't keep the head. I wonder if DFO can do a DNA test from a bit of the flesh.
 
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