White Springs

[CBsqrd]

Post #

Has anyone hear of a Tule salmon? They are a white version but apparently a poor quality of flesh.
The white I had a few days ago was delicious, buttery soft, no smell. I have caught some white chinook up here that were not the same.

See post #28 above.

Also from the Vancouver Reports recently:

The Columbia River has similar stock with reds spawning in the upper river system and whites in the lower; they refer to them as Up River Brights (URBs) and Tules, respectively. Very similar morphology and there is lots of info online on how to tell the two apart.

 

[agentaqua]

They were just a much smaller proportion of the total fish back then. Stocks in general from all rivers were doing much better, and the Harrison fish made a small portion of the total biomass. Now the amount of Harrison stock fish is much higher due to hatchery output - this stock is used on the Vedder and Capilano Rivers as well. All rivers will have some portion of white springs, but the Harrison stock is much higher, >50%.

I believe that the Harrison stock are "ocean type" chinooks which have been doing better than "stream type" stocks that spend an extra year in the river before out migrating.

Very few white predominant stocks south of Alaska and BC, although all stocks have the potential to have a small portion. The Tule fish on the Columbia - which look very similar to Harrison stock - are sometimes called whites, but they are actually a pale red / pink in the ocean and the flesh goes white once they are in the river due to not feeding and burning fat reserves.

Excellent post CB2SQRD! Agree w @SF - a very well reasoned & insightful response. I'll add my $0.02 worth:

I think genetics plays into the skin colour - but not directly.

I think genetics determines what clade the Chinook belongs in ("ocean type" or "stream type" as you mentioned) - and that life history focuses the availability of prey items - and those prey items that turn out to be more crustacean/krill (in the deeper more open ocean) determine the amount of Astaxanthin - or the red colour deposited in the flesh.

In fact, FFs add this to their feed for Atlantics some days before harvest to give their flesh saleability on the market.

The more Southern & the more coastal the Chinook stocks are - the more likely they will be ocean-type. And the more interior & Northern they are - they more likely they will be river-type. With the notable exceptions you & other posters pointed out already on this thread.

Just guessing - but I would anticipate that the river-type would key more on FW inverts & fish earlier in their life history - and that prey recognition/preference for forage fishes may continue later on when they outmigrate as subadults. That would make their flesh more white w/o keying in on krill & other SW invertebrates/zooplankton - where maybe the ocean-type do - and get their dose of Astaxanthin.

And then there is the smell factor, as well - which could be related also to life history.

And most reading this thread will recognize - unlike coho - some Chinook stocks smell very heavily & pungent like yellow cedar - and you can even smell it in the water when they are present. Maybe posters reading this can comment on their observations of Chinook smell and possible stock differences?

 

[JWS]

Ok, I know it’ll be controversial. Whites aren’t as tasty as pink. They smell and have a less favourable taste. I said it.

I’m in your camp. White spring is the first to be ‘gifted’.

 

[Newf]

Maybe posters reading this can comment on their observations of Chinook smell and possible stock differences?

I'm not a highliner like many on here but for me a chinook has the worst smell (before it's cleaned) than any of the others and it doesn't have to be white to fit in that category. On another note, of the 4 that I caught this year that were between 75-80cm, 3 of them were white. My wife don't care for them but I think it's more mental. Should do a blindfold taste test for her.

 

[Capt_Ed]

Probably caught my last spring of the season this morning , a nice fat 80cm White. Cant wait to get it in the smoker, Mmm Mmm mmm

 

[chris73]

White and red springs have the same diet throughout their life cycle. Whites just don't have the enzyme required to stored carotenoids in their flesh. A genetic disorder like albinos.

 

[Aquaholic]

White and red springs have the same diet throughout their life cycle. Whites just don't have the enzyme required to stored carotenoids in their flesh. A genetic disorder like albinos.

Johnny Winter Feeder?