This is a partial clip – a hatchery fish that was not expertly clipped because the adipose fin is only barely nipped on the top. Still, this is indeed a hatchery Chinook.
Mid september full moon. Time for strangeness and a few salmon to trickle in on the leading edge of the fall run. I’d like to share a few thoughts and photos from the last few days.
The photos will speak for themselves, and I wish you all a fine fall season.
Jay Nicholas – September 18th 2016
The sea runs are in rivers all up and down the coast. Fishing is best on cloudy or rainy days.
Not all salmon are large – all are fun to catch.
The long tail sea lice at the base of the anal fin are sure indication of a salmon that is fresh from the sea.
This is a different type of sea lice that is mobile and only found on fish (this on a cutthroat) that are hours from the ocean. These small sea lice are darker and very mobile and not found at the base of the anal fin like the larger lice shown in a previous photo.
The adipose clip on this hatchery salmon was clean and complete and is fully healed over.
Dorsal view of healed over area where adipose fin was clipped on a hatchery Chinook.
Sometimes you get lucky – really lucky. This salmon was held by the thread of skin shown here, and it is a wonder that the fish made it into the net. My thanks for this great gift born of humans and nature.
Rainbow Clouser: money fly! What a pleasure it is to fish Pacific City.