Salmon Trivia—How much do you know about Alaska’s favorite gamefish? Find out here!
by Greg Brush
Make no mistake, Alaska’s giant native rainbows are hugely popular amongst serious fly fishermen. And we all know the cult-like following that our steelhead are capable of creating once anglers are bitten by this challenging fishing. You’ll even get the occasional halibut answer from the coastal-dwelling, saltwater fanatic, but overall, from the Yukon River to the Kenai Peninsula to southeast Alaska, the casual query of “What’s your favorite fish?” will almost surely be met with one or another of our five species of salmon!
Line burning, cart-wheeling reds, pitbull chums, huge kings that refuse to roll over, insane coho that are so turned on they slash at your bare hook, even the kid-friendly, Frisbee-shaped pinks that always seem to cooperate regardless of your lure choice or skill level—these are Alaska’s salmon. [emember_protected custom_msg=’This content is available for subscribers only.’]
They each have their unique qualities and individual assets, and thus many long-time Alaska visitors and residents of the Great Land simply can’t choose a favorite. The real question is “How much do you really know about Alaska’s favorite gamefish?”
Just for giggles, take this exclusive Fish Alaska quiz and find out!
1. Eight of ten of the largest documented Chinook ever landed on rod and reel came from Alaska’s Kenai River. This special strain of salmon get so large primarily because of:
A. Food
B. Habitat
C. Age and genetics
D. All of the above
2. Nearly all Alaska rivers that host a major sockeye run have this in common.
A. Limited sport-fishing pressure
B. A lake system for rearing
C. A hatchery program
D. Remote access
3. The correct name for the small, black spots on many Pacific salmon are:
A. Jacobs’s marks
B. Parr marks
C. Lateral spots
D. Polka spots
4. Match the correct salmon name to its common slang title.
A. Chinook 1. Red
B. Humpy 2. King
C. Chum 3. Silver
D. Coho 4. Dog
E. Sockeye 5. Pink
5. All Pacific salmon are anadromous. This large and hard-to-spell word simply means:
A. They have edible flesh.
B. They are primarily predators while at sea.
C. They live in the ocean and move up rivers to spawn.
D. They reproduce once and then die.
6. Alaska’s salmon are able to locate their natal waters after roaming hundreds of miles of ocean for years because of:
A. Their acute sense of smell.
B. Cues from the earth’s magnetic system.
C. Their great eyesight.
D. A river’s unique water-color and temperature.
7. True or False: All Pacific salmon die after spawning.
8. A female salmon digs a depression in the river’s gravel to deposit her eggs. This site is correctly referred as a:
A. Redd
B. Bed
C. Den
D. Nest
9. A wild Pacific salmon has how many fins?
A. 8
B. 7
C. 6
D. 10
10. At typical river depths of three to fifteen feet, which colors will be most visible to a salmon?
A. Bright reds and oranges.
B. Chartreuse and greens.
C. Black.
D. Blue and purple tones.
11. Which salmon species grows the quickest while at sea?
A. Chinook
B. Chum
C. Coho
D. Sockeye
12. True or False. Juvenile chum salmon stay in the river longer than any other Pacific salmon.
13. From 1983 to 1992, the ten-year average of pink salmon commercially harvested in Alaska was:
A. 750,000
B. 2.8 million
C. 77.4 million
D. 453.5 million
14. In July of 1996 and 1997, ADF&G did a telemetry study where newly arriving Kenai River kings’ upstream movements were tracked and documented. This study proved that late-run Chinook in the Kenai:
A. Wash in and out of tidal zones before traveling upstream.
B. Move at a lazy rate of 1-3 miles per day.
C. Charge upstream at a fast and consistent rate.
D. Frequently spawn in the lower river.
E. All of the above.
15. True or False: Sea lice on a mature salmon are an indicator of poor health. If the lice have tails, the salmon is not fit for consumption and should be quickly released.
16. True or False. A dark-colored salmon always means it has been in the river a longtime.
17. Depending on species, 2,500 to 7,500 eggs are laid by a mature spawning salmon. On average, what percentage of these eggs will survive and return to spawn as adults?
A. Less than 2%
B. 8%
C. 15%
D. 20% or more
18. True or False: Salmon are nearsighted and use low frequency sound waves to find food at greater distances.
19. What Pacific salmon is considered an omnivore, feeding mainly on zooplankton, shrimp and seaweed as an adult?
A. Chinook
B. Coho
C. Sockeye
D. Chum
E. Pink
20. True or False: Jack kings are immature salmon that never spawn.
Now check your answers to see how you did. I hope you had fun and learned something about salmon along the way!
ANSWERS
1. Answer: C. Most Chinook (kings) return as four and five year fish, but the largest of Kenai kings (those fish 70 pounds and bigger) are usually seven year old fish that stayed at ocean for five years. While habitat and food can surely affect a salmon’s overall weight and condition, these giant kings are primarily a result of their older age class and unique genetics.
2. Answer: B. Sockeye salmon fry commonly move into a lake system, spending one to three years in this rearing area before migrating to the ocean in the spring as smolt.
3. Answer: B. Biologists refer to the black spots on salmon as Parr marks.
4. A.(2) B.(5) C.(4) D.(3) E(1)
5.Answer: C. The word anadromous comes from the greek suffix –dromous, meaning “the act of running.” The ana- prefix translates to “up.” When combined, you have “the act of running up.”
6. Answer(s): A and B. While salmon have fair vision, there is no evidence that this sense is utilized to locate their home waters. Rather, some evidence suggests that salmon may be able to use cues from the earth’s magnetic field. Once near their natal freshwater system, they use olfactory clues to guide them home.
7. Answer: True. Virtually all Pacifc Salmon die after spawning due to over-exhaustion and malnutrition. Atlantic salmon and steelhead trout, however, can survive the rigors of spawning and even return to freshwater multiple times.
8. Answer: A. Salmon use their tales to dig “redds” in the gravel.
9. Answer: A. This one may have tricked you! Hatchery fish commonly have their adipose clipped, giving them only seven fins. Naturally produced and wild salmon have eight fins total…don’t forget to count the caudal (tail) fin.
10. Answer: B. The underwater color spectrum is quite different than what we see above water. Bright reds actually turn to blacks the deeper you go, and chartreuse (fluorescent yellow) and greens are the most visible to a salmon.
11. Answer: C. Juvenile Coho fry remain one to two years in coastal streams, spending on average of two years in the ocean. In their second year at sea, growing Coho (silvers) eat massive amounts of squid, herring, sandlance and large zooplankton. Some Coho increase their weight by up to 400% during this time!
12. Answer: False. Chum fry usually migrate to estuaries immediately after emerging from their redd. They typically spend only a few months there before heading to sea.
13. Answer: C. The pink salmon is called the ‘bread and butter fish” in many Alaska communities because of its abundance and importance to local economies. In 1991, the Alaska harvest of pinks represented about 96% of the total North American harvest.
14. Answer: E. King salmon are complex creatures and their movements vary widely according to many factors such as run timing, water levels, water temps and more. Mother Nature wisely spread their travels to minimize predation and ensure successful reproduction.
15. Answer: False. Sea lice are external parasites that feed on the mucous, blood and skin of salmon. They are common in saltwater environments and (in reasonable numbers) do no harm to an adult salmon. It is interesting to note that female sea lice have what look like two tailstrailing behind that are actually strings of eggs.
16. Answer: False. The color of a mature salmon is more an indicator of its sexual maturity than how long it has been in the river. In some areas of Alaska, it is common to catch dark, sexually mature fish complete with salt water sea lice at river mouths and tidal zones.
17. Answer: A. Less than 2% of salmon hatched in redds will return as adults to spawn.
18. Answer: True. Salmon are nearsighted. As a baitfish swims or struggles to escape predators, it sends off vibrations recognized by a salmon’s lateral line and otoliths (internal ear) as wounded prey.
19. Answer: C. At sea, sockeye salmon do not predate like more aggressive chinook or coho. In fact, sockeye gain their reddish meat color from the zooplankton they consume, mainly the orange-colored krill.
20. Answer: False. Jack kings are primarily males that return to their natal rivers after one year in the saltwater. They have been observed courting hens (females) and aggressively competing for spawning rites, and given the opportunity, will indeed spawn.
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The author lives in Soldotna, AK, with his wife and two teenage daughters, where they own and operate EZ Limit Guide Service. [/emember_protected] [emember_protected scope=”not_logged_in_users_only”]
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