Jim Rusk Fishing FAQ’s

silver salmon

Silver Salmon: Aug 1-Till it gets too cold

These super spunky and plentiful fish are always an Angler favorite. Here at Jim Rusk Fishing Limits are the mission. This is one of the best Alaskan Fisheries that families with children or for “people who just want to catch fish” can participate in. Silvers are good biters and make excellent table fare. Its hard to go wrong with a day of Silver Fishing.

General Description

Adults usually weigh 8 to 12 pounds and are 24 to 30 inches long, but individuals weighing 31 pounds have been landed. Adults in salt water or newly returning to fresh water are bright silver with small black spots on the back and on the upper lobe of the tail fin. They can be distinguished from Chinook salmon by the lack of black spots on the lower lobe of the tail and by their white gums; Chinook have small black spots on both tail fin lobes and they have black gums. Spawning adults of both sexes have dark backs and heads with maroon to reddish sides.

Growth and Reproduction

Coho salmon enter spawning streams from July to November, usually during periods of high runoff. The female digs a nest, called a redd, and deposits 2,400 to 4,500 eggs. As the eggs are deposited, they are fertilized with sperm, known as milt, from the male. The eggs develop during the winter, hatch in early spring, and the embryos remain in the gravel utilizing their egg yolk until they emerge in May or June. During the fall, juvenile coho may travel miles before locating off-channel habitat where they pass the winter free of floods. Some fish leave fresh water in the spring and rear in brackish estuarine ponds and then migrate back into fresh water in the fall. They spend one to three winters in streams and may spend up to five winters in lakes before migrating to the sea as smolt. Time spent at sea varies. Some males (called jacks) mature and return after only 6 months at sea at a length of about 12 inches, while most fish stay 18 months before returning as full size adults.