Parker and co -

Even for an expert, it ain't always easy to tell what you've just landed.

Case in point - Last Friday (9/10) I was out on the Columbia with two fish bio friends, plus me makes three professional fish biologists with a combined experience of something close to 80+ years. We landed a 10lb salmon (trolling off Frenchman's Bar on a silver Brad's Wobbler). It took us the better part of five minutes to determine what we had just landed. Was it an average size coho or was it a small upriver bright Chinook? We honestly could not tell, even with the fish in our hand and a collective 80 years of fish bio experience.

Before we could make a final determination, the fish died. Since it wasn't clipped, we were "forced" to decide it was a Chinook, and therefore legal to keep. That's not the best method of determing the correct identification but that's what we did. I'm sure I'll get flamed for admitting that.......

My point is that making a positive ID can be difficult, even with a fish in your hand. Trying to make a correct ID from just a picture can be just about impossible. But since your fish is clipped, I'm not sure it really matters whether it was a coho or a Chinook. If it was unclipped, it would be a legal issue. I won't go there.

I agree with your statement.

In this case, making the positive ID was easy and was correct.

Convincing people on the internet that you are not a looney and really what they see in the photo is not a coho has not been easy. Not that I care, but it's been fun any ways.

It's just a photo, guys. You are not seeing enough evidence to make a valid conclusion. The evidence you do see can be altered by camera settings, light, chromatic abberations, digital abberations, CCD flaws, glare, relfection, how the subject was held and presented, EXTREME CHROMAGE, etc.

Turn the subject around 180 degrees in the boat, and the photo would have been completely different.

I will be the first to admit that I am not a good photographer.

Parker,

This actually has little to do with your skills. If you took this photo with a digital camera there is no way you would have been able to get a good picture of the head in this light. The digital camera just doesn't have enough range to cover the bright jaw to the black mouth. So what it does is turn the black to grey. I copied the picture to my machine and then adjusted the contrast and birghtness a bit and the mouth is definitely BLACK.

If however this was scanned from a slide that would be a totally different story.

No matter what that is a great fish that I would love to have caught!

Yeah, it was from my older Canon PowerShot G1 digital camera.

Yeah, I free admit I'm lacking in skills when it comes to photography, of any kind.

I just do it for the Grip N Grins.

Thanks for the info!

To me this is a no brainer,Chinook !!! Nice batch of fall fish boys I'm in awe!!!PEACE!!!

As a guy who has caught easily 1 salmon for every 1,000 Parker has, I can attest that that is indeed a Chinook..... I think.

Parker, you make great posts, and I enjoy them. Keep up the good work.