Pink-chinook salmon hybrid called a pinook found only in the St. Marys system of rivers
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario -- They're a bit late, but the salmon pouring into Michigan rivers from the St. Joseph to the St. Marys will offer some of the finest fishing in the world the next month at bargain-basement prices.
Michigan's Pacific salmon runs rival many in Alaska and are better than most rivers in Lower 48 Pacific streams from whence the ancestors of our fish came.
In addition, anglers who come to the St. Marys River rapids on the border between the Soos still have an excellent shot at catching Atlantic salmon that are the quest of the rich in most places.
They might even catch one of the rarest fish in the world, a pink-chinook salmon hybrid called a pinook that is found only in the St. Marys system.
"When pinks first showed up 30 here years ago, they ran every other year, like they do out west," said John Giuliani, a St. Marys River guide. "Now they run every year. One year there are huge numbers of them. The next there aren't as many, but they're bigger. This is a year for the smaller run, but they're just pouring in right now, and we're seeing a lot that go 4 to 6 pounds."
In the past week, anglers also have caught several fish that look like pink salmon but weighed 8 to 12 pounds. Fish that size almost certainly are pinooks, the hybrid that looks like a pink on steroids.
"They're amazing," Giuliani said. "They get their size from the chinook side, but they look just like a pink. ....
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