can anybody tell me what a bright chum looks like ? I keep reading where guys are catching "bright chum" But every thing I've caught so far this year looks like it should be the end of november. Caught two this morning on the sky and they were DARK, by the way thanks to all the guys for the tips on the prawn on the jigs had a great two hours of fishing before work.

Fiveweight-
Where on the sky were you fishing? There are definitely Some places that consistantly produce better looking chums than others. Usually your better looking chum are moving fish and found either in the heads of the holes or in the travelling lanes. A bright chum is usually one that still has silver on the gill plates however I have caught a couple on the Satsop that I swore were silvers until we got them in the boat. So, the "bright" chum does exist you have to just keeping searching for them! Good Luck!
Canyon Man

Canyon man, I've been fishing behind the prison, up around the sulton river, and up at the mouth of the wallace, stuck to the banks right now. I guess I'll just have to keep fishing everyday till I find those bright fish, I hate it when that happens. Thanks.

a bright chum should be mistaken for a steelhead buy every one that walks bye. the only place i know of is the nasty in december. tight lines

To me a "bright" chum still has a light green back and isn't real black on the ventral side. If the fins have good skin and the fish has not obviously spawned its your choice. I have seen chum caught in Puget Sound that already are showing significant purple and green "bars" on their sides and these fish have decent table/smoker quality. Chromers in the river are rare, at least in the Snohomish system.

Beezer

bright chum, who are you guys kidding?

I have been fishing dogs hard the last 4 years and have only had 2 fish that were chrome. Maybe this year I might see some more of them. I've caught dogs with sea lice this year, but none were chromers.

That Guy, I've got to believe if you think a "bright" chum could be mistaken for a steelhead, you probably don't catch many of either.

The brightest chum I have ever seen came from the nasty in early december, and thety still had some color on the back and very faint bars, I mean they definatley had allot of chrome on them, but you could still tell they were chum.
Peace Superfly

More often than not the words bright and Chum are not used in the same sentence. Due to their spawning habits, Chums get dark fast. I have caught bright(chrome or close to it) Chums at Whatcom(Circus) Creek, Snohomish River, Lower Skagit, and Puget Sound.

I remember going to Shilshole Marina about 10 years ago and hearing some dingus bragging about an 18 pound hooknose. I asked him to see the fish and he showed me. I wondered why it had such big eyes for a silver and the tail looked to be much more forked than that of a silver not to mention the complete absence of spots. I could see no vertical bars on the fish whatsoever. I mean none. I was convinced that it was a Chum and told the guy that he had a good-sized Chum and not a silver. "Whaddaya mean, a Chum!?" he exclaimed. I tried to explain that I saw several Chums and even caught a few that looked like that recently and him and his buddies all started to laugh out loud and make comments like "dumb kid" and "That ain't no Chum!". I was only a teenager at the time and obviously had difficulty getting my point across.

Who showed up a few minutes later but the fish checker. He worked his way down the dock as boats were waiting to take out and of course he had to hear this ignorant guys bragging about the "18 lb. hooknose". One look at the fish and the fish checker said that it was in fact a Chum.

I caught some chums today in the Sky that were fairly dark but they were covered in sea lice. ??????? Somebody explain that one, please. I have caught dime-bright silvers in the same area and they didn't have any sea lice but were as chrome as they come.

Justin
CEO, Sauk River Steelhead Ranch

Chum enter the rivers dark and very mature beacsue chums tend to spawn a very short time after entering freshwater. Anywhere from a couple days to 1 week is about the average, thus they must enter the rivers very mature and ready for spawning.
Coho on the other hand will spawn a short a short time after entering freshwater but in general they tend to spend 2 weeks to over a month in freshwater, thus they mature in freshwater and tend to enter the rivers nickel bright and even after being in the rivers for some time may still be chrome because they are still weeks from spawning.

AKKINGS just go down to the nasty in late december they call it the xmas run when it rains so hard they put out flood warnings on the river. then when you lay your crome bright chum on the snow watch and listen how many guys walk buy and say is that a steelhead. buy the way i am saving one punch for my trofy steely and giant hook nose i know i could get another salmon card but two is enough. just go and see those nasty chum and land one if you can bet you lose them all.

"Bright Chum" ... that's an oxymoron isn't it?? Kinda like "military intelligence" I know they fight well, but I've got to admit I'm happy we don't have more than handful in our rivers. Bring on the brats!

That Guy, When December rolls around you won't find me wasting time on "Nasty" chums (pun intended) I'll be chasing chrome winter run steelhead. by the way, doubt I'd loose many, went 3 for 3 Sat. (accidently) while steelhead fishing, 1 for 1 on steelies. First winter fish. Good chum fishing.

steelhead are over rated and the winter runs fight like smolts. i like summer runs they got a lot more fight especialy on #4 test. the nasty is my after work spot i too like to chase chrome brite steelhead looking for that #25 pounder its been an incredible year so far. so why not. tight lines

I've caught 8 chums out of the same hole the last three days and i havent kept a one, but my question is this, these fish are all nasty but why do they put up such a good fight? There one of the hardest fighting fish I've ever caught, but after you get them on the bank you look and see how "nasty" they are, and wonder why a fish that looks two days from dead can fight so hard?