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[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen it’s fish on, why are Atlantic salmon so different from Pacific salmon: Chinook (king), sockeye (red salmon, kokanee salmon, or blueback), pink (humpy), coho (silver), and the least favorite in every category chum salmon (marketed name silverbrite)?

Hmm?

The male Atlantic salmon in its spawning profile dramatics does not stand up to any of the Pacific salmon. The spawning colors, kype (jaw shape) and surety of death post the procreating event is far more pronounced in the Pacific salmon. That’s, of course, not counting the chum salmon which is not handsome or truly dramatic in any profile.

The tug

As for size, that goes to the king, but athleticism and “towing capacity” goes to the Atlantic relative. No Pacific can pull or leap the way an Atlantic can. The closest rival is the generally smaller coho salmon. It has as vicious a strike, more prone to the acrobatics of a lesser zenith, and more easily influenced to bite than all the other Pacifics, as well as the Atlantic.

In this Vimeo, The North by Black Fly Eyes the heralded Atlantic salmon exposes its gymnastic predilections.

NOTE: To read the text The North go here . . .

NOTE 2: Featured Image provided by Fly Life Magazine.com contributor Brooks Paternotte with a hefty adult Atlantic salmon. Photo by Maurice Keats, guide at the St. Paul’s a River Salmon Club in Quebec, summer of 2014.

[vimeo id=”187286930″ width=”620″ height=”360″]

 

 

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