Trout & salmon · Freshwater
Chinook salmon
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Pacific salmon; also established in the Great Lakes.
Also called king, kings, tyee, blackmouth, chinook.
- Flowing water
- Stillwater
- Ordinary target
- 4 of 4 overlays reviewed
- Reviewed 2026-08-27
Take this somewhere
This page is the record. The reading is what happens when you add water, a season and a temperature to it — that is where the families below get ranked against each other instead of just listed.
Those three links carry the fish and nothing else. No conditions were declared on this page, so none travel, and the link says so rather than sending an empty reading.
The half nobody publishes
What this record does not know
Everything else on this page comes from a named agency or peer-reviewed source. This is the other side of that: the questions a reviewer went looking for an answer to and came back without, and the fields the record leaves empty because filling them would mean guessing.
It is here rather than at the bottom because a page that only shows what it knows is easy to read as a page that knows everything. For Chinook salmon there are 13 of them.
Named by a reviewer
10Somebody looked for this and wrote down that they did not find it.
- Behaviour
Nobody has sourced:
- species-specific angling-pressure response beyond general cover/light notes
- cold-front / barometric response with primary-source support
- Pacific freshwater-return vs Great Lakes lake feeding as a structured RPC split
- Identification
Nobody has sourced:
- stock-specific mean length tables
- ocean vs Great Lakes appearance as a structured split
- Forage
Nobody has sourced:
- finer month-by-month diet inside a season, which is waterbody-specific
- Pacific vs Great Lakes adult diet as a structured split
- terrestrial insects / crustaceans fraction (no catalog forage class here)
- Season
Nobody has sourced:
- month-by-month location changes inside a season, which are waterbody-specific
- Pacific vs Great Lakes calendars as a structured RPC split
Absent from the record
3No reviewer wrote a gap here. The field is simply empty, which is its own answer.
- Water temperature
No agency or peer-reviewed temperature band for Chinook salmon was found that a review would accept. The reading runs without one rather than borrowing a number from a related fish.
- Identification
No reviewed image. A photograph is only in this catalog when an agency or a named creator labelled the subject, and nobody has cleared one for this species yet.
- Population context
No regional population profile is registered. The species-level reading stands on its own; it does not silently become a local one.
Where the record puts it
Water and range
Flowing water
5 reviewed holding classes- Run
- Deep pool
- Seam
- Tailwater
- Current break
Stillwater
4 reviewed holding classes- Thermocline edge
- Suspended / open water
- Drop-off
- Point
DepthOften deep or suspended in lakes; river depth follows holding water, not a single number.
Moving waterRiver travel and holding in moderate-to-strong lanes; lakes are pelagic.
LightLow light movement; bright conditions push lake fish down along the thermocline.
Thermal band
Temperature
No reviewed temperature band
Nobody publishes a preferred or active temperature range for Chinook salmon that a review would accept. Borrowing one from a related fish would look like knowledge and behave like a guess, so the reading runs without it and says which parts of the answer that weakens.
How it uses water
Behaviour
Pacific freshwater adults are migration/interception context, not trout feeding stations. Great Lakes lake fish still feed. This overlay does not auto-select those jobs.
NOAA: young Chinook feed on terrestrial and aquatic insects, amphipods, and other crustaceans; older Chinook primarily feed on other fish. Catalog exception: spawning adults are interception, not forage matching. Do not target redds.
Catalog light response: low light movement; bright conditions push lake fish down along the thermocline. Light is positioning, not a catch claim.
Seasonal activityNOAA: return to natal streams generally in summer or early fall. Great Lakes lake feeding and Pacific freshwater return must not be collapsed. ESA-listed populations (NOAA: two endangered, seven threatened as of 2025) are status, not a location.
Temperature-driven behaviourPreferred band roughly 44–55°F; warm edge near 64°F. Warm, low-oxygen travel water is a constraint.
Depth movementOften deep or suspended in lakes; river depth follows holding water, not a single number. Bright conditions push lake fish down along the thermocline.
Facing the currentRiver travel and holding in moderate-to-strong lanes. Lakes are pelagic. Returning Pacific adults use travel lanes rather than trout feeding lies.
Change in flowFlow pulses can move traveling adults. That is migration mechanics, not a named bottleneck.
ClarityClarity can alter travel depth and visibility. It does not convert a spawning adult into a feeding trout.
CoverRuns, deep pools, seams, tailwater, and current breaks as travel/holding classes. Redds are excluded.
Open waterGreat Lakes and ocean phases are pelagic piscivores. That lake job is not the Pacific freshwater-return job.
Predator avoidanceDepth, turbidity, and grouping during travel. Not a cover-oriented ambush fish.
Spawning (conservation context)NOAA: Chinook dig gravel nests (redds) on stream bottoms; all die after spawning. Mature typically at age 3 or 4. Redds, listed ESUs, and spawning concentrations are invalidators, never target layers.
Where the general rule stops
- Spawning adults: presentation is interception, not forage matching. Do not target redds.
What it can eat
Forage
- Small forage fish
- Larger prey fish
- Aquatic insects
NOAA: young Chinook feed on terrestrial and aquatic insects, amphipods, and other crustaceans; older Chinook primarily feed on other fish. Terrestrial insects and crustaceans are not catalog forage classes on this record. Catalog exception: spawning adults are interception, not forage matching. Great Lakes lake adults still feed; Pacific freshwater returning adults are not treated as feeding trout.
- Feeding style
- Mixed
- Feeding zone
- Pelagic
Through the year
- Spring
- Great Lakes and ocean feeding remain piscivorous capacity where those fish are in open water. Aquatic insects remain juvenile/young capacity. Do not infer a current bait event.
- Summer
- Older fish on other fish. Lake fish track the cool pelagic layer. Pacific freshwater return is not this feeding story.
- Late summer
- Pacific freshwater adults are interception, not forage matching. Great Lakes lake feeding may still be underway. Do not collapse the two.
- Fall
- Spawning adults are not a feeding-trout problem. Redds are excluded. Diet capacity does not license targeting spawners.
By life stage
- Young of year
- NOAA: terrestrial and aquatic insects, amphipods, and other crustaceans. Terrestrial insects and crustaceans stay off the catalog forage list here.
- Juvenile
- Aquatic insects remain; fish enter as gape allows.
- Adult
- Older Chinook primarily feed on other fish (NOAA). Freshwater spawning adults are interception, not forage matching.
Prey sizeGape tracks the shift from insects to fish. Large adults take larger prey fish; that does not apply to spawning freshwater adults as a feeding model.
Ontogenetic shiftInsects/crustaceans in young fish to piscivory in older fish, then feeding largely stops as a model for Pacific freshwater spawners.
SubstitutionsGreat Lakes alewife/smelt fields vs Pacific herring-scale forage are not interchangeable. This species overlay does not auto-select them. Do not import an inland-rainbow hatch match.
Diet capacity is not proof that a hatch or prey event is occurring. Observed current forage still comes from a user observation or Hatch Match.
Through the year
Season
Spring
- Where they sit
- Great Lakes pelagic water — thermocline edges, suspended open water, drop-offs, and points as classes. Pacific ocean feeding is behind or beside this overlay, not a river feeding calendar.
- Feeding
- Older fish on other fish where lake fish are still feeding. Capacity is not a current bait event.
What that changesTrolling, Vertical jig, and Horizontal retrieve remain the reviewed stillwater families for lake fish that are feeding. They do not apply to Pacific freshwater spawners.
What would count against it
- treating spring Chinook as inland rainbow nymphing
- collapsing Great Lakes feeding into a river-spawn calendar
Summer
- Where they sit
- Lake fish along the cool pelagic layer. Pacific freshwater return has not yet become the default story.
- Depth
- Often deep or suspended; bright conditions push lake fish down along the thermocline.
- Temperature
- Preferred 44–55°F; warm edge near 64°F.
What that changesTrolling and Vertical jig on the usable lake layer. Flowing families stay off this lake job.
What would count against it
- forcing a river-spawn calendar onto lake fish
Late summer
- Where they sit
- Pacific freshwater travel lanes, runs, deep pools, seams, tailwater, and current breaks as classes. Great Lakes lake feeding may still be underway elsewhere — do not collapse them.
- Feeding
- Pacific freshwater adults are interception, not forage matching.
What that changesSwing, Downstream retrieve, and Bottom-contact drift remain the reviewed flowing families for lawful, non-listed contexts — they do not imply feeding lies.
What would count against it
- converting migration into a trout feeding calendar
- targeting redds
NOAA: return generally in summer or early fall. Listed ESUs and redds are invalidators, never target layers.
Fall
- Where they sit
- Spawning systems. Not a feeding-trout problem.
What that changesSwing, Downstream retrieve, and Bottom-contact drift remain interception mechanics only where harvest is lawful and the population is not listed.
What would count against it
- naming spawning reaches or bottlenecks
- using a hatch match on spawning adults
NOAA: all Chinook salmon die after spawning. Redds and listed ESUs stay excluded from target guidance.
Spawning · Late summer, Fall
Adults on the spawning migration are not a feeding problem.
Recorded as conservation context. No spawning site, staging concentration or migration bottleneck is named anywhere in this catalog, because naming one is how a population gets fished out.
Telling it apart
Identification
What to look at
- NOAA: black pigment along the gum line, thus the nickname blackmouth. Oregon DFW: the lower jaw is a uniform dark coloration (in some cases mottled). Gum line on the LOWER jaw is the enforcement split from coho.
- NOAA: black spots on the upper half of the body and on both lobes of the tail fin.
- Oregon DFW: do not rely on ocean-phase body color or spots alone — all ocean salmon are primarily silver, and spots vary within and between species. Use the lower-jaw gum line.
- NOAA: typical mature length and weight about 3 ft and 30 lb; can grow as long as 4.9 ft and up to 129 lb.
- Semelparous Pacific salmon (all die after spawning). Do not treat as steelhead. Great Lakes fish belong on this record, not on coho or inland trout.
- Average adult length
- NOAA: typical mature about 3 ft. Common returning adults often 28–40 in depending on stock.
- Common angling size
- 28–40 in in many Pacific and Great Lakes fisheries.
- Typical weight
- NOAA: typical mature about 30 lb. Many fisheries see smaller adults; stock means vary.
- Maximum documented
- NOAA: as long as 4.9 ft and up to 129 lb. Those maxima are not typical and are not a Great Lakes mean.
- Longevity
- NOAA: sexually mature between ages 2 and 7, typically 3 or 4 when they return; all die after spawning.
What it gets confused with
- Coho salmon
- Oregon DFW: coho lower jaw shows a dark-light-dark band at the tooth base; Chinook is uniform dark. NOAA: coho have a lighter gumline and spots on the upper tail lobe only. Chinook spots both lobes and are typically much larger.
- Sockeye salmon
- Sockeye lack large black spots on back and tail. Chinook are spotted on both tail lobes and have black gums. Do not collapse a large unspotted red/green spawner into Chinook.
- Steelhead
- Steelhead are iteroparous anadromous rainbow trout, not blackmouth salmon. They lack the Chinook black gum line as a salmon key and can spawn more than once (NOAA).
- Pink salmon
- Pink are much smaller (ADF&G: 3.5–5 lb, 20–25 in) with large oval spots on the entire tail, very small scales, and no silver on the tail. Chinook are the large blackmouth.
What follows from all of that
Presentation families
Flowing water
Swing
Let current carry a bait or fly across a lane so it broadens and lifts at the hang.
- downstream quartering
- controlled belly
- hang-down pause
- slow lift
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- Moderate
- Sensitivity
- Moderate
- Casting distance
- Moderate
- Weight range
- Unweighted to 1/4 oz
- Cover resistance
- Low
- Line visibility
- Moderate
- Retie frequency
- Low
Downstream retrieve
Move a bait with the current, then add just enough speed to give it a swimming job.
- cast upstream
- recover slack
- match or slightly beat current
- pause in pockets
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- Moderate
- Sensitivity
- Moderate
- Casting distance
- Moderate
- Weight range
- 1/16–3/8 oz
- Cover resistance
- Low
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Bottom-contact drift
Tick or crawl a food form along the substrate through a feeding lane without snagging constantly.
- feel the bottom
- short hops
- reset after hang
- weight just enough
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Moderate
- Weight range
- 1/8–3/8 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Stillwater
Trolling
Cover a depth contour or basin at a controlled speed to intercept mobile fish.
- speed control
- depth control
- follow the contour
- turn to change action
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- Low
- Casting distance
- Boat
- Weight range
- Varies with speed and depth
- Cover resistance
- Low
- Line visibility
- Moderate
- Retie frequency
- Low
Vertical jig
Work a compact bait up and down through a marked depth, basin, or timber pocket.
- stay over the target
- measured lift
- controlled drop
- watch slack
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Vertical
- Weight range
- 1/8–3/4 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Horizontal retrieve
Move a swimming bait through a chosen depth band along structure or open water.
- count down
- steady or pulsing retrieve
- keep the band
- cover the edge
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- Moderate
- Sensitivity
- Moderate
- Casting distance
- Moderate to long
- Weight range
- 1/8–1/2 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Low
What moves them for this fish
Reviewed rules that push particular families up when the conditions match. Each one names the conditions it needs and why it exists, so you can disagree with it.
Lake/reservoir Chinook are pelagic and depth-band oriented; reinforce controlled travel through the occupied layer.
When
Stillwater · Thermocline edge, Suspended / open water, Drop-off
Moves up
Trolling, Vertical jig, Horizontal retrieve
Reviewed 2026-08-27
Where every sentence came from
Sources
Agency
NOAA Fisheries Chinook Salmon species profile
Used for behaviour; season. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-13.
Agency
NOAA / DFO chinook assessments
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families. Read 2026-08-27, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
Used for identification. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-12-12.
Agency
Used for identification. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-12-12.
Agency
NOAA Fisheries Chinook Salmon species profile (young insects/crustaceans; older fish; ESA counts)
Used for forage. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-12-07.
Peer reviewed
Healey chinook life history
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families; identification; behaviour; forage; season. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-27.
A source with no link predates the rule that one has to carry a URL. It is still a real citation and still checkable; it just takes a search rather than a click, and that is worth knowing before you rely on it.