Salmon of the West Coast of Canada...

This is going to be rather interesting, because in the trouts , there are a tremendous amount of 'sub-species' , especially when it comes to the 'Cutthroat'...Oncorhynchus clarki, just to many for me to put up, however, I will put up the more common cuttie that is found in the southern sections of Alberta just to give you an idea on how beautiful this specie is. So let's get going on this yet another interesting topic..

..Let us begin with the Salmons of the Pacific Ocean, there are 5 major species, plus one of the most favorite 'trouts', mother nature can provide to the fishers of the world, but for now, we will continue with the Salmons..

The first is by far the largest Salmon of the Pacific, thus one of it's common names is suited for it.. 'The King Salmon' also known as it is getting to a special weight class..'The Chinook Salmon' , then once it reaches that 30lb plus class it has finally come to the name that is known in the west as..'The Tyee Salmon'..Oncorhynchus tshawytscha..

..A special group of fishers formed the 'Tyee Club of British Columbia' began in 1924, with a group of anglers who returned to the Campbell River each year in pursuit of the elusive Tyee - a coastal Indian word meaning, 'the Chief', a Chinook salmon , 30 pounds or larger. The First Nations people had fished for Tyee for unknown ages prior to the coming of the Europeans. They used several methods including spears and hand lines, from dugout canoes, as well as traps. They were adept at catching fish as well as being truly conservationist in practice. The first account of angling for Tyee appeared in 'The Field', published in London October1896. Sir Richard Musgrave and his partner, W.H.Gorden, took 19 Tyee in one week as well as several Coho and trout. His largest Tyee, taken September 20th 1896, weighed in at 70 pounds. For further information to this group of anglers please clink on the link provided.. http://www.tyeeclub.org/about.htm  ..The largest Tyee ever landed in sport fishing was 93pounds, and was caught in the Kenai River in Alaska in 1986. The largest Tyee ever caught was taken in a fish trap in Alaska weighing in at 125 pounds, in 1946.

..The Female King Salmon :

..The Male King Salmon :

..The next Salmon is the 'Sockeye Salmon' ..Oncorhynchus nerka..

..This specie is commercially one of the most popular of all because of it's dark, rich, flavorful meat and is 3rd in population next to the Pink and Chum salmon.

..The Female Sockeye Salmon :

..The Male Sockeye Salmon :

   

..next will be the 'Chum Salmon' ..Oncorhynchus keta :

..Commercial fisheries in Alaska and Russia take more chum than any other fish. Their meat is primarily smoked, and they tend to be less oil than other species.


..The Female Chum Salmon :

..The Male Chum Salmon :

..next is the 'Coho Salmon' ..Oncorhynchus kisutch :

..One of the most popular fish species among North American anglers, their size is in part responsible; Coho average 38 inches and 11 pounds in weight, although many larger ones have been landed. Some of the largest have been 31 pounds and 114 inches in length.

..The Male and Female Coho Salmon :

  ..next is the 'Pink Salmon' ..Oncorhynchus gorbusha :

..Pink salmon are also known as 'humpbacked salmon', due to the bulge that appears on the male's back during spawning time. Pinks are now the most sought after fish in the commercial industry, especially in places like Alaska. In today's market the Pinks are bought from the commercial fishers for a mere 17 cents a pound. Yet as a consumer , the prices are high that we pay.

..this is in it's ocean colour :

  
..a Male and Female pair in spawning colours :

..Well I've covered the five Pacific Salmon that run our rivers here in British Columbia, during their spawning time, in the days that come I'll continue posting with our western trout..until then.. 

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A Showing of the 'Browns' of Ireland.

Thought it would be of some interest to put up pics of the various specie of 'Browns' found in Ireland. As in my last post, I'll start off with the brown that most fishers would give their eye tooth for, for this brown has been know to get to 20 lbs. plus, and that is the..

..'Dollaghan'.. Salmo trutta L.,

..These are just two of the colour phases that this fish has in the various rivers that flow into Lough Neagh.

..the next fish and others are not in any order..

..this next fish is called..'Sonaghan'..Salmo nigripinnis

..these have been scientifically proven as being indigenous to Lough Melvin and are the main quarry for anglers on Lough Melvin. Late evening approximately half hour before dusk is particularly good, the month of June is when the fishing for this specie peaks.


..the next brown is called ..'Gillaroo'.. Salmo stomachicus

..A specie of trout which eats primarily snails. Gillaroo is derived from the Gailge or Irish for Red Fellow (Giolla Rua). This is do to the fishes distinctive colouring. It has bright buttery golden colour in it's flanks with bright crimson and vermilion spots.


..next brown I've saved for last because it has been noted to have lived 50,000 years ago and have survived over the ages, and it is called..'Ferox'.. Salmo ferox 

  

..in about 10,000 years ago when the climatic conditions changed, cutting off their access to the sea, and forever changing their life history. Indeed in Ireland ferox can be found in many char lakes which traditionally held char in the past. Ferox canabalise (now known as Salmo ferox), which returned to many of the same lakes when geological processes and climatic conditions allowed and also prey on other fish species (in Lough Corrib ferox take large numbers of roach). 

..there is but one other that I thought I should bring to light and that fish is called..'Croneen'.. 

..however, to site any of the write up on this certain unique fish would be a travesty to it , so please look in this site for the complete story of the Corneen trout... http://www.shannon-fishery-board.ie/catchment/croneen-story.htm

Let's welcome aboard yet another Irish tier...

Wednesday 22nd.,2010

A new tier has been incorporated into my blog, he hails from Ireland, living in the south west of the Island. Welcome 'Seanie', I'm sure the ppl who visit my blog will appreciate your different tying style and different type of  Irish flies. He enjoys fishing for the large browns as well as the Atlantic Salmon, and Sea trout down in southern part of Ireland in certain trout 'lakes=Loughs' as they call them on the green isle, but please remember this..this is Ireland now and where the 'Blarney Stone' was made famous by those in the South, (this is where Seanie hails from) and where all those little green men came from..

Sunday,19 th.,Sept.2010

Added a new fly in the Fly Pattern section this morning, had received this from the tier 'Gbigtrout' from North Ireland ..Ulster..to be exact, in Friday's mail, a rather interesting fly considering that the colours were obtained with an acid call 'Picric', this technic was first used in Ireland to create the colour Olive, and from that time till now the Irish have been using it to create that sought after colour.

 

Addition of New exciting Flies

Friday, September 10th. 2010..

..Have put up several new flies, in two places, one being in the 'Fly Pattern', the other under 'Products',  which were made with my new Arctic Wolf's fur...that's right, Nantuc gave up some to try..the fur was sent over the pond to England, Ireland, Scotland, and now working on sending it over to Europe, in hopes a few will come from there.

 ..as far as here in Canada, I sent some over to a friend of mine on Vancouver Island, and in the process of sending some to a highly noted tier friend of mine in New Brunswick who ties classic flies..

..I do hope you all enjoy the new flies as well there will be updates to include the new ones as they come in............cheers!