Parker,

Great question! What is the real difference between spring, summer, and fall chinook other than run entry timing? I think it's really important to note that the labels we attach to fish are partly arbitrary. While the labels denote certain attributes, they often connote differences that are as much imagined as real.

It's simpler on the Columbia system where fall chinook almost universally outmigrate as sub-yearlings and springers almost universally outmigrate as yearlings. West side chinook generally outmigrate as sub-yearlings, no matter if they are spring, summer, or fall race. It could be that there is a somewhat higher rate of yearling smolts among springers compared to falls, with summer chinook somewhere between. However, we've mucked things up so much, that good distributions of natural stock chinook are too few and far between to make good general assessments these days.

It does seem to me that summers are more like springers than they are like falls. They migrate well in advance of sexual maturity. They enter rivers while they are bright, and their flesh quality is excellent. Now I'll add some hearsay: springs and summers are either still feeding (hence the "stink"), or have discontinued only shortly before river entry, which allegedly makes them better "biters" than fall chinook. My subjective assessment much prefers spring and summer chinook for my BBQ over fall chinook.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.