A river angler in the know can catch salmon that are plenty chromey... And bigger than they would have been a month before in the salt. Of course, you knew that, but I felt inclined to add it, since you teed it up so nicely.

Before anyone says it, okay, I admit it. Salt fresh salmon (especially chinook) is as good as salmon gets from a food perspective. Really fresh river fish are very close to the same quality, but they can be inconsistent. For the record, I'd give up eating salmon today if I knew it meant I could still fish for them tomorrow, and that thinking dominates my "how it should be" scenarios.