More often than not the words bright and Chum are not used in the same sentence. Due to their spawning habits, Chums get dark fast. I have caught bright(chrome or close to it) Chums at Whatcom(Circus) Creek, Snohomish River, Lower Skagit, and Puget Sound.

I remember going to Shilshole Marina about 10 years ago and hearing some dingus bragging about an 18 pound hooknose. I asked him to see the fish and he showed me. I wondered why it had such big eyes for a silver and the tail looked to be much more forked than that of a silver not to mention the complete absence of spots. I could see no vertical bars on the fish whatsoever. I mean none. I was convinced that it was a Chum and told the guy that he had a good-sized Chum and not a silver. "Whaddaya mean, a Chum!?" he exclaimed. I tried to explain that I saw several Chums and even caught a few that looked like that recently and him and his buddies all started to laugh out loud and make comments like "dumb kid" and "That ain't no Chum!". I was only a teenager at the time and obviously had difficulty getting my point across.

Who showed up a few minutes later but the fish checker. He worked his way down the dock as boats were waiting to take out and of course he had to hear this ignorant guys bragging about the "18 lb. hooknose". One look at the fish and the fish checker said that it was in fact a Chum.

I caught some chums today in the Sky that were fairly dark but they were covered in sea lice. ??????? Somebody explain that one, please. I have caught dime-bright silvers in the same area and they didn't have any sea lice but were as chrome as they come.

Justin
CEO, Sauk River Steelhead Ranch