I got greedy and took home a couple chum for the smoker this weekend. I've never kept a chum before because they look way to scary for my liking. My qustion is this: Are they okay barbequed. What about for the smoker. Mine are smoking at home right now and I'll decide whether or not to retain them after trying the smoked fish out tonignt. They weren't chrome bright either. They had those purple bars and huge teeth but the meat was still very firm (but more white than pink). What are your thoughts?

I've kept several in the past with some color, but without the huge teeth. Although I smoked them (and had people tell me it was the best smoked salmon they ever had) I've never thrown one on the BBQ. My experience has been the meat isn't as red as other salmon even when the fish are bright. I'd be interested in hearing what you think after you taste test the end product.
JMS

i love chum!! not only do they average the second highest weight of our salmon species but in my opinion fight the hardest. on top of that they run in large numbers(if you're in the right spot at the right time) and will bite on relatively simple(and cheap) gear, which is a major plus since i tend to break off more than usual on these fierce fighters. i have tried them on the bbq and it wasn't that great but are my top choice for the smoker. as for the coloration of these fish, generally the closer to the tidewater you fish, the fresher they will be. i have taken several chum which i believed to be big, bright native silvers until landing them only then to notice the barely visible purple vertical stripes on the side. as a matter of fact, on saturday i saw a bunch of fresh chrome chum jumping a few miles from the green can off the nisqually. tip: bobber and herring(small).good luck!!

I've taken bright ones from the salt, immediately cleaned and iced them, then brined (where they get extra slimy) and smoked.

I'll never do it again, though. They are garbage compared to "real" salmon. I can't imagine keeping one from a river.

They are called dog salmon for a reason. Dog food is all they're good for.

I bbq'd a bright one and it tasted fine. It is a bit milder than a silver or a king. My sauce for the bbq is spicy and full of flavor, so that may explain why it tasted fine, atleast my guests thought so....

No problem at all smoking chums with some color to them. A little drier than some of the other species as the fat content can be lower, but still rather tasty.

Many folks all over the country eat bright chums- it is often the fish that many "chain" restaurants (like Denny's) serve for their salmon. Out here in the P. Northwest we are little spoiled in our taste for salmon due to the ability to get multiple species of fresh salmon from the water and markets.

If you ever see smoked salmon advertised as 'Keta', that's chum salmon.

I think you can smoke just about anything and have it taste ok.

I tried river caught chum cooked a variety of ways, and smoked was OK, but the other ways just didn't do it for me. My dad liked it prepared all ways we tried.

Personally, all chummers go back in the water. Fun to catch, not so fun to eat. But that's just me. Same for pinks.

Also, I think a lot of fishing guides would like you to think Chums taste good and will happily give out several recipes. Of course if more people liked eating chum salmon, it would certainly help their guide business during November - so take their suggestions with a grain of salt (actully it will probably take a lot of salt...).

Is chum meat icky, or just bland?

If it's just bland, I could use it for more "fancied-up" salmon dishes like baked salmon in a sauce with sides.

If it's icky, you probably can't un-icky it.

I've read that you have to get chum bled, cleaned, and iced immediately for it to be any good.

Regards.

Finegrain
Woodinville

Cuttie,

No luck with the silvers????

Devine

Chum, dog, silverbrite, keta, it's all the same. Only $.99/lb at Safeway. They keep renaming the fish as a marketing ploy cuz nobody will knowingly buy it a second time.

I wonder why the plankton-eating sockeye (reds) are such excellent eating fish and the dogs, with the same diet, are such poor table fare.

I don't like pinks (humpies) either.

I also prefer male blackmouth (& kings) to female -- less mushy.

Hopefully, I'll get to cull through a few on friday.

I

Not much good on the BBQ........chrome ones are decent smokers.........olive and purple ones aren't much good for eating in any manner.

BUT, on the end of your line............they are FULL of pi$$ and vinegar. Definitely the toughest pacific salmon, pound for pound.

great fighters best used for dog food

I have found the bucks , WHEN IN GOOD SHAPE TO BE EXCELLENT SMOKED!!! THOSE THAT SAY DIFFERENT MUST HAVE KEPT ROTTING CHUM OR DON"T KNOW HOW TO SMOKE FISH.

Be selective and you will be pleased with the results.

if you cook them right they taste just like chicken

i let them go now but BBQed a fresh one long ago and it was ok.

Brought home a silver bright Chum last fall from the Pen. First and last time i will ever keep one. Meat was a washed out pink, kinda like trout meat. If anything Chums and Pinks make alot of food for baby steelhead.

With a great hatchery summer run and decent silver run "cammo" fishies should be released. Anything tastes good smoked

Nothing fight like a tail hooked chum! Accidentally of course. I like to see fish in spawning colors, and they are so uglyy that they are cool. A great fish for catch and release. The only only I kept was caught off of Johnson's point in August. Absolutely bright, poor meat compared to the alternatives.

The first chum I caught, 2 years ago, was a chrome bright 12lber in the Nisqually. It was so bright that a couple of "experts" across the river from me were convinced it was an early steelie. When I held it just right in the light you could barely see the purple lines. I too often thought, how bad can it be...this fish looks perfect so I took it home.
One half of the fish went on my bbq with my best marinade, the other half went in the little chief with my best brine. The color of the meat was good, not cherry red, but a nice pink. The half on the bbq turned out so-so. Even with my favorite marinade it was bland at best. The half in smoker was just as good as anything else ever smoked. Since then the only chum Ive ever taken home was the first one my son caught...and that was mostly for bragging rights to mom. It was slightly colored but smoked fine.
If you got em in the freezer already ( and most folks do by this time of the year) probably best to let em swim.
Tight lines
RL

Ugly??? I think chum are beautiful in their spawning colors. Not when they are totally dark and mush(all salmon are ugly then), but when they finally get their stripes I think they are the most beautiful out of all the salmon species. As for taste, never had one off the BBQ(heard they were no good for that), but smoked I think they are great. As has been said in this post already, be selective and you shouldn't have a problem.

Me personally, I have yet to find a salmon (of any specie) that I care to eat, smoked or otherwise.

One thing I see alot of guiding in Ak. is that first timers want to keep them all (kings, silvers, pinks and chums) return guests for the most part just want kings and silvers, if they do keep pinks and chums they usually say thats the fish they give to family/friends.

I think it's a matter of taste. You can be extremely picky like Slabquest. I've yet to find a plate of my smoke chum that hasn't disappeared extremely quick. But it's all in selection of the fish.

But I will dispell a myth. Chum can not be judged by color alone. I've caught well barred chum with sealice on them. I've caught chrome chums that were mush. They're a very hard fish to judge unless you've held alot. You can tell by firmness usually. I have a picture of a 24# chum that was well barred but firm as firm can get. Meat was a very dark pink. If it's mushy, goes back to the river immediately, and if belly is dark, of course it goes back.

First off, I never cared for them bbq'd. I'm not sure about the "not fatty" part of chums. Most chums I've smoked take hours upon hours more then silvers/kings, and have to scrape off layers of fat every couple hours. I've found, that I either eat chums two ways. I either smoke them or cook them one other way. I deep fry them!!!!!!! I fillet them out, debone/deskin them. Then dip in eggs, roll in seasoned flour, and deepfry the babies. Add some tarter sauce and away you go. Pretty damned good that way. I've served that a few times to guests and they had NO idea it was chum. It went quicker then the smoked stuff did at a previous party. But it's all in picking your keepers well.

And I COMPLETELY agree with DanS. They are pound for pound the workhorses of the salmon. I love to target them. Even if others complain because they're "dogs".

Good post Steelheader69. I agree with you. My first chum was a 17lb buck out of the Nisqually. At the time it was the scariest fish I'd ever seen. Huge teeth, tiger stripes, and fighting like mad. I was going to throw it back, but my buddy told me that it was a good fish for the smoker.
Maybe it was luck or maybe I can smoke fish pretty good, but this fish was excellent! Everyone that had some gobbled it right up. As for on the BBQ, I have only done that once with a store bought fish. Turned out pretty good. That was before I learned to fish and tried Kings and Silvers on the BBQ.

Bottom line- Stick 'em in the smoker or put 'em back in the water.

I have to pretty much agree with Steelheader69, be selective with regards to firmness not color. Smoking tends to be better than bar-b-que. Although, throw enough spices at it and anything is o.k. on the bar-b-que.

BTW - I find this a great fish to give to those friends that are always hounding you about getting them salmon. It is also a great fishery for young kids. Kind of like when you fished for crappie or perch with em but a lot bigger! Makes them smile all winter.

So based on what Steelheader69 says...catch a Chum and "Squeeze the Charmin" to see if its a keeper!

This is a classic case of some folks confusing their opinions with fact.

Fact - some folks don't care for chums - some do.

Opinion - Chums are no good.

Fact- If you get firm fleshed chums that a have good pink/orange color the taste is very acceptable to many folks.

I know a lodge owner in B.C. who obviously can have any salmon he wants. His favorite is chums. I find that in some river systems the chums come in dark and mushy. In others they come in bright and firm. I have enjoyed many shore lunches on the Alagnak River where fresh chum was the main course.

Fact: Almost every chum I ever saw caught at Hoodsport was black, slimy and soft. I shudder to think about the black, slimy,hens with eggs dripping out of them hauled off to sit in a car trunk all day, so the proud fishermen could take them home to smoke. If they aren't prime fish somking them wont help much. Thats my opinion!

This is a classic case of some folks confusing their opinions with facts.

Fact - some folks don't care for chums - some do.

Opinion - Chums are no good.

Fact- If you get firm fleshed chums that a have good pink/orange color the taste is very acceptable to many folks.

I know a lodge owner in B.C., who obviously can have any salmon he wants. His favorite is chums. I find that in some river systems the chums come in dark and mushy. In others they come in bright and firm. I have enjoyed many shore lunches on the Alagnak River where fresh chum was the main course.

Fact: Almost every chum I ever saw caught at Hoodsport was black, slimy and soft. I shudder to think about the black, slimy,hens with eggs dripping out of them, hauled off to sit in a car trunk all day, so the proud fishermen could take them home to smoke. If they aren't prime fish smoking them wont help much. Thats my opinion!

Arghhhhhhhhh, Hoodsport. What was worse was fishing Minter. I've delivered out there for years, and finally got a chance to fish it for salmon. I kept quite a few off the Creek. But MAN. Some guys were keeping ones that were super dark and fins turning WHITE!!! I mean, these fish were just blobs of mushy meat. It was gross. I released a few, and the guys were saying "You should keep em' for the smoker". These things fealt like slimy sponges. I kept firm ones, some with war stripes, some chrome bright. But I won't keep ones that are ready to go to the river in the sky.

After eating Fraser River Sockeye, everything else is...ok?

Chums are very high in oil. That's why some like to smoke them, I do, It's hard to over smoke them.

If brined right and the fish still has some good shine to it, they will smoke just fine with Alder chips.

The "BEST" way to tell if it's too old? Shake it, If the meat falls off, it's too old

chum are great smoked, one of my favorites

they're not bad bbq'ed if they're bright and have red meat though

Smoked

A few years back an arcticle showed up in the bremerton sun that attempted to rate salmon as table fare.Itwas written back east some where and it rated chum as the best eating fish.second was the king salmon.Both got to top the list because of there high oil content.

I strongly disagreed but i think it gives us an idea what the rest of the nation thinks about salmon??

I kept a dog the other day because it swallowed my bait and was bleeding out the gills.It was not an hour from the beach to brine.After brining my pyrex dishes were full of slime.Surprisingly it smoked up in a short time and was as bland as I remember.I rememberd why I do not keep dogs anymore.

I think again that it is a personal thing.I have smoked up many and had the plate empty in no time.

Hey all,
A bit of history for ya'll. Chum salmon was the preferred fish for pre-contact Coast Salish Indians(the ones from here). Other salmon were eaten fresh or perserved for special occasians(Potlatches,Winter Ceramonies). Chum meat dried readily and lasted longer through the winter. The oils from Smelt were mixed,as well as dried berries(Pemmican) to prevent them from gagging on the dry meat as well as prevent from plugging up thier poopers.
Statistically, this "smelt oil" was the most important of thier food resources, not salmon.
Larry

Over the Years I landed hundreds of Chums,they are pound for pound one of the hardest fighters.
For the smoker they are tops IMHO...........Os