A Field Guide to Southeast Alaska's Salmon
Southeast Alaska is home to all five species of Pacific salmon, King, Silver, Sockeye, Pink, and Chum. While they're all cousins, they don't look alike, fight alike, or taste the same. Knowing the difference is the kind of thing that turns a good fishing story into a great one.
Here's a field guide to Southeast Alaska's Salmon to tell them apart, whether they're fresh and chrome-bright off the troll or starting to color up for their spawning run.
The Hand Trick
Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists teach kids to remember all five species using one hand, and it works just as well for adults:
Thumb - rhymes with Chum
Pointer finger - point to your eye, and "eye" rhymes with Sockeye
Middle finger - the biggest finger, for the biggest salmon, the King
Ring finger - what color rings do some people wear? Silver, for Coho
Pinky - easy: Pink
That'll get you the names. Telling them apart on the deck of the boat takes a little more detail and the fastest way to do it is by checking two things: the spots, and the mouth.
King (Chinook) Salmon
The largest of the five and the one every angler is chasing when they book a trip here. Ocean-bright Kings have a blue-gray back and silvery sides, with small, irregular black spots scattered across the back, dorsal fin, and (this is the tell) both the upper and lower lobes of the tail. No other Southeast Alaska salmon has spots on both halves of the tail.
The other giveaway: Kings have a black mouth with black gums at the base of their teeth. As they move toward spawning, their bright silver color fades into maroon or olive-brown, but that black mouth stays black the whole way through.
Silver (Coho) Salmon
Cohos share the greenish-blue back and silvery sides of a King, and they've got spots too, but only on the back, dorsal fin, and the upper lobe of the tail. The lower tail lobe stays clean.
The mouth is the real difference-maker: Coho have a black mouth with a white gumline, a sharp contrast that's easy to spot once you know to look for it. Come spawning season, Cohos take on a deep reddish or maroon color that covers the entire body, head to tail, and males develop a hooked "kype" jaw that makes them look like they mean business.
Sockeye (Red) Salmon
Sockeye are the ones that go through the most dramatic transformation of the bunch. In saltwater, they're dark blue-black on the back with silvery sides and, notably, no distinct spots anywhere no back, no dorsal fin, no tail. Combine that with a large pupil that seems to take up almost the whole eye, and a white mouth with a white gumline, and you've got your ID.
Once Sockeye head into freshwater to spawn, there's no mistaking them: their bodies turn a striking, deep red, their heads turn olive-green, and their tails stay the classic "red salmon" look that gives the species its name.
Pink (Humpy) Salmon
The smallest and most abundant salmon in Alaska, and one of the easiest to identify once you know what to look for. Pinks have a blue-gray back with silvery sides, but the spots are the giveaway, large, oval-shaped black blotches on both lobes of the tail, bigger and bolder than the fine spotting you'll see on a King or Coho. They also have unusually small scales for their body size.
The mouth is white with a black gumline, and male Pinks develop one of the most distinctive features in the entire salmon family as they approach spawning, a pronounced hump on their back, which is exactly where the nickname "Humpy" comes from.
Chum (Dog) Salmon
Chum are the trickiest of the five to spot in open water, because ocean-bright Chum can look a lot like an ocean-bright Sockeye at a glance. Look closer and the differences show up fast: Chum have no distinct spots, a deeply forked tail, a large eye pupil, and a white tip on the anal fin that Sockeye don't have. The mouth is white with a white gumline, similar to Sockeye, so the anal fin and tail shape end up being your best field markers.
Once Chum move into freshwater, identification gets a lot easier. They develop bold, calico-patterned bands of purple, green, and dull yellow along their sides, a color pattern no other Alaska salmon shares. That striking pattern is also where the nickname "Calico salmon" comes from.
Spots and mouth color will identify almost any salmon you pull over the rail:
Species | Tail Spots | Mouth | Gums |
King (Chinook) | Both lobes | Black | Black |
Silver (Coho) | Upper lobe only | Black | White |
Sockeye (Red) | None | White | White |
Pink (Humpy) | Both lobes, large & oval | White | Black |
Chum (Dog) | None | White | White |
Why It Matters
Beyond settling the occasional friendly debate on deck, knowing your species matters for the regulations, too. Southeast Alaska's salmon bag limits and seasons vary species by species, so a quick, confident ID helps make sure everyone stays within the rules while filling the cooler. It also just makes the trip better. There's something satisfying about pulling a fish over the rail and being able to say exactly what it is before the guide even tells you.
Next time you're out on the water with Sportsman's Cove Lodge, put the hand trick and the spot-and-mouth check to the test!
Ready to see all five for yourself? Book your trip by clicking the link below!
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