Pink Salmon (Humpback)

• Smallest of the salmon, with tiny scales over their silver bodies
• Spirited fighters, popular with fly fishers
• 1.5 to 3 kg (3 to 7 lb), but occasionally reach 5 kg (11 lb)
• White mouth, with black gums and no "teeth" on the tongue
• V-shaped tail (which isn't silver-coloured like other salmon) covered with large oval spots on top and bottom

The alternative name humpback salmon refers to the hump that develops on the back of the breeding male. When the fry emerge from the gravel they already have the silvery colour of smolts, and migrate directly to the sea. Pinks can be the most abundant of salmon species during July and August. Some runs return only biannually to some rivers only in ever-numbered years; to others, they return only in off-numbered years. Pinks only live for two years. Like coho, they tend to feed along riplines often well offshore. Pink salmon have the habit of "free-jumping" - an individual fish will leap clear of the water at repeated intervals, often many times in a row.

They are strong fighters for their size, never giving up easily, sometimes leaping and often surging along the surface in repeated, short runs until finally in the net. They are aggressive feeders, striking herring and various lures and flies. Pink are more abundant in northern waters in even-numbered years and in southern waters in odd-numbered years.

In many areas fly fishing from the shore provides exciting sport in various locations during the late summer and fall.

Source: Fisheries and Oceans Canada