Gigantic Salmon Found in California River

HOLY MOLY...That is one BIG fish. Somebody could have fed a large family weeks on those fillets. lol

The size of the head on this thing is unreal. Looks like a mutant or something...

Wildlife officials in northern California last week came across one of the biggest Chinook salmon ever found in the state — a monster more than 4 feet long and weighing 85 pounds.

"We see lots of big ones," Doug Killam, a biologist in the California Department of Fish and Game's Red Bluff office, told the Redding Record Searchlight, "but this one was just bigger than most big ones — it was just spectacular."

The big fish had recently spawned and died, Killam said, and probably weighed about 90 pounds when it began its 100-mile swim upstream from the Pacific to the spot where it died on Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River near the town of Anderson.

Full Article with Picture:

www.foxnews.com...

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


Nice Catch DD! Can you imagine going skinny dippin' with lady friend and that thing pops up it's head between you? What a beautiful animal - look at that mouth! Imagine it a year or two ago - must have been a mean fish - the bummer of course is that one of the reasons they can grow so big is because of the short season due to lack of fish, as the article states.

ColoradoJens

and ? i do not get it , was it a particularly slow news day ?

dont get me wrong - its good news that salmon populations are showing healthy trends - but to put it in perspective :

Where’s the next world record chinook?
The current world record chinook salmon caught by rod and reel stands at 97.4 pounds, caught by Lester Anderson in the Kenai river, Alaska. and the all time record stand in at 126 pounds, also caught in Alaska by net. Thinking all big fish come from Alaska, not true. The Skeena river hosted the Canadian record at 92lbs

source

My sister lives not too far from the hatchery ,I was amazed at the size of the salmon there,sure would be cool to hook up with one they sure are fighting fish

reply to post by ignorant_ape



One of the points I took away from the story is that they get this large due to the fact that the salmon populationo has been so down and thus the season for fishing is shortened, allowing these meag fish to dominate and get to such size. I think it is a story really on how the salmon population is suffering.

ColoradoJens

Thats awesome

I never thought salmon could get that big period. The records for the other types of salmon are phenomenal as well

Wow, thats one big fish for main land...

Eh. Not that big. Its just not too common for them to get that big in these modern times.

Over-fishing, hydro-electric projects, and pollution have messed with the life-cycle of these fish. I lived in the Pacific Northwest, and remember seeing pictures of Indians pulling salmon from rivers that don't even exist anymore.

reply to post by CreeWolf

reply to post by seagull


I see you are from SE WA state. I used to fish the Snake River up and down from Lower Granite Dam. I went to see the viewing room of the fish ladder there and thought it was great! I lived in Spokane, Tekoa, and Medical Lake the 12 years I was up there. Another great spot (but for Walleye) was the Spokane River at Little Falls Dam.

Small world!

Wow! that thing is massive what a sight!

Awesome find.

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
HOLY MOLY...That is one BIG fish. Somebody could have fed a large family weeks on those fillets. lol

The size of the head on this thing is unreal. Looks like a mutant or something...

Wildlife officials in northern California last week came across one of the biggest Chinook salmon ever found in the state — a monster more than 4 feet long and weighing 85 pounds.

"We see lots of big ones," Doug Killam, a biologist in the California Department of Fish and Game's Red Bluff office, told the Redding Record Searchlight, "but this one was just bigger than most big ones — it was just spectacular."

The big fish had recently spawned and died, Killam said, and probably weighed about 90 pounds when it began its 100-mile swim upstream from the Pacific to the spot where it died on Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River near the town of Anderson.

Full Article with Picture:

www.foxnews.com...

I do not know why this is news. In the Mississippi River there are commonly found 6 to 7 foot yellow catfish.

Fish can grow very large. Happens everywhere all the time.

I live near Rdding California. Looks like I'm going fishing. All I need to buy is a fishing rod and some great bait. That fish can feed several families for days.

thats intense, after seeing that I wonder if people half like fish fighting compititions?

Fish come in all sizes. It's good to see that there are larger and older fish. It's like seeing older and larger trees. It's good to see that some fish can survive for many years and become old and large.