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Coho Salmon
Oncorhynchus kisutch
Identification
tips for trouts and salmons
- Length:11 to 26 inches
- Weight:2 to 8 pounds
- Coloring: steel-blue to
slightly green on back; bright silver on sides; white underside
- Common Names:coho, silver salmon, sea
trout, blueback
- Found in Lakes:Stocked in Michigan,
Huron, Ontario, Erie and Superior
- Initial hopes for a revived Great Lakes
sport fishery rode on the sleek muscular back of the coho salmon. Commonly called
"silver salmon," this Pacific import has been planted in lakes Michigan and
Superior annually since 1966 and is now an integral part of the lake's
"put-and-take" sport fishing industry.
Mature cohos gorge themselves on alewives, smelt, and
other forage fish. In Lake Michigan, cohos attain an average weight of five to six pounds
but often top out at 10 pounds or more. In Lake Superior, where forage fish are less
abundant, cohos average only two to four pounds.
Though smaller, coho salmon are spawning
successfully in most Lake Superior tributaries and thus have developed some limited but
self-sustaining populations. There is some concern that this aggressive fish might disrupt
the spawning of other valued species, such as brook, brown and rainbow trout.
Coho salmon ordinarily return in their third
year to the streams where they were planted to spawn and die. They reproduce naturally in
many streams on the eastern side of Lake Michigan, but their general population must be
sustained with hatchery-reared fish. Continual stocking has helped to improve the lake's
predator-prey balance and given satisfaction to thousands of sport fishermen as well.
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copyright University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute
Brook Trout illustration copyright 1998 Gina
Mikel
Coho salmon photograph (c) Shedd Aquarium (e-mail)
Drawing from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Last updated 05 February 2002 by Seaman |