Chum salmon were first recorded in BC waters in 1881, with a specimen taken from the Fraser River by D.S. Jordan and P.L. Jouy, according to the 1961 Fisheries Research Board Bulletin #68. This is only the official date of record for chums in BC waters. For millennia, they were known and used by coastal First Nations as a food source and important trade item.

The fact that chums are the last salmon to enter rivers to spawn extended their usefulness as a fall and winter food supply for First Nations. Their value was further enhanced because they were often the most abundant salmon species in coastal streams, and their lack of fat content made them the perfect salmon for smoking and long term preservation. Chums are capable of spawning from tiny creeks to larger rivers, where they generally spawn in accessible lower reaches. The combination of abundance, broad population dispersion, and easy access for harvest added to their worth and status.

Once out of the gravel, chum fry spend little time in their home streams. By the next spring, schools of fry can be found in estuaries and nearshore waters. At this time of year, look along beachfronts and around docks for schools of small, thin, silvery fish. They are much smaller than other salmon fry and smolts, besides pinks, and look different compared to juvenile herring normally found in these habitats.

From this point forward, they embark on a 3- to 4-year ocean migration that takes them as far as the mid-northeast Pacific Ocean. On these productive feeding grounds they mingle with chums from Alaska, Russia, Japan, and Korea.

Anti-hatchery activists point to the Asian hatchery production of chum salmon to illustrate how these salmon overload feeding grounds, eventually outmuscling wild salmon competing for the same food supply. It may be true in the mid-northeast Pacific, where literally billions of juvenile salmon released each year just by Asian facilities mix with North American salmon. However, using this example as an argument against continued hatchery production in BC is comparing apples to oranges.

In G.T. Ruggerone’s research document titled Numbers & Biomass of Natural & Hatchery Pink, Chum, and Sockeye Salmon in the North Pacific Ocean: 1925-2015, he noted these three species are more populous than ever before. Of this abundance, hatchery produced chum salmon from North America and Asia makes up 60% of the total chum biomass, of which the greatest number comes from Asian hatcheries.

However, BC’s combined hatchery and wild chum production contributes a modest 7% to the total North Pacific abundance, and about 25% comes from hatcheries. BC’s contribution of other far-ocean migrating salmon to the total Northeast Pacific biomass is similarly low:

• Sockeye: 16%, of which less than 1% is hatchery
• Pinks: 5%, of which less than 10% is hatchery

This data indicates Canadian hatcheries don’t warrant the same negative conclusions about the scope of their operations as Asian production facilities. Ours aren’t perfect, but they are not flooding the ocean with billions of releases annually. According to a 2022 Pacific Salmon Foundation update, BC hatcheries release about 300 million salmon fry annually across all five species.

There is now a concerted shift towards operating BC hatcheries using protocols that mimic natural salmon spawning and rearing. Chums are the second-largest Pacific salmon, ranging from 7 to 20+ pounds at maturity. In their ocean silver bright condition they can be confused with other species. However anglers can look for subtle identifiers, like a very narrow wrist at the base of the tail, small scales, tell-tale bars (visible on even fresh-run fish), and an absence of black spots on the body and fins. Adults are much easier to identify because of dark bars along their sides, and males grow impressive dog-like teeth, hence the name “dog salmon.”

Current BC Chum Status

The Pacific Salmon Foundation has developed a tool called the Salmon Explorer that tracks salmon performance across the province’s production regions. It is worth looking at to get a comprehensive view of BC’s salmon status. In a nutshell, Vancouver Island chums declined the least at 27%, while Skeena chums dropped a whopping 82%. The average decline across the seven regions with complete data was 35%.

Another assessment is included in the Fisheries and Oceans 2023 Salmon Outlook and Forecast which noted declines continued between 2019 and 2021, with stocks remaining depressed or only slightly improving in 2022 for some regions. On a positive note, the sea entry years—meaning those years when chum fry entered the marine environment—showed improved survival rates from 2019 to 2021.

The declines triggered significant commercial fishing closures, as well as reductions in catch and landed value. According to DFO data, between 2013 and 2018 the average landed catch was 25 million kg of salmon (all species). From 2019-22 that dropped to a 6 million kg average. The landed value averages over the same time periods dropped from $81 million to $25 million. However, overfishing was likely not the cause, as it was during he decades preceding the 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty. Even habitat damage gets a pass, since many chum streams are in fairly pristine condition or have received significant restoration work.

It appears that prolonged changes in the North Pacific environment played a major role. Events like the multi-year warm water Blob reduced the food chain biomass, resulting in fewer and smaller salmon returning all along North America’s Pacific coast during the last decade.

Tips For Catching Chum Salmon

Given the conservation concerns for chums, anglers should check for regional fishing closures or other chum regulations that may be announced before adult chums arrive along the coast. Oddly, even when chums were abundant, they attracted comparatively little fishing effort. There are reasons for this—some valid, others less so.

The taste of chum salmon is described as “delicate.” This is a polite assessment that hides the fact that, excluding smoked chum, their flavor has failed to attract a robust following. However, if you ever have the opportunity to enjoy freshly caught chum, prepared by First Nations over an open fire, you might change your mind. Other non-conservation factors that limit fishing effort for chums include the onset of wet fall weather and the arrival of hunting season.

However, these are not the main reasons anglers generally draw blanks on chums. From mid-September to late October, angling effort focuses on coho. These tactics, particularly trolling tactics, are unsuccessful for chum, even though both species are often in the same areas at the same time.

Chum Fishing Pro Tip: It’s easy to know if chums are nearby. They are prolific jumpers with a unique jumping style. Instead of rolling on the surface like Chinook or going vertical like coho, a chum jumps in a flat trajectory and lands on its side. Their jump pattern is repeated numerous times along a slightly curved path.

The reason they don’t hookup is trolling speed. Chums simply ignore fast trolled lures. Slow down significantly, and chums will attack lures and bait with gusto—sometimes producing double and triple headers when the bite is on.

Use your attractor’s motion as a speed dial. For example, dodgers work well on these fish, but they should be swaying—not darting—from side to side, and full-sized plastic flashers should be barely turning over, just swaying with some revolutions mixed in. Create this roll-no-roll flasher action by incorporating slight turns into the trolling tack. This increases flasher roll on the outside gear and slows flasher roll on the inside gear.

Chum Fishing Pro Tip: Run as many rods as possible and, after hooking a chum, don’t rush to bring in the other rods.

Chums like herring and other natural bait during the final stages of migration. So cut plugging can be highly productive for those who want the full light tackle chum experience—and it is an experience. Chums legitimately challenge Chinooks when it comes to power, but with a difference. Instead of long, line-stripping runs, they run short and pound hard. This doggedness makes anglers work for every foot of line gained back.

Hoochies are the standard presentation in purple, pink, blue, glow, and UV with some red and black. Traditionally anglers fished short to medium leader lengths with flashers and dodgers. However, well-known Campbell River guide and recreational fishing advocate Jeremy Maynard recently passed on these tips: “Troll slowly, but not so much with short leaders. 48″ is now considered short and 60″ to 72″ is common around Campbell River.” Over the last decade, anglers have been putting a small Spin-N-Glo in front of the hoochie, as shown in the photo below.

Click here for an Island Fisherman how to article: How To Catch More Chum Salmon

For decades, Campbell River had actively promoted its late-season chum fishery—and with good reason…

This article appeared in Island Fisherman magazine. Never miss another issue—subscribe today!