Chinook Tails/Egg Size???????

[GLF]

Has anyone else noticed that some chinook have spots all over the tail, and others only have spots on the top side and bottom side of their tail? I cleaned some chinook on Thursday.

Two of the fish were identical in size, around 12lbs each. One of the fish had spots all over the tail, and the other one only had spots on the top side and bottom side. The one that had spots all over the tail had bigger eggs in it then the other one.

Notice the big one in this picture does not have spots in the center of its tail. This was bigger than the other two and had smaller eggs than the smaller fish with spots all over the tail.

I have noticed the smaller eggs before, but was thinking it was an immature fish. But.....now that I think back, these fish were the same way with the spots/no spots on their tails.

These are Lake Michigan fish. I am not sure if Kings have tails with spots/no spots in the other Great Lakes.

Whats up with the spots on the tails and the different size eggs? Different strains of chinooks?

Has anyone else noticed the missing spots in the center parts of the tail and smaller egg sizes?????

Maybe I was in the sun and heat to much this weekend.

[SkeinMachine]

Could be a genetic thing??

Had Kings with just a couple spots top and bottom on the tail,checked the mouth to confirm

Same thing applies to browns,some have a lot of spots across the lateral line,others very few.

[GLF]

Here is one with spots.

Here is one with the center spots missing.

Both of these fish were the same size. The one with no spots in the center had noticably smaller eggs.

[kingofthewater]

I was thinking, maybe the one with all the spots and bigger eggs means its that fishes year to river run. I dont actually know, just a theory.

[tort]

maybe it is a genetic thing like that guy in the pic who has 2 left arms :D:D:D

[Joe von Grabe]

I'm the Tournament Director for the DAS and sometimes we have difficulty identifying a fish between King and Coho especially early in the year. Some kings, especially one and two year olds, do not have well defined spots on the tail and sometimes it's difficult to tell by the gums.

Kings have 15-19 rays on their anal fin while Cohos have 13-15. If the fish has 15, you can't be 100% sure.

See attached for a fish I.D. chart.

http://www.great-lakes.org/fishid.html

I'd bet both of the fish in the pictures are kings.

Also, the scales of Coho come off real easily during netting and hook removal.

Joe, "Sloppy Joe"

[GLF]

I am sure they were both kings. What I am not sure about is why the eggs between the two fish were different size.

The next time someone is cleaning fish, please pay attention to this and see if you come up with the same results in egg sizes.

[Dv8oR]

I am sure they were both kings. What I am not sure about is why the eggs between the two fish were different size.

The next time someone is cleaning fish, please pay attention to this and see if you come up with the same results in egg sizes.

I've noticed, but never thought anything about it until you posted and then I asked you about it.

I have to admit, I wasn't paying attention to the tails until you brought it up but my last cleaning "Ta Da"!!!!

I used to freeze these for friends/work buddies, but don't no more cuz I don't work with people that want 'em anymore!

I have absolutely no more valuable information at this point.