Well, I never
 

caught a salmon before.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ken_for...ry/5013136291/

Pink salmon were accidentally introduced into Lake Superior
in 1956. In their native habitat pink salmon return to the
stream of their birth after two years in the sea so at first
they were an odd-year only nuisance in Lake Superior streams.
They have since become an annual nuisance. Biologists think
the relatively sterile Lake Superior delayed the onset of
maturity in some fish causing a three year class instead of
a two year class so now the damn things show up in even years
too.

The streams become so full of these pests it's damn near
impossible to catch the real fish. They don't really take a
fly, I don't know what prompted that one in the photo to
smack my caddis. It like to have tore up my poor little 3wt.

--
Ken Fortenberry

Well, I never
 

Pest or no, they do put up a fight. Congrats on your pest eradication
program.
Frank Reid

Well, I never
 

In their native range pinks are known as one of the salmon _most_
likely to take a fly, so I don't know why they wouldn't in Lake
Superior. (It's the sockeye/kokanee that you almost have to snag to
catch.)

I don't know how quickly they start turning bad, but that one looked
like a good meal...

Jon.

Well, I never
 

Jonathan Cook wrote:
In their native range pinks are known as one of the salmon _most_
likely to take a fly, so I don't know why they wouldn't in Lake
Superior. (It's the sockeye/kokanee that you almost have to snag to
catch.)

I don't know how quickly they start turning bad, but that one looked
like a good meal...

Well, that one took a fly but the conventional wisdom among
the locals here is that pinks rarely, if ever, take a fly.

As for eating the pinks aren't considered all that great when
they're caught in Lake Superior, when they hit the streams
most folks won't touch them. I've been told once they grow the
hump on their back and enter the streams they're practically
inedible. Of course the folks around here are pretty spoiled
when it comes to fresh seafood from the Lake. Whitefish, herring,
lake trout etc. etc.

--
Ken Fortenberry