AAA Fishing Charters - Seattle Fishing Area Guide & Charter

Fish Info


Sockeye (Red) Salmon
(Oncorhynchus nerka)


The sockeye is historically our most commercially valuable fish because of its high oil content and its ability to hold its red color in the can. While spawning, males have a humped back and hooked noses, while females retain their natural shape. Both sexes turn from their normal blue-tinged silver color to varying shades of red when they reach the spawning streams.

Sockeye that, which through accident or design, beccome "lake-locked" and never go to sea are called kokanee. These sockeye, which live exclusively in fresh water and die after spawning are identical in their life cycle to the sea-going sockeye, except they are generally much smaller. The abundant feeding capacity of the open ocean is dramatically illustrated by the average five to six-fold difference in size between the freshwater kokonee and the sea-going sockeye.