SALMON, CHUM
The Chum Salmon is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is also a Pacific salmon. The name Chum Salmon comes from the Chinook Jargon term tzum, meaning "spotted" or "marked", while "Keta" comes from the Evenki language of Eastern Siberia via Russian. Chum Salmon live for an average of 6 to 7 years, and in Alaska mature at the age of 5 years. Adult Chum Salmon usually weigh from 4.4 to 10.0 kg, (9.7 lbs to 22.0 lbs) with an average length of 60 cm (24 inches). The record for chum is 19 kg (42 lbs) and 112 cm (44 inches) and was caught at Edie Pass in British Columbia.
The body of the Chum Salmon is deeper than most salmonid species. In common with other species found in the Pacific, the anal fin has 12 to 20 rays, compared with a maximum of 12 in European species. Chum Salmon have an ocean coloration of silvery blue green with some indistinct spotting in a darker shade, and a rather paler belly. When they move into fresh water the color changes to dark olive green and the belly color deepens. When adults are near spawning, they have purple blotchy streaks near the caudal peduncle, darker towards the tail. Spawning males typically grow an elongated snout or kype, their lower fins become tipped with white and they have enlarged teeth.
For this particular fish you should use a 7ft 9in rod rated for 15 to 30lb test. For all the plug lines you should add a 5 to 6 ft(1.5m to 1.82m) section of 30 to 40 lb(13.6kg to 18.1kg) mono which will help absorb some of those bigger sized hits you get. Another thing to do is rig all of your lines with a slider, bead and barrel swivel. This allows you to easily switch between flat lining your plugs to diver and plugs or bait. As far as plugs, for back trolling or anchoring for Chum Salmon good choices are the Kwik fish K-13 and K-15 size. Other plugs that are good to use are flatfish and wiggle warts. Some of the favorite colors for Chum Salmon fishing are chrome with pink, chartreuse, purple and even blue. For all banana shape plugs like Kwik fish and flat fish add a piece of sardine, prawn or sand shrimp that wrap on the underneath side of the plug which gives an added scent factor that makes the difference for more hook ups.
Most Chum Salmon will be in the top 60 feet of water. Concentrate your fishing there, while paying close attention to the top 30 feet of the water column. Troll as slow as possible, and then try to go slower. Normally, in order to fish effectively, flashers need to rotate. For Chum Salmon, that is not necessarily so, but sometimes with plastic flashers such as Hot Spots, they are next to impossible to stop rotating.
Internationally
Chum Salmon have the largest natural range of any Pacific salmon, and undergo the longest migrations within the genus Oncorhynchus, far up the Yukon River and deep into the Amur River basin in Asia. In lesser numbers they migrate thousands of kilometres up the Mackenzie River. Chum Salmon are found around the north Pacific, in the waters of Korea, Japan, and the Okhotsk and Bering seas (Kamchatka, Chukotka, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, Khabarovsk Krai, Primorsky Krai), British Columbia in Canada, and from Alaska to California in the United States. In Arctic Ocean they are found in limited numbers from the Laptev Sea to the Beaufort Sea.