Pink salmon -- also known as humpbacks or humpies because of the males' distinctive physique -- are fun to catch as they return in immense schools. Pinks are important to the state's canning industry.
Description
The pink (Onchorhynchus gorbucha) is nicknamed "humpback" or "humpy" because of the distinctive hump the male develops at spawning time. Pinks use the streams of coastal Alaska as far north as Kotzebue.
The pink is the smallest of the five Pacific salmon species, with many running from 3 to 5 pounds. Spawning males develop a brown or black top and white belly; females become olive green with dusky bars or patches and a white belly.
Alaska record
12 pounds, 9 ounces, caught in 1974 in the Kenai Peninsula's Moose River by Steven A. Lee.
Tips for fishing
Each fishery's pinks develop on a two-year cycle, so some streams may have bank-to-bank pinks one year and relatively few the next year. Spinners, flies and spoons all work well.
Best time to fish
Southcentral Alaska
- Anchorage, Palmer and Wasilla areas -- July
- Susitna, Talkeetna and rivers flowing into western Cook Inlet -- July
- Kenai Peninsula / Cook Inlet -- July, August
- Kenai Peninsula streams -- August
- Resurrection Bay -- July, August
- Prince William Sound -- July, August
Inside Passage
- Inside Passage offshore, north of Stikine River -- July
- Inside Passage offshore, south of Stikine River -- July, August, September
- Inside Passage streams, north of Stikine River -- July
- Inside Passage streams, south of Stikine River -- July, August
Western, Interior and Northern Alaska
- Bristol Bay and Kodiak offshore -- June, July
- Bristol Bay streams and Kodiak -- July
Sources of information include the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
