Pink Salmon

Mouth is white with a black gum line.
In marine areas, almost no teeth
Large oval spots on both lobes of tail
Large black spots on back
Pointed lower jaw
No silver on tail
Very small scales

Jaw
The mouth of a pink is white, but the gums and tongue are black, as they are in a chinook. It does not have “teeth” on its tongue.

Tail
The pink salmon tail is covered with large oval spots. It does not have silver on the tail. The scales are very small compared to other salmon of the same size.

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Pink (Humpy) Salmon
Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

Other names: humpie, humpback salmon
Average size: 3-5 lbs, up to 12 lbs

Male pink salmon develop a large hump on their back during spawning, hence the nickname humpback salmon. This is the smallest of the fall-spawning Pacific salmon. In Washington, pink salmon runs only occur in odd-numbered years.

Spawning - Pinks use the mainstems of large rivers and some tributaries, often very close to saltwater. Because their fry move directly to sea after emerging, the closer they spawn to saltwater the better. The shorter journey reduces predation and increases survival. Sometimes pink salmon spawn right in saltwater, avoiding freshwater altogether.

Pinks have a very regular life history, living for two years before returning to spawn the next generation. This is why pink runs in Washington only occur every other year; there are no one-year-old or three-year-old fish to establish runs in the other years.

Rearing - As mentioned, pink fry do not rear in freshwater. Immediately after emerging they move downstream to the estuary and rear there for several months before heading out to the open ocean. Because of this, pink fry have no spots, which provide camouflage in streams, but are bright chrome for open water.