[Dave Mundie]

Was out on the Ythan today (Sat) and got my first Salmon 
Sorry guys it was not on the fly but the worm




5lb 10oz

I hope it's ok but as it was my first ever I knocked it on the head?
I was very disappointed when i got home and opened it up to find it full of eggs
How do you tell if its a hen or cock fish?
Even though it was my first if I had known it was a hen I would have returned it I'm feeling very guilty now.

Any advice would be welcome.

Dave

[Noel Kelly]

That's a lovely fresh fish, you must have been delighted when you landed it. I can also imagine your disappointment when you opened it...shit happens.
I don't know much about salmon having caught my first two this year, but having in the past chapped fish that for one reason or another I regretted afterwards my policy now is if in doubt just let it back.
There have been a few  things I have regretted chapping but I have never regretted letting anything go.  That would be more relevant to my hunting years but also applies to the odd fish.

I am sure some of the more experienced salmon anglers on here will be able to show us all some identification points on that fish but to me the shape of the head and the swollen look to the belly would have prompted me to guess that it was a hen.

Can I also say fair play for posting that you chapped, you could easily have said that it was returned.

[Ben Dixon]

Hi Dave,

Well done on the fish.  I'll put up some pics of cock and hen fish tomorrow (later today) and point out some differences.  The fish you caught looks fresh enough but it is very difficult to tell just how fresh a fish is from a picture on the web.  I would not take a hen fish period but to take your first fish is fair enough, that one does look quite clean.  At this time of year hens will be full of eggs even though they may look fresh.  My first salmon was caught no more than 1/2 a mile from the sea at about this time of year and looked in similar condition to your fish, I knocked it and took it home, it was a hen and also and full of eggs.  Didn't taste great.
Will get something posted tomorrow showing the difference.

Cheers

Ben

[Dave Mundie]

That's a lovely fresh fish, you must have been delighted when you landed it.

Yeh was well chuffed although was a bit dissapointed in the fight, with all the stories of them being real fighters I was expecting a real battle but not really.
I felt a couple of knocks but thought it was just small brownies gave a small tug to pull the worm away from them and realised I'd hooked something, thought to my self oh this brownie is not so small then seen a flash of silver and thought thats a bit bright for a brownie then it just headed to the bottom no runs or anything got it up and into net all over in less than 5 mins.

Hi Dave,

Well done on the fish.  I'll put up some pics of cock and hen fish tomorrow (later today) and point out some differences.  The fish you caught looks fresh enough but it is very difficult to tell just how fresh a fish is from a picture on the web.  I would not take a hen fish period but to take your first fish is fair enough, that one does look quite clean.  At this time of year hens will be full of eggs even though they may look fresh.  My first salmon was caught no more than 1/2 a mile from the sea at about this time of year and looked in similar condition to your fish, I knocked it and took it home, it was a hen and also and full of eggs.  Didn't taste great.
Will get something posted tomorrow showing the difference.

Cheers

Ben

There was no lice or anything on it which I believe is a sure sign of it being fresh run, hope it tastes ok.
looking forward to the pics to prevent any future mistakes, not that I'll be knocking much more on the head (i got to catch them first) one for the pot now and then.

Dave

[Jim Eddie]

Dave

Well done , cock Salmom generally  have a kype  ( a hooked jaw)

This is a good guide to Salmon ID

http://www.letsflyfish.com/salmon_kelt.htm

 

Jim

[Ben Dixon]

Hi Dave,

This is a good document (you may have to zoom a bit), from the Atlantic Salmon Trust website, a link to the downloadable pdf file is here
http://www.atlanticsalmontrust.org/learning-zone-assets/atlantic_salmon_recognition.pdf




Fresh Cock Salmon from N. Esk, this is very fresh and was caught only a few hundred yards above the tide.


Fairly fresh Hen from Upper Don, this has been in the river longer than the above cock and can be seen from the fact that it is starting to go grey under the chin and below the gills, note the difference in jaw / head profile


Another Cock, again fairly fresh but same greying up as above fish, this is another upper Don fish


And another hen, fresher than the above.  The picture doesn't do it justice, see if you can download it and zoom a bit, sorry about my mug being in the pic.


Mature Hen


Mature Cock


Hope this helps a bit.


Cheers

Ben

[Dave Mundie]

Thanks for the links guy's they are a good reference.

Jim did you get on the ythan this weekend, how did you get on?

Dave

[Adam]

Hi Dave,

The very same thing happened to me mid september, I went up the Don for a week, caught my first salmon and chapped it cos it was very fresh, and it was my first. I actually thought it was a cock fish because it had a wee hook in the bottom jaw, which I didn't think hens developed. Wrong. I discovered they obviously can do, but much smaller than that of a cock fish.


My first Salmon, fresh hen, definately the good looking member of the photo.....

         I too felt guilty when I found it was a hen with eggs inside, but when I told another angler about it the next day he said, "Never feel guilty about killing them!" (Salmon in general) He made the interesting point that when we hook, play, land the fish, and then release them, they are using up vital energy reserves which they need for swimming up river and for the process of spawning.
         I think his general point was that you should never feel guilty about taking the odd fresh fish for a nutritious meal, considering that whether we kill them or not we are still fishing for them, and if we catch them, we are seriously "screwing up their day" either way. So after all that I ended up feeling a wee bit guilty about fishing for them at all!
         I was lucky enough to go on and catch and release a further 4 fish over the next couple of days and found it became more obvious which sex was which when you see them close up in the flesh, but here's some more pictures for you to compare anyway! (Sorry to anyone whos against spinning, I tried hard with the fly everyday but river conditions weren't right for it.) 

Fresh cock fish


Small cock fish starting to colour up (not a great pic)


Coloured hen fish


Hen fish starting to colour up


(Also sorry to anyone whos seen these photos already in the don reports pages, I just thought it'd be clearer to stick these here....)

          The only takeable one of those four is the 1st one, which would have been the one I should have taken in hindsight cos it's definately a cock fish, but thats the beauty of hindsight. Plus when I got my first ever the day before I didn't expect to be catching anymore!

Anyway, basically I don't think either of us should feel guilty for killing our first salmon, and if we manage to keep catching them we should release pretty much all of them and certainly try not to kill any hen fish in future!

cheers

Adam

[Jim Eddie]

Thanks for the links guy's they are a good reference.

Jim did you get on the ythan this weekend, how did you get on?

Dave

No Dave I did not get anything on the Ythan

 

Jim

[Iain Goolager]

Were the conditions unfavourable Jim? See anything moving?

[Dave Mundie]

Hi Dave,

The very same thing happened to me mid september, I went up the Don for a week, caught my first salmon and chapped it cos it was very fresh, and it was my first. I actually thought it was a cock fish because it had a wee hook in the bottom jaw, which I didn't think hens developed. Wrong. I discovered they obviously can do, but much smaller than that of a cock fish.


Adam

Hi Adam,

Funnily enough mine had a small hook also and I thought the exact same as you.

[Jim Eddie]

Were the conditions unfavourable Jim? See anything moving?

Iain

Nope the water was high but running clear, just no sign of life, nothing showing at all.

 

Jim