# King or Coho?



## Salmonous Maximus (Jan 28, 2004)

This one has me a little stumped. 

This fish seems to have distinguishing traits for both. It was about 10 pounds, seems to have some white in the lower gums and a gap between the anal fin and tail. That would make it a coho.

But it has spots on the top and bottom of it's tail which would make it a king.

Input?

Thanks


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## slammer00 (Mar 7, 2002)

Looks like a King.


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## Blueump (Aug 20, 2005)

Pictures are hard to see from my cell, but looks like the gums are pretty black. I'm guessing a king.


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## Salmonous Maximus (Jan 28, 2004)

Thanks guys. I was leaning King but I wanted to make sure because I need to enter this fish in a little tournament some of us kayak guys take part in.

Appreciate the help!


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## llpof (Mar 31, 2012)

I'd agree with King. You seen a fair number of coho with spots both top and bottom of the tail, but never that dense.


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## someone11 (Mar 15, 2009)

king, long anal fin and black gums.


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## sswhitelightning (Dec 14, 2004)

Kang as all the cool kids say


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## FreeTime (Jan 8, 2001)

anytime you see the black in the mouth....King


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## someone11 (Mar 15, 2009)

FreeTime said:


> anytime you see the black in the mouth....King


Cohos will have black in the mouth but white gums. Easiest way to distinguish the two is by the anal fin.


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## sswhitelightning (Dec 14, 2004)

someone11 said:


> Cohos will have black in the mouth but white gums.


Yup^^


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## Blueump (Aug 20, 2005)

someone11 said:


> Easiest way to distinguish the two is by the anal fin.


How is the anal fin so distinguishable?


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## someone11 (Mar 15, 2009)

Blueump said:


> How is the anal fin so distinguishable?


The anal fin on kings will be longer. By that i mean where the anal fin connects to the body, that length will be longer than on cohos. Easier to tell than by mouth in my opinion.

Also the cohos will have a sort of hook at the anterior portion of their anal fin. "No hook chinook" Easier to tell when the fish are juveniles though.


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## o_mykiss (May 21, 2013)

not only is it a king, but a wild one


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## Getaway (Jan 17, 2001)

Well fed, naturally reproduced king-a-ding!

Nice fish!


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## goats (Mar 13, 2012)

Bet a breakfast at Art's its a king.


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## someone11 (Mar 15, 2009)

Here is a coho I caught on monday for a comparison.











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Notice the white gums (where the teeth insert in to the jaw)


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## triplelunger (Dec 21, 2009)

someone11 said:


> Here is a coho I caught on monday for a comparison.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thats a walleye!

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## someone11 (Mar 15, 2009)

Haha yeah the one is a walleye. Odd combo in most places.


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## piscatorial warrior (Sep 14, 2011)

Someone once told me that you could pick up and hold a king by the tail but not a coho because because the tail fin will collapse and it will slip through your fist. Has anyone tried this? It would be a dead giveaway if it's true.


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## Waz_51 (Jan 10, 2010)

I want your kayak!


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## someone11 (Mar 15, 2009)

piscatorial warrior said:


> Someone once told me that you could pick up and hold a king by the tail but not a coho because because the tail fin will collapse and it will slip through your fist. Has anyone tried this? It would be a dead giveaway if it's true.


Its true for the most part. You can pick coho's up by the tail but it is harder to hang on to. Kings are no problem, they have a stiffer tail that generally wont collapse.


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## BFG (Mar 4, 2005)

> Thats a walleye!


Hahaha...made me laugh!

Yes...a king tail will stop in your hands...cohos slip right through (providing the fish weighs more than a couple pounds).


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## Gnarf (Jul 24, 2011)

almost every coho ive ever caught started loosing scales as soon as it came out of the water.










All 3 fish were caught near same time and spent same time in cooler. Bottom 2 are coho top is a king (DNR confirmed)

Look how the coho loose scales and the king is fine.


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## jrv (Nov 11, 2008)

someone11 said:


> Its true for the most part. You can pick coho's up by the tail but it is harder to hang on to. Kings are no problem, they have a stiffer tail that generally wont collapse.


Unless there is a #2 treble in the tail, then you won't be able to get that coho out off your hand. 

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## Salmonous Maximus (Jan 28, 2004)

Waz_51 said:


> I want your kayak!


LOL...


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## wnyfisherman (Sep 21, 2013)

good info


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## Runaway2 (Jan 25, 2013)

I can tell by the tails as well. Kings have generally flat tails not forked


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## tcfishes (Oct 2, 2013)

My vote is for king



piscatorial warrior said:


> Someone once told me that you could pick up and hold a king by the tail but not a coho because because the tail fin will collapse and it will slip through your fist. Has anyone tried this? It would be a dead giveaway if it's true.


i have tried this with both species in the last week. we were fishing for chinook in the Betsie and our net broke so I was landing them by grabbing the tail. worked every time and was pretty easy to keep a grip (watch out for hooks). On the Rogue a couple days later, the Coho were not so easy to grip by the tail, even though they were lighter overall.


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