More dumb questions....
What is the difference between chum, pink, coho, and king salmon?
Specifically, is one of them better table fare?
Besides size of the critter itself.....why is the chinook (king) salmon so much highly prized over the others?
You missed a species
Here is a breakdown:
King/Chinook the largest salmon, it's flesh is red/orange with a high oil content and the distinct salmon flavor, great grilled or smoked, best in the saltwater but still fairly palatable in the rivers when it's begun it's spawning run. As to why it's prized, if you get the opportunity to eat a grilled or smoked king belly, you'll never ask that question again.
Red/Sockeye, it's flesh is red with a high oil content and the distinct salmon flavor, great grilled or smoked, best in the saltwater but still fairly palatable in the rivers when it's begun it's spawning run.
Many argue about which tastes better, reds or kings, both are excellent table fair in my opinion.
Silver/Coho it's flesh is orange with a lower oil content and milder salmon flavor, great grilled or smoked, best in the saltwater but still fairly palatable in the rivers when it's begun it's spawning run. I love catching coho in the salt, agressive biters and fighters. They'll hit just about anything, hootchies, jigs, spoons, buzzbombs, spinners...
Pink/Humpy it's flesh is a pail orange with a lower oil content and to me it tastes more like a trout than a salmon. They deteriorate rapidly when they enter the rivers so if you plan to eat them, they really should only be taken dime bright from the salt water. They smoke up fairly well, grilled is ok but they just don't taste much like salmon. They typically run the same time as coho's and many people mistake them and think they've landed a silver when in fact it's a humpy. Learn to distinguish them. They are also agressive feeders and will take anything you're using to catch coho.
Chum/Dog, generally not eaten by Alaskans. The reason they are called dogs is that they are used for dog food.
As to gaffs, see if you can find a shark hook vs bending one out of wire. I got a shark hook for ~$16 from the K-bay gear shed, ground off the barb and attached it to a wooden rod with kevlar cord and fiberglass. Better than most commercial gaffs, and cheaper to boot. Honestly I rarely use a gaff for salmon, I prefer netting them. But when you have two or three people hooked up at once and somebody is busy with the net, a gaff is a good way to quickly land a salmon and get the rod back in action.
