Why would a 29" salmon be in a small river (east Don)

[Joey]

I live in Richmond Hill and there is a nice little path I take Ralphie on a walk in most days (Hillcrest Heights Park). You can Google map it.

 

So today, as I'm walking, there were a bunch of people standing there going "oh, poor thing, he's stuck on the rocks........" So I look,and there is a salmon, at least 29", flipping about on the rocks out of the water. So I asked someone to hold Ralphie and I walked in, shin deep, shoes on, and grabbed it by the tail and put it back into the streaming water. I revived it by holding on for a bit and moving him back and forth to get the water back into him, then he swam away.

 

It is a very small, shallow river so wonder if this is normal and I did a Google search and can't figure where it came from. Unless it swam upstream and got lost, the river does not lead up to Huron as far as I can tell.

 

Any ideas how it got there????

[MJL]

Chinooks are stocked in the Don River. That fish would've swam up from Lake Ontario to spawn.

[Roy]

Yup

[MJL]

It's pretty amazing how far salmon can go. In BC, my dad and I stopped by 1 creek to see the sockeyes spawning. To get there they would've swam up the Fraser River from the Pacific ocean through: Vancouver, Hope, Lilloet, Quesnel, Prince George, McBride, Tete Jaune Cache and Valemount, BC.

[Joey]

Okay, so it swam upstream then. That makes more sense. Hope it makes it back. It will probably die after spawn though right?

[MJL]

Pacific salmon die after they spawn (ie. Chinook, coho, pink, chum, sockeye)

[Joey]

Hmmm, maybe should have taken it home instead then

[Joey]

Or entered it for my team at least But, I didn't angle it so catching a salmon by the tail doesn't count right

[MJL]

Or entered it for my team at least But, I didn't angle it so catching a salmon by the tail doesn't count right

 

Definitely don't want to fish for them there anyway. It's a sanctuary after Sept 30

 

HWY 407 down to the lake is fair game till Dec 31 though

[davey buoy]

Nice find,hard to believe they would go to that length to find the right spot.Determination in some I guess?.

[Joey]

 

Definitely don't want to fish for them there anyway. It's a sanctuary after Sept 30

 

HWY 407 down to the lake is fair game till Dec 31 though

 

Well Highway 407 is not that far away, I could have followed it down hahahahahahaha.

 

 

Well cool, they really are a determined fish then. Never seen one this far up before and in such a small creek. It must have had a heck of a treck to get where it was!!!!!

[Joeytier]

Mmmm, nothing like a don river chinook to get the mouth watering

[Joey]

Well I went back on my lunch hour walk with Ralphie and searched the river to see if that salmon lived,and guess what, saw 4 salmon chasing each other. So they are definitely spawning. some looked in bad shape but at least 2 looked in really good shape and one was at least 30 plus inches, That one was chasing all the smaller ones. It was cool to watch!!!!

[John Bacon]

Sounds like a large male chasing jacks.

 

Looking bad is normal for Chinooks at this time of the year. The smaller jacks usually don't look too bad though.

[davey buoy]

And you without your camera? lol.,would be nice to see a pic of them with no background of course Joey.Must be cool to see .

[FloatnFly]

they're basically zombies this time of year, the living dead. it was probably black or a shade of black right? the flesh would be white, skin loose, basically rotting away as they swim upstream. me and a buddy usually go out each year to catch em late in the season for his dogs. we keep the spawned out females as they're just basically waiting to die, we release any egg carriers or healthy males.

 

even though they are dying, they have a ton of power still, and are a ton of fun to fight, especially on 8lb or lighter line