Do you know your catch?

From the Department of Marine Resources

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Common names: sea salmon, silver salmon, black salmon, eastern salmon

Description: When in the ocean, Atlantic salmon are silvery with a brown tinted back. Their upper body, head and fins are often marked with small black crosses and dots. Both their head and eyes are small. This fish's body depth generally measures one-fourth of its total body length. Like other members of the trout family, they possess a small fleshy adipose fin, located between their single dorsal fin and tail fin.

Where found: inshore

Similar Gulf of Maine species: sea-run brown trout, rainbow smelt

Remarks: Atlantic salmon are another anadromous species. Many saltwater sport-fishermen consider these fish to be 'the king of fish" because of their great leaping ability and determined fight when hooked. In Maine, fly fishing only for Atlantic salmon is allowed. The fly rod commonly used is in the 12 to 16 foot range and is loaded with weight-forward fly line and a terminal leader. A variety of fly patterns such as the Brown Bomber and the Green Machine are successfully used, and some currently used designs, like the Green Highlander and Jock Scott, go back to the origin of fly fishing history.

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