Is the Red Salmon meat still good once they reach the Copper River Basin?
Both the Red and King salmon are still perfectly good once they make it up to our rivers. In fact, they are some of the best tasting fish in the world. The skin turning red does not effect the meat for quite some time. The redder a fish becomes, the longer it has been in fresh water. As you may know, Salmon go through a transformation as soon as they begin to spawn. They enter the fresh, river waters and their skin, skelature and flesh begin to change. Eventually, they will exhaust their bodies and die. However, they are always fit for the table during the fishing season. The biggest thing to check for is if the meat on the fish is firm. Late in the year when the salmon turn very red their flesh becomes obviously mushy. Salmon can be quite red on the outside but sill have really firm meat. Those fish are still good to eat. How do the Red Salmon get into your rivers? The Red Salmon come up the silt-filled Copper River From Prince William Sound, Then they push into the Klutina and Gulkan
