2016 bait found in fish

[happy hooker]

Love this thread! These are juvenile pollock. They actually change quite a bit in appearance from 2" - 4" in length as they mature. They start out as more of a perch shape and become more elongated as they get larger. Maybe this is the mystery baitfish.

Bingo. That's them

 

[Birdsnest]

View attachment 28982 Yeah, great idea for a thread. We were mooching off Sangster about 6 weeks ago and bagged a feisty 18lb red on a live herring. This was in his stomach - a couple anchovies and a couple shiners. Makes me want to catch some shiners and use them for live bait.

Looks like herring and perch to me.

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

Yeah we usually call small perch shiners - at least thats what we called them growing up when we caught them by the bucket full off the Jericho Pier.
And I am pretty sure the other fish is an anchovy but I may be wrong.

 

[Derby]

I was talking to someone in the know and I guess about every 10 year or so the rock cod have ahuge spawn and these could very well be small rock cod.. I'll see if I can dig out more info...

 

[TheBigGuy]

A 3" TomMac should do the trick

That's exactly what I was thinking Dogbreath.

As well, I mentioned on the Nootka thread that some years in the brown water over on the west coast I've had great luck with a gold mini hoochy, (or a gold cut down needlefish hoochy) work unbelievably well. Not very often I've found them keying on that pattern, but perhaps the years it works well is when they're feeding on these small bait. Whatever they are.

 

[agentaqua]

Stickle backs need to be near freshwater no?

No - there is a marine version w plates on the sides. The same "red herring" Jones (PBS) suggested could be a source for lice for juvie salmon (with very few adult lice and almost zero gravid female lice)..

 

[tincan]

Yeah we usually call small perch shiners - at least thats what we called them growing up when we caught them by the bucket full off the Jericho Pier.
And I am pretty sure the other fish is an anchovy but I may be wrong.

I have certainly mooched around a lot with live shiners as bait for rockfish/ling over the years but never had a spring take one. Interesting to see shiners in a springs belly as I often take a look and haven't ever seen that before.

 

[Birdman]

Wishiniwasfishin1 - those are juvenile pile perch and herring. You can tell if it is anchovy by the size of the mouth, which in an anchovy extends rearward past the back edge of the eyeball. Although, there has been a lot of anchovies in the Vancouver area this year.

I've had quite a few springs in the Nanaimo area this year with juvenile Hake inside between 6 and 8 inches. Not Pacific Cod as many have found, but actual hake. Back in school I saw thousands come up in the drag nets off Barkley - stinky and nasty little guys, but a plentiful food source.

Strangest bait I've ever found in a spring was a small flounder of some variety (skin was mostly decomposed) a few years back, probably 8 inches long.

Other odd ones were Pipefish (moreso in Coho tight to shore) and Pacific Saurey off Quatsino when the tuna water was close to shore.

 

[Peahead]

Wishiniwasfishin1 - those are juvenile pile perch and herring. You can tell if it is anchovy by the size of the mouth, which in an anchovy extends rearward past the back edge of the eyeball. Although, there has been a lot of anchovies in the Vancouver area this year.

Yep. Was just gonna respond and then noticed that you posted - yeah most noticeably to me just because the lower jaw protrudes out farther than the upper/ and 'nose' . With a chovy, the lower jaw is shorter than 'nose'.

Bottom image - Anchovy

Top image - Herring

 

[agentaqua]

Daily Challenge: Can you guess what fish these are??

 

[Birdman]

top looks like plainfin midshipman, other is herring

 

[agentaqua]

top looks like plainfin midshipman, other is herring

Herring is correct. Was inside the other...not midshipman. Hint: other fish: Chinook occasionally load-up on this species juvies...

 

[Birdsnest]

Back to the subject.... I can't help but to wonder if this unusual feed source is not ideal for chinook salmon based on my assumption(could be wrong) this bait is a lean fish.

Does it mean that it is the easiest feed to find?
Is it suggesting there is a lack of regular feed(herring, anchovies, sand lance etc) all of which are high calorie feeds?
Do springs not care about what they eat as long as they are eating?

Raises many questions.

 

[agentaqua]

Been quite a bit of look-see into these questions wrt ocean regimes, plankton quality and juvie survival. Short version: Warmer oceans mean plankton with less longer-chain fatty acids that works it's way up the food chain - affecting survival of many organisms...

 

[gamechanger]

Schools of these out at Cape Beale 2 days ago...trying to figure out what they are. Black rockfish were chasing baitballs to the surface and puking these out.

 

[Derby]

going to give some of theses a try and see if one can match the hatch

 

[Birdman]

Gamechanger - I believe those are again some variety of juvenile rockfish or deepwater pacific ocean perch.

 

[Tidal Chaos]

Schools of these out at Cape Beale 2 days ago...trying to figure out what they are. Black rockfish were chasing baitballs to the surface and puking these out.

Scaleless pilchard? Juvenile pilchard. They look like small perch as well at this stage.

 

[nicnat]

looks a bit like a stickleback

 

[Dogbreath]

going to give some of theses a try and see if one can match the hatch

My bet is on the FST spoons.