2016 bait found in fish

[Bugs]

lordofthesprings I don't think those are pinks... if you look at the most digested one you can see par marks where there is still some skin by the tail. The deep body shape is also wrong and the scales are too big. I am pretty sure those are Chinook or Coho, I lean towards Chinook. What time of year did you get them?

Regarding the squat lobsters that go.fish found in his Coho at Port Hardy... that is super interesting. I would be very surprised if salmon were eating the squat lobsters that people get in their prawn traps (genus Munida). These guys are mostly on the bottom and in deep water. However, there is something called a pelagic red crab which is almost identical looking and actually swims in the water column. However, they are normally not found north of California.

see

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleuroncodes_planipes

Given the warm blob and the El Nino I wonder if it is possible that this is what they were.

If anyone ever has any weird stomach contents that they want identified feel free to freeze them and I will try to find someone who will ID them (eventually-still have some forum members stuff in the freezer that I need to get to). I am in Victoria.

 

[Go.Fish]

Regarding the squat lobsters that go.fish found in his Coho at Port Hardy... that is super interesting. I would be very surprised if salmon were eating the squat lobsters that people get in their prawn traps (genus Munida). These guys are mostly on the bottom and in deep water. However, there is something called a pelagic red crab which is almost identical looking and actually swims in the water column. However, they are normally not found north of California.

see

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleuroncodes_planipes

Given the warm blob and the El Nino I wonder if it is possible that this is what they were.

If anyone ever has any weird stomach contents that they want identified feel free to freeze them and I will try to find someone who will ID them (eventually-still have some forum members stuff in the freezer that I need to get to). I am in Victoria.

I think they were the same as what I've found in prawn traps before, haven't been prawning for 20 years or so but was total déjà vu. Next year if I find any more I'll keep you in mind and send a sample. We didn't find any this year, mostly empty stomachs

Edit: just looked up pelagic red crab, could very well be those. I don't remember seeing white on their shells at all like the first pic I posted. I remember the tail shells being really hard like a lobster.
More red like this

 

[Canso]

bonked a spring at sandheads today and he puked up a partially decomposed 5 1/2" anchovy.

 

[agentaqua]

these salmon were in a coho i caught off french creek this summer pink salmon i think

next time LOTS pull back the opercular flap and have a look at the gill rakers. If it looks like a small broom - sockeye or pink - hooks - coho, chinook or chum or maybe steelhead). These have big eyes - which is suspicious as maybe sockeye smolts.

 

[agentaqua]

I think they were the same as what I've found in prawn traps before, haven't been prawning for 20 years or so but was total déjà vu. Next year if I find any more I'll keep you in mind and send a sample. We didn't find any this year, mostly empty stomachs

Edit: just looked up pelagic red crab, could very well be those. I don't remember seeing white on their shells at all like the first pic I posted. I remember the tail shells being really hard like a lobster.
More red like this

ate a couple just to see what they taste like. Very little meat - all on the tail....

 

[lordofthesprings]

hmm super interesting thx

 

[Schoony]

So some friends of mine were shrimping around Nootka this weekend and mentioned that there traps had bunches of small Sable fish in there pots at times. I was wondering in anyone knows if that is the same bait that was identified in the salmon we caught last year?

 

[agentaqua]

are you sure they were black cod verses say - grey cod?

 

[cohochinook]

It's interesting to read that the same bait is being found from Starfish to Port Hardy.
Here is Derby's picture.View attachment 28968

I/we got fish at Hyson on all of the spoons below. They are lined up from worst (top) to hottest (bottom). All fish had the juvenile rockfish? above in them. Some were still alive. The skin of the dead ones dissolves quickly. It is more gold/pink/white than silver. I've been googling and can't find many pics of juvenile rockfish. The bait balls are thick, so I'm guessing it's an abundant species like the trawlable Ocean Perch (Sebastes alutus).
The Maverick in the middle was supposed to be the thing, but it is 4.0, and 3.5 matches the bait better plus the colour isn't similar. I think the UV and glow make it work.
The last picture is of some stuff I bought or tinkered together for this weekend in Ukee. My collection of big spoons and plugs is restless. I wonder how the Area G plug fishery is going with all this small bait around. Anyone know?

View attachment 28968 View attachment 28972 View attachment 28973

Last year off Tofino, when I fished there in 2nd week of August, tonnes of those small rockfish in the salmon stomachs. I was using small Herring Aid in 3# Kingfisher similar to your first spoon in the line up and that was the ticket. What is that first spoon?

 

[SteelyDan]

This was inside a fish taken near grace islands. Hit an Irish cream king fisher

 

[tubber]

no. Last year WCVI salmon were into juvenile rockfish. 3"

Last year off Tofino, when I fished there in 2nd week of August, tonnes of those small rockfish in the salmon stomachs. I was using small Herring Aid in 3# Kingfisher similar to your first spoon in the line up and that was the ticket. What is that first spoon?

That first spoon is the Tofino Fly and Tackle version of a needle fish. They rust. You may remember a green/white one with black spots that Jay posted years ago.

 

[Aces]

So some friends of mine were shrimping around Nootka this weekend and mentioned that there traps had bunches of small Sable fish in there pots at times. I was wondering in anyone knows if that is the same bait that was identified in the salmon we caught last year?

While I did catch the odd baby sablefish which the halibut liked I'm sure the majority of the bait we were fishing over were juvenile rockfish

 

[Redfisher]

A few years ago at Winter Harbour we totally killed the springs on the beach and they had Shiners in them. We fished the small P2B chrome spoons by themselves and they were killer.

 

[Bait&Sea]

Howe Sound Winterspring

 

[agentaqua]

View attachment 32482 Howe Sound Winterspring

Those look like pile perch 2 me...