Puget Sound Smorgasboard! 2

I seriously considered issuing a warning before posting this blog, something like: "Warning! Fish guts ahead" for example. So, consider yourself cautioned.

The best way to learn how to consistently catch actively feeding fish is to find out what they are eating and mimic the "menu" by tailoring your presentation to represent the feed of your quarry.

Unfortunately, the only sure way to learn what's on the dinner table is to get your hands dirty.

You have to get in there, open up the stomach, and examine the contents. Marine Biologists call this piscatorial autopsy "gut content analysis" so, let's glove up and lets get to work!

Many anglers have opened up their catch and found herring, but what about food items that are harder to identify? I had one heck of a time deciphering this chinook's dinner plate!

I had to send a picture to long-time WDFW Biologist Curt Kraemer who ID'd these critters as juvenile hake! In the 1980s' hake were common in Puget Sound until the bottom trawlers knocked them out. If this picture is any indication, the pacific hake could be making a comeback in the Sound which could be a very positive sign!

More than once, I've been surprised by what I've found inside blackmouth or feeder chinook. Here is a "poggie" or pile perch (bottom of pic above the spoon) found alongside a mess of juvenile herring! Note how well these Silver Horde Kingfisher Spoons mimic the baitfish.

Candlefish are a common and welcome resident feed item for our young salmon and adults as well. More common in the sandy areas of Puget Sound, candlefish show up on your sounder as clouds or masses in close proximity to the bottom.

In the spirit of "matching the hatch", look how well the Coho Killer spoon represents the candlefish!

Just this past week, I was shocked to see what was inside this October coho taken near the Mukilteo ferry landing. These six smelt were jammed inside him and still he swatted a cut-plug herring!

Identifying and learning to immitate Puget Sound's "smorgasboard" is a big step in your education as a successful salmon fisherman.

One last caution: Don't let your wife catch you taking pictures of fish guts! I have suffered some serious ridicule in the name of science…

Here's hoping that thinking about bait size, color, depth and behavior starts to enter your thinking when you venture out on your favorite body of water.

Tom Nelson
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com