Howdy Wes -
Your description of the bait fish got me all excited just reading about it! It
sounds like herring to me. They are usually chunky looking, light bluish root beer,
almost copperish hard to describe coloration. One way to tell the difference is by
the way they are feeding. Herring like to make a little splash when they are eating
instead of the slight dimple of candlefish or anchovy. They are also a bit more
spread out when they feed. If they are tightly bunched on the shore, you can see
the distinct color of the darker bait. Anchovy are very bright cheeked and will
have a definite twinkle associated with there movements. The cheeks are nickel
bright and about the size of a dime when looking in the water at them. The anchovy
moves very snake like and stays tightly packed. Candle fish leave an oily slick on
the water and also move very snake like. As young, they are very light colored with
a hint of yellow ochre on their sides. The candlefish are phytoplankton eaters and
when its very quiet on the water they sound like bubbles from a glass of 7up
popping. The dead give away is when they are pursued. As coho rip through the
schools of candle fish, the bait directly in their path will fly out of the water
and show you the fishes line of erratic travel. In the deep south sound we are
blessed with amphipod and euphausiid producing machines....the inlets and shallow
bays that get blown and churned up from wind and tides. This type of food lets the
fish become grazers..almost cattle like....taking their time swimming up and down
the beaches not getting in too much a hurry and saving energy to eat. Now is the
transition period ....specially at Docs...they must switch gears to being pack
animals.....like wolves on prey wildly crashing into the schools of candle fish.
This is almost as bad as a teenage kid with testosterone overload. Their whole
attitude changes...they become more aggressive as June approaches, and they are
most likely to be lost from a hook in the first 5 seconds of a hookup. In June,
landing 50% of your fish is nothing to hang your head about. This is peak period
for jumping, flying, torpedo the boat ect.. and for me it the most fun part of the
year for playing these fish. Rambling again here sorry....but don't forget about
sandlance, smelt and sardines.....maybe more on these later if you want.
Happy trails
TW
Wes Neuenschwander wrote:
>
>
> Encouraged but mystified: What the heck were those little guys and
> why didn't they produce some fast and furious action?
>
> -Wes
>
> Wes Neuenschwander
> Seattle, WA
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
