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It's That Time

6K views 42 replies 20 participants last post by  plaegreid 
#1 ·
Now that the Chum fry have migrated, it's time to be thinking candlefish and surf smelt.

Leland.
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#6 ·
Doug,
Maybe so but incorrect. A sand eel/lance won't "burn" like a true candlefish hence the name "candlefish".
This is a candlefish, Thaleichthys pacificus. More fish like and has an adipose fin.
Alaskans know the difference.
A question comes to mind: what name is used by Puget Sounders for true Candlefish? (Please don't say "Sand Lance".:) They are sometimes called ooligan (sp), eulachon (sp).
Jack

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#11 ·
Doug,
Maybe so but incorrect. A sand eel/lance won't "burn" like a true candlefish hence the name "candlefish".
This is a candlefish, family Ammodytidae . More fish like and has an adipose fin.
Alaskans know the difference.
A question comes to mind: what name is used by Puget Sounders for true Candlefish? (Please don't say "Sand Lance".:) They are sometimes called ooligan (sp), eulachon (sp).
Jack

View attachment 27627
I have always known these as columbia river smelt
 
#10 ·
Jack has nailed the "candlefish".

While chum fry are found in Puget Sound well into the summer by the time they reach 2 to 3 inches in length they move off shore and are typically found suspended in deep water. Could the "chum fry" have been another salmon? It is about time for the hatcheries to be releasing Chinook and coho smolts; that size sounds about right for "90 day" Chinook smolts.

Curt
 
#14 ·
Jack has nailed the "candlefish".

While chum fry are found in Puget Sound well into the summer by the time they reach 2 to 3 inches in length they move off shore and are typically found suspended in deep water. Could the "chum fry" have been another salmon? It is about time for the hatcheries to be releasing Chinook and coho smolts; that size sounds about right for "90 day" Chinook smolts.

Curt
Hi Curt,
The "chum fry" I looked at today were, I'm really sure, indeed chum. The waters I was fishing are well known to me and these are "wild" fish. The small salmon I have been catching were I'm pretty sure cohos and were 4".
In my haste to return them to the water I didn't get any photos.
Thanks, Curt. Good to have an "expert" on board the good ship WFF:)
Jack

Yesterday, 5/12, I took a good friend of mine, a fisheries guy, fishing and we happened to catch one of the smolts - 5 inches. He most definitely identified it as a coho. We stopped fishing in that area so we wouldn't catch any more or injure any.
Good to see the cohos.
Jack
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#20 ·
Stonefish,
I think we are at a point in this thread were we ought to be seeking "professional help". NO, not THAT kind of professional help. I mean fisheries biologist type help.
I do know for sure that there are freshwater smelt, saltwater smelt, and, anadromous smelt. Whether the smelt you dipped in the Cowlitz are the same as the smelt we have in Puget Sound I am not sure. I suspect not.
Maybe Smalma will chime in and help us out with this.
Interesting stuff.
Jack
 
#21 ·
Interesting indeed. All the old timers my pop fished with referred to sandlance as candlefish back in the day. I guess we know better now that they are two different species.
I know the Columbia river smelt populations have been down for awhile now, but seem to have rebounded a bit this year.
I can remember filling up a 5 gallon bucket with two scoops of the net back in the day on the Cowlitz.
Floured, seasoned and fried up in butter, those those smelt were delicious.
 
#23 ·
To my knowledge, CR (freshwater) smelt and saltwater smelt are completely different species.

Back in the day, we called the ones from the Columbia "river smelt" and the ones in the Sound "silver smelt". I've eaten both but wasn't too fond of the river smelt as they seemed soft and mushy.

I grew up on southern PS and spent my life working in the sport-fishing industry. 50 years ago the old-timers called PS smelt "candlefish" and I always thought that these fish were the same as "eulachons" but I'm certainly no biologist so perhaps I'm mistaken.
 
#26 ·
Jack -
Hardly an "expert" on smelt or baitfish in general but my understanding is that 5 species of smelt are found in Washington waters. Those species are: surf smelt, Eulachon (Columbia River smelt), longfin smelt, white bait smelt, and night smelt.

The surf smelt is the one most of us are familiar with here in the sound. They are a marine species that spawns on the small gravel beaches through out Puget Sound (typically during the summer and early fall) at a evening high tide on either side of the high.

The eulachon and longfin smelt are anadromous fish that typically spawn in the lower portions of larger rivers (the Nooksack has a late fall/early fall and the Skagit sometimes has early spring run). At least on population of longfin smelt (Lake Washington) is non-anadromous spending their entire life in freshwater.

The white bait and night smelt are similar to the surf smelt in both general appearance and behaviors. Don't know much about this two species though those "dipped" on the coast may be night smelt.

An interesting group of fish and a major forage fish for a wide array of predators. Where ever our cutthroat and one of the smelt (including Lake Washington) over lap the smelt become "cutthroat candy".

Curt
 
#31 ·
Jim, thanks for posting the photos of the ______________ , the _________________, and the _______________________.
They are most definitely NOT Sand eels/lance.
The last one looks like a surf smelt to me. All could be any of the five Smalma mentioned.
Wish I could I could id them. WFF needs to have a smelt expert on retainer.
Jack
 
#32 ·
Yeah, the larger one looks like it could be a eulachon. The last one maybe a surf smelt. It looks a little bluer thant the bigger one.
The smaller one almost looks different, but maybe it was just a runt. I notice that it's eye seems relatively larger than the eyes on the other two.
They all look like some kind of smelt. Its hard to tell from my pics, but the fins were all similar and in the same places on each fish.
 
#40 ·
Great photo's James, thanks for posting them. Years ago when I was inspecting them at the beach I noticed the violet hue on the sides of the sand lance, it even shows up in the picture, I doubt it makes any difference but I usually add a strip or two of violet KF on the sides of my sand lance patterns, who knows....it might help.
 
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