Coho stomach contents question.

Couldn't resist had to make it out again yesterday evening.caught 2. One big hen that had some herring or shad smolts in her belly.here's the question. Are these herring from a late fast return fish or a pissed off momma attaching smolt headed out.just curious.

  Nice fish again, Austin.  Yeah, my hens from 2 weeks ago were full of these....not so pristine though. Heads were gone, bitten or decomposed. Was gonna bring some cut plugs on the last trip, but didn't need to resort to that .
  Not gonna hazard a guess on the ID, quite sure there will be a positive ID from someone here!
 Man, you're sure catching a lot of fish for being done for the year. ..

That's really cool.  If they were small (3") like we saw last year I'd say outgoing juveniles.  Those are much larger.

Great looking Coho for this time of year.

  Nice fish again, Austin.  Yeah, my hens from 2 weeks ago were full of these....not so pristine though. Heads were gone, bitten or decomposed. Was gonna bring some cut plugs on the last trip, but didn't need to resort to that .
  Not gonna hazard a guess on the ID, quite sure there will be a positive ID from someone here!
 Man, you're sure catching a lot of fish for being done for the year. ..

Funny how that addiction thing works lol

That's really cool.  If they were small (3") like we saw last year I'd say outgoing juveniles.  Those are much larger.

Great looking Coho for this time of year.

 

I was thinking that but I'm no biologist. These fish cut excellent with firm bright orange flesh.

I really doubt a fish could make it all the way up from the salt and have the fish only digested that amount, regardless of how long/short it takes to make the trip. I vote "she was still eating."

I've mentioned this other times, but it always cracks me up when I get the line, "Oh, salmon don't eat once they're back in fresh water," (usually in a condescending tone of course) and I reply, "Oh I didn't know that. How come you're using bait, then?" 

I really doubt a fish could make it all the way up from the salt and have the fish only digested that amount, regardless of how long/short it takes to make the trip. I vote "she was still eating."

I've mentioned this other times, but it always cracks me up when I get the line, "Oh, salmon don't eat once they're back in fresh water," (usually in a condescending tone of course) and I reply, "Oh I didn't know that. How come you're using bait, then?" 

stop poo pooing my ideas lol.it had 3 others in all forms of being digested. I was being nice and didn't take pics of those.

Those are herring. One of the fish I caught today had a half dozen herring in it's belly along with some nice big eggs. Some of the herring looked like they were eaten less than a day ago. These weren't "bait" herring either.  My guess is that it was making a last ditch effort to bulk up while it was hauling ass through the Columbia River mouth on its way upriver. Salmon do move faster through the river system later in the season.

Herring this fresh in the belly of a coho caught in December....  Crazy.

Here's what I want to know about the contents of my cohos:  what the hell are these yellow bumps all over the eggs of BOTH of the females I caught?

My bet is fat deposits... looking forward to bsteves weighing in...

Herring this fresh in the belly of a coho caught in December....  Crazy.

Looks possibly like young American Shad.

-Allen

Here's what I want to know about the contents of my cohos:  what the hell are these yellow bumps all over the eggs of BOTH of the females I caught?

Eggs that did not develop?

-Allen

Found the same thing on almost all of my hen coho this year up here on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. I was thinking undeveloped eggs also...but I'm no biologist. 

They're obviously tiny egg yolks.

Yeah, for the yellow deposits I'm going with undeveloped eggs.  As for the partially digested fish, those really looked like herring to me.  Plus that fish cut like it had just come in from the ocean.