[wanative]

Went over to a local beach this morning to see if any cutthroat around.
I walked into the water making my way through the eel grass to open water when I saw this little fellow. The poor soul was deceased laying on top of the eel grass.
I thought he matched my Miyawaki popper very closely.

I got no love from the cutthroat and the grass was so thick it was impossible to fish.
I moved to a new beach and tried a clouser minnow. I had a swirl on top and saw a fish surface though not sure of species.
There were schools of small baitfish about 2" long swimming around.
I caught a small 7 or 8" perch of some sort.

Any body know what this is?
It hit a small closer minnow.

 

[flyfisherman_sean]

Went over to a local beach this morning to see if any cutthroat around.
I walked into the water making my way through the eel grass to open water when I saw this little fellow. The poor soul was deceased laying on top of the eel grass.
I thought he matched my Miyawaki popper very closely.
View attachment 124004
I got no love from the cutthroat and the grass was so thick it was impossible to fish.
I moved to a new beach and tried a clouser minnow. I had a swirl on top and saw a fish surface though not sure of species.
There were schools of small baitfish about 2" long swimming around.
I caught a small 7 or 8" perch of some sort. View attachment 124010

Any body know what this is?
It hit a small closer minnow.

That's a shiner perch.

 

[wanative]

Thanks..

 

[Stonefish]

Yep
Shiner perch.
If it was 7-8", you should have submitted it for a state saltwater record.
SF

 

[flyfisherman_sean]

Yep
Shiner perch.
If it was 7-8", you should have submitted it for a state saltwater record.
SF

Definitely the biggest one I've seen in that picture. Most of the ones I've seen or caught have been in the size range I'd call "cutthroat food".

 

[SaltyTippet]

This past spring in coastal NW British Columbia the shiners would move into the lower river on a high tide and some of the biggest SRCs on earth IMHO would follow under the schools and periodically rise and crush them sending the school in a frantic explosion.... it was one of the coolest fishing related wildlife experiences to witness.... and the only way to know the shiner perch had started to arrive that day was because you were catching them on every cast and some were good sized.... pretty sure the growth rate of the SRCs was based at least partly on these enormous shiner perch populations....

That's a shiner perch.

I caught a small 7 or 8" perch of some sort.

 

[Stonefish]

wanative,
A bit more info regarding shiner perch in this trip report I posted last year.
Thanks to board member Cabezon for the info on the shiner perch spawning colors.
The cool thing about fishing the sound and canal is you can still learn new stuff about it even after years of fishing it.
http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/forum/threads/src-tr.108877/

With the weather starting to take a turn towards fall this week, I'd expect the searun fishing to improve in the not to distant future.
http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/weather/10_day.cgi

SF

 

[wanative]

wanative,
A bit more info regarding shiner perch in this trip report I posted last year.
Thanks to board member Cabezon for the info on the shiner perch spawning colors.
The cool thing about fishing the sound and canal is you can still learn new stuff about it even after years of fishing it.
http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/forum/threads/src-tr.108877/

With the weather starting to take a turn towards fall this week, I'd expect the searun fishing to improve in the not to distant future.
http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/weather/10_day.cgi

SF

I'm hoping my local river will clear up enough to fish SRC pretty soon. It will with the longer nights and cooler temps. Some mornings in the mid 40's now.