DO KINGS EAT BEADS?
The short answer is YESSS! For as long as I’ve been fishing salmon, the great debate online is, ‘THEY DON’T EAT BEADS’. Great for the skeptic, because us ‘BEAD FISHERMAN’ will catch more fish lol. This is a divided fishing community and everyone’s stands their ground, with their own opinions. I find it rather strange that the skeptic, would only toss hardware and skein for Salmon in the river, solely. You could counter and question them, ‘What does a bead mimic?’ The only answer is an EGG. What is Skein? A cluster of EGGS connected by membrane. We fish skein and try to ‘ball’ it up on an egg-loop knot as best we can. Ball, sphere, round, FISH EGG! Shouldn’t be complicated.
Let’s not forget, there are folks who intentionally ‘FLOSS’ salmon on Redds during spawning, with extreme long-leader lines with a fly, or bead for a lure. Trying their best to get the line inside the open mouth of a spawning fish. This is not ethical nor recommended. You can catch more fish, and have a better time when you figure out what the fish want. Float Fishing is a great vertical presentation style of fishing. Flossing is still possible when running a vertical presentation into a pod of fish in a hole. But not likely. The fish do have eyes and will get out of the way if they see something approaching that they have no interest in.
For the Believers, there’s still a debate amongst Kings only bite beads out of Aggression. Which is very possible. They’re very territorial, that’s a fact. But I would bet my name-sake that Kings do actively feed, INVOLUNTARY, during spawning season. Let me explain. A salmon lives its whole life actively feeding, from parr to adult. EVERYDAY, swimming, hunting, chasing, eating and pooping. Everyday activities becomes a routine, repeating the same process over and over can become Muscle Memory. (We as humans can relate to this) Fish have senses too, sight, smell, touch, taste and hear. WHOA!
Now, its obvious salmon internally and externally change for spawning purposes, It’s the life cycle of a salmon. Their organs disintegrate to make room for sperm or eggs. Each salmon can be at a different stage through the process. I’ve cleaned salmon from the river, that still had a stomach with bait and bugs in them. If there’s still a stomach intact, couldn’t they still feel hunger? One would assume yes!Now, a human analogy for example, did you ever not feel like eating at all or weren’t in the mood for food? Until you visually saw that commercial of a Steak and Shrimp dinner, Whopper, or when someone cooks something in the house and it starts smelling good and you change your mind? Same thing with salmon in my opinion. It looks good, and hey, oh man it smells good (if gunk’d), I want to eat it. If you have a waiter (current) bringing you food, that’s both visually satisfying and smells good, right to your face. You’re probably gonna take a bite, out of instinct and Muscle Memory.
Now, there was an interesting theory that I’ve heard over the years. Some experts have suggested that they personally witnessed salmon species, collecting loose eggs in their mouth and trying to bury the eggs in the gravel. It’s quite possible, if so, cool. They’ll collect a bead in their mouth then lol.
Fishing beads, at times, can outproduce any bait or lure in the boat. We know how fish can change their minds every minute of everyday. That’s why it’s best to ‘BRING THE BUFFET’. If I’m planning on a fishing trip, I know through trial and error, to be over-prepared rather than under. SKEIN, BEADS, HARDWARE FOR KINGS! It’s that simple.
After years of battling the nay-sayers (He’s just trying to sell beads), and proving to hundreds if not thousands of fisherman that KINGS EAT BEADS in the Great Lakes. PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY CATCHING ON!! Why would it only work in Alaska and the PNW? Same fish with the same genetic make-up!!
Its good to note:
-A round egg profile is imprinted into every fish, deep down in their genetics. They know what it is and are very familiar with them.
-You don’t have to fish a foot or so off bottom. You can shallow your float up and let them look-up at your offering. They will come up and slap it if they want it.
Let’s not forget, there are folks who intentionally ‘FLOSS’ salmon on Redds during spawning, with extreme long-leader lines with a fly, or bead for a lure. Trying their best to get the line inside the open mouth of a spawning fish. This is not ethical nor recommended. You can catch more fish, and have a better time when you figure out what the fish want. Float Fishing is a great vertical presentation style of fishing. Flossing is still possible when running a vertical presentation into a pod of fish in a hole. But not likely. The fish do have eyes and will get out of the way if they see something approaching that they have no interest in.
For the Believers, there’s still a debate amongst Kings only bite beads out of Aggression. Which is very possible. They’re very territorial, that’s a fact. But I would bet my name-sake that Kings do actively feed, INVOLUNTARY, during spawning season. Let me explain. A salmon lives its whole life actively feeding, from parr to adult. EVERYDAY, swimming, hunting, chasing, eating and pooping. Everyday activities becomes a routine, repeating the same process over and over can become Muscle Memory. (We as humans can relate to this) Fish have senses too, sight, smell, touch, taste and hear. WHOA!
Now, its obvious salmon internally and externally change for spawning purposes, It’s the life cycle of a salmon. Their organs disintegrate to make room for sperm or eggs. Each salmon can be at a different stage through the process. I’ve cleaned salmon from the river, that still had a stomach with bait and bugs in them. If there’s still a stomach intact, couldn’t they still feel hunger? One would assume yes!Now, a human analogy for example, did you ever not feel like eating at all or weren’t in the mood for food? Until you visually saw that commercial of a Steak and Shrimp dinner, Whopper, or when someone cooks something in the house and it starts smelling good and you change your mind? Same thing with salmon in my opinion. It looks good, and hey, oh man it smells good (if gunk’d), I want to eat it. If you have a waiter (current) bringing you food, that’s both visually satisfying and smells good, right to your face. You’re probably gonna take a bite, out of instinct and Muscle Memory.
Now, there was an interesting theory that I’ve heard over the years. Some experts have suggested that they personally witnessed salmon species, collecting loose eggs in their mouth and trying to bury the eggs in the gravel. It’s quite possible, if so, cool. They’ll collect a bead in their mouth then lol.
Fishing beads, at times, can outproduce any bait or lure in the boat. We know how fish can change their minds every minute of everyday. That’s why it’s best to ‘BRING THE BUFFET’. If I’m planning on a fishing trip, I know through trial and error, to be over-prepared rather than under. SKEIN, BEADS, HARDWARE FOR KINGS! It’s that simple.
After years of battling the nay-sayers (He’s just trying to sell beads), and proving to hundreds if not thousands of fisherman that KINGS EAT BEADS in the Great Lakes. PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY CATCHING ON!! Why would it only work in Alaska and the PNW? Same fish with the same genetic make-up!!
Its good to note:
-A round egg profile is imprinted into every fish, deep down in their genetics. They know what it is and are very familiar with them.
-You don’t have to fish a foot or so off bottom. You can shallow your float up and let them look-up at your offering. They will come up and slap it if they want it.