Stomach Contents

[The pelican]

Hello BWE - What's the craziest thing you have found in the stomach of a fish you caught? I have always been interested in checking the stomach contents of my catch but haven't put much thought into wat it actually tells me that can help me catch more fish.

Does anyone else regularly check the stomach of the fish you catch? Any smart people out there have much insight into what exactly that tells you beyond the obvious? For example...

1. How do you use the stomach contents to tell you what's going on out there?

2. How have you seen stomach contents vary by species caught?

3. Does anyone know how long it takes different species of gamefish to break down various types of food (finfish, squid, crustaceans, etc.)? If I find a greenback, how long could it have been there?

4. Do you ever find species with stomach contents that don't match the conditions/bait in the water? What does that tell you? That the food has been sitting in the stomach a while? That the fish has migrated quickly?

5. Do you generally try to find bait consistent with stomach contents from recent catches?

I'm specifically interested in members expirience with different species of kayak caught gamefish (YT, WSB, Halibut, Rockfish, etc.)

A couple Calico bass I caught have had whole small lobsters curled up inside their stomach. Maybe that means I should go hooping for some bugs to use as Calico bait?

Pat