The Secret Ingredient I’m Adding to Stuffed Baits for West Coast Salmon

The Secret Ingredient I’m Adding to Stuffed Baits for West Coast Salmon
During the fall, anglers throughout the Northwest are chasing salmon in the salt and rivers. Crowds are standard these days, which makes having strong bait offerings more important than ever.

For the most part, stuffed baits, spinners, spoons and brined herring dominate the scene until the bite transitions to eggs. These salmon are seeing a lot of different products day after day, and with so many boats on the water, I’m throwing everything I have at them right now to try and get that extra bite.

So far, one bait has stood taller than the rest.

Fire Bite is working, and I’m going to explain why I’m putting it in my stuffed tuna.

Start With the Tuna

I use canned tuna packed in oil. First, I drain off most of the oil, but I leave a little behind. You don’t want the tuna to get too dry when you start mixing in your other ingredients.

For my Fire Bite mix, I add the product lightly and mix it into the tuna. You don’t need a lot. Start with a small amount and experiment from there. Every fishery is different, and sometimes the fish want something different from one day to the next.

Fire Bite contains amino acids and other bite-stimulating ingredients and is made from dried fish oils, amongst other things. I’ve found it works very well in stuffed tuna.

Change Up Your Mixes

I like having several different tuna combinations ready to go.

My four go-to mixes are:

• Fire Bite and tuna
• Fire Power and tuna
• Fire Power and Atlas Mike’s Anchovy Lunker Oil
• Fire Bite and Atlas Mike’s Sand Shrimp Lunker Oil

The oils mix well into the tuna and give me another way to change the scent. If anchovies are a big part of what the fish are feeding on, I’ll lean on the Anchovy Oil. Other days, the Sand Shrimp mix might get the nod.

I change things up day to day and let the fish tell me what they want.

Add Some UV

I also like adding a little Atlas Mike’s UV Enhancer to some of my tuna mixes. Stuffed baits have holes that allow the tuna and scent to slowly work out as you troll, creating a scent trail. Adding a UV enhancer gives that trail some visibility, too. You can get different colors, and lately I’ve been using Chartreuse UV Enhancer in my Fire Bite and Anchovy Oil mix.

It’s something I’ve been experimenting with, and I like what I’m seeing.

The Stuffed Baits I Use

There are several good stuffed baits out there. I’m a fan of Brad’s Super Baits, especially the Original and Skinny Mini. Brad’s also makes the Mini Cut Plug. Yakima Bait Company makes the Spin-N-Fish, along with its own version of a cut-plug-style stuffed bait. They all work. I tend to fish Brad’s more, but that’s just my preference.

Give the Fish Options

The biggest thing is not showing the fish the same thing all day. I’ll have three or four tuna mixes ready to go and rotate them until I figure out what the fish want. Fire Bite has become a big part of that program for me. If you’re making stuffed tuna, start light with Fire Bite, experiment with different oils and UV enhancers, and pay attention to what is working.

And if your tuna gets too dry, simply add a little Atlas Mike’s fish oil (the Lunker Oil series), Pautzke’s Liquid Krill or UV enhancer to get it back to the consistency you want. That’s the way I build my stuffed tuna, and it’s been a big part of my program.

Editor’s Note: Kyle Buschelman is one of the premier salmon guides in the PNW. He operates Willamette Valley Outfitters. To book a guided fall salmon trip please visit: https://willamettevalleyoutfittersllc.com.