krill are the diet of many whales and are plankton...huge clouds of krill are scooped up by whales and strained threough their gills. Herring and sardines also feed on krill. I have fished in the ocean in the middle of acres of krill. Taken one at a time they are tiny. I suppose the Sockeye see the slow movement of the bare hooks and think it is krill...not sure on a scientific or biological basis but I know it works.

In terms of fishing for Sockeye in the ocean I talked to a commerical soskeye troll fisherman one day in Campbell River in Canada and he gave me a mini squid in red and said that he runs lines full of those to catch Sockeye commercially. I never did try that but have caught Sockeye in the ocean on darts...go figure.