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By Jack Broom
Seattle Times staff reporter

Aerodynamics, balance and a desire to avoid stitches all come into play at Pike Place Fish, where the sight of a salmon, crab or even a 30-pound halibut in flight has become one of Seattle's signature experiences.

Ready for take-off: Left hand pinches the neck. Right hand supports the tail. Result: maximum tossability and minimum damage to the fish.

Launch technique: Think underhand glide, not John Elway bullet pass.

In flight: Unlike a Boeing 747, a salmon flies best with its head up, not forward, to keep its teeth away from catcher.

	HARLEY SOLTES / THE SEATTLE TIMES
	Dan "Bug" Bugge shows how important it is to keep your eyes on the fish when catching a flying salmon.

Perfect landing: One-handed grab for showmen; two-handed for novices. Ease the fish into your grasp by moving your arms back gently as fish arrives.

Fishmonger Jaison Scott says: "Keep it away from your body. You don't want to wear it."

Amazing but true: Two "fishmongers" from the stand, Jaison Scott and Justin Hall, went to Germany in February and set a Guinness World's Record — 22 salmon tossed and caught in 30 seconds.

Do and don't: Do buy the fish. Don't say "Pike's Market." And never toss a rockfish, which has semi-poisonous spines to protect itself from predators.