pikeminnow

[Jacob]

now i know these arent everybodys favorite fish, but i do know there are a ton of them in the chehalis near my home and i think it might be fun to catch some on a fly rod. does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of flies to use? what are your opinions on what do do if i catch them? i know a lot of people would say to kill them, but i dont really like killing any fish im not going to eat.

[Proverb]

If you want to fish for these.. consider doing it on the snake river. We have a bounty over here on their head 4 dollars a fish but you need to keep them in good condition. I'm not sure if that's a state wide bounty you'll have to check.

[gpc]

I have never heard of them surfacing, so I would say a sinking line or some sort of wet fly. Tipped w/ a maggot. Now Im not telling you to do w/ your catch but it is a very good idea to kill them. I am in the same boat as you as far as wasting fish, but they will make good crab/crawdad bait or even fertilizer for your yard. But look at it this way, putting the the squaw fish back in the water is killing more fish than killing just the squaw fish. They eat as many as a dozen trout/salmon fry a day.

[littleriver]

you could probably catch them with a fly... they are very scent oriented though so adding a little hunk
of nightcrawler to the tip of the hook would greatly increase your chances for hooking up...


Northern Pike Minnow sport reward program is applicable from the mouth of the columbia to priest rapids dam and up the snake to at least the lower granite dam.. it may even be applicable above lower granite.....

catching them in the lower columbia is a "drop a hunk a worm on the bottom" and wait kind of experience.... according to the experts I've talked to this is the only way to entice them to the hook in that water......

I've caught them on spinners while fishing for trout in the lower chehalis though so a fly without a hunk of worm might be effective.... definitely want to put some scent on the fly though...

[Jacob]

Yeah i've caught quite a few fishing for salmon with fairly large blue fox spinners before, but i have caught a lot more in the past with worms and eggs. I just figured it might be fun to catch em on a fly rod, they do put up a decent fight. Thanks for the tips, scent probably is the way to go.

[Jacob]

Ha, i guess i dont need you guys any more :cyclops: i went down to the river after work today with my flyrod trying for a bass. id found a big back eddy hole type thing thats holds hundreds of hungry largemouths a while back and figured id try it on a fly tackle. anyways i was using a small foam frog thing and i got a couple big blow ups but i couldnt get the hook set, finally when i was about to leave i got another big strike but this time when i set it i actually hooked it, after a sort of lengthy battle (im kinda teaching myself to flyfish so i was experimenting with the fighting part of fish catching) i got it up and it was a @#$*%*# squawfish. that was the last thing i figured id catch on a topwater frog. so to make a long story short i guess if i want to catch pikeminnow i'll fish for something else

[MikeFishes]

you could probably catch them with a fly... they are very scent oriented though so adding a little hunk
of nightcrawler to the tip of the hook would greatly increase your chances for hooking up...


Northern Pike Minnow sport reward program is applicable from the mouth of the columbia to priest rapids dam and up the snake to at least the lower granite dam.. it may even be applicable above lower granite.....

catching them in the lower columbia is a "drop a hunk a worm on the bottom" and wait kind of experience.... according to the experts I've talked to this is the only way to entice them to the hook in that water......

I've caught them on spinners while fishing for trout in the lower chehalis though so a fly without a hunk of worm might be effective.... definitely want to put some scent on the fly though...

Here's the website for the Northern Pikeminnow sport program. It has a page dedicated on what you could use to catch the buggers. I can't remember if there's anything on flies or a fly fishing setup.
http://www.pikeminnow.org/

[Mr. Magler]

I've accidentally caught them on the surface on the Columbia River while going for smallmouth bass. I was using a green and yellow bass popper with little white legs. They hit anything anywhere really. They aren't too particular.

[Anglinarcher]

now i know these arent everybodys favorite fish, but i do know there are a ton of them in the chehalis near my home and i think it might be fun to catch some on a fly rod. does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of flies to use? what are your opinions on what do do if i catch them? i know a lot of people would say to kill them, but i dont really like killing any fish im not going to eat.

I won't tell you what to do, but if you won't kill without eating, LEARN TO EAT THE *&###!* THINGS then.:bom:

At the right time, they will take anything. As you have indicated later, even topwater foam frogs (LOL).

Try a sinking line with a Wolly Bugger. A Zonker or Mutaka would work well as well. No, you don't need scent, but it helps. Remember they are minnow eaters, so think minnow.

[cavdad45]

I would use a rabbit fur leach or any minnow imitation.

[Jake Dogfish]

Those are good flies. They will take a fly readily. I have spent alot of time fishing squaws on the Columbia and I have had the best success with live crickets. I have caught them on the fly, right on top or something in the top water column in the evening... GL
BTW I don't kill without eating as well. Which has started arguements with fellow fishermen before. I guess they would rather people not fish for them? Silly...

[A9]

Small grubs on a jighead with some scent does the trick as well. Tip it with a worm preferably...I know this isn't a fly fishing technique but it's how we catch squawfish for bait for Mackinaw..

[Salmon, Trout, Steelheader]

take a size 10 single egg hook and thread a red bead on the leader. you may get sculpin on it, but i have gotten many pikeminnow on this.