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[David_R]

This particular species was also known in past times as the squaw fish but that's not politically correct anymore due to the fact that european cultures in North America used this word in a derogoratory/offensive fashion

[Fish Assassin]

I agree with Huntwriter that the pikeminnows are very aggressive. My brother and I were fishing for pinks last season when something slammed his spoon hard. We were shocked that it was a pikeminnow.

[huntwriter]

i caught a 3-4 lber on a really big bass spinnerbait, surprised the helll outta me, about 8' from my boat too!
                         ss abnik

That is in a nutshell what happened to me. As you can see in the picture I used a fairly large pink croc spoon. Each time I reeled in and the spoon came close to shore the fish would literally fall over themselves chasing the spoon. The one in the picture is by no means the biggest one I caught.

Each cast produced a hit, after about an hour of this I got bored with it. I was after pinks, but hey what an evening I had on that day.

Now that I know that Northern Pikeminnow are that readily available in the Fraser River and that aggressive I may just head to the river again soon.

[Rodney]

Good to see someone else who also has the same interest on northern pikeminnow. This is in fact a favorite pastime of mine warm during summer evenings, especially July and August when water clarity improves after freshet. We usually like to head down to Steveston, which is only 5 to 10 minutes from my place to lure these predators. Obviously these guys do not fight like a 6lb salmon, so we like to downsize our tackle by using ultralight spinning rods, the smallest spinning reels, 4lb test line and 1/8oz spinners.

Unlike anadromous salmonids, northern pikeminnow are in fact long-living fish. The big ones that you catch are up to a couple of decades old. There seems to be a overwhelmingly large population of them simply because there isn't a commercial demand on this species.

Here are some photos from last year. I look forward to this just as much as the trout or coho season.

[newsman]

why would you want to keep that! They taste like a dumpster!

Wrong! My youngest insisted that we eat the ones we caught on the Thom last summer. Although I had heard tales that they were palatable I had my doubts. But Kids are Kids and I do not discourage young anglers, mine or anyone else's. So I pan fried those pike minnows. My daughter tried the first one and said it was good. My wife tried the second and also said it was good. Then it was my turn, with my mind saying gross and my taste buds saying not bad, I managed to get one down. When you gets fast the negative programing you will find they taste every similar to cod but extremely Boney.

[troutbreath]

Pikeminnow (AKA Squawfish) are edible and not even as bad as some trout and char I've eaten around here. Dion is being heat bag for saying you killed a fish that will suicidally take your bait or lure like a Pikeminnow will. The Pikeminnow will be on planet earth long after were all gone.

[Rodney]

Dion is being heat bag for saying you killed a fish that will suicidally take your bait or lure like a Pikeminnow will.

What Dion, and I, are pointing out and reminding all readers is that one should not retain a fish that is not identified, as specified in the regulations. Fortunately in this case, it was a northern pikeminnow, which is allowed to be retained (20 per day). Remembering this will prevent anglers from killing a unidentified fish species that actually cannot be retained and being fined by fisheries officers.

The Pikeminnow will be on planet earth long after were all gone.

European settlers also once said the same thing about atlantic cod and pacific salmon.

[troutbreath]

 

[testo84]

not sure if its the same fish but the way people in Indonesia cooks it is by using pressure cooker to crush all the bones and make it into a nice dish , perhaps this will be applicable to this kind of fish

http://www.ncc-indonesia.com/imgncc/bandeng%20presto2.jpg

you can eat the whole thing if its cooked this way

[standalone]

Couldn't tell the difference between northern pikeminnow and  peamouth chub except the size,anybody knows?

[Rodney]

Couldn't tell the difference between northern pikeminnow and  peamouth chub except the size,anybody knows?

Both are closely related and resemble each other, but there are features that set them apart. The best one would be the mouth. A northern pikeminnow has its jaw line extending to just below its eyes. Its a predatory mouth design. A peamouth chub has a mouth that is found on a carp or goldfish, it protudes when feeding. It is also significantly smaller than a northern pikeminnow's mouth. Here are two photos of peamouth chub.





Northern pikeminnow also grow much larger than peamouth chub. Peamouth chub rarely grow beyond 10 inches in length, while northern pikeminnow can reach several lb.

In case people have not seen them, these ID cards can be downloaded, printed and carried with you when fishing on the Tidal Fraser for these fish.

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fish_profile/file/tidal_fraser_id_cards.pdf

[jetboatjim]

you get em on the fly too.

[Dave]

Rod, you might be on to something here.  Perhaps a group could be formed to look into enhancing PM's thoughout the lower mainland, especially Cultus Lake.  Gold Hammered Croc would make a good champion for this ....

[huntwriter]

Hey Rodney I checked your fish ID cards out. Great job you did. When I cam to Canada I searched for all the fish that were endangered or protected, then I searched for pictures and descriptions. Once I had all that information together I made similar cards as yours. Each time I catch a fish that I did not know I just had to look through the cards to see if it is a endangered/protected fish.

That was the reason that I knew the Northern Pikeminnow was a legal fish even if I at the time did not know its name.

Rodney- "Good to see someone else who also has the same interest on northern pikeminnow".

I am not that avid a fisher as many of the fine members here. My forte is hunting. So when I go fishing I like action, otherwise I quickly get bored with it. Lol.
Hence my love of bass fishing, pinks during the run and now Northern Pikeminnows. I am sure as time goes on and I learn more about BC fish species I will find more action fishing.

[fishseeker]

Great photos!

I didn't realize they got quite so big - so far I have only caught little ones on the Fraser North Arm with a bait setup.  It would be great to go after them with a fly but I guess the water clarity on the Fraser is not good enough for that - any opinions on fly fishing for these guys?  Even though I am a still a relative newbie at fly fishing with limited success, I really enjoy fishing this way and I would like to target more species closer to home using this technique.

(Yes, I know - the question is best asked in the fly fishing section but since this is part of this thread...).