Washington Northern Pikeminnow


Got these monsters today at a pond near Klineline on Salmon Creek Park in Vancouver, Washington. I was fishing for bass, but ended up trying the deeper water instead of my usual shallow water haunts. I need to try a dropshot rig at this location, but I was still rockin' the 4'' Yum Dinger on a Texas Rig. Had a few small largemouth tackle the lure and a sunfish engulf it, but these Northern Pikeminnow really stole the show. Both struck near the shore, just around dusk, ripped drag, but never went airborne. Smaller one was just over 13'', biggest was pushing 17'', definitely my PB pikeminnow.

Interestingly enough, you can actually get paid to catch the much-hated pikeminnow if you catch it in the Columbia River. A partnership between the Bonneville Power company and the WDFW pays $4 per fish over 9''. Some anglers have reportedly made over $40,000 a year just catching these baby salmon-killers.

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2 comments

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July 31, 2010 at 4:55 AM delete

Wow, salmon killers? That's pretty crazy! I wish we had more variety of fish over here.

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July 31, 2010 at 11:26 AM delete

You do! I'm actually super jealous:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fish_of_Oklahoma

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Be nice.