Northwest Fishing Reports

I have been challenged to get a couple of nice pictures of Northern Pikeminnow I have caught. Trouble is I do not know where to find them in southwestern Washington, Clark/Cowlitz/Skamania Counties. To find, catch and photograph these fish would be a sort of initiation into a roughfisher’s group.

Any help would be appreciated…the closer to Vancouver the better, but I do not mind traveling a bit. Thanks for your help in advance.

Lewis, do you have to take them? I can go out and almost catch them on command if you need a couple. I might even have some photos somewhere of a few.

E

I would think they would be in the columbia down there. I dont know for sure, but I know they thrive in the columbia up river from there. Mayfield lake also has a bunch of them as well, but I dont know if that lake is open all year round. I know you can catch them on just about anything, but I havnt heard to much about catching them in the winter. But then again nobody really brags about catching a squaw. Good luck

Gisteppo wrote:Lewis, do you have to take them? I can go out and almost catch them on command if you need a couple. I might even have some photos somewhere of a few.

E

His challenge was "if you can get me a couple of good photographs of a big Northern Pikeminnow, I'll send you an embroidered roughfish.com hat for FREE!"

I really would like to catch the fish myself, but I think the photos would be sufficent if you could "hook me up" with some you have that would be great!

I have been reading this roughfish site for weeks now and I am just busting to get out fishing, but it is dark by the time I can get out after work and there is so much holiday crap on the weekends. If I just knew where to go since time is a premium in fall/winter fishing I hate to waste it looking for a good fishery. I overheard a few of the fellows at work talking about going to Daybreak Saturday morning, but they are going bank fishing/hiking which for reasons I do not want to go into now is all but impossible for me.

Are there any squaws in SW Washington?

gpc wrote:I would think they would be in the columbia down there. I dont know for sure, but I know they thrive in the columbia up river from there. Mayfield lake also has a bunch of them as well, but I dont know if that lake is open all year round. I know you can catch them on just about anything, but I havnt heard to much about catching them in the winter. But then again nobody really brags about catching a squaw. Good luck

Yeah, Mayfield is open year round except salmon is Sept. 1-Dec. 31.

The Columbia is a big piece of water and the trouble with rough fish is nobody writes reports in the paper or anything about where they find them.

I might try and contact one of the resorts on Mayfield and see if I can get some local color commentary.

Thanks again.

Take a look at this site:
http://www.pikeminnow.org/

yea there are a lot of squaws in the columbia, night fioshing is best i heard and you have to find a clam pool or small cove to fish in or you will be battling current (if you are close to the dam). use medium sized jigs or chicken livers off the bottom to catch em. i heard worms or powerbait work to.

Crankbaits! Troll something native (we use perch print, white, and light blue glass shad raps here) like a shad type lure, they love to whack something on the move. They are a terribly stupid fish, so its not rocket science.

That reminds me, go hit the riprap shorelines along Rooster Rock or any of the roadbeds out along 14/84. Fish for smallmouth and you will catch Squallys.

Lunker squally:



The Thumb had one for the online tournament:



Just right click the image, that will give you the URL. Or you can save-as.

E

You can catch squaws at Bonneville and there is also a check station for bounty vouchers right there. Of course, they have a special season for the bounties, check with PGE.

They are easy to catch. Diving crankbaits and Rat-L-Traps work good in big water like the Columbia, use bass tubes if you are in skinny water near riffles like Salmon Creek.