Northern Pikeminnow (Squawfish)

[MikeFishes]

I was wondering about this fish. It's listed in the general game fish section with no limit. But what do you do if you catch one? A friend caught one in Lake Washington and we sent it back. After reading about the program to decrease the size/population of the pikeminnow in the Columbia, I'm wondering if we should have returned it to the lake. I also know of a spot on the Sammamish River (the slough) where there are quite a few of them. What should a good sports fisherman do with these fish?

[gpc]

With the squaw fish, kill it. Its illegal to waste fish...... so what I do is bring them home and use them for crab bait. If you don't go crabbing/crawdadding chop them up and put them in your garden for fertilizer. What ever you do don't attempt to eat them. Its says in the rules and regs. book that they are toxic to humans. But they are a terrible nuisance to the trout/salmon population

[beerman1981]

This topic has been discussed in some detail in a previous post. Here is the link, hopefully this can help clear up any questions you may have. http://www.washingtonlakes.com/Forum/vi ... .php?t=341

Tight lines!

Beerman

[MikeFishes]

This topic has been discussed in some detail in a previous post. Here is the link, hopefully this can help clear up any questions you may have. http://www.washingtonlakes.com/Forum/vi ... .php?t=341

Tight lines!

Beerman

Unfortunately this only applies to the Columbia river (and the areas under the program). Although, it does make sense to use the fish for something once you catch them. It'd be nice to be able to keep them out of the water once you catch them. I'll definately use them for crabbing when the season starts.

[A9]

Take it out of the water, and kill it...Don't throw it back in the water, just take it home and freeze it and when you put your garbage cans out on pickup day, take it out of the freezer and kill it...

I got a 20" incher the other night, and it hit hard, but those things will just gouge up on any small fish...Can really put a hurt on the perch/bluegill/sockeye fry in lake washington....

[ruthven78]

Living along the Pend Orielle River in Metaline, WA during my formidable high school years...I used to fish along the banks every day during the summer. A friend and me actually got pretty adept at catching them. When you are just out to relax, soak in nature, and catch fish they will do in a pinch. One of the best places I found to catch them is below Box Canyone Dam just north of Ione, WA. A buddy and I decided last minute to go camping at the lil campsite they have at Box Canyon and go night fishing at the boat launch there. Wouldnt ya know it we forgot the worms...so as to not waste a night of fishing we rigged up a treble hook with a 1/4 oz sliding bullet weight. On the treble we used chunks of hot dog just large enough to cover the eye and hide the hook. We caught some pretty big squaw fish, one my that my friendcaught you could have put a closed fist into its mouth. We were just sad that the annual squaw fish derby for the area had already came and went lol.

They do make good fertilizer except for when the neighborhood dogs dig them up lol......

This is my pet peeve....pikeminnow (aka squaw fish) and peamouth are listed as game fish, yet they are an invasive species...agressive ones at that....and the regs say you cannot waste fish nor use game fish as bait....

And to correct a previous post, they are an eatable fish with white meat but are bony as heck...I've never eaten one myself so I cannot tell you how they taste. Some lakes like Lake Washington advise against eating ones caught from there but that is more on the metals than the fish itself.

[Gisteppo]

I have to say, there is one other plan if you are in an area with known raptor populations.

We regularly bycatch squaw. They will never be put back in the lake live, but they do need to be dealt with.

On Long Lake, its not uncommon to find a raptor nest nearby, so you can take the Squaw, break its neck, and give it a good HIGH toss in the air. It will alert the birds of prey to the location, and off it goes. Not only does it decrease the population of a known voracious predator, but it also adds protein to the diet of large birds.

At one period this spring, we had 14 raptors over the boat, Osprey, Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle.

E

[ruthven78]

My friend and I did this on the bank of the Pend Oreille River. There was always a bald eagle or osprey near by.

[MikeFishes]

And to correct a previous post, they are an eatable fish with white meat but are bony as heck...I've never eaten one myself so I cannot tell you how they taste. Some lakes like Lake Washington advise against eating ones caught from there but that is more on the metals than the fish itself.

They are related to the Carp. They have big ol' scales too, like the carp. So, it doesn't surprise me that eating them is not recommended.

[slicbob]

I was fishing from the dock in Kenmore for perch, and caught a million of these but minnow like less than 3 inches, and I got sick of it real quick. I gave every 1 I caught to some large bird there, not sure what it was but he would just sit there & wait for me to throw more fish to him. Something needs to be done about these things.