Huge Squaw

Nothing special, I know, but this thing was a pig, and actually fought really well.  It was my only reward after fishing for 5 hours in my boat on the Russian River.  Caught it on a dd shad rap on 6 lb test.  I am only posting the pic because the fish was, despite the fact that it is considered a trash fish, in totally perfect shape.  The only downside, I guess besides the fact that it is pretty much inedible, is that it stunk like my gym bag after it's been in my trunk for a while.  The fish was just under 22" and probably weighed 4 lbs. 

On the upside you can bury it in your garden and reap some benefits other than getting it out of the river system. Where on the river were you fishing?We have seen some Vietnamese people fishing on the russian who love them and would ask for them.

I hate catching those things they get pretty big I  have caught them over 10lbs in the RR but they don't fight worth beans just splash a little when you get them along side the boat. What section of river were you fishing the Smallies have been biting pretty good in the middle reaches.

F*$%^ing worthless Pike Minnow - kill 'em all!   

I'm gona turn worthless into big ching next yr...WA and OR pay bounty on those puppys...spend millions to get them out of the Colombia river...

I'm met people who have made 60-70k a yr just fishing for Pike minnows...alot of peeps say there all fished out...not till i get a crack @ them...

F*$%^ing worthless Pike Minnow - kill 'em all!   

Eric,
Pikeminnow are native fish on the Russian River.  A LOT of fisherman on the Russian regard pikeminnow and suckers as trash fish and throw them on the bank while steelhead fishing or bass fishing.  These uninformed steelhead fisherman don't realize that they are killing one of the biggest food sources at one of the most important times in steelhead, Chinook and coho smolts lives.  These native fish spawn in huge numbers in the spring, right when all the smolts are feeding like mad before there ocean journeys.

I'm gona turn worthless into big ching next yr...WA and OR pay bounty on those puppys...spend millions to get them out of the Colombia river...

I'm met people who have made 60-70k a yr just fishing for Pike minnows...alot of peeps say there all fished out...not till i get a crack @ them...

I think the 60-70K is an exaggeration.  In recent years, the top money earners have been in the 35-40K range and their catching just shy of 5000 fish.  That averages to ~30 fish per day for the 5 month season.

-Allen

I'm gona turn worthless into big ching next yr:smt003

I think the 60-70K is an exaggeration.  In recent years, the top money earners have been in the 35-40K range and their catching just shy of 5000 fish.  That averages to ~30 fish per day for the 5 month season.

-Allen

I was fishing the Cowlitz slamming steelhead and a few beers...and u know how fishing stories go... done a lot of research and what u say sounds more realistic...ummm 5-6k a month just fishing got a love that...the guys I had talked to on the Cowlitz were band from the program because of bringing fish to the check stations from other areas...sounds like poaching to me... hence 60-70k

I was working the Yakima fair...I do the fair circut selling hot tubs...and fish where I may... and hooked 20+ pikeminnows from bank I'm thinking how many could I catch on a boat...

Allen have u heard of people using yaks to target them on the Columbia...I'm thinking instead of PB maybe upgrading to that sweet Hobie fisherman pro...

Sledge, I haven't heard of anyone doing it, but a few of the guys at NWKA were talking about trying it some day.  Check in at NWKA and ask around.

-Allen

Sledge, I haven't heard of anyone doing it, but a few of the guys at NWKA were talking about trying it some day.  Check in at NWKA and ask around.

-Allen

Thanks...will do...

I'm impressed with the response I got on my post about the lowly Pike Minnow.  This is a very active forum, indeed. 

I've never known them to fight, either, but this one cartwheeled out of the water like a steelie and ran to the other end of the hole, twice.  OK, he was pretty much dead weight after that, but I give him points for the early effort. 

I don't know if I'd target them specifically, but doing a multi-species float on the Russian, Moke or Stanislaus would be a blast.  You pull a medium sized rebel or shad rap through enough holes in any of those areas, and you will get slammed by a striper, smallie, squaw or LMB sooner or later. 

Oh yeah, sorry, I neglected to say that I was fishing at the Odd Fellow's Club, just downstream from the main swimming beach.

It's funny how one river's native fish and benefit to the stream network is another river system's poison.  Right next door to the Russian, on the Eel river (where they are not native) they are considered the devil fish and are claimed as one of the bottlenecks to salmon and steelhead production.

I was thinking about spearfishing some of em in the big hole at Standish Hickey State Park.  There are some whoppers in there.