#1 Predator Pike-Minnow = $$$$$$

[Tony Buzolich]

I was just watching a show on Angler West television that was all about catching pike-minnows on the Columbia River. It has been proven that the pike-minnow is the number #1 predator of salmon and steelhead smolt in the Columbia River. And yes, they do have striped bass there too. But, the biggest culprit is the pike-minnow aka. squawfish, hardhead, etc. all native fish to the area.

What really got my attention was a program that the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho have had in existence for 25 years to help curb the population of these predators.

Any caught pike-minnow over 9" is worth $5.00 or more depending on the number caught. They must be brought to a collection spot live or fresh dead so most guys fishing for them throw them in a cooler with ice.

The goal of the fisheries department running the program is to reduce the pike-minnow population by at least 10% per year. Last year 175,000 pike-minnow were removed from the Columbia River which has aided considerably in a healthier growth of salmon and steelhead in the system.

It also provided income for local fishermen to which one person earned over $99,000 by removing these predators. And this program has been going on for twenty-five years !!!

There used to be a similar short lived program like this on the Russian River a few years back. It was managed by the Ukiah Rod & Gun Club and Long's Drug Stores at that time. Eventually without state or federal support it died and the pike-minnow/ squawfish have taken hold again.

Along with the drought and lack of water, this is our number one predator, along with our governor and any number of other water grabbing agencies trying to turn the desert into farmland.
Tony

[lee s.]

And I was denied a permit, by fish and game, to have a Squawfish derby on the Russian river BECAUSE they ARE native. Go figure! Then they try to make us believe they are trying to restore our steelhead.....YEAH RIGHT!!!
.....lee s.

[Tony Buzolich]

Oregon, Washington, and Idaho all claim this fish as "native" as well and they put a bounty on them. And if I remember it right they said the program was funded by the power company that ran one of the dams which was a Federal funded project as well.

California is just plain screwed up if they think building canals and draining northern California dry will save anything! All it will do is dry up the delta and water southern Cal's growing population. Our local tree hugging environmentalists ought to look at other states where such practices are successful in helping nature.

[Sheepdog8404]

God I wish we could do the same thing on the AR!

[tcorfey]

LA Times has a ask DFG section. When asked about this same issue DFG responded as:

"There may be some confusion among local anglers about Sacramento pikeminnow (formerly known as Sacramento squawfish) management in their native Sacramento River system. According to DFG senior fisheries biologists Terry Jackson and Scott Downie, there have been efforts over the years to remove them as a non-native predator because they were illegally introduced to the Eel River system in approximately 1979. Following that Eel River introduction, DFG conducted various experimental capture and removal efforts in the Eel, and a few private groups sponsored derbies and sometimes offered bounties, but these efforts proved to be biologically futile. DFG has not conducted any such efforts on Sacramento pikeminnow in waters where they are native.

It is true that changes in the Central Valley ecosystem caused by water diversion and land use practices have greatly reduced anadromous salmonid spawning range, and some of these changes (i.e., reduced stream flows, altered runoff timing and turbidity and increased water temperatures) have created conditions favorable to pikeminnow. However, not even considering the potential Public Trust Doctrine implications of such an action, if DFG were to sanction removal of native non-game, piscivorous (fish-eating) fishes from their historic habitat in order to protect some listed species, then we might well expect advocacy to eradicate non-native piscivorous game fishes (e.g. black bass, striped bass) to soon follow. These actions would not fit well within the law.

From a California sport-fishing-regulations aspect, the Sacramento pikeminnow is regulated under CCR Title 14, section 5.95 (no limit or season), sections 2.25 and 2.30 (bow and arrow and spear fishing) and section 1.87 (no wastage of fish). Therefore, any fishing practice, derby or bounty program in which the Sacramento pikeminnow is wasted is in violation of the regulations and is thus illegal.

In addition, Sacramento squawfish are listed as a "game fish" in commission regulations (CCR Title 14, section 230) and a permit is required before any prizes can be offered to take them."

[Mark Kranhold]

Always new they were vacuums for salmon / steelhead smolts / egg rappers like Al Pacino in scare face with his coca ,and the same with stripers. It makes sense , stripers migrate in and out besides our residents ,and the goldsides are resident year round.

[hwchubb]

They lasted in a pretty good balance with more desirable gamefish for thousands of years before we dammed, logged, diverted and developed the salmonids out of existence. I have a hard time holding the squawfish / suckers responsible for losses to the point where I would support a bounty on them. Maybe not creating ideal conditions for them with low / warm flows might be a better approach?

[tcorfey]

Actually what the DFG says makes lots of sense. Before all of the dams stopped migrations to the spawning grounds the predators had to be much more athletic to find the spawning fish. They also had to distribute across a much wider range. Now dinner gets served in the relative comfort of their living rooms. It's not that these fish are invasive, they just happen to thrive in the environment we made for them.

I found this account also which is kind of interesting…
http://http://keepcalmandflyfish.blogspot.com/2015/01/debunking-trash-fish-of-california.html

Regards,
Tim C.

[STEELIES/26c3]

I believe the Columbia River bounty increases in value after an angler catches a certain quota...

IE. $5 per fish over 9" and after catching 1,000 of them, the bounty hunter (angler) gets $10 per fish...

I don't remember the exact specifics but I'm sure anyone interested can Google it.

I've heard stories of guys making a living at it.

As for the AR... My personal belief is that there are way too many squawfish (pike minnows) and that they are more of a threat to salmonids than stripers. I say this because pike minnows are so much more prolific when salmon eggs, fry and later, juvenile salmon (and steelhead) are present in the river.

Much of this is due to the NON-anadromous life cycle of the pike minnow which guarantees it will remain present in the river year around and thus corner the market on riverine species predation.

With lower flows and warmer water temps, and the resulting 'aggro-proliferation' of squawfish numbers... it's a no-brainer that this population explosion will result in much greater predation on juvenile fish of all kinds

So few salmon successfully spawn in the river any more and even in traditional, non-drought conditions, when there were significant numbers of salmon fry (January/February) in the AR, the age class of striped bass most likely to eat them were not in the river. By June/July, when the salmon are 6-8"" in length, the adult stripers are in and do eat a few but predation is diffused as American shad, pike minnows and crawdad populations are peak and offer a much greater caloric value than chasing the faster, more maneuverable and smaller, salmon parr.

In my experience, there is usually only a 4-6 week window when adult stripers surface-feed on balled-up, feeding salmon parr on the American River. I'm sure it continues in the delta but there again, other prey species (threadfin shad, black bass, bluegill, sunfish, crappie) provide alternate food sources to salmon smolts.

Still, it is illegal to waste a fish (even a pike minnow). On what I do to the ones I catch, I will take the 5th... I do release all Sacramento suckers though as they are native and occupy an important niche on the river and despite that they can be very predatory... pose little to no threat to salmon and steelhead populations.

[lee s.]

Some people BUY fish emulsion for their plants. ALL my squawfish go in the garden. No waste. And as stated, it is a farce to believe we can impact them either way with a stick and a string.....derby or not.
....lee s.