Fish ID at riffe lake

A

aheinz

Steelhead
Hey I understand it may not be the correct location for this post, but it was the most similar I could think of, also did not catch this fish with a fly, I wish I did it was a good fight on my ultra light set up.
When I caught it I did not recognize, but after looking at pics afterwards I think it might be a pikeminnow?
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I wish I got some more photos at the time. Thanks for any info or opinions.
 
Yep. Nice ultralight setup. They actually fight pretty well sometimes. And they are actually a native species. Yes,...they are salmon and trout eaters, but so are smallies and largies and perch and bears and otters and bald USA eagles.... you get the idea. 😁
 
skyriver said:
Yep. Nice ultralight setup. They actually fight pretty well sometimes. And they are actually a native species. Yes,...they are salmon and trout eaters, but so are smallies and largies and perch and bears and otters and bald USA eagles.... you get the idea. 😁
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Was a good sized fish, if I knew it would be the only fish I might have kept it, tha k you 9n the ultralight, daiwa all around, its such a fun setup
 
skyriver said:
Yep. Nice ultralight setup. They actually fight pretty well sometimes. And they are actually a native species. Yes,...they are salmon and trout eaters, but so are smallies and largies and perch and bears and otters and bald USA eagles.... you get the idea. 😁
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I throw spiny fish up on the bank on the waters I fish…
 
Scottybs said:
I throw spiny fish up on the bank on the waters I fish…
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Once they're established, there's no going back short of VERY dramatic measures, and I don't mean rotenone. Basses, sunfishes, bullhead catfishes, pikes, etc. were native to (and diverse in!) much of the PNW prior to the formation of the Cascades. Volcanic activity and shifts in climatic patterns knocked them out of the west ~7my (leaving only Olympic Mudminnows, Sand Rollers, and Sacramento Perch). You do you, but if tossing them on the bank really makes you feel better, you might want to ask yourself why...
 
ptychocheilus said:
Once they're established, there's no going back short of VERY dramatic measures, and I don't mean rotenone. Basses, sunfishes, bullhead catfishes, pikes, etc. were native to (and diverse in!) much of the PNW prior to the formation of the Cascades. Volcanic activity and shifts in climatic patterns knocked them out of the west ~7my (leaving only Olympic Mudminnows, Sand Rollers, and Sacramento Perch). You do you, but if tossing them on the bank really makes you feel better, you might want to ask yourself why...
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Their ancient relative species lived here millions of years ago in a very very different environment. That's not the same as them being previously native here. The current species in the current environment are completely non-native.

These species compete with native salmonids which is why many want to do what little they can to control their populations.
 
Don't get me wrong, I wish there was a way to make bass/sunfishes/walleye/pike disappear from the PNW too, but there's no going back. "Control" of aquatic invasives is damn near impossible even under the best of conditions and is a giant money sink unless it's a tiny & isolated body of water and you are serious about getting 100% public buy-in. Tossing a couple fish on the bank because they're non-native is pissing in the wind. We (and the fauna) are just going to have to figure out how to coexist with them.

For that matter, vilifying pikeminnows for the decline of salmon populations caused by reservoir construction is just asinine. How well has all of that predator control worked out? We should be swimming in salmon by now, right? If invasive control is even a tertiary objective, why do both WA and OR DFW have minimum size restrictions and/or bag limits on bass, walleye & channel catfish?!

The best option might be gene drive approaches, but once they're deployed there's no kill switch. All it takes is someone moving a couple modified fish east across the divide, and you've potentially hosed centrarchids across their native range.

Fisheries management is people management, and people suck.
 
ptychocheilus said:
How well has all of that predator control worked out? We should be swimming in salmon by now, right?
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If Pikeminnow prediation was the only variable I think you would see a noticeable bump in salmon numbers.....but it's not.
ptychocheilus said:
If invasive control is even a tertiary objective, why do both WA and OR DFW have minimum size restrictions and/or bag limits on bass, walleye & channel catfish?!
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You can legally harvest any and all of those species you might catch on the Columbia. No restrictions.

Don't get me wrong. I hate seeing any native fish tossed on the bank to die for a misguided reason.
 
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