For those of you avid fishers who live in this part of the world (Northwestern United States and Southwestern Canada), I am sure you have heard of the Northern Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus oregonensis). If you are a seasoned Pikeminnow bounty fisher here in Washington State who is simply looking for more information about this year's bounty fishing program (officially known as the "sport reward" program), check out the official program website here for current official rules and regulations for the May-September 2011 season and location of check stations. The Washington Northern Pikeminnow bounty program is still very much alive and kicking in the Upper Columbia and Snake Rivers this 2011 season. Season opened May 1st and qualifying tags are worth $500 this year. Then again, if you are a seasoned Washington State Pikeminnow sport reward fisher then you probably already know all the current information and already have your homepage set to pikeminnow.org! For a Seattle Times article ("Reel Time Fishing Northwest") published in May of 2011 about how the program is progressing so far this season, click here.
For those newbies who don't have a clue as to what a Northern Pikeminnow is, or if you just want to learn more about the Pikeminnow and the bounty program for this fish in Washington State through history, then keep reading and check out the links below. First of all, to lay to rest probably the most glaring misunderstanding of many unfamiliar with the Pikeminnow: Northern Pikeminnow are in the Minnow Family (Cyprinidae), not the Pike Family (Esocidae), and - other than the fact that Northern Pikeminnow and Northern Pike are both fish and contain those dreaded pesky Y-bones - bear no other relationship to each other. Formerly known by the common name of “Northern Squawfish” until it was changed in 1998 for reasons of political correctness, Northern Pikeminnow inhabit vast expanses of the Northwestern United States and Southwestern Canada. Like many suckers, Northern Pikeminnow feature a firm white meat that is hearty and filling yet full of Y-bones and lacking in any real unique flavor.
Here is a discussion thread about the program in Washington State from October of 2004 off of the BC fishing community's fishingwithrod.com discussion forum.
Here is a discussion thread about the program off of ifish.net from August of 2001.
An old timer writes about the program here (May 2005) and discusses the definition of bounty (v.s. "sport reward", which is the technical term used for the Northern Pikeminnow "bounty" program here in Washington State). This article is an interesting read, although....well, just read it.
~Phil Anderson
For those newbies who don't have a clue as to what a Northern Pikeminnow is, or if you just want to learn more about the Pikeminnow and the bounty program for this fish in Washington State through history, then keep reading and check out the links below. First of all, to lay to rest probably the most glaring misunderstanding of many unfamiliar with the Pikeminnow: Northern Pikeminnow are in the Minnow Family (Cyprinidae), not the Pike Family (Esocidae), and - other than the fact that Northern Pikeminnow and Northern Pike are both fish and contain those dreaded pesky Y-bones - bear no other relationship to each other. Formerly known by the common name of “Northern Squawfish” until it was changed in 1998 for reasons of political correctness, Northern Pikeminnow inhabit vast expanses of the Northwestern United States and Southwestern Canada. Like many suckers, Northern Pikeminnow feature a firm white meat that is hearty and filling yet full of Y-bones and lacking in any real unique flavor.
Here is a discussion thread about the program in Washington State from October of 2004 off of the BC fishing community's fishingwithrod.com discussion forum.
Here is a discussion thread about the program off of ifish.net from August of 2001.
An old timer writes about the program here (May 2005) and discusses the definition of bounty (v.s. "sport reward", which is the technical term used for the Northern Pikeminnow "bounty" program here in Washington State). This article is an interesting read, although....well, just read it.
Here is a picture of an 8" Pikeminnow taken by the webmaster of this blog
(I admit, the picture is not that great)
~Phil Anderson
