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[SafetyChain]

I know this is not your favorite subject, but I am thinking of taking my son out on the Columbia to get some of these salmon killers. Just a nice day father and son day . Will launch out of Chinnok Landing. Where is a good spot to catch some of these predators and do you just use nightcrawlers?

[Silverado]

We catch Umpqua Pikeminnows for family fun. Nightcrawlers work but they love sand shrimp. I use the old leftover frozen ones, break them in half and tie them on the hook with cheap yarn. We use #1 or 1/0 owner hooks, and you still have to really set the hook on these guys.
Good Luck

RB

[Steelie Steve]

Here is a website that may give you some information. Never tried it myself, but could be fun.

Good Luck to ya.

Steve

[Jooky]

some people make a good living catching these fish, and wont tell where or how they go about catching these ugle things.
Only thing I know is that I see a guy every once in awhile at the mouth of the sandy plunking for these "money fish"

[papa bear]

I spend a lot of time in ********* water (Dexter Reservoir). As the temperature of the water rises in late spring and there are fewer trout available, you see more and more of these, and it's impressive how fast they reproduce and grow. I "heard" there are 80,000 of them in this lake alone. That might be conservative. The biggest one I seen another guy caught, some townie who thought he had a steelhead. It was over thirty inches. long. I have caught one, blind in one eye and missing some tail where a prop would have hit it, just under eight pounds. I fought him a good while on 4 lb line and drew a crowd. One old guy says, "You gonna fillet him out?" (general laughter).

They run in the same water as trout, in bigger schools, and are fond of the edges of big shade. They will hit whatever you fish for trout, but show a dislike for Powerbait. That's one of the reasons nearly everyone here only uses Powerbait. Also, they travel slower than trout, so you can out-troll 'em sometimes. To DELIBERATELY catch *********, slow down, fish in hotter, brighter weather, use a bobber, switch to worms without powerbait or marshmallows, or go to your old stinky shrimp, raw liver, corned beef, vienna suasages, or hot dogs. Use just enough to cover the hook well. To keep this stuff on the hook use a treble. They do like salmon eggs, more than trout do in a lake (in rivers, trout are much more interested in eggs).

If the kid has one one those kid's fishing rigs that comes with ten pound line you might want to put on a six pound leader, but less is not necessary as they are not as line shy as the trout. Have the kid watch the bobber with patience. Like trout, they bump the bait twice before taking. When the bobber goes down, count three, then haul back. They are much easier to strike than trout. It's a little like catfishing.

When I fish for these guys on purpose, I use storebought shrimp, the white kind. If you let it get a little high they like it even better. They will also hit garden smails year round, though not too frequently.

They fight ok, espicially any over 2 lbs. They are not jumpers. You don't need your net the way I seem to need it for rainbows; like bass you can just grip their lower lip and lift 'em. They are pretty quiet in the boat. I consistently hook 'em right in the lip and if you will fish barbless you don't need your pliers much.

These things are regarded as practically inedible due to lack of flavor and all the tiny bones, but in the larger specimens you can get useable meat below the midline in the front 2/3 of the body. Fry or bake in the skin, then remove all skin and fins, then baste with melted butter, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a little basil. Tastes a little bit better than porcupine. :grin: