July 28th, 2008I Finally Caught a Fish!
This is the Ptychocheilus oregonensis, commonly known as the Northern Pikeminnow, or Squawfish. I caught it on the Flathead River yesterday evening. It was twelve inches long, and we guestimate the weight to be about three or four pounds. They’re very predatory and have done so much damage to trout and salmon populations, that Washington and Oregon have a bounty [pdf] on them. They’re also a very bony fish and do not make for good eatin’, so we threw him back.
This isn’t really the first fish I’ve ever caught, it’s just the first one I’ve caught in Montana that wasn’t what I call a remedial fish. I often get frustrated when fishing; either my line gets tangled, or I just don’t catch anything, so Dan takes me to the well-stocked childrens’ pond. Y’know, the one that had the alligator in it, and then the body. There I can easily, usually, catch a little trout and feel better about fishing in general. Hence, remedial pond/fish. This year I did a little reading on river fishing, and applied the techniques I’d been reading about and caught a real, wild fish in a real, wild river. I was grinning all night long!
And a pretty river, too:
Flathead River; Kalispell, MT; July 27, 2008
July 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Congratulations! *snicker*
Did Dan catch anything you could eat?
Seeing as this is a bad fish, I probably would’ve brought him home and buried him in my garden for fertilizer.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Not this time, but he’s caught a few nice trout in the flathead. I didn’t know what I had caught until I got home, otherwise we would have made it into fertilizer, too. So, we did the whole, “if you don’t know, throw it back,” thing. I don’t think they’re rare, by any stretch, but they don’t get talked about, or make it into the MT field guides. It looks a little darker in the photo, and I had a few ideas as to what it might be, but MT fishes without adipose fins are pretty obvious (pike, sturgeon, bass, etc.), so I was thrown. If I had the MT Fishing Regulations booklet, I wouldn’t gotten it then, but dammit, I forgot. Yeah, so I’m a novice fisherman… So what?!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Sounds like a wonderful day even though you couldnt keep him. Jeff doesnt like fish so we dont fish or eat it for that matter.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
So was that caught fly-fishing? And congratulations.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Very pretty river pictures. I wondered why you threw it back. I’m glad you explained.
July 30th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
NOW I get it!
Yeah, it wouldn’t be a good idea to get caught transporting an illegal game fish. When in doubt; throw it back!
Here, we have slot limits. You have to take a tape measure with you when you go fishing, or risk a fine if you have a fish that’s just an inch over the limit.
Bruce has a good question. I can totally understand the tangled line if you were fly-fishing.
July 31st, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Peaceful picture. The river I mean, not the fish. I used to love fishing with my dad when I was little but strangely I never ate them because I don’t like seafood….
August 7th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
How gorgeous is that!!! Glad you threw him back but also happy that you got one too.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Nice fish.
Even better picture of the river, it’s gorgeous.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
nasty fish but beautiful pic! And congrats on graduating from the kiddie pond!