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Showing posts from May, 2015

The Northern Pikeminnow Ransom

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I'd like to say a few words about the Northern Pikeminnow ransom. At this point, nearly anyone who fishes or has fished with me will let out a groan due to my incessant and continuous ranting concerning the topic. However, I do not care, as we environmentalists and anglers need to rally together in order to save the Pikeminnow from the misguided clutches of the ODFW.  Everyone take a good long look at this majestic species. To give a little background, Northern Pikeminnow are a species of predatory cyprinid native to the Columbia River Basin area. They have been swimming in these waters since before any fisherman. Being predatory fish, it is natural that they consumed on a wide variety of small baitfish, including salmon and steelhead smolts. Although not prized as sportfish, they tug fairly hard when hooked and often are cooperative in the absence of other species. Despite this, most are disdained by anglers seeking more valuable species such as bass or steelhead. I

The Unwitting Hypocrite

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Fishing is a pretty hypocritical sport. And no fisherman is more ridiculously hypocritical than me. For starters, I have a habit of casually bashing species that I haven't caught to make up for my disappointment of not having done so. Once I eventually manage to catch said species, I have a "change of heart." Case in point: The "Great White Sturgeon." Although I consider sturgeon among my favorite species, I didn't always have these sentiments. My first two sturgeon outings had both been at the most inopportune days out of the year (since when has a record-breaking flood occurred during a snowstorm??), and I made myself feel better by likening them to "overgrown catfish" and their fighting abilities to "hauling a log off of the bottom." Since then, I have had a change of heart, focusing my efforts on bashing a myriad of other species including bonefish, carp, and Humpback Whales. Totally overrated fighters.  I hesitate to write ab