Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: tumbleweed on August 06, 2009, 08:41:41 PM
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Hi, I live in Abbotsford and am looking to take my 3 year old and five year old out fishing. Is there anywhere close by that we can catch some pikeminnows. We caught some in Vernon on a recent holiday and they had a blast.
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They are abundant anywhere along the Fraser River. From Abbotsford, the closest area where you can access from shore is most likely underneath the bridges in Mission/Abbotsford. Just be aware of which bridge you are fishing under/nearby. If you are fishing downstream from the CP Rail bridge, you need a tidal fishing licence. If you are fishing upstream from it, you need a freshwater fishing licence.
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Thanks for the reply. I live about 10 minutes from the bridge so that is perfect. What should I be using to catch them. We were using cheese in Vernon. I just set them up with a bobber a hook and some cheese and it was non stop action.
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basically anything with scent will catch pike minnows LOL they are annoying that way ::) I would say roe, worms, single eggs and anything else would work. I have even caught them alot on lures (Rodney does also ALOT) but i havent targetted these things since i was a little kid and they sure filled the gap waiting for my bell to ring ;D
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You can basically use the same bait (cheese) to target these fish. Keep in mind that there is fair amount of current in the Fraser River, even at Mission/Abbotsford so using a bobber may not be so practical unless you can find a little shallow bay that lacks the current. A cheaper bait would be small pieces of bread. I like to make up a dough from water and flour. Some flavour, such as curry, added into the dough makes it work even better. Dew worms may cost you a bit more, but they stay on the hook better in the current.
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So can I rig them up with a weight and a hook and just let the bait sit on the bottom? How big do these fish get? Thanks for the replies.
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Yep, a single bottom rig would be a sliding weight on the main line, swivel and a leader. Personally I prefer a bar rig, with the weight on the bottom and a leader tied onto the main line about 1ft above the weight. This anchors the weight and bait better on the bottom.
The fish size varies, from 6 inches to 20 inches. Most of the fish that you will encounter are most likely in the 6 to 10 inches category. The odd bigger fish will emerge at times.
These are filmed near the Fraser mouth, but it gives you an idea on how big or small they are:
Big: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Qcl4V5-z4
Small: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOJVIiY_ybk
You'll also find some peamouth chub mixed in between the pikeminnows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNx3R-WEwoM
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Another way of rigging up is float 3 way swivel one to hook one to weight. You'll need to adjust float depth but most of the near shore area of the Fraser is about the same depth.
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Went out tonight with my five year old son and we caught 4 pikeminnows and one bullhead. He had a great time.
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Went out tonight with my five year old son and we caught 4 pikeminnows and one bullhead. He had a great time.
hello tumbleweed, where about did you fish? i live in mission so i guess i could do some pikeminnow fishing too.
what tackle, bait, method, did you use?
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Hi Stlucio, we went at the end of walters road just above the bridges on the abbotsford side. We were using dew worms and weight on the bottom. Good luck.
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Hi Stlucio, we went at the end of walters road just above the bridges on the abbotsford side. We were using dew worms and weight on the bottom. Good luck.
few more questions tumbleweed,
what time of the day did you fish? and how long did you fish for?
how big were they? how heavy?
thanks.
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We went for about two hours. The fish where about 10 inches. I don't know the weight. But it is was fun for me and my son.
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We went for about two hours. The fish where about 10 inches. I don't know the weight. But it is was fun for me and my son.
awesome. thanks a lot.
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there were literally 100's of them at the laidlaw exit. I was cleaning a salmon and they swarmed the guts downstream in 4" OF WATER!!! I left the salmon for 2 minutes and I came back and they were ACTUALLY INSIDE THE BELLY! IT was insane! While waiting for a friend I would fish for them using salmon innards. When they became less frequent, i would dip some of the liver in the water and create a blood trail. Within a minute they would come rushing back.
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To make the dough with a scent. Do I just mix flour,water and scent? How does this stay on the hook? Does it not just dissolve in the water and fall off? Sorry for all the questions. I was using dew worms and having pretty good luck, but if I can make bait at home that's even better.
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Went out again this morning with my two sons and had a blast. The biggest we caught was about 12 inches.
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To make the dough with a scent. Do I just mix flour,water and scent? How does this stay on the hook? Does it not just dissolve in the water and fall off? Sorry for all the questions. I was using dew worms and having pretty good luck, but if I can make bait at home that's even better.
Yep, simply pour flour and your scent (curry powder, etc) into a bowl. Add water in small portions while stir and mix. The texture depends on how much water you add. I usually add water until I can roll small dough balls in my hands without having pieces stuck on my hands. You can also add some corn meal into the mixture.
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Hey Rodney,
Would you suggest using the the trout bottom bait fishing method using shrimp (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2009/0309_01.html) for pikeminnows?
I've been using a small bar rig baited with hotdogs and I haven't been able to catch any pikeminnows, I've only been able to catch sculpins...
Thanks,
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Hey Rodney,
Would you suggest using the the trout bottom bait fishing method using shrimp (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2009/0309_01.html) for pikeminnows?
I've been using a small bar rig baited with hotdogs and I haven't been able to catch any pikeminnows, I've only been able to catch sculpins...
Thanks,
I am not Rodney but maybe I can chime in
When the water is a little clear use a small spinner. Also i have caught them with very tiny pieces of worm. I will usually catch more pea mouth chub tho and every 6th would be a pike minnow. Make sure you are using a very tiny hook, maybe size 8 andfish for them on the bottom with bait. As to sculpins, you can't really avoid them... hehe
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there were literally 100's of them at the laidlaw exit. I was cleaning a salmon and they swarmed the guts downstream in 4" OF WATER!!! I left the salmon for 2 minutes and I came back and they were ACTUALLY INSIDE THE BELLY! IT was insane! While waiting for a friend I would fish for them using salmon innards. When they became less frequent, i would dip some of the liver in the water and create a blood trail. Within a minute they would come rushing back.
hello oni kage, thx for the reply.
but where is the laidlaw exit you were talking about?
can you give me the exact direction to this place?
thanks
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hello oni kage, thx for the reply.
but where is the laidlaw exit you were talking about?
can you give me the exact direction to this place?
thanks
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=49.313289,-121.632879&hl=en&geocode=&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=17&sll=49.312247,-121.631656&sspn=0.004994,0.016512&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17 (http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=49.313289,-121.632879&hl=en&geocode=&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=17&sll=49.312247,-121.631656&sspn=0.004994,0.016512&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17)
Right to the left of the 'B' marker is where you park.There is that little gravel patch. there will be tonnes of cars there so it won't be hard to find. Take the Laidlaw exit on highway 1 and go under the highway and go along the gravel road until you hit that gravel parking lot.
Then there will be a trail down to the river. There will be this small area of water, walk through it or around it towards the river. You should see salmon fishermen there. The pike minnows dissipated around 11 am so I suggest going there before that. If you planning on going there I would bring your bottom bouncing gear and fish for salmon in the morning and make it worth your while. If you catch a spring start cleaning it and they will come... in hordes
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http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=49.313289,-121.632879&hl=en&geocode=&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=17&sll=49.312247,-121.631656&sspn=0.004994,0.016512&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17 (http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=49.313289,-121.632879&hl=en&geocode=&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=17&sll=49.312247,-121.631656&sspn=0.004994,0.016512&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17)
Right to the left of the 'B' marker is where you park.There is that little gravel patch. there will be tonnes of cars there so it won't be hard to find. Take the Laidlaw exit on highway 1 and go under the highway and go along the gravel road until you hit that gravel parking lot.
Then there will be a trail down to the river. There will be this small area of water, walk through it or around it towards the river. You should see salmon fishermen there. The pike minnows dissipated around 11 am so I suggest going there before that. If you planning on going there I would bring your bottom bouncing gear and fish for salmon in the morning and make it worth your while. If you catch a spring start cleaning it and they will come... in hordes
thanks oni kage.
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Hey Rodney,
Would you suggest using the the trout bottom bait fishing method using shrimp (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2009/0309_01.html) for pikeminnows?
I've been using a small bar rig baited with hotdogs and I haven't been able to catch any pikeminnows, I've only been able to catch sculpins...
Give dough a go. Shrimp, dew worms etc tend to attract more sculpins than pikeminnows and chubs down here. The bottom rig (either the sliding weight setup or the bar rig) should work for any species since all of them inhabit near the bottom of the river.
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I am not Rodney but maybe I can chime in
When the water is a little clear use a small spinner. Also i have caught them with very tiny pieces of worm. I will usually catch more pea mouth chub tho and every 6th would be a pike minnow. Make sure you are using a very tiny hook, maybe size 8 andfish for them on the bottom with bait. As to sculpins, you can't really avoid them... hehe
If you were fishing for peamouth but caught a pikeminnow, i suspect that you were using small hooks. If so, was it hard to keep the pikeminnow on such a small hook?
Thanks,
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What size hook should we be using?
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When targeting whatever species in the summer with bait (excluding salmonids of course), I tend to use hooks between size 10 and 14. Small hooks aren't really a big issue for large pikeminnows. They may break off from time to time of course. When using spinners or small spoons, I use size 2 hooks.
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Thanks for your help Rodney!
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Finally got a couple bigger ones on the spinner today.
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=137
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Nice fish! I will try again this weekend. These are fun fish to catch.
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Hey Rodney,
You had mentioned in your blog that you did not feel the spinner hit the bottom. Do you usually use lures down by the bottom? I've been so scared of losing spinners, I use them near the surface.
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My lure usually does not hit the bottom, but that's mostly because I am pretty familiar with most of the spots where I fish by now. I adjust the depth that I want my lure to be at by changing retrieving speed. When the lure approaches shore, I speed up the retrieving speed slightly, but not too much as fish can strike anytime. With those 1/8oz spinners that you got from me, I like to cast out, let it sink for a couple of seconds, give it a quick jerk so the blade starts rotating and retrieve as soon as that happens.
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From your experience, do you find more pikeminnows at certain depths?
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Like all other minnow species, pikeminnows tend to swim just above the bottom. Not very far out though, most fish are found well within casting distance from shore.
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Tumbleweed: yes you fish spinners near the bottom, and they're easy to make especially Colorados . Buy the blades ,wire & beads in bulk make some up while watching your favourite TV show--- fish them the next day---- deadly on Vedder Coho & steelhead in season--Tight lines
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Bring some baking soda to clean your hands- they smell pretty foul, BUT I had a heck of a lot of fun in Shuswap Lake fishing for them off the dock.
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Another little one today, with a cutthroat trout mixed in there too.
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=138
Water is clearing up fast, which is excellent timing for the pink salmon return.
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I was out today as well. Conected with a fat PM. Also watched over a dozen pinks breaking the surface. Soon.
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Headed out to derby reach last night to get some casts in with my new rig and caught a couple PMs with pink flies. Never having caught one before I was surprised at how hard they hit. Fun!