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[Rodney]

I have been getting quite a few emails and there have been many same questions on the forum regarding fishing for northern pikeminnow and peamouth chub lately so I think it is a good idea to post this up and refer future questions to it first. Most enquiries are coming from parents who wish to bring their kids out because this is the ideal fishery for them in July and August. They are highly abundant, always willing to bite, so there is never a shortage of action.

Two commonly caught species in the Tidal Fraser River in July and August are northern pikeminnow and peamouth chub, but you may also find a few other species like sculpin, flounder, shiner, sucker and tomcod. They can be caught at any given time, but the best period is usually between two hours before and after flood tide.

When the water is not that clear like right now, bait fishing is the way to go. Plain dough balls made from flour and water is good enough and we have always caught many fish with them. If you want to add some scent into your dough, some shrimp powder, curry powder, any artificial scented products at tackle stores will do. You hook size should be small especially for peamouth chub due to their tiny mouth, #10 to 14 are typically used. You can either bottom fish or float fish, depending on your fishing location. If you are fishing on a beach with mostly sandy bottom and the odd rocks, then bottom fishing is the way to go. Have a bar rig set up (weight on the bottom of the rig and a hook dangling 1ft above the weight). Cast, tighten the line and let the rod rest on a rod holder or somewhere you can lean the rod against. If there are many rocks around where you fish, then float fishing is the way to go. Pick a small, skinny float that only needs a few split shots to balance because the bites are delicate. Fish close to shore and have the float depth adjusted to around 2 to 3ft.

For pikeminnow, when the water gets clearer, you can also target them with spinners and spoons.

There are many places near Vancouver when you can do this type of fishing. Here are some areas where I commonly go:

• Garry Point Park - Nice park, picnic area, fish from the bays.
• No. 2 Road Pier - Very protected, nice pier, ideal for kids, can become crowded at times but mostly a friendly atmosphere.
• No. 3 Road Pier - Nice pier, washrooms, but pier is a bit high, making fish landing bit of a hassle at times.
• Dump Bar - Quiet mostly, some dirt bikers at times, waves can be a nuisance at times, mostly beach fishing.
• North Arm - Quiet mostly, but right next to River Road on the Richmond size so can be noisy at times, access on the north side is Burnaby Foreshore Park.
• MacDonald Beach on Iona Island - Nice quiet beach, but watch out for dogs, and gate closure time.

Additional info:

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2002/0702_01.html

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2007/0507_02.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNx3R-WEwoM

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=131

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=30

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=38

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/blog/?p=43

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Qcl4V5-z4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcanmoKeOSc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbDbJ8MaRPk

Enjoy, and please feel free to add your catches to this thread.

[cutthroat22]

Anybody ever tried a dryfly? 

There was tons of action on the surface the other night and even a white fluff floating down the river was pecked at by a couple fish.

[Blackgivesway2blue]

Caught this one yesterday on dough bait.  on River Road in Delta, caught 12 of them in 4hours 

[fish007]

How to make dough bait please???

[Blackgivesway2blue]

How to make dough bait please???

all i do, is take some flour and a little bit of water, and mix them together until it makes dough, then let it sit over night, and its good to go for in the morning.

[fish007]

thank you . I will try it this weekend

[Blackgivesway2blue]

you make it the same way you would make pizza dough, just the only too ingredinents are Flour and Water.  But if you wanna try you can add some food colour to make it a certain colour, but it works great plain.  Good luck fish007 

[Rodney]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWwf-3Qkwq8

[alan]

I've never fished for these fish.....are they fun to catch???  Can you eat them???  Just want to know what the hype is about.  Thanks.

[vancook]

I've never fished for these fish.....are they fun to catch???  Can you eat them???  Just want to know what the hype is about.  Thanks.

they're easy to catch, its always fun to catch fish even if they're small. People don't eat these fish...perhaps there are those who do but they're very poor table fare, I would not.

[Rodney]

Less than half a dozen people talking about it is not a hype. Fun in fishing is subjective, which depends on what you want to get out of your trip. Catching any fish is fun with the appropriate fishing tackle. Part of the fun is to figure out the behaviour of your target species. With peamouth chub, the challenge is to time your hookset because they feed like goldfish (suck and blow, suck and blow...). With northern pikeminnow, their predatory behaviour makes it exciting to target with lures and flies. This one grabbed a tiny fly last evening after I spotted it thrashing on the surface for some minnow-type fish.



They are edible, in fact they are quite tasty if you prefer white-fleshed fish, however they are very boney.

[BwiBwi]

We tried canning them.  It's very good and no need to worry about bones.   

[EastVan604]

Can someone give me a link or post some pictures of lures that would be good to catch these pikeminnow

[Rodney]

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/articles/2009/0209_01.html