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[Spawn Sack]

So I've fished for Pike Minnow before when I was a kid (although they went by a different name then!). Mostly off a dock, bobber and worm mainly, caught hundreds! The lake I grew up near, in the interior, was overrun with Pike Minnow so if you went fishing that is mainly what you caught.

Two years ago a buddy and I thought it would be funny to go in the PM derby so we did just to get out and have a good time and fish. We anchored up and bobber + worm fished, and trolled with a worm tipped lure (wedding band or something like that). I think we caught one fish each that day. When we went for the weigh in I was shocked that some kids and adults have an overflowing bucket of the damn things! Like over 20 fish! I was like...how did they catch so damn many?! But I didn't care much as I only went to have a fun day out, which we did.

This year is a bit different. I am taking two kids out on my boat, mother in law, and wife. One of the two kids has never caught a fish. As the "guide" for the day I am feeling a bit of pressure to produce some pike minnows! I'll feel like a bit of a douche if we roll up on shore with no fish and many other kids have bucket loads.

So, I am hoping for a few PM fishing tips, hopefully specific to Cultas Lake.

A few things worth considering.

Will be fishing out of a 16foot riverboat only with main outboard jet. So trolling is more or less out of the question. In theory you "can" troll with the main motor but the it is on the loud side (2 stroke), stinks a bit esp at slow speed, and does not steer worth a damn moving at trolling speed. So I was planning more on anchoring up and bobber fishing or bottom fishing.

I have heard a lot of kids do really well off the docks at main beach but everyone I am taking wants to fish out of the boat to get away from the crowds. So fishing off the docks is not an option. Although I could anchor up in reasonable proximity to the docks.

Hoping for some tips on things like bait, best gear set up (lure or bare hook, etc), and depth to look for. My plan so far is just to zip around the lake, look for areas with other boats and anchor up near there, esp if we see ppl with fish on, have a couple spinning rods with lure to cast and retrieve and a couple rods set up with a bobber and bare hook. For bait I'm planning to use worms which is all we used as kids. I've read online ppl use shrimp and a few other things so I might bring one or two of those as well.

I'm only going to fish myself if the kids are doing really well then I might get a line wet myelf. Am going to be focusing more on helping the kids out with their casting and so on, hopefully netting their fish, etc. I don't care if I catch a greasy PM but I am really hoping to put the kids into a few. Thanks in advance for any tips

[Humpy]

Worm and bobber is the standard.
I've caught many as a by catch on spoons and spinners.

[sbc hris]

I've never fished Cultas specifically, but have caight many 1000s of PMs. A few today even!! I use fresh cooked mini shrimp from a grocery store deli for bait when taking kids out to chase PMs. You can tie some pieces up in spawn sacks to make it last longer and stay on the hook much better. As far as finding them, just move around until you find some structure that they like. They don't seem to cruise around like trout and other species. (Well perhaps the very large ones do) If you've found one, you've probably found 100s. It only takes a few casts before you'll know if there's any in the area. So cast and move on until you locate a spot they favour.  They love structure.

[Spawn Sack]

Awesome thanks sbc chris. I'll pick up some fresh cooked mini shrimp a couple days before the derby. If I have I'll tie up some sacks and if not I'll make sure to buy a decent amount of shrimp. I'll bring some worms too to mix it up.

Makes sense how the kids off the docks do so well since they like structure.

Is anyone aware of any decent structure in Cultas aside from the docks by main beach?

I remember when my buddy and I went in the derby 2 years ago we fished a fair bit on the end of the lake opposite main beach. There were a lot of boats there and a decent # of fish being hauled in. I remember there was a creek mouth there and a pretty weedy bottom. For whatever reason we caught bugger all so we moved on.

sbc chris, do you typically fish a bobber? Or drop it to the bottom and reel up a bit? Or cast and retrieve a lure?

Sorry for the many questions. Just tying to get the kids into as many fish as possible. I could care less if I catch one.

[RalphH]

they are fish eaters. They are also carnivorous. Spoons and streamers work well. That said I have also caught them on dry fly emergers during mayfly hatches.

[clarki]

As Ralph said, spoons are very effective for NPM; small lures, under 1/4. Have caught many as by-catch while fishing this gear for cutthroat. Last weekend, in the clear water of where I was fishing, multiple NPM would follow the casts in. I caught lots.

If the kids can cast and retrieve lures, I'd suggest mixing the bait up with same lures to show the fish something different.

[sbc hris]

Yes lures work good too, especially for the bigger ones, but they don't always hit them. If you can locate a decent number of them, they will always smash bait without hesitation. I use a float if the bottom is snaggy, or if they're near the surface, and sometimes I'll fish right on the bottom if I'm able to. Casting your bait out with a small weight (no float) and doing a slow retrieve can also work very well, but it just comes down to getting the bait into the fishes zone and keeping it there. They aren't picky, I've also done well for them on stimulator dry flies and chironomids etc etc. But if you can find the fish in numbers, surely you can get the kids into a few.

[Spawn Sack]

Excellent guys thanks for all the tips! I remembered the other day that when we were kids we would also sometimes use raw bacon as bait for NPM. It worked well! Didn't use it much, we mainly fished worms, but I remember the odd time we used bacon they loved it. I'm planning to bring some worms, cooked small shrimp, and some raw bacon. Should be set for the day! I have a decent selection of small spoons and spinners too to mix it up. I'm not really sure where on Cultas the good structure spots are but I'm sure if we cruise around enough we'll locate the slimey buggers!

[Rieber]

The marina dock with bits of pepperoni is killer. I have heard of the raw bacon stories on Cultas as well. Apparently hot dog bits also work but it comes off the hook a little too easy. We always used weighted worm under float on the north side of the late under any brush right up close to the shore.

I've also heard of people/kids using minnows at the creek outflow as the big pike minnows target salmon fry.

Catch and enjoy.  Some claim to enjoy the flesh - I'm not going to knowingly try it.

[skaha]

--Troll Lyman plugs for the larger critters and have used dry fly when they were schooling... near a dock.

[Spawn Sack]

Well thanks for all the tips guys I appreciate it.

Does any one know what time the main boat launch opens? I forget the name...the first one you hit when you drive past the water slides.

I recall 2 years back I drove past this launch pretty early maybe 7am or so. Looked a bit congested so I thought I'd continue to the next launch that is a bit past Teapot hill - it was closed! It sucked as I had to back my boat up onto the main road and go back to the other launch. The launch that was initially closed opened up later as we saw boats launching there a bit later in the morning.

On Saturday I believe ticket sales open at main beach super early like 5am, but I can't see BC Parks or whoever opens the gate to the main boat launch this early. I'd like to launch my boat early before it starts to get congested, but I don't want to get there and it's not open yet!

I won't be home until 11pm from work Friday night so getting up stupid early is probably not going to happen. I was thinking of getting up around 530am and launching the boat no later than 7am. Too late?

[colin6101]

7am is definitely not too late. They tend to bite all day long. I have always trolled for them with my fly rods and have done really well. I use minnow patterns on a full sinking line and work the drop offs. Usually I'm catching them in 5-10' of water with the larger ones along the deeper drop offs between 15-20'. Just don't be afraid to fish right into the weeds, that's where they tend to concentrate the most.

[Dude]

We use to go catch these as kids my grandpa would take me and my cousins. And we caught hundred and hundreds over the yrs and I still go out few times in the summer for fun and I try to take gramps in the summer so he can still enjoy it too. One and only thing we always use was make some dough  work the dough  when your making it so it's stiff the reason for that is that it doest melt off from the hook when it's in the water. We swear by it and it's a amazing bait.  Small hooks is key and about 5 inches above put couple of split shot weights enough to get to the bottom. Once you hit the bottom  pull the line up about 1 foot and ull see you will get bites. They are fun to catch and easy excellent for getting the little ones hooked to fishing.   Enjoy your trip.

[redfishbluefish]

I have caught many in rivers with worms under a float.  They seem to be masters of stealing bait off of the un-barbed hook.  I started wrapping the bait with spider wire to hold it on and it works amazingly well.  I can sometimes catch 3 on the same piece of worm :-)