Hope everyone on this board had a good Thanksgiving. I certainly am thankful from all the knowledge and entertainment I've found here.

I was stuck home, on a nasty cold rainy day, under orders to baste a turkey once an hour. Between some bastings, I thought I might paddle up to the whitewater park and fish a bit. The park saw 165,000 tubers float through it this summer, and even now the hard core surfers are out there, but on a rainy Thanksgiving even an urban stream can be just you, and the spawning mountain whitefish.

The whitefish is slowly gaining respectability. A native salmonid fish which lives in cold water and takes flies, it has the misfortune of being boney and looking like a sucker. Not my photo, but a nice one the NPS put out:



People used to throw them up on the bank, but now are realizing they are an important fish, and their eggs feed the trout more food than they steal in bottom nymphs. Plus, they are fun to catch. I had a great day this week on a different river, catching trout after trout on a #20 glo-bug, and then finding fat whitefish upstream.

This Thanksgiving I grabbed the Fenwick I leave strung up in the boathouse (thankful for advice here on finding great rods cheap) and paddled up to the park. Fished 30 minutes with a tungsten frenchie and the micro glo bug. Hooked five whiteys and a trout, landed four of the whites, the trout did a magnificent leap and spit the fly in my face. Then I paddled home, thankful for a great little break, and basted the bird again.

We have a lot of whitefish here in Vermont, but it's amazing how many people don't know what they are or appreciate it when they catch them. I like to wade the shallows of Missisquoi Bay on Lake Champlain in the spring and fish them "flats style". Kind of like a VT bonefish.

I didn't get to fish on Thanksgiving, way too cold and snowy here and most of the rivers near me are closed to fishing now anyway. But I'm definitely jealous of anyone that got out with a fly rod yesterday.

I enjoy whitefish. I don't have any near where I live, so I look forward to my trips across the Cont. Divide to the White River in Meeker and get my fill of them.
They are tanks, and because of that the fight is something to respect. I find them to be a delicate fish, even as powerful that they are, so I try not to play them too much and keep them from getting below me. Easier said than done.

No one throws them on the banks or treats them like a trash fish in any way on that river. They really are fun to catch and are so plentiful. The trout don't seem to be bothered by them, and it doesn't look like they compete with the other fish driving them out.

Yup, a poor mans Bonefish. Gotta love'em. They have saved many a day for guides around here in Big Sky country. Most "Sports" just want a bent rod now and again and the "Whitey" has done that for thousands over the years.

Sounds like a whole lots of fun!

I have seen them caught on mepps spinners, and good sized stonefly nymphs, both a surprise with that little mouth. The classic fly is a prince nymph. I've done well on the rainbow warriors or frenchies I used as an anchor fly, but most I catch on a very small glo-bug egg pattern.

For unpretentious angling, carp on the fly is fun and requires a level of skill. They spook easily and can make your reel sing. If they had the silvery shine of bonefish or the mouth of a redfish then they would be a far more popular query, IMO.

I heard red horse suckers were an indicator of high water quality.

Ron, you are blessed to have such an ecosystem like that of the hill country. Every area has their own unique fishery, I like going out and finding it to then appreciate it. I discovered a lot during my ft worth expedition yesterday and met some interesting folk.

I still have fond memories of going after creek chubs in the small water trickles of Ohio during the fall/winter time. No all-around 6wt needed but what I had during my early fly fishing years.








A lighter outfit like this 2-3wt bears Den pack rod, a pack of food, and explorer curiosity made for a great adventure. Especially for these "trash fish"






While an invasive species in the guadaloupe, the Midwest environment for smallmouth is beautiful.




I prefer other fish then these.

Anyone know the Northern Pike Minnow? They are native to the PNW, and don't have a huge range.





They take flies nicely and can be pretty big for a "minnow"



Oregon Fish and Wildlife offers a bounty on them, because they eat salmon smolt. The top pikeminnow fisherman last year earned $83,000 catching 10,277 pike minnows. Interesting to note that brown trout and brook trout have no limits now, because they are "non-native invasive species". Guess a true trash fish is one which is native but still gets a bounty.

I first caught one on a steelhead trip. The steelhead had quit but there was something rising near the banks "just a bunch of pikeminnows" I was told, but I had a good time catching them. The my partners were not impressed, but I was happy with a new species. Since then, I've caught some nice ones fishing for smallmouth. They fight so well you don't know they aren't a bass.

I've heard the lower Crooked River has some places where big pikeminnows take dry flies. Might be worth an expedition.

I've only caught one Sacramento Pikeminnow -



I saw it swimming around in a pool in Coyote Creek in the springtime. I had no idea what it was, but it was the largest I'd seen and there were a number of others in the pool. I tossed a small olive woolly bugger in first -- no response. But a UV crawdad (smallmouth) got its attention.

that's one way to fish for a living

Yeah, the pikeminnow has always been there, but the justification for the bounty on them is that the dams have made the salmon smolts far more vulnerable, and a population reduction will push the ecosystem back towards a more balanced system. It helps that they bill Bonneville Power for the costs. I guess it works, they have not by any means wiped out the pikeminnow, but they have reduced smolt predation by 40%. So they claim.

I've caught scrappy Pikeminnows (formerly Squawfish) in roadside lakes on big caddis dries, giving much needed recreation on long drives, and I get the occasional smaller one on my local urban river. They whack a dry with gusto and put up a good tussle, so I'm happy they are there.