Were you targeting Squaw's for food? How do they taste? I've always just smashed thier heads and threw them in the bushes.

I'm actually curious if they're edible too? I've never caught one, but would like to know in case I do

Couldnt resist reading a report about squawfish being caught. But I have to RESPECTFULLY suggest to CastnBlast that he/she should read the regs: page 20, left column, 8th paragraph. They may only be squawfish, but,,,

gross

obviously smashing a fishes head and throwing it in the bushes is illegal. not like if castnblast knew that from the beginning he wouldnt do it. They kill populations of real fish. They could be the most endangered fish on the planet but i'd still throw em over my shoulder onto the rocks.

how's the launch, anybody putting their boats in?

Back packing, in the bushes they go! If I'm in a boat, I'll haul them home and bury them in the garden or bait the raccoon trap with them. I tried to eat one once, mushy and not a desireable flavor, in the garden it went! LOL I do find them to be a fun fight on the end of a line though, aggressive. The body shape of a trout, skin and flesh of a hake.

Is there a differance between squawfish and pike minnow? I get them by the dozens at the mouth of the cedar river in June and kill them all cause if you gut them they are full of minnows. I have seen people keeping them but dont know if the pike minnow is what they are. Nobody that I have ever asked could answer that question with confidence.

Squawfish are Northern Pikeminnow. Here's what the good book says about them:
No min. size. No daily limit.
DO NOT EAT
It's unfortunate that they all fell off the stinger and hit their heads when you were leaving ;)

They're fun to catch though...

Bait my friends, crayfish bait, catfish bait, Laker bait, trout bait, ........................................... Osprey bait???, Eagle Bait???? LOL

Use the dead fillets to cut strips, but only on the lake you caught them from.

My ex mother in law resembled a "Squaw fish"...Left her in the bushes after the divorce! Lol Jiggy

Wasn't there a reward program on these things at one time? Maybe on the Columbia? I used to catch em alongside rainbows on the upper Crab Creek. The nasty buggers loved a rapidly stripped woolly bugger!

I don't know if I would feed a squaw fish to my girlfriend's cat

halibut bait boys. Nothing better, except planter trout. they work too. I fish the clark fork in montana and unfortunately every other fish is a pike minnow, amazing how such a healthy trout population still exists.

I say, if somebody wants to eat them, more power to 'em. Why would you want to discourage anybody (who isn't a pregnant, nursing woman or child) who enjoys catching and eating pikeminnow? Jacob - Catch away and enjoy. I think you're performing a better service than those who promote wanton waste.

The diffrence in a "Pike Minnow" and "Squaw Fish" is simply this. POLITICS. Pike Minnow is a politically correct term. However, 10 years ago if you told someone you caught a pike minnow he would have thought you caught a baby Northern Pike. The again 10 years ago Nobody took offense to Atlanta calling their baseball team the "Braves" or Washington calling their football team the "Redskins" or Notre Dame calling their teams "The Fighting Irish". Wait a minute, I think that one is still OK. Let me check the handbook. I say catch as many as you want and like the guy said earlier. If they fall off the stringer and hit their little heads, throw them in the bushes. That's better that the 27 "squaw Fish" I saw lined up on the boat ramp at the Spokane house area launch last year. Too bad theres not a bounty on them like there is in the Snake River. Happy Fishing.

yes, there is a reward for catching these in the columbia. i always think i have a trout on my spinner or flat fish but most the time one of these :(