Tippets: On Northern Pike, Record Numbers of Salmon in the Columbia

September 21, 2014 By: Erin Block

  • The northern pike is an incredible fish and worthy adversary on the fly rod. Discussing everything from habitat preferences to related species and even fly suggestions, Phil Monahan writes a great article on Esox Lucius. “Because pike will eat everything from baitfish to mice to ducklings, you could make the argument that your fly pattern doesn’t matter,” he writes. “But because the fish are visual predators who also use their lateral line to locate prey, pike aficionados argue that motion and color can be very important to success.” Via Orvis.
  • Over the past weekend, a record number of chinook salmon have climbed the fish ladder at Bonneville dam and have returned to the Columbia River. “The numbers of wild versus hatchery fish haven’t been determined yet,” reports Steve Jackson on Boise State Public Radio, “but the number of wild fish expected to make it all the way to the Snake River is expected to exceed the hatchery numbers.”