Fish Lake Northern Pike

[AJ's Dad]

I noticed a while back that fish lake near Cheney was going to be open to fishing with no limit on any species of fish for a while, then the lake would be closed for Rotenone treatment. The article said it was going to be treated so they could kill off the scrap fish and northern pike that were in the lake.
Does anyone know if the lake has been treated? Also does anyone know if there were actually any northern pike caught out of that lake?
Once the lake has been poisoned off, I wonder if there is any way to find out if the WDFW, or who ever is treating the lake, found any floating pike in there.
I would be interested to know just how many pike there might have been in the lake, if any. It seems it would be awfull easy to say, "I caught a pike in the lake" and have it be, lets say, an un truth.
Does anyone on this site know of a person that claims to have caught pike in there?

Just curious.

[kevinb]

I made a couple phone calls when the news first broke but that was also around the time that perch were being caught out of Curlew. A few northerns were caught from Fish lake,sorry no exact number/size. From what I was able to gather it was a very small population but something WDFW wanted to get in check before the problem grew. Sorry,thats pretty much all I know. I have had a pretty full plate as of late but I will see if I can trackdown any other information or give me a call sometime.

[geljockey]

I heard that Fish Lake was rehabbed on October 22nd. From my conversations with WDFW biologists, one pike was observed during the rehab and another was found dead (floating) after the rehab. The pike sitings were in two different areas of the lake. I was also told that about 3 weeks before the trout opener, the bios were out doing some netting to see what the anglers should expect to catch and they caught a pike.

[AJ's Dad]

Thanks for the replies. I suspected the number of pike in that water would be very small if any. Amazing that one BOZO can drop a fish in a lake and it gets rehabbed. I know they also said they were getting rid of the scrap fish as well but I wonder if the rehab would have happened had they not seen or heard of a pike in the lake. I don't know this lake at all but the rehab seems a little premature if the scrap fish population really wasn't out of control.

Happy Fishing

[Marc Martyn]

The scrap fish are totally out of control in that lake. I have fished it on a regular basis for decades and have seen the population of sunfish skyrocket since they killed it off last time (mid 2000's) and planted Tiger Trout in place of Browns and Brooks. The Tiger Trout are not keeping the pan fish down like the Brooks and Browns did in years past. I attended the public meeting prior to the rehab and the officials at the meeting didn't know how many Pike where in the lake, but their main reason for the kill was to eliminate the sunfish. They will most likely replant the lake with Tiger Trout again and the sunfish will return and get out of control again.
Previous to the first fish kill off, Fish Lake held some of the best Brooks and Browns in Eastern Washington and in large numbers. There were some sunfish and gold fish, but the Brooks and Browns were keeping the numbers down.
Attached is a photo of a Brook that at friend kept the summer (2005) before they killed it off that fall. Also attached is a photo of the sunfish that have now overrun the lake.

[Lucius]

Pike would have done a good job of taken care of the sunfish. Would have saved a butt load of money rather than poisoning. The tricky part would have been agreeing on management of the pike in order to bring back the trout, but it seems like that lake is nothing but a money pit of trying to maintain the trout. Why not try something else out?

[rcthepirate]

Pike would have done a good job of taken care of the sunfish. Would have saved a butt load of money rather than poisoning. The tricky part would have been agreeing on management of the pike in order to bring back the trout, but it seems like that lake is nothing but a money pit of trying to maintain the trout. Why not try something else out?

In my experience pike don't seem to have a strong preference for sunfish. All the lakes I fished in MN growing up were stuffed with both, and whenever I had the opportunity to observe pike in the water (when they weren't on the end of my line or chasing a lure I was retrieving) they were usually right next to a dock and very nearly surrounded by sunfish, and neither species appeared to be interested in/feel threatened by the other.

[Lucius]

Yes, but if there is no soft-finned fish in the lake, they will eat what they have to in order to survive. That is all they have to survivie on in the POR...or should I say did and they were doing pretty well. Not trying to argue, but from my experience they are a versatile, durable fish that will adapt to it's environment very well.

[Natebg1]

Hey RCTHEPIRATE,
I too grew up fishing in the Midwest mainly on my home lake on the Chippewa Flowage in Hayward, Wisconsin. I remember times when we would be fishing Sunfish and Crappie cribs and every now and again a Northern would come up and attack our Sunny or Crappies when reeling them in. I think part of it was that they looked hurt or were spinning a hundred miles an hour to get off the hook and the Pike saw that as a vulnerable opportunity to get a free meal. Sometimes the Pike won and sometimes we got a two for one deal because they dont like to let go once they have a hold of a Sunny or Crappie. Most Pike that did hit these fish were in the 24 to 28 inch range so it was never anything huge but it sure was fun when they did hit especially on ultralights or on light line. I will say that the Northerns on this end of the country seem to have a little different mentality and will adapt to the food available for the most part. The majority of the Pike I have caught on the Pend Oreille and over in Idaho that I have kept for dinner almost all had strictly Perch in there stomachs. A few had baby Sunnys and maybe a trash fish in them but that was it. All in all I would say that Pike on this end of the country don't have to compete for food in the same way that the Midwest and Eastcoast Pike do. It's just to bad that Washington State wasn't more willing to have a Pike fishery in place for us Pike anglers to enjoy! Oh well guess we will go spend our money in Idaho to have some Fun!

Nate The Pike Baron

[Marc Martyn]

I recently emailed the WDFW and inquired about the rehab of Fish Lake. The following is their reply....

Marc,
Thank you for your inquiry to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). Fish Lake (Spokane County) was rehabilitated on October 22, 2012. Prior to the rehabilitation, WDFW had sampled the lake and captured a single northern pike. During the rehab, WDFW observed another pike (dead) that was approximately 42 inches in length. Another, smaller, pike was observed in a different area of the lake. Several reconnaissance trips around the lake after treatment only revealed the one larger pike, so the smaller pike must have sank after it expired. WDFW knew that the lake was overpopulated with pumpkinseed sunfish and bullhead, which was also verified after treatment. The treatment also revealed that the lake contained tench, another undesirable species. The rehabilitation was a success and WDFW feels that they have eliminated all undesirable fish species in the lake.

I hope this answered your questions. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact me.

Randall Osborne
District 2 Fisheries Biologist
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
2315 N. Discovery Place
Spokane Valley, WA 99216
(509) 892-1001 ext. 302

[AJ's Dad]

Thanks Marc,
That sounds like a successfull treatment. It's good to hear the feedback on the lake. It doesn't sound like the lake had very many pike in it. Apparently someone decided to drop a couple in there. I wonder how big that 42"er was when they dropped it in and how long it had been in there. I'm sure we will never now.
It's a shame they can't or won't find a land locked Washington Lake that could sustain a pike fishery, and let it thrive for the sake of the sportsmen and women that would like to have the opportunity to fish for them. I don't forsee that ever happening in this state, especially now that they have labeled the pike as an invasive species.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[rcthepirate]

Hey RCTHEPIRATE,
I too grew up fishing in the Midwest mainly on my home lake on the Chippewa Flowage in Hayward, Wisconsin. I remember times when we would be fishing Sunfish and Crappie cribs and every now and again a Northern would come up and attack our Sunny or Crappies when reeling them in.

Didn't say it doesn't happen, I said they don't seem to exhibit a strong preference for sunfish. I too have found sunfish in a pike's gut on more than one occasion. Suppose I never really fished for panfish enough to have that experience, sounds like a blast though. I've seen 'em nail frogs in a creek between a couple of lakes I grew up near though.

[AJ's Dad]

If it swims a pike will eat it. Pike will eat whatever fish is in front of them and if a sunfish is a species that is prominent in the waters inhabited by a pike, it will certainly get gobbled up. Here's a photo that shows how well pike like to eat sunfish.

[Marc Martyn]

The scrap fish are totally out of control in that lake. I have fished it on a regular basis for decades and have seen the population of sunfish skyrocket since they killed it off last time (mid 2000's) and planted Tiger Trout in place of Browns and Brooks. The Tiger Trout are not keeping the pan fish down like the Brooks and Browns did in years past. I attended the public meeting prior to the rehab and the officials at the meeting didn't know how many Pike where in the lake, but their main reason for the kill was to eliminate the sunfish.
Previous to the first fish kill off, Fish Lake held some of the best Brooks and Browns in Eastern Washington and in large numbers. There were some sunfish and gold fish, but the Brooks and Browns were keeping the numbers down.
Attached is a photo of a Brook that at friend kept the summer (2005) before they killed it off that fall. Also attached is a photo of the sunfish that have now overrun the lake.

It appears that the WDFW are taking a different approach this year in restocking Fish Lake. From what I can find in stocking plans, they are not planting the lake with Tiger Trout. Great news.

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