The Good News is that Sacramento Pikeminnow can reach upwards of 31 pounds, the Bad News is that they don’t taste like Salmon.

Records released by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service reveal that the salmon counts taken at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam are down to one fourth their averages for this time of year. As of July 25th, 596 Chinook  salmon had crossed the dam, while the average for years past was 1,916.

However an alarming fact has also been revealed, the Sacramento Pike Minnow, the Chinook’s main predator, has crossed the dam in record numbers, 905 this year compared to an average of 713.

For us coarse fishers it appears the meek will inherit, once all the gleaming fancy fish have been pounded out of existence.  That’ll elevate what is left to gamefish status – and the guides will be plying the same holes for the wily “Golden Salmon.”

… and the Pikeminnow’s mortal foe, the Striped Bass is being litigated against by the southern California water districts; their assertion is the Striper is an invasive species and the root cause of Salmon decline.

Once the lawsuit does away with the Stripers and the balance of the Delta is diverted to SoCal compliments of the Governator, we’ll have some odiferous foamy little trickle that San Rafael and Walnut Creek can fight over as to who gets to drink it.

It is singular that despite all the vitriol and law enforcement, despite the millions being spent on habitat restoration, bag limits, gear restrictions, catch and release rhetoric, despite all those countless hardworking folks devoted to the Salmon (including us) – that the Pikeminnow with nothing to protect it are thriving and on the increase …

… and if they tasted like a Twinkie, they too would be extinct.

Tags: Sacramento Pikeminnow, Chinook Salmon, Striped Bass, Governator, coarse fishing, Twinkie, Red Bluff Diversion Dam, water politics, meek shall inherit