Pike in Hauser

[fishhunter85]

I have personally seen northern's come out of the Jefferson and have heard multiple reports from a few coming out of the Madison on the lower stretch. Below Morony Dam near GF they can be thick along with some bass in there to top it off.

[UncleFarm]

A lot of that area in the Whitehall/Silver Star area looks pretty pikey I have just never taken the time to get specific because my reports were third-hand and suspect at best.  I go see the folks in Twin quite a bit so I believe these reports have swayed me in favor of giving those backwaters a splash with a rapala or something. Does anyone else get itchy when thinking about pike?  Sorry, TMI... hahahaha

[captain stubie]

If you do catch one please put her back!!! I would love to be able to pike fish so close to home!

[baltimoremountainman]

Thanks for the info. I'll be heading to Hauser soon to see if I can catch any.

[MTviking]

Hey Strip, is that the only one you tied into? Just doesn't seem like pike water. The Clark Fork around Missoula used to have a lot of them when the dam was still in place. Now that the damn is gone the whole dynamic
of the river had changed, not that is a bad thing. Just can't go catch pike right out the back door anymore.

There are still a lot of pike in the Clarks Fork around Missoula.  This last summer I did a float from Kelly Island to Kona bridge; hot summer day, I brought along my snorkel mask and used it more than my rod as we drifted down river.  I saw at least a dozen pike through the stretch.

[missoulafish]

Oh they are definately still there, just not like they used to be:)

[Volkmar]

Caught my first walleye below holter dam in 1976 and first northern in the bend below holter in 1984. they been there for long while. When conditions are right you seen increased catches of both.
But for the old timers there has been Northern Pike in sun river since early 70's when I caught one at Sun Prairie. The Sun River runs in the Missouri at great falls
nothing stopping Northern Pike crusing out of sun river and up Missouri if they want to no dams or any structures. So I don't see some blowing up of populations seeing walleye and Northern pike
been in these waters for 30 years at least.
just my thoughts

[bobby1772]

This water wolf was caught below hauser dam last year.

extremely jealous

[mt.redneck]

having pike in a trout river is going to do 2 things, give people more things to catch and thin out the trout populations and make more larger trout, what is wrong with that?

[bobby1772]

well if we get rid of the northerns may as well get rid of all non native fish which includes all but our precious cutthroat trout I understand that's impossible but if we have the mentality to get rid of one fish then why not all but the natural fish ?

[mt.redneck]

well if we get rid of the northerns may as well get rid of all non native fish which includes all but our precious cutthroat trout I understand that's impossible but if we have the mentality to get rid of one fish then why not all but the natural fish ?

there would be sauger and ling also, lol

[bobby1772]

there would be sauger and ling also, lol

true true and also whitefish Im just tired of people worrying about TROUT I mean a fish is a fish is a fish lol its just like holter to cascade bridge is unlimited walleyes because they are Non-Native well forgive me if im wrong but so are browns rainbows and any other mentionable species lol people just make no sense sometimes but I love to catch browns don't get me wrong and really I don't mind catching bows just give the walleyes a break

[mt.redneck]

true true and also whitefish Im just tired of people worrying about TROUT I mean a fish is a fish is a fish lol its just like holter to cascade bridge is unlimited walleyes because they are Non-Native well forgive me if im wrong but so are browns rainbows and any other mentionable species lol people just make no sense sometimes but I love to catch browns don't get me wrong and really I don't mind catching bows just give the walleyes a break

I grew up catching mostly trout and really like fly fishing for trout but I love to catch any fish that swims. I'm not about catching suckers and I love to target carp in the summer in a local pond 

[MTwalleyehunter]

The pike in the Upper System AKA above Holter Dam came from a farm pond near Manhattan,  the washed through a dam breakage into the Gallatin.  Then worked there way naturally through the system. Mostly to Toston dam.  Then with the super high flows in 2010 I think it was, a bunch of them flushed into the big three resevoirs.   I thnk there has always been a few bucket fish as well.  But the recent influx was due to the Manhattan incident.   There has been Pike below Holter for years and years.  Im not sure anyone even remembers the first time they were in the system by Great Falls.

[bobby1772]

I grew up catching mostly trout and really like fly fishing for trout but I love to catch any fish that swims. I'm not about catching suckers and I love to target carp in the summer in a local pond 

I agree a fish is a fish is a fish and I catch them and almost always release them unless I want to eat them I wont kill If I wont eat I love catching suckers and carp I figure if kids enjoy catching them then perfect

[jiggin4eyesmt]

Walleye are native to MT,unless you believe the F&GS bs about them stopping at the Dakota border in the Missouri river...

[bobby1772]

sauger are native not the walleye so they say

[bobby1772]

all the more reason to get rid of the bows and browns out of the rivers then there you go lol

[jiggin4eyesmt]

Lewis and Clarks expedition caught them in the Mo beyond the Dakota border with MT,there is no plausible explanation why they wouldnt have been further up stream than the border.

[jerbo]

Aside from the debate above, that pike is an awesome fish!! Great catch, regardless of where you got it.

[lingking]

I wish we had them around beaverhead county there on my need to catch list 

[fish jedi]

Caught a little pike (2 pounds or so) last fall over by Devil's Elbow when I was throwing cranks.  You would be surprised how much pike habitat there is in upper Hauser.  Over by the Spokane Creek last summer, it was nothing but weeds.  You could hardly fish a jig anywhere in there.

[oldschoolben]

seems funny that the hard core trout guus think that trout is so wonddrfull i think theg might b the easiest fish to catch ive caught several big trout in the root and while it was fun nofhing like a big piks or big bass  just my opinion

[MT_btagger]

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Yeti are snow monsters and not just an overpriced cooler, climate change is a hoax, the invasion of Iraq was about fighting terrorism, you can keep your health plan if you like it, and walleye are native to Montana. 

It's not like Trout Unlimited got to decide what the native range of walleye were, that was the American Society of Ichthyologists. And the "they exist in the lower Missouri, they should be native here" meme fails to explain the distinct absence of blue and flathead catfish, among other game fish that would be fun to have.

Pike are awesome on a fly rod. And there really is nothing better than chucking a big fat clouser and not knowing if it's going to be a 4 pound smallmouth, a 5 pound brown, or a 10 pound northern slamming it. Sometimes it's even a carp.

[mt.redneck]

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Yeti are snow monsters and not just an overpriced cooler, climate change is a hoax, the invasion of Iraq was about fighting terrorism, you can keep your health plan if you like it, and walleye are native to Montana. 

It's not like Trout Unlimited got to decide what the native range of walleye were, that was the American Society of Ichthyologists. And the "they exist in the lower Missouri, they should be native here" meme fails to explain the distinct absence of blue and flathead catfish, among other game fish that would be fun to have.

Pike are awesome on a fly rod. And there really is nothing better than chucking a big fat clouser and not knowing if it's going to be a 4 pound smallmouth, a 5 pound brown, or a 10 pound northern slamming it. Sometimes it's even a carp.

sometimes it's the back of your head that bites, 

[double_a85]

sometimes it's the back of your head that bites, 

You must have seen me fly fishing! Only thing I consistently catch is my hat.

[jiggin4eyesmt]

You know what couldnt possibly have been native to MT?Rainbow and brown trout,the two species the MT F&G uses to justify wiping out walleye and pike.If walleye were in the river just across the border Ill go out on a limb and say one day a million or so years ago one of them may have penetrated the magical,invisible barrier that kept them out of MT.

[MT_btagger]

With all the "skirts" they put on hats to keep the sun off your neck, you'd think they'd make one that could stop a 2/0 hook. 

But the fear of the inevitable keeps me pinching my barbs down.

[double_a85]

I have a love of fishing. Native, nonnative... they all have their place in Montana now and all species draw a LOT of revenue to the state. How many of us travel to Fort Peck to catch only "native" fish (sorry I am after walleye and pike)? But within that group, how many of us head to some mountain lake 5 miles in chasing some cutthroat? I love it all. If FWP would manage all fisheries as they are now I would be happy. It is their continual change in stance that bothers me.

My grandpa told me one time that fwp first wanted Hauser to be a walleye lake. This was in the 90's when we were there after the great kokanee fishery. That crashed. Now I go there and troll around for rainbows and browns. Would love to target walleye... and even pike..

Hauser has and will continue to change... I wonder why they don't embrace it and promote it?

[mt.redneck]

FWP seems to want a lot of out of staters to come hunt and fish in the state yet they don't want to manage the fisheries will all the fish that are in them now. How many other states can you go to and catch the variety of fish that Montana has to offer? Not many if any that I can think of.