There is a long time prejudice in this state against any fish that is not salmon or trout. When I first came here in the early 80's, bass were pretty much considered poor table fair, so a trash fish among locals. Even now, many long time Washington fishermen don't know the difference between a bluegill and a pumpkin seed. In fact, most all small lake fish were just perch or bluegill and had a negative value.The belief was that they ate salmon eggs or lake planted trout. There is also a belief that all warm water fish compete with the already dwindling salmon and trout population. Washington has a long standing history of doing things by opinion, emotion and political pressure, rather than scientific studies. That being said, the state has planted a small number of channel cats and tiger muskies over the years. This uninformed prejudice seems to be magnified west of the Mountains. All that being said, There is still great fishing for panfish and bass, as only a small number of the population target them relative to the number of licenses sold. Caveat: This is just a simple answer to a very complicated management problem.

Hello fisher people,
For years I had access to a place in Canada on the St. Lawrence River where we caught large numbers of pike in the 30 to 35 inch range. We no longer have access to that place and I really miss that fishing. I live in Pittsburgh and I've caught plenty of pike in western Pa. but nothing like the numbers or size of the St. Lawrence. If anyone is aware of a location near here, if there is one, that has that similar pike fishing I'd appreciate it if you'd clue me in. I enjoy catching walls, muskies, bass, stripers, etc. but I really miss those pike. I thank you in advance for any information you can provide.
Dave