Live in Idaho Waters (Part 3): Native Minnows

Native minnows are late-spring to summer spawners similar to many of Idaho's other native non-game species. Like mentioned in the sucker article, some minnow species like Peamouth and Redside Shiner develop brilliant spawning stripes that fade post-spawn. Small species like dace may only lay a few hundred eggs and larger species (Utah Chub, Northern Pikeminnow, and Peamouth) can lay in the tens of thousands of eggs. Most minnow species spawn and leave the eggs and young to fend for themselves, while dace species (and usually the males) stick around to protect the next generation till they start swimming around on their own.

When it comes to diet, most minnow species are eating the small stuff. Whether zooplankton (microscopic organisms in the water), aquatic bugs (caddisflies, mayflies, and stoneflies) or even algae. But don't let the minnow name fool you, they can be higher up on the food chain. In Idaho, this is true for the Northern Pikeminnow. This minnow predominately eat other fish especially when they reach larger sizes. This has made them subject to a bounty system in a number of areas in the Lower Snake and Columbia rivers where they overlap with salmon and steelhead.