When most people hear the term “minnow” the image of a small fish comes to mind. This is about the average size of most minnows:
Fishermen often use minnows as bait for larger fish. However, the type of minnow we’ll be discussing in this book is much larger than what would typically come to mind. The fish we will be learning about is the pikeminnow. The Colorado pikeminnow goes by the scientific name Ptchocheilus lucius and is part of the cyprinid family. What kind of fish are cyprinids you ask? They are a family of fish that you’ve actually even seen in a local pet store, such as various barbs, hatchetfish, goldfish, and tetras. Even these fish found within the same family are very small fish, ranging in sizes from one inch to about six inches at the largest.