HOOKING UP

Gary Wight of Heppner, 75 (and a half), holds one of his pikeminnow caught off The Dalles Bridge on
Thursday morning. Wight said it was a tough year so far, noting he has to avoid a lot more pelicans with his fishing line when tossing his imitation bate off the bridge. Good days bring 20 to 30 fish. His best is 48 so far this season. He said high water flows through the gates of the The Dalles Dam threw him off his count this year. But he typically catches in the 2000 to 3000 range during the course of a season. He also noted that he was unable to get a Washington fishing license until June, eliminating a favorite bank for him for a good part of the early season. However, he said climbing the banks near Dallesport on the Washington side with a catch of 40 plus fish was no easy money. - Tom Peterson

From Pikeminnow.org:

Bounty Hunter

The 2020 season for the sport-reward fishery will start at all stations on May 11, 2020. The season will end September 30, 2020.

For every qualifying Northern Pikeminnow 9 inches or longer returned to a registration station, anglers will receive $5-$8. The more fish an angler catches, the more they're worth: the first 25 in one season are worth $5 each; after 25, they're worth $6 each; and after 200 they're worth $8 each. Special tagged Northern Pikeminnow will be worth $500 again this year.

 Here’s why the BPA  pays

Northern Pikeminnow eat millions of salmon and steelhead juveniles each year in the Columbia and Snake River systems. The goal of the program is not to eliminate Northern Pikeminnow, but rather to reduce the average size and curtail the number of larger, older fish. Reducing the number of these predators can greatly help the salmon and steelhead juveniles making it out to sea.

In 2019, the top twenty anglers caught an average of about 3,041 fish per angler and averaged reward payments of $25,367 each for the 5 month season. The highest paid angler earned $53,107. The Bonneville Power Administration  funds the program to partially mitigate for the impact of the federal Columbia River hydroelectric system on salmon. Results indicate the program is successful. Since 1990, nearly 5.1 million Northern Pikeminnow have been removed by the Sport Reward Fishery. Predation on juvenile salmonids by Northern Pikeminnow has been reduced by up to 40% compared to levels of predation before the program began.

Pikeminnow can live up to 12 years and they can open their mouths to about 2 inches to swallow up to 6 salmonid per day. Photo courtesy pikeminnow.org