With the five-month season about halfway over, anglers participating in the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program are doing very well.
The program allows anglers to catch pikeminnow, have fun, make money, and help salmon all at the same time.
The program pays registered anglers to catch and remove pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
Northern pikeminnow are a native fish whose population exploded with the building of the hydroelectric system on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The fish preys heavily on out-migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead as they make their way to the ocean.
According to Eric Winther, the project leader for the Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Program, pikeminnow fishing improved once the heavy spring flows in the Columbia River dropped.
“The local fishing was hampered early by high water,” Winther said. “High water years are not as good as low water years.”
With the spawn now over, fishing will slow briefly as the fish recover.
“The catch will go down for the next two or three weeks,” he said. “We will muddle along for a couple weeks. Then the fishing will improve through August. The best time is September.”
That is when the juvenile shad are moving downstream.
“They are sort of chowing down,” Winther said.
The idea of the program is not to wipe out the pikeminnow, which is a native species. The purpose is to reduce the amount of predation that the pikeminnow causes to juvenile salmon.
Winther explains the goal is to control the big fish that eat salmon.
“Over the years there has been no drop in the numbers of pikeminnow,” he said. “However, the overall size has gone down. We are targeting fish over 9 inches, and over time we have restructured the population to smaller fish. Smaller fish eat less smolts.”
Masters of the art of pikeminnow fishing can make a surprising amount of money. In 2017 the top earner took home $83,877. Other anglers scored from $30,000 to $50,000. The average overall yearly catch is about 175,000 fish.
As of July 15, anglers this year had removed 93,218 pikeminnows with an average catch of a little over six per day.
In the upper Columbia and Snake Rivers anglers can catch plenty of pikeminnow fishing from the shore in the tailraces of the dams. However, it is mostly a boat show in the lower river.
Anglers should look for current seams, breaks, and drop-offs. The fish are looking for good ambush points where they can rush out and grab prey as it moves downstream.
Pikeminnow can be found from 2 to 25 feet of water, depending on the light. On sunny, bluebird days the fish will be deep, but on cloudy days and at night they can be very shallow.
Tides are important, too. The outgoing tides have stronger currents that push more food to the fish. So, outgoing tides are best, slack tides the worst.
Pikeminnow like fresh bait and the standby in the lower river is chicken livers, which are cheap and effective. Winther also reports that uncured salmon roe works well if you can get it.
He advises anglers to use fresh baits.
“Whatever you use for bait, the fresher the better,” said Winther. “Fresh will do better every time than old or frozen.”
He said anglers should try not to get too fixated on making money.
“Take the attitude that you are going to have fun and an adventure,” he said. “It’s not just about the money.”
Fishery Rules
• Anglers must register each day before they fish. Anglers may only be registered at one station at a time.
• Registration forms are available 24 hours a day; at a registration site — from a technician during posted operation hours, or after hours from the station night box.
• Registration forms from a night box are date-stamped for anglers wanting to fish and submit their catch the following day.
• Fish caught while registered at a station must be returned to that station, during its hours of operation, on the date stamped on the registration form.
• When an angler submits fish for payment, they may also register for the next calendar day.
• All anglers must register for each day they plan to fish.
Checking in fish
• Anglers may only submit fish for payment at the station where they registered for that day.
• Anglers may only submit fish for payment during that station’s posted hours of operation.
• Vouchers will be issued by the technician for qualifying Northern Pikeminnow 9 inches or larger.
• Anglers who do not register at a station prior to fishing may not submit fish for rewards and will not be issued a voucher.
Pay scale
• 1 thru 25 — $5 per fish
• 26 to 100 — $6
• 201 and up — $8
• Tagged fish — $500
For more information: www.pikeminnow.org/
