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Out & About: Pikeminnows Offer Angling Rewards by Staff Spokesman-Review, August 26, 2012

OUTPROFIT -- The Lewiston Greenbelt area has been tops in August for anglers cashing in on the Columbia-Snake river Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward fishery.

Harvest reports for Aug. 13-19 show 1,350 pikeminnows turned in to the Greenbelt check station by anglers for cash rewards in the program funded by the Bonneville Power Adminstration.

Next best was 752 at Cascade Locks. Boyer Park had been hot, but dropped to 399 last week.

The Dalles Boat Basin was the best producing area in June and early July, but the catch has dramatically declined there in the past month. The total catch turned in to the 21 check stations on the two rivers last week was 6,733 pikeminnows from 939 anglers, for a rate of 7.2 fish per angler, up from 6.7 the previous week.

From May through Sept. 30, registered anglers are paid $4-$8 per fish in a program to curb a species that preys on young salmon.

As of last week, 17,793 anglers had turned in 103,506 fish. Including bonuses for catching pikeminnows that have been tagged, some anglers have earned more than $60,000 in five months of fishing.

Info: (800) 858-9015, pikeminnow.org.