Northern pikeminnow sport fishing rewards season open for 2024
The 2024 northern pikeminnow sport-reward fishing season has opened for 2024 to help reduce the native predator’s impact on salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin. The season runs now through Sept. 30.
Rewards for northern pikeminnow catches will range from $6 to $10 per fish with the worth per fish going up the more the angler lands. The first 25 fish are worth $6. After 25, fish are worth $8 and after 200 fish are worth $10.
Fishing will take place in a substantial portion of the migration corridor for juvenile salmon and steelhead.
Fishing locations includes the mouth of the Columbia River to Priest Rapids Dam in eastern Washington as well as the Snake River from its convergence with the Columbia to Hells Canyon Dam along the Idaho-Oregon border.
State fish and wildlife biologists have released verified external and internal tagged northern pikeminnow into the Columbia and Snake rivers, which have special rewards from $200 for internal tagged and $500 for external tagged.
Tag returns can provide crucial information about the patterns and growth of the northern pikeminnow population, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
According to a press release from the Bonneville Power Administration, predation by northern pikeminnow for juvenile salmon and steelhead has been reduced by 40% and over 5.59 million of the fish have been removed since the program began in 1991.
Funding for the program is provided by BPA and is managed by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and the state fish and wildlife departments of Oregon and Washington.
More information on regulations, station guidelines, participation instructions and catch statistics can be found at bit.ly/3ybMtz2
Emma Logan is an outdoors journalism intern for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached atelogan@salem.gannett.com or on X @emmmalogan
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Northern pikeminnow sport fishing rewards season open for 2024
