Outdoors notebook | Program pays anglers for catching squawfish
June 1, 2008
How would you like to get paid to go fishing?
One way is the Northern Pikeminnow Bounty Fishing Reward Program that is underway in the Columbia and Snake rivers.
Not only can you earn some bucks while wetting a line, but you can also do your part in getting rid of these juvenile salmon- and steelhead-devouring predators better known as squawfish.
The cash-reward project funded by the Bonneville Power Administration began in 1990, and is open through Sept. 28 from the Columbia River mouth to Priest Rapids Dam, and from the Snake River mouth to Hells Canyon Dam.
The first 100 fish (9 inches or longer) caught by each angler is worth $4 apiece; the next 300 are $5; and after 400 fish it is $8. Specially tagged fish are worth $500 apiece.
The weekly field catch report from May 19-25 showed 1,144 anglers caught 4,523 for a 4.0 fish-per-rod catch. Overall, 3,873 anglers have caught 12,369 fish.
Last year, 26,827 anglers caught 191,154 fish, including 168 tagged fish. Since 1990, more than 3.1 million squawfish have been eradicated from both rivers. The highest catches started at the end of May and went through July 1, and ranged from 12,234 fish per week to a high of 14,008.
Some anglers haul in hundreds of dollars during the season, but a few make much more catching these pesky fish.
In 2006, David Vasilchuk of Vancouver caught 5,714 squawfish (eight were tagged fish) and earned $48,348 before taxes. Second was Nikolay Zaremskiy of Gresham, Ore., who got $45,351, and third went to Thomas Papst of West Linn, Ore., with $42,388. That year, the top 20 anglers cashed in 61,262 fish (47 tagged) for $487,229.
Some of the best catches came from the The Dalles Boat Basin check station; Boyer Park in the Snake River below Lower Granite Dam; and the M. James Gleason ramp in the Lower Columbia River Washougal.
It didn’t take long this spring for someone to possibly break the state squawfish record.
Pamela Ramsden of Deer Park was fishing near Boyer Park when she caught a 26.25-inch fish that weighed 7.91 pounds on May 16, said Melissa Dexheimer with the state Fish and Wildlife’s Sport Reward Fishery.
The previous record (caught by Andrew J. Wallman) was 7.36 pounds from Mason Lake near Shelton on April 5, 2000.
The fish caught aren’t just thrown away in the trash; they are used to make liquid organic fertilizer for agriculture and fish meal for poultry and dairy cattle feed.
There are 17 check stations along both rivers. Anglers must register in person each day before fishing.
Catches must be checked in at the station each day, and reward vouchers will be given.
The fish prefer rocky areas with fast currents near dams, islands, river mouths, points, eddies, rows of pilings and ledges or bars in the river. They prefer depths of 7 to 25 feet.
Early morning, near sunset and at night are prime time to catch them. Baits of choice include worms, salmon eggs, fish entrails, chicken livers, crayfish tails, shrimp and grasshoppers. Artificial plastic lures like grubs, worms or shads work well. Squawfish are attracted to light-colored lures in the day and darker ones at night.
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