While many anglers are out on the Columbia River chasing salmon this summer, there was a serious effort going on to assure the future of our salmon and steelhead. The Colville Confederated tribes, the Spokane tribe and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have been busy catching as many northern pike as possible on Lake Roosevelt. The aim is to reduce the impact of these predators on our salmon and steelhead. The effort involves placing gill nets in likely areas in water that is less than 25 feet deep. Since 2015 about 13,000 northern pike have been removed by the co-managers on Lake Roosevelt. Crews set 286 nets over a five week period and captured 323 northern pike earlier this year. Anglers have also contributed, with 390 northern pike heads turned in so far this season. The Colville tribe pays anglers $10 for each head turned into locations throughout the reservoir. Learn more about this program by visiting the Colville Fish and Wildlife web site. The suppression program hopes to reduce the introduction of northern pike to the Columbia River below Grand Coulee Dam. The spread of northern pike is a scary prospect for the future of our salmon and steelhead fisheries.
Colville Tribal staff shows off one of the bigger northern pike captured this season.