Pikeminnow anglers will have even more incentive to fish for the predators in August.
The Bonneville Power Administration is adding $60,000 in special prize money that will be distributed in weekly drawings from the names of every angler who catches a northern pikeminnow that week, according to BPA.
The Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program has helped remove more than 3 million pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake rivers since 1991 and cut pikeminnow predation on juvenile salmon by 38 percent, according to BPA.
The weekly drawings will award $1,000 prizes to each of 15 anglers who check in pikeminnow during the week and fill out an entry card.
More details, including information about registration stations, how and where to catch pikeminnow and angler clinics, are available by calling (800) 858-9015 or visiting www.pikeminnow.org.
Through the reward program, anglers are paid $4 to $8 for pikeminnow nine inches and larger caught in the lower Columbia (below Priest Rapids Dam) and Snake (as high as Hells Canyon Dam) rivers.
The first 100 fish earn $4 each; the next 300 $5 each and each fish beyond 400 is worth $8 each.
Specially tagged fish are worth $500.
C.A.S.T. for Kids event planned at Potholes
The Columbia Basin Project's 18th Annual C.A.S.T. for Kids event is
Aug. 8 at Potholes Reservoir south of Moses Lake.
C.A.S.T., which stands for Catch a Special Thrill, offers children with disabilities an opportunity to enjoy a day of fishing. Participants and volunteers will gather at Potholes State Park, off Highway 262. Washington State Parks manages the adjacent campground and day-use facility which offer easy access to Potholes Reservoir.
The children will range in age from 7-16 years old. Each participant will receive fishing gear, a T-shirt, and a hat.
For information about the Aug. 8 event, contact Margaret Schoneman at Reclamation's Ephrata office (509) 754-0211, or Jan Schrader at Reclamation's Grand Coulee Power Office (509) 633-9584.
In the unlikely event of rain, the C.A.S.T. event will be canceled.
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Meals on Wheels seeks volunteer drivers
Meals on Wheels seeks volunteer drivers
Meals on Wheels needs drivers to help deliver meals to homebound seniors in Pasco, Kennewick, Richland and Benton City. Drivers are especially needed in Pasco.
The meals are delivered to seven locations for drivers to pick up at 10:45 a.m. Routes take 30 minutes to an hour and a half.
Drivers use their vehicles and mileage reimbursement is available. Volunteers must pass a background check. For information, call 735-1911.
Top pikeminnow fisher made $66,478
Top pikeminnow fisher made $66,478
PORTLAND -- The top earner in the Northern Pikeminnow Sports Reward Program this year earned $66,478 during the six-month season and the second place angler brought in $60,742.
The program pays cash for catching and removing the voracious fish from the Columbia and Snake rivers, reducing their consumption of juvenile salmon. Payment is $4 to $8 for pikeminnow nine inches and larger caught in the lower Columbia and Snake river.
In addition 156 pikeminnow were specially tagged and worth up to $500 each.
Outdoors briefs: Angler nets $66,000 in pikeminnow program
Outdoors briefs: Angler nets $66,000 in pikeminnow program
Talk about a down economy: Even the pikeminnow anglers are seeing their earnings decline.
Nikolay N. Zaremskiy of Gresham, Ore., is the top earner for 2011 in the northern pikeminnow sport reward program, having caught almost 8,000 fish and cashing them in for $66,478.
But while that's not bad for a six-month season, it pales to his record performance in 2010, when Zaremskiy caught more than 10,000 fish and earned $81,000.
Lunker Lake
Lunker Lake
What could be better than a young boy or girl catching his or her first trout? Well, that would be having it be a special tagged fish and winning a prize! The Richland Rod and Gun Club would like to thank a number of businesses for donating prizes that will be associated with special tagged fish at this year's Lunker Lake at the Tri-Cities Sportsmen Show.
Almost 10 percent of the fish that are in the Lunker Lake fishing pond for kids will be tagged.
Each tag will be associated with specific prizes, with a top prize of $100 cash, along with gift certificates, fishing rod/reel combinations, tackle boxes, mini-blizzards, fishing lures, hand-tied flies, fish stringers and fishing line.
Chinook season looks strong for 2012
Chinook season looks strong for 2012
It's only a matter of time before the first migrating spring chinook is hooked by a lucky angler in the Lower Columbia River.
We already know this fish will be among a strong forecast of 414,500, which could lead to the fourth-largest return of upriver spring chinook on record.
Fishing is open daily from Buoy 10 in the Lower Columbia up to I-5. The fishery expands upriver to Beacon Rock from March 1 to April 6 (closed March 20, March 27 and April 3), and possibly longer depending in the catch rate.
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