Program that pays cash for catching fish starts Monday

You can get paid to go fishing, if it is pikeminnow you are after.

The annual Pikeminnow Sport Reward Fishery Program starts Monday.

Anglers can be paid $5 to $8 for every Northern Pikeminnow they catch in the program and also can turn in tagged fish to claim $500.

In 2016, the top 20 anglers caught an average of about 4,250 fish per person and averaged payments of $36,000 each for the five-month season. The top earner was paid $119,341.

Northern Pikeminnow eat millions of salmon and steelhead juveniles each year in the Columbia and Snake river systems.

The Bonneville Power Administration pays for the rewards program to offset the impact of the Columbia River hydroelectric system on salmon. Payments will be made this year for fish caught through Aug. 31 and possibly longer if money is available.

Anglers in the program must register each day before fishing at stations on the Snake and Columbia rivers. One station is at Columbia Point Park in Richland.

For more information, go to pikeminnow.org.

This story was originally published April 26, 2017 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Program that pays cash for catching fish starts Monday."