Colville Confederated Tribes offer Pike Reward Program

NESPELEM – Again this year, the Colville Confederated Tribes is offering fishermen cash rewards for their help if removing invasive Northern Pike from the waters of the Columbia River.
Northern Pike are aggressive predators of native game fish that are the focal effort of the tribe’s salmon and steelhead restoration programs.
“The spread of Northern Pike to the mid and lower Columbia River could be disastrous for salmon and steelhead fisheries,” a CCT advisory said.  “Invasive Northern Pike (Esox lucius) are suspected to have migrated from the Clark Fork River system in Montana, downstream to the Pend Oreille River and now into the upper reaches the Columbia River in Washington and Canada.”  
Northern Pike also populate Lake Coeur d’Alene and surrounding waters and may be contributing to the Lake Roosevelt population.
The first Northern Pike appeared in Lake Roosevelt in 2007. They have since spread where specimens are captured in the northern portion of Lake Roosevelt and lower Kettle River
Agencies cooperating in the Pike Reward Program include the Colville Confederated Tribes, Spokane Tribe of Indian, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lake Roosevelt National Park Recreational Area, and Chelan PUD.