Post by: Ridgeratt on December 09, 2015, 06:33:43 PM
Chris Donley, Spokane region fisheries manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the response was probably too slow when the non-native pike first took hold upstream in the Pend Oreille River.
“Now is the time to get a handle on this in Lake Roosevelt,” he told the council, which is being asked to fund the effort.
Here's a roundup of the presentations from John Harrison, NPCC information officer.
The campaign to halt the proliferation of Northern pike in Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir behind Grand Coulee Dam, is intensifying, state and tribal fish biologists reported to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council in November.
First detected in the northern end of the 150-mile-long reservoir in 2009 and still confined to that area, the aggressive predator species appears to be breeding and the population, still small, steadily growing. Pike are voracious and can grow to more than 30 pounds and a meter in length.
Brent Nichols, fisheries manager of the Spokane Tribe of Indians, told the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee at a meeting in Portland that five days of research fishing in June using set nets confirmed the growing numbers. Of 138 fish caught in the nets, 21 were northern pike, and these fish represented two distinct age classes with fish weighing between a pound and eight pounds. Analysis of their stomach contents showed that about 60 percent of their diet was trout and whitefish.
That is bad news for the Spokane and Colville tribes, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), which raise trout and kokanee for the substantial recreational fishery in the lake.
“What they prefer to eat is what we don’t want them to eat,” Nichols said.
While pike have the potential to disrupt fisheries and impact native fish species in Lake Roosevelt, a more dire consequence is the impact pike could have on salmon and steelhead downriver, including more than a dozen threatened and endangered species. Predation by pike also could set back electricity ratepayer-funded efforts to restore fish runs and enhance fisheries throughout the Columbia River Basin if the Lake Roosevelt population grows and fish pass over Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams.
The pike population in Lake Roosevelt today is about where the pike population was in the Pend Oreille River, a Columbia tributary, about a decade ago. That population boomed, and the Kalispel Tribe and WDFW have been working aggressively, and so far successfully, to reduce their numbers.
“We probably waited too long in the Pend Oreille,” Chris Donley, WDFW’s eastern region fish program manager, told the committee. “Now is the time to get a handle on this in Lake Roosevelt.”
WDFW and Spokane Tribe plan to accelerate their work in Lake Roosevelt in 2016 to include, for example, radio telemetry studies to track the movements of large pike and implement a reward program for anglers to remove pike from the lake.
“Lake Roosevelt is beginning to show signs of real problems,” Fish and Wildlife Committee Chair Bill Bradbury said. “This could turn into a disaster for the Northwest. Or, we could get a handle on this now.”
Posted Nov. 25, 2015, 6:21 a.m.
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 09, 2015, 06:37:23 PM
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,172832.0.html
Post by: bobcat on December 09, 2015, 06:44:28 PM
I'm certainly not opposed to eliminating non-native fish if that's what's needed to benefit native species.
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 09, 2015, 06:49:33 PM
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on December 09, 2015, 06:50:14 PM
Post by: lokidog on December 09, 2015, 06:59:29 PM
For them to try to eradicate the Northerns is just like them managing the wolves we have. Can't be done in that body of water.
But, at least for these, they will let us try. ;)
Post by: metlhead on December 09, 2015, 07:10:07 PM
Post by: Curly on December 09, 2015, 07:12:32 PM
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 09, 2015, 07:13:11 PM
For them to try to eradicate the Northerns is just like them managing the wolves we have. Can't be done in that body of water.
But, at least for these, they will let us try. ;)
Right now there is a no catch limit on them and no size.
Post by: BigGoonTuna on December 09, 2015, 10:20:49 PM
Post by: Alchase on December 10, 2015, 10:34:12 AM
Post by: JimmyHoffa on December 10, 2015, 10:41:38 AM
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on December 10, 2015, 11:10:12 AM
Have Pike's Market start selling them for $50/lb.
Just be carefull of the "Y" bone.........
Post by: Huntin Hounds on December 10, 2015, 12:55:46 PM
Post by: JLS on December 10, 2015, 01:17:44 PM
For them to try to eradicate the Northerns is just like them managing the wolves we have. Can't be done in that body of water.
They've had pretty good luck knocking the numbers way down in the Pend Oreille system, don't know why this one is any different. Pike go to shallow water to spawn and are vulnerable, just like mule deer in the rut.
Post by: Hilltop123 on December 10, 2015, 01:26:50 PM
Post by: robodad on December 10, 2015, 01:37:41 PM
Im all for fishing for other species besides the trout family, that gets really old after a while, i wish there were some lakes on the OP that i could catch walleye and pike in, kinda miss that growing up in the midwest !!
Post by: pianoman9701 on December 10, 2015, 01:42:41 PM
Post by: Woodchuck on December 10, 2015, 02:14:06 PM
Post by: cbond3318 on December 10, 2015, 02:20:01 PM
Bowfishing pike when they are up in the shallows in the spring sounds like it would be a hoot. :tup:
That would be freaking awesome!! Sign me up! Would be cool to eat what I shoot as well !
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on December 10, 2015, 02:21:41 PM
Post by: cbond3318 on December 10, 2015, 02:24:59 PM
Allright, I have an idea that just may work. Believe me, you don't want pike to take over a watershed. It's bad, bad business. I think if you dropped say, 1000 of these waterproof mug shots into the lake.... the pike would probably just die from starvation as they'd lose any desire to ingest food...... Thoughts on my plan?
Great Idea but maybe a different angle because they are probably use to seeing this....
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on December 10, 2015, 02:26:29 PM
Post by: cbond3318 on December 10, 2015, 02:29:40 PM
Whoa.... the similarities are uncanny :yike:
Except, I'd vote for the Carp.
Post by: Woodchuck on December 10, 2015, 02:33:17 PM
The carp has more sense. :tup:Whoa.... the similarities are uncanny :yike:
Except, I'd vote for the Carp.
Post by: mrmoskillz on December 10, 2015, 02:55:06 PM
Post by: Squidward on December 10, 2015, 03:13:33 PM
what we need to do is have WDFW manage northern pike. we can have a special pike punch card, and all kinds of weird rules. they'll be wiped out in short notice then.
[/quote :yeah: LOL
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on December 10, 2015, 03:20:53 PM
Post by: Gobble Doc on December 10, 2015, 03:31:35 PM
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on December 10, 2015, 03:53:44 PM
You guys sure sound anti-pike to me. Most of the pike are moderates and are nothing to worry about.
Not sure what their political affiliation is for sure, but, pike on pike violence is at an all time high and they're becoming startlingly dependent on social services bait fish feeding stations. I believe these are indicators at a minimum of some deep issues that need addressing before they trans-migrate to a new environment.
Post by: Lucky1 on December 10, 2015, 04:01:36 PM
Yeah. I say we just Rotenone them all for our protection.You guys sure sound anti-pike to me. Most of the pike are moderates and are nothing to worry about.
Not sure what their political affiliation is for sure, but, pike on pike violence is at an all time high and they're becoming startlingly dependent on social services bait fish feeding stations. I believe these are indicators at a minimum of some deep issues that need addressing before they trans-migrate to a new environment.
Donald.
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 10, 2015, 04:06:44 PM
Post by: 2labs on December 10, 2015, 04:29:28 PM
That could and has been a great Smallmouth lake. How many times have those clowns poisoned that lake?
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 10, 2015, 05:21:08 PM
Post by: JLS on December 10, 2015, 06:21:19 PM
The pike were never illegally put into the PO River they came down in the high waters in the 90's from Dillion Montana.
Last time I checked, Dillon is on the east side of the Continental Divide.
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 10, 2015, 06:25:21 PM
Post by: KFhunter on December 10, 2015, 06:43:49 PM
For them to try to eradicate the Northerns is just like them managing the wolves we have. Can't be done in that body of water.
They've had pretty good luck knocking the numbers way down in the Pend Oreille system, don't know why this one is any different. Pike go to shallow water to spawn and are vulnerable, just like mule deer in the rut.
In April/May (Pike spawn) the reservoir is really drawn down low, there really isn't much in the way of shallow water spawning beds. June the water tables are coming up rapidly and fill in a lot of the sloughs for the grass carp spawn mid June/July. By July the water is all the way up.
Just curious and hoping you knew, if the Pike are early spring spawners how they could be targeted and not adversely effect the grass carp, walleye and small mouth bass that also use the sloughs. I assume they use rotenone.
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 10, 2015, 06:49:49 PM
Whats the continental divide have to do with it? I mean they weren't put into the PO by a bucket biologist.
Just like they get in to the Spokane river from lake CDA and then over little falls and into Roosevelt and then on their way.
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 10, 2015, 06:51:51 PM
Post by: JimmyHoffa on December 10, 2015, 06:52:17 PM
What path would they take? From the reservoir outside Dillon to where?The pike were never illegally put into the PO River they came down in the high waters in the 90's from Dillion Montana.
Last time I checked, Dillon is on the east side of the Continental Divide.
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 10, 2015, 06:53:19 PM
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 10, 2015, 06:54:33 PM
Post by: KFhunter on December 10, 2015, 07:00:49 PM
They travel through Lake PO and then down to the PO River. They come out of Dillion not sure the name of the river to Lake PO..
In 1970 they were illegally planted in the CDA system. Northern Pike are only native to the Saskatchewan river drainage in MT, which is on the other side of the Rocky's.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usask.ca%2Fwater%2Fimages%2Fphotos%2FAbout%2520Us%2FExperimental%2520Sites%2Fexp_sites_master_list-600.jpg&hash=425dfed7fc17f22ce1e884fc4580d26eaa7f7f72)
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 10, 2015, 07:07:55 PM
Post by: KFhunter on December 10, 2015, 07:17:00 PM
Well KF if you remember there was one planted in your neck of the woods also. But my guess is the person who planted it is no longer around.
I don't know that it was him, he used to be big into planting trout. Him and you neighbor who's also no longer around came up with the bucket hatchery idea if you remember way back then. I guess that was way before your time :chuckle: I was around when they were making lot's and lot's of buckets to serve as small stream side trout fry hatchery's.
Couldn't imagine a die hard trout guy going in for Pike on his lake, then again I think he hated the crappie and bass too. Maybe :dunno:
Post by: JLS on December 10, 2015, 07:39:42 PM
Whats the continental divide have to do with it? I mean they weren't put into the PO by a bucket biologist.
Well, rivers on the east side of the divide go the Atlantic Ocean and those on the west side of the divide go the Pacific. So by my layman's geology it'd be pretty darned tough for them to get from Dillon to the PO River unless they had wings or legs.
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on December 10, 2015, 08:04:46 PM
Whats the continental divide have to do with it? I mean they weren't put into the PO by a bucket biologist.
Well, rivers on the east side of the divide go the Atlantic Ocean and those on the west side of the divide go the Pacific. So by my layman's geology it'd be pretty darned tough for them to get from Dillon to the PO River unless they had wings or legs.
The wings part comes into play from the Seagulls, Cormorants, Bald Eagles and such. :dunno:
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 10, 2015, 08:14:46 PM
Post by: KFhunter on December 10, 2015, 08:32:02 PM
I'm curious what steps WDFW is going to take to target and significantly reduce their numbers?
If you go up north into Canada pike have a pretty sizable holding ground that's not affected by spring draw downs from the grand coulee dam, there is some limited shallows with vegetation, also there are 1000's of submerged logs from old timber mills that are still in operation and still float logs. If they get past the dam in Castlegar they have the whole arrow lake system to infest..worst case scenario there.
Right now (to me) this stinks of a money grab super fund style. Like Ridgeratt I too wonder how they can be successful in such a vast and complex system.
Post by: HornHoarder on December 10, 2015, 08:33:02 PM
Post by: snake on December 10, 2015, 08:39:57 PM
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 11, 2015, 07:57:45 AM
Post by: Huntin Hounds on December 11, 2015, 09:05:29 AM
Post by: Gobble Doc on December 11, 2015, 09:07:07 AM
For them to try to eradicate the Northerns is just like them managing the wolves we have. Can't be done in that body of water.
I was going to make a sarcastic comment about how WDFW would probably start a radio tagging with the pike so that they can do biology studies. Then I reread the news release and realized they already proposed it:
"WDFW and Spokane Tribe plan to accelerate their work in Lake Roosevelt in 2016 to include, for example, radio telemetry studies to track the movements of large pike and implement a reward program for anglers to remove pike from the lake."
Post by: grundy53 on December 11, 2015, 09:59:38 AM
They travel through Lake PO and then down to the PO River. They come out of Dillion not sure the name of the river to Lake PO..It's the Clark Fork river.
Sent from my E6782 using Tapatalk
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 11, 2015, 12:44:25 PM
Post by: Huntin Hounds on December 11, 2015, 04:02:03 PM
Post by: Dan-o on December 11, 2015, 04:43:45 PM
WDFW hasn't even confirmed a breeding pair of Pike in the lake.
Post by: KFhunter on December 11, 2015, 04:47:54 PM
I think you're overreacting.
WDFW hasn't even confirmed a breeding pair of Pike in the lake.
It's the pea mouth squaw fish taking out all the salmon... :peep:
Post by: Dan-o on December 11, 2015, 04:54:11 PM
I think you're overreacting.
WDFW hasn't even confirmed a breeding pair of Pike in the lake.
It's the pea mouth squaw fish taking out all the salmon... :peep:
That is completely not PC.
Thankfully, we have lots of people working on rescinding the 1st amendment so we'll be able to deal with people like you who spout hate speech.
Sorry............. I am a low down dirty thread jacker.
So......... How 'bout them pike?
Post by: Huntin Hounds on December 11, 2015, 05:16:57 PM
Squaw fish definitely have an impact on the Columbia and the state is doing what they can. Sorry pc police I wont call them anything else. :chuckle:
Post by: NRA4LIFE on December 11, 2015, 05:27:25 PM
Post by: UBA on December 11, 2015, 06:23:54 PM
Post by: magnus100 on December 11, 2015, 08:26:05 PM
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 11, 2015, 08:28:27 PM
How long before one gets caught in Rufus? How long before they get in the okanagon? I'm guessing 3 years and 5 years
If I was a betting man since they are also in the Spokane River and therefore in the arm perhaps less than a year. If not sooner.
Who knows they might be there already.
Post by: cumminsbassguy on December 11, 2015, 09:04:25 PM
Post by: JLS on December 12, 2015, 04:48:31 PM
Sprague still can still hardly stay on its feet.
Okay..... :rolleyes:
Post by: mossyhead on December 13, 2015, 07:36:58 AM
Post by: pianoman9701 on December 13, 2015, 08:39:09 AM
Pike are delicious. If you know how to clean them, you can get rid of all the bones. Caught hundreds of them in WI when I was young. Go get 'em people.
I also fished for pike back in the NE and like them. But back there, our government is not contractually obligated to save native salmon and steelhead. I would bet that much of this push is due to treaties.
Post by: Sitka_Blacktail on December 13, 2015, 09:01:33 AM
I don't really understand all the hatred for northern pike? Sure they eat other fish, but I don't think they are ever going to wipe out a species... Over time I think things would balance themselves out. One of my favorite fish to catch, and eat!
I can assure you that you are wrong. The Matanuska/Susitna Valleys in Alaska have been decimated by pike. In some of the lakes all that remains is pike. They are particularly bad for salmon and have devastated many runs in the Mat-Su.
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=invasivepike.main
Post by: YJ Guide Service on December 14, 2015, 04:33:10 PM
Post by: KFhunter on December 14, 2015, 04:45:00 PM
Post by: C-Money on December 16, 2015, 07:54:50 AM
Post by: Firedogg on December 16, 2015, 02:48:03 PM
Post by: The scout on December 16, 2015, 02:58:21 PM
Sure be nice to have a freshwater game species to snorkel spear fish, made a post in the advocacy section see if we can get something going.
that would be a blast! maybe catch and release :chuckle:
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 23, 2015, 07:22:51 PM
Time to expand the areas that BPA pays a bounty on catching them. Could be my next full time gig. Inthink the guy who got the top money this year made just under $100K.
Sorry your thinking the wrong fish!
This what they pay for not Northern's.
http://www.pikeminnow.org/
Post by: Gobble Doc on December 24, 2015, 09:08:36 AM
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 24, 2015, 11:32:42 AM
Too bad that squawfish bounty wasn't going on when I was in high school. We used to catch loads of those things.
Mister Gobble Doc may I point out that your reference is not political correct any more the true term is Northern PikeMinnow!!
Post by: Gobble Doc on December 24, 2015, 12:17:44 PM
Too bad that squawfish bounty wasn't going on when I was in high school. We used to catch loads of those things.
Mister Gobble Doc may I point out that your reference is not political correct any more the true term is Northern PikeMinnow!!
Thank you for the correction. My sincerest apologies.
Post by: REHJWA on December 24, 2015, 12:59:17 PM
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 24, 2015, 03:57:54 PM
Post by: buckcanyonlodge on December 24, 2015, 05:27:11 PM
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 24, 2015, 06:23:41 PM
I am offended and hurt that Gobbledoc used the S word. I may need to see a therapist. He should be banned from this site. I may see a lawyer to demand compensation for my hurt feelings. #S----fishMatter
Well it looks like we have our first " Social Do-gooder" weighing in on the topic!!!
Post by: JJB11B on December 24, 2015, 07:05:10 PM
Post by: Gobble Doc on December 24, 2015, 08:55:06 PM
I am offended and hurt that Gobbledoc used the S word. I may need to see a therapist. He should be banned from this site. I may see a lawyer to demand compensation for my hurt feelings. #S----fishMatterWell the American Fisheries Society that did the renaming is obiously offensive to all the non-americans! The injustice is too much to take. Too much iniquity! Not to mention that reference to the common sucker fish doesn't sit so well with those of us who are a little gullible. We need to do immediately rename the sucker to the "northern non-bright".
Post by: JJB11B on December 27, 2015, 07:29:32 PM
Northern LollipopI am offended and hurt that Gobbledoc used the S word. I may need to see a therapist. He should be banned from this site. I may see a lawyer to demand compensation for my hurt feelings. #S----fishMatterWell the American Fisheries Society that did the renaming is obiously offensive to all the non-americans! The injustice is too much to take. Too much iniquity! Not to mention that reference to the common sucker fish doesn't sit so well with those of us who are a little gullible. We need to do immediately rename the sucker to the "northern non-bright".
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on December 27, 2015, 09:17:33 PM
Post by: Dan-o on December 27, 2015, 09:43:31 PM
Let me guess..... You're also supportive of Changing the WWU mascot from a viking because he's eurocentric and a male....
#trashfishlivesmatter
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on December 27, 2015, 09:50:23 PM
When did squaw become an offensive term?Lol- I don't know when it became offensive. Does it matter? The same question can be asked of many words.
Let me guess..... You're also supportive of Changing the WWU mascot from a viking because he's eurocentric and a male....
#trashfishlivesmatter
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on December 27, 2015, 09:57:58 PM
When did squaw become an offensive term?
Let me guess..... You're also supportive of Changing the WWU mascot from a viking because he's eurocentric and a male....
#trashfishlivesmatter
They should change their name to the Lummi Netters. :chuckle:
Post by: Dan-o on December 27, 2015, 10:45:20 PM
When did squaw become an offensive term?
Let me guess..... You're also supportive of Changing the WWU mascot from a viking because he's eurocentric and a male....
#trashfishlivesmatter
They should change their name to the Lummi Netters. :chuckle:
DOH!