Walleye petition making the rounds

SANDPOINT — A petition is circulating to have the Idaho Department of Fish & Game reconsider its views on walleye in Lake Pend Oreille.

The North Idaho Sportfishing Association contends the department is violating its own mission statement to preserve, protect and perpetuate fish and game resources by offering a bounty on the non-native fish in order to bridle populations in the Clark Fork/Pend Oreille watershed.

"Walleye represent a tremendous fishing opportunity for the citizens of Idaho, and have not been proven to negatively impact the existing native or non-native fisheries," the petition's preamble reads.

Fish & Game is largely managing Lake Pend Oreille to support its trophy rainbow trout population and kokanee.

The department has cast a side-eye glance to walleye since they were illegally introduced into Montana's Noxon Reservoir in the early 1990s. The glance transitioned to daggers in 2018, when the department, in conjunction with Avista Corp. funding, began offering bounties for walleye that were harvested from the watershed. The department is also conducting gill netting operations.

Walleye were first detected in low densities in Lake Pend Oreille in the mid-2000s and populations have steadily increased since then, according to Fish & Game. Fish & Game contends walleye are highly effective predators which feed on kokanee in deeper parts of the lake.

Walleye are cause for concern for Fish & Game because their abundance may continue to increase to the point where excessive predation on kokanee will impact rainbow trout, in addition to bass and native populations of bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout.

NISA, however, argues that managing the lake in favor of one non-native species at the expense of another is unfair and socially unacceptable.

"All NISA has asked for is fairness," said Chad Landrum, a fishing guide who serves as president of the group.

Landrum contends Lake Pend Oreille can be managed to support both rainbow trout and walleye, as is being done on Lake Erie.

"It doesn't have to be one or the other," he said.

Landrum said the state's own data supports the theory. He believes the state has it in for walleye because of the lake's legacy as trophy rainbow trout fishery, in addition to corporate funding Avista.

Landrum said comparable lakes which support walleye fishing can generate $100 million to $150 million, while Lake Pend Oreille's rainbow trout fishery brings in $10 million to $15 million.

Landrum added that claims about walleye taking over the fishery are overblown.

"Walleye have never been abundant in Lake Pend Oreille," he said.

Other anglers, meanwhile, support efforts to suppress walleye in order to protect gains made in restoration of the lake's rainbow trout fishery to its former glory. Those costly and years-long efforts included suppressing the lake trout population and rebuilding the lake's kokanee population, which nearly collapsed.

"Fast forward to today and we are on the cusp of having the trophy fishery from years past back. The lake is boiling with kokanee," said angler Ryan Roslak.

Roslak said he caught and released at least a dozen rainbows which exceed 20 pounds and he views walleye and northern pike as the greatest threats to the lake's rainbow trout fishery.

"What concerns me though is that I can see a few very vocal individuals who have a goal of changing the traditional fishery that Lake Pend Oreille was and is becoming once again," said Roslak.

Fish & Game began conducting a telemetry study in 2018 in order to understand walleye movements in the Pend Oreille. The department tagged 21 fish with transmitters, which allowed biologists to identify their movements throughout lakes and river.

The telemetry study (https://bit.ly/355n48U) showed that some walleye migrate many miles, while others tend to occupy smaller areas of the lake. The study further showed that walleye primarily occupy rivers and the northern portion of the lake during all seasons. They are concentrated in two localized areas during the spawning season, but disperse widely after spawning and during the summer.

Chip Corsi, Fish & Game's Panhandle supervisor, said petitions are a viable way of influencing the state in fish management issues.

"Petitions are one way for anglers to be heard. They may or may not reflect the desires of the larger angling public, which is why we take into account multiple forms of angler input," said Corsi.

Corsi said the department acknowledges that there are differing opinions on how the lake's fisheries should be managed. The current fisheries management plan was instituted in 2018 and is re-evaluated every six years.

"The plan is not only the result of extensive biological work, but extensive public input," Corsi said.

Corsi said the input Fish & Game received strongly favored the current management track, which also supports coldwater and warmwater species such as perch and smallmouth bass.

Landrum disputes the state's position that the majority of anglers on Lake Pend Oreille want it managed for rainbow trout and kokanee.

"At the end of the day, LPO does not have an infinite capacity for supporting an unlimited number of top level predators," said Corsi.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com