Angler Incentive Program Pays Well for Clark Fork Man

"Don't quit your day job". The old saying is usually good advice when a person considers ditching an old job for a new career. Dennis Pringle of Clark Fork, however, may do well to quit his day job and start fishing for a living. Pringle won the top lake trout prize of $3,000 in the K&K Derby on Lake Pend Oreille when he caught a 19 pound 10 ounce lake trout during the derby. Because he is a member of the sponsoring group, the Lake Pend Oreille Idaho Club, his prize was doubled making the fish worth $6,000 to Pringle's bank account. Not bad for a day's work. However, Pringle's good fortune did not stop there. When the head of the fish was scanned with a special scanning device, it was discovered the fish happened to be one of over 200 lake trout implanted by the Idaho Fish and Game Department (IDFG) with a PIT tag worth a $1,000 reward. Pringle now had a $7,000 catch. All anglers catching and harvesting lake trout or rainbow trout from Lake Pend Oreille can have their names entered into a monthly cash drawing by submitting the head of the fish to IDFG. Yes, you guessed it. Out of 2,507 fish heads entered, Pringle was the winner of the $1,000 monthly prize when he had his name drawn by the computer. Pringle's fish was now an $8,000 fish. Anglers receive an Idaho lottery scratch ticket for each fish head entered. No word has been received on how Pringle did on his lottery ticket. He was unavailable for comment. He was out fishing. No wonder! Who could blame him. Perhaps he already has quit his "day job". The IDFG angler incentive program is an attempt to save the Lake Pend Oreille fishery by removing predatory lake trout and rainbow trout to reestablish a balance of predator and prey species in the lake. Kokanee salmon once provided half the entire sport fishery in Lake Pend Oreille with a harvest of one million fish annually. They also provide forage to grow world class rainbow and bull trout. Now, there aren't enough kokanee to feed all the predators in Lake Pend Oreille or provide a kokanee fishery. Rainbow and lake trout are the most significant predators on koknaee. The kokanee fishery was closed in 2000 and limits on rainbow and lake trout have been removed. Reducing the rainbow and lake trout populations by half would make a significant improvement in kokanee survival. The angler incentive program, developed by the Lake Pend Oreille Fishery Recovery Task Force, and funded by Avista Utilities, is an attempt to reduce predation on kokanee by rainbow and lake trout. The angler incentive program began on April 29, 2006 and will remain in effect through December 31, 2006. Anglers catching and harvesting either rainbow or lake trout can enter the fish heads into the angler incentive program. All heads will be scanned for PIT tags worth from $100-$2000. Every rainbow or lake trout harvested is entered into the monthly drawings for 40 cash prizes of $100 and one cash prize of $1,000. All anglers over 18 years of age also receive one Idaho lottery scratch ticket for each fish harvested. Anglers can place fish heads in special freezers at Holiday Shores Marina (Ellisport Bay), Hope Marine Services (Ellisport Bay), the public boat launch at Garfield Bay, the Hudson's Bay Marina (Bayview), or the IDFG Bayview Research Office. Fish heads may also be dropped off at the IDFG regional office in Coeur d'Alene from 8-5, Mon-Fri. Some rainbow and lake trout are tagged with $100 reward tags (spaghetti shaped tags) behind the dorsal fin. Other such tags are worth $10. These tags and the fish species, weight, length, and date caught should be mailed to: Mark Liter, IDFG; 2885 W. Kathleen Ave., Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 The IDFG appreciates the efforts of local anglers in trying to reduce the predator population to keep kokanee numbers from collapsing. That is the only way this world class trophy fishery can be restored.