Ask Fish and Game: Pikeminnow Season

Q. When does the pikeminnow season in the Snake River start, and are they still paying a bounty on them? A. The Bonneville Power Administration's 2008 Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program starts May 5 and runs through September 28. Participants, including anglers in Idaho, must sign in at registration stations in Washington and Oregon daily before fishing. For every qualifying northern pikeminnow, nine inches or longer, caught in the lower Columbia River, from the mouth to Priest Rapids Dam, and in the Snake River, from the mouth to Hells Canyon Dam, and returned to a registration station, anglers will get $4 to $8. The more fish an angler catches, the more they're worth. The first 100 in one season are worth $4 each; after 100, they're worth $5 each; and after 400 they're worth $8 each. Special tagged northern pikeminnow will be worth $500 again this year. Anglers interested in details can find them at http://www.pikeminnow.org/info.html.