BY MIKE MCLEAN
THE COEUR D'ALENE PRESS - http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060423/OUTDOORS/604230323/1038
COEUR D'ALENE -- Once walleye were illegally planted in the Clark Fork River in Montana, it was only a matter of time before they arrived in Lake Pend Oreille.
"We got 33 walleye altogether," said Mark Liter, Fish and Game biologist. More than half of those were caught in one day.
He said there's a chance the fish came downstream from Montana, but an equal chance they were illegally planted directly into the Pend Oreille system.
"Since big bass boats came on the scene with all their live wells, fish are turning up all over," Liter said. "One of our guys even caught a walleye in Hayden Lake."
It's the first time walleye have been netted in Lake Pend Oreille, although some were collected during electrofishing in the Idaho section of the Clark Fork River in recent years.
A few also were caught last year near the Long Bridge in Sandpoint.
Age analysis shows individual walleye have been in the system up to 10 years.
"I think they are naturally reproducing now," Liter said.
The fish were caught near the mouth of the Pack River, indicating the walleye were staging for a spawning run.
Some walleye also have been spotted in shallow gravel areas at the base of the Monarchs.
"There might be a couple of different strains," Liter said. "One that spawns in streams and one that spawns in the lake."
Although there has been some interest from local anglers for a new game fish to replace the dwindling kokanee in Lake Pend Oreille, Fish and Game has been reluctant to stock walleye for fear of unintended consequences of planting yet another nonnative species in the lake.
Intentionally introduced species like lake trout, kokanee and Kamloops rainbows have taken their toll on native species, including westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout.
Now that walleye are on the scene, they have the potential to provide a new fishery on their own.
"Over time, if conditions are favorable, I can't imagine why they wouldn't," Liter said.
It's already happened with illegally introduced smallmouth bass.
"Ten years ago, who ever heard of smallmouth in Pend Oreille?" he said. "Now we have tournaments."
Not easy to catch
But walleye won't appeal to novices, because the fish won't be easy to find in scattered habitat in the 43-mile-long lake, Liter predicted.
In the clear waters of Lake Pend Oreille, walleye might tend to feed at night, when people are least likely to fish for them.
"They aren't the easiest fish to catch," Liter said. "The experienced guy who knows how to catch them might have some success, but not the average Joe."
The appearance of walleye in Pend Oreille might have an upside, said professional angler Ted Beach of Hayden.
Beach said Idaho is missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars anglers spend on walleye tournaments in Central and Eastern Washington.
"Personally, I wish Fish and Game would introduce walleye in Idaho," he said, while walleye fishing in Potholes Reservoir in Central Washington.
Beach said walleye angling is like hunting and fishing at the same time.
"You've got to know walleye and their habitat," he said.
He said he also enjoys the competitiveness of the professional circuit and the added bonus that walleye make fine table fare.
"At Roosevelt Lake, kokanee, rainbows and smallmouth bass co-exist with walleye," he said.
'Space Invaders'
While it is a new predator species, walleye won't have an immediate effect on kokanee, which managers are trying to save from collapse.
"They eat mostly fish," Liter said. "For now, they are eating peamouth, pikeminnow and yellow perch."
Liter said he hasn't seen a kokanee in the stomach contents of any walleye caught.
"They are spatially separated," he said. "Kokanee are in 100 to 300 feet of water at mid-lake."
Walleye are more apt to hang around structures closer to shore.
But walleye and kokanee habitats overlap seasonally.
As time goes on, walleye will learn to key in on where kokanee fry emerge from spawning gravels and where stream-born kokanee enter the lake, Liter said.
Chip Corsi, regional supervisor for Fish and Game, agreed that walleye could pose a new risk for kokanee, which are being decimated by other predators, specifically rainbows and lake trout.
"I feel like we're playing 'Space Invaders,' " Corsi said of the new threat.
No-limit Idaho walleye
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has removed the bag limit for walleye throughout most of Idaho.
"The message is, don't introduce walleye, because we're not going to manage for them," Corsi said. "If folks want to go fish for them, I hope they do, and I hope they whack 'em."
Brad Lierman, biologist for Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, said researchers there haven't studied the feeding habits of walleye in the Noxon Reservoir on the Clark Fork River upstream from Lake Pend Oreille.
"In other western reservoirs they do eat a lot of salmonids," he said. "We're expecting to see some effects on trout."
Lierman hasn't noticed much angler pressure on walleye in Noxon Reservoir, which has had a reproducing population for at least four years.
"But I'm getting more phone calls from people who want to fish for them," he said.
I think it is a matter of time before we schedule a "Road Trip" to the next walleye palace.. YEAH!! Thanks RulingViking for the article..