COEUR d'ALENE - While Montana Fish and Wildlife officials consider a program to reduce the number of the non-native walleye in Noxon Reservoir, Idaho officials are not doing the same for Lake Pend Oreille.

Jim Fredericks, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Panhandle region fishery manager, said the lake and Pend Oreille River just don't have that many walleye.

Idaho officials started spotting walleye in Lake Pend Oreille around 2006 and 2007.

"They no doubt started dribbling into the system before then," he said.

The fish was illegally introduced into Noxon Reservoir in the late 1980s, and from there made its way across the border and into Lake Pend Oreille.

Some people like walleye because of the fish's flavor. Others don't, as walleye negatively effect trout and perch populations.

"They're very predacious," Fredericks said.

The densities right now, though, don't appear to be significantly affecting other fish in the lake and river.

"We do hope the population doesn't blow up," Fredericks said.

The physical characteristics of the lake limit some of the concern that might happen. "It's not all walleye habitat," Fredericks said, noting that most of Pend Oreille's shoreline is too deep.

The Pend Oreille River is a different story, and has more of the fish.

There are certain areas in the lake where walleye are more abundant, including around the Long Bridge in Sandpoint, the Pack River delta, and Scenic and Idlewilde bays near Bayview.

If walleye populations do take off in Lake Pend Oreille, there won't be much anybody can do about it.

"The reality is there are very limited options" for suppression, Fredericks said. "It's such a big system."

Montana has a better chance at suppression in Noxon because of its size, and because walleye in Noxon spawn mostly, if not entirely, in one area of the reservoir.

"We're watching to see how Montana fares," Fredericks said. "Walleye are a tough fish to knock back."

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is working on an environmental assessment to investigate suppression in Noxon. State officials are doing some suppression on an experimental basis to test effectiveness. Annual gill-net monitoring beginning in 2000 showed the population was successfully reproducing and increasing.

In Idaho, Fish and Game is managing walleye in Pend Oreille for low population densities with wide-open fishing regulations.

"Anglers are invited to take all they can" of any size, Fredericks said.