For many, the idea of getting paid to fish is too good to be true, but through Idaho Fish and Game’s Angler Incentive Program, local anglers can take home a check for the fish they catch. 

The program aims to significantly reduce Walleye and Lake Trout populations in Lake Pend Oreille, something that Idaho Fish and Game has been working toward for decades. 

“The goal we have put out there is the collapse of the lake trout population,” said Rob Ryan, a mitigation staff biologist working with IDFG through the Clark Fork Settlement Agreement through Avista. “We’ve been at it for a long time and understanding that was a little tougher to get to than we thought it might be initially.” 

At most times of the year, the lake has 60 IDFG-tagged walleye living in the lake. Each of those tagged fish is worth $1,000 to the individual who caught it, totaling $60,000 in potential earnings. 

In addition to the tagged fish, anglers who turn in non-tagged walleye heads can redeem them for an entry for a monthly drawing. Each head turned in is one entry in the drawing in which 10 $100 prizes are awarded. 

The awards for lake trout are simpler: every lake trout head turned in earns a $15 reward; turning in 100 lake trout heads would net someone $1,500.

According to IDFG, fishermen have earned around $1.5 million in rewards from the lake trout program since 2006 and $125,000 from walleye since 2019. Over the past year alone, lake trout anglers have earned around $33,000 and walleye anglers have earned around $23,000.

The Angler Incentive Program for lake trout has been in place since 2006, with the walleye incentive added in 2019.

The ultimate goal of the program is to revitalize the kokanee population in the lake, which has suffered significantly due to predation by walleye and lake trout, neither of which is native to Lake Pend Oreille.  

“The approach to managing that situation, to recover kokanee, was to try to reduce the number of predators in the lake, to reduce the amount of mouths to feed,” said Ryan. 

Ryan said that kokanee, a type of sockeye salmon that do not make their way to sea, are vital to Lake Pend Oreille, providing food for other native fish, especially bull trout, which are recognized as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

“Kokanee are really important to Lake Pend Oreille in that they provide fishing opportunity, but they are also food for a lot of different fish,” he said. 

For more information, visit the IDFG website idfg.idaho.gov.