Angler catches walleye that is worth $1,000
Sandpoint’s Glenn Lefebvre was among anglers chasing Lake Pend Oreille’s $1,000 walleyes this month. Lefebvre hoists a 31-inch untagged fish in this picture.
Courtesy photo/Glenn Lefebvre
A Sandpoint angler became the fifth person to reel in a walleye worth $1,000 from North Idaho’s Lake Pend Oreille .
Doug Lambrecht of Sandpoint caught his reward-tagged walleye while fishing shallow weed beds along the northern lakeshore in mid-July. The winning fish was tagged last winter near Fisherman’s Island, according to Idaho Fish and Game.
Lambrecht is the fifth winner to reel in a $1,000 walleye since the Idaho Fish and Game incentive program began in 2019. Up to 95 reward-tagged walleye are still available, according to the department.
Idaho Fish and Game started the harvest program that offers rewards to anglers for taking lake trout and walleye in an effort to reduce the number of predatory fish in the lake. The department considers both species a danger to the lake’s kokanee stocks. Kokanee are the lake’s foundation fish and the food source that drives LPO’s world-renown rainbow trout fishery.
Researchers follow walleye migration patterns mostly in the northern part of the lake. Any anglers who catch walleye are urged to turn in fish heads at collection stations so biologists can see if they contain nearly-microscopic reward tags implanted in the fish’s snout. Biologists then scan for winning heads at the end of each month. Untagged heads are worth a chance at $100 monthly prizes.
Lambrecht’s fish was in the two to three pound range.
For more information on the incentive program visit the Fish and Game website.