Unfortunately they're not that easy to catch on the columbia like they are in some places, but some guys have them figured out pretty good.

I just blew coffee all over my computer! 

Thanks Chris!

The Bonneville Power Administration is a federal agency that provides power for almost all of the Pacific Northwest (about a third of all the power produced in our region). Even if you get your electricity from Seattle City Light, Puget Sound Energy, etc. you are probably buying BPA power at some point because they sell power to other utilities when those utilities can't keep up with demand.

That is a long way of saying, although BPA funds the pikeminnow reward program, if you pay for electricity in the Northwest, you're indirectly paying for some portion of the fish and wildlife restoration actions in the Columbia Basin that are funded by BPA.

That's why people like Kirk, who live out in places like Ellensburg, save so much money by  using candles and rotary phones. 

Chris

Troy,

It probably is, but who cares the Govt pays for it, ha,ha.

Russ

hmm 81k for catching squaws.  Is this tax payer money?  God I hope not. 

troy

Here’s a quiz for ya: How many non-pro, non-tournament organizations paid out $1.2 million in just over 5 months this year for landing rod-caught fish?

None? Nope. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).

Recently, a recreational angler from Gresham, OR earned $51,000 by the end of August. How? By catching pikeminnows (squawfish), a fish native to Oregon and Washington.

Money’s involved because pikeminnows eat salmon, which are protected by every environmental law ever created by bureaucrats’ rubber brains, and since the BPA has to protect salmon, one thing they do is pay average Joes to go out there, catch and remove these fish, formerly known as squawfish.

According to the BPA, fishermen get paid $4 to $8 for northern pikeminnows 9 inches and larger caught in the lower Columbia and Snake rivers. The more pikeminnows caught, the more the program pays: After 400 fish are turned in, pikeminnow are worth $8 each. As an added incentive, specially tagged fish are worth $500.

One fisherman earned $81,366 this season, handily eclipsing the previous record of $58K. No name has been released yet, but that top earner this year caught 13 of the tagged fish. That’s $6,500 right there – and no entry fees….

My thinking is this: Forget about Vegas. Go to Oregon or Washington for vacation, fish the whole time, come back with a net profit for the trip.  Best of all, there are no entry fees, no "pre-fishing" costs, no sponsors to coddle, no "egos" to deal with....it's a no-brainer!  Heck, make it fulltime job, then you won't have to deal with clocking in, cranky customers, and unmanagable managers.