Bass on the Pendoreille River

[AJ's Dad]

With the current slaughter of pike going on in the Pendoreille River depleting what "Was" one of the finest fisheries in the state, I am wondering if there are any plans to do any replacement. I obviously don't expect to see pike being planted there. What I am talking about is the largemouth Bass.
The numbers we have seen so far would make one think that there are not many bass being killed by this gill net massacre. Seeing and hearing repeated reports of fishless days on the river by not only pike fishermen, but bass fishermen as well, is evidence enough for me that the bass are taking a substantial hit from the nets. I would like to encourage the WDFW and the Kalispel Tribe to put out some serious efforts to replentish this once wonderful fishery. If the pike are removed from the river, I would say increased planting of Largemouth bass would go a long way towards maintaining a successful fishery in the POR. Box Canyon Reservoir is an outstanding body of water and to see it sit idly by and not produce the great outdoor experiences it is capeable of would be a shame. Hopefully the local area bass clubs are pressuring the proper entities to make something like this happen. I believe there is still going to be a more that adaquate smallmouth bass fishery there but it would be great to see these two agencies step up and put something back in to the picture. Excellent bass fishing could bring much needed fishing dollars back in to that local economy. It may not have the same appeal to a lot of fishermen as the opportunity to catch a trophy pike, but largemouth bass fishing is very popular, not only in this state, but throughout this country and world wide for that matter.
I have said this before and I will say it again, and keep it short. Smallmouth bass are highly predetory in my opinion, and they likely eat a lot of the species they are trying to protect in the POR. I would not be surprised to see them be the next item on the menu targeted by the Tribe and the WDFW. Hopefully they can spend some of their new found millions to figure out how to create a body of water that can be enjoyed by fishermen, and not just turn it into an empty river with a handfull of salmonids destined for extinction. Thats a lot of water, just to support a very small population of trout, and I'm quite sure that perch, crappie and peamouth fishing is not going to pull anglers in from acrossed the state to visit the river.

[Mark K]

Bass fishing was good on the river before the pike came to town, and it still was before this netting started. Judging by the angler hours before the pike boom (4,000 per year), then after (70,000+ per year) people are obviously not as interested in making the drive to the POR just for Bass. (And the river is definitely not a destination for trout angling, and it hasn't been for a LONG time) There are plenty of Bass lakes a lot closer to home for everybody. The days of 70,000 hours of fishing on that river are over up there. Bad news for the local economy as they are already struggling enough.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I think that is a good idea, but I don't believe they will be able to keep the steady interest they have had the last few years. They will not be able to offer that "unique" fishery anymore.

And I agree with your comment on SMB being the "next item on the menu". Those fish are everywhere now, and the tribe has a lot of new money to blow.

[johnsgonefishin]

I have caught some big smallies there, and usually can get into some serious schools of smallies in which it can be one fish after the next pretty much every cast. I certainly hope they do not go after the smallies as I like going there, especially with non-fishers as I can take them to catch a ton on light gear and they have a great time.

[Mark K]

I have caught some big smallies there, and usually can get into some serious schools of smallies in which it can be one fish after the next pretty much every cast. I certainly hope they do not go after the smallies as I like going there, especially with non-fishers as I can take them to catch a ton on light gear and they have a great time.

IT's the same situation with the Pike. There are days you catch fish after fish, even the "non fisherman" could go up there and have a GREAT day. Unfortunately, they don't care about the fisherman in the case of the river as the Kalispel Tribe is getting a huge paycheck from BPA. They will wipe out the Pike population, and then move on to the SMB.

[YellowBear]

The nets do not practice catch and release they are catch and kill.
If they are catching Pike they are catching Bass. IMHO.

[spokanebassman2]

Fished here yesterday and caught nothing, talked to 4 other boats that said the same. One lady told us her property just south of the Davis slough was a great LMB spawning area and they brought the nets in last week and took out at least 20 bass and she said most were very large. It is a shame what is happening is there something we can do to help???!!

[AJ's Dad]

I believe there is nothing anyone can do to help with this situation. Jason Conner of the KNRD and his band of Fish Murderers have convinced everyone that matters (aparently tax paying citizens and fishermen don't matter) that the northern pike are a real threat to the columbia river system and it's salmonid population. It their attempt restore as much of the salmon runs that have been altered by the construction of dams, the Bonneville Power Administration has decided to fund this fish murdering process, to the tune of 10 MILLION DOLLARS. Within a matter of weeks, Conner and his Gang have IN MY OPINION managed to destroy the entire fishery of the Pend Oreille River, under the disguise of looking out for the future of the salmon in the columbia river system, and trying to save a nearly non existant Box Canyon Reservoir trout population.

Conner and his pals will tell you that they catch and kill the pike, but they release the bass and other spieces they refer to as "By Catch". That term can be closely related to a military term known as "Friendly Fire". You can release a fish that has been entangled in a gill net and you can watch it swim away. However in many cases the damage will already have been done when the fish's gills got damaged in the gill net, and many of those "Released" fish will die later.

If you want to help the fish in the Pendoreille river, any fsh. I suggest you create your own organization, dream up your own scheme, like Conner and his pals did, and go to the BPA with your hand out saying you are trying to plant bass or whatever fish you prefer to enhance, in the name of helping salmon. That might just get you a few million dollars in fundng.

Please do not mistake my comments as hard core facts. This is simply "MY OPINION" and by the way, Conner and the KNRD didn't do this all on their own. They had a lot of help from a group of folks who's wages are paid for by your tax dollars. That group would be the fish friendly folks at the WDFW.

Maybe if local fishermen are lucky, after a few years of seeing how badly they have destroyed the fishery in the POR, Conner and his group can convince the BPA that they are partially responsible for what has happened and ask them for a few more millions to help them restore some kind of fishery.

Then again maybe that was their plan all along. Given the fact, I mean MY OPINION, that this whole thing was about MONEY right from the start.

[MarkFromSea]

So, the fishing dollars to the local PO merchants and services go away, might be a few houses that don't sell to a fishing minded fellow as well. There's a ploy worth trying, call all of the merchants and real estate agents in that area, inquire about the fishing and your concerns of what you've heard, "THE FISHERY IS DESTROYED", hence, I've decided to buy my retirement home or spend my vacation dollars some where else where the fishing is much better. It's too late to stop it now, the damage is done, but, it might send someone a msg that a "desired" fishery needs to be in place. The residents of that area have the strongest pull, they need to lead the charge or just roll over and take it in the proverbial arss!

[AJ's Dad]

Mark,
I hear you on that one. I was actually looking at a piece of property on the POR last year. I tried to talk the wife into letting me buy it. It was a great price. $19,900 for a 1 acre secondary lot on a county maintained road, 100 yards from the community boat launch. Thank God she talked me out of it!

I got an email about 2 months ago from the realtor that I was talking with on the deal. He asked if I was still interested in the property. I told him the only reason I was interested in it was because of my love fpor Pike fishing, and now that the powers to be were making that go awy, I couldn't be farther from buying that piece of property than I was before I even knew it was for sale. I mentioned to him taht the situation up there was in my opinion going to effect property sales. He didn't seem to interested. His only reply was, "OK thanks".

That area will be seriously effected by the decision made by a few people with one way minds.

[MarkFromSea]

I kick myself for missing it when the getting was good. I do live quite a ways away, so it would have been rare to fish it. I do make it to Chewela once, maybe twice a year. I've seen the kokes in the Sullivan head waters in November, highly reccomend.

The attention about the fishery was just getting started for anglers outside of your area. That real estate agent was asleep when BPA/WDFW stuck it to him. They truly don't know what they missed out on. The closest I caught in WA to a pike is that pike pickerel out of Downs. I've caught pike in WI while visiting my daughters and it is a fish like no other!

Do you happen to know if their going to fire up that LMB hatchery on the res again, not that it matters, LMB are a mile from the house, why would I drive 350 to catch LMB.......... LOL I already drive 130 for them and the scenery/weather of Eastern WA. LOL

My condolences, I'm sorry for your loss.............

[AJ's Dad]

I'm not familiar, nor do I want to be familiar with what the Kalispel tribe plans to do next. If you're really interested, you can email the ring leader of the euthanization gang at jconnor@kalispeltribe.com He can probably tell you what their plans are. Then again it's a crap shoot as to whether you can believe what he tells you or not. Remember he said they were "Studying" the pike in the POR, not trying to eradicate them. HAHAHA.

If you want to catch pike, the closest area is CoeurDalene Lake and it's connected chain lakes. There is a ton of water to cover there and pike are readily available. In fact I just put 7 of them in the boat yesterday, from one of the chain lakes. A one day Idaho license is only $12.50 and it's not far from Spokane. In fact for me it's even closer than the POR was. I just liked the fact that I had the opportunity to fish for my favorite spoecies in my home state, that's why I have been so vocal about their removal.

Myself along with many others accept your condolences as these individuals have destroyed what I believe was the greatest fishery in the state.

[MarkFromSea]

I understand......

I had to run to MT last Mon-wed, looked like some nice water right along I-90, I think it was east of Coeur Dalene a ways...The trip is kind of a blur now.. LOL Had a burger at Zips off of the Sherman exit, GREAT gas price at that exit! $3.79???? Great in comparison to what's here anyhoo.

I'm thinking, the PO sunfish population is going to explode! Yeah, I don't know that people will pay to fish that.......... :(