歪歪漫画

Now here鈥檚 something you鈥檒l never see in Minnesota or North Dakota.

I came across a story from the Idaho Statesman newspaper the other day about a walleye 鈥渋nvasion鈥� in Lake Lowell, a southwestern Idaho lake known for its largemouth bass fishing.

As a result of the unwanted influx, Idaho鈥檚 Fish and Game department is asking anglers to have at it with the walleyes, the Idaho Statesman reported. No limits; instead, anglers should 鈥渃atch, kill and keep鈥� every walleye they catch.

The fish apparently were illegally introduced by a fisherman in 2022, the Statesman reported, and may 鈥渂e competing and taking food from largemouth bass.鈥� The population has 鈥渁dvanced quickly鈥� since 2022, fisheries biologist Art Butts told the newspaper.

鈥淚daho and walleye just aren鈥檛 a good match in most places,鈥� the newspaper said, citing a news release from Idaho Fish and Game.

鈥淛ust because there鈥檚 places in the Midwest that do really good with walleye, and they haven鈥檛 impacted largemouth bass ... that doesn鈥檛 mean that they鈥檙e not going to have an impact here,鈥� Butts told the Statesman.

Given the mindset of many anglers in Minnesota and North Dakota, where 鈥渋f it鈥檚 not a walleye, it鈥檚 not a fish鈥� is a common perception, it might be hard to grasp the concept of walleyes being an undesirable species.

But just like any invasive species, walleyes can have a big-time impact on the ecology of lakes and rivers where they don鈥檛 belong. And once the genie鈥檚 out of the bottle, so to speak, reversing the impact is difficult, if not impossible.

That鈥檚 no different than any other invasive species, whether it鈥檚 zebra mussels or jumping carp.

As the Statesman reported, Idaho鈥檚 Fish and Game is encouraging anglers to target walleyes, even though it probably won鈥檛 fix the problem.

As the old saying goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

鈥淲e know that angling by itself is probably not going to do much for the population,鈥� Butts says in the article. 鈥淲alleye are considered one of the best-eating fish in freshwater, and so while we鈥檝e got this problem, let鈥檚 get the word out to folks that might be interested in fishing for them.

鈥淗ere鈥檚 a place where you ... have a good opportunity to do that.鈥�

This isn鈥檛 the first time fisheries managers have raised the alarm about walleyes, of course. The Columbia River has long had a population of unwanted walleyes, to the detriment of native salmon species, and now has a reputation as a trophy walleye fishery. As with Lake Lowell in Idaho, there鈥檚 no size or bag limit on walleyes in the Columbia River.

There have been other instances of unwanted game fish species, as well, and not just walleyes. According to the National Park Service, non-native lake trout were discovered in Wyoming鈥檚 Yellowstone Lake in 1994. Since then, millions of lake trout have been removed from Yellowstone Lake through gillnetting, in an effort to lower the population and lessen the negative impact on native cutthroat trout. Other techniques, such as spreading plant-based pellets over lake trout spawning sites to suffocate the eggs,

Lake trout are probably my favorite fish to catch, and walleyes are right up there. Just goes to show, I guess 鈥� one angler鈥檚 prize is another angler鈥檚 problem.

I鈥檝e said it before, and I鈥檒l probably say it again:

There鈥檚 something about watching a bobber that just never gets old.

I thought about that again last weekend, when I got the chance to spend a few hours walleye fishing on Devils Lake.

My fishing partners had been over there a few days already and had done well dunking leeches below slip bobbers in about 15 feet of water, give or take, the previous two mornings. Eater-size fish, mostly, with their biggest stretching the tape at 19陆 inches.

That fish went back in the lake to hopefully make more anglers鈥� bobbers sink sometime down the road.

Expecting a spot to produce walleyes three days in a row might be a stretch, especially in a location as small as this particular area, but we decided to give it a few hours anyway.

Boat traffic certainly wouldn鈥檛 be a problem. Even though it was a holiday weekend, I was struck by how quiet the lake was 鈥� at least in the area where we were fishing. We didn鈥檛 see more than a handful of boats the whole time.

Not that I鈥檓 complaining, mind you.

The action was considerably slower than what my fishing partners had experienced the previous two days 鈥� just my luck 鈥� but we still managed to put three eaters in the box during our short time on the water.

I had the pleasure of watching my bobber sink to a 17-inch walleye.

I鈥檒l take fish like that any day of the week. And if getting to watch a bobber sink is part of the deal, all the better.