Walleye found in Lake Lowell, Cascade, IDFG asks anglers to report them

NAMPA, Idaho (CBS2) — Walleye have been found in Lake Lowell and Lake Cascade, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game reports. These fish can be destructive to other species, and officials ask that anglers report any Walleye catches.

In the middle of May, an angler caught a 17-inch walleye--the first-ever report of a walleye in Lake Lowell. He took a photo of his catch, and biologists confirmed it was a walleye.

“We are definitely concerned with this report,” said Art Butts, regional fisheries manager. “Lake Lowell is one of the better largemouth bass fisheries in the state, and it produces some quality bluegill as well. Throughout the West, there are numerous examples of introduced walleye negatively impacting established panfish and largemouth bass fisheries, so this is something we will be monitoring closely.”

Walleye aren't native to Idaho, and they're managed in small areas across the state because they can be harmful to other species. Fish and Game asks that people who catch a walleye remove it and report it to a regional office. Anglers can keep the fillets, but officials ask that they turn in the fish's carcass.

“We are particularly interested in those carcasses if anglers catch a walleye in Lake Cascade or Lake Lowell,” Butts said. “But because we do not have any established walleye fisheries in the entire Southwest Region – and these fish shouldn’t be present here – we would also like walleye carcasses if anglers happen to catch one in another waterbody.”

Lake Lowell feeds into several other bodies of water, which could give the walleyes access to the Snake River and the Boise River.

“While we did not see any walleye during our electrofishing surveys earlier in the spring, we will be doing some additional sampling in the next couple weeks to try and get a handle on the potential abundance of walleye in Lake Lowell,” Butts said.

Walleyes have caused fish population declines across the West, and they could cause severe issues for Idaho angling.

“Walleye are voracious predators, and they will throw fisheries out of balance by targeting juvenile fish, such as trout or panfish species,” said Joe Kozfkay, IDFG state fisheries manager. “There isn’t the amount prey species available in Idaho like there is in the upper Midwest. A lot of Idaho’s fisheries can’t support walleye along with panfish, trout and other game fish.”

When we find them, Fish and Game has to divert resources to first monitor the fishery and estimate how many more walleye might be present. That can get expensive real quick. And if we have to go in there and remove those walleye, it can cost sportsmen a lot of money.

IDFG is currently working on minimizing the effects of walley in Lake Pend Oreille after they were illegally introduced upstream in Montana. If the walleye population goes unchecked, it could thwart decades of restoration work IDFG has done to help other fish populations thrive.

“We would much rather spend that time and money doing other things that benefit anglers, but we can’t ignore walleye and the negative effects they could have on our fisheries,” said Andy Dux, panhandle region fishery manager.

Officials say walleye are difficult to eradicate, and regular sport fishing is unlikely to control a walleye population. If the walleye population gets out of control, many anglers might abandon popular waters to fish elsewhere.

'This is not some unrealistic, low-odds, doomsday scenario,' Kozfkay said. 'We’ve seen it occur in Wyoming, Montana and Washington. Again, it’s not that walleye are bad fish, just wrong fish in the wrong places where other fish species are better suited and highly valued by anglers.'

ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmpaeTlrlww8Clo56xlWKzsMHNnWSipl2hrqyxjKWmsJ2coXqkrdKcmJ2dXZ6xp7OMmqqkq12Wu6i4xKuqZqyfYr%2BmvM6rq2asmJq6