An angler fishing in Lake Cascade recently caught a 19-inch walleye that was illegally stocked in the reservoir, according to a news release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Fish and Game regional fisheries manager Dale Allen positively identified the fish on Aug. 22.
The fish is the first-ever confirmed report of a walleye in Lake Cascade, according to the release.
Because of the illegal stocking and the threat walleye pose to Cascade’s and other downstream fisheries, Citizens Against Poaching is offering a cash reward for information regarding this criminal case. Call the CAP hotline at 1-800-632-5999.
Idaho has just a few walleye fisheries, all established by Fish and Game, and all in isolated reservoirs. No outlets from the reservoir exist that might allow walleye to escape to other waters, according to Fish and Game. It is because of their potential threat to existing fisheries that walleye have not been more widely stocked in other Idaho waters.
Fish and Game said it receives angler requests every year to establish new walleye populations, and those requests are denied.
“This illegal introduction was carefully thought-out,” Allen said in the release. “The closest walleye fishery is more than 200 miles from Cascade. To survive the extended transport time, this fish — and possibly others — would have required clean, cold, aerated water for a number of hours.”
Because of potential severe damage from the stocking, Fish and Game resources will be diverted from other projects to expand fish sampling in Lake Cascade this year to see if more adult walleye are present and to determine whether reproduction has occurred.
“This incident is particularly disheartening for Cascade,” Allen said. “Fish and Game spent years rebuilding a world-class perch fishery, and the reservoir is also full of big trout and trophy smallmouth bass. Adding another top predator like walleye will almost certainly impact these other sport fish.”
Fish and Game officials said that walleye also could move through the Payette River system into Brownlee Reservoir and the Hells Canyon section of the Snake River.
