A 3-pound fish was worth $1,000 for this Idaho angler, officials say. Here’s how

Brooke Wolford
·2 min read

A North Idaho angler reeled in $1,000 after he caught a two to three pound walleye at Lake Pend Oreille, according to IdahoDepartment of Fish and Game.

Doug Lambrecht became the fifth angler to earn a grand for catching a “reward-tagged” fish in mid-July, a news release from IDFG said. Biologists scanned the fish for a nearly-microscopic reward tag in its snout and found Lambrecht reeled in a winner, the agency said on Aug. 17.

The department started the Lake Pend Oreille Angler Incentive program in 2019 when reward tags were implanted in walleyes. Anglers who catch a tagged fish get $1,000 and there are 95 tagged fish still available in the “walleye lottery,” according to IDFG.

“In order to win, anglers submit walleye heads to Fish & Game freezers located throughout the region,” the release said. “Biologists then scan for winning heads at the end of each month.”

Lambrecht caught his prize-winning fish, which was tagged in February near Fisherman’s Island, “while fishing shallow weed beds along the northern lakeshore,” according to IDFG. He guessed the fish was about two to three pounds, the agency said.

Lambrecht reeled in his catch about three months after three other Idaho anglers caught $1,000 walleyes, the Idaho Statesman reported. The program helps researchers analyze the effects of recreational fishing on the lake’s walleye population, according to the Statesman.

While five fishermen have caught tagged walleye in 2020, none were caught in 2019, the Statesman reported. The program’s first three winners caught their walleyes in May 2020, IDFG said.

The fourth fish was caught in early July in “the lower reaches of the Priest River,” according to IDFG.

Mike Gordon of Sandpoint reeled in his prize in the Clark Fork River; Tony Butler of Hope caught his in northern Lake Pend Oreille; and the third angler from Idaho Falls also caught his walleye in the northern part of the lake, IDFG said. Leon Russell of Priest River caught the fourth walleye, according to the agency.