Playing for money at Pend Oreille

Anglers will be able to cash in on Lake Pend Oreille long after the annual K&K Spring Derby is over.

This year’s derby – the 61st annual event – starts April 29 and runs through May 7 with $28,000 in cash and prizes.

The top 10 rainbows as well as the top 10 mackinaw will earn a minimum of $100 up to the first place awards of $3,000. Daily big fish awards also will be offered as well as awards in other fish species categories and the youth division.

Register for the derby at most businesses around the lake as well as fishing shops in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

More money will be awarded during the rest of the season in a last-ditch campaign to reduce predation on the lake’s struggling kokanee population.

A citizens group and the Idaho Fish and Game Department, funded by a grant from Avista, will be offering incentives for anglers to temporarily abandon their tradition of catch-and-release in order to reduce the number of rainbows and mackinaw in Lake Pend Oreille this year.

The incentive program starts April 29 and runs through Dec. 31.

Anglers who bring fish to designated check stations or deposit fish heads at collection sites will get a coupon, and anglers at least 18 years old will also get an Idaho lottery ticket. Coupons will be placed in a monthly drawing with 40 winners to receive $100 and one to get $1,000 each month.

In addition, anglers can earn $200-$2,000 for catching one of the 600 trout that are being implanted with tags that must be scanned to be detected. Starting in June, Fish and Game also plans to pay anglers who return trout implanted with visible spaghetti tags.

Info: Idaho Fish and Game Department, (208) 769-1414.