Fishermen reeled in pikeminnows for cash

RIDGEFIELD — Love to fish? Wish you could get paid for doing something you love? Apparently, some avid fishermen have figured it out. In 2010, 11,624 reward-size northern pikeminnows were turned in to the Port of Ridgefield for cash rewards during the season, which runs May to October. At $4 a fish, that’s a hefty sum. And some specially tagged fish have a $500 price on their heads. Pikeminnows are a major predator of young salmon and steelhead. The goal of the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program is to reduce the number of pikeminnows but not eliminate them altogether. The total number of these fish caught in 2010 was 173,981, according to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.