Fishing Magician Report - April 4

Here's something a little different from the Department of Fish and Wildlife. There is a closure on the retention of a few species in the Priest Rapids Pool on the Columbia River for a short period of time.

Included are smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye, channel catfish and northern pike minnow. Only fish of the species listed that have a hole punched in their tails must be released. There were fish of these species tagged and in order to insert the tags into the fish they were anesthetized.

The Food and Drug Administration requires a 21-day withdrawal period before these fish can be consumed. The temporary period when fish with holes punched in the tails must be released is from now until the end of May. Effected are on the Columbia River is from Priest Dam to Wanapum Dam.

After May 31st, if anglers harvest any of the tagged fish and want to return the tag to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, they can contact Keith Garner at Grant County PUD at 509-754-5088, or Rod O'Connor at Blue Leaf environmental at 509-210-7424.