Needy families across Montana will be dining on tasty fish this spring thanks to a pilot project to remove illegally introduced northern pike from Milltown Reservoir.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists are trapping spawning pike in the reservoir in an experimental program to determine its effectiveness in managing the voracious predators that infest Milltown's waters.
Most of the pike were taken to H&H Custom Meats in Missoula for processing - they are filleted to remove most of the bones, vacuum sealed and frozen - and then given to the Missoula Food Bank or to other charitable organizations. FWP biologists also have given some away to anglers at the reservoir.
Last week, members of a fishing club from Billings called Montana PikeMasters traveled to Milltown to collect the captured pike for Sportsmen Against Hunger, a program established by the Montana Chapter of Safari Club International that provides game meat and fish donated by hunters and anglers to underprivileged families in eastern Montana.
"It's a fantastic program," said Schmetterling. "They came over and helped us out with our trapping for a day and took all the pike we had - about 400 pounds of pike fillets. We've still got a lot left for the Food Bank here. We want these pike to be used in the community."
Pike make excellent table fare, according to Schmetterling.
"They're a fantastic fish to eat," he said. "That's part of the reason they are illegally introduced. And they're a popular sport fish. Their meat is white and flaky, like walleye or perch, and mild tasting. It's not fishy tasting."
Despite the toxic heavy-metals pollution that makes Milltown Reservoir a federal Superfund cleanup site, the pike (and other fish) from its waters are safe eat, Schmetterling said.
"We've tested the fillets and the organs and we haven't found any reason for concern," he said. "But I would caution people, because of the pollutants in the reservoir, not to eat very many of them and to eat mostly the younger pike. Because the pollutants accumulate and stay with a fish over time, the older, larger fish have more of them. But a lot of pollutants accumulate in the organs that we don't eat."
Biologists believe the pike in Milltown originated from illegal introductions in lakes of the Clearwater River drainage more than 15 years ago and migrated downstream in the Blackfoot River to the reservoir at the confluence with the Clark Fork River.
The prolific pike have multiplied by the thousands in the ideal habitat of Milltown's warm, shallow water. Now they pose a threat to native fish in the reservoir and the entire Clark Fork drainage.
While the Milltown pike have developed a loyal following of local anglers who enjoy catching and eating them, FWP's efforts to reduce pike numbers in the reservoir have met with little objection, according to Schmetterling.
"I'm really surprised at the amount of support we've received," he said. "And it's come from diverse groups, such as the PikeMasters, which is fully dedicated to pike fishing and perpetuating pike. They realize that pike don't belong everywhere. And they don't belong in Milltown Reservoir."
In another project to reduce pike numbers, FWP has drawn down the reservoir's water level in the summer to strand and kill young pike.
Trapping spawning pike shows promise as a way to manage them in the future, Schmetterling said.
"It may not be effective," he said. "We're just evaluating it. But it's going pretty well. We've learned a lot about ways of capturing pike and ways this can be useful as a management technique. But it will have to be repeated to be effective, and used in conjunction with other methods, including the summer drawdowns to target young-of-the-year pike. It's integrated pest management, just like we do for weeds."
Most of the spawning pike that have been trapped this spring are in the 2-pound range, Schmetterling said. About 10 have weighed over 12 pounds.
Brad May and Steve Williams, employees at H&H Custom Meats who have processed all the pike from Milltown, said the fillets they've made from the fish have averaged almost a pound apiece.
"They're eating machines," said Williams. "We've found every kind of fish in them - trout, sunfish, perch, suckers, squawfish, and lots of leeches, nymphs."
"They'll eat anything," said May. "We've even found other pike in them."
Reporter Daryl Gadbow can be reached at 523-5264 or at dgadbow@missoulian.com.
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