Reward offered to catch Nevada lake invasive fish dumper

This Aug. 2015 photo provided by the Nevada Department of Wildlife shows state fisheries biologist Kim Tisdale holding one of the Northern pike removed from Comins Lake in eastern Nevada during an effort to eradicate the invasive predators. The agency is offering a $10,000 reward to help nab the suspect who apparently introduced the species into the lake again in recent months. (Courtesy of the Nevada Department of Wildlife via AP) This Aug. 2015 photo provided by the Nevada Department of Wildlife shows state fisheries biologist Kim Tisdale holding one of the Northern pike removed from Comins Lake in eastern Nevada during an effort to eradicate the invasive predators. The agency is offering a $10,000 reward to help nab the suspect who apparently introduced the species into the lake again in recent months. (Courtesy of the Nevada Department of Wildlife via AP)

By Associated Press August 12, 2017 3 min read

RENO, Nev. (AP) – Nevada game wardens who spend most their time hunting down big-game poachers are focusing on a serious threat to nature in a lake: An invasive fish species that eats all the other fish prized by anglers and then turns cannibalistic.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife is offering a $10,000 reward to help nab the culprit who apparently dumped Northern pike in Comins Lake, a popular fishing spot surrounded by mountains near Great Basin National Park.

By all accounts, Comins Lake was well on its way to recovery after the state restocked the fishery with largemouth bass, brown and rainbow trout in 2015.

But the invading Northern Pike were discovered again last month by a fisherman who caught one and called state wildlife officials. Five more have been confirmed since then.

“This malicious and illegal act seriously endangers our effort to restore this important fishery,” said Jon Sjoberg, chief of fisheries for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. “The people illegally introducing pike are destroying a fishery, not creating a new one.”