In this episode, host Zach Urness looks at the curious case of how a non-native fish, walleye, showed up at Lookout Point Reservoir and was then flushed into the Upper Willamette River Basin.
Urness interviews two fish biologists about how walleye, a tasty but controversial fish, were discovered at the reservoir east of Eugene and spawned to become a fishery popular with anglers.
In 2023 and 2024, the walleye were pushed downstream by deep reservoir drawdowns and have been getting caught in new places. Biologists are waiting to see if walleye will establish a new population — which could be bad for endangered salmon and steelhead.
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