Game and Fish asks for tips after a northern pike turns up in Lake DeSmet

Wyoming Game and Fish is looking for whoever put a northern pike in Lake DeSmet near Buffalo. A Sheridan Region release posted Oct. 9, 2026, says biologists found the fish during the annual fall netting survey. The department does not know how many more pike are in the lake and says it will keep watching for them on later netting runs.

Moving a live fish off the water where it was caught is illegal, and no fish may be released alive into another water without written approval from Game and Fish. Outside Keyhole State Park, northern pike are a nongame fish with no limit, and anglers who catch one have to kill it immediately. The release asks anyone who catches a pike in DeSmet to save the carcass for biological work and to call Sheridan Region Fisheries Supervisor Stephen Siddons at (307) 672-7418.

Sheridan Region fisheries biologist Gordon Edwards said illegal introductions are selfish decisions that hit everyone who uses a shared public water. The charge is a high misdemeanor, with up to a year in jail and fines up to $10,000, plus civil penalties for the full cost of removing the fish. The department says eradication work elsewhere in Wyoming has run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Tips go to the Stop Poaching Hotline at 1-877-WGFD-TIP. A tip that leads to a conviction can qualify for a reward of up to $5,000, and callers can stay anonymous.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Wyoming Game and Fish — Illegally released northern pike found in Lake DeSmet (Oct. 9, 2026).