FISH

Courtesy of GrandViewOutdoors.com
The bill to allow a small group of enthusiasts to hunt with spears has been stopped in the House.

The measure targeted at a subgroup of hunters who hunt like prehistoric man for sport was tabled in the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks committee Friday.
The bill, which had already passed through the Senate, drew a large amount of public interest because of its unusual topic.

Courtesy of GrandViewOutdoors.com
A caribou herd shared by Alaska and northwest Canada has rebounded after a near one-third decline, according to a photo census announced by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

State biologists said the Porcupine Caribou Herd has grown to an estimated 169,000 animals.

"People on both sides of the Alaska-Canada border are pleased,'' said Jason Caikoski, an assistant area biologist.

By the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced on March 15 that the sturgeon retention season on the lower Willamette River downstream from Willamette Falls, including Multnomah Channel and the Gilbert River, is now closed.

ODFW closed the season following creel survey analysis that indicated harvest was at or near the pre-season guideline of 2,550 sturgeon, following the last fishing day on March 12.

The season had been open three days a week since Feb. 17.

By the Nevada Department of Wildlife
Sometime in mid-March the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) will release the last load of rainbow trout for the agency’s annual stocking season at Lake Mead and Lake Mohave.

But unlike years past, the release of these final truckloads of fish will mark more than the end of a trout stocking season.

They will mark the end of an era, the end of NDOW trout stocking efforts along the Lower Colorado River.

Courtesy of GrandViewOutdoors.com
Alaska wildlife officials said last Tuesday that they were appalled the federal government rejected their plan to kill wolves to protect caribou on a remote Aleutian Island.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced this week it would not sign off on the state killing seven wolves in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge on Unimak Island.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife has a number of recent fish plants to report in Western Nevada. The most recent are:

If you are a trout fisherman and are fairly new to our area, you may not be aware that some of our best Lahontan Cutthroat Trout fishing is at Pyramid Lake in the month of March.

Pyramid Lake (which is roughly the same surface size as Lake Tahoe) is about 30 miles north of Reno-Sparks, and it contains Lahontan Cutthroat Trout that routinely run into “Double Digits” in weight.

*****
Go here for this week's full fishing report and here for more outdoor stories.

*****

The lake is the terminus of the Truckee River which begins at Lake Tahoe.
Pyramid Lake is approximately 15 miles long, 11 miles wide and measures 350 feet deep at its deepest point.

Here is the Northern Nevada, Northern California and Southern Oregon fishing report for the week of March 16-23.

ANGEL LAKE, ELKO COUNTY, NEV:
The Nevada Department of Wildlife www.ndow.org reported: The road is closed.

BLUE LAKES AREA, CALIF:
Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (866) 694-2930 www.woodfordsstation.com reported: The road is closed for the winter.

CAPLES LAKE, CALIF:

Many women in rural Nevada have never had a mammogram. Fear, lack of funds, transportation conflicts, or no insurance are the main reasons women have not protected their health with this breast cancer screening process. Yet, we know that early detection of breast cancer saves lives.

The Mammovan will be visiting two Carson City locations on March 21-22 and will offer mammograms to geographically isolated and uninsured women. Through the kind support of several organizations, mammograms will be available by appointment, for age and income eligible, at no charge.

Courtesy of GrandViewOutdoors.com
Abetted by last summer's record flooding, Asian carp are continuing their advance up the Big Sioux and other Missouri River tributaries, as researchers and wildlife officials gear up to deal with the invasion.
"They're here, so the big question is, how many are we going to get?'' said Brian Graeb, an assistant professor in South Dakota State University's wildlife and fisheries department.

Here is the Northern Nevada, Northern California and Southern Oregon Fishing Report For the week of March 9-16:

By the Nevada Department of Wildlife
While it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to catch a fish, it obviously helps to be one to catch a 39-year old state record for the largest rainbow trout ever caught in Nevada.

Elko angler Mike Mott, who really has worked as a rocket scientist, caught the 16-pound, 8-ounce behemoth on Feb.10 at Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). It measured 30 1/2 inches long and its girth, according to Mott, is about 20 inches.

Here is the Northern Nevada and Northern California fishing report for the week of March 2:

By the California Department of Fish and Game
A San Francisco man was recently caught poaching abalone during the closed season – for the third time in three weeks.

The last arrest came on Feb. 19, 2011, when game wardens from the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) arrested Qiong Wang, 31, for felony conspiracy and take of abalone for commercial purposes, among other charges.

Wardens also arrested Wang’s companion, Michael Trevors, 28, of San Francisco, on similar charges.

Courtesy of GrandViewOutdoors.com
Ice fishermen in Iowa are having one of the best seasons in years.
From the northern portion of the state to the Mississippi River in our backyard, people are drilling holes in the ice and pulling in fish almost as fast as they can bait their hooks.

Joe Larscheid, Chief of Fisheries for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the banner year is no accident.

Zeb Hogan swims with the fishes and lives to write about it. In the March 2011 issue of National Geographic, the University of Nevada, Reno researcher and assistant professor is pictured swimming with a man-eating catfish and describes swimming underwater with a 400-pound Mekong giant catfish in one of his many adventures in the rivers of a dozen countries around the world.

Here is the Northern Nevada, Northern California and Sierra Fishing Report For the week of Feb. 23:

BLUE LAKES AREA, CALIF:
Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (866) 694-2930 www.woodfordsstation.com reported:
The road is closed for the winter.

CHETCO RIVER, ORE:
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (800) 720-ODWF www.dfw.state.or.us.com reported: Low and clear. Steelhead are throughout the system. Anglers fishing smaller baits and lighter line are doing the best.  Boat and bank angling pressure is light.

By the California Department of Fish and Game
A bear poaching conviction has landed a Novato, California man in state prison for two years. Wayne Richard Barsch, 49, was already a two-strike felon when sentenced on Feb. 4 by Glenn County Judge John Tiernan.
Barch will also face an as-yet-undermined fine, and his hunting and fishing privileges have been revoked for life.

Courtesy of GrandViewOutdoors.com
On a sunny afternoon, 15 workers are waist deep in a half-acre pond, tromping through 46-degree water and dragging a 120-foot net to catch several hundred small fish.

The fingerling yellow perch are being pulled from the water to be part of studies of the small fish, which is being introduced as an alternate commercial species in Alabama.

Here is the Fishing Report for the week of Feb. 16-23:

ALMANOR LAKE, CALIF:
Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530) 365-7500 www.shastacascade.com reported:
Current water surface temperatures are at 35.5 degrees with water clarity at 7.5 feet. It has been sunny all week as forecasted. With the afternoon highs moving into mid to low 50s, and more sunshine is on the way, with the next possibility of some rain near mid week.

By the California Department of Fish and Game
The public is invited to testify at an upcoming public meeting about salmon populations and the 2011 ocean and river salmon fisheries.

The 2011 Salmon Information Meeting, sponsored by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), will be held March 1 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Sonoma County Water Agency Building located at 404 Aviation Boulevard in Santa Rosa.

By GrandViewOutdoors.com
The battle to rid Alexander Creek of salmon-munching northern pike may escalate into a war next summer. More pike will be targeted by state biologists after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was awarded $635,000 from the Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund for a four-year program to kill pike.

That supplements $127,000 in state money devoted to the project.

By GrandViewOutdoors.com
A federal agency has announced $23 million to protect grasslands in Wyoming, Colorado and Montana for sage grouse, a chicken-sized bird whose males are known for flashy mating displays.

It would be offered as matching funds, with state, local and tribal governments or non-government agencies providing the other $23 million.

By GrandViewOutdoors.com

Some Idaho hunters who prefer to mount all-terrain vehicles to pursue their big-game quarry are chafing at Department of Fish and Game restrictions on where they can ride.

Under current hunting regulations, the state requires armed hunters who head out onto public land in about a third of Idaho's 99 hunting units to stick to established roads, while keeping away from off-road vehicle or jeep trails and areas that are otherwise open to unarmed recreational ATV riders.

A Carson City man faces misdemeanor larceny and resisting arrest charges and had to be Tasered because he refused to leave his vehicle when ordered by police.

According to the arrest report, the 55-year-old man was being held in a parking lot on Fairview Drive at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday after it was reported he had taken $62.81 worth of fish supply items from PetsMart without paying.

Story by Grand View Outdoors.com

Federal wildlife officials said Tuesday they have counted a total of 50 endangered Mexican wolves on the Arizona-New Mexico border, up from 42 wolves a year earlier.

The Fish and Wildlife Service's southwest regional director, Benjamin Tuggle, said the figure from last month's annual survey includes 29 wolves in Arizona and 21 in New Mexico.

Researchers determined there are two pairs of breeding wolves.

Story by Grand View Outdoors.com
North Dakota wildlife officials say an annual midwinter survey has found only about 7,300 Canada geese wintering on the Missouri River.

That's down dramatically from 25,400 in last year's survey.

But the state Game and Fish Department says this year's count might be underestimated because of poor lighting conditions the morning of the survey and the tight flocking behavior of roosting geese.

By the California Department of Fish and Game
Southern sea otters recently passed two grim milestones, report wildlife officials, demonstrating that the threatened marine mammal is not faring well in California waters.

According to a preliminary summary, 2010 broke the record for the number of southern sea otter carcasses recovered in one year, with a total of 304.

The California Department of Fish and Game has successfully returned two California black bear yearlings to the remote wilderness near Truckee. Both female cubs were orphaned last summer.

One cub was illegally dumped last June on the front porch of Ann Bryant, executive director of the BEAR League. Weighing only 12 pounds, the cub was emaciated and starving.

By the California Department of Fish and Game
From nuisance black bears and increasing salmon numbers to automated license sales and poaching arrests, 2010 was a busy year for the California Department of Fish and Game.

A popular new reality show airing on the National Geographic Channel, “Wild Justice,” is capturing some of the department’s doings, but far more happens behind the scenes.