Jesse's Hunting > Jim Matthews > Jan. 2001 To June 2001

Jan. 2001 To June 2001

DIAMOND VALLEY, RABBIT OPENER, USFS FEES -- matthews column 27jun01

Diamond Valley Reservoir two-thirds full; bass fishery reported to be awesome.

The original projected opening date for the sprawling new reservoir in western Riverside County -- Diamond Valley Reservoir -- was this year, but now the Metropolitan Water District is saying the facilities will not be open until March, 2003, when the marina and recreation areas will be completed.

With the lake 2/3s full and 140 feet deep in places that seems like a long wait to allow for shore fishing and perhaps some limited boat fishing access. The huge reservoir, which is located near Hemet, was created by building long dams at the mouths of two valleys that drain off the north end of Black Mountain. The dams block off the Diamond and Domenigoni valleys to create the largest reservoir in Southern California, one that will hold 800,000 acre feet of water when full. It is currently filled with about 570,000 acre feet.

The word is already starting to get out about the tremendous fishery that has been created at Diamond Valley (once called Domenigoni Reservoir and then Eastside Reservoir before the final name was bestowed). Mike Giusti, the Department of Fish and Game biologist on more-or-less permanent assignment as the Diamond Valley fishery and habitat specialist, has had generous MWD funding to create a model fishery at Diamond Valley. The lake has been planted with the purest strain Florida largemouth bass, Florida bluegill, redear, crappie, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, blue cats, and rainbow trout. Silverside minnows and shiners were added as forage for the gamefish, and the results so far have been pretty spectacular.

Before the lake started to fill, a rearing pond was built in the future lake bottom. Broodstock bass to eight pounds were released in the pond and there was a spawn of those fish in 1999. Later that year, as water was pumped into the new reservoir the lake level crested the pond and that year’s spawn of fish had the whole growing lake where they could feed. Those two-year-old fish are now in the 12- to 15-inch range and weigh from two to three pounds. For fish that size, they are chunks.

Giusti likes to point out that the Golden Ruler used by bass anglers to estimate weights would tell you that a 13-inch bass should weigh 1.1 pounds and a 15-inch fish should weigh around two pounds. And that is true at most places. At Diamond Valley, a 13-inch bass weighs right at two pounds and a 15-incher right at three pounds. The eight-pound broodstock bass that was in the pond was recaptured this year, and it weighed 12 pounds, putting on four pounds in just two years.

Giusti said the 2000 year class fish are all 10-inchers, and he estimates the bass population in Diamond Valley is around 300,000 fish already.“The sampling I’ve done out there is unreal,” said Giusti, who has been taking scale samples from 25 bass per month to chart growth rates. “Four of us on the electro-fisher, which is not the best boat to be fishing from, boated 300 bass in 3 1/2 hours of fishing. Three casts in a row I caught two fish on a the same jerk bait.”

The first trout plants went in during November and December last year. These were subcatchable-sized rainbows. These small fish are classed as to how many of them it takes to weigh a pound. The stocks late last year consisted of six to 15 fish to the pound. By May this year, those trout were in the one to 1 1/2-pound range.“That gives you some idea of the growth rates were going to see, at least initially,” said Giusti.

It sure would be nice to see the lake open to at least shore fishing this year. Giusti expects the two-year-old bass to be five-pounders by the end of the year. While regulations haven’t been adopted for the reservoir, Giusti is leaning toward a slot limit where two or three bass under 13 inches could be kept by anglers and one or two over 16 inches could be creeled. He’d like a zero limit on the smallmouth bass until they become established and regular limits on other species.

Let’s get this lake open by fall. At least to shore fishing. What do you say MWD?

RABBIT SEASON OPENS SUNDAY

Summer may not be close to over, but since last Thursday, the days are getting shorter. I swear I can feel the difference thanks to some primal part of my genetic makeup, and I start looking at drying hillsides for game trails. It is the hunter in me. I find myself drawn to regular hunting haunts to check out this year’s population of small game and upland birds. I look for fawn tracks on the deer trails, and if I run across bear tracks I search for the footprints of cubs. One or two young this year? Three? Thanks to a wet, late spring, it looks to be a good season. There are lots of young rabbits and the quail and chukar broods are bigger than last year.

My hunting has become less expeditionary and more residential the last few years. I like being able to leave the house before dawn or late in the evening, hunt for an hour, and be back home. I almost hate to tell my avid hunting buddies -- guys who yearn to travel all over the world for big game -- that my favorite hunting is for cottontail rabbits these days. Each year on the July 1 rabbit opener, which is this Sunday, I take an accurate .22 rimfire rifle, park myself on a hillside at dawn or dusk and watch the openings in the draws below me for moving rabbits. Scouting usually assures that I’m in a spot with more than a few rabbits, and we frequently have rabbits on the barbecue for the Fourth of July.

Maybe rabbits are my favorite because they mark the first hunting season of the fall cycle. Maybe it’s because there are few things I like to eat better than marinated young cottontail. Maybe it’s because I envy the coyotes and red-tailed hawks who get to hunt and eat them all year.

FOREST SERVICE FEES

As of June 15, the U.S. Forest Service fee program on four Southern California national forests has been in effect four years, and over $10 million has been raised through the daily and annual use fee. I have repeatedly caught flack for supporting the fee program, but recent polls show I’m not alone in my belief that recreational users have a responsibility to pony up to help pay for our impacts and enhance our enjoyment of public lands -- whether it be campground and trail maintenance, water and habitat development for wildlife, or simply regular trash pickups and outhouse cleaning. I like where the money is being spent and you can see the results on the ground. A Los Angeles Times poll in late April showed that 62 percent of all Californians believe the user fee is a good idea and should continue.

Sportsmen and anglers are accustomed to this concept. You pay for a hunting or fishing license and the money is used to benefit the fish and game and other wildlife. We have even set up an excise tax program on sporting arms and ammunition and fishing tackle to benefit fish and wildlife nationwide. We know the program works, and the Adventure Pass is a natural extension of that concept that applies to all forest users.

Come to think of it, I think I need to get my new annual pass.

EAST MOJAVE PRESERVE PLAN -- jim matthews column 20june01

East Mojave Preserve’s plan is prejudicial again hunters; restrictions excessive, biased

The National Park Service has issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement and General Management Plan for the East Mojave National Preserve. Two weeks ago, I wrote about how the NPS was removing historic water sources from the preserve without doing a careful analysis of their impacts on wildlife even before the management plan was final. This week the final plan proves the park staff’s bias against hunting and hunters in its rules and language.

Let me just illustrate this with three points.

Overall Bias Against Hunting/Hunters: Under the plan, the preserve will be closed to hunting from the end of January through August each year so “non-hunting visitors would experience fewer disruptions and greater safety with the restrictions on the seasons, species, and areas where hunting would be allowed.” That is a direct quote from the plan.

Am I being too sensitive here or does it seem like hunters are somehow viewed as lessor visitors who’s activities are somehow less important than non-hunters or deserve less consideration than non-hunters? If you were to substitute “black” or “Hispanic” in that sentence (“so non-black visitors....”), as a means of catering to racists who use the preserve and you begin to understand my disgust with the document’s language. Hunters and hunting are clearly being discriminated against in the plan. The rationale for the move, according to the final document, is because the park service “also has obligations to listen to the non-hunting community and has received many letters advocating complete elimination of hunting. The proposal is our best attempt to provide opportunities for all visitors to Mojave.”

Excuse me, but there is nothing in the plan that says non-hunters can’t use the park during hunting season so they don’t disrupt hunters, which is far more likely to happen than the other scenario. Yet, hunters are restricted because some people don’t like a legal activity. Would the park service also accept racist pleas to keep out any ethnic group for part of the year because the NPS staff believes in the First Amendment that protects free speech -- even for racists -- and would incorporate their wishes? The legislation that created the preserve specifically called for hunting to be allowed and “regulations closing areas to hunting... shall be put into effect only after consultation with the appropriate state agency....” Yet, the NPS is proposing closing the whole area to all hunting for small game (cottontail rabbits and jackrabbits) and predators (coyotes, bobcat and foxes), effectively shutting it down for half the year, without consulting with the California Department of Fish and Game.

No Small Game or Predator Hunting: Without any biological justification, the preserve staff has somehow ordained that hunting for upland birds and big game is acceptable, but that small game and predators should not be hunted. How did they pull this rabbit out of the hat? Well, it fit in with their desire to rid their preserve of hunters half the year, to give in to the racist’s -- I mean anti-hunter’s -- demands. The statewide season on jackrabbits is all year, coyotes can be hunted all year, and cottontail rabbit season opens July 1. If they allowed hunting for these species, they couldn’t very well close the preserve to hunters half the year. The ironic part of this is that desert tortoises were also used as a scapegoat for closing the preserve to hunting half the year, as though there were some connection to declines in tortoises and hunting (there isn’t). In fact, by stopping varmint hunting, the NPS staff is likely to increase mortality on tortoises through greater predation on young tortoises. They even admit that. They’re worried about hunters shooting tortoises, but it’s OK for coyotes to eat more. It’s OK for cars to run over more as we improve facilities and get more visitors. It’s prejudicial and it just doesn’t make sense.

Excessive Hunting Closures: Lastly, under the guise of public safety, the National Park Service staff further proves its bias against hunting and shooting. The one-mile rifle hunting closure around seven main areas in the preserve is totally bogus. There is no precedent anywhere in the state or nation for this size of firearms closure for public safety. The standard law to protect public safety is 150 yards from a road and 1/4-mile from an occupied dwelling. People who understand hunting and firearms use, know this is more than a completely safe margin. Yet, when this was pointed out the NPS staff in comments on the draft plan, they blew off the suggestion that all law enforcement agencies across the state and nation knew better how to set safety standards. Why? Because “of the well know fact that bullets fired from rifles may travel as much as one mile.”

I thought it was well known that bullets from a big game rifle might travel three or four miles, not just one mile. But apparently the NPS staff didn’t know this or their public safety zone distances might have been increased. Using the NPS staff’s logic, it would be wise to close all roads within a mile of any tortoise habitat because a tortoise could wander out onto a road and get run over. To protect children from being run over in campgrounds, all vehicles should have to be parked, say, a mile away and everyone walk in. Kids probably wouldn’t wander a mile away from camp and get run over that way. It would be safe.

I agree that it is the staff’s “responsibility to ensure.... safety,” but how they decide they know more firearms and hunter safety than agencies that deal with the issue daily is beyond me -- unless they have a bias against hunting and hunters. By and large, the document is a good one, but it has a prejudice against hunters and hunting -- and even hunted wildlife -- that goes beyond the bounds of rational judgment. This bias jumps out at any hunter who reads the plan.

The biggest disappoint of all, for me, is that at least a couple of the people on the staff that created this document are hunters and shooters who know how this document is fundamentally wrong and wrong-headed as it relates to hunters and hunting. These people shirked from their responsibility to stand up for what is right. This total lack of integrity is shameful -- as shameful as this document is flawed.

DUMB GUN LAWS: WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? -- matthews column 13jun01

California on verge of banning handgun sales; licensing handgun owners

The talking heads on the evening news and those editorials in many of the state’s newspapers have been calling it a “handgun safety” bill. The reality is that is a complete moratorium on the sale of all handguns made in the world today -- from Olympic target pistols to single shot handguns used for big game hunting and target shooting. Don’t believe me. Read Assembly Bill 1219 yourself. It will make it illegal for you or I to buy or sell, loan, or give to our grandchildren any “pistol, revolver of other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, unless that firearm includes an integrated mechanical safety device or other incorporated design technology that is designed to prevent children or other unauthorized users from discharging the handgun." The quote is directly from the text of the bill.

There is not a handgun made in the world today that meets the bill’s criteria. None. After the bill takes affect in January 1, 2006, it will be impossible to buy a classic Model 1911 .45 caliber. You can own one, but you will not be able to buy or sell or give such a gun to a friend or family member. You couldn’t even loan your target pistol to another shooting buddy to fire a match. I would not be able to give either of my sons my single shot Thompson/Center Contender pistol chambered for the esoteric wildcat 7mm TCU cartridge. If your grandfather wants to give you or your son his old .38 Special revolver that he carries around in his flyfishing vest with shot loads for rattlesnakes, you’d better have him do it before the beginning of 2006.

The bill will effectively put out of business many smaller gun shops who deal extensively with used firearms. There is some doubt that any company will have a product available by 2006 that will meet the criteria outlined by our sage legislature. Of course, that is what they want. They don’t believe you and I are responsible enough to own firearms. It’s about prejudice. Never mind that gun accidents are down, especially among children under 12. Never mind that the bill will likely cause more deaths and assaults because wives won’t be able to use hubby’s new “smart” handgun when the rapist or robber comes to call. Never mind that the media ignores the fact that firearms are used to avert crime millions of times a year, usually without a shot being fired. (Are you going to try to rob or assault someone if they have a .44 pointed at you? Most would-be crooks run.) Never mind the real number of gun accidents is minuscule, especially in relationship to how many guns are in circulation. Folks, this brain-dead bill passed the assembly of our state legislature last week. It will likely have smooth sailing in the state Senate.

HANDGUN OWNER LICENSING: But AB 1219 is not the worst of the gun legislation in California. The anti-gun legislature has passed two similar bills requiring licensing and live fire testing of all handgun owners this week -- Assembly Bill 35 and Senate Bill 52. Oh, the media jumped on the bandwagon when the bills were amended before passage to have the licenses called “safety certificates” instead of “handgun owner licenses.”But the result is the same. You’re registered and licensed. If these bills pass both chambers and are signed by the governor, anyone who wants to own a handgun will have to go through a fairly elaborate testing and shooting program -- to be administered by local law enforcement -- and then taxed for the license. The gun control crowd is big on saying, “Why shouldn’t gun owners be tested and licensed just like automobile drivers?” We already have this requirement when guns are used just like automobiles -- out in public. For someone to carry (drive) a gun in busy shopping malls or the workplaces of America, he has to have a Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW) permit. In most states, if you go through the requirements outlined in AB 35 and SB 52, you can get a CCW permit.
But not here in California. Why is that? It’s about bias.

Just like you don’t need a driver’s license to putt around on private property or on many dirt roads on public lands, for that matter, why should you need a license to shoot a gun at a range or out in the desert on BLM land? Of course, you shouldn’t. These two gun laws are the equivalent of requiring that you have a license for a car that stays in the garage or for a golf cart used to run you up and down the links.
The reality -- and a lot of my liberal, gun-owning friends don’t like to hear this because they just don’t believe it could happen -- is that the licensing scheme is just a registry for when the state bans handguns all together. You will then get a letter to turn in those guns or you’ll be a criminal. Can’t happen here, you say? It has happened within the last decade in Australia and Canada (crime rates have skyrocketed following gun bans, but never mind that, somehow society is safer, according to the politicians). Even in a best case scenario, there is just more taxation and more bureaucracy without tangible benefit. In a worst case scenario, it is the first step to loss of a whole class of firearms for reasons that really have nothing to do with public safety or crime reduction.

These bills are all smoke and mirrors and bias. Mostly bias. There is a profound ignorance about and prejudice toward guns and gun owners in the California legislature. They don’t know us. They don’t want to know us. Self-defense, recreational shooting, and hunting will be legislated away in a short matter of years if gun owners don’t get to know their elected representatives and their staffs. And there is no better time than in the coming weeks. The thing to do is call both your state assemblyman’s office and your state senator’s office and ask to come the local office for a face-to-face visit. Write a letter -- don’t just send an e-mail and don’t just telephone -- write a letter to the governor’s office. The goal: Let these people know you’re a gun owner, in addition to being a Little League coach or a season ticket holder at the local theater or whatever to show them you are just a regular person. Also make sure you let them know you vote.

The unfortunate reality of this debate is that there is not a Republican representative (with maybe one Senate exception) in the state who has supported any of these bills. There are darn few Democratic representatives in the state who have not. I know too many Democrats who own guns in this state for this to be happening. Gun-owning Democrats with Democratic representatives especially need to be making those phone calls.

WHERE’S THE NRA?: Lastly, I want to have a simple questioned answered? Where’s the National Rifle Association? As long as George W. Bush is in the White House it is pretty clear there will be no more assaults on the Second Amendment in Washington D.C. The NRA needs to move -- and I mean move -- the majority of its staff and financial resources to California to fight politicians here who just don’t get it.

Gun owners can sound a little haughty in this debate. We know we are right. The facts support our stand on gun ownership for self-defense, hunting, and under the Second Amendment. The facts prove these gun control laws do nothing to avert crime or benefit public safety, and in fact they often do the opposite. Even the polls show non-gun owners support our stands on gun ownership and hunting. But the politicians here just don’t get it. The NRA is the one organization that could make a huge difference in California. Political trends roll downhill to Washington D.C. from California, and it’s time the NRA learned this fact. Those of you who are NRA members should shoot e-mails their way. The NRA needs to flex its muscle here. The one thing politicians understand is money and pressure. The NRA, as our spokesman, has both. There is no better time than now.

Third annual Youth Outdoor Safari Day set for July 21

NORCO -- The Third Annual Youth Outdoor Safari Day will be held at Mike Raahauge's Shooting Enterprises complex in Prado Basin Saturday, July 21. This will be an all-day event and is expected to draw over 2,500 youngsters to participate in a wide variety of outdoor activities.“This event will be the first outdoor experience for kids attending and this is the best ‘Stepping Outdoors’ event that has ever been designed to educate the youth of Southern California," said Dennis Anderson, chairman of this year’s event for Safari Club International. It will be a fun-filled day where kids can learn a variety of outdoor skills in the field and put them to use. There will be wildlife exhibits, kayaking, decoy painting, duck, turkey and quail calling, fishing and casting competitions, falconry and dog training demonstrations.

Other featured events include the SCI Sensory Safari, where youngsters will actually be able to touch life-size mounted big game animals. There will be an archery range staffed by accredited bow hunters, smallbore clay target shooting, handgun and rifle target shooting with .22 rimfire, a custom designed BB gun range, and guided wildlife nature walks around a wetlands marsh. Sports celebrity guests are scheduled to appear throughout the day, and nationally-know shooters will put on shooting exhibitions for the kids. John Cloherty, nationally famous trick shooter will put on a his amazing shotgun demonstration, and two-time Olympian Dan Carlisle will attend the event. A special appearance by Cindy Shenberger, International Skeet Olympian and three-time National Champion, will highlight the shooting program.

Pre-registering for the event is highly recommended, and those attendees who do sign up early will receive a free gift. Event day registration begins at 8 a.m. Kids planning to attend the event are required to be under the supervision of a parent, grandparent or recognized group leader. Children under the age of 17 will be admitted free ( includes all activities and lunch) youths over the age of 17 and adults pay only $10 each, and couples bringing children will be charged $15 for the day. For more information, to advance register for Youth Outdoor Safari Day 2001, become a volunteer, make a donation or get involved in the program, contact Mike Raahauge's Shooting The event is being co-sponsored by the Orange County and Los Angeles chapters of Safari Club International.

Turner’s Outdoorsman sets August hunt date for wild pigs on Tejon

CHINO -- A series of non-guided hog hunts on the Tejon Ranch is being sponsored by Turner’s Outdoorsman, Mike Raahauge Shooting Enterprises, and California Hog Hunter newsletter. While the weekend hunts are not guided, they do include all food and two nights stay in one of the Tejon’s premium hunting lodges during the hunt. The next hunt is slated for August 3-5 and the cost is $500. This hunt is limited to just 10 hunters and six spots are already taken. Future dates are being set for November through June, with Turner’s planning monthly hog hunts on the ranch during that time frame, so hunters need to get on the mailing list and make reservations early.

“Our first hunt was a blast,” said Andy McCormick of Turner’s Outdoorsman. “The weather was miserable during the April hunt with snow and rain nearly all weekend, and a lot of the best places on the ranch couldn’t be hunted, but our group still managed to have about a 40 percent success rate. I expect our success to be better on the August hunt.” For more information, to be placed on the Turner’s hunts mailing list, or to make reservations, contact Jim Matthews, the editor of California Hog Hunter, at 909-887-3444. Matthews is handling the booking for these special hunts on the Tejon.

NATIONAL PARK HYPOCRISY -- jim matthews column 6jun01

East Mojave National Preserve removing wildlife water sources

Even before the general management plan has been approved and adopted, it appears the East Mojave National Preserve management staff has moved ahead with its wholesale removal of man-made watering devices that potentially support a vast network of wildlife in this desert region.Twice this past weekend at the Raahauge's Shooting Sports Fair in Norco, I had hunters come by and tell me stock tanks and windmills had been removed. These are places they had hunted for 20 years in the East Mojave that have always had open water available for wildlife. That water was gone."A stock tank and windmill about a quarter-mile from where we camp on our quail hunts in the East Mojave were gone this past fall, and several other tanks were also gone," said one hunter.

Dennis Schramm, a management assistant for the National Preserve, said that the cattle tanks and windmills from one of the former cattle ranches in the East Mojave were indeed removed this past year when the lease, patented property within the preserve boundary, and water rights were purchased by the National Park Foundation. The rancher choose to remove the tanks and windmills and use them on other property when he sold out. Schramm said that agreements to purchase two other major inholdings have approved, and that more tanks, windmills, and water pipelines are pending removal if the National Park Service decides not to either purchase the "cultural" resources, as the park staff call windmills and stock tanks.

The loss of water for wildlife has not been carefully examined in this equation. The NPS is intent on removing as much of man's imprint from the desert as possible. Wildlife be damned in the process. Instead of adopting a go-slow, conservative approach to see and examine when and where the man-made water could be removed without damaging wildlife populations, the staff is willing to sacrifice wildlife to make the preserve "natural" again. There was no effort made to purchase the windmills and tanks on the one purchase, and all above ground pipelines were removed by NPS staff. This system is gone, and the same thing is likely to happen on the other two purchases.

These people just don't get it. On one hand, it is perfectly acceptable to improve roads, increase visitor usage, enlarge campgrounds and visitor centers, make trails -- all that have a negative impact on wildlife and habitat -- but it's not OK to leave beautiful, historic windmills and stock tanks that support wildlife. It just doesn't make sense. It is talking out of both sides of your mouth.

Many of us who supported the creation of a National Preserve, in stead of leaving the management of the East Mojave in the hands of the Bureau of Land Management, are particularly frustrated. We supported the dirt road closures, we supported the phasing out of cattle grazing and mining, and we supported bans on off-road vehicle use. Why? These are things that protect and would enhance the area for wildlife. We don't understand the move to get rid of desert water. All water in the desert is precious and adds to the amount of habitat that can be used by wildlife. The windmills and stock tanks are part of the reason why the East Mojave has so much wildlife. Add this water to the 200-plus springs and 130 man-made guzzlers (and the jury is still out on these in the NPS eyes), and you know why the area is wildlife rich.

Schramm said the final management plant for the preserve will be out the end of the month and "that few changes were made to the final draft." If that is the case, I am fairly certain that sportsmen and conservation groups are likely to sue the agency to stop the implementation of the plan, to stop them from destroying wildlife water sources before examining the consequences of removing windmills and water tanks. If the California Department of Fish and Game was truly interested in the state's wildlife resources, they would lead this charge to get the NPS to change its wrong-headed ways.

FREE FISHING DAY: This Saturday (June 9) is free fishing day in California. No, that doesn't mean that it is free to fish every place in the state, but it does mean you don't have to have a fishing license to fish anywhere in the state -- fresh or salt water. Many marinas, landings, parks, and private waters also offer discounts on boat rentals or free rental tackle on "free fishing day" to encourage people to try the sport. Saturday is a good day for anglers to bring along friends and family who normally don't fish so they can find out just how much fun it can be. In spite of the tremendous fishing opportunities in California -- many of them right in urban centers -- the number of anglers continues to decline in the state. With the ineptness of the state and federal fishery agencies, and the fishing industry itself, in maintaining and recruiting anglers, it is really up to individual fishermen to bring people back to this great pastime. So, Saturday really should be "Take a Friend Fishing Day."

LAKE SKINNER FIASCO: The Balloon and Wine Festival will be at Lake Skinner this Friday through Sunday. This is a fine event, but Riverside County Parks and Open Space is so mismanaged that it can't figure out how to keep the park open to fishing the same time it's leasing out part of the facility for the Balloon and Wine Festival. The county parks staff has a communication problem that borders on dysfunctional. The marina staff believed that anglers could park in the festival parking area and walk down to fish. The head ranger at the park, Ruben Rodriguez, first said the park was closed to fishing during the show, and then he said it would be inconvenient for anglers to fish because they would have to purchase a festival ticket and walk through the festival grounds. So, no, it's really not open, he said. People staying in the campground could fish, however. After talking with him, I really wasn't sure if the lake was open to fishing or not. At the main office, parks director Paul Fransden wouldn't talk to me, and no one else knew the answer or returned calls in time to clarify the situation for this story.

Maybe the Riverside Parks people could call San Bernardino County Parks and find out how to do two things at the same time. San Bernardino County has the Renaissance Faire each year at Glen Helen (ongoing right now). Throughout the run of the Faire, a major portion of the park is still open to regular visitors and fishermen. Amazing. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors need to look at the management of the Parks and Open Space District. Or lack of management. The way the parks are run in Riverside County is a legendary, sad joke throughout the region.

HUNTER SAFETY CLASS SCHEDULE

First-time hunters in California are required to pass a 10-hour hunter education class before purchasing a hunting license. These classes also satisfy the California requirement for a safety course before a handgun may be purchased. The following is a list of regularly scheduled classes coming up in the next month:

Saturday, June 9, at the Inland Fish and Game Conservation Association Range, Redlands. Registration is 7:30 a.m. and the fee is $8 per student. The class includes live-firing and students should bring a lunch and drinks for the all-day class. Classes are held the second Saturday of each month at the Inland Range. Contact: (909) 781-HUNT.... Sunday, June 10, in Rancho Cucamonga, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Price is $10 per person. Kids under 16 are required to pick up a study book in advance. Contact Gene Hubler at (909) 987-0811. Hubler runs classes the second Sunday of each month.... Saturday, June 16, at Mike Raahauge's Shooting Enterprises' Sporting Clays Range, Norco. Registration is 6:30 a.m. and the fee is $35 per student, which includes instruction, hunter safety certificate, lunch and refreshments. Participants must register at a Turner's Outdoorsman store or Raahauge's Shooting Enterprises and bring their hunter safety booklet the day of class. Classes are normally the second Saturday of each month. Contact: (909) 735-7981.

Sunday, June 17, at the Walmart, Victorville. This class is held the first Sunday of each month, and the first and third Sundays in June and September. Fee is $15 per student. Students can sign up and pick up a study book at the sporting goods department in Walmart or call Ken Crawford at (760) 948-4218.... Saturday, June 23, at the Maywood Rod and Gun Club, Perris. The club runs a hunter safety class the fourth Saturday of each month at its range in Perris, except for Nov. and Dec., when the class is the third Saturday. Contact Bob Williams at (909) 685-3908.... Saturday, June 23, at Prado Tiro, Chino. The one-day class begins 7:30 a.m. the fourth Saturday of each month in the Airgun Hall. Cost is $15 (includes ammunition and range fees). Bring a lunch, snacks, and drinks. Contact: (909) 656-3359.

Qualified hunter education instructors are available within a short distance of most any Southern California location, and courses are conducted throughout the year. For a recorded list of volunteer hunter education instructors, their locations and telephone numbers, call (562) 590-5670, or access the list via the Department of Fish and Game website at www.dfg.ca.gov.

Spanish language instructors can be found in Santa Ana, Orange County, Colton in San Bernardino County, Escondido in San Diego County, and Lompoc in Santa Barbara County. And in Los Angeles County, Spanish language hunter education courses are available in Baldwin Park, Canoga Park, Inglewood, and Torrance.

URBAN LEGEND: LAKE MATHEWS -- jim matthews' outdoor column -- 30may01

Lake Mathews' legend looms larger than reality.

The sun was just starting to break through the morning fog and clouds when the car stopped on the road above Lake Mathews, located nearly in downtown Riverside, and the driver walked over to the edge of the road and yelled down at us."How's fishing?"Considering that Mitch Southern and I were fishing a water that has become an urban legend, we didn't want to burst the man's bubble. So we lied."It's OK," said Mitch."You should have been out earlier, the fishing's better early," said the man, sounding like someone who knew more about fishing a closed lake than he should have. Then he paused. "I mean, you can see the stripers jumping early in the morning." Then another pause, realizing again that he knew too much. "I assume they're stripers."

Then he scurried back to his car and drove away hurriedly. Mitch and I looked at each other and started laughing."You think he might have some first-hand knowledge about fishing Mathews?" I asked Mitch while he laughed. He was just one of a half-dozen cars that stopped on the roadway to talk or merely watch as we fished from Mitch's bass boat. One guy watched for a long time from the cab of his big truck, then drove away shaking his head. We didn't catch a fish the whole time he watched and it was clear that he either thought we were incompetent and that all the stories he'd heard about Mathews for years were lies. Knowing how legends take on a life of their own, (and that I was picking out backlashes a couple of times while he watched) it was more likely that he thought we were duffers.

First, I need to say the lake is not named after me or anyone in my family. Lake Mathews is spelled with only one "T" and not two. Besides, the only thing my family might have named in its honor is a pub in England or Germany (depending on which of the many branches you want to follow back), or at least a bar stool in a pub. Second, we were two of about 30 anglers last Friday who got invited to fish Mathews by the Mike Giusti, a Department of Fish and Game fishery biologist. The goal was to catch largemouths to transfer to Lake Skinner and catfish to the new Diamond Valley Reservoir near Hemet. Mitch and I were there the last of five fishout days set up by Giusti. Mitch thought it was going to be Nirvana.

But as with many legends, it didn't live up to its billing. I was prepared for this by Giusti, and I tried to convince Mitch the fishing probably wouldn't be very good. Ya, sure. Mitch kept grinning like a kid in a candy store, and it took three hours of tough fishing to convince him, and then he still wouldn't give up."The fishing's been a lot better at Silverwood," said Mitch after we'd pounded the water for four hours. Finally. I know this won't convince you, either, because we've all heard stories about guys who've illegally snuck into this closed lake and caught 10-pound bass."We have yet to see a 10-pound fish come out of this lake," said Giusti. "That's after catching over 1,000 bass and moving them to Skinner. The biggest fish we've seen out of Mathews is a six-pounder."

For years, Mathews received large and frequent bluestone (copper sulfate) treatments in an attempt to clear the water of blue-green algae. The treatments become more frequent and bigger and the fishery, which has been monitored by the DFG for years, declined to nearly nothing. There was a time when it was indeed a very good bass and crappie fishery, but it hasn't had much of the fishery for 10 years or more. All the bass we caught (all four of them) were relatively skinny. All the bass in the pen caught by other anglers Friday were skinny. And there weren't very many of them. Last year, at the catch-out, Giusti said the two-day fishout produced 660 bass for about 100 anglers. This year, the total five-day tally was only 480 bass for about the same number of anglers. Timing was part of the problem this year, admitted Giusti, but the reality is that the legend is far bigger than the reality. It's a good little fishery, but certainly not better than Perris or Silverwood, or even Skinner.

Still, the question that all anglers always ask: Will it ever be opened? Giusti doesn't think so. And certainly not in a Lake Perris sense. The water district has to protect the water quality, and the DFG has endangered species obligations on the land around the lake."The only way I could ever envision it opening, is if someone approached Metropolitan (Water District) and gave them a proposal for a limited entry program like at Barrett Lake," said Giusti, comparing Mathews to a San Diego City water. Barrett is a permit-only lake with very limited access. "But would it be worth it?"I'm of the opinion that any addition to the number of places to fish is a good idea, even if it would spoil a legend. Anyone out there interested in approaching MWD about running a small fishing concession at Lake Mathews?

CATCHING A DREAM: The following note came to me from Ed White of 976-TUNA in an e-mail this week, and I wanted to pass it on to all of you. It might make you think a little differently about "fishermen" next time we fib just a little about the size of the fish we catch or the one that got away. These are the kinds of fishermen I know. The old expression about God not deducting from a man's allotted time the hours he spends fishing makes us want this fishing trip to never end.

"To `catch a dream,' that is what some very special kids were doing Saturday aboard the sportfishing boat "Qualifier 105" out of Point Loma Sportfishing in San Diego. I felt blessed to be there. There were 19 children, ages nine to 17 years old, from the San Diego area on the boat that day. They were all either oncology or hematology cancer patients who -- along with parents, nurses and other volunteers -- spent a day on the ocean fishing, catching barracuda, bass, halibut and other assorted fish. The air was filled with shrieks of joy and excitement, and for most of theses kids it was their very first fishing trip. For some, I struggled with the idea that it would be their last.
"These trips all started over 11 years ago when Natalie Cintas, owner of Blue Porpoise Marine, asked some of her customers to take a couple of these kids out fishing.

The program immediately out grew these small boats, and she contacted John Klien, owner, operator of the Qualifier105 to see if he could help. Without hesitation, John said "yes" and "Catch a Dream" became a reality. "Over the last five years John and his crew have taken over 1,000 of these kids out fishing aboard the Qualifier 105. All the necessary fishing tackle, bait, food, snacks and professional crew are all a donation from John and his operation at Point Loma Sportfishing. The many volunteers came from as far away as Topanga Canyon and Torrance to assist these kids in catching fish. "I've known John a long time, and I asked him why I hadn't heard of this endeavor before this year? John's reply was simple.

He was not doing it for the publicity, but rather for the pure joy it brings seeing these kids catch their very first fish, their smiles and laughter, and for a very brief moment, that opportunity they had to forget the other side of their lives. Without exception, every last one of the volunteers, along with John and his crew, left with a better understanding and love for these children, their families and caretakers. I don't know if John would really want this to become a newspaper story, but I wanted you to know about it. Maybe we could get more boats and volunteers quietly involved in this program. "Catching a dream is what all of these children and their parents pray for each day, and this past Saturday they caught that dream for a while." -- Ed White.

SENSIBLE FACTORY AMMUNTION -- jim matthews unplugged column 23may01

Magnums and Reduced Loads

With hunting applications from three states scattered all over my desk, I went and shot a couple of big game rifles this week. I realized I needed to be working up some new loads for new .300 and .338 in the gun safe. The event reminded me that I don't like guns that have a serious recoil. I like the performance from those hard-kicking guns in the field, but they are not pleasant to shoot while practicing. And most of use need to practice. I rarely notice recoil when I'm hunting. I know this because I shoot a lot of three-inch 12-gauge high velocity steel loads for waterfowl.

Since I'm not a very good shot, it isn't uncommon for me to shoot a box of shells on a good hunt. I never notice the recoil when ducks are flying. But those high-speed steel loads kick. I wanted to chronograph (measure the speed of the shot, for those of you who might not know that word) some of these shells and do some patterning. After about three rounds from the benchrest with the shotgun, I started developing a headache and severe flinch. I decided a couple of rounds on the patterning board were good enough, and that I would believe the factory ballistic tables.

I can't get away with that for my big game hunting rifles. For every shot I fire hunting big game, I probably shoot 100 to 200 rounds in practice, load development, and accuracy testing. Maybe more. If there is anything more unpleasant that shooting a .300 or .338 magnum from the bench, I'm not sure what it would be. I'd rather go to my dentist. At least he blasts me up with Novocain before inflicting the damage. The result is that we don't shoot our big guns as much in practice as we should. We don't get used to the trigger. We don't take the gun out to plink around with or shoot varmints because it just boots us too much. How does this translate in the field? If all the pig guides I talk with all the time are any indication, it translates into dismal field shooting ability."It's an every other day event around here," said one guide Tuesday. "We had a guy who couldn't hit a pig at 75 yards this week."

"Oh, it's just awful," said another guide. "It is such a surprise and pleasure when a guy shows up who can shoot his rifle."They're talking about MOST of us. Virtually every guide I know will tell the same story: Most guys can't shoot in the field. I'll say that again: Most of us shoot poorly in the field. The combination of excitement, little or no field practice on how to shoot in the woods, and scanty bench-rest shooting with our rifles leads to dismal shooting. Often the root of that problem is because we don't like getting belted around practicing. So we don't do it. A lot of us are uncomfortable shooting .30-06-class cartridges, and the .300 mags, .338s, or the new ultra magnums are even worse. Yet, it's these guns that are touted in all the magazines as the latest, greatest new guns. So we buy them.

After shooting five, full-power, tooth-rattling loads through the .338, I put the gun away. This set me to thinking. Why don't the major ammunition makers put together some light and medium loads, especially for the magnum rounds? They do for rimfire and pistol shooters. It would really make sense if owners of a .300 magnum could buy loads that ranged form a 150-grain load that rumbled along at .30-30 velocities, around 2,200 fps or so, for close range deer hunting and practicing. We should then be able to buy a medium-range 165-grain load at 2,800 or 2,900 fps (.30-06 class) for most of our Western deer or pig hunting, and then have the regular 180-grain loads at 2,960 fps and the high energy 180-grain loads at 3,100 for whacking big boars or elk across canyons.

What a way to add versatility to the magnum rifles. But even more importantly, maybe guys like us would shoot those .300 and .338 mags more if there were some decent, light-recoiling factory loads available. I know I would have loved to shoot a couple of boxes through the .338 to get accustomed to the trigger and feel of the rifle. Just maybe we would end up being better field shooters.

Western deer herds recovering -- jim matthews unplugged column 16may01

Hammered by drought and severe winters over the past decade, deer herds declined throughout the West. But the last four years of mild weather has precipitated deer increases throughout the region. However, biologists say the way we manage public lands will have to change if we want to turn around the long-term deer decline. The bottom line for this fall is that hunters are likely to see more mule deer bucks and the chance for a trophy class animals is better this year than for a nearly 10 years, but Western game managers in all the states still say the long-term prognosis for mule deer is gloomy, and the trend is for steadily declining populations.

The reasons for the short-term increase are four mild winters in a row that led to great overwinter survival of fawns. There has been enough moisture that good feed conditions have also led to vigorous antler development, and there are a lot of deer born in the years immediately after the dieoffs of the 1992-93 winter that are reaching maturity and should be sporting quality antlers this fall. The opportunities for trophy class deer will increase each year until another major winterkill crops off the older age class of bucks again. On the dark side of this silver lining, however, game biologists are reporting a steady downward trend in mule and blacktail deer numbers throughout their range. In California, the statewide deer herd has dropped from 800,000 deer just 10 years ago to around 500,000 deer or less this year. Colorado's deer harvest continues to be at record low levels -- less than it's elk harvest.

What are the reasons for the decline? Several things are working together to drive deer numbers down, but the number one reason given by scientists is gradual shift over the past 30 years to mature habitats. Whether the habitat is Great Basin sagebrush, pinon-juniper woodlands, or forest lands in the Rockies or Pacific Northwest, all are approaching and being managed for a climax-type forest. This might benefit the spotted owl, but it is dismal for mule deer, and dozens of other species, that depend on successional habitats with lots of brush and open space.

Wildfires are put out before they can burn any significant amount of ground. Controlled burns are done in novelty acreages instead of in the size and number that would really have any impact on the health of the forest. Timber harvests are being curtailed, and where they are allowed, replanted areas are treated with herbicides to kill all brush. U.S. Forest Service lands are being managing as though mature forest are the only "good" forests, or -- the other extreme -- as though they were tree farms for private industry.

Western sage lands are being overgrown with pinon and juniper, choking out the brush that support deer, and they are become so old as to be decadent and useless as wildlife habitat. Or they are burning and being turned into grassland. Biologists in Utah say they have less than five percent of the sagebrush habitat they had 25 years ago. Nevada biologists say that if the conversion of sage habitat was happening in any other habitat type, it would be a national disaster. Human encroachment into prime mule deer habitat is happening at an unprecedented rate. Once rural areas in central Oregon, southwestern Idaho, the front country in Colorado, and Montana's river valleys are turning into suburban, ranchette neighborhoods that gobble up the best mule deer winter ranges, and the new residents kill more deer on roads than are legally taken by hunters during the season.

Now add into the habitat declines, booming predator numbers. Bans or restrictions on hunting mountain lions and fur trapping, fur prices that have bottomed out so there are few plying the trade commercially, and reductions in federal, state, and local control measures on predators all have led to huge increases in coyote, bobcat, and mountain lion numbers -- and a proportional increase in their predation on game. Small, localized deer herds have been all but wiped out by predators, and many populations are not recovering their numbers in the face of much better habitat conditions.

While we may never have the numbers of mule deer we had in the 1960s, more even-handed management of our public lands to benefit all species -- not just late seral stage species -- could be a first major step. It will take major pressure on Washington D.C.'s offices of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management by hunter and conservation groups to change the current management directions. While the long-term prospects for Western deer are clouded, there are still millions of these great game animals throughout the region, and this fall is shaping up as one of the best for hunters in nearly a decade. Here's a state-by-state summary for hunters heading out of state.

Arizona
Mule deer numbers continue to be at near-record lows in much of the state, and tag numbers reflect the low herd numbers.
There is one glimmering exception to the poor overall picture -- the Kaibab Plateau in the northern part of the state which continues to see good herd growth. The Kaibab produces more huge mule deer bucks than any single place in the nation, and this is the fourth year in a row with adequate rainfall. The rains translate into better feed which means better antler growth. Hunters here can expect to see some real monsters this year. The Kaibab annually produces several bucks with 35 to 40-inch spreads and massive non-typical racks. While rifle tags are nearly impossible to draw for the Kaibab, archers can still hunt the region with an over-the-counter tag. The one other moderately bright spot has been the southwestern desert regions which saw a good carryover of bucks and good production for the third year in a row. While comparatively few tags are issued in these areas, there were increases in tag numbers. For more information, write Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2222 W. Greenway Road, Phoenix, AZ 85203; www.state.az.us/gf/welcome.html; 602/942-3000.

Colorado
For the third season in a row, Colorado has issued all of its deer licenses through a drawing in hopes of improving buck-doe ratios in its herds and more closely controlling harvest on different herds. Only the Uncompaugre Plateau and the Gunnison areas are still well below herd objectives. Mule deer herds in the northwest, in the traditional hunting areas near Craig, Rifle and Meeker, along the Front Range near Boulder and Denver, and in the north-central region north of Steamboat Springs are at or near objectives set by the agency and should provide good hunting this year. There will also be more mature bucks in the population thanks to a better carryover of bucks. Colorado's deer license jumped to $270, and all tags were issued through a drawing already. Elk tags, however, are still available over the counter. Costs will make you gasp at over $400. For more information, contact the Colorado Division of Wildlife, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216; www.dnr.state.co.us/wildlife/; 303/297-1192.

Idaho
Mule deer herds in Idaho were devastated throughout the state during the 1992-'93 winter, but habitat conditions since then have been generally very good, according to Ed Mitchell with the Game and Fish Department. "We've had good to tremendous fawn production and where ever there are deer, there are lots of them," said Mitchell. He said the state was issuing more antlerless permits and that more and more trophy bucks are being taken. Deer tags, which are sold first-come, first-serve to non-residents, once sold out within days of being offered for sale, but since a tag and license fee increase in 1993 -- which happened to coincide with one of the worst deer seasons in recent history -- tag sales have fallen dramatically and the non-resident statewide quota has not sold out since. This is one of the only places where you can still probably pick up a mule deer tag. For more information, contact the Idaho Department of Game and Fish, P.O. Box 25, Boise, ID 83707; www.state.id.us/fishgame/fishgame.html; 208/334-3700.

Montana
Whitetail deer are on the verge of another population boom in Montana, while the mule deer herds are recovering slowly from a major winterkill in the 1996-'97. Mule deer were already at low numbers when they were mowed down even further by that severe weather, and many critics of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks contend that last general season hunts on mule deer in the rut have all but wiped older age class animals. Montana simply is not a trophy destination for mule deer hunters any longer. Whitetails, however, are a completely different story. They are moving up all of the major rivers and into the forests in the Western part of the state. Their population have proven very resilient and the trophy quality of bucks coming from Montana is impressive virtually where ever the whitetails are found. The Bitteroot Valley and Flathead River country are two top spots for trophy bucks. For more information, contact the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 1420 E. Sixth Avenue, Helena, MT 59620; www.fwp.mt.gov/; 406/444-2535

Nevada
Outstanding overwinter fawn survival for the fourth year in a row has game managers in Nevada excited about the near-future for mule deer here, according to Greg Tanner with the Nevada Division of Wildlife. "We suffered the same drastic dieoff in the winter of '92-'93 that a lot of other states also saw, and it's been kind of along recovery process. But we've finally recovered and our deer are generally doing well," said Tanner of the agency's spring surveys. The top deer units are along the northern third of the state, with Area 10 showing some of the best numbers and highest quality bucks in the surveys. It is also one of the toughest to draw in the April drawings. For more information, contact the Nevada Division of Wildlife, P.O. Box 10678, Reno, NV 89520-0022; www.state.nv.us/cnr/nvwildlife/; 775/688-1500.

New Mexico
Overall, mule deer herds are at very low levels, although there have been some gains in deer numbers in northern units and the Guadalupe Mountains continue to have high deer densities, according to Darrell Waybright with the New Mexico Game and Fish Department. Waybright said the northwest region continues to have the biggest bucks, especially those units right along the Colorado border in regions B and C. The Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, once regaled as the finest trophy mule deer spot in the West, has again become a hotbed for monster bucks, and the draw units surrounding the reservation are also very good again. For more information, contact the New Mexico Game and Fish Department, State Capitol, Vallagra Building, Sante Fe, NM 87503; www.gmfsh.state.nm.us/; 505/827-7911

Oregon
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife reports its mule deer population have increased again this year in most areas. The southeast has been slower in its recovery from the '92-'93 winter, but even those drier, desert units are improving. In the northeastern and northcentral parts of the state, the deer herds have really bounced back. The Steens Mountain and Trout Creek units are still the most coveted tags for hunters seeking a trophy mule deer buck, and another mild winter bodes well for carryover of those older age class animals. Blacktail herds are generally stable, although there have been declines in herds at lower elevations due to outbreaks of hair loss disease. Other blacktail tags are available over-the-counter, while all mule deer tags are issued in drawings. For more information, contact the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department, P.O. Box 59, Portland, OR 97207; www.dfw.state.or.us/; 503/872-5268.

Utah
Utah's mule deer population has continued to grow due to mild and generally moist winters, and the population is at the statewide goal of 400,000 deer. Once a state with over-the-counter tags, hunters should write or call now to get leftover tags in a second drawing coming up soon. Utah's Paunsaugunt limited entry hunt grows the biggest mule deer in the United States, sharing that honor with Arizona's Kaibab, which is right next door. Hunters face tough draw odds to get a Paunsaugunt tag and pay higher tag fees for this premium opportunity. But it is well worth the expense. A second unit, Elk Ridge, is also being managed with greatly reduced tag quotas so more deer will reach trophy size, and more and more monster bucks are being seen in this area. Many hunters believe it will rival the Paunsaugunt in a few seasons. For more information, contact the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, 1596 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84116; www.nr.state.ut.us/dwr/dwr.htm; 801/538-4700.

Washington
Washington deer herds are still recovering from a severe winter in 1996-97 and disease problems in both whitetails and blacktails. But, on the upside, this is the fourth year in a row of average or improved fawn production and Rolf Johnson, deer and elk specialist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said they have turned the corner of the declines of the past decade. Johnson said some mule deer units have bounced back better than others, and suggested the Okanagon was a good bet, and he called the Blue Mountains southeast corner of the state, managed with a shorter season and three-point restriction, a "sleeper" unit for better quality mule deer bucks. The extreme northeast part of the state has also become a tremendous whitetail trophy area. For more information, contact the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98504; www.wa.gov/wdfw/; 360/902-2200.

Wyoming
Good to excellent fawn recruitment the past three years has led to what Wyoming Game and Fish officials are saying will be the best deer hunting year in a decade. There is still some apprehension for this spring's dry conditions and how that might affect the future, but the picture was generally bright for this fall. Regions G and H have long been the hotspot for big deer in Wyoming, but the best single trophy hunt is probably the late season buck hunt in units 128-129 around Dubois when the deer are in the rut and have moved onto winter range. The biggest problem is getting a tag -- only seven percent of those who apply draw a tag in the March application-drawing period. For more information, contact the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Information Section, Cheyenne, WY 82002; gf.state.wy.us/; 307/777-4600 for general information, or 307/777-4597 for license information.

SHOOTING SPORTS FAIR: JOHN CLOHERTY FEATURE -- 16may

John Cloherty sees the world through rose-colored glasses

NORCO -- John Cloherty buys aspirin by the hundreds but he doesn't use them to ease the pain of headaches. In fact, he might give a few headaches as he shoots the aspirin out of the air with a .22 rifle. But he also likes to blast clay targets in flight with his revolver, and he prefers making his tossed salads with a shotgun. While some people might see this activity as a bit odd, Cloherty is seeing the world through rose-colored glasses -- both figuratively and literally. The 46-year-old Pasadena resident has the reputation as one of the finest exhibition shooters in the West, reviving the era when all of the major firearm manufacturers had traveling road shows with trick shooters who used shotguns, rifles and pistols in their often incredible displays of marksmanship. It's like living a dream for the long-time shooter and hunter.

"This career has developed well past my wildest dreams," said Cloherty, who will be returning the weekend of June 1-3 to the place where his career was launched 14 years ago. "I watched Dan Carlisle, one of the best exhibition shooters in the world, perform here. I was just amazed, and 10 minutes later I decided I wanted to learn how to do some of those tricks." Cloherty had watched Carlisle, an Olympic medalist in shotgun shooting, at the Raahauge's Shooting Sports Fair. This year, Cloherty will return to the Raahauge's Shooting Sports Fair as the headlining exhibition shooter at this annual event. And he's adding some new twists to the succession of outstanding exhibition shooting programs that have been a benchmark of this show since its inception.

"I'm trying to bring a wider range of guns into my act than has ever been done in recent years,'" said Cloherty of his daily performances. "Using shotguns, rifles, and handguns hasn't been done since the 1920s and 30s." Cloherty, who set a world record at the Sports Fair for the most clay targets broken in one hour at 4,551, also sees his exhibitions as a benefit to the shooting sports and gun ownership in general. "This is a way for all people to see that those of us who like to use guns are not insane whackos in a tower some where. We are just people who like to go out with their guns and have fun," said Cloherty. He uses the booming growth of sporting clays shotgun shooting, as an example of a tremendously fun and safe sport that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

The Raahauge's Shooting Sports Fair, which was the first firearms show in the nation that was a hands-on affair, allowing those attending the show to both look at and shoot the latest in firearms, has never had an exhibition shooter that used anything other than shotguns in his program. Cloherty uses a .22 rifle to break a succession of smaller targets in the air, finishing with Alka-Seltzer and aspirin tablets. He also uses a .45 auto handgun to break aerial targets. But shotgun shooting is his specialty. His trademarks are a brilliant-colored gun and an over-the-head shooting style. He can also break targets shooting between his legs like a football center, while holding the gun upside down. He calls this stunt the "quarterback's nightmare."

The perennial favorite of his program is something all of the shotgun exhibition shooters call the "quarter-acre salad." There is something about watching cabbages and watermelons explode that delights an audience. Attendees of the Shooting Sports Fair have watched Dan Carlisle, John Satterwhite, and Tom Knapp do their versions of the salad in the past. Cloherty says "I do believe that I'm 10 times messier than anyone who does it. It just has gotten messier and messier over the years. I go through a supermarket now and wonder, `how would that blow up?' Everyone loves it." Cloherty brings more than a visual element to the show. He has found that shotgun-exploded onions add a wonderful aroma to the program. In fact, it brings tears to your eyes. But for Cloherty, who wears rose-colored shooting glasses, they are tears of joy because it has allowed him to turn his avocation into a career.

The Raahauge's Shooting Sports Fair will be held June 1-3 at Mike Raahauge Shooting Enterprises in Prado Basin in Norco. Admission to the show is $12 for adults per day, and parking is free. You can pick up a $2 off admission discount coupon at all Turner's Outdoorsman stores. Women and kids get in free. Show hours are noon to 6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information or directions, call Mike Raahauge's Shooting Enterprises at (909) 735-7981.

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BIG GAME APPLICATION TIME -- jim matthews unplugged (outdoor commentary) -- 09may01

It's application time for California hunters

With the close of spring turkey season this past Saturday, it might seem like a long dry spell until the first deer seasons open in July (if you're a bowhunter) and August (for rifle guys), but now is the time to start thinking about applying for California big game permits for special deer, elk, pronghorn, and bighorn hunts. The application deadline is June 4, less than a month away.

Those of you who applied for tags last year should have received a nice packet from the Department of Fish and Game that included the 2001 Big Game Hunting application booklet, mailing labels, and mailing envelopes. The DFG deserves a lot of credit for making this process as easy as possible through this mailing, and it is a great service for those of us who apply every year -- even through, if you're like me, you never seem to get drawn for anything. For those of you who didn't apply, the application booklets are available at all license agents, along with new licenses.

Deer hunters will want to spend a fair amount of time looking at page 15 of that booklet looking over the drawing odds of the special hunts. You should also remember that this is the second year in a row where all first-choice applications are sorted by the computer and each special hunt or zone is filled with first-choice apps before it even looks at second-choice hunts.

Did you follow that?
It's like the old days when the DFG did the drawings by hand. Let's say you put the G3 late season Goodale hunt as your first choice on the deer tag application and X12 as your second choice, and then, say D11, as your third choice. The computer now sorts everyone who put G3 as a first choice into one spot and draws from those applications to fill the 25-tag quota. It also does that with all X12 applications.

The reality of this is that you don't have a chance of getting an X12 tag as a second choice pick because there are more first-choice applicants than there are X12 tags available. That is why looking at the number of first-choice applicants on page 15 of the booklet is so important.

There were nearly 2,200 first-choice applications for the 25 G3 tags, and there were over 4,000 first-choice applications for the 800-plus X12 tags. If you look at the numbers, you can see there were only a couple of hunts where a second choice on your application would have had a chance to get you a tag.

Prior to last year, the computer simply "drew" tag applications out of a microchip hat and filled the first choice on your application that still had tags available. If all the G3 tags were taken, it went to your second choice. If all X12 tags were taken, it went to your third choice. Now, you can only draw your second choice, if there were not more first-choice applications than tags available. Only then will the computer resort the tag applications for second choice applications of hunters not drawn for their first choices and conduct a second drawing.

The moral of the story is that for premium hunts, only your first-choice now really counts in the drawing, so you better fill in the one you want the most and not gamble on getting a good tag with your second choice.

Oregon, Utah deadline dates also approaching

The deadline for California hunters to apply for deer permits in Oregon is May 15 and in Utah it is May 21.

After the first drawing in Utah, there are still general statewide archery buck deer, and Northern, Central and Northeastern region general buck deer permits available for nonresidents. The second drawing for these permits will be held and the deadline to apply is May 21. The following nonresident Utah general buck deer permits are still available: Statewide archery 868, Northern rifle or muzzleloader 1,997, Central rifle or muzzleloader 579, and Northeastern rifle or muzzleloader 1,205. Both the Southeastern and Southern Regions, the two most popular regions for Southern California hunters, had their quotas sold out in the first drawing. Hunters can apply for the second drawing on-line at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' Internet web site http:www.nr.state.ut.us/dwr/dwr.htm or get applications from the DWR and apply through the mail. For information, call (801) 538-4700. The Oregon deadline is even closer. All of this fall's controlled big game hunts have until Tuesday, May 15 to purchase and return tag applications. Hunters may also apply by faxing or mailing the application form.

Hunters who are unsuccessful in the draw may participate in general season hunts with tags available over-the-counter.

For more information, contact the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at (503) 872-5264, or on the Internet at: www.dfw.state.or.us

Sarah Brady and the targeted NRA

Last week, the New York Post reported that Handgun Control Inc., chairperson, Sarah Brady, the wife of President Ronald Reagan's press secretary who was shot in the attempt on the president's life, will have a book out next year. The article said the book recounts how in 1981, when Jim Brady and the president were shot, she apparently contacted the National Rifle Association and said, "You don't know me, but my name is Sarah Brady, and I'm going to make it my life ambition to put you out of business."Since Sarah Brady and Bill Clinton and our two anti-gun California Senators, not only is NRA not out of business, but it has thrived. The irony is that the NRA has thrived because of these people threatening our Constitution. In those days when Reagan was shot, the membership was around 2 million. Today, it has a membership totaling approximately 4.3 million. Brady convinced me I need to join

Quail Unlimited-NRA SportingClays event set for May 18-20

NORCO -- Over 300 participants will compete for over $75,000 in cash and prizes in the Quail Unlimited/National Rifle Association National Sporting Clays Tournament at Mike Raahauge Enterprises in Norco May 18-20, 2001. This is Quail Unlimited's second national sporting clays event to be held in the West. The entry fee is $125 for a 200 target, two-day shoot (May 19 and 20) with a Lewis Class System awarded to six classes. Prizes will be awarded to 10 places in each class. The entry fee includes 200 targets, eight boxes of Winchester ammo, and admission to the shooter's party and dinner on Saturday evening.

On Friday, there will be a smallbore tournament for 410, 28 and 20 gauge shotguns. The $50 entry fee includes two boxes of Winchester Ammo. Prizes will be awarded to the top three places. The course is being set up Jay Braccini, who has has been setting up tournament courses around the country for past 20 years. Braccini will again have the five-stand and other fun games set up for shooter's to warm up on and compete for additional prizes. Saturday night there will be a live auction featuring new and functional wildlife art from Dave Chapple, custom knives, carvings and more. For more information, call Mike Raahauge at (909) 735-7981.

Greg Gutierrez wins; lunkers set hot pace for Clear Lake event

KELSEYVILLE -- Greg Gutierrez of Red Bluff topped the field at Clear Lake over the weekend (May 5-6) as the WON BASS Miller High Life Tour was staged on this renowned Northern California bass water. The fishing was spectacular for the 224 anglers with 5 to 8 pound fish common and a pair of 11 pounders were featured. Gutierrez had one of those, at 11.05 pounds, as he led the first round and ended up the two-day tournament with an astounding total of 51.95 pounds for 10 bass to take the $35,000 top prize."I had two great partners in Owen Nolan and Charles Huffman and they let me do sight fishing both days. It's really tough on the partner in this kind of fishing as you often have to sneak up on the bass and the back seater doesn't really get a shot at the fish," said Gutierrez, a captain with the California Dept. of Forestry.

Second place went to local pro Mark Crutcher of Upper Lake, who had 50.93 pounds to win $5,750. Another local pro, Wayne Breazeale of Kelseyville also finished over the 50-pound mark with 50.37 pounds. He won $4,500. Breazeale also was the highest finishing Ranger Boat owner and received a $500 bonus in the Ranger Cup program. The second day's biggest stringer was a whopping 30.01 posted by Dave Rush of Palmermo and Roger Diaz of Salinas. The largest bass of the day, at 9.11 pounds, earned $1,500 in the Miller High Life Daily Double for Kelly Puppo of Garden Grove. Dusty Kahler of Atascadero earned $500 for an 8.75 pounder.

In the AAA division, Owen Nolan, a pro hockey star with the San Jose Sharks, placed first with 53.96 pounds, with two great draws. He got the first day weight of 28.95 pounds with Gutierrez and his second day partner, Tim Turner of Kerman, gave him another 25.01 pounds. The tournament anglers accounted for 970 bass in the two days, totaling 3,423 pounds for an incredible average of 3.53 pounds.

Colorado Wildlife Commission sets 2001 big game license numbers

DENVER -- The Colorado Wildlife Commission approved a slight increase in the number of antlerless elk licenses will dramatically reducing the number of antlerless deer licenses at its meeting May 3 in Colorado Springs. The Commission unanimously approved recommendations of Division of Wildlife game managers are designed to reduce Colorado's elk population and increase the state's deer herd. Antlerless elk licenses will increase from 106,899 in 2000 to 109,104 in 2001, a two percent increase. The increase in hunting licenses is designed to help reduce an elk population that is still well above the Division's population objectives. Colorado has more than 260,000 elk, which is higher than the long-term objective of 188,000. The state has far more elk than any other state or Canadian province. The recovery of Rocky Mountain elk is one of the 20th century's most notable wildlife success stories.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were fewer than 2,000 elk left in Colorado. "We are still substantially over our population objectives despite the fact we had a record elk harvest last year," said John Ellenberger, the Division's big game manager. "We're increasing license to maintain the pressure on antlerless animals." The hunting of antlerless animals is the Division's primary tool for managing deer and elk populations. Hunters killed 60,120 elk in 2000, the largest elk harvest in North American history. But Ellenberger said even that harvest resulted in only a slight decrease of 1,300 in the state's elk population. "We'll need at least another three to four years of large harvests before we will come close to reaching our population objectives," Ellenberger said. Bull elk licenses during the first limited rifle elk season will decline seven percent from 22,252 in 2000 to 20,729 in 2001.

The 2000 bull harvest of 28,611 was one of the largest on record. While Colorado's elk population is at near-record levels, the state's deer population is well below the Division' population objectives on the Western Slope. As a result, the Commission decreased the number of Western Slope antlerless deer licenses from 10,667 in 2000 to 6,559 in 2001, a 39 percent reduction. Many game management units, including those in the San Luis Valley, extreme southwestern Colorado, North Park, along the southern Front Range and on the North Fork of the Gunnison River, will have few if any doe licenses in 2001. Other areas, including Middle Park around Kremmling, the northern Front Range and the area around Meeker, Craig and Rifle will have fewer antlerless deer licenses than last year because herds have been brought closer to the population objectives but some fawn/doe ratios have fallen, Ellenberger said.

Either-sex deer licenses, will increase from 1,941 in 2000 to 3,538 in 2001. About 75 percent of the animals taken with either-sex licenses are bucks. Buck licenses will decline 12 percent from 95,913 in 2000 to 84,298 in 2001. Hunters killed 37,940 deer in 2000, the best harvest since 1998. The number of moose licenses will increase from 82 in 2000 to 131 in 2001 because the North Park moose herd is slightly over the population objective and the illegal harvest of moose has fallen sharply in the last three years. In 1998, 38 moose were illegally killed, primarily by elk hunters who mistook then for elk. Last year, the number fell to less than 10, the result of Division information efforts and regulation changes. The Commission reduced pronghorn antelope rifle licenses by 10 percent, from 11,654 in 2000 to 10,460 in 2001 in accordance with population objectives. Limited black bear licenses will decline three percent from 2,702 in 2000 to 2,612 in 2001. The Division adjusts the number of licenses available for a species as its population increases or decreases due to various factors. "There are a number of environmental factors that affect the big game animals in Colorado," Ellenberger said. "Hunting pressure is one factor we can control." END

SALTON SEA NEWS: Retired Salton Sea State Recreation Area Superintendent Tex Ritter will be conducting an in-depth fishing clinic this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the park's visitor center. Ritter will teach anglers how to catch all four species of fish in the sea -- corvina, croaker, tilapia, and sargo -- and how to clean them and demonstrate cooking techniques. Prizes and fish fry will be included. The fee is $20. To sign up, contact Tina Townsend at (760) 767-5311. The first Imperial Valley "Take a Kid Fishing" Tournament will be held Saturday, May 19, beginning at 6 a.m. out of Red Hill Marina on the Salton Sea. The event ends at noon. Adult entrants must be accompanies by at least one child to enter. Entry fee is $20 for adults, $5 for kids. Biggest three fish win cash prizes of $500, $250 and $125. For more information, contact Gerry Merten at (760) 356-4084 or Rudy Schaffner at (760) 356-4100, or e-mail your request to entry@mail.holtville.com.

The Salton Sea Beach Marina Memorial Weekend Fishing Derby will be held from 6 a.m. Saturday, May 26, through noon Monday, May 28. Entry fee is $10 per angler. First place for biggest fish is $500, second place $100, and third place is $50. For information, call the Salton Sea Beach Marina at 760-395-5212.

UASC FUNDRAISER: United Anglers of Southern California will have its 10th annual fundraising banquet beginning 6 p.m., Saturday, May 19, at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. Advance tickets are $85 per person or $850 for a table of 10. For more information, call (714) 840-0227. Don Kent will be presented with the Bill Ray Memorial Conservation Award at this year's event.

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EASTERN SIERRA TROUT FOLLOW -- jim matthews unplugged (outdoor commentary) 02may01

Biggest Sierra trout on opener was caught and released at Hot Creek?

Most everything that has been written about this past weekend's trout season opener has focused on the big brown trout that were caught from June Lake and Bridgeport's Lower Twin Lake. Matt French of Sacramento is roundly credited with catching the biggest trout of opening weekend -- a whopping 12-pound, 15-ounce brown from June Lake. Harvey Neill of Smith Valley, Nev., caught browns at 11-pounds, 13-ounces and 11-pounds, one-ounce from Lower Twin Lake. Both anglers were trolling big plugs when they caught their trophy fish, and there is no question these are the biggest trout to be caught on an opener in several years. But I'm here to tell you those three trout might not have been the biggest trout caught opener.

Paul Smith of Lake Arrowhead caught a brown trout from Hot Creek near Mammoth Lakes that he guessed at 10 pounds, photographed the fish, and then released it. That's the law on Hot Creek. It's a catch-and-release stream. The photos were one-hour processed and a shot was dropped off at The Trout Fly in Mammoth Lakes. Smith called a fishing chum back home to rub in that he didn't abandon his teaching job and come with them to fish for the opening week of the season. Then Smith and his partners went back fishing. They weren't due back home until Thursday some time. We tried to get a cell phone number to find out about the fish, but Smith was fishing without a cell phone. Imagine that -- someone not packing a cell phone. It's difficult to really tell the weight of a fish from a photo, but guide Steve Osterman, who works at The Trout Fly in Mammoth, didn't mince any words looking at the photo.

"It's approximately 15 pounds," said Osterman."I was told it was about 10 pounds," I said."I'm looking at the picture and it's bigger than 10 pounds, I guarantee it. It's got some girth to it. It's at least 12 to 15 pounds," said Osterman. For anglers not familiar with Hot Creek, it is a flyfishing-only stream in addition to being completely catch-and-release. Osterman said Smith was fishing with a light leader and a No. 18 pheasant tail nymph fly. A No. 18 is about the size of a single dandelion seed. The big gold and black G-9 Rapala that French used to catch his big June Lake brown is about the size of a hatchery rainbow trout. Having fly-fished a little, I know that you just about can't get leader heavier than about six-pound test through the eye of a No. 18 fly. It's likely that Smith was using something on the order of two-pound test. Hot Creek is a weed-filled mess and the big brown should have been able to break the leader handily by merely diving down under a patch of weeds and then heading downstream.I can't wait to talk to Smith later this week. There's bound to be a heck of a story here.

Crowley Update

Lake Crowley had the bulk of the fishing pressure this opener, as with most openers. Jeff Topp at Crowley Lake Fish Camp estimated there were 8,000 to 10,000 people on the lake for the weekend. According to the Department of Fish and Game's boat angler survey, most of them caught limits of trout. But Curtis Milliron, the DFG Bishop biologist who's been studying Crowley fisheries for several years, was a little perplexed about what was happening at Crowley. "We don't know what happened to the Kamloops rainbows," said Milliron.

Crowley is planted with several strains of rainbow trout each fall, including the Kamloops strain. Normally, they make up a lot of the opening day harvest on the lake. While they are smaller than some of the other strains, they are easier to catch. This year, they were almost absent, in spite of heavy plants last fall. Milliron admits that he's baffled. There are two likely scenarios. First, the fish simply aren't there. Milliron believes this is likely the case. Another strain of trout, the Colemans, were bigger than they've ever been on a trout opener. Milliron figures that the mild winter and lack of competition from the Kamloops led to the greater growth in the Colemans. That still wouldn't tell Milliron what happened to the Kamloops. The second scenario, which Milliron would like to believe, is that the mild spring allowed the Kamloops to run up Crowley's tributary streams earlier than normal, spawn right before the opener, and then drift back into the lake where they are having a little postpartum depression and simply not eating while they recuperate. Did anyone count cormorants and pelicans on Crowley last fall after the little Kamloops were planted?

Anglers aren't too worried either way. Crowley is planted with nearly a half-million trout each year and the fishing was excellent on the opener. Boat anglers landed .88 trout per hour and the average catch was 4.1 fish. The trout averaged about 1 1/4 pounds, and 1/3rd of them were greater than 15 inches long. All those numbers are higher than normal. Topp said the biggest trout from Crowley was a 7-pound, 10-ounce brown caught by Jim Early of Simi Valley trolling a Cultiva Mirror Shad in McGee Bay.

Opener Ice Fishing

Tracy Rockel at Ken's Sporting Goods in Bridgeport didn't mean to make it sound like she thought the anglers who went up to the Virginia Lakes for trout opener to fish through a couple of feet of ice were crazy, but you could hear it in her voice.
"We had a couple of guys who went up to Virginia," said Rockel. It was as if she were trying to keep from snickering. "But they had limits in an hour." Maybe they are originally from Minnesota and just miss home.

Eighth largest largemouth of all time caught at Dixon

While thousands of anglers were driving up Highway 395 last Friday, Mike Long of Poway was pitching a Castaic Soft Bait trout lure -- about the size of most fish the Sierra anglers would catch -- in front of a huge largemouth bass at Dixon Lake in San Diego County. Long hooked and landed the huge bass and found it weighed 20-pounds, 12-ounces, the eighth largest ever caught on rod and reel. After weighing the fish, Long released the bruiser back into the lake. And Dixon's not even a catch-and-release water.

OUTDOOR NEWS UPDATES -- ons -- 02may01

Jim Reese goes for his thirdWON BASS win at Clear LakeKELSEYVILLE -- Jim Reese of Ukiah will go for his third straight Clear Lake victory on the WON BASS Miller High Life Tour this Saturday and Sunday. He successfully defended his Clear Lake title captured in 2000 and set a new Pro Circuit and Clear Lake tournament record in the process. The "King of Clear Lake" title surely was earned by Reese as he accumulated a record total of 59.93 pounds for 10 bass in the two-day tournament that saw 262 anglers competing. It was the second straight year Reese set a WON BASS record total for 10 bass. In 1999 he had a 58.20 pound total for a 5.8-pound average and in 2000 missed by only an ounce of establishing an incredible 6-pound average. Another WON BASS record fell for the biggest fish on the Pro Circuit in 2000 as Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande weighed in a 14.85-pound largemouth that hit on a green four-inch Gitzit tube bait. The former record was 12.76 pounds by Aaron Martens of Castaic in 1997.

The overall fishing was spectacular last year at the "Bass Capital of the West," and Clear Lake gave up more than three dozen fish tipping the scales at better than 7 pounds. The big fish each day in the Miller High Life Daily Double is worth $1,500 to the angler, and second biggest bass is worth $500 each day.First place on 2001 WON BASS Miller High Life Tour is a $35,000 boat, motor and equipment package. For more information and tournament results, see the Internet at www.wonbass.com or contact WON BASS, 3197E Airport Loop Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; (714) 546-4370, ext. 38.

Hunters heading to Oregon must apply for big game controlled permits by May 15

PORTLAND -- California hunters waiting until the last minute to apply for this fall's Oregon controlled big game hunts have until Tuesday, May 15 to purchase and return tag applications. Hunters may also apply by faxing or mailing the form provided in the 2001 Oregon Big Game Regulations on page 21. All fax or mail-in applications must be received in Portland by May 15. The applications cost $4.50 each per species. Actual tag numbers will be established during the June Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting, and the lottery draw process will begin immediately afterward. Results from the drawings will be available on June 20, at which time successful applicants may begin purchasing controlled hunt tags. Hunters who are unsuccessful in the draw may participate in general season hunts with tags available over-the-counter. For more information, contact the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at (503) 872-5264, by writing ODFW, PO Box 59, Portland, OR 97207, or on the Internet at: www.dfw.state.or.us .

Nonresidents who want a Utah buck deer permit should apply by May 21

SALT LAKE CITY -- Nonresidents who want a Utah general buck deer hunting permit for this fall should strongly consider applying for one in May.Results of Utah's 2001 Big Game Draw were posted April 30, and general statewide archery buck deer and Northern, Central and Northeastern region general buck deer permits for nonresidents are still available.A second draw for these permits will be held. Applications for the draw will be accepted until 5 p.m., May 21, with results of the draw posted by June 30. Beginning July 26, any remaining resident or nonresident permits will be available to Utah residents and nonresidents on a first-come, first-served basis. This is the first time Utah residents have been allowed to purchase permits not taken by nonresidents and they'll probably buy most of them.

"If nonresidents want a Utah buck deer hunting permit for this fall, it's crucial that they get their application in by 5 p.m., May 21," said Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.The following nonresident Utah general buck deer permits are still available: Statewide archery 868, Northern rifle or muzzleloader 1,997, Central rifle or muzzleloader 579, and Northeastern rifle or muzzleloader 1,205. Both the Southeastern and Southern Regions had their quotas sold out in the first drawing. Hunters who have an American Express, Discover, MasterCard or Visa credit card can apply for one of the remaining permits online at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' Internet web site (www.nr.state.ut.us/dwr/dwr.htm).

Nonresident hunters who don't have a credit card can apply by mailing an application and a cashier's check or money order. The same application form used in the initial Big Game Draw will be used to apply in the draw for remaining permits. Applications are available on the Division's web site or by calling any Utah Division of Wildlife Resources office, including its Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.

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SIERRA III -- the scourge of hatches -- jim matthews unplugged (outdoor commentary) 25apr01

New Zealand mud snail invades the Eastern Sierra

No one wants to be a prophet of fishery doom on the eve of one of the most hallowed events in trout fishing -- this weekend's opening of the trout fishing season throughout the Eastern Sierra Nevada. But there is a dark cloud looming on the horizon. The cloud is in the form of a tiny, dark snail called the New Zealand mud snail. It is invading North American trout fisheries and is rapidly choking out the food chain. The fishery biologists are looking at the data and gasping, and then whispering among themselves when they envision the scenarios. The mud snail could dramatically change the face of fisheries in North America. "It really scares me. We're not going to be able to contain this," said Dawne Becker, a fishery biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game in Bishop.

Becker said the small species was discovered in the Owens River in 1999, and it is spreading rapidly and dramatically. It has been in the Western United States since at least 1987, when it was fi