Anglers – get ready for fall feeding frenzies in Arizona’s desert and mountain lakes.

Arizona Game and Fish Department experts explained that the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer, water temperatures are dropping, and predatory sport-fish will progressively feed more aggressively as the season progresses.

“Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass, yellow bass, catfish and even sunfish will all be feeding more aggressively, quite often with dramatic results at the surface when these predators encounter large balls of shad,” said Game and Fish Fishing Report Editor Rory Aikens.

Aikens, who is currently collaborating with Arizona Highways magazine on producing an Arizona fishing guide book in conjunction with Game and Fish, added that a similar scenario is playing out in the high country lakes as well.
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NASHVILLE — A popular Smith County boat ramp on the Caney Fork River, in an area known as Betty’s Island, has been closed until it can be repaired.

The ramp is suspended about three feet above the river surface after having been undercut by strong current following a heavy rain in the area, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

“It’s a real mess and probably will be that way for a while until we can get repairs made,” said Smith County TWRA Wildlife Officer Derrick Triplett. “It’s a safety issue right now so we have barricaded access to the ramp.”

Access to the Betty’s Island portion of the river, however, is still available. Anglers can park in a gravel lot near the ramp and walk down to the river, noted Triplett.

“We are asking anglers to please not move the barricades,” said the officer. “We do not want anyone to get hurt. It is a dangerous situation.”

News release courtesy Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

Lake Thompson, a 10-acre lake on the VDGIF G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area in Fauquier County, is draining again – the first case occurring almost exactly two years ago. The drain near the lake bottom failed somewhere along its course upstream of the outlet pipe and, unfortunately, was not fixed before the failure became clogged (probably by mud) last time which allowed inadvertent refilling. VDGIF engineers, in consultation with contract dam safety engineers, will evaluate potential repair possibilities to the drain system and conduct additional assessments of the entire outlet structure and emergency spillway that need extensive renovations to meet current Department of Conservation and Recreation Dam Safety Standards.

As of August 23rd, the lake was down to about 2 acres of pool and was still draining rapidly. It is likely that the lake will be dry by the first of September given current flow rate. Anglers are advised to use caution when fishing the lake, as the exposed substrate is slippery and littered with debris. However, fishing is still allowed, and fish may be creeled (harvested) in compliance with State regulations. For updates check the VDGIF website or contact the Region 5 office in Fredericksburg at (540) 899-4169.

News release courtesy Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

Third highest abundance in thirty years

PESHTIGO – Recently completed fish surveys for yellow perch in Green Bay show good news: the third highest abundance in 30 years for fish hatched earlier this spring, state fisheries biologists say.

“Once again we’re seeing a very strong year-class,” says Tammie Paoli, Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist in Peshtigo. “Numbers are up and the fish are larger than last year at this time, which is indicative of the early hatch and warm water temperatures encountered this spring and summer.” Earlier this month, young-of-year perch were 2.5 to 3 inches long.

Paoli is hopeful that this year class of fish will be different than other classes in recent years that have survived their first summer in good numbers but many of which have died before reaching a catchable size.
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Wade aside men - more women are likely to be hip deep in your favorite fly fishing river soon.

A fly fishing clinic specifically for women ages 12 and older will introduce beginner anglers to casting techniques, equipment use, clothing, fly selection, how to read water and, most importantly, how to catch fish.

The women will learn the basics of fly fishing and practice their casting skills during two evening sessions in Lewiston, September 1 and 8, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Also included is a weekend overnight campout and two days of personalized fishing instruction on a scenic Idaho river, planned September 11 and 12.

The cost is $50 for adults and $20 for young women 12 to 17 years old and includes a Saturday sack snack, evening dinner and Sunday breakfast with coffee both mornings.
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Golden shiners were recently discovered for a second time in Deer Creek Reservoir near Pierce.

Because of the potential negative effect golden shiners can have on the fishery resources of Idaho, Fish and Game officials will treat the reservoir next month using the chemical rotenone, which selectively kills fish.

Golden shiners pose a serious risk to our fishery resources because they eat the same small food items that trout and kokanee eat. If they escape downstream, they have the potential to compete with kokanee in Dworshak Reservoir. Any potential benefits they may provide as forage for predatory fish are far outweighed by fishery losses from competition with other fish that eat zooplankton.
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Division biologists recommend bass fishing change for 2011

Many of Utah’s anglers aren’t happy about the size of the bass they’re catching.

Division of Wildlife Resources biologists have an idea to fix the problem: get more anglers who are willing to keep fish involved in bass fishing.

All of the DWR’s proposed fishing changes for the state’s 2011 fishing season should be available on the RAC webpage starting Aug. 23, 2010.

Learn more, share your ideas

After you’ve reviewed the ideas, you can let your Regional Advisory Council members know your thoughts by attending your upcoming RAC meeting or by sending an e-mail to them.

RAC chairmen will share the input they receive with members of the Utah Wildlife Board. The board will meet in Salt Lake City on Sept. 23, 2010 to approve rules for Utah’s 2011 fishing season.
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by Sara DeBold

A new reel and an old fillet knife get a workout on the trip

GALLATIN, Mo.— “How long you been fishing, Howsman?” asked David Gray.

“Oh, since I was six I’d guess,” replied Bud Howsman.

For Howsman, of Chillicothe, that meant 80 years. Gray could not match the older man’s depth of experience. However, as the founder of a high-end fishing reel manufacturing company, he had every reason to call himself an ardent angler.

The three of us, all newly acquainted, had one thing in common when we met to fish the Grand River last August: We were eager to catch catfish. Until that day, I had never tossed a lure in northern Missouri. I am not the only one. Many anglers turn south to Missouri’s big lakes and rivers to catch their limits. A day on the Grand River with Howsman and Gray convinced me that northern Missouri has a lot to offer an angler.
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OLYMPIA – With removal of Condit Dam set to begin next fall, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will hold a public meeting Aug. 31 in Underwood to discuss the future of sport fisheries on the White Salmon River.

The informational meeting is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. at the Underwood Community Center in east Skamania County, off the Cook-Underwood Road.

John Weinheimer, a WDFW fish biologist, said anglers will see significant changes in fishing opportunities on the White Salmon River with the removal of the 97-year-old hydroelectric dam that now stands 3.3 miles from the mouth of the river.
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High water the wild card this season

MADISON – High water in many of the rivers that open Sept. 4 for the 2010 hook and line sturgeon season means that fishing prospects for the state’s oldest and largest fish are murky three weeks out but that one thing is clear: bring bug spray.

“The story is the incredible amount of water and the mosquitoes,” says Dan Fuller, Department of Natural Resources fisheries technician based in Poynette. “Right now the Wisconsin River, for instance, is running high. Normally it’s 4,000 cubic feet per second, now it’s 11,000 cfs.”

Information on water levels can be found on the U.S. Geological Survey website at waterwatch.usgs.gov.

Fuller is not sure how those high water levels will impact the fishing. On the one hand, there is a lot of food washing into the river so the sturgeon may not be as hungry and interested in the baits anglers offer. On the other hand, the increase in water levels from the rain can start the fish moving.

For sure, the high water levels mean a bumper crop of mosquitoes will greet anglers casting from the shore, Fuller says. “Bring bug repellant.”
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