Thursday, April 30, 2015
Volunteers Clean Up After Inconsiderate Slobs — ecoRI News
Volunteers Clean Up After Inconsiderate Slobs — ecoRI NewsClick on Volunteers, for the complete story.
Game On ! Spring Stripe Bass are Here !
I have received over 25 e-mails and photos and Facebook notices with photos of the "New" 2015 class of schoolies working there way up the coastline along Rhode Island hot spots.
Small is the key to having a blast with the frisky stripe bass. I was using 3/8oz red and white bucktails and my favorite zoom super fluke albino color and blue/ chrome kastmaster with the single hook feather tail.I thought the new moon on April 18th would be the day this year and I admit I was off by a week because of the colder water temps that have backed up everything from the bass and blackfish bite to the early backyard garden plantings. Cover more coastline with a smaller surf bag with half a dozen favorites and hooks, swivels and your pliers for a quick release instead of the three drawer old style tackle box which can tend to be heavy in our Golden Years.
Please take a young person to teach or better yet a older person in a nursing home or a older Veteran to relive their previous annual trips to Narragansett Bay for another time and to pass down their knowledge to another generation of fishers. New fresh keepers should be in about a week or so.
Remember a salt water license ($7) resident on line ($10 non-resident)is required and Rhode Island which is reciprocal with Mass., Conn. NY, NH, and Maine and Rhode Island
is now one stripe bass at 28 inch.
Mass.1-28
Conn. 1-28
NH. 1-28
Vir. 1-28
NC. 1-28
NY 1-28
Hudson RV. ?
Small is the key to having a blast with the frisky stripe bass. I was using 3/8oz red and white bucktails and my favorite zoom super fluke albino color and blue/ chrome kastmaster with the single hook feather tail.I thought the new moon on April 18th would be the day this year and I admit I was off by a week because of the colder water temps that have backed up everything from the bass and blackfish bite to the early backyard garden plantings. Cover more coastline with a smaller surf bag with half a dozen favorites and hooks, swivels and your pliers for a quick release instead of the three drawer old style tackle box which can tend to be heavy in our Golden Years.
Please take a young person to teach or better yet a older person in a nursing home or a older Veteran to relive their previous annual trips to Narragansett Bay for another time and to pass down their knowledge to another generation of fishers. New fresh keepers should be in about a week or so.
Remember a salt water license ($7) resident on line ($10 non-resident)is required and Rhode Island which is reciprocal with Mass., Conn. NY, NH, and Maine and Rhode Island
 |
| Photo by Dave Pickering |
.jpg) |
| Wayne Barber |
Mass.1-28
Conn. 1-28
NH. 1-28
Vir. 1-28
NC. 1-28
NY 1-28
Hudson RV. ?
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Oklahoma Game Warden Shoots and Kills Man Who Tried to Drown Him During License Check
By Wayne G. Barber
What started off as a routine license check quickly escalated after a man reportedly tried to drown an Oklahoma game warden over the weekend.
According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), a game warden approached three men fishing near Bunch in eastern Oklahoma on Sunday and asked to see their licenses. Among the men was 29-year-old Billy Joe Patrick, who had an active warrant out in Arkansas for a parole violation. When the warden attempted to arrest Patrick, OSBI officials said that Patrick began fighting back.
Although game wardens are usually tasked with protecting wildlife such as game and fish, they also often find themselves in different roles, such as carrying out arrests on outstanding warrants. Since wardens usually work alone or in small teams, they are also among the most extensively trained of state law enforcement officers.
According to Tulsa World, there are currently 117 wardens employed in Oklahoma. Since 1909, only two have been killed in the line of duty. The most recent fallen officer, Melvin Garrison, was drowned while attempting to arrest a ring of fish poachers in 1971. No one was ever charged in connection with his death.
.jpg)
.jpg)
What started off as a routine license check quickly escalated after a man reportedly tried to drown an Oklahoma game warden over the weekend.
According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), a game warden approached three men fishing near Bunch in eastern Oklahoma on Sunday and asked to see their licenses. Among the men was 29-year-old Billy Joe Patrick, who had an active warrant out in Arkansas for a parole violation. When the warden attempted to arrest Patrick, OSBI officials said that Patrick began fighting back.
“The men fell into a pond where the suspect tried to hold the officer’s head under water,” the OBSI stated on Facebook. “The officer fought his way above the water and shot the suspect. The man died at the scene.”
The officer, who has not yet been identified, was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries. Alongside the state Department of Wildlife Conservation, the OSBI and Adair County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating the case. Investigators will later send their findings to the Adair County District Attorney, who will determine whether the shooting was justified.Although game wardens are usually tasked with protecting wildlife such as game and fish, they also often find themselves in different roles, such as carrying out arrests on outstanding warrants. Since wardens usually work alone or in small teams, they are also among the most extensively trained of state law enforcement officers.
According to Tulsa World, there are currently 117 wardens employed in Oklahoma. Since 1909, only two have been killed in the line of duty. The most recent fallen officer, Melvin Garrison, was drowned while attempting to arrest a ring of fish poachers in 1971. No one was ever charged in connection with his death.
.jpg)
.jpg) |
| Trained to Serve and Protect. |
.jpg) |
| Please Read. |
.jpg) |
| Worn Proudly. |
Vermont Celebrates 100 Years of Town Forests : The Outdoor Wire
Vermont Celebrates 100 Years of Town Forests : The Outdoor Wire
Click on Vermont, for the complete story.
Click on Vermont, for the complete story.
Vermont F&W Board Votes to Ban Natural Deer Urine Lures : The Outdoor Wire
Vermont F&W Board Votes to Ban Natural Deer Urine Lures : The Outdoor Wire
Click on Vermont, for the complete story.
Legislation Introduced to Name Atlantic Striped Bass as National Fish : The Outdoor Wire
Legislation Introduced to Name Atlantic Striped Bass as National Fish : The Outdoor Wire
Click on Legislation, for the complete story.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Colt's Maggie Reese Wins Open Lady at USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals : The Outdoor Wire
Colt's Maggie Reese Wins Open Lady at U
Click on Colt's link, for the complete story.
SPSA Multi-Gun Nationals : The Outdoor Wire
Click on Colt's link, for the complete story.
SPSA Multi-Gun Nationals : The Outdoor Wire
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
2015 Connecticut Spring Wild Turkey Hunting Season Opens April 29
By Wayne G. Barber
Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is reminding hunters that the 2015 Connecticut spring wild turkey hunting season runs from April 29 to May 30. This year will mark the 35th consecutive year that sportsmen have hunted turkeys in Connecticut. The statewide turkey population is estimated at approximately 35,000 birds. Healthy and numerous wild turkey populations exist throughout the majority of Connecticut’s woodlands. During the 2014 spring turkey season, 8,850 hunters took 1,118 bearded turkeys.
Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is reminding hunters that the 2015 Connecticut spring wild turkey hunting season runs from April 29 to May 30. This year will mark the 35th consecutive year that sportsmen have hunted turkeys in Connecticut. The statewide turkey population is estimated at approximately 35,000 birds. Healthy and numerous wild turkey populations exist throughout the majority of Connecticut’s woodlands. During the 2014 spring turkey season, 8,850 hunters took 1,118 bearded turkeys.
“In addition to longer and warmer days, spring brings a special treat for many Connecticut hunters – turkey hunting. Our mixed hardwood forests and adjacent agricultural lands offer ideal habitat and plentiful forage, which in combination provide for some of the finest turkey hunting in New England,” said Michael Gregonis, Wild Turkey Program biologist for the DEEP Wildlife Division.
During the 2015 spring season, two bearded turkeys may be taken on state land and three on private land. Hunting is permitted from one-half hour before sunrise until noon each day.
Tagging and Reporting Requirements: All harvested turkeys must be tagged immediately and reported to the DEEP on-line (www.ct.gov/deep/hunting) or by phone (1-877-337-4868) within 24 hours. Hunters must use 2015 Harvest Tags to record information about turkeys they harvest. Copies of the 2015 Harvest Tags and instructions are on page 27 of the 2015 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide and also are available on the DEEP website at www.ct.gov/deep/hunting. Hunters are no longer required to mail in a harvest report card. After reporting their harvest via the Internet or by telephone, hunters will be given a confirmation number to write on their Harvest Tag. This confirmation number serves as proof that the harvest was legally reported.
Recommended safety precautions for spring turkey hunting:
· Become familiar with two or more areas to hunt, so if someone is already hunting in one of those areas, you can move to another site.
· If another hunter is encountered in the woods, remain still and speak in a loud clear voice to announce your presence.
· Eliminate the colors red, white, and blue from your hunting outfit. These colors are associated with a gobbler’s head and could be mistaken as a turkey.
· Hunters must be sure of their target and what is beyond it, prior to taking a shot.
“Common sense and patience are required for maintaining a safe hunting experience and harvesting a gobbler,” added Gregonis. “Spring turkey hunting requires preparation. Scouting, calling, and hunting techniques unique to this effort can be learned by attending seminars, reading articles, watching videos, and talking with experienced turkey hunters.”
Turkey hunters who hunt on private land are reminded that written landowner permission, on a form provided by the DEEP, is required. Hunters may obtain both a private land and state land permit type during the spring season. Private land and state land permits may be purchased on-line (www.ct.gov/deep/sportsmenlicensing) or over the counter at some DEEP offices, town clerk offices, and commercial vendors that sell hunting, fishing, and outdoor equipment. More information on the spring turkey season, hunting regulations, junior hunter training days, and tagging and reporting requirements is contained in the 2015 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide, which is available wherever hunting licenses are sold and on the DEEP’s Web site (www.ct.gov/deep/hunting).
 |
| 35,000 unless they decide to visit Rhode Island or nearby Massachusetts ! |
 |
| Each State is a little different, please check the 2015 Hunting Abstracts |
Mass. Company Awarded Contract to Remove 1770 White Rock Dam — ecoRI News
Mass. Company Awarded Contract to Remove White Rock Dam — ecoRI News.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Click on the Link, for the complete story of this project to help the Pawcatuck River and Worden's Pond in South Kingston and help regain the annual migration of our Native Forage Fish.
Middleboro to Purchase the 1769 Peter Oliver Estate & 46 Nemasket Riverfront Acres
http://nemasket.blogspot.com/2011/09/peter-oliver-house-1769.html
Click on Link, for the complete story of this Parcel.
Click on Link, for the complete story of this Parcel.
Outlook Good for NH Spring Turkey Hunters : The Outdoor Wire
Outlook Good for NH Spring Turkey Hunters : The Outdoor Wire
Click on Outlook, for the complete story.
Volunteers Needed for Maine Brook Trout Survey Project : The Outdoor Wire
Volunteers Needed for Maine Brook Trout Survey Project : The Outdoor Wire
Click on Volunteers, for the complete story.
Chesapeake Blue Crab Population Shows Modest Improvement : The Outdoor Wire
Chesapeake Blue Crab Population Shows Modest Improvement : The Outdoor Wire
Click on Chesapeake, for the complete story.
The Maine Bumble Bee Atlas Takes Flight
By Beth Swartz
IFW Wildlife Biologist
Bumble bees, with their bold yellow and black stripes, large furry bodies and relatively docile dispositions, are a familiar backyard insect to most people. The important role they play in our environment, however, often goes unrecognized. Bumble bees are an essential component of pollination for flowering plants throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They pollinate many of our spring and summer wildflowers, as well as a wide variety of other plants, including most garden flowers, fruits and vegetables. This ecosystem service is key to maintaining not only cultivated crops for human use, but also native plant communities which provide habitat for Maine’s diverse wildlife species.
Beginning in the late 1990s, significant declines in some North American bumble bee species were being detected. Several species, including four native to Maine, were once very common throughout their ranges but are now rarely observed. Various factors are believed to be contributing to these declines, including habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticides, and diseases and parasites introduced through widespread use of commercially raised bumble bees. These same declines have likely also occurred in Maine, but because we have so little information about our bumble bee fauna it is difficult to assess the status of the 17 species known to live here.
In order to document the diversity, distribution and abundance of all Maine’s bumble bee species, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (MDIFW) is initiating the Maine Bumble Bee Atlas (MBBA) project in May 2015. Designed as a multi-year statewide survey, the project is being coordinated by MDIFW in partnership with the University of Maine at Orono and Farmington. Closely modeled after MDIFW’s highly successful Maine Butterfly Survey (2007–2015) and Maine Damselfly and Dragonfly Survey (1999-2005), the Maine Bumble Bee Atlas will marshal the efforts of volunteer citizen scientists from across Maine to greatly increase our knowledge on the status of the state’s bumble bees.To recruit volunteers for the survey, MDIFW will sponsor free six-hour training workshops across the state during each year of the project. The first workshop will be held on Saturday, May 16th at the University of Maine in Orono. Participants do not need to have prior experience in surveying for bees – just an interest and willingness to learn and contribute data to the project. Project staff will give presentations on bumble bee behavior, ecology, conservation, and identification, and attendees will be trained in a standardized survey and data collection protocol. An instructional handbook and all of the equipment necessary to participate will be given to each volunteer. Workshop space is limited, open to adults only, and pre-registration is required. Lunch will be provided. For more information or to pre-register for the training workshop, contact the MDIFW Coordinator, Beth Swartz, at beth.swartz@maine.gov or 941-4476. Project details and information about the training workshop can also be found on the MBBA website (http://mainebumblebeeatlas.umf.maine.edu/) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MaineBumblebeeAtlas).
The Maine Bumble Bee Atlas is funded in part by the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund (MOHF), in which proceeds from the sale of a dedicated instant lottery ticket (currently “Gopher Gold”) are used to support outdoor recreation and natural resource conservation. For more information about MOHF, go to www.maine.gov/ifw/MOHF.html. Additional support comes from a federal State Wildlife Grant award and contributions by Maine citizens to the Maine Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund (Chickadee Check-off, Loon License Plate).
IFW Wildlife Biologist
Bumble bees, with their bold yellow and black stripes, large furry bodies and relatively docile dispositions, are a familiar backyard insect to most people. The important role they play in our environment, however, often goes unrecognized. Bumble bees are an essential component of pollination for flowering plants throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They pollinate many of our spring and summer wildflowers, as well as a wide variety of other plants, including most garden flowers, fruits and vegetables. This ecosystem service is key to maintaining not only cultivated crops for human use, but also native plant communities which provide habitat for Maine’s diverse wildlife species.Beginning in the late 1990s, significant declines in some North American bumble bee species were being detected. Several species, including four native to Maine, were once very common throughout their ranges but are now rarely observed. Various factors are believed to be contributing to these declines, including habitat loss and fragmentation, pesticides, and diseases and parasites introduced through widespread use of commercially raised bumble bees. These same declines have likely also occurred in Maine, but because we have so little information about our bumble bee fauna it is difficult to assess the status of the 17 species known to live here.
In order to document the diversity, distribution and abundance of all Maine’s bumble bee species, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (MDIFW) is initiating the Maine Bumble Bee Atlas (MBBA) project in May 2015. Designed as a multi-year statewide survey, the project is being coordinated by MDIFW in partnership with the University of Maine at Orono and Farmington. Closely modeled after MDIFW’s highly successful Maine Butterfly Survey (2007–2015) and Maine Damselfly and Dragonfly Survey (1999-2005), the Maine Bumble Bee Atlas will marshal the efforts of volunteer citizen scientists from across Maine to greatly increase our knowledge on the status of the state’s bumble bees.To recruit volunteers for the survey, MDIFW will sponsor free six-hour training workshops across the state during each year of the project. The first workshop will be held on Saturday, May 16th at the University of Maine in Orono. Participants do not need to have prior experience in surveying for bees – just an interest and willingness to learn and contribute data to the project. Project staff will give presentations on bumble bee behavior, ecology, conservation, and identification, and attendees will be trained in a standardized survey and data collection protocol. An instructional handbook and all of the equipment necessary to participate will be given to each volunteer. Workshop space is limited, open to adults only, and pre-registration is required. Lunch will be provided. For more information or to pre-register for the training workshop, contact the MDIFW Coordinator, Beth Swartz, at beth.swartz@maine.gov or 941-4476. Project details and information about the training workshop can also be found on the MBBA website (http://mainebumblebeeatlas.umf.maine.edu/) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MaineBumblebeeAtlas).
The Maine Bumble Bee Atlas is funded in part by the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund (MOHF), in which proceeds from the sale of a dedicated instant lottery ticket (currently “Gopher Gold”) are used to support outdoor recreation and natural resource conservation. For more information about MOHF, go to www.maine.gov/ifw/MOHF.html. Additional support comes from a federal State Wildlife Grant award and contributions by Maine citizens to the Maine Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund (Chickadee Check-off, Loon License Plate).
Bald Mountain Artic Charr Project
By Elizabeth Thorndike,
Bald Mountain Pond is an 1,152-acre pond in Bald Mountain Pond Township in Somerset County. It is sixty-five feet deep, has over half a dozen tributaries, and over fourteen miles of boulder and ledge shoreline. There are only three camps on the lake and a fair boat launch best accessed by shallow hulled craft. Bald Mountain Pond hasn’t been stocked since 2007 and has been known to produce large brook trout up to five pounds. A noteworthy quality of Bald Mountain Pond is the presence of landlocked arctic charr. In Maine there are only 14 bodies of water where charr exist; 12 of the 14 waters are considered genetically distinct. The average charr in Bald Mountain range from 6 to 8 inches but can reach upwards to 10 inches.
Recently, there was an illegal introduction of rainbow smelt into Bald Mountain Pond. In most bodies of water, smelt and charr do not coexist due to competition for the same food source and direct predation by smelt on emerging charr sac fry. Unfortunately, charr in some small waters (less than 200 acres) are outcompeted and are often extirpated. In recent history, Maine IF & W has chemically reclaimed two small charr waters with similar situations. However, Bald Mountain Pond is too large and deep to be reclaimed. While we are hopeful that Bald Mountain Pond’s large size and the complex, diverse habitat that it provides will mitigate negative impacts on charr, we nonetheless spent considerable time last fall learning about this specific population. This was a critical first step required for developing specific management strategies to protect these fish.
Maine IF & W’s ultimate goal is to learn where the charr population in Bald Mountain Pond spawn in case a relocation or a hatchery culture project is required to preserve this unique strain of fish. This is desirable because large numbers of charr typically congregate near very specific sites during their fall spawning season, and we can readily capture them alive with trapnets. To learn where the charr spawn, fisheries biologists began a telemetry project by inserting radio tags into individual charr. Charr were captured by setting short gill net sets into deep water. Once the charr were obtained, theywere surgically implanted with a tag, released, and tracked regularly by boat or plane.
Instances of fish introductions have unfortunately become more common in recent years and cause irreversible damage to native ecosystem. For this reason, Maine IF & W strongly urges anglers not to introduce new species into water bodies – and it’s against the law!
Bald Mountain Pond is an 1,152-acre pond in Bald Mountain Pond Township in Somerset County. It is sixty-five feet deep, has over half a dozen tributaries, and over fourteen miles of boulder and ledge shoreline. There are only three camps on the lake and a fair boat launch best accessed by shallow hulled craft. Bald Mountain Pond hasn’t been stocked since 2007 and has been known to produce large brook trout up to five pounds. A noteworthy quality of Bald Mountain Pond is the presence of landlocked arctic charr. In Maine there are only 14 bodies of water where charr exist; 12 of the 14 waters are considered genetically distinct. The average charr in Bald Mountain range from 6 to 8 inches but can reach upwards to 10 inches.
Recently, there was an illegal introduction of rainbow smelt into Bald Mountain Pond. In most bodies of water, smelt and charr do not coexist due to competition for the same food source and direct predation by smelt on emerging charr sac fry. Unfortunately, charr in some small waters (less than 200 acres) are outcompeted and are often extirpated. In recent history, Maine IF & W has chemically reclaimed two small charr waters with similar situations. However, Bald Mountain Pond is too large and deep to be reclaimed. While we are hopeful that Bald Mountain Pond’s large size and the complex, diverse habitat that it provides will mitigate negative impacts on charr, we nonetheless spent considerable time last fall learning about this specific population. This was a critical first step required for developing specific management strategies to protect these fish.
Charr being implanted with radio tag
Charr after tag is implanted – note trailing wire
Several complications arose during the project. Charr are difficult to work with after being captured from deep water. Issues associated with a rapid change in temperature and the fish’s inability to quickly adjust their swim bladder caused delays. Ultimately, only four charr were successfully tagged and released. In spite of this, two of these fish lead to possible spawning shoals. In early November divers investigated the shoals, looking for potential spawning substrate or visible signs of charr spawning activity. No signs of spawning were observed, but limited amounts of suitable spawning substrate were located.
Future plans for Bald Mountain Pond call for reattempting to tag additional charr with “delayed start” tags. These tags would give biologists a longer window of time to tag charr under more favorable handling conditions.Instances of fish introductions have unfortunately become more common in recent years and cause irreversible damage to native ecosystem. For this reason, Maine IF & W strongly urges anglers not to introduce new species into water bodies – and it’s against the law!
Monday, April 27, 2015
.png)
.jpg)
Fishing & Outdoor Radio Show Signing off After 32 Years : The Outdoor Wire
Fishing & Outdoor Radio Show Signing off After 32 Years : The Outdoor Wire
Click on Fishing, for the complete story, so sad, will be missed by all. Wayne, host of the Outdoor Scene.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)