In no particular order, here’s a selection of interesting fishing- and hunting-related bits and pieces from 2014 that didn’t make it into print:
Ghost Moose
According to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the New England states have been experiencing a rapid decline of their moose populations, with climate change being blamed as the villain. Miles Grant of the NWF said the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries &Wildlife announced last year it was cutting fall hunting permits by 25 percent. Just three months prior to that, those same officials called their moose population ”healthy and strong.” But after that point, the animals suffered a winter mortality rate three times higher than average. Officials are blaming warmer weather that is no longer cold enough to eliminate winter ticks.
New Hampshire moose have been in trouble for two or three years, and a startling 64 percent of yearling moose died there this year. Last spring, Vermont officials cut moose hunting permits 20 percent.
It’s especially disturbing, Grant said, considering how the moose are dying. Usually, winter ticks fall off a moose and freeze. But if temperatures are warmer than usual, they find other ticks, breed, and climb back on their hosts. Moose are being found in New England with as many as 150,000 ticks on them, dying of anemia from blood loss. The moose lose their hair as they try to scrape off the ticks and the pale, emaciated animals are called “ghost moose.”
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Dana Base, in Colville, said that while our state’s moose population does experience a degree of winter tick problems, so far at least it hasn’t been deemed a major worry.
In 2012, the latest year with complete data, the state granted 140 moose permits in Washington, and hunters harvested 74 bulls and 33 cows. There were 19 separate moose hunt areas and all produced a success rate of 100 percent except for two. Those two provided “just” 80 and 83 percent success.
Cougar populations
Dave Ware, the state Game Division manager, said 2014 was the third year cougars have been managed under harvest guidelines for specific areas of the state, based on the cougar populations in those areas. The goal, he said, is to preserve a variety of cougar age classes, particularly older animals. He said, in effect, that older animals breed more efficiently.
Some of us older animals have reason to doubt that assumption, but moving on, Ware said hunters harvested 182 cougar statewide last year — up from 156 in 2012, 145 in 2011, and 108 in 2010. He said the numbers harvested this season are expected to be similar to last year.
Big sturgeon
On June 12 of last year, a 19-year old tourist from Georgia, Paul Jarvis, caught one of the largest white sturgeon ever taken on the Fraser River in British Columbia, according to a PRWeb release. Fishing with Dean Werk of Great River Fishing Adventures, Jarvis fought the huge fish for over an hour before bringing it to boat. Keeping the sturgeon in the water, Werk measured it at 11 feet, 10 inches in length and 56 inches in girth and, using an accepted mathematical formula, estimated the weight at 880 pounds. The fish was tagged and released.
Werk said the largest Fraser River sturgeon his firm has been involved with was a 12-foot, 4-inch fish caught by British tourists Michael and Margaret Snell in 2012.
Cutthroat recovery
Native western cutthroat trout in a couple of famous locations are recovering nicely from past abuse, according to Trout Unlimited (TU). In Yellowstone Park, the historic population of Yellowstone Lake cutthroat has been decimated in recent decades by non-native lake trout. Grizzly bears, which once depended on cutts for early-season food, are now resorting to other sources of protein, TU says, including elk and moose calves. Osprey, once prevalent at the lake, have moved on to more productive waters, and anglers who once lined the banks of the Yellowstone River on opening day are all but gone.
The last time I visited the park (one of my favorite places), the famous “Fishing Bridge” where the Yellowstone River leaves the lake was closed to traffic. I remember fishing big spinners from the bridge with my father and 20 or 30 other visitors in about 1948, catching nothing, but admiring the beautiful trout other fishermen brought in — gold and olive, with a sprinkling of big, black spots.
Now, for more than eight years, the National Park Service has conducted gill-netting operations and other efforts to reduce lake trout populations and give native cutts a chance to recover. The efforts are paying off, TU said, and the park service agrees.
“While we likely will never completely rid Yellowstone Lake of this invasive species, recent analyses suggest we can successfully manage the lake trout population and provide an environment where cutthroat can once again thrive, be a key component of a healthy ecosystem, and a source of recreation for visitors. That will be a huge and historic win for conservation,” said Dave Hallac, chief of resources at the park.
And down in Nevada, scientists hail the return of a threatened fish to its home spawning grounds for the first time in 76 years, according to the Berkley Fishing Wire. About 90 Lahontan cutthroat, weighing up to 25 pounds (yep, 25 pounds), spawned this spring along the lower two-mile section of the Truckee River, which flows more than 100 miles from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake.
Pyramid’s cutthroat last spawned in the river in 1938, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and died out by the 1940s because of overfishing, degraded habitat and the introduction of non-native species.
History has it that huge, 20-plus pound trout were netted and hauled in wagons over the mountains to help feed the hordes of gold seekers on the Sierra west slope in the late 19th century.
Birding
Columbia Engineering has taken bird watching to a new level, using computer vision and machine learning techniques the firm has developed. It’s called Birdsnap, according to The Birding Wire, a new iPhone app that’s an electronic field guide featuring 500 of the most common North American bird species.
The free app, which enables users to identify bird species through uploaded photos, accompanies a visually attractive, comprehensive website that includes some 50,000 images, and also features bird calls for each species.
Get Birdsnap at https://itunes.apple.com/app/birdsnap/id880461148.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
