Wes Case reeled in a 37-inch lunker that weighed 27.3 pounds, breaking a 26-year-old record. Read more here.

Tom Remington

My good friend and colleague, George Dovel, has put together one of the most eye opening articles I have read in a long time. The article contains information that deals with anti-hunting issues, land loss, property rights, the abuse by some states to illegally use money from hunting and fishing license to fund programs outside of fish and game, the Wildlands Project, Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act and an entire host of other topics.

This article is long but is worth the read. I would highly suggest that anyone who cares at all about hunting, trapping, fishing and the outdoors, read this article. Much of the topics discussed are centered in the state of Idaho but I don’t want you to think for one second that you couldn’t just as easily insert the state you live in. All of these things happening can and are taking place right in your back yard. It’s time to open our eyes.

I am going to provide you with a couple of different ways you can obtain it. You can begin the story here and follow the link to read the rest. On that page you can copy and paste the article into a word processor program and print it out. Also at the bottom of this page is a link to a pdf version of the story for your convenience.

I want to take a moment and thank George for granting me permission to republish this article in its entirety at the Black Bear Blog and other Skinny Moose Media websites.

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News and Comment by George Dovel

About George Dovel: Following several decades of close association with state and federal wildlife mangers as a helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, a qualified volunteer on assorted wildlife research projects and a member of several fish and game advisory committees, George Dovel offers a unique perspective on what has happened to wildlife resource management. With record low big game and upland bird populations existing throughout the U.S. in 1969-1973 he edited and published The Outdoorsman which is credited with helping to restore scientific game management. The new crisis in game management throughout the West resulted in resurrecting The Outdoorsman in March 2004 to provide factual information for outdoorsmen and their elected officials.

On July 3, 2007, a public meeting of an ad hoc committee formed to discuss future funding for IDFG took place at F&G Headquarters in Boise. Chaired by Senate Resource Committee Chairman Gary Schroeder, the members included House Resource Committee Chairman John A. “Bert” Stevenson, Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC) Co-Chair Senator Dean Cameron and former F&G Commissioner Representative Fred Wood. < <<<<Continue to the rest of this Article>>>>>

Click here to download a pdf version of this article.

Tom Remington

In a scientific and genetic manipulation that is sure to raise an eyebrow or two, Japanese scientists have figured out how to reproduce a trout using a salmon as a surrogate. American scientists in Idaho will attempt the same feat in order to find a better way to preserve the sockeye salmon.

From the Associated Press:

First, Yoshizaki’s team started with “salmonids,” a family that includes both salmon and trout, and one of concern to biologists because several species are endangered or extinct.

Initial attempts to transplant sperm-producing cells into normal masu salmon mostly produced hybrids of the two species that didn’t survive.

This time, Yoshizaki engineered salmon to be sterile. He then injected newly hatched salmon with stem cells destined to grow into sperm that he had culled from male rainbow trout.

Once they were grown, 10 of 29 male salmon who got the injections produced trout sperm, called milt.

Here’s the bigger surprise: Injecting the male cells into female salmon sometimes worked, too, prompting five female salmon to ovulate trout eggs. That’s a scientific first, Yoshizaki said.

The stem cells were still primitive enough to switch gears from sperm-producers to egg-producers when they wound up inside female organs, explained Idaho’s Cloud.

Then Yoshizaki used the salmon-grown trout sperm to fertilize both wild trout eggs and the salmon-grown trout eggs. DNA testing confirmed that all of the dozens of resulting baby fish were pure trout, he reported.

Moreover, those new trout grew up able to reproduce.

Unbelievable!!

Tom Remington

The other day I posted a short snippet with a link to an article on one man’s idea that using sterile fish for stocking would give bigger fish for put and take angling and sterile fish would virtually eliminate the fear of cross breeding.

The Fish Geek takes the story another step and covers more history of the utilization of sterile fish. Check it out.

Tom Remington

Scientists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and members of fish and game from Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, say in a newly completed study that the cutthroat trout is not in danger. Environmentalists disagree.

Forbes has the story.

Tom Remington

The Lemhi River runs through central Idaho and the small town of Salmon. Recently the town received federal money in the amount of $400,000 to go toward salmon restoration of the river. That money was used to install a sprinkler system at the municiple golf course.

Local officials say there’s nothing wrong with this because before they had the sprinkler system, the golf course drew water from the Lemhi River to irrigate the grounds. Now with three new wells to draw from, they hope they won’t deplete the water level in the river and this in turn will help to restore the salmon.

Well, God bless them!

Tom Remington

Can you imagine what it would be like to go fishing for rainbow or lake trout and get paid for every fish you catch that is let’s say, over 12 inches? If you can imagine that, then your dreams have come true.

According to an article at ESPN Outdoors, Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho has too many rainbow and lake trout that are killing off the kokanee, a small freshwater salmon fish. Official there want to save the kokanee so they are offering to pay fisherman $10 a fish that’s over 12 inches.

Read the whole story.

Tom Remington

Idaho fish officials are beginning a new program for them where they will tag fish in an effort to better track how many fish are being in caught by anglers in specific waters. They begin by tagging about 5,000 fish including rainbow trout, small and large mouth bass.

The word is being put out the anglers catching these fish are required to report it to the fish and game departments. Rewards are even being offered as a way to encourage fishermen to report their catches.

Tom Remington

The Snake River near Twin Falls, Idaho, is the site of research investigating the New Zealand mud snail. This was the place where the New Zealand snail was first discovered in America. Ecologist Dave Richards has investigated a 60-foot section of the river. He picks up rocks and rinses them off into a bucket and counts what he washes off – thousands of New Zealand snails.

Richards estimates that there are between 100,000 and 500,000 snails per square meter on the rocks of a 60 mile stretch of the Snake River. New Zealand snails are now found in all the western states with exception of New Mexico.

These snails consume vast amounts of algae and seem to gobble up just about everything in their path. They are crowding out and threatening native snails, insects and other crustaceans that are already endangered. This in turn can become a threat to the trout population.

You can read more about this in this article.

Tom Remington