Outdoor Notes : Fishing Is the No. 2 Leisure Activity Among Americans

Fishing is now the single most popular leisure activity among adult men and the second favorite recreation activity among American adults, according to results of the Gallup Poll’s 1985 leisure activities audit.

The audit found that 34% of adults sampled had spent some time fishing in the last 12 months. Among adult men polled, 44% had fished in the previous 12 months. Among adult women, the figure was 24%.

Lakeport, Calif., on the shores of Clear Lake in Northern California, is preparing for its annual bowfishing carp shoot. A total of 250 two-man teams have registered for the May 17-18 shoot. In 1984, the same size field shot 51,000 pounds of carp. First place is worth $2,500.

A Canoga Park couple, Gary A. and Karen R. Peyrot, were fined a total of $11,000 and put on three years’ probation for offering to sell thick-billed parrots in interstate commerce, a violation of the Endangered Species Act. Karen Peyrot is currently on probation for previous federal violations involving the smuggling of parrots from Mexico into the United States.

In a related development, New York recently became the first state to ban the sale of imported exotic wild birds. However, New York importers and pet stores are organizing to knock out part of a newly passed law.

The Coalition to Protect Wild Birds in New York hailed the new law, saying that more than 200,000 wild birds have died in transit to the U.S. in the last five years. The Empire State Pet Industry Council disagreed, saying that the law will create a black market for exotic birds.

California’s newest Fish and Game Commissioner is John A. Murdy III of Newport Beach. Murdy, appointed recently to the five-member commission by Gov. George Deukmejian, replaces William A. Burke of Los Angeles, whose term expired this year. Murdy’s term extends into 1992.

Briefly The May 10-18 Summer Sport and Recreation Expo will feature displays of boats, scuba, fishing and camping gear; swimwear and health products along the shores of Puddingstone Reservoir in San Dimas. . . . The Salton Sea’s West Shores Corvina Derby is under way, through July 31. . . . Five poachers of salmon, steelhead and trout were fined $850 each recently in Weaverville Justice Court. The five, cited last October: Kenneth E. and Patricia P. Sladky, Woodland Hills; Marie A. and William H. Powers, and Henry C. Gibson, all of Sonoma. . . . A free, day-long introductory seminar to fly fishing will be held May 17 at Wilderness Park, Downey, starting at 9 a.m. Al Cieri, 50, a Lake Mead fishing guide, died April 18 . . . Arizona’s Game and Fish Department is offering a $2,500 reward in the case of a bald eagle shot and killed in Kaibab National Forest north of Williams in late March. . . . Dr. Jack Steffey of Pomona has been credited with a world record for the 1,116-pound bluefin tuna he caught last September at Prince Edward Island. . . . Headquarters for the Angeles National Forest has been moved to 701 No. Santa Anita Ave., Arcadia. . . . The cable near the Davis Dam white water on the Colorado River has been moved closer to the dam, to a point where fishermen can tie up boats and cast into white water for striped bass with long casting rods. . . . On June 7, Arizona will join a list of eight states, excluding California, which now offer one day of fishing a year when no fishing license is required, to boost fishing license sales. . . . Visitors will not only be able to handle but will be able to fire new shotguns, rifles and handguns on display at the May 16-18 Budweiser Shooting and Hunting Sports Fair at Raahauge’s Pheasant Club in Corona.