Outdoor Notes : State Fishing Is Surviving Drought, but That Could Change

If California’s drought conditions persist, the effect on fish and wildlife could be “disastrous,” according to John Turner, environmental supervisor for the Department of Fish and Game.

“All streams in the state will see low flow conditions this year,” Turner said. “That means poor spawning conditions and low survival for young fish in the late summer. It also means poor production from fish hatcheries.”

Currently, however, fishing couldn’t be better at many of the the popular Northern California areas, and reports from the Eastern Sierra are that the high country never looked better.

“The horror stories about drought don’t apply here,” said Bob Tanner, operator of the Red’s Meadows Pack Station in Mammoth Lakes. “The lakes are full of water. Fishing has been excellent. We have spring grass and wildflowers. It’s great picture-taking time.”

Tanner said that high-country temperatures are running from highs in the 70s to night-time lows in the 40s, and some recent thunderstorms have kept water levels up and the meadows moist.

“In a dry state, the best place to be is in the high country,” Tanner said. “It’s not all a disaster in this world.”

On the other side of the mountains, Mary Carpenter had an equally glowing report.

“We have the best fishing we’ve ever had,” she said, and, for her, that’s saying something.

She is a sixth-generation resident whose ancestors settled in the area in 1851 during the gold rush. She and her husband run the Burnt Ranch Store on California 299 along the Trinity River halfway between Redding and Eureka.

“The river’s at just the right level and is nice and cold,” she said.

Anglers are spinning and casting for spring salmon running to 15 pounds, using night crawlers or a local specialty, canned tuna wrapped in red netting. Air temperatures have been in the 90s.

Gold dredges are working along the river, but Carpenter said that isn’t all bad.

“They’re stirring up the spawning beds, moving out the silt,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s making any difference, but something is giving us the best fishing we’ve ever had.”

Prospective hunters have been keeping Florida wildlife officials busy recently as the state prepares for its first legal alligator hunt since the species was declared endangered in 1970.

Florida alligators have made a spectacular comeback and no longer are on the endangered list. In fact, they are considered dangerous pests in some areas.

As of Tuesday, an estimated 4,000 people had requested applications for one of the 250 permits to participate in the hunt. The season will run Sept. 1-30. A lottery will be used to select hunters.

About 15,000 applications are available and will be accepted July 1-15. Each hunter will be limited to 15 alligators, which must be 4 feet or longer.

The only hunting since 1970 has been for “nuisance gators” that venture too close to people or homes.

The protection has helped the alligator population swell to 1 million, about twice as many as in 1970, said Dennis David, a wildlife biologist in charge of the program.

Fishing is increasingly appealing to older, wealthier people, according to a survey released recently by the American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers Assn., of Barrington, Ill.

The annual survey, which covers about 10,000 households representative of the nation’s population, shows that a greater proportion of freshwater anglers are over 35 and in the $50,000-plus income category. It showed that the country’s total number of anglers declined from 41.1 million in 1984 to 40.2 million in 1987, but the percentage of anglers over 35 increased from 36.7% to 40.1%.

The proportion of anglers with annual incomes of more than $50,000 increased from 7% in 1984 to 16.1% in 1987, and the proportion with incomes of fewer than $15,000 decreased from 25.7% to 20.0%.

Briefly

Carlos Buhler of Bellingham, Wash., has become the first U.S. mountain climber to reach the 28,208-foot Mt. Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak behind Mt. Everest and K2. It is located on the border of Nepal and India. . . .The DFG announced that opening-day reservation applications for deer and wild-pig hunting seasons--which begin in late August--at Camp Roberts are available.

Hunting on the Upper Cottonwood Creek Wildlife Area of western Merced County will be limited to 75 reservation holders on the first two days of the 1988 regular deer season, August 13-14. Applicants can check with the DFG for details.