Outdoors
Visiting lonely seniors and lovely parks
What’s on the plate is not important. Who’s around the table is what counts. Home Instead Senior Care is encouraging people who live near — or even not so near — their senior loved ones to make time for regular meals together. Time is the major stumbling block, according to Home Instead, which conducted a […]
Everything’s coming up bicycles
Far as I’m concerned, the second-greatest invention in the history of humankind is the one that took the greatest invention and made it good clean fun. So it’s totally awesome — yup, that’s the appropriately mature term — to point out that May is both National Bike Month and National Bike Safety Month. It contains […]
Just another warm winter Sunday in Vantucky
What’s a family? You know what they say: Love makes a family. (Taking out the trash helps, too.) Here’s a grab bag of lovingly compiled, loosely family-related matters for your sunny Sunday. Boy, am I enjoying this freakishly warm weather. I’m also trying not to think too hard about what it means, big picture and […]
Smelt season to be proposed
Washington and Oregon officials are expected to proposed limited sport and commercial fishing for smelt when the Columbia River Compact meets Wednesday. The session begins at 10 a.m. at the Clark Regional Wastewater District, 8000 N.E. 52nd Court. Ron Roler, Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said on Friday […]
Outdoor events calendar
Feb. 5 — Vancouver Wildlife League, 7 p.m., Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2108 Grand Blvd., Ron Roler, Columbia River policy coordinator, discuss spring chinook fishing seasons. Feb. 5-9 — Annual Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show, Portland Expo Center, 2060 N. Marine Drive, Portland, $12 for adults, $5 for youth, $2 discount coupons at www.thesportshows.com, […]
Cross-country skiing update
There’s very little snow in the woods so far this winter except at the higher elevations. On Sunday, I had to go to Teacup Lake, which is about 4,500 feet on the side of Mount Hood, to find enough snow to go skiing. The Oregon Nordic Club grooms at Teacup Lake, so conditions were good, […]
So many shad
With so many shad in the Columbia River each year, Brad Smith of Bellingham, vice chairman of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, asked at Saturday’s meeting if the Department of Fish and Wildlife is trying to promote the fishery. Guy Norman, regional director for Southwest Washington, told Smith that shad are usable commercially for […]
So many shad
With so many shad in the Columbia River each year, Brad Smith of Bellingham, vice chairman of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, asked at Saturday’s meeting if the Department of Fish and Wildlife is trying to promote the fishery. Guy Norman, regional director for Southwest Washington, told Smith that shad are usable commercially for […]
The elusive walleye
For decades, I’d been trying to catch a walleye in the Columbia River. I’d netted them for my neighbor on the Oregon side of Government Island and on Ough Reef at Washougal. I was in the boat with author and tournament angler Ron Boggs when he caught them near Arlington, Ore.. I’ve watched Jim Liddell […]
Guesses on cause of elk hoof rot
The hoof disease afflicting Southwest Washington elk most likely is caused by a bacteria, says the assistant director for wildlife of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Currently, our best guess right now is it is some sort of bacteria,” Nate Pamplin told the Elk Hoof Disease Public Working Group in Vancouver this week. […]
Merwin kokanee on Black Friday
ARIEL — Hearing there had been a decent kokanee bite at Merwin Reservoir recently, but not really believing it, I decided to check it out on Black Friday. Normally, I stop fishing Merwin in late July and shift to fall chinook in the Columbia. I’ve caught kokanee in Merwin as late as Dec. 2, but […]
Hunting camps photo contest
OLYMPIA — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is looking for photographs of hunting camps for the cover of the 2014 big-game pamphlet. Submissions are due by March 1. Photos should not include items that could appear to endorse specific companies or problems, such as logos or labels on sporting goods, alcoholic and non-alcoholic […]
How long for no sturgeon retention?
Sturgeon retention will not be allowed in the lower Columbia River in 2014. That’s not news, but it begs the question: Is the non-retention rule a one-year deal? “It hasn’t been discussed,” said John North of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildife. Washington and Oregon fish and wildlife commissioners, during the discussions in 2012 […]
Swift Reservoir trout fishing
Saturday at Swift Reservoir most likely was closing day of the 2013 fishing season for me. I might try pulling Wiggle Warts for coho at Lady Island, or for steelhead at the mouth of Oregon’s John Day River, although I doubt it. (It’s time now to walk through southeast Washington under the pretense of pheasant […]