KID FISHING — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is signing up kids, ages 5 to 16, for two special bluegill fishing clinics on June 16 at Hauser Lake south of Rathdrum.

The limited number of participants will have the opportunity to spend a morning or afternoon on a tournament fishing boat learning how to catch bluegills.  The event is free.

Mentors will be experienced anglers affiliated with the Panhandle Bass Anglers Club who are volunteering their boats, time and expertise to the event. One parent/guardian must accompany young anglers on the lake.

Fishing equipment and bait will be available for use during the clinic, but those who own fishing tackle are encouraged to bring it. Mentors will be able to give participants tips on how to properly use the tackle they bring.

IDFG will be issuing First Fish Certificates to recognize young anglers catching their first fish. The objective is to teach young folks a lifelong hobby, instill an appreciation of aquatic resources, and provide an inexpensive and fun family outing.

Participants will be treated to a fish fry and a hamburger, hot dog and soda barbeque.

Advance reservations are required and space is limited. Call the IDFG Panhandle Region Office, (208) 769-1414. 

No fishing license is needed.

WILDLIFE — Dave Leptich, habitat specialist for the Idaho Fish and Game Department, has planned a highly interactive discussion for tonight in his program on wildlife habitat, Sponsored by the Coeur d'Alene Audubon Society.

Place: Lutheran Church of the Master, 4800 N. Ramsey, in Coeur d'Alene.

Time: 7: p.m.

Program: “Wildlife Habitat Fundamentals”

The audience should come away with a more complex view of wildlife habitat and a framework from which to understand and interpret management decisions and actions.

Leptich is a Regional Habitat Biologist with the agency. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Resources from the University of Idaho, and a Master of Science Degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine.

OFF-ROAD VEHICLES — Idaho recently came within an eyelash of stripping the Idaho Department of Fish and Game of the authority to regulate the use of all-terrain vehicles on public land during hunting seasons.

An editorial in the Idaho Mountain Express notes that if the state Senate had not stopped a measure that had been approved by the House, Fish and Game would have had no say on where hunters could operate ATVs during big-game hunting seasons.

That would have been a big mistake, the opinion piece suggests. 

Read on for the editorial's reasoning.

Click here for the Idaho Fish and Game Department's web page on ATV issues.

WILDLIFE AGENCIES — After wading briefly into the world of social media, the Idaho Fish and Game Department has had to “unfriend” itself on Facebook.

Comment threads on issues such as wolves got so ugly, it was taking too much effort to monitor the traffic.

FISHING/HUNTING — Speakers will provide updates on Idaho Legislature activity of interest to hunters and anglers, as well as an update on the spring chinook salmon forecast at the monthly Sportsman's Breakfast in Lewiston on March 6.

Other presentations will cover big game issues and enforcement highlights.

The Clearwater Region of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game will provide coffee and doughnuts.

The meeting begins at 6:30 a.m. at the Fish and Game office, at 3316 16th Street in Lewiston.

The meeting is open to anyone interested in wildlife and is designed to stimulate informal discussion about local wildlife issues. 

 Info: (208) 799-5010.

HUNTING —  The site and time for the Silver Valley public meeting on big-game hunting seasons has been changed:

• Saturday, March 3, in Kellogg, 7:30 a.m. at the Steelworkers Hall, 110 Hill St.

HUNTING – The numbers resemble the parameters for wild turkey hunts — but it’s the 2012 Idaho Panhandle wolf hunting and trapping proposals that have just been released by Jim Hayden, Idaho Fish and Game Department regional wildlife manager in Coeur d’Alene:

Hunting

• Bag limit, five wolves (up from two last year).
• Season on public land, Aug. 30 – March 31 (same as last year).
• Season on private land, July 1 – March 31.

Trapping

• Bag limit, five wolves (up from three last year).
• Season, Nov. 15 – March 31 (same as last year).
• No trapping in Units 2 and 3 (same as last year).

The proposals will be discussed at public meetings starting this weekend to discuss a range of big game hunting proposals, including proposals for elk.

The new proposals would focus more pressure on wolves that are moving in near people on private lands, Hayden said.

The increase in bag limit will remove restrictions of some of the more successful wolf hunters and trappers.

”While relatively few reach the current bag limit regardless, this change will keep our most successful hunters and trappers afield, Hayden said. 

Read on for the schedule of public meetings in the Panhandle.

FISHING – The Lake Pend Oreille Fishery Recovery Task Force and Idaho Fish and Game Department will update the status of trout and kokanee in Lake Pend Oreille at the annual “State of the Lake” public meeting tonight

The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at Ponderay Events Center by the Bonner Mall north of Sandpoint.

Wisconsin-based lake trout expert Mike Hansen will offer his perspective on the program to control lake trout and restore the Pend Oreille kokanee fishery.

Presentations will summarize 2011 predator removal, including lake trout netting, telemetry, Angler Incentive Program and response of the lake’s fishery to recovery efforts.

Info: (208) 769-1414.

WILDLIFE RESEARCH — More than 40 volunteers showed up for a training course on Dec. 3 to learn how to use their expertise in backcountry snowshoeing or ski touring to help researchers study wolverines.

It's already paid off.  Read on for the big news from last week.

Idaho Fish and Game wildlife biologists taught them how to rig up bait and install wire gun-cleaning brushes in the bait tree to snag hair for DNA testing as the critters climb up for the free meal. They also learned about trail cams and traveling safely through avalanche terrain.

Now they're out doing it in the wilds of the Cabinet mountains northeast of Lake Pend Oreille, as you see by the photos. The going's tough, but that's why many of them signed up. There's nothing better that having a purpose for going into the winter backcountry.

The Friends of the Scotchman Peaks Wilderness is providing the backbone of the financial support and the base of volunteers that came to the classes before heading into the field. 

Oh, yeah. The big news:

After checking their first round of rare forest carnivore monitoring stations last week, Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists discovered a wolverine had been caught on camera in the Selkirk Mountains of North Idaho.  The biologists have confirmed the wolverine visited the station twice.  The story is to be continued… but click “continue reading” below to see one more photo of what volunteers are going through to support this research.

WILDLIFE WATCHING – A week can make a big difference in the numbers of bald eagles gathering for their annual feast of spawning kokanee at Lake Coeur d’Alene.

On Tuesday, the season's second weekly eagle count at Wolf Lodge Bay tallied a whopping 76 bald eagles, said BLM wildlife biologist Carrie Hugo. That compares with 64 eagles counted on the same date last year.

That's exciting news for birdwatchers, considering that 2010 was a record year for the migration, with a peak of 254 eagles counted in the bay during the BLM survey on Dec. 21. 

Tuesday's count indicated a big swing in eagle movements. The first survey of the season on Nov. 22 found only 12 bald eagles compared with 42 counted on the same day in 2010.

Top viewing areas are from Higgens Point as well as south from the Wolf Lodge Exit off I-90 on Highway 97 around to Beauty Bay.

• Read more details tomorrow in my Thursday Outdoors column regarding eagles and how they might be be linked to the numbers of kokanee in the region's lakes.

WILDLIFE WATCHING – The annual gathering of bald eagles that feast on spawning kokanee at Lake Coeur d’Alene is getting off to a slow start.

The eagle count at Wolf Lodge Bay is down by 70 percent from last year at this time, said Carrie Hugo, U.S. Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist.

Hugo made the first weekly survey of the season on Tuesday and counted only 12 bald eagles compared with 42 counted on the same day last year.

“It could be the storm we just had,” she said. “We’ll be out on the lake Saturday for the special eagle boat cruise for veterans, so we’ll see if the changing weather makes a difference.”

She also points out that 2010 was a record year for the migration: 254 eagles were counted in the bay during the BLM survey on Dec. 21.

The eagles traditionally start gathering in mid November, peaking in numbers during December before the birds start moving on as the fish spawning ends in January.

WILDLIFE WATCHING  – Veterans and active military are being honored with a special eagle-watching cruise set for Nov. 26 on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

The free two-hour partyboat cruise to view the annual congregation of bald eagles is organized by the U.S  Bureau of Land Management and Idaho Fish and Game.

Participants are invited along with their immediate families must make reservations by calling (208) 769-5043. Seating is limited to 160.

Migrating eagles visit the Coeur d’Alene area in winter to take advantage of the kokanee spawning in Wolf Lodge Bay. 

The eagles already are starting to show up and numbers will build to a peak in December before the birds start moving on the spawning ends in January.

Last winter, a record 254 eagles were counted in the bay by BLM biologists on Dec. 21.

HUNTING — The birds of the year will be larger and the hunting dogs will have less chance of heat stroke and rattlesnake encounters when Idaho's partridge and quail seasons open this fall.

The Idaho seasons open Oct. 1 — that's two weeks later than last year's season opener.

Organized sportsment made the a case for the later season opener before the state  Fish and Game Commission two years ago.

Washington, which also will open it's quail and chukar seasons on Oct. 1, went to the later season opening several years ago.

Read on for more details on Idaho's chukar and quail seasons.

BIRD HUNTING — The last good barometer Snake River region hunters have had on the hatching success of upland birds has ended. Idaho Fish and Game biologists will no longer conduct aerial chukar surveys, the agency has announced.

The agency has conducted annual chukar surveys since the mid-1980s primarily to provide a ‘forecast’ for the upcoming season. The data was not biological data used to set seasons, officials said in a press release.

Washington ended it's aerial chukar surveys in the 90s, mostly for reasons of expense.

The flights were axed after the officials scrutinized the agency's use of aerial surveys following a fatal helicopter accident last year along the Clearwater River last year that killed two fisheries biologists and the pilot. Several aerila surveys have been eliminated after a review was conducted to assess risk and cost in relation to value of biological information collected

Since 1984, Fish and Game biologists conducted helicopter surveys in late August or early September along a portion of Brownlee and Lucky Peak reservoirs to monitor chukar population trends.  The surveys laster expanded to other portions of the Snake and Salmon rivers.

The surveys offered sportsmen useful general trends in the fall population.

Without the surveys, biologists will rely more on collecting wings from harvested birds to obtain an index to production and estimate harvest from annual hunter harvest surveys.

HUNTING — The Idaho Fish and Game Commission adopted a 107-day waterfowl season for 2011-2012 during its meeting Wednesday.

A youth hunt was set for Sept. 24-25.

Read on for other details of bag limits and other seasons that begin in October.

> FISHING — Idaho Fish and Game will be wheeling out “Take Me Fishing Trailers“ packed with fishing rods and tackle for Idaho Panhandle kids to use free at trout-stocked ponds in June.

The “Take Me Fishing” trailer debuts this season:

• June 2, 4 p.m.-7 p.m., at Fernan Lake.
• June 4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Post Falls Park.

See other dates in June below.

Fishing equipment can be checked out for free on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are not needed.  Participants who register will be granted a permit to fish without a license.  If they get hooked on fishing after the event, parents will have to purchase a license. 

However, Idaho children UNDER the age of 14 can fish for free.

Stocked with basic fishing equipment and information, the trailer wrapped with vibrant fish illustrations is hard to miss.  The waters where the fishing trailer parks are stocked with fish.

Read on for other scheduled fishing trailer stops in June:

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT — The Idaho Fish and Game Commission today established a framework for state wolf management and directed the state Fish and Game Department to:

— Manage wolves in a manner that will ensure wolves remain under responsible state management in conjunction with the rest of Idaho’s wildlife.

—Manage wolves as big game animals consistent with the goals and objectives of the 2002 Idaho Wolf Conservation and Management plan approved by the Idaho Legislature and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to keep wolves off the Endangered Species List.

—Control wolves where they depredate on livestock and other domestic animals or threaten human safety.

—Control the population of wolves and other predators as needed to address areas where elk or other prey populations are below management objectives.

—Develop wolf hunting season recommendations for consideration at the Commission’s July 2011 meeting and develop trapping recommendations.

— Conduct additional species management planning as appropriate.

Commissioners also agreed to support Idaho’s legal defense of challenges to state management, such as those lawsuits challenging the 2011 congressional action for wolf delisting.

The commission will urge Congress to continue to provide funding for monitoring, control and depredation compensation related to the wolf population introduced by the federal government into Idaho.

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT — The Idaho Fish and Game Commission will meet Wednesday through Friday in Lewiston.

A public hearing will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Clearwater Region office, 3316 16^th St., Lewiston.

Click here for a complete agenda.

Thursday morning commissioners will consider a Chinook salmon fishery on the upper Salmon and South Fork Salmon rivers. Later in the day, commissioners will hear an update on wolf management.

Commissioners also will consider an adjustment to deer controlled hunt tag numbers; and they will consider a hunter education live fire exemption rule. They also will elect a new commission chairman and vice-chairman, and appoint a commission liaison to the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Licensing Board.

The day will end with an executive session to discuss land acquisitions and pendinglitigation.

Friday morning commissioners will meet for a workshop about off-highway vehicle restrictions for hunting.

Times on the agenda are approximate and subject to change.

FISHING — Idaho anglers have until April 18 to comment in the first round of discussions on fishing rule changes proposed for 2012.

Fish and Game is considering changing the rule that requires anglers transporting hatchery-produced salmon or steelhead to keep the carcass whole, with the head and tail attached. The change would allow anglers to filet a hatchery produced steelhead or salmon, already recorded on the salmon/steelhead permit, as long as one of the filets has the skin attached where the adipose fin is located to verify its origin.

Other items Fish and Game will be reviewing include:

• The definition of a “fishing contest.”
• Allowing the use of a gaff hook for landing nongame fish species taken with archery equipment.
• Allowing the use of archery equipment and spear guns to harvest game fish with unlimited bag limits.

Comments may be provided by calling regional fish managers at local regional offices or by e-mailing  idfginfo@idaho.gov. 

Rules changed through this process must be approved by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission and the state Legislature.

 WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT — The Idaho Fish and Game Commission stayed within the agency and selected veteran wildlife manager Virgil Moore as the new director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Department. The agency made the announcement today.