State Adds Third Lake To Program

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will stock 870-acre Curlew Lake in Ferry Country with about 400 16-inch tiger muskies today.

Curlew is the third lake in the state to receive the hybrid predatory fish to control surplus populations of undesirable species and provide new sport fisheries. Mayfield Lake in Lewis County and Spokane County’s Newman Lake also are stocked with them.

The Curlew Lake tiger muskies are expected to control squawfish. Curt Vail, a state biologist, said he has worked four years on required studies to pave the way for their introduction.

The decision to stock was delayed when an environmental impact review revealed that Curlew Lake is the last home of a species of clam - the California floater - that is under review for possible listing as state sensitive, threatened or endangered. Further study showed that introduction of tiger muskies would not affect the clams, nor any other wildlife in the area.

Tiger muskies, which are long, slender fish with vertical tiger stripes, are a cross between two non-native predatory species: northern pike and muskellunge. As hybrids, they are sterile, and thus grow relatively fast. The 16-inchers should reach the state’s minimum size limit of 36 inches within three years.

Court upholds hunter orange rule

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department has the authority to require hunters to wear fluorescent orange clothing for safety reasons, the state Court of Appeals ruled recently.

The hunter-orange requirement, which has been in effect since 1991, was challenged by two hunters who contended that WDFW does not have the right to require hunters to wear a particular type of clothing.

The state Court of Appeals ruled that the department’s statutory authority to regulate “manner of taking” game animals includes the authority to regulate hunter safety by requiring hunters to wear fluorescent orange clothing.

“Hunter orange reduces accidents,” said Mik Mikitik, department hunter education coordinator.

In the five years before the regulation was adopted, the rate of firearm-related hunter injuries was 8.16 per 100,000 hunters.

In the five years following adoption of the hunter-orange requirement the injury rate dropped to 7.26 per 100,000 hunters, Mikitik said.

Trout lakes to be treated

Several lakes in Grant, Chelan and Okanogan counties have been proposed for rehabilitation with the chemical rotenone this fall to enhance their trout fisheries.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department is proposing treatment for the following lakes:

Grant County: Warden, South Warden and Quail, plus Aztec, Desert, North Desert, Sedge, Tern, Dune, Meadowlark, and Lizard in the Desert Wildlife Area.

Okanogan County: Leader.

Chelan County: Confluence ponds at junction of Wenatchee and Columbia rivers.

Commission agrees to cut

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission agreed by consensus that a 10 percent spending cutback should be implemented immediately by the Department of Fish and Game.

The cutback will ease the agency into the type of austerity that will be required if no revenue enhancement is approved in the upcoming two legislative sessions.

If the agency continues with all current programs at present levels until fiscal year 2000 begins July 1 of that year and receives no revenue increase, it will find itself in a deficit situation. Commissioner Keith Carlson, Lewiston, pointed out that the agency is forbidden by law from going in debt.

Under the cutback plan, individual regions and bureaus will decide on what programs or positions to cut.

The commission also approved a season on chinook salmon in the South Fork of the Salmon River. The season will open within two days of receiving a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

River fish rules ignored

More and more anglers are ignoring the rules prohibiting the use of bait on the upper Spokane River in Washington, the state Fish and Wildlife Department says.

The Spokane River from the Idaho state line downstream to Upriver Drive is designated a selective fishery.

The rules prohibit use of bait and require anglers to use single, barbless hooks. The daily catch limit for licensed anglers in that stretch is one trout a day, with a minimum size of 12 inches.

Fishing is open in that stretch June 1-Oct. 31.