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Show Geese Wintering That a good many wild ducks and geese winter in West Virginia is the opinion of Alan W. Souder, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent. Souder expressed this opinion following fol-lowing a wild fowl count he made in January in cooperation with the Conservation Commission. Approximately Approxi-mately 12,000 ducks and geese were sighted. The commission's airplane, air-plane, with Pilot Edsel France at the controls, was used in making the surveys on Jan. 10 and 11. Doing Do-ing the counting were Souder and Chief C. O. Handley of the commission's com-mission's game management division. divi-sion. The plane on the first day flew over the Bluestone dam and up the Greenbrier River and its tributaries; tribu-taries; also the Kanawha and most of its large tributaries. On the Blue-stone Blue-stone 3,500 ducks, mostly mallards and golden eyes, were counted. The Kanawha flight added about 5,000 to the day's "bag," most of these being blacks and mallards found near Leon. Thirty-four Canadiaa geese also were seen. The following day a flight was made over the Ohio from its Junction Junc-tion with the Kanawha to New Martinsville. Mar-tinsville. About 3,000 ducks were sighted. These were in scattered flocks ranging In number from five to six to 100 birds. "There is no doubt in my mind," said Souder, "that many of these birds are wintering in West Virginia. Vir-ginia. This is indicated strongly by the inaccessibility of the places where they were found." AAA Proper Retrieve Retrieving the lure should begin immediately when it hits the water. This is done by turning the crank handle which in most cases automatically auto-matically engages the pick-up arm. This in turn picks up the line and starts to level wind the line on the spool. The speed of retrieve depends upon the lure used. When a fish strikes, set the hook immediately and continue to reel In the line. The hooked fish will be played from the reel, the drag having been previously pre-viously adjusted to the proper tension. ten-sion. This adjustment depends on the weight of the line used. If too much tension is made on a light line, it is liable to break when the strike is made. The fish should be played until It Is completely tired, then brought to the angler. If it is necessary to use a net, the fish can be taken In the usual manner; however, many fish can be taken without using a net as long as the fish are completely tired. Large fish of course sh0uld4.be netted or gaffed, depending upon the situation. AAA The yah, native of Asia, bos a peculiar pe-culiar voice resembling the grunt of a pig. AAA Deep Trolling Wall-eyed pike go to considerable depths, particularly during warm summer months. They sometimes leave these deep waters to feed in the shallows, more especially during high water and at night, whereas wise anglers at such times are wont to leave their bed and sleep. Yet, even in midday and in August better takes of wall-eyes from sixty and even more feet of water may be secured by the use of deep trolling Monel and for which purpose the twisted or braided braid-ed line is suitable. Wall-eyes are prone to school up in considerable numbers as do their smaller relatives, rela-tives, the yellow perch. Muskellunge and great northern pike often follow the schools of perch and other food fish into the deeper waters. Both these species of big fresh water pikes are more solitary of nature than are the perch clans. The big pikes have a habit of watchful waiting where food and natural camouflage combine. com-bine. AAA Rabid Beavers? A rabies-ridden beaver was killed recently by a Boone county, Missouri Mis-souri man after the rodent attacked his dog. The incident was reported by the Montana Game and Fish Department. De-partment. The farmer, Derby Bass, rushed outside that night when he heard sounds of a vicious struggle, and found his dog engaged in a fight with the mad beaver. Bass made attempts to drive the beast off, but when it tried to attack him, he had to shoot it University of Missouri veterinary experts said they had never before heard of a beaver having rabies. AAA Temperatures One of the most Important factors fac-tors in determining where to fish is the temperature of the water. This is true in both lakes and streams. Fish are cold blooded, which means that the body of the fish takes on the same temperature of the water. Forty years ago, the few fishermen fisher-men who realized the bearing of water temperature on fishing were ridiculed. Today, thousands of stream anglers have thermometers in their tackle boxes. |