Show 2G Standard-Examin- er Sunday June 5 1988 Outdoors Walleye of Willard Bay Rapids From 1G before he was aware to land impossible nearly of the danger was swept into the fast current and unable to get to shore “Fortunately the water was low and he survived with only bruises” she related Taking no chances the rafters this day are dispatched in a calm eddy well above the falls and the rafts walked downstream aways before being unloaded The boats and contents are then carried a couple of hundred yards up a small cliff Although the temperature is on the cool side it is hot work espe- daily because the life jackets and helmets remain on just in case someone looses their footing But the rafts are finally transported to a spot near the top of the falls where ropes are attached and they are slowly down the river below to dropped the falls The rafters then scramble down rocks to reload the rafts before floating into some of the river’s most exciting navigable rapids Names like Staircase Surprise and Bronco Billy tell the bug-eye- one-by-o- ' story As the rapids are approached Mary barks out orders such as “right (side of the raft) “left paddle forward” “all forward ” “ALL FORWARD! PADDLE! PADDLE! HOLD back-paddl- e” ON!” The advice comes just hold-o- n as the raft bounces off a cliff wall The same instruction was made during a much smaller rapid later in the day when a quirk y of the river spun the boat around and tumbled it over a rapid’s ledge backwards Paddlers in accompanying rafts couldn’t help but tease Mary about the new method of coming over the easy rapid The day before Steve had also been forced to issue the “hold-on- ” command when his raft took a rather rough ride through a rapid known as Wake Up one of the more formidable rapids on the narrow section above Lowman Maneuvering Wake Up includes taking one wave with the boat heading in one direction than quickly maneuvering the boat to change directions rather difficult if paddlers are knocked about in the boat by the first unex-pectl- wave Still the raft missed the right wall The problem was it came down hard on the left wall and all Steve could do at that point was holler “HOLD ON!” Everyone did and even remem” bered to it so the raft tipped at a near overturning angle quickly slid down the wall and righted itself Somebody then yelled: “Yeah! Let's go do that one again” Although Mary and Steve have slightly different guiding methods they each come across as knowing exactly what they’re doing and both clearly enjoy it Steve is more laid back in giving commands but says “you’ll know by the tone in my voice if you can just paddle easily or should paddle for your life” Mary who at one time was a mountain-climbin- g guide at Mt Rainier said “guiding a raft calls more for mental prowess than strength “You have to be able to read the ricr and know the hazards" “high-side- she said Mary uses her paddlers a bit more than Steve to get the boat in position and another boatman said she's “a little smoother” in her moves She also takes a little more care to explain to her paddling crew often unexperienced what’s up ahead and how they’ll try to take the rapid Although their time on the river is certain!) to be envied by water lovers Steve and Mary’s days begin well before and end well after the rafting part of the job The logistics of getting food people equipment and boats on and off the river makes for long desk-boun- d day s And at this stage of their rafting careers winter finds them working other jobs to keep their raft company dream afloat Still it's their Huckleberry Finn dream — and it does seem to be happening Sierra Club to hike Waterfall Canyon OGDFN — The Ogden Group of the Sierra Club will hold a strenuous hike up Waterfall Canyon to Malan's Basin and then down Taylor Canyon Saturday The hike will be led by Jim Cathn The public is invited to attend Meet at the northeast corner of the Ogden High School parking lot at 9 a m Those stubborn walleye in Willard Bay Reservoir are enough to make a saint swear like an army mule skinner With few exceptions anglers are not taking many of the tasty game fish Even during the spring spawn d fish moves when the out of deep water and onto shallow gravel bars to reproduce there were few takers The situation is so bad now that anglers are starting to imagine all kinds of reasons why they aren’t creeling any They range from observations there are no more walleye left in the big reservoir to stories they have somehow been educated by state fisheries biologists on how not to get caught The present misery among dedicated walleye anglers has been around for several years Each year they have hopes walleye will show up in respectable numbers Many brave the icy blasts of winter to chop holes in the ice hoping the fish will appear and offer sport In some winters they have But the catch has been generally sparse In addition most walleye are not very large Dubbed “torpedoes” because of their shape most measure only seven to nine inches in length The apparently vain hopes that fishing for walleye will again be good seem to be based on the angling action produced by the fish years ago During the fall winter and spring of some past years the Associated Press Hotel Utah cousin Peregrine falcons are ings in Baltimore Md States cities including ment began in 1970 southern Canada and nesting on the ledges of buildand more than 20 other United Salt Lake City since an experito reintroduce the species to the continental United States Bert Strand Standard-Examin- er I outdoors columnist walleye in Willard Bay Reservoir have put on “get caught acts” that now look to be a part of history Anglers clogged the shores and channel banks by the thousands It even seemed as if the fish fought each other to get at the wide assortment of baits lures and flies offered A lot of area anglers who took the fish for the first time understandably got the impression that such was the nature of walleye But since those days the awful truth has become known by most of the disappointed anglers: walleye have never been all that easy to take In fact a walleye with a couple of years or so behind it and upwards of two pounds of meat is a rare sight in any angler’s creel This fact has been proven time and time again angling for the fish in the Bear River or Utah Lake Years past when the fishing action was hot only one out of five or six walleye being landed at Willard Bay were actually hitting offerings and getting hooked in the mouth Most were being snagged in the body tail or fin This has also pretty much been the story at other walleye waters over the years When the fish move into certain areas on their way to spawn or are spawning many that are taken by anglers are snagged On the Bear River some anglers know of spots where there are many nice walleye Some will go six pounds or better Most of these anglers however have long since given up trying to hook and land one of these monsters They gave up after many frustrating hours of tossing lures baits and flies at them Considering the ornery nature of the few walleye that seem to be left in Willard Bay Reservoir it’s no wonder the number of anglers going after them has dwindled drastically It may be however that there is no reason to lose all hope But right now it appears as if it would take a miracle to restore the walleye fishery in Willard Bay But angling is made up of such dreams They return again and again to prod us because when walleye are hitting there are few things in the fishing world that can match it There’s a lot of speculation as to what causes walleye to go on a rampage and grab anything offered by anglers It could be a combination of factors They could include water conditions and amounts It could involve the number of small forage fish present Maybe it’s because there are more of the right age and size Anyway whatever causes such glorious events here’s hoping they continue to show up now and then More can be done to ensure quality hunting Game laws designed to protect wildlife are not new They have been around since at least 1646 when Rhode Island established a closed season to protect deer Then as now the problem with game management is not wildlife but people Left alorie game populations take care of themselves Without human intervention all the variables that we now refer to as population dynamics operate to produce healthy herds that consist of just the right numbers of individuals with the proper sex ratios and age classes Hunting pressure made it necessary for Rhode Island to protect its wildlife It’s the same old problem today: destruction of wildlife habitat a diminishing wildlife resource and an exponential increase in hunting pressure Somehow it doesn’t make any sense to permit more than 180000 hunters to stomp out into the mountains on the opening day of the hunt with permission to shoot any age class of buck they see and at the same time prohibit the killing of does This type of management clearly provides the maximum number of yearling A Naturalist's View Stephen Clark Outdoois commentary animals for great numbers of hunters to kill But do these practices produce the best possible herd and hunt? Wildlife officials maintain that most hunters prefer regulations that create a recreational hunt That is it doesn’t really matter if you kill a deer as long as you can take your family on an outing and have fun If that’s the reason some people hunt deer then I would respectfully suggest they take up jack rabbit hunting instead No license is required there are no limits and you can hunt any season of the year and have lots of fun No one has been able to convince me that managing deer so yearlings comprise 45 percent of the harvest is in the best interest of the herd Maybe this kind of management is what hunters want but I’m not sure that hunters should always get 1 1 OK so I’m critical of big game management as it occurs in much of the West Could management be improved? In my opinion the best management would use far fewer and much more knowledgeable' hunters each with the responsibility to take only a specific age class of animal from a specific area However this kind of management requires a level of sportsmanship beyond the ability of the average hunter and management skills greater than biologists are presently able to practice That leaves us with hunters taking animals with the shotgun approach: shoot anything that moves Yet even with these limitations management and hunting could be improved by: requiring hunters to possess even more wildlife management education than the DWR currently demands demanding that all hunters provide The Golden Spike Bass Anglers and Smith and Edwards will offer a clinic at Willard Bay State Park south marina from 8:30 am to noon Free fishing poles and reels will be given to the first 200 youth who participate in the clinic The Salt City Bassmasters will hold clinics hourly between 9 am and 3 pm at Farmington Pond The clinics are designed for children but anyone may attend Anyone interested is asked to sign up in advance at Herman’s stores in Layton and Bountiful at the Coast to Coast store in Kaysville Bowman’s Market in Farmington or the Sports Mercantile in Bountiful ET A GREEN RETURN fOUR INVESTMENT chase a license ers Local bass clubs plan kids’ fishing clinics Two local bass clubs are planning free kids’ fishing clinics as part of Utah's first “Free Fishing Day” set for June “Take a Kid Fishing" is the theme of Utah’s first Free Fishing Day set for June 11 this year On that day anyone may fish any stream lake or pond in Utah without purchasing a fishing license All other fishing regulations apply The Utah Diusion of Parks and Recreation also chose Saturday to offer free day use of all state park facilities The free fishing day was approved last year by the Legislature and Gov Norman Bangerter proof of their proficiency with the weapons of their choice before they can pur- what they want Wildlife should be managed to perpetuate the healthiest possible animal populations not just happy hunt- M providing incentives that will encourage landowners to develop wildlife habitat rather than sell it off for the construction of a new subdivision: eliminate barriers to the access of pub- lic lands set a reasonable limit on the amount of money a landowner can charge for tres- pass set aside greater numbers of deer herd units as quality hunting areas deny hunting privileges to those who demonstrate by their irresponsible behavior that they are not mature enough to hunt provide additional resources to game managers for the purpose of obtaining a better understanding of w ildlife resources Certainly these ideas are not new Maybe they would help I believe we can do something better than we are doing now City Recreation Ogden and STANDARD” ' Examiner presents MJCERTS Z PARK WQQ Free outdoor concert for rhe whole family or Lester Pork o 650 25th Street Each Sunday This Summer TONIGHT'S CONCERT With a Rain Bird automatic sprinkler system your lawn can be the envy of the neighborhood — dense lush luxurious vegetation A beautiful green grass way to increase the value of your home Let us show you why installing a Rain Bird automatic sprinkler system is such a good investment A Rain Bird automatic system protects your landscape investment And adds value to your home Precise regular waterings transform even the most meager landscaping into an impressive display of rich lawn green foliage and a velvet-lik- e Contact us about a Rain Bird automatic sprinkler and get a good thing growing system today SUN light HERA & Bring your blanket Rain&Bird lawn chair cooler ond snacks Enjoy! 7:00 PM Sell With Classified t ! 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