State wildlife experts recently ascended to the top of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at UMASS Amherst to band four peregrine falcon chicks.  David Paulson and Tom French (retired) of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MA DFW) removed three female chicks and one male from the nest situated on the edge of the library’s roof. The fluffy, white birds were then banded, coded by color and location, to allow wildlife researchers to track the movements and histories of the falcons over time. These efforts have even traced one female falcon born and banded at a nest in Brockton all the way to the UMASS Amherst campus.

Annual falcon banding is part of statewide initiatives to improve the conservation status of peregrine falcons from “Threatened” to “Special Concern” under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. For decades, the peregrine falcon population declined with the use of DDT. By 1966, not a single nesting pair could be found in any state east of the Mississippi River. Now, peregrine falcons can be seen year-round across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

At UMass Amherst, the falcons have become a staple of the campus community. Follow along with them via the FalconCam, a live video feed that allows viewers to check in on the falcons each spring on Twitter, @DuBoisFalcons, to muse over the latest falcon sightings, births, and happenings.

Also, recently, MA DFW personnel and noted biologist and TV personality Jeff Corwin have assessed for health and banded some four-week-old peregrine falcon hatchlings in Boston.    Corwin will be showcasing this important conservation work in a new TV series airing this fall.  Hope we can pick it up around here in the Berkshires.

In-person fishing class

Adults and families who want to learn how to fish on their own are invited to join MassWildlife’s Learn to Fish Class to learn all the basics for having a fun and successful fishing trip. Feel free to bring your own equipment or borrow theirs. You will need to bring their own bait. This class will cover all the fishing basics from baiting, to setting up your line, and casting followed by time to do some fishing.  The location and time in the Berkshires are Pontoosuc Lake on July 20 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.

Classes are free, but pre-registration is required and space is limited. Register by clicking https://www.mass.gov/service/angler-education-calendar.  To get the most out of the in-person class, participants are encouraged to watch MassWildlife’s online video tutorial prior to attending the class. You will receive a link to video with your confirmation email when you register. Any participants ages 15 and younger are required to be accompanied by an adult.

Fishing Derby

The Berkshire Hatchery Foundation in Hartsville-New Marlborough is scheduled to have a youth fishing derby next Saturday, July 10 from 9:00 to 10:30 am at its Lower Pond at the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery, 240 Hatchery Road, Hartsville, MA.  Children aged 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult.   These fishing derbies will run once a month through September.  The following of State guidelines regarding social distancing, face masks etc., is required.

A comical fishing day I’ll never forget

In a recent column, I noted the death of a well-known local sportsman and close friend Paul Ouellette of Lanesborough.  In that column, I mentioned that he used to play a jaws harp while his brother Homer played the harmonica whenever we sat around the campfire. The jaw’s harp (a/k/a Jew’s harp, mouth harp) is a small musical instrument which is held against the teeth or lips, and plucked with the fingers making a twangy boing-boing sound. (Click onto Wikipedia to hear it).  Whenever I hear it, I associate it with the sounds coming out of the Appalachian Mountains.  Paul was pretty good at playing it.

I decided to buy one.  Actually, once I got it, I didn’t have much use for it and most of the time I couldn’t find it.  It would show up in my fishing vest, glove compartment or laying on the floor somewhere.

One day, for some reason, I took it with me when I went fishing the East Branch of the Westfield River near Chesterfield.  The area I fished was downstream from Chesterfield Gorge but upstream of the Indian Hollow Campgrounds.  It is really remote there and one would never suspect that he is fishing in Massachusetts. It is an area more like the wilderness of Maine or New Brunswick.

I should mention here and now that this occurred sometime in the late 1980’s, after the movie Deliverance came out.   Readers may recall that movie was about some folks who went for a canoeing trip together in the Georgia wilderness, only to come into terrifying conflict with some inbred locals, tapping into very primal fears — man vs. nature, town vs. country, etc., and preying on masculinity, thanks to an unforgettable scene.

On this beautiful sunny, spring morning, I was walking a trail to a nice fishing spot which required about a 1-mile hike to reach. The birds were chirping, the grouse drumming – one of those mornings that you feel great to be alive.

Upon arriving at the destination, to my disappointment, there was a guy already flyfishing there.  He never saw nor heard me approach from behind.   Not wishing to disturb him, I went to another spot to fish about a quarter of a mile away.  After an hour or so fishing there without any luck, I went back to that spot where that other guy was fishing.  He was still fishing there so I sat on a nearby fallen log patiently waiting for him to leave.

He kept fishing and showed no signs of moving on.  After about an hour of waiting, I took out the jaws harp from my vest and started to twang a tune.  “Boing, boing, boing”, it went.

The guy froze in his place in the middle of the river and slowly turned around to see from where the sound was coming.  I also froze, holding the harp at my lips, and stopped playing.  Even though he looked in my direction, he didn’t see me, probably because I wearing camouflage and partially concealed by the surrounding vegetation.

He resumed flyfishing, and I resumed playing – “Boing, boing, boing”.  He looked back again and I stopped again.  This went on for a period of time.  I should have waived to him, but something stopped me.  I varied the timing of playing the harp, sometimes I would wait 5 minutes before resuming, each time when he was focusing on the fly that he was casting.

Oh, you should have been there!  After a while I got laughing so hard, I could hardly play the instrument and I almost choked on it.  In fact, as much as I tried to stifle my laugh, he heard it.  Out of the river he splashed, with a panicked look on his face, crashed through the brush to get on the trail and off he rushed away.  I never saw a person in chest waders move so quickly.  His fly got stuck in some brush along the trail, but he didn’t stop to retrieve it.  He just snapped it off and high tailed it out of there, periodically looking behind.  He never saw me, but if he had, he would have been even more freaked out seeing this guy sitting on a log all by himself in the middle of the woods and laughing his head off.

Shame on me you say, I was probably under the influence of the Devil.  Hey, I was only playing a tune on the harp.

I prefer to think that maybe the Good Lord allowed it to happen because he felt that the three of us needed a good laugh that day at the expense of that angler.

Have a great 4^th of July weekend!

Bills filed by State Representatives Lori Ehrlich and Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Sen. Michael Moore   (H 904 / S 587), would enter Massachusetts into the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, a network that seeks to reduce wildlife poaching through information sharing across state lines and reciprocal recognition of license suspensions and revocations for fishing, hunting, and trapping.  This legislation would update the Commonwealth’s outdated penalties for illegal hunting, some of which have not been updated in a century and currently amount to little more than a slap on the wrist,” Ehrlich said recently at an Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture virtual hearing.   Simply put membership protects wildlife, supports law-abiding hunters and anglers, and provides the Massachusetts Environmental Police (MEP) additional resources to combat poachers and other wildlife criminals.

Stephanie Harris of the Animal Legal Defense Fund feels that Massachusetts is a poacher’s paradise and it is uniquely vulnerable to poachers. “(The Compact) simply adds another tool to our agencies’ tool belts. (It) ensures that MEP has access to the information that they need to determine where an out-of-state violation would or should result in license suspension here in the Commonwealth,” she said.  “The legislation mainly updates penalties for illegal hunting to strike a balance between modernizing certain century-old penalties without becoming too punitive.”  “For instance, the bill increases fines for hunting in a wildlife sanctuary from a range of $50 – $100 to a range of $100 – $500 and allows for the suspension of licenses for up to three years for a first offense and up to 10 years for a third offense.

“It similarly updates fines and license suspensions for other violations unchanged since the 1930s, when there was a major boom in state wildlife laws because certain species were hunted or trapped nearly to extinction,” Harris said. “And for context, a fine of $50 in the 1930s would, keeping up with inflation, be about $800 today. The (proposed) updates are more modest.”

Massachusetts and Hawaii are the only two states not in the Compact, though legislation is pending that would enter the Aloha State into the national compact. “Massachusetts has always led the way in terms of the protection of animals, but for some reason we’ve missed the opportunity to work collaboratively with other states and stop wildlife criminals.”  said Christopher Borgatti, a member of the New England Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.  “The Commonwealth’s initial membership to the Compact is long overdue.  Simply put membership protects wildlife, supports law-abiding hunters and anglers, and provides the MEP additional resources to combat poachers and other wildlife criminals.” he said.

Should Massachusetts pass the legislation, it would authorize the Commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game (currently is Ron Amidon) to join the compact.  Then, MassWildlife and the Division of Marine Fisheries would have a year to promulgate regulations around implementing the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, according to the bill.

Good sized bowfin hauled out of Onota Lake

Crystal Taylor of Pittsfield was fishing for crappie with her fiancé Tara Taliaferro on the Dan Casey Causeway on Onota Lake recently.  Using minnows as bait, she hooked into a large fish that put up a good fight.  When she got it near the shore, Tara, who is also an experienced angler, netted it for her.  It turned out to be a large bowfin. measuring about 26 inches and weighed approximately 5 lbs.  According to Chuck Pero, who lives on the lake and who happened to be walking by, Crystal was obviously a seasoned angler for she “landed it like a true professional despite the fight it put up”.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have a measuring tape or scale, said Pero, but it looked over 26 inches and weighed about 5 lbs, probably worthy of a state pin.

After posing for pictures, Crystal released the fish.  She was experienced enough to know not to put her fingers in or near its mouth to retrieve the hook.   Instead, she clipped the fishing line right next the hook

Massachusetts Environmental Police Lt. Tara Carlow saw this picture and asked that I please identify it as a bowfin and not a snakehead which is a different species. Contrary to messages on Facebook claiming otherwise, it was a bowfin. They are not one and the same and don’t necessarily have to be killed, she said.

Public hearings on license and fee increases

MassWildlife has released a new license proposal, which incorporates public input on the original February proposal. In the new proposal, most fee increases will be phased in over five years beginning in 2022 and fee increases for hunting permits and stamps are lower than originally proposed.

The current proposal incorporates public feedback gathered through six information sessions held in February and March, phone calls, emails, letters, and a webform. Although many stakeholders expressed an understanding of the need to raise fees after 25 years, there was a strong desire to see fee increases phased in over time, and to lower the proposed increases to hunting permits and stamps. In response, MassWildlife and the Department of Fish and Game worked with the Baker-Polito Administration to revise the original fee proposal. Recognizing that all Massachusetts residents benefit from MassWildlife’s work to conserve wildlife, protect open space, and preserve clean water and air, the Baker-Polito Administration will work to diversify MassWildlife’s funding and reduce the burden on the fee-paying sporting community. This change will make it possible to maintain MassWildlife’s programming and services with lower fees than originally proposed.

Public hearings will be held on June 22, 23, and 24 on Zoom to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the new proposed changes. Check out the MassWildlife web page for instructions on how to join the hearings. You can also provide written comment up until 4:00 pm on July 8. The hope is that the entire process will be finalized in time to incorporate the changes into the 2022 Fish and Wildlife Regulations.

Enjoyable fishing derby at the Hatchery

The way the day started last Saturday you would have thought that no one would attend the monthly Youth Fishing Derby at the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery pool in Hartsville (a hamlet of New Marlborough). Fifteen minutes before the scheduled opening, cars carrying kids and their parents started arriving and by opening time, the rain had stopped. Out of the cars and to the pool ran the kids awaiting opening time and looking for some of the 300 or so trout which were previously stocked there. The parents signed them in at the official measuring station, manned by Friends of the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery President Dave Ziegler.

The rules of the free fishing derby stipulated that only youths aged 13 years or younger could participate and they had to be accompanied by an adult.  Each fish had to be checked in and officially measured at the checking station.  Kids could keep as many fish as they caught or release them back into the pond.  Prizes for the winners were fishing poles and a tackle box.   If someone caught a tagged trout, they received an official Friends of the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery T-shirt. The derby officially starts at 9:00 am and ends at 10:30 am.

At 9:00 am sharp, Dave yelled “Start fishing!”  Out flew the bobbers and baited hooks.  No sooner had they hit the water when the brook trout starting hitting.  Each time a kid caught a trout, he or she ran to the measuring station to have it measured and checked in.  Some kids carried them in their bare hands and others wrapped them in towels so that they wouldn’t slip away.  Some released their fish back into the water and some kept them to bring home to eat.

The weather turned nice and some 19 or 20 kids entered and had a great time.

The weather was perfect, a sunny morning with a gentle, warm breeze blowing just enough to keep the mosquitos away.  The pond had been previously prepared and the brook trout were eagerly awaiting the arrival of some VIP’s.  The fish had been purchased by the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen (BCLS) and transported to Reynolds Pond in Cheshire a few days earlier from the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery in Hartsville/New Marlborough. Volunteers from the Cheshire Rod & Gun Club, Adams Outdoor for Youth (AOFY) and the BCLS arrived earlier to assemble the fishing gear – brand new fishing poles, reels, line, sinkers and bobbers which were donated to MassWildlife by Cabelas.  MassWildlife, in turn, provided them free of charge to the anglers who would be arriving shortly.  (Through the MassWildlife Angler Education Program, led by Jim Legacy, MassWildlife provides equipment for just such cases). Prior to the VIPs arrival the volunteers attached the hooks and sinkers to the lines, meted out the worms and grubs into styrofoam cups along with the soil to keep them fresh.  And, get this, anglers had their choice of using red or green worms!  Yes, you read that right. Pond owner, Mr. Reynolds even talked some songbirds and woodpeckers to provide the background music.

The bonfire was crackling away and preparations were under way to prepare the food and drink for lunchtime.

So, who were these very important guests?

Fifteen tots from the North Adams area who were bussed in by the folks from the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, which is the umbrella agency for many social services in the area.  They were accompanied by Alex Daugherty, Probation Officer with the Northern Berkshire District Court, Jason Hooks a Court Officer there as well, Colleen Murphy, a Probation Officer with the Berkshire Juvenile Court, Liz Boland, a staff person with the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, Wendi Gore a Para Professional with Greylock Elementary School in North Adams.   Kids who probably would not otherwise have had the opportunity to obtain the necessary fishing equipment and to go fishing.  They were all well behaved kids who could hardly wait to cast for those trout. Most of them, some as young as 6 or 7 years old, were able to cast their lines on their own.  (Just don’t stand too close on any side of them when they casted, for one never knew in which direction the bobbers would fly, and that included up into trees).  Most had no problem hooking the wiggly worms onto the hooks.  In fact, one little girl named Zulma insisted not only on putting the worms onto her hooks, but also wanted to gut one of the trout that she caught.

And boy, the fish were cooperating!  Lots of healthy, fat brookies were caught by every kid.  Volunteer Jim Loughman of AOFY was kept busy cleaning most of the fish that were caught. At times he was aided by Dan Miraglia of BASS organization.  The cleaned fish were placed in plastic bags and were brought home to be eaten. I’ll bet they were tasty, too, some with nice pink flesh.

One little fella named Quinton told me that he had never been fishing before and was hoping he would catch a fish.  Well, as time went by, he mastered the art of casting and had caught four trout before noon.  He really didn’t enjoy putting the worms on the hook, though.  He assigned that job to me. Another youth, William was elated when he caught his first fish, especially when his aunt Colleen and Uncle Nuchie (or was it Uncle Butchie) there to see it.  There was even a set of triplets there having a great time

Around noon, the anglers broke away and enjoyed a lunch of hamburgers and hot dogs cooked up by Mike Cutler, Rick Gurney and Wayne Tinney of AOFY.

Most of the people involved in putting on this event are used to helping getting kids get interested in the outdoor sports.  Assisting that day were Karen and Mike Kruszyna, Jodi Goff, Mike Cutler, Wayne Tinney and Dan Miraglia, all BCLS Sportsmen Award recipients. But there was also help from people who could not attend that day.  The BCLS donated around $1.000 to cover the cost of obtaining the fish and providing the food.  Thanks to a grant from the Berkshire Chapter of Whitetails Unlimited, most of that expense was recovered.  The grant application was prepared and submitted by BCLS delegate Phil Hiser, another Sportsman Award recipient.

Yes, all in all, it takes a lot of people to pull off something such as this.  It takes a community (of sportsmen and women). And I would be willing to bet that those who experienced the most satisfaction that day were the volunteers and supporters.

Are unstocked wild Tiger Trout swimming our waters?

Some experts tell us that generally speaking, no, that they do not exist naturally and only appear where they are produced in hatcheries. A Tiger Trout is a sterile hybrid that is the result of crossing a female brown trout with a male brook trout. They appear to grow faster than natural species.   But actually, the Tiger Trout might occur anywhere that Brook Trout and Brown Trout inhabit the same waters.   Only on rare occasions does this hybrid occur naturally in the wild so most areas require stocking efforts to keep their populations stable.  Coloring, markings, and tail shape can vary but generally is a dark maze-like pattern all over a brownish, gray, or silver body.  Apart from their aggressiveness, Tiger Trout are easily distinguished from other stocked trout by their vibrant colors and unique markings.  Tiger Trout are highly aggressive fish eaters, and are a good control against rough fish populations. Some bass tournament friends of mine frequently catch them on bass lures.  For a while, Tiger Trout were exclusively stocked in the Great Lakes. After the stocking program was discontinued, a 20-pound-plus world-record Tiger Trout was caught in one of the Great Lakes.

Here in Massachusetts, MassWildlife stocks them in selective waters.  Approximately 2,500 tiger trout were stocked statewide this year.  Some of them, which measured around 14 inches long, were stocked in Western District waters, mainly in Littleville Lake in Chester/Huntington and Lake Buel in Monterey.

Back to the original question, are there any unstocked wild Tiger Trout in our area?  The answer is definitely yes. Brian Majewski, of Lenox Dale, caught one recently out of a stream in Pittsfield.  In fact, he believes he caught either the same trout or possibly another one on two separate occasions. They measured around 6 inches, much smaller than the size that the State stocks.  He reported it to MassWildlife’s Western District Aquatic Biologist Leanda Fontaine Gagnon, who is quite interested and is hoping to do a fish survey this summer in that stream in order to learn more about them.

HooRWA offers beginners fly casting session

The Hoosic River Watershed Association will offer a free beginners’ guide to fly fishing session, including the basics of fly-fishing equipment and technique, focused on the methods used to catch wild trout of the Hoosic River.  The event will be next Saturday, June 19 from 9:00 am to noon near to the access for the Williamstown, MA transfer station.  If you have never touched a fly rod before, but are curious to do so, HooRWA says this is the event for you. All participants will have a chance to practice casting, as well as to walk the river to learn about how to approach fishing from a “biological approach.”  Contact HooRWA at 413-458-2742 or office@hoorwa.org to register.

Last month Karen and her husband David Fachini of Pownal, VT went turkey hunting on Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts.  The spring season was winding down and they decided to hunt there, a place they enjoy.   They were familiar with the good hunting areas on that mountain having grown up nearby in MA.

While calling, David got a response from two jakes (immature tom turkeys).  He asked Karen if she wanted him to call the jakes in and she said yes.  She already got a longbeard (adult) tom this season so why not a jake, too.  She got ready and waited with her gun in hand and he started calling one in.

It took about an hour to get one close enough for a shot.  When the jake approached within 30 yards, she fired and dropped it.  She ran to the turkey and turned it over to see how long the beard was.  To her surprise, it had several beards with the main one being about 6 inches long and the others got progressively smaller.  It turned out that there were 7 beards on it.  Not only that, but the bird had double spurs on one leg, also unusual for a jake.  When she got home, she called the DFW in Dalton and told them about the beards, they said they had heard of multiple bearded turkeys in MA but only with two beards, three at the most.  They suggested she contact a biologist from their DFW headquarters in Westborough.   When she did, they requested that she pluck the feathers around the beards to clearly show all the beards and send them the pictures.

I asked MassWildlife Turkey Biologist David Scarpiti for some comments.  He said that a turkey with 7 beards is going to be rare anywhere, including Massachusetts. He said that MassWildlife doesn’t really track that kind of information on harvested turkeys, but every year they get a couple of calls asking about what the longest beard, or longest spurs, or this many beards. His guess is that it’s probable that someone has harvested a turkey like that before in Massachusetts but he just couldn’t 100% verify that. So, certainly rare indeed.  They more normally (hear of) several birds every year with 2 or 3 beards.  It was last year or the year before that someone sent him a picture of a bird with double spurs. A quick scan of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) record books show a few multiple bearded birds from Massachusetts, but these are just the handful of birds that are officially scored and registered with NWTF, which David guesses is maybe only a few compared to the roughly 3000 birds harvested in Massachusetts every year.

Incidentally, I believe the world record number of beards on a turkey is 13, at least that is what stands in the record books of the NWTF. It was taken in Pennsylvania in 2018 by 11-year old Tyler Mumpower.

I asked Karen if they were sure that it was a jake and not an adult tom and she said that based on certain characteristics, it was a jake.  It unofficially weighed 14 lbs 8 oz. (On average jakes weigh 12 to 14 lbs)

She shot the bird with a 20-gauge shotgun.  (I guess that I am not with the times, for I thought you needed a 12-gauge shotgun with special turkey loads).  Heck no, in fact her daughter Mandy Fachini Southworth gets turkeys with a .410 bore TSS (Tungston Super Shot) loads. She uses the .410 not necessarily by choice but rather to abide by her doctors’ orders.  You see Mandy had chemo and radiation treatment for her stage 3 breast cancer a while back and her doctor thought that perhaps her shoulder couldn’t handle anything more powerful.  It’s easier to bring to bear on target and hold steady once there and it doesn’t kick as much as the larger gauge guns.  Fortunately for Mandy, TSS, made by Federal, extends the range of turkey guns beyond the reach of lead and you can kill a bird over 50 yards away with a .410 now.   The new wad designs, pellet materials and cleaner burning powders have changed things dramatically. In fact, TSS is slowly becoming the gold standard as tungsten is nearly twice as dense as lead and five times harder than steel.  The problem is the cost, they are not giving away this ammo.

Incidentally, outdoor sports writer David Willette wrote two articles about Mandy in the Northwoods Sporting Journal -one in the July 2020 issue entitled One Tough Turkey Hunter and another in January, 2021 entitled Cancer Can’t Stop Her. I highly recommend you read them if you want to find out what determination is all about.  Mandy is an inspiration to us all.

The Fachini family loves turkey hunting.  They come from a long line of hunters and trappers. Every member of the Fachini family was successful in harvesting turkeys this season.  Each year they hunt turkeys in MA, VT and sometimes in NY.  They run a little family turkey pool each year with winners for the longest beards and the heaviest bird categories.  Karen won the pool this year with the total beard length coming in at 17 5/6 inches.   David won the weight category with a bird weighing in at 23 lbs.

Invasive Bushes

Hey turkey hunters, in the future don’t set up your turkey blinds near barberry bushes!  Scientists have found the invasive plant to be a prime environment for deer ticks. They found higher densities of deer ticks carrying Lyme disease in barberry infestations than in other habitats. Property with barberry has seven times the tick population?  That is information relayed to us from the Westfield River Wild and Scenic River volunteers.   They invite you to come to their workdays and they will tell you why. They will be working in various areas in the watershed to remove that “Barberry Beast”.  Contact Meredyth Babcock, Volunteer and Projects coordinator, Wild & Scenic Westfield River Committee at http://www.westfieldriverwildscenic.org/ or Westfieldriver@gmail.com or Home /office 413 623-2070 or cell 413 207-4282.

Incidentally, the Wild & Scenic Westfield River Committee’s latest wild and scenic video features John Burns, local well-known botanist (and superb flyfisherman).  Entitled “Walkin the Watershed with Burnsie, Early detection of Glossy Buckthorn, Autumn Olive and Honeysuckle”.   Click onto YouTube: how to recognize invasive Glossy Buckthorn, Autumn Olive and Honeysuckle and why it matters.

Trout Stockings

According to the MassWildlife web page Stocking Report, Laurel Lake in Lee/Lenox was stocked with rainbow trout last Tuesday. Be sure to check its stocking report to see if there were other stockings.

Fishing Derby

The Berkshire Hatchery Foundation in Hartsville-New Marlborough is scheduled to have a youth fishing derby next Saturday, June 12 from 9:00 to 10:30 am at its Lower Pond at the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery, 240 Hatchery Road, Hartsville, MA.  Children aged 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult.   These fishing derbies will run once a month through September.  The following of State guidelines regarding social distancing, face masks etc., is required.

As most outdoor sportsmen and women are aware, MassWildlife is proposing changes to hunting, freshwater fishing, and trapping license fees. The existing fee schedule has been in effect for the last 25 years and it is no secret that fees must increase or the MassWildlife will go broke in a few years. A little over a week ago, MassWildlife released a new license fee proposal, which incorporates public input on the original February proposal. In the new proposal, most license fee increases will be phased in over five years, and the proposed increases for hunting permits and stamps are lower than originally proposed.

The current proposal incorporates public feedback gathered through six information sessions held in February and March, as well as phone calls, emails, letters, and a webform. Although many folks expressed an understanding of the need to raise fees, there was a strong desire to see the proposed increases for license fees phased in over time, and to lower the proposed increases for the costs of hunting permits and stamps. In response, MassWildlife and the Department of Fish and Game worked with the Baker-Polito Administration to revise the original fee proposal.

Recognizing that all Massachusetts residents benefit from MassWildlife’s work to conserve wildlife, protect open space, and preserve clean water and air, the Baker-Polito Administration will work to diversify MassWildlife’s funding and reduce the burden on the fee-paying sporting community. This change will make it possible to maintain MassWildlife’s programming and services with lower fees than originally proposed.

Public hearings will be held on June 22, 23, and 24 on Zoom to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the new proposed changes.  Stakeholders can provide public comment by speaking at one of the hearings or providing written comment through July 8 using a convenient feedback form available on the MassWildlife web site or by mail to: MassWildlife Re: License Fee, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581.

Phasing in the license fee increases over a 5-year period certainly makes the change more palatable than the original proposal.  You may recall that the original proposal for the permits and stamps were to jump immediately from $5.00 to $20.00.  With this new proposal, the fee increase would only be $10.00, at least for the next 5 years.   Instead of an immediate drastic $20.00 pheasant permit fee, it would start at $4.00 in 2022 and would gradually increase to $20 in year 2026.

The Massachusetts Conservation Alliance, a group comprised of the various county leagues of sportsmen and other sportsmen’s clubs from across the state really did a yeoman’s job in unifying 100,000 or so sports folks to put pressure on MassWildlife to come up with a more realistic schedule of fee increases.  Co-chaired by Joe Alfonso and Paul Johnson, they actually came up with their own recommended fee schedule which MassWildlife seriously considered before making its final recommendations.  (Outdoor sportswriter David Willette of North Adams has an excellent article about the MCA in the June, 2021 issue of the Northwoods Sporting Journal.)  Massachusetts outdoorsmen and women will be hearing more about the MCA in the future as more and more clubs and leagues join it’s ranks in order to have a little more political clout on Beacon Hill.

It is especially gratifying to hear that the Baker-Polito Administration will work to diversify funding in some way.  Hopefully, they can do something about funding the free licenses for 70+ older folks.  Sen. Anne Gobi (D-Spencer), co-chair of the Massachusetts Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and past chair of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, has filed a bill in the 192nd session of the General Court aimed at addressing lost revenue that the state is failing to reimburse to MassWildlife.  An Act to Reimburse the Inland Fisheries and Game Fund (SD. 1453) would target the more than $1 million per year the agency forfeits each year by providing free hunting and fishing licenses to residents aged over 70 that is not currently being reimbursed by the state.  You may want to call your local legislators and ask them to support this legislation.

Trout Stockings

Last week, subject to last minute change, the following local waters were scheduled to be stocked by Massachusetts DFW: Ashfield Pond in Ashfield, Deerfield River in Buckland, Charlemont and Florida; Westfield River-East (C&R) in Chesterfield, North Pond in Florida, Laurel Lake in Lee and Lenox, Richmond Pond in Richmond, Onota Lake in Pittsfield, Goose Pond in Lee and Tyringham, Pontoosuc Lake in Lanesborough and Pittsfield, Stockbridge Bowl in Stockbridge, Housatonic River (C&R) in Lee and Stockbridge, Lake Buel in Monterey and Otis Reservoir in Otis and Tolland.

Deb Lipa, MassWildlife Western District Clerk, said that she believes they finished the stocking trips last week, but couldn’t verify that.  She suggested that anglers keep checking the stocking report online to see if there are any further deliveries next week.

Deb does a lot of extra work for us to ensure that this column has the latest stocking reports.  Many, many thanks Deb!

Don’t forget, next weekend is free fishing weekend in MA, so round up the family, get out there and catch a few of these trout.

Leigh Perkins remembered

Leigh H. Perkins, who transformed Orvis from a niche fishing tackle business into a global sporting emporium and lifestyle brand, selling everything from graphite fly rods and Gore-Tex rainwear to linen dresses and engraved drinking glasses, died May 7 at his home in Monticello, Fla. He was 93.  He bought Orvis in 1965 for $400,000, taking over a company that C.F. Orvis had founded in Manchester, VT in 1856.  By the time Leigh retired as President and CEO in 1992, Orvis had grown from 20 employees to more than 700, and from annual sales of $500,000 to more than $90 million. The company currently operates more than 80 retail stores in the United States and Britain, with sales driven by online shopping and catalogues that Leigh sent to millions of homes each year.  After his retirement, his son Leigh H. “Perk” Perkins Jr. became CEO, with his younger son David helping run the company.  Now, his grandson Simon Perkins leads the company.

Leigh Sr. started a fly-fishing school and a wing-shooting program. The classes were among the first of their kind in the United States, offering formal training in activities that were often considered upper crust.

He was also one of the first executives to start dedicating corporate earnings to conservation, donating 5 percent of pretax profits to conservation organizations beginning in the 1980s.  He wanted to protect these places to be able to connect and share with others, but he also saw it as good business — investing in the landscape and the habitat.

An online tribute published on the company’s website said Perkins was a lifelong outdoorsman who hunted or fished more than 250 days a year into his 90s, and who had a reverence for nature and conservation.

He certainly left a wonderful legacy.

The above information was gleaned from Leigh’s obituary written by Brian Gallagher, Senior Staff Editor at The New York Times.

Correction

In last week’s column, I erroneously listed the name of an angler whose picture was shown holding a 10 lb. brown trout.  I listed him as being Mark Lucier when, in fact, his name is Mark Markham. My apologies!  This is especially embarrassing to me as Mark is a close personal friend with whom I have deer hunted and/or ice fished for several years.  He is a superb deer hunter and many times our ice fishing group has enjoyed his grilled venison meals while out on the ice.

Memorial Day

It’s that time again when we honor those who have fought, suffered and/or and died in defense of our country.  Let’s hope that as a nation we can set aside our differences and come together this weekend to remember them and their sacrifices.  They deserve nothing less.

As most outdoor sportsmen and women are aware, MassWildlife is proposing changes to hunting, freshwater fishing, and trapping license fees. The existing fee schedule has been in effect for the last 25 years and it is no secret that fees must increase or the MassWildlife will go broke in a few years. A little over a week ago, MassWildlife released a new license fee proposal, which incorporates public input on the original February proposal. In the new proposal, most license fee increases will be phased in over five years, and the proposed increases for hunting permits and stamps are lower than originally proposed.

The current proposal incorporates public feedback gathered through six information sessions held in February and March, as well as phone calls, emails, letters, and a webform. Although many folks expressed an understanding of the need to raise fees, there was a strong desire to see the proposed increases for license fees phased in over time, and to lower the proposed increases for the costs of hunting permits and stamps. In response, MassWildlife and the Department of Fish and Game worked with the Baker-Polito Administration to revise the original fee proposal.

Recognizing that all Massachusetts residents benefit from MassWildlife’s work to conserve wildlife, protect open space, and preserve clean water and air, the Baker-Polito Administration will work to diversify MassWildlife’s funding and reduce the burden on the fee-paying sporting community. This change will make it possible to maintain MassWildlife’s programming and services with lower fees than originally proposed.

Public hearings will be held on June 22, 23, and 24 on Zoom to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the new proposed changes.  Stakeholders can provide public comment by speaking at one of the hearings or providing written comment through July 8 using a convenient feedback form available on the MassWildlife web site or by mail to: MassWildlife Re: License Fee, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581.

Phasing in the license fee increases over a 5-year period certainly makes the change more palatable than the original proposal.  You may recall that the original proposal for the permits and stamps were to jump immediately from $5.00 to $20.00.  With this new proposal, the fee increase would only be $10.00, at least for the next 5 years.   Instead of an immediate drastic $20.00 pheasant permit fee, it would start at $4.00 in 2022 and would gradually increase to $20 in year 2026.

The Massachusetts Conservation Alliance, a group comprised of the various county leagues of sportsmen and other sportsmen’s clubs from across the state really did a yeoman’s job in unifying 100,000 or so sports folks to put pressure on MassWildlife to come up with a more realistic schedule of fee increases.  Co-chaired by Joe Alfonso and Paul Johnson, they actually came up with their own recommended fee schedule which MassWildlife seriously considered before making its final recommendations.  (Outdoor sportswriter David Willette of North Adams has an excellent article about the MCA in the June, 2021 issue of the Northwoods Sporting Journal.)  Massachusetts outdoorsmen and women will be hearing more about the MCA in the future as more and more clubs and leagues join it’s ranks in order to have a little more political clout on Beacon Hill.

It is especially gratifying to hear that the Baker-Polito Administration will work to diversify funding in some way.  Hopefully, they can do something about funding the free licenses for 70+ older folks.  Sen. Anne Gobi (D-Spencer), co-chair of the Massachusetts Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and past chair of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, has filed a bill in the 192nd session of the General Court aimed at addressing lost revenue that the state is failing to reimburse to MassWildlife.  An Act to Reimburse the Inland Fisheries and Game Fund (SD. 1453) would target the more than $1 million per year the agency forfeits each year by providing free hunting and fishing licenses to residents aged over 70 that is not currently being reimbursed by the state.  You may want to call your local legislators and ask them to support this legislation.

Trout Stockings

Last week, subject to last minute change, the following local waters were scheduled to be stocked by Massachusetts DFW: Ashfield Pond in Ashfield, Deerfield River in Buckland, Charlemont and Florida; Westfield River-East (C&R) in Chesterfield, North Pond in Florida, Laurel Lake in Lee and Lenox, Richmond Pond in Richmond, Onota Lake in Pittsfield, Goose Pond in Lee and Tyringham, Pontoosuc Lake in Lanesborough and Pittsfield, Stockbridge Bowl in Stockbridge, Housatonic River (C&R) in Lee and Stockbridge, Lake Buel in Monterey and Otis Reservoir in Otis and Tolland.

Deb Lipa, MassWildlife Western District Clerk, said that she believes they finished the stocking trips last week, but couldn’t verify that.  She suggested that anglers keep checking the stocking report online to see if there are any further deliveries next week.

Deb does a lot of extra work for us to ensure that this column has the latest stocking reports.  Many, many thanks Deb!

Don’t forget, next weekend is free fishing weekend in MA, so round up the family, get out there and catch a few of these trout.

Leigh Perkins remembered

Leigh H. Perkins, who transformed Orvis from a niche fishing tackle business into a global sporting emporium and lifestyle brand, selling everything from graphite fly rods and Gore-Tex rainwear to linen dresses and engraved drinking glasses, died May 7 at his home in Monticello, Fla. He was 93.  He bought Orvis in 1965 for $400,000, taking over a company that C.F. Orvis had founded in Manchester, VT in 1856.  By the time Leigh retired as President and CEO in 1992, Orvis had grown from 20 employees to more than 700, and from annual sales of $500,000 to more than $90 million. The company currently operates more than 80 retail stores in the United States and Britain, with sales driven by online shopping and catalogues that Leigh sent to millions of homes each year.  After his retirement, his son Leigh H. “Perk” Perkins Jr. became CEO, with his younger son David helping run the company.  Now, his grandson Simon Perkins leads the company.

Leigh Sr. started a fly-fishing school and a wing-shooting program. The classes were among the first of their kind in the United States, offering formal training in activities that were often considered upper crust.

He was also one of the first executives to start dedicating corporate earnings to conservation, donating 5 percent of pretax profits to conservation organizations beginning in the 1980s.  He wanted to protect these places to be able to connect and share with others, but he also saw it as good business — investing in the landscape and the habitat.

An online tribute published on the company’s website said Perkins was a lifelong outdoorsman who hunted or fished more than 250 days a year into his 90s, and who had a reverence for nature and conservation.

He certainly left a wonderful legacy.

The above information was gleaned from Leigh’s obituary written by Brian Gallagher, Senior Staff Editor at The New York Times.

Correction

In last week’s column, I erroneously listed the name of an angler whose picture was shown holding a 10 lb. brown trout.  I listed him as being Mark Lucier when, in fact, his name is Mark Markham. My apologies!  This is especially embarrassing to me as Mark is a close personal friend with whom I have deer hunted and/or ice fished for several years.  He is a superb deer hunter and many times our ice fishing group has enjoyed his grilled venison meals while out on the ice.

Memorial Day

It’s that time again when we honor those who have fought, suffered and/or and died in defense of our country.  Let’s hope that as a nation we can set aside our differences and come together this weekend to remember them and their sacrifices.  They deserve nothing less.

Trout anglers are ecstatic about the sizes of the trout that they are hauling out of Onota Lake these days. They are catching brown trout in the 10 lbs category, 20-inch brook trout and rainbow trout in the 5 lbs category.

Last week, Mark Markham, of Pittsfield, caught some of them.  Using a spinning outfit with 8 lbs test line and a spinner, he landed over a dozen trout including 3 brown trout which he estimated to be around 10 lbs, several brook trout over 19 inches and rainbow trout over 4 lbs.  He released all of the trout except for one 10 lbs brown that was hooked badly, was bleeding and would die anyway.  That one he gave to his sister because she asked him to bring her a trout to eat.  I’d love to see the look on her face when Mark delivered that behemoth.

Other lucky anglers were Joshua Christman, his daughter Alice and son Gabriel of Pittsfield.    According to Joshua, they released 20 to 30 trout in the 6 to 8 lbs range.  His 5-year old son caught two browns weighing about 10 lbs and his daughter Alice caught one weighing 9.98 lbs.  He weighed them on his own scales which he claims are certified.  Joshua said that one of the trout was 28 inches long with an 18-inch girth.  He froze two 10 pounders so that he can have them mounted and another one he gave away to someone. They caught their fish on minnows and spinning lures.

According to Joshua, word must have spread like wildfire for shortly thereafter a flock of anglers arrived and began catching large trout, too.

I contacted the MassWildlife District Headquarters in Dalton to find out what gives.  Aquatic Biologist Leanda Fontaine Gagnon said that each year district is allotted a certain number of broodstock trout from the hatcheries.  this year it was Onota Lake’s turn to get some which came from the Roger Reed Hatchery in Palmer, MA.  Anglers who were at the right place at the right time experienced some fantastic fishing.

Leanda also said that all of these broodstock trout qualify for the Freshwater Spotsfishing Awards Program.

Trout Stockings

Last week, subject to last minute change, the following local waters were scheduled to be stocked by Massachusetts DFW:  Green River (South) in Alford, Egremont and Great Barrington, Green River (North) in New Ashfield and Williamstown, Westfield River (West Branch) in Becket, Middlefield, Chester and Huntington; Housatonic River (East Branch) in Hinsdale and Dalton, Hop Brook in Tyringham and Lee, Greenwater Pond in Becket, Littleville Reservoir in Chester and Huntington, Laurel Lake in Lee and Lenox, Goose Pond in Tyringham and Lee,  Lake Garfield and Lake Buel in Monterey,  York Lake in New Marlborough,  Otis Reservoir in Otis and Tolland, Stockbridge Bowl and  Onota Lake.

National Safe Boating Week is coming up

MassWildlife advises us to wear our life jackets when boating this spring.  Boating safety advocates recommend that all boaters and passengers not only have a life jacket, but wear it at all times while boating. In Massachusetts, life jackets must be worn by canoeists and kayakers from September 15 to May 15.  Youths under 12 years old, personal watercraft users, waterskiers and stand-up paddleboard users must wear them all of the time.

As warmer weather sets in, Massachusetts boaters and anglers are eager to take to the water and in honor of National Safe Boating Week (May 22–28), the Massachusetts Environmental Police and MassWildlife remind boaters and anglers to think of safety first when enjoying the water by wearing life jackets, knowing your boating capabilities, and practicing safe social distancing.

The early warm days of spring can mask water temperatures that are often dangerously cold. If you capsize or fall overboard, you can succumb to hypothermia within minutes. Hypothermia is the lowering of the internal body temperature. This temperature drop can make it difficult for you to swim, paddle, or stay afloat. A sudden, unexpected fall into cold water can also cause you to involuntarily gasp and ingest water, which can lead to death by drowning. While most life jackets will not prevent hypothermia, they do help you stay afloat. Wearing a properly fitted life jacket (personal flotation device) could save your life. Many boating fatality victims fail to wear a life jacket.

Click onto the MassWildlife web site  to learn more about life jackets, including how to select the right type of life jacket for you, how to get a proper fit, and how to properly care for your lifejacket.

Spring Turkey Hunting Season ends today

It’s all over after today, Saturday, May 22.  It’s time to clean and oil your pea shooter and lock it up until next fall.  The next time hunters will have a chance to bag a turkey in Massachusetts Zones 1 through 9 will be when the fall turkey hunting season opens on October 18 and runs through November 27.

There are indications that it was a good hunting season.  Pleasure was expressed at the last Fish & Wildlife Board Meeting (held on May 17) as to how nicely the turkey population has spread into areas where they hadn’t been seen before. Still, there are others who claimed that the numbers of turkey seen, especially in Zone 2, was way down.  Go figure. We’ll have to wait and see what the spring tally was.  Hopefully very few people were bitten by deer ticks.

Now it’s time for the hens to hatch and raise their chicks.  MassWildlife asks that you keep a log of turkey and poult sightings during the months of June, July and August so that they can get a feel for the flock size and health.  Click onto the MassWildlife web site to download the turkey log.

MassWildlife Land Acquisitions

In his May report to the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen (BCLS), DFW Western District Supervisor Andrew Madden reported that MassWildlife and the Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game added three new parcels in the Western District this past April.  He noted that all three acquisitions build on existing Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) and are open for hunting, fishing, and trapping.  They are as follows:

• Peru WMA – 130 acres with frontage along East Windsor Road/August Smith Road/Frary Road.  The property has excellent spruce woods and improves access to the WMA.
• Long Mountain WMA – 55 acres along Stebbins Road. The property is mixed hardwoods and wetlands and greatly improves access to the 900+ acre Long Mountain WMA.
• Maple Hill WMA – 12 acres on the East Side of the Williams River. This property gives MassWildlife potential to improve access to Maple Hill from the east.

Migratory Bird Hearing

Also at the May BCLS meeting, Madden reported that the annual public hearing to set dates for migratory bird hunting was held on April 23. Some notable highlights that were approved by the Fisheries and Wildlife Board were as follows:

• The statewide early goose hunting season was moved forward to September 1 which is the earliest date allowed under the federal framework. In the past, the opening day was September 8.
• The Woodcock hunting season remains on October 1. This year, it was originally recommended to the F&W Board to move it to October 7, but the recommendation was not approved in response to public concerns, including the those of the BCLS.
• Opening day for duck hunting will now be on the October 11 holiday for both the Berkshire and Central Zones.  Over the past year or so, the Berkshire season opened the day after Columbus Day, which never made any sense to local hunters. Why force them to take a vacation day from work, rather than to open the season on the holiday which had been done for many years in the past.  Duck hunters can thank Western District F & W Board member Steve Sears of Dalton for strongly advocating on their behalf.

Great turnout at the Wild Acres youth fishing derby

 It was a cloudy but fishable day at the Wild Acres Fishing Derby which was held last Saturday.  Due to the Covid restrictions, the number of people was limited to 150.  Unfortunately, nearly 50 others arrived for the event but had to be turned away.  This was the 7^th year that the City of Pittsfield Conservation Commission and Lyon Aviation sponsored the event.  Last year’s event had to be cancelled due to Covid.

Representing the City of Pittsfield were Becky Manship, Recreation Activities Coordinator and Rob Vanderkar, Pittsfield Conservation Agent. Assisting the anglers were Onota Fishing Club President Fred Ostrander and his team of OFC volunteers. Dave’s Sporting Goods Store and Onota Boat Livery provided the worms and some equipment, Lyon Aviation donated funds for the event and The Berkshire National Fish Hatchery provided the brook trout.  The City of Pittsfield provided the chips, cookies, lollypops, etc.

Even though some 300 or so trout were stocked into the pond, they were hard to catch, in fact, only 5 of them were caught.  Not a problem, though, for the bass, sunfish and perch cooperated nicely.  Just about every kid caught fish. To make things even more pleasant for the smaller kids, the banks all around the pond had a couple of inches of gooey, muck, due to the recent rains.  Perfect condition for the tots to slosh in and get their fancy boots all muddied up.  Hey!  It doesn’t get any better than that!  And it was heart-warming to see grandparents once again being able to be out with their grandchildren.

The trophy winners were as follows:

Trout Category:  Shayne Clairmont caught the largest trout measuring 10 inches and weighing 3oz.  Other trophy winners in the trout category were Parker DeVergilio, Elise Sabolevski, Sandra Kisselbrock and Griffin Sabolevski.

Bass Category:  Mila Ostellino caught the largest bass measuring 14 inches and weighing 1 lb 3oz.  Other trophy winners in the bass category were Austin Sayers, Gabriel Christman, Alice Christman, Bellah Munson, Valente Lewis,

Chase Jones, Selena Rodriguez, Charlie Guachione, Bryce Santolin, Tyrus Ostellino, Kelsey Santolin, and Lottie Leeco.

Perch Category: Samuel Collins caught the largest yellow perch measuring 11 ¾ inches and weighing 6oz. Other trophy winners in the perch category were Nelson Pelkey and Wesley Willey.

Sunfish Category:  Maverick Pytko caught the largest sunfish measuring 7 inches and weighing 4oz. Other trophy winners in that category were Remington Pytko, Lincoln Bohem, Frankie Guachione, and Josie Guachione.

Golden Shiner Category:  Kai Scholl got a trophy for catching the only shiner which measured 9.5 inches and weighed 5oz.

A trio of young girls, (Bryer, Ryker and Sandy) collaborated and caught a bullfrog.  They kept it in a 5-gallon pail and wanted to take it home, but their parents ultimately convinced them to release it.  Another youngster caught a turtle.  Sorry, no trophies for the bullfrogs or turtles.  All of the fish and critters were released unharmed.

Our hats off to Lyon Aviation, the City of Pittsfield, the Onota Fishing Club and everyone involved for providing the kids with a such wonderful day.  I especially want to thank City of Pittsfield’s Becky Manship for her hard work in providing the names of all the winners.

Unfortunately, Harry A. Bateman Memorial Jimmy Fund Fishing Derby cancelled again

A message from Steve Bateman, Chairman of the Harry A. Bateman Memorial Jimmy Fund Fishing Derby: “Sadly this year’s 28^th, like in last year’s 27th Annual Harry A. Bateman Memorial Jimmy Fund Fishing Derby had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The event is always held on the first Saturday in June which falls on the Massachusetts Free Fishing Weekend (June 5, 2021). Last year’s event got canceled due to the City of Pittsfield and State COVID-19 shutdown. We then scheduled a date for September 2020 and that event also got canceled. We were hoping that this year’s event would happen but after a conversation with the City Health Dept. unfortunately under the COVID laws it will be impossible to put on a quality event that everyone is use to and what makes this derby such a success. They said the fishing derby can happen because it is considered a low- risk sport, but in Massachusetts attendance for such an outdoor event is set at 150 people. One problem is supplying food which has always been part of the fishing derby. It would have to be served by a licensed caterer and they would have to abide by the restaurant rules. These issues would decrease the derby attendance number and make it impossible to run a quality fundraising event that everyone on the Harry Bateman Committee worked so hard to create. There are just too many negatives, such as making sure all of the attendants are safe by sanitizing, not being sure how many people will actually show up all due to COVID-19, the possibility of turning people away and enforcing the mask and 6-foot separation rule. If someone tested positive, we would have to contact everyone that attended. Then there is the extra cost of hiring a Catering Service, sanitizers and extra signage.   All of these things caused us to cancel this year.”

“Our goal is to raise funds for the Jimmy Fund while having a great time at a fishing event. If you ask anyone who has ever attended the Harry Bateman Fishing Derby, they will tell you that they have never seen anything like it or, It’s the best fishing derby that they have ever gone to.”  (This scribe will attest to that).

“We will be back and bigger than ever for the 30th Annual Derby next year”.  They already have support from many friends, too numerous to list in this column.  The derby folks thank everyone for your continued support.

Since Steve’s message, the State did ease up on some of the COVID restrictions, but it was still decided to postpone the event.

If you would like to financially support them, make checks payable to:  The Jimmy Fund-In Memory of Harry Bateman, and mail to: The Jimmy Fund Of Berkshire County, PO  Box 1139, Pittsfield, MA. 01202.

You can also find them on Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/HarryBatemanFishingDerby

Trout stocking

Last week, subject to last minute change, the following local waters were scheduled to be stocked by Massachusetts DFW:  Hoosic River (South Branch) in Cheshire and Adams, Dry Brook and South Brook in Cheshire, Hoosic River (North Branch) in Clarksburg and North Adams, Clesson Brook in Ashfield and Buckland, Chickley River in Charlemont and Hawley, Westfield River (East Branch) in Savoy, Windsor, Cummington, Chesterfield and Huntington;  Westfield River (Mainstem) in Huntington, Montgomery and Russell; Wahconah Falls Brook in Dalton, Windsor Brook in Windsor and Hinsdale, Hubbard River in Granville and Tolland, West Brook in Great Barrington and Lee, Goose Pond Brook and Greenwater Brook in Lee, Hop Brook in Lee and Tyringham, Housatonic River (C&R) in Lee, Housatonic River (SW) in Pittsfield, Clam and Buck Rivers in Sandisfield, Ashfield Pond in Ashfield, North Pond in Florida, Norwich Pond in Huntington and Windsor Pond in Windsor.

Lots of bears out there

At the last meeting of the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen, DCR’s Mountain District Manager ‎Mark Jester commented that DCR parks are being inundated by black bears.  No surprise there, ey?  Bear boxes were brought in at each site in their campgrounds. Incidentally, he reported that camping season has started with campgrounds opening up with 75% capacity under COVID-19.  People looking to camp in state parks need to reserve their dates online via Reserve America

It’s true! It’s true!

Readers may recall that last week I featured a picture of 5-year old Gabriel Christman holding a large fish that he caught. The carp which appeared to be half of his own weight checked in at 21.5 lbs.  There was some scuttlebutt that no way could he have caught such a large fish alone.  I saw his dad Joshua at the Wild Acres Youth Fishing Derby last weekend and asked him about it.  Joshua then proceeded to show me a cell phone video showing young Gabriel fighting and hauling that fish in.  Joshua then netted it after the fish was brought close to shore.

MassWildlife officials recently confirmed that a bald eagle that died in March was the victim of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGAR) poisoning. While mortalities in bald eagles due to anticoagulant rodenticides have been documented in other states, this is the first confirmed case in Massachusetts. In mid-March, observers reported odd behavior of an adult female eagle at a nest located on the Charles River in Middlesex County. Unfortunately, within a day, the bird had died on its nest. MassWildlife officials retrieved the eagle and transported it to Tufts Wildlife Clinic at Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University where a necropsy was performed. Toxicology testing of a liver sample was performed with the assistance of the Northeast Wildlife Disease Cooperative. Both the necropsy and toxicology test results confirmed that the cause of death was lethal levels of anticoagulant rodenticides.

Anticoagulant rodenticides are a type of rodent poison that kills by preventing blood from clotting normally, resulting in a fatal hemorrhage. Wildlife can be poisoned by anticoagulant rodenticides in two ways: 1) primary poisoning when an animal directly eats the bait and dies several days later, or 2) secondary poisoning when a predator or scavenger eats prey that has consumed the bait. Secondary poisoning has been documented in birds of prey like hawks and owls, as well as foxes, bobcats, and coyotes. While bald eagles primarily eat fish, they are opportunistic foragers that feed on a variety of animals and are known to scavenge or prey on small mammals.

Given the hunting range of eagles, it’s impossible to determine the exact source of this rodenticide poisoning. Analysis of liver tissue confirmed three different SGARs were ingested by the eagle. In the past 15 years, the US EPA has taken steps to impose restrictions on certain rodenticides. SGARs are believed to be most harmful to wildlife and now cannot be sold through general consumer outlets for the typical homeowner to use. SGARs can still be purchased online in commercial use quantities, and licensed pest professionals and agricultural users are able to use them. Other rodenticides, called first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (FGARs) and non-anticoagulant rodenticides, are still approved for residential consumer use if enclosed within a bait station.

“The struggle to control mice and rats is usually viewed in terms of humans vs. rodents, but wildlife such as birds of prey are often not recognized as players in this battle,” said Dr. Maureen Murray, Director of Tufts Wildlife Clinic. “Many people are surprised to learn that the mouse poison they use in their basement can also kill the great horned owl hooting in the neighborhood.” Studies in other species of birds of prey conducted at Tufts Wildlife Clinic have shown widespread exposure to SGARs among these birds. MassWildife officials, in partnership with Tufts Wildlife Clinic, provide the following advice for homeowners with a rodent problem to minimize harm to wildlife:

• Rodent-proof your home. Before using a poison, remove or securely contain any potential food sources for rodents. Repair any exterior areas of your home to prevent rodents from coming inside.
• Arm yourself with information. Consider alternatives to poison, such as snap traps. Poisons should be used as a last resort. Be sure to check the active ingredients and opt for products that contain bromethalin, chlorophacinone, or diphacinone. Use poisons only in bait stations as per the label instructions and avoid any in pellet form.
• Ask your pest control company questions. Look for an integrated pest management company that uses multiple approaches to pest control instead of relying solely on poisons. You can request that the company avoid using SGAR products.

According to MassWildlife, the overall population of bald eagles in Massachusetts continues to recover and grow in numbers and geographic distribution. There are currently over 80 pairs of bald eagles nesting in Massachusetts from the Cape to the Berkshires. According to observers, within a week of the above referenced female’s death, another adult female eagle was observed at the nest with the male adult. “The appearance of a new female in such a short period of time speaks to the state’s robust eagle population,” said Andrew Vitz, MassWildlife’s State Ornithologist.

Trout stocking

Last week, subject to last minute change, the following local waters were scheduled to be stocked by Massachusetts DFW:  Green River (South) in Alford, Egremont and Great Barrington; Walker Brook in Becket and Chester, Yokum Brook in Becket, Potash Brook in Blandford and Russell, Deerfield River in Buckland, Charlemont and Florida; Pelham Brook in Rowe and Charlemont, Cold River in Charlemont and Florida, Westfield River (Middle Branch) in Chester, Huntington, Worthington and Middlefield; West Branch Brook in Chesterfield and Worthington, Williams River in West Stockbridge and Great Barrington, Kinderhook Creek in Hancock, Konkapot River in Monterey and  New Marlborough, Little River in Worthington and Huntington, Town Brook in Lanesborough, Yokun Brook in Lenox, Factory Brook in Middlefield, Trout Brook in Peru and Worthington, Dunbar Brook in Monroe, Sackett Brook in Dalton and Pittsfield, Larrywaug Brook in Stockbridge, Hemlock Brook in Williamstown, Depot Brook in Washington, Bronson Brook in Worthington, West Branch Brook in Worthington, Upper Highland Lake in Goshen, Berry Pond in Hancock, Pelham Lake in Rowe and Windsor Lake in North Adams.

With MassWildlife currently liberating thousands of plump trout into our local waters, this column has primarily focused on them lately.  But, as the inset photo demonstrates, there are other fish, such as carp, cruising our waters just waiting to challenge the anglers.  Five-year old Gabriel Christman, already a State multi-gold pin winning angler, took up the challenge and you see who won.  He recently landed a 21.5 lbs Mirror Carp caught out of Laurel Lake. His father, Joshua Christman, said that Gabriel, who was “super excited,” had no help reeling in the fish which he caught on a medium rod, 8lb test line with a worm.  This is his new personal best. and will undoubtedly get him another State pin, perhaps another gold one.

Free Fishing Days

Just a friendly reminder that anglers don’t need to have a Massachusetts freshwater fishing license to fish on the weekend of June 5 and 6.  Wish to fish out of state?  Well, Maine’s free fishing weekend is also June 5 and 6.  New Hampshire has a free fishing day on June 5, and Vermont’s day is June 12.  Connecticut’s free day is June 20 and New York’s free fishing days are June 26 and 27. Might as well try them out.  Who knows, you may discover a new favorite area to fish.

Maintaining our special places

MassWildlife recently reported that its staff removes over 100,000 pounds of trash from its Wildlife Management Areas every year, but they can’t maintain these special places alone. They recently took a moment to thank each and every one of you who help them improve their corner of the world. “Taking care of our planet is an important responsibility, and the outdoors are better when we can enjoy it together,” they said.  Personally, I hope these people aren’t trashing our WMA’s in front of their kids, elsewise this nasty practice will be passed from generation to generation.  Terrible thought, ey?

Ladies Night Fun Shoots

By popular demand, the Lee Sportsmen’s Association will be having its ladies night fun shoots.  They begin on May 11 at 6:00 pm, with a safety briefing for all shooters at 5:45pm.  New or inexperienced female shooters are welcome.  If you have no gun or equipment, LSA can provide safety equipment, firearms, and instruction.  Due to the national ammunition shortage, ammo cannot be provided; so, participants will need to supply their own ammunition (.22 long rifle, 9mm, or .380).  Focus is on shooting fundamentals and having safe fun.  The cost is $3 for members, $5 for non-members.  Cold Range Rules apply; gun handling only at Safety Table.  For those with their own equipment: 5 magazines are recommended.   Future dates are June 15, July 13, and August 17.  For more information on these events, required equipment, and costs click onto info@leesportsmen.com or call/text Stephanie DuPont at (215) 668-7808.

Happy Mother’s Day!