Whip-poor-wills recovery and prescribed burning. Is there a connection?

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During the Berkshire County League of Sportsmen meeting in May, 2018, Fish &Wildlife Board Member from the Western District Steve Sears reported that the Board had received a great presentation on whip-poor-will birds. They appear to be showing a very slight recovery in Massachusetts.
Whip-poor-wills, wow! I haven’t heard that bird since I was a youngster, probably in the 1940’s, when my father pointed out the call at dusk. According to MassWildlife, they pretty much disappeared from the Berkshires in the early 1970’s. Currently, there are only a few populations in Ma, mainly in the eastern part.
Until now, I had always assumed that the widespread use of DDT pretty much did them in, similar to what happened to the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and other birds. (DDT caused the birds to lay eggs with soft shells). DFW WD Supervisor Andrew Madden felt that there was more to it than DDT. If that was the main reason for their demise, then why aren’t they recovering quicker now that DDT is banned, like the raptors? He felt that it probably had more to do with their loss of habitat. He and Steve felt that possibly the prescribed burning that the Division is doing had something to do with their slow but gradual recovery.
They may be right. According to MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage Endangered Species Program biologists, whip-poor-wills seek dry, open woodlands with little understory adjacent to meadows and shrublands. The open woodlands are used for nesting and the adjacent meadows and shrublands are used for foraging. That probably explains why they were around my neighborhood back then as there were several 100+ acre farms. The cows probably kept the understory in the nearby woods down. Cows weren’t necessarily fenced out of those woods so that they could get into the shade on hot days.

According to MassWildlife, prescribed fire is an essential tool for managing wildlife habitats and natural communities throughout MA. Despite early spring rain and snow this year, they had a record season, burning over 415 acres!

For many decades total fire exclusion from all natural lands was general policy throughout Massachusetts and the entire United States. But, fire exclusion has resulted in the decline of numerous species and degradation of entire ecosystems.
Historically, fire played a fundamental role in shaping certain portions of the Massachusetts landscape. In particular, glacial deposits of excessively well drained sand and gravel soils tend to be associated with relatively short fire intervals. These soil types occur primarily in coastal areas and in association with major river valleys. Lightning-caused fires and/or fires set by Native people in these areas historically maintained highly productive wildlife habitats including heath lands, pitch pine/scrub oak barrens, and open canopy oak-pine woodlands.
Decades of fire exclusion following European settlement resulted in the decline of numerous species and degradation of entire fire-associated ecosystems. In Massachusetts, some vegetation and habitats have evolved with fire and are best maintained with periodic burning, including some areas that are home to state and federally listed rare, endangered, or threatened species. Prescribed fire is used to restore and maintain these habitats.
The primary concerns for all prescribed burns involve human safety and protection of built infrastructure. Planning is critical for every burn. Fire behavior and weather are monitored throughout the burn, and if the prescription parameters are exceeded the fire is “shut down”. Permits are required from the town fire chief and the air quality staff at DEP’s regional offices. The local fire chief can of course stop the fire at any time. There is a public meeting in most areas before prescribed burning is introduced. Abutting landowners are notified of fire dates, reasons, and expectations
Approximately 30% of the MESA-listed (endangered) plant and animal species in Massachusetts benefit from the conditions created and maintained by fire. Natural Communities that benefit from prescribed burning include Sandplain Grassland, Sandplain Heathland, Scrub Oak Shrubland, Pitch pine-scrub oak, Ridgetop pitch pine-scrub oak, Calcareous fen, and Oak woodland.

In follow-up to last week’s Deerfield River article
MassWildlife has launched a project to study brown trout in the upper Deerfield River. This spring, all 1,000 hatchery-raised brown trout stocked in the upper Deerfield were marked by clipping their adipose fins. The adipose fin is a small fatty fin on the dorsal surface (back) of the trout. Research has shown that the removal of this fin is the least intrusive, detrimental, or painful compared to all other fins on the body, and this work is performed by trained biologists with a specific research need.
These marked fish were stocked in their usual locations from Buckland to the Fife Brook Dam. This is the first phase of the project that will eventually mark all hatchery-raised fish in that section of the river. Marking of hatchery fish, together with other elements of the Deerfield River Brown Trout Study, will continue for several years. Anglers should note that for the next few years, there may be holdover hatchery-raised browns in the system that have not been marked.
This project to learn more about both the hatchery-raised and wild brown trout populations took shape through a collaborative process involving MassWildlife and Trout Unlimited. It included input and assistance from a number of other interested parties and individuals from UMass Amherst, US Geological Survey, local Deerfield River fishing guides, and local watershed groups. The study will yield important population metrics including abundance, mortality, and growth rates of individual fish. MassWildlife will use this information to better manage the upper Deerfield River brown trout fishery.
So long Bill Byrne, thanks for the pictures
For over four decades, the spectacular photographs taken by MassWildlife Senior Photographer Bill Byrne have brought sportsmen and women and other conservationists up close and personal with countless wildlife species from across the Commonwealth. Bill’s stunning images ranging from breaching humpback whales, foraging black bears, and secretive piping plovers to urban peregrine falcons, majestic Quabbin moose, and elusive timber rattlesnakes.
Sadly, Bill’s life ended suddenly and unexpectedly in May while spending his last moments doing what he loved: being outdoors, honing his skills as a photographer, and talking photography and wildlife with colleagues and friends.
He is best known for his striking images of bald eagles, moose, black bears, shorebirds, waterfowl, deer, wild turkeys, and many other species, thousands of which have appeared on the cover of Massachusetts Wildlife magazine and other agency publications
He will be missed.
Back home
With luck my wife Jan and I returned home yesterday after a couple of weeks cruising around the British Isles (Ireland, Scotland, and England) and Normandy. There is some good fishing for brown trout and Atlantic Salmon over there but we were on a cruise with a tight schedule and there was no time for fishing. Plus, the possibility of getting a permit to fish there was probably rare and expensive.
One day, we sailed on Loch Ness. I seriously thought about trolling a flatfish off the stern of the cruise ship and catching the fabled monster, Nessie, thus putting to rest once and for all the speculation as to whether or not it exists. But I didn’t have a large enough net, and they probably wouldn’t let me keep it to mount anyway.

Dogged perseverance by Deerfield River Trout Unlimited chapter pays off

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Last fall, members of the Deerfield Chapter of Trout Unlimited began a study of the Deerfield River because they were pretty sure that it had a sustaining population of wild brown trout. They wanted to find out for sure because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is in the process of re-licensing the Bear Swamp hydro-electric facilities which includes the Bear Swamp pump storage. The river system starts above Somerset Reservoir, then Harriman and then Sherman reservoirs to Bear Swamp and then to Fife Brook dam.
Water is pumped up to Bear Swamp Pond and then it is released to the turbines to generate electricity. That doesn’t impact water flows below Fife Brook Dam, but what does impact flows is amount of water which is coming from up above and then what is done with this water in the pump storage facility. How much can they manipulate the water to minimize the impact that is going on with the 17 miles down below? That’s what the FERC relicensing is addressing.
The Deerfield River Watershed is complicated, encompassing 73 miles of water with 10 dams. There are two different license holders involved, Great River who owns the operations above Fife Dam, and Brookfield who owns operations below Fife Brook Dam. The Deerfield River Chapter of TU is dealing primarily with Brookfield for FERC Relicensing. Brookfield receives its water from up above (Great River). The FERC relicensing study area is the 17 miles downstream from Fife Brook Dam down to Dam #4 in Buckland.
Every day there is a hydro event. The mandated minimum flow is 125cfs (cubic feet per second) and on a daily basis it pumps up to 800, 900 or 1000 cfs. During the winter months they run a lot of water (hydropeaking) which is considered bad for the environment and has a significant effect on fish. (There is no disagreement about that unless you are into white water sports).
Initially, the Deerfield River TU Chapter requested a trout spawning study. FERC denied it twice on the basis that there was no proof of adverse effect on the ecology on fish below the Fife dam. Brookfield maintained that this is a put-and-take fishery and that is what MassWildlife values. Fish are put it, taken out or are caught and released. They said that it is a vibrant trout area, so, what’s the problem?
Brookfield was also questioning why they should pay for this study when nothing that they were doing was harming the fish. It is not what Brookfield is doing at Fife Brook dam, they say, it’s what is happening up above that is having the significant impact. Blame it on Great River whose license comes up in 20 years for renewal. Consequently, the study became stalled.
Deerfield TU couldn’t answer the question of what the problem was and how it was impacting the fish. MassWildlife did not believe there was significant spawning in the Deerfield River and believed that any kind of spawning took place in the tributaries and not the mainstem. Well, the TU study proved otherwise.
A Deerfield TU board member read about what was going on at the Henry’s Fork River in Idaho dealing with the significant problems there because of winter flows. Brown trout spawn there in the fall, too. So, he brought information to his TU chapter and asked what they thought about that spawning study. They decided that they were going to go ahead with a similar study and pay for the $2,000 cost themselves.
They raised money on their own, approached the Mass/RI Council of TU as well as other TU chapters for financial assistance. (I’m proud that our local Taconic Chapter kicked in some money). Thomas & Thomas Fly Rod Company contributed $2,000. They hired Dr. Michael Cole, an aquatic scientist to lead the effort.
They didn’t know how much spawning was going on, but if they could prove what the power companies were doing was detrimental to spawning trout and quantify it, it would be a game changer. They had to partner up with USFWS, MassWildlife and the Connecticut Water Conservancy recognizing that they weren’t going to be able to deal with it alone.
About a dozen chapter members went out in late October looking for redds. (spawning nests made by trout). In one particular area, there were 40 redds! Each time they identified a redd, they measured its length, depth, sub-straight, the size of the rocks, GPS settings and marked it with a red flag. Once they found the egg locations, they went back and took samples in low waters. Due to water fluctuations, some of the redds were out of water.
They found 12 of the redds and 8 of them contained eggs. That indicated that there was a significant amount of spawning activity that was going on in shallow water. What the fish appeared to be doing was moving into these areas during high water to do their spawning and when the waters came down they abandoned them. They choose these spots, not because of sub-straight as believed, but also due to some upwelling of the water (40 redds were in one area). Many of the tail spills were completely out of water.
In the 7 ½ mile stretch of the river, volunteers found 101 redds, with 35 of them having eggs. (they only covered about 60-70% of the water so there could be other areas with redds). They took 35 samples of eggs and had DNA tests done, thanks to financing from Thomas & Thomas. All of them were brown trout eggs except for two which were rainbows.
Volunteers went out on a cold March day and found that some of those flags had moved and redds were lost. In one redd they found 80 eggs and 70% of them were alive, and they found eggs in various stages. They are now going to FERC with scientific evidence, and they need to know how much velocity is needed to cover these redds.
The Chapter proved what they wanted to prove and now agencies such as MassWildlife, USFWS, UMASS and others will take it from there. USFWS was “blown away” with the results. MassWildlife, which was originally of the opinion that this spawning was not going on, has gone back to FERC and there will be more extensive sampling by them.
They will be looking for more water releases during the winter months. In the summer months they have to have a certain amount of water to make mandated releases (for the rafters), but during the winter they have no need for them – but the trout do.
The Deerfield TU chapter definitely showed that hydropeaking has an adverse impact on trout. Their goal was to get the State and Federal resources to further study the Deerfield and its tributaries. They want to enhance the wild trout population, work with the state agencies for better management practices, and improve the wild trout population. They would like to see the Deerfield River develop its own surviving strains for stocking, rather than imports, and answer the question. “Can a substantial wild trout population exist exclusively in the upper stretches of the Deerfield River? Right now, they don’t know.
There will be updated information on this subject in next week’s column.

MassWildlife increases antlerless deer permit allocations in Western District

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Some 725 more antlerless deer permits are being issued in the Western District (Wildlife Management Zones 1 through 4) this year. The largest increase will be in Zone 3 where 300 more permits will be issued bringing the total to 1,400. That is followed by 125 increases in Zones 4N and 4S, bringing those totals to 500 and 400 respectively. Permits in Zone 1 will go up by 100 to 500, and lastly an increase of 75 in Zone 2 brings that total to 250. MassWildlife classifies our Western District deer herd as stable, a place where they want to be.
So, did you get a permit? Effective last Wednesday, you can find out by clicking onto the MassFishHunt website and following the instructions. If you did receive one and you plan to shoot an antlerless deer, you owe MassWildlife $5.
The attached chart lists the statewide antlerless deer permit information by Wildlife Management Zones.
As you can see, the eastern part of the Commonwealth has some serious issues with getting the deer population down to desired numbers. For example, in Zone 10 MassWildlife would issue 12,000 permits, but not enough people applied for them. Thus, they have a 9,100 surplus. A similar situation exists in Zone 11. Not good. One could only imagine the problems with deer/auto accidents, deer ticks and difficulty in sustaining the new growth in the forests out there. Not to mention the shrubs in residential areas that are destroyed each winter.
Surplus antlerless deer permits for Zones 9 through 14 will be available for sale and will be staggered over the following days in September:
• Zone 11: Tuesday, September 25 at 8 a.m.
• Zone 10: Wednesday, September 26 at 8 a.m.
• Zones 9, 13, and 14: Thursday, September 27 at 8 a.m.
•
Surplus Permits must be purchased within 15 minutes after being placed in your shopping cart. You may purchase only one Zone 11, one Zone 10 and one Zone 9 permit per day; up to four permits per day may be purchased for Zones 13 and 14. The permits cost $5 each.
Incidentally, the Department of Conservation and Recreation recently opened 7,500 acres of land to hunting in the Wachusett Reservoir Watershed. That is north of Worcester. Hunters can apply for a 5-year permit for property west and east of Rte. 190, (open for all game during all hunting seasons), or an annual permit for property immediately adjacent to the Reservoir, designated as the Reservoir Zone,(for deer only December. 1 through 31). Permits will be selected by lottery. If interested, apply by August 31. Both permit types are free. Click onto https://www.mass.gov/service-details/wachusett-reservoir-watershed-deer-hunt, for details.
Welcome back firefighters
According to MassWildlife, three members of their prescribed fire crew, Fletcher Clark, Chris Connors, and Ben Mazzei, assisted in securing wildfires in Québec Province, Canada for two weeks this past July. They were joined by 16 wildland firefighters from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to form the Massachusetts Interagency Wildfire Crew- MA#1 and were mobilized through DCR and the Northeast Forest Fire Compact.
The wildfire hand crew spent time containing two different wildfires, one near Radisson and the other near Lebel-sur-Quévillon in Québec Province. The crew spent most of its time on a large 24,500-acre fire on Wilson Lake in a remote region of Québec Province. Lightning strikes caused the dry, dense vegetation in the area to ignite and caused the wildfires.
The Massachusetts crew was deployed to these wildfires for two weeks. They worked with other crews to establish helicopter landing sites, coordinate water drops, and secure sections of the fire to keep it from spreading. Securing a section of fire can mean a lot of different kinds of work, says MassWildlife.
The crews set up water pump sites and ran hoses around the section of fire to make sure water was readily accessible to combat the fires. The crew established a fire line around their section. A fire line is essentially a wide path on the ground that is cleared of vegetation, debris, and anything else that can potentially burn to stop the fire from spreading. The crews also went into already-burned areas and put out any hot spots that might have still been smoldering or burning. The crew was helicoptered daily from their base camp to the remote wildfires to perform these duties.
On July 22, the Massachusetts crew returned back to the Commonwealth safely. There are still many wildfires burning in the province of Québec alone. During the past week, rain has somewhat helped with battling the fires. However, if conditions dry out, the potential for large fires to become active again exists. Québec continues to seek assistance from Canadian provinces and the northeastern United States to help cope with these wildfires.
“Please join us in welcoming these dedicated individuals back from this rugged assignment,” said Caren Caljouw, MassWildlife’s Prescribed Fire Program Manager. “We are very proud of the assistance they provided to our Canadian neighbors and know the vast experience they gained will translate directly to improving MassWildlife’s prescribed fire program and working as a cohesive team with DCR and other fire management partners.”
Massachusetts, along with the other New England states and New York initiated the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact—also called the Northeast Compact—in 1947. The Compact was established to provide a means for member states to cope with wildland fires that may become too intense for a single member state to control. In 1970, the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick joined, making the Northeast Compact international. Currently, the Northeast Compact members include seven states—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York—and five provinces—Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland-Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. The Northeast Compact also includes the Fire Department of New York City, the US Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the US National Park Service.
Adams Outdoor for Youth fishing derby
The AOFY held its annual fishing derby on Reynolds Pond in Cheshire last month. Some 54 kids attended and the winners were as follows: Age 0 to 6 years old: Smallest fish 8 ½ inches – Corbin Porio/ Largest fish 14 1/4″- Layla Jayko. Age 7 to 11: Smallest fish 8″ Charlie Bean / Largest fish 14 1/2″ Wyatt Bellows. Age 12 to 15: Largest and Smallest fish 14 1/4″ and 8 3/4″respectively – Cameron Bostwick. All brook trout came from Berkshire Hatchery.
Spokesman Mike Lefebvre thanked all the volunteers from all clubs for another successful year supporting the Youth Fishing Derby.

 

New Director of Fisheries and Wildlife

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Recently, the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board unanimously voted to appoint Mark S. Tisa, Ph.D., M.B.A., to the position of Director of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife).
He started his career in 1987 with MassWildlife as the Project Leader of the Anadromous Fish Restoration Program, was promoted to Assistant Director of Fisheries in 1990, and then to Deputy Director in 2015. Director Tisa led a number of major initiatives over the years for the agency, including the Youth Pheasant and Young Adult Turkey hunt programs and the construction of the MassWildlife Field Headquarter’s 45,000-square-foot zero-net-energy building in Westborough. Upon the retirement of former Director Jack Buckley, he was appointed Acting Director, effective May 1, 2018.
“I’m honored, humbled, and thrilled to be appointed to lead MassWildlife, where I have worked for 31 years,” said Director Tisa. “We at MassWildlife care about all the Commonwealth’s wildlife and plants, including state-listed species, and I look forward to continuing to work with hunters, anglers, trappers, conservationists, and all Massachusetts citizens to carry forward MassWildlife’s tradition of conserving and helping everyone to enjoy all our treasured wildlife resources.”
Director Tisa grew up in Leominster, MA. He earned a B.S. in Biology from Springfield College, a M.S. in fisheries from the University of Tennessee, a Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences from Virginia Tech, and an M.B.A. from Anna Maria College. He is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, hunting, shooting, and retriever training.
Update on Project Healing Waters

Readers may recall an article that I did in July, 2016 entitled Veterans helped by Healing Waters regarding a group that belonged to Project Healing Water Fly Fishing, Inc.(tm). The organization is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and disabled veterans through fly fishing and associated activities including education and outings. My wife Jan and I were camping at the Indian Hollow Campground along the East Branch of the Westfield River in Chesterfield, MA. When we met them.

The Massachusetts/Rhode Island Council of Trout Unlimited (TU) rented the camping area for the weekend and delegates from both state’s TU chapters were there to conduct business and do a little fly fishing. Next to our campsite was a group of men which was made up of veterans and mentors participating in a therapeutic fishing trip as part of Project Healing Waters.

The idea behind Healing Waters is simple – to provide a therapeutic and fun outlet for physically or mentally disabled vets by teaching them the basics of fly fishing, casting, tying, and rod building, and then going out on fishing trips to ideal spots such as the Indian Hollow campground.
Nationwide, Healing Waters raises its own money with a budget of close to $3 million and administrative costs are kept low, in the 15 % range, reserving as much as possible to fund trips and provide gear for the vets who take part. The entire program is completely free to the Veterans. In addition to funding from Healing Waters, the group is sponsored by the non-profits TU and the New England Fly Tyers.
It is open to any veteran who has a disability, whether physical or mental. “ 95% of what we have here is post-traumatic stress,” said Bill Manser, Project Leader. With that in mind, counselors provide the therapeutic support for the group, joining Manser and the volunteer mentors who bring a variety of outdoor skills to the group, some of them being vets themselves.
Well, this past May Jan and I attended the TU event again, and once again camped near the Healing Water guys. This time there were 13 of them. I was curious about how the group was doing these days. Manser, who is in his 5th year as project leader, said exciting things are happening. As an adjunct to TU, they initiated a Veteran’s Service Partnership whereby veterans and their families get a free one-year membership. This applies to every chapter, including our own Taconic Chapter here in the Berkshires. This is different from Project Healing Waters which requires a DD-214 and some level of disability.
Another wonderful thing is that the Worcester Chapter of AMC, along with Enterprise Rental Car funds trips for them to stay at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Medawisla Lodge and Cabins in Maine allowing them to fish the Roach River, some 14 ½ miles of catch and release fishing for landlocked salmon and wild brook trout during the 3rd week in September. The AMC’s focus is on maintaining streams with no dams, similar to TU’s focus.
The Catskill Fly-fishing Museum in Livingston Manor, NY provides housing, and the Adopt-a-Soldier Platoon program provides meals, private waters, and a one day fully paid for float trip on the East/West Branches of the Delaware River. The famed DeBruce Club, a deluxe private fly fishing club which is located in Livingston Manor, the heart of flyfishing in the Catskill, allows them to fish there.
Nothing is too elegant for these veterans and I was so happy to hear about this outpouring of kindness and support extended to them. Some of them are Viet Nam veterans who are still fighting dragons after nearly fifty years. Of the group that we saw at Indian Hollow this year, four of them were homeless, living in group homes. They need help, understanding and compassion to help them cope with their hurdles.
With funding available and the group thriving with the help of volunteer staff, Manser encourages more veterans to join so they can be helped. Veterans or volunteers interested in participating can reach Manser at (978)895-5261. Its home website is projecthealingwaters.org. Donations are always happily and gratefully accepted.
Please forgive me but I can’t help but repeat what was written in that previous column, “So how does fly fishing help? Perhaps it is as fly-fishing author Tom Meade wrote in his 1994 book entitled Essential Fly Fishing, “The rhythm of the rod carries your body, mind and spirit to the water. Whether you catch a fish or not, the water will always give you a little of its strength, some of its energy and much of its peace.”
Beagle Club
Robbie Kane, Berkshire Beagle Club spokesman, believes that next weekend’s field trials (August 3, 4, and 5) have the makings for their biggest and best August trials yet. The Field Trial for Champions trial on Friday evening is completely full, which makes the club able to donate $1,000 to the Northeast Regional Junior Beagle Program. There is an online dog auction for the Friday night trial going on the Facebook Group “Beaglers”. Half of the money raised goes towards the Club. They plan to have pizza Friday night for the participants and spectators.
Saturday’s 2-Couple Pack is also shaping up as well. That evening they will have their annual cookout. It should be a good time around the fires on both Friday and Saturday nights.
On Sunday is their derby and the All-Age Trial. They will be raffling off TT15 Mini Collars on both Saturday and Sunday for $10 a ticket. Spectators are welcome.

Stream continuity is critical

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Especially to all creatures that depend on rivers and streams, including invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. Experts say the design and condition of stream crossings determine whether a river behaves naturally and whether wildlife can migrate freely. Crossings should be essentially “invisible” to fish and wildlife—they should maintain appropriate flow and substrate through the crossing and not constrict a stream.
Through the combined effects of dams and poorly designed stream crossings (certain culverts and bridges), we have fragmented rivers and streams and hindered wildlife dispersal throughout our watersheds. In many cases, even crossings that were once effective are now barriers because of river erosion or mechanical breakdown. Safe and stable stream crossings can accommodate wildlife and protect stream health while reducing expensive erosion and structural damage.
That takes us to the Churchill Brook culvert which crosses Hancock Road in Pittsfield. (brook ultimately drains into Onota Lake). The pipes appear to have been improperly installed or developed erosion problems and acted like dams. They were elevated and made it difficult, if not impossible for trout to pass through. Fish had to jump in order to get into them and because they are pipes, and not a natural passway, they had to swim through stronger, concentrated currents to get to the other sides and continue their spawning run. Not only that, the culvert was falling apart.
The new culvert is much wider, with a natural stream bottom so that fish and other animals can easily pass through. A neighbor was really pleased with the improvement because during heavy rains, his lawn became completely flooded and his house became an island, due to the previous pipe being too small.
The Housatonic Valley Association (HVA), with help from the Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) decided to do something about that. They applied for, and received, grants from the Natural Resources Damages Program (NRD) and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET).
There are two projects going on there. The NRD grant paid for the culvert project which allows the fish passage and the second project, a MET grant, paid to plant the rain gardens on both sides of the road. (Readers may recall in a previous article that funding for MET grants come from the sale of special license plates).
There are numerous brook trout all the way up the stream and until now they couldn’t swim upstream past the culverts. That is all changed now and the fish can pass through. Clayton Davenport Trucking, Inc. did the culvert replacement work.
There is one more culvert a little further upstream which crosses Churchill Road and HVA already has a grant to do that project as well. Hopefully in a couple of years, when that project is completed, it will open Churchill Brook from Onota Lake all the way up to Pittsfield State Forest, enabling brook trout to travel without obstructions.
Incidentally, MassWildlife has listed this brook as one of the best habitats for brook trout because there is ample food and cold, clean water.
Biologists caution us to not underestimate the effect of culvert crossings. While culverts only cover small sections of any stream, their influence on fish and other aquatic species can be immense, especially when you consider the cumulative effects of many road crossings. Proper planning, design, and installation can protect roads while providing year-round fish passage and preserving healthy streams.
Also, we should keep in mind that in situations where fish passage is not a major concern, other aquatic species of concern such as such as mink, frogs, turtles, insects, crayfish, snails, etc. may use the culvert and will need to rely on natural streambed sediments in the culvert to aid their movement. It has also been recognized for some time that juvenile fish are very active throughout the year, moving upstream and downstream in response to a number of environmental factors.
The Berkshires are not alone with culvert problems. In a 2009 survey of culverts in a nearby Appalachian watershed, some 120 state‐owned culverts were surveyed using a fish passage assessment filter to determine the “passability” of each culvert. The results showed that 97% of surveyed culverts were classified as obstacles or complete barriers to trout dispersal. Some 33% of brook trout reproductive habitat, was isolated by culverts. The results indicate that standard culvert designs placed in streams with slopes exceeding 5% consistently produce trout dispersal barriers.
Although no comprehensive inventory of the number of culverts on fish-bearing streams in the United States is available, there is an estimated 1.4 million stream-road crossings.
So why is it important for fish and other critters to be able to pass through these culverts? Well, according to Scott D. Jackson, Department of Natural Resources Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst in a paper done in 2003 entitled Ecological Considerations in the Design of River and Stream Crossings, such movements maintain gene flow among populations, helping to maintain genetic health. They may also represent movements of surplus animals from one population to another, perhaps one that could not support itself on its own reproduction. This supplementation of failing populations from “source” populations is referred to as “the rescue effect.” Finally, areas of appropriate habitat that may be temporarily vacant due to local extinctions, can be re-colonized by individuals from populations nearby.
The new rain gardens prevent much of the run-off (containing oil, gasoline and pollutants) which comes off the road from washing right into the brook and negatively affecting the water quality. The HVA/BEAT team built a buffer area so the water that comes into the drainage ditch is pooled in a vegetative garden which is submerged. It settles and filters the runoff gradually into the ground and replenishes the groundwater before entering the brook.
The type of vegetation planted were: Joe Pye Weed, sweet pepperbush, chokecherries, red dozier dogwood, elderberry and winterberry, all wetland plants that can withstand being inundated in water for a while. According to Denis Regan. Berkshire Director of HVA, this is a 4 -year old project because they couldn’t do it until the new culvert was finished.
On the day, of my visit, volunteers were working hard in the 80+ degree heat planting the vegetation. Volunteers included Jane Winn, Executive Director of BEAT, Elizabeth Orenstein, Erin Whitman (HVA intern for the summer) Denis Regan. Berkshire Director of HVA, Alison Dixon, HVA Berkshire Outreach Manager, Jen Evans, (BEAT intern for the summer), Jeff Turner and Sharon Siter.
While I was there, Pittsfield Conservation Agent Robert Van der Kar and Pittsfield Staff Environmental Engineer Tim Croce dropped by to inspect the project to ensure compliance with storm water rules. Later on, Robert sent the following message to the HVA and BEAT volunteers: “On behalf of the folks here at City Hall, I just wanted to say how proud and grateful we are to have such a wonderful and dedicated group of people who continually improve the environment and quality of life (all life) here in the City of Pittsfield. You all truly make this a better place. Thank you all very much for all of your time and hard work in making what is an exemplary project; one that we’ll be sure to point to for years to come. Thank you.”

One day remaining to obtain an antlerless deer permit

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If you want to hunt antlerless deer this year, you need an antlerless deer permit. An antlerless deer is any deer without antlers or any deer with both antlers less than 3 inches long measured on a straight line form the center of the front base of the antler burr to the tip. If you have not yet applied for your antlerless deer permit, you better get a move on it for tomorrow, July 16, is the last day in which to apply.
Permit applicants should already have their 2018 hunting or sporting license. If not, they had better get a move on that, too, for it is needed in order to get the antlerless deer permit. Both the hunting licenses and the applications can be obtained through MassFishHunt or by visiting a MassWildlife office or license agent location. There is no fee to apply, but if awarded a permit, a $5 fee is charged.
If you made the July 16 application deadline, you then must check to see if you have been awarded the ability to purchase the permit. The award period begins August 1 and ends on December 31. Your odds of being awarded a permit are the same regardless of when you check your permit status. You can check the status of your permit through MassFishHunt.
Are you interested in participating in the Quabbin Deer Hunt? Well, that permit application period is from July 1 through August 31.
The Quabbin Controlled Deer Hunt is an annual event conducted on Quabbin Reservoir watershed land which was implemented as part of the management program to maintain a balance between deer herd densities and forest regeneration. Participants are selected from an applicant pool in a special lottery in early September.
All applications must be submitted online; the application must be filled out and submitted from the DCR Deer Hunt web page between July 1 and August 31. Hunters can get assistance completing applications online at the Quabbin Visitor Center on Saturdays (9 a.m. to noon) and Wednesdays (noon to 3 p.m.) during the application period.
Once selected, all successful applicants will receive written notification by early October. If you have any questions or concerns, contact: mass.gov/dcr/deerhunt.
MassWildlife recently filed a regulatory amendment that would extend the archery deer season by two weeks (opening the eighth Monday prior to Thanksgiving) in eastern Massachusetts (Wildlife Management Zones 10–14). In WMZs 1–9, our area, the archery deer season will remain the same, opening six weeks before Thanksgiving.

The amendment will increase hunting opportunities in a region where deer numbers are above management range goals. No changes were recommended for WMZs 1–9, as deer numbers in those zones are within management range goals. The Fisheries and Wildlife Board voted to accept the proposed regulatory amendment in May, and currently, the regulation change is awaiting publication in the Massachusetts Register by the Secretary of State’s Office. MassWildlife anticipates that the season extension will be approved and in effect by the end of July.

Fish kills
This summer has been a hot one, and lakes and ponds are warming up, possibly resulting in fish kills. The sight of dead and dying fish along a shoreline can be distressing and can prompt concerns about pollution. However, according to MassWildlife, the vast majority of summer fish kills reported are natural events.
Natural fish kills are generally the result of low oxygen levels, fish diseases, or spawning stress. Depletion of dissolved oxygen is one of the most common causes of natural fish kills. Water holds less dissolved oxygen at higher temperatures; in shallow, weedy ponds oxygen can be especially low as plants consume oxygen at night. Spawning of fish including sunfish and bass in late spring and early summer occurs in shallow waters along the shore. These densely crowded spawning areas can become susceptible to disease outbreaks, especially as water temperatures rise. The result is an unavoidable natural fish kill, usually consisting of only one or two species of fish.
To be sure there isn’t a pollution problem, it’s always best to report fish kills. When a fish kill report is received, a MassWildlife fisheries biologist determines if the kill is a natural event or the result of pollution. In general, pollution impacts all kinds of aquatic life; therefore, the most important piece of evidence for the biologists is the number and variety of fish associated with the incident. When pollution is suspected, MassWildlife notifies the Department of Environmental Protection, who then conducts a formal investigation of the water and affected fish to determine the source of pollution.
To report a fish kill, contact the Environmental Police Radio Room at 1 (800) 632-8075.

Good news for BEAT

The Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) recently received a $35,000 grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust. This funding will enable BEAT to continue its work surveying and sampling stormwater outfalls (e.g. pipes emptying into our rivers) in Berkshire County.

Since 2014, BEAT’s work on water quality has identified over 100 previously unmapped outfalls, and as recently as the spring of 2017, identified at least one dispensing raw sewage into the Housatonic River. That outfall has since been remediated.

The project has trained dozens of citizen scientists to use smartphone technology to document stormwater outfalls in Berkshire County and contribute data to a regional database. “This grant will allow BEAT to continue working with students, interns, and volunteers using cutting edge technology to test the quality of the water flowing directly into the Housatonic River and other waterbodies,” said Jane Winn, Executive Director of BEAT.

According to MA Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton, the Trust will provide over $500,00 in grants to 16 organizations this year, thanks to motorists who choose to purchase one of the Trust’s specialty license plates. Beaton said, “This funding has been made possible because over 40,000 drivers in Massachusetts choose to purchase one of the three environmental license plates, and I applaud our state’s residents for their continued commitment to the well-being of the Commonwealth’s environment.”

Working with Berkshire Community College (BCC) students has been a key part of this water quality project. Winn continued, “Our partnership with BCC has given their students field experience using microbiology for public health and environmental stewardship projects.”

For this project, BEAT worked with the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) who developed the quality assurance project plan (QAPP) and oversees training and collection practices.
Supporting the environmental programs funded by the Trust in our community is easy: choose one of three environmental plates, the Right Whale & Roseate Terns, The Leaping Brook Trout, or the Blackstone Valley Mill when you purchase or lease a new car or renew your registration with the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

The standard registration fee for a Massachusetts plate is $60.00. The special plate fee is an additional $40.00 (tax-deductible every two years) for a total cost of $100. Every time you renew your registration, you are supporting the Trust.

Fly fishing the Penobscot River in Maine

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Recently, a couple of fishing buddies and I traveled to East Millinocket, ME to do some fly fishing in the West Branch of the Penobscot River. This is a large wild river in upper Maine that is noted for its large wild brook trout and landlocked salmon. In addition to myself, there were Ron Wojcik of Windsor, Paul Knauth of Hinsdale and Attorney Michael Shepard of Dalton, MA. It is an 8-hour drive from the Berkshires, so we stopped at Cabelas in Scarborough, ME approximately half way, to rest and pick up a few fishing supplies.
We rented a cabin on Twin Pines NE Outdoor Center on Millinocket Lake in East Millinocket. Each day we drove approximately one-half hour along the Golden Road, the primary road access to the river, to get to an area below Ripogenus Falls where we knew some nice fish were awaiting us.
Ripogenus Falls once controlled discharge from Ripogenus Lake until Ripogenus Dam, (92 feet high and 704 feet wide) was completed at the upstream end of the Ripogenus Gorge in 1916. The dam forms a hydroelectric reservoir raising the level of Ripogenus Lake to include the upstream Chesuncook Lake, Caribou Lake, and Moose Pond. Hydroelectricity is generated by diverting water 2,400 cu ft/s through a mile-long penstock around the former falls.
The West Branch once had river log drives transporting pulpwood to a lumber mill in Millinocket. They began in 1917 and the last one was in 1928. Environmental concerns ended river transport of pulpwood in 1971 when the Great Northern Paper Co. opened the above mentioned Golden Road. Since then the lumber industry has been greatly diminished and the Millinocket mill is being torn down.
We left home around 5am and arrived at our cabin around 2pm, ate a sandwich and, although a little tired, we were off to the river by 4pm or so. We were concerned about the forecast of rain for the next 2 days, so at least we could get some decent weather to fish on the day of arrival. Once at the river, we realized that in our tired condition and haste, Paul left his rod at the cabin, Ron left his reel there and I forgot my flip down spectacles. Nice start, hey? No problem, we usually take two rods and reels so a little bit of lending and everyone went to the stream fully equipped, except for my spectacles.
They were releasing 2,400 cfs of water which made the river level just about perfect for fishermen as well as the commercial rafters and kayakers.
The fishing was outstanding with many brookies and landlocks caught and released. We left the river earlier because even though we brought food to cook up in the cabin, we were too tired to cook and decided to eat at a restaurant in the complex where we were staying. The only problem was that it closes at 9pm and we had a half hour ride to get back. We did make it in time.
The weather forecast of rain for the next day was wrong and we had a pleasant and fruitful day, catching lots of cooperative fish. But this time we stopped fishing around 3pm, drove back to that restaurant and ate when it opened at 4pm. Then back to the river and we fished until total darkness, sometime after 9pm. That was when Ron landed the largest brook trout of the trip, one estimated to be around 18 inches. He caught it on a gray caddisfly in some pretty heavy current.
The next morning, the rain continued to hold off and it was another beautiful day. That was when Mike connected with the largest fish of the trip, a landlock salmon estimated to be 20 inches. He caught it on a Stimulator (a fly which imitates an adult stonefly).
Once again, we knocked off around 2pm, went back to the cabin and this time had an early dinner of spaghetti and chicken/sausage prepared by Mike. After gorging ourselves, three of us went out fishing again. (Paul’s back was giving him some trouble so he stayed at the cabin, cleaning it up so that we could get an early start for home the following morning).
The fishing was slower that evening, although Ron caught several nice landlocks and brookies. Just as we left the river in darkness, it started to rain and rained all night.
It was a beautiful trip shared by good friends. We all caught and released lots of nice fish. Of course, the biggest fish didn’t wait to be released, but decided to release themselves, usually taking our flies with them. Those are smart and scrappy fish up there. Once hooked, the landlocks frequently jump 3 feet out of the water and they no sooner come down and they are airborne again. They are masters at tangling around submerged rocks and cutting your leaders. If you use a heavy leader, the fish won’t touch your fly, and if you use a thinner leader, they will take your fly, but usually break you off. It’s a Catch 22 situation, but very enjoyable.
It is a tough river to wade. Three of the four of us took spills; I went down twice but Mike had the most spectacular. Ron nearly injured his shoulder with his fall, but none of us got seriously banged up.
One day, we came across Tom Fuller and his wife Pat on the stream. Tom is a fellow member of the New England Outdoor Writer’s Association who wrote several excellent fly fishing books including: Getting Started in Fly Fishing, The Complete Guide to Eastern Hatches, Trout Streams of Southern New England and Underwater flies for trout. We had a nice chat on the riverbank.
At night, we sat around the cabin table having a drink and munching on baked goodies that our spouses baked and sent along with us. Our conversations covered everything from the day’s fishing, to troubles with kids today, to the Donald, etc.
The most successful flies were adult and emerging caddisflies, size #16, such as Henryville Specials, Elk Hair Caddis, other caddisfly emergers, Blue Winged Olive mayflies and the Stimulator stone fly. Paul tied up and shared an emerger fly of which the fish couldn’t get enough. I’ll bet he could have charged $20 apiece for it.
But a fishing trip to Maine isn’t all about catching fish. We enjoyed the company of two bald eagles that perched on trees directly across the river from us. At one time, a gull swam by with a fish in its bill. That prompted the eagles to try to take it away, swooping at the gull until it dropped the fish. For the next several minutes, both eagles and the gull flew around us looking for that fish in the waters but they weren’t successful.
While on the Golden Road, we frequently observed a mother moose with her young. In the early mornings, we would hear and observe loons paddling along on the quiet lake where we were staying, as we enjoyed views of Mount Katahdin.
Aah, fly fishing with good friends on the Penobscot……it doesn’t get much better.

Lenox Sportsmen’s Club Pistol Team claimed State title

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Last month, the Lenox SC Pistol Team went on a shooting rampage and took 1st place in the Berkshire County pistol competitions which they have won for the last few years, and then competed in the State Finals and won that, too. According to Team Captain David Cimini, that could be the first State title ever for the club and perhaps for a Berkshire team, at least in recent memory.
They scored 4,126 out of 4,500 possible points, beating the 2nd place Merrimac Valley Pistol League by 21 points.
To get to the State finals, the 11 to 15- member pistol team had to win the Berkshire County title. Once that was accomplished, they qualified to represent Berkshire County at the State level.. They had to trim their number of shooters down to 6, selecting their top scorers. Eight teams competed at the State level, representing the different counties.
The rules state that teams must shoot .22 caliber pistols, using open or red dot sights, one handed, at a bull’s eye target at a 50- foot range. The scores entered can only be from the accumulation of the five top scorers. It is called a 900 match. Each shooter has 90 shots at 10 points apiece with a maximum score of 900 points.
The Lenox team shooters were: Team Captain – David Cimini, Co-Captain Ray Scheufler, Peter Kirchner, Tom Greenleaf, Gregg Proctor and James Denault. All are Pittsfield residents except for Proctor who resides in Hinsdale. The top shooter was Denault who scored 834 out of 900 possible points.
According to Cimini, there are some very good shooters at the eastern end of the state, many of them are in weekly leagues, similar to bowling leagues. The Lenox Club only shoots 10 or 12. One of those eastern teams usually takes the State title every year. “This year was our year”, he said, “We worked hard., we practiced hard and we really put a lot into it. And it paid off.” Over the years, they have placed anywhere from 2nd to 8th. Last year, Lenox finished 3rd.
I was hoping to get a picture of these sharpshooters holding the trophy and medals, but the awards are late and have not arrived yet. When they do arrive, I hope to include a picture in a future column.
Congratulations, gents! Mighty fine shooting, mighty fine!
Recent Massachusetts DFW activities now that trout stocking is over
Recently, they completed stocking Quabbin Reservoir with its annual allotment of 10,000 landlocked salmon raised at the Palmer Fish Hatchery. It will take about 3 years for these fish to reach the 15″ minimum size for harvest.

According to Western District supervisor Andrew Madden, they successfully banded bald eagle chicks at Richmond Pond and the Westfield River in Russell.

They are also continuing deployment of black bear GPS radio collars. They added 1 collared female this past spring.

Teachers are tutored on fly fishing

Ronald Wojcik, of Windsor, MA is a teacher at Taconic High School in Pittsfield, coaches the Hoosic Valley Girls’ Basketball Team and also is a superb fly fisherman. So, it makes perfect sense for him to start an after-school fly fishing club for the Taconic High students. About 12 years ago, he did just that and since then about 50 students have taken the course.

The course includes lessons in fly fishing and casting, fly tying (depending on interest), fly fishing equipment, entomology, species of trout, videos, etc. His availability to teach these subjects depends on his basketball coaching schedule for the Hoosic Valley Girls’ Basketball Team.

This past year, Ron had no students available to take his fly fishing course, in spite of sending e-mails and posting fliers about the course. The students were tied up in other sports or had after school jobs. When the teachers saw the flyers, they asked, “What about us? We would like to learn to fly fish, too.” Ron agreed and as a result, 4 Taconic teachers, and the Wahconah High School Girls’ Basketball Coach, Liz Kay, attended the fly fishing lesson. (Ironically, Liz’s team defeated Hoosic Valley in the play-offs last year, but Ron welcomed her anyway). The Taconic teachers were Kris Pearson, Patrice Lattrell and Ana Larkin. Amy Green is a health technician volunteer.

On the evening of June 19, Ron invited the teachers up to his house to learn to fly fish for trout in his private pond, a body of water of about ¾ acre. Also invited were 5 members of the Taconic Chapter of Trout Unlimited to do the one-on-one tutoring. They were Stephen Smith, William Travis, Marc Hoechstetter, Paul Knauth and me. After dining on pizza, we got down to the business of casting for and catching trout.

The teachers were a mix of novice anglers and those with some experience. The teacher that I was mentoring, Kris Pearson, had never fly fished before, and on her second cast, a large trout hammered her black wooly bugger fly and went deep to the bottom and put up a fierce fight.

You should see the excitement that ensued with Ron rushing over joining me with instructions. I think Kris was a little intimidated and tried to hand the rod over to me. But it was it was her fish to catch or lose. It was a brute, probably one of Ron’s rainbow trout that he stocked in the 6 to 10- inch range 4 or 5 years ago and now weighed around 5 lbs. After swimming around the pond, it finally got off. Liz immediately became sold on fly fishing and now wants to buy a starter fly fishing outfit.

About halfway through the fishing lesson, Ron’s wife Diane Wojcik brought down to the pond some freshly made and still warm cookies. Their labra-doodle dog, Hershey, checked on all of the lady fly fishers, too. And then they went back to fishing.

Ron made sure that all of the fish that were caught were resuscitated and swam away to fight another day.

So, did these teachers pass or fail? They passed with flying colors. By the end of the session, all of them were decent fly casters and all either caught trout or had them on. They appeared to be having a great time, as did the mentors.

There was no need to send them home with bad report cards. They can now advance to the next phase, that of catching fish out of our local lakes and rivers and enjoying all of the beautiful sights that our Berkshires have to offer. Also, they can go on summer vacation now!

A classic fishing trip to the Adirondacks

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Fishing buddy Paul Knauth of Hinsdale and I recently returned from a 4-day fly fishing trip to New York’s Adirondacks region. Our intent was to fish the AuSable River in Wilmington, NY, a small town near Lake Placid. We were hoping for good weather, good fishing and no mosquitos or blackflies. (We should have also hoped for no “no-see-ums”).
On the way up the Northway, I was wondering if anything would happen on this trip which would warrant mentioning in this column. Hopefully, whatever happens would be positive.
Every time I fish there, thoughts of the late Francis Betters surface. For 47 years, as the owner of the Adirondack Sports Shop and renowned fishing expert, he was at his desk tying up flies and offering advice to customers and fellow fishermen. He once told me that he tied and sold nearly 30,000 flies a year. He is credited for creating several great trout flies, most notably the AuSable Wulff (my favorite fly), the Haystack, the Usual and several others. The AuSable Wulff was named one of the top 10 trout flies of all time by Field and Stream magazine, along with the Haystack. Fran also wrote several fly-fishing and fly-tying books. He was inducted into the Catskill Fly Fishing Hall of Fame in 2008 and passed beyond the riverbend in 2009.
Shortly after arriving and checking into our cabin (Wilderness Inn) Paul and I headed out to fish the river. Paul chose to head upstream and fish down to the car while I chose to go downstream and fish back. The river was on the low side this year so I kept walking downstream until I found good looking water, albeit on the wild and turbulent side.
Thinking of Francis, I chose to fish with one of his Haystacks. In fact, I believe it was one that he tied up for it was much better than the ones I tie. On the 3rd cast, the heavy current swung the fly immediately to the outlet rim of the hole and got snagged onto a rock ….or so I thought. When I tried to work it off of the rock, there was a serious pull that indicated that a big trout was on the other end of the line. After a serious battle, I was able to bring the fish to my feet and discovered that it was a beautiful brown trout of about 18 inches long.
Hoping to get a picture of it, I reached for my smart phone. Of course, it was in my pants pocket, way down deep in the chest waders. While the fish was resting at my feet in about 6 inches of water, I finally got the phone out to take a picture. I decided to lay the reel and rod next to the fish so that one could get a rough idea of the its size. But doing that caused the fish to dart away and snap the leader. It didn’t know it was free and lingered a while, allowing me to take pictures of it. After it swam away, I distinctly remember saying, “Here’s your fly back, Francis”.
Perhaps that’s the story for this column.
The following night, Paul was fishing with a Blue Winged Olive emerger fly when he hooked into a lunker. After a lengthy battle, with the fish swimming all around that pool, he finally landed it. It also was an 18-inch brown trout. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a camera with us, but I can attest to its size. It fought so hard that I thought I would have to step out of the pool so that it wouldn’t swim near and wrap the line around me. An 18-inch wild brown trout doesn’t come by frequently. In fact, I can probably count the number of them caught in my lifetime on one hand.
Perhaps that would be the story for this column.
On this trip, Paul and I decided to explore the North Branch of the Saranac River to see what the fishing was like there. Neither of us had ever fished the stretch near Clayburg, NY. We spent a day and a half there catching mainly small wild brook and brown trout.
On the second day there, we stopped for a lunch break in a fishing access area. While there, a young girl, approximately 13 years old rode by on a bike, and she had a fishing pole. After lunch, Paul and I separated, this time he headed downstream and I went upstream to a bridge. While approaching it, I saw a bike along the side of the road. It was that girl’s bike and she was fishing where I wanted to go.
From the bridge, I could see that she was fishing with an inexpensive spinning rod and a Zebco reel. After saying “hi” to her and finding out which direction she was going to fish (she was going to fish there under the bridge), I went downstream about 120 feet to give her space. What enfolded then was a scene reminiscent of an old Ed Zern caricature.
All of a sudden, I heard a terrific splash and looking toward the sound, saw the girl fighting a large brown trout which once again jumped a foot in the air. Her inexpensive rod was seriously bent, but she fought and subsequently beached that trout like a pro. I shouted congratulations and commended her for the great job of landing it. “What is it, about 15 inches?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she said “It’s the biggest fish I ever caught”. Oh, how I wished I had the camera there.
Here I was fishing out in the middle of the river with thousands of dollars worth of equipment consisting of an expensive fly rod, reel, chest waders, wading staff, wooden net, a fishing vest with several hundred trout flies in it and a myriad of other gadgets hanging from it, and catching nothing. And there was this young girl who arrived by bicycle, dressed in shorts and sneakers, fishing from the bank with an inexpensive fishing pole, reel and worms and catching that big fish. How classic is that?
The girl showed up again later that day, this time with her boyfriend who also arrived by bike, a lad of about 14 years old. When Paul saw them, he conceded his fishing spot to them and commented on how she was now famous in the area, having caught that big brown trout (which ultimately measured out to be 14 ½ inches). She was beaming from ear to ear.
After lauding her great accomplishment, I commented to the boy that he was going to have to work hard to catch a bigger trout than her’s. “Well”, he said, “I taught her how to fish!” Paul, picked up on the lad’s wounded pride, immediately said, “You sure did a great job of teaching!
This true story is classic and deserves to be in this week’s column. Wouldn’t you agree?
Questions/comments: Berkwoodsandwaters@roadrunner.com. Phone: (413) 637-1818

 

There is now an innovative website for citizen science

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According to MassWildlife, just under 7 million people share roughly 7 million acres of land and water with wildlife in Massachusetts. Roadways crisscross much of the landscape, impacting both people and wildlife. The most obvious impacts are vehicle collisions. Less obvious—but perhaps more influential to wildlife populations—is habitat fragmentation and degradation caused by roads.
MassWildlife and MassDOT have partnered since 2008 to provide safe passages for both wildlife and people, and to address the conservation needs of vulnerable species listed under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. This partnership helps incorporate the needs of fish, wildlife, and plants that might have been ignored otherwise during the planning process and maintenance of roadways.
The partnership also has a website where you can report animals you see on the road. If you see roadkill, or a turtle or amphibian crossing the road, consider visiting linkinglandscapes.info to submit information. To submit your findings, click the major project that best fits what you see: reducing turtle roadkill, mapping amphibian crossings, or mapping wildlife roadkill. Fill out the short survey, with detailed location information. There is a Google Map at the bottom of the survey that can be zoomed in and panned to a specific location. The information provided on the website helps MassWildlife and MassDOT determine priority areas to mitigate wildlife-human interactions and how best to manage them.
The agencies suggest that there is another way you can help wildlife on the road and that is to be an alert driver. If you see a turtle crossing a road—and if it’s safe to assist—move the turtle in the direction it’s going. Don’t put it where you think it should go. Slow down if you see a moose or deer on the side of the road or crossing the road. If the animal is crossing the road, don’t swerve around it. Wait patiently for it to cross.
DFW Western District Land Acquisition
MassWildlife recently acquired 150 acres along East Washington Road in Hinsdale. This parcel connects the Hinsdale Flats Wildlife Management Area to the Tracy Pond Wildlife Management Area. It has fields, young forest, old orchards and mature woods, good habitat for most of our wildlife.
All lands acquired by the DFW are open to hunting, fishing, trapping, bird watching, hiking and other forms of passive recreation. The use of motorized vehicles is not permitted.
New Catch & Release State Record Walleye caught
Congratulations to Mike Taylor who recently caught a 29.5″ walleye out of the Connecticut River. Mike is now the catch & release state record holder for walleye.
According to Mass DFW, in the past, they made an extensive yet unsuccessful effort to stock walleye in dozens of waterbodies across the state, but survival rates were low and there was little, if any, natural reproduction. (They even tried stocking them in Stockbridge Bowl in the 1930’s or 1940’s with no reproduction success).
The DFW says that if you’re looking for places to catch walleye in the State, the Connecticut and Chicopee Rivers, as well as the Lakeville system in the southeast, provide good opportunities.
Basic Hunter Education Course

There will be a Basic Hunter Education course held at the Worthington Rod & Gun Club, 458 Dingle Road, Worthingon, MA on July 23, 24, 26 and 27. All four sessions are from 5:30 to 9:00 pm.

You must attend all class dates and times to successfully complete the course. If you are interested in this course and wish to enroll, call (508) 389-7830 immediately; students are enrolled first-come, first-served, and courses fill quickly.

Get those kids outside. Please!
Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s are certainly doing their share. Recently, they announced that they will be donating some 50,000 rods and reels nationwide this summer in an effort to get kids outside. Recently, Masswildlife accepted a generous donation of 400 rods to its Angler Education Program at the Massachusetts Cabela’s.

They are EPOs, but I still call them game wardens
What this column needs is a good game warden story every now and then. Game wardens (now called Environmental Police Officers in Massachusetts) are very important and are an integral part of our hunting and fishing lore. When I think of the old-time game wardens, I conger up visions of him in his Smokey the Bear Hat, sneaking through the woods and peeking through some pines observing a person fishing right next to a “No Fishing” sign. I am partial to game wardens as my father was once a deputy game warden in the 1920’s and he used to relate some interesting stories to my brothers and me which I hope to pass on in future columns.
In the meantime, let’s start off with this one from nearby New York. Three hunters charged with illegally killing eight bucks in Columbia County, NY, last December have been fined a total of $16,300, according to New York Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the union that represents the officers who made the arrests.
As reported in the Times Union, Environmental Conservation Officer Jeff Cox received an anonymous tip last Dec. 16 that a poacher had illegally shot a buck after dark on Friday evening. Cox and his partner, Officer James Davey, went to the alleged poacher’s home to investigate and found 19-year-old Hunter Ordway of Chatham preparing several antlered deer for processing and display. During an interview, Ordway admitted he had shot the two larger deer that Friday night and did not tag a third he’d also killed, the PBA said in a statement. Ordway named 41-year-old Jeremy Schemerhorn of Chatham and 24-year-old Ryan Bishop of Niverville as accomplices.
Schemerhorn and Bishop “eventually implicated each other in a variety of illegal hunting activities” in subsequent interviews the PBA said.
The officers seized eight bucks in total: one 10-point trophy, three 8-pointers, one 6-pointer, two 5-pointers and one spike. The meat was donated to the Columbia County Hunters for the Hungry Program.
The deer were killed by hunters who baited, stalked and shot the animals after dark with the aid of a light and night vision eyewear, the union said. The three men were ticketed for various offenses and also charged with a total of 10 misdemeanors, the police union said.
Ordway pleaded guilty on April 25 to six misdemeanor counts involving the illegal taking of deer and was sentenced on May 23 to $12,400 in fines and court costs.
Schemerhorn pleaded guilty on March 5 to three misdemeanors involving the illegal take of deer and paid a total of $3,225 in fines and court surcharges.
Bishop pleaded guilty on Feb. 28 to four violations: hunting deer over bait, failure to tag a deer, failure to possess an archery license and failure to wear backtag. He paid $675 in fines and court surcharges.