Saturday, Jun. 21, 2008

Briefs: Columbia Audubon plans annual picnic Tuesday

Compiled by the Herald staff

The public is invited to the Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society's annual potluck picnic from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday in Richland at Leslie Groves Park, Shelter 2.

Participants should bring a main dish and either a dessert or salad, as well as plates and eating utensils. Beverages will be provided by the society.

No alcohol will be allowed.

The picnic is a public event to meet members of the Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society and learn what the group has done in the past year.

Women's outdoor workshop planned

Women can learn the basics of fishing, hunting and other outdoor skills in a September weekend workshop that includes several sessions led by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife experts and other certified instructors.

Scheduled for Sept. 12-14 at Camp River Ranch in Carnation, the annual workshop is coordinated by Washington Outdoor Women.

Some 20 classes will be offered throughout the weekend on skills such as archery, basic fishing, fly fishing and tying, canoeing, kayaking, preparing fish and shellfish, big-game hunting basics, map and compass reading, wilderness first aid, survival skills, wildlife identification, outdoor photography, and more.

Workshop participants must be at least 18 years old and must have a current Washington recreational fishing license to participate in the fishing and fly-fishing sessions.

The workshop fee of $225 includes the weekend's lodging, meals and use of all necessary equipment.

A limited number of partial scholarships, provided by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, are available for first-time participants.

To learn more about the workshop and to download the registration form, visit www.washingtonoutdoorwomen.org or call Ronni McGlenn at (425) 455-1986.

Washington angler sets record in S.C.

A man working construction in coastal South Carolina has broken a saltwater fishing state record that had stood for more than a decade.

The state Natural Resources Department said that Steve Bagnall of Vancouver, Wash., landed a 38-pound African pompano on June 3.

A department official verified Bagnall's fish was 21/2 pounds heavier than the previous record fish, caught by M.L. Wireman of Charleston in May 1997.

Bagnall was fishing on a charter boat and hooked his record-setter in about 90 feet of water. Bagnall said it took about 10 minutes to bring in the catch.

State to let anglers catch, keep sockeye

For the first time since 2004, anglers fishing from the Columbia River estuary upstream to Priest Rapids Dam will be able to catch and retain sockeye salmon, fishery managers for Washington and Oregon announced.

Starting today, anglers will be able to retain sockeye as part of their daily catch limit for adult salmon during fisheries for summer chinook salmon above and below Bonneville Dam. The daily catch limit is two adult salmon per day.

Below Bonneville Dam, the sockeye fishery will run today through June 28, concurrent with the summer chinook fishery from the dam downriver to Rocky Point/Tongue Point. Above Bonneville Dam, anglers can retain sockeye and summer chinook salmon up to Priest Rapids Dam through July 31.

Fishing for hatchery steelhead also remains open on the Columbia River up to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco.

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