Meeting this month is May 5th at the Game and Fish building
7:00 PM

THESE BUSINESSES SUPPORT US.
SO RETURN THE FAVOR

SCENIC CONSTRUCTION
CRUSH CO.
SPORTSMAN’S WAREHOUSE
HILLTOP NATIONAL BANK
CASPER WELL PRODUCTS
WILSON SUPPLY
BANK OF AMERICA
MC ENTERPRISE
STOINK
JIM MAY
MOONEY/SMITH
OVERHEAD DOORS
WHITE’S MOUNTAIN CHEVROLET
PRECISION PROSTHETICS & ORTHOTICS
STENCO INC.
GLENDO TRADING POST
RIVERSIDE MOBILE HOME COURT, LLC
ARMOR’S SILVER FOX RESTAURANT
WYOMING AUTO GROUP


“Some people are like Slinkies - not really good for anything, but you still can’t help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.”  Anon

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” 
Albert Einstein

“God made woman beautiful and foolish; beautiful, that man might love her; and foolish, that she might love him”  Anon

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. Mark Twain

“I am easily satisfied with the very best.”  Winston Churchill

MAY

May is National Salad Month
May 3rd is Lumpy Rug Day
May 4th is National Candied Orange Peel Day
May 9th is Lost Sock Memorial Day
May 13th is Friday..which makes it like a Monday
May 23rd is Lucky Penny Day

UPCOMING CALENDAR OF EVENTS

June 18: NPWU Family Outing, Glendo Reservoir

July 23: NPWU Family Outing - Pathfinder Reservoir

As I write this, half of our membership is trying to get the chill out of their bones from the Tough Man Tournament at Alcova Reservoir  the day before.  It was not a nice day, with temps near freezing,  a brutal wind with the lake white capping all day long with occasional snowfall. Only 6 walleyes were weighed in with 44 boats trying.  The results are inside.

At our March meeting we held club elections.  Jay Zastrow was overpowered and made President.  John Green was not in attendance and paid the price by getting re-elected to Vice President.  Bob Gervais and LaCinda Tilton were forced to keep their positions as no one else wanted the job.  The Director list was shuffled up a bit, the list is in the box below.  I would like to add that we will have Jay’s birth certificate on file in the near future and will determine if John’s Green card is current.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will hold a public meeting to hear comments from the public on proposed changed to fishing regulations for 2012-2013, Thursday,  May 12, 7:00 PM
at the Game and Fish building in Casper.  Proposed changes for watercraft and license issuance regulations will also be discussed.  If you plan on fishing those years, or have a watercraft  you might want to have a say. 

This month we will be busy attending various venues to distribute kids fishing kits around the state.  Jack Heck took 60 fishing kits to Hanna, Wyoming.  A notice will be put into the Hanna Update paper soon and the kits will be given away to kids from Hanna, Elk Mountain, and Sinclair from the Rec Center in Hanna mid May.  Next Saturday members will be traveling to Basin, Wyoming to distribute fishing kits and will be attending an event in Douglas, Wyoming on the 13th of May.  June 4th we will be at Harry Yesness pond in Casper and at Riverton, Wyoming.  Later in June is our Wright, Wyoming event.  This should put a big dent in the 1500 rod/reel/tackle kits currently in our trailer.  We will soon be placing an order for the 1000 kids fishing kits for our year end blow out at the Wyoming Heritage Hunting and Fishing Expo at the Events Center in Casper.

We received a bid for the courtesy floating dock for Alcova Reservoir.  It came in $200 and change over our budgeted amount of $4000.  We have requested they cut the shipping cost a like amount and they will get a sale.  We should get a reply soon.  Other wise it will take a long drawn out process of getting county funds to cover the overage.  We may have other options but at the moment we are waiting for a response from the manufacturer.  If this dock works out we may be purchasing more for area lakes.

From the Banquet and Toughman Tournament we have gained nearly 40 new members.  That means one more volunteer hopefully.

Al Condor, Wyoming Game and Fish Casper Office Fisheries supervisor will be on hand at this months meeting to discuss and share a few things with us.  One of them just might be how trout benefit walleyes. 
Be sure to show up early to get a good seat.

2011 ToughmanTournament Results
44 Teams - New Record- and it was Tough!

$1020.00 1st Place Walleye 3.65 lbs Bill Jenson & Scott Sojourner
$ 638.00 2nd Place Walleye 2.5 lbs John Green, Brandon Green, & Brian Bitzar
$ 382.80 3rd Place Walleye 1.8lbs Mike Bailey, Jared Bailey, Michael Bailey
$ 193.60 4th Place Walleye 1.5lbs Brandon Miller, Dereck Welch, Calvin Fenton
 
$ 440.00 1st Place Trout 4.35 lbs Lloyd Huseas, Justin Huseas, James Huseas
$ 280.60 2nd & 3rd Place Trout tied Justin Howard, Cameron Parmely
$ 280.60 Eric Fagle, Robert Meyer, Eric Robinson

Mercury and Freshwater Fish Study

A while back I came across an article that got my attention.  It came from the Wyoming Department of Health and was regarding mercury and freshwater fish.  I checked around and got a little information from various sources.  I still don’t have any real answers but I’ve found some interesting studies being done and proposed.

Long story short, it is recommended by the Wyoming Department of Health that women of childbearing age, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children under 15 not eat fish high in Mercury.  Freshwater fish HIGH in mercury include, channel catfish, sauger, and walleye from Big Horn, Boysen, Seminoe, and Pathfinder reservoirs.  I don’t say this to be an alarmist.

There is some research out there that suggests there might be conditions where the presence of Selenium may somehow mitigate the effects the consumption of mercury in its various forms.  As it turns out our local waters are high in selenium.  I did some searching on the internet and discovered that I had a long time friend who works at one of the research centers, his area of expertise is computers and not this area of research, but he knows the researchers..  I contacted him and he sent me some links on the subject of mercury/selenium relationship.  I have included a link here for those who like more information on this subject.  I will have a research paper put on our website with more comprehensive information.  I think this subject needs a bit more study and perhaps we need to pursue this.  I’m curious what our members think about this.

This is the link: http://www.undeerc.org/homearticle.aspx?id=253  .   The part I found interesting was toward the bottom of the article regarding freshwater fish.

Tagging Study Needs Your Help

Wyoming Game and Fish will be posting the following sign at Alcova Reservoir in the near future. They are currently trying to catch walleyes in Alcova for this tagging study.  I understand it is not going as well as could be hoped.  It should improve as the water warms up.  Stay tuned.

$ REWARD $
Attention Anglers:

Please help us manage the Alcova walleye fishery.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is conducting a tagging study to learn more about this walleye fishery.

Your help is essential to the success of this study.
Please inspect all walleye for tags. Tags are blaze orange in color and are located directly behind the dorsal fin on the walleye’s back.

Please do the following if you catch a tagged walleye:
1)        Clip the tag from the fish
2)        Place the tag in a tag return envelope
3)        Fill in the information on the tag return envelope
4)        Place the envelope in a park fee drop box

Tag return envelopes will be available at fee booths or from Game and Fish personnel. 
You can also mail the tags to the:
Casper Regional Office of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. 
Call 1-800-233-8544 (in-state toll free) or 307-473-3400 for mailing information.

Watercraft and Equipment Inspection and Decontamination Training
Zebra and quagga mussels have been found in neighboring Colorado, Utah, and
Nebraska.
Invasive mussels, and other aquatic invasive species, spread quickly and can
be brought to Wyoming on trailered watercraft and equipment. This training will provide the skills
necessary to inspect, detect, contain, and decontaminate trailered watercraft that may be transporting zebra or quagga mussels into Wyoming.

In an effort to educate water resource managers and seasonal watercraft inspectors in Wyoming,
the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, is offering this watercraft inspection and decontamination training. This training is for state, federal, and local natural resource agency personnel who will be involved in watercraft inspections.

This training includes information on outreach and education programs, basic mussel biology,
distribution, transport vectors, and impacts. The focus is on how to inspect for and decontaminate
trailered watercraft that may be transporting zebra or quagga mussels. It includes classroom
instruction, a question and answer session, and a hands-on watercraft inspection exercise.
This training is free, but you must register with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department by May 1st. To register, send an email to: Sherril Rahe at Sherril.Rahe@wgf.state.wy.us. Please provide your name, title, address, phone number, and agency or business association. Limited to 20 people.

For more information contact:
Sherril Rahe, Wyoming Game and Fish Department 307.473.3414 sherril.rahe@wgf.state.wy.us
Tuesday June 21, 9:00am - 5:00pm
Wednesday June 22, 8:00am - 1:00pm
Casper WGF Regional Office Swan Meeting Room
3030 Energy Lane, Casper, Wyoming 82604

We received this from Nathan Cook, Fisheries Biologist, Wyoming Game and Fish Department:
I wanted to let you know about the AIS boat inspector training that the Game and Fish will be giving in June. The training is open to the public and is free. I am not sure if anyone with the walleye club might be interested in becoming an instructor, but we are trying to drum up some assistance from concerned members of the public.

Details are attached
.

Aquatic Invasive Species Stickers

The 2011 AIS stickers are available online from the Wyoming Game and Fish web site and from the major retail licensing agents.  No zebra or quagga mussels were found in Wyoming last year.  They have been found in Colorado and Utah.

Lake Levels and Information

The snow pack on the upper North Platte drainage stands at nearly 160% of average and is still
growing There is an effort underway to lower area reservoirs to make room for the expected high
runoff this spring and summer. It may be possible for some of us to fish without leaving our living
rooms.  Let’s hope for the best.