Senior Anglers of Escondido
From the President’s Pole
Here it is the “dead of winter”, it is 70 to 80 degrees outside, yellowtail and some tuna are still around. Our local lakes are kicking out some whoppers; the East Coast is suffering severe snow storms and very cold weather. Gee, where would you want to be??
Club members just returned from Lake Cahuilla. Be sure to come to our meeting on February 13th and hear about the one that got away. Speaking of club activities our Italian Festa will be on May 12, at Dix-on Lake. Cheryl Brandstrom and Barbara Gattuso will be the chairs for this one. The Club Picnic is on July 16th at Dixon Lake. Monique and Tony Smock will be the in charge. Wings and Things will be on August 11th at Dixon Lake. Yours truly will be starting this one up. Our Fish Fry will be on September 3, at Dixon Lake. Brenda McQueen is leading this always tasty activity. Everyone please mark your calendars and offer to help out our event chairs.
Now for something on the serious side, Western Outdoor News (WON) in several recent Editorials (Dec. 19, 2014 and Jan. 19 and 23, 2015 issues) has been highlighting some drastic changes to the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) stocking program. On November 7, 2014, the agency indicated it would be reducing the state wide trout stocking by half, yes 50%. Better yet, the fish will now weigh ¼ pound instead of the current half pound!!
WON further states, “the agency will only plant 1.6 million pounds of trout state wide in 2015, violating a state law passed in 2006 that man-dates the agency plant 2.75 pounds of trout per fishing license sold.” DFW stocking is about 1 million pounds short.
WON points out in their January 16th Sound off Column, the Director of DFW, Chuck Bonham made monetary allocations within the agency af-fecting the stocking program. Mr. Bonham was the head of trout unlim-ited before coming to the agency. This group only wants wild trout in our waters. It appears his personal preferences are being implemented in a public agency!! The DFW also indicate their budget and the lack of rain fall are also factors.
Please take a minute, review the articles and do any other research you desire. After your study, if you are opposed to this stocking change, please write letters opposing this change to the governor, your state senator (38th District, Escondido) Joel Anderson, Capitol Office, State Capitol, Room 5052,Sacramento, CA 95814-4900 (916) 651-4038) an assemblywoman, Marie Waldron, 350 West 5th Avenue, Suite 110,Escondido, CA 92025, 760-480-7570) and to Chuck Bonham, DFW.
To insure a successful 2015 fishing season guys, don’t forget Valentine’s Day, see everyone at our meeting.
Jim Stevenson
President