"Turtle dogs" have been enlisted to help find endangered box turtles in Illinois.

If you use the number of boats heading west on County Highway HH early in the mornings, one gets the impression that the perch are still biting, albeit not hot and heavy, on Lake Winnebago.

I was on the Rainbow Flowage last week for a few hours and the bite was slow. I was with a guy that fishes five days a week and we only managed one under-size walleye which was returned to the water.

The good news was that the water level, which was down earlier in the year by as much as 18 feet, was only down eight feet. The bad news was that weeds were thick in places, killing our 40 hp motor on the way back to the boat launch.

Also in the good news category was that the potentially deadly VHS fish virus has not spread to inland Wisconsin waters. None of the nearly 70 lakes that were part of the 2010 survey tested positive for viral hemorrhagic septicemia.

Mike Staggs, the state's fisheries director, stated, "The good news is we assumed VHS was in Lake Superior when we developed the prevention rules in 2007, and as a result, inland lakes and rivers were protected."

The surveillance testing crews collected 3,586 fish from 27 inland lakes and rivers throughout Wisconsin. The goal was to get a total of 150 fish from each water body of various species susceptible to the virus.

Fish were tested from waters including Lake Monona in Dane County, Lac Courte Oreilles in Sawyer County, Shawano Lake in Shawano County, Brule River Flowage in Florence County and Rock Lake in Jefferson County.

While the Gulf oil spill is dying down, the focus in the Midwest has been on the spilled oil in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. Enbridge Inc. based in Calgary, Alberta, said it was preparing to remove the damaged section of pipe that released 820,000 gallons of oil according to the company's estimates. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put the number at more than a million gallons.

The company, using 70 vacuum trucks and three dozen boats, feels it has contained the spill and doesn't believe the oil will reach Lake Michigan some 80 miles away. Enbridge says it has removed 100,800 gallons and has an estimated 420,000 gallons in a holding area ready to be pumped into tanks.

Local officials had advised people near the spill to evacuate. Of 61 households visited, 14 agreed to leave and 27 declined, while the remainder could not be reached.

Meanwhile, Southern Illinois University is getting a $1.1 million grant from the state of Illinois to try to find the benefits that can be derived from the Asian carp infesting some rivers. Contracting with the DNR, the school's researchers will seek to pinpoint ways to establish a new fishery that could harvest and market the fish.

Since Aug. 1, the WDNR has been asking citizens to participate in Operation Deer Watch. Folks are asked to record all the deer they see between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30.

During the first week, there were 818 observations reported by 420 individuals. Reports came from 111 of the 139 DMUs (deer management units). DMU 77M which includes all of part of eight Southeast counties had 45 reports, followed by DMU 64 which includes Manitowoc and Calumet with 29 reports.

To participate, go to the DNR web site at dnr.wi.gov and click on the Operation Deer Watch button to get started. The observations will be entered into the database and will be used to determine doe-to-fawn ratios, which are part of the population estimation equation. Only include deer seen in daylight hours.

A central Iowa teenage girl has earned the nickname "The Deer Magnet." Starting last July(2009), the 17 year-old has hit five deer. While the girl has asked, "Why me?" you have to wonder how attentive she is to the possibility of whitetails along her routes.

Ornate box turtles are hard to spot. A threatened species in Illinois, the staff at a state refuge found a solution to finding the critters. They hired so-called "turtle dogs" (actually Boykin spaniels) especially trained to find the turtles by scent instead of by sight.

Antlerless deer (bonus) carcass tags for regular deer management units and hunting access permits for state park management units go on sale Aug. 21. Odd numbers units will have tags and permits for sale on Aug. 21 from noon until midnight. Even numbered units will have sales beginning Aug. 22 at noon.

Until next time, keep your hooks sharp, your feet warm and your powder dry!

Share Link: