April is busy month for outdoor activities

April is the month for spring hunting and fishing. Turkey and trout and walleye and camping should all or in part be on your agenda. Read on.

Youth turkey season

The two-day youth spring turkey hunt is tomorrow and Sunday, April 5 and 6. Those eligible for the hunt are youth license holders age 15 and younger.

The youth season is open statewide. Standard hunting methods and all other turkey hunting regulations apply to the youth season.

Additional information includes: Spring turkey season is open for shotgun (10 gauge or under capable of holding three or fewer shells - a plug may be used to meet this requirement - or muzzleloader with shot) and bow-and arrow hunting only.

A valid hunting license and an unaltered, unnotched turkey transport tag or tags are required for hunting turkey.

Immediately after killing a turkey, hunters must validate their own tag by completely removing notches for month and day of kill and securely attach tag to carcass. It is unlawful to use dogs, live birds, electronic calls or electronic decoys to hunt turkeys. Baiting game birds is illegal.

This is a great chance for our youth to gain turkey-hunting experience. Take advantage of the opportunity.

Regular spring turkey hunting season

The spring regular spring turkey hunting season opens on April 15 and runs through May 31.

Short report on the April 1 opener from Fish and Wildlife

Lower turnout of anglers because the opener fell on a Tuesday. Overall throughout the Columbia Basin, fishing was pretty good. Many anglers had three or four fish each. Some had limits.

Around 30 anglers were on Dry Falls Lake where fishing was red hot. One angler reported catching and releasing 40 fish. There was no report on which fly worked best.

Annual Kid's Fishing Derby April 12

The Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District will host the Fifth Annual Kid's Fishing Derby at Connelly Park on April 12 for youth ages 5 through 14. Weinstein Beverage and Pepsi also sponsor the event.

Fishing is free, bait is provided, but the young anglers must bring their own gear. Registration forms must be received at the MLIRD office no later than Tuesday, April 8. The forms can be downloaded at: www.mlird.org

Forms are also available at Moses Lake Parks and Recreation office, Airway Deli, Lakes Market, Mar Don Resort and Dairy Queen.

April 26 big day for lowland lakes opener

The big fishing opener is on April 26 this year and is called the lowland lakes opener. This is when many of the lakes in the Sun Lakes State Park area open.

Drive to Park Lake on April 26 and notice all of the camping anglers along Highway 17 for an interesting perspective on how popular this opener is and has been.

Look for more info about the opener in this space in the next couple of weeks.