Odds and ends of the past year

There are times when life seems to be a jumble of odds and ends. These odds and ends come in various forms, some obvious, apparent and evident, while others are obscure, vague and unclear.

Take for example my efforts of beginning to write the weekly outdoors column. Sometimes the subject is plain and clear, such as writing a column or two about survival skills. This theme is the topic of at least two columns a year.

Survival skills are important. People become lost, for whatever reason, and without knowing the basic survival skills, lives are at risk. Writing a column about staying alive when lost has become easier for this writer and some may question the need to write about it every year.

However, every year there are new people being allowed to travel into the Great Outdoors, speaking of youth here, and they need to be educated to stay alive.

This is why parents, friends and relatives need to teach youth those skills. I've heard of hunting camps reading some of my articles around the campfire as a way of bringing the survival subject to the forefront.

This makes me proud, but the adults need to follow through, also. Imagine you have a youngster who is at the age where you will allow her/him to walk around Swan Lake. Of course you would not let this child make the three-mile hike alone, so your child has a friend along on this camping trip.

Will they have the items necessary to survive if they become lost when on this hike? Let's say your child has been instructed about survival for years and you are confident she could survive, but what about the friend?

Remember, the two youth could start out together, but halfway into the hike, the friend could become separated, for whatever reason, and become lost. Then... Well there I go, writing another survival column when my topic this week is about the variety of column topics available each week.

As I was saying, some column topics are more evasive. Take the column planned to introduce the new Washington Spot Fishing Rules pamphlet. There are a few changes. In the hunting pamphlet, changes are color coded, but changes are not as evident in the fishing pamphlet.

For years, the pamphlet has been effective from May 1 through April 30. The old pamphlet was effective from May 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015, 13 months. The new pamphlet is effective from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015.

There is also an entire new section in the pamphlet about the Columbia Basin rivers, which are under a new management strategy offering additional protection to fish stocks in streams. This section may seem confusing at first, but take some time to look it over and it will become clear.

The concern about hatchery and wild fish spawning together has provided another change. Anglers must keep the hatchery steelhead they catch. As an encouragement, many streams have increased the daily limit from two to three hatchery steelhead. This is a good change and the increased limit is a great enticement and opportunity for steelhead anglers.

The statewide rules for walleye have changed. Last year the statewide fishing rules stated: "Minimum size 16 inches. Daily limit five. Only one over 22 inches may be retained." This year the rules state: "Minimum size 12 inches. Daily limit eight. Only one over 22 inches may be retained.

This reduction in the minimum size from 16 to 12 inches, along with the increase of the daily limit from five to eight means we have a healthy walleye population in Washington. Because of the new statewide rule, the additional rules for walleye are no longer listed under Moses Lake and Potholes Reservoir.

Fish and Wildlife obviously wants to harvest a bunch more fish. Years ago I remember a fish biologist telling me about needing to keep the smaller walleye in check or the entire population would trend smaller.

One angler told me, "There isn't much meat on a 12-inch walleye."

A Fish and Wildlife biologist answered, "Those anglers would be happy with a 12-inch perch."

Walleye are the largest member of the perch family.

The limit of Lake Roosevelt remains the same at 16 with no size restriction.

With this new opportunity, I say get out there and catch a bunch of walleye to help out the population. They are, by the way, one of the best eating fish.

Although my favorite walleye recipe involves breading and deep frying the meat, my preference has changed, for dieting reasons, to baking in aluminum foil with lemon juice and garlic.

Rudy Lopez has been charged with making walleye tacos for two nights during the week of deer camp. He makes a cabbage slaw, with mango and spicy mayonnaise and fries the walleye without any breading; delicious, simply delicious.

Then there is the elk stew recipe which is enjoyed by airmen of the 36th Rescue Flight at Fairchild Air Force Base. First you thaw the meat and then ...Well there I go, rambling again. Now, what will be the topic of next week's column?