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New Year's resolutions worth keeping I usually avoid making New Year's resolutions. For one thing, they're too easy to break. And honestly, if you've got real issues you need to resolve - like quitting smoking, losing weight or paying off debts - why not jump on them now. This new year, however, I've decided to make a few outdoor-related resolutions I look forward to keeping. At the top of my list is to do more fishing closer to home. Last summer, as some faithful readers may recall, I journeyed to Alaska to fish for salmon and halibut. I did manage to catch a few salmon, but the whole issue of "snagging" - Alaskan anglers insist it's hooking - spawning sockeye left me a little cold. And the huge halibut I've seen plastered on every advertisement and outdoor TV show for Alaskan angling eluded me, as well as everyone else on our Seward charter. Perhaps even more frustrating was that the salmon fishing here in the Lower 48 - in particular on the Columbia River - was some of the best ever seen. And did I mention there are no smallmouth bass in Alaska. No smallmouth bass! Sometimes you really don't know how good you've got it until you do something like traveling thousands of miles expecting to haul in fish until your arms ache, but end up with only a headache. So, in 2003, I intend to fish as often as I can for smallmouth bass, one of the scrappiest fish I've ever taken on light tackle. I also plan to fish more often for trout in some of our fine lakes and streams, including the Touchet and Tucannon rivers. Last year, June 1 - the statewide stream opener - came and went and I never even got my waders wet in either river. And while it's true the rivers are no longer stocked with hatchery-bred rainbows or German brown trout, there's still plenty of steelhead smolts, which to the average angler is just fine as long as it tugs on the line and fries up golden brown in the pan. I also didn't fish once last year at Lake Lenore. I plan to make amends this spring. The lake has apparently rebounded from summer fish kills caused by high water temperatures a few years back and should be offering some hefty Lahontan cutthroat trout. Lenore opens to fishing on March 1, but some of the better fishing generally occurs in early April after the lake has warmed, triggering abundant aquatic insect hatches such as midges. Last spring, I bagged my first wild turkey. I still have dreams about watching a big longbeard strutting around on the eve of the opener and watching it and several others fly up into their pine tree roosts. I also remember tossing and turning all night as I pictured drawing a bead on that big tom's head at first light. So, come April 14, I'm resolved to once again put a gobbler to bed while waiting for dawn's early light. Also in 2003, I resolve to find out from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife why nearly all Eastern Washington sportsmen cannot hunt Canada geese every day during the waterfowl season. In the nearly 22 years I've been hunting waterfowl in Washington, I've yet to hear one valid reason why a species that continues to grow to near nuisance populations should not be hunted every day. Another vow I intend to keep is to find out why the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continues to restrict hunting opportunities on the McNary National Wildlife Refuge, in particular, the Peninsula Unit in Burbank. As most waterfowlers are aware, waterfowl hunting on the Peninsula is limited to four days a week - Thursday through Sunday. The unit is open Wednesdays to goose hunting only, but I haven't heard any substantial reports of successful goose hunting. In fact, at the end of last season's hunt, I was told by wildlife officials that they hadn't even bothered to check on goose hunting success on the Peninsula. I say it's time to open the unit up to all waterfowlers seven days a week, just as it is across Casey Pond at the Service's Two Rivers Unit. I haven't hunted deer in Washington for several years. However, deer are just about as thick as ticks in Northeastern Washington and my turkey hunting partner who lives north of Sprague has bagged several beautiful white-tailed bucks and does the past few seasons, including a huge 5-by-5 this fall. I also resolve in 2003 to do even more to clean up our waterways and encourage other sportsmen to make this one of their New Year's resolutions, as well. On my boat, I carry several buckets and at least one large plastic garbage bag. Wherever I touch land, I try to pick up any trash I can easily spot. This year, however, I'm going to go out of my way to find even more garbage. In fact, I'm not going to return to the dock without filling up at least one 5-gallon bucket. Anyone who hunts waterfowl in the Mid-Columbia can get an early start by picking up the trash left behind in hunting blinds between now and when the season ends Jan. 26. I'm always amazed about the amount of trash hunters leave behind in a small duck or goose blind. There must be a law of physics I missed in school that pop cans, candy bars and shotshell boxes weigh more empty than they do when filled. Also, while it may be OK in Washington to leave behind shotgun hulls, sportsmen might want to establish a practice of packing them out after a hunt. I've read a few articles that suggest efforts are under way to make it mandatory to pick up empty shotgun shells. I often pick them up, but more from a selfish perspective. I don't want other hunters knowing either how well or how poorly I did at a particular blind. Finally, in 2003, I resolve to introduce at least one new person to hunting or fishing. Last summer, I got an ex-neighbor hooked on smallmouth bass. It was one of those days when anything you picked out of the tackle box would catch fish. And we caught fish all day. Now he's shopping for a new rod and reel and signing up for vacation days to join me as we fish the spring spawn together.
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