Koi fish pond

POND SCRUM

admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 02:47:03 +0000

Ashlyn Smith just smiled, as if holding onto a secret that only her and the biggest fish she pulled out of the pond at Robin Hood Park on Saturday morning could possibly know.

So, what kind of bait did the 7-year-old Fuller School first-grader use to snag the 121/2-inch trout?

“Just worms,” she said, clutching the shiny new trophy she’d just won during the annual Keene Rotary Club Kids Fishing Derby.

No peanut butter? No donut munchkins? No lures dipped in sugar? Just worms?

“Worms,” she said again.

Smith clearly is onto something. She’s reeled in a trophy for the longest or heaviest fish in her age group for three straight years now.

The Rotary Club’s free Kids Fishing Derby has been going on for 30-plus seasons.

“Fishing is a great family activity for parents and their kids,” Derby organizer and club member David Wright said.

“There were a lot of smiling faces out here today.”

Some 80 kids — some fishing for the first time, like Allie Newell, who caught the heaviest trout in the 8-10 age group — registered for the event.

Young anglers, parents and pets and others stood along the banks of the pond casting (most landing into the water) and hooking something (mostly fish).

There were plenty of fish to pull out of the water, too. The Rotary Club and Fish Game recently put in 300 trout. The pond also has rock bass and perch.

Anglers carried each catch to a weigh-in tent, where the fish was measured, weighed and recorded. Some of the kids were more jumpy than the fish.

“We’re trying to give kids something new and fun to do,” Wright said.

Top finishers in the casting contest received new poles and tackle boxes.

In the 7-and-under division, Smith recorded the longest trout and biggest fish of the day, Dominic Raymond caught the heaviest fish and Liam Blair snagged the longest fish.

In addition to Newell winning a trophy in the 8-10 age group, Will Levesque had the longest fish and Ben

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Article Source: http://www.sentinelsource.com/sports/local_sports/pond-scrum/article_18f27567-2688-5ac6-bc2f-dff83c87c31c.html

Thinner Lake Erie algae bloom expected

admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:47:18 +0000

COLUMBUS (AP) — Toxic blue-green algae in Lake Erie’s western basin likely will appear earlier this summer but be less dense than last year’s record bloom, partly because of the warmer, drier spring weather, researchers said.

Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, are common in most lakes but grow thick in sun-warmed water that contains phosphorus. Spring storms wash manure, fertilizers and sewage containing phosphorus — which feeds the algae — into streams and lakes.

Stream-flow data suggest the algae bloom on Lake Erie this year will be smaller and thinner, University of Toledo algae researcher Thomas Bridgeman said. But he said there’s still likely a “sizable amount” of harmful algae on the lake bottom that easily could be stirred up and grow.

Massive algae blooms can be a deadly threat to fish and harm Ohio’s Lake Erie tourism industry, worth about $10 billion annually, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

The algae can produce as many as four toxins that can sicken people and kill pets. It also litters beaches with rotting vegetation, and there has been a lot of lake tourism drop off in the last couple of years, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Researchers who study Erie’s water problems say the algae could appear as early as June instead of July, and the unusually warm spring is likely to blame for the resurgence, said Jeffrey Reutter, the director of Ohio State University’s Sea Grant Program.

But algae forecasting is difficult and a shift in weather can rapidly change a lake’s status, said Dave Baker, director emeritus of the National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, in northwestern Ohio.

Baker said frequent strong storms sent a record 292 tons of phosphorus down the Maumee River to Lake Erie from April through May last year, helping create a record bloom in Lake Erie that stretched 30 miles east of Toledo.

The algae have been a problem at Ohio’s largest inland lake, Grand Lake St. Marys, and other Ohio waterways for years.

An unusually warm March this year brought the return of toxic algae to Grand Lake St. Marys, two months early. Water tests detected an algae

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Article Source: http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20120516/NEWS01/205160309/Thinner-Lake-Erie-algae-bloom-expected

DEC unveils draft Taylor Pond unit management plan

admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:47:01 +0000

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the release of the draft unit management plan (UMP) for the Taylor Pond Wild Forest Wednesday.

The management plan covers 76,347 acres located in portions of 13 towns and three counties in the northeastern region of the Adirondack Park. This includes 45,637 acres of forest preserve lands in the Taylor Pond Wild Forest; 6,314 acres in three state forests; 1,329 acres in three wildlife management areas; and 23,067 acres in four conservation easement tracts.

“The release of the draft unit management plan for the Taylor Pond Wild Forest is another significant milestone in our efforts to improve public access and ensure the protection of the Adirondacks for future generations,” DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said in a press release. “The public’s participation has been extremely valuable throughout the planning process, providing the Department with important information and recommendations incorporated into the draft plan.”

A public meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Town of Jay Community Center in AuSable Forks. The meeting will provide the public with an opportunity to learn more on the proposed management actions in the draft UMP and to provide comment on the proposals. DEC will accept comments on the draft UMP until June 22.

The 4,739-acre Terry Mountain State Forest and the 1,575-acre Burnt Hill State Forest are included in the UMP. As are the 577-acre Ausable Marsh, 683-acre Wickham Marsh and the 96-acre Pauline Murdock Wildlife Management Areas. The conservation easement tracts included in the plan are the 1,200-acre Alderbrook Park Tract, 1,030-acre Cook Mountain Tract of the Lassiter Easement and the 5,124-acre Franklin Falls/Union Falls Tract.

Although included in the unit, no management actions are proposed for the 15,713-acres Black Brook Tract of Lyme Adirondack Timber Lands Easement. A separate Recreational Management Plan will be developed for the Black Brook Tract.

A UMP must be completed before significant new recreational facilities, such as trails, lean-tos or parking areas, can be constructed. The plan includes an analysis of the natural features of the area and the ability of the land to accommodate public use. The planning process is

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Article Source: http://pressrepublican.com/0105_outdoor_perspective/x1321933763/DEC-unveils-draft-Taylor-Pond-unit-management-plan

Weekend Road Closure On Route 390 In Greece

admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:44:53 +0000

Greece, N.Y.- A section of Route 390 in Greece will close this weekend for a maintenance project.

Route 390 will close in the southbound direction between the Lake Ontario State Parkway and Latta Road from Friday, May 18 at 8:00 p.m. through Monday, May 21, at 5:00 a.m.

A detour will be posted directing traffic to use Long Pond Road.

During this closure, traffic on the Lake Ontario State Parkway headed to Route 390 southbound must exit at Long Pond Road to follow the detour.

This is part of the ongoing $2.9 million, preventative maintenance project to replace deteriorated sections of concrete along Route 390.

The project could be completed by September.

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Article Source: http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Weekend-Road-Closure-On-Route-390-In-Greece/QpShmQ2AOEyy-czVVjAapg.cspx

Life in a fishbowl a bob each way

admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:44:40 +0000

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Article Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/life-in-a-fishbowl-a-bob-each-way/story-fn7x8me2-1226361600930