Steve Merlo: Annual Sportsman's Night banquet draws 700-plus
| Thursday, Nov 19 2009 08:58 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Nov 19 2009 08:58 PM
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More than 700 people attended the 59th annual Sportsman's Night dinner and banquet last Tuesday evening, with lots of prizes, including 25 guns, given away through the various raffles and door prizes. But, on a sour note that marred an otherwise great evening of fun, two 15-foot-tall inflatable advertising displays, shaped like Budweiser beer bottles, mysteriously disappeared and need to be returned, practical joke or not, as soon as possible. The missing items are owned by Advance Beverage Co. and cost over $2,000 each. The bottles can be picked up or returned by Monday, November 23, no questions asked, prior to charges being filed with the Bakersfield Police or Kern County Sheriff's Departments. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of said displays needs to contact Jim Roberts at 661-805-5766.
Trophy trout program slated
The annual Buena Vista Lake 'trophy trout program' begins at 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning, (Nov. 21) at Lake Evans, the 80-acre gem of the twin-lake complex. Fishing is expected to be great, with a huge double stocking of rainbows last Tuesday night supplementing the holdover fish from the Taft Chamber of Commerce Derby held last Saturday.
The lake has already been stocked with 3,400-pounds of rainbow trout and will receive 1,700-pound weekly plantings through February, with a lot of fish in the 15-plus-pound range already swimming in the lake or slated for immediate delivery. Last season, several trout weighing more than 20-pounds each were caught and anglers can expect more of the same this year.
Surface waters are much cooler this season, and the fish should be more active than in years past. Look for the larger trout to actively pursue lures, with spinners, crankbaits and spoons doing most of the damage. Night crawlers will also catch a lot of the better quality trout, with power-baits the best overall attractant for fish of all sizes.
Derby winner announced
Tom Nieto took home "big fish" honors Saturday at the Taft Chamber of Commerce trout derby. His winning trout weighed a respectable 4.7-pounds and paid off handsomely to the tune of a cool $1,000 in cash. More than 800 people participated in the annual event.
Lots o' doves, no ducks -- yet
Good dove action remains in store for hunters plying the county's corn, milo and other grain fields. In some areas, hundreds of the winter migrants are loading up to feed and put on fat to tide them through the winter months, providing, in some cases, spectacular wing shooting for one of the most difficult of gamebirds to hit on the fly. Look for this season to improve steadily as more and more of the birds arrive from the north.
Waterfowl numbers are down significantly since the onset of the late season. Overall Kern Refuge duck numbers have shown little improvement and the same holds true for private duck clubs. Plenty of ducks are poised to head south into the San Joaquin Valley Zone any day, and are only a northern cold snap away from winging our direction.
The 2009-2010 season will arguably be one of the better watefowl years based on U.S. Department of the Interior preseason counts regarding bird production in the United States and especially Canada. Most species numbers are well ahead of last year's survey, which was one of the best on record. Included in the forecast are surges of green wing teal, mallards and pintail.
Local lakes planted
My wife and I found excellent trout fishing this week at several of our local lakes. The River Walk, Truxtun, Ming and Hart Park Lakes are all being stocked with plenty of nice ones being caught. Power bait, salmon eggs and nightcrawlers seem to work the best with our light tackle at every location we've tried. Truxtun Lake also booted out a huge 2.5-pound crappie this week, according to Clay Rutledge at Bob's Bait Bucket.
