Columnist Paula DelGiudice’s: Local amateurs excel at tourney

Wednesday, April 14, 1999 | 10:11 a.m.

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears Wednesday. Reach her at PDelGiudice@compuserve.com.

While the big story at last weekend's KMart BASSMASTER Top 150 fishing tournament at Lake Mead was the weather, for local anglers -- particularly the amateurs -- there was a much bigger story brewing.

Local amateurs had an extremely good tournament, particularly Jay Pennington of Las Vegas, who took top amateur honors and a check for $25,000.

Second was Las Vegas angler Pat Donoho, whose tournament catches garnered $4,000. Third place went to Stephen Pike of Las Vegas, who also received the honor of taking the biggest daily catch among amateurs on Days 1 and 3. His Day 1 bass weighed 4.02 pounds and his third-day bass weighed 4.10 pounds.

Southern Nevada anglers Robert Ellis, who finished 12th, and Charles Owen, who finished 33rd, also had terrific showings.

Zell Rowland of Montgomery, Texas won the pro division. Local pro Byron Velvick of Boulder City finished well behind his usual top performance.

* MEAD FISH GOOD EATIN': The fish at Lake Mead are safe to consume, according to the results of lab tests done on fish at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's lab in Richmond, Calif. The tissues sampled were taken from the edible portions of game fish in Las Vegas Wash and Las Vegas Bay.

Fish sampled were catfish and striped bass. The fish were tested for a wide range of contaminants including organic chlorine, pesticides, herbicides, PCBs, mercury and other heavy metals.

According to Jon Sjoberg, supervising fisheries biologist with the Nevada Division of Wildlife, nothing showed up that remotely represented a threat to human health. The results of the tests were reviewed by a multi-agency review panel.

Tests for possible endocrine disruptors -- chemicals that may react like hormones when ingested, causing malformations of fish and those that prey on affected fish -- are under way through the U.S. Geological Survey. Recent tests did not include endocrine disruptors.

Additional sampling also is under way in the Muddy River because fall sampling showed a minor blip in the data received from there. But again, there is no cause for alarm.

"Anglers should feel free to eat the fish," Sjoberg said. "There's nothing that appears to be a problem."

* HUNTING DOWN STATS: Nevada hunters have less than a week to get their applications in for deer and other big-game hunts. Because quotas won't be established until after the close of applications, hunters may find it useful to view statistics from last year's deer and big game hunts via the Internet. To find that information, log onto NDOW's web page at www.state.nv.us/cnr/nvwildlife/.

Statistics include the odds of obtaining tags in each hunt unit, hunter success, the average number of days hunted and the number of antler points on harvested deer. Information is provided for antelope, bighorn sheep, deer and elk.

The deadline for applying for tags is April 19. Applications must be received in Fallon at the Hunt Application Office before 5 p.m. on that date to be eligible for this year's drawings.

* CAVING IN: Great Basin National Park Superintendent Rebecca Mills announced new cave tours, ticket prices and camping fees effective April 15.

Visitors will have the option of three cave tour lengths: 90-minute, 60-minute or 30-minute. The new prices are as follows:

* 90-minute tour: 12-older $6; children 5-11, $3 (children 5-under are not permitted on the 90-minute tour).

* 60-minute tour: 12-older $4, children 11-younger $2.

* 30-minute tour: 12-older $2, children 11-younger free.

There are discount fees available for Golden Age Passport Holders and Golden Access Passport Holders.

Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served, same-day only basis. Advance cave tour ticket sales begin April 28, when tickets can be purchased 1-30 days in advance through Sept. 5 Visa or Mastercard. No advance reservations are accepted for campsites.

For more information, contact Great Basin National Park at (775) 234-7331 or visit PARKNET on the World Wide Web at www.nps.gov.