Friday, April 16, 2004 | 9:33 a.m.
Barb Henderson is an outdoors enthusiast, freelance writer and producer/host of outdoors radio television programming. Her column appears Friday in the Sun.
Thar she blows!
Is it just our imagination that just about the time we've made plans to enjoy an exciting springtime fishing trip, the wind has begun to blow.
On the light side, windy days do offer some anglers an extraordinary opportunity for excuses and/or fish tales that contain logical reasons to share with fishing buddies hoping to reel them in -- hook, line and sinker. You know ... during a perfect cast when the fishing line backlashes, when tree branches reach out and grab the fishing lure, when the wind catches that lucky fishing hat (with all the fancy gadgets attached) and sends that ol' lucky hat sailing, or when that special fly snags up during that perfect drift.
All kidding aside, before floating the waters on a float tube at a reservoir or enjoying fishing from a larger vessel at the lake, keep in mind springtime can often present windy conditions. Before you pull anchor or inflate that tube, Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) boating educator Edwin Lyngar shares a few friendly safety tips for boaters and anglers.
"We often see our anglers, especially in float tubes, get blown from one end of the lake to the other," Lyngar said. "Especially on manual powered vessels you are in grave danger of being blown in the middle of the lake and stranded, so be careful. If the weather gets too bad, save the fishing for another day."
Use common sense and wear those life jackets, like the message; Boat Smart -- Boat Safe -- Wear It.
NDOW reminds boaters that Nevada law now requires that children under 12 must wear a properly fitting life jacket any time they are riding in a boat that is underway.
When the weather is good, springtime can be a pleasant atmosphere for enjoying the sport of fishing; from shore, a float tube or on board a boat.
Located inside the NDOW offices, you'll find an assortment of free brochures.
Here's a little bit of information on the brochures that are available -- for boaters and/or anglers who want to navigate fisherable waters.
For anglers: Besides, those important Fishing Seasons and Regulations that every angler should have, you can also pick up three free regional Fishable Waters of Nevada brochures.
These brochures are broken down into Southern, Eastern and Western regions.
Southern region brochure covers; Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties.
The Eastern region brochure covers; Elko, Eureka, Lander and White Pine counties
The Western region brochure covers; Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Humboldt, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing, Storey and Washoe counties.
These informative brochures are packed full yet small enough to stick in the ol' tackle box alongside of those lures, bobbers and hooks.
You'll discover they offer helpful information such as: the locations of the state's fishing waters, what species of game fish are in the individual lakes, ponds and streams and more.
For boaters: NDOW has two safe boating brochures available -- the Boat Nevada course book (a self contained safe boating course covering laws, regulations and general rules of the water) and the Boat Nevada handbook (a pocket sized guide to safe boating).
For more information about boating in Nevada, set your sails online at www.boatnevada.org, for details about brochures, fishing regulations and fishing licenses hook on the Internet at: www.ndow.org.
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