MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Downtown Tennis Academy will hold sign ups for junior tennis lessons starting on Monday, May 5.

The lessons are for children ages 5 to 17.

Sign ups will take place at the Middletown tennis courts on Mondays, Quail Run Fitness in Lakeport on Tuesdays and Thursday, Riviera Hills tennis courts in Kelseyville on Wednesdays and Upper Lake tennis courts on Fridays.

Contact Don Purdy at 707-245-0443 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for class times and to register.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The next contra dance will be held this Saturday, May 3, at Armstrong Hall (home of Lake County Jazzercise) in Middletown.

This dance will be led by Eryk Hoffman.

The live, old-time fiddle music will be provided by the Cobb Stompers and friends.

This is a beginners dance and is open to anyone. No dancing experience needed.

Contra dancing is a great low pressure and fun way to socialize for people of all ages.

If you are unfamiliar with contra dancing, it is somewhat similar to square dancing, but less formal.

There is no fancy footwork that you have to learn or memorize; you are led through each dance by the caller.

Because it’s a social dance, you don’t need to arrive with a partner; in fact, most people don’t. When you dance, you dance with a partner, but you also have many neighbors that you dance with too.

At the end of a dance, you say goodbye to your partner and get another one.

Armstrong Hall is located at 15642 Armstrong St. in Middletown, two blocks behind the post office.

The dance begins with easier dances at 7 p.m. and gently progresses to more challenging figures until 9:30 p.m.

Admission is $5 at the door.

Please wear clean shoes that won’t harm the hardwood floor and bring your own water bottle.

For more information, contact Beth Rudiger, 707-260-2900 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) reminds 2013-2014 Full Season Spiny Lobster Report Card holders to return their cards by April 30, 2014 as required by law.

Only 34 percent of the 2013-2014 Full Season Spiny Lobster Report Cards have been reported online or returned to CDFW, to date.

Please note: 2013-2014 Full Season Spiny Lobster Report Card holders who fail to return their cards by April 30, 2014 will be charged a non-return fee of $20 upon issuance of a Spiny Lobster Report Card in the subsequent fishing season, or they may choose to skip one fishing season to be able to purchase a lobster card the following season at no extra cost.

The Automated License Data System (ALDS) has greatly increased the ability of CDFW to remind card holders of the need to return report cards with the ability to send out reminder notices through the mail.

A reminder notice was mailed to all cardholders to return their report cards to CDFW or submit their harvest data online. If you receive a reminder notice and have already submitted your card or reported online, CDFW thanks you.

Cardholders should review their cards carefully and check that the information recorded is complete and accurate. Information collected from the cards provides CDFW with data necessary to monitor and manage California’s spiny lobster fishery.

The cards need to be returned, even if no lobsters were taken or no attempts were made to take lobster. Spiny Lobster Report Card data can be submitted online at www.dfg.ca.gov/licensing/harvestreporting .  

Report cards also can be submitted by mail to:

CDFW – Lobster Report Card
3883 Ruffin Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123

Additional information and a list of frequently asked questions about this program can be found on CDFW’s Ocean Sport Fishing Web page, www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/invertebrate/lobster.asp .

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – A special guided nature walk focusing on the birds to be found at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park will be held on Saturday morning, May 10.

The walk will be led by park docent and Audubon bird expert Brad Barnwell, who has spent years studying and photographing the birds found in Lake County.

“We are extremely happy to be able to give Lake County residents the chance to experience Brad’s contagious enthusiasm about the many fascinating birds to be found at the Park,” said Gae Henry of the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association.

This month’s walk will explore three of the bird habitats found at the park: the creek-side habitat of the Cache Creek Nature Trail and boardwalk, the grasslands of the Anderson Flats Trail and the oak woodlands of the Ridge Trail.

With the recent rains, trees are beginning to leaf and flowers are blooming, and the birds are becoming active.

The walk should last about one and a half hours.
 
There will not be a ranch house tour after this month’s nature walk. Ranch House tours will begin again on the second Saturday in June.

Bring binoculars and meet in front of the Ranch House at 8:15 a.m. for time to experience the early morning wildlife to be found in the Ranch House and Barn complex yard – the walk will begin at 8:30am.

There is no charge and parking is free for those attending this event. Rain will cancel the walk.

Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is located on Highway 53, between Lower Lake and Clearlake.

For more information about nature walks and Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 707-995-2658.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The combined swim team from Kelseyville High School and Clear Lake High School competed in their last double-dual meet on Thursday in Sebastopol.

The team competed against Analy High School and St. Helena High School – two of the best teams in the league.

Both the boys and girls lost to Analy – a team which finishes their season undefeated.

The boys also lost to St. Helena but, in a surprise victory over a powerful team, the girls squeaked out a win against St. Helena.

“We were surprised. The St. Helena swim team is quite a bit bigger than we are and we have never beat them in competition. However, the girls took the lead about half way through the meet and never looked back. This is a very strong and aggressive girls’ team and we are excited to be heading into championships,” according to coach Agustin Merodio.

The boys end their season with 3 wins and 7 losses while the girls end with six wins and four losses.

“This is the first time that one of our teams ended their season with a majority of wins,” Merodio said.

Scoring first place victories for the girls against St. Helena were Lauren Rudnick in the 200 Individual Medley and the 100 Butterfly, Liz Fricker in the 50 Freestyle, Kim English in the 100 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke and the 4x100 Yard Relay team of Lauren Rudnick, Allison Hanson, Sarah Merodio and Kim English.  

For the boys, Owen Lawler scored a first in the 100 Yard Breaststroke event.

The team will spend the next two weeks focusing on championships which are scheduled for May 8 and 9.

Also coming up for the team is a Pancake Breakfast sponsored by the Kelseyville Lions Club on Mother’s Day, May 11 from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Kelseyville Lions Club. T

The team will be giving all mothers a carnation.

The community is invited to come and help support the swim team.

Can fin-clips identify different trout strains?

Question: With trout season opening soon, I was thinking about how several years ago I ran across a way to identify what strain a Lake Crowley trout was based on which fins were clipped.

Identify as follows: adipose only-Eagle Lake strain, adipose and left ventral-Kamloops (from Junction Reservoir), adipose and right ventral-Coleman, and ventral only-Kamloops or Coleman.

No fin clips would indicate a natural spawn and not from a hatchery. And, what hatchery would these plants have come from? Possibly Hot Creek or maybe Fish Springs?

I have talked to the driver planting catchables in Silver Lake and learned those plants came from the Fish Springs hatchery.

Thanks for any info you can provide. (Ron A.)

Answers: In the mid-1990s, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) fisheries biologists applied fin clips to Eastern Sierra trout stocked in Crowley Lake to evaluate their performance, growth, return to creel, etc. The results were very interesting.

According to CDFW Fisheries Program Manager Curtis Milliron who conducted those studies, wild trout were unmarked and at that time both rainbow trout (RT) and browns constituted about 25 percent of the catch of all larger fish caught at Crowley.

They did not substantially supplement the average size class, however. The marked trout came from both Fish Springs (Coleman strain RT and Eagle Lake trout) and from Hot Creek Hatchery (Kamloops strain RT).

Coleman strain fish were found to be caught most often by anglers while trolling, while Kamloops were often associated with nearshore angling. Eagle Lake trout (ELT) were found all over the lake, including feeding on large snails right on the lake bottom.

Additionally, ELT outlived the other strains, and therefore greatly contributed to the “carryover” population, which are fish that do not get caught in the first year after being stocked and return to anglers at a much larger size.

By about 1999, Milliron discontinued the Crowley Lake trout strain studies but thinks some marked fish may have persisted in the lake for another five years, at most.

Today, no similar studies are being conducted, and fin clips to identify the various strains of Eastern Sierra trout are no longer being applied.

But, thanks to the findings of the studies, a management plan for Lake Crowley was created, and the lake continues to draw anglers back year after year as one of the most popular and productive trout lakes in the Eastern Sierra.

How many turkeys in possession?

Question: My buddy and I are going out of town on a three-day turkey hunt. If we both get a turkey each day (total of six) and get stopped by a warden on the way home, will we be legal?

I heard that you can't have more than one bird with you at a time, but the regulation states possession limit is three birds per hunter for the season. I want to make sure we are legal. Otherwise I will have to travel back and forth after each successful day and it’s about a two-hour drive each way.

Thanks for any information you can give me. (Brent M.)

Answer: You do not have to return home after taking a bird on any one day.

The daily bag limit for turkeys during the spring season is one bearded turkey per day and you can take three per season.

You may have three bearded turkeys in your possession as long as you only take one per day.

Spearfishing rockfish and lingcod after dark?

Question: Can rockfish and lingcod be taken by spearfishing after dark? (Brian S.)

Answer: Yes, you may spearfish for rockfish and lingcod at night, except in San Francisco Bay (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 27.56).

Buying skulls from other states

Question: I found someone in Oregon selling a raw coyote skull. I own some flesh-eating dermestid beetles and am interested in buying the skull from them to clean off.

Is it legal to buy raw (uncleaned) skulls from other states if it was obtained legally and not from California?

I know you can't purchase almost any part of California fish and game, but can we bring parts in from other states? (Anonymous)

Answer: Yes, as long as the animal was legally taken in another state and is properly imported with a “Declaration for Entry into California form,” then it can be possessed.

The same goes for most species, but there are some exceptions, such as bears, mountain lions, and fully protected birds and mammals whose parts cannot be legally possessed in California (Fish and Game Code, section 3039).

For a copy of the declaration form, please go to www.dfg.ca.gov/enforcement/entry-declaration.aspx .

Remember that deer and other cervid skulls may not be brought into the state unless special rules are followed to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease (see CCR Title 14, section 712).

Carrie Wilson is a marine environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. While she cannot personally answer everyone’s questions, she will select a few to answer each week in this column. Please contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .