Just a few months and it will be conference time. We are looking forward to seeing every one and catching up.

Be sure to check the "Members Paid" list to be sure you are current so you don't miss out.

If you know of a Company that you think would be interested in taking part in our ever-growing Supporting members group please pass their contact information on to Zack.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Gary Graham gary@garycgraham.com

email archives

Board Elections

WE NEED BOARD CANDIDATES! At present, we have only two candidates for the three seats that open in June. Even if you yourself don't want to serve, think about nominating another member. The deadline for submission of materials is April 1.

            You need not be a long-time OWACer to run; all members are eligible. Board members serve a three-year term and must attend three meetings a year — at the spring and fall conferences and a third in January in San Mateo. Feel free to call or email me for more details about what's involved.

            Send me (preferably via email, but USPS if fine too) a photo of yourself and a statement of intent saying who you are and why you want to serve on the board. Your statement and photo will appear in the ballot package I send out to the membership. Again, the deadline for submission of materials is April 1, just two weeks away.

2008 Dues

There remain a few members who haven't yet paid their 2008 dues. For a list of all paid members, click here. If your name doesn't appear on this list, we had, as of March 15, no record of your payment. If you're name doesn't appear here, but you paid in the last few days, no worries. If you paid a while back and your name doesn't appear here, email me. If you haven't paid 2008 dues yet, but want to remain a member, now is the time to send your check. I'll be auditing our mailing lists in a week or two here and removing all unpaid members.

Spring 2008 Conference

Rainbow Pool, a Tuolumne County locals' hangout near Groveland. Photo by Sandy Gordon.

Says Sandy Gordon, who's coordinating things for Tuolumne County, "Be on the lookout for the registration packets which should be out the first week of April for the upcoming Spring conference. I don't want to give up too many of our surprises but there’s lots of doin's brewing in these hills for your June excitement.

         "Great winters make for great springs and this one should be primo! The lake and stream levels should make for fantastic fishing, houseboating, kayaking, wildlife viewing, and off-roading. Waterfalls should be running full for great photo-ops. We’ll be providing plenty of
opportunity for members to do all this and more. Stay tuned ..."

            The conference is scheduled for June 8-10 in Sonora. Sunday activities will be held at the Best Western Sonora Oaks Hotel & Conference Center, with the Sunday night Awards Banquet catered in the historic Sonora Opera Hall. Monday activities will tentatively include houseboating and fishing on Don Pedro Lake, whitewater rafting on the Tuolumne River, fly-fishing, kayaking on Pinecrest Lake, horseback riding to fish high-country streams, gold-panning, golf at Mountain Springs, mountain biking at Dodge Ridge, photo tours and more. Pre- and post-conference tours are still in the works, but Yosemite will almost certainly be an option.

Send Links to Articles

Thanks to those of you who sent links to recent work posted online. I'm always looking for more so if you've got something you'd like to share, send me a link.

Fall 2008 Conference

The fall conference will be hosted Sunday, Oct. 12 through Tuesday, Oct. 14 in Santa Barbara, "The American Riviera," by the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitors Bureau (www.santabarbaraca.com). Tentative activities include fly fishing in the surf, ocean fishing on the Stardust, a Channel Islands cruise aboard the Condor Express, Lake Cachuma trout fishing, Solvang wine-tasting, a nature hike in Los Padres National Forest, and bass fishing at an exclusive "pay-to-play" guest ranch. Monday night's barbecue will be at the Santa Barbara Carriage and Western Museum.

Oops...

I not only neglected to mention in the last issue the induction of Gary Graham and Rick Copeland into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame (see below), but I also failed to say where the final photo of Bill Ryan holding a big bass was taken. It was at Clear Lake.

—Zack Thomas, owac.director@gmail.com, (775) 562-4585

This issue's featured photographer, Brandon Cotton, is editor of the bi-weekly Southern California fishing newspaper FishRap. Although FishRap covers both fresh- and saltwater, I chose to use a selection of Brandon's saltwater shots here. The first is of a sunrise on the "tuna grounds" southwest of San Diego.

•           Some dumb editor somehow failed to include in the last issue the news that OWAC President Gary Graham and former President Rick Copeland were inducted in January into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame, during a ceremony hosted by Tom Stienstra, still another former OWAC President. As Outdoor Hall of Famers, they join current OWAC members Bill Karr, Terry Hodges, Bill Beebe and Stienstra; former members Keith Fraser, John Reginato and Pete Otteson; and other notables ranging from posthumous inductees like John Muir and Ansel Adams to Yvon Chouinard and Doug Stoup.

•           Barbara Steinberg recently published yet another nice piece about a conference host/supporting member — in this case Murphys in Calaveras County — in LUXLIFE magazine. click here

•           Robert Stone recently released two new books in his Day Hikes series: Day Hikes Around Napa Valley and Day Hikes Around Missoula, Montana. click here

•           Zack Thomas's new book, The Angler's Guide to Trailer-Boating Baja, will debut at the Fred Hall show in Del Mar March 26-30, where Thomas will be giving daily slideshow/seminars and selling and signing books. The book will be available for mail-order April 1 and from several Southern California tackle shops and, of course, Vagabundos del Mar shortly afterward. Visit www.bajatrailerboating.com for a seminar schedule, a sample chapter and ordering details.

•           Bart Hall, a member of the board of directors of the United Anglers of Southern California, was recently profiled in the organization's newsletter, where he was characterized as "a father figure to Southern California's entire fishing 'family.'" click here

OWAC member Tom Gatch with a jig-caught lingcod near Punta Banda on the northern Pacific Coast of Baja California. Photo by Brandon Cotton.

Supporting Member Notes

•           OWAC welcomes as a new Supporting Member Ono's Trading Company, based in Mobile, Alabama. Ono's manufactures a line of top-quality polarized sunglasses in nine frame styles with built-in readers ranging from 1.50 to 2.50 magnification power. OWAC's primary contact is Chris Nelson, at (251) 338-0351 or chris@onostradingcompany.com. Visit www.onostradingcompany.com for more information.

•           Also this month, OWAC welcomes San Diego-based WindWhacker Decoys, manufacturers of innovative wind-powered motion waterfowl decoys. OWAC's primary contact is Rob Rohrke, at (619) 993-7020 or windwhacker@yahoo.com. For more information, visit www.windwhacker.com. To read a commentary on WindWhacker decoys by OWAC member Bill Karr, click here.

•           Our third new Supporting Member is Y explore Yosemite Adventures, based in Sonora — the site, incidentally, of our spring conference. Y explore is a socially responsible company offering professionally guided hiking tours and photography workshops in Yosemite National Park. OWAC's primary contact is John DeGrazio, at (209) 532-7014 or john@yexplore.com. Visit http://yexplore.com for more information.

•           Lake Davis Trout Restocking Celebration May 16-17 at Lake Davis in Plumas County to include Friday Media Event, Saturday fishing clinics, informational booths, children's activities. click here

•           Wild Horse Sanctuary celebrates 30th anniversary, offers two- and three-day trail-rides among wild mustangs (release from Fred Sater Communications). click here

•           Y explore Yosemite Adventures announces a celebration of art and nature in Hetch Hetchy with painting, photography and naturalist workshops May 18-20. click here

•           Yosemite Association’s field institute to host "Leave No Trace" course to train "LNT Trainers" April 11-12; OWAC members may participate free of charge for research. click here

•           Sonoma County seeks links to members' blog postings, Flickr streams, video podcasts for incorporation in user-generated media section of interactive, cutting-edge new website. Contact Public Relations & Marketing Manager Keri Hanson at (707) 522-5815 or khanson@sonomacounty.com.

•           Casitas Municipal Water District "mussels" trailer boaters off one of Southern California's Premier bass lakes (release from United Anglers of Southern California). click here

•           United Anglers of Southern California announces its first annual Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament Fundraiser April 12.  click here

•           California Fish and Game Commission approves bottom trawling on soft bottoms (release from Untied Anglers of Southern California). click here

•           California's Marine Protected Areas mean closures to the public (editorial by Gordon C. Robertson, Vice President, American Sportfishing Association). click here

Dolphins on the bow at high noon. Photo by Brandon Cotton.

Committee Update

Tear sheets: Ken Jones — Send in a tear sheet, and you're automatically entered in a drawing for a free conference. Address is 1701 Lakeshore Dr., Lodi, CA 95242. Deadline for tear sheets related to 2007 conferences (Bishop and Calaveras) is extended to May 15. The winner will be drawn at the Spring 2008 conference. The free conference voucher is non-transferable and good for either the Fall 2008 or Spring 2009 conference.

Awards: Bill Becher — Awards entries have been submitted to judges in Oregon, Florida and Louisiana. One judge has responded already, and said he enjoyed reading all of the entries.

Publicity: Bill Becher — Bill is working to assemble a list of publications that should receive general-interest OWAC press releases about Outdoor Outreach recipients, Californian of the Year honorees, etc. Please send your suggestions to bb@becher.com.

Outdoor Outreach: Ken Jones — Grant applications can be downloaded from the OWAC website at www.owac.org/president/outreach.htm. If you know of a deserving organization, please suggest that they apply or let Ken know about them.

Californian of the Year: Craig Hanson —You’ve heard it all before, but now is the time to get serious about nominations for Californian of the Year. To date we have a grand total of zero. We’re not looking for the next Teddy Roosevelt or John Muir just someone who has made a difference in the outdoor world.

Just to make it interesting, I’m going re-nominate Captain Jacky Douglas, the matriarch of the Bay Area charter boat fleet. She has spent her life fighting for, and promoting her beloved salmon. Now, at nearly 80-years old the carpet is being pulled out from beneath her – but that’s a whole other story.

Jacky is one-of-a-kind, but there are others out there equally as deserving of being California of the Year. Give it some thought and send me email. I’ll be happy to guide you through the easy process of nominating a deserving individual.

Send your questions and nominations to sfangler@mindspring.com. — Craig Hanson

Newsmaker: Bill Ryan and Craig Hanson —We’ve got ourselves one heck of a topical newsmaker coming to our Spring Conference. A consortium of major fishing, hunting and outdoor groups will release a study on the impact of climate change on outdoor recreation in April.

We will get a firsthand explanation of the results delivered by either former U.S. Fish and Wildlife director Steve Williams, or former South Dakota Fish and Wildlife director John Cooper.

Details are still being worked out, but this very topical issue should be of interest to all members. Support material and one-on-one interviews will be available after the presentation.

Bylaws: Kathie Morgan — The revised bylaws should be ready for review by the general membership in April.

A 33-lb. yellowtail from San Clemente Island (left) and an 8.5-lb. calico bass from one of the rock breakwalls protecting L.A. and Long Beach harbors. Photos by Brandon Cotton

OWAC's Fifth President: George Carl (1992-1993)

NOTE: OWAC Historian Kathie Morgan will be contributing a series of brief pieces on former OWAC Presidents.

George Carl, OWAC’s fifth president, joined OWAC in 1987, described by John Reginato in his welcome as a “radio man” from Napa. The very next issue of OWAC News held Carl’s contribution, Outdoor Radio Shows.

         Rolling up his sleeves, he then helped Gary Voet and Lou Bignami to write the original bylaws, then served as vice president under Voet while chairing the Supporting Members committee.

         The minutes of the Feb. 22, 1992, board meeting note that "special circumstances in the previous Bylaws under which vice-president George Carl would progress to president in ‘92-93 prompted Paul Wertz to make a motion, seconded by Wayne Smith, that George Carl will serve a term as OWAC’s next president."

         Carl presided over conferences in Santa Cruz and North Lake Tahoe. The Santa Cruz event was memorable for the outstanding newsmaker seminar, featuring Department of Fish and Game Director Boyd Gibbons, the Forest Service’s Ron Stewart, Gary Matlock of the National Marine Fisheries and the Bureau of Land Management’s Ed Hasty. DFG Region 3 Manager Brian Hunter and his assistant Ken Aasen were guest speakers for the first night’s dinner at that conference.

         Under his leadership, an OWAC scholarship committee was established, chaired by Past President Pete Ottesen.