Daily Archives: May 18, 2016

Learn to sail from the pros

Anyone 18 or older with an interest in “riding the wind” or gliding down a Kansas lake or reservoir in style is a perfect candidate for the Ninnescah Sailing Association’s (NSA) “Learn to Sail” program. Open to members and non-members, the program is led by experienced, certified U.S. Sailing instructors who will share their knowledge of basic boat-handling skills, sailing terminology, knot tying, and more.

The three-day course consists of an introductory classroom session, followed by two water days. After completing the classroom session, participants will receive sailing instruction on a Sunfish sailboat, hands-on keelboat training, and get to sail with experienced NSA keelboat owners and their crews. Both days of sailing on the water will include brief periods of onshore demonstrations and classroom work.

The cost to participate is $250 per non-member, and $195 for NSA members. Life jackets, course materials, use of sailboats, and safety equipment are provided. Graduates of the class interested in joining NSA will have their initiation fee waived and pay half-price on their first year of membership.

For information, visit www.ninnescah.org, or contact Kent Carter at (316) 655-4993 or [email protected].

Walleye study at El Dorado, Cheney relies on anglers

Fisheries biologists with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism will conduct a study during the month of May at Cheney and El Dorado Reservoirs examining the age and sex of angler-harvested walleye. Windshield cards will be placed on vehicles at the two reservoirs during the month of May, asking anglers who harvest walleye to contact the phone number during the survey time period provided on the card. An on-site clerk will then quickly collect information from the harvested fish before returning them back to anglers.

Apart from feeling good about providing critical information to fisheries staff, participants can also walk away with a walleye research team hat in exchange for their cooperation.

Fisheries staff expect the information collected will be helpful in gaining a better understanding of harvested walleye sex ratios, as well as aid in the management of walleye statewide.

For more information on this study, contact Fisheries regional supervisor Sean Lynott at [email protected].

Fish for free June 4 and 5

There’s not much today you can get for free, especially a weekend’s worth of entertainment for the whole family, but thanks to the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, there’s an exception to this – Free Fishing Weekend.

The 2016 Free Fishing Weekend will take place June 4 and 5 and is the perfect opportunity to introduce others to the joys of angling. Typically held the first full weekend in June in association with National Fishing Week, free fishing weekends are two-day periods when fishing licenses are not required to fish Kansas lakes and reservoirs. The only thing anglers need to keep in mind is while license requirements are waived for the weekend, anglers must still abide by all other regulations such as length and creel limits, equipment requirements, etc.

If you’re looking for a place to drop a line during Free Fishing Weekend, visit www.ksoutdoors.com/fishing and click “Where To Fish” for a list of fishing locations near you. You can also check out the 2016 Fishing Forecast and the Weekly Fishing Reports to you decide where to fish.

After you’ve found an ideal spot or two, consult the 2016 Kansas Fishing Regulations Summary prior to hitting the water. The summary contains vital information specific to all public waters and even includes color illustrations to help identify fish. View an electronic version at www.ksoutdoors.com/fishing, or pick up a hard-copy wherever licenses are sold.

With the right location, a variety of baits to choose from, and some cooperative weather, Kansas fishing can be a blast. Give it a try; we bet you’ll be hooked.

Agencies cooperate to control carp In Milford Reservoir

The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) is working with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to remove carp from Milford Reservoir. Research indicates large numbers of carp can increase the potential for harmful blue-green algae blooms because of the sediment the fish stir up while feeding.

KDWPT fisheries biologists work diligently to control sport fish numbers through stocking, habitat enhancement and regulations such as creel and length limits. However, large populations of nonsport, or rough, fish such as carp and buffalo are more difficult to manage and can negatively impact the populations of more desirable species. Carp and buffalo are difficult for anglers to catch because of the fish’s diet and eating habits, nor are they desired or targeted by anglers. Buffalo are filter feeders, eating zooplankton, and carp are bottom feeders, eating zooplankton, insects, crustaceans and worms. In addition to increasing water turbidity and potential for blue-green algae blooms, large populations of these rough fish compete for space and food with sport fish.

Through a bid process, a commercial fisherman is contracted to catch and remove rough fish from Kansas reservoirs. The removal process usually takes place when large numbers of carp and buffalo can be caught without impacting sport fish. Commercial fishing operations are going on this spring at Milford, and anglers may see nets in the upper end.

At times, the market for the meat of certain rough fish species makes the effort profitable. However, KDWPT subsidizes the removal of carp, paying for each pound of carp removed and ensuring that commercial efforts continue even when markets are down.

Agency officials hope that removing carp from Milford will improve water quality and reduce the potential for blue-green algae blooms, while also providing benefits to sport fish.

Playa Recharge Summit provides answers to common questions

Playas are a major source of recharge to the Ogallala Aquifer, contributing up to 95 percent of inflow of water to the aquifer and improving the quality of that water. For those who may have doubts, it was confirmed by 14 playa experts who participated in Playa Lakes Joint Venture’s (PLJV) Playa Recharge Summit last November. The Summit was designed to get answers to questions often heard by those working in playa conservation: “How much groundwater recharge goes through playas?” “How long till the water reaches the aquifer?” and “Will that water benefit me directly?”

The scientists and researchers concurred that playas recharge the aquifer at the rates described in the USGS Recharge Rates and Chemistry Beneath Playas Literature Review (Gurdak and Roe, 2009), which is about 3 inches per year, on average. While they agreed that this rate was not fast enough to counter the amount of withdrawals due to irrigation agriculture, they also agreed that the amount of recharge could support a small family farm, a rainfed (or dryland) production system or a grazing system. They also recommended recharge through playas be incorporated into water conservation plans for municipalities that depend on the aquifer.

In addition, the benefit of a healthy playa —a playa with a grass buffer and no hydrological modifications such as pits or ditches — goes beyond simple recharge. The water that reaches the aquifer through playas is cleaner than water that enters through other channels, such as through upland soils or from around center pivot wells. Playas are wetlands and thus provide the same water cleaning services as other wetlands. Sediment, and the attached pesticide contaminants, are removed from water flowing overland through a grass buffer. After the water reaches the playa basin, denitrification occurs with the help of soil bacteria. The result is high quality water reaching the aquifer that can then be used by those living on the land.

As part of the Summit, a number of communication messages were discussed and vetted by the participants. PLJV then developed messaging that can be used by the Joint Venture partnership and those talking about playa conservation. The full report and a tip sheet on communicating about playas and recharge are available as part of PLJV’s Playas & Recharge Communications Kit. The downloadable zip file also includes the USGS Recharge Rates and Chemistry Beneath Playas Literature Review (both the executive summary and full report) and a Playas and Ogallala Aquifer fact sheet that can be printed and distributed.

The Playa Recharge Summit was funded in part by the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative. Participants included 14 scientists and researchers who study various aspects of playas — including hydrology, wildlife ecology, economics and communications.