outdoor

With the arrival of winter weather in this area, we certainly have plenty of water frozen on our creeks, streams, rivers, ponds, lakes and reservoirs.
And, that ice covering effectively inhibits your opportunity to catch fish…unless you are an ice fisherman.

Here is this week's fishing report for January 18-25. This report covers streams, lakes and rivers in Nevada, Northern California, southern Oregon and the Sierra.

ALMANOR LAKE, CALIF:
Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500) (www.shastacascade.com) reports:

This is almost a repeat of a story written back in November but with a different twist and some additional details.
Enjoy: Late January is a very special time of the year in the lives of about four thousand, hardy Alaskans.
They live in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost community in the U.S.
It is located in the Far North, on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle, 725 airline miles north of Anchorage and 1,122 miles from the North Pole.

South Shore native Darcie Goodman-Collins has been named the new executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe, officials announced today. She replaces Rochelle Nason who resigned last September.

Here is the fishing report through Jan. 17 for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra and Southern Oregon.

If you like to fish in the State of Nevada, you might be interested in entering the 2012 Ormsby Sportsmen’s Association (OSA) fishing contest. This annual contest is inexpensive, you can have fun fishing during the year and you might even win some nice cash, just before Christmas. If you’re interested, here is all kinds of information on that contest:

It’s the very first part of January and this is a good time for all of us to make some personal resolutions for the year 2012. Most importantly, remember that if you do make any resolutions, be sure to follow through with what you resolve to do in this new year. I have a number of things I would like to accomplish this year, so without any further ado, here are my resolutions:

The unseasonable warm weather around Carson City makes it ideal to get out and take advantage of some of the area’s outdoor activities including ice skating, hiking, mountain biking and golf. Check out the latest blog from the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Here is the fishing report for the week of Dec. 28, 2011 through Jan. 3, 2012. The report covers rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra and southern Oregon.

Each year, as my last article for that year, I present my Annual Don Q Awards for a number of different reasons: Outstanding, good, not so good, bad, serious, funny, dumb, head-scratching, are-you-kidding, etc.
Those annual awards are presented to all kinds of people or places or things for what has occurred throughout the year. It’s an interesting way to end the year, so here are my 2011 winners:

The ski resorts' loss is a gain for the Arlington Square Ice Rink. With only man-made snow on the area's slopes, people are flocking to the ice rink for their outdoor winter fun.

Click here for ice rink hours.

The U.S. Forest Service and organizers of Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month are working together to promote and recognize the event at Lake Tahoe and elsewhere, highlighting the health benefits of winter outdoor activity.

Northstar California did up things well Tuesday (name change, used to be "at-Tahoe") by officially opening its new multimillion dollar Zephyr lodge at the top of Zephyr lift and a new chairlift, the Promised Land Express. The new quad chair services two new trails. This completes a spending program of $30 million on upgrades, trails and support activities at the Lake Tahoe resort.

The holidays are happier if you are well and healthy to celebrate. Follow these tips to keep your season merry and bright!

1. Wash hands often to keep yourself from spreading germs and getting sick. The holiday season is one of socializing, parties, and spending time with loved ones – and of sharing germs and illness. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and clean running water for at least 20 seconds. Hand sanitizer is a good alternative if you can’t get to a sink.

With Christmas two weeks away, one of the best stocking stuffers for local anglers is a California fishing license. If you're planning to fish in the State of California in 2012, you'll need a new license as of Jan. 1.
You can purchase that license and any applicable stamp at a number of local outlets or on the Internet.
If you need to buy a license and stamps, here is some info:

Last Saturday evening (Dec. 3), the Ormsby Sportsmen’s Association (OSA) of Carson City held its traditional end-of-the-year banquet at the Carson Nugget and ended the 2011 year on a high note.

As I look forward to the year of 2012 with high expectations, hopes and dreams, this is a good time to reflect back on some selected personal memories from the rapidly ending year of 2011. Here are my top memories:

This is the third in a series of photos of oddities that were seen on a six week vacation trip to Italy in September and October, 2011.
That trip was taken by Bob and Lorraine Scholes of Dayton and Don and Elaine Quilici of Carson City, as they traveled the length and width of Italy, plus being on the Island of Sicily and in Switzerland.

With Wednesday being Nov. 30, and with all of the crazy “Black Friday” shopping madness now safely behind us, we can begin, once again, to think rationally about ideas for Christmas gifts for that special person(s) in our lives.
So, if you were not part of that frenzied mob scene on the day after Thanksgiving, or if you are still scratching your head about what to get for that person, here are some “Don Q” suggestions for Christmas gifts:
Any one or more of these could create a very enjoyable Christmas.

Here is this week's fishing report from Nov. 30 through Dec. 6, 2011. This report covers rivers, streams and lakes in Nevada, the Sierra, Northern California and Southern Oregon.

The 10th annual Tahoe Adventure Film Festival offers gnarly footage as “all-risk” describes the fast paced, high energy series of extreme sports short films that premiere Saturday, Dec. 10 at MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa. Lake Tahoe, recognized as a breeding ground for elite athletes and year-round adventurers, is designed to capture the intensity and passion of adventure with the film festival a perfect reflection of that outdoor culture.

This is the second in a series of photos of oddities that were seen on a six week vacation trip to Italy in September and October, 2011.
That trip was taken by Bob and Lorraine Scholes of Dayton and Don and Elaine Quilici of Carson City, as they traveled the length and width of Italy, plus being on the Island of Sicily and in Switzerland.

— Writer Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com

Once again, as an annual reminder for this time of the year, when you get ready to sit down to your big, Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, you might want to remember that old saying: “You are what you eat.”
So, think twice:
Before you eat all that turkey or you will be a turkey.
Before you eat all that ham or you will be a ham.
Before you eat all that chicken or you will be a chicken.
Don’t say that you were not forewarned.
And, yes, before you ask, I’m going to eat turkey!

If you hunt and/or fish, you might want to set aside the evening of Saturday, December 03 for a “Ton of Fun” with a whole bunch of your counterparts.

That is the date of the Ormsby Sportsmen’s Association (OSA) of Carson City big, end-of-the-year, annual banquet.

Ormsby Sportsmen’s Association:
OSA is a local sportsmen’s club, which was founded way back in 1945; and with a 2011 paid-up membership of more than 220 members, it is one of the oldest and largest sportsmen’s group in the State of Nevada.

Lake Tahoe South is New Year’s celebration central with Snow Globe, a three-day outdoor music festival with over 40 world-class musicians on three main stages, firework shows, combined with a myriad of outdoor recreation, entertainment and nightlife, providing action-packed holiday season for kids of all ages.

November 18 is a very significant date in the lives of several thousand hardy Alaskans. Those folks live in a unique location known as Barrow, Alaska, which is the northernmost community in the United States.
It is located in the Far North, on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, about 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
On November 18, the sun sets below the horizon at Barrow and it will not peek back up over the horizon until January 24 (weather permitting).
That’s more than two months without sunshine. Wow!

On Wednesday morning Oct. 19 Elaine and I went fishing at Lake Tahoe for Mackinaw lake trout with our longtime good friend and sport fishing guide, Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters outfitted South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
“Gino” has fished Tahoe for some thirty years (the last 13 years as a fishing guide) and is one of the top, if not the top, guides at that lake.

Here is the fishing report for the week of Oct. 26 to Nov. 2. This report covers rivers, streams and lakes in Nevada, the Sierra, Northern California and Southern Oregon.

On Saturday, Oct. 1, four of us (Bob and Lorraine Scholes of Dayton, Nev. and Elaine and I had the opportunity to visit a small vineyard called Corte de Valle in the Tuscany Region of Northern Italy.
It is one of a number of Bed & Breakfast vineyards (large and small) that are located along the Chianti Road between Siena and Florence.
We saw their small sign as we drove past, and on the spur of the moment, decided to turn around and visit there. It was a great decision.

Bob and Lorraine (my cousin) Scholes of Dayton plus Elaine and I just returned from a six week vacation trip to Italy, Sicily and Switzerland. It was the Scholes’ second trip to Italy and our first-ever trip.
Lorraine’s father was born in Ponte Buggianese and my Dad was born in Lucca, and we both wanted to visit where our roots began.
We left on August 30, flew from Reno to Denver to Montreal to Rome and then returned from Rome to Zurich to San Francisco to Reno on October 12. Here are a bunch of our memories:

The American Dollar and the European Euro: