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FISHERMAN'S CALENDAR
SO—season opened (or opens); SC—season closed (or closes).
C—clear water; D—water dirty or roily; M—water muddy.
N—water at normal height; SH—slightly high; H—high; VH—very high; L—low; R—rising; F—falling.
WT50—water temperature 50°.
FG—fishing good; FF—fishing fair; FP—fishing poor; OG—outlook good; OF—outlook fair; OP—outlook poor
BLUEFISH: LOUISIANA: 2- to 4-pounders are hitting feather jigs and plugs as fast as you can cast them around the oil rigs off Grand Isle; one party on Charles Sebastian's charter boat caught 104 last week, and OVG.
NORTH CAROLINA: Trawlers off Cape Hatteras have been netting huge bluefish, and oldtimers predict cyclical return of big blues, last seen here in large numbers about 20 years ago.
BLACK BASS: VIRGINIA: Recent warm spell has bass on prowl in coastal ponds and rivers, with fair action reported from Chickahominy River, and OG.
NORTH CAROLINA: Largemouths are beginning to show interest in live bait in most fresh waters of coastal areas. At other end of state, Fontana Lake agent says water is rising and so are bass; local experts favor minnows over lures, and fishing should improve steadily until summer.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Most reservoirs in coastal area muddy last week but should be clear and providing fair sport now.
CALIFORNIA: FF and improving at Lakes Mead, Havasu and Mojave; weather is mild with subsiding winds and spy says season's peak may come two or three weeks early this year.
FLORIDA: 25-acre Lake Morton in downtown Lakeland (two blocks from city hall) produced a 9-pound largemouth and a 7-pounder last week; both took an artificial eel. At Little Lake Harris, at Howey and Lake Tarpon, north of Clearwater, bass in 5-pound class are taking plugs and live shiners. On east coast, best bass fishing is in St. John's River near Doctor's Inlet, with spoons and plugs favored lures. As weather warms, fly rodders look forward to excellent sport with popping bugs and deer-hair flies.
LOUISIANA: Cajun agent names Lake Penchant in Terrebonne Parish, Grand Bay at Marksville and Calcasieu River as worthwhile bass spots, but says OG generally for hundreds of other lakes and ponds throughout the state; he recommends black-and-white wobbling spoon or canary-yellow plug for fastest action.
PACIFIC SALMON: BRITISH COLUMBIA: Springs to 22 pounds plentiful off Campbell River; big schools of herring reported nearby and OVG (but Horseshoe Bay agent says FP). 1955 salmon spawning reports indicate silver and chinook (spring) salmon escaped worst of early flood losses.
WASHINGTON: Outlook for blackmouth (immature chinook salmon) depends on weather, but sport is improving generally. Limits to 23 pounds were taken in Sekiu waters last week, and fish averaged five pounds in the Rosedale and Minter creek areas near Tacoma. FF and OG at Sinclair Inlet, Agate Pass and Seal Rock. In the Meadowdale region, small silvers are top attraction with trolled light spoons or spinner-and-worm combinations producing easy limits.
CALIFORNIA: Most boat landings report FF and OF/G but fish were running small with nearly half the fish under legal limit.
STRIPED BASS: CALIFORNIA: Clearing weather and subsiding winds improved fishing and outlook last week in San Francisco area, with best sport reported from Antioch Bridge and Blind Point. Spy says 25-pounders are not uncommon, predicts peak fishing about March 20.
NEW JERSEY: Water temperatures still below 40° and may be cause for poor fishing since SO March 1. Lots of bass reported in deep water off Barnegat Bay and off Forked River. Cedar Creek; also in Great Egg Harbor River and Great Bay, but OP.
MACKEREL: FLORIDA: Large school of king mackerel has appeared on the lower Gulf Coast and charter boats brought in more than 500 to Naples docks last week. Sarasota charter boats are bringing in Spanish mackerel, indicating kings will follow soon on northward migration.
TROUT: MISSOURI: 38,000 people invaded Montauk, Bennett Spring and Roaring River parks for opening of season March 1; FVG and OVG at all parks.
TENNESSEE: At Watauga Lake in upper east Tennessee, spawning rainbows to six pounds were running up Doe Creek, Roan Creek and Elk River last week and although stream season doesn't open until March 15, conservation officers were permitting fishing in tributaries below high-water mark of the now-low lake. More than 4,000 cutthroat trout were stocked in Wilbur Lake recently to determine if this popular western game fish would adapt itself to Tennessee waters.
MASSACHUSETTS: When SO April 21 at midnight, new trout law permitting around-the-clock fishing goes into effect; biologists believe longer hours will provide better take of stocked fish. New State Director of Fish and Game Charles McLaughlin says ponds where dams gave way during floods will not be stocked despite demands by local sports fans, but although floods last autumn caused loss of many hatchery fish, total stocking for 1956 may reach close to one million legal trout.
NEVADA: FVG in Walker Lake as surface trollers are taking cutthroats to 12 pounds on wobbling spoons, and OG.
CHANNEL BASS: FLORIDA: On northwest coast redfish are moving out of fresh-water rivers and spreading along shallow flats of Gulf of Mexico; St. Mark's Lighthouse and Dog Island are favorite spots. Good fishing reported Myakka River (Punta Gorda) area and at Venice Inlet.
STEELHEAD TROUT: WASHINGTON: Nook-sack River H, D, FVP indefinitely as storms also knocked out Skagit River after excellent fishing last week (but Skagit clears quickly and should be pistol-hot when clear weather returns); current freshets should push new runs into streams, providing good late catches. Queets River getting good run but Indians picking them off at mouth leave few for sports anglers. Green River open below Porter Bridge and bright fish coming in on every tide; Cheese-factory Hole producing when water shows 14 or more inches visibility. Toutle River is good bet when water lowers; try small lures in swift riffles.
OREGON: FP in most waters but OF for North Santiam River despite rain and muddy water; fish being taken from Sill City to mouth of river.
IDAHO: Fishermen willing to battle ice floes to get to best holes and riffles on Weiser River were finding fast action last week, and OG. On main Salmon River, mouth of French Creek and holes directly below were producing fish to 12 pounds at presstime, and OG.
