Column: Some people want a private, public fishing hole for themselves

Yours truly has been the "outdoor guy" for the Nevada Appeal for approximately 17 years.

During all of those years, I have written about the Great Outdoors on a weekly basis on a wide variety of different outdoor activities.

Here is a small sample of some of my own experiences in the outdoors:

- Fresh water fishing in Alaska, Nevada, California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and British Columbia.

- Salt water fishing at the Farallon Islands, west of San Francisco, and at the Cook Inlet of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula.

- Taking packhorse trips into a number of different areas of the Hoover Wilderness Area of California.

- White water rafting down the East Carson River.

- Snowmobiling in the High Sierra near Bridgeport, Calif.

- Cross country skiing at the Kit Carson Pass area of California's S.R. 88 and also near Bridgeport.

- Mule deer hunting in Nevada, in the Carson City area, Elko County and Northern Humboldt County.

- Antelope hunting in Northern Washoe County.

- Photographing wildflowers on the Winnemucca Lake Trail.

- Backpacking in Yosemite National Park and the Desolation, Emigrant Basin, Hoover and John Muir Wilderness Areas of California.

In addition, throughout all of those years, I have also provided information on many different subjects that I thought would be of interest to the readers of the "Outdoor Page."

That information has included:

Where to go camping.

Where to go fishing.

Where to go hunting.

Where to go cross country skiing.

Where to go cut firewood.

Where to go pick pinenuts.

How to cook wild game.

Fishing derbies.

All types of fund raisers.

Club meetings.

Organizational functions.

City, state and federal agencies and their associated activities.

And, on and on.

With all that said, wanna guess which subject in the last 17 years has generated the most negative response?

You'd never guess in a million years.

Quite frankly, it surprised me.

And that is the purpose of this column.

The most negative feedback that I have ever received was the result of a "Q-Tip" that I wrote just several weeks ago.

That particular Q-Tip was about fishing on a Nevada section of the East Walker River known as "The Elbow."

Man oh man, did that Q-Tip generate a lot of complaining.

The people doing the complaining literally came out of the woodwork.

It seems that a number of local people like to fish there and basically consider it to be their own private fishing hole, not to be shared with anyone else.

You should have heard them get mad for writing about The Elbow.

They are upset that people now know about The Elbow and it will ruin their "private" fishing.

The people complaining claim there are too many people fishing there, they ruin the fishing, they poach and they leave litter all over the area.

Well, in response to all of that negative input, I'd like to pass on the following three basic facts for those individuals:

Fact No. 1: The Elbow area of the Walker River is open to the public.

As such, the general public can fish, hunt, camp, hike, picnic, photograph wildlife, wade, swim, sunbathe, throw rocks in the water, catch crawdads, ride bikes, hug and kiss, make love, etc. in that area.

Fact. No. 2: The well-maintained, public, dirt road that takes you to The Elbow area is maintained by the Lyon County Road Dept. on one end and the Mineral County Road Dept. on the other end.

Those road departments and their activities are funded by public funds.

Fact No. 3: The Elbow area is regularly planted each year with trout provided by the Nevada Division of Wildlife (NDOW). So far this year, that area was planted with 3,000, 10-inch, Tasmanian-strain rainbows in the month of April. It was planted with 3,000 10-inch, Tasmanian-strain rainbows in the month of May. It was planted with 3,000 10-inch, Tasmanian-strain rainbows in June.

Those 9,000 trout were raised at the NDOW Mason Valley Fish Hatchery through funding provided by Nevada Trout Stamps.

Those trout stamps are required for anyone fishing for trout.

The fish at The Elbow area belong to all of the general public, not to a few, select individuals.

- In summary, The Elbow is not a private fishing hole to be enjoyed by those select few. It is available to be enjoyed by anyone who would like to visit that area for whatever reason.

Quite frankly, as long as that area is open to the public, as long as public funds are being spent to maintain that public road and as long as public funds are being spent to provide trout, I will continue to tell people where it and other public locations are located.

- Finally, for all those folks who are upset with me for telling the general public about The Elbow, here is some food for thought:

Your annual resident fishing license (for persons 16 years of age or older) costs you $21.

Your Trout Stamp costs you $5.

The annual fishing license ($21) and the Trout Stamp ($5) add up to $26.

It costs the Nevada Division of Wildlife an average of a little more than $2 per fish to raise a trout to a size of 8-10 inches. Then, that trout is released into various public waters, such as The Elbow.

So, if you divide a cost of $2 per trout into the $26 combined cost of your license and stamp, you are entitled to catch and keep 13 fish for the entire fishing year, which have been paid for by yourself.

Beginning with fish No. 14, you are then catching and keeping trout, which have been paid for by someone else.

So, why shouldn't other people fish the public waters of The Elbow if they so desire? They are paying for any fish you keep after No. 13.

Food for thought.

Wanna bet that this column will also generate more complaining. You bet!

- Bet Your Favorite Pigeon

Bet your favorite pigeon that he can't tell you how many calls the Nevada Division of Wildlife has received on poaching, littering, problems, etc., in The Elbow area, so far this year.

According to an informed source within NDOW, the correct answer is, "None!"