SMOKE ON THE WATER

By Gorman Cyrus Creasy wins biathlon races 12-year-old Cyrus Creasy won the U-14 race at the Mammoth Biathlon on Saturday. FYI, biathlon is a sport that combines cross-country skiing and target shooting. Competitors in the U-14 division skied three laps around a 1.25 kilometer course, and after the first and second laps stopped to shoot targets at a distance of 25 meters, prone, with a .22 bolt action rifle designed for the biathlon. Staying cool under duress is the game. Competitors must shoot accurately while their hearts beat furiously and their lungs burn in cold air. For each missed shot they must ski a short penalty lap. Creasy didn’t just win the U-14 race; he dominated. His time of 14:58 was 3 minutes ahead of second place. Rather than sit on his laurels Creasy decided to come back two hours later and race in the U-16 division. The U-16 race was the same distance as the open adult division: three laps around a two kilometer course and two times target shooting California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) hosted a public forum Wednesday at the Tri-County Fairgrounds in Bishop to solicit comment on proposed changes to fishing rules and regulations which would significantly impact the Eastside. Reaction amongst the 100 or so attendees at Tallman Pavillion ranged from neutral to hostile. The changes, according to CDFW Inland Fisheries Program Manager Roger Bloom, are meant to streamline and simplify. For example, he said CDFW currently has 212 bodies of water subject to special regulations, 88 seasons, 8 size limits and 10 gear restrictions in its 88-page freshwater sport fishing manual for 2019-2020. The proposed rules would reduce the number of different seasons from 88 to 6, for example, and would transition several of the aforementioned 212 bodies of water to a general statewide regulation which = “open year-round, five bag limit, ten possession limit, no gear restrictions.” Crowley Lake? That would be open year-round. Same with the Walker River, the Owens, the Lakes Basin and many others. But here’s the catch. Say goodbye to Fishmas, the traditional fishing opener which takes place the last weekend in April. The new “season” at Crowley Lake for example (where you can actually keep fish and fish without gear restriction versus catch-and-release) would be from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend until September 30. Richard, Elena, and Brenda Medina of Bishop at last weekends Blake Jones Trout Derby. For more, see p. 10.