Author: Carrie Wilson

Each month Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. This month, Carrie tackles a range of questions including one about the process used to choose hunters for waterfowl reservations, a question about trading fish parts and even one inquiry on using a javelin when hunting. Q: How are waterfowl reservations picked and how are they kept random? There seems to be something wrong with the system because it doesn’t seem to be randomly selecting people. Several of my neighbors…

Each month Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. This month, Carrie tackles a range of questions including one about the 25 shell limit when hunting waterfowl. She also answers questions about diving for dungeness crab and how to legally hunt within city limits. Q: During the four-duck limit era, the 25 shot shell limit in refuges and wildlife areas made sense. However, now that the limit is seven ducks, and in some cases the goose count can be…

Each month Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. This month, Carrie tackles a range of questions including one about fishing with an Alabama Rig in California, whether or not bow hunters can hunt with rifle hunters, if you can carry a handgun with a laser light and even shark tanks. Q: A recent innovation on the pro bass-fishing trail is something called the Alabama Rig, which is similar to what saltwater anglers call an Umbrella Rig. The Alabama…

Each month Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. This month, Carrie tackles several questions including one about hunting from a bicycle, pulling derelict lobster traps and whether or not a non-hunter can carry a weapon while joining in on a hunt. Q:I will soon be taking off to the mountains from the valley floor to do some mountain quail and tree squirrel hunting. In past years, after arriving at the hunting camp, most of my hunting was done…

Each month Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. This month, Carrie tackles several questions including one about squid fishing, catching crayfish and whether or not you need a hunting license everytime you’re in the woods with a weapon. Q: I’m new to fishing in Monterey waters and I don’t want to break any laws. I would like to catch squid with a squid catcher rig and want to know if I can use some of the rigs they…

Each month Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. This month, Carrie tackles several questions including one about diving for abalone, what sort of ammo you can carry when duck hunting, silencers and whether it’s legal to bring booze on for-hire boats. Q: Is it legal to use noise suppressors (mistakenly called silencers) on rifles and handguns? I know that porting, venting, flash collars and muzzle brakes are okay to use at target ranges and while legally hunting in…

Each week, Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. Here Carrie tackles a range of questions covering topics from diving for lobster to picking up dead ducks to spearfishing for marlin. Q: Last year during waterfowl season my son and I were hunting in a state wildlife area on a pond. As we were wading across the pond on our way out we found a dead duck on the edge of the pond. The bird had clearly been shot…

Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. Here Carrie answers four questions ranging on topics from abalone to bears and hunting laws. Q: How fast do abalone grow? — Anonymous A: Abalone are relatively slow growing. Tagging studies indicate northern California red abalone take about 12 years to reach seven inches, but growth rates are highly variable. Abalone grow nearly one inch per year for the first few years, and much slower after that. It takes about five years…

Check out what Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, has to say about halibut hooks and gaffing salmon. Here he answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. Here Carrie answers two questions — one about how many hooks you can use on halibut and whether or not it is legal to gaff a salmon. Q: I fish out of Morro Bay for halibut but there’s no live bait available this year. Because of that, I’d like to try ball-bouncing for halibut and am thinking about trolling a…

Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. This question comes from an angler who wants to know if it is legal for a captain to end a trip early and make others share their catch. Q: If I purchase a one-day fishing license for a day of deep-sea fishing, shouldn’t it entitle me to catch my own fish? I ask because while fishing on a party boat recently, some people got their limits early but kept fishing, and some…

Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. This question comes from an angler who wants to know why it’s important to release rockfish that have inflated swim bladders. Q: Whenever I pull up one of the rockfish species that is not legal to keep, its swim bladder is usually so full of air that even if I throw it back, it will still die. What’s the point in throwing them back if they’re just going to die anyway? I’ve…

Each month Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, answers questions sent in by outdoorsmen on a wide range of hunting and fishing topics. This question comes from an active spear fishermen who wonders if you can use attractants when diving for fish. Q: I have been studying up on different methods of spear fishing while free diving and have read about the use of “glitter” as an attractant for baitfish. I have an idea to sprinkle glitter in the water so that when the baitfish come to investigate, the large game fish will…