After over 15 years of meetings and suits, finally litigation has ended with a historic agreement to please San Joaquin River users, sportsmen and Central Valley farmers. The Bureau of Reclamation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Friant Water Users Authority all signed off. Restoring this historic river will be one of the largest river restoration projects in the nation’s history.

Special junior pheasant hunts

Now is the time to apply for the special pheasant hunts. We usually have one in Sonoma. I do not have the information on those yet, but I do have the Lake County Highland Springs information. There will be two special pheasant hunts for licensed junior hunters which will be issued by drawing. The hunts will be held on Lake County Flood Control property at the end of Highland Springs Road on Nov. 18. Hunt one will go from 8 a.m. to noon and the second hunt is from 1 to 4:55 p.m. For more information, call the Department of Fish and Game in Yountville at 944-5531.

Lake Hennessey outing

I had the chance to fish Lake Hennessey last week with Ron Modral, and we had fun catching bass on top water. We caught nine bass to 3 pounds and lost some others. The bite was from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m., and then it was over. We did see three other fishermen on the lake, but that was all. The bass seem to be healthy with a good population of small ones. I did see a dead squaw fish (California Pike) which weighed about 6 pounds. It is the first one I ever saw at Hennessey. Once again we saw plenty of wildlife, from turkey to hawks. It was a beautiful day on the lake. I will try to get out one day this week and share it with you next week. I also will try to get in a deer hunt before the end of the season.

Waterfowlers Hall of Fame

We all recognize that what we have today is mostly because of the efforts of conservationists who work to help preserve wetlands and breeding grounds in California and Canada. Well, there will now be a Waterfowlers Hall of Fame. Categories will include biologists, academics/professors, federal/state administrators, legislators, sportsmen and agriculturalists. For more information, call (916) 653-4899.

Get ready for the ducks

It is hard to believe that duck season will be open in a few weeks. Opening day is Oct. 21. This year hunting the refuges will be delayed one week until Oct. 28 due to the late harvesting of rice.

As for the season itself? We should expect a good opening with plenty of local birds and the promise of a better population of ducks from up north, but we have heard that story before.

Goose populations continue to rise, and we have a good local population of Canada geese. We should also have a strong population of Snows from up north. This year try some of the hidden places close to home. I’ll share some of those with you as the season goes on.

Male bass with eggs

Some male species of largemouth and smallmouth bass in the Potomac River and its tributaries in Virginia are developing female sexual traits at a frequency higher than scientists have seen before, raising concerns about pollutants in the water. The “intersex fish,” which produce immature eggs in the testes, were discovered in the Potomac River watershed in 2003, but the frequency is much higher this year. Female bass caught in the survey did not develop any unusual sex traits, though fish from both sexes exhibited lesions.

Certain chemicals and pesticides are believed to stimulate estrogen production. Also, estrogen from birth control pills and human waste can make its way from sewage plants to the waterways. I guess we are lucky here in California; so far, we only worry about mercury.

Napa Valley Register outdoors columnist George Carl can be reached at gcarl@sbcglobal.net.