Thanks to Flowrider Utah you don't have to head for a coast to catch a wave this Spring Break. The TRUTH's Flowrider Spring Break Contest series is being held on the state's only indoor surfing simulator starting April 2 and wrapping up with the finals on April 16. The event is open to all ages. Qualifiers will be held April 2 and April 9 starting at 6 p.m. The finals will be held April 16 at 6 p.m. Participants pay $20 per session.
-- Brett

Hunting groups, gun rights organizations and fishing tackle manufacturers have their shorts all in knots over a proposed ban on the use of lead for hunting and angling in the National Park Service units where such activities are allowed.
Why is this such a big deal? Lead is bad for the environment. It can kill endangered species such as condors as well as many types of birds and mammals. And the groups opposing this deal, who couch it in terms that the Obama Administration that is proposing the ban is somehow anti-hunting or anti-fishing, offer the same tired arguments used many years ago when the use of lead shot was banned when hunting migratory birds. That regulation didn't kill duck hunting and this regulation won't kill fishing or hunting in national park managed areas.
What's the problem with using steel sinkers at Lake Powell instead of lead ones other than slightly increased expense? There are good alternatives to lead shot and bullets available.
I say get the lead out, the faster the better.
– Tom Wharton

I blogged previously about Utahn Al Morris winning the recent World Championship Elk Calling event sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. I talked to Morris earlier this week while he was helping a friend hunt a bison - he didn't mention whether or not he was doing bison calls - but he did tell me about his efforts to win the title for this week's Away section.

The water is warming fast at Utah's biggest fishery and all sports species should be in good shape this year with a healthy population of forage fish. Wayne Gustaveson, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologist over Lake Powell, does everything to help anglers land fish short of setting the hook at his amazing resource on the huge reservoir at Wayne's Words.
Here's a video shot last fall by the DWR featuring myself and Wayne.
-- Brett

Tom wrote about the new on-line antler quiz hunters need to take to collect sheds in northern Utah last week. I don't remember him mentioning that the quiz included a subject stating that once collected the antlers are not allowed to be used as a weapon. Here's a crazy story about a guy using antlers in a domestic violence case. here in Utah.
-- Brett

The Utah Whitewater Club is hosting the 9th Annual National Paddling Film Festival Road Show March 20 at 7 p.m. at the Orson Spencer Hall Auditorium on the University of Utah Campus. Proceeds from the event benefit the Snake River Fund. Tickets are $8 and available now at Wasatch Touring and at the Outdoors Recreation Program offices at the University of Utah. Tickets will be available at the door for $10.

Planning a boating trip to Idaho? Take a long a $20 bill. Check out this link from the Spokesman-Review.

Looking to improve your fly tying or casting skills? Or maybe you just need to brag about the one that didn't get away. Whatever you are looking for when it comes to fly fishing can be had at the Third Annual Wasatch Fly Tying and Fly Fishing Expo being held March 20-21, at Salt Lake Community College, 9750 S. 300 West, Sandy. Activities include fly-tying and casting demonstrations, workshops, and a banquet. The Wasatch Fly Fishing Film Festival is being held in conjunction with the expo March 18, 7 p.m. Visit the link for more information.

-- Brett

When I wrote a column supporting famous Wyoming hunting writer Jim Zumbo who lost some of his jobs when blogging about his dislike of certain types of assault rifles for hunting, I quickly got educated by gun owners who know far more about these things than I do.
What I learned is that I am not certain how to define an assault rifle or weapon. Perhaps it's kind of like the old Supreme Court justice who admitted that he couldn't define pornography but knew it when he saw it. Experts have different interpretations.
As the Obama Administration considers reviving the assault weapon ban to the consternation of gun rights organizations, I actually wonder if the proposed ban is more about symbolism than reality. With all the issues on the table in the nation right now, is this a controversy the new president really needs?
I'm just not certain there is a problem here.
Honestly, how often in reality do ordinary citizens use assault rifles? And how often are these rifles used in crimes? Seems like pistols are the tool of choice for most criminals and that we have plenty of tough laws to prosecute bad guys who use guns in a crime.
I just don't understand the pressing need for an assault weapons ban right now. But I could be wrong. I'd sure like to get a discussion going on this. Anybody out there got a good reason that assault weapons should be banned?
-- Tom Wharton

After 15 years and more second-place finishes than he cares to count, Payson resident Al Morris was named the champion elk caller at the Leopold/Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation World Elk Calling Championships held in Fort Worth, Texas, last weekend. Jared Hansen of New Harmony took third place in the youth division. Look for a story featuring Morris and Hansen with video of them working their magic in a future edition of the Tribune's Away section. In the meantime here's a clip of Morris after he won.
-- Brett

My column from Sunday was about a national non-profit group which sends men with cancer on free three-day fly fishing retreats. Here's a video filmed at Falcon's Ledge Lodge in the Uinta Basin that really captures what the retreats are all about. The video was produced by the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
-- Brett

One of my favorite things about running the Trib's Where Is It? contest in the Away section every week is the number of personal responses I get from people thanking me for bringing back memories. Places where people became engaged or had a family reunion or had the best (or worst) hike of their lives are all typical responses. I also like to hear from children who knew where the picture was and were excited to recognize it in the paper. Scott Boren, a doctor in Hawaii, is usually one of the first entries I see every week - via e-mail of course. Scott is correct on his guess about 90 percent of the time. The Where Is It? from March 1 was especially meaningful to him because the petroglyphs along Jones Hole Creek were one of the first places he went with the woman who would eventually become his wife, Betty Jo. They went back in the early 1970s, as you can tell from this Polaroid picture Betty Jo snapped. You will also notice a cast on Scott's foot. As a river guide for Western River Expeditions he had made the hike up from the Green River to the rock art many times, but this was the first time he hiked down from the Jones Hole National Fish Hatchery. Keep those Where Is It? memories coming. I love it.
-- Brett

Anglers and boaters who were opposed to House Bill 187, the recreational use of public waters on private property sponsored by Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, may have celebrated the bill's demise too early.
Acting on a motion by Rep. Jack Draxler, R-North Logan, the Utah House recalled the bill late in the afternoon session Wednesday and put it back on the third reading calendar meaning that the proposed law remains alive. Though the exact vote was not available, Division of Wildlife Resources' legislative specialist Robin Thomas said it was close.
She expects the bill to come back to a vote quickly, perhaps as early as Thursday, because in order for it to pass it still would have to pass the House and then go through the Senate process.
-- Tom Wharton

My family saw more than a dozen grizzly bears in Glacier National Park last summer, but we somehow missed this guy. A friend sent me this hilarious video of a grizz making use of a tree as a back scratcher. Someone borrowed the video from the USGS's Northern Divide Bear Project and put some music to it. Gather the family around and enjoy.
-- Brett

In a rare victory for environmental and recreation interests, the Utah House of Representatives voted against House Bill 187 41-34 in debate Tuesday afternoon, that would have limited recreational use of waters flowing over private land.
Even a substitute bill by sponsor Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, which would have added another 10 rivers to the list of open waters and would have done away with a 150-foot limitation of fishing near a home failed to sway enough legislators to pass the controversial bill.

Dan Egan, a former Salt Lake Tribune writer and good friend of mine, has been leading the way on quagga coverage in the Midwest as a staffer at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He decided to expand his expertise and produced an insightful piece on the ever-expanding spread of the invasive mussel species and the impact it is having on the West.
-- Brett

Actually, making fish look bigger is not one of the highlights from a series of fly fishing photography workshops being held at Western Rivers Flyfisher and presented by my buddy Adam Barker.
Although I bet if you ask, Adam will have a tip or two about stretching out that catch.
The first session on photography basics is being held March 20-21. Visit Adam's website for details.
-- Brett

If you have snapped a classic ski or board photo this winter you should enter it in the 5th Annual Ski Utah Photo Contest sponsored by Canon and Pictureline.
More than 1,000 shots were entered last year. Ski categories include amateur and professional with a professional -only category for snowboarding.
The only rules are that the pictures must have been taken during the 2008-09 season and entries must be turned in by April 30. Click here for more information and to see all the winners from last year.
The pictures here are category winners from last year.
Top - Pro category ski winner by Dan Campbell-Lloyd.
Right - Pro category snowboard winner by Jay Michelfelder.
-- Brett