TV Show Has Regional Flavor

Tired of Commercials on TV, not enough outdoor shows on about wildlife and fishing in our area? Turn to Channel 11 and catch the hour-long outdoor show called "Your Fish And Game Outdoors". The hour long show features capturing and tagging sturgeon below American Falls Dam. Biologists David Teucher divulges secrets on the 8 pound bass caught in our area, shows pictures of giant Tiger muskies caught at Condie Reservoir and 10 pound cutthroat trout being spawned at Bear Lake. Big game lovers have segments on tracking radio collared fawns near Soda Springs, tranquillizing a mountain lion near Pocatello and a moose capture in Chubbuck. So what are you waiting for, tune in. The show plays four times a week; Wednesdays 5 p.m., Thursday 11 p.m., Friday 2 p.m., and Saturday 5 p.m. with no commercials. Cabin fever hits about this time of year and I start planning spring fishing trips and dreaming about fall hunting. This has me flipping channels to find outdoor shows. The problem is most of the fishing shows are about bass fishing in the south or saltwater fishing off the Florida Keys. There is no local coverage of wildlife or fishing. This is where the Community Access Television/Government Access, channel 11 and 12 come in. Over 20,000 people have cable access to these TV station in the greater Pocatello area. They provide the time for Your Fish And Game Outdoors programming free. It is 60 minutes of uninterrupted wildlife and fish. Plus there are no aggravating commercials about deodorant, cars sales or lawn mowers. Big Sturgeon Below American Falls Dam some big sturgeon roam. Fish and Game first planted them in 1988 and has been planting foot long baby sturgeon for over a decade since then. This year biologist David Teuscher and his crew set about capturing, tagging and recording the growth rates of the big fish. I joined them and videoed the operation. Teuscher narrates the capture and tagging operation and give a biologist's insight into what is happening to them. The fish are big and beautiful. It takes two or more biologists to handle these beauties. The biggest of the sturgeon tag weighed over 100 pounds; most of the fish averaged around 50 pounds. Their growth rates according to Teuscher are some of the best recorded in Idaho. Big Bass, Muskies and Cutthroats when you see the pictures of the bass biologists captured out of local reservoirs with electro fishing equipment you may not believe your eyes. New aging techniques places these big ones at 15 years and older. These bass were able to grow this big because of special regulations that restricted keeping of small bass in some reservoirs. While elector fishing for bass they scooped up a Tiger musky longer than your arm and with teeth to match a barracuda. Planted by Fish and Game over the past decade some anglers in our region have specialized in catching and releasing them. Most anglers never hear of them. Tuescher's pictures of huge spawning Bear Lake Cutthroat trout are shocking. I didn't believe 10-15 pound cutthroats still existed in our region. Proof is in the pictures! Take a look. Fawns and Capture Video Radio tracking radio-collared fawns near Soda Springs is also chronicled. Biologist Joe Sonner explains the amazing survival of 24 out of 25 fawns tracked. I really enjoyed getting together with Sonner and shooting the video and doing the interviewing. Joe is a down home person who cares about helping wildlife. Last year 23 of 25 fawns died by March and it was Sonners unenviable job to track them down and determine what killed them. The last 15 minutes of the program is about captures of bear, mountain lion and moose all in our area. Thinking about the mountain lion capture still gives me goose bumps. I crawled under a garage with Carl Anderson to video him shooting a tranquilizing dart into a mountain lion at 15 feet in the dark. I held a flashlight on the cat and videoed. You can see the dart hit the cat's front shoulder and it's nasty reaction. Anderson never even considered the situation dangerous, just a day at the office. Tune In
Flip the station to channel 11 and catch the show. The program would not be possible with out the crew at the Community Access/Gov. Access Station. Not only do they set up and video live stage interview, they help me edit video, suggested ways to improve my field video and baby sat me through many technical problems and pushed me to get as wide a range of topics as possible. And many thanks to the Fish and Game employees who share their projects.