Attention anglers: Outposts will attempt to post the daily Southern California saltwater fish count, courtesy of 976-TUNA, each evening. Hope you find it useful:

Free public tours are being offered on Tuesday Feb. 16 and Thursday Feb. 18 to celebrate the 135th anniversary of the Piedras Blancas Light Station. The lighthouse, located north of San Simeon, was first lit on Feb. 15, 1875, by the U.S. Lighthouse Service.

Tours will last about two hours and include both the human and natural history of Piedras Blancas.

"There has been tremendous progress in restoring the light station and grounds since the BLM acquired Piedras Blancas [in 2001]," said Jim Boucher, Bureau of Land Management light station manager.

Several historic structures on the site have been restored, and invasive ice plant replaced with native plants, providing for the return of an entire ecosystem.

According to Boucher, 15,555 community volunteer hours were logged in 2009, bringing the total volunteer hours to over 62,000 since 2002.

Tours will meet at 9:45 a.m. outside of the now-closed Piedras Blancas Motel, located approximately 1.5 miles north of the lighthouse.

Reservations are a must, and can be made by calling (805) 927-7361. Callers should leave a message with their name and phone number, plus the date they wish to attend and the number of people in their party.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: The historic lighthouse on Point Piedras Blancas has been a landmark on the rugged coastline since it began operation in 1875. Credit: Bureau of Land Management

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Attention anglers: Outposts will attempt to post the daily Southern California saltwater fish count, courtesy of 976-TUNA, each evening. Hope you find it useful:

Now 40 days without seeing another person, the Mentor, Ohio, resident continues to keep a sense of humor, as evidenced by her recent blog entry about cooking aboard her 400-pound, 19-foot specialized ocean rowing boat, "Liv," as well as her mental state after reaching the midway milestone:

Ocean rowboats are good for one thing and one thing only: rowing. Anything else is awkward at best, especially cooking.

In support of the California Department of Fish and Game and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Outposts, on Thursday afternoon or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly Q&A column:

Question: I had a unique set of circumstances occur this weekend. I was fishing at our local lake and had placed my license on when I departed from the dock. I caught a few fish and had one catfish on the stringer. About midmorning when I was removing a jacket I noticed my license was gone. I panicked and went back to all the spots I had fished looking for my license. No luck. So here I sat in a boat, with fish and no license. What should I have done? (Ken B.)

Answer: Unfortunately, if you no longer had a valid fishing license in your possession, then it was not legal for you to continue fishing. You should have released any live fish you had in possession and stopped fishing as soon as you realized you no longer had a fishing license. Assuming fishing licenses were sold at the lake, you could have purchased a one-day license to continue fishing. If you still had the receipt for your license, you could have obtained a duplicate license at a DFG licensing agent.

Although it wouldn’t have helped you then, the fishing license display law will change on March 1. You will no longer be required to display your license, and you’ll probably find it to be much more secure in your wallet.

Q: I hunt exclusively at a private licensed pheasant club and do not hunt anywhere else outside the property. Do I still need an Upland Game Bird Stamp? (Jim H., Sacramento)

Those in the Phoenix area this weekend might want to check out the Western National Shoot, a National Muzzle Loading Rifle Assn. competition taking place through Sunday (the awards ceremony is Monday morning) at the Arizona Game and Fish Department's Ben Avery Shooting Facility, located 25 miles north of Phoenix.

It may seem as though frontier history has come back to life, because many of the participants and attendees dress in period clothing while competing in primitive archery, black powder muzzleloader shooting, and tomahawk and knife throwing. Plus, there will be demonstrations, including the firing of old-style, smoke-belching cannons.

San Diego County Muzzle Loading will have its popular "Turkey Shoot" machine. No actual turkeys are harmed -- shooters have to "call" a turkey, and if they are convincing enough, up pops a turkey head target for them to shoot at.

Besides the competitions, there are plenty of things to see, do and eat, including an area called "Traders Row," where period clothing, toys and vintage firearms are available for purchase. As for vittles, hungry folks have culinary choices ranging from hot dogs to mountain man stew.

Events begin each day at 8 a.m. Admission is free, though there is a fee for parking.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: A cannon demonstration from a previous event at the Ben Avery Shooting Complex. Credit: Rory Aikens / Arizona Game and Fish Department

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Outposts will attempt to post the most recent ski report for California, courtesy of SkiReport.com, each Thursday:

Attention anglers: Outposts will attempt to post the daily Southern California saltwater fish count, courtesy of 976-TUNA, each evening. Hope you find it useful:

It's time to break out the binoculars, birding books and notepads and get outside in the name of science.

Birding enthusiasts both novice and expert are encouraged to participate in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, taking place Friday through Monday across the nation, and now Canada.

"Taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way to get outside with family and friends, have fun, and help birds -- all at the same time," said Judy Braus, Audubon Education vice president.

A joint project of the National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and, for the first time, Bird Studies Canada, it's an opportunity for people of all ages to monitor the bird activity in their neighborhoods. Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes, or for as long as they wish, on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online.

"Even if you can identify a few species you can provide important information that enables scientists to learn more about how the environment is changing and how that affects our conservation priorities," Braus said.

Last year, birders turned in 94,165 checklists, identified 620 species and counted 11,558,638 individual birds.

The GBBC website is chock-full of useful information, including printable regional tally sheets, frequently asked questions and information on entering the annual photo contest.

The survey is conducted in February to provide a snapshot of how birds are surviving the winter and where they are located just before spring migrations begin in March.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo of hummingbird by Pete Thomas / petethomasoutdoors.com

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An animal rights advocate who tried to pass off a state-culled wolf carcass as one she shot herself has gotten off with a warning from Idaho Fish and Game, but no other penalty.

Lynne Stone, director of the wildlife advocacy group Boulder-White Clouds Council, had purchased a 2009 wolf hunting tag. She had no plans to go hunt one of the predators, but intended to find a wolf killed by other means and use the tag in an effort to count it toward the statewide hunting quota.

Last November, Stone had her chance. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Wildlife Services sent a helicopter to cull wolves from the Butte Basin pack, located near Stanley, Idaho.

Stone, who had been tracking the pack for several years, recovered the carcass of the alpha female, killed in the cull. She took it home and called Fish and Game to report it as a kill.

Fish and Game officials, however, rejected Stone's claim and instead confiscated the carcass as state property.

Here's this week's Irvine Lake fishing report, written by veteran angler Steve Carson:

Stormy conditions for the last two weeks have created an excellent opportunity for Presidents Day holiday anglers, reported Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop.

"The last storm came through on Tuesday night," observed Getty. "The roads around the lake should finally be dried out enough to reopen on Thursday morning. We have had storm after storm go though here for the past two weeks, and the fish have been virtually unpressured for that entire time, since very few people actually showed up to fish. We also had with several re-stockings during that time."

Getty added, "We will be getting a special stocking of steelhead on Thursday afternoon, just in time for the Presidents Day holiday. These steelies will be larger than we normally get, and will average almost 5 pounds each." 

The anglers who braved the rain were still catching some fish by using stained water techniques like short 6- to 10-inch bait leaders, and strong garlic spray scents like Gulp! Alive! Best bait was the new chartreuse-garlic Power Bait. Trollers did best by looking for areas of cleaner water, and dragging bright lure colors like firetiger, chartreuse, and hot pink. 

Harris suffered a stroke Jan. 29 while in port offloading his boat, the 128-foot Cornelia Marie.

His sons, Jake and Josh, who work as deckhands on the vessel, have released the following statement, which is posted on the Discovery Channel website:

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad -- Captain Phil Harris. Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end. For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down. We will remember and celebrate that strength. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

Discovery Channel also released a statement:

Discovery mourns the loss of dear friend and colleague Captain Phil Harris. He was more than someone on our television screen. Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him. We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart. We share our tremendous sadness over this loss with the millions of viewers who followed Phil's every move. We send our thoughts and prayers to Phil's sons Josh and Jake and the Cornelia Marie crew.

Fans wanting to leave condolence messages can do so on the Discovery Channel message board.

The popular television series "Deadliest Catch" follows the adventures of seven crabbing vessels and their crews during the Alaskan king crab season in the Bering Sea. A sixth season has been announced for broadcast this year.

The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, is the base of operations for the fishing fleet.

Photo: Capt. Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie. Credit: Discovery Channel

RELATED:

Capt. Phil Harris, of 'Deadliest Catch,' shows improvement after suffering stroke

Capt. Phil Harris, of 'Deadliest Catch,' suffers stroke

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Attention anglers: Outposts will attempt to post the daily Southern California saltwater fish count, courtesy of 976-TUNA, each evening. Hope you find it useful:

The Obama administration on Monday announced a $78.5-million strategy to try to block voracious Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes.

The plan calls for navigational locks and gates in Chicago-area waterways to be opened less frequently than usual, reports the Associated Press.

Administration members believe that the measure is part of an effective strategy to keep the fish at bay until long-term biological controls can be developed.

"Today, we have an opportunity to work together to prevent environmental and economic damage before it happens," said Nancy Sutley, head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She referred to the plan as "an unparalleled effort on the part of the federal government."

Six other Great Lakes states -- Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- are opposed to the plan as it stands, asking that the locks be closed permanently to halt the invasive fish from advancing to The Lakes, where it is feared the carp would adversely affect sport and commercial fishing.

The public is invited to attend a barracks groundbreaking ceremony this Saturday at Manzanar National Historic Site, on U.S. 395 between the cities of Lone Pine and Independence.

The 1 p.m. event is being hosted by the National Park Service, Manzanar History Association, and the Friends of Manzanar, and will mark the beginning of reconstruction on Barracks 1 and 8, which were a part of Block 14.

In operation from 1942 to 1945, Manzanar War Relocation Center included 36 blocks, each with 14 barracks buildings, a mess hall, recreation building, latrines and laundry rooms. After the war, all but three of the buildings were sold for scrap or relocated.

"All Americans had to adapt during World War II, including Japanese Americans confined at Manzanar," said park superintendent Les Inafuku.

Barracks 1 will appear as it would have when internees first arrived at Manzanar; Barracks 8 will be reconstructed to represent barracks life in 1945.

A group of 63 soldiers converged at Raahauge's Pheasant Club in Norco recently to enjoy a day of bird hunting with their comrades-in-arms.

The "Wounded Warriors/Veterans Pheasant Hunt," co-hosted by the Los Angeles and San Diego chapters of Safari Club International, was held as a way to show appreciation of veterans and their families for their service to our country.

Co-chairmen Jeff Buck and Michael Malinauskas, both from SCI San Diego, began organizing outdoor events for servicemen and women about a year ago.

"We are both members of Safari Club International/San Diego Chapter, and wanted to do something to thank our veterans, and show them how we value their efforts and sacrifices," Malinauskas said.

The attendees were paired with hunting dogs and their handlers and hit the prepared fields to flush pheasants. For a majority of them, it was their first time hunting with a trained flushing dog.

Attention anglers: Outposts will attempt to post the daily Southern California saltwater fish count, courtesy of 976-TUNA, each evening. Hope you find it useful:

Carrie Underwood had a busy weekend. After singing the national anthem at Super Bowl LXIV, she hopped on a plane bound to Oahu, Hawaii.

The five-time Grammy award-winner is not there for a vacation, but to make her film-acting debut in a biopic about surfer Bethany Hamilton, who at age 13 survived an attack by a tiger shark that ripped off her left arm just below the shoulder.

Tentatively titled "Soul Surfer," the movie is based on Hamilton's autobiography of the same name.

In 2003, Hamilton was surfing off Kauai with a friend when she was attacked. Had the shark bitten two inches further in, the incident would have proved fatal.

Despite the trauma of the attack, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing, and just three weeks later was back on her board and in the ocean.

Katie Spotz has been rowing for 37 straight days. Not on a rowing machine in air-conditioned comfort, but across a large expanse of sea since mid-December.

Spotz, 22, is attempting to row 2,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, from Senegal in West Africa to French Guiana in South America. If successful, she will become the youngest person to solo row across the Atlantic Ocean.

"Most people think I am crazy and my family is not an exception," Spotz said in a pre-departure interview posted on her website. "Their main concern is my safety, but after becoming aware of the many safety precautions I will take, I think they are warming up quite nicely to the whole idea. Regardless, I can understand how it would not be easy to be my mother in this situation!"

Spotz is rapidly closing in on the halfway mark and has rowed more than 1,000 nautical miles, putting in 10 hours of rowing and 10,000 strokes daily.

Just thinking about her adventurous endeavor is awe-inspiring. Nothing but ocean in every direction you look; total darkness at night save for the moon and stars and the few navigational lights on board; blisters, rashes and aches and pains in areas never imagined; no fresh foods or cold drinks -- there is no refrigeration on board; and the only hot food available is dehydrated -- made by pouring hot water heated on a small gas-powered stove into a pouch.

Barring adverse weather, water or road conditions, the following is a list of Southern California waters, listed by county, that will be stocked with rainbow trout throughout the week of Feb. 8 by the Department of Fish and Game:

RIVERSIDE: Lake Cahuilla, Perris Reservoir and Skinner Reservoir.

SAN BERNARDINO: Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park Lake, El Prado Regional Park Lake, Glen Helen Regional Park Lakes, Silverwood Lake and Yucaipa Regional Park Lake.

ORANGE: Centennial Regional Park Lake, Mile Square Regional Park Lake, Ralph Clark Regional Park Lake, Tri-City Park Lake and Yorba Regional Park Lake.

SAN DIEGO: Cuyamaca Reservoir and Morena Reservoir.