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

	BASE	LIFTS	SURFACE	24 HR	72 HR
Alpine Meadows	75-144"	8 of 13	PP	0"	0"
Badger Pass	66-72"	4 of 5	PP	0"	0"
Bear Mountain	24-36"	8 of 12	HP	0"	0"
Bear Valley	79"	9 of 9	PP	0"	0"
Boreal	82-125"	7 of 8	PP	0"	0"
China Peak	84-122"	7 of 11	PP	0"	0"
Dodge Ridge	48-65"	8 of 11	HP	0"	0"
Donner Ski Ranch	48-177"	8 of 8	VC	0"	0"
Heavenly	65-90"	27 of 29	PP	0"	0"
Homewood	34-84"	6 of 8	PP	0"	0"
June	60-108"	7 of 7	PP	0"	0"
Kirkwood (1 day old)	81-86"	10 of 12	PP	--	--
Mammoth	110-200"	28 of 29	PP	0"	0"
Mountain High	12-30"	8 of 16	HP	0"	0"
Mt Baldy (1 day old)	12-24"	3 of 4	PP	--	--
Mt Shasta	36-67"	4 of 4	PP	0"	0"
Northstar at Tahoe	51-86"	17 of 19	HP	0"	0"
Royal Gorge (3 days old)	150-200"	1 of 4	PP	--	--
Sierra at Tahoe (1 day old)	41-115"	9 of 14	VC	--	--
Snow Summit	24-36"	11 of 14	HP	0"	0"
Snow Valley	12-30"	4 of 12	LSGR	0"	0"
Soda Springs	82-102"	4 of 7	PP	0"	0"
Squaw Valley USA	111"	22 of 33	WETSN	0"	0"
Sugar Bowl	64-134"	9 of 13	WETSN	0"	0"
Tahoe Donner (1 day old)	56-72"	4 of 4	PP	--	--

Click on ski area for detailed California ski report, cams, weather conditions, and more.

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

Good overall trout action was also found at Irvine Lake this week, observed the lake’s Pro Team leader, Marlon Meade. "There were a lot of nice trout caught this week," said Meade. "The troll bite was very good, and the fish are cruising the shoreline in the shallows. Boat Dock Cove and Trout Island have been best for shorecasters, with the water at Woody’s Cove being a little bit dirty. With the fish still in spawn mode, the feeding behavior is keying on roe colors. Atomic Teasers are working especially well."

The trout on the stringers continue to be mostly quality-grade rainbows in the 2- to 7-pound range, mixed in with a moderate number of brown trout and steelhead. A few large 'bows from 8 to 12 pounds kept things very interesting.   

GQ magazine has graced one of its February covers with Kelly Slater, including the iconic surfer on its list of the 25 "Coolest Athletes of All Time."

The issue, available nationwide on newsstands now, features nine separate covers of athletes past and present.

"The athletes featured on GQ's '25 Coolest' list were chosen by the editors of the magazine, and were included based on the fact that they excelled in their sport and showed individuality in the way they played, exemplified cool, and had a unique sense of style/appearance -- which are reflected in the photos featured on the nine separate covers," a GQ spokeswoman told Outposts.

GQ contributor William Finnegan wrote the following of Slater:

In 1992, Kelly Slater became the youngest world champion in the admittedly brief history of pro surfing. In 2010, while winning his tenth world title at 38, he became the oldest.

In a sport where hot kids constantly push the aerial envelope into outlandish new realms, Slater has never stopped innovating. He almost seems to get younger, looser, more original with the years.

The 10-time Assn. of Surfing Professionals World Tour champion joins a list of top athletes from across the sports spectrum, including Michael Jordan, Arnold Palmer, Pelé, Björn Borg and Joe Namath.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: The February GQ cover featuring Kelly Slater. Credit: GQ

One of the dumbest instances of poaching so far this year, in my opinion, occurred recently when three teenagers were arrested for illegally hunting deer out of season. The really numbskulled part of it, however, is that they were caught hunting on Florida State Prison property.

Aaron Griffis, 18; Houston Fender, 19; and Shea Wilson, 18, all of Lawtey, Fla., were taken into custody Jan. 6 after Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, acting on tips from concerned citizens, conducted surveillance on the prison property in Raiford.

According to the FWC news release, Griffis was apprehended as he was hunting a field. The two other suspects were tracked by K-9 units from the Department of Corrections and the FWC and found nearby.

All three now face numerous charges, including introduction of firearms on prison property, a second-degree felony.

The topper, in my book, is that Fender had been convicted about three weeks earlier on two counts of taking deer out of season and sentenced by a Bradford County judge to one year of probation and a three-year suspension of hunting rights. Talk about dumb and dumber.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: Silhouetted white-tailed deer. Credit: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Avid cyclist Larry Smith was 42 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Now 61, the retired police captain is an inspiring sight around his hometown of Vermillion, S.D., because of his attitude and refusal to just stop living.

Smith, who owns Mister Smith's Bakery and Cafe in Vermillion, has become a familiar sight as he heads to work on his red recumbent bike.

"I know people that got diagnosed with Parkinson's, and they just gave up. Sat in a wheelchair and refused to get up," Smith said. "I'll never give up. Some day this will probably take me, but I'm not going to walk away from life."

He is now taking his message to the street -- about 300 miles of it. In June, Smith is planning to ride from Aberdeen, S.D. to his home in Vermillion, stopping along the way each night to speak with local support groups about the benefits of cycling, staying active and keeping positive with Parkinson's.

The eighth annual Los Sueños Signature Billfish Series begins Wednesday off Costa Rica, and the call of "Hookup!" will likely be heard often throughout the tournament.

The strictly catch-and-release competition, fished out of Los Sueños Resort and Marina in Playa Herradura, Costa Rica, takes place in two legs -- January 26-29 and March 2-5 -- and targets all species of marlin as well as Pacific sailfish. The event is sanctioned by both the World Billfish Series and the International Game Fish Assn.

Points will be awarded for each successful release -- 500 for marlin and 100 for Pacific sailfish -- with the top three boats per tournament awarded trophies and cash prizes based on overall points.

Registrants can still sign up for one or both legs of the series. The entry fee is $7,000 per boat per tournament or $10,000 per boat for both events.

Last year, 43 teams from the United States, Nicaragua and Russia entered the tournament and ended up releasing a total 1,014 billfish during the six days of competition.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: The eighth annual Los Sueños Signature Billfish Series begins Wednesday off Costa Rica. Credit: Los Sueños Resort and Marina

Professional big-wave surfer Mark Visser made history early Thursday when he took on 30- to 40-foot waves at Jaws, off the shore of Maui. That's because the 28-year-old Australian went out surfing in the dark. Using specially engineered LED lighting built into a buoyancy vest and on the surfboard, Visser became the first to night surf the infamous break.

"It wasn't until I saw the pictures I realized how big it was," Visser said. "I had to go off feeling. It was the scariest but most exciting thing I have ever done."

With the guidance of a helicopter team overhead, which had a spotlight, Visser was towed in by Jet ski to take on the waves. The project, two years in the making, utilized lighting technology especially created to ensure the wave and board were lighted without hindering the vision of Visser, the Jet Ski drivers and the helicopter pilots.

"I am so pumped to achieve something that no one thought possible and that I was told couldn't be done," Visser said.

The action -- including glow-in-the-dark wipe-outs -- was caught on video, which already has more than 550,000 views since its posting Thursday on GrindTV.com.

This feat, called "The Night Rider," is the first of a series of extreme adventures for Visser, which will be compiled into a documentary titled "9 Lives," scheduled to be distributed in late 2011 or early 2012.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

 Video: Chris Mauro via GrindTV.com

Barring adverse weather, water or road conditions, the following is a list of Southern California and Eastern Sierra waters, listed by county, that will be stocked with rainbow trout throughout the week of Jan. 24 by the Department of Fish and Game:

VENTURA: None.

SANTA BARBARA: None.

ORANGE: Carr Park lake, Centennial Regional Park lake, Eisenhower Park lake, Greer Park lake, Huntington Central Park lake, Laguna Lake, Mile Square Regional Park lake, Ralph Clark Regional Park lake and Tri-City Park lake.

LOS ANGELES: Alondra Park lake, Belvedere Park lake, Cerritos Park lake, Downey Wilderness Park Lake, Echo Park lake, El Dorado Park lakes, Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area, La Mirada Lake, lake in Hollenbeck Park and Lincoln Park lake.

SAN DIEGO: None.

IMPERIAL: Sunbeam Lake and Wiest Lake.

RIVERSIDE: Diamond Valley Lake, Lake Evans, Perris Reservoir and Rancho Jurupa Park lake.

SAN BERNARDINO: Seccombe Park Lake and Silverwood Lake.

INYO: Pleasant Valley Reservoir.

MONO: None.

Photo: An angler fishes for trout in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. Credit: Los Angeles Times

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

Question: Recreational Dungeness crab fishermen often seem to hold onto crab in excess of their limit while they are still crabbing, then they cherry pick the best ones and throw back the extras after pulling all their pots. Is this legal? Say for example I’m fishing alone and drop three pots. When I retrieve the pots, the first one contains 10 crab, and I put them all in my fish box. The second pot also has 10 crab and I also put them all in the box. I pull the last pot, then sort through all the crab and throw back all but the biggest 10 before heading into the harbor. This is how I would prefer to fish, but I think it would be illegal since I should never have more than my limit (10 crab per person) aboard. (Jesse)

Answer: What you describe is high-grading and is absolutely illegal. Every
 crab over the limit that is in the fisherman’s possession, even if just for a short time, could get them cited for possession of an overlimit. Once a limit is in possession, all other crabs must be immediately returned to the water. If the fisherman keeps 10 legal-sized crabs from his first pot, all other crabs in any subsequent pots must be released.

Q: Is it legal to sell unused ammo at a garage sale or flea market? I have ammo that was given to me and I don’t own the guns that fire them. They are still in the box and some still have the price tags. I know there is value to somebody who owns these guns. (David S.)

Rock star and hunting advocate Ted Nugent will not be charged with violating any South Dakota state game laws for shooting pheasants last fall.

"A determination was made not to prosecute," Sara Rabern, a public information officer for the South Dakota attorney general's office in Pierre, told the Rapid City Journal. "And the Fall River County state's attorney concurred."

Nugent was being investigated by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks to determine whether any game laws were broken after some of his hunting privileges were revoked in California on Aug. 13.

Nugent lost his California deer hunting license through June 2012 after a 2009 deer baiting incident, and may have been prohibited from any hunting in South Dakota because of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, an agreement that recognizes suspension of hunting, fishing and trapping licenses in member states, which include South Dakota and California.

The rocker went pheasant hunting at Dakota Hills Shooting Preserve in Oral, S.D., on Oct. 16 while filming for his television show, "Spirit of the Wild," on the Outdoor Channel, sparking the investigation.

Officials determined that Nugent's license revocation in California for deer hunting didn't disqualify him from getting a license to hunt pheasants, and that Nugent was exercising a small-game privilege that didn't have anything to do with what happened in California.

RELATED:

South Dakota officials investigating if rocker Ted Nugent illegally hunted pheasant

Rock star Ted Nugent pleads no contest to California deer baiting charge

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: Ted Nugent, center, waits with Travis Lantis, left, and Mark Reilly for hunting dogs to retrieve a pheasant he shot. Credit: Aaron Rosenblatt / Rapid City Journal / Associated Press

A public memorial service and celebration for John Olguin, director emeritus of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, will be held  Saturday at 1 p.m. at the aquarium, located at 3720 Stephen M. White Drive in San Pedro. Olguin passed away on New Year's Day at the age of 89. A private family burial and funeral service was held earlier this month.

The public service, being coordinated by FRIENDS of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in collaboration with the Olguin family, will be held in a large tent in the aquarium's parking lot.

"People should arrive early for parking and seating inside the tent, or come prepared with their own beach chairs," recommends Paula Moore, FRIENDS executive director. "John was loved by so many in our community; we are anticipating quite a crowd."

The service will be officiated by Olguin's minister, Pastor Neal Neuenschwander of First Presbyterian Church of San Pedro. Speakers include L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe, L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Geraldine Knatz, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Director Mike Schaadt and Stefan Harzen, the author of Olguin's soon-to-be published biography. San Pedro High School's marching band and Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps will also participate.

At the conclusion of the memorial service, guests will move to the nearby inner beach for an L.A. City fireboat water display, a tall ship change-of-watch ceremony complete with cannon shot, and the appearance of the City of L.A. lifeguard boat named the John M. Olguin.

Toyota has announced its official sponsorship of snowboarder Louie Vito for the 2011 Winter Dew Tour. Vito joins U.S. Women’s Olympic team snowboarder Elena Hight and top freeskier Simon Dumont on Toyota’s roster of sponsored Winter Dew athletes this season.

Vito, 22, won in the first event of this season's Winter Dew Tour, the Nike 6.0 Open, at Breckenridge, Colo., in December. While Vito also represented the U.S. in the halfpipe competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he finished fifth, he may be most recognized by some for participating on Season 9 of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" in 2009.

Hight, Dumont, and Vito will be signing autographs in the Toyota tent in Festival Village at the remaining two stops of the tour --  Killington, Vt., taking place Thursday through Sunday, and the Toyota Championships,  Feb. 10-13 in Ogden, Utah.

In its fourth season as a founding partner of the Winter Dew Tour, Toyota also announced it will be offering athletes and fans free rides from shuttle stops in and around the Winter Dew Tour host resorts to any desired location, within a set distance, helping to keep fans from trekking in the snow.

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: Louie Vito competes in the men's snowboarding finals at the Winter Dew Tour 6.0 Open. Credit: Alli Sports