A Linesville hunter took first place in Tubmill Trout Club's annual Big Dog Hunt, one of the state's biggest organized coyote hunts. Bill Thompson hunted with dogs to bring in a 43.54-pound coyote and take home the $725 first prize.

Jim Delo of Pittsburgh called in a coyote weighing 37.59 pounds for a sixth place finish, and John Beers of Evans City used lures to place seventh with a 36.82-pound kill.

Upcoming coyote hunts include:

• Feb. 12-14 Cresson Community Sportsmen's Assoc. www.cressonsportsmans.com.

• Feb. 19-21 Mosquito Creek Sportsman's Association. www.mosquitocreeksportsmen.com.

• Feb. 19-21 Cedar Creek Sportsmen. Clearfield County. 814-553-0755.

Jerry Feaser, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said the agency views coyote-hunt payoffs as uncomfortably close to placing a bounty on predators, which the commission opposes. But the organized hunts are legal, he said, when participants comply with the permissive regulations for predator hunting.

"The Game Commission has no official position on the coyote hunts," he said. "The regulations for predator hunting are that way because so few people hunt them."

The annual Cabin Fever trout fishing expo, cosponsored by Penn's Woods West Trout Unlimited and Family Tyes, will be held on March 7 at Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, 910 Sheraton Drive, near Cranberry. Seminar speakers include 2009 U.S. National Fly Fishing Championship gold medal winner George Daniel, and Dwight Landis, author of "Trout Streams of Pennsylvania, An Angler's Guide." $7, kids under 12 get in free. Cabin Fever is the TU chapter's primary fundraising event and helps to bankroll the group's continuing stream improvement project on Hampton's Pine Creek. Details at 412-999-8292 and www.pwwtu.org.

Just four months after North Park Lake was drained for dredging, it has prematurely refilled. If the complication continues, dredging operations slated for spring could be put on hold.

Allegheny County spokesman Kevin Evanto said twigs, leaves and other matter have collected in a drain in the lake.

"[Engineers] are working on a couple of fixes to keep debris from clogging the drain again," he said. "Rain and snow increased water levels faster than it could drain. We sent crews in to get rid of ... debris and take it to a composting site, and we're looking at a couple of options to keep the problem from happening again."

The lake bed needs to be dry enough to support heavy dredging equipment. Evanto said he's confident engineers will solve the problem in time for dredging to take place.

But Jeff Hawk, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is partnering with Allegheny County in the $12 million restoration, is concerned about setbacks to the project, which is slated for completion in May 2011.

"There's a little time left between now and March to figure out how to keep the lake drained," he said. "Otherwise, it will keep threatening delays."

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