Masters of rattling - Lone Star Outdoor News

Transcription

Texas’ Premier Outdoor Newspaper
December 9, 2005
Volume 2, Issue 8
Pheasant
season booming
See Page 7
w w w. l o n e s t a r o u t d o o r n e w s . c o m
Masters
of rattling
INSIDE
ADVENTURE
Hunters raise a ruckus with
antlers to bring in the deer
Fishing is year-round at
Matagorda and the crowds few.
Guides at the Full Stringer
Lodge can help you find and
land tripletails, which can give
any angler all the fight he
could want.
See Page 9
FISHING
The Packery Channel in
Corpus Christi isn’t officially
open for business yet. But if
anglers are watchful of construction, authorities are allowing them to enter the channel.
See Page 8
HUNTING
Two Texas hunters died in New
Mexico last month due to carbon monoxide poisoning,
according to authorities.
By Wes Smalling
As a young boy, Jim
Carpenter had heard stories about rattling — the
tactic of attracting a buck
by rattling antlers to imitate the sound of two clashing males dueling over territory or a doe. He had
wondered if those stories
were actually true.
Then one day his dad
made a believer out of him
when he rattled in the boy’s
first whitetail buck before
his
astonished
eyes.
Carpenter has been hooked
on rattling ever since.
The 52-year-old South
Texas resident is the
founder of Rattlemasters of
Texas, a tournament series
and annual video contest,
now in its sixth year.
Dubbed the “catch-andrelease” of deer hunting,
two-person teams compete
for prizes to capture the
most bucks on video that
have been fooled by rattling.
You can put your skills to
the test at the next
Rattlemasters tournament,
Dec. 17-18, in South Texas.
Or submit your footage in
the group’s annual video
contest from now until the
end of deer season.
“There are some great
deer contests out there, but
most of them are harvest
contests,” Carpenter said.
“I wanted something that
everybody can compete in
that isn’t based on the
biggest buck. We call it
‘catch-and-release’
(because the deer are not
See RATTLING, Page 11
MUSIC TO THEIR EARS: Big bucks can be fooled by the sound of hunters rattling antlers. The tactic
attracts deer by imitating the sound of bucks fighting during the rut.
Bass catch may
be record breaker
See Page 6
A 13-year-old Garland girl was
chosen to go hunting in North
Carolina as part of a Quality
Deer Management Association
program to encourage youth
hunting. National surveys show
more females are hunting.
13.63
See Page 6
NATIONAL
A Shreveport angler comes forward with his story of how he
discovered a fellow Bassmaster
contestant was cheating.
See Page 4
CONSERVATION
Private landowners willing to
develop habitat to preserve
imperiled species are eligible
for $6.5 million in grants.
See Page 5
SUCCESS ON THE HIGH PLAINS: Geese have been filling the Panhandle skies.
Panhandle hunters
get their goose
DEPARTMENTS
By Bink Grimes
Migratory Bird Report
Page 7
Outdoor Datebook
Page 12
Product Picks
Page 13
Outdoor Heroes
Page 14
Crossword Puzzle
Page 15
Wild in the Kitchen
Page 15
Weather
Page 15
Game Warden Blotter
Page 16
Bordering States
Page 17
Fishing Report
Page 18
Word is fast getting around Texas
that the Panhandle is flying high
for goose hunters this year.
If you’re in the area, listen for the
reports and the whoops. If not, listen to Bruce Town of High Flying
Outfitters in Dumas.
“We have been slamming them,”
Town said. “We are getting our limits on Canadas and shooting quite
a few snow geese, too.”
Dry conditions continue to
plague watering holes on the Llano
Estacado, high flat land that covers
an area larger than all of New
England. This year, biologists estimate less than 10 percent of playa
lakes are wet. Less water means
more birds piled on limited roosting sources, which bodes well in
patterning goose movement, but is
stressful for goose habitat.
“We need the rain to help spread
some of these birds out,” said Town.
“Few playas have water, but those
that do are roosting thousands of
geese.”
Decoying action for Canada
geese has been good through the
See GEESE, Page 10
POUNDS
24.25
INCHES LONG
Catching a lake record
largemouth bass from Lake
Lewisville appears to be easy
— it’s been done four times
since June 1.
Holding on to that record
is harder. The latest record —
pending until accepted — is
also the first fish entered into
the Budweiser ShareLunker
program ever recorded from
Lewisville.
Jon Babich of Lewisville
caught the 13.63-pound
largemouth while fishing for
crappie on the Lewisville
Fishing Barge. The fish was
24.25 inches long and 21
See BIG BASS, Page 10
21
INCHES GIRTH
REELING IN THE BIG ONE: Jon Babich of
Lewisville caught the 13.63-pound
lake record largemouth while fishing
for crappie on the Lewisville Fishing
Barge.
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Page 4 December 9, 2005
NATIONAL
Angler helps authorities catch suspect
The angler whose discovery of a
tethered fish led to the arrest of Paul
Tormanen, 39, of Lee’s Summit, Mo.,
last month at the Red River
Bassmaster Central Open has stepped
forward to tell his story.
Sam Huckabee told BassFan.com
that his report of finding tethered fish
began the series of events that wound
up with Tormanen’s arrest for contest
fraud. Tormanen was disqualified
from the tournament and banned
from BASS competition for life.
The episode began accidentally.
Three days before the tournament,
Huckabee, of Shreveport, was searching for a secluded fishing spot as he
practiced for the Red River Open. He
probed a backwater area near the
Coushatta launch in Pool 4. He threw
his crankbait near a stump and, after a
couple of turns on the reel, hooked
up with a fish.
“I was just covering water, looking
for some fish in abnormal places that
not everybody would find,” Huckabee
said. “There’s five or six stumps out in
the middle of a little lake across from
Coushatta, and when I threw up by
one of them I hooked a fish. Well,
then I figured out that I hadn’t
hooked the fish, but rather the line
that the fish was hooked to, so I went
over to get my crankbait back and
unhook the fish.”
His first thought was that the fish
had broken the line of another angler,
perhaps by wrapping it around one of
the stumps.
“Then I realized there wasn’t any
hook — the fish was tied to the stump
with 4 to 5 feet of braided line
attached through its lower jaw,” he
said. “I immediately called Bassmaster
headquarters because I knew somebody was cheating. I didn’t know if it
was from our tournament or not and I
was really hoping it wasn’t, but (the
fish) was in real good shape and you
could tell it hadn’t been there long. I
kept fishing in that area to see if I
could find some more, but I never
did.”
Huckabee said the tethered fish
weighed about 3 pounds.
BASS officials alerted agents with
the Louisiana Department of Wildlife
and Fisheries. Agents secretly marked
the fish and returned them to the
stumps where they were found.
Huckabee told BassFan.com he got
a call from an LDWF officer who
asked for the location of the fish. He
gave the officer directions to the spot
Canadian province
launches program
to help duck habitat
The government of Canada
and the province of Manitoba
have announced the launch of a
three-year pilot project for a conservation program that could
revitalize sagging duck production in prairie Canada.
Known in the United States as
Alternate Land Use Services, the
program is designed to support
farmers in their efforts to deliver
ecological goods and services,
including waterfowl habitat.
“This is great news for ducks
and duck hunters,” says Delta
Waterfowl President Rob Olson.
“The Canadian duck factory is
broken, and ALUS appears to be
our best hope for fixing it.”
Olson says duck production on
the Canadian prairies has fallen
dramatically from historical levels, and lack of waterfowl habitat
is a major reason for the decline.
“Despite all the efforts of the
North American Waterfowl
Management Plan, we continue
to lose wetland habitat in the
prairie provinces of Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and Alberta,”
Olson says. “As a result, Canada is
attracting far fewer nesting ducks
than it did in the 1950s and 1970s,
and the ducks that do settle there
aren’t nesting as successfully.
“Because most of the Prairie
Pothole Region lies in Canada,
securing waterfowl habitat there
is critical to the future of ducks
and duck hunting,” says Olson.
“Up to now, the burden for conservation has fallen mostly on
farmers struggling to make a living. ALUS will reward farmers for
protecting the habitat necessary
to produce ducks.”
Olson says the program is
being called “the farmer’s conservation plan” because it has been
endorsed by farm groups across
the country. The architect of
ALUS, Ian Wishart of Keystone
Agricultural Producers, has
worked closely with Delta in
developing and promoting the
ALUS concept across Canada.
The initial pilot project will be
in the rural municipality of
Blanshard in the heart of the pothole region in Manitoba. The
local government has committed
$40,000 (Canadian) for each of
the next three years for the ALUS
pilot. U.S. sportsmen also support ALUS: The Mississippi
Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks
Commission
has
pledged
$60,000 (Canadian) annually,
and the Tennessee Wildlife
Resources Commission has committed $25,000 (Canadian) a
year. Individual duck hunters
have also provided support.
Total
funding
for
the
Blanshard pilot project is expected to be $1.8 million over three
years.
“This is truly a new direction
for agriculture and conservation
in Manitoba,” said Wishart.
“For the first time habitat incentives will be delivered as part of
mainstream farm policy in a way
that truly engages the landowner.”
Olson praised three Delta staff
members for their tireless efforts
in promoting ALUS over the past
five years: Executive Vice
President Jonathan Scarth, Vice
President of Policy for Canada Dr.
Robert Bailey and Vice President
of Policy for Prairie Canada
Robert Sopuck.
Sopuck said work is already
underway to secure pilot projects
in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Bailey said an Ontario pilot project has been launched, a new
pilot project is being planned for
Prince Edward Island and discussions are underway for ALUS
projects in other eastern
provinces.
Cost-shared funding for ALUS
will be provided through the
environment chapter of the
Agricultural Policy Framework
(APF) and by the Manitoba Rural
Adaptation Council.
— A Delta Waterfowl report
and was instructed not to tell anyone
else about the fish.
“It was real hard to keep my mouth
shut all week,” Huckabee said.
Capt. Peter Oliver of LDWF Region
III said officers took two fin clippings
from the fish that Huckabee found
tied to the stump. A small piece was
removed from the top of the dorsal
fin, and a hole was punched through
the tail.
On Nov. 10, Tormanen brought the
marked fish to the scales at the Grand
Ecore boat launch and had them officially weighed in to count toward the
total weight of his catch. Even so,
Tormanen, with a five-limit catch of 8
pounds, was in 46th place after the
first day. LDWF agents later questioned him, and he admitted to
catching several bass before the tournament and tying them to stumps in
order to weigh them in during the
tournament.
Tormanen was arrested and
booked into the Natchitoches Parish
Detention Center for contest fraud.
He was released after posting a
$5,000 bond. The penalty for contest
fraud is a fine up to $3,000 and
imprisonment with or without hard
labor for up to one year or both.
His arrest has led some to question
his previous angling success.
Tormanen has been a big-time
winner in Heartland Tournament
Association Pro-Ams over the past
two years. He’s won four events, netting about $57,700.
In nine such tournaments over the
past 14 months, he’s finished no
worse than 9th.
Heartland Tournament Association
owner Ralph Haggard said his attorney advised him not to say anything
about Tormanen. However, Haggard
acknowledged
meeting
with
Tormanen. He declined to divulge
details of the meeting.
“I definitely have concerns,”
Haggard said. “He’s won a lot more
money with us than with any of the
other tours. We need to get to the
bottom of this and get it taken care of
because I represent 3,000 people, not
one person. I just don’t want to see an
innocent person convicted or one
who’s guilty walking free.”
Tormanen has also made a mark in
FLW Outdoors events, but not to the
same extent. In 17 tournaments since
2002, he’s pocketed $14,537. He won
the 2004 Ozark BFL at Truman Lake
in Missouri by a margin of 4 pounds
and 11 ounces and was fifth at this
year’s Lake of the Ozarks Central
EverStart.
BassFan.com unsuccessfully tried
to contact Tormanen for comment.
Messages left at his work and on his
cell phone were not returned.
Huckabee, who finished 52nd in
the Red River Open with two limits
that weighed a combined 14 pounds
and 12 ounces, said he gave LDWF
wardens a written statement. The fin
samples collected by the agency will
be used as DNA evidence in the case
against Tormanen, according to the
LDWF’s Oliver.
The episode marked the first time
he had encountered an incidence of
alleged cheating, Huckabee said.
“I’d heard of people cheating by
doing something like that, but it was
a shock to me,” Huckabee said. “I
hope they throw the book at the son
of a gun. This gives the sport a black
eye. It’s hard enough to win money
in these things without somebody
cheating. But it does make me feel
good that they caught the guy and
I’m part of the reason.”
— Compiled from BassFan.com and
LDWF reports
Legislation introduced to
protect waterfowl habitat
Ducks Unlimited applauded legislation introduced last month that
would protect critical waterfowl
habitat nationwide.
The Wetlands Loan Act would borrow against projected revenue from
the sale of federal duck stamps and
promote partnerships to protect and
conserve wetlands for future generations.
“Waterfowlers and other conservationists have a 71-year history of
supporting conservation through
the purchase of federal duck
stamps,” said DU Executive Vice
President Don Young.
But Young says more is needed.
“We continue to lose high-quality
wetlands and associated nesting
habitat to development at an alarming rate despite the successes of the
duck stamp program to date,” Young
explained. “We’ve got to act now to
protect land vital to duck production
and migration.”
The Wetlands Loan Act, sponsored
by Rep. Mark Kennedy, R-Minn., is
modeled after legislation first
authorized in 1961. The new legislation mirrors the original by seeking
to borrow funds against future feder-
al duck stamp revenues. The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service would use funds
generated by the act to purchase
lands for National Wildlife Refuges
and to assist landowners in protecting existing wetlands and surrounding duck production habitat in
essential breeding grounds and other
areas across the United States.
“Similar to what was done in the
1960s and ’70s, we believe borrowing
against projected revenue from the
sale of federal duck stamps is a practical solution that will ensure the most
valuable habitat for waterfowl and
other migratory birds is not lost forever,” said DU President Jim Hulbert.
“Many landowners want to protect
their lands for waterfowl and other
wildlife, but there’s not enough
money in existing programs to get it
done. This legislation would make
this money available now and protect these essential habitats.”
To help repay the loan, the
Wetlands Loan Act calls for an incremental increase in the price of the
federal duck stamp over the next
decade. Since the last price increase
14 years ago, land values have skyrocketed (up 266 percent in some
duck-habitat areas) along with inflation. The past 15 years have seen no
price increase in the federal duck
stamp – the longest period without a
price increase in the stamp’s 71-year
history.
An analysis shows that if critical
waterfowl breeding habitat is not
secured now, the financial cost to
hunter-conservationists to assure the
future of our sport will be several
times what it is today.
“While no one is anxious to
increase the cost of hunting, even in
this relatively small way when compared with other costs associated
with the sport, it’s important that
waterfowlers maintain our tradition
of leadership on behalf of habitat
conservation,”
said
Scott
Sutherland, director of DU’s
Governmental Affairs office.
“Waterfowlers have always led
efforts for habitat conservation,”
Sutherland continued. “And this
money would be entirely used to permanently protect waterfowl habitat.”
— A Ducks Unlimited report
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December 9, 2005 Page 5
CONSERVATION
Federal funds to help manage
natural resources along Gulf
The Texas General Land Office
announced the awarding of $1.75
million in grants to 38 programs
by the agency’s Texas Coastal
Coordination Council. It administers the Texas Coastal Management Program, which disperses
federal funds to manage natural
resources along the Gulf.
“This money funds projects proposed by local communities,
allowing these relatively modest
grants to have a real impact where
they’re needed most,” said Jerry
Patterson, commissioner of the
Land Office.
Among other things, the awards
will go to:
• Repair sections of the decking
and handrails of the Port Lavaca
Causeway fishing pier — $60,000.
• Develop a wave prediction and
forecast system for the Texas coast
by researchers at Texas A&M
University at Galveston —
$58,989.
• Conduct a biological erosion
control experiment. The Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station
will conduct side-by-side comparisons of different plant species to
see which is most effective at minimizing the effects of waveinduced erosion — $48,592.
• Improve the bayfront at
Rockport Harbor. The Aransas
Navigation District No. 1 will use
its funds to repair the concrete
bulkhead panel joints along the
Rockport Harbor Seawall overlooking Aransas Bay — $60,000.
• Upgrade the Washington Park
fishing pier. The Galveston
County Parks Department will
address access to the fishing pier at
Washington Park by installing
walkways, putting up interpretative signs and repairing the pier —
$51,717.
A complete listing of the projects that received funding can be
viewed on the Land Office’s Web
site www.glo.state.tx.us by clicking on its news and information
section.
EVERYBODY’S
COMFORTABLE.
EXCEPT THE
COMPETITION.
GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab SLT
— A Texas General Land Office report
Private stewardship grants available
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service announced today it is seeking proposals for conservation
projects on private lands through
its Private Stewardship Grants
Program.
For fiscal year 2006, about $6.5
million is available through this
grant program to support on-theground conservation efforts on
private lands. Proposals must be
submitted by Jan. 23, 2006.
This program provides federal
grants on a competitive basis to
individuals and groups engaged
in voluntary conservation efforts
on private lands that benefit
imperiled species such as federally
listed endangered or threatened
species as well as proposed, candidate and other at-risk species.
Landowners and their partners
may submit proposals directly to
the Service for funding to support
those efforts.
Applicants in Arizona, New
Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas
should submit proposals to the
USFWS, Attn: David Frederick,
500 Gold SW (P.O. Box 1306),
Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505248-6587.
In September, the Service
awarded 72 grants totaling more
than $6.5 million to individuals
and groups to undertake conservation projects for endangered,
threatened, and other at-risk
species on private lands in 38
states and one territory.
For more information regarding this grant opportunity and on
how and where to submit proposals, please visit the Service’s
Private Stewardship Grants Web
site
at
http://endangered.
fws.gov/grants/private_stewardship.html.
THE
SIERRA
ADVANTAGE
— A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
report
GMC SIERRA TOYOTA TUNDRA FORD F-150
1500 CREW
DOUBLE CAB
SUPERCREW
LIMITED 4x4
CAB SLT 4x4
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1500 QUAD
CAB SLT 4x4
ENGINE
CAPACITY
5.3 L V8
4.7 L V8
4.6 L V8
4.7 L V8
STANDARD
HORSEPOWER
295 HP
282 HP
231 HP
235 HP
STANDARD
TORQUE
335 LB-FT
325 LB-FT
293 LB-FT
300 LB-FT
MAXIMUM
PAYLOAD†
1701 LBS
1580 LBS
1340 LBS
1530 LBS
STANDARD
TOWING
CAPACITY††
7400 LBS
6500 LBS
6500 LBS
7150 LBS
GROSS VEHICLE
WEIGHT RATING†††
7000 LBS
6600 LBS
6900 LBS
6650 LBS
AUTOMATIC
REAR LOCKING
DIFFERENTIAL
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NOT
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AUDIO SYSTEM
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NOT
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NOT
AVAILABLE
WE ARE PROFESSIONAL GRADE.
®
SEE THE PROS AT YOUR LOCAL GMC DEALER
Maximum payload capacity includes weight of vehicle, passengers, cargo and
equipment.
††
Trailer ratings are calculated assuming a properly equipped base vehicle
plus driver. See the GMC Trailering Guide for details.
†††
When properly equipped, includes weight of vehicle, passengers, cargo and
equipment.
*Call 1-888-4ONSTAR (1-888-466-7827) or visit onstar.com for system
limitations and details.
**Available in the 48 contiguous states. Basic service fees apply. Visit
gm.xmradio.com for details.
© 2005 OnStar Corp. All rights reserved. OnStar and the OnStar emblem
are registered trademarks of OnStar Corporation.
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related logos are registered trademarks of XM Satellite Radio Inc.
©2005 Bose Corp. All rights reserved.
© 2005 General Motors Corp. All rights reserved. Sierra, GMC and the
GMC logo are registered trademarks of General Motors Corporation.
†
HUNTING
On the hunt
Females of all ages head
to the outdoors
By Mary Helen Aguirre
It was warm and sunny that Friday afternoon,
much like the benevolent fall weather she was
used to in Texas. But in North Carolina, fall
blazes with color. JoAnn Davis took the time to
notice how pretty the trees looked wearing their
brilliant reds, oranges and yellows. But, mostly
the 13-year-old was focused on the three bird
dogs as she walked through thick brush that
came to eye level.
Each time one of the dogs would get on point,
ready to flush out the quail, pheasant or chukar,
the Garland teen, and fellow hunter 11-year-old
Cody Patterson, would switch off shooting. On
a turn toward the end of the hunt, she raised her
shotgun, aimed and shot a quail.
“I was very excited. It was my first time to go
bird hunting,” says Davis.
Davis is an example of a growing number of
girls who are growing up to become hunters.
In addition to tracking the number of young
women who participate in trap, skeet and clay
shooting, the National Shooting Sports
Foundation also has noted a growth in the
number of women who hunt.
In 2004, 2,426,000 women of all ages hunted,
up more than 20 percent compared to 2,018,000
in 1997, according to a NSSF release.
Davis’ opportunity to hunt in North Carolina
Nov. 10-13 was part of a new national program
to encourage youth hunting and interest in the
outdoors put on by the Quality Deer
Management Association. QDMA is a non-profit group dedicated to ensuring a high-quality
and sustainable future for white-tailed deer and
white-tailed deer hunting.
The Texas teen was one of 10 youngsters from
across the nation chosen to participate in the
all-expense paid hunting trip to the 1,200-acre
Fork Farm in Norwood, N.C. Eight of the youths
were randomly chosen and two slots were
awarded to Hunt of a Lifetime, which helps
many terminally ill children hunt. The youngsters were outfitted and taken on deer and bird
hunts.
But QDMA wants to go beyond promoting
youth hunting. The five girls and five boys
attended educational and hunter safety classes
as well. Tim Lilley, QDMA’s director of public
relations, said the more young people learn
about what’s going on, the more open they are
to issues such as conservation and wildlife management. QDMA hopes to encourage youth
hunting on the local level as well as their program expands.
“We will certainly encourage young women
to get involved,” he said.
Davis got a head start on some of the lucky
trip winners. She was 10 when she went on her
first deer hunt with her dad, Brian Davis. At 11,
during a hunt in Henrietta, she harvested her
first two does.
“I shot one in the morning, and one in the
afternoon on the next day,” she said.
Young females are making a strong showing
in shooting sports as well — often a crossover to
hunting. Nationwide, over a third of all female
participants in shotgun sports today are under
24, according to the NSSF.
And, it’s possible that as the growing number
of female hunters hit the outdoors, they’ll be
drawing more young women into the sport.
Julie Davenport of Dallas, a family friend who
accompanied Davis on the North Carolina outing, said she enjoyed being a mentor to the
young hunter.
“I have such a love for nature, and when I was
younger, I didn’t have the opportunity to get
out,” said Davenport, who started hunting two
years ago.
At Responsive Management, a company specializing in research related to wildlife and out-
JO ANN DAVIS, a 13-year-old hunter from Garland, poses with her rifle. Photo by David J. Sams.
door recreation, Mark Duda, executive director
and researcher at the company, said women
who hunt are more likely to think about involving their daughters.
Duda said the largest psychological barrier for
female hunters is the lack of female role models
— and all that entails, such as being invited to a
hunt and being accepted as hunters.
“There are so many issues,” he said.
Mary Helen Aguirre is a native Texan with
almost 15 years of experience editing and writing
for newspapers, including the Atlanta JournalConstitution. She is a freelancer in New Mexico.
Group targets
‘worrisome’ quail
population
By Mark England
A hunting trip more than 30 years
ago persuaded Steve Sumrow of the
current need to start a Dallas chapter
of Quail Forever, the second Texas
chapter of an national organization
less than four months old.
“My father was raised around
Celeste,” said Sumrow. “He took me
hunting there when I was about 10 or
11. He told me stories of when he was a
kid, and the quail were everywhere.
We went traipsing all over the countryside, though, and didn’t find any.”
Things haven’t gotten a lot better
since.
Texas is considered one of the best
quail hunting states — though its
quail population has declined 70 percent in the last 25 years.
As one of its first projects, the Dallas
chapter of Quail Forever is considering
pitching a proposal to work with federal officials on improving quail habitat in refuges such as the Caddo
National Grasslands northeast of
Dallas.
“That is the type of situation where
there’s a chance you could see a huntable population in the next few years,”
Sumrow said.
Major portions of Texas’ quail range
have been lost, Sumrow said.
“And it’s not just quail. Where you
lose upland habitat, you lose all types
of animals. You lose an entire ecosystem.”
Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Steve
DeMaso calls the quail population
“worrisome,” though areas like South
Texas and the Panhandle still have
strong quail populations. Urban
sprawl, intensified farming and the
planting of exotic grasses in pastures
are a few of the reasons Texas quail
have declined, he said.
“Look at East Texas,” said DeMaso,
upland game bird program leader.
“What was small farms went to being
industrial forests. It went from a savanna habitat to places having 600 to 700
pine trees an acre planted on them.
Dead pine needles are not suitable
nesting material for quail.”
Nationwide, the population of bobwhite quail declined from 59 million
to a little more than 20 million from
1980-1990. Those kinds of numbers
led to the launch of Quail Forever on
Aug. 10, with the first chapter formed
in St. Louis. The organization has 21
chapters. Dallas came onboard on
Nov. 15.
“A big part of what we need to do
involves education,” said Sumrow, the
chapter’s first president. “We’ve got to
educate the public, the landowners
and our state and national leaders
Texas hunters
die of carbon
monoxide
DWINDLING NUMBERS: Texas’ quail population has declined 70 percent in the last
25 years.
about what we’re trying to do and why
it’s important.”
Robert Perez, a TPW quail biologist,
said Ducks Unlimited is proof of the
power of educating the public about
wildlife.
“Every sixth-grader knows what wetlands are and their importance,” Perez
said. “Ask them what a savanna is and
why it’s important, though, and they’re
not going to tell you. They don’t know.
We’ve done a poor job of educating people.”
Quail Forever nationally has set a
goal of forming 50 chapters and recruiting 12,000 members. It hopes to acquire
some of the clout of its parent organization, Pheasants Forever, whose efforts
have reaped some 2 million acres of new
range land for pheasants.
For now, Quail Forever must marshal
its resources wisely, Sumrow said.
“It wouldn’t be smart to do an
upland project on the edge of Plano,
for example,” he said. “But, maybe, farther north toward Bonham. I don’t
think Dallas will grow all the way to
Bonham any time soon. We’ve got to
pick our spots, pick our fights if we
hope to win the war.”
DeMaso said Quail Forever could
have an impact.
“They can work on acquiring land,
ensuring that patches of quail habitat
stay connected; fund a whole variety of
research; and work on the legislative
side of things,” he said. “Pheasants
Forever, for example, has been active
on the national level to make sure that
conservation provisions in farm bills
stay there.”
Sumrow sees this as a pivotal
moment in conserving quail and their
habitat.
“The rest of the country may think
the quail hunting here is great, but tell
that to the guy in East Texas who hasn’t
seen one in 10 years,” he said. “There’s
no reason to believe the decline of their
range is going to stop.”
For more information about Quail
Forever, contact Sumrow at (214) 7277911 or sdsumrow@ev1. net.
Mark England is associate editor of Lone
Star Outdoor News.
Two Texas hunters died in
New Mexico of carbon monoxide poisoning over the
Thanksgiving holiday.
Danny Davis, 56, and Mark
Jackson, 38, both of Tennessee
Colony, were found by the others in their hunting party on
the morning of Nov. 25, said
Capt. Norbert Sanchez of the
Otero
County
Sheriff’s
Department.
They were sleeping inside a
gooseneck trailer, using a
Coleman propane heater.
“It was one of those
Coleman bottles with a small
heater on it,” Sanchez said.
“You’re supposed to ventilate if
you use them. It takes up the
oxygen in the air.”
The hunters were in the
Sacramento Mountains, the
southern branch of the Rocky
Mountains, east of Cloudcroft,
N.M.,
to
hunt
elk.
Temperatures had dropped
below freezing on the morning
they died.
“Come wintertime, it’s not
unusual to have four or five
people around here die from
carbon monoxide poisoning,
though usually they’re residents,” Sanchez said. “People
just don’t realize the danger.
Basically, you go into a comatose state and die.”
Pheasant season
called best in years
TBGA names
November
early entry
winners
The Texas Big Game Awards has named a
hunter and landowner as the November
winners of the contest’s early entry program.
Marty Griffith of Houston will receive a
gift from a TBGA Texas regional sponsor for
mailing in his entry form early through the
TBGA’s Early Entry Special Program. Macho
Creek Lodge, the ranch/ landowner where
the whitetail was taken, will also receive a
gift. The Griffith non-typical buck was
taken in Atascosa County with a gross scoring of 223.
This year the TBGA has again continued
the Early Entry Special Program that allows
hunters and landowners who mail in their
completed entry form early and include a
photo for promotional purposes with the
TBGA and statewide media to be automatically entered in a drawing for some great
prizes.
For those hunters who harvest Scored
Entry qualifying animals and have their
completed entry form in by the 30th of
each month from November through
February, some great prizes will be offered
in the monthly drawings. Prizes such as a
Gerber Legendary Blades Big Game Kit,
Michael’s of Oregon hunting items, Gander
Mountain Gift Cards, or other great rewards
will be awarded. Entries must include a
quality field photo of the hunter and their
trophy and entry forms must be complete.
Preferably, photos should be e-mailed to
[email protected] or hunters
Pheasant watchers expected this season to
be a good one — but it appears to be exceeding everyone’s expectations. In a recent ediLongtime hunter Brett “Maverick” Parker tion of Texas Parks and Wildlife’s magazine,
summed up the opening of pheasant season Danny Swepston, TPW’s district biologist in
in the Panhandle with two words: “It’s cool!” Canyon, said that last year the pheasant
And he’s not the only one crowing over the population was better than expected, and a
good
carryover
of
hunting.
Panhandle birds was
“It’s the greatest pheasant
expected this season.
season in 25 years,” declared
Pheasants Forever foreMel Phillips, a hunter and
casters also predicted
well-known Panhandle outhigher
than
normal
door radio host at Amarillo’s
pheasant numbers for the
KGNC 710 AM radio every
Texas Panhandle. The conSaturday morning.
servation group’s forecast
The excitement in Parker’s
said a hot and dry early
voice at seeing 6,7,8 …10
spring gave way to a wetter
roosters together — many of
summer and things were
them standing along the
greener than normal this
roadside of his Castro
year with plenty of chicks
County hunting spot south
spotted near wheat, milo
of Hart — was unmistakable.
and corn fields during the
In normal years, Parker said
survey.
he’ll see only a couple of
Phillips said the area’s
birds alongside the road.
PHEASANT FRENZY: Panhandle hunters
rainfall total is below
But on Dec. 4, he and a
are staying busy this season.
normal, but the rains
buddy limited in time for
earlier this year must have come at exactly
lunch.
“I got out there early, and I have never in all the right time, allowing chicks to get plenty
the years I’ve been hunting — 30 years — of food. On opening day in Dimmitt,
seen so many pheasants. It’s just unbeliev- Phillips was in a group of 23 hunters who
worked a field of weeds next to a cornfield to
able,” Parker said.
The 37 counties of the Panhandle region flush 100 roosters or better. He limited there
where Parker and Phillips hunted reigns as and then, he said.
“Birds were falling out of the sky,” he said.
the state’s prime pheasant territory. This
year’s season in the Panhandle opened Dec. “This is the most pheasants we’ve ever seen.”
3 and runs through Jan. 1, though pheasant
hunting is open in the counties of Darlene McCormick Sanchez is editor of Lone Star
Chambers, Jefferson and Liberty until Feb. Outdoor News.
26.
By Darlene McCormick Sanchez
EARLY HUNTER GETS THE PRIZE: Marty Griffith
took this non-typical buck in Atascosa County.
can mail in their photos with their entry
forms.
There will be one winner chosen for each
of the three months. For the Early Entry
Grand Prize, everyone who has their completed entry form in by Jan. 30, including
First Harvest and Youth Division entries,
will be eligible for a Texas Lifetime Hunting
License. Photos for this drawing are not
required but encouraged. Smith’s Abrasives
and Hunter’s Specialties proudly sponsor
the license reward.
For more information on the Texas Big
Game Awards, entry information, or for a
local certified TBGA scorer, please visit
www. TexasBigGameAwards.com or call
(800) 839-9453, ext. 114 for more information. The final deadline to enter the Texas
Big Game Awards for the 2005-2006 season
is March 15, 2006.
— A Texas Big Game Awards report
OPEN SEASON
Migratory Bird
Hunting Report
HIGH PLAINS MALLARD
MANAGEMENT UNIT: Outfitters claim
they have enjoyed some of the best
decoying action for geese in years.
Normally, decoying action slows a bit as
December approaches; however, as
many guides have attested, a young
bird count is keeping many Canadas on
the deck. Easy limits have been had
near Dumas, Etter and Spearman.
Goose hunters are taking two to three
snows per man, too. Lots of young
Ross’ geese have readily decoyed.
Haskell County continues strong for
Canadas. Specklebellies and snow
geese are scattered in the mix. The
recent front deposited more mallards to
the area. Any playa with water is holding ducks. As a side note, outfitters
claim the pheasant hunting is as good
as they have seen. Limits are the norm
and not the exception. Prospects are
good.
NORTH ZONE WATERFOWL: The
second split of duck season begins 30
minutes before sunset Dec. 10. The first
split of duck season was fair to good in
the region. Those on area lakes and
reservoirs saw good action for mallards,
gadwalls, teal, divers and shovelers.
Lack of rainfall remains a factor.
Backwater sloughs and bayous remain
dry. The recent front deposited new
birds to the region. Mallards, gadwalls,
wigeons and teal are holding on Toledo
Bend, Sam Rayburn, Cooper Lake,
Lake O’ the Pines, Caddo Lake, Lake
Tawakoni and Lake Fork. Along the
coastal prairies portion of the North
Zone, recent rains recharged leveed
ponds. The second-split opener should
see plenty of action. Prospects are
good.
SOUTH ZONE WATERFOWL: The second split of duck season begins 30 minutes before sunset Dec.10. Coastal
prairie ponds enjoyed as much as 3
inches of rain last week, which helped
raise water levels in ponds. More mallards have found the region during the
split, and expect more on ponds with
forecasted cold fronts this week.
Gadwalls, wigeons, teal and shovelers
have been the mainstays on ponds and
in hunters’ bags during the first split. In
the coastal marsh, stiff north winds
along with the upcoming solstice tide
have dropped water levels several feet
below normal. Access to shallow, tidal
ponds may be tough this weekend.
Rockport, Seadrift, Matagorda,
Galveston Bay, Trinity Bay and the
Sabine Lake marsh look promising for
the second-split opener. Goose hunting
has been average at best. A high ceiling
has done hunters no favors.
Specklebellies are getting tougher to
decoy. More Canada geese have
moved into the region and hunters have
been happily taking the bonus dark
geese. Pintails and canvasbacks are
legal to harvest Dec. 22. Prospects are
good.
DUCK
HIGH PLAINS MALLARD
MANAGEMENT UNIT: Oct. 28 - Jan. 29
NORTH AND SOUTH ZONES: Dec. 10
— Jan. 29
Pintail and Canvasback (All Zones)
Dec. 22 — Jan. 29
GOOSE
WEST ZONE: Light and Dark Geese,
Nov. 5 — Feb. 7
EAST ZONE: Light Geese, Nov. 5 —
Jan. 29
White-fronted Goose, Nov. 5 — Jan. 15
Canada Goose
Nov. 5 — Jan. 29
TRANS-PECOS
Nov. 26 — Dec. 11
RIO GRANDE TURKEY
NORTH TEXAS
Nov. 5 — Jan. 1
SOUTH TEXAS
Nov. 5 — Jan. 15
WILLACY, BROOKS, KENEDY &
KLEBERG COUNTIES
Nov. 5 — Feb. 26
SANDHILL CRANE
ZONE A: Nov. 5 — Feb. 5
ZONE B: Nov .26 — Feb. 5
ZONE C: Dec. 24 — Jan. 29
LESSER PRAIRIE CHICKEN PHEASANT
CHAMBERS, JEFFERSON AND
LIBERTY COUNTIES
Oct. 29 — Feb. 26
PANHANDLE
Dec. 3 — Jan. 1
QUAIL
Oct. 29 — Feb. 26
JAVELINA
Oct. 1 — Feb. 26
WHITE—TAILED DEER
NORTH TEXAS
Nov. 5 — Jan. 1
SOUTH TEXAS
Nov.5 — Jan. 15
MULE DEER
For more information on bag limits and
other open game species, check the
TPW Outdoor Annual or
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hun
t/season/2006/animal_listing/.
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Stephen Kovacs
Member of: Coastal Conservation
Assoc, Texas Trophy Hunters Assoc,
Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
“Proudly Serving Texas for Over 50 Years!”
FISHING
Cold
weather
angling
Go deeper,
fish slower
they will troll some spoons, but a lot of the shad
imitation crank baits have been taking fish.”
“This far south, we’ll see the beginning of the
white bass run in mid-December, then the
height of it the end of January, first part of
February,” Findeisen said.
Fishing for white, or sand, bass will be active
well into December as far north as Richland
Chambers Lake near Corsicana, said fishing
guide Bob Holmes of Red Oak.
Holmes was catching daily limits of “sandies”
as late as Nov. 29, when his party of four brought
in 100 bass.
“We’re still on a good bite. Even though it
does cool down in December, your fish are still
there. You look for them a little deeper and fish
a little slower, but you’re catching quality fish,”
Holmes said.
He’s been using a 1-ounce silver minnow slab,
or on windy days, a 1 3/4-ounce chartreuse slab,
and going down anywhere from 17 to 36 feet.
“I like to start at first light, seven o’clock,” he
said. “This time of year they’re sometimes on
top. In about 30 minutes, they start settling to
the bottom.”
North Texas had a good summer and fall for
catching white bass feeding near the surface —
By Diana Kunde
ust when the white bass season is cooling off
in North Texas, it’s about to heat up downstate.
Choke Canyon Reservoir, Lake Corpus Christi
and smaller Coleto Creek Reservoir should see
the white bass spawning run start as soon as
mid- to late December, said John Findeisen, fisheries biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife in
Mathis.
Fishing should be better this winter than last,
because lake levels are higher, he said. “Choke
Canyon had been 23 feet down, now it’s three
feet low,” he said. The greater lake and river
depth should make for a better spawning environment, he said.
“They will run until they find the shallow
gravel shoals and start the spawn. The egg . . .
needs a current to keep it from suffocating in the
sediment.”
Anglers at Corpus Christi frequently put in at
the Nueces River where U.S. Highway 59 crosses
it, then follow the running fish, he said. “On the
Nueces, they use shad imitations as well as road
runner jigs,” Findeisen said. “In the main lake,
J
largely because of heavy rains in the springs of
2004 and this year, said Rafe Brock, fisheries
biologist for TPW in Fort Worth.
“If you have good water in the spring, you get
a good recruiting class to sustain even into the
next spring,” he said. That means white bass
populations should be good in spring of 2006,
when the spawning run begins farther north, he
said.
Along the Texas-Mexico border at Amistad
Reservoir, now is the time for white bass fishing,
said Ray Hanselman Jr., a fishing guide based in
Del Rio.
The fish are coming to the top right now, he
said, and will typically start their spawn in early
February. Hanselman uses white slabs “under
the birds” when the bass are near the surface
feeding.
“Amistad is full of whites. You can catch limits pretty easily,” he said. “Most of the guides
fish for whites in the wintertime. Once they
start in December, it’s pretty solid until the first
part of March.”
Diana Kunde has 30 years of experience writing and
editing for newspapers that include the Dallas Morning
News. She is a freelancer based in Arlington, reachable
at [email protected].
WINTRY WAYS: Fishing guide Bob
Holmes says even though it does cool
down in December, fish are still there.
Anglers just have to fish in a different
way.
Packery expected to be fishing boon
By ROBERT CADWALLADER
FISHI N
W
O State studies
legalizing blue,
channel catfish
G
B
OFFICIAL OPENING ON THE WAY: Packery Channel is expected to open in January or February. Construction began on
the Corpus Christi project in October 2003.
By Todd Nafe
Anglers who enjoy bowfishing for carp, gar and other
“rough fish” could soon have a new target in their sights
— catfish.
Texas Parks and Wildlife is considering a policy
change that would add blue and channel catfish to
the list of legal species that can be taken by bow and
arrow in the Lone Star State.
Bowfishing groups, led by the Texas Bowfishing
Association, have been pushing the idea of legalizing
The Army Corps of Engineers has
decided to allow small boats in the yet-tobe-completed Packery Channel in
Corpus Christi.
For many anglers, the decision won’t
make any difference since they have been
fishing the off-limit areas anyway to
catch snook, speckled trout and redfish.
But officials are warning anglers to use
caution in the channel, and they’re saying the area remains closed to bank fishing.
Recent hurricanes halted the Army
Corps of Engineers dredging work on the
Packery Channel. The storms proved auspicious to anglers because they drove
Gulf waters over a thin strip of beach
blocking access to the channel, said
Doug Bird, a veteran fishing guide of 35
years.
“The first time I went out on it, we
caught two trout and five snook on top
water, which is the most snook I’ve ever
caught in one day,’’ said Bird, who has a
Saturday fishing show on KKTX radio. “I
was walking on Cloud Nine.’’
The Army Corps of Engineers, though,
wants anglers to come back down to
earth and understand construction risks
are real. The project, four months behind
schedule, will open a convenient boating
pass through Padre Island and is expected to officially open in January or
February. Construction began in October
2003.
“They will not be forcing people off the
channel, but we ask that when the
dredge comes back, to be very careful,’’
said Corps spokeswoman Marilyn
Uhrich.
But that doesn’t mean it’s safe for shore
fishermen.
See PACKERY, Page 11
bowfishing for catfish, and the TPW Commission is
considering the idea as a way to offer more recreational opportunities to Texas anglers, said Ken
Kurzawski of TPW’s Inland Fisheries Division.
Officials anticipate that if the proposed changes are
approved, the new law would allow the use of bowfishing equipment as a legal means to harvest catfish.
All existing regulations, like length and bag limits,
would also apply to bowfishing.
But the proposal is meeting with some resistance.
According to Kurzawski, public comment has been
overwhelmingly against the change, with numbers
currently running 75 percent against to 25 percent in
favor.
Opponents argue that permitting the harvest of
catfish by bow and arrow could not only be the first
step in opening up bowfishing to other game fish,
but it could result in additional methods being legalized that might jeopardize fish populations.
“If they’re going to let people shoot catfish with a
GAME TARGET: Bowfishing groups, led by the Texas Bowfishing Association,
bow and arrow, then why
have been pushing the idea of legalizing bowfishing for catfish.
See BOWFISHING, Page 11
ADVENTURE
Stringer full
of bounty
Lodge on the Matagorda second
home to many outdoorsmen
By David Sikes
ockside banter at
Matagorda’s Full Stringer
Lodge was lighthearted
and lively when I joined a group
of anglers celebrating a pause
from the everyday.
Guides filleted fish while guests
from separate parties mingled and
relaxed with the sunset. Some of
them wondered aloud what their
next adventure might bring while
others still were trying to choose
tomorrow’s pleasure.
Typically, evening topics on the
deck of this hunting and fishing
lodge vary considerably, reflecting
seasonal pursuits of the region. In
summer, conversations might
involve talk of tarpon and tripletail or amberjack and ling, all
within easy reach of this comfortable sportsman’s respite below
Galveston. During fall, tales of
angling and hunting collide to
include ducks and geese and trout
and redfish.
Recent reports from the lodge
reveal that wingshooters are
enjoying a stellar waterfowl season. Ducks have been plentiful
and the variety has been wide.
And compared with the previous
season, goose hunters have experienced a resurgence of opportunities for specklebellies, snows
and a growing number of
Canadas.
Of course, the fishing here is
year-round, enhanced by four
licensed captains for offshore trips
and 12 licensed bay-fishing
guides. They even offer flounder
gigging trips.
This is pretty much how lodge
proprietors Jody and David
Cassady pictured it. As best they
could, they wanted the Full
D
Stringer to showcase all of the
bounty this section of the Texas
coast holds. To Cotton Johnson
and me, this Matagorda dream
seemed complete, based on stories
told over a home-style meal of
grilled fish and a darned good
crawfish etouffee.
Matagorda might once have
been considered a destination
mostly visited by lost travelers.
Not so today. The Cassadys’ hospitality has combined with myriad
outdoor offerings to encourage
return visits. It remains remote
and mostly undeveloped, but
worth the effort to find.
This riverside community
resembles a south Louisiana
bayou village, with its levees,
locks and waterside fishing
camps. It’s situated where the
Colorado River intersects with the
Intracoastal Waterway, providing
an interesting and scenic boat ride
to the bay and on to the Gulf of
Mexico.
The Cassadys’ full-service roost
offers rooms enough to accommodate 18 guests. They have a
spacious suite upstairs with comfortable seating in a commons
area with satellite TV. More private rooms behind doors grace
the downstairs floor, more appropriate for families and smaller parties.
It would be an ideal retreat if
you’re looking to explore this lowtraffic stretch of coast. But my
fishing partner, Cotton Johnson,
and I were there to fish, specifically for the elusive tripletail. I say
elusive because in Texas few
anglers target them and only in
spring or summer. It’s a strangelooking dark fish, with distinctive
broad fins, tail and profile, which
many people misidentify as a
member of the grouper family.
And they’re powerful fighters, fun
to catch and relatively easy to find
in West Matagorda Bay, the center
of Texas tripletail fishing during
spring and summer.
Texas has no size or bag limit for
tripletail, though Texas Parks and
Wildlife officials have proposed to
change this by designating it a
game fish. Matagorda anglers,
including Lee Warmke, a
Matagorda guide who targets
them regularly, impose their own
daily quota. Warmke was our
guide and instructor.
“Reel, reel, reel,” Warmke
yelled as he jammed his throttle
into reverse, throwing gallons of
bay water over the boat’s stern
and leaving a seething trail of
prop-fizz off the bow.
I braced against the boat’s
backward thrust, planting my
feet firmly on the bow deck and
tightening my grip on my fishing rod. It worked and ultimately
the lesson yielded a 12-pound
tripletail. And then we did it
again.
David Sikes writes about the outdoors
for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
PLENTY TO DO: Flounder and trout are a
couple of the many target game fish at
Matagorda Bay’s Full Stringer Lodge.
Photo by David Sikes.
IF YOU GO
Full Stringer Lodge, fullstringerlodge.com, (979) 8631143, [email protected], Lodging fees for full service with
three meals, $100 night.
Lee Warmke, half breed guide service, www.fishingwith-
lee.com, [email protected] ,(979) 924-3941.
Mike Mosley, saltwater addiction guide service, (979) 8637447.
Bobby Gardner, south-paw guide service, www.matagor-
dawadefishing.com, (979) 553-4057.
Guide fee is $450 (bay trips) for three anglers; offshore
trips start at $800 for four anglers.
Texas, Florida to host new Redfish Nation Series — registration under way
The Redfish Nation has
announced the launch of the
new Redfish Nation Series presented by Academy Sports and
Outdoors.
The RFN Series will replace last
season’s Q Series providing bigger guaranteed payouts, fantastic venues and an opportunity
for teams to earn a spot in the
Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup
Championship, the sport’s most
lucrative and prestigious event.
The RFN Series will be comprised of six two-day events that
each guarantees a first place
prize of $15,000 cash. Texas and
Florida will each host three RFN
Series events, with the new
Redfish
Nation
Series
Championship to be held at a
yet-to-be-disclosed destination.
The top 5 teams from each
RFN Series event will advance to
the first ever Redfish Nation
Series Championship. The winning team from the 30-team
event will win a prize package
worth more than $35,000. In
addition, the teams from the
Triton Western Division and
Mercury Eastern Division with
the highest finish at the RFN
Series Championship will earn a
coveted birth into the no-entry
fee Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup
Championship on ESPN2 later
in 2006. That event will pay
$75,000 to the top team.
“Our Redfish Cup and RFN
Series anglers continue to help
us build better tournament circuits and more opportunities,”
said David Healy of the Redfish
Nation. “More anglers now have
more chances to compete and
advance to the sport’s biggest
stage, the Oh Boy! Oberto
GUIDED HUNTS
Redfish Cup Championship on
ESPN2. That’s unprecedented.”
Unlike the Q Series in the past
that required teams to fish all
events in their division, the RFN
Series allows teams to fish as
many events as they like.
“Redfish tournaments are
competitive but they should also
be fun and encourage new fans
to participate,” Healy added.
“This entire industry needs more
people fishing, so that is what
the RFN Series is all about.”
The Redfish Nation Series will
receive extensive media expo-
sure, including coverage in
Redfish Nation Magazine and
comprehensive online coverage
at the official Web site
www.RedfishCup.com.
Entry fee for the Redfish
Nation Series is $500 per team
per event.
Registration for the 2006
Redfish Nation Series began Dec.
5.
To
register,
visit
www.RedfishNation. com/registration, call (888) 698-2591 or
fax (409) 698-2616.
—A Redfish Nation report
LONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS REACHES READERS
ACROSS TEXAS. SHOW THEM YOUR CLASSIFIED AD.
Call (866) 361-2276
FISHING LEASES
or e-mail:
[email protected]
Big bass
Continued from Page 1
SKY HIGH: The goose wintering population in the Panhandle continues to increase.
Geese
lations; these are not the same
snow geese that winter on the
Texas coast.
first month of the season. Most
shoots are coming from wheat or
corn fields near Spearman, Dumas
and Etter. Town said Lake Etter is
holding the brunt of the dark and
light goose population.
“It (Lake Etter) is incredible to
see,” he said. “Every goose in the
country is using that water.”
The Panhandle’s light goose
population has boomed over the
last 10 years. Biologist suggest a
shift in migration from the New
Mexico flyway has brought more
white geese to spreads in the High
Plains. However, the shift in the
flyway has not affect coastal popu-
‘We’ve not
gone a day
without getting the limit.
It’s amazing.’
—Pam Cooke
Town, along with other outfitters in the area, say there are plenty of gray-feathered juvenile birds
in the flock — which bodes well
for decoying action.
“We are shooting quite a few
gray birds; there seems to be lots of
young ones this year,” he said.
Pam Cooke of Straight Line
Outfitters, which conducts its
geese hunts in the Panhandle, confirms that observation.
She related a conversation with
her husband, Terry, who started
their outfit 20 years ago.
“Terry said yesterday a thousand
birds were coming in because of
the decoys,” Cooke said. “We don’t
know if it was the new birds —
we’ve had the biggest hatch ever —
or because we’re using new decoys,
windsocks and silhouettes.”
A little subterfuge helps, too.
“Whether you’re hunting in
corn or wheat, Terry has the exact
gillie suit to match the ground
cover,” Cooke said. “An Amarillo
TV station, KAMR, shot some
video of the guys in their suits. All
you could see was their faces. It
was unbelievable.”
Cooke, like Town, is ecstatic
about the geese hunting.
“It’s probably the best we’ve ever
had,” she said. “We’ve not gone a
day without getting the limit. It’s
amazing. We’re done by 10:30 a.m.
It’s the best year that we’ve ever
had.”
For current goose hunting conditions in the Panhandle or any
other waterfowl region of the state,
read the Weekly Migratory Bird
Hunting Report in this issue of
Lone Star Outdoor News.
Bink Grimes is a freelance outdoors
writer. He can be contacted at
www.binkgrimesoutdoors.com.
inches in girth.
Babich was fishing for crappie when he saw the big bass
come up and eat a crappie
he’d just t hrown back. He
pitched a 3 1/4-inch Lunker
City Fin-S Shad into t he
water, and she took it.
If recent events are any
indication, Babich had better
enjoy holding t he record
while he can. An even bigger
fish is probably out there just
waiting to be caught.
Professional angler Kevin
VanDam started the recordbreaking big bass boom on
Lewisville Lake June 1, when
he caught an 11.81-pound
fish dur ing a tour nament.
That record stood only until
July 17, when Houston Rogers
hooked a 12.23-pounder.
Rogers held the record just
two weeks. Charles Pratt
caught his 12.67-pounder
July 31.
The heaviest fish are typically caught dur ing t he
spr ing
spawning
season,
when the big females are full
of eggs. The cur rent world
record
largemout h
bass,
caught in Georgia in 1932,
weighed 22 pounds, 4 ounces.
That fish was 32.5 inches
long and had a girth of 28.5
inches.
There may not be a new
state or world record largemouth swimming around in
Lewisville Lake, but it’s
almost a given that a new lake
record is. The only questions
are: Who will catch it, and
when?
— A Texas Parks and Wildlife report
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Camo
Bowfishing
not let us catch them by hand?”
asked catfisherman David
Donaldson of Waco. “And
what’s the difference between
using an arrow and using a big
hook to snag a fish out of a
hole?”
Opponents also cite concerns
about the nature of bowfishing.
Catch and release with a bow
and arrow is impossible, and offtarget shots would likely result in
wounded fish that initially swim
away only to die later from their
injuries. But Texas Bowfishing
Association Associate Director
Tim McKee says it’s simply a
matter of ethics and judgment.
“All hunters and fishermen are
endowed with the responsibility
of selective harvest by sight, as
duck hunters must differentiate
species of waterfowl on the wing
and deer hunters have to distin-
Packery
“The area surrounding the channel is still considered a construction
area, i.e., a hard-hat area,’’ Uhrich
said. “People will not be allowed on
the banks of the channel until it gets
done.’’
Fishing guide Bill Sheka of Corpus
Christi said he believes workers and
fishermen can get along safely. “You
just give them the same courtesy you
would in a no-wake zone,’’ he said.
“Where they’re working, stay clear.
It’s just common sense.’’
Bird said some parts of Packery are
only 2 to 3 feet deep, and other areas
are 7 to 8 feet deep.
“The least amount of water I’ve
guish a deer’s gender, antler size
and age on the hoof.”
Supporters of the change contend that what they do is more
of a sport than trotlining and jug
fishing, which are legal methods
of catching catfish in the state.
McKee says that bowfishermen
are an ethical group that abide
by the rules and regulations pertaining to bowfishing for flounder and sheepshead, and that
the same would go for catfish.
“As long as there’s no short
supply of these fish, I see no reason why we shouldn’t be allowed
to put some tasty fish on our
tables,” McKee said.
Although he’s not a bowfisherman, longtime Texoma catfisherman Loren Lookingbill agrees.
“These guys are out there shooting gar and carp and other rough
fish. Why not let them shoot
something they can eat?” He
added that the number of catfish
taken by bow would probably
have little effect on catfish populations in most lakes and
streams. “I don’t see bowfisher-
men decimating catfish numbers. There just aren’t a whole lot
of people doing it and catfish
aren’t easy to lure into the range
of a bow and arrow,” he said.
Another worry on the minds of
opponents is that shallow-water
spawning cats would be easy
marks for bowfishermen and
could affect population numbers.
But McKee and others say they
would gladly accept a bowfishing
season to avoid periods when catfish would be especially vulnerable
to bows and arrows.
Bowfishing for catfish isn’t a
new idea — it’s already legal in
Louisiana, South Carolina, Illinois,
Arkansas and Alabama. But should
it be permitted in Texas? To voice
an opinion e-mail TPW at
[email protected]
or call (512) 389-4591.
had under my keel is about a foot and
a half,’’ Bird said. “Everybody’s aware
that it’s not finished and that you
run it at your own risk. You have to be
careful what size boat you take out on
it.’’
After the hurricanes this summer
and fall, Bird noticed a wider variety
of fish in the channel, and he expects
fishing to get even better when the
jetties and dredging are complete.
“There’s going to be more shark
caught, more red fish caught,’’ he
said. “It’s just going to be totally awesome. I’ve been waiting for this for 35
years.’’
The prevalence of snook on the
surf side of the channel has been
noticed elsewhere along the coast
over the past three years, Sheka said.
“I’ve never seen snook out there like
I have seen, and I’ve lived here all my
life,’’ Sheka said. “And I’m talking,
there are 40-inch snook out there.
There is more snook out there than
we realized, and the size is enormous.’’
He believes the legal catch limit —
one snook between 24 and 28 inches
per person per day — may need to be
revised, he said.
Sheka and Bird said the completion of the Packery Channel should
improve fishing and boost the area’s
economy.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of
good things happen,’’ Sheka said.
Todd Nafe is the outdoor writer for the
Waco Tribune-Herald and can be
reached at www.centexoutdoors.com.
Robert Cadwallader is a Fort Worth
area freelancer with more than two
decades of experience as a
journalist and writer.
ANTLERS AWAY: Hunters can put their rattling skills to the test at the next
Rattlemasters tournament, Dec. 17-18, in South Texas.
Rattling
harvested), but don’t misunderstand that. I don’t have anything against harvesting. I’ve
been a hunter all my life.”
To Carpenter and other rattle-minded hunters, the technique is an art form and the
most thrilling way to hunt deer.
Just ask Lee Bevly of Skidmore
who
has
competed
in
Rattlemasters of Texas contests
for four years and has been rattling for more than 30 years.
“To me it’s a natural way of
hunting. I don’t like just sitting
and watching the deer feeder
and waiting for something to
come in,” Bevly said. “I’ve had
them as close as five yards from
me. When you get them that
close and they don’t know
you’re there, it’s a rush.”
And capturing a hoodwinked
buck on video can be tougher
than shooting one with a rifle,
he added. “I’ve missed more
deer with a camera than a gun.”
Two rattlers who rarely miss a
rattling photo op are Kenneth
and Patricia Wallek of Beeville.
The husband-and-wife duo
have won the Rattlemasters
Team of the Year Award the last
two years. At one tournament
last season, the Walleks rattled
up 18 different bucks on video.
The secret to successful rattling, Carpenter said, is to not
be afraid to make a heck of a
ruckus. If you’ve ever seen two
deer fighting, they’re not playing around.
“It’s a fight to the finish
sometimes for some of them.
They’re running over trees,
brush and cactus. It’s kind of
hard for some folks to understand because they’ve been
taught to be quiet and real still.
But we break limbs, shake trees,
beat the ground.”
In addition to the most bucks
award, hunters compete in several categories including funniest video, oldest rattlemaster
and youngest rattlemaster. An
important goal of the contests,
Carpenter said, is to get young
people involved so the skill of
rattling bucks is passed on. The
contests have several youth categories.
One of Carpenter’s favorite
hunting memories is rattling in
his son’s first buck back in 1989
— a buck that came bounding
down a hillside and leapt into a
creek right in front of them.
“I was able to do for my son
what my dad had done for me.
That’s a very special memory
for me,” Carpenter said.
To learn more about rattling,
and the group’s tournaments
and video contest, visit
www.rattlemasters. com or call
(361) 362-2620.
Wes Smalling is the former
outdoors editor for the Santa Fe
New Mexican and has more
than a decade of experience as
a writer and reporter.
OUTDOOR DATEBOOK
HAVE AN EVENT TO PUBLICIZE?
E-mail it to
[email protected]
Events must be open to the public
DEC. 10: Basic fly-fishing at Bass
Pro Shops, Grapevine, at 1 p.m.
Learn basic techniques to flycasting. Stop by the White River Fly
Shop for more information.
DEC. 10: Fort Richardson SP&HS
and Lost Creek Reservoir State
Trailway Kid's Fishing Day. Come
and fish for rainbow trout on the
banks of Quarry Lake. Prizes
awarded. A limited number of rod
and reels will be available. Bait and
refresh-ments provided. Call for
times and more information; (940)
567-3506.
DEC. 10: Christian Anglers Bass
Association Open Team Tournament,
Lake Bob Sandlin (Titus County
Public Ramp), $120. Call (214)
801-9944.
DEC. 10–11: Chaparral WMA youth-
only antlerless deer hunt. Youth
must be accompanied by adult, but
only youth may hunt, by special
drawn permit only. Standby
applicants must be present by 10
a.m., first day of hunt. No fee is
charged; call (830) 676-3413.
DEC. 12: Waterfowl footwear demo,
Cabela’s, Fort Worth, at 1 p.m. and
3 p.m.
DEC. 14: Dallas Safari Club holiday
party at Renaissance Dallas Hotel,
$55 per person, RSVP at (972)
980-9800.
DEC. 14: Fly-tying class, Bass Pro
Shops, Grapevine, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
Learn techniques of tying flies,
freshwater to saltwater.
DEC. 12–26: Black Gap WMA fishing
on the Rio Grande. Valid Texas
fishing license and an annual hunting
or limited public use permit required
for visitors ages 17 and older.
Twenty-three campsites available
along the river. For more information,
call (432) 376-2216 or (432) 8373251.
DEC.12-26: Black Gap WMA quail
hunting. Call (432) 376-2216 or
(432) 837-3251.
DEC. 16: Concealed handgun seminar,
renewal only, Cabela’s, Fort Worth.
From 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more
information, call (817) 337-2400.
DEC. 16–18: Matagorda Island
SP&WMA Scheduled Hunts. Call
(361) 983-2215 for details.
DEC. 17: Basic fly-fishing, Bass Pro
Shops, Grapevine. 1 p.m. Learn basic
techniques to fly-casting. Stop by the
White River Fly Shop for more
information.
DEC. 17: Lake Livingston SP, fishing
with a ranger program. Bring your
rods and reels for some fishing fun.
Topics include fishing regulations,
ethics, basic tackle assembly and
more. 7-10 a.m.; reservations
required. Call (956) 365-2201 ext.
11 or (936) 365-2201.
DEC. 22: Muzzleloading course, Bass
Pro Shops, Grapevine. Introduction to
muzzleloading firearms. Class covers
loading, safety, cleaning, black
powder and substitute powders,
bullets and accessories. No shooting
is involved. Call (972) 724-2018.
PRODUCT PICKS
LIGHTHEADED
LOOKER: The
Cat’s Eyes
Quick!Light
attaches to a
cap to offer a
hands-free light
source.
The 1.24ounce cap
light features
three LED bulbs
that provide
ultra bright
white light. It is
powered by
lithium coin cell
batteries
offering 24-48
hours of
continuous use
and costs about
$17. For retailers,
visit www.universalmerchandisers.com or call (501) 374-1930.
KAYAK IN A CRUNCH: The
Yakka 80 by Bic Sport was
designed for those with limited
storage space. Folded, the kayak
measures 59 by 30 inches and
can fit in the trunk of a car or in
the back of an SUV. To set up,
unfold the rigid hull sections,
secure the center support and
inflate the sides. The 44-pound
Yakka is maneuverable
enough for most
experienced sea and lake
kayakers and can be used on
lower-rated rivers, but is not
recommended for whitewater
use. The Yakka 80 supports
riders up to 176 pounds; the
Yakka 120, available in
December, has a 265-pound
capacity. The kayaks cost about
$600. For retailers, visit
www.bicsportkayaks.com or call
(508) 291-2770.
A CUT ABOVE: The AccuSharp Camouflage Knife Sharpener has all the features
of the original AccuSharp plus a camouflage design. Its maker promises that it
can sharpen knives, axes and other cutting tools in about 10 seconds. The
ergonomic handle fits either hand securely while a full-length finger guard protects fingers. The sharpener has diamond-honed tungsten carbide sharpening
blades and can be cleaned in the dishwasher. It costs about $20. For retailers,
visit www.accusharp.com.
BOTTLED HEAT: The MegaBottle from
Greenhead Gear was made for
those chilly, all-day hunting
trips. It can hold up to 44
ounces of liquid and
comes with a drink cup
and soup bowl. The
double-walled stainless steel bottle’s
outer shell is available in two camouflage patterns.
It features a
carry handle
plus a
removable
shoulder
strap and a
screw-in
stopper to
help keep
contents
hot. The
bottle sells for
about $35. For retailers, call (800) 333-5119 or e-mail the
company through its Web site at www.greenheadgear.com.
RAPID FIRE: Camp Chef’s Campfire
In A Can is for those who don’t want
to waste much time building their
campfire. This campfire kit allows
outdoors enthusiasts to
have a contained raging
fire in minutes. To
clean up, just collapse it.
Made for use with wood or
pressed logs, the kit features
a steel base, a two-piece
black porcelain-coated
burning cage and an
aluminum canister
top. It sells for
about $80. An
optional grill is
about $10. For
retailers, visit
www.campchef.com or call (800) 650-2433.
GOOD VIBRATIONS:
Lucky Craft has
launched Live
LVR, a liveaction version
of its LVR
series of lipless
crankbaits. This
new 2 3/4-inch-long
crankbait has a
slightly wider surface
near the front, which
provides more water displacement across the body
as well as more vibration
and rattle than the current LVR series, according to professional
angler Marty Stone. It
costs about $20 and
comes in five colors, including Bleeding Aurora Black and
Bleeding Chartreuse Shad. Each has a red spot under the
body and two No. 4 red treble hooks; the rear hook comes standard as a
feather treble. To visit the company’s Web site, go to www.luckycraft.com; for retailers,
call (800) 270-3117.
EXPLORE NEW
WATERS: Thales
has introduced
18 detailed
marine charts
pre-loaded on
secure
digital
memory
cards for use with
Magellan GPS
handheld
receivers such as
the Magellan
eXplorist XL. The
Magellan
MapSend Blue
Nav XLS North
America delivers
cartography on
tides, currents,
depth contours and more for saltwater and major navigable
inland waterways. The SD memory cards cost about $200
each and are available for 18 regions, including the Gulf and
Atlantic coasts. For retailers or to order, go to
www.magellanGPS.com or call (866) 339-0488.
SHARP SHOOTER: Battenfeld
Technologies’ Caldwell Muley-Pod
gives shooters added stability when
paired with a bipod or front rest. The
device attaches to the rear sling swivel of the rifle and features
one-hand fingertip elevation adjustments to help
shooters stay on target.
The unit features sturdy
aluminum construction and a non-slip
rubber pad on the bottom of the foot.
The 5- to 7-inch model for prone
bipods costs about $37; the 7- to
11-inch model for sitting bipods
costs about $40. For retailers,
visit www.battenfeldtechnologies.com or call (573) 4463857.
DOUBLE FEATURE:
Wenger’s G-3
Navigator
Compass
Watch
will
help
show you
the way
and the
time. The
watch features
a nylon strap
with leather
accenting and a
white or black
dial. A swing-out
case houses a
fully functional
rotating compass.
The watch has
Swiss quartz
movement and is
water resistant to 165 feet. It costs about $200.
For retailers, visit www.wengerna.com or call
(800) 431-2996.
HEROES
Patrick Powers bagged this 22-point whitetail on his
property in western Oklahoma.
Seven-year-old Kent Breedlove has been going to the deer stand since age 2 with his
grandfather, Mike, and father, David. Kent killed his first deer, a 10-point buck, on
Thanksgiving Day while hunting on the family lease near Pontotoc.
Steve Fogle holds a 5.5-pound striped bass he caught at
Lake Texoma.
Share
an
adventure
Want to share your great
hunting or fishing adventure with the Lone Star
Outdoor News family?
E-mail your photo, phone
and caption information to
editor@lonestaroutdoornews. com, or mail to:
Heroes, Lone Star Outdoor
News, 9304 Forest Lane,
Suite 114 South, Dallas, TX,
75243.
Leret Hemphill of Mason bagged his first buck during a youth-only weekend this year.
Diana Swanson took down this whitetail buck on the Covert Ranch in LaSalle
County. The buck posted a 195 4/8 gross Boone & Crockett score.
MADE IN TEXAS
Microbiologists aglow with success of products
reaching the retailers and finally the fisherman. Gergely said the baitfish become stressed
in captivity. That can result in the loss of electrolytes and can affect the natural slime coat
Earthworms are positively glowing thanks
that helps shield them against bacteria, funto Tony and Lane Gergely. Fishermen are a litgus and viruses.
tle brighter, too.
Better-Bait replaces those electrolytes and it
Through Seguin-based Legend Laboratories,
stimulates the fish’s slime cells. It also
this husband-wife microbiologist team has
removes chlorine and chelates heavy metals
developed Worm-Glo. It not only provides
from the water.
essential nutrients that keep worms nourSince Tony Gergely started Sure-Life, the
ished for up to six months, but it also concompany’s product line has grown from six to
tains a non-toxic biological stain that turns
about 75 products sold nationally and in
them a fluorescent chartreuse. Plus, it gives
Canada. The different products have been
the fattened-up worms a little more wiggle.
formulated to work in different regions and
It’s a combination that predatory fish find
on specific species. For example, Please
irresistible, according to Tony Gergely, whose
Release Me and Walleye-Saver are for bass and
sales of the Worm-Glo have been snowwalleye fishermen who like to catch and
balling, largely through word of mouth.
release. The Fungus-Aid and Ick-Off target fish
“They catch the heck out of fish,” he said of
diseases; the Foam-Off retards foam growth
the bright green worms. “They really squirm
on the water’s surface so oxygen can better
on the hook because the food is such an enerreach the fish.
gizer.” Also, the chartreuse, he explained, is
Sure-Life’s newest product is Redfish-Saver.
one of the few colors that can be seen all the
“The Redfish-Saver calms the fish so they
way to the bottom of the water.
stop fighting their new environment,” said
Before the Gergelys started Legend Labs in
Tony Gergely, who serves as company presi2001, they were bettering other bait through
dent. “Saltwater fish, especially game fish,
TEAMING UP: Lane and Tony Gergely put their minds together to help fishermen. The
Sure-Life Laboratories. The company, also
have a harder time with ammonia so we
microbiologist team has developed such products as Worm-Glo and Redfish-Saver.
based in Seguin, specializes in fish-care proddevised a way to remove the ammonia from
ucts for the fishing industry. Customers range
the water.”
from the small fisherman to bait farmers.
At
Lake
Texoma,
where
shad
is
a
favorite
bait, Sure-Life’s Shad-Keeper is one of
Tony Gergely, who launched Sure-Life in 1991, started experimenting on formuDave Parkey’s best sellers.
las designed to keep fish in captivity alive after graduating from the University of
“It’s like pulling teeth to keep shad alive and his Shad-Keeper does a super job
Florida in 1981. Back then, he said, most of the products on the market were
for us,” said Parkey, owner of Dave’s Ski & Tackle in Denison, near the Texaswater conditioners for aquariums. A lifelong fisherman, Gergely was interested in
Oklahoma border.
developing products for the fishing industry.
“We sell the heck out of his products,” he adds.
Better-Bait, a life extender for minnows, was his first product. “Most of the bait
For more information on the two companies, visit www.sure-life.com or
is raised in Arkansas and Mississippi in massive bait farms.” he said.
www.legend-labs.com.
The minnows go from the farm’s bait tanks to trucks to wholesalers before
By Mary Helen Aguirre
WEATHER
TEXAS TIDBITS
TEXAS WORD TREASURES
Across
1. These large fish spawn in
the surf during the fall
5. Type of oak tree
7. Proper name for a catfish's
whiskers
9. Shot made from something
other than lead
10. Blue quail are also known as
_______
12. Wildlife Management Area
(Initials)
13. Breeding period for deer
14. Must keep a fully feathered
wing on these types of birds
until you arrive home
16. Nickname for anglers who
spend lots of time fishing
piers extending into the gulf
19. The interior tube of a gun
barrel
Down
1. Sam Houston's nickname
2. Lead sinker sporting copper
"legs"
3. Collared peccary
4. Game bird; highest concentrations found in the
Panhandle
6. Taking of game with birds of
prey
7. Largest of the Atlantic marlins. Hint: Makaira nigricans
8. Border lake near Del Rio
11. Teamed with Daniel Boone to
form famous hunting club
1
WILD IN THE KITCHEN
Venison Elizabeth
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
From time to time and occasionally on a commission basis, I create
special recipes for special companies
and extraordinary people. Elizabeth
“Libbie” McLain is one of those special people. She was instrumental in
the production and
design of the first
The Sporting Chef
Web site. Libbie is
an extremely creative and entertaining friend, but I
think she’d rather
eat a cheeseburger
than
Venison
Elizabeth. She’s not
too adventurous
when it comes to
food.
18
4 servings
19
Copyright 2004 Texas Word Treasures, Greg Berlocher. All Rights Reserved.
15. Shotguns may hold no more
than ____ shells when hunting migratory birds
17. This type of trail can lead you
to downed game
18. The amount of anchor rope
that is deployed is known as
________
See SOLUTIONS, Page 17
2 pounds venison loin; all fat,
gristle and silver skin removed
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon cracked black
peppercorns
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup beef broth or game stock
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh
rosemary, minced
2 cups fresh ripe strawberries,
quartered
Season venison with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over
medium-high heat and sear venison
evenly
until
browned, but not
cooked beyond rare.
Add beef broth to
the pan and stir to
loosen bits. Add red
wine and cook for
30 seconds. Remove
venison from pan.
Add vinegar, garlic
and rosemary and
reduce liquid by
about two-thirds.
Return venison to
pan to warm. Add strawberries and
cook about 1 minute. To serve, slice
venison into medallions and top
with strawberries and sauce.
— Chef Scott Leysath
Visit SportingChef.com for more
great fish and game recipes and
where to catch Leysath’s TV Show,
HuntFishCook. Leysath is the official
chef for Realtree and Ducks
Unlimited. He also appears weekly
on Ducks Unlimited TV on OLN and
The Sportsman Channel.
GAME WARDEN BLOTTER
HE THOUGHT HE HEARD A RUSTLER
• A complaint of an individual
shooting deer and not retrieving
them led Goliad County Game
Wardens Jesse Garcia and Kevin
Fagg to check the brush on a
landowner’s property. The brush
was thick and hard to see through.
Garcia and Fagg found a deer’s carcass and were about to examine it
when a shot rang out from behind
them. A man about 50 yards outside the brush had fired a shot in
their direction from a 30.06 rifle.
The bullet fragmented. A small portion of the bullet struck Garcia in
the knee and unknown debris
struck Fagg in the side of the face.
The shooter said he didn’t see anything, but he had heard a “rustling
noise.” The man was charged with
deadly conduct and taken to the
Goliad County Jail. The game wardens were shaken up but otherwise
OK.
POACHERS ZAPPED
• Bill Magee, a retired game warden, called Grimes County Game
Warden Jonathan Heaton about
two men suspected of hunting
from the road. On arrival, Heaton
found that Magee had stopped the
vehicle and separated the two men.
Brazos County Game Warden Chad
Jones then arrived. During the
game wardens’ investigation, both
men confessed to hunting and
shooting from the road. A search of
their truck — and an aluminum
boat in the bed of the truck —
turned up a “zapper.” The men
admitted they had been on the
Navasota River earlier and used the
zapper to shock fish. The driver was
also a convicted felon. Both men
were arrested. Multiple charges are
pending.
BAD INTELLIGENCE LEADS CAPTAIN ASTRAY
After receiving a report of shots fired, Bell County
Game Warden Shawn Moore drove to a subdivision
in Harker Heights. He found a man in blaze orange
dragging a deer out of the brush. The man was an
Army captain from Fort Hood who was from out of
state. He told Moore that his major said that it was
open territory in Texas, and you could just go out
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE
HUNTING WAS EXCELLENT
• The Pecos County Sheriff’s
Department called Ward County
Game Warden Robert French about
a man duck hunting on the Pecos
River. French responded and located the hunter, who had cut a fence
to gain access to the river. The
hunter was over the bag limit on
redhead ducks, hunting waterfowl
with lead shot, hunting without a
federal waterfowl duck stamp and
failed to produce a valid hunting
license. Appropriate charges were
filed, and the investigation continues on the trespass charge.
BACK FOR MORE
• After a boat accident on Lake
Texoma, Grayson County Game
Warden Dale Moses interviewed the
boat operator — who had been
detained by the marina’s security
officer. The man appeared to be
intoxicated, but cooperative. Moses
arrested him for BWI and transported him to the Grayson County Jail
where he refused to take a breath
test. The next day, Moses was back
at the marina getting witness statements and taking pictures of the
damaged vessels when he came
upon the man arrested the night
before. The man was sitting in the
and get you a deer. The landowner didn’t press
charges for trespassing feeling that anyone that
naive couldn’t be a poacher. However, the captain
also failed to tag his deer. Moore contacted a friend
at Fort Hood and made sure the major got correct
information on hunting in Texas. The case is pending.
parking lot drinking alcohol. After
inspecting the man’s boat, Moses
issued him a citation for having an
unregistered boat.
THE HUNTING WAS BETTER ON
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE
• Nacogdoches County Game
Warden Doug Spivey filed state jail
felony charges on a 30-year-old De
Soto man for taking a 2-year-old
buck from a scientific breeder’s pen.
The man had a hunting lease adjacent to the property. A larger buck
also was killed, and the investigation continues on that deer.
BIG-GAME BUCK PROVES
COSTLY FOR HUNTER
• A local locker plant called Cass
County Game Warden Dan Hill
about an unusually large deer left
for processing. The deer weighed
245 pounds and had holes in both
ears that appeared to have had tags
in them. From the hunting license
tag on the deer and the location of
the kill, Hill knew a big-game farm
was nearby. The farm’s owner was
notified. He and Hill found an area
along the game-proof fence where a
hole had been dug under it, then
covered with leaves. Confronted,
the hunter who had left the deer for
processing confessed. The buck
scored 158 Boone and Crockett
points. The game farm owner had
purchased the deer six months earlier for $5,880. The hunter was
charged with a felony and several
misdemeanors.
A MILD CHILI COOK-OFF
• Brewster County Game Warden
Ray Spears and Reeves County
Game Warden Jared Self assisted the
Brewster County Sheriff’s
Department with law enforcement
at the popular Terlingua Chili CookOff. The wardens report this year’s
cook-off was rather “tame” with few
arrests being made.
SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER
• Arriving at a hunting camp just
before dark, Gonzales County
Game Warden Jason Davis and
Bastrop County Game Warden
Roger Steward found it empty. Davis
noticed an ice chest with blood on
it and found a quartered deer carcass inside. Steward located a buck’s
head and a hide in a shed behind
the deer camp. The wardens waited
until three hunters arrived and
asked if they had any luck. The
hunters replied, “No,” then Davis
asked to see their hunting licenses
and noticed no tags were missing.
When asked about the deer in the
ice chest, one of the hunters told
the wardens that his cousin had
killed the deer and left to go back to
Houston. After questioning another
hunter, Davis found out there were
actually two deer in two separate ice
chests, one a doe without MLD permits. Steward walked behind the
camp in search of the doe head and
instead found a fourth hunter hiding in the grass. He and the hunter
returned to the camp, where the
hunter admitted to shooting the
doe with a .22-caliber rifle. Another
hunter admitted to shooting the
untagged buck. One hunter was a
probation officer who cooperated
and told the truth. The hunter hiding in the grass was a chaplain’s
assistant in the military.
YOU MEAN WE DON’T GET
TO GRADE OURSELVES?
• Two men who had stopped at a
voluntary check station with two
deer prompted a call to Fayette
County Game Warden Erik Nygren.
Their deer did not meet the local
antler regulations. After talking to
the men, both from Houston, about
antler restrictions, Nygren determined they were aware of the regulation. However, the men thought
no one would know about the violation if they filled out the data
sheet themselves. Both deer were
seized and citations were issued.
THEY HIT THE TRIFECTA
• Wise County Game Warden
Christopher Dowdy caught three
men for numerous waterfowl hunting violations, including possession
of lead shot, no migratory bird
stamp and exceeding the daily bag
limit.
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BORDERING TEXAS
ARKANSAS
Caddo River access dedicated
Anglers and canoeists who favor the Caddo
River have another way to access their hobbies.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission dedicated a new access to the river in Glenwood
last month.
More than 60 people attended the dedication ceremony, including many of the partners
who helped fund and construct the public
access. The city of Glenwood donated $7,000
towards the access and landscaped the area.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission,
with funds from the Marine Fuel Tax Program
and the Sportfish Restoration Program, pitched
in $40,000 for materials and another $32,000
for the asphalt road into the area.
Operation Game Thief Inc.
wolf’s death.
New Mexico
OKLAHOMA
Endangered animals’ deaths probed
LOUISIANA
Alligator hunter sentenced
Kip Lastrapes, 44, of Breaux Bridge entered
into a one-count plea agreement in U.S.
District Court for the Western District in
Lafayette, La., for taking alligators in violation
of the Endangered Species Act.
United States Magistrate Michael Hill sentenced Lastrapes to 180 days of home confinement and ordered him to pay the cost of electronic monitoring, a $25 assessment fee and to
make a $10,000 donation to Louisiana
Hunters offered waterfowl report
A bald eagle and a Mexican gray wolf were
found dead in the Gila region in southwest
New Mexico last month, according to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. Both the bald eagle
and the wolf are federally listed under the
Endangered Species Act.
The wolf has been identified as the Ring Pack
Alpha Female #799.
A reward of up to $10,000 is offered for information leading to the apprehension of the
individual or individuals responsible for the
‘My sons and I enjoy your publication and look forward to each issue. Thanks!’
With relatively warm temperatures and dry
conditions across most of the state, waterfowl
hunters may need all the help they can get in
pinpointing where the ducks are this year. By
logging on to the Oklahoma Department of
Wildlife Conservation’s Web site
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/waterfowl.htm, however, they can add another
scouting tool to their belt. There they’ll find
statewide waterfowl reports.
Crossword puzzle solution from Page 15
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OUTFITTERS
ADVERTISEMENT
Circle H ‘spread out far’
Shannon, Lauren, Allison and Scott Hickman in Brackettville
for Easter and opening weekend of turkey season 2004.
Circle H Outfitters’ acreage is vast.
Outfitter Capt. Scott Hickman’s business
is “spread out far — from Devers to Alvin
to Rockport.”
There’s 10,000 acres in South Texas for
deer and turkey hunting. Plus 40,000
acres for duck, goose and dove hunting.
Circle H also offers offshore and bay
fishing, operating a 31-foot Stamos and a
21-foot Shallowsport for bay fishing.
The business is nearing 19 years of
service to the outdoorsman. “I started
doing it when I was in college and just
kept right on doing it,” Hickman said.
Hickman is excited about what’s ahead
for hunters and anglers. “On Dec. 10
duck hunting cranks back up,” he said.
There are thousands of acres of big
Hunt the BIG Bucks
of South Texas.
freshwater marsh ranches from Rockport
to Refugio.
The outfitter operates two lodges overlooking Copano Bay. Sleeping accomodations for 10, 2 full baths and a fullyequipped kitchen provide a comfortable
place to relax before and after the hunt.
“Duck hunting has been awesome on
our freshwater marshes near Rockport,”
Hickman said. “Plenty of gadwall, widgeon, teal, redheads and ringnecks and
very good numbers of greenheads.”
Big numbers of snow and specklebellies
showed up both near Devers and Alvin.”
And for the deer hunter “we still have
some great deals on remaining hunts on
our Bracketville ranches for this season.”
Trophy Deer Hunting is on 24,000 acres
of high-fenced South Texas ranches in
Bracketville, Laredo and Refugio. All the
hunts are guided and include lodging and
first-class blinds.
Looking for the chance to bring in that
trophy trout? The action is aplenty.
“Trout fishing has really started to heat
up at the lodges in Rockport,” Hickman
said, adding, “the soft plastic bite has been
producing limits.”
Whatever game is your favorite, Circle
H Outfitters has it.
For your next outdoors adventure, call
Capt. Scott Hickman at (281) 535-1930.
For more information, check the Web site
— www.circleh.org.
The action is starting to heat up — don’t
miss out.
Alberta Native Guide Services Ltd.
Alberta Whitetail 10 day
Only $5,000
Including Food, Lodging and
Airfair from Texas
Two hunts still available for late November
9000 acre Nueces River Ranch
www.ghostapacheranch.com
Phone: (780) 478-1988
Fax: (780) 478-1918
email: [email protected]
Ken Steinhauer, Proprietor
214-929-0823
Offshore and Bay fishing
30' Stamas
21' Shallowsport
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South Texas
Deer and Turkey
Hunting
10,000 Acres
Duck, Goose and
Dove Hunting
40,000 Acres
Capt. Scott Hickman
3218 Coral Ridge Ct.
League City, TX 77573
(281) 535-1930
Fax: (281) 535-1935
www.circleh.org
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RANCHES
For Sale — High-fenced exotic
game ranch — 927 acres close to
Blanco, Texas. Valleys, great cover
and wonderful home sites. $5,995
per acre. Call Bill Godwin - agent (214) 356-5244 or Compass1
Realty (903) 712-0999. If interested, call for a survey on DVD.
For Sale — 960 Ac., Fisher Co.,
mule/WT deer, blue/bob quail, hogs,
nice home, barn, pens, bordering
the Double Mountain Fork of the
Brazos River, income-producing
ranch. $785.00 Ac. www.fickesdorety.com (817) 925-0483.
PROPERTIES
South Texas — Brooks, Duval, Jim
Hogg County Ranches. Call: David
A. Lohse Real Estate, Inc. (956)
761-6699.
South Padre Island Waterfront properties on the Laguna Madre and Gulf
of Mexico. Call: David A. Lohse Real
Estate, Inc. (956) 761-6699.
GUIDED HUNTS
E M P L OY M E N T
Dove-Deer-Quail Bobwhite & Bluewild only. Meals/Lodging. Call Lone
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LONE STAR OUTDOOR
NEWS REACHES
READERS ACROSS
TEXAS. SHOW THEM
YOUR CLASSIFIED AD.
FISHING REPORT
CENTRAL
BASTROP: Water fairly clear. Black bass are
good on watermelon red and watermelon seed
soft plastic worms, and on white and silver
spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps. Crappie are fair
on minnows and green tube jigs. Channel and
blue catfish are good on shrimp, liver, and
stinkbait. Yellow catfish are slow.
BELTON: Water murky; 75 degrees; 1.80'
low. Black bass are slow. Hybrid striper are
slow. White bass are slow. Crappie are slow.
Channel and blue catfish are slow. Yellow catfish are slow.
BROWNWOOD: Water clear; 61 degrees;
1.86' low. Black bass are fair on Strike Works
jigs, and crawdad and shad colored Persuader
Stealth shad crankbaits near docks and rocky
areas. Hybrid striper are fair under lights and
trolling. White bass are fair on Li'l Fishies,
Rat-L-Traps, and crankbaits under lights.
Crappie are fair on small tube jigs and minnows at the 279 Bridge and Kirkland Docks
in 15 - 18 feet. Catfish are slow.
BUCHANAN: Water clear; 60 degrees; 6.80'
low. Black bass to 6 pounds are good on _oz.
Bleeding Shad Rat-L-Traps, white custom
tungsten Terminator spinnerbaits, and Texas
rigged green/pumpkin Scoundrel worms along
flats with stumps and laydowns in 2 - 6 feet.
Striped bass to 26” are good vertically jigging
_oz. Perk Minnows, white bucktails with plastic trailers, and tight lining live bait from Flag
to Shaw Island in 30 feet. White bass are
slow. Crappie are fair to good on live minnows
over brushpiles. Channel catfish are slow.
Yellow and blue catfish are slow.
CANYON LAKE: Water gin clear; 62 degrees;
1.91' low. Black bass are good on Texas
rigged watermelon/red Crème Scoundrel
worms, 4” pumpkin Ring Worms and
smoke/red Snap Back tubes along boulders
and chunk rock inside of timber with deep
water nearby in 3 - 10 feet. Striped bass are
fair vertically jigging Perk Minnows, weighted
white Snap Back jerkbaits, and cranking or
trolling deep diving Rogues over areas with
humps in 40 - 60 feet. White bass are slow.
Smallmouth bass are very good on smoke colored 4” JDC grubs, _oz. Rat-L-Traps, and
split shot rigged Devil's Tongues over rock
piles and along bluff ledges in 3 - 10 feet.
Crappie are fair on minnows and crappie jigs.
Channel catfish are fair. Yellow catfish to 10
pounds are fair on minnows and Black Salty
baitfish.
COLEMAN: Water clear; 69 degrees; 1.40'
low. Black bass are slow. Hybrid striper are
slow. Crappie are fair on minnows and
red/white tube jigs. Channel and blue catfish
are slow. Yellow catfish are slow.
COLORADO RIVER: (At Colorado Bend State
Park) Water clear. Black bass are slow.
Striped bass are slow. White bass are fair on
blue/silver spinnerbaits. Crappie are fair on
minnows. Catfish are fair on stinkbait, nightcrawlers, shrimp, and perch.
DUNLAP/MCQUEENY: Water slightly stained;
77 degrees. Black bass are fair on
chrome/white Rat-L-Traps, Texas rigged soft
plastic worms, and spinnerbaits in 5 - 15
feet. White bass are good on live minnows
and chartreuse Curb's crappie jigs at night
under lights in 10 - 20 feet. Crappie are good
on live minnows. Channel catfish are good on
shad, stinkbait, and shrimp. Blue catfish are
good on cut shad, dead shad, and shrimp
upriver in 10 - 15 feet. Yellow catfish are
slow.
FAYETTE: Water fairly clear; 70 degrees.
Black bass are good on perch colored topwaters early and late, and on plum Carolina
rigged soft plastic worms and watermelon red
and watermelon seed French Fries. Channel
and blue catfish are fair on shrimp over baited holes.
GRANBURY: Water slightly stained; 0.73'
low. Black bass are good on chartreuse soft
plastics and Rat-L-Traps, and on minnows.
Striped bass are slow. White bass are fair on
minnows and silver slabs. Crappie are good
on minnows and red/white tube jigs. Catfish
are good on frozen shrimp, live bait, and
stinkbait.
GRANGER: Water murky; 57 degrees; 0.26'
low. Black bass are slow. White bass are good
on slab spoons up the river among shad.
Crappie are slow. Blue catfish are fair on
shad in 10 - 20 feet. Yellow catfish are slow.
LBJ: Water clear; 61 degrees; 0.10' low.
Black bass are good in 4 - 10 feet over
brushpiles, docks, and laydowns on Rat-LTraps, Texas rigged green/pumpkin
Scoundrel worms, and white/chartreuse/blue
Terminator spinnerbaits. Striped bass are fair
on natural 3” Spoiler Shads, Rat-L-Traps, and
Terminator In-Line spinnerbaits in the shoals.
White bass are good on Tiny Traps and
Spoiler Shads early. Crappie are fair to good
on minnows at night. Channel catfish are fair.
Yellow and blue catfish are fair on trotlines.
NAVARRO MILLS: Water fairly clear; 3.41'
low. Black bass are good on chrome/white
Rat-L-Traps, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits.
White bass are slow. Crappie are fair on minnows and blue tube jigs. Channel and blue
catfish are good on shrimp, stinkbait, chicken
livers, and nightcrawlers. Yellow catfish are
slow.
PROCTOR: Water stained; 71 degrees; 4.29'
low. Black bass are good on white spinnerbaits. Striped bass are good on striper jigs,
spinnerbaits, and live bait. White bass are
fair on live bait. Crappie are good on minnows. Channel and blue catfish are good on
shrimp and shad. Yellow catfish are slow.
SOMERVILLE: Water clear; 3.13' low. Black
bass are slow. Hybrid striper are slow. White
bass are slow. Crappie are fair slow. Channel
and blue catfish are slow. Yellow catfish are
slow.
STILLHOUSE: Water clear; 70 degrees; 0.52'
low. Black bass are fair on minnows and
watermelon seed soft plastic worms and
lizards. White bass are slow. Smallmouth
bass are good on minnows and red shad.
Crappie are slow. Channel and blue catfish
are fair on shrimp. Yellow catfish are slow.
TRAVIS: Water clear; 68 degrees; 16.20' low.
Black bass to 4 pounds are good on watermelon soft plastic worms, Radar 10 crawfish,
and crankbaits in 4 - 18 feet. Striped bass
are slow. White bass are slow. Crappie to 12”
are fair on minnows and blue tube jigs 18 30 feet. Channel and blue catfish to 6
pounds are fair on fresh cutbait and nightcrawlers in 25 - 40 feet. Yellow catfish are
slow.
WALTER E. LONG: Water clear; 69 degrees.
Black bass are good on minnows and on
watermelon/red soft plastics. Hybrid striper
are good on live shad and striper jigs. White
bass are slow. Crappie are good on minnows.
Channel and blue catfish are good on shrimp,
nightcrawlers, frozen shad, and stinkbait.
Yellow catfish are good on live bait.
WHITNEY: Water clear; 3.77' low. Black bass
are good on chrome/white Rat-L-Traps,
crankbaits, and spinnerbaits in 10 - 20 feet.
Striped bass are fair on chartreuse/white
striper jigs. White bass are slow. Crappie are
good on live minnows and green tube jigs.
Catfish are good on stinkbait, chicken livers,
and frozen shrimp.
NORTHEAST
ATHENS: Water clear, 59-63 degrees; 3.6'
low. Black bass are fair on soft plastics and
jigs in 12-20 feet around submerged brush
and standing timber along creek channels.
Crappie are fair on chartreuse/black and
red/white jigs in 15-24 feet around main lake
brush piles. Catfish are fair on prepared baits
fished over baited holes in 18-24 feet.
BOB SANDLIN: Water clear; 60-62 degrees;
5.14' low. Black bass are fair on black/blue
jigs pitched close to standing timber. White
bass are good on jigging spoons and
TailHummers around humps and points in
20-30 feet. Catfish are good on prepared
baits in 10-15 feet along submerged creek
channels.
BRIDGEPORT: Water clear; 58-62. Black
bass are good on shad pattern medium running crankbaits and jigs. Hybrid striper are
fair on slabs, Sassy Shad and live shad.
Catfish are fair on nightcrawlers and cut bait.
CADDO: Water clear; 52-56 degrees; 2.5'
low. Black bass are good on shad pattern topwaters and spinnerbaits on the edges of the
creeks in pad stems. Crappie and yellow bass
are excellent on shiners and red/green jigs
along the edge of the main channel around
Johnson's Ranch Marina in pads in 4-5 feet.
CEDAR CREEK: Water stained; 58-63
degrees; 3.5' low. Black bass are fair on spinnerbaits and Texas rigged worms around main
lake and secondary points. White bass are
good on slabs and jigging spoons over points
and humps in 20-25 feet. Hybrid striper are
slow to fair on slabs and live shad. Crappie
are fair on minnows and jigs on main lake
brush piles. Catfish are good drift fishing
shad over points and humps.
COOPER: Water stained; 59-63 degrees. The
lake is very low. Boaters are advised to use
extreme caution.
FAIRFIELD: Water clear; 72-80 degrees.
Black bass are good on flukes and Senkos
above the grass line, and Carolina-rigs off the
points. Hybrid striper are slow on white/chartreuse slabs and live shad on main lake
points. Redfish are slow on live shad in the
inlet cove and around the dam. Catfish are
fair on prepared baits and live shad.
FORK: Water clear 59-62 degrees; 3.60' low;
Black bass are good along main lake grass
lines and creek channels where bait fish are
present. Use watermelon seed super flukes
and Carolina rigged watermelon seed french
frys (smaller bass are moving out and bigger
ones are moving in to the shallows). Crappie
are very good on minnows in 20-24 feet.
Catfish are good on prepared baits in 22-24
feet.
GRAPEVINE: Water stained; 59-62 degrees;
5.59' low. Black bass are fair on crankbaits
and jigs off points and vertical rocky structure. Crappie are fair on minnows in 12-20
feet. White bass are fair on slabs and
TailHummers around humps and points and
off the north end of the island. Catfish are
good on prepared baits and nightcrawlers.
JOE POOL: Water stained; 58-63 degrees; 3'
low. Black bass are fair on crankbaits and
spinnerbaits in 6-14 feet. Crappie are fair to
good on minnows and jigs around brush piles.
White bass are fair on slabs. Catfish are fair
to good on shad and prepared baits around
points and humps in 8-16 feet.
LAKE O' THE PINES: Water stained; 58-62
degrees; 3.51' low. Black bass are fair on
Texas rigged worms and brown/chartreuse
jigs. Crappie are fair on minnows around
heavy brush. White bass are slow on slabs
and jigging spoons. Channel catfish are good
on cut bait. Yellow catfish are fair on live
perch and Black Salty baitfish.
LAVON: Water stained; 59-63 degrees; 8.78'
low. Black bass are fair on crankbaits and
soft plastics. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. White bass are fair on
white/chartreuse slabs fished vertically on
main lake points in 16 -20 feet. Catfish are
fair to good drifting fresh shad off points.
LEWISVILLE: Water stained; 59-64 degrees;
and Texas rigged watermelon candy worms.
Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs.
White bass are fair to good on slabs and minnows. Catfish are good drifting fresh shad
around humps and points in 20-34 feet.
MARTIN CREEK: Water clear; 71 degrees
mid-lake, 82 at hot water discharge; normal
pool. Black bass are fair on Carolina-rigged
watermelon seed worms. Crappie are fair on
minnows. Catfish are fair on stinkbait. Bream
are slow.
PALESTINE: Water clear; 59-64 degrees;
2.63' low. Black bass are fair on dark colored soft plastic, jigs and crankbaits in 6-14
feet. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs
around deeper boathouses with brush. White
bass are fair on Rat-L-Traps and slabs in 1220 feet. Hybrid striper are slow. Catfish are
good on cut shad.
RAY HUBBARD: Water stained; 59-63
degrees; 3.28' low. Black bass are fair on
shad pattern crankbaits, Rat-L-Traps and
green pumpkin flukes. Crappie are fair on
minnows and jigs in 12-20 feet. White bass
are fair on slabs and Humdingers. Hybrid
striper are slow on slabs. Catfish are fair to
good on fresh shad drifted over submerged
humps and points in 12-20 feet.
RAY ROBERTS: Water clear; 59-62 degrees;
2.78' low. Black bass are fair on Carolina
rigged soft plastics and crankbaits. Crappie
are fair on minnows and jigs. White bass are
fair on chartreuse slabs and white Road
Runners. Catfish are fair on cut bait and
nightcrawlers.
RICHLAND CHAMBERS: Water stained; 5864 degrees; 4' low. Black bass are fair on
shad pattern crankbaits and wood jigs. White
bass are fair to good on white or chartreuse
slabs. Crappie are fair on minnows and
brown/blue jigs in 12-20 feet around heavy
brush and timber. Catfish are fair good drift
fishing fresh shad off points and over humps.
TAWAKONI: Water stained; 59-62 degrees;
6.75' low. Black bass are slow to fair on
crankbaits and Texas rigged worms. Crappie
are good on minnows and jigs. White bass are
fair to good on white or chartreuse slabs
fished close to the bottom in 16-22 feet.
Striped bass and hybrid striper are slow on
slabs, shad and Sassy Shad. Catfish are good
on cut shad and prepared baits.
TEXOMA: Water clear; 58-64 degrees; 1.36'
low. Black bass are fair on jigs, crankbaits
and soft plastics. Smallmouth bass are fair to
good on slabs and by free-lining shad around
vertical rock structure. Crappie are fair on
minnows around boathouses. Striped bass are
fair to good on live shad fished on flats at the
mouth of major creeks and rivers - the Sassy
Shad and slab bite is beginning to pick up.
Blue catfish are good on cut shad.
WEATHERFORD: Water stained; 60 degrees;
5.7' low. Black bass are good on dark colored
soft plastics, crankbaits and chartreuse spinnerbaits. Crappie are slow on minnows and
jigs. Channel catfish are slow. White bass are
poor. Bream are fair on worms. The repaired
boat ramps will reopen Monday, December
5th.
SOUTH
AMISTAD: Water clear; 70 degrees. Black
bass are very good on watermelon seed and
red/red heavy jigs and drop shot rigs in 20 25 feet, and fair on spinnerbaits and topwaters in the same colors. Striped bass are fair
on slabs and striper jigs in the Castle Canyon
area. White bass are fair on slabs and striper
jigs in the Castle Canyon area. Crappie are
slow. Channel and blue catfish are fair on
cheesebait over baited holes in 40 - 50 feet.
Yellow catfish are slow.
BRAUNIG: Water stained; 82 degrees. Black
bass are slow. Striped bass are slow. Redfish
to 14 pounds are fair on perch and shrimp.
Channel and blue catfish are fair on liver,
shrimp, and shad. Yellow catfish are slow.
CALAVERAS: Water stained; 83 degrees.
Black bass are slow. Striped bass are slow.
Redfish are fair on shrimp and perch on the
bottom. Channel catfish are excellent on liver,
shrimp, and nightcrawlers. Blue and yellow
catfish are slow.
CHOKE CANYON: Water clear; 63 degrees;
2.66' low. Black bass to 10 pounds are good
on magic shad Fork Frogs, white spinnerbaits, and white buzzbaits in the backs of
coves in 2 - 6 feet early, and later on 1oz.
Tungsten Texas rigged with cotton candy 7”
YUM Zellamander lizards and watermelon
chartreuse Fork Creatures in grass in 10 - 20
feet, and on perch Jackall lipless crankbaits
or perch Lucky Craft Flat CB-20's along grass
edges. White bass are good on live minnows
and trolling firetiger crankbaits around main
lake points in 5 - 10 feet. Crappie are fair on
live minnows and blue Fle-Fly jigs tipped with
live minnows over brushpiles and standing
timber in 6 - 15 feet. Channel and blue catfish to 6 pounds are fair on Lewis King
punchbait and Black Salty baitfish in 10 - 20
feet.
Yellow catfish to 20 pounds are fair on trotlines and juglines baited with hybrid bluegill
and goldfish.
COLETO CREEK: Water clear; 72 degrees (86
degrees at hot water discharge); 2.26' low.
Black bass are good on shallow diving
crankbaits and spinnerbaits over weed beds
in 5 - 10 feet. Striped bass are slow. White
bass are slow. Crappie are fair on live minnows and blue/white tube jigs. Channel and
blue catfish are slow. Yellow catfish are slow.
FALCON: Water fairly clear; 70 degrees.
Black bass are good on dark soft plastic
worms and Brush Hogs in 10 - 12 feet.
Striped bass are slow. Crappie are slow.
Channel and blue catfish are excellent on
shad, cutbait, and frozen shrimp. Yellow catfish are slow. Mexican fishing licenses and
boat permits are required to fish in Mexican
waters. Everyone in the boat must have a
Mexico Fishing License whether fishing or
not.
MEDINA: Water stained; 63 degrees; 8.68'
low. Black bass to 6 pounds are good on
white/silver spinnerbaits and white YUM buzz
frogs in the backs of creeks in 2 - 8 feet
early, and later on watermelon gold flake
Baby Ring-Fry's and killer craw Lake Fork
Flippers along main lake points in 10 - 20
feet. White bass are fair on live minnows and
trolling baby bass crankbaits around main
lake points in 6 - 12 feet. Smallmouth bass
to 4 pounds are good on crawfish green flake
YUM Crawbugs and motor oil jigs along
ledges and rock piles in 10 - 25 feet. Crappie
are fair on live minnows and yellow Fle-Fly
jigs tipped with live minnows around brushpiles and standing timber at night under
lights in 10 - 25 feet. Striped bass are good
vertically jigging white Fle-Fly slabs in river
channel and main lake points in 20 - 35
feet. Channel and blue catfish to 10 pounds
are fair on Lewis King punchbait, Black Salty
baitfish, and goldfish. Yellow catfish to 15
pounds are fair on juglines baited with perch
and goldfish.
SOUTHEAST
CONROE: Water slightly stained; 4.05' low.
Black bass are good on chrome/blue Rat-LTraps, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits. Striped
bass are good on silver spoons and striper
jigs. Crappie are fair on minnows and chartreuse tube jigs. Catfish are fair on frozen
shrimp, stinkbait, and nightcrawlers.
GIBBONS CREEK: Water slightly stained.
Black bass are good on silver/blue Rat-LTraps, crankbaits, and topwaters. Crappie are
fair on minnows and red/white tube jigs.
Catfish are good on liver, shrimp, nightcrawlers, and stinkbait.
HOUSTON COUNTY: Water stained; 68
degrees; 0.61' low. Black bass to 9 pounds
are very good on chartreuse crankbaits and
chartreuse/white spinnerbaits near the marina
in 6 feet. Crappie to 1 pound are good on live
minnows near the dam. Bream are good on
live worms off piers early and late. Catfish to
3 pounds are good on live worms and chicken
livers off piers late.
LIVINGSTON: Water fairly clear; 63 degrees;
and spinnerbaits. Striped bass are slow.
White bass are fair on chrome/blue Rat-LTraps off sandy points. Crappie are good on
minnows. Channel and blue catfish are very
good on cutbait and prepared bait. Yellow
catfish are slow.
SAM RAYBURN: Water lightly stained; 64
degrees; 4.82' low. Black bass are good on
black/gold/orange rogues and Long A's in
hydrilla in 4 - 6 feet, white and
chartreuse/white spinnerbaits, and crawfish
and bleeding shiner Rat-L-Traps over scattered hydrilla in 3 - 5 feet. Crappie are fair
on live shiners and black/chartreuse jigs over
planted brushtops in 18 - 25 feet.
TOLEDO BEND: Water clear; 65 degrees;
8.95' low. Black bass are good on buzzbaits
and small spinnerbaits around shallow grass
early and late, watermelon/red and plum
Super Flukes and Senkos along creek channel edges in 6 - 8 feet, and chartreuse/blue
back and firetiger medium running crankbaits
around timber in 8 - 10 feet. Crappie are fair
on shiners around laydowns and brushtops
along creek channels in 6 - 8 feet. Catfish
are fair on prepared baits in major creek
channels.
PANHANDLE
BAYLOR: Water lightly stained; 60 degrees.
Black bass are slow. Crappie are slow. Catfish
are slow.
GREENBELT: Water lightly stained; 50
degrees; 21.65' low. Black bass are slow on
dark jigs and live bait fished tight to cover.
Crappie are slow on jigs and minnows. White
bass are fair on live bait and Chrome Rat-LTraps. Smallmouth bass are fair on live bait.
Walleye are fair. Catfish are fair on stinkbait.
MACKENZIE: Water lightly stained; 50
degrees; 66.8' low. Black bass are slow.
Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. White
bass and striped bass are slow. Smallmouth
bass are slow. Walleye are fair on live bait.
Catfish are fair.
MEREDITH: Water lightly stained; 50
degrees; 24' low. Black bass are slow.
Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows. White
bass are fair on live bait and crankbaits near
rocky points. Smallmouth bass are fair.
Walleye are fair on bottom bouncers and live
bait. Channel catfish are fair.
PALO DURO: Water lightly stained; 48
Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows.
Smallmouth bass are slow. Walleye are slow.
Catfish are fair.
WEST
ALAN HENRY: Water lightly stained; 52
degrees. Black bass are slow on dark jigs
fished tight to cover. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs.
ARROWHEAD: Water lightly stained; 53
degrees; 1.6' low. Black bass are fair on spinnerbaits in back of coves and creeks. Crappie
are good on minnows near the derricks about
17' and at Henrietta Bridge; and fair near
State Park. White bass are good on shad-imitation baits east of State Park and Sailboat
Cove. Blue catfish are good on cut shad, prepared baits and trotlines.
COLORADO CITY: Water clear; 70 degrees.
Black bass are slow. Crappie are slow. White
bass are slow. Redfish are slow. Catfish are
slow.
FT. PHANTOM HILL: Water clear; 62
bass are fair. Catfish are fair on live bait.
HUBBARD CREEK: Water lightly stained; 61
degrees; 9.65' low. Black bass are slow on
dark jigs and crankbaits near rocky points.
bass and hybrid striper are fair on live bait.
Catfish are slow.
NASWORTHY: Water lightly stained; 60
degrees. Black bass are fair on shad-colored
crankbaits. Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows. Redfish are fair. White bass and striped
bass are fair on cut shad and minnows.
Catfish are fair on minnows.
OAK CREEK: Water lightly stained; 58
Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish
are slow. No boat ramps open. 4x4 vehicles
can unload on the dirt road near the dam.
OH. IVIE: Water lightly stained; 61 degrees;
15.9' low. Black bass are fair on Carolinarigged dark soft plastics and live bait fished
near creek channels. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. White bass are fair on live
bait. Smallmouth bass are fair. Channel catfish are slow.
POSSUM KINGDOM: Water clear; 55
degrees; 2.8' low. Black bass are fair in Rock
Creek area. White bass are good in Bluff
Creek and Neely's Slough. Striped bass are
fair near piers in Willow Beach area. Blue
and channel catfish are fair in the upper part
of reservoir.
SPENCE: Water lightly stained; 57 degrees;
45.5' low. Black bass are fair. Crappie are
slow on minnows and jigs. White bass are fair
on live bait. Striped bass and hybrid striper
are fair on inline spinners and minnows.
Catfish are fair on prepared baits.
STAMFORD: Water lightly stained; 60
degrees; Black bass are fair on slow-rolled
white spinnerbaits and live bait. Crappie are
fair on jigs and minnows. White and striped
bass are fair on live bait. Catfish are fair.
SWEETWATER: Water lightly stained; 54
bass are fair. Catfish are fair.
WHITE RIVER: Water lightly stained; 52
degrees; 22.65' low. Black bass are fair.
Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows. Walleye
are fair on minnows. Channel catfish are
slow.
WICHITA: Water muddy; 51 degrees. Crappie
are slow. White bass and hybrid striped bass
are fair on large minnows and white twistertails along dam, near spillway and trolling.
Channel catfish are fair on bait shrimp,
punch bait or trotlines. North side public
ramp is temporarily closed for maintenance.
COASTAL
NORTH SABINE: Trout and redfish are good
under the birds on the Louisiana shoreline on
She Dogs and glow plastics. Flounder are
good on mullet and shad around the cuts to
the marsh.
SOUTH SABINE: Trout are fair to good on the
Reef on topwaters and glow Bass Assassins,
Trout Killers and Sand Eels. Redfish are good
at the jetty on finger mullet. Trout are fair to
good at night under the lights at the causeway on DOA Shrimp and Little Fishies.
BOLIVAR: Redfish are fair to good in the surf
on mullet. Trout and flounder are fair to good
at Rollover Pass on mud minnows and Little
Fishies.
TRINITY BAY: Flounder are fair to good in the
cuts and channels on mud minnows and
plastics. Black drum, croaker, sand trout and
sheepshead are fair at the Spillway on dead
shrimp. North winds have dropped tides well
below normal.
EAST GALVESTON BAY: Trout are fair to good
on the deep reefs in 6-8 feet of water on
glow and red shad plastics. Redfish are good
on the shorelines in skinny water on gold
spoons, Red Killers and She Dogs.
WEST GALVESTON BAY: Trout are fair to
good over deep shell reefs on live shrimp and
glow, red shad and plum Bass Assassins,
Trout Killers and Sand Eels. Flounder are fair
at Green's Cut on finger mullet and jigs
tipped with shrimp.
TEXAS CITY: Croaker, sand trout, and
sheepshead are fair from the pier at the end
of the dike on shrimp. Trout and black drum
are fair at night on live bait. Flounder are fair
at Sea Wolf Park on live bait.
FREEPORT: Flounder, reds, and sheepshead
are fair from the Pump Station on mullet and
live shrimp. Flounder are fair from the Coast
Guard Station. Redfish and black drum are
fair to good in the surf on finger mullet.
EAST MATAGORDA: Trout and redfish are fair
over mud bottoms on bone and red shad
Trout Killers, Bass Assassins and Norton
Sand Eels. Trout are fair on the reefs on the
north shoreline on fire tiger Bass Assassins
and live shrimp.
MATAGORDA: Redfish are good on the south
shoreline from the Middle Grounds to Green's
on black/chartreuse Norton Sand Eel Jr's, She
Dogs and spoons. Trout are fair to good on
deep shell on finger mullet and live shrimp.
PORT O'CONNOR: Trout are fair on glow and
electric blue Trout Killers on the deep shell in
Espiritu Santo Bay and San Antonio Bay.
Redfish are good on finger mullet in the Army
Hole. Redfish and black drum are fair to good
at the jetty on finger mullet. Trout are good
on the mid- bay reefs of San Antonio Bay on
Corkies and Catch 5s.
ROCKPORT: Redfish and black drum are fair
in the holes, guts and sand pockets in
Redfish Bay on crabs and mullet. Trout are
fair to good around Traylor Island on live
shrimp.
PORT ARANSAS: Redfish and black drum are
good in the cuts and guts leading to the back
lakes on crabs and finger mullet. Trout are
fair to good while drifting the potholes on the
flats on live shrimp under a popping cork.
CORPUS CHRISTI: Redfish, croakers, sand
trout, black drum and sheepshead are fair to
good on live bait around the Oso Bridge.
Trout and redfish are fair on the ledges adjacent to the Intracoastal on live shrimp.
BAFFIN BAY: Trout are fair around the rocks
on live finger mullet and piggy perch. Trout
are fair to good in the grass pockets next to
the Intracoastal on pumpkinseed and glow
Bass Assassins, Trout Killers and Sand Eels.
PORT MANSFIELD: Trout and redfish are fair
to good at the jetty on live finger mullet.
Trout and redfish are fair to good on the
ledges near the Intracoastal on live shrimp
and bone Trout Killers and Red Killers.
SOUTH PADRE: Redfish are fair to good in
the potholes on live finger mullet. Trout are
staging on the drop-offs near the Intracoastal
on live shrimp and DOA Shrimp under a popping cork.
PORT ISABEL: Trout and redfish are fair to
good in the holes and guts on live bait.
Redfish are good on the flats in the afternoons as the water warms on topwaters and
shrimptails. Black drum and redfish are good
at the jetty on live finger mullet and crabs.
Prices good through December 10, 2005
Like to shop at Academy? You’ll love working here. Visit Academy.com
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• 28-in. barrel • Synthetic stock • Modified choke • 3 1/2-in. chamber
• #68035
3 1/2-in. MAG.
3 1/2-in. MAG.
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*After mail-in rebate….268.43
268
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870 EXPRESS SUPER MAG. 12-GA. 28-IN. SHOTGUN
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• #25103
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• Patented rotary magazine • American hardwood stock • Adjustable sights • Button safety
• #10/22-RB
198
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• #H001
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• Receiver is drilled and tapped for scope mounts
• #27474

Masters of rattling - Lone Star Outdoor News

Transcription

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