December 13, 2013 - Lone Star Outdoor News - Fishing & Hunting

LSONews.com LoneOStar Outdoor News December 13, 2013 Page1

December 13, 2013 Texas’ Premier Outdoor Newspaper Volume 10, Issue 8

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HerewegoOklahoma angler catches huge Lake Fork bass while crappie fishing.

Page11

xz LSONews.com

Inside

xz HUNTING

Numbers of cranes and crane hunters up.Page4

Abunchofthem

xz FISHING

Mom, daughter share first bucks.Page4

Ladiesdouble

Feds change rule, but options remain for anglers.

Page8

Somewheretovent

Fall tides up, displacing fish and hurting anglers.

Page9

Higherthannormal

ByMarkEnglandLone Star outdoor newS

Lake Amistad isn’t living up to its reputa-tion as one of the premier bass lakes in Texas at the moment,

according to local guides.

How bad is it?Guide Ed

Schoening said times are tough.

“Usually you can catch fish anywhere at Amistad,” he

said. “Lately, you have to be in the right spot, a place that has some structure. The fish are just kind of roam-ing around. You might catch

What is wrong with Amistad?

xz CONTENTSClassifieds . . . . . . . . . Page14Crossword . . . . . . . . . Page22Freshwater Fishing Report . Page10For the Table. . . . . . . . Page22Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page12Heroes. . . . . . . . . . . Page18Outdoor Datebook . . . . . Page30Prime Time . . . . . . . . Page26Products . . . . . . . . . . Page28Saltwater Fishing Report . . Page14Sun, Moon and Tide data . . Page22

See AMISTAD, Page 23

Backstraps in the snow

RUTTINGINTHESNOW:Bucks across the northwestern portion of Texas have battled each other and the snow and ice in the past week. Many hunters reported high rutting activity from smaller bucks, but many mature

deer remained scarce. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.

Chilly rut happening; South Texas ready to roll

ByConorHarrisonLone Star outdoor newS

An arctic blast hit Texas last weekend, and mature buck movement slowed to a crawl in some areas.

Firsthand reports from Stonewall County were of young bucks running does ragged, although big buck movement was spotty in the cold. Hunters have complained about a lack of visible rutting activity in some areas, but others reported harvesting nice deer in the days immediately after the cold.

Many hunters on message boards and Internet reports and at local cafes said much the same thing — deer out and about but few big bucks seen.

In East Texas, biologists are calling the sea-son above average.

“This has been a good year,” said TPWD Lufkin biologist Micah Poteet. “Harvest numbers are at least average, and I’d even say above average in many places. It is defi-nitely better than last year.”

Poteet said much of his part of the state had tough hunting last season, with an abundant acorn crop keeping many deer

See SNOW, Page 24

ABETTERSIDE?Fishing on both sides of the border at Amistad has been off for bass anglers lately. Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News.

Quail season off to good start


Hunters have been reporting more quail across the state this sea-son, along with bigger overall covey sizes than the past few years.

Corpus Christi hunter Greg Novak travelled to Lamb County out-side of Amherst during the chilly weekend of Dec. 7-8 and reported a great hunt for

quail.“We were actu-

ally hunting pheasant,” he said, “but we only kicked up about three roosters and four hens while walking. But the quail numbers were great. We found up to six coveys a day, with upwards of 30 birds per covey.”

Novak said anywhere ample cover met a food

See QUAIL, Page 16

More birds, bigger coveys being

reported; ice in north could be issue

NEEDMORESHELLS:Hunters are finding coveys of quail this year in better numbers. Photo by LSON.

Page2 December 13, 2013 LoneOStar Outdoor News LSONews.com



HUNTING

Cranes aplentySandhill crane numbers at all-time highs for Texas hunters this season

BIGBIRDS:Sandhill cranes have been called the rib eye of the sky for their great-tasting meat. They are also a challenge to hunt, and Texas hunters will have plenty of opportu-nity with the high numbers of birds this season. Photo by James Richards, for LSON.


If the early season in the Panhandle and the overall num-ber of cranes in Texas are any indications, hunter success could be the highest it has ever been.

According to Texas Parks and Wildlife Migratory Game Bird Leader Kevin Kraai, hunter suc-cess has been high so far, and there are still plenty of birds around. The season opened Nov. 2 in the Panhandle and West Texas, Nov. 22 in Central Texas, and opens Dec. 21 along the coast and South Texas.

“Cranes were extremely abun-dant and hunters had extremely good hunting with the num-ber of uneducated birds in the Panhandle,” Kraai said. “For the most part, unlike the past three years, the playas held some water. Now, a lot of them are drying up, and most cranes have left to go farther south. Most went to areas south of Lubbock.”

Sandhill cranes don’t tolerate ice well, so recent storms pushed many birds into West Texas and down to the coast.

“There were some huge con-

centration of cranes this season,” Kraai said. “Last year, we recorded the highest survey numbers we’d ever seen on the Platte River in Nebraska.”

Kraai said crane hunting has seen an uptick in people partici-pating, taking the birds from an afterthought to a much sought-after species.

“We are seeing a big amount of people targeting them with decoys, blinds, etc.,” he said. “It used to be, hunters might shoot a couple here or there by pass-shooting them, but now they are really targeting them.”

Around Abilene, hunters are having good success on wheat fields when the fields aren’t fro-zen over.

One outfitter reported good shoots over cut corn with the fro-zen wheat fields.

“Right now in the mornings, the cranes are feeding in the hay grazer or unshredded milo and corn stubble leftover,” said guide Reed Foster. “They are real late to leave the roost and are staying super late in the fields.

“The cold has messed the

Beginner’s doubleSometimes the best

enjoyment in a deer stand comes with family by your side.

It isn’t the size of the buck, but the experience of being able to share the memories.

If that is what counts,

John Burford has had one of the best season’s ever. He recently lost his deer lease and wanted to find a family hunt.

A trip to the Texas Trophy Hunters show fixed that issue.

“We spoke to every out-fitter there and all were

about the same for the girls to shoot a management buck and doe,” he said. “Well, after meeting Craig Alexander who runs the Lone Star Trophy Ranch in Comstock, he offered a mother/daughter first-buck combo hunt, so we put down our deposit and

started making plans.”Those plans first

included getting his wife Sheryl and daughter Gabby on the shooting range.

“I already handload 308s, so that was the cali-ber of choice. After a lit-tle research, I developed a nice, 130-grain load that did not kick real hard. Sheryl had never shot a rifle and just started shoot-

Two ladies enjoy their first bucks with family

A cat for several lifetimes

Bowhunter in a tree stand shoots big mountain lion in Sutton County


Willis bowhunter E.J. Nacey wasn’t expecting too much on the after-noon of Nov. 30 when he headed out to the Lillian M. Hudspeth Hospital Ranch on the Sutton County border.

After getting busted in a ground blind because of marginal wind direction several times, Nacey knew he needed to get off the ground and into a tree. So he and his friend, Rodney Karonika, snuck in around noon and hung a stand in the biggest live oak in the area.

“I forgot my pruner,

so I went back a little earlier that afternoon to trim some limbs and cut a shooting lane,” he said. “I’ve got one spot I like to shoot out of, so I only cut one hole and liked what I had.”

Not expecting much because of the hot after-noon, Nacey remem-bers sweating as he set-tled in to wait for the feeder to go off.

“The feeder went off about 4:55,” he said, “and immediately over my left shoulder I had a doe blowing like crazy. I knew she hadn’t winded me; I just fig-ured she saw something she didn’t like. A few minutes later, I heard another noise behind

me that didn’t sound like a deer. I turned real slow and saw a big cat walking down a deer trail about 50 yards away.”

Nacey said the first thing he noticed on the cat was the bright white muzzle around its mouth.

“Being a bowhunter, the excitement was almost indescribable,” he said. “I was just thinking, I can’t believe what I am seeing.”

Nacey now had a choice to make.

“I had a cellphone in my pocket and the bow in my hand,” he said. “Which one am I going to use? Nobody is going to believe me if I don’t

have a picture of this cat. He just looked like a big house cat with his tail moving back and forth.”

When the cat walked behind some brush and Nacey realized he would come into bow range, the decision was made to shoot the lion if he presented a shot.

“I was trying to find a hole to shoot through, because I knew if he came into my shoot-ing lane, he was going to wind me from the direction he was walk-ing,” he said. “I found a couple of holes that would work to shoot through.”

RAREOPPORTUNITY:Bowhunter E.J. Nacey couldn’t believe his luck when this big male mountain lion walked by his tree stand in Sutton County Nov. 30. Photo by E.J. Nacey.

See CAT, Page 16

See DOUBLE, Page 6

APAIROFHAPPYHUNTERS:Mom and daughter both proudly show their trophies, and husband and father John Burford got to witness both ladies take their bucks. Photo by John Burford.

See CRANES, Page 27


White vs. dark meatWhich part of the bird makes it on your plate?

It is the age-old question that consumes most people around Thanksgiving — white or dark meat?

But, most people probably don’t know why fowl have both white and dark meat. The answer is quite scientific.

But for the non-scientists out there, it all comes down to mus-cle use.

“Birds that fly long distances such as doves, ducks and geese, pump more blood through their breast muscles,” said Robert Perez, TPWD’s quail leader. “These types of birds will have darker meat. Short-flying birds that run a lot have a different muscle structure.

“They will have a lighter meat.”The active muscles, such as the

legs and thighs of birds such as turkeys, quail and pheasant, are full of blood vessels. These blood vessels contain myoglobin, which delivers oxygen to the muscles. The more myoglobin the muscles contain, the darker the muscle.

Scientists often refer to these active muscles as slow-twitch fibers. Slow-twitch fibers are built for endurance, which allows the muscles to work for long periods of time.

On the other hand, white meat is the result of well-rested mus-cles. The breast muscles, which are used for flying, are used less than leg muscles by many game birds. There is little need to have a rich supply of oxygen delivered to these muscles. Scientists refer to these types of muscles as “fast-twitch” fibers.

Fast-twitch fibers are designed for quick bursts of energy, but they fatigue quickly. In addi-tion, fast-twitch muscles are fueled by glycogen, giving the muscles that immediate explo-sion of energy needed to move rapidly.

— Staff report

TAKEYOURPICK:The difference between white and dark meat is all about how a bird uses its muscles. Photo by Conor Harrison, LSON.


HEADINGTOTHESKINNINGPOLE:Mule deer hunter and Texas Wildlife Association President Greg Simons with a nice buck he harvested on a lease earlier this season. Photo by Greg Simons.

DoubleContinuedFromPage4

ing a shotgun back in February. Gabby, on the other hand, has been hunting with me for sev-eral years.”

After shooting more than 100 rounds in the weeks leading up to the hunt, both women were ready to take their first buck.

The group arrived at the ranch on Nov. 1 and began planning for the afternoon hunt.

“I sat with Sheryl and her guide, Frank, the first evening,” Burford said. “We watched a wide variety of young bucks with lots of poten-tial and several does, when a really nice 10-point came in sporting about a 140-inch rack. He was only 3 years old. Finally, a nice 8-point manage-ment buck showed and fed for a while.”

After receiving the green light, Sheryl dropped the buck with one shot.

“After the 30 minutes of pictures, high fives, and stealing a smooch every now and then, we headed for camp,” Burford said.

Gabby saw several nice bucks the first after-noon, but not what she was looking for.

“Saturday morning found Gabby, Craig and I in the same stand where Sheryl struck gold ear-lier,” Burford said.

The evening before, the group had glimpsed a heavy 8-pointer that did not stick around long. As the morning began to lighten, the group saw the same buck feeding and the guide gave Gabby the go-ahead.

“She positioned herself in the window and worked on her breathing and squeezed the trig-ger,” Burford said. “She hit him, however, it was not a good shot and he started moving. Gabby managed to chamber another round and find him running in her scope as Craig started grunting to get him to stop. Gabby took a deep breath, exhaled, and executed a perfect shot.

“He trotted about 30 yards and fell over.” After giving him a few minutes, the hunters

approached the buck. “For the second hunt out of the same stand,

high fives and hugs all around — Gabby had her first buck down,” Burford said.

After harvesting another doe, the group headed for home.

“Chatting about deer seen, how they react with each other and plans to hunt next season was all that could be heard by my two hunters,” Burford said.

— Staff report

Time for muleys

Mule deer hunters braving the weather for chance at

good buckByConorHarrisonLone Star outdoor newS

The Texas mule deer sea-son ended last weekend in the Panhandle, and hunt-ers reported an average year for antlers and harvest numbers.

According to Calvin Richardson, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department District leader for the Panhandle, the season was a little off in terms of over-all harvest numbers in his area.

“The numbers on bucks harvested was a little low this year,” he said, “but that could be attributed to lower fawn crops in 2010 and 2011. I don’t know if that was the reason or if it was weather related, but it was slower than average.”

Richardson said that although numbers were lower, antler quality was good.

“I haven’t heard many specific scores,” he said, “but I’ve seen photos with bucks up to 180 inches in areas of the Rolling Plains and along the Colorado River. I just got done scor-

ing one that was in the 170-range. So we still had some quality, just fewer of them.”

Richardson said while talking to other biologists, the consensus across the boars was the harvest was lower than years’ past.

Hunters in the Trans-Pecos region have taken some good bucks as well, although many outfit-ters are waiting for the rut, which occurs later this month in many areas, to see their biggest deer.

“We are seeing some good deer on all of our ranches,” said former TPWD biolo-gist, Ruben Cantu. “Right now, it is just a matter of waiting for the big buck activity to start. The qual-ity of deer looks good — we’ve seen some real heavy-weight, healthy bucks this season.”

Cantu said the younger bucks were harassing does, but the big bucks have yet to emerge.

‘They young ones are look-ing, but they aren’t real close to full rut,” he said. “The real action will come toward the end of the season.”

Mule deer outfitter Greg

Simons, owner of San Angelo-based Wildlife Systems, Inc., reported he took a good buck earlier in the season on a lease near Kent.

“We are really just getting started this season,” Simons said. “Some pretty good deer are starting to pop up, but we are just getting into the heart of when the big deer start rutting.”

Simons said prospects this year for the Trans-Pecos region were above average due to timely rainfall, although he cautioned the area lost some bucks in the drought of 2011 that could affect older age classes this season.

In the Panhandle, he said it was below average in most places.


Greeneracrossthestate

Driving through Central Texas recently, Dr. Travis Miller said he saw a lot of green that wasn’t there this time last year, and hunters have noticed the difference.

“There are certainly still some severely dry areas in the state,” said Miller, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension agronomist and Texas A&M University soil and crop sciences associate department head. “But over the last month to 60 days, we’ve had significant rainfall in a lot of Texas, and it’s made a lot of difference.”

The rains have perked up winter pastures and given wheat and oat crops a boost across much of the state, he said. The raised soil-moisture reserves, though still low in some areas, are much improved, giving farmers optimism for next year’s plantings.

“The Rolling Plains and Northern Plains are still very dry, and conditions there aren’t real favorable,” Miller said. “We did see some pretty good snowfall in the South Plains last week, and it will certainly contribute to caus-

ing wheat stands to grow and survive longer. There was not a lot of deep moisture, but it certainly perked things up.”

Far West Texas also got some rains, which will make a difference. Also, the cold weather should reduce insect problems for next year, he said.

There was some conjecture that the early bout of extremely cold weather in parts of the state might signal this winter being colder than normal, but Miller said national fore-casts are predicting the opposite.

— Texas A&M AgriLife

Gunsstolenfromgamewarden’struck

Thieves broke into several vehicles in the Corpus Christi area on Dec. 5 and made off with several weapons.

A state-issued semi-automatic rifle, a game warden’s personal shotgun, night vision gog-gles and body armor was stolen from a game warden’s truck.

“It concerns us because it puts these weapons out on the street,” Capt. Marvin Tamez told local KRIS-TV on Dec. 5. “We’re going to do our best to track them down and hopefully recover them.”

Police believe the thieves will try and sell the weapons, which could prove difficult.

“One of our rifles that got stolen is a bush master M4 and it has a Parks and Wildlife State Game Warden logo stamp on the side of it. So it’s very identifiable,” Tamez said.

On Dec. 7, a routine traffic stop by Corpus Christi police officers led to four arrests and the recovery of the guns and ammunition. One of the four arrested was a juvenile. The suspects had additional stolen firearms at their homes.

— Staff report

Doe-nationsneededThe Texas Deer Association has teamed up

with Trinity Oaks, a San Antonio-based, non-profit organization, to provide harvested deer for the charity’s meat processing and food

distribution program. By working together, TDA and Trinity Oaks hope to deliver more than 625,000 meals of all-natural venison to those in need during 2014.

“Texans have a long-standing tradition of helping our neighbors, so we’re excited to work with Trinity Oaks in providing venison for its meals programs,” says Karl Kinsel, executive director for TDA. “I encourage all TDA mem-bers with excess deer to contact Trinity Oaks. There are families across the state in need, and the deer industry is blessed to be able to provide them with heart-healthy nutritious meals.”

Trinity Oaks makes it easy for TDA mem-bers to donate their excess deer. Depending on your ranch’s location and the number of animals donated, Trinity Oaks can even arrange all the transportation and processing.

Meat will be distributed to local Texas area soup kitchens, homeless shelters and orphan-ages. Dried, vacuum-packed meats and jerky are added to care packages and shipped over-seas to service men and women.

Trinity Oaks is located at 9385 Miller Lane in San Antonio.

— TDA


FISHING


When federal guide-lines changed this year no longer requir-ing anglers nine miles off the Texas coast to have a venting tool — a specialized needle to pop expanded air blad-ders on fish brought up from depth — it wasn’t a signal they no longer work.

It was just the gov-ernment’s way of say-ing other means could be used besides a vent-ing tool.

A group out of Florida invented a device known as the Seaqualizer — a device used to take fish down to a certain level and release them with-out the effects of baro-trauma.

It is pressure-acti-vated to release the fish at a predetermined depth.

Scientists at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico stud-ies said recompres-sion tools like the Seaqualizer are better than the normal “pop and drop” venting.

“We use it and think it is the best device out there,” said Greg Stunz, director, Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation and a professor of Marine Biology. “We did very controlled testing in the lab studying fish in a hyperbaric cham-ber. We recompressed them and vented them with a tool. Neither one was better for the

fish — they both work.Stunz said the differ-

ence is where the fish is released.

With a normal vent-ing tool, the fish is released on the sur-face, where predators often linger.

“Mortality often occurs at the surface because of sharks, dol-phins and barracu-das,” Stunz said. “By sending fish down to the bottom, it elimi-nates that.”

Stunz said fish mor-tality depends on other factors as well.

With red snap-per, a lot depends on how long the fish is out of the water,” he said. “On a party boat, where you might have a lot of people bring-ing fish up at once, the pop and drop method is still acceptable.”

Another issue, according to Stunz, is some anglers don’t know exactly how to properly vent a fish.

“Many people see that stomach stick-ing out of the mouth and pop that,” he said. “That will kill the fish. It has to be done behind the pectoral fin.”

In lab studies, fish that were properly vented had a 100 percent sur-vival rate. Conversely, fish that were not vented had a 100 percent mor-tality rate.

Stunz said he thinks the federal rule needs revising again to clar-ify the misconcep-tions.

Letting the air outVenting tools still

useful and needed, even if Fed regulations have

changed

See VENTING, Page 29

Out of the cold

GETINTHEHOUSE:Crappie anglers are probably looking for some warm fishing houses after a recent cold snap got crappie on the move. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.


While many anglers saw the tem-peratures across Texas last week and decided to stay at home, crappie anglers were smiling.

Anglers lined the banks of White Rock Creek in Dallas over the weekend, where crappie are chasing ball of shad as they migrate up the creek from White Rock Lake.

“There are a lot of little fish being caught right now during the day,” said angler Vince Tanner near the Northwest Highway bridge. “It gets a little better

at night if you can stand the tempera-tures. There are also so many shad in the creek right now.

“It is hard to hold your bait still because the shad are every-where.”

On Lake O’ The Pines, the bite is improving in deeper water near the dam using spider-rigged minnows.

Lake Fork guide Tony Clark had a good report on the Texas Fishing Forum.

“We hit a nice point holding some

good crappie,” Clark said. “I was using several jigs today — started out with a 1/4-ounce yellow blue tail feather jig. Then when it slowed down, I went to a 1/8-ounce yellow/orange slab ban-dit and dip dyed the tail blue. And when that slowed down, I went with a Lake Fork Tackle Live Baby Shad in chartreuse ice and dipped the tail blue, putting it on a 1/8-ounce jig-head.

“Just about all 25

of the crappie came out of one 25-foot radius in 28 to 29 feet of water on a small point near deeper water.”

Other good jig bites were reported around docks on Lake Ray Hubbard and Lake Tawakoni.

Farther south where temperatures haven’t dipped too low, the crappie fish-ing has been fair.

A good min-now bite has been reported on the bor-der lakes, and anglers on Sam Rayburn Reservoir are report-ing a good bite on chartreuse jigs over brush piles and creek mouths.

Frigid temps have crappie anglers smiling

InksLakerevivalTexas Parks and Wildlife Department Inland

Fisheries and State Parks divisions have part-nered with other private groups to develop habitat enhancement projects to improve fish-ing opportunities at Inks Lake the past three years. Selected sites have been refurbished with brush, gravel and light structures designed to attract fish to areas accessible by boat and bank anglers.

Four open-water brush attractors were installed in September 2013; three underwater green lights were installed at the state park’s south pier in August, 2013; and a brush and gravel bed complex was installed at the state park’s north pier in February 2011.

“These types of projects can be costly and labor-intensive; however, they become possible due to partnerships with groups commit-ted to conservation,” TPWD District Fisheries Supervisor Marcos De Jesus said. “The truth is this lake is a hidden gem that offers quality fishing opportunities.”

Furthermore, with the improved light struc-tures, pier fishing is available all night to overnight guests, and with free fishing at state parks, a fishing license is not required.

GPS coordinates for the structures and direc-tions to Inks Lake State Park, which offers the only public boat ramp access to the lake, can be found online on the TPWD website.

— TPWD

NewareasalongtheGuadalupenowopen

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has signed temporary leased access agreements with four Guadalupe River property owners to expand public access to the trout fishery down-stream of Canyon Lake.

Public fishing access will be available at Mountain Breeze Campground, Rio Guadalupe Resort (formerly Rio Raft and Resort), and Whitewater Sports from Friday through March 7. Public fishing access will also be available at Camp Huaco Springs beginning Friday and con-tinuing through Feb. 2, 2014.

Recognized as one of the top 100 trout streams in America and the southernmost trout stream in the United States, this segment of the Guadalupe River is managed through spe-cial fishing regulations and is stocked in the winter months by TPWD and the Guadalupe River Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

The leases provide anglers with free access to the Guadalupe River at the four properties from 30 minutes before daylight until 30 min-utes after dusk. Anglers will be able to use the properties for bank fishing and to launch non-motorized watercraft such as rafts, kayaks and canoes for the purpose of fishing. The leases at Mountain Breeze Campground, Rio Guadalupe Resort, and Whitewater Sports were made pos-sible with funding provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

— TPWDPOPANDDROP:Venting tools, like this one on a red snapper, do work, but scientists think a tool that takes fish to the bottom before releasing them works better. Photo by Conor Harrison, LSON.


WHEREARETHEFISH?High tides, along with higher temperatures, pushed some fish into areas where anglers weren’t expecting them. Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News.


Anglers are always com-plaining about something.

It is in our DNA.So when reports began

emerging about higher-than-normal tides along the coast, it wasn’t that surpris-ing to experts.

But was there anything to it?Yes and no, according to

area biologists.“We always have higher

tides in the fall and spring,”

said Perry Trial, TPWD biol-ogist for the Corpus Christi Bay complex. “That is fol-lowed by lower tides in the winter and summer. So that is part of the normal tidal compilation. Although, this year it did seem like it lasted longer than normal.”

Trial said the tidal swings are starting to subside and anglers should be seeing fish in their normal winter areas soon.

“When the tides are that

high, it pushed more water into the bay and the fish have more area to be in,” he said. “They’ll move with the tidal movements and will be more dispersed.”

In the Galveston Bay complex, biologist Bill Balboa said the high tides, combined with the colder weather, has made for tough fishing as of late.

“The tides have been high,” he said, “but I think

Tides high, but not too abnormal

Low temps, high tides make catching difficult

See TIDES, Page 29


SEEMOREn Saltwaterfishingreports:Page 14

TEXAS FRESHWATER FISHING REPORTGoingjigging

STILLHOUSE HOLLOW — The white bass have turned on at Stillhouse Hollow, with guide Bob Maindelle putting his clients on lots of fish.

According to reports, vertical jigging on the bottom is the best way to target fish.

“We made five stops and caught fish steadily at three of them,” Maindelle said. “One hundred percent of our fish came off the bottom via

a vertical jigging approach using the 3/4-ounce TNT 180 slab. Mixed in with the white bass was the occasional freshwater drum.”

Water temperature has been between 55 and 58 degrees, with better success coming in the afternoons.

To contact guide Bob Maindelle, call (254) 368-7411.

TexasriggingCHOKE CANYON — Having received a little bump in water

level due to recent rains, Choke Canyon Reservoir is producing

some decent largemouth bass.Recent reports indicate a good bite in depths ranging from 15 to 25 feet. Better success

has come from noon until dark.Texas-rigged worms fished on drop-offs and deeper channels are getting some bites. Shad-

colored lipless crankbaits are catching fish, and channel catfish are biting punchbait in 2-7 feet. Yellow catfish are being caught on live perch.

BigcatscomingLAKE TAWAKONI — The blue catfish bite is going strong on

Lake Tawakoni, according to area anglers and guides.Anglers said the really big fish haven’t shown up yet, but plenty of

blues between 10 and 40 pounds are being caught.Punchbait and cut bait are working to put the hungry cats in the boat. Largemouth bass are also being caught on bladed and flipping jigs. Crappie are good on minnow

and small slabs, along with a solid hybrid and striper bite.— Conor Harrison

ALANHENRY: Water lightly stained; 44–52 degrees; 13.3’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on Texas rigs, chatterbaits and lipless crankbaits. Crappie are fair on live minnows over brush piles.

AMISTAD: Water fairly clear; 65–69 degrees; 36.43’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits, top-wa-ters, jigs and soft plastics. Catfish are good on cheesebait over baited holes. Yellow catfish are good on trotlines baited with live bait.

ARROWHEAD: Water off-color; 44–51 degrees; 15.83’ low. Largemouth bass are slow on drop-shot rigs and jigs. Crappie are fair on live minnows.

ATHENS:Water clear,51–54 degrees; 1.85’ low. Largemouth bass are slow on shaky heads with green pumpkin finesse worms.

BASTROP:Water clear; 66–70 de-grees. Largemouth bass are fair on chartreuse and chartreuse/white soft plastics, spinner baits and crankbaits. Channel and blue cat-fish are good on stinkbait, chicken livers and nightcrawlers.

BELTON: Water stained; 64–68 degrees; 10.07’ low. Largemouth bass are good on dark soft plastics on the bottom. Hybrid striper are good on silver slabs. White bass are good on silver slabs. Crappie are good on minnows under lights at night in 30 feet. Channel and blue catfish are good on hot dogs and doughbait. Yellow catfish are good on trotlines baited with perch.

BOBSANDLIN:Water clear; 50–54 degrees; 6.41’ low. Largemouth bass are slow on watermelon flukes and weightless wacky worms.

BONHAM:Water stained, 50–53 degrees; 2.49’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on chrome/blue lipless crankbaits and suspend-ing jerkbaits. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs along the main creek channel.

BRAUNIG: Water clear. Largemouth bass are slow. Channel catfish are good on chicken livers, shrimp and cut shad. Blue catfish are good on cut bait.

BRIDGEPORT: Water clear, 49–53 degrees; 20.53’ low. Largemouth bass are slow on suspending jerk-baits. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. White bass are fair on slabs and minnows. Hybrid striper are good on slabs. Channel catfish

are fair on trotlines.

BROWNWOOD:Water stained; 63–67 degrees; 9.74’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on black/blue jigs, crankbaits, and redbug and watermelon soft plastic worms over brush piles. White bass are fair on Li’l Fishies and crankbaits from lighted docks at night. Crap-pie are good on Li’l Fishies and minnows over brush piles.

BUCHANAN: Water stained; 64–68 degrees; 31.71’ low. Largemouth bass are good on watermelon curl-tail grubs on jigheads, Texas-rigged blue flake worms, and suspending blue back Fat Free Shads along ledges and points in 10–20 feet. Striped bass are good drifting live shad, and jigging swim baits and Pirk Minnows in 25–40 feet. White bass are fair jigging crappie jigs and blade baits along main lake points.

CADDO: Water stained; 52–55 degrees; 0.53’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on lipless crankbaits and bladed jigs near wood cover. White and yellow bass are fair on minnows and slabs. Catfish are slow on trotlines.

CALAVERAS: Water clear. Large-mouth bass are slow. Striped bass are fair on live shad. Redfish are fair on live perch, shad and spoons in 15–25 feet. Channel and blue catfish are good on chicken livers, shrimp and cut shad.

CANYONLAKE: Water murky; 67–71 degrees; 7.40’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon red Brush Hogs, Texas-rigged drop-shot worms, and tubes on jigheads along bluffs. Striped bass are fair jigging Pirk Minnows and trolling small lipless crabkbaits on down-riggers in the lower end of the lake. White bass are fair on blade baits along main lake bluffs. Small-mouth bass are good on tomato red grubs, smoke/red flake tubes on jigheads, and smoke drop-shot worms along main lake points.

CEDARCREEK: Water clear; 49–53 degrees; 4.73’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on Colorado blade spinner baits and bladed jigs slow rolled near cover.

COLEMAN:Water clear; 65–69 degrees; 15.45’ low. Largemouth bass are good on tequila sunrise soft plastics, spinner baits and crankbaits. Hybrid striper are good on white striper jigs.

COLETOCREEK: Water clear; 79 degrees at hot water discharge; 4.42’ low. Largemouth bass to 5 pounds are fair on chartreuse soft plastics in 6–10 feet. Channel and blue catfish to 15 pounds are good on trotlines and droplines baited with live perch in 8–10 feet.

CONROE:Water stained; 67–71 degrees; 1.53’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon red and watermelon gold crankbaits in 20–30 feet. Striped bass are good on chartreuse striper jigs.

COOPER:Water clear; 64–69 degrees; 13.45’ low. Largemouth bass are good on bladed jigs and lipless crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows. Catfish are fair on trotlines and cut shad.

FALCON:Water stained; 71–75 de-grees; 27.02’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on spinner baits and crank-baits in creeks and coves. Channel and blue catfish are very good on shrimp, cut bait and stinkbait.

FAYETTE: Water stained. Large-mouth bass are good on electric blue Carolina-rigged soft plastic worms and spinner baits along the outside edges of grass. Channel and blue catfish are good on stink-bait and shrimp over baited holes.

FORK:Water clear; 50–54 degrees; 5.77’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on black/blue flipping jigs. Creek channel swings near deeper water are best. Flutter spoon bite is good later in the day. Yellow bass and white bass are good on minnows. Crappie are good on minnows.

GIBBONSCREEK:Water clear. Largemouth bass are fair on te-quila sunrise soft plastics, spinner baits and crankbaits. Catfish are good on shrimp and nightcrawlers.

GRANBURY:Water stained; 64–68 degrees; 8.82’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon and pumpkinseed soft plastics. Catfish are good on shrimp, stinkbait and live minnows.

GRANGER: Water murky; 62–66 degrees; 1.59’ high. Largemouth bass are slow. Blue catfish are good on juglines baited with shad and Zote soap in 3–15 feet.

GRAPEVINE:Water clear; 49–52 degrees; 9.93’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on deep crankbaits and football jigs. Catfish are good on cut shad.

HOUSTONCOUNTY: Water stained; 65–69 degrees; 0.14’ low. Large-mouth bass to 2 pounds are good on lipless crankbaits near piers and launches, on black/blue Brush Hogs around structure in 10 feet, and on spinner baits near the dam in 15–20 feet. Crappie are fair on blue tube jigs and live minnows near drop offs in 25 feet.

HUBBARDCREEK: Water off-color; 46–52 degrees; 21.85’ low. Large-mouth bass are fair to good on shallow-running pearl crankbaits, Texas rigs, shaky heads and jigs.

JOEPOOL: Water clear; 50–54 degrees; 1.67’ low. Largemouth bass are good on weightless Sen-kos and soft plastic jerkbaits near grass. Catfish are good on trotlines and rod and reel.

LAKEO’THEPINES: Water lightly stained; 52–56; degrees; 1.19’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on spinner baits, lipless crankbaits and bladed jigs.

LAVON:Water lightly stained; 52–56 degrees; 12.50’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on black/blue flipping jigs. White bass are fair on minnows and slabs.

LBJ:Water stained; 67–71 degrees; 0.23’ low. Largemouth bass are good on PBJ-colored jigs, pumpkin drop-shot worms and green pump-kin tubes. White bass are good on silver Pirk Minnows and Spoiler Shads. Channel catfish are fair on minnows and worms.

LEWISVILLE:Water clear; 49–53 de-grees; 8.35’ low. Largemouth bass are slow on suspending jerkbaits near rocky points. Catfish are good on cut shad and nightcrawlers.

LIVINGSTON: Water murky; 67–71 degrees; 0.48’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows. Blue catfish are good on shad.

MARTINCREEK: Water clear; 70–74 degrees; 0.03’ high. Large-mouth bass are slow on 4–6” plastic swimbaits rigged weedless and white bladed jigs. Crappie are fair on chartreuse jigs and minnows. White bass are good on minnows.

MONTICELLO: Water fairly clear; 61–65 degrees; 0.87’ high. Large-mouth bass are fair on black and yellow flipping jigs and creature baits around shallow cover. Catfish

are good on trotlines.

NAVARROMILLS:Water murky; 65–69 degrees; 0.69’ high. Largemouth bass are slow. White bass are fair on minnows and Li’l Fishies at night.

O.H.IVIE:Water stained; 47–54 degrees; 42.63’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on jigs, lipless crankbaits, Texas rigs and shaky heads. Catfish are fair to good on prepared bait and nightcrawlers.

OAKCREEK: Water stained; 42–51 degrees; 21.12’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on lipless crankbaits and Texas rigs. Catfish are fair to good on cut bait and nightcrawlers.

PALESTINE:Water clear; 50–54 degrees; 0.82’ high. Largemouth bass are good on shaky heads around docks. Crappie are good on chartreuse jigs and minnows. Catfish are good on prepared bait and rod and reel.

POSSUMKINGDOM: Water fairly clear; 46–54 degrees; 12.25’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on jigs, drop-shot rigs, crankbaits and Texas rigs. White bass are fair to good on slabs and tail spinners.

PROCTOR: Water stained; 63–67 degrees; 7.80’ low. Largemouth bass are good on black/purple and chartreuse soft plastic worms and crankbaits. White bass are good on minnows, small lipless crank-baits and roadrunners. Crappie are good on minnows and chartreuse tube jigs in 15 feet. Channel and blue catfish are good on juglines baited with cut shad.

RAYHUBBARD:Water clear; 51–54 degrees; 7.07’ low. Largemouth bass are good on medium crank-baits and suspending jerkbaits. White bass are good on slabs and minnows. Catfish are good on trotlines and cut shad.

RAYROBERTS: Water clear; 51–55 degrees; 7.62’ low. Largemouth bass are good on shallow crankbaits and spinner baits. Weightless soft plastics near submerged grass are effective as well. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. White bass are good on slabs and minnows. Catfish are good on cut shad.

RICHLANDCHAMBERS: Water light-ly stained; 50–54 degrees; 7.79’ low. Largemouth bass are good on deep crankbaits and Carolina rigs. Catfish are fair on trotlines and prepared bait.

SAMRAYBURN: Water murky; 66–70 degrees; 5.42’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on shad-colored lipless crankbaits and crankbaits. Catfish are fair on nightcrawlers, shrimp and minnows.

SOMERVILLE: Water murky; 66–70 degrees; 2.91’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. Channel and blue catfish are fair on juglines baited with cut shad and perch.

SWEETWATER: Water murky; 43–51 degrees; 22.62’ low. Large-mouth bass are fair on crankbaits, jigs, lipless crankbaits and Texas rigs. Catfish are fair to good on prepared bait and nightcrawlers.

TEXOMA: Water clear; 51–54 degrees; 6.74’ low. Largemouth bass are good on shaky heads and drop-shot rigs. Suspending jerkbaits along main lake points are effective as well. Striped bass are good on slabs and. Catfish are good on trotlines and cut shad.

TOLEDOBEND:Water murky; 66–70 degrees; 3.66’ low. Large-mouth bass are fair on watermelon soft plastics, spinner baits and lipless crankbaits. White bass are fair on minnows. Crappie are fair on minnows over brush piles. Bream are fair on worms. Channel and blue catfish are good on liver, shrimp and stinkbait.

TRAVIS:Water murky; 65–69 degrees; 53.45’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on shad crankbaits, black worms and smoke grubs. Striped bass are fair on chartreuse striper jigs. White bass are fair on minnows and chrome spoons. Crappie are good on minnows and white tube jigs.

WHITNEY:Water stained; 64–68 degrees; 11.46’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon, watermelon red, and watermelon gold spinner baits, crankbaits and lipless crankbaits. Catfish are good on shrimp, liver, and stinkbait.

— TPWD


OklahomaanglercatchesLakeForkmonster

Pryor, Okla., angler Steve Proctor had a pretty good week.

After boating a 9-pound bass a few weeks ago on Lake Fork, Proctor hooked a giant, 13-pound, 2.9-ounce bass while crappie fishing at the 154 Bridge.

“I was crappie fishing on a bridge pier in 18 feet of water,” he said. “He hit it on 4-pound test line. He went around the motor several times, went around the bridge piling a few times. It took 20 minutes to get the bass to the boat.

“It was quite a deal.”Proctor told his wife to grab the dipnet,

expecting the big bass to go crazy at the boat.“We managed to get him into the net,”

he said. “It probably is my biggest bass to date.”

Proctor said the 9-pound bass he caught earlier in the week ate a crappie he was reeling in.

“It hit my crappie as I was pulling it up to the boat,” he said. “We just reached down and netted both of them.”

Proctor said he was really worried the big fish this morning would break the 4-pound test line he was using, making for a stress-filled 20-min-ute battle.

The fish was officially weighed at the Minnow Bucket Marina, and Texas Parks and Wildlife officials were on hand to document the first ShareLunker of the season.

The fish was caught on a Panfish Assassin in Tomato Seed color.

— Staff report

Photo by Minnow Bucket Marina.


WARDENTAKESONEFORTHETEAM,DIVESINTODUMPSTER

A local business owner called Tom Green County Game Warden Ricky May advising of three deer dumped illegally into the business dumpster. May hopped into the dumpster and found three bucks, along with two bloody envelopes, which led him to another business. May spoke with the owner, who then gave up his nephew. May recalled Tom Green County Game Warden Cynde Aguilar mentioning she was working a case on the man. May informed Aguilar what he had and then they inter-viewed the man about the deer and possible violations. The man was cited for untagged deer, waste of game (along with civil restitution), illegal dumping and no harvest log. Cases pending.

UNAWAREDOVESEASONCLOSED,BUTAWAREOFBAIT

Hill County Game Warden Mark Hammonds received a call from the sheriff’s office regarding a report of someone shooting on a rural county road. At the area, Hammonds located a subject hunting doves in closed sea-son. The hunter was unaware that the season had been closed for several days. A search of the area revealed that it had been baited with milo, crushed corn and wheat. Cases pending.

MANDIESAFTERFALLFROMTREESTAND

Jasper County Game Wardens received a call through the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office about a hunt-ing accident. Game Wardens Justin Eddins, Brooks Yeates, and Morgan Inman arrived to find a hunter deceased at the base of his tree stand. The hunter never returned to the camp and was found by his son. It appears that he fell from the tree stand approximately 18 feet. No foul play was suspected although an autopsy was performed.

ILLEGALBUCKFOUNDHIDDENINTRASHBAGINTRUCKBED

Sabine County Game Warden Sam Smith received information that an undersized buck was killed in the national forest. After an hour of searching, Smith believed that he found the residence of the person responsible for shooting the deer. A vehicle entered the driveway and Smith made contact. The subject said he had hunted that evening but did not see any deer. He also pro-duced a valid hunting license. After a few questions, the subject appeared nervous. Smith located a small amount of fresh blood in the bed of the subject’s truck and then found an untagged and undersized buck in a utility trash bag stuffed under the toolbox blocked by coolers. The sub-ject changed his story and admitted to shooting the undersized deer in the national forest over bait. The deer was seized; several citations issued.

FACEBOOKPOSTSLEADTOFAMILYAFFAIROFVIOLATIONS

Liberty County Game Warden Randy Button responded to a complaint involving a subject who was post-ing illegally taken deer on Facebook. Button went to the violator’s resi-dence and found his father skinning a 13-inch illegal buck in the backyard. While discussing the legality of the deer, the son exited the house, and after a short interview, he admitted to shooting a spike off the road with his brother. Button had the violator con-tact his brother and summon him to

the house. The brother admitted kill-ing two other deer at night. During the conversation, the brother stated that he and his brother-in-law were trying to catch a 12-foot alligator down the road with an alligator tag he bought from Walmart. Button asked him to describe the alligator set, and he said it was a hook and line attached to a cypress knee and baited with a rac-coon. Button and the violator went to the location. He asked the brother-in-law for the alligator permit; he provided a reptile and amphibian stamp with the alligator hide tag report cut out of a TPWD Outdoor Annual. Numerous citations were issued.

SPOTLIGHTERSRUNFROMWARDEN,LEAVEGRANDCHILDRENINWOODSComanche County Game Warden

Mike Alexander was parked near a county road after midnight when a vehicle came down the road shining a small light out of the passenger side window. The vehicle stopped and shots were fired about 50 yards in front of Alexander. Two people jumped out with flashlights and began searching the area as the truck sped away. Alexander waited for the vehicle to return, but when he started his vehicle, the sus-pects took off, leaving the two in the woods. After a short chase, the vehicle stopped. The father and son admitted to shooting at a deer but denied that there was anyone still in the woods. When informed they were going to jail, the pair changed their story and said that their grandsons were in the woods. The juveniles were picked up, but a

search of the area did not find a deer or blood. The two men were charged with hunting deer at night and hunting from a public road. The boys were released to a relative.

POACHERSCAUGHTONCAMERAMOVETOALABAMA,STILLCAUGHT

Gillespie County Game Warden Sam Harris received a call from a landowner who had a picture of two unknown hunters standing over a dead deer under his game feeder. Harris was able to locate drag marks and blood evidence leading through two other properties. After a day of knocking on doors and meeting other landowners, Harris located the subjects’ former residence. After a meeting with the suspects’ mother, Harris and Game Warden Scott Krueger were told the suspects had moved back to Alabama two days after the deer was shot. Harris contacted Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources game war-dens for assistance. Alabama game wardens interviewed the suspects and secured the evidence. The meat will be donated to a needy family in Alabama. Cases pending.

TRESPASSERCLAIMSRANCHOFABSENTEELANDOWNERISPUBLICLAND

Bell County Game Warden Brandt Bernstein received a call from a land-owner saying the absentee landowner across the road had trespassers hunt-ing on her property. Bernstein located a truck parked on the road at the gate and waited for the suspect to

come out. Several minutes later, the suspect came walking out in hunter orange and camouflage and carrying a deer rifle. Bernstein asked the hunter whose property he was on and if he had killed anything this morning. The hunter said he was hunting on public land and that he didn’t kill anything that morning, but did kill an 11-point buck on the same property the day before. Bernstein seized the hunt-er’s rifle, 11-point buck and hunting license. Case under investigation.

MANTAKESTWO13-INCHPLUSBUCKSTOPROCESSORONOPENINGDAY

Polk County Game Warden Ryan Hall was inspecting a local deer pro-cessor when he noticed that a local hunter had signed in two 8-point bucks on opening day. A closer inspection of the deer revealed the same hunter had also tagged both bucks. Hall made contact with the hunter, who confessed to exceeding the bag limit of white-tailed deer with an inside antler spread greater than 13 inches. Case and resti-tution pending.

MANCAMPS,HUNTSINPARKHill County Game Warden Mark

Hammonds served a felony war-rant as a result of an investigation that began on opening weekend of archery season. The suspect illegally harvested two deer inside a Corps of Engineers camping park at Lake Whitney. The suspect was camping in the park while hunting public land nearby. When confronted with evi-dence, the man admitted to shooting both deer with his bow inside the park. Cases pending.

BODYOFDUCKHUNTERFOUNDSabine County Game Warden Sam

Smith recovered the body of a local man who was duck hunting in southern Sabine County. Various other agencies were involved in the short search that led to the duck hunter’s decoy spread near Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

GAME WARDEN BLOTTER

Williamson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shot-fired call in a subdivision in Leander. Game Warden Joel Campos was notified and responded to the scene. The suspect was caught in the greenbelt with a .22-caliber rifle and several knives. The man shot a doe and stated he

was getting rid of the “bad” from the forest. When asked to explain, the man said he was killing deer that were destroying the forest. The sheriff’s office filed misde-meanor charges, and Campos filed several misdemeanor cases, a state jail felony charge and civil restitution.

MANCAUGHTKILLINGDEERTHATWAS“DESTROYINGTHEFOREST”



TEXAS SALTWATER FISHING REPORT

NORTHSABINE: Trout are fair to good under birds and pods of shad on soft plastics. Redfish and flounder are good in the marsh on shrimp. Trout are good over mud and shell.

SOUTHSABINE:Trout are fair to good under birds and pods of shad. Redfish are good at the jetty on live bait and cracked crabs.

BOLIVAR: Trout are fair to good while drifting shell on plastics. Bull redfish are good on the beachfront.

TRINITYBAY: Trout are good for drifters working pods of shad and mullet soft and scented plastics. Trout are good under birds on the north shoreline. Redfish are good on the north shoreline.

EASTGALVESTONBAY:Redfish and flounder are fair to good in the marsh around drains on shrimp. Trout and redfish are good under the birds when the wind allows.

WESTGALVESTONBAY: Bull redfish and flounder are good at San Luis Pass on shrimp and shad. Sheepshead, redfish and black drum are good at the jetty on shrimp and crabs.

TEXASCITY:Gulf trout are good in the channel on fresh

shrimp. Flounder are good on the edge of the channel.

FREEPORT:Bull redfish are good around Surfside and at the Quintana jetty on crabs, shrimp and mullet. Flounder are fair to good at San Luis Pass on jigs tipped with shrimp.

EASTMATAGORDABAY:Trout and redfish are fair over deep shell on soft plastics when the wind allows. Trout are fair for drifters on live shrimp over humps and scattered shell. Trout and flounder are fair to good on muddy shorelines on soft plas-tics.

WESTMATAGORDABAY: Trout are fair on sand and grass humps on soft plastics and top-waters. Redfish are fair on live shrimp at Shell Island and Mad Island.

PORTO’CONNOR: Redfish are best at the mouths of the back lakes on the falling tide on shrimp and mullet. Bull redfish are good at the jetty on crabs, mullet and shad. Trout are fair to good on the reefs in San Antonio Bay.

ROCKPORT: Redfish are good in Redfish Bay on mullet and crabs. Bull redfish are good in the Lydia Ann Channel and around Mud Island on shrimp and crabs. Slot redfish are good

in California Hole on live bait.

PORTARANSAS: Redfish are fair at Shamrock Cove and Pelican Island on top-waters and scented plastics. Bull redfish are good at the jetty and on the beachfront on natural baits.

CORPUSCHRISTI:Bull redfish are good in the surf on mullet and shrimp. Trout are fair for waders working mud and grass on small top-waters and Corkies.

BAFFINBAY:Trout are good on top-waters and plum plastics around rocks and grass. Trout are good while drifting deep rocks on plum plastics. Redfish are fair on the edge of the Intracoastal on mullet.

PORTMANSFIELD: Redfish are good while drifting holes on scented plastics under a popping cork. Trout and redfish are fair to good on the spoils on slow–sinking twitchbaits.

SOUTHPADRE:Trout are good around Long Bar and on the edges of the ICW on soft plastics. Redfish and trout are good around points and drop–offs on scented and soft plastics.

— TPWD

WindingdownKEMAH — The flounder run

is winding down, according to local fisheries biologists in the Galveston Bay complex. Local anglers are still catching some flounder as they make their annual run, but the bigger fish came around Thanksgiving.

“People are still catching flounder, but I think the majority have already left,” one biologist said. “They said it thinned out about a week ago.”

Anglers reported good success on live shrimp and scented plastics in chartreuse colors for catching hungry flat fish.

BigtroutbiteKING RANCH SHORELINE — The colder water temper-

atures have turned on the bigger trout, according to Capt. Kevin Cochran, who fishes around Baffin Bay.

Some top-water action has been reported, along with scented plastics being used to put some nice-sized trout in the box.

“The fish are becoming easier to pattern and catch with lures,” he said.

Cochran is putting clients on trout in the 25-plus inch range. To contact Capt. Kevin Cochran, call (361) 688-3714.

Surf’supPORT ISABEL — According to area surf anglers, the water tem-

peratures are very cold in the Port Isabel area, and some fish kills have been reported.

Whiting have been caught in good numbers from the beach using shrimp and Fish Bites. Along with whiting, gafftop and hardheads have

been prevalent.However, several guides have reported small fish kills because of the cold weather —

snook seem to be the hardest hit so far, with one guide reporting 30 dead in one channel he checked. Mangrove snapper could also be in for trouble if temperatures remain low.

No reports of dead trout, yet. Reports of a good trout and redfish bite have emerged from Laguna Vista and Holley Beach on

plastic shrimp under a popping cork. — Conor Harrison

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CatContinuedFromPage4

QuailContinuedFromPage1

source, coveys were sure to be found.“Anything with cover and food had

potential,” he said. “There is still some standing milo around. We hunted that where it met old treelines or abandoned buildings. This year’s numbers are up out here for sure.

“The biggest difference over the past few years has been the covey sizes.”

One problem that could arise is the long-term impact of ice on the ground in quail country in northwest Texas.

“Definitely, ice has an impact on seed-eating birds like quail,” said Robert Perez, TPWD quail leader. “They are adapted to deal with the snow and cold by coveying up and getting together. The biggest factor is the number of days there is ice on the ground. Quail can get by for two or three days, but after that it could be a problem.”

Perez said hunter reports from the Rolling Plains have been good, but not as positive as some reports from South Texas.

“We’ve heard variable reports from some ranches who were seeing a lot of birds earlier in the fall, but might not be seeing as many now,” he said.

“I don’t think any-thing has happened to the quail, I just think they may have moved to some dif-ferent areas. We have had lots of good reports from South Texas where hunters have really been pleasantly sur-prised.”

Perez said many commercial ranches are limiting their hunters to one bird per covey rise.

“They are still being cautious with the brood stock to help them get out of the slump,” Perez said. “We are set-ting up for a good recovery in South Texas with the range conditons.”

Brad Dabbert, of the Texas Tech University Quail-Tech Alliance, also reports better numbers this year.

“We have completed about 90 per-cent of our fall covey call counts and have been continuing our multi-pronged efforts to benefit quail,” he said. “There is a wide range (0.2 to 10) of means among anchor ranches with a mean of the 24 anchor ranches sur-veyed thus far of 3 coveys per point. Fortunately, covey counts on anchor ranches this year are a 30 percent increase from our fall 2012 numbers of 2.3 coveys per point and a 100 percent increase from our 2011 value of 1.5 cov-eys per point.”

Dabbert said landowners should do all they can to help birds through the winter.

“We suggest landowners use supple-mental feeding with milo broadcast into the habitat as we have shown this method increases survival of north-ern bobwhites in the Rolling Plains,” he said. “Additionally, we recommend landowners be conservative shooting birds again this year.”

By this point, the big tom had walked to within 10 yards of Nacey’s tree stand.

“He was right in my kitchen,” Nacey said. “I had a hole about the size of a football. I was holding ten-sion on the bow and knew I needed to make a quick, smooth draw to take a shot. As his head went behind a limb, I drew quickly and caught my shirt. He heard that and stopped and looked directly at me.”

Fortunately for Nacey, the cat stopped with his front leg extended, leaving a per-fect line of sight to the vitals. Muscle memory kicked in and Nacey let an arrow go.

“Everything came together so quickly I really didn’t have time to give it too much thought,” he said. “That was probably a good thing. I hit him and the arrow went through him like butter. I was pretty sure I had double-lunged him, but

BIGPAWS:Compared with a can of snuff, the cat’s paws are rather impres-sive. Photo by E.J. Nacey.

I didn’t want to get overconfi-dent.”

Nacey said the cat bolted into the brush, where he thought he heard a crash, followed by a “blood-curdling scream.”

“He jumped at least 6 feet in the air when I hit him,” he said. “I knew I had killed that cat. I know you’re supposed to wait 30 minutes, but forget that! I ran to the Kawasaki Mule and hauled over to my dad’s stand nearby.”

Nacey said his dad, Elmer, had no idea why his son was roaring toward him before the end of shooting time.

“The adrenaline was like nothing I have ever experi-enced,” he said. “My dad had a rifle, so I told him I needed the gun since I just shot a cat.”

“A bobcat?” his dad asked.“Nope, a mountain lion,”

Nacey responded.“Let’s go!” his dad said.After a short tracking job,

father and son found the cat piled up in a thicket near the tree where he was shot.

“It was such a massive ani-mal,” Nacey said. “I had no appreciation for how big they are. We took it back to camp and everyone was amazed.”

The lion was a healthy male weighing 100 pounds and stretching 6-feet 8-inches from head to tail. Nacey is having the cat mounted.

“I called the state and they want a sample of the tongue,” he said. “Nobody can remember a mountain lion being killed out of a bow stand. I really appreci-ate how rare this is.”

LOTSTOPOINTAT:Quail hunters and their four-legged companions are finding more birds this season. Photo by David J. Sams, LSON.



HEROES

RobertDebord harvested this nice 10-pointer using a Remington 700 308 with a YHM Phantom suppressor.

SHAREANADVENTUREn Wanttosharehuntingandfishingphotoswithother Lone Star Outdoor Newsreaders?Email them with contact and caption information to [email protected]. High-resolution original jpegs only. Mail prints to Heroes, Lone Star Outdoor News, P.O. Box 551695, Dallas, TX 75355.

AbeNayfa traveled to Africa recently and took this big Cape buffalo.

The first buck for EdgarQuintinilla was a good one — this 8-pointer from Chita taken with a 7mm-08 at 55 yards.

SteveSledge boated this 9.11-pound bass on a private lake in East Texas.

KatieO’Connor,11, from Katy, landed this massive bull red unassisted near the jetties in Port Aransas.

SheridaNatho of Runge with a 10-point buck she took in Dim-mit County.

Seven-year old T.J.Dement, from Boerne, got his first animal, this aoudad, on an evening hunt at his family ranch near Montell.


FifteenTexansinBassmasterElites

The sport of professional bass fishing is very alive and well, judging from entries in the 2014 Bassmaster Elite Series, with 15 Texans quali-fying for the series.

When registration closed earlier this month, 112 anglers had signed up to compete in the nine-event, $6.3 million circuit. It’s the largest field since the inception of the Elite Series in 2006. Participation has hovered around 100 each year since 2008, when 109 anglers competed.

“The demand for the Elite Series has been incredible,” said Bassmaster Tournament Director Trip Weldon. “Not only is this the largest field we’ve ever had, but it may be the strongest. It’s loaded with tal-ented, world-class anglers.”

The 15 Texas anglers are:

Keith Combs, HuntingtonKurt Dove, Del RioTodd Faircloth, JasperGrant Goldbeck, BoerneAlton Jones, LorenaKelly Jordon, PalestineMike Kernan, WylieGary Klein, WeatherfordYusuke Miyazaki, ForneyJames Niggemeyer, VanTakahiro Omori, EmoryMatt Reed, MadisonvilleTrevor Romans, PlanoZell Rowland, MontgomeryByron Velvick, Boerne

— B.A.S.S.

Zebramusselrulesineffect

Another year, another set of zebra mussel regulations.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s new rules went into effect on Dec. 10.

They require all boats oper-ating on public water in 17 Northeast Texas counties be

drained after use.Under the new regulations,

persons leaving or approach-ing public water in the affected counties are required to drain all water from their vessels and on-board receptacles. This applies to all types and sizes of boats whether powered or not, personal watercraft, sailboats, or any other vessel used to travel on public waters.

The rules apply on all public waters in Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Fannin, Grayson, Hood, Jack, Kaufman, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Stephens, Tarrant, Wise, and Young counties.

Applicable in all areas where boats can be launched, the regulation requires the draining of live wells, bilges, motors, and any other recep-tacles or water-intake systems coming into contact with pub-lic waters.

— TPWD


NATIONAL

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See a full selection of Nikon products at:

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254-753-5511www.pracopawn.com

CliftonhunterJamesLiardonis7yearsoldandtookthisfirstbuckatthe

sameageashisfather,whomhewashuntingwithatthetime.Thehunt

tookplaceonthefamilyranchjustoutsideoftown.Theranchhasbeen

inthefamilyfornearly100years.Jamesrepresentsthefifthgeneration

ofthefamilytohunttheranch.Thebuckwastakenonaneveninghuntat

about70yardswitha7-mmRemingtonmag,hisfather’sgun.

Oklahomaquailseasonofftogoodstart

Quail season has not been open very long, but early reports from the field indicate that conditions have improved over the previous two years that were stricken by record heat and drought.

According to Scott Cox, upland game bird biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, hunting has been good in certain areas, even amid what he believes were poor to fair scenting conditions for bird dogs.

“Coveys were found, covey sizes were good, age structure was good, birds were healthy, crops were full of good forbs,” Cox said.

Hunters were even reportedly har-vesting birds as young as 6 weeks old. Birds were also known to be on nests as late as October.

Cox said that it’s been common for groups of hunters to see about four to five coveys each, with covey sizes ranging from about 12-18 birds. He estimates hunters are har-vesting about four to five birds each on average.

— ODWC

RoadkillsalvagenowlegalinMontana

Montana state wildlife officials say permits to salvage road-killed deer, elk, antelope and moose are now available online.

The new law that allows for the salvage of road-killed wildlife for food became effective in October.

People who salvage road-killed animals must complete a permit within 24 hours of salvaging the animal. There is no charge for the permits.

Anyone who salvages a road-killed animal must remove the entire animal from the roadway. The salvaged animal must be used for personal consumption and cannot be donated or used for bait or pet food.

After the new law’s first week, 45 permits were issued across the state. Three were for dead elk, 13 for mule deer and the remainder were for white-tailed deer.

Salvaging roadkill is legal in 14 other states, including Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

— MFWP

PaddlefishharvestlimitssetinOklahoma

New angling rules are pending that will help conserve Oklahoma’s important populations of paddle-fish. The changes include setting an individual annual harvest limit of two fish per angler and requir-ing that anglers report their paddlefish harvest online using the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s e-check system.

The annual harvest limit has been set at two paddlefish per indi-vidual, meaning that once anglers have harvested two fish, they must stop keeping them for the year. However, they can continue “catch-and-release-only” fishing for paddlefish. Additionally, the new rules require anglers to log on to wildlifedepartment.com to report their harvest, much like hunt-

ers must check in their harvested deer online. Checking fish will further expand biologists’ knowl-edge of paddlefish populations. Current rules that limit anglers to one paddlefish per day and that require them to stop fishing for the day once a fish has been kept will remain in place.

— ODWC

NewNorthCarolinastate-recordarcherydeer

North Carolina has a new state-record archery deer, all because Tim Watkins’ plan came together when he arrowed a huge buck Sept. 18 in Stokes County.

A panel of four certified Pope and Young Club and Boone and Crockett Club scorers officially measured the buck when the required 60-day drying period was completed, and it scored 170 1/8 points. It will supplant a 166 6/8-inch Guilford County buck arrowed in 2009 by Andrew Kerman as the state-record typical buck taken by a bowhunter.

Watkins’ buck is the first North Carolina deer killed by a bowhunter to qualify for the Boone and Crockett Club’s all-time record book — mini-mum score 170 — and it will tie for No. 16 among typical bucks taken in North Carolina by all methods.

The rack had an 18 1/8-inch inside spread, main beams of 26 2/8 and 26 5/8 inches and brow tines measuring of 3 4/8 and 3 7/8 inches. The four longest tines mea-sured 12 7/8, 12, 11 7/8 and 11 2/8 inches. The rack’s gross score was 176 7/8.

— NCRWC

HugeblackbeartakeninPennsylvania

Daniel Beavers of Covington Township bagged a black bear that weighed 772 pounds. The massive prize is the largest bear captured in the state so far this season and Beavers hopes its skull will be the largest in the world.

“I couldn’t believe how big it was. It’s big,” Beavers told local news stations.

The kill is a sentimental one for Beaver. He grew up hunting with his father, Jacob Beaver. After his dad passed away in 2012, the son has had trouble dealing with the loss.

When he embarked on a short hunting trip on the second day of bear season, Beavers took his dad’s .30-06 rifle instead of his own gun, a 12-gauge shotgun.

Beavers and the bear were old foes.

The man spent four to five years tracking this particular beast through the woods in Lackawanna County. Beavers had come to rec-ognize the bear by his size and also by the white “V” on its chest.

— Staff report

PolknamedOklahomaofficerofyear

Dru Polk, game warden stationed in McCurtain County in southeast Oklahoma, has been named the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s Game Warden of the Year for 2013 and Wildlife Officer of the Year for the Shikar-Safari

Club International.Polk was recognized before the

Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission at its December meet-ing. Former U.S. Rep. Bill Brewster of Ardmore, a member of Shikar-Safari Club International, presented Polk a framed certificate and a sil-ver commemorative plate from the club.

“The award means a lot to me, but it means just as much to my family,” said Polk, who has served as a warden since 2001. “If it wasn’t for them being understand-ing, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. To be selected officer of the year by your peers is something to be proud of.”

— SSCI

Ohiohunterscomingthroughindeerseason

Ohio hunters checked 75,408 white-tailed deer during the week-long gun hunting season, Dec. 2-8, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

“With the muzzleloader season and almost two months of archery hunting yet to come, Ohio hunt-ers have many more opportunities to harvest a deer,” said Scott Zody, chief of the ODNR Division of Wildlife.

Hunters have harvested 162,720 deer so far in the 2013 hunting seasons, compared to 171,867 at the same point last year, a 5 per-cent difference.

Until recently, the populations in nearly all of Ohio’s counties were well above their target numbers.

— ODNR



MoonPhases Solunar|Suntimes|Moontimes

FORTHETABLEOUTDOORPUZZLER|By Wilbur “Wib” Lundeen SolutiononPage29

Legend: Major=2 hours. Minor=1 hour. Times centered on the major-minor window. F=Full Moon, N=New Moon, Q=Quarter > = Peak Activity. For other locations, subtract 1 minute per 12 miles east of a location, and add 1 min-ute per 12 miles west of a location.

SunMoonTides| |

3 pounds trout filletsOlive oil4 cloves garlic, finely chopped2 onions, sliced4 carrots, sliced thin4 potatoes, sliced thin4 celery stalks, finely chopped1 green pepper, sliced thin4 ripe tomatoes, sliced1 lemon, slicedSalt and pepper

Cover the bottom of a roasting

pan with olive oil. Place the fillets in the bottom.

Top with 2 cloves of the chopped garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Layer on the vegetables in this order: onions, celery, potatoes, car-rots, tomatoes, green pepper and lemon. Sprinkle on the rest of the garlic then salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 300 degrees until the veg-etables are tender.

— allrecipes.com

1 pound thick sliced bacon, diced1 pound ground venison2 large sweet onions, diced48 ounce jar of beans1/4 cup dark molasses3/4 cup brown sugarGarlic saltPepper

Fry the bacon together with a little bit of the chopped onion until almost done. Remove and drain.

Fry the venison with some of the chopped onion. Use more onion than with the bacon. Remove and drain. In a large bowl combine the beans, molasses, sugar, garlic salt and pepper to taste. Add the bacon, venison and the rest of the onion. Mix together. Pour into a baking dish or roaster. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 1/2-2 hours.

— backwoodsbound.com

Venisonbakedbeans

TexasCoastTidesSabinePass,northDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightDec 13 6:42 AM -0.4L 2:33 PM 1.4H 7:43 PM 1.0LDec 14 12:11 AM 1.2H 7:19 AM -0.5L 3:20 PM 1.4H 8:29 PM 1.0LDec 15 12:38 AM 1.2H 7:54 AM -0.6L 3:59 PM 1.4H 9:02 PM 1.0LDec 16 1:00 AM 1.2H 8:29 AM -0.6L 4:34 PM 1.4H 9:24 PM 1.1LDec 17 1:18 AM 1.2H 9:03 AM -0.6L 5:05 PM 1.3H 9:46 PM 1.0LDec 18 1:35 AM 1.2H 9:38 AM -0.5L 5:36 PM 1.3H 10:13 PM 1.0LDec 19 1:56 AM 1.1H 10:14 AM -0.5L 6:08 PM 1.2H 10:52 PM 1.0LDec 20 2:24 AM 1.1H 10:50 AM -0.4L 6:42 PM 1.2H 11:43 PM 0.9LDec 21 2:59 AM 1.0H 11:28 AM -0.2L 7:18 PM 1.2HDec 22 12:47 AM 0.8L 3:47 AM 0.9H 12:07 PM -0.1L 7:53 PM 1.1HDec 23 1:55 AM 0.7L 5:09 AM 0.7H 12:50 PM 0.1L 8:26 PM 1.1HDec 24 2:54 AM 0.5L 7:42 AM 0.6H 1:41 PM 0.3L 8:55 PM 1.0HDec 25 3:42 AM 0.3L 10:13 AM 0.7H 2:44 PM 0.5L 9:21 PM 1.0HDec 26 4:25 AM 0.0L 11:46 AM 0.9H 3:57 PM 0.7L 9:46 PM 1.0HDec 27 5:07 AM -0.3L 12:49 PM 1.0H 5:11 PM 0.8L 10:14 PM 1.1H

GalvestonBayentrance,southjettyDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightDec 13 6:35 AM -0.4L 2:58 PM 1.8H 7:58 PM 1.4L 11:33 PM 1.6HDec 14 7:09 AM -0.6L 3:43 PM 1.8H 8:44 PM 1.5L 11:57 PM 1.6HDec 15 7:41 AM -0.6L 4:20 PM 1.8H 9:13 PM 1.5LDec 16 12:21 AM 1.6H 8:12 AM -0.7L 4:52 PM 1.8H 9:23 PM 1.5LDec 17 12:47 AM 1.6H 8:42 AM -0.7L 5:23 PM 1.7H 9:23 PM 1.5LDec 18 1:15 AM 1.6H 9:12 AM -0.6L 5:54 PM 1.7H 9:38 PM 1.4LDec 19 1:42 AM 1.5H 9:42 AM -0.5L 6:27 PM 1.6H 10:12 PM 1.4LDec 20 2:05 AM 1.4H 10:14 AM -0.4L 7:00 PM 1.5H 11:05 PM 1.3LDec 21 2:23 AM 1.3H 10:47 AM -0.3L 7:33 PM 1.5HDec 22 11:20 AM -0.1L 8:05 PM 1.4HDec 23 11:56 AM 0.1L 8:32 PM 1.4HDec 24 3:41 AM 0.7L 7:48 AM 0.8H 12:36 PM 0.4L 8:54 PM 1.3HDec 25 3:48 AM 0.4L 10:13 AM 0.8H 1:27 PM 0.7L 9:11 PM 1.3HDec 26 4:13 AM 0.1L 12:01 PM 1.0H 2:41 PM 0.9L 9:24 PM 1.3HDec 27 4:46 AM -0.3L 1:14 PM 1.3H 4:21 PM 1.1L 9:39 PM 1.3H

SanLuisPassDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time Height Dec 13 7:31 AM -0.3L 3:28 PM 1.1H 8:54 PM 0.9LDec 14 12:03 AM 0.9H 8:05 AM -0.3L 4:13 PM 1.1H 9:40 PM 0.9LDec 15 12:27 AM 0.9H 8:37 AM -0.4L 4:50 PM 1.1H 10:09 PM 0.9LDec 16 12:51 AM 1.0H 9:08 AM -0.4L 5:22 PM 1.1H 10:19 PM 0.9LDec 17 1:17 AM 1.0H 9:38 AM -0.4L 5:53 PM 1.0H 10:19 PM 0.9LDec 18 1:45 AM 0.9H 10:08 AM -0.4L 6:24 PM 1.0H 10:34 PM 0.9LDec 19 2:12 AM 0.9H 10:38 AM -0.3L 6:57 PM 1.0H 11:08 PM 0.8LDec 20 2:35 AM 0.9H 11:10 AM -0.3L 7:30 PM 0.9HDec 21 12:01 AM 0.8L 2:53 AM 0.8H 11:43 AM -0.2L 8:03 PM 0.9 HDec 22 12:16 PM -0.1L 8:35 PM 0.9HDec 23 12:52 PM 0.1L 9:02 PM 0.8HDec 24 4:37 AM 0.4L 8:18 AM 0.5H 1:32 PM 0.2L 9:24 PM 0.8HDec 25 4:44 AM 0.2L 10:43 AM 0.5H 2:23 PM 0.4L 9:41 PM 0.8HDec 26 5:09 AM 0.1L 12:31 PM 0.6H 3:37 PM 0.6L 9:54 PM 0.8HDec 27 5:42 AM -0.2L 1:44 PM 0.8H 5:17 PM 0.7L 10:09 PM 0.8 H

FreeportHarborDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightDec 13 6:27 AM -0.1L 2:44 PM 1.7HDec 14 7:06 AM -0.2L 3:31 PM 1.8HDec 15 7:42 AM -0.3L 4:11 PM 1.8HDec 16 8:17 AM -0.3L 4:46 PM 1.8HDec 17 8:49 AM -0.3L 5:18 PM 1.7HDec 18 9:19 AM -0.2L 5:47 PM 1.7HDec 19 9:48 AM -0.2L 6:16 PM 1.6HDec 20 10:17 AM -0.1L 6:43 PM 1.6HDec 21 10:47 AM 0.0L 7:10 PM 1.5HDec 22 11:19 AM 0.2L 7:36 PM 1.4HDec 23 11:54 AM 0.3L 8:00 PM 1.3HDec 24 3:47 AM 0.6L 7:57 AM 0.8H 12:38 PM 0.5L 8:22 PM 1.2HDec 25 3:54 AM 0.4L 9:55 AM 0.9H 1:43 PM 0.8L 8:42 PM 1.2HDec 26 4:14 AM 0.2L 11:36 AM 1.1H 4:00 PM 1.0L 8:57 PM 1.1HDec 27 4:45 AM 0.0L 12:51 PM 1.3H

SouthPadreIslandDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightDec 13 5:53 AM -0.2L 3:12 PM 1.6HDec 14 6:35 AM -0.3L 4:02 PM 1.7HDec 15 7:16 AM -0.4L 4:48 PM 1.7HDec 16 7:54 AM -0.4L 5:31 PM 1.7HDec 17 8:31 AM -0.3L 6:10 PM 1.7HDec 18 9:05 AM -0.3L 6:45 PM 1.6HDec 19 9:36 AM -0.1L 7:12 PM 1.6HDec 20 10:05 AM 0.0L 7:30 PM 1.6HDec 21 10:34 AM 0.1L 7:39 PM 1.5HDec 22 11:03 AM 0.3L 7:43 PM 1.4HDec 23 11:33 AM 0.4L 7:45 PM 1.4HDec 24 3:30 AM 0.8L 5:52 AM 0.9H 12:07 PM 0.6L 7:46 PM 1.3HDec 25 3:26 AM 0.6L 9:33 AM 0.9H 12:47 PM 0.8L 7:44 PM 1.2HDec 26 3:49 AM 0.3L 7:37 PM 1.2HDec 27 4:24 AM 0.0L 1:52 PM 1.2H 4:56 PM 1.2L 7:07 PM 1.2H

PortO’ConnorDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightDec 13 9:04 AM -0.1L 10:06 PM 0.7HDec 14 9:47 AM -0.1L 10:28 PM 0.7HDec 15 10:26 AM -0.2L 10:56 PM 0.7HDec 16 11:01 AM -0.2L 11:25 PM 0.7HDec 17 11:33 AM -0.2L 11:54 PM 0.7HDec 18 12:04 PM -0.2LDec 19 12:19 AM 0.6H 12:36 PM -0.2LDec 20 12:34 AM 0.6H 1:11 PM -0.2LDec 21 12:21 AM 0.5H 1:47 PM -0.2LDec 22 12:20 AM 0.5H 2:22 PM -0.2LDec 23 12:28 AM 0.4H 2:56 PM -0.1LDec 24 12:13 AM 0.3H 3:20 PM 0.0L 10:46 PM 0.3HDec 25 6:41 AM 0.1L 9:46 PM 0.3HDec 26 6:59 AM -0.1L 9:07 PM 0.3HDec 27 7:30 AM -0.2L 8:53 PM 0.4H

RockportDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightDec 13 9:45 AM 0.0LDec 14 12:13 AM 0.3H 10:28 AM -0.1LDec 15 12:48 AM 0.3H 11:11 AM -0.1LDec 16 1:28 AM 0.3H 11:56 AM -0.1LDec 17 2:11 AM 0.3H 12:40 PM -0.1LDec 18 2:56 AM 0.2H 1:22 PM -0.1LDec 19 3:39 AM 0.2H 2:01 PM -0.1LDec 20 4:18 AM 0.2H 2:35 PM -0.1LDec 21 4:51 AM 0.1H 3:03 PM -0.1LDec 22 5:13 AM 0.1H 3:26 PM -0.1LDec 23 12:49 AM 0.1H 3:42 PM -0.1L 11:57 PM 0.0HDec 24 3:47 PM -0.1L 11:35 PM 0.0HDec 25 7:45 AM -0.1L 11:47 AM -0.1H 3:12 PM -0.1L 11:23 PM 0.0HDec 26 8:08 AM -0.1L 11:19 PM 0.1HDec 27 8:42 AM -0.2L 11:24 PM 0.1H

Houston2013-14 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONDec-Jan MinorMajor Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets13 Fri 1:41 7:53 2:05 8:17 7:07 5:22 2:58p 3:41a 14 Sat 2:23 8:36 2:48 9:00 7:08 5:22 3:40p 4:37a 15 Sun 3:08 9:20 3:32 9:44 7:08 5:23 4:25p 5:30a 16 Mon > 3:54 10:06 4:18 10:30 7:09 5:23 5:12p 6:22a 17 Tue > 4:42 10:54 5:06 11:18 7:09 5:23 6:01p 7:11a 18 Wed F 5:31 11:43 5:55 ----- 7:10 5:24 6:52p 7:57a 19 Thu > 6:21 12:10 6:44 12:33 7:11 5:24 7:44p 8:39a 20 Fri > 7:11 1:00 7:34 1:22 7:11 5:25 8:36p 9:18a 21 Sat 8:01 1:50 8:23 2:12 7:12 5:25 9:28p 9:54a 22 Sun 8:49 2:39 9:11 3:00 7:12 5:26 10:20p 10:28a 23 Mon 9:37 3:26 9:58 3:47 7:13 5:26 11:13p 11:02a 24 Tue Q 10:23 4:12 10:45 4:34 7:13 5:27 NoMoon 11:36a 25 Wed Q 11:09 4:57 11:31 5:20 7:13 5:27 12:06a 12:11p 26 Thu 11:54 5:42 ----- 6:06 7:14 5:28 1:02a 12:48p 27 Fri 12:15 6:28 12:41 6:54 7:14 5:28 2:01a 1:29p 28 Sat 1:02 7:16 1:29 7:43 7:15 5:29 3:02a 2:15p 29 Sun 1:51 8:05 2:20 8:35 7:15 5:30 4:06a 3:07p 30 Mon > 2:44 8:59 3:14 9:29 7:15 5:30 5:10a 4:04p 31 Tue > 3:40 9:56 4:11 10:27 7:15 5:31 6:13a 5:07p 01 Wed N 4:41 10:56 5:12 11:27 7:16 5:32 7:12a 6:14p

PortAransas,H.CaldwellPierDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightDec 13 5:52 AM -0.3L 2:50 PM 1.7HDec 14 6:33 AM -0.4L 3:38 PM 1.7HDec 15 7:13 AM -0.5L 4:22 PM 1.7HDec 16 7:51 AM -0.6L 5:04 PM 1.7HDec 17 8:28 AM -0.6L 5:43 PM 1.6HDec 18 9:03 AM -0.6L 6:19 PM 1.5HDec 19 9:37 AM -0.6L 6:49 PM 1.3HDec 20 10:08 AM -0.5L 7:11 PM 1.2HDec 21 10:39 AM -0.4L 7:26 PM 1.1HDec 22 11:09 AM -0.2L 7:35 PM 1.1HDec 23 11:41 AM 0.1L 7:41 PM 1.0HDec 24 3:00 AM 0.4L 7:08 AM 0.5H 12:17 PM 0.3L 7:47 PM 1.0 HDec 25 3:20 AM 0.2L 10:24 AM 0.7H 1:04 PM 0.6L 7:49 PM 1.0HDec 26 3:51 AM 0.0L 12:42 PM 1.0H 2:53 PM 0.9L 7:45 PM 1.1HDec 27 4:28 AM -0.2L 1:42 PM 1.3H

SanAntonio2013-14 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONDec-Jan Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets13 Fri 1:53 8:05 2:17 8:29 7:19 5:35 3:11p 3:54a 14 Sat 2:36 8:48 3:00 9:12 7:19 5:36 3:54p 4:49a 15 Sun 3:20 9:32 3:45 9:57 7:20 5:36 4:39p 5:43a 16 Mon > 4:06 10:19 4:31 10:43 7:21 5:36 5:26p 6:34a 17 Tue > 4:54 11:06 5:18 11:30 7:21 5:37 6:15p 7:23a 18 Wed F 5:44 11:55 6:07 ----- 7:22 5:37 7:06p 8:09a 19 Thu > 6:34 12:22 6:57 12:45 7:22 5:38 7:57p 8:51a 20 Fri > 7:24 1:13 7:46 1:35 7:23 5:38 8:49p 9:30a 21 Sat 8:13 2:02 8:35 2:24 7:23 5:38 9:41p 10:06a 22 Sun 9:02 2:51 9:23 3:13 7:24 5:39 10:33p 10:41a 23 Mon 9:49 3:38 10:11 4:00 7:24 5:39 11:26p 11:15a 24 Tue Q 10:36 4:25 10:57 4:46 7:25 5:40 NoMoon 11:48a 25 Wed Q 11:21 5:10 11:44 5:33 7:25 5:40 12:19a 12:24p 26 Thu ----- 5:55 12:07 6:19 7:25 5:41 1:15a 1:01p 27 Fri 12:28 6:41 12:53 7:06 7:26 5:42 2:14a 1:42p 28 Sat 1:14 7:28 1:42 7:55 7:26 5:42 3:15a 2:29p 29 Sun 2:03 8:18 2:33 8:47 7:27 5:43 4:19a 3:20p 30 Mon > 2:56 9:11 3:27 9:42 7:27 5:43 5:23a 4:18p 31 Tue > 3:53 10:08 4:24 10:39 7:27 5:44 6:26a 5:21p 01 Wed N 4:53 11:09 5:24 11:40 7:27 5:45 7:25a 6:28p

Amarillo2013-14 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONDec-Jan Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets13 Fri 2:06 8:18 2:31 8:43 07:46 05:34 3:16p 4:16a 14 Sat 2:49 9:01 3:14 9:26 07:47 05:35 3:57p 5:13a 15 Sun 3:34 9:46 3:58 10:10 07:48 05:35 4:41p 6:08a 16 Mon > 4:20 10:32 4:44 10:56 07:48 05:35 5:28p 7:00a 17 Tue > 5:08 11:20 5:32 11:44 07:49 05:36 6:17p 7:49a 18 Wed F 5:57 ----- 6:21 12:09 07:50 05:36 7:09p 8:34a 19 Thu > 6:47 12:35 7:10 12:59 07:50 05:36 8:02p 9:15a 20 Fri > 7:37 1:26 8:00 1:48 07:51 05:37 8:55p 9:52a 21 Sat 8:27 2:16 8:49 2:38 07:51 05:37 9:49p 10:27a 22 Sun 9:15 3:05 9:37 3:26 07:52 05:38 10:44p 10:59a 23 Mon 10:03 3:52 10:24 4:13 07:52 05:38 11:39p 11:30a 24 Tue Q 10:49 4:38 11:11 5:00 07:53 05:39 NoMoon 12:02p 25 Wed Q 11:35 5:23 11:57 5:46 07:53 05:39 12:35a 12:35p 26 Thu ----- 6:08 12:20 6:32 07:53 05:40 1:33a 1:10p 27 Fri 12:41 6:54 1:07 7:20 07:54 05:40 2:34a 1:49p 28 Sat 1:28 7:41 1:55 8:09 07:54 05:41 3:38a 2:33p 29 Sun 2:17 8:31 2:46 9:01 07:54 05:42 4:43a 3:23p 30 Mon > 3:10 9:25 3:40 9:55 07:55 05:42 5:49a 4:20p 31 Tue > 4:06 10:22 4:37 10:53 07:55 05:43 6:52a 5:23p 01 Wed N 5:07 11:22 5:37 11:53 07:55 05:44 7:50a 6:31p

Dallas2013-14 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONDec-Jan MinorMajor Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets13 Fri 1:46 7:58 2:10 8:22 7:20 5:20 2:59p 3:51a 14 Sat 2:29 8:41 2:53 9:05 7:21 5:20 3:41p 4:48a 15 Sun 3:13 9:25 3:38 9:50 7:21 5:21 4:25p 5:42a 16 Mon > 3:59 10:12 4:24 10:36 7:22 5:21 5:12p 6:34a 17 Tue > 4:47 10:59 5:11 11:23 7:23 5:21 6:01p 7:23a 18 Wed F 5:37 11:48 6:00 ----- 7:23 5:22 6:52p 8:08a 19 Thu > 6:27 12:15 6:50 12:38 7:24 5:22 7:44p 8:50a 20 Fri > 7:17 1:06 7:39 1:28 7:24 5:22 8:37p 9:28a 21 Sat 8:06 1:55 8:28 2:17 7:25 5:23 9:31p 10:03a 22 Sun 8:55 2:44 9:16 3:06 7:25 5:23 10:24p 10:36a 23 Mon 9:42 3:31 10:04 3:53 7:26 5:24 11:18p 11:09a 24 Tue Q 10:29 4:18 10:50 4:39 7:26 5:24 NoMoon 11:41a 25 Wed Q 11:14 5:03 11:37 5:26 7:27 5:25 12:13a 12:15p 26 Thu ----- 5:48 12:00 6:12 7:27 5:26 1:10a 12:51p 27 Fri 12:21 6:34 12:46 6:59 7:27 5:26 2:10a 1:31p 28 Sat 1:07 7:21 1:35 7:48 7:28 5:27 3:13a 2:16p 29 Sun 1:56 8:11 2:26 8:40 7:28 5:27 4:17a 3:06p 30 Mon > 2:49 9:04 3:20 9:35 7:28 5:28 5:22a 4:04p 31 Tue > 3:46 10:01 4:17 10:32 7:29 5:29 6:25a 5:07p 01 Wed N 4:46 11:02 5:17 11:33 7:29 5:29 7:24a 6:14p

Troutsupreme

*email LSON your favorite recipe to [email protected].

ACROSS1. A sportsman’s habit

that has no cure 5. To prepare a shore

meal 8. A type of fly lure 9. Name for a saltwater

weight10. A barn and cliff

dweller11. A lake bird14. To aim ahead of run-

ning game15. A trout species16. Another name for the

largemouth18. The cause of arrow

drift20. Game birds22. A buck’s mating ritual25. Usually born in May27. A pheasant’s collec-

tion of hens28. Term for a hookless

lure30. An archery association34. A wood used in arrow

shafts35. Camper’s resting

place36. A saltwater food fish38. A type of gunsight39. A good crappie bait42. Main fin on a fish

45. Pack a day’s catch in this

47. A gun piece, _____ rest48. A tuskero49. Fish breathing organ50. A tangler of trotline

DOWN1. Do not reel in a catch

too ____

2. A bass 3. Used when frying over

open fire 4. A camp stove sub-

stance 6. A game pathway 7. State popular to dove

hunters 8. A member of a buck’s

harem

12. Marksmen need only ____ shot to kill

13. Found in the boat-house

14. Long range misses are usually ____

16. A small game preda-tor

17. The outdoor lawman19. A game hideaway21. A very good bear trap

lure23. A scope protector24. A member of a

pheasant’s harem25. Name for the Arizona

whitetail26. Parka, boots, warm

cap29. The hunting area31. Bait placed in water

to lure fish32. A part of a fishline33. Outdoor activity in

fall, winter35. Young bears37. Expert fishermen

earn this title40. Arrows and shells41. Fishing tackle43. A feedbag filler44. Points at a target46. The snake-like swim-

mer

LastDec. 25

FullDec. 17

NewJan. 1 First

Jan. 8

Lone Star Outdoor News, ISSN 2162-8300, a publication of Lone Star Outdoor News, LLC, publishes twice a month. A mailed subscription is $30 for 24 issues. Newsstand copies are $2, in certain markets copies are free, one per person. Copyright 2013 with all rights reserved. Reproduction and/or use of any photographic or written material without written permission by the publisher is prohibited. Subscribers may send address changes to: Lone Star Outdoor News, P.O. Box 551695, Dallas, TX 75355 or email them to [email protected].

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some and you might not.”One guide said the situation

at Lake Amistad is comparable to 2008, when levees burst in Mexico, resulting in flooding on the American side.

“The water came up fast and it was dirty and the fishing wasn’t good,” he said. “However, I think whatever is going on now is worse. Amistad has gone from a very clear lake, a lake where people scuba dived, to an almost stained lake. It used to be you could see fish spawning in 25 feet of water. Now you can barely see your lure in 5 feet of water. The fishing is way off.”

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department doesn’t monitor water quality at Lake Amistad.

However, TPWD biologist Randy Myers, who fishes the lake, blamed a fluctuating water level for part of the problematic fishing.

“The water level got to an all-time low (May, 2013) and then it popped up 20 feet,” he said. “Naturally, when you get that much new water into a system, the water is not going to look good. It’s more turbid. The same thing hap-pened about five years ago. The lake was rising 6 inches a day. It turned off the fishing quite a bit. It takes time in such situations for the water quality to stabilize.”

A lack of hydrilla could also be part of what’s giving anglers head-aches, said Greg Garetz, who han-dles resource management at the Amistad National Recreation Area.

Garetz said over the last year or so, the lake level twice dropped approximately 25 feet. The second time was a killer.

“The hydrilla had just started to reestablish itself when the water level dropped again,” he said. “And that pretty much killed off most of the hydrilla.”

The water level will have to sta-bilize for a couple of years for the hydrilla to come back, Myers said.

“The current water level is ideal for hydrilla, which will help clear the water out to some degree,” he said. “But it’s got to stay there through the growing season. If it can hold steady in the 20-foot (deep) range for two years or so, they’ll get wide fields of hydrilla and then the fishing will come back quickly.”

Elsa Hull, an environmen-tal investigator for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, told LSON that TCEQ test-ing shows that water clarity at Lake Amistad is down from a couple of years ago.

Near Amistad Dam, the water

clarity was measured by TCEQ as being 2.8 meters in January, 2011. Last month, it was 1.7 meters. And in one of the tributar-ies feeding water into Lake Amistad, the water clarity dropped from 2.8 meters to 0.9 meters in the same time period.

“Because of rains in the watershed on the Mexico side, there’s been a recharge down-stream on the American side,” Hull said. “Sometimes after rain events, it churns up the water. It could be that and also the water carrying sediment and silt as it goes into Amistad. That’s just the way nature works.”

Guide Kurt Dove wrote on his blog that he and a friend finished 5th in a recent charity fishing tournament at Lake Amistad.

Their string weighed 7.5 pounds.“Not your typical Amistad for sure,” he

wrote.Dove wrote that fishing at Lake Amistad

does seem to be picking up lately with drop-ping water temperatures creating “some activity in the shallows.”

“Search for creeks and drains with the most bait and fish slowly going back and forth around those areas for best results.”

Schoening hopes that Dove proves right.“I don’t like taking people out just for a

boat ride,” Schoening said.

AmistadContinuedFromPage1


FINALLY:After three years, San Antonio hunter Alex Spangler finally caught up to this 7-year-old buck on his uncle’s ranch near Hico. Photo by Bill Hutchison.

SnowContinuedFromPage1

away from feeders, which allowed good carryover for mature bucks.

“This has been a good year for antler quality,” he said. “I’ve seen some big bucks — 160s and 170s. The spotty acorn crop helped. But it is slowing down now. It has really slowed as far as rutting activity goes. There were some good bucks killed over the Thanksgiving weekend, but I attribute that more to the high hunter activity.

“The harvest will slow down from here on out, espe-cially buck harvest.

Many areas in Texas have seen their rut wind down, but south of San Antonio, the festivities are just about to begin.

Rutting activity was reported near Sabinal and Uvalde during the most recent cold snap.

In deep South Texas, Webb County Game Warden Justin Solis said young bucks have started to rut, but the mature deer haven’t emerged in large numbers.

“I’ve seen mostly management bucks being taken,” Solis said. “I checked a lot of hunters recently and most had culls. The older deer haven’t come out yet, from what I have seen. I think this next weekend is when it is going to kick off.”

Many Texas hunters did find success.San Antonio hunter Alex Spangler had waited a

long time to get a big buck in his sights.And when he pulled the trigger on the 7-year-old

deer several days after Thanksgiving, he thought he’d blown his opportunity.

“We were hunting my uncle’s ranch near Hico,” the sophomore at Texas A&M University said. “Three Thanksgivings ago, I was told I could hunt a really big buck. The first year I found the buck I wanted to hunt, and we sat for him, but it didn’t work out. The second year, we got a lot of pictures of him, but he had busted off half of his rack.

“It was pretty depressing. I was excited and looking forward to that hunt the whole year.”

This Thanksgiving found Spangler back on the ranch for another crack, and with a little motivation.

“One of my cousins told me he was going to look for that buck if I didn’t get him,” Spangler said. “This sea-son, we started the hunt on Thanksgiving Day. We saw pictures on the game camera of him. He was really old. He was getting pushed around by a lot of the other deer and he had a limp.”

Spangler said nothing came easy with this buck and

this year’s hunt was no exception.“It was the last hour of the last day of

the four-day hunt,” he said. “I had seen lots of little bucks and it was getting late. I had only seen this deer once in person, from the truck, but when I first saw him from the blind, he looked huge.

“I didn’t even need to grab my binoc-

ulars.”Spangler quickly got the big buck in

his sights and pulled the trigger, only to see the deer turn and run right back into the woods like he wasn’t hit.

“I’ve never had buck fever before, but it is real,” he said. “My heart was racing and I was breathing hard. When I shot,

I thought I’d finally gotten my chance and missed.”

Luckily, the deer was found 20 yards inside the woodline. The brute weighed 197 pounds on the hoof.

Spangler, like many hunters this sea-son, took advantage of good weather and harvested a trophy.



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PuRSuIT CHANNELWingshooting USAAvian XPulse Factor TVHardcore Hunting TVDeer ThugsThe American Way Spook NationOutdoor Edge’s Love of the Hunt Anything WildWild Rivers WhitetailsFlyway HighwayTNT Outdoor ExplosionScentblocker & Drury’s Natural Born

PuRSuIT CHANNEL Bear WhispererHartcraft Hunting AdventuresSouthern Woods and Water TVThe Bucket ListHank Parker 3DWildlife Pursuit TV Bowhunting AddictionKT Diaries Canadian Whitetail TVAmericana OutdoorsBloodlineSpook NationMayhem OD

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PuRSuIT CHANNEL Huntin’ Is Good!Campfire StoriesStruttinBucks “The Juncture”Wallhanger TVBackland ExperiencesHunting Connection TVBig Boy AdventuresTNT Outdoors ExplosionTrophy State of MindBob Redfern’s Outdoor MagazineBackland ExperiencesSave the Habitat, Save the HuntAmerican Trigger Sports Network

PuRSuIT CHANNEL Young GunsComplete SeasonTrigger Time TVAmerican AirgunnerAmerican Trigger Sports NetworkGun Talk TVDoug Koenig’s Championship SeasonGuns & Gear TV3 Gun Nation3 Gun Nation

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PuRSuIT CHANNELCarnivoreDeadly PassionNorth American HunterThe High RoadInside the ObsessionScentblocker & Drury’s Natural BornNWTF 365BloodlineAvian XSave the Habitat, Save the HuntGulf South OutdoorsHunting with HECSBear Whisperer

SPORTSMAN CHANNELTrijicon’s the Hunt Country Boys Outdoors Guns & AmmoDavidson’s Gallery of Guns Ruger Inside and OutWorld of Beretta Tac TVWhat if?Guns & AmmoDavidson’s Gallery of Guns Ruger Inside and Out World of BerettaTac TV

SPORTSMAN CHANNEL Drake’s Migration NationAntler Insanity Whitetail Properties Major League Bowhunter Realtree’s Monster BucksBack Country Quest Brad Farris’ Game Plan Savage Outdoors Whitetail Properties Major League BowhunterRealtree’s Monster BucksBack Country Quest Brad Farris’ Game Plan

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Whitetail DiariesEye of the HunterNorth to AlaskaTerritories WildDeer Hunting TVOutdoor SecretsNorth American Hunter

Prime Time is a new section for our readers.

Here at LSON, we got tired of searching the Internet, TV Guide or menus on our digital cable boxes to find the latest hunting and fishing shows.

So, we decided if we don’t like it, our readers probably don’t either.

Well, here it is. A handy guide to allow you one easy step to find the best outdoors shows in primetime.

If you are looking for Saturday and Sunday morning shows, along with programming during other hours, go to lsonews.com as we are out hunting and fish-ing during those times.

If you have any suggestions, please send an email to [email protected].

PalintohostshowonSportsmanChannel

Former U.S. vice presidential candidate, governor, best-sell-ing author and original “Mama Grizzly” Sarah Palin returns to series television on Sportsman Channel to host a new show — the first part of the network’s “Red, Wild & Blue America” programming plan — for the network. Titled Amazing America with Sarah Palin, the weekly series will premiere in April 2014. The announcement was made by Gavin Harvey, CEO of Sportsman Channel.

“I’m excited to help shine a light on all the great American sports-men and women in the country who live the outdoors lifestyle,” Palin said. “Sportsman Channel is the leader in their industry and I am thrilled to be partner-ing with them on this show.”

“Governor Palin is one of America’s most popular leaders, whose powerful love of country and passion for the great out-doors is inspiring to millions and millions of people,” Harvey said. “As a sportswoman, humanitarian, and patriot who has visited every corner of the USA, there is no one more qual-ified to host Amazing America than Sarah Palin.”

Good through January 1. Go to LSONews.com for up-to-date information.


schedule up for them.”Along the coast, hunters are eagerly await-

ing the season, which gets underway in late December.

Areas of East Texas east of Interstate 35 and a zone running inland from Highway 77 are off limits to hunters, due to the migration and win-tering spots of whooping cranes. Accidentally shooting a whooping crane brings significant penalties and fines.

Zone C closed area: Everything to the Gulf of Mexico from a line beginning at the Kleberg-Nueces county line and the Gulf of Mexico, west along the county line to Park Road 22, to State Hwy. 358, to State Hwy. 286, north to IH 37, east to U.S. Hwy. 181, north and west to U.S. Hwy. 77 at Sinton, north and east along U.S. Hwy. 77 to U.S. Hwy. 87 at Victoria, east and south along U.S. Hwy. 87

to State Hwy. 35, north and east along State Hwy. 35 to the south end of Lavaca Bay Causeway,

south and east along the shore of Lavaca Bay to the Port Lavaca Ship

Channel, south and east along the Ship Channel

to the Gulf o f Mexico.

CranesContinuedFromPage4

GOODDECOYSNEEDED:After many cranes became educated to hunters during the early season, outfitters are us-ing life-like decoys to fool the wary birds. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.

Map by TPWD.


PRODUCTS

TITANIUMGOLDTIGERSTRIPEDESERTEAGLEMARKXIX.50ACTIONEXPRESSHANDGUN:Magnum

Research’s hand gun boasts .50 AE rotating three-lug bolt gas-operated semi-automatic action with the knock-

down power needed for hunting big game. The barrel, frame and slide are made from carbon steel and come

with a full Weaver-type rail for easy installation of scope rings and optical devices. The gun’s 6-inch barrel

comes with or without a muzzle brake. That eye-catching tiger stripe pattern was modeled after the skin of a Bengal tiger. And, its finish is a titanium nitrite

vapor deposition coating. This handgun sells for about $2,264.

(508)635-4273www.magnumresearch.com

LONE STAR mARkET

To advertise in this section, call Mike Hughs at (214) 361-2276 or email him at [email protected].

REACTORQUIVER:ApexGear, known for their Performance Driven Archery sights and accessories,

is pleased to introduce the Reactor Quiver for archery enthusiasts. The Reactor Quiver holds up to five arrows

and fits both left- and right-handed bows, making it an excellent addition to your favorite bow. The Reactor Quiver has a low-profile

design that keeps the quiver tight against the bow riser. The new Reactor Quiver incorporates a

secure double gripper design that fits both carbon and aluminum

arrows, including Easton G, X and H Series Micro-Shaft hunting arrows. It also fits both mechanical and fixed

broadheads. The Reactor has an adjust-able tension aluminum Cam-Lock for an easy one-hand removal of the

quiver. The adjustable “tilt” feature enables the user to fine-tune the bow

balance and the mounting bracket and grippers are adjustable up and down to better fit all bow models. The Reactor

includes a rigid aluminum-hanging loop for use in treestands or ground-

blinds. “I was impressed with the ease of install and adjustments available to com-pliment any bow,” said Mike Hughs,

Lone Star Outdoor News.

(309)944-5341www.apex-gear.com

1-4X24MMRIFLE-SCOPE:Bushnell’s

two newest riflescopes in the AR Optics line boast true

one-power magnification, high-quality optics and target turrets. Featuring fully multi-coated

optics, the AR Optics line provides exceptional light trans-mission and image clarity. With an overall length just over 9 inches, the scope is a perfect fit on AR-style rifles. Built from a durable, one-piece 30mm tube, the riflescope has

plenty of travel for extended-range elevation adjustments. In addition, target turrets and a fast-focus eyepiece allow shoot-

ers to make quick adjustments in the field. One of the models features the new Drop Zone 223 Reticle, a bullet-drop compen-sation (BDC) reticle with a 100-yard zero and aiming points out

to 500 yards; the other new model features the BTR-1 illumi-nated reticle and a throw down power change lever for quick

magnification adjustments. The BTR-1 functions as a red dot at low power while offering aiming points to 600 yards at full power. The riflescopes cost about $200 and $300,

depending on the model.

(800)423-3537www.bushnell.com

DEERTHUGSRIFLEAMMUNITION:FederalPremiumAmmunition teamed with Mossy Oak and the TV hunting program Deer THUGS for its lat-

est offering. The new ammo is part of the Power-Shok line and includes loads in nine calibers: .243 Win., .25-06 Rem., .270

Win., 7mm Rem. Magnum, .30-30 Win., .308 Win., .30-06 Spring., .300 WSM and .300 Win. Magnum. The bullets are made using a proprietary plating process that results in high

weight retention and expansion. A box of ammunition sells for about $20 to $40, depending on caliber (A portion of the pro-

ceeds will benefit wounded veterans).

(800)322-2342www.federalpremium.com

GPSHUNTTOPOMAPSDCARDS:TrimbleOutdoors’SD cards will give smartphone and tablet owners access to topographic maps for 39 states, including Texas. The maps,

which cover more than 167 million private land plots, offer such details as private land boundaries. The new memory cards work in Android-powered smartphones with

a SD/microSD slot. (The memory cards are also compatible with Apple iPhones and iPads.) Once the maps are loaded onto the device, the maps are viewable without a

data or cell connection, offering hunters 15 different zoom levels of full-color topo-graphic maps – they will even be able to

see which side of the fence and whose land they are stand-ing on! The GPS Hunt Topo

Map Cards are sold by state for $99 and $119 (for

the larger states: such as Texas).

Forinformation,visit:www.gpshuntfish.com

orwww.TrimbleOutdoors.com

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Puzzle solution from Page22

the fishing has been off more because of the colder weather. The colder weather pattern this year seems to be earlier and colder than normal. That will disperse fish.”

Balboa said when a north wind blows this time of year it usually pushes water out of the bays, which has not happened around Galveston.

“For whatever reason this year, the wind is blow-ing and the cold weather is here, but the water is still high,” Balboa said. “I think the poor

fishing is due to the cold weather keep-ing anglers off the water.”

In the Upper Laguna Madre, biol-ogist Faye Grubbs said she has defi-nitely seen higher tides this fall.

“It has been up for sure,” Grubbs said. “Especially for how long it has been extended. Just from an obser-vation stand-point, the wet-lands near the JFK Causeway are always a good indi-cator of water lev-els, and those have been high from September through November.

“The fronts just haven’t pushed water out like in years’ past.”

TidesContinuedFromPage9

“The regulations went away in federal waters, not because it doesn’t work, but because it didn’t allow for recompres-sion tools,” he said. “It was a very nar-row scope. So to avoid complexity, they went away from it altogether. I think it needs to be addressed.

“Fish still need to be vented or sent down.”

How do state coastal biologists view the venting/recompression debate?

“In state waters, venting isn’t neces-sary,” said Mark Fisher, science director for TPWD’s Coastal Fisheries division. “We’ve not really tackled that because we just aren’t deep enough to need it in state waters.”

Venting isn’t just for saltwater species.TPWD has conducted studies on

venting largemouth bass in some of the state’s deeper freshwater lakes.

Often called fizzing in bass circles, the idea is the same, and increased sur-vival by 14 percent on Lake Amistad where the study was conducted.

VentingContinuedFromPage8


LONE STAR mARkET

To advertise in this section, call Mike Hughs at (214) 361-2276 or email him at [email protected].

DATEBOOKDecember14-15Premier Gun ShowsExposition Hall, San Antonio(817) 732-1194premiergunshows.com

Texas Gun and Knife ShowsAmarillo Civic Center(830) 285-0575texasgunandknifeshows.com

Bass Champs1st Annual Squaw Creek Fish and Chips Charity Poker/Fishing Tournament(817) 280-0303basschamps.com

December28-29The Original Fort Worth Gun ShowWill Rogers Center(817) 732-1194premiergunshows.com

January8Weatherby FoundationInternational Hunting and Conservation Award DinnerDallas, Omni Hotel(866) 934-4976weatherbyfoundation.org

January9-12Dallas Safari ClubAnnual ConventionDallas Convention Center(972) 980-9800biggame.org

January10-12Texas Tackle, Hunting and Boat ShowMesquite Convention Center(918) 785-7447montgomeryproductions.com

January17-18Deer Breeders Corporation6th Annual New Year’s AuctionHorseshoe Bay Resort Marriott(972) 289-3100dbcdeer.com

January17-19Houston Safari ClubAnnual ConventionThe Woodlands Waterway Marriott(713) 623-8866houstonsafariclub.org

January23Texas Brush Country Chapter SCIAnnual BanquetAmerican Bank Center, Corpus Christi(361) 877-9872

January31-February1Texas Deer AssociationSuperior Genetics Deer AuctionSan Antonio(210) 767-8300texasdeerassociation.com

January31-February9DFW Winter Boat ExpoDallas Market Hall(469) 500-6155dallasboatexpo.com

February6Ducks unlimitedAllen Sportsmen’s Night OutSwingin’ D Ranch, Parker(214) 770-3551ducks.org/texas



Documents

December 13, 2013 - Lone Star Outdoor News - Fishing & Hunting