Texas Fish & Game Aug 2014

Digital Edition

August 2014 | VOL. 31 • NO. 4 | $3.95

RedsCranky

When FeralHogs Attack

Yanking Godzilla BassJapan-SizedLunkers in Texas?

So... Are You GonnaEat That?

Wild in Texas:Creating aChupacabra

Hunting theGov’sDoves

RattlingAroundTexas

www.FishGame.com

Coastal.indd 1 7/29/14 11:09 AM

http://www.FishGame.com

StaffBox-Contents.indd 2 7/9/14 12:19 PM


Published by Texas Fish & Game Publishing Co., LLC. Texas Fish & Game is the largest independent,

family-owned outdoor publication in America. Owned by Ron & Stephanie Ward and Roy & Ardia Neves.

roy nevesPUBLISHER

chester mooreEDITOR IN CHIEF

C O N T R I B U T O R S

joe doggett • SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

doug pike • SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

ted nugent • EDITOR AT LARGE

lou marullo • HUNTING EDITOR

matt williams • FRESHWATER EDITOR

calixto gonzales • SALTWATER EDITOR

lenny rudow • BOATING EDITOR

steve lamascus • FIREARMS EDITOR

dustin ellermann • SHOOTING EDITOR

kendal hemphill • POLITICAL COMMENTATOR

will leschper • CONSERVATION EDITOR

reavis wortham • HUMOR EDITOR

tom behrens • CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

greg berlocher • CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

paul bradshaw • CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

capt. mike holmes • CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

dustin warncke • CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

stan skinner • COPY EDITOR

lisa moore • CONTRIBUTING PHOTO EDITOR

john gisel • STRATEGIC ADVISOR

A D V E R T I S I N G

ardia nevesVICE PRESIDENT/ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

david beckler • NATIONAL ADVERTISING SALES

tonisha shields • ADVERTISING COORDINATOR

1745 Greens road Houston, tX 77032 Phone: 281/227-3001 • Fax 281/227-3002

C R E A T I V E

elliott donnellyDIGITAL PUBLISHER

anna campbell • GRAPHIC DESIGNER

melinda buss • GRAPHIC DESIGNER

wendy kipfmiller-o’brien • DIGITAL ISSUES DESIGNER

S U B S C R I P T I O N S

1745 Greens road, housTon, Tx 77032

Phone 800/725-1134

ACTION SUBSCRIPTION FULFILLMENT

duane hruzekPRESIDENT

TEXAS FISH & GAME (ISSN 0887-4174) is published monthly by Texas Fish & Game Publishing Co., LLC., 1745 Greens Road, Houston, Texas 77032. ©Texas Fish & Game Publishing Co., LLC. All rights reserved. Content is not to be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission. The publication assumes no responsibility for unsolicited photographs and manuscripts. Subscription rates: 1 year $19.00: 2 years $34.75; 3 years $48.50. Address all subscription inquiries to Texas Fish & Game, 1745 Greens Road, Houston, Texas 77032. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for response. Give old and new address and enclose latest mail-ing address label when writing about your subscription. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: TEXAS FISH & GAME, 1745 Greens Road, Houston, TX 77032. Address all subscription inquiries to TEXAS FISH & GAME, 1745 Greens Road, Houston, TX 77032. Email change of address to: [email protected] Email new orders to: [email protected] Email subscription questions to: [email protected].

Periodical postage paid at Houston, TX 77267-9946 and at additional mailing offices.

Paid Distribution of over 90,000Verified by Independent Audit

www.FishGame.com

2 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ®


mailto:[email protected]




COVER:Cranked Up Reds

Crankbaits have long served as winning lures for pro bass anglers.

But some clever saltwater pros are also using them to win red-fish tournaments

Story by John N. Felsher

Cover Photo byChester Moore

www.FishGame.com

STORY:

20

Features


GODZILLA BASSCan Texas replicate the Mega bass fishery of Japan, where the current world record is held?

by Matt Williams

RATTLING AROUND TEXASFact, fiction and photos portray the widespread range of rattlesnakes across the Lone Star State.

by Chester Moore

SO... YOU GONNA EAT THAT?Surprisingly good table fare from unlikely fish and game sources.

by Dustin Warncke

28

34

38

HUNTING THE GOV’S DOVESDespite the fact that 97 percent of Texas land is private, public land avail-able for hunting with a $48-per-year permit has grown almost 20-fold in the past two decades.

by Chester Moore

24

Table ofContents

ALSO IN AUGUST:

Wild In TexasRecent reported sightings of ani-mals resembling the near-mythical

chupacabra inspired this look at a Texas taxidermist’s wild creation.

by Chester Moore

STORY:

46

AUGUST 2014Volume 31 • NO. 4

StaffBox-Contents.indd 4 7/11/14 11:12 AM



InsideFish&Game

by Roy & Ardia Neves | TF&G Owners

Contents (continued) Columns

10 Editor’s Notes Wild Child by CHESTER MOORE TF&G Editor in Chief

14 Doggett at Large Wave Walking by JOE DOGGETT TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

16 Pike on the Edge Invasive Maneuvers by DOUG PIKE TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

18 TexasWild Q & A with the Nuge by TED NUGENT TF&G Editor At Large

19 Commentary One Shot – One Kill by KENDAL HEMPHILL TF&G Political Commentator

23 Texas Saltwater A Labor of Love by CALIXTO GONZALES TF&G Saltwater Editor

31 Texas Freshwater Hooks: Keep ’Em Sharp by MATT WILLIAMS TF&G Freshwater Editor

37 Bare Bones Hunting Preparation is the Key to Success by LOU MARULLO TF&G Hunting Editor

48 Open Season Britches by REAVIS WORTHAM TF&G Humor Editor

8 LETTERS

12 TF&G REPORT

12 BIG BAGS & CATCHES

32 TEXAS DEPT. OF DEFENSE

42 TRUE GREEN

Departments

Texas Fish & Game is a family-owned business, and theowners welcome your comments and questions. E-mail Roy and

Ardia Neves or Ron Ward at [email protected]

www.FishGame.com6 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ®

uNo More Newsprint

LONGTIME READERS OF THIS MAGAZINE MAY remember when we first inaugurated our TF&G Almanac sec-tion back in 1999. At the time, we were looking for a low-cost way to add coverage of a more local nature, and our relation-ship with Highland Publishing Company in Marble Falls—the original owner of TF&G—provided us with the means to do

so. They operated a printing press designed for newspaper production and could print this new section and ship it to our main printer, to be bound into the main issue, for a price that made the venture economically feasible.

By that time, of course, Texas Fish & Game had long been running its main pages on glossy, coated paper on a full-color “heat set” printing press. By publishing the Almanac on cheap newsprint stock, in black & white, we could afford to add the new content and also provide a lower cost alternative to small advertisers.

Over time, the Almanac sec-tion evolved. We stayed with the cheaper uncoated newsprint, but the company that printed our main sections found a way to run this cheaper paper through their highfalutin heat set color presses, and we were able to add full color to the Almanac.

The evolution continues.Beginning with next month’s

issue, September 2014, we’re upgrading the Almanac section to glossy, slick paper stock just like the main book. No more newsprint. Reproduction of photos, text and other graphics will be sharper and more readable.

Therefore, the copy of Texas Fish & Game you now hold in your hands (unless you’re reading this online or holding one of our various tablet ver-sions in your hands) is a collector’s item of sorts: the last issue with the Almanac printed on newspaper stock.

We hope you will like the new look, and feel, of the upgraded Almanac.

January 1999:the first TF&G Almanac




8 LETTERS

12 TF&G REPORT

12 BIG BAGS & CATCHES

32 TEXAS DEPT. OF DEFENSE

42 TRUE GREEN

Departments


Awakening ColumnSO I FIRST READ YOUR “GLOOMY” Editor’s Notes in the May 2014 edition. I read it and thought “what the heck? I want to know how to catch more fish!” and moved on. Then it started eating on me, so I went back and read it again.

This time I figured, “oh well, what can I do anyway?” and put the magazine down.

Then it kept stirring in my mind so I took your darn article to work and decided to look up the TPWD advisory myself to see what all your fussing is about. Next thing I know I’m “Googling” PCB’s (which I was familiar with, but always thought they were someone else’s problem…like New York or other faraway places).

So now, thanks to your crazy article, I find myself telling all my fishing buddies as we sit and talk fishing….”hey did you know about the TPWD advisory on PCB’s in our trout and other fish?”

And when they say, and they all say, “No!” I reply about this dang Chester Moore fellow who apparently writes about this really important type stuff, and how he opened my eyes to a serious problem that everyone needs to be aware of.

You’ve gone and done it now….in my own small sphere of influence, I’m spreading the word. Thanks for taking the time to write about what really matters!!! I want my kids and their kids to be able to catch and eat the same fish that I have loved my entire life.

I want to learn more about this issue, and what I can do in my own small way to make a difference for the future of our bay systems. I look forward to more of your “awakenings!”

Shane Long

Coyote AttacksI JUST READ YOUR ARTICLE ON Coyote attacks and you asked for anecdotes.

I was raised with a coyote/dog mix. Carlo wandered in from the bush in San Diego, California when I was about a year old (1937) and he was just a few weeks old. He

walked onto the blanket where I was sitting and my mother was in the house to get some-thing. He sat down beside me and when my mother came back, she decided I was not in any danger and Carlo was adopted.

Carlo was, apparently, a German shepa-rd/coyote mix as he was almost as big as a German shepard but looked like a Coyote. Carlo lived 13 years and was my constant companion. When he died and I was 14 years old, it was devastating to me and even though I am now 78 years old, it still brings tears to my eyes as I write about it. He was a brother to me.

Now I live in Ingleside on the Bay, Texas. Recently we had two large coyotes that looked very similar to Carlo that would cross our lawn every morning at about 7:30am. We did not disturb them...until they got my favorite cat, a big yellow tom that wouldn’t hurt a flea. Nacho was a stray that wandered up and I didn’t take nicely to a coyote eating him....even if the coyote did look like Carlo....

I asked the Mayor if I could discharge a 30-06 in the city limits and he said, “No, but if you get the two of them lined up and can do it in one shot, no one will know where the sound of the shot came from.” I am not that good a shot, so I asked if I could use a BB gun and he said, “Yes”.

So I purchased a 45 caliber “BB Gun,” a Sam Yang 909S, with a muzzle velocity of 700-800 fps. But since the gun has been delivered, the coyotes have not been back!

Jim Isbell

GREAT ARTICLE ON COYOTES. I really enjoy all your writing and your common sense approach.

I fish at Port Aransas, and frequently see coyotes when I am there, particularly early in the morning when going fishing.

Port Aransas has had a bad coyote prob-lem for years, with many documented coyote bites to people, as well as all the attacks on dogs that have occurred while people are walking them on the beach.

Do a Google search for “Port Aransas Coyote Attacks,” and a Wikipedia search for

“Coyote Attacks on Humans”.I live in the sticks in Coryell County, and

I and my buddies try to do our part keeping the coyote population under control by hunt-ing, trapping and snares. We still have way too many.

Dave McGinnis

A COYOTE KILLED THIS DOE OUT-side my home in Richmond this spring. And I heard something during the night but it was over quick. Next morning found this.

Worst part is I have an expensive horse

foal being born in January 2015. I have a game camera pic at home of it over the dead deer the next night I can send you. I put tree stand up and sat over it but did not get it. I have run this coyotes off at night by chasing them with a spot light but both times did not have my gun handy.

Now we own 250 acres in the UP of Michigan and we have wolves and I was walking with my bow to my stand one morn-ing, still dark and in the crunching snow when about five wolves started howling about 70 yards away. I can tell you having grown up in Texas that your body knows the difference between howling coyotes and when you hear wolves. My body freaked out.

I got my CHL as soon as I could so now when I now hunt up there I carry my 10mm Glock.

Since reading your article I may not chase the coyotes off at night in my sleeping shorts unarmed!

Bart Hobbs


Letters to the Editor

SEND COMMENTS TO: Editor, Texas Fish & Game • 1745 Greens Rd • Houston TX 77032EMAIL: [email protected]

Letters.indd 8 7/9/14 11:39 AM


Letters.indd 9 7/9/14 11:39 AM

Editor’s Notes

Wild Child

MY FIRST MEMORY IS TWO TEENAGE neighbors bringing over a big cot-tonmouth they killed in the brushy field down the street.

The next thing I remember is sitting with my dad on the docks at the Port of Orange catching croaker and black drum. After that it is watching him catch a seven foot long alligator garfish at one of our roadside fishing holes. We aptly named the armored beast “Moby” and although it was not a white whale the pursuit of such creatures would lead me into a number of adventures throughout my life.

From the beginning, I have been obsessed with wildlife. Whether it was big, tall, great or small, it has piqued my interest at some point or other and led to an incredibly fulfill-ing, adventurous and unique life.

Truly unique.Being an only child, I spent a lot of

time alone and with my parents, and at a very early age my mother read to me. Sports Afield, Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and other outdoor magazines were strewn around the house and became reading favor-ites. Soon though, my parents started buying me wildlife books, two of which stand out.

One was from the classic Golden Books line and was simply called “Reptiles & Amphibians.” The other we ordered from the Time Life series on television was called Dangerous Sea Creatures. I would read the texts over and over again and stared at the photos imagining myself encountering king cobras, saltwater crocodiles and going down in a shark cage like ocean explorer extraordi-naire Jacques Cousteau.

Another major influence was a program that came on every Sunday evening called Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. It was hosted by an eloquent zoo manager named Marlin Perkins and his younger, more adventurous cohort Jim Fowler. They tra-versed the world in search of wild creatures of all kinds and had amazing on-camera

chemistry. This program is so engrained in my

psyche that to this day I can still sing the Mutual of Omaha jingle.

“Mutual of Omaha is people you can count on when the going’s tough.”

I did that from memory by the way.I used to love sitting on my Dad’s lap

and putting together hunting and fishing scrapbooks from his hunting and fishing magazines. We eventually expanded into going to the local thrift shop and wiping out their supply. They sold for a nickel apiece so dumping out my piggy bank would yield several dozen at a time. They were like gold to me.

I would look at the photos, imagine myself pursuing the amazing creatures splashed across the pages and live vicariously through the hunters and anglers pictured within.

One of our early finds was a full page photo of a man with a nice mule deer he took with a bow and arrow. I thought the muley was great, but I was convinced it was my uncle Jackie Moore in the photo. I still have this scrap book and the guy is an absolute dead ringer for my late uncle.

Another favorite was a group of men loading a 15-foot-long black marlin onto a boat. Billfish were pretty fascinating, and I had never seen one so big. Since that time, the black marlin has been near the top of my fishing dreams.

My all-time favorite shot was another North American Hunter centerfold of a gigantic cougar slinking along some rocks in the Sierra Nevadas.

Dad and I heard a cougar scream out there one night at my aunt’s property and my uncle Jackie saw one crossing the entrance road a couple of times. Every time I looked at that photo, I kept thinking how amazing it would be to see one. I craved any kind of connection to the outdoors.

Without hesitation I would ask my mom to take me into Wingate’s Meat Market in Orange every single time we passed by. And about once a month, she would relent.

It had nothing to do with their meat but because the owner Nick Wingate had

an amazing taxidermy collection featuring mainly giant fish he had caught in the Gulf of Mexico. There was a hammerhead shark, tiger shark, grouper and a huge alligator fish along with a big buck that had been killed in Orange County. All of this blew my mind and allowed me to visualize things I wanted to do in the future.

Living in Orange we would go to nearby Port Arthur or Beaumont about once every two weeks.

I remember visiting the K-Mart off Twin City in Port Arthur and seeing a full body standing brown bear and polar bear in a car dealership across the street.

Being persistent, I begged my mom to take me in and was stunned at how big those bears were. I remember the gentlemen inside getting a kick out of a kid who wanted to come in just to see the bears.

It is important to keep kids interested in the great outdoors. Many more of my stories will be told in a forthcoming memoir called “Forever Wild: My Journey from the Wild Side to the Dark Side and Back” and I hope it inspires people to keep kids going outside.

We also have a wildlife education news-letter we put out weekly during the school year with interesting wildlife educational stories and lesson suggestions. If you would like this newsletter sent to you for your class-room, home school, scout group or for any other reason email me at [email protected]. We would love to put you on the list.

It’s our way of inspiring kids out there and helping forward the extremely impor-tant cause of wildlife conservation. The kids deserve it, and the wild creatures and wild grounds of Texas need future champions, advocates and stewards.

Let’s keep Texas wild!

E-mail Chester Moore [email protected].

You can watch him Saturdays onGETV/GETV.org at 10 a.m. on “God’s

Outdoors with Chester Moore” and hear him on “Moore Outdoors” Fridays from

6-7 p.m. on Newstalk AM 560 KLVI.

by Chester Moore | TF&G Editor in Chief


Editor’s Notes

Chester-EdNotes.indd 10 7/11/14 11:13 AM


Chester-EdNotes.indd 11 7/9/14 11:21 AM

Zebra Mussel Regs Go State WideBOATERS MUST DRAIN ALL WATER from their boat and on-board receptacles before leaving or approaching a body of fresh water anywhere in Texas. The law become effective July 1 as noted in our June edition.

The new Texas Parks and Wildlife Department regulation is designed to help combat the further spread of zebra mussels and other invasive species. It applies to all types and sizes of boats whether powered or not: personal watercraft, sailboats, kayaks/canoes, or any other vessel used on public waters.

The regulation requires the draining of live-wells, bilges, motors, a nd any other receptacles or water-intake systems coming

into contact with public waters.Live fish, including personally caught

live bait, cannot be transported from the water body where the fish were caught in or aboard a vessel in water from the water body where the fish were caught. Personally caught live bait can be used in the water body where it was caught.

Anglers are allowed to transport and use commercially purchased live bait if they have a receipt that identifies the source of the bait. Any live bait purchased from a location on or adjacent to a public water body that is transported in water from that water body can only be used as bait on that same water body.

Anglers participating in a fishing tour-nament confined to one water body may transport live fish in water from that

single water body to an identified off-site weigh-in location, but all water must be drained and properly disposed of before leaving that location. Anglers are required to possess documentation provided by tour-nament organizers that identify them as participants in the tournament.

Movement from one access point to another on the same lake during the same day does not require draining, and there is an exception for governmental activities and emergencies. Marine sanitary systems are not covered by these regulations.

—Staff Report

Sea Rim State Park Reopens

SEA RIM STATE PARK ON THE upper Texas coast has been reborn after being battered and inundated by two hurricanes in the past decade

PHOTO CREDIT

The TF G Report&

Big Bags Catches&


Visit FishGame.com to upload your Big Bags & Catches Photos and Vote for our next Winners

Clay Brown, age 11, with a 7-pound, 2-ounce largemouth from Caddo Lake. He caught it on a watermelon red Zoom Brush Hog. The fish was released.

Ashley Arthur caught this speckled trout while fishing at Sabine Pass.

Tom McCutchan caught his first big bull red on 10-pound braided test in the chan-nel at Port Aransas north jetty. The 48-inch fish weighed 29 pounds.

TFGRep.indd 12 7/9/14 11:40 AM

and now sports a host of improvements to enhance the visitor experience.

State and local officials gathered today to celebrate the grand reopening of the 4,100-acre state park that has been rebuilt and revi-talized with the construction of a new dune boardwalk with rinse showers, a beachside campground with vault restrooms, new day-use area and a six-person cabin overlooking the marsh. The improvements mark the completion of Phase I of Sea Rim State Park’s redevelopment funded in part by $2 million approved by the 81st Legislature to aid in its recovery.

“Sea Rim is a unique state treasure rich in cultural and natural resources where the lush marsh grasses meet the gulf waters and visitors can truly get away from it all,” says Justin Rhodes, Texas State Parks regional director. “We want all Texans and others to rediscover a sliver of Texas beach in its unfettered state that teems with wildlife and offers a variety of recreational opportuni-ties.”

The park, which reopened in 2009 with limited services after being hammered in 2005 by Hurricane Rita and in 2008 by Hurricane Ike, encompasses two units split by State Highway 87. The Beach unit draws sun lovers to 5.2 miles of beachfront, while the expansive Marsh unit attracts legions of kayakers, birders, crabbers, anglers and hunters. It is on the edge of the sprawling marshland crisscrossed by more than 16 miles of paddling trails that a new heated and air-conditioned cabin can be rented for $95 a night.

On the park’s beach side, visitors can rent one of the 15 new full-service camp-sites or opt for primitive beach camping. A new day use area with picnic tables and shade shelters was erected with the assis-

tance of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The

Texas Department of Transportation provided

funding for new roads, a parking area and beach access.

Sea Rim State Park, which first opened to the public in 1977, derives its name from the portion of the Gulf of Mexico shoreline where inland mud flats and tidal marshes meet the sea. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department originally purchased the coastal property in 1972 from the Plant Oil and Mineral Corporation and Horizon

Sales Corporation.The park provides an ideal place for

the public to view a variety of mammals, waterfowl and fish, as well as the American alligator. One of the best ways to get a close-up view of the gators, fish, turtles, frogs and ducks and other waterfowl is by strolling the elevated, three-quarter mile Gambusia Nature Trail boardwalk winding through the marsh abutting the beach.

Visitors who seek out this somewhat remote state park are rewarded with soli-tude, plentiful wildlife and a chance to camp, beachcomb and sunbathe on more than five miles of Texas beach in its mostly natural state. The park is not far from the Louisiana line and is accessible only by traversing highways south of Port Arthur and west of Sabine Pass. Though vehicles are allowed to access the beach, there is one stretch closed to motorized traffic.

A dune fencing restoration project, made possible by $187,000 in Deepwater Horizon restoration funds, is under way at Sea Rim. TPWD is awaiting final approval of an additional $210,000 in restoration funds to build a new comfort station, Fence Lake viewing platform, Willow Pond board-walk and fish cleaning shelter.

As additional funds become available, Phase II of the park’s redevelopment master plan will be implemented. The second phase of the park’s master plan calls for construc-tion of a permanent park headquarters, restrooms with showers in the Piping Plover camping loop and elevated tent platforms overlooking the gulf.

Sea Rim State Park is located roughly 10 miles west of Sabine Pass on State Highway 87. The entry fee for persons 13 and older is $3.

For more information, call (409) 971-2559 or visit: www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/sea-rim.

TPWD’s Public Hunt Drawings Go Online OnlyEFFECTIVE WITH THIS SUMMER’S applications, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) popular Public Hunt Drawing System will be online-only.

The Public Hunt Drawing System offers

affordable hunting experiences in more than two dozen different hunt categories, includ-ing eight specifically for youth only.

Applications will only be accepted online — no “Applications for Drawings on Public Hunting Lands” booklets or applica-tion forms will be printed and mailed out.

With the new paperless system, hunt-ers will be able to browse the drawn hunt catalog by hunt category and location using interactive maps. Selected applicants will be notified by email and can pay any fees online.

Permits will be issued by email and can be printed at home or stored on a mobile device. Those applicants who are not select-ed may still be eligible through a secondary drawing if any permits are unclaimed by the payment deadline. There may still be opportunities for traditional standby hunts at some locations.

In addition, the online system will give hunters more time to apply. Application deadlines start in August and wrap up in January. Applicants will have until midnight on the day of the deadline to apply.

Non-refundable application fees for drawn Special Permit hunts range between $3-10 for each adult applicant 17 years of age or older. Selected adult hunters pay an additional permit fee of $80 for regular hunts and $130 for extended hunts. There are no application fees or drawn hunt permit fees for youths age 8 to 16. There are no application fees for the e-postcard hunt or the U.S. Forest Service Antlerless Deer permits.

Applicants will also retain and continue to accrue Preference Points, now called Loyalty Points, as in the past. Points will stay with the category and be applied to each application equally.

The new online-only system will begin accepting electronic applications in July for 2014-15 Drawn Hunts, including Special Permit hunts, E-Postcard hunts, and US Forest Service Antlerless Deer Permits.

For more information on the new online system, visit tpwd.state.tx.us/drawnhunts.

—Staff Report

T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | 13

TFGRep.indd 13 7/9/14 11:40 AM

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/sea-rim



Wave Walking

THE OPEN BEACHFRONT IS THE LARGEST fishing arena available in Texas, and summer is prime time for wading the surf. This vast potential is free and

within reach of any able-bodied angler. Some remote stretches require access by

boat; but from the Sabine to the Rio Grande, hundreds of miles of drive-to wading is avail-able. And you don’t need a professional guide or a console of costly electronics to locate productive water. Nor are the coordi-nates of a guarded “Secret Spot” required.

Grab the nearest map of Texas and spread it open. See that big blue crescent? Well, that’s the Gulf of Mexico. Drive to the nearest beach, wade out, and start chunking.

O.K., it’s not quite that simple—but almost. Schools of all the primary inshore spe-cies run laterally along the summer surf and, generally speaking, one stretch can be as good as another. You hear talk of this shell bank or that old wreck, and these anomalies certainly attract fish, but 50 years of experience suggest that timing is more important than location.

Hit the conditions right and any stretch of surf is likely to produce worthwhile action. Hit the best spot wrong and you might as well turn around and cast into the nearest dunes. Sadly, the surf is the most fickle of all our fishing venues.

Spot-on timing is this: You wade out as the summer sun is struggling to rise from a low bank of offshore clouds, and this happy movement coincides with a strong push of incoming tide. The water is “trout green,” and the wind is light from the southeast and a weak one- to two-foot surf is ribbed with scattering baitfish.

From High Island to Padre Island, it doesn’t get any better. A silver spoon aimed roughly in the direction of Cuba has an outstanding chance of getting whacked by something fast and strong out, off the third

bar. Speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, red-fish, jackfish, on and on—all the warm-water players can be within reach.

Conversely, if you show up at mid-after-noon during the dregs of a steaming low tide churned “chocolate brown” under a whipping southwest wind, you are utterly and totally wasting your efforts. Well, unless you are using dead shrimp on the bottom and target-ing hardhead catfish.

Let’s break down the elements of timing:First, the celebrated Dawn Patrol is criti-

cal during mid-summer because it offers the coolest window during the 24-hour day. When inshore water readings routinely post in the upper 80s, the relative cool encourages active feeding in shallow water. So does the low light. Any serious cloud buildup should be regarded as a supercharger—but be mind-ful of electricity.

Afternoons can offer excellent potential early and late in the season when surf read-ings are 10 degrees cooler, but fish are reluctant to move tight following the high-sun swelter during August and August. Summer is no time to oversleep.

Ideally, you wade into the dawning light as the surf is pushing higher onto the beach. The incoming tide encourages the predators to move shallow.

Of course, you don’t always get this. An early-morning outgoing tide can be produc-tive, especially during the first stages, but if you quizzed the nearest gaggle of grizzled old salts, I’ll bet my favorite Dixie Jet spoon that most will pick the incoming stanza.

Put it this way: Rising water brings it close; falling water takes it away. (We are talking about the open beach. Outgoing tide can be excellent near the mouth of a free-run-ning pass.) Most important is moving water.

Adequate clarity is critical for the plug-ger aiming for fast-lane sight feeders. The aforementioned state of euphoric bliss known as “trout green” water offers a sub-surface visibility of two or three feet. A foot or so of sandy-green “viz” is sketchy but fishable. Anything less supports bailing on the whole coastal program and dunking live shiners for crappie on Lake Conroe.

One of the great frustrations of surf wad-ing is seeing the belt of green water teasing just beyond casting distance. If this occurs, consider walking the rocks of the nearest jetty—or maybe investing in a kayak or SUP (Stand-Up Paddleboard).

Green water usually is the grace of a day or two of prevailing light-to-moderate wind from the east or southeast. Straight south is iffy and any angle with a “W” in it is a guar-anteed setback.

Breaking surf is your ally—assuming the waves are less than waist high. Use the rolling whitewater as a road map to mark the shallow sandbars and (as the foam abruptly backs off) the “hat floater” guts. Also, the recurring turbulence helps oxygenate the inshore water while providing cover for the roaming killers.

Ironically, several consecutive days of dead-flat surf can be too much of a good thing. The sustained calm creates foggy conditions and, once the sun climbs above the horizon, shal-low fish become increasingly skittish.

Fish follow bait. So should the surf plug-ger. When scouting an open beach, look for obvious signs of activity such as concentrated mullet or diving birds. This is not to say that green surf void of bait is a total waste of time but massed forage amid the inshore breakers is a huge plus.

A flotation device should be mandatory whenever working near the mouth of a free-running pass or whenever you might be tempted to push things to the outside bar. On the subject of surf safety, carry a long (10- to

14 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® PHOTO: JOE DOGGETT

Doggett at Large

by Joe Doggett | TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

Breaking surf marks the shallow bars. Wader, below, should be wearing a flotation vest.

Doggett.indd 14 7/9/14 11:27 AM


12-foot) cord stringer with a big float on the terminal end. This rig keeps strung fish near the surface and segregated from your legs. If a determined “ankle snapper” shark moves in, unload the fish and ease to the beach.

And remember to shuffle. Stingray hits on surf waders moving deliberately are relatively rare (opposed to splashing weekenders) but they do occur—and late summer tradition-ally draws peak traffic in coastal emergency rooms. Trust me first-hand on this painful

truth.But, statistically, you can wade for years

with no problems. The idea is to work out to the waist-deep bar, chunking as you go, and then shuffle parallel to the beach. Sliding left-to-right usually gains a bit of an edge with the southeast wind.

The salty surf wader uses heavy, compact lures capable of maximizing yardage and min-imizing backlashes. Remember, the breeze on the beach is usually in your face (opposed to

the downwind drift or wade in a bay). The goal is to effectively cover water. They are out there somewhere amid the sparkle and shim-mer of restless green.

And, in all of fishing, few thrills equal the vicious strike of a jacked-up surf runner out at the end of your longest cast.

Email Joe Doggettl at

[email protected]

Doggett.indd 15 7/9/14 11:27 AM


Pike on the Edge

by Doug Pike | TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

Invasive Maneuvers

AS QUICKLY, CARELESSLY AND SOME-times surreptitiously as people and goods travel now, it’s a wonder there aren’t more invasive species on the

loose around the world. We once thought, optimistically, that we could prevent their introduction. Now, we realize they’re here to stay—forever.

The first invasive species I saw (on 8mm black-and-white movies that came with a kid-friendly projector I got on a single-digit birthday), were Rodan and Godzilla.

Neither threatened the United States, but they tore Japan to pieces and were invulner-able to tank rounds. Turned out, to my relief then, that neither monster was more than a bad actor in a rubber costume.

There are no gargantuan reptiles wander-ing the planet, but nearly every corner of it now plays host to uninvited visitors. (Can I get an Amen to that?)

In Texas, the average outdoorsman can name probably only a few invasive plants and as many animals. In fact, however, there are dozens of “unwelcomes” in our state and every state, and more will arrive no matter what we do.

Perhaps my least favorite of these acci-dental imports is the fire ant, native to South America but entrenched across nearly all of the southern United States. More dan-

gerous are the Africanized honeybees that found their way here and have killed people right here in Texas.

Slightly less annoying are wild hogs and, if you’re a fan of mourning and white-winged doves, those Eurasian collared doves. Both non-natives are fun to hunt, and the former seems poised at any population survey to surpass fire ants in population.

It could be worse. We could be Florida, where Burmese pythons have decimated mammal populations in the Everglades, and iguanas wander backyards in some counties like stray cats. There’s even a fairly new issue (again from the pet trade) with the tegu, a South American lizard that grows to four feet, shares the wild hog’s omnivorous appetite, and can be downright aggressive.

It’s not just animals that hitch rides

Pike on the Edge

by Doug Pike | TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

Pike.indd 16 7/9/14 11:34 AM

into Texas, either. On increasing numbers of reservoirs statewide, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fights constant battles against hydrilla, giant salvinia, and other aquatic invasives. Left unchecked, they could and would choke the life—literally—from any body of water they infect.

I rode once with a Harris County game warden during a sweep of neighborhood markets around Houston that routinely stocked a variety of plants (and animals) not lawful to possess beneath the Lone Star. A family takes some of the plant home, maybe grows it in a little backyard garden. Hard rain washes roots or seeds into a public waterway, and trouble blooms.

Many species of invasive aquatic vegeta-tion can muscle out native plants, like what buttonweed does to St. Augustine. The natives tend to grow in cycles and can be suppressed, naturally, by drought or hard freeze. Heartier invasives just grow and grow until they shut down boating lanes and destroy entire fisheries.

How and where some undesirable aquat-ic plants originate in Texas can be some-

thing of a mystery to managers, but jumps from lake to lake almost always stem from hitched rides on boats or their trailers. It’s no coincidence that first sightings of infestation routinely are made around launch ramps.

Latest in Texas to join the parade of freeloading, troublemakers animals is the thumbnail-sized zebra mussel.

If I saw one on a ramp, I’d stomp it and feed it to fire ants.

Only there’s more than one here already, in more than one Texas lake, and officials are concerned deeply over how quickly this currently small problem could get worse.

Zebra mussels aren’t plants that you can spray or wipe out with a few (too many) grass carp, or pigs you can actually eat and kind of, sort of, enjoy. These things are more like the mutant offspring of Rodan and Godzilla, reproducing in a blink and capable in their own way—by clogging intakes—of destroying much-needed hydro-electric plants.

To slow the mussels’ movement, on July 1, TPWD welcomed onto the books a law that requires every boat on every public

lake—paddle, power or sail—to be emptied of all water before hitting the road. There even are restrictions in regard to live bait and where you got it.

That law, like most that address invasive species, is reactive to an existing problem. And that’s understandable. Battling a non-existent foe is a tough sell, and law enforce-ment at every level has bigger issues than weeds and clams and pigs.

We’ve learned from the arrivals of fire ants, tegus, hydrilla and salvinia, that we can’t stop a determined criminal or careless mariner from introducing the first of some-thing to Texas. What we can do, and what we are doing, is waging all-out war on these things once they’re here.

Email Doug Pike at [email protected]

Pike.indd 17 7/9/14 11:34 AM


Q&A with the Nuge

DEAR TED: I HEAR YOU TALK A LOT about Fred Bear. Would the indus-try be what it is today without him and what about others like Howard

Hill? What were their impact? —Justin Stevens

THE HISTORY OF MODERN DAY bowhunting is a fascinating one for sure Justin, and I have a feeling that more and more Tex-ans are interested in not only this amazing bow-hunting lifestyle, but also the details of where, when and how it all began. I am pleased that we have Chester Moore at the helm of Texas Fish & Game magazine to unleash me on this important subject.

Ishi, the last survivor of the Northern California Yani Indian tribe was discovered near Oroville, CA around 1908, and Dr. Saxton Pope was called in to study this human link to America’s native history.

Fascinated by Ishi’s bowhunting lifestyle, Pope called in his friend Art Young to share in the lessons of bowhunting and both men instantly became hooked.

At a time when the development of modern firearms was increasing the range and effective-ness of better rifles and ammunition, Pope and Young instinctually felt the allure of the stalk-ing discipline, due to the increased rewards of this challenging hunting style.

Pope and Young learned much from Ishi prior to his death, hunted with the bow and arrow all over North America and Africa, slay-ing innumerable species of big game with their primitive handmade bows and arrows. They produced a newsreel film of their exploits, and when Fred Bear heard about the movie at a local theater in Detroit, he and a handful of his archery buddies went to see it, and the inextin-guishable fire was lit.

Fred was already crafting his own hand-made bows in his little Detroit shop with Nels

Grumely for some friends, but after witnessing Pope’s and Young’s bowhunting adventures, he was dedicated to make it his career.

Not only did Fred begin to produce the best bows out there, but he worked diligently to cre-ate bowhunting seasons, and along with Roy Case in Wisconsin, were successful in estab-lishing the first archery deer season in 1937.

Michigan came next and soon many Midwest states and Canadian provinces offered early and late deer and bear bow seasons.

During this time, a very talented and savvy archer/bowhunter from Alabama by the name of Howard Hill was gaining quite a following due to his amazing archery exhibitions and trick shooting stunts in Hollywood.

Howard was noted for shooting plums off pretty models, heads using his 100-pound longbow and razor sharp Hill broadheads in death defying stunts.

That famous arrow dead center in the bulls-eye in the original Errol Flynn “Robin Hood” movie was a take one miracle shot by Howard. And rumor has it that his second arrow at nearly 100 yards did indeed hit his first arrow for what has become known as the “Robin Hood” shot.

There were many great men promoting archery and bowhunting in the 1940s and 1950s, but Fred and Howard led the way.

I must also salute the great Ed Bilderback, Fred’s Alaskan guide on the famous world record Brown bear kill at Wide Bay, Alaska. Fred told me that Ed Bilerback was the deadli-est predator and best hunter with any weapon he had ever seen in his life.

My life was blessed and deeply enriched by getting to know Fred, Ed and their families.

We should all also know the names of Fred’s early partners and associates, great men like Dick Mauch, Bob Munger, Glenn St. Charles, Chief Compton, Ken Nickerbocker, Bill Negely, John Musaschia, Art Laha, and along with Howard Hill, his protege, Bob Swineheart and Doug Walker, an army of great bowhunters did indeed create the indus-try that we all love today.

Not only were these men gungho bowhunt-ers, but they were master entrepreneurs and marketing geniuses that brilliantly promoted

this wonderful sport to the masses.I thank God Almighty for their incredible

talents, for they adequately impacted my dad before I was born so that I was guided down the path of the mystical flight of the arrow from birth, and I look to the heavens often, thanking God, my dad and Fred Bear for this phenom-enally stimulating bowhunting life of mine.

It was certainly the right time as Americans were coming to grips with the critical impor-tance and responsibility of sustain yield wildlife management, and these were certainly the right men for the job.

I will wrap this up with my redundant man-tra to make Texas the number one bowhunting state in the nation. There simply is no place on earth better suited for bowhunting than Texas, period.

Unfortunately, Texans got off on the wrong foot by going for velocity and kinetic energy from high poundage bows. The major-ity of bow purchasers have given up on these counterproductive heavy weight bows, and Texas remains dead last as the 50th rated bowhunting state in America.

So here’s what Texans need to do; they need to demand a lighter weight, easy to draw, graceful bow that fits them properly from their local archery shop, quit with the 60, 70, 80 pound muscle wreckers, and spread the word that arrow velocity does not kill, but rather, stealth, grace and accuracy is what optimizes the bowhunting experience and kill rate.

Again, I shoot 45# and Mrs. Nugent kills everything she shoots at with 35# and a razor-sharp 2 blade broadhead into the pumpstation of undisturbed beasts.

When drawing a heavy weight bow, the vast majority of bowhunters must go through so many gyrations that the animals are alerted and a bad shot is almost impossible to avoid.

Do please write this down Texas-grace, stealth, accuracy. That’s bowhunting. Come on, we can do it! #1! Like a Texan!

—BloodBrothers, Ted

Contact Ted Nugent at [email protected]


Ted’s TexasWild

by Ted Nugent | TF&G Editor-at-Large

Nugent.indd 18 7/9/14 11:33 AM



One Shot – One Kill

THE BUCK I’D NAMED HARVEY STOOD motionless eight yards from my tree stand, depending on his outstanding senses of hearing and smell to warn

him of danger in the immediate area. I sat motionless in my stand, hoping he would move again and maybe turn away from me, giving me a chance to draw my old recurve bow. It was the second time in as many weeks I’d been within ten yards of Harvey, and I was confident that, eventually, I’d get my shot.

I’d named the buck Harvey when I first saw his pictures on my game camera. For my Central Texas area he was a nice buck. Eight points, fairly heavy for the locale, and a good 18-inch inside spread.

He didn’t get to that size by being stupid. When I saw him I said, “He’s a wallhanger,” and started calling him Harvey Wallhanger, in a play on the Harvey Wallbanger drink.

The hunt in question occurred in mid-November, well after the general deer hunt-ing season had begun, but I don’t hunt with guns. I sometimes kill deer with guns, but there’s a big difference between shooting a doe or two for meat and hunting. If I took Harvey home it would be due to an arrow, not a bullet. That probably explains why I’ve never killed a really big deer.

Ethics, I believe, are personal. Many hunters are happy shooting large bucks with guns, and that’s perfectly fine with me. My job is not to tell others what to do or how to hunt. As long as an animal is taken legally and in fair chase, I have no quarrel with the hunter.

Besides, no matter how a deer is taken, someone is liable to object. Some believe hunting on high-fence land is unethical, some eschew box blinds, some think corn feeders should be outlawed, some believe compound bows make hunting too easy.

Opinions are like noses—everyone has one, and they all smell sometimes.

Which brings us to the latest techno-logical firearms invention on the planet, the TrackingPoint sighting system.

TrackingPoint is not just a scope. It’s arguably the most impressive personal aim-ing device to come along, well, ever. It allows even a novice hunter, maybe even one who has never fired a gun before, to make one-shot kills from upwards of 500 yards. Unless you’ve seen the TrackingPoint dem-onstrated you, no doubt, think I’m exagger-ating. I’m not.

This is not, however, just a scope that you can take out of the box, mount on top of your rifle, and start banging away. It’s an entire sighting system that has to be incorporated into your gun, with a special trigger and other parts more akin to a computer than a gun. TrackingPoint is less a scope than a lifestyle.

The concept has been around a long time, and it resembles the aiming devices used in the weapons systems installed in fighter jets more than anything else. When a fighter pilot gets close enough to a target to allow his onboard computer to obtain a lock on the enemy plane, he pulls the trigger to shoot, but his missile doesn’t fire until it’s lined up correctly.

The TrackingPoint system works kind of like that. The scope itself, the part that mounts on top of the rifle, looks like three scopes in a pyramid pattern. There is also the special trigger, and a red button mount-ed at the front of the trigger guard.

The shooter sees a black dot through the scope, which is adjustable up to 35 power. When he gets the black dot lined up on the target, he pushes the red button to ‘tag’ the target. The tag is a red dot that stays on target, even when the scope is moved, or the target moves, or both. If it’s not in exactly the right spot, the shooter deletes that tag and tries again.

Once he’s tagged the target, he sees reticle lines in an X shape, with a small circle in the center, through the scope. The system calculates the range, and adjusts for distance internally. The shooter then pulls and holds the trigger, whereupon the reticle turns red. It stays that way until he manages to get the scope lined up with the tag spot again, and then, even if he’s only on target for an instant, the rifle fires, and the bullet goes exactly where the tag spot is.

The TrackingPoint sighting system, I believe, has great potential for use by our troops in war. It should help save American lives, and I hope our government sees the advantages and buys truckloads of them for our military.

No doubt there are hunters with pockets deep enough to afford the $20k - $30k price tag, and with ethics loose enough to use the system on game animals. Power to them. Personally, I’ll pass. My goal is to make hunting a more difficult sport, not one that can be mastered by any newbie on his first trip to the woods.

Your ethics, though, are not my responsi-bility. If you want a guaranteed one-shot-kill on any game animal you hunt, you won’t find a better product than TrackingPoint.

Email Kendal Hemphill at [email protected]

Commentary

by Kendal Hemphill | TF&G Political Commentator

“Unless you’ve seen a demonstration,

you, no doubt, think I’m exagerating.

I’m not.“

Commentary.indd 19 7/9/14 11:24 AM



Yanking Cranky Redfish from Thick Cover

story by john n. felsherPHOTO: CHESTER MOORE

Fea 5-Redfish.indd 20 7/9/14 11:53 AM

In April 2014, Jimmy Dooms of Portland, Texas, and Kevin Shaw of Corpus Christi won the Rudy’s Pro Series redfish tourna-ment in Galveston. In two days, they landed 13.61 and 16.16 pounds for a 29.77-pound total.

“A crankbait is one of the best lures for fishing the Galveston Bay area,” Dooms

recalled. “For the tournament, we used Norman and Strike King crankbaits. We fished a cut that had rocks along the bank to protect it from erosion. The water was from six feet to 18 feet deep. The redfish were around the rocks and digging in the crannies looking for crabs. We cranked the bait down to the bottom and banged the rocks.”

Just like in fresh water, crankbaits also mimic salty baitfish such as menhaden or mullets. As Dooms and Shaw proved in Galveston Bay, crankbaits work extremely well in deeper situations, particularly around jetties or riprap. They also work effectively over sloping banks or next to drop-offs such as those found in river deltas.

FOR DECADES, BASS ANGLERS WON COUNTLESS EVENTS ON crankbaits because these wobbly, lipped creations mimic baitfish in appearance and action. However, some professional redfish anglers also win tournaments with them.


CrankedUp

RedsFea 5-Redfish.indd 21 7/9/14 11:53 AM

“Catching redfish in salt water is not that much different from fishing for large-mouth bass in fresh water,” Dooms advised. “Anything bass pros can do in fresh water, we can do in salt water to catch redfish. Crankbaits resemble baitfish and make a lot of noise. Fish can hear the rattles and when the bait bangs into rocks.”

With multiple dangling treble hooks, crankbaits would seem to snag every rock around. However, these baits can move through cover surprisingly well. When retrieved, the bill slopes downward, shield-ing the hooks. In addition, the bill deflects off objects. In heavy cover, use floating crankbaits and work them slowly. Walk the bait through cover by moving the lure with the rod, not the reel.

Feel for the lip hitting any objects. When the bill contacts an object, such as a rock, pause the retrieve so that the lure rises over the obstruction. Buoyant crankbaits typically float up and backward out of cover. Sometimes, redfish lurking near the object hear the commotion and can’t resist attack-ing what looks like a crippled baitfish that smashed into a rock and stunned itself. After a few moments, resume the retrieve.

“Crankbaits are really good when fish-ing around rocky jetties and when reds are schooling in deep, open water,” explained

Shane Dubose, a professional redfish angler from Tomball. “I like to run a crankbait as deep as I can around jetties and riprap. I run it about six to eight inches off the bottom along the rocky edge without hitting the bot-tom. I bump the rocks and then let the bait wiggle a little to float over the rocks.”

While crankbaits work particularly well in deep water, many anglers look for reds in shallow marsh ponds and grassy flats. When fishing shallow, weedy areas, anglers obvi-ously can’t use crankbaits that dive 15 feet deep. However, wakebaits, really just crank-baits with smaller bills designed to dive only a few inches and create surface commotion, work extremely well in shallow waters. Other crankbaits dive about a foot deep, making them excellent baits for fishing ponds 18- to 24-inches deep.

“Wakebaits are ideal when fishing ponds with grass growing about six inches under the water,” Dubose advised. “When fishing shallow water, the noise that a crankbait makes running just below the surface is more effective than a topwater bait. If the pond is really calm, I don’t like baits that make too loud a noise or too aggressive a wake because that can spook fish. Also, because of the smaller size of a crankbait compared to a topwater bait, the catch rate goes up.”

Crankbaits can’t run through thickly mat-

ted vegetation, but anglers can catch red-fish effectively by running lures parallel to weed lines. Weedy edges commonly indicate a drop into slightly deeper water. Being ambush predators like largemouth bass, redfish often wait in thick weeds to snatch anything that comes within range.

In clear flats, marine grass often grows up from the bottom, but doesn’t quite reach the surface. Redfish often hold in these grass beds waiting to attack any succulent interlop-ers. With a shallow-running crankbait, dive almost to the submerged grass tops. Dance the bait over the grass so that the bill barely contacts the vegetation. Occasionally, pause to let the bait momentarily suspend above the grass.

“I like to use crankbaits when the water surface is five or six inches above submerged grass,” Dubose recommended. “Redfish like to burrow down into the grass to ambush bait.

“Use a bait that dives down just far enough to stay above the grass, but not catch the grass. Keep the bait moving so that it just ticks the grass tops. Redfish hear the bait coming to them and get ready to strike.”

In clear flats, anglers can often see “pot-holes” or bare sandy patches in grass beds. Redfish frequently lurk at the pothole edges to gobble anything that presents a tempting meal. Work baits around the grassy edges or through the center of the opening.

Inevitably, crankbaits sometimes snare weeds. When that happens, resist the temp-tation to go unhook the lure. That spooks fish. Instead, jerk the lure several times. If the lure remains snagged, crank the rod down and yank hard. If not impossibly hooked, a crankbait might explode from the vegetation, flinging plant debris everywhere.

Once the bait is free, let it suspend over the new hole for a moment. Redfish that hear the commotion might think another spot-tail blasted at a mullet and missed, perhaps stunning it. Jealous creatures, no redfish can resist the opportunity to gobble something another redfish missed.

Since fewer saltwater anglers use crank-baits than jigs, spinners or topwaters, redfish may see few lipped lures in some places. In some brackish marshes, bass anglers may catch more redfish with crankbaits by accident than people intentionally fishing for them. Get cranking to put more spot-tailed marauders in the boat this year.


Shane Dubose says crank baits are really good for rocky jet-ties when reds school in deep, open water.

u

PHOTO COURTESY SHANE DBOSE

Fea 5-Redfish.indd 22 7/9/14 11:53 AM


A Labor of Love

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH FISHING RODS has not dimmed since I first wrote about it close to five years ago. At that time I marveled at the

remarkable and seemingly unlimited variety of actions, lengths, styles and designs. The selection is staggering, I wrote, is staggering.

What is even more remarkable than the variety is that there is an application for each rod, length, action, and design. If you need a short, stout war club to make a topwater dance, yup there’s a rod out there for you. If you need a long, whippy switch to flick live baits and feel it start to agitate when a preda-tor closes in, there’s one for you. Trolling rods, flipping rods, popping rods, surf rods, crappie rods, spinning rods, casting rods, fly rods—whatever you want or need, there is a rod for your toolbox.

Even more remarkable is that this variety is expanded by the individual expression of custom rod builders.

I had my first encounter with custom rods when I was a boy and I hung out in my Uncle Bob Renaud’s Corpus Christi tackle shop, Gulf Sporting Goods. Uncle Bob used to build customized surf and light-tackle rods that were coveted by his clientele.

I always admired his rods, which were artworks of both form and function. He was proud of those rods, and their owners considered themselves lucky to have them. Unfortunately, my uncle had long retired from building rods by the time I had the com-mon sense to appreciate how special owning one would have been. When he passed away in 2010, the world lost a gentle soul and a true artist. More than a couple of his old friends have told me that they took the custom Renaud Fishing Rod they own and put in a safe place. They dare not risk damaging it because it is irreplaceable.

Even though I do not have one of my

uncle’s rods, I am a proud owner of several custom rods. One of my favorites was a micro-guide beauty that was built with burnt orange threads on a white blank, a longhorn stenciled just below the stripper guide. I loved that rod, but so did someone else who smashed out a window in my truck to get to it one day in a restaurant parking lot while I was inside hav-ing lunch. I have other custom rods, all with the same burnt orange and white threads on them (if you are sensing a pattern, you are very right).

Rod builders are an interesting breed. They consider a fishing rod as more than a tool to cast lures and control fishing line. The graphite, fiberglass, or composite blank is the canvas they express their identities on (actual-ly, any material can be considered fair game;

Joe Montemayor, owner of Joe’s Tackle in McAllen, used to build surf rods from calcutta cane, which had both flexibility and toughness and were staples among South Padre Island surf and jetty fishermen). This was no simple task, because a rod builder must cure Calcutta with heated mineral oil to give it durability while still preserving its flexibility. The thread, butts and handles, and wraps replace oils and watercolors. A rod builder can show his dedication to his or a customer’s alma mater, a profession or trade, such as a Caduceus for doctors, or as a display of gratitude for a soldier home from harm’s way.

A custom rod, then, can be as unique as the individual wielding it. Custom rod builders can also offer features that main-stream tackle companies don’t, such as spiral-wrapped guides or micro-guides.

“Micro-guides and spiral wraps are really unique to custom rod-builders,” says Terry Jones, a rod builder at Houston’s Fishing Tackle Unlimited. “Spiral wraps wrap around the spine of the rod to maximize the effectiveness of the rod’s action by allowing it to bend more naturally. The micro-guides are smaller than your typical guides, which decreases the weight of the rod.”

Jones added that major tackle companies are reluctant to offer features such as spiral wrapping because most customers “have a

hard time wrapping their minds around the unconventional look.” So, if an angler is interested in unique features such as these, a custom rod builder is the best and perhaps only avenue.

Anglers may have to pay a bit of a premium to own a customized rod, but many consider the benefits well worth the expenditure (besides, there are always birth-days, Christmas, anniversaries, Mother’s and Father’s Day…).

Custom rod builders are more than just hobbyists who try and make a little extra from their pastimes. They are a unique part of the panorama that makes up Texas fishing. Joe Fisherman pulls a little extra overtime and saves his spare cash in the hopes of eventually owning a spiral-wrapped, micro-guided beau-ty with the Dallas Cowboys star emblazoned next to his name. Doctors’ and lawyers’ (and writers’) wives smile at the idea of commis-sioning a special anniversary gift from one of these artists. They contribute to the identity of Texana, and they enhance the quality of life of a few soldiers to boot!

And it is all a labor of love to them.

Email Calixto Gonzales at [email protected]

One Last Comment on the Cost of a Custom-Made Rod:

MANY READERS MAY believe that a customized rod is beyond their economic reach. That is not necessarily true. Granted, a top-of-the line blank loaded with features is going to drain a bank account, but a good, well-made, individualized rod is surprisingly affordable.

The trick is to contact a rod builder and ask questions about materials and cost. The erudite angler will call and ask about cost well before considering a personalized rod. Then he can make the appropriate arrangements to cover the cost. It may take a little time to collect the funds, but it is well-worth the wait.

—CG

Texas Saltwater

by Calixto Gonzales | TF&G Saltwater Editor

Saltwater.indd 23 7/9/14 11:30 AM


24 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® PHOTO CREDIT

Public Hunting is a Prime Option for Dove Season by chester moore

Fea 3-Dove.indd 24 7/9/14 11:50 AM

DID YOU KNOW THAT 97 PERCENT OF THE land in Texas is privately owned? Although that is a very good thing for the residents of Texas, in many ways, including politically, it doesn’t always translate to affordable hunting.

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) for the last couple of decades has been doing something that allows hunters to access hunting at an affordable rate, especially when it comes to dove hunting.

For $48, hunters can purchase an Annual Public Hunting Permit (APH) and have an opportunity to pursue their outdoor passions on more than 900,000 acres of land.

“The price has stayed the same but

the amount of land in the program has increased,” said TPWD private lands leas-ing biologist Terry Turney.

Two years ago, TPWD received a grant from the Farm Services Administration under USDA that expanded acreage in the program particularly in areas in close proximity to urban centers.

Doves in particular are an important part of the program.

“Our stats have shown hunters will drive about 70 miles to dove hunt. We try


Fea 3-Dove.indd 25 7/9/14 11:50 AM

to get as many areas within that distance of urban centers with the idea a hunter can leave at noon, hunt until dark and then return home at a decent hour.”

Dove (and small game) leases are distrib-uted from South Texas (Brooks County) to the Panhandle (Hansford County) and from the Beaumont region (Orange County) to far West Texas (Hudspeth County).

Some 84 percent of the dove units and 80 percent of the acreage are located in the Dallas/Ft Worth (Region 4), Austin/Waco (Region 6), Houston/Beaumont (Region 7), and San Antonio/Corpus Christi (Region 8) public hunting regions.

This aspect of the public hunting pro-gram began in 1994 as a pilot program to benefit both hunters and agricultural producers in Texas. Their short term public hunting lease program sought to lease pri-vate lands during the dove season for use by purchasers of the APH permit.

The program’s many accomplishments include the following:

• Since the first year, the program has found acceptance from both hunters and participating landowners. Participants are enthusiastic.

• The program has grown to from 10 units in six counties and 4,375 acres to many times that amount.

• Youth hunts were added in 2002 TPWD now offers Youth Only and Youth Adult areas

• Numerous leases are available near San Antonio, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth areas.

“The white wings coming out of the city (San Antonio area) are amazing and the mourning doves are cov-ering the properties up. We have leases within easy driving distance of all the major metropolitan areas and will continue looking for prime properties as the program goes along.”

TPWD is using the funds to get more long-term leases on some of the properties, which is a benefit to both landowners and hunters who can take advantage of inti-mately learning a location over the course of several seasons.

An APH permit is not just about dove hunting of course but gives dozens of options for deer, hogs, pheasants, waterfowl and a variety of small game. As I grew up in East Texas, the public hunting program was an important part of my hunting experience as timber company lands were leased in key areas, which allowed for convenient access

to deer and squirrel hunting.I remember, during my first year of college, getting a permit and

after class (and occasionally in lieu of class) driving up to a remote creek on a lightly pres-sured unit and enjoying the

most memorable and exciting squirrel hunts of my life. It was

fun and cheap.It might be tempting to look

at this program as something that benefits older and middle-

aged hunters resisting pressures to quit hunting altogether. Although

that is undoubtedly a positive aspect, it is the youth that may benefit the most.

Young hunters can find places to hunt without breaking their budget and forge their own traditions. We can promote hunting to this generation until we are blue in the face, but if they cannot afford to go, efforts are futile.

TPWD has hit a home run with the APH program and their entire public hunt-ing program.

The result is an incredible amount of acreage to hunt for only $48, which is less than eating out these days. There is no greater value to be found in the outdoor mar-ket and this year in particular, hunters are in for a treat as the program moves onward and upward.

APH permits go on sale this month and I am eager to purchase mine.

There is a unit only five miles from my home that has lots of wood ducks to be dealt with. If we have enough water come September, there may be a few teal hanging around as well.

Sounds like a formula for a good time and one that will not bust the budget.

Those are always the best kind.


PH

OT

O:

©T

EX

AS

PA

RK

S &

WIL

DL

IFE

PH

OT

O:

©T

EX

AS

PA

RK

S &

WIL

DL

IFE

AnnualPublic Hunting

(APH) permits have made it possible for more young huntersto experience the

sport.

Since 1994,public land availablefor hunting in Texas has grown from less than 5,000 to more

than 900,000acres.

q

q

Fea 3-Dove.indd 26 7/9/14 11:50 AM

Fea 3-Dove.indd 27 7/9/14 11:50 AM

28 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® COMPOSITE ILLUSTRATION: TF&G

ONLY A FOOL OR SOMEBODY WHO HAS BEEN LIVING UNDER A rock the last 25 years could question the top notch ranking of Texas’s trophy bass fishing.

Anyway you slice it, you gotta’ give it five stars. Double-digit bass have become so commonplace in in Texas that word of an eight pounder doesn’t even raise eyebrows anymore, much less grab headlines. On many lakes, a bass of that caliber is thought of as a “good fish” these days—nothing more.

There was a time when the trophy bass mecca was pretty much restricted to the

bowels of eastern Texas. But that’s not the case anymore.

Reservoirs in all corners of the state are giving up heavyweights nowadays. This is largely because we have one of the country’s leading inland fisheries divisions to over-see our lakes with innovative management practices geared to promote bass fishing of exceptional quality. We also have an angling public that loves its bass fishing like kids love

candy.Furthermore, we have a state-of-the-art

fish hatchery system that produces nearly 7-8 million largemouth bass for stocking in our lakes every year. The majority are Florida bass, a subspecies native to Florida. These fish are genetically programmed to grow much faster, and considerably larger, than the northern largemouths native to Texas waters.

story by matt williams

Fea 2-GodzillaBass.indd 28 7/9/14 11:49 AM


Can TexasReplicate Japan’s Mega

Bass Fishery?


The first ones were introduced in the early 1970s. This laid the framework for what has turned out to be an incredible suc-cess story like something out of a fairy tale.

To wit:For years, the Texas state record

belonged to a fellow named H.R. McGee, who caught a 13.5 pounder at Medina Lake way back in 1948. His record stood until 1980, when Jim Kimbell caught the first-ever 14 pounder (at 14.09 pounds, prob-ably influenced by Florida genes) reported from a Texas lake, Lake Monticello.

In the following five years the state record was broken four more times by fish caught from three different lakes. The heaviest (and most famous) of those fish belonged to Lake Fork guide Mark Stevenson, who caught a 17.67 pounder in November 1986.

I call Stevenson’s fish famous because she was.

The fat bass named “Ethel” jump-started the state’s popular ShareLunker program and helped to popularize the catch and release of big bass. Furthermore, the bass served as a piscatorial billboard for Texas bass fishing, and a budding big bass factory called Lake Fork.

She finned around in a giant aquarium at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Springfield, MO., amazing hundreds of thousands of visitors for years before she died in in 1994. You can’t buy advertising like that.

Folks who took the bait and came to Texas to soak their baits weren’t disap-pointed, either. Texas bass fishing and Lake Fork exploded with an army of huge fish on the heels of Stevenson’s catch. The evidence lies in the Top 50 list.

The smallest fish on the list is a 15.38 pounder caught in 1990; the biggest is the current 18.18-pound state record caught by crappie fisherman Barry St. Clair in January 1 9 9 2 .

Amazingly, only three of the six former records rank among the Top 50 today!

More evidence of the Texas big bass explosion can be found in the Toyota ShareLunker archives. All total, the spawn-ing and genetics research program has taken in 557 entries upwards of 13 pounds from 65 different public lakes and more than a dozen private lakes—all since 1987.

AS GREAT AS TROPHY BASS FISH-ing has become in Texas, TPWD contin-ues to push the envelope in hopes making things even better. In 2001, the depart-ment launched a selective breeding program called “Operation World Record” using ShareLunker females and male bass pro-duced by previous ShareLunkers.

The program’s main objective is to pro-duce the state’s first 20 pounder and, ulti-mately, a fish that might eclipse the world record mark of 22 pounds, 4.97 ounces. That mark was set by Manabu Kurita on Japan’s Lake Biwa in July 2009.

Another goal of the program is to pro-duce fish that will reach trophy size faster than typical hatchery-raised or wild-spawned offspring. If the program is working, the big bass ball has been slow to roll.

The current state record of 18.18 pounds has been in place for going on 23 years now without any serious threats of being dethroned. In fact, the last time anyone cracked the Top 10 was in 1997, when a 16.8 pounder (currently No. 9) was reported from Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Records do reflect four Top 20 fish caught since the turn of the century, but that’s not entirely accurate because two of those entries were actually the same fish caught by two different anglers (Keith Burns and Sean Swank) from the same lake (Caddo) in consecutive years (2010 and 2011).

While it is entirely possible that one of TPWD’s test tube babies might one day slip through the cracks and grow beyond 20 pounds, none have come remotely close as of yet. In fact, only one

ShareLunker off-spring has ever been caught by an angler and documented as

such since the program got underway 27 years ago.

That fish, a 12.54 pounder, was

caught from Lake Naconiche by Lane Kruse in April 2013. Using data collected from an internal PIT tag, TPWD biologists were able to identify the fish as one of 24 adult female brood bass that were stocked in the new lake back in 2005.

Taking all of this into consideration, some folks believe it may be time for TPWD to stop screwing around with Mother Nature in pursuit lofty goals that may be bio-logically impossible to accomplish. They think TPWD should focus its energy (and money) on maintaining the high quality of fishing we have today through increased Florida bass stockings and sensible habitat management strategies.

I asked a couple of the department’s lead-ers for their thoughts on Texas’ potential for producing a world record bass. Both said it is neat to entertain that thought, but added that working toward a new state record seems a more attainable goal at this point.

“I think it is safe to say that breaking the state record is a more realistic goal,” said Craig Bonds, TPWD’s Region 3 inland fisheries director. “But it won’t keep us from aiming for a higher standard.

“Research is currently being done to increase our odds at hitting a higher mark,” he said. “We are not going to rest on our past successes. We take pride in continuing to push the scientific “envelope” toward growing larger fish, but we’re also not single-mindedly focused on trophy fish.

“With the era of reservoir construction largely over, we are also focused on top-ics including but certainly not limited to maintaining and enhancing habitat in aging impoundments, tournament fish care, access, and serving angling constituencies with diverse interests.”

According to Dave Terre, TPWD’s chief of management and research, the department prides itself on setting high goals for its inland fisheries programs. “If we don’t do that, we will never be ‘the best’ or exceed the expectations of our anglers,” he said. “I think having that frame of mind has served us well, especially in our largemouth bass programs. I agree that producing a new state record would be a more realistic goal for us. However, we would simply view that as a step closer to our ultimate goal of producing the next new world record. She’s swimming out there somewhere right now and if she’s not, she will be in the future.”

Time will tell.

Caption


Kurita’s22-pound,4.97-ounce

worldrecord.

q

PHOTO MANABU KURITA



Hooks: Keep ’Em Sharp

FISHING CULTURES AND FISHING GEAR have undergone some big league change over the years, but one aspect of the sport that has always remained

constant revolves around hooks.Anglers like to keep them sharp. Always

have and always will. At least the smart ones do, anyway.

Thousands of years ago, the earliest fish-ermen didn’t have EWG’s, triple grips and other premium hooks fashioned from heat-tempered metals. They forged their own from scratch using all sorts of raw materials ranging from animal bones, stones, shell, wood and even human bones.

From the reports I’ve read, they were espe-cially fond of deer and turkey bones. They used small bones like toe bones from deer to make small hooks and longer bones for larger hooks. Once shaped, hooks were polished and honed sharp as possible to ensure good penetration whenever a fish took the bait.

While early anglers probably enjoyed the challenge of fishing, it wasn’t perceived as a sport. Our ancestors fished strictly for sur-vival; a missed strike may have meant going to bed hungry.

It is impossible to say for sure, but I would bet they were taught to hone their hooks sharp as possible at a very young age—and to keep them that way.

The “hook sharp, hook smart” mentality lives on today in all fishing arenas. Serious bass fishermen are especially quirky when it comes to keeping their hooks sharp.

Ask one and they’ll tell you: Going after America’s fish with a dull hook is akin to going bow hunting for big game with a dull broadhead. It is a built-in handicap, one that will sooner or later cost you dearly.

There several are several disadvantages to using a dull hook. Perhaps the most obvious is the lack of penetration.

The chance of “sticking” a fish well enough to hold it seriously diminish when a hook is dull, even with a solid hook-set. Furthermore, a fish that short strikes or swats at a bait wearing dull hooks may not even prick its skin.

A sharp hook will penetrate the tough membrane and bone inside a fish’s mouth much easier than a dull one. The easier the penetration, the better the hook-up. The bet-ter the hook-up, the better the odds of landing the fish.

True, modern hooks are sharper, stronger and more efficient at catching fish than ever before. But even premium-grade hooks can go dull from time to time. The odds of dulling are particularly good while fishing in lakes or bays riddled with rock, shell, wood and other solid objects.

The easiest way to remedy a dull hook is to replace it with a new one. The least expensive cure is to sharpen it. Performed correctly, the process takes seconds to complete.

Cavemen probably used flint or some other type of sharpening stone to grind their fishing hooks sharp. Modern anglers rely on more sophisticated tools, usually a file or manufactured sharpener that typically sellsfor under $10.

Some anglers are more mindful about keeping their hooks sharp than others. Pennsylvania bass pro Dave Lefebre consid-ers himself to be a fanatic about the practice.

“I probably sharpen more hooks than any-

one on the planet,” he said. “I keep constant check on my hooks to make sure they stay super sharp. It is a good habit to get into; I started it years ago.”

Lefebre says going fishing with a dull hook is sort of like going bear hunting with a .243 rifle. You might get the job started, but chances are you won’t finish it.

Keeping a sharp point on a hook is good insurance, in fresh and saltwater. Lefebre says there are many benefits to utilizing sharp hooks that some anglers may not realize.

To wit: A sharp point could help you hook a fish that short strikes the lure, or one that hits when you are so badly out of position that it is impossible to get a good hook-set.

“Unexpected things can happen out there,” Lefebre said. “But if a hook is sharp enough that it will stick, it might give you that extra second to set the hook.”

The philosophy doesn’t apply just to worm hooks. Keeping the treble hooks sharp on topwaters, crankbaits and jerkbaits is equally important.

Fish will often strike a hard lure as it sits idle, with no forward motion. If the hooks are needle sharp the fish will sometimes hook itself. If the hooks are dull, there is a good chance the points will just glance off.

Perhaps the easiest way to detect a dull or dulling hook is to give it the “thumbnail test.” Place the point on top of your thumbnail and attempt to drag it across.

A hook that sticks in place is sharpened sufficiently. One that slides needs to be sharpened.

Lefebre says even premium-grade hooks require some attention every now and then. This is especially true if the hooks come in contact with rocks, stumps or metal.

“Just catching a fish will dull a hook some-what, but rocks and wood can be especially bad,” he said. “The key is to check the point periodically. If it needs sharpening, sharpen it. It only takes a few seconds, and it is worth it.”

Email Matt Williams at [email protected]

Texas Freshwater

by Matt Williams | TF&G Freshwater Editor

“The ‘hook sharp,

hook smart’mentality lives on.“

Freshwater-Williams.indd 31 7/9/14 11:30 AM


| Self Defense |

| Concealed Carry |

| Tactical |

by Steve LaMascus& Dustin Ellermann

Home Defense

THE LATE PETER CAPSTICK, ONE OF MY favorite authors, wrote a lot about African hunting and big-bore rifles. What most folks don’t know is that he

also was a shotgunner of no small skill. I have read most of what Capstick wrote. Some of it is questioned by some, but most that I have read contains many valuable truths.

In 1983, he wrote a piece for Guns & Ammo magazine titled “Close Encounters of the Worst Kind.” In it he said, “Maybe the shotgun has been associated with wood-cock and rabbits so long that we’ve forgotten what it is capable of, but for my thin and dusty dime, it’s probably the most underrated

potential defensive firearm in the world, espe-cially against dangerous thin-skinned game, and even, under proper conditions, on the tougher stuff.”

Now I won’t argue with you whether Capstick actually had the experience and credentials he claimed, because I simply do not know. I do know that he hunted with several of the better known American out-door writers, including Col. Charles Askins, and nobody, but nobody, questions Askins’s experience, either as a hunter of big game or of men. And just to set the record straight, Col. Askins, when he was member in good standing of the U.S. Border Patrol,

generally preferred a 12-gauge shotgun loaded with buckshot as his primary tool of terminal persuasion.

During my 22 years with the Border Patrol, I spent a lot of time prowling through the cane brakes and thorn thickets along the Rio Grande River. In those days I carried a number of different weapons, including submachine guns and full-sized battle rifles, depending on where I thought I was going to be working and what I was going to be doing. Most of the time I chose a Remington Model 870 12-gauge pump shotgun, loaded with either #4 or 00 buckshot. I preferred the #4 buck, but was forced to carry what the Border Patrol was issuing at the time. The only time I had to use the shotgun I was carrying 00, and was greatly disappointed with the results I got. Buy me a drink sometime and maybe I’ll tell you about it.

Anyone who knows anything about guns is scared spitless of a shotgun and buckshot, and with good reason. A number of times

just the sound of the pump being shucked prevented a situation from becoming violent.

The Home Arsenal SELF DEFENSE IS THE PRIMARY reason most American’s own a firearm. Although many carry on their person, most folks prefer keeping one around the house “just in case.” The home defense gun can differ in many ways from a concealed hand-gun and can also be a step up from a car gun.

The ideal home defense firearm would instantly incapacitate your attacker, fit inside your front pocket, have no recoil, and never run out of ammunition. But since we are limited by reality I’ll offer some practical

suggestions.My first recommendation is always a

semi-automatic, high-capacity, high-velocity rifle. Firearms newbies freak out because they assume over penetration when shoot-ing a rifle in a house, but physics prove otherwise. A lightweight, high-velocity rifle

round fragments quickly upon impact whereas a lower velocity hollow point pistol round will hold together therefore penetrating many more barriers. For this rea-son I suggest a .223/5.56mm AR

type rifle shooting a varmint bullet if you are in an urban area.

Varmint rounds with a thin copper jacket work well for self-defense because they seemingly explode upon impact transferring nearly all energy into soft tissue. Now these rounds aren’t ideal for taking game because

TexasDepartmentof Defense

PHOTO CREDIT32 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® PHOTO: DUSTIN ELLERMANN

| Self Defense |

| Concealed Carry |

| Tactical |

by Steve LaMascus& Dustin Ellermann

The author’s home defense guns:

1 AR15 with Trijicon Tripower;

2 Remington 870, both with mounted Elzetta lights; 3 FNX Tactical .45 ACP with Trijicon RMR, Streamlight TLR-1 and Silencer Co Osprey suppressor.

1

2

3

DoD.indd 32 7/9/14 11:37 AM

In 1976, Capstick wrote, also for Guns & Ammo, a piece in which he did extensive tests in the relative efficiency of the various sizes of buckshot, titled “Buckshot -- Powerhouse or Powderpuff?” After a long and painful course of shooting buckshot from a benchrest at various ranges, he deduced the following: First was that buckshot is a very close range affair, generally at its best inside 20 yards. Second, that at that close range, buckshot is better at stopping thin skinned game [includ-ing man] than any possible rifle or handgun. Third, that of the generally available sizes of buckshot, 00 is the poorest choice, while the best is probably #1, with #4 a close second. This closely agrees with my experience over the years.

I have a great deal more experience shoot-ing predators with buckshot than men, thank God. For varmints up to the size of coyotes I much prefer #4 buck. And for foxes and bobcats I prefer BB-sized shot. However bobcats and coyotes are much smaller and more easily stopped than a grown man, and there is the rub. For men, like Capstick’s leopards and lions, larger shot is often better, but not always.

At ranges up to about 40 yards, #1 has the greatest payload with optimum pellet size; 00 has too much space between the pellets and does not allow for an optimum number of pellets in the shell, providing fewer hits as the range increases.; #4 is great out to about 25 yards, but because the pellets are smaller, they run out of energy pretty quickly.

My experience shows that the truth is that no buckshot is always effective at ranges beyond 25 yards and inside 20 is better.

But what about a shotgun that is used as home defense? Well, for that use there are other criteria that raise their ugly heads. First is that you absolutely do not want over penetration, which might cause you to shoot through a wall and kill little Johnny sleeping in the room at the end of the hall. Also, it takes a really large house in which you will find yourself faced with a shot that is more than about 40 feet, so you really don’t need the punch you get with buckshot. My home is about average size of just over 2,000 square feet. It is 34 feet from the door of the master bedroom, across the dining room, to the far wall of the living room. That is, as Mrs. New taught me in grade school, just over 11 yards. At that range anything from bird shot to dryer lint will stop a man. I recommend the larger sizes of birdshot, such as 4s or 6s. But, if you live alone or if it is just you and your wife, #1 buckshot might be just marginally more effec-tive, but then again, it might not be.

I suggest, if you are looking for a home defense gun, you forget all about handguns, which are about ten times as difficult to learn to use well, and buy a good pump or double-barrel shotgun. If you choose the two-holer, make sure it has ejectors. Nothing slows you down like having to pick the empties out of the chambers before you can reload. I person-ally prefer a pump shotgun with an extended magazine tube that will provide between five

and seven rounds in the gun with an empty chamber. The choke is not of critical impor-tance, but I generally prefer either improved-cylinder or modified.

What is important is that you buy a few five-packs of whatever you are thinking of using and take it to the range to test in your scattergun. Every shotgun is a law unto itself and every one will pattern differently with dif-ferent sizes and loads of shot. The only way to know which your gun likes is to shoot them at paper and count the holes.

This will, also, tell you where your gun shoots. Some guns shoot low, some shoot high, and some shoot to the side. If you are shooting doves or quail this will not be appar-ent, but shooting at a target, aiming with the bead and ramp, it can have startling results. Most experienced shotgunners never even see the bead, but the inexperienced, or those who are handgunners accustomed to staring at that front sight, should know where the gun shoots using the bead.

By and large, a 12-gauge shotgun is the best close-range defensive weapon that has ever been invented. If you doubt my conclu-sions, think about this: A .357 Magnum will provide about 750 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle for the hottest 158-grain loads. A 12-gauge shotgun with a magnum load of #1 buckshot will provide 3,000 foot-pounds and a payload of 800 grains. You do the math.

—Steve LaMascus

they actually do too much damage and send copper and lead all through the game. But when the purpose is to incapacitate an attacker, varmint rounds do the job with minimum collateral damage.

Therefore my home defense choice is an AR15, with a 16-inch barrel, standard 30-round magazines, a mounted light such as Streamlight or Elzetta, a red dot optic such as Burris, Aimpoint or Trijicon, all on a two point sling. Your preference and budget of course may vary.

Another opinion is the shotgun, and this isn’t a bad choice at all. Shotguns are simple to use and pack plenty of power. According to the citizen’s training level and budget they might choose a single-shot 20 gauge up to a semi-automatic 12 gauge. A one-ounce slug flying through the air at 1,600 fps is a real bad guy stopper. But at the same time

you might be surprised at how destructive a load of birdshot could be up to 30 feet. Don’t misunderstand me, because I still prefer buckshot or slugs for defensive shot-gun work. But if you are in a close quarters defensive situation chances are you are from zero to nine feet away from your attacker. Birdshot at this range is extremely deadly.

I’ve heard taxidermists talk about attack-ing grizzlies that were shot up close with 12-gauge birdshot were always beyond repair. Also beware the common misconcep-tion that “you don’t need to aim a shotgun.” The rule of thumb is that a shotgun’s pat-tern will spread about one inch per yard with a cylinder bore choke. Therefore, you must definitely aim your scattergun in home defense range, because at most the pattern will only be the size of your fist, however it is easier to aim a long barrel as opposed to

the short barrel of a handgun.Finally, many people want to use a hand-

gun as their home defense weapon so they can also have it for carry as well as recre-ation. While a handgun is the least power-ful, it is still a viable option. The best advan-tage of a dedicated home defense pistol is that you won’t have to compromise size and caliber like you do for concealed carry. In this case you might also want to mount a light on the pistol as well, but I always rec-ommend you have a way to holster it.

The ideal home defense gun depends on your preferences, budget and comfort level. But make sure to do research and have the best ammunition for the job. Then make sure you train to become efficient with it, and store it safe and secure.

—Dustin Ellermann


DoD.indd 33 7/9/14 11:37 AM

34 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® GRAHPIC IMAGE: TF&G

DID YOU KNOW RATTLESNAKES ROAM THE SOUTHEASTERN COR-

ner of the Lone Star State? When thinking of the venomous snakes

in the region, the cottonmouth, copperhead and—to a lesser extent—

the coral snake, more often come to mind. However, rattlesnakes

are indigenous to the region.The timber or canebrake rattlesnake is

the one most commonly encountered and they are present from the northern reaches of Orange and Jefferson Counties on through the Pineywoods region.

According to the Texas Parks & Wildlife

Department, they have a heavy, light yellow, gray or greenish-white body with a rust-colored strip along the length of their back and a black tail is tipped with rattles.

“Timber rattlesnakes have yellow eyes with elliptical or cat-like pupils. Twenty to

29 dark, V-shaped crossbars with jagged edges form a distinctive pattern across their back.”

As rattlers go, they are docile in most circumstances and there are few instances of people being bitten by these beautifully

Fea 1-Rattlers.indd 34 7/9/14 11:43 AM

marked pit vipers.They are however, the subject of an ongo-

ing urban legend of sorts that we first proved untrue on these pages in 2006.

ACCORDING TO THE STORY, IN A secret effort to replenish diminishing timber rattlesnake stocks, government officials have been stocking captive-bred specimens of the venomous reptiles at various locations within Texas’s national forest land.

It is unclear which government agency is responsible but some reports indicate it could be the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) while another rumor has it linked to a clandestine Texas Parks

& Wildlife Department (TPWD) project.I say “story” but the truth is I have heard

numerous tales of rattlesnake restoration efforts in the Pineywoods of East Texas. One gentleman even told me his uncle’s brother-in-law had some released next to his farm near Crockett. Hundreds of them.

Where did these stories originate?Well, rattlesnakes have technically

been “released” into certain areas in the Pineywoods. However, scientists did not breed them in captivity, and they are not part of some secret restoration effort.

These “released” rattlers are simply ones that were captured as part of a radio-telem-etry study conducted by officials with the

U.S. Forest Service. Timber rattlesnakes were captured in the wild, fitted with radio transmitters and released back into the wild so researchers could track their movements.

There never has been a timber rattlesnake stocking program in Texas or anywhere else.

According to TPWD endangered spe-cies specialist, Ricky Maxey, the rumors have been floating around since the 1990s.

“I used to work in the Big Thicket area out of Beaumont, and we used to get ques-tions about rattlesnake stockings frequently. And it seems the rumors are still pretty rampant,” Maxey said.

“Someone could have seen Forest Service officials capturing the snakes or releasing the


Fact, Fiction and Photos Portray the Widespread Range of Texas

Rattlesnakes story by chester moore


ones fitted with transmitters, and the rumor could have started there. Then again, it could be the case of a true story getting less and less truthful as it’s told,” he said.

The pigmy rattlesnake is also present in the Pineywoods region and is very rarely seen. I have only seen one, and that was in 2000 on my old deer lease in Newton County.

These snakes only attain lengths of around 18 inches and are super reclusive. They are most often seen crossing roads in

the evening and are a true enigma in the region. Most outdoors lovers are not even aware of their presence.

Diamondback rattlesnakes are also in the region as well, at least dwelling in areas few people would expect. A capture reported to us by veteran local meteorologist Greg Bostwick two years ago gave us the first glimpse of area diamondbacks.

“The snake was captured alive about one mile south of my house in Chambers County and was about 4.5 feet long,” Bostwick said.

The snake was found north of Winnie, and that is not typical diamondback terri-tory. In fact, there aren’t supposed to be any until you get a bit west of Houston moving toward the Hill Country and southward on the coast in the Matagorda area. That is at least according to some field guides. If you look closer, however, you can see there has been a population on Galveston Island for many years. In fact we ran a story about the county putting up warning signs about the snakes at the courthouse there.

Mike Hoke, recently retired director of Shangri-La Botanical Gardens, said a dia-mondback was found during an expedition a while back at the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge. In addition, I spoke with a reliable source last year who reported killing a diamondback near the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge after Hurricane Ike in 2008.

Both of these snakes were believed to have been western diamondbacks, which are indigenous to the western 2/3 of Texas, but the reason for three sightings/captures since our slate of hurricanes in the last six years is interesting.

Texas is home to a large variety of rattle-snakes, most of which are rarely seen except by those who pursue them for study in the Trans Pecos region of the state. I will be blogging about these various rattlers on the my Kingdom Zoo blog at fishgame.com this month so make sure and check that out.

For now, rest assured no secret agencies are stocking rattlesnakes on your deer lease, although that doesn’t mean you don’t have plenty of rattlers lurking in the brush.


PH

OT

O C

OU

RT

ES

Y A

MB

ER

DE

RA

NG

ER

pReader Amber Deranger captured a photo of this timber rattler on her deer lease.

Greg Bostwick captured this western diamondback on his property, which is out of the snake’s “normal” range.

q

PH

OT

O C

OU

RT

ES

Y A

MB

ER

DE

RA

NG

ER



Preparation is the Key to SuccessW

OW! HERE IT IS. AUGUST IS UPON us. Where did the year go? It matters not because now is the time for a “new year,” so to

speak, to begin. I am, of course, talking about a new year for hunting whitetail deer.

You can forget last year. I can guarantee the deer have. And it might be a good thing that you forget some of the hunts from last year. Regardless, now is the time to prepare for a great upcoming season, both with the bow and your rifle.

When I wore a younger man’s clothes, I was a boy scout. Although I never made it far through the ranks, I did learn that one should always be prepared. Successful hunt-ers are the ones that spend their summer occasionally walking through their lease just to see what, if anything, has changed.

Are the whitetails still using the same trails they did in previous years? Those crit-ters are the laziest creatures in the woods. If something has fallen in the path of the trail they like to use, they will simply choose or make a different trail… one that is easy to walk on and is clear of fallen trees and heavy branches.

I know the area I hunt had some bad weather this past year. High winds and flooding could have caused the deer to change their habits. I will need to take some time to investigate the area, and you should too. The trees I normally use for my Summit tree stand may no longer be there. This is the month to confirm your hunting locations.

It is also the month to place your tree stands in your chosen hunting spots so the deer can get used to something new in their living space. If you wait until last minute to put up and/or hang your stands, not only will you be making a racket putting them up, you also will re-introduce your human scent

into the area. Nothing will spook a whitetail worse than a whiff of human scent, at least that has been my experience.

Place your stands in strategic locations that will keep the prevailing winds in your face as you overlook your shot opportuni-ties. They should be set up about 20 yards or so from the deer trail you are watching if you are hunting with a bow and arrow. Of course, it can be much farther away from the main trails if you hunt with a rifle. If you choose a rifle to bring home the venison, make sure you have a few clear shots to choose from. Deer have an uncanny ability to walk where you can’t shoot. I make sure that a few small branches here and there are cleared so that I have a clean, ethical shot at my target.

ALLOW ME TO BACK STEP A LIT-tle while I am on the subject of tree stands. There are many out there to choose from and all of them appear to be safe. It is a personal preference as to what type of stand you use. I prefer a nice big ladder stand, but there are times when a portable climbing stand is a better choice. Let’s just say you are in your ladder stand with your bow and all the deer activity is 50 yards deeper in the woods. A good friend of mine once told me that if you wanted success in the deer woods, then you need to move to the movement. However, taking your ladder stand down and moving it to a closer location will again be loud and intrusive. It’s also dangerous to try to move on your own. A portable climb-ing type of stand is the better choice.

I have tried many different ones, but I have found that a Summit tree stand is my favorite. Not only are they very quiet to attach to the tree, but they are virtually silent as you climb up and down.

I have never been a fan of heights and the thought of hunting out of a portable stand that was not permanently attached to the tree scared the heck out of me. But this one is different. I feel secure and comfortable with the Summit, and that is important.

If you get the chance of a lifetime with a beautiful buck that is only 20 yards out there, you sure as heck do not want to think about the chance that your tree stand might fall from under you. You need your full concentration on the task at hand and that is to fill your tag.

This is also the month to get out on a range and shoot that rifle of yours. So many people just assume that nothing has changed since last season, and there is no need to re-sight it in. I beg to differ. I know this man called Murphy—and I believe in Murphy’s Law. “When something can go wrong, it definitely WILL go wrong.” That law seems to be more active during hunting season. Even though nobody has touched your firearm, it is still a good idea to make sure that the sight has not been moved and that everything is in good working order BEFORE you take it with you hunting.

August is the month to prepare. Re-acquaint yourself with your hunting gear. Know how it all works. Most of all, know where it all is! I hate it when I can’t find some essential piece of gear that I hunt with. I can spend many hours looking for some-thing I know I have but cannot find. I am one of those guys that can lose things easily…including my patience!

Make sure you are prepared for this hunt-ing season. It is right around the corner and it promises to bring many fun memories to share with your friends and family for years to come.

Have fun and hunt safe out there.

Email Lou Marullo at [email protected]

Bare Bones Hunting

by Lou Marullo | TF&G Hunting Editor

Bare Bones Hunting-Marullo.indd 37 7/9/14 11:46 AM


38 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION: TF&G

Fea 4-Fish.indd 38 7/9/14 11:52 AM


Surprisingly GoodTable Fare fromUnlikely Sourcesstory by dustin vaughn warncke

Fea 4-Fish.indd 39 7/9/14 11:52 AM

IN OUR HOUSE, WE LIKE TO EAT FROM THE FIELD. THE ONE EXCEP-tion for eating primarily wild meat might be chicken, but if I could find a feral group of chickens that strayed off a farm somewhere, I am sure I would find a way to hunt them. I grew up eating wild game meat and fish all my life so I have always enjoyed turning what I catch or kill into something tasty when possible.

A question I often encounter when I talk with new hunters, non-hunters, and some-times even veteran outdoorsmen about eating some of the things I have in my freezer is usually, “You can eat that? Really? How?”

Oh yes…You can! You can usually make most things you catch or kill taste great. Now that I am married, my in-laws especially have given me a hard time about bringing home raccoons, carp, gars, wild hogs, deer and other wildlife from our local area and elsewhere. They always kid me in a playful and joking fashion, of course.

My mother-in-law’s favorite line when she comes over for family or holiday events is usually, “What kind of road kill are you cooking for us today, Dustin?”

My father-in-law often reminds me that everything is edible, but you don’t HAVE to eat it all!

True. But I enjoy eating what I kill or catch. It is part of the hunting or fishing experience, and my adventures would not be complete without this process. I have cooked raccoon, rabbit, and squirrel in the crockpot and pressure cooked carp to make what resemble salmon patties. Many people do. Current reality TV shows and “field-to-table” outdoor shows help further the educa-tion on making some lesser known wildlife a tasty table fare.

I am a member and webmaster of a Christian-based wounded warriors charity named Crosswater Outfitters, based in the North Central Texas area. We host jug fishing events on Texas lakes for wounded soldiers and their families.

At one of our last events, the fishing was tough. We had more than 70 people to feed and were pulling up only one or two fish per 10 jugs in the morning and evening. With about eight boats having this kind of catch rate, I was getting concerned.

On the day of the fish fry, which was planned later that evening, we pulled in two

long-nose gar. In fact, that was all we pulled in that morning on my boat.

I decided to keep them. Another boat mentioned they had thrown back a large gar they had caught the previous day, thinking that it was unfit to eat or serve to our guests. I told all the boat captains to keep all of the gar they caught for the rest of the trip, if any more came in.

With the rest of the day’s catch, which improved as the day went on and boats went out and came back, it miraculously appeared we would have enough fish.

About that time, one of soldiers visited my cleaning station and commented, “Are you going to

clean those two gar? Can you even eat them?”

I assured him that I was about to prove a point. All I needed to get the job done was a pair of tin snips to cut into the armor plating of the gar. By a stroke of luck, the leader of our boat crew had an old pair of them in his truck. It only took a minute to penetrate the armor of the two Gar and get down to the boneless strips of white meat inside.

I trimmed out the meat and cut away all the undesirable areas and tendons. Then I cut up the remaining clean pieces into chunks for the deep fryer. To keep things

separate, I put all of the gar into a second batch, to be cooked


Venison heart, sauteed in onion.

Fea 4-Fish.indd 40 7/9/14 11:52 AM

after the fry crew finished fry-ing all the catfish first.

At dinner, I marked which tray was catfish and which tray was gar. There was nothing left but crumbs in the gar tray, while plenty of catfish was left over at the end of the meal. Several of the soldiers and members of their families, as well as the Crosswater staff, came up to me and remarked things such as, “I never knew a fish that ugly could taste that good!” and “How did you get that nasty fish to come out looking that nice? It didn’t even taste like fish!” I was thrilled.

ASIDE FROM THE REGULAR CUTS of meat on deer and feral hogs, I love to keep the wild game hearts and kidneys when pos-sible, as these “variety meats” can be really tasty if prepared right. Obviously, you want to inspect these organs to make sure they are clean and healthy. On a hunting show I watched a couple of years ago, the host kept the heart of his deer after the hunt, sliced it

into thin strips, and sautéed the meat, mak-ing delicious tacos with peppers and onions. It reminded me of fajitas. Heart meat has a similar consistency to a thick, dense steak. It may be different from what you have tried before, but it is certainly a way to broaden your culinary horizons.

As for kidneys, I have a special fondness

for steak and kidney pie for some reason. Thisis a savory meat pie, similar to a beef pot pie.

I picked up on this recipe from the British

culture as I took a trip in the summer of 2011 to

the beautiful island of Bermuda. There are several recipes for steak

and kidney pie, but it is fairly easy to make. Like the heart, the kidneys

are dense meat that needs to be cubed up into small chunks. I use wild game

kidneys and steak for my version of this old recipe—with fantastic results! Kidneys have a hearty flavor and are really tasty in a dish such as a meat pie.

My rule is to try everything once, no mat-ter how strange it may sound at first. If other people like it, you might like it too. Hunt hard, stay safe, and have fun out there!

Check out Dustin’s hunting videos, articles, blog and more at www.dustinsprojects.com.


Basic ingredients for steak and venison kidney pie.

Fea 4-Fish.indd 41 7/9/14 11:52 AM

http://www.dustinsprojects.com

Aggies Project Texas Hog Numbers to Triple THE OLD JOKE GOES SOMETHING like this: “If a feral hog sow produces a dozen piglets, 13 survive.”

However, no one’s laughing, certainly not farmers and landowners whose crops and fields are continually devastated by a

growing menace.It’s no secret that feral hogs have had a

detrimental impact across Texas for years, but there has been no hard data about what the future holds for the four-legged scourge.

However, a recent Texas A&M Uni-versity report compiled by scientists and biologists doesn’t attempt to pinpoint the exact number of hogs in the state, but rather highlight suitable habitat and attri-butes related to the growing population for historical estimation purposes.

The findings are startling, predicting a massive rise in the population without proper control in a state featuring more places for the swine to call home than most people may realize. The bottom line is this, according to the study: if left unchecked, the state’s feral hog tally—which was aver-aged at roughly 2.6 million animals—will more than triple in five years.

Using the most recent collection of landowner surveys in 2010 from 139 of Texas’s 254 counties, the report found that the estimated reduction on feral hogs statewide from trapping, hunting and other methods was 753,646, or 29 percent of the population. Even at that same rate, the report states that the population would still double in five years.

The most glaring figure from the report is the reduction rate necessary to keep the population in check. Roughly 66 percent of the animals must be taken off the range annually to keep their ranks from grow-ing—something that’s never going to hap-pen by any means or methods—even “pork chopping” from helicopters.

The analysis also showed that nearly 80 percent of Texas—approximately 134 million acres—is suitable feral hog habitat.

TRUE GREEN TRUE GREENTRUE GREENEdited by Will Leschper

Clean Water Act ThreatenedA NEW REPORT FROM TROUT Unlimited details the importance of small seasonal streams across America to the overall health of the country’s rivers, its fish and fishing opportunity, and it asks anglers to contact their members of Congress and tell law-makers to keep the Clean Water Act intact.

“Rising to the Challenge: How Anglers Can Respond to Threats to

Fishing” in America is a brief report and a call to action for all who fish in the United States. Trout Unlimited scientists mapped how small streams influence historic native trout and salmon habitat in 16 states. Legisla-tion in both houses of the U.S. Con-gress would halt a rulemaking process that would restore protections to small headwater streams under the Clean Water Act.

The proposed rule, drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, was a response to two Supreme Court rul-ings in the 2000s that jeopardized 30

years of protections given to small headwater streams under the Clean Water Act. The Court questioned the nexus between these waters—which run low or dry at certain times of the year—and larger rivers downstream. In the aftermath of the court’s deci-sion, dozens of interests, including the American Petroleum Institute and the National Association of Home Build-ers, requested the federal government to issue clarifying rules.

—Will Leschper «TG


TrueGreen.indd 42 7/11/14 11:20 AM

If you’re reading this, the odds are pretty good there’s a feral hog—or 10—within a square mile of you.

The report also relied on nearly two dozen other scientific studies to show just how quickly and how prolific feral hogs can reproduce. The invasive species, which has the highest reproductive rate of any hoofed animal, hits reproductive maturity at roughly eight months on average, according to those studies, and produces an average of one and a half litters each year. Those litters may only have an average of four to

six piglets, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists, but it’s not uncommon for them to have twice that many.

Simply put, feral hogs are here to stay, and they can live and even thrive in places other critters can’t.

The main concern from the rise in hog numbers is the damage they cause, specifi-cally as a result of rooting and trampling that makes those associated areas unsuit-able for crop production or livestock graz-ing. Feral hogs also are a direct competitor

for any forage they can reach, which even includes other wildlife such as ground-nest-ing birds and their eggs, biologists say.

Another concern cited by biologists is the possibility of diseases being spread to livestock and other wildlife. Though the diseases from feral hogs don’t pose a significant threat to humans, the notable illnesses documented in feral hog popula-tions include swine brucellosis, tubercu-losis, bubonic plague and anthrax. Feral hogs also are known to harbor a variety of external parasites, including ticks and fleas, which also can carry diseases.

It’s unknown what, if any, impact that an increase in feral hog hunting will have on the population, but one thing is certain: it won’t be long until nearly every county in Texas goes hog wild.


Contact Will Leschper [email protected].

PHOT

O: B

IGST

OCK

TRUE GREEN TRUE GREENTRUE GREEN




Justin Hurst WMA Enhancemant: TexasDUCKS UNLIMITED WAS RECENT-ly awarded a $71,000 grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation for construction of solar wells at the Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area in Bra-

zoria County. This funding, along with a Texas Game Bird Habitat Program award of $50,000, will allow DU to install three solar wells at the WMA. These is 4” diameter shallow, low-flow wells will pro-

vide adequate water supplies to maintain small (<5 acres) wetlands. Smaller wet-lands can be extremely valuable for brood rearing and molting mottled ducks, and provide a variety of additional benefits to ducks and other birds. Justin Hurst WMA was originally purchased using waterfowl stamp funds in the mid 1980s, and is open to public waterfowl hunting.

TRUE GREEN CONTINUED...

—Andi Cooper «TG

Lionfish? There’s an App for ThatTHE FLORIDA FISH AND WILD-life Conservation Commission recently unveiled the Florida Lion-fish app in response to the continu-ing expansion of this invasive and destructive species, one that also established a presence along the Texas coast.

The first 250 people who success-fully complete the Report Florida Lionfish app reporting form will

receive a free, interactive and newly rede-signed “Lionfish Control Team” T-shirt. But the true impact of the technology could prove vital in curbing a spe-cies that contin-ues to expand its range, choking off native food supplies and dis-rupting the food chain.

Technology could be the next way to help combat invasives, especially

those that could have long-term det-rimental impacts on state fisheries.


Ducks Unlimited is installing an increasing number of these solar wells, particularly in remote locations far from power lines, to increase freshwater habitats.

PHOT

O: D

UCKS

UNL

IMIT

EDPH

OTO:

WIK

IMED

IA C

OMMO

NS


TRUE GREEN CONTINUED...


THESE PHOTOS show the different stages of this “chupacabra” taxider-my project. Below: Matt Otten with his finished masterpiece.

q

q

THEY WERE LONG, lean with gray skin and no hair.

Their heads seemed misshapen, and they looked like nothing else the eyewitness

had ever seen. This was the descrip-tion of a pack of “chupacabras” report-ed to me recently right here in Texas.

The “chupacabra” or “goat sucker” is an as yet unproven creature that was first reported in the mid-1990s in Puerto Rico. It has become a darling of the media.

At first it was sort of linked to the UFO phenomenon, so it had no place in my writings, but over the years that changed. More recently, “chupacabra” has become a catch-all for a variety of strange animals caught on game cameras and recorded on cell phones. Something was out there.

This year, numerous photographs have been making mainstream news. One was captured in South Texas a few months ago in a live trap, and it made worldwide news.

I received dozens of inquiries into the iden-tity of that creature. So, what do I think it was?

In this case it wasn’t a matter of think-

ing but knowing. It was a raccoon with a terrible form of mange. Watching it eat with its hands and growl on cam-era was a dead giveaway. I have been around hundreds of coons in my life.

I believe most of the “chupacabras” in photos are foxes and coyotes with similar mange problems. Take the fur away from any animal, and it looks downright bizarre. If you want to see something really strange do an internet search for “bear with mange.”

That could give anyone going for an evening stroll in the woods a good scare.

My heart is to reach out to children.

46 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® PHOTOS: CHESTER MOORE

photo essay bychester moore

Fea 6-Wild.indd 46 7/9/14 11:55 AM

When speaking to them I am con-stantly asked about “chupacabras.”

I recently teamed with expert taxidermist Matt Otten of Otten Brothers Taxidermy in Boerne to create a chupacabra for my forthcoming “Nature’s Myths & Mysteries” talks I will be doing for childrens groups.

Kids are visual-oriented, so I wanted something that would grab their attention and let me explain the true story of “chu-pacabras” and drive home the point that all wildlife reports deserve investigation.

“It was a challenging but fun project. I took a coyote form and skin and did some

internet research and also spoke a lot with Chester about what it should look like. What we have is the basic coyote with mange look, but the mount also has some of the look of the odd reports out there,” he said.

OTTEN IS UNIQUELY GIFTED AND his work on the “chupacabra” was inspir-ing to see. I was absolutely blown away by Otten’s work and look forward to using it in our presentations.

Part of my talk on myths and mysteries speaks to the children themselves who often feel strange or ostracized because they look

different, like things other than sports or the mainstream flavor of the moment. I use the unique animals out there to drive home a point that some of the coolest things out there are different from the norm.

Different can be OK.If you would like to contact Matt

Otten about his unique piece of taxi-dermy work or perhaps to get your own “chupacabra” done go to www.ottenbroth-erstaxidermy.com or call 210-875-7391.


Fea 6-Wild.indd 47 7/9/14 11:55 AM

http://www.ottenbroth-erstaxidermy.com



Britches

WRONG WILLIE CAME INTO MY office after lunch, the busiest time of the day, with a pad of care-fully folded camouflage pants. The

tiger-stripe pants looked new.“Where did you get these?” I asked. “I

used to wear tiger-stripes all the time, but the army-navy stores don’t carry them as much as they used to.”

He took a seat on the other side of the desk from where I sat. “My wife bought them for me back in the seventies. I never wore them, and they’ve been in a box all these years. We were cleaning out the attic to find junk for a garage sale, and I found them. Thought they’d fit you.”

“You can’t wear them?”He patted his stomach. “They would have

fit back then, but not now.”Doc came into the office with his afternoon

cup of coffee. “Hunting season is closed?”“Willie brought me some new britches, but I

doubt they’ll be long enough, even though they might fit in the waist.”

“Try them on,” Doc suggested and settled into the chair beside Willie.

I looked down at my suit. “Might be a fash-ion faux pas.”

“Who cares, you’re just going to see if the pants fit. You aren’t going to wear them all afternoon.”

I thought of the meeting we were scheduled to attend in an hour. “Wonder what the boss would say if I came in wearing camo pants?”

Willie shrugged. “The pants wouldn’t match your tie.”

“Close the door,” I told Youngster who happened to walk in at that moment. The office was filling up fast.

He closed the door. While I kicked off my boots, he settled into the third chair. I stood up, unbuckled my pants and laid them carefully on the floor behind my desk, so they wouldn’t get wrinkled.

It was at that exact moment, while I was standing in my office wearing nothing but

tighty-whiteys, that my secretary knocked once before opening the door. I had just enough time to sit behind my desk, when she barged in.

“You forgot to sign these papers, and I have to get them down to Purchasing in the next two minutes or the deadline will pass and you can’t order that computer for the print shop.”

“Stop right there,” I told her. She always walks around to the side of my desk when guys are in the room, so she doesn’t stand right between us. “I’ll sign them later.”

She looked stricken. “But…”“Yeah, Rev, you need to sign them,” Doc

said. “Go around there and give him the

papers.”“No!”“Don’t put it off,” Willie argued. “She

needs your signature.”So far, I was safe. My sports jacket, shirt

and tie looked perfectly normal from their side of the desk. It was getting a little chilly from my side.

“I’ll sign them in a minute…” I was inter-rupted by a second person entering the open door. A secretary from down the hall also had a delivery for me. “Here, Colton told me to give these to you and for you to come with me right now.”

“Better go,” Youngster said. “We’ll wait here for you to get back.”

“I’d rather not.”Both secretaries fumed, and waited. I thought quickly. “Y’all leave for a minute

and I’ll be right behind you.”“He’s almost retired and I think he’s aban-

doning his job,” Doc said. “That’s what it is, job abandonment. They’ll dock you.”

The girls stepped closer, and I slid my chair closer to the desk and folded my hands. “Just give me a minute.”

My secretary frowned. “Y’all are just going to sit in here and talk about those hunting pants on your desk and tell hunting stories and I’ll be the one to take the flack about this purchase order.”

“I’ll take the flack…”“You’re retiring. You’ll be gone by the time

thing goes through, that’s why I need you to sign it now.”

“The boss is waiting for you,” said the other secretary.

“Leave then and I’ll be along.”The boys were barely able to hold it in. “I

think Rev just quit today.”“I think y’all oughta shut up.”“Stand up and make me.”Snickers.Exasperated, the girls left, slamming the

door. The room erupted, and I stood to put on my pants.

The door slammed open. The Cap’n walked in.

He took one look at me standing there in my skivvies and paused. “Have you signed those papers?”

“Uh, no.”“Have you met with John?”I looked down at my bare legs. “I will.”“All right, then. But I’d put some pants

on first.”He left, and it sounded like we were in a

comedy club.Before the door could close, a very irate

individual stormed in and I again sat behind my desk, where I remained for the next hour.

It’s a wonder I survived until retirement.

Email Reavis Wortham at [email protected]


Open Season

by Reavis Wortham | TF&G Humor Editor

“Might be a fashion

faux pas.“

Humor-Wortham.indd 48 7/9/14 11:32 AM


PHOT

O: B

IGST

OCK

WILD HOGS HAVE A REPUTATION AS BIG AS TEXAS WITH MANY hair-raising stories told of ravaging boars around campfires from Lubbock to Laredo. It seems everyone has a story of a hate-fueled hog that tore apart some unsuspecting hunter traversing its territory. Are these anecdotes simply tall tales or are they based in reality?

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) has distrib-uted a booklet called The Feral Hog in Texas, written by biologist Rick Taylor. In this treatise, he addresses the potential danger of hogs in an honest and straightforward fashion.

“All wild animals have the potential of being dangerous, espe-cially when wounded or cornered,” Taylor said. “In a natural state, feral hogs will prefer to run and escape danger, and are not consid-ered dangerous. Extreme caution should be maintained when track-ing wounded animals, trapping animals or encountering females with young. Their razor sharp tusks combined with their lightning speed can cause serious injury.”

Numerous accounts are on record of hunters (usually hunting

hogs with dogs) getting hooked by a boar. While bowhunting for hogs in South Texas many years ago, I met a man with 83 stitches on his left leg. A hog had got hold of him in a cactus thicket a few years previous while he was running it with dogs. I have since lost track of the man, but I will never forget seeing his scars.

An article written in 1998 by Robert Burns for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, talks of two verified attacks in Texas.

“In one instance, a boar attacked a woman on a Fort Worth jog-ging trail,” Burns said. “Two years ago, a Cherokee County deer hunter died from a feral hog attack.”

The Benton County Daily Record chronicled a wild boar that

C O A S T A L A L M A N A C T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | 49

Are Feral HogsReally Dangerous?by chester moore

HogAttack!

Coastal Edition

ALMANAC Coastal.indd 49 7/7/14 1:32 PM

“…attacked and flipped a utility vehicle on a job site in Waco… and severely injured a Gentry man.”

According to the story, “Greg Lemke, who designs chicken houses for Latco Inc. of Lincoln, was a passenger in a utility vehicle when the wild boar struck the rear of the vehicle, causing it to flip with Lemke inside.”

“The accident left Lemke paralyzed from the breast bone down.” The accident hap-pened shortly after Lemke and his co-workers who were all riding in the utility vehicle heard the sound of wild hogs.

“When they heard them, they wanted to go look at them. One of the hogs started chas-ing them,” Garcia said.

The Pineville Town Talk tells the story of a Pineville, Louisiana man who had a pig enter a house he was visiting.

“Boston Kyles, 20, of 497 Pelican Drive told deputies he was visiting his sister’s house at the time of the incident. He said he had gone there to clean fish and was sitting in the house’s front room when the pig entered through the front door. Kyles told deputies he stomped the floor to try to shoo the pig out of the room, but the pig charged him, Major Herman Walters said.”

“Walters had heard of pigs attacking people in the woods, but said this was the first time he had heard of a pig going into a house and attacking someone.”

In 2004, the Associated Press reported, “A Florida Gulf Coast University student is suing the college for failing to control wild boars on campus.”

“Donna Rodriguez said in a lawsuit filed yesterday that a wild boar chased her on campus in October 2004, causing her to fall and suffer serious injuries. The suit claims the school knew the boars were a hazard, and its failure to control them resulted in “an unrea-sonably dangerous condition.”

In that same year, an Edgefield, South Carolina man experienced one of the scari-est hog attacks I could find occurring in the United States.

The Edgefield Advertiser reported “A man was hospitalized recently after being attacked by a wild hog at his home on Gaston Road. The hog, which eyewitnesses estimated to weigh upwards of 700 pounds, materialized in Fab Burt’s backyard while he was working in his garden.”

“It came out of nowhere and attacked me,” Burt said. “It had me pinned on the ground and was mauling me.”

Fortunately, Burt’s seven-month-old German shepherd, named Bobo, was on hand to help him fend off the hog.

“He saved my life,” Burt said. That hog attack comes on the heels of the

widespread reports of “Hogzilla,” a 1,000-pound wild hog that was killed in Georgia

and subsequently gained nationwide notoriety as the largest hog ever killed in the wild.

In the story, Dr. Jack Mayer, a wildlife ecologist who has been studying wild pigs for the past 30 years said, “County residents shouldn’t be fearful of similar incidents occur-ring to them. This type of incident does hap-pen from time to time, but it’s not the sort of thing that, if you happen to be in the woods, I would worry about.”

Although that may be the prevailing ideol-ogy in the United States, the attitude toward wild hogs in Europe and Asia where they originated is different. When I first broke into this business back in 1992, I was told by a guide on an exotic ranch near Kerrville that the closer a hog is to being “pure Russian boar” the meaner it will be. He noted that when hunted with dogs, they will run before fighting, but when they do fight, they were more vicious than other ferals and would charge people unprovoked.

Although few ranches have genuine pure European boar stock, some do. In my experi-ence, the animals have been more aggressive than most ferals. Even free-ranging hogs that obviously have a lot of European and Asian bloodline tend to be nastier than most of their counterparts.

The website, javelinahunter.com has done

50 | A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® C O A S T A L A L M A N A C

HOW-TO SECTION

52 TEXAS BOATING • Threat Pre-vention | by lenny rudow

55 TEXAS GUNS & GEAR • CZ Guns | by steve lamascus

GEARING UP SECTION

57 TEXAS TESTED • Plano & Sea Chaser | by tfg staff

FISHING FORECASTSECTION

58 HOTSPOTS FOCUS: UPPER COAST | by capt. eddie hernandez

59 HOTSPOTS FOCUS: GALVESTON | by capt. mike holmes

60 HOTSPOTS FOCUS: MATAGORDA | by mike price

62 HOTSPOTS FOCUS: UPPER MID COAST | by capt. chris martin

63 HOTSPOTS FOCUS: ROCKPORT | by capt. mac gable

65 HOTSPOTS FOCUS: LOWER COAST | by calixto gonzales

66 TEXAS HOTSPOTS • Texas’ Hot-test Fishing Spots | by tfg staff

76 SPORTSMAN’S DAYBOOK • Tides & Prime Times | by tfg staff

OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE SECTION

83 SPECIAL SECTION • Texas Game Animals | by chester moore

92 TEXAS TASTED • Grilled Leg of Lamb | by bryan slaven

93 OUTDOOR CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY • Guides, Gear and More | by tfg staff

94 TF&G PHOTOS • Your Action Photos | by tfg readers

Coastal Almanac Table of Contents

49 COVER STORY • Hog Attack! | by chester moore

www.FishGame.com

CONTINUED ON PAGE 52 u



Coastal Almanac Table of Contents


Threat Prevention

ALTHOUG WE ALL RECOGNIZE THE immediate dangers of being on a boat—sinking, striking a hard object while traveling at high speed, and

rolling, to name a few—most boaters don’t consider the long-term risks. Surprisingly, there are quite a few.

As with any strenuous outdoor activity, boating can take a toll on your body. Make sure the toll is minimal, by looking out for these threats that build over time.

1. SKIN DAMAGE: Sunburn is one of the most obvious—and real—threats fac-ing boaters. The water reflects sunlight, and being on a boat is essentially like standing on a giant mirror in direct sunlight. The problem is even worse if your boat doesn’t have a T-top, Bimini, or some other form of shade.

Since over-exposure can cause melanoma, obviously, this is an important issue.

Aside from shade, your best protection from the sun comes from wearing appropriate clothing and sunscreen. But not all clothing offers the same protection. Common light-weight summer clothing only protects you as much as (on average) SPF 30 sunscreen. Yes, you can get a burn right through that cotton tee-shirt. But there is plenty of cloth-ing out there these days that actually carries an SPF (sometimes called UPF) rating. Some others are merely described as “UV protective.” Either way, make sure you wear clothes that will block out the sun from as much of your body as possible. Protect your face with a “buff” neck and face mask, and use a wide-brim hat to shade the rest of your face and neck.

On exposed skin, sunscreen is your main line of defense. Put it on before you leave the dock, and replenish it regularly. It’s also par-ticularly important for boaters to make sure they use waterproof sunscreen, since getting hit with spray is a regular occurrence. And even if your sunscreen is waterproof, re-apply

it after swimming or becoming completely soaked. Which SPF should you choose? The bottom line: more is better. Don’t forget that you’ll be getting hit a lot harder than you would be on dry land, and maximizing your protection is the smart move.

2. EYE DAMAGE: Cataracts, a cloud-ing of the eye’s lens that impairs vision, are created by chemical changes in the eye which begin as a result of excessive exposure to UV radiation. As a result, people who spend a lot of time in sunlight often suffer from them. But there is a cumulative effect, and even cloudy days and reflected sunlight contribute to it. As a result, activities such as boating can substantially contribute to cataract formation.

Sunglasses are the key element in prevent-ing this form of eye damage. While it isn’t necessary to wear a pair of those fancy, expen-sive sunglasses, it is imperative to always wear a pair that blocks 99- to 100-percent of the UV rays. Another item that helps prevent excessive eye wear is a wide-brim hat. There’s always some sunlight that creeps in around the edges of your sunglasses, so shading your

Texas Boating

by Lenny Rudow | TF&G Boating Editor

a lot to raise the prestige level of these pig-like creatures and have done an amazing job documenting javelina attacks.

Yes, I said “javelina attacks.”One report comes from the Big Bend area

of Texas. In 2000 a census enumerator hired to go door to door in south Brewster County was “attacked by a hostile javelina...”

According to a sheriff’s report, “Edna Ann James approached a residence 62 miles south of Alpine for her census duty. As James approached the residence of Juan Granado, a javelina ran out from under the porch and attacked the defenseless woman. James, gashed above and below the knees by the wild animal, managed to get inside the unoccupied house and call 911.

“When the Terlingua Medics arrived, the javelina reportedly was aggressive towards the rescuers and was shot by TM Director Jeff Majewski.

“James was transferred to and treated at the Big Bend Regional Medical Center; the javelina was declared dead on arrival at the Alpine Vet Clinic. Tests have yet to reveal, though thought unlikely, whether the javelina was rabid.”

FERAL HOGS CAN CARRY pseudorabies, which despite popular rumor is not like the rabies dogs, raccoons, foxes and skunks carry. Pigs usually show no symptoms but the disease can cause abortion, coughing and sei-zures. It can also be transferred to

domestic livestock, which is one reason cattle ranchers are concerned about the feral hog’s huge population boom.

Hogs can also carry the standard kind of rabies, but they are not at this time a known reservoir, which is a good thing. The idea of a 350-pound rabid boar roaming the woods where I hunt is quite scary even for me.

Excerpt from the book“HOG WILD” byChester Moore. Order it by call-ing 1-800-750-4678 or online at www.FishandGameGear.com

ALMANAC COVER STORY

t CONTINUED FROM PAGE 50



http://www.FishandGameGear.com

ALMANAC COVER STORY


face even when you’re wearing them is still important.

3. BACK PROBLEMS: If you run a small powerboat with a big engine, you regularly subject your back to vibrations. Lots of vibrations—and in rough seas, very violent vibrations. I’ve experienced the results of this first-hand, with a compressed disk and two pinched nerves. I live with a perpetual “ouch,” and short of surgery, there’s nothing I can do about it.

Preventative measures are the key to mak-ing sure you don‘t end up the same way. If I could go back in time, I’d pull back the throttle before hitting thousands of waves. Often you can see the big ones coming, and if you simply slow down for them instead of bracing for impact—my old way of dealing with heavy seas—your body will thank you.

Another back problem countermeasure is to install a foam pad at the helmdeck. Several

manufacturers make high-density foam pads with reinforcements at the corners, which can be screwed down onto the deck. Although these don’t eliminate the shock of slamming into a wave, they do mitigate it. Choosing shoes with some ability to absorb vibration and a good arch support helps, too.

If you’ve already fallen victim to a boater’s bad back, you may want to choose your next boat accordingly. Deep 24 or 25 degree V-hull designs and powercat hulls do have their own down-sides, of course, but for you, smoothing out the ride may be of the upmost importance. Again, however, the best thing you can do is simply slow down when appropriate.

4. INFECTION: Here’s one most of us never thought about before. Unfortunately, due to water quality issues and the advent of drug-resistant microbes, some extreme-ly nasty infections are common to boaters.

Mycobacteriosis and other forms of “fish handler’s disease” (granuloma, erysipeloid, and more), which used to be unheard-of, are now a very real threat. And in some areas, water contamination from E. coli in the water is a common issue.

You should always be aware of these possibilities, and carefully clean any open wounds that may come from a fish’s spine, or fishing tackle. Limit exposure the of open wounds to the water whenever possible, and most importantly, if you think you may have one of these infections, go to the doctor imme-diately—they can act fast, and do have the potential to be life-threatening.

5. HEARING LOSS: This issue has actually declined in importance over the past decade, as new outboard engines tend to be much quieter than those smoky, old two-strokes. But if you still have an old-tech outboard, you should be aware that the sound levels it creates can be enough to do some seri-ous damage over the long-term. In fact, a 200 or 250 horsepower 90s vintage two-stroke could make as much as 100 to 110 dBA at wide-open throttle. According to OSHA, sustained exposure to a sound level higher than 90 dBA can cause hearing loss.

How are you supposed to handle this? Wearing ear plugs every time you run your boat simply doesn’t seem reasonable, though something as simple as pulling up a sweat-shirt hood can significantly cut the danger. At the very least you should be aware of the issue, and try to limit the amount of time you spend exposed to elevated sound levels with-out protection.

When it comes to your physical health, countering the weight of all of these hazards is, of course, the incalculable benefit of spend-ing time on the water: Reduction in stress, Physical work-out, Breathing a fresh, clean, sea-breeze.

Then, of course, there’s eating more heart-healthy fresh fish—at least, that’s what we’re all hoping for. In the long run, with a little bit of attention to mitigating the toll there’s no doubt that boating is beneficial—just as long as you don’t sink, hit, or roll anything.

Email Lenny Rudow at [email protected]


Texas Boating




Two Guns From the Czech Republic

FOR MANY YEARS ONE OF THE GUNS that was absent from the shooting world was a good .22 Magnum semi-auto. There was one that was imported

in the 1970s that was sold under the name of Kodiak, I think, but it left a lot to be desired. Most of the guns so chambered were relatively inexpensive bolt-actions or higher priced lever-actions - both viable choices, but many of us wanted a quality gun in semi-auto.

I am told that the reason for the dearth of such guns was the mechanical difficulty

encountered in wrapping a self-loading gun around the

long .22 Magnum rimfire cartridge. Now, however, the problems seem to have been overcome, and a couple of very good semi-auto guns are on the market in this popular caliber. The one I like best is made by CZ.

It is the CZ Model 512, and it is a real shooter. It comes with a five-round, single-stack, removable box magazine, a good set of open sights with a blade front and semi-buckhorn rear, and a grooved receiver for a set of the high quality CZ scope rings. It should make one heck of a truck gun for the rancher or farmer who wants a semi-auto with more power than the .22 Long Rifle, but who does not feel the need for

a more powerful, centerfire rifle.

In the interest of finding out just how accurate the Model 512 is, I mounted a

Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10X scope on it with

rings from CZ. Then I shot it at 50 yards using Federal .22 Mag. 40-grain full metal jacket and CCI 30-grain V-MAX ammuni-tion.

After a few adjustments using a col-limator and firing a few rounds to get the scope centered, I fired for group. To put it as succinctly as possible, the Model 512

shoots like a bloody target rifle! At 50 yards I actually had to move the scope around on the target to see how it was shooting. The first few shots went into the same hole on the Birchwood Casey Shoot-N-C target. The groups of the two different types of ammuni-tion were about an inch apart, but the gun shot both loads with target grade accuracy. To say I was surprised would be a huge understatement, I was completely amazed. Semi-auto rimfires are not supposed to shoot that well. The only debit I could find on the 512’s ledger was the trigger. It is long, actu-ally a two-stage trigger, and it has a bit of a hang-up just before it fires. However, once I figured out how to pull through the glitch, it shot beautifully, and never a malfunction did I have. Sweet.

The next CZ I tested was a cute little .22 Hornet in the CZ Model 527 American. One of the problems of late with the .22 Hornet is find-ing one that is accurate enough to actually take advantage of the extra power the small centerfire cartridge has over the rimfire .22 Magnum. Several .22 Hornet rifles I have

had in the past were doing good to keep three shots in four inches at 100 yards.

A call to one of the manufacturers revealed that their specifications call for two-inch groups at 50 yards, which is four inches at 100. That is appalling. Any centerfire should keep all its shots in less than two inches at 100.

I once had an old Winchester .22 Hornet with a badly pitted barrel and it would still

PHOT

OS: C

Z-US

A

by Steve LaMascus | TF&G Shooting Editor

Texas Guns

CZ 512 .22Rimfire

CZ 527 .22 HornetRimfire

q

q



keep its shots in less than two inches at a hundred, so a new rifle with a good barrel should certainly do that or better. The .22 Hornet has the power to take varmints out to 125 yards and deserves the accuracy to allow that.

I mounted a 2-7X Leupold on the CZ, as I think that is about all the power the .22 Hornet needs in a scope. That makes it into a short, light, handy little rifle that should serve very well for foxes, bobcats, and the occasional coyote, if the range is kept short. The CZ .22 Hornet has no open sights, so a scope is mandatory, but I see no reason to have open sights on a varmint rifle, anyway.

I will tell you up front the one major disagreement I have with the 527. That is that the safety is backward. On the small-action CZs, at least all I have seen, the gun is in “safe” when the safety lever is pushed forward, and the gun is in firing mode when the safety is pulled to the rear. That is pre-

cisely opposite of all American made rifles, which are made ready to fire by pushing the lever forward (Note: The large caliber guns from CZ have American style safeties).

This could cause a dangerous situation if a person did not consciously think about the safety each and every time. Of course, the gun should never be pointed at anything you don’t want to shoot, but you get my point, I hope.

Other than that one thing, the CZ is a beautifully made gun with what I would classify as a micro-Mauser action, using the claw-type extractor. It is equipped with integral scope mounts for the CZ rings, and a single-set trigger, which is pushed forward to set and that can be set light enough for anyone’s taste. Even without setting the trig-ger, it is very shootable, though a bit creepy.

I shot the 527 American with Remington and Winchester factory loads and my han-dloads using 45-grain Sierra soft points. From the first I did not expect the 527 in .22 Hornet to shoot as well as a similar gun chambered in .222 or .223 Remington. The antiquated design of the .22 Hornet cartridge is just not that inherently accurate.

The first afternoon on the range, with a high wind and factory ammo, the little gun surprised me. It didn’t particularly like the CCI fodder, running just less than two inches. The Winchester ammo did better, with groups averaging almost exactly an inch and a half. When I managed to get the shots off between gusts, it put them into about an inch.

That is better than 99 percent of the .22 Hornets in this price range, and most of them that are a lot more expensive. Strangely enough, it did not like my first attempt at handloading. A mid-range load of 11.5 grains of Hodgdon’s Lil’ Gun and 45-grain Sierra bullets only managed groups between 2.5 and 3 inches. I believe I can find a load that does much better, but at this time I haven’t the time to experiment. Still, most of you won’t be handloading and the CZ 527 does very well with factory fodder.

CZ makes guns from the .22 Hornet and the .22 Magnum up to big bore, dangerous game rifles. They are high quality guns and worth well more than the modest prices they sell for. I heartily recommend the CZ guns.

Email Steve LaMascus at [email protected]

Texas Guns

“A scope is

mandatory, but I see no reason to have open sights on a varmint rifle.“



Just In CaseI’M NOT MUCH FOR FANCY stuff. My truck is old and dented, my shoes are thoroughly scuffed, and my boat’s gel coat is faded. But I do have one very nice, very expensive item that I care about quite a bit—my shotgun. It was a birthday pres-ent from my wife (proving once again she’s deserving of the title Ultimate Wife) and monetary

value aside, it means a lot to me.

So when I travel to a distant hunt, I want to know it’s not going to be damaged. Peace of mind comes from locking it in a Plano Rifle/Shotgun case.

The Plano 10-10562 SE Rifle/Shot-gun case is designed to hold a single fire-arm, with or without a scope. A standard 12-gauge fits with no problem, as the case is 52.4 inches long, 11.3 inches wide, and 3.3 inches deep. Both the top and bottom are lined in egg-crate-style foam. When you put the gun inside and shut the case tight, your firearm is literally enveloped in its cushion. Four latches clip the lid down tight, and you can add a padlock when necessary for security. A carry handle is molded into the six-pound case, plus the hinges swing on steel pins.

The best thing about the Plano 10-10562 SE Rifle Shotgun case is its ruggedness. Molded of thick plastic, it’s ribbed for extra strength and I can stand on the case—jump on it, even—without break-ing it. You say you need to protect multiple guns? Or, maybe a handgun or three? No problem. Plano makes a number of gun cases to fit all sorts of situations, including

all-weather cases that are water-tight, air-tight, and dust-proof.

Naturally some of these more substan-tial cases carry a higher price tag than the 10-10562 SE, but you’ll be surprised by how low the pricing starts: about $30 is all you’ll need to begin protecting your favor-ite firearm. And even the most expensive

models, such as an all-weather double-rifle case with wheels designed for airline travel (about $160) are surprisingly reason-

able. Especially when you consider the value of what those cases are

holding—not to mention the sentimental value found in

something like your favorite shotgun.Check out www.planomolding.com.

Get in the ChaseTHE CAROLINA SKIFF SEA CHAS-er 210 LX Bay Runner is more than a cool new fishboat—it’s one that the average American can actually afford. Reason-ably well-rigged and powered with a Suzuki DF175, you can get this boat for the price of a decent new pick-up truck, and even decked-out with goodies like a T-top, hydraulic jack plate, and stereo system, you can stay under the $40,000 mark. I found one floating at the dock at the Miami boat show, and couldn’t resist jumping aboard for a quick spin.

Too bad we didn’t have time for fish-ing; the gunwales are wide enough to walk 360-degrees around the boat, from the stern all the way to the bow casting plat-form. Once you’re up there take note of the tall toe-kick and flush-mounted hinges and

cleats. There’s also the option of putting a second livewell up there, to match up with the standard livewell, which is centered in the transom. The aft deck is ideal for cast-ing, too, with the livewell flanked by a pair of jump seats that fold flat, so the seat-backs become part of the deck.

The Sea Chaser 210 LX has a semi-V hull design, carrying 15 degrees of transom dead rise. That’s plenty of V to knock down a chop, but not enough to make the boat unstable. In fact, while walking along the gunwales I noticed the boat barely leaned at all. Construction is standard Carolina Skiff fare, with hand-laid stringers and bulkheads, a bonded hull and deck, and pre-cast foam blocks in the deck struc-ture. Displacement is 2,250 pounds, yet draft remains a mere one foot.

Performance is better than you might expect from a small, relatively inexpensive bay boat, too. At a 4,500 RPM cruise we went a hair over 30 mph, and at top end, came darn close to hitting 50 mph. More importantly, at a relaxed 25 mph cruise we got 4.6 miles to the gallon and throughout the power band, never got less than 2.8

miles to the gallon. That means the boat’s affordable to run as well as to buy—a rar-ity, in today’s world of cool new fishboats.

Get more info at www.carolinaskiff.com.

—Lenny Rudow


Texas Tested

Plano Rifle/Shotgun Case

Sea Chaser 210 LX Bay Runner


http://www.planomolding.com

http://www.carolinaskiff.com

Savoring Summer

AUGUST HAS ARRIVED, AND I HAVE to admit I’ve been spoiled for the last several months. I have been spoiled by beautiful green water,

abundant sunshine, temperatures near 100 degrees, light winds, salt spray and the Gulf of Mexico.

I know it’s just a matter of time before we’re wearing jackets and changing our strategies and techniques, so for now I’m savoring every precious moment of what is left of summer in 2014.

There is actually quite a bit left because here in southeast Texas we sometimes, (most of the time) don’t experience any fall conditions until around November. But still, it is August, and next month is September,

so for now I’m going to keep savoring.Besides, with the crazy seasonal patterns

we’ve had so far this year I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a blizzard next month. While we are still in the heat wave though, I’m going to keep doing what we do to put fish in the box and love every minute of it.

One of our favorite things to do for hefty trout and some pretty solid numbers is to throw topwaters in the Sabine Neches Ship Channel.

There’s about a two-hour window early in the morning and before sunset when the big sows can’t resist the sound and zigzag of a topwater plug. Walking the dog over shell in two to seven feet of water is your ticket to success.

Fishing pretty water with good tidal movement is essential if you want some-thing to brag about at the end of the day. Concentrating on areas that consistently hold bait will obviously up the odds in your favor.

The entire stretch of shoreline from the

LNG plant to Louisiana Point is second to none when it comes to attracting and hold-ing bait and fish. The ever-changing bottom contour with depths fluctuating, coupled with good tides from either direction is the reason. Throw in pretty water and favorable winds, and you should be exactly where you want to be in August on Sabine.

Skitterwalks, with their tight, easy to work pattern, or the high pitched She Dog are go-to choices for us when it comes to select-ing a topwater plug that the fish can’t ignore. We all have our favorite colors, but black with a chartreuse head, pink/silver, bone and pearl all have proven track records.

Once the sun gets up, switch to plastics like Flounder Pounder’s CT Shad, or H&H Cocaho Minnow on 1/8- or ¼-ounce lead heads. Bounce them off the bottom or fish them under a popping cork.

All of your favorite summertime fish-ing spots should be producing for the next several weeks so there is still plenty of time to get out and of take advantage of some fantastic late summer action. Just remember to savor it while it lasts because next month we might have a blizzard.

THE BANK BITE

LOCATION: Fish Pass at Keith Lake (Hwy 87)

SPECIES: Trout, Reds Flounder

BEST BAITS: Soft Plastics, Live Shrimp, Mud Minnows

BEST TIME: Early Morning and Late Afternoon on Incoming Tides

Contact Eddie Hernandez at [email protected]


by Capt. Eddie Hernandez | TF&G Contributor

Hotspots Focus:Upper Coast



Red Snapper: Good News and Bad News

AUGUST HAS ALWAYS BEEN A GOOD time to go offshore fishing. Even in the worst August heat, a moving boat trolling along can create its

own breeze, and early morning is often quite pleasant on the water.

Most hard-core offshore fishermen will have some sort of shade over at least part of the cockpit, and the larger boats go beyond that and are equipped with generators to power marine air conditioning. It is amazing how much more comfortable a day on the water is when temperatures are in the 100 degree bracket if an angler can duck inside an air conditioned cabin for a cool-down every so often.

I guess my offshore memories are sort of bracketed between the sweaty battle I finally won in a tournament in 1982 with a 257-pound bull shark on stand-up tackle, and time spent steering the old Wango Tango at an air conditioned helm as she made her leisurely way to the snapper grounds 45 – 75 miles offshore. On that vessel, most of the more serious fishing took place at night, and a night sleeping offshore is much more pleasant after a hot shower when the A/C has had the cabin interior cool all day.

Of course, the red snapper “open” sea-son in Federally regulated waters for 2014 is projected to last only 11 days, maybe less. So today’s offshore fisherman can probably tough it out without an A/C.

Many of us thought we had things going our way last year, when the NFMS was forced by a court to re-open red snapper sea-son. The data they used in determining how long the season should last (which depends on the pounds of fish caught or expected to be caught) seems to be determined by the flip of a two-headed coin.

For this season, NOAA/NMFS was sued again, by commercial fishing interests this time, who profess to believe that recre-ational anglers commonly catch more than their season’s allotment of red snappers. This has to be because commercial anglers are required to report their snapper catches, while the recreational catch is calculated on a smart phone “app.”

Recreational catch dock surveys are now conducted after most boats have arrived back at the dock at day’s end. Instead of letting the personnel taking the survey knock off early on those hot days, the numbers are now even more in favor of blatant over-runs by recreational anglers.

Of course, recreational snapper fisher-

men are a bit confused, since there seem to more snappers in the Gulf now than in the history of the fishery. Most are proud that the sacrifices they made by way of reduced seasons and smaller bag limits have helped

the snapper population rebuild. However they also would like a little “payback” in the form of being able to fish longer, and for more fish. You see, many foolishly believe



by Capt. Mike Holmes | TF&G Contributor

Hotspots Focus:Galveston

“For this season, NOAA/NMFS was

sued again.“


Mangrove Snapper

MANGROVE OR GREY SNAPPER ARE fun to catch, great eating, and abundant both inshore and off-shore. In federal waters more than

nine miles offshore, the size limit is 12 inches and you can keep ten; in Texas state waters there are no size or bag limits.

Inshore, you will find mangrove snappers near passes to the Gulf of Mexico, close to piers, jetties, and rocks. Greg Berlocher and I caught many small mangrove snap-pers when we fished a rocky shoreline near Aransas Pass. Greg was using a number 5 (small) treble hook and one split shot weight and dead shrimp. I was fishing with my fly rod and a Clouser Minnow fly with a bit of shrimp on the hook.

Vic Dunaway, states in his book Sport Fish of the Gulf of Mexico, “Juvenile man-grove snappers are found in coastal shallows and bays, and upon reaching a size of 10 or 12 inches, nearly all mangrove snappers move to deeper waters.”

Small mangrove snappers can be a lot of fun for kids, because they are so abundant and easy to catch. My eight-year-old grand-daughter, Evie, told me how her dad took her to a dock in Port O’Connor and she had a great time catching these feisty little fish. However, if you want to catch larger man-grove snappers, you have to go offshore and use very different techniques.

I scuba dive on the offshore rigs and have seen mangrove snappers on almost every rig I have dived. Mangrove snappers can be found in water which is less than 70°F, but they are found in huge numbers when the water is above 70°F. They are usually between the surface and 50 feet deep.

On one memorable dive 75 miles offshore from Matagorda, in very clear water, I saw

about 1,000 mangrove snappers moving in unison just outside of the structure. But when the water is clear, mangrove snappers are wary; if a fisherman uses tackle that is visible, they will not take the bait.

The best way to catch these tasty fish is to use 20-pound-test-fluorocarbon leaders (or less if the fish are spooked) and smallish 2/0 hooks. Bury the hook in the baitfish and do not use any weight. Don’t tie up to the rig; instead, the captain should back the boat up to the structure on the up-current side. Toss chum into the water to attract the mangrove snappers and then float your lines out. In clear water you will see them go for the chum and your bait.

Snorkeling with a speargun is another way to bag mangrove snappers. However, a word of caution about snorkeling and spearfishing. Don’t just buy some snorkeling equipment and a speargun and give it a go. Get good equipment from a reputable SCUBA store and take a snorkeling/spearfishing lesson. Then practice snorkeling several times before jumping into the water with a speargun in

your hands.Last August I went snorkeling and

spearfishing on a rig 35 miles offshore from Matagorda. There were hundreds of man-grove snappers from the surface to beyond my visibility range of 50 feet; some were outside of the rig as well.

I waited on the surface until one of them came close enough and shot it. The fish was about 30 inches. I brought it back to the boat and went back to the rig and, by diving down about 10 feet, shot two more. I figured that three mangrove snappers were enough, but I could have had many more.

In August, mangrove snappers are on bottom structure and rigs close to shore as well as far offshore. They are also on the jetties and structures close to the openings to the Gulf of Mexico. Light tackle works well inshore, because the mangrove snappers are usually smaller than 12 inches. Live shrimp, or minnows will work best for these fish, but mangrove snappers will also go after artificial lures. Use heavier tackle offshore, 24-inch mangrove snappers are abundant, and they


by Mike Price | TF&G Contributor

Hotspots Focus:Matagorda

PHOT

OS: M

IKE

PRIC

E

Small mangrove snapper caught inshore.

Large mangrove snapper caught offshore.


are strong fighters. If you are going to try snorkeling and spearfishing, practice snorkel-ing several times before putting a speargun in your hands.

THE BANK BITE

Early Morning on the Beach Matagorda Beach in August can be a great fishing experience. Look for a day when the water is calm and the tide is incoming at daybreak. For example: on August first the low tide will be 0.6 feet at Freeport (nearest tidal station http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/?n=marine ) at 12:18 a.m. and high tide will be 1.3 feet at 7:28 a.m. An incoming tidal movement of 0.7 feet is fairly strong and will push bait fish, followed by predators like speckled trout, close to shore. Sunrise will be at 6:40 a.m. First light is about 30 minutes prior to sunrise, so if you are wading out into the surf at about 6:15 a.m., you have an excellent chance of some good action.

Contact Mike Price [email protected]

this was what all the years of tight snapper restrictions were supposed to lead to.

Snapper fishermen should just be glad they don’t fish for bluefin tuna, since all fishing for that species for 2014 ended on April 14. Oh, well, it will probably be too hot in August to fight a fish as large as a blue fin, anyway—so I guess the Feds are doing us a favor?

THE BANK BITELOCATION: In August, deep water attracts inshore fish, for the opposite reason it does in winter. In cold weather, deeper water remains warmer – while in the blazing August sun the insulation of a deep layer of covering water keeps the temperature cooler. Shallow water close to shore, whether over a reef or bay flat can attract fish, but normally early in the morning and late evening or overnight. Deeper holes and channels near these shallow areas will often concentrate both bait species and the fish that feed on them. This includes the Intracoastal Canal, river chan-

nels, and harbors.

SPECIES: No fish type native to the Texas coast likes water that is lukewarm or warmer. Speckled trout, redfish, and flounder will all feed within reach of a “bank” fisherman who can cast or wade close enough for his lure or bait to get their attention. Sheepshead will be feeding around rocks and pilings, sharks will hunt the surf, along with Spanish mackerel and bluefish at times. With no restrictions on the catch of blues, and a very generous limit on Spanish Macs, these two can fill the menu for a family fish fry.

BEST BAITS: The best technique is to offer the fish what they usually would be found eating – shrimp, crab, or cut bait from species catch in the area. With lures, use those that imitate these natural offerings

BEST TIMES: Get out early and fish until it becomes uncomfortable, then take a nap until evening. Also, remember that even if you can produce cooling shade from a tarp, the fish will not have that advantage.

Contact Mike Holmes [email protected].

GALVESTON FOCUS



http://www.srh.noaa.gov/



Another Top August Cadence

IT’S PRE-DAWN, AND YOU ARE ABOUT TO crawl over the side of your boat and into the dark morning water. In looking to the horizon, it’s easy for you to determine

which direction is east simply because it’s the part of the sky that has beautiful streaks of early sunlight shooting skyward.

The water along the shoreline is calm, and the air is already quite warm on this August morning. You’ve anchored your boat close to the grass that outlines the shore. You can feel a mild northeasterly wind against your face as it blows across the spoil bank that separates you from the open bay on the other side. Aside from the occasional jumping mullet or small baitfish chased to the surface by hungry predators, the surface of the water appears to be almost completely undisturbed by wind or waves.

The first thing you notice as the morning becomes light enough for you to see more clearly, is the fact that the water is probably

some of the cleanest, trout-green water you remember seeing all summer long. This leads you to believe that presenting a small top-water bait perpendicular to the slight wind and right up against the grass on the shoreline might just be the ticket to early morning suc-cess. Your lure travels undisturbed on its first pass along the bank, so you continue to fan your casts in both directions up and down the shore.

You’re hurrying your actions now because there has not yet been any attention paid to your lure. The rod is cocked behind your right shoulder as you toss the bait toward its intended target, but your thumb falls off of the spool just the slightest bit of a moment too soon. Unintentionally, your lure hits the sur-face out over water that’s a couple feet deeper than where you have previously been casting.

There’s a trough on the bottom of the flats area here that runs parallel to the shoreline about 30 or 40 yards out from the bank. Although the cast was nice and long, it just wasn’t in the direction you had intended it to be. Regardless, you once again commence with your standard retrieve, only breaking long enough to wipe away the sweat that has rolled down your forehead and into your eyes.

After wiping your face, you notice out of the corner of your eye that your lure was met with a slight shudder as it sat motion-less during the brief pause in action. You

now determine you’ve inadvertently stumbled upon both the preferred water depth and the best retrieval pattern, so you make the same cast all over again in an attempt to draw another strike.

By this time you have repositioned yourself directly in the middle of the trough itself, where the water depth has now gone from that of about knee-deep to that of being just higher than waist-deep. This will once again allow you to cast somewhat perpendicular to the wind, and will let you work your bait directly down the midsection of the deeper trough.

You rear back and let the lure sail. It’s straight down the middle. You allow the bait to sit idle before beginning to reel it in. This time you’re only going to walk it four or five times and let it sit idle for four or five seconds, instead of steadily walking it all the way back to you.

Suddenly, and after only a few walk-stop exercises, the bait is hit from beneath with what looks to be enough force to send it to the moon. The lure resettles upon the water’s surface, and you give it a couple faint twitches with the end of your rod tip.

All of a sudden, BANG!You lose sight of your plug as the surface

erupts with the explosion you dreamed of last night, and that you’ve waited for all morning. Suddenly, you are at odds with what seems to be the most beautiful, silver-coated, black-dotted speckled trout you have ever seen. Life is, once again, good all over.

August is not only known as a prime time for trout, but for red fish “tales,” as well. Success will be noted this month and next as slight winds of a northerly influence begin to flatten area bay waters and those along the Gulf beachfront. August anglers will often produce some fast red fish action by fishing grass beds during the low-light conditions associated with the first two hours of the day.

Have fun, and keep grindin’!

Contact Capt. Chris Martin at [email protected]

or visit bayflatslodge.com


by Capt. Chris Martin | TF&G Contributor

Hotspots Focus:Upper Mid Coast




by Capt. Mac Gable | TF&G Contributor

Hotspots Focus:Rockport

A Lesson in Luck

FOUR O’CLOCK AM CAME EARLY FOR me this day; I was tired from a trip the day before where the winds had bat-tered us for 8 hours. I was headed for

Aransas Pass to do a benefit fishing trip with an old friend of mine, Doug Rives. He asked me to help him due to some recent surgery he had so I was going to be the deckhand on his boat for the day.

The drive was about 30 minutes. I had time to think about all that was on my plate for the next week or so; my mind went into overdrive as I inventoried my bad luck list.

The day before, I had heard a slapping noise in my boat motor; that could mean a new power head (which was no longer under warranty). My lower back hurt like I’d had a wrestling match with an 800-pound gorilla.

We were right in the middle of a remodel of our home in Lamar and it was a mess, to say the least—our washer drain line for some reason was backing up into our garage sink. My truck A/C had quit working (or worked only when it wanted to), not to mention my truck was hesitating like I had gotten a fuel tank full of water.

I needed coffee—bad. So I pulled into the local 7 Eleven only to find they were remodel-ing and had no coffee that morning. I had an old Styrofoam cup of tea from the day before. If it hadn’t soured, it was gonna have to do. As I walked back from the convenience store, my truck looked lopsided, leaning badly in the down direction on the right rear side.

I stopped, lowered my head and said a few choice words to myself. Who wants to change a flat tire at any time but especially not at 4:15 a.m. when you’re already tired and run-ning late? Luckily the air pump was working, so I pumped the tire up and decided I would change it after the benefit fishing trip.

I sipped my day-old tea, convincing myself it hadn’t turned bad. I then remembered I had broken my favorite rod the day before as well.

I was beat up, battered, and knew first-hand what the saying “if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all” really meant.

Was I feeling sorry for myself? YES. Did I deserve to feel sorry for myself? YES. No one was going to convince me otherwise.

After a quick bowl of oatmeal at the Taqueria, my buddy and I were on our way to Hampton’s landing, where 30 guides were participating in the benefit, held at Mickey’s Bar and Grill.

As I waited in the trailered boat, a young man cut in front of us (par for the course), and frantically asked if he could go first, because his just-launched boat was sinking.

“Go ahead,” I said.Missing boat plugs were the culprit. Add

to that a rotten ski rope for a winch strap and this sinking boat recovery had disaster written all over it. It seemed like he had 300 gallons

of water in the back of his boat as he drove it onto the trailer (which was not backed deep enough).

If he tried to winch the boat up, then started to pull the trailer forward, his rotten ski rope was gonna break, and his boat would become an immovable object on the boat ramp as it slid off the trailer, blocking the whole ramp with 30 guides behind him.

Yeah, that’s gonna work, I said to myself. And the hits just keep coming.

I hopped out of my buddy’s boat and hollered “Stop!” at the top of my lungs. The truck put on its brakes with the boat teetering just about to come off the trailer on the ramp.

“I’m gonna help you.”“Thank you” he said.“That ski rope is not going to hold you,

your boat, and 2,000 pounds of water. Back down into the water and let’s start over!”

In a few minutes the guy, his boat and trailer were out of the water. Relieved, he turned and said “This was my lucky day! Thank you for helping us.”


“You bet” I said. “Be safe,” while won-dering, where was my good luck these days.

When we arrived at Mickey’s—dead last—the other guides had gathered around a woman with a bullhorn.

“They are almost here,” she said “so please make sure you are ready to go and have life jackets etc. You have to be back no later than 11:30 a.m. as they cannot stay out in the sun very long. A nurse will accompany and be present on every boat.”

A few minutes later, I saw a small white cap moving slowly toward the stairs that descended to the boat slip. Towering above the small cap on each side were two helpers. They stopped at the stairs, which was the first time I got a good look at the little angel beneath the cap. He was pale, he had no eye-brows or hair on his head. He was pencil thin and he was shaking like an elder person in their very late years. His eyes, I will never for-get. They were the prettiest blue, and I could see them very clearly, for he had no eyelashes. His eyes looked tired, but yet happy.

The two helpers had to move his legs as he made his way down each step. When he made the last step onto the boat dock he looked up.

I am sorry I am not a better writer to convey the look on that young man’s face — it was like he saw Disneyland, his best Christmas morning, and heaven all rolled into one. He beheld the shiny boats, the rods in the rod holders, the fishing nets standing vertically, the shimmer off the water in the Hampton canal, and the sight of 30 guides seeming to stand at attention as he and others like him made their way onto the dock.

He, in turn, looked at us as if we were heroes. Who else would do such a grand thing as taking such a sick and weak young man fishing? God Bless them, he seemed to say with his eyes, which no longer looked tired but thankful. He stood up straighter and walked the rest of the way to the boat unassisted. I watched 37 children make their way onto boats that day. If I had forgotten why I was there or what the benefit was for, I was reminded as the tears streamed down my face. For me this is where the rubber meets the road. It was fullness of life and the sting of death at the same time.

I was ashamed for being so petty earlier

about my own woes. Shame on me. I have no real problems. Bad luck? Please! This is The Chemo Kids Fish-Off benefit. It has been running for 23 years. It is sponsored by the Coastal Bend Guides Association and is funded 100 percent through donations from the community. The guides donate their time, boats and gas. Bait was donated via Mickey’s Bar and Grill at Hampton’s Landing. An awards event follows the fishing as well as a BBQ lunch, again compliments of Mickey’s Bar and Grill.

We had three children on our boat which were in various stages of therapy, and I sort of attached myself to Nicholas and helped him as we fished with croakers for trout.

He was quiet and never complained as he watched his two friends fish off the front of the boat. He and I took over the stern; he said he sure wanted to catch a big fish that day as his buddy, who was up front, caught the biggest fish last year—a 33-inch red with Capt. Doug Rives.

I told him patience was the key and to not reel in if he could help it. As I sat next to him we talked and he slowly warmed up to me. As the day moved forward we became friends.

I can’t remember when I have ever wanted anyone to catch a fish more than Nicholas that day. I applied all my secrets but no fish wanted to play with our croaker. He was steadfast though and listened intently to every word I said.

I was doing my best to WILL a fish to hit his line. This young man was going to catch a fish even if I had to swim down there and put it on the hook myself.

A little luck would be helpful here Lord, I said to myself. I turned to get Nicholas some water when, Wham! something hit his croaker, and the fight was on.

His eyes lit up, his worries went away, if even for just a few minutes, as he fought the fish. The illness was no longer a factor, just the pull of a fish and the unknown of what lay beneath the murky green water. He was just a kid again like everyone else. The fish was a 20-inch trout, but it may as well have been a state record for him and me.

We took proud pictures, and I gave him a minor biology lesson about the fish. We settled in with another bait and magically he caught one more, the smile now never left his

face, and he sat silent while I baited his hook.He said “I hope I can do this again

someday.”Well of course you will, I started to say,

then caught myself. My tears were flowing again as I realized that someday as we see it is mostly infinite, but for him at this very tender and young age he understood better than anyone that “someday” truly has a finite meaning.

As I drove home I thought about the guides and how proud I was to be part of such a unique and outstanding event, how special each one of these men and women are. Yes, we fight among ourselves, and we disagree to no end, but I for one feel lucky they include me as part of the guide family.

As I lay my head on my pillow that night a prayer came from my soul: Dear Lord, you must admit I’ve not had much luck lately and if by chance I’m on the side of issuance where that is concerned, please send what luck I might be due to the Chemo Kids that they might fish another day. Amen.

• • •

THROUGH APRIL, MAY AND JUNE the fishing has been tough. There is seldom any single answer for fishing woes. In my opinion the answer as to why is multifaceted. For guides or anglers to catch fish in these conditions they need to be on top of their game. Slow bite reasons are diverse; so should be your fishing tactics. If you leave the dock with just one bait, you are limiting your chances in these conditions.

COPANO BAY: The mouth of Mission

Bay is still a good spot for reds using free-lined finger mullet. High tide is best here with a stealth approach. Lap Reef is holding some keeper trout using croakers. Fish the deeper edges as midday approaches. The grass line off of Newcomb’s Point is good for trout and reds using free-lined croakers or live shrimp.

ST CHARLES BAY: Some reds are at the mouth of Cavasso Creek using cut mullet on a light Carolina rig. A few black drum are still in the back close to Twins Creek.


Rockport Focus




Speed Kings

THE JETTIES WERE VERY KIND TO ME that June morning. Tossing a bone Chug Bug along the surfside rocks of the North Brazos Santiago jetties

had already produced three fat, silvery trout, and I was latched onto number four when a man stopped to watch me. He was carrying a 12-foot Ugly Stik surf spinning rod mated with a Penn 8500SS. He also sported a gaff and a billy club.

After stringing my trout, I looked at his setup and asked what the deal was.

“Oh, I’m going down to the end to see if I can get a king,” he answered. “They’re chas-ing bait around the point of the jetties. My buddy got a 38-incher yesterday.”

He showed me the five inch long lipless crankbait that easily weighed an ounce or more. We chatted for a few more minutes before he started on the long march to the jetty tip, and I went back to casting for my trout.

Twenty minutes later, I met him as he was coming back. He had an empty reel and a sheepish grin on his face.

“I hooked into a big fish on the first cast,” he said without being asked. “Three hundred yards of 20-pound gone in 45 seconds. He never even slowed down.”

When summer’s southeasterly breezes push clean, clear gulf water close to Texas beaches, most fishermen begin to think about big surf running trout, surly redfish, and rampaging schools of Spanish mackerel. Some think about the sharks of Kong-like proportions that prowl up and down the surf guts, but few seem to think about the seashore’s potential to produce some exciting big game fishing to the shorebound or bay boat-equipped angler. The two most prevalent species are the two kings of the Texas coast: the speedy kingfish, and the cosmopolitan tarpon.

The most common mackerel species asso-

ciated with fishing from Texas Jetties is the Spanish mackerel, Scomberomorus macu-latus, which start showing up in the surf in large schools in late May and early June. The fishing is fast and exciting when a large school of “smacks” strafes schools of men-haden, sardines, and mullet within casting distance of the rocks (along with a few one- to three-pound bluefish that co-mingle with the mackerel when busting bait), and anyone with a chrome spoon and wire leader can get their fill of screaming drags in a hurry.

The jetty passes, however, also see some numbers of kingfish show up, especially after a stretch of “ice cream” days. These maraud-ers are more than happy to snap up some unsuspecting rock-hopper’s Tony Acetta Krocodile or Kastmaster and take off for the horizon at 20 knots. All they usually leave in their wake is someone with and empty reel and red-hot drag asking, “what was that?!”

A well-equipped angler can even the odds against these kings. Most jetty-bound king fishermen will equip themselves with a 10-12 foot long surf spinning rod such as one of the Ugly Stik BWS 1100 series, or a Shimano Tiralejo. They match them with big coffee grinder spinning reels in the 800-1000 size that are capable of holding at least 300 yards of 20 pound line.

Some astute anglers have taken to filling some of the big reels with 300 yards of 40 pound Power Pro Braid, which has the diam-eter of a 10-pound line, and then filling the remainder of the spool with 30 pound line. A Penn 9500 SS—the most popular reel for this sort of application—has a capacity of 300 yards of 30 pound test. The braid/mono combo conceivably increases that capacity to about 500 yards, perhaps a bit more, depend-ing on the diameter of the mono used.

You may want to load the braid first because then you know exactly how much braid is on the spool, but remember this caveat: You need to use a few yards of mono backing and wind the braid on very tight, or the braid will slip and mess with your drag.

Rigging and bait for granite kings is pretty straightforward. A kingfish rig with a fresh

ribbonfish is pretty standard. Tie an inflated tennis-ball-sized balloon to your line between eight and 10 feet above your rig, and pitch it out into the current. The outflows should feed the rig out into open water. Some fishermen use live menhaden or hardtails (blue runners) if they can get them, but live baits are harder to control and make for a real hump if you have to catch them elsewhere and bring them with you.

Lures are more popular among shore-bound anglers fishing for kingfish. As I wrote in the opening vignette, the 1 ¼ ounce Magnum Force Rat-L-Trap in chrome/blue back is an excellent choice. They cast a mile, and are very easy to use. Simply burn them back to you with a fast retrieve. Magnum baits such as the Bomber A-Salt, Sebile seven-inch Jointed Magic Swimmer, or Yo-Zuri Magnum Crystal Minnow also work well. Fish these with a slower retrieve, especially on a calmer day.

Some fishermen seem to prefer to tote along a three-foot gaff and a billy club to better subdue any king they are able to bring to the rocks. The gaff makes sense, since it allows you more control of a thrashing, snap-ping kingfish. Like their larger, more pelagic cousins, the wahoo, the choppers on a king-fish can really ruin a good pair of flip-flops, and the toes in them.

Anglers who have fished the Brazos Santiago Jetties are rightfully concerned that the re-construction that the system has been undergoing for the last several months may cause poons and kings to avoid the rocks.

Please keep in mind that these fish have been exposed to the noise of boats varying in size from little skiffs to the monstrous super-tankers that use the Pass to access the Port of Brownsville. The nose from barges and cranes hoisting and setting stones in place shouldn’t be an issue. If the fish are feeding, they will be there.

And both kings have a royal appetite.

Contact Calixto Gonzales [email protected]

by Calixto Gonzales | TF&G Saltwater Editor

Hotspots Focus:Lower Coast



Wake Up and Fish the Coffee

UPPER GULF COAST

by TOM BEHRENS

LOCATION: Sabine LakeHOTSPOT: Coffee Ground CoveGPS: N 29 58.1790 W 93 92.31996 (29.9697, -93.7693)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Good colors for soft plastics are Morning Glory, Root Beer, Texas Roach, Glow and Glow/chartreuse.CONTACT: Capt. Eddie Hernandez409-673-3100www.goldenhookguide.comTIPS: Hernandez recommends soft plastics over live or dead bait because he is only dealing with a single instead of a treble hook. “It’s easier to get the fish off the hook.”

LOCATION: Sabine LakeHOTSPOT: East PassGPS: N 29 59.0270 W 93 93.12396 (29.9838, -93.7760)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Zoom Super Flukes, Flounder Pounder CT Shad, Cocahoe Minnows-the redfish are not particular on which bait they want.CONTACT: Capt. Eddie Hernandez409-673-3100www.goldenhookguide.comTIPS: Look for schooling fish on the north end chasing shad

LOCATION: West Galveston BayHOTSPOT: Beach Front West EndGPS: N 29 6.3050 W 95 9.83796 (29.1051, -95.0820)SPECIES: TarponBEST BAITS: Shad, ribbon fish, sand trout, or croakerCONTACT: Capt. Mike Williams713-723-1911www.galvestonguides.comTIPS: Tarpon rigging: six feet of 150 lb test mono-filament leader tied to main line swivel. Main line should be at least 40 lb. test.

LOCATION: West Galveston BayHOTSPOT: San Luis PassGPS: N 29 4.8510 W 95 13.55196 (29.0809, -95.1129)SPECIES: TarponBEST BAITS: Live or dead shad, ribbon fish, sand trout, or croakerCONTACT: Capt. Mike Williams713-723-1911www.galvestonguides.com

GPS COORDINATES are provided in two for-mats: “Decimal Degrees” (degrees.degrees) and “Degrees and Minutes” some-times called “GPS Format” (degrees minutes.minutes). Examples (for Downtown Austin): Decimal Degrees: N30.2777, W97.7379; Degrees and Minutes: N30 16.6662, W97 44.2739. Consult your manual for information specific to your GPS device.

Plentiful gafftops on most shell reefs using shrimp or a light Carolina rig.

ARANSAS BAY: Drifts down Long Reef are good for some keeper trout using a rattle cork and live shrimp. The cuts in this reef are a good place to soak a croaker. A few trout may be found on the Towhead Reef using croakers. High tide is best here and the bite seems better late evening.

CARLOS BAY: Cedar Reef is still good for reds using cut menhaden or mud min-nows, if you can find them. Drifting across Carlos Lake using new penny Berkley Gulp shad is good for trout and a few reds.

MESQUITE BAY: Please exercise cau-tion in this bay as the Cedar Bayou work has begun and we have seen big posts as well as some pretty hazardous items floating in the bay. The wood pilings at the mouth of Mesquite Bay where it enters the ICW are leaning badly and on high tide are just under the water. The east shoreline adjacent to Cedar Bayou is good for wading using croakers or a Berkley Jerk Shad in nuclear chicken color.

AYERS BAY: This bay has not been a good producer of late for reds and trout. Good gafftop action on live shrimp on a light Carolina rig on the east shoreline. Second Chain is still holding some reds with finger mullet the preferred bait.

THE BANK BITE

THE SHORELINE of Goose Island State Park is a great place to wade for reds and trout using red and gold spoons and root beer gold glitter Berkley jerk shad. I get quite a few emails asking about fishing around Goose Island. Most fish off the pier or wade to the cut between St Charles and Aransas Bays, but the Goose Island / Aransas Bay shoreline is seldom waded by fishermen and can be very productive. Move slow, drag your feet and use waders for the predominant south wind blows a lot of jelly fish into the shoreline.

Contact Capt. Mac Gable at Mac Attack Guide Service,

512-809-2681, 361-790-9601

ROCKPORT HOTSPOT FOCUS




http://www.goldenhookguide.com

http://www.goldenhookguide.com

http://www.galvestonguides.com


TIPS: “If you hook a tarpon it’s going to be about a one to three hour battle.” Capt. Mike Williams

LOCATION: Galveston Trinity BayHOTSPOT: Trinity Bay WellsGPS: N 29 41.6770 W 94 94.65 (29.6946, -94.7888)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live croaker on the bottom or live shrimp under a popping corkCONTACT: Capt. Mike Williams713 723-1911www.galvestonguides.comTIPS: Soft plastic tails will work in August, but you have a much better chance of catching fish by using live natural bait.

LOCATION: Galveston Trinity BayHOTSPOT: Pine Gully Fishing PierGPS: N 29 35.3480 W 94 118.77804 (29.5891, -94.9898)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live shrimp or croakerCONTACT: Capt. Mike Williams713-723-1911www.galvestonguides.comTIPS: Spend a night on any of Galveston’s dif-ferent piers, beat the daytime heat, and catch fish under the lights.

LOCATION: Galveston Trinity BayHOTSPOT: Sun Gas WellsGPS: N 29 38.9320 W 94 96.87204 (29.6489, -94.8073)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live croaker on the bottom or live shrimp under a popping corkCONTACT: Capt. Mike Williams713-723-1911www.galvestonguides.comTIPS: A popping cork with live shrimp is another way to fish the wells. It’s too hot to make a trout chase a soft plastic.

LOCATION: Galveston Trinity BayHOTSPOT: Exxon C Lease WellsGPS: N 29 40.4460 W 94 91.158 (29.6741, -94.7597)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live croakerCONTACT: Capt. Mike Williams713-723-1911www.galvestonguides.comTIPS: A popping cork with live shrimp is another way to fish the wells in August.

LOCATION: West Galveston BayHOTSPOT: Beachfront

GPS: N 29 5.7190 W 95 11.66604 (29.0953, -95.0972)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live shrimp under a popping corkCONTACT: Capt. Mike Williams713-723-1911www.galvestonguides.comTIPS: Winds have to be calm and water green to the beach to be able to catch fish out of the surf in August.

LOCATION: West Galveston BayHOTSPOT: BeachfrontGPS: N 29 5.7190 W 95 11.66604 (29.0953, -95.0972)SPECIES: TarponBEST BAITS: Coon Pop lures trolledCONTACT: Capt. Mike Williams713-723-1911www.galvestonguides.comTIPS: Tarpon are found between 30-40 miles offshore of the Galveston beachfront.

LOCATION: Carancahua BayHOTSPOT: PipelineGPS: N 28 42.6000 W 96 47.63196 (28.7100, -96.3969)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Soft palstics with a 1/8 or 1/16 oz. jig head; Chicken on a Chain or Black Magic colors produce the best.CONTACT: Capt. Tommy Countz281-450-4037tcountz@sbcglobal.netwww.matagordafishing.comTIPS: Wade the shoreline; cast to the deeper guts

LOCATION: West Matagorda BayHOTSPOT: Cotton Bayou ShorelineGPS: N 28 30.4500 W 96 24.762 (28.5075, -96.2064)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Soft palstics with a 1/8 or 1/16 oz. jig head; Chicken on a Chain or Black Magic colors produce the best.CONTACT: Capt. Tommy Countz281-450-4037tcountz@sbcglobal.netwww.matagordafishing.comTIPS: Wade the shoreline; cast to the deeper guts

LOCATION: West Matagorda BayHOTSPOT: Shell Island ReefGPS: N 28 37.7880 W 96 7.806 (28.6298, -96.0651)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live shrimp on 2-4 ft. leader

under a popping corkCONTACT: Capt. Ken Marshall713-560-6000captken@fishmatagorda.comwww.fishmatagorda.comTIPS: Marshall preferes the 4” MIdCoast popping cork. “It makes more noise.”

LOCATION: West Matagorda BayHOTSPOT: Parker’s CutGPS: N 28 37.0500 W 95 117.65196 (28.6175, -95.9804)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live shrimp under a popping corkCONTACT: Capt. Ken Marshall713-560-6000captken@fishmatagorda.comwww.fishmatagorda.comTIPS: Does popping cork color matter? “To the fisherman, not the fish,” says Marshall. He prefers red for better visibility.

LOCATION: East Matagorda BayHOTSPOT: Raymond ShoalGPS: N 28 33.0280 W 96 36.162 (28.5505, -96.3014)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live shrimp under a popping cork with a 2’ leaderCONTACT: Capt. Tommy Countz281-450-4037tcountz@sbcglobal.netwww.matagordafishing.comTIPS: Drift in 5-6’ of water

LOCATION: East Matagorda BayHOTSPOT: Oyster LakeGPS: N 28 36.8994 W 96 21.996 (28.6150, -96.1833)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Soft palstics with a 1/8 or 1/16 oz. jig head; Chicken on a Chain or Black Magic colors produce the best.CONTACT: Capt. Tommy Countz281-450-4037tcountz@sbcglobal.netwww.matagordafishing.comTIPS: Good place to fish when the winds are making fishing tough on the open bay

LOCATION: East Matagorda BayHOTSPOT: Crab LakeGPS: N 28 40.1994 W 96 6.0288 (28.6700, -96.0502)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Soft palstics with a 1/8 or 1/16 oz. jig head; Chicken on a Chain or Black Magic colors produce the best.


ROCKPORT HOTSPOT FOCUS









http://www.matagordafishing.com




http://www.fishmatagorda.com


http://www.fishmatagorda.com






CONTACT: Capt. Tommy Countz281-450-4037tcountz@sbcglobal.netwww.matagordafishing.comTIPS: Small lake off the intracoastal canal…good place to fish when the winds are making fishiing tough on the open bay.

Port A Specks See the Light

MIDDLE GULF COAST

by TOM BEHRENS

LOCATION: Port AransasHOTSPOT: Lighthouse LakesGPS: N 27 50.4000 W 97 8.64 (27.8400, -97.0720)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Zoom Dart with gold flakes on a 1/8 oz. jig headCONTACT: Capt. Billie Kocian361-688-8859billiekocian@yahoo.comsportfishingtexas.comTIPS: The Dart imitates a sand eel or needle

nose gar…bob it off the bottom.

LOCATION: Port AransasHOTSPOT: Hog IslandGPS: N 27 53.7510 W 97 13.35804 (27.8959, -97.1113)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: TopwatersCONTACT: Capt. Billie Kocian361-688-8859billiekocian@yahoo.comsportfishingtexas.comTIPS: Drift the island shoreline early in the morn-ing throwing topwater baits.

LOCATION: Port AransasHOTSPOT: Super FlatsGPS: N 27 53.5340 W 97 4.914 (27.8922, -97.0410)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: RT Slug in a green color with a 1/8 oz. jig headCONTACT: Capt. Billie Kocian361-688-8859billiekocian@yahoo.comsportfishingtexas.comTIPS: Wade close to the shoreline: “There can be a lot sharks in deeper water at this time of the year.” Capt. Billie Kocian

LOCATION: Port AransasHOTSPOT: QuarantineGPS: N 27 54.2820 W 97 6.50796 (27.9047, -97.0542)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Zoom Dart with gold flakes on a 1/8 oz. jig headCONTACT: Capt. Billie Kocian361-688-8859billiekocian@yahoo.comsportfishingtexas.comTIPS: “The water is so hot, I like to fish a soft plastic paddle tail bait to get the attention of the fish.” Capt. Billie Kocian

LOCATION: Port AransasHOTSPOT: Quarantine ShorelineGPS: N 27 54.6690 W 97 4.392 (27.9112, -97.0366)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: RT Slug in a green color with a 1/8 oz. jig headCONTACT: Capt. Billie Kocian361-688-8859billiekocian@yahoo.comsportfishingtexas.comTIPS: Hop the bait off the bottom….”’Do a twitch with it.” Capt. Billie Kocian

LOCATION: Port AransasHOTSPOT: Mud IslandGPS: N 27 56.3800 W 97 1.52604 (27.9397, -97.0127)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Strike King topwater baitsCONTACT: Capt. Billie Kocian361-688-8859billiekocian@yahoo.comsportfishingtexas.comTIPS: You need to be on the water at first day-light, but when running your boat, look out for kayakers at this time of the year.

LOCATION: Port AransasHOTSPOT: Traylor IslandGPS: N 27 56.6100 W 97 8.526 (27.9435, -97.0711)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Soft plasticsCONTACT: Capt. Billie Kocian361-688-8859billiekocian@yahoo.comsportfishingtexas.comTIPS: Twitch the bait off the bottom.

Texas Hotspots












LOCATION: Port AransasHOTSPOT: North Mud Island ShorelineGPS: N 27 56.7800 W 97 3.08004 (27.9463, -97.0257)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Topwaters early; soft plastics later in the morningCONTACT: Capt. Billie Kocian361-688-8859billiekocian@yahoo.comsportfishingtexas.comTIPS: Walk the dog with the topwaters

LOCATION: Corpus Christi BayHOTSPOT: Corpus Christi Bay WellsGPS: N 27 44.7640 W 97 22.28196 (27.7461, -97.1857)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Croaker, piggy perch or live mujl-letCONTACT: Capt. Patrick Buchanan361-215-2608captpatrick@sbcglobal.netwww.texasfishinggujides.org/buchananTIPS: “The piggy perch and croaker are gener-ally the better baits because they are noise baits.” Capt. Patrick Buchanan

Baffin Reds Spoiled on Croaker

LOWER GULF COAST

by CALIXTO GONZALES and TOM BEHRENS

LOCATION: Baffin BayHOTSPOT: Spoil Banks at Penascal PointGPS: N 27 15.5550 W 97 50.30796 (27.2593, -97.4192)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Live croakerCONTACT: Capt. Patrick Buchanan361-215-2608captpatrick@sbcglobal.netwww.texasfishinggujides.org/buchananTIPS: Buchanan does not use a leader when free lining live croakers. “Even in clear water the fish do not seem to care one way or another if there is a leader or not. It just adds more to your setup that can go wrong.”

LOCATION: Baffin BayHOTSPOT: Kennedy ShorelineGPS: N 27 14.4630 W 97 47.76996

(27.2411, -97.3981)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live croakerCONTACT: Capt. Patrick Buchanan361-215-2608captpatrick@sbcglobal.netwww.texasfishinggujides.org/buchananTIPS: Artificial baits are not the best choice inAu-gust because of the abundance of so much natural bait to choose from.

LOCATION: Baffin BayHOTSPOT: Pnescal Point ReefGPS: N 27 15.9730 W 97 50.754 (27.2662, -97.4230)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live croakerCONTACT: Capt. Patrick Buchanan361-215-2608captpatrick@sbcglobal.netwww.texasfishinggujides.org/buchananTIPS: Trout will be moving up and down Baffin Bay. “the fish might be a half-mile away the next day.” Capt. Patrick Buchanan

LOCATION: Baffin BayHOTSPOT: Penascal Rincon

GPS: N 27 16.0180 W 97 50.88804 (27.2670, -97.4241)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Live croakerCONTACT: Capt. Patrick Buchanan361-215-2608captpatrick@sbcglobal.netwww.texasfishinggujides.org/buchananTIPS: Redfish will be water 1 ft. or less.

LOCATION: Baffin BayHOTSPOT: Sloughs RocksGPS: N 27 18.6510 W 97 66.93 (27.3109, -97.5578)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live croakerCONTACT: Capt. Patrick Buchanan361-215-2608captpatrick@sbcglobal.netwww.texasfishinggujides.org/buchananTIPS: Buchanan sometimes adds an 1/2 oz. Chatter Weight to pull the croaker down faster so the sea gulls and terns don’t get it. “It also adds some sound to it as you twitch the line.”

LOCATION: Baffin Bay




http://www.texasfishinggujides.org/buchanan












HOTSPOT: Kleberg Point Rocks, SouthGPS: N 27 16.3710 W 97 73.272 (27.2729, -97.6106)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live croakerCONTACT: Capt. Patrick Buchanan361-215-2608captpatrick@sbcglobal.netwww.texasfishinggujides.org/buchananTIPS: Trout will be moving up and down Baffin Bay and might be a half-mile away the next day.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna MadreHOTSPOT: South BayGPS: N 26 1.785 W 97 11.011 (26.0298, -97.1835)SPECIES: Black DrumBEST BAITS: Live Shrimp, Gulp! Shrimp in New Penny, PearlCONTACT: Captian Jimmy Martinez956-551-9581TIPS: Fish the dropoffs and channel edges with bottom rigs with live or dead shrimp. Free shrimp-ing rigs also work. A transient snook might also strike your offering. Bounce a Gulp! Shrimp on the bottom.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna MadreHOTSPOT: Color ChangeGPS: N 26 10.429

W 97 12.759 (26.1738, -97.2127)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live shrimp, ballyhoo; topwaters early, soft plastics in white/chartrues, glow/char-treuse, red/chartreuse.CONTACT: Captian Jimmy Martinez956-551-9581TIPS: Fish the “trout green” water that marks the boundary between the grass flats and sand that stretches all the way to the ICW. The trout will mostly be just inside the murkier water. Live shrimp or a soft plastic can be fished under an Alameda or popping cork set at 24-28 inch depths.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna MadreHOTSPOT: Long BarGPS: N 26 8.891 W 97 17.74 (26.1482, -97.2957)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Live shimrp, pinfish; cutbait. Soft Plastics in Red/White, Chartreuse/whie.CONTACT: Captian Jimmy Martinez956-551-9581TIPS: Fish around the Underground Cable sign and cast to the potholes. It is best to anchor in this area because of tome of the extremely shallow spots.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna MadreHOTSPOT: Dunkin Channel

GPS: N 26 20.17 W 97 19.928 (26.3362, -97.3321)SPECIES: FlounderBEST BAITS: Live shrimp, finger mullet, Soft baits in New Penny, Red/Whtie, Hot Pink.CONTACT: Captain Cesar Agnuiano956-456-1363TIPS: Flounder use channels to migrate in and out of bays when the water begins to warm. Work the edges of the channel during a high tide, the mouth of the channel on a falling tide. Use live shrimp or—better still—live finger mullet on a split shot rig. Gulp! shrimp or shad are good artificials to use. LOCATION: Lower Laguna MadreHOTSPOT: Peyton’s BayGPS: N 26 25.948 W 97 22.269 (26.4325, -97.3712)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Live Shrim, cut bait. Topwaters in black/red or yellow head.CONTACT: Captain Cesar Agnuiano956-456-1363TIPS: Fish the northern shoreline of Peytons. Line up with the spoil islands that bracket the yel-low cabin and drift parallel to them in the 2-3 foot depths. On a clear day you can see redfish work-ing the bottom and you can cast to them

LOCATION: Port MansfieldHOTSPOT: East BayGPS: N 26 23 W 97 17.029 (26.3833, -97.2838)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Live Bait, Gulp! Shrimp pearl, soft plastics in pearl/red, strawberry/white, topwaters in bone, chartreuse.CONTACT: Captain Richard Bailey956-369-5090TIPS: Fish topwaters up in the cuts early in morn-ing, move back as the sun rises up in the sky and fish the edges. Fish soft plastics deeper on a ¼ ounce jighead.

LOCATION: Port MansfieldHOTSPOT: Community BarGPS: N 26 35.144 W 97 25.644 (26.5857, -97.4274)SPECIES: Speckled troutBEST BAITS: Soft plastics in red/white, limetreuse, pearl/chartreuse.CONTACT: Captain Richard Bailey956-369-5090

Texas Hotspots





TIPS: “Use soft plastics around the edges of the Bar to find both trout and redfish. Fish slowly to work deeper water.

LOCATION: Port MansfieldHOTSPOT: Summer House FlatsGPS: N 27 8.6500 W 97 53.26668 (27.1442, -97.4439)SPECIES: RedfishBEST BAITS: Piggy perch on a #6 Kahle HookCONTACT: Capt. Paul Braly361-533-0982captpaul@rocketmail.comwww.fishfinderguideservice.comTIPS: “Put the perch in a sand hole, let it run. When uou can’t feel them running, pop a couple of times and you will feel them running again. If you are fishing anywhere decent, it will be gone in 30 seconds!” Capt. Paul Braly

Conroe Cats on Main Lake Stumps

PINEY WOODS

by DUSTIN WARNCKE

LOCATION: Lake ConroeHOTSPOT: Main LakeGPS: N 30 29.2794 W 95 35.3056 (30.4880, -95.5884)SPECIES: CatfishBEST BAITS: Primos Dipping baitCONTACT: Richard [email protected]: Locate stumps lining the river channel edge and tie off in 20 to 25 foot of water. Use a bag of cattle cubes to bring the fish to you. I will dump a half bag of cubes on two different locations and come back to the first, tie up and get my boat back in the same position. Using a spinning reel with a treble hook, an 1/8 ounce egg sinker and a piece of cut sponge wrapped around it; dip it in the bait and drop it to the bottom. Stay in contact with the bottom raising the bait up and down slowly until I feel some resistance then set the hook. You can on most days catch limits of fish in just a few hours. Bank Access: Stowaway Marina

LOCATION: Toledo Bend NorthHOTSPOT: Myrick ReachGPS: N 31 45.0315 W 93 50.1792 (31.7505, -93.8363)

SPECIES: Black & White BassBEST BAITS: Top water plugs, buzz baits, spin-ner baits, Frogs, Rat-L-Traps, and large 10” Mr. Twister soft plasticsCONTACT: Greg Crafts, Toledo Bend Guide Service and Lake [email protected],TIPS: The Blacks & Whites will be holding on the secondary and main lake points. Start off early and late fishing shallow with top water lures and Rat-L-Traps. Watch for schooling activity. As the sun gets up the fish will move deeper. Throw large 10” Mr. Twister soft plastics and deep diving crank baits for the Black Bass and slab spoons and Rat-L-Traps for the White Bass.

LOCATION: Lake LivingstonHOTSPOT: Dam - deep water areaGPS: N 30 37.9727 W 95 1.5077 (30.6329, -95.0251)SPECIES: Striped BassBEST BAITS: Live shad, 1 ¼ oz white slabs, spoons, Tsumani Holographic hot pink/gold 4 inch Swim ShadCONTACT: David S Cox - Palmetto Guide Service - 936-291-9602936-291-9602dave@palmettoguideservice,comwww.palmettoguideservice.comTIPS: Bounce baits off the bottom, look for strikes on falling baits. Troll Tsumani Swim Shad behind a #10 jet diver.

Palestine Bass Flow in Pipelines

PRAIRIES & LAKES

by DUSTIN WARNCKEand DEAN HEFFNER

LOCATION: Lake PalestineHOTSPOT: Pipelines and Cobb CreekGPS: N 32 5.5020 W 95 27.6900 (30.0917, -95.4615)SPECIES: Largemouth BassBEST BAITS: Deep diver crankbaits in shad color and Carolina Rigs using a Watermelon Red BrushhogCONTACT: Rickys Guide Service(903) 561-7299 or (903) 530-2201Ricky@Rickysguideservice.comwww.Rickysguideservice.comTIPS: Fishing is good in the north along the river where it crosses the power lines and on the north/

south and east/west pipelines. Best depth to fish is 5 to 10 feet of water.

LOCATION: Cedar Creek LakeHOTSPOT: Main LakeGPS: N 32 16.5052 W 96 8.4602 (30.2751, -96.1410)SPECIES: Blue CatfishBEST BAITS: Fresh Shad or cut nongame fish.CONTACT: Jason Barber903-603-2047



http://www.fishfinderguideservice.com


http://www.fishdudetx.com


http://www.toledobendguide.com

http://www.palmettoguideservice.com


http://www.Rickysguideservice.com

[email protected]: This is the time to catch a lot of fish hang-ing near the surface in 10’ to 30’ of water. Try any of the free floating jug-line type rigs, homemade bottles or “noodles”. Set the lines 1’ to 5’ deep and throw them out in numbers and drift along with them to see the fish hook up then go get them.

LOCATION: GranburyHOTSPOT: Lower EndGPS: N 32 24.8040W 97 41.4120(32.4134, -97.6902)SPECIES: Striped bass, hybridsBEST BAITS: Live Shad and jigging slabs and/or rooster tails in silver, white and chartreuse. The longer narrower slabs produce more striper catches.CONTACT: Michael Acosta, Unfair Advantage Charters817-578-0023www.unfairadvantagecharters.comTIPS: Some schooling action may occur early

and late. Keep a Mepps Spinner, Rooster Tail or a Rattle Trap handy for some of this fast and furious action.

LOCATION: Lake PalestineHOTSPOT: 155 BridgeGPS: N 32 7.5960 W 95 29.1000 (30.1266, -95.4850)SPECIES: CrappieBEST BAITS: Mr. Twister and Mr. Minno jigs, white in colorCONTACT: Rickys Guide Service(903) 561-7299 or (903) 530-2201Ricky@Rickysguideservice.comwww.Rickysguideservice.comTIPS: Best fishing has been using jigs in 20 to 24 feet of water under the main 155 bridge and under the Flat Creek Bridge.

LOCATION: Lake PalestineHOTSPOT: 155 BridgeGPS: N 32 7.5960 W 95 29.1000 (33.1266, -95.4850)SPECIES: White BassBEST BAITS: Spoons and Tail KickersCONTACT: Rickys Guide Service(903) 561-7299 or (903) 530-2201Ricky@Rickysguideservice.comwww.Rickysguideservice.comTIPS: Best fishing has been in 15 feet on the edge of 25 to 30 feet of water along the main 155 bridge.

LOCATION: Lake FayetteHOTSPOT: Snake Island PointGPS: N 29 55.8757 W 96 43.3658 (32.9313, -96.7228)SPECIES: CatfishBEST BAITS: Punch bait, wormsCONTACT: Weldon Kirk979-229-3103weldon_edna@hotmail.comwww.FishTales-GuideService.com TIPS: Off this point is 20 foot water, close to deeper water, and timber on the bottom. Anchor here securely. Then chum around the boat close in. Lower sinker all the way to the bottom and raise sinker so it is just off the bottom, leaving the leader long enough so that the hook will be on bot-tom. Set the hook at the slightest movement of the rod or line. Rod tip might lift or line might move off to the side, if so, set the hook!

LOCATION: Ray RobertsHOTSPOT: South of Marina

GPS: N 33 56.2600W 97 55.6300(33.9377, -97.9272)SPECIES: Largemouth bassBEST BAITS: Topwaters, slabsCONTACT: Dannie Golden, Get Bit Guide Service817-228-5999www.get-bit.comTIPS:Schooling sand bass will be on the flats South of the Marina. I like a Clear Baby Torpedo from Heddon. When not on top, check your graph for fish hanging on the drop off’s of the flats in 20-25 feet of water. I like a 1oz chartreuse/white slab, bounced off the bottom to get those fish. Also, look for schooling action around Cates Point and the face of the dam, in August.

LOCATION: Ray RobertsHOTSPOT: Cates PointGPS: N 33 35.3700W 97 10.3100(33.5895, -97.1718)SPECIES: Largemouth bassBEST BAITS: Topwaters, Carolina rigsCONTACT: Dannie Golden, Get Bit Guide Service817-228-5999www.get-bit.comTIPS: August can be a tough time to get the largemouth bass to cooperate. However there are a few ways we do catch them at times. Cates Point is a great place to throw topwater’s early and drag Carolina rigged Gene Larew Hoodaddy Jr’s. Watch for some largemouth bass to be schooling this time of year as well. Main lake shallow grass will also be holding some fish. Look around the main lake coves and around Wolf Island. Pop-r worked over the top of the grass and flukes fished along the edges will work as well.

LOCATION: Lake SomervilleHOTSPOT: Little Crappie PointGPS: N 30 18.4976 W 96 31.7600 (29.3083, -96.5293)SPECIES: CrappieBEST BAITS: Minnows or Jigs in Pink/White and Chartreuse/BlackCONTACT: Weldon Kirk979-229-3103weldon_edna@hotmail.comwww.FishTales-GuideService.com TIPS: Summer crappie are schooled on brush piles and drop offs. Here there are lots of rocky banks with drop offs that hold fish as well as some submerged Christmas trees for brush piles. Locate


Texas Hotspots



http://www.kingscreekadventures.com

http://www.unfairadvantagecharters.com






http://www.FishTales-GuideService.com

http://www.get-bit.com

http://www.get-bit.com



either and you will find fish. Us small minnows under a small cork. A small cork gives least resis-tence when the fish bite. Do not be afraid to lift the cork at the lightest bite as sometimes you only get a thump and the fish is sitting there with hook in mouth.

LOCATION: Gibbons Creek ReservoirHOTSPOT: Intake ChannelGPS: N 30 37.0156 W 96 4.3294 (30.6169, -96.0722)SPECIES: CatfishBEST BAITS: Shad, Chicken Liver, Punch BaitCONTACT: Weldon Kirk979-229-3103weldon_edna@hotmail.comwww.FishTales-GuideService.com TIPS: There are trees in shallow water here that are close to deeper water. Look for fish to be around the trees early morning and late evening as they move from deeper water to feed. The slight current due to the intake brings food into the area for fish to feed on. Use a small Khale hook for shad or #6 treble for liver and punch bait. Using a cork here will help prevent hang ups on sub-merged timber. Using chum close to the boat and fishing straight down works good here.

LOCATION: Lake BeltonHOTSPOT: Main Lake CovesGPS: N 31 8.0880 W 97 28.5780 (31.1348, -97.4763)SPECIES: Largemouth BassBEST BAITS: Spinnerbaits, jigs, buzzbaits, or poppersCONTACT: Henry Niemiec254-268-0294surestrikeguideservice@yahoo.comwww.surestrikeguideservice.com TIPS: Both the air and water have warmed and summer activities on area lakes are in full swing. For this reason you’ll want to get an early start to your day of fishing. This time of the year you’ll find me on the water well before the sun comes up and off the water by about 10:00AM. At this time in the morning you’ll catch bass up in the shallows feeding. The bait of choice is a buzzbait or pop-per. Move yourself in the backs of coves and work these baits close to the shoreline or anything that is sticking out of the water. The key here is to cove as much water as you can. As the sun comes up these fish will move towards deeper water, stop-ping on the points leading into the cove you were just in. A spinnerbait works great here, however if you can’t get them to chase it, a jig will always work. Once the sun is up and activity on the water increases, take a break. Recharge the batteries and be ready it hit the water again in the evening. The fish will be doing the same thing, only in reverse order. Evening bass fishing can be some

of the best fishing of the year. Good Luck and see you on the water.

LOCATION: Lake TexomaHOTSPOT: Juniper Point East and the IslandsGPS: N 33 51.8920 W 96 44.5520 (33.8649, -96.7425)SPECIES: Striped Bass BEST BAITS: Top Water Lures and Sassy Shad jigsCONTACT: Bill [email protected]. striperexpress.comTIPS: The big fish move onto the flats in August. Early mornings cast Pencil Poppers and Chug Bugs on the shallow banks. Mid morning, change your lures to Sassy Shad soft plastics. Concentrate on the flats that run about 20 feet in depth. Locate the creek channel and drop offs, these are the routes the fish use to move up from deep water. Later in the month the seagulls arrive, pay close attention to the birds as they are the best fish finder. Bank Access: West Juniper Point and Mill Creek Flats

LOCATION: Granger LakeHOTSPOT: Stump fields at the mouth of the river and creeks.GPS: N 30 41.8560 W 97 22.1280 (30.6976, -97.3688)SPECIES: CrappieBEST BAITS: 1/16 oz. marabou jigsCONTACT: Tommy Tidwell (512) [email protected]: Now is the time to catch some really big crappie in standing timber. The larger fish are relating to this area. Find the spots with the clear-est water. Old fence lines are a good place to start but any of the timber can be good at any time. Use and 8 to 10 foot jig pole to have the best success. Work old fence rows or edge areas lowering the jig next to stumps trying different depths. Good luck and good fishing.

LOCATION: Lake WhitneyHOTSPOT: Old Hwy 22 Road BedGPS: N 31 54.8302 W 97 21.1006 (31.9138, -97.3517)SPECIES: Largemouth BassBEST BAITS: White buck tail jigs and white worm trailers and White jigs with chartreuse trailersCONTACT: Rickys Guide Service(903) 561-7299 or (903) 530-2201Ricky@Rickysguideservice.comwww.Rickysguideservice.comTIPS: Down-rigging and trolling is still the ticket

on Whitney during the summer months. This is a little later bite than normal with the best bites using down-rigging seem to be after 8:30am and lasting till mid afternoon. A great way to kick back and enjoy the scenery and catch a lot of fish plus it keeps the boat moving and creates a breeze on these dog days of summer. The key is to note on your graph where the thermocline is and set your baits just above it, Also target areas where the thermocline meets structure and pull white on white jigs and trailers or any combination of White and Chartreuse at 19 to 22’ in areas like along the roadbed at the State Park and around the mouth of Little Rocky creek.

LOCATION: Lake WhitneyHOTSPOT: Mouth of Little Rocky CreekGPS: N 31 52.0361 W 97 23.1695 (31.8673, -97.3862)SPECIES: Largemouth BassBEST BAITS: White buck tail jigs and white worm trailers and White jigs with chartreuse trailers CONTACT: Rickys Guide Service(903) 561-7299 or (903) 530-2201Ricky@Rickysguideservice.comwww.Rickysguideservice.comTIPS: Down-rigging and trolling is still the ticket on Whitney during the summer months.

LOCATION: Lake AquillaHOTSPOT: Triplet Point/AeratorGPS: N 31 55.5119 W 97 11.6494 (31.9252, -97.1942)SPECIES: White BassBEST BAITS: Tail Hummers and Rat-L-Traps.CONTACT: Rickys Guide Service(903) 561-7299 or (903) 530-2201Ricky@Rickysguideservice.comwww.Rickysguideservice.comTIPS: The Whites are chasing shad along triplet point early and late. Throwing tail hummers and Rat-L-Traps for quick limits. After the sun gets up good the aerator is a great place to take kids and let them wear out the Whites.

LOCATION: Richland ChambersHOTSPOT: Windsock PointGPS: N 31 34.3680 W 96 3.9858 (31.5728, -96.0664)SPECIES: White BassBEST BAITS: Clear Tiny Torpedos and Chrome/Blue 1/4 oz.Rat-L-TrapsCONTACT: Royce Simmons, Gone Fishin’ Guide Service903-389-4117www.gonefishin.bizTIPS: Early Morning and Late Afternoon are the best times to find acres of Schooling White Bass on Richland Chambers. Check out the South






http://www.surestrikeguideservice.com


http://www.striperexpress.com


http://www.gotcrappie.com







http://www.gonefishin.biz


Shoreline from Ferguson Point to Windsock Point. This action is at it’s peak in July and August and is AWESOME for kids and adults who think like kids!

LOCATION: Richland ChambersHOTSPOT: Hwy 287 Bridge ColumnsGPS: N 32 0.3971 W 96 12.3570 (32.0066, -96.2060)SPECIES: CrappieBEST BAITS: Small minnowsCONTACT: Royce Simmons, Gone Fishin’ Guide Service903-389-4117www.gonefishin.bizTIPS: Summertime Crappie fishing on Richland Chambers gets good in August. Fish are often found on the Hwy 287 Bridge Columns in 20’-30’ depths and can be caught on small minnows. The early morning low light conditions and night fishing are when most are caught, but often the midday bite during the hottest time of the day can yield some nice catches.

Henry Bass Go to Shad School

PANHANDLE

by DUSTIN WARNCKEand DEAN HEFFNER

LOCATION: Lake Alan HenryHOTSPOT: Main River and Major Creek Channels GPS: N 33 2.8253 W 101 3.7366

(32.0471, -101.0623)SPECIES: Largemouth BassBEST BAITS: Deep diving crankbait, dropshot fluke, or spoon.CONTACT: Norman Clayton’s Guide [email protected] www.lakealanhenry.com/norman_clayton.htm TIPS: In August, the key to finding a lot of bass will be in finding the schools of shad on your sonar. If you find the schools of shad, you will find bass. I start by cruising the Brazos River channel until I start seeing big balls of shad. I sometimes drop out a buoy to keep myself orientated to the school. Throw a deep diving crank bait, a drop shot fluke, or a spoon. Usually the schools of shad during August will be in the main river and major creek channels. Grape Creek, Little Grape Creek, and the Brazos River channels will be your main targets. The schools of shad will change location from day to day, but they will usually be in the same area.

LOCATION: Possum KingdomHOTSPOT: Dam StumpsGPS: N 32 51.2530W 98 25.8590(32.8542, -98.4310)SPECIES: Striped bass, hybridsBEST BAITS: live bait, topwatersCONTACT: Dean [email protected]: August is so hot we usually fish early and after dark in the deep waters of the dam to the stump patch with live bait or downriggers. Slow down and be careful., as the lake is down over 15 feet and stumps are everywhere. Call Brazos River Authority, 940-779-2321, to see what boat ramps are open. We fish just before daylight till about 11 a.m. and under any cloud cover. Then

in the evening I like to be on the spot as the sun sinks behind the hills with live bait at 24-36 feet in 50-plus feet of water. At the overflow side of the dam, get as close to the bouys as you can and at dark the big stripers come down that bank from the front of the dam to feed all night. This is a good place to hook the fish of a lifetime, so have your drag set light or you will lose or break a rod. We also hang some monster catfish doing this. Sit in the bends of the lake early morning and look for topwater action with a zara spook or rebel/pradco pop-R for sand bass and stripers or hybrids.

LOCATION: Hubbard CreekHOTSPOT: Dam AreaGPS: N 32 49.1170W 98 58.9030(32.8186, -98.9817)SPECIES: CatfishBEST BAITS: Shad, Black SaltysCONTACT: Jason and Lorie Rohloff, Brush [email protected]: Catfish are hiding in holes and like shad and saltys. Crappie and bass are good early morn-ing or late evening. Don’t give up on Hubbard creek just cause the lake is low. It is still producing great fish.

Box Tops for Amistad Bass

BIG BEND

by DUSTIN WARNCKE

LOCATION: AmistadHOTSPOT: Box CanyonGPS: N29 31.4325 W101 10.209 (29.523875, -101.17015)SPECIES: largemouth bassBEST BAITS: Texas-rigged plastic worms, Senkos, crawdad-colored medium-diving crank-baitsCONTACT: Larry [email protected]: Fish the backs of the pockets with crank-baits and plastic worms early and then move out to the points and edges of hydrilla beds from late-morning until mid-day. Return to the backs of

Texas Hotspots


http://www.gonefishin.biz


http://www.lakealanhenry.com/norman_clayton.htm





the coves during the late-evening hours for more active fish.

Talk Turkey for Stripers & Bass

HILL COUNTRY

by DUSTIN WARNCKE

LOCATION: Canyon LakeHOTSPOT: Turkey Creek PointGPS: N 29 51.7087 W 98 12.9492 (29.8618, -98.2158)SPECIES: Striped BassBEST BAITS: Hogie 4” Shad Salt Pepper Color CONTACT: Capt. Steve Nixon Fishhooks Adventures210-573-1230steve@sanantoniofishingguides.comwww.sanantoniofishingguides.comTIPS: Trolling this area with downriggers seems to produce the best catches. Set the downriggers from 20 to 40 feet deep and vary trolling speeds. Tight lines and Fish On!

LOCATION: Canyon LakeHOTSPOT: Turkey Creek GPS: N 29 53.5451 W 98 16.9893 (29.8924, -98.2832)SPECIES: Largemouth BassBEST BAITS: Drop Shot w/ motor oil worm, leader about a foot long, fluorocarbon Line, T-Rig w/ 1/8oz Tungston wt, with Reactions Innovations 6.75” Flirt worm in Pumpkin or California 420CONTACT: KC’S Bassin’ Guide [email protected]: KC Rodz makes the perfect Drop Shot rod. It’s their 6’6” Spinning Rod in medium weight. Add the “recoil rig” to your drop shot and hang on! Not many are familiar with this set up and it is certainly deadly effective. A must have in one’s arsenal for fishing Canyon Lake. Good colors for this time of year are your blue flecks, and June Bug, red bug and motor oil if the sun is high and bright and Green Pumpkin green if overcast.

LOCATION: Lake BuchananHOTSPOT: Main Lake Humps and RidgesGPS: N 30 45.2971 W 98 25.7260 (30.7550, -98.4288)SPECIES: Hybrids and StripersBEST BAITS: Live Shad, slab spoons, jigsCONTACT: Ken Miliam

(325) [email protected]: Hybrids and stripers are on humps and ridges on the lower end of the lake, especially down towards the dam. Live shad works best in any where to 18 to 36 ft of water. Slabs and jigs work well also.

LOCATION: Lake BuchananHOTSPOT: Main LakeGPS: N 30 45.2971 W 98 25.7260 (32.7550, -98.4288)SPECIES: CatfishBEST BAITS: Cut shad, cut carp, or live perchCONTACT: Ken Miliam(325) [email protected]: Catfish fishing reports are good along the slopes of the ridges in 20 to 28 feet of water.

LOCATION: Lake BuchananHOTSPOT: Main Lake Humps and Ridges GPS: N 30 45.2971 W 98 25.7260 (32.7550, -98.4288)SPECIES: White BassBEST BAITS: Slabs, jigs, and deep diving shad colored crankbaits.CONTACT: Ken Miliam(325) [email protected]: The best fishing reports are on the lower

end of the lake on top of the humps and ridges along the tree lines.

Falcon Bass Take Siesta

SOUTH TEXAS PLAINS

by DUSTIN WARNCKE

LOCATION: Falcon LakeHOTSPOT: Siesta Shores CovesGPS: N26 51.63138 W99 15.6111 (26.860523, -99.260185)SPECIES: largemouth bassBEST BAITS: Plunker-type topwater lures, 11-inch plastic worms, deep-diving crankbaitsCONTACT: Robert Amaya956-765-1442robertsfishntackle@gmail.comrobertsfishntackle.comTIPS: Use topwater lures early near the shoreline and then after mid-morning fish the outside edges of the submerged brush with Texas-rigged plastic worms and deep-diving crankbaits at 12 to 18 feet deep.



http://www.sanantoniofishingguides.com


http://www.kcbassinguide.com


http://www.striperfever.com.com






Sportsman’s Daybook


Tides and Prime Times AUGUST 2014

USING THE PRIME TIMES CALENDAR

SPORTSMAN’S DAYBOOK IS SPONSORED BY:

The following pages contain TIDE and SOLUNAR predictions for Galveston Chan-nel (29.3166° N, 94.88° W).TIDE PREDICTIONS are located in the upper white boxes on the Calendar Pages. Use the Correction Table below, which is keyed to 23 other tide stations, to adjust low and high tide times.

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY is shown in the lower color boxes of the Calendar pages. Use the SOLUNAR ADJUSTMENT SCALE below to adjust times for points East and West of Galveston Channel.

TIDE PREDICTIONS are shown in graph form, with High and Low tide predictions in text immediately below.

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY data is provided to indicate major and minor feeding periods for each day, as the daily phases of the moon have varying degrees of influence on many wildlife species.

AM & PM MINOR phases occur when the moon rises and sets. These phases last 1 to 2 hours.

AM & PM MAJOR phases occur when the moon reaches its highest point overhead as well as when it is “underfoot” or at its highest point on the exact opposite side of the earth from your positoin (or literally under your feet). Most days have two Major Feeding Phases, each lasting about 2 hours.

PEAK DAYS: The closer the moon is to your location, the stronger the influence. FULL or NEW MOONS provide the strongest influnce of the month.

PEAK TIMES: When a Solunar Period falls within 30 minutes to an hour of sunrise or sunset, anticipate increased action. A moon rise or moon set during one of these periods will cause even greater action. If a FULL or NEW MOON occurs during a Solunar Period, expect the best action of the season.

T1T2

T3T4

T5T6

T7

T8

T9T10

T11T12

T13

T14T15T16

T17

T18

T19

T20

T21

T22T23

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

TIDE CORRECTION TABLE

Add or subtract the time shown at the rightof the Tide Stations on this table (and map) to

determine the adjustment from the time shown for GALVESTON CHANNEL in the calendars.

KEY PLACE HIGH LOW Sabine Bank Lighthouse -1:46 -1:31 Sabine Pass Jetty -1:26 -1:31 Sabine Pass -1:00 -1:15 Mesquite Pt, Sab. Pass -0:04 -0:25 Galveston Bay, S. Jetty -0:39 -1:05 Port Bolivar +0:14 -0:06

KEY PLACE HIGH LOWGalveston Channel/Bays Texas City Turning Basin +0:33 +0:41 Eagle Point +3:54 +4:15 Clear Lake +6:05 +6:40 Morgans Point +10:21 +5:19 Round Pt, Trinity Bay +10:39 +5:15

KEY PLACE HIGH LOW Pt Barrow, Trinity Bay +5:48 +4:43 Gilchrist, East Bay +3:16 +4:18 Jamaica Beach, W. Bay +2:38 +3:31 Alligator Point, W. Bay +2:39 +2:33 Christmas Pt +2:32 +2:31 Galveston Pleasure Pier -1:06 -1:06

KEY PLACE HIGH LOW San Luis Pass -0.09 -0.09 Freeport Harbor -0:44 -1:02 Pass Cavallo 0:00 -1:20 Aransas Pass -0:03 -1:31 Padre Island (So. End) -0:24 -1:45 Port Isabel +1:02 -0:42

T1T2T3T4T5T6

T7T8T9T10T11

T12T13T14T15T16T17

T18T19T20T21T22T23

KEYS TO USING THE TIDE AND SOLUNAR GRAPHS

12a12a 6a 12p 6p

12a12a 6a 12p 6p

AM Minor: 1:20a

AM Major: 7:32a

PM Minor: 1:45p

PM Major: 7:57p

Moon Underfoot: 9:15p

Moon Overhead: 8:50aTime Moonis at its Highest Point in the Sky

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY:

Time Moon is DirectlyUnderfoot (atits peak on opposite sideof the earth)

AM/PM Timeline

MAJORFeedingPeriods(+/- 2 Hrs.)

MINORFeedingPeriods(+/- 1.5 Hrs.)

TIDE GRAPH:

BEST:5:30 — 7:30 AM

Yellow: Daylight

Light Blue:Nighttime

AM/PMTimeline

Blue:Rising Tide

Gold Fish:Best Time

Blue Fish:Good Time

Red Graph:Fishing Score

Green: Falling Tide

Tab: PeakFishing Period


NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

Fishing Score Graph

Day’s BestScore

2ndBest

= Peak FishingPeriod

BEST:7:45-9:40 AM

= FALLING TIDE= RISING TIDE= DAYLIGHT HOURS= NIGHTTIME HOURS Tides and Prime Times for AUGUST 2014

28 «

High Tide: 7:02 AM 1.28ft.Low Tide: 12:07 PM 0.94ft.High Tide: 4:50 PM 1.13ft.Low Tide: 11:51 PM 0.08ft.

29 «

High Tide: 7:24 AM 1.26ft.Low Tide: 12:41 PM 0.85ft.High Tide: 5:42 PM 1.07ft.

30

Low Tide: 12:18 AM 0.22ft.High Tide: 7:46 AM 1.24ft.Low Tide: 1:19 PM 0.76ft.High Tide: 6:41 PM 1.01ft.

31


Aug 1


2


3 »

Low Tide: 2:14 AM 0.90ft.High Tide: 8:35 AM 1.21ft.Low Tide: 4:30 PM 0.26ft.

AM Minor: 6:52a

AM Major: 12:41a

PM Minor: 7:13p

PM Major: 1:02p

AM Minor: 7:39a

AM Major: 1:28a

PM Minor: 8:00p

PM Major: 1:49p

AM Minor: 8:26a

AM Major: 2:15a

PM Minor: 8:47p

PM Major: 2:36p

AM Minor: 9:14a

AM Major: 3:03a

PM Minor: 9:35p

PM Major: 3:24p

AM Minor: 10:02a

AM Major: 3:51a

PM Minor: 10:24p

PM Major: 4:13p

AM Minor: 10:50a

AM Major: 4:39a

PM Minor: 11:13p

PM Major: 5:02p

AM Minor: 11:39a

AM Major: 5:27a

PM Minor: -----

PM Major: 5:52p

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

feet feet

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

SO

LU

NA

R A

CT

IVIT

YS

OL

UN

AR

AC

TIV

ITY

Sunrise: 6:40a Set: 8:09pMoonrise: 1:25p Set: 12:03a

Sunrise: 6:39a Set: 8:10pMoonrise: 12:29p Set: None

Sunrise: 6:38a Set: 8:11pMoonrise: 11:35a Set: 11:26p





TI

DE

L

EV

EL

ST

ID

E

LE

VE

LS

12a 12a6a 12p 6p 12a6a 12p 6p 12a6a 12p 6p 12a6a 12p 6p 12a6a 12p 6p 6a 12p 6p 12a 12a6a 12p 6p

l= New Moon

º = First Quarterl = Full Moon » = Last Quarter« = Good Dayn = Best Day

SYMBOL KEY

Moon Underfoot: 2:19a Moon Underfoot: 3:02a Moon Underfoot: 6:42aMoon Underfoot: 5:10aMoon Underfoot: 4:27a Moon Underfoot: 5:55aMoon Underfoot: 3:45aBEST:

10:30A — 12:30PBEST:

11:30A — 1:30PBEST:

12:00 — 2:00 PMBEST:

9:30 — 11:30 AMBEST:3:00 — 4:00

BEST:2:00 — 4:00 PM

BEST:1:30 — 3:30 PM

Moon Overhead: 3:24p Moon Overhead: 4:06p Moon Overhead: 4:49p Moon Overhead: 5:32p Moon Overhead: 6:18p Moon Overhead: 7:06pMoon Overhead: 2:41p


Sportsman’s DaybookNOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

Fishing Score Graph

Day’s BestScore

2ndBest


BEST:7:45-9:40 AM

= FALLING TIDE= RISING TIDE= DAYLIGHT HOURS= NIGHTTIME HOURS

4

High Tide: 1:06 AM 1.09ft.Low Tide: 2:52 AM 1.07ft.High Tide: 8:30 AM 1.26ft.Low Tide: 5:27 PM 0.09ft.

5

High Tide: 2:40 AM 1.23ft.Low Tide: 4:01 AM 1.23ft.High Tide: 8:36 AM 1.31ft.Low Tide: 6:24 PM -0.07ft.

6


7


8

High Tide: 4:36 AM 1.51ft.Low Tide: 9:01 AM 1.31ft.High Tide: 12:51 PM 1.40ft.Low Tide: 9:05 PM -0.40ft.

9 «


10 «


AM Minor: 12:05a

AM Major: 6:17a

PM Minor: 12:29p

PM Major: 6:42p

AM Minor: 12:53a

AM Major: 7:06a

PM Minor: 1:20p

PM Major: 7:34p

AM Minor: 1:43a

AM Major: 7:57a

PM Minor: 2:12p

PM Major: 8:26p

AM Minor: 2:34a

AM Major: 8:49a

PM Minor: 3:04p

PM Major: 9:19p

AM Minor: 3:27a

AM Major: 9:42a

PM Minor: 3:57p

PM Major: 10:12p

AM Minor: 4:22a

AM Major: 10:37a

PM Minor: 4:52p

PM Major: 11:07p

AM Minor: 5:19a

AM Major: 11:33a

PM Minor: 5:48p

PM Major: -----

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

feet feet

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

BEST:5:00 — 7:00 PM

BEST:6:00 — 8:00 PM

BEST:6:30 — 8:30 PM

BEST:4:00 — 6:00 PM

BEST:3:00 — 5:00 PM

BEST:2:00 — 4:00 PM

BEST:1:00 — 3:00 PM

Tides and Prime Times for AUGUST 2014MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

TI

DE

L

EV

EL

ST

ID

E

LE

VE

LS


SO

LU

NA

R A

CT

IVIT

YS

OL

UN

AR

AC

TIV

ITY








l= New Moon


SYMBOL KEY

Moon Overhead: 8:52pMoon Overhead: 7:58p Moon Overhead: 9:50p Moon Overhead: 10:49p Moon Overhead: 11:49p

Moon Underfoot: 8:25a Moon Underfoot: 9:21a Moon Underfoot: 11:19a Moon Underfoot: 12:19p Moon Underfoot: 1:18pMoon Underfoot: 10:19aMoon Underfoot: 7:32a

Moon Overhead: None Moon Overhead: 12:49a




Fishing Score Graph

Day’s BestScore

2ndBest


BEST:7:45-9:40 AM



11 ¡


12 «


13 «


14


15


16

Low Tide: 2:44 AM 0.98ft.High Tide: 8:28 AM 1.29ft.Low Tide: 4:08 PM 0.07ft.

17

High Tide: 12:12 AM 1.24ft.Low Tide: 3:57 AM 1.17ft.High Tide: 8:56 AM 1.29ft.Low Tide: 5:18 PM 0.01ft.

AM Minor: 6:17a

AM Major: 12:03a

PM Minor: 6:46p

PM Major: 12:31p

AM Minor: 7:17a

AM Major: 1:03a

PM Minor: 7:45p

PM Major: 1:31p

AM Minor: 8:18a

AM Major: 2:04a

PM Minor: 8:45p

PM Major: 2:31p

AM Minor: 9:18a

AM Major: 3:04a

PM Minor: 9:44p

PM Major: 3:31p

AM Minor: 10:16a

AM Major: 4:03a

PM Minor: 10:42p

PM Major: 4:29p

AM Minor: 11:12a

AM Major: 4:59a

PM Minor: 11:38p

PM Major: 5:25p

AM Minor: -----

AM Major: 5:52a

PM Minor: 12:05p

PM Major: 6:18p

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

feet feet

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

BEST:4:00 — 6:00 AM

BEST:5:00 — 7:00 AM

BEST:6:00 — 8:00 AM

BEST:3:30 — 5:30 AM

BEST:2:30 — 4:30 AM

BEST:1:30 — 3:30 AM

BEST:1:00 — 3:00 AM


SO

LU

NA

R A

CT

IVIT

YS

OL

UN

AR

AC

TIV

ITY


Sunrise: 6:47a Set: 7:58pMoonrise: None Set: 1:02p

Sunrise: 6:47a Set: 7:59pMoonrise: 11:34p Set: 12:02p





TI

DE

L

EV

EL

ST

ID

E

LE

VE

LS


Moon Underfoot: 2:15p Moon Underfoot: 3:11p Moon Underfoot: 4:05p

Moon Overhead: 4:31a Moon Overhead: 5:24a Moon Overhead: 6:16a


Moon Overhead: 7:07aMoon Overhead: 3:38a


Moon Overhead: 1:47a

Moon Underfoot: 5:50pMoon Underfoot: 4:58p

Moon Overhead: 2:43a


Tides and Prime Times for AUGUST 2014

18 »


19


20


21

High Tide: 4:37 AM 1.44ft.Low Tide: 10:02 AM 1.25ft.High Tide: 12:47 PM 1.30ft.Low Tide: 8:57 PM 0.02ft.

22


23


24 «


AM Minor: 12:29a

AM Major: 6:42a

PM Minor: 12:54p

PM Major: 7:07p

AM Minor: 1:16a

AM Major: 7:29a

PM Minor: 1:41p

PM Major: 7:53p

AM Minor: 2:01a

AM Major: 8:13a

PM Minor: 2:25p

PM Major: 8:37p

AM Minor: 2:44a

AM Major: 8:56a

PM Minor: 3:07p

PM Major: 9:19p

AM Minor: 3:26a

AM Major: 9:37a

PM Minor: 3:49p

PM Major: 10:00p

AM Minor: 4:07a

AM Major: 10:18a

PM Minor: 4:29p

PM Major: 10:41p

AM Minor: 4:49a

AM Major: 11:00a

PM Minor: 5:11p

PM Major: 11:22p

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

feet feet

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

BEST:12:00 — 2:00 AM

BEST:11:00 A — 1:00 P

BEST:12:00 — 2:00 PM

BEST:12:00 — 2:00 AM

BEST:3:00 — 5:00 PM

BEST:9:30 — 11:30 PM

BEST:9:00 — 11:00 PM

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

SO

LU

NA

R A

CT

IVIT

YS

OL

UN

AR

AC

TIV

ITY








TI

DE

L

EV

EL

ST

ID

E

LE

VE

LS


l= New Moon


SYMBOL KEY

Moon Underfoot: 8:23p Moon Underfoot: 9:12p

Moon Overhead: 8:48a Moon Overhead: 9:36a Moon Overhead: 10:24a Moon Overhead: 11:10a Moon Overhead: 11:55a Moon Overhead: 12:39pMoon Overhead: 7:58a

Moon Underfoot: 12:18aMoon Underfoot: 11:33pMoon Underfoot: 10:47p Moon Underfoot: NoneMoon Underfoot: 10:00p



Fishing Score Graph

Day’s BestScore

GoodScore


BEST:7:45-9:40 AM


25 l


26 «


27 «


28 «


29


30


31


AM Minor: 5:31a

AM Major: 11:42a

PM Minor: 5:53p

PM Major: 12:03p

AM Minor: 6:15a

AM Major: 12:04a

PM Minor: 6:36p

PM Major: 12:26p

AM Minor: 7:00a

AM Major: 12:50a

PM Minor: 7:22p

PM Major: 1:11p

AM Minor: 7:48a

AM Major: 1:37a

PM Minor: 8:10p

PM Major: 1:59p

AM Minor: 8:37a

AM Major: 2:26a

PM Minor: 9:00p

PM Major: 2:48p

AM Minor: 9:28a

AM Major: 3:16a

PM Minor: 9:52p

PM Major: 3:40p

AM Minor: 10:21a

AM Major: 4:08a

PM Minor: 10:45p

PM Major: 4:33p

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

feet feet

+2.0

+1.0

0

-1.0

BEST:9:00 — 11:00 AM

BEST:10:00A — 12:00 P

BEST:11:00A — 1;00P

BEST:2:30 — 4:30 PM

BEST:1:30 — 3:30 PM

BEST:1:00 — 3:00 PM

BEST:12:30 — 2:30 PM


SO

LU

NA

R A

CT

IVIT

YS

OL

UN

AR

AC

TIV

ITY

Sunrise: 6:55a Set: 7:43pMoonrise: 12:15p Set: 11:27p







TI

DE

L

EV

EL

ST

ID

E

LE

VE

LS


l= New Moon


SYMBOL KEY

Moon Overhead: 2:05p Moon Overhead: 3:32p Moon Overhead: 4:16p Moon Overhead: 5:03p Moon Overhead: 5:52pMoon Overhead: 2:48pMoon Overhead: 1:23p

Moon Underfoot: 1:01a Moon Underfoot: 1:44a Moon Underfoot: 2:27a Moon Underfoot: 5:27aMoon Underfoot: 4:40aMoon Underfoot: 3:54aMoon Underfoot: 3:10a


Active Tuning Solutions 84

Black Hills Ammunition 87

CORBON/Glaser 88

CZ-USA 85

DeSantis Holsters 89

KT Coolers 91

Lansky Sharpeners 91

Texas Mobile Shrink Wrap 90

Trulock Chokes 84

Wiley X Eyewear 86


ALMANAC Coastal.indd 83 7/11/14 11:22 AM


THE GREAT STATE OF

Texas is home to a stun-

ning array of game animals.

Not even taking into

account the nearly three

million feral hogs and hundreds of thou-

sands of exotics representing some 40 plus

species, Texas is tops in terms of game ani-

mal hunting access. With 97 percent of the

land privately owned, the bulk of manage-

ment has been in the hands of landowners,

leaseholders and under advisement of our

very capable Texas Parks and Wild-

life Department.

The results have been extremely

productive hunting for abundant and in

some cases very unique creatures.

Whitetail DeerWE MIGHT AS WELL START WITH

the obvious. Whitetails are the

heart and soul of the Texas hunting

experience with nearly four million

of the prolific creatures spanning most of

the state. Deer season starts in September

and runs through January in certain parts of

the state. Whitetails are big business and in

Texas they grow big-at least when it comes

to antlers. Top areas for mega bucks are

South Texas, the Piney Woods of East

Texas and the Panhandle.

Mule DeerALTHOUGH RARELY SPOKEN OF,

Texas has a decent mule deer population.

In fact around 200,000 reside within our

borders in the Trans Pecos and Panhan-

dle. According to Dale Rollins with Texas

Agrilife, during the 1950s and 1960s,

mule deer were transplanted into the Palo

The Game Animals of Texas

Special Hunting Section

byChesterMoore



Duro Canyon and surrounding areas of

the “caprock” and have since become well

established.

“In the Panhandle, mule deer are found

in disjunct populations along the rolling

hills and canyons associated with tributaries

of the Brazos, Canadian and Red Rivers

and along the caprock escarpment.”

“Mule deer are an important resource

because the demand for hunting is high and

the income generated from hunting leases

has been an important component of ranch

income for most ranchers in the Trans-

Pecos region. Their economic value has

prompted many ranchers to become more

aware of the management needs for mule

deer.”

Demand for hunting access is high so Texas Mule Deer



muley hunting can be expensive, however a

big Texas buck is a highly prized trophy.

JavelinaJAVELINA ARE MEMBERS OF THE

peccary family according to the Texas

Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD).

There are actually three species of pec-

caries that range from the Southwestern

United States south to central South

America. The only species found in the

United States is the collared peccary, or

javelina. In Texas, the javelina is found in

the more arid or semi-arid parts of the state,

with most occurring in the South Texas

brush country, the Trans-Pecos’ desert

grasslands, and the Edwards Plateau’s oak-

juniper woodlands.

“Javelina travel in small herds or “fam-

ily groups” and seem to have a somewhat

limited home range. In the winter, they are

Javelina


generally active in the early morning and

late afternoon. Javelina are largely nocturnal

during the hotter times of the year. They

feed primarily on cacti (particularly prickly

pear), mesquite beans, lechuguilla, sotol,

mast, fruits, and insects.”

Wild TurkeyTEXAS HAS AN ENORMOUS POPU-

lation of Rio Grande turkeys as well as a

now growing population of eastern turkeys

in the Piney Woods, thanks to renewed

stocking efforts.

According to TPWD, turkeys in Texas

are a very large, small-headed, round-

winged, long-tailed, ground-dwelling bird,

with an unfeathered bluish head and red-

dish throat, dark breast, belly and upper

back iridescent bronze, green wings, barred

primaries, and a dark, fan-shaped tail with

a brown or buff band at the tip.

“The adult male has a large head with

wattle at throat, caruncled forehead, and

projection behind the bill and more irides-


Wild turkey stocking release.



cent plumage. Clutch Size ranges from 8 to

15 eggs, length of incubation ranges from

27 to 28 days, number of days to fledge

ranges from 6 to 10, and average number

of broods is 1, unless the nest is destroyed.”

Texans are blessed to have a fall and

spring turkey season in most of the state.

Desert BighornALTHOUGH FEW HUNTERS GET

to pursue them, the desert bighorn is

a huntable species in the state. Once

eradicated in its native range of the Trans

Pecos, they are now restored to a high

enough number to allow draw-only hunts

and are continually being stocked and

monitored.

The return of the bighorn is in large

part due to TPWD’s efforts combined with

that of the Texas Bighorn Society.

DoveTEXAS HAS THE BEST DOVE

hunting in the country with enormous pop-

ulations of mourning and whitewings.

Dove hunting is as much a social event

as a sporting one with thousands gather

for dove hunts/barbecues and get together.


Texas dove hunting is the best in the country.

Desert bighorn have been restored in enough numbers to allow limited hunting.


They are pursued statewide but the areas

south of San Antonio are typically the most

popular dove hunting locales as well as the

most productive.

WaterfowlTEXAS IS A CRUCIAL LINK IN THE

Central Flyway for ducks and geese and the

pursuit of these birds is big business. More

than 100,000 waterfowlers take to the field

in Texas annually.

Much of the hunting is centered on the

coast where a combination of rice agricul-

ture and seagrass beds bring in hundreds

of thousands of birds. The rice habitat has

been on the decline causing some issues for

hunters however other regions of the state

have taken up the slack. The Panhandle

offers fine waterfowl action as do the creek

and river bottoms and reservoirs of East

Texas.

Sandhill CranesSANDHILLS ARE ONE OF THE

most unique game animals found in the

state. Migrating from Canada, they are

called the “sirloin of the sky” for their fine


Wood duck

Sandhill crane



breast meat but are a vastly under utilized

resource.

A Federal Sandhill Crane Hunt-

ing Permit is required to hunt Sandhill

Cranes, in addition to a valid Texas hunt-

ing license, Texas Migratory Game Bird

Stamp Endorsement, and HIP Certifica-

tion. The Federal Sandhill Crane Hunting

Permit can be obtained in person only at

TPWD Law Enforcement offices and

TPWD headquarters in Austin, but also

is available by phone at (800) 792-1112

(Option 7, menu 7) or 512-389-4820, 8

a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday though Friday or

through Online Sales.

For phone and online orders, a con-

firmation number will be issued in lieu

of a permit. A $5 administrative fee will

be charged for online orders. Permittees

should keep a record of hunting activities

because 26 percent of crane hunters are

chosen for a federal harvest survey.

PronghornVERY FEW HUNTERS ARE AWARE

Texas has a small but huntable population

of pronghorn antelope.

According to TPWD, pronghorn ante-

lope occupy approximately 14 million acres

in the Trans-Pecos, High Plans, Rolling

Plains, and Edwards Plateau Ecological

Regions with about 70 percent occurring in

the Trans-Pecos region. Population levels

in the Trans-Pecos from 1978 to 2000

have changed significantly from a high of

17,000 animals in the mid-to-late 1980s to

a low of 5,200 animals in year 2000.

“Because antelope live in sensitive habi-

tats, TPWD regulates harvest through hunt

permits to provide maximum sustained yield

without deleterious effects on the resource.

Issuance of antelope hunt permits has par-

alleled the population decline through time,

and it is the reduction of these hunt permits

that have caught the attention of the hunt-

ing public.”

Look for more on pronghorns in coming

editions of Texas Fish & Game.

PHOTOS: TPWD, USFW, BIGSTOCK, CANSTOCK


Pronghorn antelope


Grilled Leg of Lamb

THIS IS AN AWESOME RECIPE THAT IS great at any time of the year. The jalapeno kiwi jelly dipping sauce is a perfect complement to the delicate

but earthy flavor of the lamb.

Ingredients• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for grilling • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar • 4 garlic cloves, chopped • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves • 1 lemon, juiced • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • 1 (3 1/2-pound) boneless leg of lamb, butterflied but not tied • 1/4 cup sliced green onions• 1 jar Texas Gourmet’s Jalapeno Kiwi Jelly• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish• 1 tablespoon sugar

To make the vinaigrette:To a blender, add: the oil, vinegar,

garlic, oregano, thyme, lemon juice, green onions and Dijon mustard, season with salt and pepper, to taste. Blend until thoroughly combined. Pat the lamb dry and put it on a shallow platter. Season all over with sugar, salt and pepper, then pour the vinaigrette over the lamb, turning the meat to get it well coated. Marinate in the refrigerator for two hours. Remove the marinated meat from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before grilling. Transfer to a cutting board, roll the roast together and tie with food grade twine.

Heat the grill (or large cast iron skillet) and oil it lightly. Remove the lamb from the marinade, pour the marinade into a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Add two tablespoons of the Jalapeno Kiwi Jelly to the boiling marinade with the herbs and reduce

by ½ volume. Grill the lamb indirectly at 350 degrees for about 12 to 15 minutes per side basting with the marinade and jelly mixture every 5 to 6 minutes. Insert your thermometer, should be at 150 degrees for med. rare. (Adjust the time accordingly for other degrees of doneness.) Transfer to a warm platter, cover loosely with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

Stir the remaining jalapeno kiwi jelly in the jar, then remove and place in a bowl. Add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and the prepared horseradish. Serve this at the table as a dipping sauce for the lamb.

Email Bryan Slaven,“The Texas Gourmet,” at

[email protected]

Home Grown Blackberry PieIngredients:

6 cups of fresh blackberries- pick only the ripe ones and rinse well in cold water in a colander

1 cup of sugar3 tablespoons of corn starch2 teaspoons of lemon juice½ teaspoon of lemon zest2 disks of refrigerated pie dough2 tablespoons of unsalted butter1 large egg- beaten and mixed with 1 table-

spoon of cold water

Preparation:Mix sugar and cornstarch together in a large

bowl, add the lemon zest and lemon juice and berries and stir crushing several berries as you mix the ingredients together to release some berry juice.

Grease a glass pie pan with the unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degreesPlace a pie dough into the tray draping over

the sides slightly Pour in the pie fillingLay the other pie half on a cutting board, dry

and slice into ¾” slices, then lay them on top of the pie approx... ¾” apart and braid with slices coming back across the other way.

Seal the edge of the pie with a fork gently pressing the tines through both layers to seal

Brush the top with the egg wash mixtureSprinkle the top with 2 teaspoons of cin-

namon sugarPlace in the oven on the center shelf and

bake for 45 to 60 minutes. If the edges start browning too quickly cover with foil

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for approx. 11/2 to 2 hours or more before slicing

Have a big ole slice with a scoop of Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell Ice Cream.

—Brandon Slaven

by Bryan Slaven | The Texas Gourmet

Texas Tasted


Grilled boneless leg of lamb

PHO

TO: B

RYA

N S

LAVE

N



C O A S T A L A L M A N A C T E X A S F I S H & G A M E ® A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | 9 3

LAKE AMISTAD

DFW METROPLEX

TEXAS FRESHWATER

SABINE LAKE SOUTH TEXAS

ROCKPORT / BAFFIN BAY

TEXAS SALTWATER HUNTING

WWW.FISHGAME.COM

Courtesy:RedfishCharters

Over 2500 Fishing Spots (with GPS) on 50 Texas

Fresh and Saltwater Destinations

ORDER NOWwww.FishandGameGear.com

2014 EDITION

OUTDOOR SHOPPER

HUNTING & FISHING GEAR

LAKE TEXOMA


tfgmac2leopard

Typewritten Text

tfgmac2leopard

Typewritten Text

http://www.FishandGameGear.com


No guaran-tee can be made as to when, or if, a submitted photo will be published.

SPECKLED TROUT

Galveston BayJason Moore of San Leon caught this speck-led trout in Galveston Bay on May 31, 2014. It weighed 8.9 pounds and was in the second runner up standings on the CCA leader board.

REDFISH

GalvestonCade Whitson 14, from Rock-wall landed this redfish at Galveston State Park.

BASS

Eagle MountainDamian Porter of Austin caught this 10-pound, 2-ounce bass—his biggest to-date—while fish-ing at Eagle Mountain Lake.

DUCKS

ArgentinaBrian Sanford of Pasadena put the smack down on the ducks in Argentina.

MAIL TO: TFG PHOTOS1745 Greens Rd, Houston TX 77032NOTE: Print photos can not be returned.

EMAIL: [email protected] best results, send MED to HIGH quality JPEG digital files only, please.

WHITETAIL

Hays CountyAlexis Aguilar took her first buck while hunting with her father on their ranch in Hays County.

SPECKLEDTROUT

HolidayBeach

Jacob Willie caught his first big trout off the family dock at Holiday Beach, using live shrimp. The fish measured 24.5 inches.




REDFISH

Cold PassDaniel Kaiser, Age 15, with a 27 ½-inch redfish caught while kayak fishing with his Dad at Cold Pass.

REDFISH

FreeportEthan Hust, age 10, caught his first and sec-ond redfish within 20 min of one another while fishing in Freeport off Old Levee Road.

FLOUNDER

AnahuacChris Turner of Anahuac with a four-pound ,

21-inch flounder he caught at Fort Anahuac Park.

REDFISH

WinnieClint Pace caught this redfish from a bayou on his duck camp in Winnie, using cast-netted mud minnows.

RED SNAPPER

FreeportRick Bauer, Carl Potter, John Anselmo, and Captain Leaf Potter with a 34-inch, 18-pound red snapper caught out of Freeport.

BASS

Alan HenryColson Dyess, age 5, caught his very first bass. It weighed 4 pounds. Colson was using a live minnow at Lake Alan Henry while fishing with his Papa, dad and three-year-old brother Caden.



C3_ALL.indd 3 7/9/14 11:57 AM

C4_ALL.indd 4 7/9/14 11:58 AM

Documents

Texas Fish & Game Aug 2014