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March 25, 2011 Texas’ Premier Outdoor Newspaper Volume 7, Issue 15

Fund raisingFund-raiser reaches new heights.

Page 4

Inside

❘❚ LSONews.com

Austin angler catches giants, records.Page 8

Carp master❘❚ FISHING

Deer management strategies debated. Page 4

QDM critics

Social network helping authorities track poachers.

Page 6

Facebook gator

❘❚ HUNTING

Typical turkey opener

Super Moon moves tides

❘❚ CONTENTSClassifi eds . . . . . . . . . Page 21Crossword . . . . . . . . . Page 18Fishing Report . . . . . . . Page 10For the Table. . . . . . . . Page 18Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12Heroes. . . . . . . . . . . Page 19Outdoor Datebook . . . . . Page 20Outfi tters and Businesses . . Page 20Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 17Sun, Moon and Tide data . . Page 18

Mystery cure: Soft drinks used to clot bass blood

By Bill MillerLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

It was a nice bass, pulled from a private lake in Bosque County, but it was bleeding.

“I hooked it in the tongue a little bit,” said the angler, Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich. “When you do that, it can bleed pretty bad.

“And it can die pretty quickly.”

That’s a major con-cern for people who are serious about catch-and-release.

But VanDam, a Bassmaster Elite Series angler, can lose points if there is a dead fi sh in the livewell. And that means lost tourna-ment earnings.

Saving a fi sh, however, might be as easy as popping the top on a Coke can.

VanDam, recalling the Bosque County incident last summer, said he gently poured a few drops of Coca-Cola into the mouth of the bass.

“It clots it, basically,” VanDam said. “I haven’t used it a lot, to be honest with you. But I heard it from a friend of mine, and he swears by it.”

VanDam placed the fi sh in his livewell to

FIRST AID: Pro angler Jonathon VanDam pours a little Coca-Cola into the mouth of bass that was bleeding from the hook. VanDam is not sure why, but a few drops of a soft drink can stop the bleeding. Photo by David J. Sams, LSON.

See MYSTERY CURE, Page 14

RISING TIDES: The perigee moon rises above Espiritu Santo Bay March 20 as an angler admires a redfi sh. Photo by Scott Sommerlatte, for LSON.

By Conor HarrisonLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Sitting on a pier in Aransas Pass on March 20, several retirees with cam-eras waited poised and ready to snap a picture.

But it wasn’t to take pic-tures of the small redfi sh several anglers were catch-ing off the dock. It was for the “perigee moon” — the biggest full moon in nearly 20 years — that sprung from the horizon about 8 p.m.

The last full moon that was so big and so close to earth occurred in March 1993. This perigee moon appeared 14 percent big-ger and 30 percent brighter than other full moons.

Guides in the Rockport

area noticed the high tide Saturday night was up more than 2 feet over nor-mal tides.

Robin Riechers, coastal fi sheries director for Texas Parks and Wildlife, said his department hadn’t heard

about any abnormalities in the tide or fi sheries because of the large moon.

“We haven’t heard much of anything out of the ordi-nary,” he said. “We did see

Gobblers henned up; windy conditions

make calling toughBy Conor HarrisonLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Windy conditions prevailed across much of South Texas for the opening of spring turkey season, making calling conditions tough.

Although hard to hear, the toms were gob-bling and plenty of strutting action was observed.

HENNED UP: Big toms like these two were busy with hens during the opening weekend of turkey hunt-ing in South Texas. Photo by David J. Sams, LSON.

See TURKEY OPENER, Page 14

See SUPER MOON, Page 14

Most Texans know them as hybrid stripers.Page 8

Palmetto bass

Big bass from around the state.Page 21

Big bass bites

Page 2 March 25, 2011 Lone✯Star Outdoor News LSONews.com



HUNTING

By Craig NyhusLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

The purchase of a $90,000 Beretta shotgun at a fund-raiser may come as a shock to some, given what is in print nearly each day about the economy.

But at several Texas fund-raisers in the outdoor commu-nity, it’s not that surprising.

The Beretta SO 10 20-gauge over and under with engraving by the renowned Fracesca Franzini, provided by the Beretta Gallery in Dallas, fetched $72,500 at the Park Cities Quail banquet on March 10. That, along with a quail hunt for six with T. Boone

Pickens that brought a six-fi gure price tag, highlighted the record-breaking event.

The Dallas Safari Club again set records at its convention in January, and several chap-ters of other conservation groups set new standards.

But not all record-breaking events were high-end or in the big cities.

Ducks Unlimited’s top Texas chapter was in Mexia, population 6,500, where more than 600 people show up annually to support the wetlands conservation group. Cleveland’s Big Thicket chapter, population 7,500, fi nished 3rd in the state and 16th in the nation.

So what sets these Texas groups apart?

“For us, it’s the quality of what we do,” said Stephen Hill, banquet chair of Park Cities Quail, “and the exposure that we receive. That and we spend a lot of time in preparation for the event.”

Some of the events become can’t-miss social opportunities, and the fund-raising records follow.

In Mexia, this year’s fund-raiser was their best ever, and that’s saying something.

“We were No. 1 in Texas in 2009, but I think Houston beat us last year,” said area Chairman Ivan Jackson, Jr.


There’s nothing absolute about the old saying, “You can’t argue with success,” just ask members of the Quality Deer Management Association.

Two national sporting magazines — Field & Stream and Petersen’s Hunting — recently published articles that questioned if the concept of Quality Deer Management is being overemphasized in the U.S.

QDM recommends letting bucks reach maturity before hunting them. It also calls for harvesting an appropriate number of does and making habitat improvements.

“These days, deer herds have better sex ratios and better age structures in bucks,” said Kip Adams, the association’s director of outreach and education.

He said that while QDM does not empha-size developing trophy deer, trophies can result from a properly aged herd, with bucks ages 3 through 5 and even older.

QDMA’s founder, South Carolina biolo-gist Joe Hamilton, was recently named the 2011 Budweiser Conservationist of the Year.

The man Hamilton credits for inspiring the group, fellow biologist Al Brothers of Berclair, Texas, was nominated for the same award in 2008.

The benefi ts of QDM were brought out in a sidebar article for the cover story “Deer Crazy” in Field & Stream’s February 2011 edition.

The writer, Dave Hurteau, added that QDM “has empowered individual hunters to engage in wildlife management and land stewardship on an unprecedented scale.”

But Hurteau, taking an objective look, also offered “The Bad” of QDM. He wrote that, “many so-called QDM programs cross the line into trophy deer manage-ment, which severely reduces the number of deer available to harvest and virtually always restricts hunter access.”

Mike Schoby, editor of Petersen’s Hunting, also criticized trophy develop-ment in his April 2011 letter from the editor. Its headline: “Is QDM ruining hunting?”

QDM, he wrote, “is a simple concept and one I believe works … but have we taken it too far?”

Schoby offered examples of hunts last season where the management restric-tions made him and other hunters con-fused about which bucks they were allowed to shoot.

“I will continue to hold out for bigger, older deer,” he added, “but it is because I want to, not because some farm biologist tells me I have to.”

Later in his blog, Schoby wrote that the magazine was “fl ooded with letters” on the topic and “99 percent of them” agreed with the article.

Others praised him for countering “our current whitetail trophy culture.”

But Adams said QDM is frequently con-fused with trophy management.

Concepts of deer management debated

Many events seem to be economy proof; still raising dollars

Texas fund-raisers set high marks

WHAT'S THE AIM?: Some are claiming the line between QDM and managing for trophy bucks is

becoming blurred. Photo by LSON.

See QUALITY DEER, Page 6

See RAISE MONEY, Page 15


Rios rule in Texas when it comes to turkey hunting.But for the enterprising hunter who wants a different

challenge, the Davis Mountains in West Texas holds a pop-ulation of Merriam’s turkeys.

However, several challenges await the hunter who attempts to tackle these birds in Texas.

One is obtaining permission to hunt in the Davis Mountains, which is almost entirely made up of private ranches. The second is fi nding a pure Merriam’s gobbler.

Merriam’s are striking birds with white feathers outlining the fan on gobblers. They live in mountainous habitat at higher elevations than most turkeys, although their moun-tain habitat is being invaded by Rio Grandes as they march west across the state from their traditional range in south and central Texas.

“About 20 years ago, (Texas Parks and Wildlife) stocked Merriam’s turkeys in the Davis Mountains,” said Jason Hardin,

lead turkey biologist for TPWD. “Those birds did really well for a long time. But the Rios are expanding rapidly and the Merriam’s are being bred out pretty quickly.”

Hardin referred to the current population as “Merrios.”

“They’re all being hybridized,” he said. “They are the same species, and we probably have a small population of pure Merriam’s left.”

Several years ago, researchers from Sul Ross State University conducted DNA testing on feathers gathered in the Davis Mountains, and found approximately 500 pure Merriam’s, according to Hardin.

Billy Tarrant, TPWD’s district leader for the Trans-Pecos region, said along with the population in the Davis Mountains, a small but unhuntable population prob-ably exists in the Guadalupe Mountains in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

“That population is probably marginal at best,” Tarrant said. “Like most of west Texas, there isn’t a lot of water up

there right now. It’s powder dry in this area.“We probably get a few birds that come in from New

Mexico, but as far as hunting them, I don’t know.”Tarrant said the Davis Mountains population is experi-

encing some hybridization, but the birds he has seen still have a strong Merriam’s infl uence.

The Nature Conservancy auctioned a hunt this year at the National Wild Turkey Federation banquet for one hunter to shoot two Merriam’s on their property near Ft. Davis.

Ray Hood will act as a guide on that hunt.“These might be the only two Merriam’s killed in Texas

this year,” Hood said. “Gene Miller (former TPWD biolo-gist) and I will be guiding on that hunt.”

Check a future issue of LSON for that hunt report.

Texas mountains hold populations of western birdsWHITE EDGES: Merriam's turkeys have distinctive white tips to their tail feathers, making them an attractive subspecies. Photo by David J. Sams, LSON.

Lone Star Merriam’s

PRICEY: Guns like this Be-retta can fetch top dollars to apply towards conservation. Photo by Bill Miller, LSON.



There were 301 fewer feral hogs roaming the East Texas landscape following the recent Lone Star Wild Hog Tournament.

But organizers of the tour-nament, held Feb. 26-March 6, were disappointed that more hogs weren’t harvested, considering the species’ abil-ity to rapidly reproduce.

It was their fi rst time spon-soring the tournament, which they hope to make bet-ter next year.

“Participation wasn’t quite as good as what I hoped for,”

said organizer Scotty Parsons, a biologist for the National Wild Turkey Federation. “Over 300 — that’s still a good number for our fi rst attempt at this.

“We’re going to do it again next year, but we need to do a little better at advertising.”

The tournament offered $2,250 in prizes at each of the fi ve National Forest ranger stations in the region.

The tournament was mod-eled after the various varmint-hunting contests in Texas.

The money was paid to contestants who delivered the most hogs to the ranger stations.

Hogs were taken by any legal means or methods, including some that were captured in traps and later taken to state-certifi ed buying stations.

Fannin County Agent Roger Skipper, another tournament organizer, said needy families received 55 of the 137 hogs brought to the ranger sta-tion at the Caddo National Grasslands.

Parsons said he wants to expand the wild pork donations during next year’s tournament, which he hoped will be expanded into other regions of Texas.

Inaugural East Texas hog tourney a good start

LOTS MORE: About 300 feral hogs, including the ones shown here, were taken from the East Texas countryside recently during the Lone Star Wild Hog Tournament. Photo by Roger Skipper.


Two brothers from East Texas pleaded guilty March 16 in a Kansas federal court to charges of running an illegal guide service in Kansas and violating federal laws by bringing illegally hunted ant-lers across state lines.

James Bobby Butler Jr., 42, the owner and operator of the hunt-ing club in Coldwater, Kan., and his brother Marlin Jackson Butler, 36, who worked as a guide, acknowledged they conspired to violate the Lacey Act, a federal law that prohibits the interstate trans-port of any wildlife taken in viola-tion of state regulations.

Sentencing was set for June 2.The brothers, both from

Martinsville, said in their plea deal that between 2005 and 2008 they sold guided hunts in Kansas for the illegal taking of 25 buck deer for which they were paid $77,500 in guiding fees and tips.

James Butler also pleaded guilty to a separate wildlife traf-fi cking charge related to a 2005 guided archery hunt for which he was paid $3,500. In that case, a Louisiana hunter paid an addi-tional $1,800 for a hunting per-mit that was not valid in the county where the hunt took place. A few days later, the hunter paid another $3,500 to kill an extra buck deer beyond the annual bag limit.

James Butler also acknowledged he obstructed justice in April 2009 by ordering an employee at

the High Roller Whitetails, a deer operation in Center, Texas, to get rid of fi ve or six white-tailed deer mounts after wildlife offi -cers began conducting interviews in Texas in relation to the fed-eral investigation. The employee refused to destroy the mounts.

Prosecutors recommended a 41-month prison sentence for James Butler. The government also is seeking a fi ne of $25,000 and restitution of the same amount to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

Marlin Butler pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy charge as his older brother in addition to a separate charge involving a 2007 guided hunt in which a Texas hunter paid $5,500.

Although it was archery season, he acknowledged that he encour-aged the hunter to hunt with a rifl e. The Texas hunter killed a 10-point, white-tailed deer with a rifl e after shooting hours while Marlin Butler held a fl ashlight.

Prosecutors are recommend-ing that Marlin Butler receive a prison term of 27 months, a fi ne of $10,000 and pay restitution of $10,000 to the state wildlife department.

In exchange for the plea deals, the government agreed to drop the remaining charges in the 23-count indictment returned last year.

—Staff report

Texas brothers plead guilty to deer hunting violations

Social media helps crack gator poaching case


Making a friend on Facebook can result in a game warden knocking on your door.

That is if your Facebook page has a photo of a game animal or fi sh that you took illegally.

Such was the case the fi rst week of March when a photo of a dead alligator in Bastrop County appeared on Facebook. Alligators can only be hunted by special permit in nine Texas counties, and Bastrop isn’t one of them.

It was a massive bull gator, nearly 12 feet long, which sur-prised another person who saw the Facebook photo. That person called the Operation Game Thief hotline (800-792-4263), which put Game Warden Frederick Ensinger on the case.

Ensinger used the informa-tion to determine the animal’s location on Wilbarger Creek — a tributary of the Colorado River.

“Then I did what game war-dens do,” he said. “I parked my truck, got out and just kind of

BULL GATOR: A tip generated by Facebook helped game wardens build a case in the illegal killing of this American alligator earlier this month in Bastrop County. Photo by Clay Ingram.

See SOCIAL MEDIA, Page 15

Outdoors journalist honored


People who know Bob Hood say he is a man of few spoken words.

Written words are another matter.Hood started working for the Fort Worth

Star-Telegram as a paperboy in 1962 and he

soon became a sportswriter.But Hood also loved to hunt

and fi sh and by 1968, the news-paper was paying him to cover the outdoors. He was there for 40 years.

Very few writers have been on the job that long, accord-ing to the Texas Outdoor Writers Association.

The group recently honored Hood, who lives on Possum Kingdom Lake, with its L.A. Wilke Lifetime Achievement Award, an accolade named for its fi rst executive director.

“I knew L.A. Wilke personally,” Hood said. “He was just a nice guy, fairly quiet, and everybody respected him.

“To receive an award with his name on it means a lot to me.”

Hood’s acknowledgement of Wilke is

characteristic, said John Thompson, a longtime friend and a former col-league at the Star-Telegram.

Thompson, an outdoors writer from Aledo, received the Wilke award in 2010 and he nominated Hood for it this year.

“Bob is a very low-key, unassum-ing individual,” said Thompson. “He probably said not more than 50 words while accepting (the award).

“Somebody remarked that was the most Bob ever said … ever.”

Hood currently is hunting editor for Texas Fish & Game Magazine, although he has writ-ten for just about every outdoors publication in Texas, including Lone Star Outdoor News.

But Hood’s career hasn’t just been about recreation.

He editorialized against a bill that would have established a permit system for bass

tournaments — it was tabled, never to see a vote — and criticized Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission for not publicizing its meeting agendas. It does now.

He also urged TPWD to prioritize which lakes would be stocked with striped and hybrid bass.

“I don’t know what effect my opinions may have had,” Hood said, “but the state did establish a list of priority lakes because, as I had said, the hatcheries couldn’t sus-tain that many put-and-take fi sheries.”

To write credibly, Hood has drawn on “a pretty unusual skill set” beyond hunting and fi shing, Thompson said. Some of his other interests are trapping, varmint calling and canoeing.

“I like it all — whatever is going on at the moment,” explained Hood. “It doesn’t matter if it’s gigging for frogs or fi shing for perch.”

BOB HOOD

“The defi nition of trophy management is when the goal is to harvest bucks that are fully mature and have high-scoring antlers,” Adams said. “QDM says protect yearling bucks at least to let them get to be 2 1/2 years old.

“That line does get blurred

sometimes.”Brothers, reached by phone at

his home in Berclair, agreed.“When you stockpile deer

you’re crossing the line into tro-phy management,” Brothers said. “That’s an individual’s deci-sion.

“But that’s not QDM.”In his blog, Schoby wrote

that he “probably should have used the term ‘Trophy Deer Management’ to describe the

kind of behavior I was seeing (even though all of the practitio-ners refer to themselves as imple-menting QDM...)”

He suggested that the asso-ciation’s members “have some PR work ahead of them” to edu-cate people who believe QDM and trophy management are the same thing.

“That’s fi ne,” Adams said. “QDM has big shoulders and we can handle it.”

Man convicted of killing warden loses appeal, stays on death row

A high court has denied the death-row appeal from the Wharton County man convicted in the murder of a Texas game warden in March 2007.

James Freeman, 30, continues to await exe-cution for killing Justin Hurst, the 34-year-old game warden.

In his appeal, Freeman claimed there were several points of error during his trial. He complained, for example, that his trial should have been moved out of Wharton County.

But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on March 16 rejected each of the challenges, according to court documents.

The court’s action came on the fourth anniversary of the shooting on March 16, 2007.

Hurst joined other offi cers in an attempt to arrest Freeman for shooting at a bird sitting on a fence.

An hour-long chase ensued.

A Texas highway patrol trooper applied spikes to the roadway and dis-abled Freeman's truck.

He then got out and opened fi re with a pis-tol and an AK-47 rifl e, striking Hurst.

Freeman was arrested and Hurst was airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

—Staff report

JUSTIN HURST

Quality deerContinued From Page 4

Pigapalooza set for March 26Kids hunting pigs is a great way to introduce young peo-

ple to the outdoors. Working in conjunction with the American Deer &

Wildlife Alliance, the Hunter Heritage Foundation is invit-ing young sportsmen (ages 8 to 15) to attend the 3rd Annual Pigapalooza Youth Hog Hunt. The event will be held Saturday, March 26, at DB Hunting Ranch in Bertram, Texas, and will provide an afternoon of fun outdoor activi-ties, a pork sandwich lunch and an evening hog hunt.

“Affordability and accessibility are major obstacles for getting our youth involved in hunting today, and our annual Pigapalooza Youth Hunt offers a great opportunity for kids to get outdoors, learn a little about wildlife and enjoy the thrill of hunting with a group of their peers,” says ADWA President John Meng.

Cost is only $50 for one non-trophy class hog per youth hunter. Space is limited. Youth must be accompanied by parent or guardian with a valid Texas hunting license. Call ADWA to reserve space today at (877)331-8607.

—Staff report


Prospect RetrieversADVERTISMENT

For dog owners who want their retrievers to have the fi nest training by someone who does it right, look no further than Tom Ros-siter, owner of Prospect Retrievers in Paris.

Rossiter brings more than 30 years of experience training all breeds of retrievers. He is a well-known fi eld trial veteran, hunt test qualifi er and former American Kennel Club fi eld judge.

His method of training involves a focus on the particular needs of the handler/owner and their dog.

“I like to see the dog at an early age,” Rossiter said. “Four months old is not too early for a hunting dog. A started puppy has an incredible willingness to learn.

“They are predis-posed to learn these things.”

Rossiter says he doesn’t hide faults and he’ll be honest with owners and tell people the truth about their dogs.

“I particularly like taking a young dogs and their owner and getting both of them ready to go hunting,” he said.

Rossiter provides a clean kennel and doesn’t take on too many dogs at once. His dogs are trained on the 20-acre property that is set up strictly with training in mind — with ponds and hedgerows to challenge the dogs and other properties in the area.

“Because I want to give them the proper attention,” Rossiter said,” I only keep between seven and ten dogs, and three of those are my own.”

Along with teaching basic commands

such as heeling, sitting and marking, Rossiter trains his retrievers out to vari-ous yardages. All dogs are taught to the whistle, and Rossiter only uses electric collars when a dog’s owner requests him to do so.

“I invite anyone who wants to come up and visit and see my dogs and what they can do,” he said. “I don’t want anyone to ever walk away from my kennel feeling like they haven’t gotten their money’s worth.”

A typical day of training at Prospect Retrievers begins with a health check of each dog fi rst thing in the morning, followed by a hearty breakfast.

Next comes work in the yard focusing on obedi-ence work and fetching drills.

Then he spends the rest of the day focusing on land and water retrieves. He also works with single and multiple bird marks. The evenings are for rest and a good dinner. He also makes journal entries every day for each dog.

“I’ve worked with some of the top retriever trainers

in the country over the past 15 years,” he said. “Some of my puppies are currently running in fi eld trials, hunt tests and I’ve sold dogs to the government. I have refer-ences available for anyone who wants them.”

Rossiter said a well-trained dog is one step in game bird conservation. By hunting over a well-trained retriever, hunters can collect wounded or crippled birds, thereby fi lling their limit quicker and with less waste.

Contact Tom at (903) 784-2933.


FISHING

What the heck is a Palmetto bass?


Lewisville fi sherman Ken Fisk was catching so many Palmetto bass on Lewisville Lake on March 16 he had to put the phone down for fear of losing his rod during a phone interview.

Most Texans know the Palmetto bass as a ‘hybrid striper’ — a cross between a male white bass and a female striped bass.

Prime time to catch these great fi ghting fi sh is now through the end of April in shallow water, although many anglers catch them through-out the summer when they move back into deeper pockets of water.

“They’re turned on right now,” Fisk said. “When the shad move to the shallows to spawn, the hybrids get right in there with them. A rooster tail is my favorite bait right now.

“They bite the daylights out of them. You can catch your limit in no time.”

The majority of Palmetto bass — up to 99 percent — are sterile, so populations have to be main-tained through restocking efforts.

Palmetto bass are being raised at several state fi sh hatcheries, including Possum Kingdom and Dundee, where the demand from

lake biologists requesting fi nger-lings has risen this year to 2.8 million. That’s above the normal annual request of 2.3 million.

“Requests for hybrids are up sig-nifi cantly this year,” said Dale Lyon, manager of the Possum Kingdom Hatchery. “Typically hybrids are used in reservoirs that have a high population of smaller shad. They have a smaller mouth than a pure striped bass and occupy a niche in reservoirs that would otherwise be unexploited.”

According to Dennis Smith, manager of the Dundee hatchery, the requests are up this year because production has been down the past two years due to golden alga.

“Part of the reason for the increased demand is production has been down the past two years, so many places didn’t get a full stocking,” he said. “Both hybrids and stripers are susceptible to golden alga, and we have that in our supply water and it is much more virulent.”

Identifi cation is important, since undersized hybrids look similar to their white bass cous-ins. Features of the Palmetto bass

include a broken stripe pattern down their sides as opposed to unbroken straight lines in pure stripers, thicker bodies similar to a white bass and two tooth patches in the back of their tongue like a striper.

The state record Palmetto bass is 19.66 pounds, but they seldom get more than 10 pounds. They grow faster than pure stripers or sand bass, and

many experts believe they are more aggressive and eas-ier to catch than pure strains, although white bass are easily caught as well.

And they are great table fare.“They are great to eat, but you

have to be careful when fi lleting them because they have a blood-line just below the fi llet,” Fisk said.

“If you hit that, it can make them taste fi shy.

“My wife prefers them over crappie.”

FUN BITES: Griffi n Elliott, right, and Braden Funderburg hold two palmetto bass (hybrid striped bass) they caught recently on Lewisville Lake. Palmetto bass are great for kids be-cause they are easy to catch. Photo by Steve Fogle.

NUMBER OF FINGERLINGS REQUESTED FOR RELEASE AT TEXAS LAKES AND

RESERVOIRS THIS YEAR.

■ Lake Bridgeport: 413,000■ Lake Conroe: 201,000■ Lake Ray Hubbard: 227,000■ Cedar Creek: 326,000■ Lake Palestine: 255,000■ Lewisville Lake: 295,000*Many other smaller stockings will occur across the state


Chris Munn was fi shing for catfi sh two years ago when he found a local creek near his home in Manor, just east of Austin, and noticed it was full of carp.

After doing some research on the Internet, the 29-year-old set out to catch a few of the slow-moving giants he had seen in the creek.

Eight state water body records later, Munn is addicted to catching big carp and buffalo.“Once I started catching them, it was a lot of fun,” Munn said. “I prebait the areas I want to fi sh and have a

lot of patience. Carp fi shing takes a lot of time — 12 hours sitting on the bank sometime.”Munn said he chums the areas he wants to fi sh with various types of grains, including maize. He also uses

dough bait — either bread balls or simulated plastic dough baits found at bait shops.

Master of carp

CARP MAN: Chris Munn holds the Walter E. Long water body record smallmouth buffalo he caught in February. Photo by Chris Munn.

Galveston Bayturning on

Springtime brings warmer weather and accelerated fi shing action to the Texas Gulf Coast, but the Galveston Bay Complex was already busy in mid-March.

“The speckled trout are hit-ting well on live shrimp under the Causeway Bridge,” said “Jetty” Joe Ceccacci, who works the after-noon shift at Galveston Bait and Tackle.

Trout were also being caught with topwater lures, Ceccacci said.

“I hooked one about 4 1/2 pounds, and I got a good run out of him,” Ceccacci said. “He went around the pylons (of the bridge) and we had to move the boat to get around to him.”

Ceccacci said other anglers have been catching redfi sh in grass on the west side of Galveston Bay. Sheepshead, redfi sh and black drum have also been good at the jetty.

“They’ve also been catching a lot of 2- to 7-pound ‘puppy’ drum, on fresh dead shrimp or crabs,” Ceccacci said.

According to Galveston Capt. Mike Cacciotti, the black drum run is going strong, with anglers scoring large catches on cracked crab.

“The fi shing has been awesome the past week,” Cacciotti said. “Along with the drum, whiting fi sh-ing has been real good at the jetties with dead shrimp. Sheepshead is good on live shrimp on the rocks, and we’re also catching some redfi sh with live shrimp.”

Cacciotti said the water tempera-ture was 63 degrees on Friday, March 18.

“There are some bigger trout in the Galveston shipping channel,” he said. “The Causeway is also hold-ing some trout on an outgoing tide.

We’re catching those on live shrimp with popping corks.”

He said wade fi sherman have been scoring in the Yates Bayou area with topwater lures.

At nearby Texas City, sheepshead and sand trout were good around the piers on shrimp. Redfi sh are fair to good on shrimp and crabs in Moses Lake.

Ceccacci said warmer tempera-tures were sure to make the fi shing even better.

“The redfi sh and everything will be turning loose here pretty quickly, now that we have the nicer weather,” he said. “All the bait is coming is back around — the croaker, the mudfi sh and the mullet.”

To contact Capt. Mike Cacciotti, call (281) 507-1933.

—Staff report See MASTER, Page 16

DRIFTERS: Drifting for spring trout is the way to go in Galves-ton Bay. Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News.


Spring break has ended and guides along the midcoast are as worn out as the fi sh.

But the fi shing was good the past week, with guides reporting good catches of black drum, redfi sh and trout.

In the Corpus Christi ship channel, black drum were being caught in good numbers using cracked crab and shrimp near the old Navy base in Ingleside.

Capt. Brian Holden reported catching 18 drum on one trip.

Several of the piers reported anglers still were catching good number of black drum through the weekend of March 19-20.

Capt. Johan Combs caught several big black drum early in the week in the channel before going north for eating-sized fi sh.

Copano Bay waders caught good numbers of trout and reported the action was good on Zara Super Spooks in bone color over sand and scat-tered shell.

Redfi sh has been hit or miss throughout the past several weeks.

Once anglers fi nd the fi sh and the bite turns on, limits are pretty easy to come by. But it might take a little bit of looking before the right spot is found.

Ingleside Capt. Dan Kelly said he fi shed groups down along the coast for spring break and boated limits of reds every day, although the key was fi nding the fi sh when the tide was moving in or out.

Kelly reported smaller black drum still were the most consistent fi sh to catch along the midcoast, but said drifting for trout in Baffi n, Copano and San Antonio bays has started to produce. Strong winds persisted along much of the coast the past few weeks, which made get-ting to some fi shing spots diffi cult.

In Port O’Connor, trout and redfi sh were hit-ting topwater baits in San Antonio Bay and in the drains of the back lakes, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Contact Johan Combs at (210) 825-3727.Contact Dan Kelly at (361) 332-9836.

—Staff report

Midcoast heating up

BANG THE DRUM: Eating-sized black drum, along with the bigger ones, still are being caught along the mid-coast. Photo by Lili Sams, LSON.

Black drum run still on


ALAN HENRY: Water lightly stained; 56–68 degrees. Largemouth bass are fair to good on Texas rigs, spinnerbaits, drop-shot rigs and shallow-running crankbaits. Crappie are good on min-nows and jigs. Catfi sh are fair to good on prepared and cut bait.

AMISTAD: Water clear; 54–62 degrees; 0.28’ high. Largemouth bass are good on spinnerbaits, crankbaits, soft plastics and jerkbaits. Striped bass are fair on crankbaits, slabs and grubs. White bass are fair on crankbaits, slabs and grubs. Catfi sh are good on cheesebait, shrimp and nightcrawlers. Yellow catfi sh are fair on trotlines and droplines baited with live perch.

ATHENS: Water lightly stained, 58–66 degrees; 0.8’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on Texas rigs, spinnerbaits, jigs and crankbaits. Crappie are good on jigs and minnows — moving shallow. Catfi sh are good on prepared bait and nightcrawlers.

BASTROP: Water clear. Largemouth bass are good on black/pumpkinseed spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and Rat–L–Traps. Crappie are fair on minnows and chartreuse tube jigs over brush piles. Channel and blue catfi sh are good on stinkbait and shrimp.

BELTON: Water stained; 58–62 degrees; 3.09’ low. Largemouth bass are good on purple/black and navy blue soft plastics and topwaters. Hybrid striper are good on live shad. White bass are good on silver slabs. Crappie are very good on white riversides and on min-nows under lights at night in 25 feet. Channel and blue catfi sh are good on hot dogs and Spam. Yellow catfi sh are good on trotlines baited with live perch and goldfi sh.

BOB SANDLIN: Water stained; 58–67 degrees; 2.7’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on fl ukes, Texas rigs, jigs and spinnerbaits. Crappie are fair on live minnows and jigs. White bass are fair on slabs. Catfi sh are fair to good on trotlines or juglines.

BRAUNIG: Water clear. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits and dark soft plastic worms in the reeds. Striped bass are fair on liver and shad at Dead Tree Point and near the pier. Redfi sh are slow. Channel catfi sh are excellent on liver, shrimp, cheesebait, and cut bait near the discharge. Blue catfi sh are good on cut bait.

BRIDGEPORT: Water fairly clear; 57–65 degrees; 4.24’ low; Largemouth bass are fair on spinnerbaits, Texas rigs and red Lipless crankbaits. Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows. White bass are fair to good on slabs and live shad. Channel catfi sh are good on cut and prepared bait on shallow fl ats.

BROWNWOOD: Water clear; 10.01’ low. Largemouth bass are good on crawfi sh-colored crankbaits and 4” soft plastic worms over brush piles in 4–10 feet. Hybrid striper are slow. White bass are fair on spinnerbaits and crankbaits off lighted docks at night. Crappie are fair on chartreuse tube jigs and minnows over brush piles. Channel catfi sh are fair on cut bait and nightcrawlers over baited holes in 10–20 feet.

BUCHANAN: Water clear; 58–61 degrees; 10.78’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on pumpkin jigs, jerkbaits, and Carolina rigs along break lines in 10–20 feet. Striped bass are good trolling white/chartreuse jigs and crankbaits, and drifting live bait in 20–30 feet. White bass are fair on slabs and trolling crankbaits near the mouths of larger creeks. Crappie are fair on minnows over brush piles.

CADDO: Water murky; 58–65 degrees; 0.38’ high. Largemouth bass are good on fl ukes and Texas rigs. White bass are fair on Roostertails and minnows. Yellow bass are fair on minnows. Catfi sh are fair on nightcrawlers and prepared bait.

CALAVERAS: Water clear. Largemouth bass are fair on dark soft plastic worms, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits near the dam. Striped bass are fair on spoons

and jigs near the dam. Redfi sh are slow. Crappie are slow. Channel and blue catfi sh are good on liver, shrimp, and cheesebait near the railroad trestle.

CANYON LAKE: Water clear; 60–63 degrees; 1.91’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on black/chartreuse hair jigs, jerkbaits, and Texas-rigged worms on shaky jigheads in 20–30 feet. Striped bass are fair to good vertically jigging Pirk Minnows and Spoiler Shads, and trolling white striper jigs. White bass are fair jigging Roostertails along the main river channel at midlake. Smallmouth

bass are good on tomato red curl tail grubs, smoke/red fl ake tubes, and tomato red drop-shot worms over rock piles in 15–25 feet. Crappie are fair on minnows and crappie jigs upriver.

CEDAR CREEK: Water stained; 57–65 degrees; 2.51’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on medium-running shad pattern crankbaits, Texas rigs and jigs. White bass are good on slabs. Hybrid striper are fair on live shad and large slabs jigged vertically. Crappie are fair to good on minnows.

CHOKE CANYON: Water clear; 63–65 degrees; 6.06’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon soft plastic worms and lizards. White bass are slow. Crappie are slow. Drum are slow. Chan-nel and blue catfi sh are fair on shrimp and prepared baits. Yellow catfi sh are fair on live perch.

COLEMAN: Water clear; 60–64 degrees; 11.14’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon soft plastics and Rat–L–Traps. Hybrid striper are fair on minnows and silver striper jigs. Crappie are fair on minnows over brush piles. Channel catfi sh are good on stinkbait and cut bait.

COLETO CREEK: Water fairly clear; 0.43’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. Striped bass are slow. White bass are slow. Crappie are fair on minnows and chartreuse tube jigs. Channel and blue catfi sh are fair on stinkbait and nightcrawlers. Yellow catfi sh are fair on trotlines baited with live perch.

FALCON: Water clear. Largemouth bass are good on small crankbaits and swimbaits, and on deep-running crankbaits off points. Crappie to 3.5 pounds are very good on minnows and crappie jigs under bridges. Channel and blue catfi sh are excellent on frozen shrimp, shad and prepared bait. Yellow catfi sh are fair on live perch.

FORK: Water fairly clear; 57–66 degrees; 3.16’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on square-bill crankbaits, Texas rigs, chatterbaits and drop-shot rigs. Females are on beds or cruising in a

post spawn pattern, so target anywhere from 1–15 feet. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. Catfi sh are good on cut shad over shallow mud fl ats.

GRANBURY: Water 59–62 degrees; 0.47’ low. An active fi sh kill continues to affect the lake, including channel and fl athead catfi sh, largemouth bass, white bass, white crappie, and striped bass.

GRAPEVINE: Water stained; 57–65 degrees; 1.16’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Texas rigs, jigs, drop-shot rigs and fl ukes. Crappie are fair to good

on minnows and jigs. White bass are good on slabs and Roostertails.

JOE POOL: Water off-color; 57–64 degrees; 0.14’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on Texas rigs, spinnerbaits and wacky rigs. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs over brush piles. White bass are good on slabs. Catfi sh are fair to good on nightcrawlers and prepared baits.

LAVON: Water stained; 57–65 degrees; 4.88’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on Texas rigs, spinnerbaits and shallow slow–running crankbaits. White bass are good on slabs. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs around bridge columns. Catfi sh are fair to good on cut shad and nightcrawlers.

LBJ: Water stained; 60 degrees; 0.18’ low. Largemouth bass are good on watermelon red jigs, pumpkinseed worms, and green pumpkin tubes off docks. Striped bass are slow. White bass are fair to good on silver Pirk Minnows near the power plant. Crappie are fair on minnows over brush piles. Channel catfi sh are fair on shrimp and nightcrawlers.

LEWISVILLE: Water stained; 56–64 de-grees; 0.97’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on spinnerbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. White bass are fair to good on slabs. Hybrid striper are fair on slabs and Sassy Shad. White trolling catfi sh are good on prepared bait and chartreuse nightcrawlers.

LIVINGSTON: Water fairly clear; 61–63 degrees; 0.15’ high. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits, spinnerbaits and soft plastics. Striped bass are slow. White bass are good on soft plastics, slabs in the north end of the lake. Crap-pie are good on minnows. Blue catfi sh are good on shad.

MEREDITH: Water fairly clear; 57–66 degrees. Largemouth bass are fair to good on Texas rigs, spinnerbaits, and cotton candy tubes. Smallmouth bass are fair on Texas rigs and Suspending stickbaits. Crappie are fair to good on Roostertails and minnows. Walleye are

fair on live bait. Catfi sh are fair to good on cut and prepared bait.

NAVARRO MILLS: Water stained; 57–61 degrees; 0.19’ high. Largemouth bass are fair on minnows off points in Liberty Hill Park. White bass are slow. Crappie are good on minnows and black/char-treuse, orange/chartreuse, red/char-treuse, and blue/white jigs. Blue catfi sh are good on juglines baited with perch and large minnows. Channel catfi sh are good on nightcrawlers and shrimp. Yellow catfi sh are fair on trotlines baited with perch.

O.H. IVIE: Water stained; 58–66 degrees; 27.16’ low. Largemouth bass are good on shallow on Texas rigs, and square-bill crankbaits — the deeper bite (larger females) is on jigs, Texas-rigged 10” worms and deep-diving crankbaits. Crappie are fair to good on live minnows. Catfi sh are fair on prepared and live bait.

PALESTINE: Water lightly stained; 57–65 degrees; 1.3’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on, Texas rigs and tubes. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. Hybrid striper are fair on slabs, and live shad. White bass are fair to good on slabs and minnows. Catfi sh are fair on prepared bait and chartreuse nightcrawlers.

POSSUM KINGDOM: Water stained; 58–67 degrees; 1.51’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on watermelon fl ukes, Texas rigs, spinnerbaits. Crappie are fair to good on live minnows and Roostertails fi shed shallow. White bass are fair to good on slabs. Striped bass are fair on live shad.

RAY HUBBARD: Water fairly clear; 57–66 degrees; 2.87’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on Texas rigs, spinnerbaits, and jigs. Crappie are fair on minnows and with movement to-wards the creeks. White bass are fair on slabs. Catfi sh are good under cormorant roosts on prepared baits.

RAY ROBERTS: Water clear; 56–65 degrees; 1.42’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on chartreuse/white chatterbaits — also on watermelon/red split shot-rigged fl ukes around shallow cover. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs around standing timber in 12–20 feet. White bass are fair to good on small swimbaits on shallow windy points on the main lake.

RICHLAND CHAMBERS: Water off-color; 57–65 degrees; 2.03’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on Texas rigs and spinnerbaits. White bass are fair on slabs and live shad. Hybrid striper are fair on slabs and live shad. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfi sh are fair on prepared bait and nightcrawlers.

TAWAKONI: Water fairly clear; 57–66 de-grees; 2.97’ low. Largemouth bass are excellent on shallow-running crankbaits. Crappie are good on 1/16 oz. jigheads in and around docks. White bass are fair in the upper end of the lake on chartreuse grubs on a 1/4 oz. jighead (spawn has begun). Striped bass and hybrid striper are good in 8–15 feet. Catfi sh are excellent in 3–6 feet on cut bait and fresh shad.

TEXOMA: Water off-color; 57–64 de-grees; 0.85’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits, and Texas rigs. Crap-pie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. Striped bass are good on live shad. Catfi sh are fair on cut and live shad.

TRAVIS: Water stained; 62–65 degrees; 15.87’ low. Largemouth bass are good on smoke grubs, brown jigs, and crawfi sh-colored crankbaits in 10–20 feet. Striped bass are fair on white spoons and minnows in 20–40 feet. White bass are fair on white spoons and chrome crankbaits in 20–35 feet. Crap-pie are fair on minnows and pink tube jigs in 15–30 feet.

WHITNEY: Water stained; 9.68’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on spinnerbaits. Striped bass are fair on minnows. White bass are fair on min-nows. Crappie are good on minnows and chartreuse tube jigs.

TEXAS FISHING REPORT

HOT BITES SALTWATERSCENE LARGEMOUTH

BASS

BROWNWOOD: Good on crawfi sh-colored Persuader crankbaits and 4” soft plastic worms over brush piles in 4–10 feet.

GRAPEVINE: Good on Texas rigs, jigs, drop-shot rigs and fl ukes.

LBJ: Good on watermelon red jigs, pumpkinseed worms, and green pumpkin tubes off docks.

O.H. IVIE: Good on shallow on Texas rigs, Lipless crankbaits and square-bill crankbaits — the deeper bite (larger females) is on jigs, Texas-rigged 10” worms and deep-diving crankbaits.

TAWAKONI: Excellent on shallow-run-ning crankbaits and Baby Brush Hogs.

CRAPPIE

ALAN HENRY: Good on minnows and jigs.

LAVON: Good on minnows and jigs around bridge columns.

WHITNEY: Good on minnows and chartreuse tube jigs.

Sponsored by

CATFISH

BRAUNIG: Channel catfi sh are excellent on liver, shrimp, cheesebait, and cut bait near the discharge. Blue catfi sh are good on cut bait.

LEWISVILLE: Good on prepared bait and chartreuse nightcrawlers.

RAY HUBBARD: Good under cormorant roosts on prepared baits.

TAWAKONI: Excellent in 3–6 feet on cut bait and fresh shad.

WHITE, HYBRID, STRIPER

BUCHANAN: Striped bass are good trolling white/chartreuse Curb’s striper jigs and crankbaits, and drifting live bait in 20–30 feet.

LIVINGSTON: White bass are good on soft plastics, and slabs in the north end of the lake.

TAWAKONI: Striped bass and hybrid striper are good in 8–15 feet on slow-rolled 4” Sassy Shad on a 3/4 oz. jighead and Moe’s Shanghai Shad.

HOT SPOT

Caddo LakeAccording to Angie King, tour boat operator for Johnson’s Ranch Marina, anglers have caught a lot of bass in the 10-pound range the past week,

including a 16 pound monster. Fishing will only get better as big fe-males move into the shallows to spawn. See story on page 16. Photo by

Lone Star Outdoor News.

NORTH SABINE: Trout are fair to good in the river on live shad. Redfi sh are good in the marsh on small topwaters and Stanley Ribbits. Flounder are good on jigs tipped with shrimp.

SOUTH SABINE: Sheepshead and black drum are good at the jetty on live shrimp. Trout are fair around the Reef on live shrimp.

BOLIVAR: Trout are fair to good on the south shoreline on soft plastics and plugs. Black drum and redfi sh are good at Rollover Pass.

TRINITY BAY: Trout are good for drifters working pods of shad and mullet. Redfi sh are good at the spillway on crabs and mullet. Trout are good while drifting slicks.

EAST GALVESTON BAY: Trout are good while drifting shell and mud and dark–colored plastics. Trout are good on the south shore-line. Whiting and sand trout are good on the edge of the Intracoastal on fresh shrimp.

WEST GALVESTON BAY: Sheepshead, redfi sh and black drum are good at the jetty on shrimp. Black drum are good in the channel on blue crabs. Trout are fair to good for waders on the south shoreline on topwaters.

TEXAS CITY: Sheepshead and sand trout are good around the piers on shrimp. Redfi sh are fair to good on shrimp and crabs in Moses Lake.

FREEPORT: Sand trout and sheepshead are good on live shrimp on the reefs. Black drum are good at San Luis pass on cracked blue crabs.

EAST MATAGORDA BAY: Trout are fair to good for drift-ers on live shrimp under rattling corks over humps and scattered shell. Redfi sh are fair to good in the middle of the bay.

WEST MATAGORDA BAY: Redfi sh are fair to good in Oyster Lake on shrimp. Trout are fair on shell and grass on soft plastics and topwaters. Black drum are fair to good at the jetty on crabs.

PORT O’CONNOR: Trout and redfi sh are good on topwaters over soft mud in waist–deep wa-ter in San Antonio Bay. Trout and redfi sh are fair for drifters working the mouths and drains of the back lakes with live shrimp.

ROCKPORT: Black drum are good in the Lydia Ann Channel on crabs. Trout are fair over grass while drifting with live shrimp. Redfi sh are fair on the Estes Flats on crabs and mullet.

PORT ARANSAS: Black drum are good in the Shrimpboat Channel on crabs and fi nger mullet. Redfi sh and sheepshead are fair to good at the jetty on shrimp.

CORPUS CHRISTI: Redfi sh are fair to good around Shamrock Cove on small topwaters and spoons. Trout are fair to good on the edge of the spoils on live shrimp. Trout are fair in Oso Bay on topwaters.

BAFFIN BAY: Trout are fair to good around the rocks. Trout are fair to good on the King Ranch shoreline on topwaters. Trout are good at night in the Land Cut.

PORT MANSFIELD: Trout are fair to good on topwaters around sand and grass holes. Redfi sh are fair to good while drifting potholes on shrimp and plastics.

SOUTH PADRE: Black drum, redfi sh and sheepshead have been taken at the jetty. Trout and redfi sh are fair to good on the edge of the Intracoastal. Sheepshead are fair on shrimp around the rocks.

PORT ISABEL: Trout and redfi sh are fair to good in South Bay on live shrimp. Sheepshead and mangrove snapper are fair around the causeway on shrimp. Redfi sh are fair in Cullen Bay on jigs tipped with shrimp.


Blooms and bites: Old wives’ tales swirl about

springtime fi shing

By Ralph WininghamFOR LONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Anglers are a superstitious lot, whether they are making sure to always have their lucky lure in the tackle box or they are look-ing for a secret sign to tell them the bite is on.

Crusty veterans are eager, often without any provocation, to share their wisdom about how to tell when an angler should be tearing up the water with limits of fi sh just fi ghting for the chance to grab bait.

“When the redbuds are blooming, the

white bass run is on,” is one tidbit circulating in the Sabine area; while “crappie begin to spawn when the dogwoods bloom,’’ is a popular say-ing in East Texas.

Dogwoods blooming also signal it’s top-water time for largemouths in other parts of the state.

Still other old-timers who fre-quent the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers will eagerly relate that, “when the cottonwood trees start dropping cotton, the carp will be biting.”

All of these old wives’ tales involving fi shing and foliage may have some merit, but the correla-tion seems to be based more on the time of the season and warm weather conditions rather than any mysterious connection between wood and water.

“I’ve heard a lot of these old say-ings, but I can tell you that we never based any of our fi sh surveys on that kind of thing,’’ said Jimmy Dean of San Antonio, who is a retired Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fi sheries biologist.

“I guess that watching the (bloom-ing) trees was just a gauge of the season, and that can vary from year to year,” he said. “You can tell more about when the fi sh will be bit-ing by the water temperature, but even then if a cold snap comes in dropping the tempera-ture a few degrees the fi sh will be gone.

“The only old saying that I know is true is that ‘when the mesquite trees start bloom-ing, winter is over.’”

REDBUDS: Old wives’ tales connect great fi shing with blooming foli-age, like the redbuds shown here. Some observers say, however, that the two are unrelated other than they both occur with warmer weather. Photo by Ron Gard, for LSON.

See BLOOMS AND BITES, Page 16


WARDENS RESCUE INCLUDESRESCUE BOAT

Hunt County Game Wardens Dale Waters and Gary Miller were called to rescue a fi re department rescue boat. The fi re department was deployed for a boat with engine problems when the fi re department boat ran out of gas. Both boats were pulled to shore.

FOOT SLIPPING LEADS TO LOST TRUCK, BOAT TRAILER

While backing down a public boat ramp at Lake Tawakoni, a man’s foot slipped off the brake and hit the gas. Hunt County Game Wardens Dale Waters and Gary Miller responded and found the new Ford F-350 truck and boat trailer under the water. The man was trying to retrieve his boat from the lake. The driver made it out safely. Divers were called in to hook up the vehicle and clear the ramp.

POOR DRIVER CITED FORUNDERSIZED FISH

After a traffi c stop for reckless driving, a Webster Police Department offi cer discovered an ice chest full of fi sh and notifi ed Harris County Game Warden Jennifer Inkster. Inkster met the offi cer at the city jail and issued citations to two subjects for 18 undersized redfi sh and two black drum, no fi shing license upon demand, and exceeding bag limits and possession limits.

BAD DAY ON THE LAKEWhile patrolling Calaveras Lake,

Game Wardens Chad Moore and Derek Iden checked a subject who reportedly had just smoked some marijuana in a "bong" made out of a water bottle, took catfi sh with a cast net, didn't have a fi shing license, and was trespassing on CPS Energy prop-erty. Several cases pending.

DEER IN BATHTUB IS CLEAN EVIDENCEMarion County Game Wardens

Rick Lane and Robb Furlow arrested two Louisiana men for killing a white-tailed deer in closed season and hunting from the roadway. After observing dried blood in the bed of the men's truck, they interviewed both subjects and they admitted to killing an additional deer the pre-vious night. The second deer was recovered at the suspects’ residence in the bathtub. Cases pending.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT IN OBSERVING SPOTLIGHTERS

Gillespie County Game Warden Scott Krueger was out patrolling when he saw a spotlight sweep across the sky. He soon located the ranch and heard several shots while waiting for the vehicle to make its way to the gate. As the vehicle came within approximately 100 yards of Krueger's location, the spotlight lit up a jackrabbit. Krueger saw what was about to happen and had his fi nger on the switch to activate his red and blues when the subject shot at the rabbit with a .223. The sub-ject immediately came to Krueger's location after seeing his grill lights. A very shook-up 20-year-old man was issued a citation for no hunter education.

FISHING OUTING EXPOSES WARRANTSHarrison County Game Warden

Darrin Peeples checked a subject fi sh-ing on Caddo Lake. The subject did not have a fi shing license and a war-rant check showed two active warrants for indecent exposure and deadly con-duct. The subject was transported to the Harrison County Jail.

LANDOWNERS BLOCK TRESPASSERSAt approximately 10 p.m., Erath

County Game Warden Zach Havens responded to a call from the Erath County Sheriff’s Offi ce in reference to criminal trespass and illegal hunting. The dispatcher stated the landowner was blocking the gate. Havens con-tacted an Erath County deputy who was close by. The deputy entered one blocked gate, and Havens entered a second blocked gate after an adja-cent landowner moved his front-end loader out of the way. Two subjects and several hog dogs suddenly found them-selves pinned between a deputy and a game warden. The individuals and the dogs were escorted off the property.

ONE-DAY LICENSE DOESN’T COVER TOMORROW

While checking bank fi shermen on the Guadalupe River, Victoria County Game Warden Travis Haug walked to a secluded area of the river and

found two men fi shing and smok-ing marijuana. The two men were both arrested for the marijuana, and they were both fi shing with one-day licenses that were issued for the pre-vious day. Cases pending.

YOUNGSTERS GET SURPRISEFROM WARDEN

While on patrol in Archer County, Game Warden Richard Key noticed headlights approaching on a county road from south of his location. Key backed up about 100 yards from the intersection of the two county roads, and the driver of the vehicle approached the intersection, stopped and turned off the lights and engine. Key observed the vehicle for about 10 minutes before approaching it. Upon making contact, Key identifi ed three juveniles who were in posses-sion of a rifl e. The three admitted to hunting from the county road. A bottle of liquor was also in their pos-session. Citations issued.

BRAGGING AT COFFEE SHOP CATCHES EAR OF CALLER

A caller reported to Grayson County Game Warden Michael Hummert that he overheard someone at a local cof-fee shop talking about a doe that had been killed out of season. The caller was only able to provide a possible

last name of the subject and the area of town that he lived in. Hummert began investigating and was able to obtain an address. Three hours later, he had a confession for illegal hunt-ing. Hummert also seized the deer meat and deer hide. The subject faces charges of no hunting license, hunting during closed season, untagged deer, no hunter education and illegal means and methods (gun in an archery-only county). Cases and civil restitution are pending.

STATES WORK TOGETHER ON STRING OF VIOLATIONS

Dimmit County Game Warden Gene Fernandez wrapped up a case that began just six days prior. The case involved an out-of-state oil fi eld worker who shot a big 9-point buck around 12:30 a.m. at an RV park by the Nueces River. The subject shot the buck at night with a light without landowner consent, used a .17-caliber rimfi re rifl e, did not have a valid Texas hunting license and tagged the deer with a tag that he “got from a friend.” After speak-ing with several individuals who witnessed the deer just after being shot, Fernandez received a phone call from an individual stating that the head had been taken to a taxi-dermist’s shop in Louisiana, but that one of the subject’s family members was going to pick it up and attempt to destroy it. Fernandez was able to contact a Louisiana Fish and Game Agent and get the head and cape secured in their possession. That same day, Fernandez received a call from the subject himself stating that he was on his way down from North Texas to give a full confes-sion and turn himself in. Numerous cases pending including one against the friend that gave the subject the tag to illegally tag the deer.

GAME WARDEN BLOTTER

Williamson County Game Warden Turk Jones received a call from Williamson County Communications about a boater in distress on Granger Lake. It was reported that a kayaker had launched his kayak at a primitive boat ramp and was returning from a 16-mile trip on the lake when night fell and he got lost. Losing battery on his cell phone and with temperatures starting to go down, the kayaker called 9-1-1 for help. As Jones was en route

with a patrol boat, Williamson County was able to ping the kayaker’s cell phone and report his possible coordi-nates. Using a GPS unit and the possible coordinates, Jones reached the stranded kayaker. When asked where his life preserver was, the shivering kayaker responded that the lake was not a Class 4 rapid so he did not need a PFD. Jones corrected his thinking and returned him to his vehicle.

WARDEN RESCUES LOST KAYAKER



make sure it was OK and then released it back into the lake when he was sure the bleeding had stopped.

VanDam recently placed 5th at the Elite Series Sunshine Showdown in Tavares, Fla. — one notch below his uncle, top pro Kevin VanDam, who won his fourth Bassmaster Classic in February.

The younger VanDam said he’s not sure why soft drinks can stop fi sh blood, but just about any of them will work, including Sprite and Dr Pepper.

“It doesn’t take much, but it does seem to work,” he said. “I don’t think too many people know about it.”

He’s right. Most university professors and state biologists con-

tacted for this story had never heard of the technique.The technique also perplexed Dr. Greg Stunz, a

marine biologist at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.

“It could potentially do something, but as far as I know, there is no scientifi c evidence,” Stunz said. “I’d love to be wrong on that because it sounds like it could be a great silver bullet, but, right now, I’m a little skep-tical.”

Stunz and his students research fi sh mortality in catch-and-release situations.

He said “global research” consistently shows that only 10 percent of fi sh, fresh or salt water, die during catch and release.

A fi sh usually dies when it gets “hooked deep” in the esophagus, Stunz said.

Brian Waldman of Coatesville Ind., is not a scientist, but he studies fi sh biology as a hobby — when he’s not fi shing for bass.

Waldman said he has seen people do it, and it seemed to work. He has researched soft drink fi rst aid and posted an article about it on his Web site, Big Indiana Bass.

“It’s kind of like an urban myth or legend,” he said. “Everybody has their theory why, but nobody really knows why.”

At fi rst he thought the carbonation might be a coag-ulant, but then he read that carbon dioxide is normally expelled from a fi sh’s body without clotting anything.

Next, he considered the acidity of the drink might cause a minor chemical burn that cauterizes the wound.

But Waldman said he wonders if it has more to do with the liquidity of the drink. He has heard that fi sh blood clots faster in water than in air.

Water, being cooler, may stop bleeding by causing the blood vessels to constrict.

“Maybe just the fact you’re pouring something really liquid on the wound is the equivalent of putting the fi sh back into water.”

And returning the fi sh to the lake or a livewell is widely considered the best way to stop bleeding, Stunz said.

“Our general take on catch and release is the less han-dling, the better,” he said. “The quicker you can unhook it and get back into the water, the better.”

Super moonContinued From Page 1

However, when it came to pulling the mature birds away from hens, some hunters found it tough.

“I wasn’t out this past weekend, but I talked to lots of hunt-ers who were,” said Ray Hood, National Wild Turkey Federation representative. “The birds are gobbling a lot and are starting to engage.

“People heard a lot of gobbling and saw a lot of strutting. The hens are just starting to lay eggs.”

Hood said it would probably be two or three weeks before the hunting peaked in the southern zone, when mature birds breed the majority of the hens and become more responsive to calling.

“It was real windy, but there are a lot of birds out there,” he added.

Jason Hardin, Texas Parks and Wildlife lead turkey biologist, said the toms were still somewhat fl ocked up, and the dry conditions were making nesting tough for hens.

“I haven’t heard of a lot of breeding activity yet,” he said. “But the birds are gobbling.”

Hood said the entire state needs rain soon, or the breeding sea-son will not be a good one.

“We’re still optimistic of a good hatch like last year,” he said. “But we need some rain soon to help with nesting habitat.”

With more hens heading to nests, the hunting should con-tinue to improve during the next few weeks of the season in the South Zone. The North Zone season begins April 2.

Turkey openerContinued From Page 1

some really nice pictures of it, though.”Fishing was all over the map during the full moon.While the moon did affect tides, fi shing remained about the

same as it has been during the past few weeks. Great for some folks, not so great for others. The coast was plagued by strong southeastern winds during the full moon weekend, making fi sh-ing tough in some places.

Bass fi shermen experienced the same thing.Some big fi sh were caught during the full moon, but the major-

ity of those were females moving into spawning areas, which they would have done regardless of how big the full moon was.

Reports from Lake Fork had some nice stringers being caught, but the majority of the bass were in the 5- to 6-pound range.

If the moon had any greater affect than normal on the fi shing, it was hard to quantify. It did make for some great pictures and a nice scene to sit on a dock and enjoy nature.

Mystery cureContinued From Page 1


Jackson attributes the chapter’s success to its 35 committee members and being known for having more raffle items than most.

“We gave away 103 guns this year,” he said. “It’s become the social event of the year around here.”

Cleveland’s banquet also brings out the crowd each year.“In a small town, you have to make it the place that everybody wants to be,”

said Chairman Tom Johnson. “It’s all about the atmosphere — if you do that, you’ll have a good event.”

The top National Wild Turkey Federation chapter was the Pineywoods Chapter out of Lufkin. Shawn Roberts, regional fi eld supervisor, credits the volunteers and the group’s focus on the community.

“We put so much money back in the community, and we try to put together the best show in the town,” Roberts said. “It seems like it has taken hold — we’ve had 12 banquets so far this year and we’re up $80,000 over last year.”

For the Dallas Safari Club, it’s a year-long preparation by staff and hun-dreds of volunteers for a 4-day event.

“We’re continuing to grow because we work hard at letting people know who we are and what we do,” said Executive Director Ben Carter. “We promote it all year long and that attracts members, and many of our members become pas-sionate members.”

DSC’s convention has become a destination show, with exhibitors and attendees from around the globe.

“Our exhibitors do well and attendees come because of the exhibitors,” Carter said, “and our auctions do well because the money goes to causes peo-ple believe in.”

Raise moneyContinued From Page 4

came up on it.”Amos Cooper, biologist for Texas

Parks and Wildlife Department, estimated that an alligator that large would be at least 20 years old, but he could have been as old as 40.

He said gators are top carnivores that eat anything they can catch: fi sh, raccoons, squirrels, feral hogs, an occasional calf, and sometimes each other.

This one, Cooper said, was prob-ably emerging from winter slug-gishness when they eat next to nothing. He said it’s possible that the gator had lived in the area for many years.

“Central Texas has resident pop-ulations of alligators that people never see because they stay out of the way,” Ensinger said.

The investigation evolved. Ensinger said he learned that

some ranch hands had been look-ing for some stray cows when they saw the gator in the creek.

They told another man who, Ensinger believes, searched repeat-edly for the huge reptile before fi nally killing it with a high-pow-ered rifl e.

But the Facebook information allowed the warden to identify the suspect; he questioned the man and then cited him for the illegal taking of an alligator — a Class C misdemeanor.

Lt. Cody Jones at TPWD head-quarters in Austin said wardens have built several cases using infor-mation from Facebook, and he expects there will be more.

For example, game wardens in Kansas reported last year that a Facebook page indicated a Texan illegally killed a trophy deer in their state.

Texas wardens joined the investi-gation, which lead to a Beaumont-area man; they confi scated the deer and archery equipment.

Jones said other sites, like eBay and Craigslist have led wardens to people who were illegally selling game meat on the Internet, or try-ing to get rid animals they turned into pets, like fawns.

“Of course all these new forums for hunting and fi shing are good also,” Jones said. “But dealing with different media sources involves different tactics.

“Facebook is kind of a different situation; you have to be a friend of these folks because of a security set-ting in there.

“We rely heavily on the public to get that information to us. It’s kind of one more tool in our tool chests.”

Social mediaContinued From Page 6

Three elected to Texas Conservation Hall of Fame

A habitat restoration pioneer, a noted conservation-ist-philanthropist, and the state’s largest landowner membership organization, have all been elected to the Texas Conservation Hall of Fame. J. David Bamberger, George C. “Tim” Hixon and the Texas Wildlife Association comprise the Class of 2011 to be inducted at a gala September 22 at the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio.

Each of the 2011 Hall of Fame inductees will receive the Conservation Gold Medal during a ceremony featur-ing video tributes and other more complete information about their conservation infl uences and accomplish-ments.

—Staff report

WFN launches on Comcast in Houston

World Fishing Network, North America’s only 24-hour fi shing lifestyle network, announced that WFN HD is now available to customers in select areas of Houston and the surrounding areas on channel #271. Comcast Houston customers can get WFN as part of Comcast’s Sports and Entertainment Tier.

“Houston is located in the heart of

one of America’s best fi shing spots and as a result the demand for WFN there has been strong,” said Mark Rubinstein, president & CEO of WFN. “We are thrilled to bring WFN to Comcast customers in Houston, and look forward to bringing WFN to more Comcast customers soon.”

—WFN report

USF&W to launch major survey

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will soon be conducting the 12th National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. Hunters, anglers and other wildlife enthusiasts across the nation will be asked to participate in interview-ing set to begin April 1. The survey, which has been conducted every fi ve years since 1955, will involve 53,000 households.

“We appreciate the anglers, hunters, birdwatch-ers and other citizens throughout the United States who voluntarily participate in the survey when con-tacted,” said Acting Director Rowan Gould, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “The survey results help wildlife and natural resource managers quantify how much Americans value wildlife resources in terms of both participation and expenditures.”

—Staff report


Big bass from Caddo caught for second straight year

A lunker bass lurking in Caddo Lake might be the biggest bass caught in the state of Texas for the second year in a row.

De Berry angler Sean Swank was jigging in 4 feet of water when the big female hit. The fi sh weighed 16.07 pounds, was 25 inches long and had a 21.75-inch girth.

When Swank called Texas Parks and Wildlife offi cials to pick the fi sh up, it was scanned for a PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tag, and was found to be the same fi sh caught almost exactly one year before by Keith Burns.

At 16.17 pounds, the fi sh set the lake record and won Burns the 2010 Toyota ShareLunker Angler of the Year in the state of Texas for catching the biggest bass of the season.

Burns returned the fi sh to the lake last year, as most anglers choose to do once the spawning season

is over. Since the fi sh is less than 90 percent Florida bass, it will not be used for spawning but will be returned to Caddo Lake as soon as possible.

This year, it tops a fi sh from Lake Austin that weighed 16.03 pounds. It takes over the number 20 spot on the Top 50 list of big-gest bass ever caught in Texas and also ranks number 16 due to its previous catch, when it weighed 16.17 pounds.

Catches of 16-pound or bigger fi sh are extremely rare. Only 25 have been reported in Texas. Two of those came during the cur-rent season and two last season. Prior to last season, no 16-pound or bigger fi sh had been reported in Texas since the 2001-2002 season. This is the sixth season that two or more 16-pound-plus fi sh have been caught. Three were caught in each of the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons; one of those was the current state record 18.18-pounder caught at Lake Fork in 1992.

—Staff report

Blooms and bitesContinued From Page 11

“Pretty much deer corn can be boiled and I throw a big pile of it out the night before,” Munn said. “I always use the same bait I chum with to fi sh. Some days I’ll go out and it will be pulling in fi sh after fi sh. I’ve had days where I’ve caught 300 or 400 pounds of fi sh.”

Munn said he mostly fi shes around Austin, and his personal best carp, a 38-pounder from Town Lake, was caught during the mid-dle of last summer.

“I’ve had the most success when the weather gets really hot during the summer,” he said. “Right now is when it starts to get good.”

Although summer is prime time, Munn had a pretty good run this past winter, when he set eight new records.

It started on Dec. 31, when he caught a 15.06-pound common carp to break the water body record on Inks Lake. He followed that up with a New Year’s Day lake record Blue cat-fi sh that weighed 30 pounds.

One day later, while fi shing on Lake Travis, Munn set another water body record when he landed a 29.81-pound smallmouth buffalo fi shing with maize.

A week later, on Jan. 9, he set two water body records on Walter E. Long Reservoir. First was a 14.25-pound common carp, followed by a 43.44-pound Smallmouth buffalo. Three days later, he was fi shing on the Comal River when he landed a 20.38-pound common carp to set the river record.

Then another week later, Munn was fi shing on the Colorado River when he caught a 14.69-pound common carp — another record.

Finally, on Feb. 13, he broke his own record on Walter E. Long, when he caught a 48.13-pound Smallmouth buffalo.

“The common carp is a great fi ghting fi sh,” he said. “They pull like a train. They just have so much fi ght in them.

“The buffalo feel like a log, but I’ve seen them come out of the water and dance like a bass.”

Munn said he also caught the unoffi cial state record, when he landed a 54.5-pound grass carp, but didn’t claim the record in time.

“I was 22 days late,” he said. “I didn’t realize it was a record until it was too late.”

Munn said the Internet helped turn him on to carp fi shing.

“I checked out the water body records and got a pretty good idea of where the bigger fi sh were,” he said. “There are some really big bow fi shing records, so I know where the big fi sh are located.”

Munn’s future plans include fi sh-ing local carp tournaments and trips to South Texas to fi sh places like Choke Canyon. Until then, he’ll keep focusing on water around his home and setting new records.

MasterContinued From Page 8

Modern technology allows anglers to accurately measure water temperature at various depths; check the barometric pressure; monitor the solunar tables; and keep tabs on numerous other conditions believed to impact fi sh activity.

While the superstitions of old remain colorful, they are, ultimately, an out-dated method of monitoring fi shing activity, Dean said.

“It all really boils down to fi shing at the right place on the right day,” he said. Concerning the prognosticating ability of foliage, David Winningham of

Natives of Texas Nursery in Kerrville, who is also a retired rocket scientist, said he knows of no correlation between the two.

“The only possible common factor between the two is the temperature,’’ he said, explaining that when the air temperature is warm enough, the water temperature will reach the level where fi sh will become active and in a biting mood.

Not only is there no connection between wood and water, in some cases the blooms are actually detrimental to fi sh populations.

“Dogwood trees, both the eastern variety east of Interstate 35 and the west-ern or mountain variety, have semi-toxic blooms (hazardous to both fi sh and humans),” Winningham said. “Cottonwood trees and especially sycamore trees can drop seeds on the water and the fi sh will think they are fl ies.”

In either scenario, blooming trees are not conducive to a healthy environ-ment for inhabitants of the deep.

Whether an angler wants to observe and act on the old wives’ tales or not, everyone agrees that the best way to determine if the bite is on is to get out on the water and get some kind of bait in front of the fi sh.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: This big bass was the biggest caught in Texas last year and currently is the biggest bass caught so far this year. Photo by David Campbell, TPWD.


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Solunar | Sun times | Moon timesMoon Phases

FOR THE TABLEOUTDOOR PUZZLER | By Wilbur “Wib” Lundeen Solution on Page 22

ACROSS1. An action on a repeating

shotgun 5. Act of bass attacking

baitfi sh 8. Baits that work well for

largemouth 9. Name for the Hawaiian

goose10. Animal hideaways12. Name for a bird gun,

_____ piece13. Fish eggs14. The female turkey15. A female bear16. The formation fl yers19. Fish bite well during this

happening21. Valuable part of many

game23. Gill is a fi sh breathing

____25. Name given to the white-

tail of the North26. Camo covers for a bow28. Used for bait at times29. The ringnecked ______32. The area for hunting34. Young bear35. Group of decoys37. An animal lair39. To carve in metal on

a gun

42. A brand of arrow44. Boat gear45. Place for the still

hunter's stand46. A bow model47. Protective cover for a

scope

DOWN 1. Crappie, perch

classed as this 2. A very good bait 3. A bird shot for sport

shooting 4. To work a lure just

under water's surface 5. A breed of gundog 6. Name for a trout

species 7. A breed of setter11. Used by anglers to

determine depth12. Name for some Arizo-

na whitetails17. Field area where

quail are found18. The ____ fi sh family20. Name for largest of quail

species22. The habitat areas for

deer24. The male pheasant

26. A species of the quail27. Angler's name for a large

crappie29. Name for back leg in

shooting stance30. The hunter's retriever31. A _____ lure33. Name for old gobblers

that stay alone36. This holds power charge

of a shell38. Term for a quick shot40. This nuisance fi sh

tangles trotlines41. The moray43. Code for a type bullet

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

Sun Moon Tides| |

Tenderize wild turkey strips 1 cup dry breadcrumbs1/4 cup Parmesan cheese1 tablespoon fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon thyme or oregano)1 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon pepper

Combine ingredients other

than turkey. Whisk one large egg. Coat the turkey with fl our. Dip in egg and roll in breadcrumbs. Pan fry in a small amount of butter or olive oil until lightly brown, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

— Missouri Department of Conservation

Wild Turkey Fingers

Step 12 lbs. venison roast, cut into large cubes2 cups water1/2 cup tequila2 Serrano chilis, seeded and diced

One day ahead, make roast: In crock pot, combine the above ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low until tender (about 6 hours in a large crock pot). Shred the venison.Step 25 7-ounce cans tomatillo or verde sauce1 1/2 cups tomato sauce1 lb. pepper jack cheese, grated3 15 1/2-ounce cans black beans1 7-ounce can diced chilis

2 dozen corn tortillas2 (9x13 inch) baking dishes

Combine tomatillo sauce and tomato sauces in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring in a 1/2 cup of the cheese. Set aside

Combine shredded venison, black beans, diced chilies and 1/2 cup of sauce in a large bowl.

Fill tortillas with meat mixture and a little cheese, roll and place in baking dish. Once complete, pour remaining sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes or until bubbly.

Serve immediately.— Ginger Hoolan

Ginger’s Southwestern Venison Enchiladas

NewApril 1Last

March 25First

April 8

FullApril 15

Texas Coast TidesSabine Pass, jettyDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightMar 25 1:52 a.m. -0.4 L 11:03 a.m. 2.5 H Mar 26 3:09 a.m. -0.2 L 12:31 p.m. 2.5 H Mar 27 4:31 a.m. 0.0 L 1:28 p.m. 2.3 H Mar 28 5:46 a.m. 0.2 L 1:59 p.m. 2.3 H 7:36 p.m. 1.8 L 11:01 p.m. 2.0 H Mar 29 6:48 a.m. 0.4 L 2:14 p.m. 2.1 H 7:51 p.m. 1.6 L Mar 30 12:23 a.m. 2.1 H 7:38 a.m. 0.5 L 2:22 p.m. 2.1 H 8:06 p.m. 1.4 L Mar 31 1:30 a.m. 2.1 H 8:18 a.m. 0.9 L 2:29 p.m. 2.0 H 8:22 p.m. 1.1 L Apr 01 2:29 a.m. 2.1 H 8:51 a.m. 1.1 L 2:36 p.m. 2.0 H 8:40 p.m. 0.9 L Apr 02 3:21 a.m. 2.3 H 9:20 a.m. 1.3 L 2:46 p.m. 2.0 H 9:02 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 03 4:11 a.m. 2.5 H 9:47 a.m. 1.6 L 2:56 p.m. 2.1 H 9:28 p.m. 0.4 L Apr 04 4:58 a.m. 2.5 H 10:16 a.m. 1.8 L 3:05 p.m. 2.1 H 9:57 p.m. 0.2 L Apr 05 5:47 a.m. 2.5 H 10:46 a.m. 2.0 L 3:09 p.m. 2.1 H 10:29 p.m. 0.2 L Apr 06 6:38 a.m. 2.5 H 11:18 a.m. 2.0 L 3:04 p.m. 2.1 H 11:05 p.m. 0.0 L Apr 07 7:35 a.m. 2.5 H 11:50 a.m. 2.1 L 2:54 p.m. 2.3 H 11:46 p.m. 0.0 L Apr 08 8:40 a.m. 2.5 H 12:21 p.m. 2.3 L 2:54 p.m. 2.5 H

Galveston Bay entrance, south jettyDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightMar 25 2:18 a.m. -0.3 L 11:50 a.m. 2.0 H Mar 26 3:35 a.m. -0.1 L 1:18 p.m. 2.0 H Mar 27 4:57 a.m. 0.0 L 2:15 p.m. 1.9 H Mar 28 6:12 a.m. 0.1 L 2:46 p.m. 1.9 H 8:02 p.m. .4 L 11:48 p.m. 1.6 H Mar 29 7:14 a.m. 0.3 L 3:01 p.m. 1.7 H 8:17 p.m. 1.3 L Mar 30 1:10 a.m. 1.7 H 8:04 a.m. 0.4 L 3:09 p.m. 1.7 H 8:32 p.m. 1.1 L Mar 31 2:17 a.m. 1.7 H 8:44 a.m. 0.7 L 3:16 p.m. 1.6 H 8:48 p.m. 0.9 L Apr 01 3:16 a.m. 1.7 H 9:17 a.m. 0.9 L 3:23 p.m. 1.6 H 9:06 p.m. 0.7 L Apr 02 4:08 a.m. 1.9 H 9:46 a.m. 1.0 L 3:33 p.m. 1.6 H 9:28 p.m. 0.4 L Apr 03 4:58 a.m. 2.0 H 10:13 a.m. 1.3 L 3:43 p.m. 1.7 H 9:54 p.m. 0.3 L Apr 04 5:45 a.m. 2.0 H 10:42 a.m. 1.4 L 3:52 p.m. 1.7 H 10:23 p.m. 0.1 L Apr 05 6:34 a.m. 2.0 H 11:12 a.m. 1.6 L 3:56 p.m. .7 H 10:55 p.m. 0.1 L Apr 06 7:25 a.m. 2.0 H 11:44 a.m. 1.6 L 3:51 p.m. 1.7 H 11:31 p.m. 0.0 L Apr 07 8:22 a.m. 2.0 H 12:16 p.m. 1.7 L 3:41 p.m. 1.9 H Apr 08 12:12 a.m. 0.0 L 9:27 a.m. 2.0 H 12:47 p.m. 1.9 L 3:41 p.m. 2.0 H

San Luis PassDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time Height Mar 25 3:14 a.m. 0.2 L 12:20 p.m. 1.2 H Mar 26 4:31 a.m. -0.1 L 1:48 p.m. 1.2 H Mar 27 5:53 a.m. 0.0 L 2:45 p.m. 1.1 H Mar 28 7:08 a.m. 0.1 L 3:16 p.m. 1.1 H 8:58 p.m. 0.9 L Mar 29 12:18 a.m. 0.9 H 8:10 a.m. 0.2 L 3:31 p.m. 1.0 H 9:13 p.m. 0.8 L Mar 30 1:40 a.m. 1.0 H 9:00 a.m. 0.3 L 3:39 p.m. 1.0 H 9:28 p.m. 0.7 L Mar 31 2:47 a.m. 1.0 H 9:40 a.m. 0.4 L 3:46 p.m. 0.9 H 9:44 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 01 3:46 a.m. 1.0 H 10:13 a.m. 0.5 L 3:53 p.m. 0.9 H 10:0 p.m. 0.4 L Apr 02 4:38 a.m. 1.1 H 10:42 a.m. 0.6 L 4:03 p.m. 0.9 H 10:24 p.m. 0.3 L Apr 03 5:28 a.m. 1.2 H 11:09 a.m. 0.8 L 4:13 p.m. 1.0 H 10:50 p.m. 0.2 L Apr 04 6:15 a.m. 1.2 H 11:38 a.m. 0.9 L 4:22 p.m. 1.0 H 11:19 p.m. 0.1 L Apr 05 7:04 a.m. 1.2 H 12:08 p.m. 0.9 L 4:26 p.m. 1.0 H 11:51 p.m. 0.1 L Apr 06 7:55 a.m. 1.2 H 12:40 p.m. 0.9 L 4:21 p.m. 1.0 H Apr 07 12:27 a.m. 0.0 L 8:52 a.m. 1.2 H 1:12 p.m. 1.0 L 4:11 p.m. 1.1 H Apr 08 1:08 a.m. 0.0 L 9:57 a.m. 1.2 H 1:43 p.m. 1.1 L 4:11 p.m. 1.2 H

Freeport HarborDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightMar 25 2:15 a.m. -0.2 L 11:12 a.m. 1.7 H Mar 26 3:32 a.m. -0.1 L 12:40 p.m. 1.7 H Mar 27 4:54 a.m. 0.0 L 1:37 p.m. 1.6 H Mar 28 6:09 a.m. 0.1 L 2:08 p.m. 1.6 H 7:59 p.m. 0.9 L 11:10 p.m. 1.4 H Mar 29 7:11 a.m. 0.2 L 2:23 p.m. 1.5 H 8:14 p.m. 0.8 L Mar 30 12:32 a.m. 1.5 H 8:01 a.m. 0.3 L 2:31 p.m. 1.5 H 8:29 p.m. 0.7 L Mar 31 1:39 a.m. 1.5 H 8:41 a.m. 0.5 L 2:38 p.m. 1.4 H 8:45 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 01 2:38 a.m. 1.5 H 9:14 a.m. 0.5 L 2:45 p.m. 1.4 H 9:03 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 02 3:30 a.m. 1.6 H 9:43 a.m. 0.6 L 2:55 p.m. 1.4 H 9:25 p.m. 0.3 L Apr 03 4:20 a.m. 1.7 H 10:10 a.m. 0.8 L 3:05 p.m. 1.5 H 9:51 p.m. 0.2 L Apr 04 5:07 a.m. 1.7 H 10:39 a.m. 0.9 L 3:14 p.m. 1.5 H 10:20 p.m. 0.1 L Apr 05 5:56 a.m. 1.7 H 11:09 a.m. 1.0 L 3:18 p.m. 1.5 H 10:52 p.m. 0.1 L Apr 06 6:47 a.m. 1.7 H 11:41 a.m. 1.0 L 3:13 p.m. 1.5 H 11:28 p.m. 0.0 L Apr 07 7:44 a.m. .7 H 12:13 p.m. 1.1 L 3:03 p.m. 1.6 H Apr 08 12:09 a.m. 0.0 L 8:49 a.m. 1.7 H 12:44 p.m. 1.2 L 3:03 p.m. 1.7 H

South Padre IslandDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightMar 25 1:47 a.m. -0.5 L 12:18 p.m. 1.5 H Mar 26 2:58 a.m. -0.4 L 1:23 p.m. 1.5 H Mar 27 4:11 a.m. -0.2 L 2:03 p.m. 1.5 H Mar 28 5:24 a.m. 0.0 L 2:26 p.m. 1.4 H Mar 29 6:31 a.m. 0.2 L 2:40 p.m. 1.3 H 7:43 p.m. 1.1 L 11:56 p.m. 1.2 H Mar 30 7:31 a.m. 0.4 L 2:46 p.m. 1.3 H 8:00 p.m. 0.9 L Mar 31 1:29 a.m. 1.3 H 8:25 a.m. 0.6 L 2:47 p.m. 1.2 H 8:22 p.m. 0.8 L Apr 01 2:42 a.m. 1.3 H 9:15 a.m. 0.7 L 2:41 p.m. 1.1 H 8:45 p.m. 0.6 L Apr 02 3:45 a.m. 1.4 H 10:05 a.m. 0.8 L 2:28 p.m. 1.0 H 9:08 p.m. 0.4 L Apr 03 4:42 a.m. 1.4 H 10:56 a.m. 0.9 L 2:06 p.m. 1.0 H 9:33 p.m. 0.2 L Apr 04 5:35 a.m. 1.4 H 9:59 p.m. 0.1 L Apr 05 6:30 a.m. 1.4 H 10:29 p.m. -0.1 L Apr 06 7:30 a.m. 1.4 H 11:04 p.m. -0.1 L Apr 07 8:40 a.m. 1.4 H 11:47 p.m. -0.2 L Apr 08 10:01 a.m. 1.5 H

Port O’ConnorDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightMar 25 4:52 a.m. -0.2 L 6:50 p.m. 0.9 H Mar 26 6:06 a.m. -0.1 L 7:29 p.m. 0.9 H Mar 27 7:29 a.m. 0.0 L 7:57 p.m. 0.9 H Mar 28 8:51 a.m. 0.0 L 8:04 p.m. 0.8 H Mar 29 10:04 a.m. 0.1 L 7:46 p.m. 0.7 H Mar 30 11:09 a.m. 0.2 L 7:26 p.m. 0.6 H 11:29 p.m. 0.5 L Mar 31 4:19 a.m. 0.7 H 12:07 p.m. 0.3 L 7:06 p.m. 0.6 H 11:38 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 01 5:56 a.m. 0.7 H 1:06 p.m. 0.4 L 6:38 p.m. 0.5 H 11:55 p.m. 0.4 L Apr 02 7:13 a.m. 0.7 H 2:13 p.m. 0.4 L 5:49 p.m. 0.5 H Apr 03 12:17 a.m. 0.3 L 8:24 a.m. 0.8 H Apr 04 12:41 a.m. 0.2 L 9:37 a.m. 0.8 H Apr 05 1:08 a.m. 0.1 L 11:05 a.m. 0.8 H Apr 06 1:41 a.m. 0.1 L 1:19 p.m. 0.9 H Apr 07 2:18 a.m. 0.1 L 3:20 p.m. 1.0 H Apr 08 3:03 a.m. 0.0 L 4:30 p.m. 1.0 H

RockportDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightMar 25 6:02 a.m. -0.05 L 8:50 p.m. 0.30 HMar 26 7:08 a.m. -0.03 L 10:07 p.m. 0.31 HMar 27 8:11 a.m. 0.00 L 11:21 p.m. 0.31 HMar 28 9:09 a.m. 0.03 LMar 29 12:31 a.m. 0.30 H 9:57 a.m. 0.07 LMar 30 1:42 a.m. 0.29 H 10:35 a.m. 0.11 LMar 31 3:03 a.m. 0.27 H 11:01 a.m. 0.15 L 4:26 p.m. 0.19 H 9:00 p.m. 0.17 LApr 01 4:43 a.m. 0.26 H 11:17 a.m. 0.20 L 3:56 p.m. 0.22 H 10:46 p.m. 0.15 LApr 02 6:51 a.m. 0.25 H 11:19 a.m. 0.24 L 3:46 p.m. 0.26 HApr 03 2:01 a.m. 0.13 L 3:47 p.m. 0.29 HApr 04 12:59 a.m. 0.11 L 3:56 p.m. 0.32 HApr 05 1:51 a.m. 0.10 L 4:15 p.m. 0.34 HApr 06 2:40 a.m. 0.10 L 4:49 p.m. 0.36 HApr 07 3:32 a.m. 0.10 L 5:42 p.m. 0.37 HApr 08 4:28 a.m. 0.10 L 6:47 p.m. 0.39 H

Houston2011 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONMar-Apr Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets25 Fri 11:33 5:19 ----- 5:47 07:19 07:34 1:25a 11:51a 26 Sat Q 12:05 6:16 12:29 6:43 07:18 07:35 2:18a 12:49p 27 Sun 12:55 7:08 1:20 7:33 07:17 07:36 3:05a 1:47p 28 Mon 1:42 7:54 2:05 8:17 07:15 07:36 3:45a 2:44p 29 Tue 2:24 8:35 2:46 8:57 07:14 07:37 4:21a 3:39p30 Wed 3:03 9:13 3:24 9:34 07:13 07:37 4:53a 4:32p 31 Thu 3:39 9:49 3:59 10:10 07:12 07:38 5:23a 5:24p 01 Fri > 4:15 10:25 4:35 10:46 07:11 07:38 5:52a 6:16p 02 Sat > 4:53 11:03 5:13 11:23 07:09 07:39 6:21a 7:08p 03 Sun N 5:33 11:43 5:54 12:04 07:08 07:40 6:51a 8:01p 04 Mon > 6:16 12:05 6:38 12:27 07:07 07:40 7:23a 8:56p 05 Tue > 7:03 12:51 7:26 1:14 07:06 07:41 7:58a 9:51p 06 Wed 7:54 1:42 8:18 2:06 07:05 07:41 8:37a 10:47p 07 Thu 8:48 2:35 9:13 3:01 07:04 07:42 9:21a 11:42p 08 Fri 9:44 3:31 10:11 3:58 07:02 07:42 10:10a NoMoon 09 Sat 10:42 4:29 11:09 4:55 07:01 07:43 11:04a 12:35a 10 Sun Q 11:39 5:25 ----- 5:52 07:00 07:44 12:02p 1:26a 11 Mon 12:10 6:21 12:34 6:47 06:59 07:44 1:04p 2:13a 12 Tue 1:00 7:13 1:26 7:39 06:58 07:45 2:08p 2:57a13 Wed 1:49 8:02 2:15 8:28 06:57 07:45 3:13p 3:38a

Port Aransas, H. Caldwell PierDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightMar 25 1:57 a.m. -0.2 L 11:43 a.m. 1.6 H Mar 26 3:14 a.m. -0.1 L 1:11 p.m. 1.6 H Mar 27 4:36 a.m. 0.0 L 2:08 p.m. 1.5 H Mar 28 5:51 a.m. 0.1 L 2:39 p.m. 1.5 H 7:41 p.m. 0.8 L 11:41 p.m. 1.3 H Mar 29 6:53 a.m. 0.2 L 2:54 p.m. 1.4 H 7:56 p.m. 0.7 L Mar 30 1:03 a.m. 1.4 H 7:43 a.m. 0.2 L 3:02 p.m. 1.4 H 8:11 p.m. 0.6 L Mar 31 2:10 a.m. 1.4 H 8:23 a.m. 0.4 L 3:09 p.m. 1.3 H 8:27 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 01 3:09 a.m. 1.4 H 8:56 a.m. 0.5 L 3:16 p.m. 1.3 H 8:45 p.m. 0.4 L Apr 02 4:01 a.m. 1.5 H 9:25 a.m. 0.5 L 3:26 p.m. 1.3 H 9:07 p.m. 0.2 L Apr 03 4:51 a.m. 1.6 H 9:52 a.m. 0.7 L 3:36 p.m. 1.4 H 9:33 p.m. 0.2 L Apr 04 5:38 a.m. 1.6 H 10:21 a.m. 0.8 L 3:45 p.m. 1.4 H 10:02 p.m. 0.1 L Apr 05 6:27 a.m. 1.6 H 10:51 a.m. 0.8 L 3:49 p.m. 1.4 H 10:34 p.m. 0.1 L Apr 06 7:18 a.m. 1.6 H 11:23 a.m. 0.8 L 3:44 p.m. 1.4 H 11:10 p.m. 0.0 L Apr 07 8:15 a.m. 1.6 H 11:55 a.m. 0.9 L 3:34 p.m. 1.5 H 11:51 p.m. 0.0 L Apr 08 9:20 a.m. 1.6 H 12:26 p.m. 1.0 L 3:34 p.m. 1.6 H

San Antonio2011 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONMar-Apr Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets25 Fri 11:46 5:32 ----- 6:00 07:32 07:47 1:37a 12:04p 26 Sat Q 12:18 6:29 12:42 6:55 07:30 07:47 2:30a 1:03p 27 Sun 1:08 7:20 1:33 7:45 07:29 07:48 3:17a 2:01p 28 Mon 1:54 8:06 2:18 8:30 07:28 07:48 3:57a 2:57p 29 Tue 2:36 8:47 2:59 9:10 07:27 07:49 4:33a 3:52p30 Wed 3:15 9:26 3:36 9:47 07:26 07:50 5:06a 4:45p 31 Thu 3:52 10:02 4:12 10:22 07:24 07:50 5:36a 5:37p 01 Fri > 4:28 10:38 4:48 10:58 07:23 07:51 6:05a 6:29p 02 Sat > 5:05 11:15 5:26 11:36 07:22 07:51 6:34a 7:21p 03 Sun N 5:45 11:56 6:06 12:17 07:21 07:52 7:04a 8:14p 04 Mon > 6:28 12:17 6:50 12:39 07:20 07:52 7:37a 9:08p 05 Tue > 7:15 1:04 7:38 1:27 07:19 07:53 8:12a 10:03p 06 Wed 8:06 1:54 8:31 2:18 07:17 07:54 8:51a 10:59p 07 Thu 9:01 2:48 9:26 3:13 07:16 07:54 9:35a 11:54p 08 Fri 9:57 3:44 10:23 4:10 07:15 07:55 10:24a NoMoon 09 Sat 10:54 4:41 11:21 5:08 07:14 07:55 11:17a 12:47a 10 Sun Q 11:51 5:38 ----- 6:05 07:13 07:56 12:16p 1:38a 11 Mon 12:22 6:33 12:46 7:00 07:12 07:56 1:17p 2:25a 12 Tue 1:12 7:25 1:39 7:52 07:11 07:57 2:22p 3:09a13 Wed 2:01 8:14 2:28 8:41 07:10 07:58 3:27p 3:50a

Amarillo2011 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONMar-Apr Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets25 Fri 11:59 5:45 ----- 6:13 07:44 08:01 2:06a 12:03p 26 Sat Q 12:31 6:42 12:55 7:09 07:43 08:02 2:59a 1:02p 27 Sun 1:21 7:33 1:46 7:59 07:41 08:03 3:44a 2:02p 28 Mon 2:08 8:19 2:31 8:43 07:40 08:03 4:22a 3:01p 29 Tue 2:50 9:01 3:12 9:23 07:38 08:04 4:55a 3:59p30 Wed 3:28 9:39 3:49 10:00 07:37 08:05 5:25a 4:55p 31 Thu 4:05 10:15 4:25 10:36 07:36 08:06 5:53a 5:50p 01 Fri > 4:41 10:51 5:01 11:11 07:34 08:07 6:19a 6:44p 02 Sat > 5:19 11:29 5:39 11:49 07:33 08:07 6:45a 7:39p 03 Sun N 5:59 ----- 6:19 12:30 07:31 08:08 7:13a 8:35p 04 Mon > 6:42 12:31 7:04 12:53 07:30 08:09 7:42a 9:32p 05 Tue > 7:29 1:17 7:52 1:40 07:29 08:10 8:15a 10:29p 06 Wed 8:20 2:08 8:44 2:32 07:27 08:10 8:52a 11:27p 07 Thu 9:14 3:01 9:39 3:27 07:26 08:11 9:34a NoMoon 08 Fri 10:10 3:57 10:36 4:23 07:25 08:12 10:22a 12:23a 09 Sat 11:08 4:54 11:34 5:21 07:23 08:13 11:16a 1:16a 10 Sun Q ----- 5:51 12:05 6:18 07:22 08:14 12:16p 2:06a 11 Mon 12:36 6:46 1:00 7:13 07:21 08:14 1:20p 2:52a 12 Tue 1:26 7:39 1:52 8:05 07:19 08:15 2:27p 3:33a13 Wed 2:15 8:28 2:41 8:54 07:18 08:16 3:35p 4:11a

Dallas2011 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONMar-Apr Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets25 Fri 11:39 5:25 ----- 5:53 07:24 07:40 1:38a 11:48a 26 Sat Q 12:11 6:22 12:35 6:48 07:23 07:41 2:31a 12:47p 27 Sun 1:01 7:13 1:26 7:38 07:21 07:42 3:17a 1:46p 28 Mon 1:47 7:59 2:11 8:23 07:20 07:42 3:57a 2:44p 29 Tue 2:29 8:40 2:52 9:03 07:19 07:43 4:31a 3:41p 30 Wed 3:08 9:19 3:29 9:40 07:17 07:44 5:02a 4:35p 31 Thu 3:45 9:55 4:05 10:15 07:16 07:44 5:31a 5:29p01 Fri > 4:21 10:31 4:41 10:51 07:15 07:45 5:58a 6:22p 02 Sat > 4:58 11:08 5:19 11:29 07:14 07:46 6:26a 7:16p 03 Sun N 5:38 11:49 5:59 12:10 07:12 07:47 6:54a 8:11p 04 Mon > 6:21 12:10 6:43 12:32 07:11 07:47 7:25a 9:07p 05 Tue > 7:08 12:57 7:31 1:20 07:10 07:48 7:58a 10:03p 06 Wed 7:59 1:47 8:24 2:11 07:08 07:49 8:36a 11:00p 07 Thu 8:54 2:41 9:19 3:06 07:07 07:49 9:19a 11:55p 08 Fri 9:50 3:37 10:16 4:03 07:06 07:50 10:07a NoMoon 09 Sat 10:47 4:34 11:14 5:01 07:05 07:51 11:01a 12:49a 10 Sun Q 11:44 5:31 ----- 5:58 07:03 07:51 12:00p 1:39a 11 Mon 12:15 6:26 12:39 6:53 07:02 07:52 1:03p 2:26a 12 Tue 1:05 7:18 1:32 7:45 07:01 07:53 2:09p 3:08a 13 Wed 1:54 8:07 2:21 8:34 07:00 07:54 3:16p 3:47a


HEROES

Congratulations, Will! You can claim your Nikon 10 X 42

Trailblazer ATB binoculars at the

Nikon Sport Optics dealer nearest you:

McBride’s Guns Inc.2915 San Gabriel St

Austin, TX 78705-3532(512) 472-3532

WILL LIARDON, 8, of Austin took his fi rst buck last deer season on the Reynolds

Ranch near Sterling City. This West Texas trophy was dropped with one round from

Will’s single-shot Ruger No. 1 chambered in .257 Roberts.

CADE CROYSDALE, 10, of Duncanville shot his fi rst deer last season during the youth weekend hunt on the Rocky Ridge Ranch near Comanche.

DELORES DELGADO of Raymondville landed this largemouth bass recently from the bank at Choke Canyon State Park. Her lure was a watermelon lizard. The fi sh was 21 inches long and weighed 5 pounds.

RYAN WARNER of Dallas was drawn for the youth deer hunt last season at the White Oak Creek Wildlife Management Area in northeast Texas. The 9-year-old hunter harvested a spike and an eight-point buck. The eight-pointer was dropped at 300 yards with a shot to the neck.

TANNER WINN, 6, of Windcrest downed this mature eight-point buck during the special 2010 youth deer season.

This 43-inch black drum was caught by RUDY GARCIA of

Atascosa at the Copano Fishing Pier.


DATEBOOKMarch 25-27North Texas Chapter SCIOutdoor ExpoBass Pro Shops, Grapevinewww.scinorthtexas.com

March 26Rice Belt Ducks UnlimitedAnnual Fun ShootMeek Ranch, El Campo(979) 332-0657www.ducks.org

Texas Gun and Knife Association Show Abilene Civic Center, Abilene(830) 285-0575www.texasgunandknifeshows.com

Texas Deer Association5th Annual Leo Hicks Production SaleSan Marcos(800) 392-3819www.hickswhitetaildeer.com

Houston Safari ClubAppreciation Clay Shoot Camp Karankawawww.bacbsa.org

Lufkin Ducks UnlimitedLufkin Civic Center(936) 212-1304www.ducks.org

April 1-3Greater Houston Christian Outdoor Fellowship13th Annual Bass Fishing TournamentQuantum Lakes, Cleveland(281) 788-8435www.quantumlakes.com

April 6Houston Safari ClubMonthly meetingEmbassy Suites(713) 623-8844www.houstonsafariclub.org

April 7Hill Country Quail CoalitionAnnual Dinner and AuctionThe Bob Bullock Museum, Austin(512) 757-0892www.quailcoalition.org

Grand Prairie Ducks UnlimitedRuthe Jackson Center(214) 957-2449www.ducks.org

April 7-10Texas International Boat ShowCorpus Christi Downtown Marina(561) 842-8808www.texasinternationalboatshow.com

April 9 Austin Smiles14th Annual “Shoot for a Smile” TournamentCypress Valley Preserve(512) 451-9300www.austinsmiles.org

Dallas Safari Club4th Annual Big Bore ShootWhitewright(972) 980-9800www.biggame.org

April 14-17South West International Boat ShowSouth Shore Harbour Marina, League City (561) 842-8808www.southwestinternationalboatshow.com

April 15-16Taxidermy AuctionWill Rogers Memorial Center, Ft. Worth(512) 451-7633www.taxidermyking.com

April 16Kimble County Chamber of CommerceOutdoor Women Gone Wild, Junction(325) 446-3190www.junctiontexas.com

Houston Safari ClubCrawfi sh boil(713) 623-8844www.houstonsafariclub.org

April 21McKinney Ducks Unlimited32nd annual banquetMyers Park Event Center(972) 529-0091www.ducks.org

April 27Central Texas Safari Club Wild Game Gourmet DinnerAustin(512) 773-5674

April 28San Antonio Ducks UnlimitedSportsman’s Night OutMacArthur Park Pavilion(210) 396-6282www.ducks.org

April 29Duck JamWolf Pen Creek, College Station(512) 944-3828www.duckjam.org

April 30 - May 1Texas Gun and Knife Association Show Hill Country Exhibition CenterKerrville(830) 285-0575www.texasgunandknifeshows.com

April 30 - May 22011 Quail MastersRoby(325) 653-4576

May 5Fort Worth CCA Banquet and AuctionJoe T. Garcia's Mexican RestaurantFort Worth(817) 437-8351

Lone Star Outdoor News growing

Combining its print and online versions, Lone Star Outdoor News reaches more than 270,000 readers each month.

“In other words,” said founder and CEO David J. Sams, “more than 6.4 million eyes see LSON content each year.”

And now, as mainstream newspa-pers continue to shrink, LSON is still bucking the trends. It is growing.

The March 11 issue of Lone Star Outdoor News was the fi rst one to be published at 45,000 copies — up 5,000 copies from its most recent press runs.

“We’re excited about this growth,” said Craig Nyhus, executive editor. “Our audited circulation results told us it was time to bump it up, and our plan is to keep growing.”

A new addition to the LSON Web site is our hunting and fi shing forum. This is designed to provide readers a chance to discuss the latest hunting and fi shing news, post reports and brag about the big buck they killed or trophy fi sh they caught. We encour-age all of our readers to participate in the newest way to enjoy LSON.

Now in its seventh year, Lone Star Outdoor News brings readers timely reports twice each month on hunting and fi shing in Texas.

The newspaper’s home page is at http://www.LSONews.com.

Go to www.LSON/Forum to REGISTER for the

Hunting and Fishing Forums

*

Become more involved with theOutdoor Community

* One lucky winnerwill receive an

Academy gift card.

Lone Star Outdoor News, a publication of Lone Star Outdoor News, LLC, publishes twice a month. A mailed subscription is $30 for 24 issues. Newsstand copies are free, one per person. Copyright 2011 with all rights reserved. Reproduction and/or use of any photographic or written material with-out written permission by the publisher is prohibited. Subscribers may send address changes to: Lone Star Outdoor News, P.O. Box 551695, Dallas, TX 75355 or e-mail them to [email protected].

Advertising Call (214) 361-2276 or e-mail editor@lone staroutdoornews.com to request a media kit.

For home delivery subscriptions www.LSONews.com(214) 361-2276

Executive Editor

Editor

Associate Editor

Associate Editor

Graphics Editor

Business/Products Editor

Operations Manager

Accounting

Web site

Intern

Founder & CEO

Craig Nyhus

Bill Miller

Conor Harrison

Mark England

Amy Moore

Mary Helen Aguirre

Mike Hughs

Ginger Hoolan

Bruce Soileau

Mike Nelson

Blazing Paths Media

Nicholas Conklin

David J. Sams

National Advertising Accounts Manager

Classifi ed/Outfi ttersAdvertising

Contributors Kyle CarterAlan ClemonsDavid DraperWilbur LundeenAaron ReedErich SchlegelDavid SikesScott SommerlatteChuck UzzleRalph Winingham


LUNKER: Jason Shropshire, of Cleveland, caught this 13.56-pound bass March 9 on Falcon International Reservoir. The catch was made in 22 feet of 70-de-gree water using a Senko. Photo by TPWD.

Texas big bass bites

FOURTEEN POUNDS PLUS: Ed Carter, of Broken Bow, Okla., used a black lizard lure March 13 to catch this 14.25-pound bass on Lake Fork. Photo by Larry D. Hodge, TPWD.

FALCON RELEASES ANOTHER: David Cosner of Aus-tin caught this 13.6-pound large-mouth March 13 at Falcon International Reservoir. Photo by Nathan Reynolds, TPWD.

FALCON: Todd Elrod, of Fritch, caught this bass on Falcon International Reservoir March 15. The fi sh weighed 13.19 pounds. Photo by Ryan Fontana, TPWD.

Ward's top bass wins Oakley event at Lake Conroe

Josh Ward of Montgomery, Texas caught a 9.98-pound bass to win the 2011 Oakley 14th annual Big Bass Classic March 5-6 on Lake Conroe.

More than 600 competing anglers faced brutal conditions Saturday as rain, high winds and a cold front hit Conroe.

“The front hampered fi shing conditions, and the double-digit fi sh that Conroe is known for evaded anglers the entire weekend,” said Louis Wellen of Oakley Sports Marketing.

Sunday's weather improved dramatically, and so did the quality of the fi sh brought to the scales. Evers takes title in Florida

Trailing three-day leader Alton Jones of Waco, Edwin Evers caught an 8-pound, 13-ounce “mule” on the fi nal day to win the Bassmaster Elite Series Power-Pole Citrus Slam on the St. Johns River in Central Florida.

“Awesome, awesome, awesome,” Evers said.Targeting the backwaters of the St. Johns River system, he

weighed in 19 pounds to total 77-1 and shut out three-day leader Jones and hard-charging local favorite Terry Scroggins.

Trailing Jones by about 2 1/2 pounds before Sunday's fi nale, Evers sealed his sixth Bassmaster victory by overtaking Jones and besting him by almost 3 pounds.

Jones' sight bite, which included the event's biggest bag of

26-9 on Day One, died, and he only brought 13-2 to the scales Sunday. He fi nished in third place with 73-12, leaving second place to Scroggins, who moved over him with the day's biggest bag of 20-4 for a 74-3 total.

Sight-fi shing the fl ats of a St. Johns lake the fi rst day, he shared the spot with many other Elite pros, and Evers started out in 20th place.

Evers, from Mansfi eld, Okla., moved into second place at the end of the third day, and went to a spot he’d fi shed early in the tournament to attempt to catch a big fi sh he knew was there.

Newberry wins on Sam RayburnDickey Newberry of Houston caught fi ve bass weighing 19

pounds, 10 ounces to win the Walmart Bass Fishing League Cowboy Division March 12 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Newberry edged out Bryan native Tommy Mackey by 1 pound, 2 ounces to claim the title, $6,000, and a big jump in the overall standings.

The top 40 anglers based on points from the fi ve Cowboy Division tournaments will qualify for the regional championship Nov. 3-5 on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Ark.

Castledine tops on Toledo BendTodd Castledine, of Nacogdoches, weighed a fi ve-bass limit

totaling 18 pounds, 9 ounces Saturday to win the EverStart Series Texas Division event on Toledo Bend with a three-day total of 15 bass weighing 65 pounds, 2 ounces. For his victory,

Castledine earned $27,842.“Seems like every week I come up against these guys, (Bird

and Martin), but I love the competition. It makes me a better fi sherman,” said Castledine. “This really has been an incredible week. This morning after my boat broke down I was real nervous, but then everyone came out to help and I knew I was prepared for this moment and everything worked out.”

“I was sight-fi shing all week long,” Castledine went on to say. “I never strayed and stayed 100 percent committed to that. I love to sight-fi sh and know that it is one of my strengths. All my fi sh were caught off beds using a sweet beaver. I was mostly in about 2 to 3 feet of water.”

Lamar clinches CFL Texas eventThe Lamar University team of Matt Morrison and Danny Iles

won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Texas Division event on Toledo Bend Saturday with fi ve bass weighing 19 pounds, 6 ounces. The win helped them advance to the Texas Division Regional Championship.

"We had a pretty decent day," said Iles. "We had about 10 keeper fi sh, which was a few more than the rest of the teams seemed to have. Most of the other teams were sight fi shing. We didn't do much sight-fi shing, which is what I think made the difference for us. We were using Strike King Game Hawgs and an All Terrain Jig with a Strike King Game Hawg trailer to catch most of our fi sh. Our big one came with the Strike King Game Hawg.”

Bass tournament roundup


Puzzle solution from Page 18

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