Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper in Texas
April 24, 2015
Volume 11, Issue 17
Toledo Bend uprising Largemouth fishing never been better on border lake with Louisiana
By Conor Harrison LONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS
It has been one heck of a spring for bass anglers on Toledo Bend Reservoir. The border lake has seen an incredible number of bass over 8 pounds caught in the past few months, and anglers and biologists are taking notice. According to Todd Driscoll, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Inland Fisheries biologist for the region, several unique factors have helped Toledo Bend in the past few years. “No doubt, Toledo Bend is arguably fishing as good as any reservoir in the country right now, for both total numbers and large fish,” Driscoll said. “I would attribute this to habitat conditions, forage abundance, routine Florida largemouth bass stockings and the sheer size of the reservoir.” Driscoll said year after year, Toledo Bend has an abundance of favorable habitat (primarily aquatic vegetation) that provides cover for fingerling bass to hide in and escape predation. “This allows for abundant and stable year classes of bass nearly every year, which eventually results in high numbers of fish available
for angler catch,” he said. “Aquatic vegetation also provides habitat for adult bass, positions them in more predictable places for anglers to target and typically results in higher angler catch rates. Favorable habitat conditions, along with productivity of the watershed, also results in high forage abundance (primarily threadfin shad, gizzard shad and sunfish).” Ample forage equates to good growth rates of bass and increased numbers of trophy-sized fish. Both TPWD and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fish stock Florida largemouth bass nearly every year, which has also helped produce good numbers of big bass. Longtime guide Greg Crafts said this has been one of the craziest springs he can remember. “It really has been a great spring,” Crafts said. “I think 75 bass have been submitted to the Louisiana lunker program this year, and all of those bass are over 10 pounds. I think the spawn was spread out this year. We had warm weather in January and February; then we got the cold fronts and the rain. The bass started moving shallow and then it kept knocking those fish back and extended the spawn.” Crafts said the north end of the
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Aiming high
African hogs likely escapees from ranches that import exotics By Craig Nyhus
LONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS Biologist Daniel Walker saw an unusual although not totally unexpected sight when flying a helicopter survey over the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area near Cotulla. A warthog was running beneath the chopper. “We knew some were on the property,” he said, “A neighboring ranch had released some last spring and I had seen one on the ground at the WMA so we figured we might see him as we flew over this area.” How did the African pig that gained fame in the U.S. in the movie The Lion King get there? “There are warthogs around,” said Stephen Lange, area manager at the Chaparral WMA. “Most likely they Please turn to page 6
INSIDE
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FINDING THE BIG ONES: Anglers are heading to Toledo Bend Reservoir this spring for excellent bass fi shing, which can be attributed to several factors such as low overall pressure and lots of forage. Photo by David J. Sams, LSON.
Warthogs in Texas
CONTENTS Classifieds . . . . . . . . Crossword . . . . . . . . Freshwater Fishing Report For the Table . . . . . . . Game Warden Blotter . . . Heroes. . . . . . . . . . Outdoor Datebook . . . . Saltwater Fishing Report . Sun, Moon and Tide data .
Please turn to page 11
SMALL GIRL, BIG TARGET: Chloe McNeese, 9, from Haslet, takes aim at a giraffe target at the Rinehart 100 at Cinnamon Creek. Photo by LSON.
Archers descend on Cinnamon Creek Ranch UNUSUAL SIGHTING: Warthogs, native to Africa, have been spotted at some South Texas ranches and at the Chaparral WMA. Photo by Conor Harrison, LSON.
HUNTING
Smartphone tagging Toms responding Turkeys this year, could big game tags on your phone be next? Page 4
Nearly 500 archers from all over the South arrived at Cinnamon Creek Ranch in Roanoke for the Rinehart 100 3D Archery Shoot April 18-19. The shoot featured 100 targets supplied by Rinehart Targets along courses through the woods in North American and African ranges. Please turn to page 5
FISHING
Mixed bag offshore
Is it worth it?
Hunters having better success as season Big bass dying at a bad ratio in Some kingfish showing up offshore, along progresses. TPWD program. with an invasive species. Page 4 Page 8 Page 8