Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper in Texas
May 27, 2016
Volume 12, Issue 19
Rolling down the river Musician takes advantage of access
By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News Grant Braudrick is a musician and singersongwriter known as Ole G, and plays all over, but mostly in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Nearly all of his gigs are at night — leaving the day open for his favorite pastime, fishing. “I was in the banking industry for five years after college,” Braudrick said. “Then I dove into the music business and have been doing it for six years — it gives me more free time to focus on fishing.” Much of Braudrick’s time is spent on rivers with his fly rod. “If I’m on a river, I’m fly-fishing,” he said. “Usually, I’m fishing for bass, gar, carp or drum. If I go to a bigger lake, I use conventional tackle — you can cover more water and catch more fish.” Recently, Braudrick and a friend with a shallow-water skiff hit the Brazos and went five miles from Lake Whitney. “We fished the whole way and caught a bunch of nice fish,” Braudrick said. “I caught a 3-pound smallie and 5-pound largemouth. He caught a 6-pounder.” And he avoided a long paddle back to the vehicle. “We quit at 2:30, booked it back to the dam in 15 minutes — as opposed to several hours.” The musician’s fishing spots span the area, as he hits many of the popular spots, usually on a weekday, including the Brazos River below Lake Whitney and Possum Kingdom Reservoir, the Red River below Denison Dam
CELEBRATING SUCCESS: Grant Braudrick is happy about the Brazos River largemouth he caught while fly-casting recently. He prefers to fly-fish rivers by day, and the musician known as Ole G plays gigs at night. TPWD has increased river access points on many popular rivers. Photo by Grant Braudrick.
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Heavy rains flood parts of Texas
CONTENTS Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12 Freshwater Fishing Report . Page 10 Saltwater Fishing Report . . Page 14 Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . Page 18
Lone Star Outdoor News
By Craig Nyhus
Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 20
Lone Star Outdoor News
Crossword . . . . . . . . . Page 26 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Page 28 Outdoor Datebook . . . . . Page 30
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Stan Chism was at his hunting lease in Callahan County after the rains came. The round of storms that pounded the area flooded his feeders, likely ruining a thousand or so DELUGE: After storms hit Calpounds of corn and lahan County, some feeders on protein. One of his hunting leases were mostly unblinds floated to and derwater. Photo by Stan Chism. down a nearby creek, but was later recovered. To lighten the mood, his buddy, Jeremy, sat on top of the feeder and took out his fishing rod to see if he could catch a carp. Nearby at Lake Brownwood, Jim Tolson had installed a sprinkler system at his yard near the lake. “The pump was completely underwater and the water almost reached the house,” he said. The lake, only 60-percent full last spring, is 100-percent full. More storms hammered the Coastal Bend and
Tod Johnson and his friends fish offshore with kayaks, and had an early kingfish surprise when fishing out from Mustang Island. “They are in a little early,” Johnson said. “We’ve been catching them since March, although when the water is cooler it keeps them in the lower water column. You have to hit them in the face to catch them.” Near the South Padre Island jetties, a good kingfish bite existed in early May, then tapered off. “They were here, then we got PULLING HARD: Tod Johnson, while fishing from his kayak, rain and these little fronts,” said recently found kingfish about two miles out. Photo by Tod Lupe at Angler’s Marine Center. Johnson. “The water has heated up pretty good, there are a bunch of jacks out there, but the kings moved off. They’ll be back soon, though.” Johnson, a civil engineer who grew up in Spring and now lives in Corpus Christi, said the kings aren’t his usual target. “I normally target cobia and snapper,” he said. “When I catch the kings, I usually donate them to workers who like them.”
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INSIDE
Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . Page 22
Kingfish in close early
HUNTING
Blue quail on the move Birds reintroduced in Rolling Plains.
Page 4
A giving dealer Lee Hoffpauir donates for conservation. Page 4
FISHING
Ethanol wars continue Legislation in Congress seeks to limit amount. Page 8
Crappie in summertime haunts Brushpiles producing for anglers.
Page 8