Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper in Texas
March 9, 2018
Volume 14, Issue 14
Backwater lakes loading up
Big bass pouring in
By Robert Sloan
For Lone Star Outdoor News The water temperature on coastal backwater lakes is warming up rapidly as cold fronts lose their punch. Surface temps hit 72 degrees last week on the middle Texas coast. On the Galveston Bay system it’s pushing 70. And on the lower coast, on the Laguna Madre, the water temp is in the 72-degree range. One of the hottest areas to fish is on the shallow lakes at Rockport, according to guide Aerich Oliver. “I’m actually surprised at how good the fishing has been for the past couple of weeks on the shallow lakes off the big bays,” he said. “The water temp was in the 70s last week and rising. It’s almost like spring. In the lakes we’re catching lots of black drum, plenty of reds and the trout are just now beginning to show up in numbers.” Oliver said lakes like Anchor, Anlo and North have been holding good numbers of reds and trout. “We’re doing a good bit of lure fishing with silver spoons and jigs,” he said. “But on the small isolated lakes I’m using live finger mullet to catch slot reds. Cut mullet is best for black drum. We’ve got a ton of mullet on the shallow flats. I can use a cast net to load up with fresh mullet. That makes catching black drum and reds pretty easy. A quarter-size piece of fresh cut mullet will catch those fish all day long.” At Port O’Connor, the backwater lakes are looking great, and fishing is good and getting better. One of the better catches last week was from Shoalwater Lagoon where two guys had 10 trout to 4 pounds, and six slot reds. All were on top-water lures and soft plastics. On that day, it was sunny, they fished in shorts and the water temperature was 71 degrees.
John LaBove landed this 15.48-pound largemouth from Lake Fork on March 2. Photo from Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.
Lone Star Outdoor News The fishing world took notice when John LaBove, from Greenville, while fishing alone caught a 15.48-pound largemouth out of Lake Fork on March 2. The fish was weighed and held at the Minnow Bucket until a ShareLunker official arrived. LaBove caught the fish in 4 feet of water, using a black and blue jig. The fish was caught around 5:30 p.m.,” said Kyle Brookshear, ShareLunker program coordinator with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, who hurried to the Minnow Bucket to pick up the fish. “It’s the biggest fish we’ve seen out of Lake Fork in quite a while.” LaBove’s fish wasn’t the only big bass landed over the past week, though. At the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Tour event on Lake Conroe, six fish weighing more than 10 pounds were entered. Langston Johnson won the event with his 11.92-pounder, followed by Michael Burk’s 11.32-pound fish. Kevin Ekdall brought in an Please turn to page 15
Some out-of-the-way spots have been producing good catches of speckled trout, redfish and black drum. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.
Please turn to page 11
Fundraiser combines wild game and competition By Craig Nyhus
Creating sausage out of venison is what helps hunters survive the gap between hunting seasons — whether the sausage is homemade or from a Texas processor. In San Antonio, the local chapter of Stewards of the Wild hosted the first annual Sausage Showdown on March 4, featuring wild game meat sausage from 11 Texas processors, where people could sample the house
Please turn to page 5
CONTENTS
Time Sensitive Material • Deliver ASAP
Lone Star Outdoor News
recipes of the area’s best processors, all in one place. The processors competed in four sausage categories — Dry, Link, Summer and Jerky. A panel of judges selected winners, and the votes of the 350 people in attendance determined the People’s Choice winners. People’s Choice winners: Grand Master of Sausage: Schneider’s Deer Processing Dry : TJS Wildgame Processing Link: Schneider’s Summer: Granzin’s Meat Market Jerky : Los Cazadores Judge’s Panel winners:
Samples of sausage recipes from top processors were enjoyed by people attending the sausage competition in San Antonio. Photo from Stewards of the Wild.
Freshwater Fishing Report . Page 10
HUNTING
FISHING
Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12
Turkey season looms (P. 4)
Whites on the Nueces (P. 8)
Outlook good in South Texas.
River producing during the run.
Hunting reg changes (P. 4)
Remembering Ray Sasser (P. 9)
Comment period open on proposed changes.
Longtime outdoor writer dies at 69.
Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . Page 16 Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 19 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Page 22 Outdoor Datebook . . . . . Page 23
INSIDE
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PLANO, TX PERMIT 210
Sausage face-off