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texas Annual 2018
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Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper in Texas
March 23, 2018
Volume 14, Issue 15
Saving spring break for crappie
Fish scale dilemma
By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News Genevieve Monier, a Southlake resident who is a freshman at the University of Alabama, planned a trip to Seattle with her mother over spring break. Once home, she had a few days before they were to leave, so she asked her dad, Philip, a question that was music to his ears. “Can we go crappie fishing?” On March 10, the pair headed to East Texas and a friend’s farm with ponds managed for big bass. The ponds also hold crappie, and March is one of the best times to find them in shallow water. “We caught about 50 in three hours and my dad and his friend cleaned them,” Genevieve said. Who caught the most? “Oh, me by a lot,” she said. The second day of fishing was a bust, Philip said. “A storm came through and dropped a bunch of rain,” he said. “We didn’t fish that day.” On Cedar Creek Reservoir, guide Chris Webb had spring breakers the entire week, and took about 25 out on the lake. “The lake is full, and the fishing had been a little tougher than normal as most of the crappie and sand bass had been up in the creeks,” he said. “Many of the fish started to make their way back to the main lake, and we targeted docks and casted to windblown points.” Finding the fish that are biting is the key to
Scales can provide weights of fish in differing parameters, sometimes throwing people off. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.
Decimals, pounds and ounces can confuse anglers, officials By Mark England
Lone Star Outdoor News We may be living in a digital age, but many in the fishing world are still traditionalists. Anyone who’s ever watched a weigh-in at a Bassmaster fishing tournament knows that. An angler’s bag is set on a scale that records weight in pounds and ounces. Contrast that to today’s digital scales, which can record weight in decimals to the millionths and beyond. “Our first scales were grocery scales,” said Dave Precht, Bassmaster’s vice president of communications. “Fifty years ago, I don’t think there was a digital scale. It had a basket that you put meat and vegetables in. It
During her spring break, Genevieve Monier landed one of many big crappie on an East Texas private lake. Photo by Philip Monier.
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Study results promising By Craig Nyhus
The increasing popularity of drones leads to new applications on Texas ranches, and researchers with the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute looked at the use of drones in conducting aerial surveys for white-tailed deer in South Texas.
deer were present. Commercially available drones were used, flights were conducted in daylight and at night, using infrared and thermal equipment, and from varying heights and camera angles. What did they find? “Similar to helicopter surveys, it was difficult to see the deer unless they were moving,” DeYoung said. “The deer didn’t react until the drone was very close — the deer didn’t move very much.” Please turn to page 15
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Lone Star Outdoor News
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists have received requests to use drone survey information for Managed Lands Deer Program applications. Randy DeYoung of CKWRI presented the research findings at the Institute’s Deer Research Meeting on March 2. Using two providers of drone services, flights were made over enclosures on the Faith and Comanche ranches where researchers knew how many
Drones are being considered as an alternative to helicopter surveys for white-tailed deer, with mixed results. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.
Freshwater Fishing Report . Page 10
HUNTING
FISHING
Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12
Hunting sheds (P. 4)
Twin Buttes beauty (P. 8)
Novel contest helps collecting.
Familiar angler lands 13.4-pounder.
PCQ raises $2.2M (P. 5)
Jetties hot (P. 13)
Banquet sets records.
POC spot seeing variety of species.
Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . Page 16 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Page 19 Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 21 Outdoor Datebook . . . . . Page 22
INSIDE
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PLANO, TX PERMIT 210
Using drones to survey deer numbers