Watch the ground

Continued from page 4 going to have a full mount made.”

Fernandez said he doesn’t leave the ranch house without a pair of good snake boots on.

For much of recorded human history, the treatment for snakebite was more unpleasant — and sometimes more dangerous — than the bite itself, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Ancient Egyptians cut open a snakebitten limb to let the evil spirits out. Ancient Romans amputated the bitten body part. American cowboys in the 19th century treated snakebite with a hot branding iron, while others wrapped the bitten limb in a split chicken.

While treatments today aren’t that extreme, there remains controversy over first aid for a snakebite.

The Texas Department of Health and Hu- man Services reports about 7,000 venomous snakebites in the U.S. annually, with 0.2-percent of the bites resulting in death.

On average, one to two people in Texas die each year from venomous snakebites, and roughly half of all bites are dry, with no injection of venom into the victim.

DHHS advises against any attempts to suck venom from a bite wound, cutting over a snakebite or applying a tourniquet or ice pack. The department recommends lifting the bitten limb to a height level with the heart, limiting movement, gently washing the wound with soap and water and seeking medical attention immediately.

According to TPWD, most people are never more than an hour or so away from a hospital, and antivenin treatments are widely available and effective.

Crappie both shallow and deep

By Nate Skinner

For Lone Star outdoor newS

With ever-changing weather conditions and water temperatures, crappie across the state are in various stages of the spawn. Some of the fish are concentrated up shallow, while others are being caught over deeper structure and in open water. Regardless of where anglers are catching them, jigs in a variety of colors seem to being doing the trick.

Recreational and crappie tournament angler Mike Major has been catching quite a few solid crappie on Lake Lavon recently.

“I’m still catching some large females that are staging in 10 to 11 feet of water, waiting to move up shallow to spawn,” Major said. “There are also plenty of fish in a post-spawn pattern as well, it seems. The larger crappie are pretty spread out, and they are roaming out in open water.”

Areas with timber in 14-16 feet of water are holding the highest concentrations of crappie on the lake.

“These fish aren’t as big as the ones roaming in open water, but there’s plenty of them stacked up in places.” Major explained. “Most of the fish in the timber are suspended in the water column, about 7 to 8 feet above the bottom.”

Major has been catching a mix of both white and black crappie.

“I’ve been finding white crappie up to about 2 pounds or so, out away from areas with timber, cruising in smaller numbers,” he said.

Hand-tied jigs in white and chartreuse color patterns have been producing the most strikes.

“The fish are gorging on shad right now, so smaller profile jigs have been working the best,” Major said. “They really don’t want a big meal, so it’s all about trying to coax a reaction strike out of them.”

Lake Fork guide Russell Rollins said bridges, road beds, and brush piles have been holding good numbers of black crappie.

“We are catching crappie in all stages of the spawn on Fork,” Rollins said. “Some are staging to spawn, others are in the thick of it, and some are sticking to a post-spawn pattern. I believe this is due to the inconsistent weather conditions and varying temperatures we’ve been experiencing.”

Some of the bigger crappie have been concentrated in 32 feet of water along timber, near the edges of creeks.

“Brush piles in 15-20 feet of water have held a pretty consistent bite, and there’s