Texas’ Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper Since 2004
May 27, 2022
Volume 18, Issue 19
Wildlife seeking shade
The early oppressive heat had deer, turkey and quail changing their springtime habits. Deer were hanging in the shade, making quick trips to the feeder, carefully positioning their bodies to avoid sun exposure, before returning to cover. Quail dashed under the feeder, only feeding in the structure’s shade. One turkey laid down in the shade, while others made only a brief stop. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.
Live shad key to Whitney stripers By Robert Sloan
For Lone Star Outdoor News The numbers of striped bass being caught on Lake Whitney are excellent, with live shad being the key bait. Lake Whitney guide Collin Strey said there are some stripers schooling on the surface and hitting top-water lures, but for the most part, the best pattern is to fish with live shad. And the best way to load a livewell with them is to catch them yourself. “At night the shad will be about 10 to 12 feet deep,” he said. “But during the day they will be shallow at 2 to 5 feet. I use a 7-foot cast net to catch the shad that I’ll be fishing with from March through October. I’ll use both threadfin and gizzard shad. That’s mainly what the stripers will be feeding on.” Strey uses his fish finder to locate the shad that show up as a bait ball or just a bunch of dots. After that it’s just a matter of getting the cast net and loading up with a day’s catch of live bait. He keeps them in a 30-gallon livewell. Keeping the shad alive is the tough part. Strey adds 10 to 12 pounds of ice to the water, along with about three cups of stock salt that he buys from Tractor
Supply. That keeps the shad alive and ready to be put on a hook throughout the day. And if the water starts to get a little warm, he adds more ice. The striper rig is pretty basic. It starts with 25-pound test monofilament line, with a 4-foot, 20-pound fluorocarbon leader. The line and leader are connected with a swivel. A 1 1/2-ounce weight is used to keep a live shad at the right depth via a 1/0 circle hook. “I like to run the hook through the tip of the nose,” Strey said. “That way the shad seem to live longer.” Strey finds stripers mainly hanging out on humps and drop-offs or along the edge of a channel. Now, the best bite is from 12 to 30 feet deep. In the next few weeks, they will move deeper to water that’s around 40 feet deep. Most stripers have been from 20 to 21 inches long, with some fish measuring from 28 to 31 inches. There is the option of using lures, usually swimbaits and umbrella rigs. But Strey said the lure fishing improves in the fall. A typical day of fishing starts at about 7 a.m. and is over at 11 a.m. The afternoon trips go from 1:30 till 5. Strey said the striper population on
Striped bass are doing well on Lake Whitney, and live shad on a circle hook has been the best way to bring them in. Photo by Collin Strey.
Please turn to page 22
By Tony Vindell
What was supposed to be a day of bay fishing for whiting and sand trout in the Lower Laguna Madre turned into a surprising trip for a dozen anglers. May 13 was a day to remember for the group of men and women after the boat captain took the party boat off the tip of the South Padre Island jetty right to a
school of bull red drum. Most everyone caught not one but two of the large fish, one of which had to be released because Texas Parks and Wildlife Department regulations allow one oversized fish per license. Capt. Andy Salinas, with Osprey Fishing Trips, said the conditions were totally different to the day before when an equal number of anglers also caught bull red after bull red.
“The water was blue and calmer yesterday,” he said. “Today it’s murkier and the tide is not the same.” After nearly an hour or so, Salinas decided to take the boat back to the ship channel where whiting and sand Debbie Heatley and Mark trout are usually caught on Wibbemmeyer and off, and most of the aneach brought glers manage strings of four in a large to six fish tied to the boat’s redfish on a rerail. cent head boat About an hour later, Salitrip. Photo by nas told everyone to bring Tony Vindell, Please turn to page 15
CONTENTS
Time Sensitive Material • Deliver ASAP
For Lone Star Outdoor News
Freshwater Fishing Report . Page 10 Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12 Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . Page 18 Saltwater Fishing Report . . Page 20 Datebook . . . . . . . . . Page 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Page 22
INSIDE
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID DALLAS, TX PERMIT 3814
Bull reds schooling at SPI
for Lone Star Outdoor News.
HUNTING
FISHING
Toms turn on late (P. 4)
Welcome to summer (P. 8)
End of season had better hunting.
Coastal anglers play tides, winds.
Adventure out west (P. 19)
Sandies chasing shad (P. 8)
Fishing, hunting and history.
Spawn moves baitfish in.