Heroes

Chuck Ayers shot this beautiful gobbler with a 10-inch beard while hunting in Stockdale. Dale Bryce took this whitetail at the Twisted Oak Ranch in Calvert, guided by Thomas Hajduk.

Jesse Johnson

caught this largemouth bass on Lake Grapevine while fishing from a kayak. Miris Chavez, of Mercedes, caught this 28-inch redfish on a gold spoon while fishing in Port Mansfield. Rolando Cavazos shot the biggest deer at their family ranch, La Palma Ranch. After 39 years, he got his buck with 16 points along with three little points at the base of the horn.

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Searching rivers, lakes

Continued from page 1

Fly anglers target

striped bass on Canyon Lake in the early morning. Photo from Lone Star Fly Fishing.

boat within casting distance of the school. Stripers on calm days have been good with both fly tackle and conventional top-water lures.

While the striper fishing on Canyon Lake can be challenging, the black bass in Hill Country rivers poses a great opportunity for fly-fisherman of all experience levels.

Shea Aucoin, of The Woodlands, spends most of his free days this time of year chasing largemouth bass at various public lakes within Houston metro. Fishing from his kayak Memorial Day weekend, Aucoin and another angler landed a total of 29 largemouth bass with an average weight near 4 pounds.

“The top-water bite has been really good the first hour of light, especially with a frog, but most of our larger bass we landed using bladed jigs.” Aucoin said.

Throughout the day Aucoin searches for submerged grass beds and various other structure that may hold fish.

“The second day was slower and they seemed to only want the top-water frog,” he said. “We were only averaging about one bite an hour, but when they are 4 pounds a piece it makes it worth it.”

Tyler resident David Tietz frequents Lake Palestine this time of year in search of crappie.

“Right now I focus my attention on docks that provide good shade near areas of the lake where the water will not heat up very fast,” he said.

As the water temperature rises, Tiets looks for areas where crappie find shade and cooler water near deeper spots of the lake.

“I am not even worried about color of the jig at this point in the season, it’s all about finding the right patch of shade,” he said.

Red snapper opener

Continued from page 1

In addition to a limit of red snapper, Rogers and crew also landed a decent sized ling.

“We tried to catch some kingfish, but didn’t have any luck,” he explained.

Rick Wilkenfeld also ran offshore out of Texas City.

“We went out around 40 miles and found hoards of red snapper surrounding just about every piece of structure we fished,” Wilkenfeld said. “It didn’t take longer than about 30 minutes for us to box our limits of snapper in the 15- to 18-pound range.”

Large live baits and jigs worked the best to draw strikes from bigger fish.

“We were fishing in about 85 feet of water and there were snapper all over the water column,” Wilkenfeld said. “You would reel one up and about 20 to 30 others would follow it to the surface.”

Capt. Lee Crisler, of Ocean Breeze Charters out of Galveston, has been running about 60 miles south of the island to put his anglers on limits of red snapper.

“Most of the fish have weighed anywhere from 8 to 12 pounds,” Crisler said. “We typically catch these fish about 30 miles closer during early June, but they haven’t been there for whatever reason this year.”

Crisler also has been catching a few kingfish while trolling, but they have not been consistent.

Tyler Hass found limits of red snapper 30 to 50 miles out of Freeport in water depths from 100 to 180 feet.

“Once we located them, the bite was on fire,” Hass said. “Keeper-sized fish were holding a good distance off of the main pieces of bottom structure we were targeting, with most hanging out several hundred feet upcurrent.”

Hass also caught a hefty grouper about 80 miles out in 600 feet of water.

The folks at Port Aransas Fisherman’s Wharf reported full limits of red snapper for all of their anglers who fished from their party boats since the season began.

The staff at Deep Sea Headquarters also reported limits of red snapper have been easy to come by for their anglers. They have been fishing anywhere from 15 to 30 miles out of Port Aransas.

Owner of Bamm Bamm Fishing Charters, Capt. Chad Kinney, said both state and federal waters out of Port Mansfield are wall to wall with red snapper right now.

“We’ve been catching them as far out as about 18 miles, in water as deep as 300 feet,” Kinney said. “Hard bottom areas, natural structure and platforms have all been good hotspots.”

Most of the snapper range from 7 to 10 pounds, with some larger fish mixed in.

“While fishing out deep in water over 200 feet, we have been seeing a lot of snapper suspended in the 100 foot range,” he said. “There’s just so many snapper out there right now, it really is a sight to see.”

Both jigs and fresh bait have been working well.