Shooting Sports annual Inside Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper in Texas
June 26, 2020
Shooting Sports texas A N N UA L 2020
Shooting like
John Wayne, HUNTING LIKE TEDDY Advertising Section
Volume 16, Issue 21
Trophy Hunters sues SCI, Buckmasters
Fly-fishin’ in the dark By Nate Skinner
Claims theft of information
For Lone Star Outdoor News Have you ever been fly-fishing in a picture-perfect hole or pool along a creek or river and had numerous fish follow your offering, but refuse to eat it? Spoke Hollow Outfitters guide Davin Topel’s favorite way to combat this issue is to return to that same area at night. “Often, you’ll find that fish that were not willing to commit to a fly during the daytime hours will become less finicky under the cover of darkness,” Topel said. “More aggressive reaction strikes are often the result, especially from larger fish like bass.” Topel’s favorite time to go night fly-fishing is during the few days leading up to a full moon. “A clear night and a bright moon allows you to see fairly well after dusk, and I think it helps the fish see your flies better,” he said. “Any bright and clear night is worth trying, but in my experience, they seem to eat better on the front side of the full moon compared to the backside when it is becoming smaller.” According to Topel, nighttime strikes can be pretty impressive, and he attributes this aggression to the limited visibility that is available after dark. “During the daytime, the fish can take their time, inspecting a fly in clear water,” he explained. “At night, I feel like they have to choose whether to simply eat it or not.” Because species like bluegill, bass and sunfish tend to produce explosive reaction strikes in the dark, night fly-fishing involves a lot of listening. “I tend to throw a lot of larger poppers and floating streamers that emit noise and vibration along the surface of the water,” Topel said. “You can’t really ever see the strikes on these offerings in the dark, but you can hear them.” Topel and fellow fly-fishing industry professional, Edgar Diaz of Sight Line Provisions, set out recently to put Topel’s knowledge and theories about nighttime fly-fishing to the test. They chose some spots along Onion Creek near Dripping Springs where they knew decent bass and sunfish were lurking. “Conditions weren’t ideal, as we were coming off a full moon and had missed the brightest nights by a couple of days,” Topel said. “Regardless, we felt like
By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News On June 17, the Texas Trophy Hunters Association received a temporary restraining order against Safari Club International and Buckmasters, claiming that SCI stole its proprietary membership list and provided it to Buckmasters to solicit new members. The TRO ordered the two groups to immediately stop using TTHA’s confidential membership list. The lawsuit, seeking a temporary restraining order, permanent injunction and damages, claims that SCI gained access to TTHA’s confidential membership list during acquisition negotiations with TTHA and violated confidentiality agreements by providing the list to Buckmasters. In January, SCI announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase TTHA, as reported in Lone Star Outdoor News. The plans were announced at SCI’s annual convention in Reno, Nevada. According to the sworn lawsuit and Dave Keith, TTHA’s chief executive officer, negotiations in the acquisition included the parties signing a Confidentiality Agreement, followed by TTHA providing SCI its membership list. The Confidentiality Agreement, which was attached to the Bexar County lawsuit, provided that the confidential information only be used for the purpose of
Davin Topel caught this sunfish while fly-fishing at night in an area of Onion Creek where the fish had been acting finicky during daytime hours. Edgar Diaz used a prototype underwater bubble camera that is made to pair with a cellphone, along with some underwater lights to capture this image. Photo by Edgar Diaz.
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PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PLANO, TX PERMIT 210
The trout with two mouths By Craig Nyhus
Fishing off of his Port Mansfield pier after dark, Kyle Smith landed this strange-looking speckled trout. Photo from Kyle Smith.
Kyle Smith had a good fishing weekend off of the pier at his vacation home in Port Mansfield. “We hit it just right,” he said. “There was a full moon and the fish were feeding. We caught redfish, a 22- and 25-inch trout along with smaller trout and an eel.”
Then they caught the weirdlooking trout. “It looked like it had two mouths,” Smith said. Quentin Hall, a biologist with the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation, a part of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, said after reviewing the photos that he has seen the phenomenon before in trout, redfish and even a cobia.
“That is an old injury from either a violent hook set or possibly feeding on something too large,” Hall said. “The skin and muscle has been cut from the jaw leaving a flap of tissue and a hole outlining the mandible.” Smith said if it had been a tear, it had completely healed. “It was pretty weird looking however it developed,” he said.
Freshwater Fishing Report . Page 10
HUNTING
FISHING
Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12
More and more exotics (P. 4)
Bass tracking (P. 8)
Industry adds $1.5 billion to economy.
Fork study looks at behavior.
Turkeys nesting (P. 4)
Art from beach trash (P. 9)
Poult numbers promising.
Creations on display.
Saltwater Fishing Report . . . Page 13 Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . Page 15 Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 17 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Page 18
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