Largest Hunting and Fishing Newspaper in Texas
September 13, 2019
Volume 16, Issue 2
Opening weekend a hit for some hunters, miss for others
Lakes on Guadalupe River may be drained
By Nate Skinner
For Lone Star Outdoor News
Lawsuits seeks to deter plans By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News At Son’s Island, the popular retreat for camping, kayaking and fishing at Lake Placid just west of Seguin, the future of the resort is in doubt. Since the loss of Lake Dunlap in May due to a spillway failure on the dam, the remaining hydroelectric lakes along the Guadalupe River, a concern to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, may be drained. The GBRA announced in August that it would begin a systematic drawdown of its remaining lakes on Sept. 16 after engineering assessments found it was the only way to minimize risks associated with its aging hydroelectric dam system. “It’s very defeating,” said Harrison Wood of Best Texas Travel, the managing entity of Son’s Island. “Each year Son’s Island brings 15,000 to 18,000 people to Seguin. Everyone here was just shocked when we heard the news.” If drained, the water will be far from the cabanas, camping areas and kayak-launching areas. “The river channel is on the other side of the river,” Wood said. “You would probably have to walk 50 to 80 yards to get to water.” GBRA officials say they are mindful of the problems. Grayson Lamb, 6, hunted with his father in Shackelford County for the season opener. Hunters and outfitters saw fewer birds in areas north of Abilene for the opener while South Texas hunts were consistent. Photo by Phil Lamb.
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Dove hunters during the Special White-winged Dove Days in the South Zone had success, while dove hunters in historically productive mourning dove areas struggled to find birds during the opening weekend. While the birds were in the region from Haskell County down to Coleman the week before the opener, they seemed to vanish in many areas by Sept. 1, according to outfitters and hunters. Rio Grande Valley guide Joseph Prado said his hunters enjoyed excellent afternoon shoots for whitewings on opening day along fields of standing sunflowers near Brownsville. “The second special white-winged dove day had much different results,” Prado said. “Rain and strong winds had the birds flying high rather than low over the sunflowers. Despite the less than ideal conditions, many hunters bagged half-limits and some were still able to shoot their limit.” Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologist for Dimmit, Frio, and Zavala counties, Blaise Korzekwa, said dove hunters stationed near the towns were able to bag limits during the special white-winged days. “Local outfitter Dilley Dove reported the majority of their hunters shot limits of whitewings over a harvested corn field just outside of Dilley,” Korzekwa said. “Those hunting along irrigated sunflower fields near the city limits of Hondo and Pearsall did quite well, and fields near Devine and Lytle were also productive.” Korzekwa says that hunters that positioned themselves along whitewing flyways had moderate success. “The farther away South Zone hunters were from city limit areas, the fewer whitewings they encountered,” he added. Kyle Crouch said his South Zone hunters had great whitewing hunts over native dove weed fields near Poteet. “The best action on opening day occurred between 5:30 p.m. and sunset,” he said. “On the next day, the birds seemed to be more spread out from the hunting pressure. Hunters still bagged their limits but it took longer than it did on opening day.” Central Zone dove hunter Cody Koehler spent the opener in the Concho Valley hunting sunflower fields. “The dove flew into the sunflowers pretty steady at Please turn to page 7
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PLANO, TX PERMIT 210
Offshore, bottom fishing hot Amberjack, grouper and ling cooperating By Nate Skinner
With snapper season closed in federal waters, anglers are taking advantage of the thinner crowds by covering plenty of water to find numbers of amberjack, dorado, grouper and ling. The action is taking
Welch said the amberjack fell victim to live blue runners fished on the bottom along the legs of rigs located inshore of the Flower Garden banks. “We had two amberjack break off that must have been larger than the ones we landed, because both hit like a freight train and ran straight into the rig before we could force them away from the structure,” he said. Please turn to page 19
Gabbi DeJean holds a 55-pound amberjack she caught while fishing southeast of the Galveston Jetties with her boyfriend, Michael Rogers. Photo by Michael Rogers.
Freshwater Fishing Report . Page 10
HUNTING
FISHING
Saltwater Fishing Report . . . Page 11
Grading quail season (P. 4)
Artist making his mark (P. 8)
Landowners share observations.
Former Marine’s creations a hit along coast.
Outdoor journalist retires (P. 5)
Kill switch use required (P. 8)
Tompkins steps down after 30 years.
New law takes effect.
Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12 Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . Page 14 Sun, Moon & Tides . . . . . Page 18 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Page 21 Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 24
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For Lone Star Outdoor News
place over bottom structure and around rigs anywhere from 25-120 miles offshore. Colin Welch targeted the waters around the Flower Gardens out to 118 miles southeast of the Galveston Jetties while fishing with his buddy, Michael Rogers, and Rogers’ girlfriend, Gabbi DeJean. The crew landed four amberjack topping 50 pounds, along with various species of grouper.