Lone Star Outdoor News 092322

Catfish and large mouth bass have been stocked in Bois d’Arc Lake. The lake is still 19 feet low and not ready to open. Photo by TPWD.

Waiting for Texas’ first new lake in decades

By Craig Nyhus Lone Star outdoor newS

Bois d’Arc Lake, located in Fan nin County, didn’t catch much water despite recent heavy rains.

“I think most of the rain soaked

right into the ground,” said Inland Fisheries Denison District Supervi sor Dan Bennett. “It only came up a fewAccordinginches.”to the North Texas Municipal Water District, Bois d’Arc Lake is still 19 feet low and

too low to open.

TPWD biologists were on the water and confirmed all of the large brush pile coordinates NTM WD built for the future fishermen (available on the TPWD fish habi tat web page soon).

South Zone inconsistentopener

By Nate Skinner

For Lone Star outdoor newS

It was a different type of opener for South Zone dove hunters, par ticularly in areas known for pro ducing barn-burner shoots. The birds were changing their flight patterns daily, bouncing back and forth in between fields with irrigated crops and those with native, seed-bearing plants that have been rapidly maturing as a result of late summer rains. Wing shooters willing to put in the time in the field were rewarded.

Clayton Roth manages the hunting operations outfitter Dil ley Dove. He said he received more calls from surrounding hunting outfits and guides in the Dilley and Pearsall areas ask ing where the birds were during

opening weekend than he ever has.“I always get a few calls from other outfitters who are looking for fields with birds to put hunters on during opening weekend, but I’ve never had this many before,” Roth said. “There were a lot of folks that had inconsistent dove numbers to start the season.”

Roth said there were still quite a few birds around South Texas, but their patterns were spotty.

“We still had hunters do pret ty well,” he said. “Those willing to put in the time in the field and make adjustments based on where they were seeing birds fly were able to harvest limits. It just wasn’t the normal, lights out, sitin-one-spot on any given field kind of opening weekend that some folks are used to here in South Texas.”

Late summer rains delayed the harvest of certain crops, and also

patternsDovelackingAnew kind of cast and blast

germinated seeds and grain in fields where the birds would have otherwise been feeding.

“We also had a lot croton ma ture and begin to drop seeds as a result of the moisture we received at the tail end of the summer,” he elaborated. “This further added to the inconsistency of the birds, as they started switching back and forth between croton fields and

irrigated crops as more and more seed began to hit the ground. Some folks may have been disap pointed by what they experienced to start the season, but overall, these conditions will likely make for excellent dove hunting later into the Austinyear.”James hunted on his grandfather’s property outside of Uvalde just south of Highway

90 during the evening on open ing weekend, where he and some buddies shot limits of dove.

“We saw mostly mourning dove,” he said. “The action was pretty steady over native vegeta tion near a stock tank that was surrounded by mesquite trees.”

Jacob Bielefeldt had good hunts with his dad and friends two days in a row during opening weekend

By Robert Sloan For Lone Star outdoor newS

Cast and blast hunting and fishing trips in Texas are popular, but one particular group took it to another lev el. They mixed dove hunting with fishing for red snap per and fly-fished for reds.

“It’s a really easy thing to do,” said Greg Gamble. “We loaded up the trucks with shotguns and offshore fishing tackle and headed down to Port Mansfield from Hous ton. We planned on hunting for whitewings and had chartered a boat to take us into state waters to catch red snapper.”

Teal buzzing (P.

Finding lost birds (P.

South Texas hunters found the mourning dove changing their patterns daily and many had to move around to get in areas with shot opportunities. Photo by Nate Skinner, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

hunting with fishing for red snapper and fly-fishing for redfish. Photos by Lone Star Outdoor News.

HUNTING

Growth will have archeryadjustinghunters

By Craig Nyhus Lone Star outdoor newS

Archery hunters were ex pecting the white-tailed deer to be coming straight to the feeders as a result of the drought when the season opens Oct. 1. For those who haven’t recently checked the

property they hunt, they may be in for a surprise.

In Frio County, areas that were bare dirt less than a month ago are now covered with thigh-high vegetation, including a lot of weeds and plants that deer love.

Heavy rains improved habi tat conditions, resulting in an abundance of native forage in many areas of the state. Other areas received rain, but much less, and the original strategy

of hunting feeders is more likely to work in hunters’ fa vor.According to Alan Cain, Texas Parks and Wildlife De partment’s white-tailed deer program leader, mesquites and woody plants helped deer sur vive during the drought, and new grass and weed growth in areas where wildfires occurred provided much-needed nutri tion and cover for deer.

Antler quality, though, de

pends more on spring mois ture.“Although habitat con ditions have improved im mensely with recent rains, the timing was a bit late to have any meaningful influence on antler quality,” Cain said.

The archery-only season, along with all types of legal hunting methods on Man aged Lands Deer Program properties, kicks off Oct. 1.

Plenty of new foodBluewings in big bunches

Mosquitoes even more abundant

By Nate Skinner For Lone Star outdoor newS

In certain parts of the state, bluewings were swarming in large wads, rivaling the massive groups of mosquitoes that plagued blinds and hunters during the opener of the early teal sea son Sept. 10.

The pests were so bad, some hunters skipped the hunt on the second day of the short season. More teal seemed to migrate down areas along the coast and prairies as the season wore on and as the full moon shined above. The ducks were in large concentrations on open ing weekend but became more evenly distrib uted as hunting pressure began to push them around.Charles Fertitta hunted with some buddies over a flooded rice field on opening weekend just west of El Campo with Waterfowl Special ties. He and his crew shot limits of blue-winged teal on back- to-back mornings by the time the sun rose above the horizon.

“The ducks decoyed really well in groups of 5 to 15 birds,” Fertitta said. “There was never a time that we didn’t see teal in the air on both mornings, and they kept on trying to land in the flooded rice even when we were picking up theJoshdecoys.”Bensema also hunted in the El Campo area on opening day and said the teal were al most as thick as the mosquitoes. Bensema ex perienced a rare, lucky occurrence and ended up harvesting a ringed teal, which is typically

Finding lost dove

What is a reasonable effort to retrieve?

By Craig Nyhus Lone Star outdoor newS

Walking back to his truck in Frio County, a hunter and his dog were passing other hunters when the dog headed into the tall grass and weeds that popped up after heavy rains preceded the South Zone dove“Weopener.couldn’t find a few birds in there,” one of the other hunters said.The dog returned to his handler with a bird, then headed back into the vegetation, eventually locating five mourning dove and receiving thanks from the group of hunters.

Lost birds were seemingly more common during the opener, likely due to the vegetation that sprout ed up, often from what a few weeks ago looked like bare ground, after the rains came through.

“Even in areas of grass that weren’t that wide, it was really tough to find the birds,” said Lone Star Outdoor News’ David J. Sams, who hunted in Frio and Atascosa counties.Alostbird or two is a common problem for dove hunters, espe cially early in the season when dogs are often left at home because of the heat, not to mention the snakes.Hunting regulations recognize this but require that a hunter at tempt to locate the lost bird. The regulation states: “A reason

able effort must be made to retrieve any killed or wounded birds and any wounded bird retrieved must be immediately killed and made a part of the bag limit. After reten tion, the birds must be kept in an edible condition.”

The question is, what is a reason ableJeffeffort?Powell, a game warden in El lis County, said he came across the issue on Sept. 17.

“A group was dropping dove in a small patch of high grass, not more than 40 by 40 feet,” he said. “I re minded them to go and find those birds.”The group did, and finding the birds was difficult despite the small area.Powell said there is no real defi nition of reasonable effort, but said

Dave searchesRichardsfor a downed bird in a field with tall vegetation.

Many hunters are struggling to find downed birds with all the new growth from recent rain.

found in South America.

“I was hunting with my buddy, Spencer Rod, on his family property over a flooded field,” Bensema said. “He was focused on working his dog when legal shooting time came, so I was the only one shooting to start out the morning. The first bird that I harvested came in by itself, and had Spencer been shooting at this time, it would’ve been his duck to shoot because it was really on his side of our set-up. I shot and the bird fell in the decoys, so we decided to leave it until the action slowed.”

Bensema assumed the bird was a bluewing, but later when the duck was retrieved, the two hunters realized that he had harvested a rare trophy for Texas.

Red Bluff Prairie Hunting Club guide J.P. Pope was encouraged by his customers to bring his 8-year-old son, Grady, out for his first duck hunt during opening weekend on the Garwood Prairie, and the youngster ended up taking his first duck.

“I had mentioned to these hunters that I have been guiding for many years, that my son was really wanting to go hunting and that I was trying to figure out the best time to take him,” Pope said. “They immediately told me that I needed to bring him along on opening weekend of the early teal season.”

Pope had originally bought his son a 20-gauge, but the gun was still a little too cum bersome for his son to shoot.

“A friend of mine offered to let me bor row a .410 that his kid had harvested his first duck with,” he explained. “During the hunt with my son and my customers, the action was nonstop. After they had enjoyed several

Please

Ample vegetation after recent rains will make white-tailed deer movement less predictable for archery hunters when the season opens Oct. 1. Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News.

Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.

Charles Fertitta’s black lab, Odin, retrieves a blue-winged teal during a teal hunt near El Campo on opening weekend. Photo by Nate Skinner, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

First dove

By Mimi Meyer For Lone Star outdoor newS

Trevor and Kendall Graham experienced their first dove hunt together on a ranch in Albany on Sept. 9.

“Someone behind us yelled ‘bird,’” Lone Star Outdoor News’ Managing Editor Lili Keys said. “I watched Trevor glide the gun to his shoulder and pull the trigger as he followed through. We watched the dove fall, he turned around with both arms raised and hollered for“Ijoy.”finally got one!” he exclaimed.

This was the moment Trevor Graham took his first dove.

The young couple are members of Stewards

of the Wild and were encouraged by their friends, the Cotters, to join in the annual dove hunt even though they had no experi enceTheyhunting.mettheir friends and guides Michael and Meag Cotter through church. Michael had grown up in Albany hunting and Meag was always up for a fishing trip with her fa ther in Nacogdoches. Michael reached out to the Lone Star Outdoor News Foundation in hopes of gaining a sponsorship for his friends to attend the hunt.

“I wanted them to get out there and expe rience a proper hunt, but it could be hard to convince someone to pay for a hunt when they’ve never been on one before,” he said. “Once I got them in the field, I knew they

Please

Lone Star Outdoor News Foundation sponsored Trevor and Kendall Graham’s first dove hunt near Albany, where Trevor downed his first dove. Photo by Lili Keys, Lone Star Outdoor News.

South Zone dove

near“OnHebbronville.thedrivedown, we really didn’t see many dove until we got south of Freer,” Bielefeldt said. “Then we started noticing big bunches on the power lines along the highway.”Themorning hours were pretty slow.

“Large groups of whitewings were flying high during the first half of the day, and there really weren’t many shot opportuni ties,” Bielefeldt said. “Then at noon, every thing would change. Mourning dove came out of the woodwork during the afternoon hours to water in ponds and troughs. It was incredible how many birds were com ing to water sources when the temperature began to Bielefeldt’srise.”crew only harvested three white-winged dove the entire opening weekend.TrevorHancock said cattle tanks in Wil

son County have brought quick limits of mourning dove during the afternoons to kick of the season. He made one hunt near Tilden on opening weekend, where he said the action was pretty slow.

The Dallas Safari Club South Texas Chapter opening weekend dove hunt took place in Pearsall on the G2 ranch. Out of 100 hunters, about 50 shot limits while the other half were able to harvest six to eight birds each.

A longtime hunter from Minnesota, Dan Upham hunted dove for the first time near Dilley during a field-testing event with Weatherby firearms. Upham’s hunts took place with the G5 Ranch over plowed fields and around water sources with loaf ing

“Thetrees.hunts we had were a ton of fun, and there were plenty of opportunities to harvest limits if you were on top of your wingshooting game,” he said.

Many other hunters found concentrated pockets of birds in areas where they weren’t expecting to have fast and furious shoots.

FISHING

School in session

By Tony Vindell For Lone Star outdoor newS

A group of nearly 30 outdoor enthusiasts from all over the country met in South Texas to enjoy a weekend of speckled trout, redfish and white-winged dove.They fished the morning of Sept. 10 and hunted from 3 to 6 p.m. at a place just west of the town of Olmito.Asecond hunt was held Sunday, Sept. 11.

“We had some 20 people fishing,” Wes Godwin said. “Some of us drifted while the others waded.”

Justin Steinert, Luke Domas, Jonathan Gulley and Brock Griffin caught their limits of speckled trout and redfish, along with a few flounder.

“The fishing was great and so was the hunting,” Griffin said. “Each of us caught our limits plus a ton of undersized fish.”

Seven fishing guides were hired to take the men to prime spots both north and south from the mouth of the Arroyo Colorado.

Aaron Cisneros, a lures-only guide, oversaw the trips in which most anglers caught their limits of trout and reds.

After a break, the group headed out to the hunting ground just off U.S. Highway 281 and waited for the dove.On the first day, it seemed mourning doves were the only birds spotted, but after a while the white wings began zooming by.

As the hours went by, a few of the hunters, some who came from as far as California, started walking toward their vehicles with their limits of birds.

Others waited and waited until they had 15 dove in their bags.

On the second day, hunting was a little tougher as the number of birds were not as abundant.

Godwin said the hunt has become an annual tradi tion for the group to get together and have a good time.Steinert agreed.

“This is our fifth annual trip,” he said. “It seems hard to believe we first met in 2017.”

Redfish grouping up along Upper Coast

By Nate Skinner For Lone Star outdoor newS

Red is the word along the estuaries, marshes, passes, and beachfronts from Sabine to Matagorda, as red drum are being found in schools in a variety of areas and water depths. Back lakes and bayous are loaded with slot-sized fish, while open bay waters, the jetties and the surf have anglers finding schools of bull

Capt.reds.Randy

Foreman said schools of oversized redfish have been coming up to the surface to feed on calm days in the middle portions of Sabine Lake for the last 2 to 3 weeks.

“They are kind of sporadic, but there’s no mistaking them when they

Big group takes trip to SouthForkTexasbass schooling, shallow

By Robert Sloan For Lone Star outdoor newS

Despite low but slowly rising water levels at Lake Fork, there seems to be a lot of bass hold ing in shallow water as nightly air temperatures decrease.

For the time being, there are more bunched-up bass than long-time Fork guide Dennis Canada has ever seen.

“I’ve never seen so many bass schooling on this lake,” he said. “It’s crazy. They are on points and in the flooded tim ber. Usually about this time of year they are deep. But that’s

not the case now. A lot of them are schooling in 1 to 4 feet of water. As the lake came up, lots of bass moved shallow and they are feeding like crazy.”

Fork is still 5 feet low with the surface water temperature falling a few degrees. Canada said it’s been a little cold in the mornings, but heating up in the“I’mafternoon.doinga lot of fishing in the creeks,” he said. “The best bite has been along shallow drops, ridges and off points. I’m getting lots of bites from about 9:30 in the morning for a couple of hours. The after

noon bite has been best from about 3 until 7. The main lake and secondary points are best during the evening hours. That’s when you want to fish the heavy timber, lay downs andThestumps.”guide’s go-to lures in clude a Carolina-rigged Baby Brush Hog in green/pumpkin. He likes the wacky worm and a drop shot as well. The best colors are red bug and water melon.“The cranks have not been producing like they normally do,” Canada said. “I’ve used square bills, and some usu

are chomping at the surface,” Foreman said. “The water literally turns copper or bronze colored when these schools showPointsthemselves.”nearthe mouths of drains along the Louisiana shoreline have been holding a decent amount of slot redfish.

“The reds along the Louisiana shore line have just been following the bait,” Foreman explained. “Some days there’s more bait up these drains in the shal lows, and other days everything is stacked up along the mouths of these areas along the main lake shoreline.”

Capt. Chris Phillips said the back portion of the Keith Lake complex has plenty of keeper-sized redfish along banks and points.

“The beachfront has really been on fire for redfish lately,” he said. “Folks are coming across schools in the surf as close in as the first and second guts, and

as far out as half a mile or so. Almost all of the fish are bulls.”

Phillips said he can’t remember a year in the past several where he’s seen or heard of this many schools during the month of September along the surf and nearshore Gulf.

“The water along the beach is in great shape and there’s redfish everywhere,” heFour-year-oldsaid. Waylon Skinner fished with his dad on Galveston Bay, where they found schools of oversized redfish feeding on flats near the Houston Ship Channel around Port Bolivar. The large reds were eager to crush top-water plugs.

Tournament angler and guide Clint Sholmire said the marshes and back lakes around Bolivar Peninsula have been wall-to-wall with redfish recently.

“They are holding a lot of upper slots, along with some overs,” he said. “When

ally reliable cranks but have caught very few bass on them. The Carolina rigs have been the most dependable setup. I’ve have been using a 10-inch worm to catch some of the heavier bass. The big worms in candy bug and plum are good along points, in the timber and off extended points. I’ve been catching some solid bass with the 10-inch worms in the thick timber in 8 to 10 feet of water.”

As water temperatures drop as we move into fall, top-water lures take center stage. Two of Canada’s favorites are a Pop-R and Whopper Plopper.

Justin Steinart, Luke Domas, Johnathan Gulley and Brock Griffin caught limits of redfish and shot limits of dove as part of a large group who headed to South Texas. Photo by Tony Vindell, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

Noel Skinner fooled this slot redfish on a top-water in a back lake on Bolivar Peninsula. Photo by Nate Skinner, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

Bass on Lake Fork are moving shallow and grouping up after rains brought lake levels up. Photo by Dennis Canada.

Speckled trout slot debate

Some guides, anglers seek to revise regulations

By Craig Nyhus Lone Star outdoor newS

Watching a 26-inch speckled trout float away from the boat after being released disturbs both fishermen and guides. With the fish clearly unlikely to survive, guides wonder if something can be done to avoid the“Itsituation.hasbeen surprising how many of the larger speckled trout are being caught,” said Rockport guide Jeremy Griffis. “Often we catch them while targeting redfish, and some aren’t able to be released in a healthy condition.”OneRockport guide is circulating a peti tion in an attempt to revise the regulation of the slot size for speckled trout of 17 to 23Robertinches.Hamilton said the slot has not been popular with guides and coastal fish ermen.“Insome areas and during some times of the year, catching fish in this slot is very difficult,” he said. “The result is the exces sive handling of would-be keeper trout. This excessive handling kills many of the throwback fish. If they don’t die, many fish are immediately eaten by dolphin that fol low fishermen around many of the bays.”

Hamilton said when targeting other fish, like redfish, speckled trout over 23 inches often swallow the bait. He also believes trout in the current slot appear to be the most prolific and have full bellies of eggs.

The petition, now with 640 signatures as of Sept. 15, doesn’t seek to revise the new limit of three fish, but asks that the

slot range be reconsidered and allowing for one trout over that length per month or per year that was not fit to be released.

“Keep the three-fish limit, but revisit the slot size (maybe 15 to 20 inches) with the possibility of having a limited number of tags available for larger fish,” the petition reads in part.

Dakus Geeslin, the deputy director of the Coastal Fisheries Division, said he un derstands Hamilton’s frustrations, but also said the slot limit appears to be working.

“We know the percentage of release mor tality is higher with live bait, like anglers catching trout when targeting redfish,” he said. “But by and large, the release mortal ity is low on trout — nothing like it would be if anglers were keeping one fish over 25 inches.”While a formal petition for rulemaking process would be instituted with a peti tion, it likely wouldn’t make a significant difference before the Emergency Rules set ting the slot limit expire.

“The rules end Aug. 31, 2023,” Geeslin said. “A petition would come to the de partment, be considered by Coastal Fisher ies and then a recommendation made to the TPW Commission to accept or deny or send back to staff to look again. That pro cess takes awhile.”

Geeslin said based on spring gillnet in formation, the emergency rules appear to be having a positive effect after one year.

“It’s a numbers times eggs benefit,” he said. “Yes, the smaller (15 to 17 inch) fish have a smaller batch of egg, but there are more of them, and they provide a better overall increase to the spawning stock bio mass.”

Fishing captain dies in boating accident

Lone Star outdoor newS

Port Aransas Capt. Gary Cooper was the victim of a boating accident Sept. 10 when another boat collided with his own, knocking him into the water. The two bay boats collided in the Aransas Pass Channel in front of Cline’s Landing, according to the Coast Guard.

KIII TV reported James Joseph and his son were leaving the harbor and were about 200 yards out at the time of the accident.

Cooper was in a boat with three other people and was ejected from the boat upon im pact, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Dickinson, a public affairs officer stationed in JosephHouston.and his son provided assistance and began CPR on Cooper before he was taken to the marina and met with emergency crews. Despite the efforts, Cooper died at the scene.Port Aransas EMS director Daniel Johnson said that in addition to the fatality, one per son sustained non-life-threatening injuries and three people refused medical treatment. The accident is still under investigation by the U.S Coast Guard.

ALAN HENRY: Water clear; 80 degrees; 8.53’ low. Large mouth bass are fair on soft plastics. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are fair on cut shad and minnows.

AMISTAD: Water clear; 80 degrees; 49.17’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters, punch rigs and jigs. Channel catfish are good on punch bait.

ARLINGTON: Water lightly stained; 87 degrees; 0.91’ below. Largemouth bass are good on spoons, top-waters and ribbon tail worms.

ATHENS: Water clear; 84-88 degrees; 1.15’ low. Large mouth bass are slow to fair on top-waters and white flukes. Crappie are slow.

AUSTIN: Water clear; 89 de grees; 0.73’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on dropshots and small swimbaits.

B.A. STEINHAGEN: Water stained; 80 degrees; 0.32’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on drop shots and crankbaits. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good moving shallow on cut bait and cheese bait.

BASTROP: Water clear; 91 degrees. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters, frogs and small swimbaits.

BELTON: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 9.28’ low. White bass are fair on top-waters and tail spinners. Crappie are good on jigs tipped with minnows.

BENBROOK: Water lightly stained; 76 degrees; 7.73’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on deep-diving crankbaits and Texas rigged 10-inch worms. Crappie are good on min nows. White bass and hybrids are slow. Catfish are good on punch bait.

BOB SANDLIN: Water clear; 82 degrees; 1.23’ low. Large mouth bass are fair early on top-waters. Crappie are fair on minnow and jigs. Bass are good early topwater baits shallow. Catfish are good on cheese bait.

BRAUNIG: Water lightly stained; 88 degrees. Red drum are good on tilapia, perch and crawfish. Chan nel catfish are fair on worms, cheese bait and frozen shrimp.

BROWNWOOD: Water slightly stained; 83-85 degrees; 6.90’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits around. Crappie are good on minnows sus pended under docks. White bass are fair on crankbaits. Catfish are slow.

BUCHANAN: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 13.97’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters, crankbaits and soft plastics. Striped bass and hybrids are fair on top-waters and wake baits.

CADDO: Water stained; 79 degrees; 0.74’ high. Large mouth bass are fair on flukes, top-waters and shaky heads.

CALAVERAS: Water lightly stained; 86 degrees. Red drum are fair to good trolling

spoons and lipless crankbaits. Blue catfish and chan nel catfish are fair on cut bait, cheese bait and frozen shrimp.

CANYON: Water lightly stained; 82 degrees; 6.57’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters and wa termelon worms. Striped bass are good in Turkey Cove and by the dam on shad. Birds are working and can lead you to active schools. Crappie are good up the river on live minnows.

CEDAR CREEK: Water stained; 81-84 degrees; 3.35’ low. Largemouth bass are good on chatterbaits and buzzbaits. Crappie are excellent in brush piles on minnows and small jigs. White bass and hybrids are good on the surface on lipless crankbaits and spoons. Cat fish are good on live shad.

CHOKE CANYON: Water stained; 86 degrees; 22.33’ low. Largemouth bass are good on buzz

liveexcellentCrappieplastics.riggedandflukesweightlessbaits,Texasareonbaitover

brush piles. Catfish are good on cheese bait and cut bait.

CONROE: Water slightly stained; 85 degrees; 1.58’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on creature baits and crankbaits. Hybrid striped bass are fair on shad. Crappie are slow. Catfish are good on shrimp and liver.

COOPER: Water lightly stained; 78 degrees. Large mouth bass are fair on crankbaits. White bass are fair on jigs and small spoons. Crappie are slow. Catfish are good on noodles with perch and cut bait.

CORPUS CHRISTI: 80 degrees; 2.27’ low. Large mouth bass are good on shad imitations. White bass are good holding in on spoons, small jigs and live minnows. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on worms, shad, soap baits and on juglines.

EAGLE MOUNTAIN: Water stained, 82 degrees; 3.67’ low. White bass are fair to good on chartreuse and white slabs with teaser flies. Crap pie are fair to good on jigs and. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on main lake structure on punch bait.

FALCON: Water stained; 85 degrees; 39.65’ low. Largemouth bass fishing are good on spinner baits, lipless crankbaits and chatterbaits. Catfish are good on a float or bottom rig with cut bait, stink bait and shrimp.

FAYETTE: Water lightly stained; 89 degrees. Large mouth bass are fair on jigs and plastics. Catfish are good on punch bait.

FORK: Water stained; 78 degrees; 5.85’ low. Large mouth bass are good on top-waters, junebug shaky heads and oncrankbaits.square-billedCrappiearefairminnows.

GRANBURY: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 1.64’ low. Largemouth bass are good on frogs and Texasrigged soft plastics. Striped bass are slow.

GRANGER: Water lightly stained; 83 degrees; 1.62’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on white spinner baits. Crappie are good on jigs. White bass are fair trolling crankbaits. Blue catfish are good on jug lines baited with cut shad.

GRAPEVINE: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 0.03’ low. White bass are good on white slabs on cloudy days and a chartreuse slab on sunny days.

HOUSTON COUNTY: Water stained; 85 degrees; 1.75’ low.

mouth bass are fair on Texas or Carolina rigs, top-waters and crankbaits. Crappie are good on minnows. White bass are good on silver jigging spoons. Catfish are good on cut bait.

TEXAS FISHING REPORT Saltwater reports

LIVINGSTON: Water stained to muddy; 80 degrees; 0.01’ low. White bass are good on top-waters and slabs. Striped bass are slow. Catfish are fair to good on punch bait.

MEDINA: Water lightly stained; 85 degrees; 75.87’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. White bass and striped bass are fair trolling slabs. Catfish are fair on stink bait and cut bait.

MEREDITH: Water stained; 77 degrees; 53.47’ low. Largemouth bass are good on minnows and artificials. Wall eye are fair near boulders and ledges on minnows and night crawlers. Catfish are good on live bait and stink bait.

MILLERS CREEK: Water stained; 87 degrees; 4.47’ low. Hybrid striped bass are fair on swimbaits. Crappie and white bass are slow. Catfish are fair on shad and punch bait.

POSSUM KINGDOM: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 3.60’ low. Striped bass are good on live shad and trolling white and chartreuse jigs. White bass are good on gold and chartreuse spoons and slabs. Catfish are good on small pieces of cut shad.

PROCTOR: Water stained; 82 degrees; 7.37’ low. Large mouth bass are slow. Hybrid stripers and white bass are slow. Crappie are fair on min nows. Catfish are slow.

RAVEN: Water stained; 86 degrees; 3.50’ low. Large mouth bass are good on Texas-rigged stick baits in junebug color. Crappie and catfish are fair to good on minnows.

RAY HUBBARD: Water lightly stained; 82-84 degrees; 2.00’ low. White bass are good on top-waters and slow-rolling or trolling inline spinners or tail spinners. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on punch bait.

good on liver perch, cut bait and juglines.

TEXOMA: Water stained; 80 degrees; 1.47 feet low. Largemouth bass are fair on soft plastics. Striped bass are good on slabs and live shad. Crappie are good on minnows. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on punch bait and cut shad.

TOLEDO BEND: Water stained; 76-78 degrees; 4.03’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on small lipless crankbaits, jerk baits and Texas-rigged ribbon tail worms. Crappie are fair on small minnows.

HUBBARD CREEK: Wa ter stained; 77-85 degrees; 6.01’ low. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits and top-waters. Crappie are excel lent on minnows. White bass are good on crankbaits and jigs under the lights.

JACKSONVILLE: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 1.55’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Texas-rigged soft plastics and drop shots.

JOE POOL: Water stained; 85-87 degrees; 1.01’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to slow on Texas rigs and finesse worms on a drop shot rig.

LAKE O’ THE PINES: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 1.65’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters. Crap pie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on cheese bait.

LAVON: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 4.77’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and white and chartreuse spinners with a paddle tail swimbait. White bass are good on white or chartreuse slabs and swim baits. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on cut bait and gizzard shad.

LBJ: Water lightly stained; 80-85 degrees; 0.67’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters, weightless flukes and worms. Crappie are good on minnows.

LEWISVILLE: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 3.44’ low. White bass are fair on slabs and live bait. Catfish are fair drifting cut shad and chicken breasts.

LIMESTONE: Water clear; 86 degrees; 4.16’ low. Large

NACOGDOCHES: Water light ly stained; 83-87 degrees; 3.02’ low. Largemouth bass are good on top-waters early. Crappie are fair on minnows.

NACONICHE: Water clear to stained; 82 degrees; 1.00’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on jerkbaits and tail spinners. Catfish are slow.

NASWORTHY: Water murky; 85 degrees. 0.95’ low. Large mouth bass are fair on soft plastics, jigs and top-waters. Crappie are fair on black and chartreuse jigs and minnows. Catfish are good on cut bait and stink bait.

NAVARRO MILLS: Water stained; 79 degrees; 2.60’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on crankbaits and soft plastics. Crappie are fair on minnows.

O.H. IVIE: Water stained; 80 degrees; 21.42’ low. Largemouth bass are good on swimbaits and crankbaits. White bass are good with live bait and crankbaits. Crappie are good on jigs and livebaitbaits,preparedfairCatfishminnows.areoncutandbait.

OAK CREEK: Water lightly stained; 82 degrees; 9.68 feet low. White bass are good under the lights on spinner baits and gold and silver spoons. Channel catfish are good on chicken liver.

PALESTINE: Water lightly stained; 85 degrees; 1.90’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on big-eyed jigs and Texas-rigged creatures. Crap pie are fair on silver jigs with a chartreuse tail. White bass are slow. Catfish are good on chicken liver and heart.

RAY ROBERTS: Water is clear; 80 degrees; 1.62’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. White bass are good on slabs. Crappie are fair on minnows. Blue catfish are mixed in with the white bass, biting slabs.

RICHLAND CHAMBERS: Water clear; 82 degrees; 4.28’ low. Crappie are fair on minnows. White bass are slow. Hybrid striped bass are fair on live shad. Channel and blue catfish are excellent on punch bait after chumming with fermented grain.

SAM RAYBURN: Water stained; 83 degrees; 4.48’ low. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits and Caro lina rigs. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are good on punch bait.

SOMERVILLE: Water stained; 82 degrees; 4.22’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on jigs and plastics. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfish are fair on punch bait and on juglines with shad and cut bait.

STILLHOUSE HOLLOW: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 8.89’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. White bass are fair slabsonandtailspinners.

KONI:TAWA

Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 3.39’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and small creatures. Hybrid stripers and white bass are fair to good on spoons and slabs. Channel catfish are good on dough bait and punch bait. Blue catfish are good drifting cut bait.

TEXANA: Water stained; 80 degrees; 4.09’ low. Large mouth bass are good on crankbaits and weightless flukes. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfish are

TRAVIS: Water stained; 80 degrees; 36.17’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters, spinner baits and weightless flukes.

TYLER: Water lightly stained; 81 degrees; 2.14’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on top-waters and minnows. Crappie are good on live minnows. Catfish are good on minnows and nightcrawlers.

WACO: Water stained; 81 degrees; 9.76’ low. Crappie are good on minnows and soft-body jigs tipped with minnows. Catfish are mixed in with the crappie. White bass are good early on top-waters.

WALTER E. LONG: Water clear; 84 degrees. Large mouth bass are good early on top-waters, laer on weightless flukes and creatures.

WHITNEY: Water lightly stained; 80 degrees; 6.87’ low. Striped bass are good trolling umbrella-rigs with white or chartreuse grub tails or swimbaits and on live shad.

WORTH: Water normally stained; 82 degrees; 2.46’ low. White bass are fair to good on main lake structure on chartreuse and white slabs. Crappie are fair to good on jigs and minnows. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good on punch bait.

WRIGHT PATMAN: Water lightly stained; 79 degrees; 1.28’ high. White bass are slow. Catfish are fair on punch bait.

—TPWD

nows.Largemouthbassaregoodoncrankbaitsandshakyheads.Crappiearegoodonmin

New fly-fishing store in historic Galveston

By Shannon Drawe

For Lone Star outdoor newS

Galveston Fishing Company held its grand opening in historic downtown Galveston on Sept. 17. Billed as Galveston Island’s first and only fly-fishing and saltwater lifestyle store, the location just off The Strand carries a large variety of fly-fishing brands as well as conventional gear and the latest in technical and recreational gear and clothing.

The historic building, located at 2509 Market Street, is in the heart of the cruise ship long-term parking areas. General Manager Capt. Stacy Lynn, a former Rockport fly-fish ing guide, had a busy launch with food, raffles and representatives from several different fly-fishing companies.

Owner Capt. Eric Trout said the building needed lots of work, and while it took longer than expected to open, the results were worth the effort.

Galveston Fishing Company seeks to reach all fly anglers from beginners to experts, and will offer guiding, lessons and instruction for fly anglers and fly tyers.

Trout said the opening had a great turnout.

“We want to be the one-stop shop for fly-fishing,” he said. “We sell, but we also teach. And we work with guides to book trips.”

Dove and snapper

Continued

The group, all of whom went to Sharp stown High School in Southwest Houston back in the 70s, were not disappointed. On the first two days of the dove season they hunted on a 5-acre sunflower field near Raymondville. They were joined by about five other hunters spread out in the field.

“At one point we had birds flying around like bats out of a cave,” Gamble said. “They were mostly whitewings mixed with some mourning dove. They began flying at about four that first afternoon. They come to the fields from nearby cities to feed and then head back shortly before sunset. The second day, we managed to put quite a few birds on the ground for a nice hunt. We took the third day of the season off for a break. On the following Monday we met our fishing guide at the dock in Port Man sfield.”They had planned to head out 40 to 50 miles to target blackfin tuna, dorado and wahoo. But with 4- to 5-foot seas, that was not an option.

“We made the decision to stay in state waters and catch four snapper apiece,” said group member Roger Anderson. “We were in a 31-foot boat and it was a little rough getting out. We probably caught 40 or more red snapper before boxing a state limit of four fish. A lot of the them were small, so we culled to get a limit of snaps in the 4- to 6-pound class.”

Austin Dishman opted to go fly-fishing

during the week when the special white wing season is closed.

“After the first weekend of hunting, I set up two days with a fly-fishing guide on the flats out of Mansfield,” he said. “The first day we had lots of cloud cover and a little bit of rain. But we found lots of tailing reds in about a foot of water at first light. For about three hours it was nonstop action with slow-sinking bead-eye flies. The reds were hungry, and we managed to catch and release nine reds during a half day of fishing.”Dishman said they plucked a single red from each school of tails. Some of the pods had 15 to 20 reds. There was little wind, so the feeding fish were easy to locate.

“On the second half day of fishing things went in the opposite direction,” said Dish man, who has fly-fished for years. “We went to where we had caught them the day before and immediately spotted to big pods of tails. But they were extremely spooky and disappeared well before we could get within casting range. We gave it a good shot but still got skunked.”

Dishman said the cast and blast is the only way to go during the special whitewinged dove season.

“We had the best of both worlds,” he said. “We rented a nice house with a pool, had excellent hunts and pretty good fish ing both inshore and offshore.”

Bass on Fork

“The Whopper Plopper is a great lure that makes a lot of noise on the surface,” he said. “This is a lure that allows me to cover lots of water and that’s important when the bass areThreescattered.”ofCanada’s favorite areas to fish are Rogers Creek, Glade Creek and Alligator Cove.“We have very little vegetation on the lake,” he said. “But the areas that have been exposed due to low water have grown up really well. If we are lucky enough to get rain and the lake goes on a rise, that newly flooded vegetation will attract lots of bait along with bass.”

New lake

“The amount of baitfish in the lake is incredible,” the Deni son District posted after viewing live sonar on the lake.

Bennet said 416,000 catfish fingerlings and 63 adults were stocked into the lake.

“We saw a few of those last week,” Bennett said. “But the fingerlings will take four to five years to reproduce naturally.”

Crappie didn’t need to be stocked, as they came into the lake from the creek.

“They didn’t need our help,” Bennett said. “They got off one good spawn last year.”

Bennett said staff observed both black and white crappie measuring about 9.25 inches.

The total number of largemouth bass stocked may not seem large when compared with other lakes, but the stocking was specialized.

“We stocked 95,452 ShareLunker bass,” Bennett said. “These are all advanced fish, between 1 and 2 years old. We anticipate good survival, near 100 percent.”

The current water level on the lake is 515.18 feet with conservation pool set at 534 feet. When full, the lake will cover 16,641 acres and will be able to supply 82 million gallons of water per day to North Texas cities.

The lake, built at a total project cost of $16 billion, is expected to provide $509 million in economic benefit to Fannin County, plus an additional $166 million each year after Fishermen,completion.though, are chomping at the bit to get on the first new lake in Texas in 30 “Weyears.hope it will fill up and be ready to open by the time winter ends,” Bennett said.NTMWD’s Kathleen Gott said she hopes the lake will fill soon.

“Pray for more rain,” she said.

Lost dove

Continued

most hunters do try hard, as they want to find all of their birds.

“I know I’ve lost a bird on bare ground,” he said. “But I have checked guys next to a pond when there’s no wind, and they left birds out on the water saying they couldn’t get them. That wasn’t a good enough excuse.”

General Manager Capt. Stacy Lynn greeted crowds at the grand opening of Galveston Fishing Company, the island’s first fly-fishing shop. Photo by Shannon Drawe, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

Bois d’Arc Lake, in Fannin County, will open when the water rises to safe levels, hopefully before spring 2023. Photo by TPWD.

DUMPING MATTRESSES AFTER STORAGE WARS

Several dumped mattresses on the side of the road were observed by a game warden, who worked with the local dispatchers to identify several individuals that led him to a local storage unit. After speaking with the owner of the storage unit, the warden discovered the mattresses were part of an online storage unit auction. The persons who purchased two units were located, and based off photos and talking to a previous owner, the items in each storage united matched the items dumped. Later, the war den received a tip that the suspects would be at another storage unit. Wardens and a DPS Trooper met and watched the suspects enter the storage unit area. The suspects were contacted and identified them as the purchasers of the storage units. During the interview, the smell of marijuana was emit ting from the suspect’s vehicle. The female suspect admitted to a small amount in the vehicle. Both suspects were arrested for illegal dumping. A probable cause search

of the vehicle was then conducted and a bag containing a white crystal powder was found, along with a jar of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

REWARD FOR POACHED ALLIGATOR

On September 11, at approximately 7:30 a.m., a Texas game warden responded to a call of a dead alligator at a boat ramp located at the Port of Liberty. After further investigation, it was determined that the alligator had been shot in the head and half

of its tail had been cut-off. A reward has been offered for information leading to the culprit(s). Call Operation Game Thief with any information.

TWO BASS BOATS COLLIDE

Five people were injured and sent to the hospital following a boating collision on Lake Palestine. According to a Henderson County game warden, a call came in at 11:42 a.m. about a collision between two bass boats in the Flat Creek area of Lake

Palestine. Four people were injured on one of the boats and one on the other. One person was hospitalized. All occupants were wearing a life jacket and alcohol did appear to be a factor.

FISHERMAN RESCUED AFTER BOAT RUNS AGROUND

A concerned spouse reported her husband had left their dock in South Padre Island to fish at the entrance of the Arroyo Colorado near Green Island but had not returned as scheduled. A Coast Guard helicopter and boat responded and, after about five hours, located the 72-year-old boater on his vessel, which was aground near Green Island. The crew hoisted the boater and transported him to the Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport in Los Fresnos, where his wife met him.

REPORT ILLEGAL HUNTING AND FISHING ACTIVITY FOR A REWARD OF UP TO $1,000. CALL OPERATION GAME THIEF AT (800) 792-4263

AN AMERICAN LEGEND

Reds grouped up

the tide is high, schools can be found working shallow stretches that are swarming with baitfish andDenisecrabs.”Hendrix has been seeing massive schools of redfish crash ing at the surface along the Bolivar beachfront.

“Just recently, I saw two ar eas along the surf that erupted in chaos as a feeding frenzy of redfish came to the surface,” she said.

Christian Beckerman landed an almost 40-inch redfish while fish ing along the Galveston seawall near the Pleasure Pier, and Claude

Martin reported a ton of redfish lurking along the Freeport jetties. He’s been landing mostly upper slot reds and bull reds.

Along the Surfside jetties, Da vid Cheng encountered a massive school of feeding bull reds.

“The fish were swarming every

where and eating everything in their line of sight,” he said.

Sargent-area angler Christopher McKinley said there are good num bers of reds hanging out along drop-offs with structure along the Intracoastal Waterway.

“There’s also quite a few redfish

cruising up and down the south shoreline of East Matagorda Bay,” he explained. “The mid-bay reefs in East Bay, as well as stretches of sand and scattered shell also have been good for catching plenty of reds.”

HEROES

Cameron Lawson caught this 4-pound largemouth on a nightcrawler while fishing at Patriot Park in Luling.

Arlene Reeves took this sable antelope while hunting with Richie Schultz Safaris in Zimbabwe.

Melissa Kotara, of San Antonio, caught a 44-inch bull redfish in Pass Cavallo, Port O’Connor with the assistance of Capt. Clay

Pablo Gonzales Jr, of Harlingen, hunted this black bear in Buf falo Narrows, Saskatchewan with his two sons-in-law, Robert Philp and Gilberto Cavazos

Rodrigo Correa, 14, caught this 7-pound large mouth bass while FalconfishingLake.

LONE STAR OUTDOOR PUZZLER

Early teal

Continued from page 4

volleys, they told me that we should let Grady shoot by himself when the next op portunity presented itself.”

Soon, a single teal decoyed perfectly into the hole a few minutes later, and his son folded the duck on his first squeeze of the trigger.“Itwas great to have him there with me on the hunt to get the whole experience and to see what I do while I’m guiding,” PopeCo-owneradded. of Folded Wing Apparel, Pat rick Murphy, hunted both mornings of opening weekend with three friends near Garwood, and they strapped limits quickly on each hunt.

DOWN 1) Member of the Big Five Shotgun brand Shotshell brand Pests on the teal hunt Fishing line brand Optics brand Wise County’s seat An African game bird Van Zandt County’s seat UTV manufacturer Safari destination A Texas bay Important on the teal hunt (two words) East Texas lake The pulleys on compound bows Texas mountain range One of the foxes The small, low-flying dove One of the shorebirds The internal diameter of the barrel It holds the arrows Fishing hook brand

INDUSTRY

New president at Big Rock Sports

Parent company Peak Global Holdings an nounced that David McCartney was named president of Big Rock Sports.

Quail coordinatorrestoration

Clint Johnson was named the new coordinator of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s quail restoration efforts.

Agency for fishing hook designer

Valley Tieless Fishing Tackle, the designer of a fishing hook for people with physical or visual restrictions, selected Hunter Outdoor Communications as its public relations agency of record.

Regional manager jobs at RMEF

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is seeking regional managers for northern Oregon and Kansas/Missouri.

Augustine promoted at MidwayUSA

MidwayUSA’s Adam Augustine was recently promoted to the position of Vice President – eCommerce.

Director of sales at SCI

Safari Club International announces the hiring of David Hawkey as director of sales.

Position at Winchester

Olin Winchester, LLC is seeking a man ager, Winchester Brand Licensing and Marketing at its East Alton, Illinois facility.

“The birds crashed the decoys all morn ing long,” Murphy said. “There was an im pressive number of teal in the area and the hunting was about as good as it gets.”

Teal hunters in the Edna and Port Lavaca areas reported seeing few birds on opening weekend. More ducks made their way to these locales in the days that followed.

David Blackwell hunted opening week end in the Anahuac area, where he said the teal were somewhat spotty.

“The birds that were there seemed to just be arriving to the area on opening week end,” Blackwell said. “We didn’t see any large groups of teal, but the ones that we did see decoyed great. More ducks began to show up during the week following open ingAtweekend.”theMcFaddin National Wildlife Ref uge, duck hunters reported harvesting lim its on opening day. Most agreed however, that the mosquitoes were such a nuisance, that justifying going hunting the second morning of the season wasn’t possible.

For home or office delivery, go to LSONews.com, or call (214) 361-2276, or send a check or money order to the address below. Lone Star Outdoor News, ISSN 2162-8300, a publication of Lone Star Outdoor News, LLC, publishes twice a month. A mailed subscription is $35 for 24 issues. Newsstand copies are $3, in certain markets copies are free, one per person. Copyright 2022 with all rights reserved. Reproduction and/or use of any photographic or written material without written permis sion by the publisher is prohibited. Subscribers may send address changes to: Lone Star Outdoor News, P.O. Box 551695, Dallas, TX 75355 or email them to editor@ lonestaroutdoornews.com.

Stuffed flounder protection for retrieving billfish side of the Pearsall’s county aquatic species A quail-hunting state Sinker type Thermal optics brand of the mackerel The bronzeback dove bag County’s Quail hunters’ Carthage’s county cooler

Advertising: Call (214) 361-2276 or editor@lonestaroutdoornews.comemailtorequestamediakit.

For home delivery subscriptions www.LSONews.com(214)361-2276

FOR THE TABLE

1 large Gulf flounder 2 sticks butter

1 stalk celery, minced bunch green onions, minced bunch parsley, minced 1/2 lbs. crabmeat cup chopped mushrooms French bread 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté celery, green onions and parsley in butter. Add crabmeat and chopped mushrooms. Wet French bread, squeeze excess water from it and shred into mixture. Season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Split flounder down the center of the top side. It is best to remove the backbone, which is easily snipped out with scissors. Lift up both halves of fish flesh and stuff with dressing. Dot with butter and bake stuffed fish at 400 degrees until fish flakes off with fork.

—MS Dept. of Marine Resources

Puzzle by Craig Nyhus, Lone Star Outdoor News

would be hooked. I just needed to get them there.”Kendall hadn’t shot a shotgun before agree ing to come on the trip and Trevor had limited knowledge of sporting clays, but leading a dove was a whole new ball game for the novice hunter.

“Hunting and embracing the outdoors was something neither of us really grew up around, so making the leap into the culture and activ ity seemed like something just out of our reach,” Kendall said. “If it wasn’t for our dear friends and generous sponsor, it’s likely we never would have known the rich community and pure fun of a dove hunt. We are hooked!”

“Stewards of the Wild is the young profes sionals group of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. Held in Albany, the hunt is a join ing of young people from across the state whose passion is the outdoors, hunting and fishing, a perfect match for the Lone Star Outdoor News Foundation,” Keys said.

FIND A PREMIER

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Ally Outdoors Midland |432-203-3661

Alpine Range Fort Worth |817-478-6613

Apache Rifle Works Comfort |830-995-3894

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BPS Outfitters Sherman|903-892-2227

BTO Range & Training Center Conroe|936-588-3333

Burdett and Son Outdoor College Station |979-695-2807

Carroll's Gun Shop Wharton |979-532-3175

Clay Shooters Supply Dallas |214-347-4913

Collectors Firearms Houston |713-781-1960

Defender Outdoors Fort Worth|817-935-8377

Dury's Guns San Antonio |210-533-5431

East Texas Pawn Lufkin |936-639-3322

Fehner & Son Gonzales |830-672-3710

Field & Streams Sporting Goods San Angelo |325-944-7094

Fun Guns Waco |254-755-0080

Gordy & Sons Outfitters Houston |713-951-0100

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Magnolia Hunting Supply Magnolia |281-766-1045

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McQueeney Gun Club New Braunfels |830-609-8891

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North Texas Piggin Products McKinney |214-837-1994

Oakwood Outfitters Oakwood |903- 545-2825

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Rules on bringing birds from Canada change

The U.S. Department of Agriculture initially announced no wild birds harvested by hunt ers in Canada would be allowed into the U.S. due to the possible spread of avian influenza.

“Hunter-harvested unprocessed wild game bird meat/carcasses, originating from or tran siting Canada, will not be permitted to enter the United States regardless of the Canadian province from which the bird was harvested,’’ the agency’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement released Sept. 2.

The agency had previously said that only game birds taken in specific influenza hotspots would be banned from import into theTheU.S.bird ban was criticized by hunters because the same game birds they shoot in Canada freely fly south across the border into the U.S. in coming weeks.

After requests that the ban be rescinded from the Canadian Parliamentary Order Outdoor Caucus and U.S. representatives and senators, APHIS issued new restrictions on Sept. 12, allowing hunters to bring home birds that are fully cleaned, gutted, washed, and have a fully feathered wing attached.

—Staff report

conservationistWyoming honored

Robert “Bob” Model, of Cody, Wyoming was honored at the 33rd Annual Congres sional Sportsmen’s Foundation Banquet and Auction with the inaugural Dingell-Young Sportsmen’s Legacy Award – the highest honor awarded by CSF.

To be eligible for the Dingell-Young Award, an individual must demonstrate leadership and long-standing dedication to advancing two or more of the following areas: national conservation policy, the role of sportsmen and women in conservation, expanding public access to hunting, fishing and/or recreational shooting, increasing the engagement of youth and underrepresented communities in sporting pursuits, and promoting our outdoor heritage in the policy arena.

The owner and operator of Mooncrest Ranch, Model has been responsible for countless projects, from the dynamic growth of elk herds in northwest Wyoming to the founding of the American Wildlife Conserva tion Partners. In addition to his work in the field, Bob has also provided policy counsel to multiple Presidential Administrations and has served on numerous committees and boards.

—CSF

Lead ammunitiontackle,bans on refuges

National Wildlife Refuges that are being opened to fishing, and the prohibition of lead ammunition on the refuges being opened to hunting.TheAmerican Sportfishing Association issued the following statement from Vice President of Government Affairs Mike Leon

ard.“It is deeply disappointing that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ignored science and the concerns of the sportfishing industry,” Leonard said. “Although USFWS states that this decision is based on concerns that lead ammunition and tackle have negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of both humans and wildlife, USFWS provided zero evidence of lead fishing tackle causing any negative impacts in these refuges.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation said the rule was a “bait-and-switch” deal that banned the use of traditional ammuni tion for opening 18 national wildlife refuges for new hunting and fishing opportunities.

According to NSSF, the USFWS offered no objective scientific evidence establishing that the use of traditional lead core ammuni tion poses a risk to human health or wildlife populations to support its decision to phase in a ban. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied the issue of consumption of wild game harvested with traditional am munition in 2008 and found no detrimental effects.

—Staff report

ARKANSAS Record paddlefish with spear gun

Chris Cantrell, of Berryville, speared a 90-pound, 12-ounce paddlefish, possibly breaking the spearfishing world-record mark for the Cantrellspecies.wasdiving in search of striped bass when the shot presented itself.

I was maybe 15 to 20 feet underwater when I saw the large shape,” Cackler said. I thought it was a gar at first, but then I was able to get close enough to see what it was and take the shot.”

Cantrell’s setup consists of a speargun with a line tethered to a barbed metal spear. Another tether is tied to a float on the surface to help fight larger fish.

“I dropped the gun after the shot because the fish made a strong dive when it was hit,” Cantrell said. “With a big fish, you drop the gun so that it doesn’t pull you down. The float line will keep it pinned.”

Getting the fish weighed was another issue.

“It was a holiday weekend, so finding somewhere with certified scales that was open took a long time,” Cantrell said. “The AGFC office was closed, and certified scales are required for any record submissions. My sister actually suggested we try calling a UPS store. To my surprise, one agreed.”

The current Arkansas hook-and-line state record for paddlefish is 118 pounds, 9 ounces, also caught in Beaver Lake, in 2020.

On Sept. 15, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service released a final rule announcing the prohibition of lead fishing tackle on certain

SABINE LAKE: 83 degrees. Redfish are good along the shoreline and on points along the ICW on live shrimp under a popping cork and morning glory chartreuse plastics. Speckled trout are good off the buoys on 5-inch plas tics in glo chartreuse.

TRINITY BAY: 84 degrees. Redfish and black drum are fair on live shrimp. Speckled trout are slow.

EAST GALVESTON BAY: 85 degrees. Speck led trout are fair drifting live shrimp and soft plastics. Redfish are fair to good on top-wa ters and live shrimp under a popping cork.

WEST GALVESTON BAY: 87 degrees. Speck led trout are fair on live croaker. Redfish are good on live shrimp and artificials under popping corks.

TEXAS CITY: 85 degrees. Bull and slot red fish are good on live shrimp. Speckled trout area fair on shrimp under a popping cork.

FREEPORT: 83 degrees. Redfish, black drum and trout in are good on live shrimp and croaker.

EAST MATAGORDA BAY: 86 degrees. Redfish are schooling along the shoreline, good on cut mullet, live shrimp under a popping cork and artificials.

ROCKPORT: 86 degrees. Redfish are very good in the flats on small paddle tails, scent ed plastics and live or cut mullet. Speckled trout are good on top-waters, soft plastics, croaker and live shrimp. Black drum are good on dead shrimp.

PORT ARANSAS: 84 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are good at the jetties on shrimp and piggy perch.

CORPUS CHRISTI: 83 degrees. Speckled trout are fair on shrimp and piggy perch. Redfish are good on cut mullet.

BAFFIN BAY: 91 degrees. Redfish, black drum and speckled trout are good on live shrimp under a popping cork and soft plas tics.

PORT MANSFIELD: 84 degrees. Redfish are good on top-waters and ball tail plastics. Speckled trout are fair on soft plastics.

SOUTH PADRE: 80 degrees. Speckled trout are good on Intracoastal drop-offs on shrimp and soft plastics. Redfish are good abun dance of good slot trout making easy limits on deep water drop-offs in the Intercoastal. A few flounder, redfish and jack crevalle show ing up in the bay. Redfish are good drifting with shrimp.

WEST MATAGORDA BAY: 86 degrees. Redfish are good along the shoreline on shrimp under popping corks, cut mullet and artficials.

PORT O’CONNOR: 84 degrees. Speckled trout are slow. Redfish are good on Spanish sardines and dead shrimp at the end of the jetty. Black drum are slow.

PORT ISABEL: 80 degrees. Speckled trout are good on shrimp and soft plastics along the Intracoastal canal. Redfish are fair on live shrimp.

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