February 2008

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www.fishgame.com Published by Texas Fish & Game Publishing Co., LLC. TEXAS FISH & GAME is the largest independent, familyowned outdoor publication in America. Owned by Ron and Stephanie Ward and Roy and Ardia Neves.

ROY NEVES PUBLISHER

DON ZAIDLE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CHESTER

MOORE

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

C O N T R I B U T O R S

MATT WILLIAMS • BOB HOOD • TED NUGENT • LOU MARULLO • REAVIS WORTHAM • JOE DOGGETT • KENDAL HEMPHILL • DOUG PIKE • CAPT. MIKE HOLMES • LENNY RUDOW • GREG BERLOCHER • STEVE LAMASCUS • PATRICK LEMIRE • PAUL BRADSHAW • HERMAN BRUNE • WAYNE C. WATSON • WALLY MARSHALL • BARRY ST. CLAIR • JIMMY D. MOORE • CALIXTO GONZALES • MARI HENRY • TOM BEHRENS •

FRESHWATER EDITOR HUNTING EDITOR BOWHUNTING EDITOR ASSOC. BOWHUNTING EDITOR HUMOR EDITOR SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR SENIOR OFFSHORE EDITOR ASSOC. OFFSHORE EDITOR BOATING EDITOR KAYAKING EDITOR FIREARMS EDITOR SALTWATER RIGS EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR LEGAL AFFAIRS EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR NORTH HOTSPOTS EDITOR SALTWATER EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR TROPHY QUEST COORDINATOR

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MICHELLE WARD ADMINISTRATOR TEXAS FISH & GAME (ISSN 0887-4174) is published monthly by Texas Fish & Game Publishing Co., LLC., 1745 Greens Road, Houston, Texas 77032. ©Texas Fish & Game Publishing Co., LLC. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission. The publication assumes no responsibility for unsolicited photographs and manuscripts. Subscription rates: 1 year $19.00: 2 years $34.75; 3 years $48.50. Address all subscription inquiries to Texas Fish & Game, 1745 Greens Road, Houston, Texas 77032. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for response. Give old and new address and enclose latest mailing address label when writing about your subscription. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: TEXAS FISH & GAME, 1745 Greens Road, Houston, TX 77032. Address all subscription inquiries to TEXAS FISH & GAME, 1745 Greens Road, Houston, TX 77032. Email change of address to: dhruzek@fishgame.com Email new orders to: dhruzek@fishgame.com Email subscription questions to: dhruzek@fishgame.com.

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FEBRUARY 2008 • Volume XXIII • NO.10 TOP 5 SALTWATER FIGHTERS

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Anglers frequently debate which saltwater species put up the best battle. Here’s our Top 5 list, just to spark more verbal sparring.

by Chester Moore

DEAD STICKING: WHEN LESS IS MORE

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Cold weather slows down a fish’s metabolism. The same lure action that produces strikes in summer is just too fast for winter fishing. Dead Sticking gives lethargic bass a presentation that’s more their speed.

by Barry St.Clair

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5.5 TIPS FOR CATCHING BIGGER TROUT Why do the same people seem to catch the biggest fish. One reason is they know how to eliminate dead water. Learn more about this, and 4-1/2 other ways to scale up your catches..

ON THE COVERS: COASTAL: There are few sights as pretty as the shimmering form of a speckled trout in its underwater element. Photo by Chester Moore INLAND/NORTH: Then, again, few anglers (salt or fresh) would argue with the striking beauty of a ravenous largemouth breaking the surface when its natural element is invaded by a well-placed lure. Photo by Doug Stamm

ALSO IN FEBRUARY:

by Greg Berlocher

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TURNING WOOD INTO BASS Terry Bassham would rather catch fish on lures from his own workbench than from a retail package.

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by Greg Berlocher

GAME LAWS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW

So, you think you’re well-versed on Texas game laws?

INTERNET FISHING

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BY TOM BEHRENS

The latest entry into the growing web-based outdoor experience market is Bounty Fishing, a tournament site where members catch real fish, but compete online for thousands in potential winnings.

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BRUSH BUSTERS BUSTED

Stories of bullet rounds capable of plowing through brush other obstacles are put to the test.

BY PAUL BRADSHAW

by Tom Behrens 4

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FEBRUARY 2008 • Volume XXIII • NO.10

COLUMNS 14 Editor’s Notes New Year, New People New Stuff

Heat Moon Acorn Curse

by DON ZAIDLE TF&G Editor-in-Chief

by TED NUGENT TF&G Bowhunting Editor

18 Commentary

66 Texas Freshwater

Catch-&Release

Lake Fork Pipeline Questions

by KENDAL HEMPHILL TF&G Commentator

by MATT WILLIAMS TF&G Freshwater Editor

20 Chester’s Notes

U.S. Anti-Hunting Bill Introduced

by CHESTER MOORE TF&G Executive Editor

by PAUL BRADSHAW TF&G Contributing Editor

Looking To the Future

by JOE DOGGETT TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

by CAPT. MIKE HOLMES TF&G Associate Offshore Editor

Campout Creepies

by CALIXTO GONZALES TF&G Saltwater Editor

by REAVIS WORTHAM TF&G Humor Editor

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YOUR LETTERS

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TF&G REPORT

BIG BAGS & CATCHES

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TROPHY QUEST

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TFG ON CAMPUS

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WINGS OVER TEXAS

86 Open Season

A Vanishing Breed

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82 Texas Offshore

Down Mexico Way

38 Texas Saltwater

DEPARTMENTS

72 Texas Deer Hunting 16

Bottom Line Conservation

22 Doggett at Large

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54 Texas Bowhunter

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MATAGORDA CROAKER BAN DRAWS FIRE As many readers already know, January is when Texas Fish & Game traditionally rolls out new writers, new departments, and other content changes. We have done precisely those things for 2008, although the announcement of said changes is a month delayed due to some last minute shuffling for space in the January issue. So, just pretend you are reading this in January.

Capt. Jay Baker Licensed & insured After finally getting off of crutches and getting out of the house with the family today, we decided to stop by our local grocer to pick up some jalapenos (my wife shot a deer for me while I was down). While we were there, we picked up the December edition of TF&G. I saw the petition outcry on page 14 calling for the banning of croaker fishing in the Matagorda Bay systems.

Now, while I fish artificials almost exclusively, I have to cry foul on this one.

Basically, I would fall into the group that stands against anything that prevents a child from catching a legal fish. I’ve got to say that I think I smell a rat here. Where is the petition that calls for common sense and helps insure that future generations of kids get to enjoy this sport (not this “business”) that we say, we all love so much? “Stewardship” is our responsibility, and not so we can line our pockets. I thought we considered ourselves stewards of the resource so that our descendants would be able to fish long after we were dead and buried. History has shown us that once government takes something away from the people, they don’t give it back. The good Captain Pustejovsky scares me with this kind of propaganda. Tight lines.

Guy A. Nichols Via email My wife and I just spent nine days in 8

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Matagorda. We stayed at the LCRA Park.

I would classify this as a “rough” fishing trip: Excessive winds and lots of rain over the Thanksgiving weekend. The bays and river turned chocolate and it sure didn’t help the fishing any.

When we got home, one of the first things I did was read your article on possible stricter regulation of trout in that area. I also read that there were 68 guides fishing that area. The real root of the evil is the number of fishing guides working that area. Just do the math: For each guide, figure 1-4 customers per trip (maybe half-day trips twice a day) and 10-fish limits per customer, and you will get the picture. Of course, there are times such as this past weekend when limits are not met, but by and large, the guide does their best to get the limit.

The guides need to look at what they are doing for the sake of the dollar. It has been our misfortune to find that most—not all— but most of the guides are rude and show no sportsmanship courtesy to the everyday angler. This time of year, the birds are used to find the fish, and we have found that the guides will blare into the midst of the working birds and scatter them just so their customers can at least pick up one or two fish.

They do this at the expense of cutting off anyone else fishing those birds.

This trip, my wife and I were leaving the East Bay when a guide with two passengers came blaring through the Old Gulf Cut and swamped our 19-foot Baysport and washed out the two boats anchored and fishing inside the cut. There is no excuse for this sort of reckless behavior on the water.

I am writing this because I believe that someone should speak up about the unsportsmanlike conduct of many of the guides, which of course gives them all a bad name. By the way, just to qualify myself, I have been fishing Matagorda since 1972 and can identify the guide boats. The problem with the guides has been multiplying over the past five years with the increase of those who profess to be guides.

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prospect of regulating the number of guides allowed on any bay system. Yes, I know this is probably an unrealistic expectation, but maybe one that should be explored.

We intend to continue fishing Matagorda as long as God allows, and hope the problems can be handled without greater regulation. Maybe you can use your resources and investigate this further to help the people who can’t afford to pay guides but enjoy a good day of fishing.

Just as a side note, my family and friends who have gone to Matagorda have witnessed on several occasions trout and redfish that were being cleaned by guides that were not within the legal limits. I hope that you can glean some good information from this that will give some insight and help for the problem. I do not believe that Captains Bill Pustejovsky and Walter Shelle have the true solution to the problem. I do agree that it has come down to the recreational angler vs. the guides.

My hunting has already gone by the wayside because of the skyrocketing prices, and I want to be able to afford to continue fishing. But more, I want my children and grandchildren to be given the same opportunities.

L.D. Westbrook Azle, TX

MORE SEEING RED OVER PINK I have been a Texas Fish & Game reader and a subscriber to the magazine for around eleven years. I love Chester Moore, Don Zaidle, Reavis Wortham, basically all the magazine. Sometimes Mr. Hemphill and Mr. Zaidle can curl my toes and I might disagree with them, but that is what I enjoy about the magazine. I read it, my kids read it, and my husband reads it. We love it— until the Gurlz Page column Mari Henry wrote in the October issue, “Pink be Gone!”

I hunt and I fish. My dad took me some when I was young, but my husband has real-

ly spent the time and taught me the way of the outdoors. He has taken my son and taught him the outdoors. My husband has also spent time and taken my daughter. My daughter loves the outdoors. This is where the color pink comes in; actually, it will come up twice in this letter.

Number one will be about my daughter.

My daughter’s first fishing pole was a pink Barbie pole. My daughter caught a lot of fish with it, and she had a pink tackle box.

My son got his first gun when he was little, a popgun that was blue. My daughter got a pink one. The BB gun came next, and she loves to hunt and fish.

If it takes pink camouflage, a pink gun, a pink fishing pole, or a pink deer stand, I really do not see the problem with it. Who cares? If the color pink can get a little girl to grow up and enjoy the outdoors, it is a good thing. I can promise you, if my husband had to, he would sit in a hot pink deer stand if it meant taking his little girl hunting. That time is special, it is important—they grow up way too fast, and so if it takes pink to get them hooked at a young age, so be it.

My second point: Please tell me that Mari did not realize her anti-pink column was coming out in October. Yes, this a hunting and fishing magazine, but everyone knows it is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I’ve even seen fishing poles with the pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness. Like so many, my mother is presently fighting the disease. My mother loves to fish, and because of treatments, is unable to be in the outdoors. It has been some really rough months for her, and will be like it is for everyone who fights this disease in whatever form it may be; it effects everyone.

So, when I wear the color pink, I will think of my mom and my little girl.

Mari’s column really got under this girl’s skin, and I will tell you, one little color can mean a lot to many different people.

Carmen Bates Via email

CHRISTMAS KUDOS I am a new subscriber to Texas Fish & Game, having received only two magazines to date. First, let me throw a few kudos your way for the great December issue of TF&G 10

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and Don Zaidle’s column, “Christmas Traditions.” The magazine is chock full of Christmas. Thanks for not taking Christ out of Christmas. In two of my other outdoor magazines, Christmas is not mentioned in their December issues, however, one mentioned the terms “holiday gift,” “Santa’s favorite,” “great gifts to buy,” and “stocking stuffers.” These publications have taken Christ out of Christmas, and I will be taking them off my renewal list. I know my thoughts on this subject are in the minority. Keep up the good work, great publication, and never take Christ out of Christmas.

Gerald Callaway Via email

BANK FISHING THANKS I would like to thank you for the great bank fishing info you have added in the coastal Hotspots Focus reports. I do not have a boat, and therefore look forward to them every month. I have been able to discover some new places in the Galveston and Sabine area I never knew of. Thanks for what you guys are doing for your readers.

Robert Katims Via email

BULL RED ARTICLE ROCKS! I picked up the October issue when I saw a bull red on the cover and realized there was going to be a story on my favorite fish. I loved the article! Keep up the great work.

Tony Franklin Via email

FLOUNDERING I just wanted to take a little time to drop you a line. I recently purchased Chester Moore’s Flounder Fever by mail. I received it today, have already read it, and loved every word.

I love all of Chester’s columns. I am a subscriber to TF&G and always scan through to read his column first. I feel that it is great to have someone with so much knowledge and love for the outdoors, and that is willing to share it with all from the F i s h

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Golden Triangle.

Congratulations to Chester on being named executive editor of TF&G. If anyone deserves it, it is him. As previously mentioned, I have already read the book, but it will take reading it a couple more times in order to remember all the info packed into it.

I, too, much rather pursue flounder than any other species. Personally, I think there is too much hype put on redfish and specs. Don’t get me wrong—I love to catch them, but preference still goes toward flounder.

I was hoping to make it to the TPWD Wildlife Expo at Ford hall. I can’t remember what happened, but didn’t get to. I was really looking forward to hearing Chester’s seminar and possibly meeting him. Anyhow, sure you have better things to do. Thanks for being so passionate about the outdoors and conservation.

Donald Savoie Via email

TEXAS WATERFOWL I just wanted to say that I picked up your book, Texas Waterfowl, at Academy in San Angelo just recently, and as I was browsing through it the evening before a morning duck hunt in Tom Green County (where I now live). I noticed a picture of author Chester Moore hunting in the Sabine River Bottom near Burkeville. It was kind of shock because I grew up in Newton hunting deer and wood duck on a lease in Burkeville.

Clint Walker Via email

CHESTER KUDOS (BIG HAM) I enjoyed meeting Chester Moore at the Bass Prop Shops opening on Beltway 8. I was there to meet Earl Campbell and Roland Martin, but was much more excited to him there. I couldn’t believe he took the time to draw out a diagram of a tackle rig for me and answer all of my questions. I love the magazine and look forward to it every month. Congratulations on his promotion, by the way. It is much deserved.

Jason Anderson Pasadena, TX

New Year, New People, New Stuff S MANY READERS ALREADY KNOW, JANUARY is when Texas Fish & Game traditionally rolls out new writers, new departments, and other content changes. We have done precisely those things for 2008.

Some of you might have noted from the December Texas Hunting column that Greg Rodriguez resigned as hunting editor. There was no bad blood, hard feelings, or dispute involved. Somebody made Greg an offer he couldn’t refuse, and he rightly accepted. We wish him good fortune and Godspeed.

We began a search for a new hunting editor as soon as Greg told us what was up.

Executive editor Chester Moore and I considered a number of candidates before mutually agreeing that Bob Hood was the best man for the job.

If you read outdoors magazines, odds are you have already enjoyed some of Bob’s work; if you live in North Texas and read the Forth Worth Star-Telegram newspaper, the odds tip to almost 100 percent. Bob has been outdoors editor for the Telegram since, well, since I am not sure when I don’t know how old Bob is, but I read his stuff when I was a kid, and rumor has it he conducted the first interview of Esau about the B&C and P&Y scores of the deer he killed to make “savory venison” for his father, Isaac.

The point is, Bob has been in a few hunting camps in his lifetime and knows a bit about it—all of it. He hit the ground running in this issue with a column about hunting hogs with B&C Outfitters near Groveton with a crossbow—and even shared a few opinions on that thorny subject.

We think Bob is a great new asset for Texas Fish & Game. After reading a few of his columns, we think you will agree.

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Past reader surveys told us that Big Bags & Catches and Photo Album are favorite departments among readers.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at Bob Hood it), we receive so many reader photos that we cannot use all of them and therefore maintain a backlog. Surveys also told us readers are quite interested in taking trophies of their own (well, duh!). We therefore came up with a way to address both.

Premiering in this issue, a new department called Trophy Fever features articles and tips about trophy hunting in Texas and occasionally by Texas hunters operating farflung locales. To augment the Texas trophy aspect, photos of readers with their personal trophies figure prominently throughout the section.

We are, of course, most interested in seeing your trophy photos. Send them as an email attachment with a description of the trophy, where and how taken, and any special circumstances (first buck, biggest hog, and so on) to trophyfever@fishgame.com.

Although there is no question Texas Bowhunting editor Ted Nugent is a consummate bowhunter, he much prefers to “celebrate the spiritual” of sport hunting, and tell tales of hunter cunning overcoming the prey’s “razorsharp” (a Ted word) survival instincts. We therefore opted to sign an associate bowhunting editor to address the more technical aspects. We tapped Lou Marullo, a Master Bowhunting Instructor and hunter par excellence. If it has anything to do with bowhunting or related gear, technique, or lore, Lou has been there, done that, done it twice, or done it better.

Texas is a big state with more diversity in flora, fauna, and topography than any place I can think of except maybe the entire continent of Africa. As such, there is always F i s h

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something going on somewhere that impacts outdoorsmen.

We cover the most important things in various columns and departments, but with the N a t i o n a l Oceanic and Lou Marullo Atmospheric Administration and National Marines Fisheries Service launching one onslaught after another on recreational saltwater fishing; critical environmental issues; special interests trying to hijack the fisheries and force-feed nonsensical regulations; and myriad other concerns along the Texas coast, we decided it merited a dedicated news section.

Therefore, this issue inaugurates News from the Coast, a new department in the Coastal Edition. If it is worth knowing, you will find it there.

We think you will enjoy these additions to Texas Fish & Game, and are always interested in your feedback. Send comments and recommendations to editor@fishgame.com.

CORRECTION: In the December 2007 issue, New Products department located in the Almanac Inland & Coastal editions, we inadvertently published a photo of the Daiwa MF150i Baitcaster. A photo of the Megaforce with Twitchin’ Bar Baitcaster should have been pictured. Also, within that same editorial, please note, “Daiwa’s Cielo casting reels” should read, “Daiwa’s Viento casting reels.”

E-mail Don Zaidle at editor@fishgame.com

Bushnell Sues Cuddeback For Trail Camera “False Advertising” N A PRESS RELEASE IN NOVEMBER, BUSHNELL Outdoor Products announced it was suing Non-Typical, Inc. for “false and misleading advertising.” The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas and alleges that Non-Typical, Inc.’s advertisements for its Cuddeback trail cameras are false and misleading. The lawsuit seeks an injunction against further false and misleading statements, and monetary damages.

Bushnell, Inc. manufactures and sells trail cameras under the Bushnell trademark.

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Non-Typical, Inc., located in Wisconsin, manufactures and sells trail cameras under the Cuddeback brand name.

“Bushnell repeatedly tried to convince Non-Typical to remove its false and misleading advertisements, but they refused,” said Phil Gyori, Vice President of Marketing at Bushnell. “While we much prefer to compete in the market, as we have been doing for years, true competition is difficult when faced with false and misleading advertising.

Because Non-Typical refused to remove their

false advertising, our management decided that this lawsuit was the only course of action left to us.”

Although the press release did not mention Bushnell’s basis for its lawsuit, a Bushnell spokesman, Jen Messelt, confirmed that the alleged false claims are related to a video on the Cuddeback website (www.cuddebackdigital.com) depicting a performance comparison between Bushnell and Cuddeback trail cameras. In the video, a man appears on camera saying, “We’ve

BIG BAGS & CATCHES

BASS—Joe Pool Lake, Grand Prairie

TROUT

BUCK—Gillespie County

Scott Heggan of Burleson, Texas, caught this 8.36-pound, 25-inch black bass, his personal best, on a 6-pound crappie rig with a live minnow in the crappie house at Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie. His buddy, Dave Miller, lipped her out so that he wouldn’t break the line.

David Grant Howard caught this really nice 31-inch, 8-1/2-pound trout.

Jon Michael Lavergne, age 9, of Cedar Park, Texas, took this 8-point Hill County deer in Gillespie County with one shot from a .223 rifle. His parents, Michael and Michelle Lavergne are very proud.

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got the latest Cuddeback and Bushnell scouting cameras to show you the difference in trigger speed.” The video then shows both cameras mounted to a tree trunk, with the Cuddeback mounted above the Bushnell.

The man in the video says, “I’ll be the deer, let’s see what happens.” The man walks past the cameras then says, “Did both cameras get my picture? Let’s find out. I’ll print the images.”

In the video, the holds up a photograph of himself presumably taken by the Cuddeback camera and says, “Cuddeback triggered instantly, and captured this image.” He then produces a second photograph showing only the background displayed in the first image and says, “Bushnell, no deer. Don’t miss that buck of a lifetime, get a Cuddeback.”

Presumably in response to the Cuddeback video, Bushnell has a similar video called “Trigger Time Truth” on its website (www.bushnell.com). In the first half of the video, the competing cameras are mounted in what text describes as a “dark room environment, filmed in infrared” with the Bushnell camera mounted above the Cuddeback. The video shows “10 consecutive tests” then the text, “Bushnell 6 Cuddeback 4.”

In the second half of the Bushnell video, a man appears in a scene with the two cameras mounted to a tree trunk, the Bushnell above the Cuddeback. The man says, “We’re here to test the newest Bushnell and Cuddeback trail cameras today. I’m gonna play the part of the deer. Let’s see how fast the trigger time really is.”

The man then walks past the cameras and says: “Now I’ll pull the cards and let’s print the pictures, and see whether or not we caught that deer.”

The video then shows a number of photographs, some with the man in the frame, others without, each with text identifying the camera. The video then displays text reading, “Bushnell beat Cuddeback 6 out of 10 times. You won’t miss that buck of a lifetime.”

Even though Bushnell announced its lawsuit in a press release, company officials declined further comment and to answer questions regarding the suit and the videos.

Specifically, Bushnell declined to answer the following questions: • Was any testing performed by Bushnell to determine if camera placement affected trigger time? (i.e., perform the test with the

camera positions switched) • Was any testing performed by Bushnell using two Bushnell cameras mounted one atop the other to determine if identical cameras had different trigger times depending on placement?

• Was any testing performed by Bushnell to determine if the “target’s” walking speed, body position, or other variables affected trigger time?

• Was any testing performed by Bushnell using a mechanical constant-speed, fixedaspect target to determine if the camera(s) performed differently with target variables minimized or eliminated?

• Was any testing performed by Bushnell to determine if the infrared systems in either camera interfered with the other camera?

• In the Bushnell darkroom/infrared portion of the video, what mechanism was used to trigger the cameras?

Bushnell responded with: “Our analysis of the Cuddeback advertising campaign concludes that their ads are false and misleading. Our attorneys have advised us not to comment further.” —Don Zaidle

Carter Smith Named TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith was named executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on December 5 at a special meeting of the TPW Commission in San Antonio. Smith will be leaving the helm at The Nature Conservancy of Texas to take the top job at TPWD. “Carter Smith is a well-respected conservationist and has proven his ability to develop successful partnerships with landowners and others,” said TPW Commission Chairman Peter Holt. “He is a hunter and angler and a seventh generation Texas landowner. He understands the conservation challenges we face in our rapidly growing and changing state and will provide a fresh perspective as we strive to meet our mission.”

The Commission took action to accept the recommendation of the search committee in a public meeting after discussing the issue in executive session. The search committee consisted of TPW Commission Chairman Peter Holt, Chairman Emeritus Lee Bass, Vice Chairman Dan Friedkin, T E X A S

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Commissioner Mark Bivins, and former Chairman Joseph Fitzsimons.

Smith has been with The Nature Conservancy of Texas since 1998 and has been the state director since 2004. Prior to his promotion to state director, Smith served as Director of Conservation Programs where he was responsible for conservation, external affairs, and science programs. Before working at the Nature Conservancy, he was the first executive director of the Katy Prairie Conservancy, and continues to serve on its Advisory Board.

Smith is a native of Central Texas and began his career in 1992 at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as a management intern, assisting in the Private Lands and Public Hunting programs. He has a wildlife management degree from Texas Tech and a master’s degree in conservation biology from Yale University.

Smith has served on numerous science, conservation, land trust, and advisory councils. Besides the Katy Prairie Conservancy, he has served on the Texas Land Trust Council and advisory boards for Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Texas State University.

Most recently, he served on TPWD’s State Parks Advisory Committee.

“I am deeply honored to accept this new challenge,” said Smith. “I was very fortunate to begin my professional career at Texas Parks and Wildlife, and have had much contact with the professionals at the agency through the years. I look forward to working with people I admire and respect to further TPWD’s conservation mission.”

Texas Parks and Wildlife is the state agency responsible for managing and conserving Texas’ natural and cultural resources. The agency has an annual budget of $405.8 million and a full-time equivalent staff of about 3,100 in 11 internal divisions: Wildlife, Coastal Fisheries, Inland Fisheries, Law Enforcement, State Parks, Infrastructure, Communications, Administrative Resources, Information Technology, Human Resources and Legal.

Smith will replace Robert L. Cook, who retired on August 31, 2007. Cook has been executive director since February 2002 and is serving as interim executive director until Smith takes the helm in late January.

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HEN THE CATCH-AND-RELEASE IDEA started to gain widespread popularity, I wondered how long it would last. I could not imagine the survival of the fishing industry if its proponents advocated gaining the prize and then giving it up. It seemed like asking a guy to work all week and then give his paycheck back to his employer, or a woman to spend a day shopping and then return all the clothes she had bought. It seemed as though catchand-release zealots were asking fishermen to become gerbils on a wheel, and to pay for the wheel themselves.

So, I decided to talk to some fishing guides who advocate catch-and-release to find out if the practice is really necessary.

Guides stand to lose more than the rest of us should Texas fisheries take a nosedive, so they are naturally concerned with the health of the fisheries in our state’s lakes, bays, and rivers. And they spend enough time on the water to know what they are talking about.

I contacted several fishing guides, among them Captain Sally Moffett, who owns Reel Fun Charters out of Rockport. I also questioned Leonard Wilson, who has been flyfishing since he was five years old and has been an Orvis fly-fishing guide in the Central Texas area. Leonard fishes all over Texas and often travels as far as Costa Rica; he has forgotten more about fishing than most of us will ever know.

Sally and Leonard both advocate catchand-release, but neither is adamant about it.

Both are strict about their clients adhering to state and local game regulations. Both

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Most guides said the slot limit on trout and redfish could be part of the fish mortality problem.

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believe our fisheries can benefit from catchand-release, but that education is the key to success in such an endeavor.

For example, anglers often catch trout in the bays near Rockport and handle them with a rag or glove before releasing them, believing this will help them to survive after being caught. But trout are delicate fish, and any handling is detrimental, whether with a glove, rag, or human hand. It removes the protective slime from the skin and leaves them vulnerable to fungus and disease, and many trout handled in this way die later.

Anglers should use a fish gripper when handling any fish they intend to release, to

minimize damage. Redfish are hardier than trout, but even reds can be injured by overhandling. No fish should be kept out of water longer than necessary, and if possible should be released while still mostly submerged. Dangling a fish from a line is never a good idea.

Not that taking a picture or two of a fish and then releasing it alive is impossible, but haste is imperative. Some guides say that to cause a fish to be still for a quick photograph, hold it upside down for a second. This usually causes the fish to be still and quit flopping. The photo can then be taken and the fish released.

Most guides said the slot limit on trout and redfish could be part of the fish mortality problem. The slot for trout is 15 to 25 inches, with a limit of 10 fish, including not F i s h

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more than one over 25 inches. The redfish slot is 20 to 28 inches, with a limit of three fish. One red over 28 inches can also be kept if tagged, but Captain Sally never encourages keeping the big reds, which head for deeper water to breed about the time they reach 28 inches.

The problem arises when anglers get into a school of 14-inch trout, or 19-inch reds.

All these must be released, and many of them, especially the trout, will die from handling if it is not done properly. Some guides suggest the slot limit should be dropped, at least on trout, so that anglers could keep the first 10 fish they catch, regardless of size.

Ethics, as always, play a part. If unscrupulous anglers have several 15-inch trout in a cooler, and then happen upon a school of hungry 20-inch-plus fish, the smaller ones often end up floating in the bay.

Unless anglers do their part by obeying the game laws, our fisheries could be doomed no matter what the regulations say.

Leonard confirmed that freshwater fishes should be treated pretty much the same as their saltwater kin. He also encourages the use of barbless hooks, and advocates reeling in a fish quickly to avoid tiring it out, which can be detrimental to resuscitation. In rivers and lakes, anglers can also move toward fish instead of reeling it to themselves.

The bottom line is that catch-and-release is good for Texas fisheries, but if not done correctly, the fish might die anyway. But, then, there is nothing wrong with taking a stringer of fish home to eat. The gunslinger Hipshot in the old Rick O’Shay cartoon had a motto that seems to fit the situation perfectly: “Moderation in all things—especially moderation.”

E-mail Kendal Hemphill at commentary@fishgame.com

Bottom Line Conservation HE ABSURDITY OF SOME LAWS, PROPOSALS, theories, and ideologies that fall under the umbrella of the outdoors in the year 2008 boggles the mind.

Take, for example, a recent effort to save the “endangered” Florida panther, a small subspecies of the cougar. For years, federal wildlife officials have been touting this cat as a unique subspecies of cougar that is in need of protection. So, what do they do to help bolster populations? They import cougars from West Texas—a different subspecies— to breed with them. How are they going to retain “genetic integrity” if they breed with cougars of another strain? Isn’t that what supposedly happened with the red wolf?

The Feds declared the red wolf extinct in the wild because it hybridized with coyotes, and even if an animal was determined to be just a tiny bit coyote, it could not be a red wolf. I always thought that made absolutely no sense. We still have animals running around that are for all practical purposes red wolves, but because they have a touch of coyote in them, they are not “wolves.”

In fact, I have had wildlife officials in the past tell me these animals are coyotes. Somehow, they are not a wolf if they have coyote in them, but if they have wolf, they are still a coyote.

Hello?

Now they are “saving” a subspecies of cougar by breeding it with another strain of cougar. I have no problem with them doing this, but they should admit the line between some of these subspecies has more to do with geography than genetics.

Even better than the Florida panther debacle is a recent study by the National Marine Fisheries Service that concludes gray

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triggerfish are “over fished.”

I kid you not.

“The most recent effort at assessing the Gulf of Mexico gray triggerfish stock indicated that it is most likely over-fished and experiencing overfishing,” the feds noted in a report on the status of the species.

The obvious conclusion I drew is that these people have never been fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. During summer, at least half of the rigs have so many triggerfish around them that you cannot fish for snapper with cut bait. Having scuba dived in some of these areas, I can attest there are literally thousands of gray triggerfish around some structures.

When I wrote last year that once they got the snapper fishery cut down, the feds were going to target other species such as dolphin, wahoo, amberjack, and ling. I had no idea that they would go as far as triggerfish. I know all of you who fish offshore are probably having a bit of a laugh over the “overfished” status of triggerfish, a species for which practically no one fishes. The bad thing is that the people in charge are dead serious about this, and believe their computer models are the be-all end-all of fisheries management.

They must be kin to the same people who work for the department of wildlife and fisheries in Kansas. That state is seeing an increase in feral hog populations, so to combat this problem, their idea is to ban hog hunting. That’s right, to reduce hog numbers, Kansas is banning hog hunting. Officials say it is because they do not want to encourage people to release hogs into areas to increase hunting opportunity.

Someone needs to let them know that, now that they have a few hogs, it will not be long before their precious corn crops are fattening up tens of thousands. It will not take hunters releasing hogs to make that happen; hogs do just fine on their own in that regard.

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round hog hunting and trapping on all public hunting lands. On one hand, TPWD biologists complain about the hogs, but then their superiors tie the hands of those who could do something about it. I can understand not allowing specific hog hunting, say, on a coastal tract of public land during duck season, but once the duck hunters are out, where is the harm?

On most public lands in Texas, you cannot bait hogs, hunt them at night or with dogs, or use traps. Eliminating these options would be like saying you could not use bait to catch fish. Just showing up in the woods and waiting for a hog to walk by in broad daylight without bait to entice it, dogs to chase it, or a trap to catch it is like dangling a bare hook in the water. Sometimes you might get lucky, but the odds are slim.

The frustrating thing about all of these absurd regulations is that they come from notions of political correctness or bureaucratic stubbornness.

It’s nearly impossible to get government scientists to change their minds, and they will run with a theory until it runs a species into oblivion. It is time for a new era in wildlife conservation called “bottom line conservation.” Management decisions should center on whether or not regulations and conservation practices help or hurt a species. If throwing money at something is not helping, use that money for another species it might help.

If hunting could help alleviate a problem, allow it. If it hurts populations, don’t allow it. Do not allow emotion to get into this kind of thing.

That is when conservation becomes preservation and no one benefits—especially the wildlife.

E-mail Chester Moore at cmoore@fishgame.com

Down Mexico Way EXICO FOR MANY OF US WAS THE FIRST great adventure. The warm wind carried the hot breath of raw land and tropical sun, and we knew that life was different. The outdoors down south was huge, unspoiled, with an abundance and variety that beckoned to free spirits. It was an undeniable call to youth.

Those who went before were larger than life. They always spoke in superlatives. Even tales of logistical disasters and horrible illnesses were recounted with gusto; they were playing on the edge, charging in sweatstained khakis, and this was no place for excuses.

They rolled south with arrogance and confidence; they were cavaliers, soldiers of fortune, and their colors were blood on sand.

They returned with the deep tans and casual manners and knowing smiles that taunted our hunger. We knew it was real.

So we went, and they were right. Mexico was not just better, it was fabulous. It exploded, vibrant and green and filled with riches.

Each way we turned with rod or gun, it was superior to what we knew before.

I remember the first wade-fishing expedition to Third Pass, south of Matamoros. We drove the unpaved “salt mine road” across the sun-blasted flats and dunes, then down desolate Washington Beach to the pass. We shared huge Cuba libres and connected with a magic tide.

Green surf funneled through the cuts and great schools of redfish and speckled trout and tarpon sliced through the lifting swells.

We could see them, flickering, ghosting images ahead of jolting strikes on wind-swept casts. Frantic gulls wheeled and pitched and, down the distant beach, no other fisherman

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was within sight. It was a higher level, a peak experience, the finest wade-fishing session I ever had known.

I remember the first bass fishing trip to Lake Guerrero, near Victoria. We camped and launched on the south end of the new lake, near the tiny settlement of Villa de Casas. There were no polished resorts; this was the Guerrero that became legend. Each flooded mesquite bush and weed pocket seemed to hold a gang of brawling bass.

One afternoon, against the threatening backdrop of a purple squall and below an excited swirl of parrots and pigeons, the fish went into a frenzy. Bass—big bass—ate every surface lure we had.

The overwhelming numbers of bass were similar to the dove on my first whitewing hunt near Abasolo. The most vivid image was the overview as we approached a vast yellow and green sea of sorghum. The field appeared empty except for the random trading of small bunches of doves; birds, yes, but nothing exceptional.

I frowned and glanced at the driver. He said nothing but leaned on the horn.

The field tilted. I don’t know how else to describe it. The entire horizon of grain lifted in a phantasmagoric show of gunning wealth as feeding legions took flight. “There were more last week,” the driver said with a shrug.

There always seemed to be more in Mexico. I remember the first billfishing trip to Mazatlan, where the Pacific dawns are slick and blue, and sailfish and marlin were taken for granted. Rich coffee and fluffy French toast at the old Shrimp Bucket were the traditional start, and the blue-water anglers would linger against the shadowed cool of the seawall and watch the mountain sun light up the ocean.

Spray from the breaking surf hung in a fine haze as grumpy brown pelicans patrolled the beach.

Two hours into the first day, the surging fin of a striped marlin was in the baits. The skipper dropped back with a mullet, hooked the fish, and handed me the rod, but the F i s h

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power and urgency were no less diminished in my sophomoric grip. We saw two dozen fins that day and boated three fish. The dark captain was satisfied but not overwhelmed: His top day for the year was eight fish.

And I remember the first flats expedition to the Yucatan, below Cancun. It was wild and remote country, low jungle cut by lagoons and channels and rimmed by white beaches and soaring palms and the vivid Caribbean. Three-foot iguana lizards scuttled across the white ruts of sand and shell that cut south of the ruins of Tulum.

Schools of bonefish worried across the thin expanses of sand and turtle grass, often spooking for no apparent reason in chainreaction splashes and pops. Up against the mangrove islands, the stir and flash and twinkle of tailing fish excited nervous casts.

The ripping sound of the first hooked and running fish carried a thrill that continues to fuel an obsession. And, there against the low sun, was the greatest flats prize—the dramatic, black sickle of a feeding permit!

Mexico has many moods and remains a land of wild promise for the outdoorsman.

Of course, the high table is not without price.

I have been upside-down in a ditch and stranded on an island. I have been prostrate with death-wish sickness and lost amid nameless dirt roads and mindless ticket counters. I have been the victim of con artists and corrupt officials, and I have tasted the miserable sweat of frustration and fear.

But, despite the bad trips and rough edges, the early beckon never lets go. There are other places of wonderful outdoor potential—Costa Rica is Mexico and more—but the first adventures are special.

Mexico is close, so close. During winter, you can feel it, almost taste it, when the south wind blows.

E-mail Joe Doggett at doggett@fishgame.com

by Chester Moore

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altwater fishing has many positive attributes, but my personal favorite is that just about every species pursued by anglers fight hard— some of them very hard.

Anglers frequently debate which fish puts up the best battle, but rarely do they agree on a winner. This article will no doubt spark a bit of friendly verbal sparring, because I am about to name the fish I consider the Top Five Saltwater Fighters.

I based this list on several factors, including pound-for-pound strength, overall difficulty in landing, and flat-out brute strength (what my colleague Cal Gonzales calls “brute thugs”). Other criteria are that the species must be common in Texas waters, and likely to be encountered by anglers in the bays, surf, or near-shore Gulf. Species commonly found in the blue-water zone such as billfishes and tunas are not on my list because few anglers have access to them.

Let the debates begin.

1. Jack Crevalle: Anyone who has ever hooked one of these magnificent fighters

If you doubt the fighting abilities of this fish, then you don’t know jack. can respect my decision to put them at No. 1. They embody all three primary attributes I considered in decision-making. They are intensely strong on a pound-for-pound basis; are difficult to land, since many times anglers hook them on trout tackle; and possess impressive brute strength and stamina.

I will never forget the first time I caught a big jack crevalle. It was at an oil rig just a few miles off Breton Island in the Chandeleur

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Islands chain. We were fishing for shark, and not five minutes after I cast a cut mullet into the blue-green water, my rod doubled over.

Thirty minutes later, I was still battling the beast on the other end of the line. I wrongly guessed it was a big bull shark or hammerhead because it made fast runs, but never breached the water like a blacktip or spinner would. One of the people in the boat with us said it was a redfish, and I could not help but laugh.

“If this is a redfish, alert the media because I am about to break the world record. This fishing is something far stronger,” I said.

I was right.

It turned out to be a jack crevalle in the 30-pound class, and between its iron will to evade capture and the massive current in the area, this jack put up an epic battle. I had caught smallish jacks before and always noted they were strong, but after catching this monster, I gained an entirely new respect for the species.

2. Tarpon: Believe it or not, tarpon are well within the reach of most anglers on the coast. They are fairly common from High Island down to Padre Island in the nearshore Gulf. Just last summer, I worked a school (to no avail) at the end of the Port Aransas Jetties.

So, why do few anglers catch them?

Tarpon are extremely finicky fish and will mysteriously choose to bite on seemingly nothing, and when they do, it is difficult to put a hook into them. Their mouths are full of very hard bone, and hookset is more difficult with them than any other species on the Gulf Coast. If you happen to hook one, be ready for a sweat-drenched, adrenalinepumped battle.

PHOTO BY CHESTER MOORE

Once a ray “suctions” onto the bottom, there is no moving it with anything short of a winch.

Tarpon are dogged fighters that use speed, acrobatic agility, and stamina to their advantage. Some fish will stay under the surface, causing anglers to suspect they have hooked something else, and then all of a sudden explode out of the water and snap the line.

The Texas coast harbors some of the biggest tarpon in the world, but even small specimens put up an impressive battle. I once watched a man fight a 20-pounder on a fly rod for nearly an hour near South Padre, and he even cheated by using the boat to his advantage. Tarpon are just plain tough.

3. Stingray: I will never forget the look on my Dad’s face: As I pulled up to his boat drifting a few hundred yards from the Texas

Point surf, I noticed he was red as a beet and dripping with sweat. He looked as if he had gone 10 rounds with Evander Holyfield as he watched my cousin, Frank Moore, battle a big fish.

“What’s on the other end of the line?” I asked.

Just as I uttered those words, a massive stingray surfaced in the sandy green water.

“That’s what’s on the other end,” Dad said.

For 2-1/2 hours, my father had battled the big ray, and he had had enough. My cousin was now fighting the beastly fish, and after another good 10 minutes of tug of war, he landed it—that only after we put two gaffs in it and Frank stuck his hands in its gills to heave it into the boat. The monster

PHOTO BY CHESTER MOORE

Sharks are powerful swimmers, which translates into epic fights on rod and reel. weighed more than 250 pounds, measured 58 inches across, and provided enough meat for several cookouts.

Stingrays deserve third place on my list because large ones are extremely difficult to land, especially on light tackle, and are pound-for-pound as strong as anything else out there. Stingrays have a weapon unlike any other fish—suction. When hooked, they routinely lie on the bottom and use the suction created by their round bodies to hold position. This might last for a few minutes, or until the angler decides he has better things to do and cuts the line.

4. Sharks: Narrowing down which shark species is the hardest fighter within reach of most anglers is almost impossible.

The bull, blacktip, spinner, and lemon all come to mind. However, leaving sharks off the list would be impossible because they are very tough fighters.

Sharks have raw power, speed, and an advantage not even toothy fish like barracuda have—skin denticles. Denticles are the small outgrowths on the skin of a shark that give it a sandpaper-like feel. Under a microscope, they look like teeth, hence the name “denticles.” When you get a shark on your line and suddenly lose it, many times it has nothing to do with the teeth. It is because the line rubbing against the body skin or slapped by the tail gets cut by the denticles.

Yes, steel leaders are important for dealing with a shark’s teeth, but equally important for countering the “sharp” skin. Factor in that many sharks regularly grow to better than 6 feet in length with some species getting much larger than that, and you can see how difficult it would to land one, extra long steel leader or not.

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fighting coastal fish without giving a nod to the redfish. It is not as glamorous as the tarpon or as difficult to deal with as a ray, but it is a truly hard fighter, whether a 24-incher on the grass flats of the lower coast or a 45inch monster at the tip of the Galveston jetties.

Redfish make the list because of their dogged determination to stay in the water instead of ending up in an ice chest. In a way, they work hardest at their own conservation by working like the devil to avoid the fillet knife.

Back in the mid 1990s, I was fishing with guides Mike Wheatley and Glen Freeman, and one of their friends (I forget his name) near Huxley Bay on Toledo Bend. The quarry was largemouth bass, and this guy said that the largemouth, pound-for-pound, is the hardest fighting fish in Texas.

I laughed aloud.

Don’t get me wrong, I love bass, but I informed him that there are fish in the Gulf of Mexico that make a lunker largemouth feel like a guppy on the end of your line.

Then I told him you do not even have go out to the Gulf to see this.

“Just come with me down to the coast and hang into a nice redfish; you’ll see those bass are not as tough as you think,” I said.

He said he was glad I did not use the same argument for speckled trout because “they just don’t look the part.”

“I gotta admit, those redfish look pretty serious,” he added.

Indeed, they are, and so is just about everything else that swims below the saltwater line—the ones on this list are just badder than the rest.

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ishing lures attract and catch game fish primarily because they mimic the actions and behavior of prey species.

Lures that reproduce the natural movements of forage tend are usually more productive than those that just give a general impression of something easy to catch and good to eat.

The reasons some lures catch fish regularly—and others that appear to be identical do not—is part of the fishing mystique.

Typically, it is the action, sound, and size of a lure that determines its effectiveness; color plays a part sometimes. These criteria apply primarily during the warm months of the year, when game fish are most active.

When cold weather arrives, fish metabolism slows and action lures become less effective. Game fish continue to feed, but with a more pronounced reluctance to strike lures that have a lot of movement. Therefore, anglers who want to continue to catch fish have to change the type of lure offered as well as the way it is presented. This is the time of year when less becomes more, and there is a term for it in the angling world: dead-sticking.

Dead-sticking is cranking or dropping a lure to a certain depth and leaving it there with no imparted motion. Think of it as baitfishing without the bait. Crankbaits, jigs, spoons, and soft-plastic creature baits are all types of lures that can be effective using the dead-sticking technique.

It sounds crazy, but the method works for tempting tight-mouthed game fish of various species when active presentations do not produce.

Joe Read is a long-time striped bass guide on Lake Tawakoni (903-896-1380) and uses the dead-sticking technique to wrestle reluctant stripers from the depths. He said there are times when stripers are not in the mood to hit an active lure, but will strike if the presentation is subtle enough.

Joe relies primarily on Sassy Shad lures to put fish in the boat for his customers.

When stripers are suspended and not responding to typical cast-and-wind presentations, using the dead-stick technique has proven effective for him and his clients.

To make the method work, Joe rigs up 4inch Sassy Shads on a 1- to 2-ounce jighead, pulls off enough line to place the lure just above a school of suspended fish, places the rods in holders, and drifts through the school. The movement of the boat gives the

lure just a tiny amount of motion that recalcitrant stripers cannot resist. This method works in the heat of summer as well as the dead of winter. The key is to have patience and get the lure to the right depth.

Largemouth bass is another species that responds to the dead-sticking technique.

Shad are the dominant forage species for bass in Texas reservoirs. During the winter months, shad form large schools and move to drop-offs and creek channels in deep water.

They will remain more or less in the same areas all winter. Largemouth bass will follow them, picking off the weak, injured, and slow.

These schools of shad are easily discernable on a sonar unit. They appear as tightly knit “clouds.” During warm seasons, bass will charge and stampede the schools, but in the winter, they are more content to follow them around and prey on the weak members that get left behind. Those shad unable to keep up have one option: go to the bottom and find a place to hide. It seldom is an effective strategy, which is the reason deadsticking lures is a productive method for catching largemouth bass in the winter.

Bass patrol the bottom looking for shad that are hiding and trying to survive. Deadsticking a lure just above or on the bottom

mimics those unthrifty baitfish. The trick is to fish under the schools of shad and not move the lure. To a bass on a hunger run, a motionless lure will resemble a shad trying its best to remain un-noticed by not moving.

It takes a lot of patience to fish this way, but it works.

Dead-sticking can also be used as a strolling technique for largemouth bass.

“Strolling” is a term coined by anglers to describe using a trolling motor set at a very low speed to impart action while dead-sticking a lure. Strolling also allows covering a specific area thoroughly. Find a school of shad in deep water using sonar; drop a spoon, jig, or Senko-type plastic worm to about 1 foot off the bottom; and then use an electric trolling motor to move very slowly around the area. Big bass are opportunistic feeders, and this technique is a good way to catch them in the winter.

Suspending crankbaits such as the Rogue or Fat Free Shad work, too, for dead-sticking bass into the boat during the cold months.

Contrary to many theories, not all bass stay in deep water throughout the winter. All it takes is a few days of warm weather to heat up the shallows along shorelines a few degrees and baitfishes will move into it. Bass will follow them like kids chasing an ice cream truck.

An excellent way to tempt these heatseeking bass is to use a suspending crankbait. Cast to the shoreline, crank the lure down a few feet, and let it just sit there for a minute or two. If nothing happens, pull the lure with the rod just a few inches and wait another minute or two. Line watching is very important for detecting strikes. Any sudden slack or sideways movement means a fish has inhaled the lure. Set the hook with a sideways sweeping motion to improve the chances of getting more hooks into the fish.

Timbered areas off main creek channels are also excellent places for dead-sticking a crankbait. Pre-spawn bass will be moving from deep water up creek channels, seeking food and spawning areas as the water warms in early spring. Timber near warming flats with a nearby creek providing a ready escape will hold bass, and they can be caught with a crankbait. Toss a suspending model past a likely looking tree, crank the lure down, and bump the trunk. Stop reeling and let the lure hang there, looking so much like a stunned baitfish even a wise old largemouth can’t tell the difference. Strikes will more than likely be subtle, so consider any line movement a strike indicator.

Dead sticking also has topwater applications for tempting largemouth bass. Bass are curious fish and often will come to investigate any disturbance in their immediate sur-

roundings. If they are hungry, it does not take much to get them to pounce on a topwater lure; but if they are not hungry, the game is a little tougher. This is when the less-ismore technique can make all the difference between getting bit and just getting frostbit.

Instead of just casting and cranking, let the lure settle until all ripples have subsided, then just twitch the bait slightly—just enough to make the lure shiver. Tiny motions will trigger a bass’ predatory instinct and it will engulf a lure from sheer reflex if not hunger.

Have you ever made a cast and accomplished nothing more than creating a backlash? The lure flew true to a likely bass lair, but improper magnetic control settings or casting into the wind caused the professional overrun. Picking out the snarl usually takes a while, and when it finally is cleared, the next step is to reel in the lure. Imagine the surprise when there is a bass on the other end. It happens more often than you think.

Most bass anglers fish lures much too quickly. The key is to recognize the situation and capitalize on it. Dead-sticking is not for the impulsive or need-for-speed angler, but it will put fish in the boat when other methods fail.

Crappie is another species that responds to the less-is-more-technique. These popular and abundant game fish can be some of the most finicky when it comes to finding the proper presentation to get them to strike a lure. Many times, just presenting a motionless jig inches from the fishes’ noses is the only way to catch them.

Fishing for crappie when they gather in tight schools in deep water during the winter months can be frustrating. One of the most effective techniques I have found to tempt them from the depths is to use a minnow and jig setup. Think of the rig as a drop-shot bass rig using a weight on the terminal end of the line and a two-hook setup staged up the line at 1- to 2-foot intervals. Hook a minnow on one hook and tie a 1/16-ounce jig above it. The minnow will swim around and give the jig just a tiny bit of action. The results can be two at a time when other methods fail.

The next time more action fails to produce, try less. This hurry-up universe we live in does not always translate well to the fishing world. Try slowing down presentations, and odds are the result will be more fish in the boat.

A Vanishing Breed IE-HARD, UNREPENTANT, NEVER-SAY-QUIT fishermen should mark December 15, 2007, on their calendars. Another small, privately owned tackle shop, Hook Line and Sinker, in Harlingen, closed its doors for the last time. Proprietor Rip Masters, who ran the place for more than 25 years, decided to take down their blinking “Shimano” sign and see what the fishing is like in the middle of the week.

With the addition of Gulf Sporting Goods in Corpus Christi, which shut down during the summer, this is the second mom and pop tackle store to have closed in six months, which doesn’t include the tackle stores I don’t even know about. That is a real pity, because these places were never without the charm and utilitarianism that fishermen love about their sport and all its facets.

Don’t get me wrong—the sprawling bigbox stores are great. Where else but in Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, or Gander Mountain can a fisherman just disappear in the tackle department, not to be heard or seen for literally hours on end (my wife loves to drop me off at Bass Pro Shops in San Antonio because she knows exactly where to find me when she’s done at the outlet shops across the street—the fishing section, looking at the reels)? The places are comfy, well-lit, airy, and filled with that new stuff smell that draws fishermen like bees to honeysuckle.

The giant stores have everything, too. A real newbie to fishing can walk into one of these places with little more than a credit card and a desire to catch fish and, with the help of some of the most knowledgeable staffs around, walk out a couple of hours later completely outfitted with the correct equipment for a day on the water— includ-

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ing a boat, if so inclined. If you are looking for the newest from Pflueger, Shimano, or Daiwa, chances are you will find it at one of these outdoors superstores. Do you need a multi-tool like the one Keith Warren uses on television? Check. The topwaters Roland Martin swears by? Check. Bill Dance’s Weedeater-style buzzbaits? Check.

Still, the small tackle shops fill an important role: they are places to find tackle that is discontinued or not carried by the big stores.

If you are looking for a chartreuse Plugging Shorty Shrimp, you stand a good chance of finding one at a Gulf Sporting Goods. I can’t think of another place in the Rio Grande Valley that carried Blakemore’s Double Trouble worms other than Hook Line and Sinker (it also had the most abundant supply of B&L Corkies in the Valley).

I found a brace of Cotton Cordell Jointed Redfins in Texas Chicken in Rip’s store years after CC discontinued the pattern. I tell you, these places had stuff some big stores have never even heard of.

Moreover, the small tackle shop serves as a meeting place for fishermen from the surrounding communities. Information about where the redfish are schooling and what color plastic the trout are hitting gets exchanged around the cash register and among the aisles of hooks, sinkers, and fishing line. Discussions about how to handle the latest batch of regulations from Texas Parks & Wildlife, or which guide got nabbed keeping undersized fish, or which reel is better for wade-fishing sprout up while cash is exchanged, and friends who don’t see each other except when they go to the tackle shop get reacquainted and promise to call before the next fishing trip. Ideas are made, chewed on, and rejected or built upon. (The late Rudy Grigar wrote in his book, Plugger, that the original plans for the Gulf Coast Conservation Association—the predecessor of the current Coastal Conservation Association—were hammered out in his Houston tackle shop.)

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Sinker is gone...okay, it does, because I loved that place. What bugs me more, though, is that there will be no place opening in its stead. Once the doors close on a place like that, it’s gone forever. Few people want to open a small shop that might or might not make it, which will offer little profit in the short term, and no security in the long term.

The potential for high overhead, federal selfemployment and business taxes, high insurance, and fluctuating wholesale prices make a stacked deck that few want to play with.

There are still plenty of private tackle shops in Texas. There is George’s and The Fly Shop in Port Isabel; Roy’s in Corpus; and Cut Rate in Houston. All of them great places for fishermen who want to be on a first-name basis with management and the other clientele. You can probably come up with a place that you love to frequent, where the tackle is unique and the people who hang out there are simple fishermen, just like you are—the kind of people you call “good folk.”

I’m glad that Rip is going to have the time to spend with his wife, and he’s going to get to see how empty Laguna Madre can be on a Tuesday or Wednesday. I’m happy that he can look back with pride and satisfaction on his years as the proprietor of that great little shop he owned on Business 77 in Harlingen. He’s earned the privilege.

Part of me, though, a very selfish little part, wishes that Hook Line and Sinker were still open, with the neon Shimano sign still blinking, and Rip behind the counter cleaning another reel, or gluing another guide tip. There is something reassuring about that, a signal that everything is in its place on Earth.

Alas, Earth keeps spinning, and as it does, another little tackle shop disappears in the rear-view mirror.

E-mail Calixto Gonzales cgonzales@fishgame.com

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by Greg Berlocher

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peckled trout are the most sought-after saltwater species in Texas bays. Hundreds of thousands of anglers pursue the spotted game fish every year.

Tasty on the plate and feisty on the rod, specks are the mainstay of our coastal fisheries. Creel studies reveal that most catches are less than 20 inches in length, but a few coastal sharpshooters have a knack for consistently catching large trout.

What do they know that the rest of us don’t?

Consistently taking big trout involves more than “luck” or being in “the right place at the right time.”

Have you ever wondered why the same people seem to catch the biggest fish? One big reason is that they have learned how to eliminate dead water and fish only in productive areas.

“Seventy five percent of the water is unproductive,” said Captain Bink Grimes, a big trout specialist (and contributor to this magazine) who has put clients on hundreds of big trout. “You need to eliminate barren water and focus on areas that will hold fish.

Bait, moving water, and water clarity are a good start. Finding good structure is also important.

“January and February are good months to catch big trout, but the trout—especially the big ones—won’t be on sand during that time; it is too cold, but that is where most people fish. When the water temperature is in the high 50s or 60s, the trout will be on mud bottoms because it is darker and absorbs more heat than sand bottoms.

Shrimp and mullet will be on the mud, too.”

Grimes compared working productive water to managing a baseball team: “You have to play the percentages. If the game is on the line, would you rather send in a batter that is hitting 200 or one hitting 350?

Big trout don’t always bite, but you increase your chances of catching one if you put yourself in the right place.”

Stealth Big trout rise to the top of the food chain by being aggressive feeders, while at the same time being cagey and distrustful of things that can do them harm. They are very sensitive to sights and sounds in their vicinity.

Water is 700 times denser than air, and insignificant sounds to the human ear become a blaring klaxon under water.

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Fish where the big fish are

Madre specialist, knows this and coaches clients on the importance of being stealthy.

Half of his charters use conventional tackle, the other half use fly rods; all of them fish in knee-deep water or less.

The Hoy Grail on the Texas coast is a 30-inch or longer speckled trout. Over the last two years, Ray’s clients have caught and released more than 30 trout that eclipsed the coveted mark. He has lost count of the ones 26-30 inches. All but a few were caught on foot rather than afloat. Ray is convinced it has to do with stealth.

“Fish can sense your presence through their eyes and lateral lines,” Ray said.

“Waves slapping up against a boat hull make noise. Big fish are very wary of things that aren’t natural and will either flee or get lockjaw. I was on the water several years ago and happened onto a school of really big trout.

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Every fish was over 30 inches long.

Unfortunately, they were upwind of me and the surface chop was piling up against my shins. The fish could sense those shock waves and they moved out of casting distance every time I tried to move closer.”

Grimes echoed Ray’s belief that the biggest fish are caught while wading: “Sometime during the summer when the water is warm, hold your breath and take a little dip beneath your boat and listen to the noise. You will be surprised how loud the waves are slapping against the hull.”

Ray offered a great suggestion for wading: “If you can hear yourself walking through the water, the fish can, too. Your legs send shock waves through the water with every step. Move very slowly and minimize the noise you make.”

Be in tune with the bay Every trip to the bay is a different experience. All manner of things can change from one trip to the next, including water clarity, salinity, wind, water temperature, sunlight, barometric pressure, tides, and moon phase.

Big trout specialists are in tune with the bay and know what is going on at all times.

Fish respond to small changes.

Fishermen who understand this will catch larger fish. A good example is water temperature, which is one of the least appreciated metrics in coastal fishing. Fish are coldblooded creatures and assume the temperature of the surrounding water. As such, they seek the most comfortable water available.

During the dead of winter, one flat might hold 59-degree water while the next flat over might be 61 degrees. Where will the fish be?

A finger dipped in the water can’t discern a two-degree difference, but a thermometer can. Serious fishermen equip their boats with temperature gauges and check them constantly during the winter and spring.

Learning how the different variables influence fish will help you catch bigger ones.

Fisherman’s Intuition “When you show up on a shoreline and there are big fish there, you just know it,” Grimes said. “When big fish are feeding, big mullet jump like darts instead of making lazy, arching jumps. The flats come alive and the bait is nervous. There is water splashing and things are dying. When big trout feed, they make a racket doing it. It is hard to explain, but when you spend enough time on the water, you just know there are big fish about.”

There is only one way to acquire this type of intuition and that is spending time on the water. When you catch a big trout, stop and take mental inventory of your situation and then try to repeat it. Do it enough times, and you will develop a fisherman’s intuition.

Confidence Confidence is the biggest differentiator between a big trout specialist and other fishermen. Specialists have the self-assurance to stick with the mission, even though the fish are not cooperating.

“When conditions are right, bait is busting and slicks are popping up all around you,” Said Grimes. “You know the fish are there, but they just aren’t biting yet. Keeping

a lure in the water increases your percentages of catching a big fish.”

During the winter, it is common to sling a plug all day long and never get a single bump. The serious trout fishermen that do this are called “grinders” because they have the commitment to grind it out, day-in and day-out. They know that a fish will eventually intercept their bait, and when it does, it will be a big one.

Confident anglers don’t worry about lure color and don’t fret away valuable time rerigging multiple times. They keep their lure in the water.

Confident anglers have small tackle boxes. They have a few favorite lures and have mastered how to use them.

Confident anglers never slide a quart of shrimp into the baitwell “just in case.”

Mary Kay Ash, the deceased founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, was fond of saying: “If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t you’re right.” Big trout specialists exhibit this can-do attitude.

Become a student of the game Serious fishermen are hungry for knowledge and scour every periodical, book, and website they can find, looking to enhance their knowledge base. They also keep detailed notes of every outing. They log the wind direction, water clarity, tidal movement, and water temperature for a start.

Once the variables are logged, the catch is described, on what type of lures, and times.

If the catch is cleaned, stomach contents are sometimes noted.

Fishing journals help you capture small details that otherwise quickly become forgotten. Review enough entries and you will begin to see trends and patterns. For instance: Where were the fish when the water was holding at a specific temperature?

Where did you catch fish, and how, when the wind blew from an awkward direction?

How did the fish respond to a change in barometric pressure?

As with all other sports, there comes a point when the mental aspect looms large if you want to elevate your game. Anglers who catch big trout on a regular basis have invested the time on the water and have become students of the game. You can, too.

Big Gar = Big Trout A few years ago, an angler told me he was catching big speckled trout in the marshes on the Louisiana side of Sabine Lake by looking for garfish. At first, I thought he was off in la-la land, and then I got to thinking that during February and early March, some of the best trout holes in that area have lots of gar in them. This got me to doing some calling around and poking around in these areas.

What I found out is there seems to be some sort of relationship between the gar and trout in these areas. It is either that they are simply wintering in the same waters, or perhaps the big trout are feeding on the gar’s scraps. Weirder things have happened.

“In some of the areas we fish, the water really clears up in February and we see a lot of big alligator garfish just sort of slowing cruising around these canals, or sitting motionless on the bottom,” said Capt. Skip James. “And quite a bit we have seen big trout right in there with the gar. It’s kind of strange, but something we have seen more than a few times.”

Last February, I got my first glimpse of this in a cut we call the “Dredge Hole.” There were quite a few gar in the cut, and in a spot where I could see down a couple of feet was a 4-foot long gar with a big speck (probably in the 25- to 27-inch class) lying right next to it.

Of course, I had the bright idea that it would be really cool to bounce a lure off the side of the gar and catch the trout— sort of a billiards bank shot. The gar sped away and the trout disappeared in a cloud of silt kicked up by its armored companion. I did catch a couple of nice fish in that area that day, but none bounced off a gar.

This month, I will be attempting to catch some big specks, and when I fish those waters, I will be looking for garfish to lead me to the trout. —Chester Moore

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by Greg Berlocher

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ames Heddon, Fred Arbogast, and Terry Bassham all have something in common: the ability to turn wood into bass. Heddon and Arbogast both whittled bass plugs for family and friends, ultimately making the entrepreneurial jump from fisherman to tackle manufacturer.

Bassham, a Texas Fish & Game reader who lives in Dayton, doesn’t envision leaving his job in the petrochemical industry to start a lure making enterprise, but he loves to tinker with wooden bass lures.

I spent a morning with Bassham several months ago swapping notes about crafting bass baits. We quickly discovered we share a passion for catching fish on lures that come from the workbench and not from a store.

Bassham’s workshop, known affectionately as “the man cave,” is outfitted with a large screen television, stereo, climate control, and other creature comforts in addition to a variety of woodworking tools and specialty-built fixtures for making lures.

Bassham crafts plugs from several types of wood: balsa, basswood (no pun intended), and western red cedar are his favorites.

Balsa is available in several different weights. Light balsa, which is sold in hobby shops and prized by model builders, is the least durable. Medium and heavy balsa are significantly denser but not readily available, and so must be ordered from a specialty shop.

Is one wood better than others for bass plugs?

“It is really a personal preference,” Bassham said. “I use different woods depending on the personality I want the lure to have.”

Balsa is easiest to craft and plugs can literally be shaped with nothing more than a sheet of sandpaper, making the wood the overwhelming choice of beginning lure makers. Although balsa is easy to shape, it is also easy to gouge and gash; a mutinous knife blade can turn a promising profile into winter kindling.

Balsa has several other negative characteristics, but they can be easily overcome.

Since the wood’s texture is soft, simple screw eyes will pull out if severely stressed. A wire harness embedded inside the plug provides a firm foundation for dangling trebles. In addi-

These lures sculpted by Phil Brannan are true works of art, yet as functional as they are beautiful. Angler Dennis Canada used the lure shown at the bottom to take a 10.75-pound bass. A photo of the lure and bass appeared on the March 1998 cover of Texas Fish & Game. Brannan used plaster of Paris to make a mold for the soft-plastic rear half of the lure.

tion to being soft, balsa wicks up moisture like an Irish bar maid’s towel on Saint Patrick’s Day. You must seal the wood completely or your lure will become a sponge.

Adding weight to a plug will change its “personality,” allowing it to dive deeper or F i s h

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suspend rather than float. Balsa baits, even floaters, benefit from weighting. Even if the action doesn’t change, the extra ballast increases casting distance. Beginning plug makers should add weight directly above the hook harness on the belly.

See Step 1 in text

See Step 2 in text even coat of epoxy.”

Lure makers have a lengthy list of options for coloring lures: wrap them in gold or silver foil, add a laser printed image of a fish to the sides for a realistic look, or paint them.

Before he paints a lure, Bassham lays down a base coat of Pearl paint. He believes

PHOTOS BY SUNNI BRANNAN

After you have made a few lures, you might want to tinker with location of the weight. Seasoned lure makers attach a small weight to the roughed out lure body with a rubber band and then float it in a sink or aquarium. The amount of weight and its position can be adjusted, thereby changing the lure’s attitude in the water. A hole is then drilled in the body at the appropriate spot and a tube weight inserted and epoxied in place.

Bassham gives the raw wood a coating of primer to seal it, and when it is dry, tops it with a thin coat of epoxy for a watertight skin.

“You could put epoxy directly on the wood, but the absorption rate might vary,” Bassham said. “The wood in one part of the lure might absorb more glue than another part, thereby changing the balance. Priming the lure first prevents this and allows for an

Also Step 2

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the iridescent base coat makes the color of subsequent paint layers much more vivid.

Once the base coat has dried for several hours or overnight, Bassham adds a pattern of some sort. Window screen, wedding veil, and hole-punched ribbon are just a few of his tools for creating scale patterns. Spraying paint through a man’s hair comb is a simple way to add stripes to a lure’s flanks. After a pattern has been added, Bassham finishes the paint job by spraying the belly a light color and the back a dark color.

Bassham uses an airbrush to paint the majority his baits. The adjustable nozzle allows him to fan out the spray or concentrate it to add tiny details. Airbrushes require a special compressor, and a whole rig will set you back several hundred dollars.

Testors, the company known for plastic models and paints, offers airbrush kits that utilize cans of propellant instead of air compressors.

Kits start in the $40 range, allowing beginners to get into air brushing for a modest investment.

Although Bassham airbrushes many of his baits, he stressed that beginners can get good results using cans of spray paint. The secret is to start spraying with the nozzle pointing away from the bait and then swinging the paint stream across the plug. Misting the bait with multiple light coats is far superior to a heavy single coat.

A Polaroid pinned to the pegboard above Bassham’s workbench caught my eye. He plucked it from the wall and handed it to me, along with a mottled green crankbait resem-

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Step 5 (not shown): Sand the plug and then paint with primer.

When dry, add a thin coating of 30minute epoxy and rotate for several hours or overnight. Add base coat of pearl paint.

bling a baby bass. The 7pounder Bassham was holding in the photo was the first fish he had ever taken on a homemade lure. Since then, he has continued to turn wood into bass.

Step 1: Choose shape of lure and trace it onto a piece of balsa.

Cut out profile with a coping or band saw, and cut lip slot. Draw or score line down the mid-point of the width of the bait.

Step 2: Cut bait into two equal halves.

Using one of the halves as a reference, form a wire harness that will fit inside the lure.

Using a sharp knife or hobby tool equipped a ball bit, hollow out a recess in both halves for the wire harness and weight.

Step 3: Remove the wire harness and temporarily join the two halves back together with two tiny dots of white glue. You will need to split the plug back into halves later, so don’t use much glue. Once the glue is dry, use carving tools and sandpaper to get desired shape.

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Many anglers prefer wooden lures so manufacturers still offer them, such as this Bagley Baits Balsa-B model.

Step 4: Carefully split the plug back into halves and re-insert the wire harness. Coat the inside faces of both halves with epoxy and squeeze them together, making sure the harness remains in its proper position.

Quickly wipe any glue that oozes from the center line. Gently clamp the plug together and allow the epoxy to dry.

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Step 6: Wrap wedding veil around plug and secure with alligator clamps. Mist top half of bait with spray paint. Allow to dry several minutes and then remove veil.

Warning: If you allow the paint to dry too long the veil will stick to the lure.

Step 7: Finish paint job by adding the same or darker color along the back and a lighter color on the belly. When paint is dry, finish the plug by coating it with a thin layer of 30-minute epoxy and rotate overnight. Do not fill up lip slot with epoxy.

Step 8: Cut out Lexan lip and glue into place with epoxy. Add split rings and treble hooks.

WEAT. MOSQUITOES. DEAD, STALE AIR. I HATE Texas in October. No, wait! I love Texas in October! I am sorry to sound like a hopeless, spineless, spoiled wimp here, but 90-plus-degree weather day in and day out just isn’t what this old dyed-in-thewool Michiganiac bowhunter considers traditional fall bowhunting conditions. Meanwhile, my buddies up north—and all over the country, for that matter—are lamenting the same tales of woe. Add to these antihunting conditions the tsunami of acorns falling nonstop across the land, and I am fearful that the old WhackMaster might have to resort to buying chicken before you know it. Oh, the humanity! The trials and tribulations of hot weather, full moon, overdose of mast crop bowhunting is enough to drive an old bowhunter crazy. But, of course, as bowhunters, we are already plenty crazy as it is. God bless the bowhunters.

Enough squawking already. After all, I am in America, it is autumn (or was when I wrote this), I am bowhunting, I am a free man, and I surely have no right to complain.

Right? Right. Time to man up, improvise, adapt, and overcome. No wimps allowed.

Davy Crocket, Fred Bear, and Chesty Puller live. I will not complain anymore. I will persevere and put my heart and soul into being the best, most thoughtful, intelligent, reasoning predator bowhunter I can possibly be. So what if the moon looks like a giant spotlight in the sky each night? Who cares if the ground is a carpet of the deer’s favorite nutrition in virtually unlimited availability that no man can compete with? Who cares if a constant flow of hot sweat droplets pour off my burning nose and saturate my camo clothing until I feel like I am going to pass out and fall out of my tree stand? I’m gonna kill me a

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“

It was just before dark, and numerous deer could be seen beneath every tree except mine.

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Heat Moon Acorn Curse

deer with a sharp stick and that’s all there is to it. But, damn, it’s hot!

So went the early bowhunting season, as usual in Texas.

The best, most intensely enjoyable rock tour of my life came to a screeching, bittersweet halt on September 4, and we hit the Rocky Mountain slopes of Western Colorado the very next day for mule deer and elk, but no game was bagged by the time we packed up and headed home to Texas. More acorns and even hotter there!

I didn’t waste a minute and was in a favorite tree stand that first evening home near Waco. All the live-oak trees were sagging with a bumper crop of big, fat, juicy deer candy, and they seemed to never stop falling. With literally hundreds of acorn-

belching trees on our property, it was a virtual roll of the proverbial dice trying to choose just which oak mot to hunt from. Deer sign was everywhere, and I sucked up the sweat and mosquito assault and celebrated another cherished bowhunt in the lap of God. It was just before dark, and numerous deer could be seen beneath every tree except mine. With barely enough video camera light remaining, a handsome, fat yearling doe browsed along and cautiously made her way in front of me at about 20 yards. With a bag full of doe tags on my Managed Land Deer Permit system, now was as good a time as any to begin balancing my overpopulated herd, and with a graceful pull of the bowstring, my eyes zeroed in on her vitals. In an instant, my first arrow of the season zipped F i s h

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in and out of her chest for a grand 07 season First Kill. It was beautiful.

Some might say “only a small doe,” but to this old bowhunter, she, like every hard earned bow kill of my life, was yet another trophy of a lifetime. Perfect. Houston, we have backstraps. Man, it felt great.

Feeling secure by the remoteness and darkness of this beautiful forest, a small sixpoint buck appeared shortly after we had quietly climbed aboard. Joined by two does and fawns, they leisurely chowed down on acorns, meandering every which way until they eventually wandered out of sight. A pair of does nibbled on browse to our left, working their way down into the dry gully. Lifting my Martin bow slowly told vidcam jockey Josh that I was getting ready to rock, and when the big she-deer went down for a bite, I came to full draw and watched my Lumenok disappear square into the golden triangle of her vitals. Thwack! Kicking and leaping straight into the air like a gazelle, she scrambled 30 yards, stopped, and fell over sideways for another great bowhunting moment. Josh and I exchanged a fist-fiver and I nocked another arrow. I was about to review on film the series of exciting events that just unfolded when my eyes picked up movement beyond the camera. Another small deer was tiptoeing straight for us, and when it descended into the dry wash, I again picked a spot on her shoulder and drilled whitetail No. 2 in less than 10 minutes.

The season of harvest rambles on, the conditions only getting better each day, and though I might complain a bit—tongue in cheek—about less than ideal hunting weather or conditions, I assure you that, like all my hunting BloodBrothers, these wonderful days afield are always the best days of life, and I will cherish them more and more as I thank God that I can still go bowhunting in America. Backstraps-R-Us.

E-mail Ted Nugent at bowhunting@fishgame.com

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AY LESS THAN $10 AND HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN $1000, pay less than $20 and have seven chances to win $1000.

Every week there is a new winner. Kind of sounds like a raffle, but it’s not. It’s a weekly fishing tournament on the internet, paying big dollars to the winners in eight different fish categories, including walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, panfish, musky, pike, salmon, trout, catfish, and carp. These categories are bro-

ken down into sub-divisions within each one for a grand total of 18 different species.

Texas anglers are not going to be catching musky, pike, or salmon, but the remaining fish are definitely available in the Lone Star state. Pay your money each week and catch the top panfish, largemouth bass, and channel catfish, and you would be $3000 richer. Feel lucky and try it again next week. You are not limited to one state or area within the state. Fish any legal area that you want to fish.

The fishing tournament, Bounty Fishing (www.bountyfishing.com), is new, just started this summer with the summer tournament series finishing up the end of August. A new six weeks of fishing begins October 1. It’s not a gimmick, as has been with some other groups using the internet as a host. Bounty pays the winners within 30 days. In addition to first place of $1,000, second place pays $200; third place pays $100. A new tournament begins on Monday morning and ends on Sunday evening each week for six consecutive weeks.

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“When I came across the 2001 U.S. Fish & Wildlife National Survey, it really caught me off guard,” commented Richard Shafter, President and CEO of Bounty Fishing, is an angler, himself. The organization headquarters is Montreal, Canada. “I had no idea that fishing was as big as it is. I read that there are more people who fish than people who play golf and tennis combined.

“I took a look at all the different tournaments being held. How can we create a tournament for everyone, from anywhere, where they can fish on any body of water, for many different species? I really wanted to build it so it wouldn’t be intrusive on their day, because fishing is therapy; it’s enjoyable. I didn’t want to change that experience. If anything I wanted to heighten it.”

To fish in a Bounty Fishing event, an angler goes online at www.bountyfishing.com and registers to become a Bounty member. A Bounty member is similar to belonging to other major fishing tournament organizations, such as BASS, except it doesn’t cost anything to join. Members receive a weekly internet newsletter and can access the Bounty website, posting their own catch photos, read other angler’s stories on how they caught their fish, and submit their own stories.

Next, the angler chooses the individual date he or she wants to fish and pays the $7 entry fee. Fish every day for a week for $19 total. On the morning of the outing, retrieve a computer generated Bounty Code from the Bounty Fishing website. The Bounty Code is valid only for the date it is issued. Submit only the longest fish caught per eligible category. Entries are judged on length, not weight. Anglers can enter multiple categories Using a digital camera, take two images.

Photo one is a picture of the catch lying flat with a measuring device (ruler) under the fish, clearly indicating the length of the fish and clearly displaying the Bounty Code. In photo two, hold the catch horizontally, chest high and as close to the body as possible.

Camera specifications are important.

There is a four-mega pixel minimum—no cell phone cameras, no video cameras. File size must be no less than 2200 x 1600 pixels and no greater than 3264 x 2448 pixels.

All images must be taken in the JPEG, set at High Quality. Upload the images to the Bounty Fishing website and hope your fish is the big winner.

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Shafter. With a few simple clicks of the “Quick Selection Tool” in Photoshop, a fish can be stretched to add inches to its length.

Shafter explains the solution was to use a piece of software developed by Hany Farid, a professor at Dartmouth College, renowned in digital forensics.

When a fish is stretched, Photoshop fills in the missing pixels by interpolating their values from the original recorded pixels.

These regularly spaced new pixels are a specific combination of their surrounding pixels.

Such regularities rarely occur in natural images, so their presence can be used as evidence of tampering. Federal law enforcement agencies use the software to detect various forms of tampering.

In addition to the software above, a few other dead giveaways that a photo has been altered are repetition of a particular piece of the photo, often used to stretch or morph images. Other giveaways include inconsistencies in lighting, noise, and optical aberrations. The easiest way to spot altered lighting is to increase the contrast of a photo so all the differences in lighting are exaggerated. Look for shadows that don’t match up with what’s casting them. In optical aberrations, patterns are not seamless or appear to be inconsistent with the surrounding area.

“Also, the picture of the angler holding the fish, there are certain standards in anatomy in a human being you can’t cheat,” says Shafter. “If you’re cheating with the ruler in your picture, we can do a check with standards in anatomy of the picture of you with your fish. For example, we can measure the limbus, which is the circle around your eye which is pretty standard in all human beings, and compare that to the ruler measurements.”

Shafter estimates that participation during the summer was somewhere under a thousand, with many of the anglers hooked on the tournaments, returning weekly. “I would like to be vague on purpose because if I am going to give you a number, I want to be accurate.” Membership is just under 3,000.

“There is no charge for membership. You can open an account and store all your photos from previous catches in (on-line) photo albums. Other members can view, comment and exchange opinions about your catch.

There is a great community discussing all things fishing. A lot of people go out, catch a fish, and can’t wait to post it on the website so that everyone can see it, regardless if they are competing. There was a man who was noodling for catfish. He caught three fish and couldn’t wait until he could get his F i s h

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pictures up on the site. Another angler in first place has already won $10,500. There are 69 winners so far.”

Master Angler and Ultimate Angler are year-end carrots to chase for anglers who fish each week. “For each category, you can take your top five fish, measure them together, total inches, and you might win the Master Angler award,” says Shafter. The prize is $2,500 for every category. The Ultimate Angler wins $3,000 for the largest fish from each category. “It looks like the person who is in first place might come out of this with almost $20,000.”

A check of the website for winners shows a large amount of Canadian winners, which might be expected because of the tournament’s Canadian origins, but there have been winners from the lower 48 states such as Minnesota, Florida, and Mississippi.

The largemouth bass leader going into the last week of August was a top fish measuring 25.82 inches caught by Brian Gibson of Mississippi. The second and third place fish, 25.12 inches and 20.00 came from waters in Florida. The catfish category is limited to channel catfish at the present with big fish measuring out at 36.45 inches.

“There is a lot of work that goes into deciding the appropriate species, the appropriate dates to allow as many people as possible to partake in the tournaments. For example, in the fall, salmon start to spawn and will not be present for that season. We always want to be sure we are doing everything correctly.”

Doing the math on 18 fish categories, each paying $1,300 total for week comes out to $23,400 if each category has fish entered.

Right now, total entry fees don’t add up to that number. Given the idea behind Bounty Fishing is a good idea, will it be able to stick around for the long haul? Shafter admits that he didn’t expect to break even the first year, or years, but as anglers across the wide world of the internet discover the benefits and value of his tournament plan, the program will prosper. A group of private investors that he wished not to divulge backs the program.

Seven dollars for a days fishing with a chance to win $1,000 is a good hook to catch anglers, especially when there are so many different fish categories. The fish can come from anywhere you have a lucky fishing hole, providing it’s not the fresh fish case from local supermarket. It wouldn’t pass the photo test anyway. —Tom Behrens

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ost hunters and anglers are well versed on game laws—or at least think they are. The fact is, game laws (like most laws) are convoluted, confusing, and full of seeming contradictions.

Let’s take a quick tour of the TPWD Outdoor Annual, that slick little booklet you receive when you renew your license, and see what’s in it besides size and length limits.

Porcupines, Armadillos, & Badgers Believe it or not, it is perfectly legal to hunt porcupines, armadillos, and badgers in Texas, even though the armadillo is the official Texas State Mammal (small). In the case of badgers, if you intend to sell the hide, you must have a TPWD trappers license.

Ditto for otters.

Odd as it seems, Texas hosts porcupines, otters, and badgers. I suppose editor Zaidle could be classed as a badger molester, too, because he said he shot one on a bowhunt in South Texas several years ago.

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As for armadillos, Zaidle again confessed to dispatching many of them over the years, but does not recommend it since ‘dillos carry the pathogen responsible for leprosy. If you are willing to take the chance, Zaidle has a number of armadillo recipes he is willing to share.

Hunter Orange Texas is one of the states that requires hunter orange on public lands while hunting big game, not on private land. Hunter orange is required if hunting deer in state WMAs, National Forests, and on Army Corps of Engineer land, mainly because these federal agencies say it is a requirement.

However, the owner or manager of the $1000-per gun lease you hunt can require hunter orange if he desires, and TPWD said that’s okay. “Quite honestly, it’s a control issue,” said Kelly Edmiston, TPWD Information Officer. “I can’t tell you why TPWD hasn’t adopted it as required of every hunter, whether a hunter is on private property or not. I can tell you the individual landowner has the right to enforce that kind of thing if they want to, a landowner choice.”

Oddly, the orange requirement presents

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some interesting dilemmas. For instance, it is legal to wear camouflage clothing while hunting ducks on public land. But, let’s say an impressively racked whitetail buck eases to the water’s edge for a drink 20 yards from your duck blind. You remember a rifled slug in your hunting jacket. It is possible to slip the slug into your shotgun undetected. You have all the necessary licenses and tags on your person. Do you take the shot?

Not unless you want to run afoul of the law. As soon as you swing the muzzle from ducks to deer, you must be wearing hunter orange. Further, no one we asked could answer whether possessing the rifled slug violates federal non-toxic “shot” rules.

Another oddity—according to our research, no state requires hunter orange of anyone afield in hunting season, except hunters. We suppose birdwatchers, hikers, horseback riders, and anglers are somehow immune from misidentification as game animals and getting shot accordingly.

Hunting at Night with Artificial Light This is one of the oldest laws on the books, put into effect in the early 1900s,

eliminating any type of rimfire ammunition and lights for hunting deer at night. Later, the law was extended to all game animals, but you can still hunt non-game animals and furbearers at night. Why? It’s not necessarily an unfair way to hunt deer, but it’s more of a cultural thing.

“A lot of people like to hunt raccoons and things like that at night,” said Edmiston.

If hunting at night for non-game animals, please make a courtesy telephone call to your local game warden. However, possession of a .243 rifle while on the hunt can get you into a whole passel of trouble. The excuse, “Sir, the coons I hunt are ferocious. I need my .243 to drop one,” won’t fly.

Along with the use of artificial light at night, how about hunting from a motorized vehicle, whether it is a car, truck, powerboat, or sailboat?

It is a control thing again. Texas law says animals and game birds not classified as migratory may be hunted from a motorized device, whether floating or on land, if the hunting is within the boundaries of private property or upon private water. It is against the law to hunt any wild animal or bird, including exotic animals, on foot or from a vehicle on any public road or road right-of-

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way.

Migratory birds are governed by another set of laws. “Hunters are allowed to hunt migratory game birds under certain circumstances from a boat on public water,” said Edmiston. “When you are talking about a migratory game bird, there is an extra set of regulations, federal ones, because of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that we have with Canada, Mexico, and ourselves. It’s a safety thing and also tracks back probably to a fairness of harvest issue, for want of a better term; if you can imagine people driving around trying to stir up birds, just to get them flying.”

Alligators Edmiston said alligator hunting rules vary in different parts of the state, and the fine print can be confusing: “Alligator regulations are separated into particular parts of Texas. A certain set of alligator regulations apply to what they call ‘core counties.’ They are counties that historically have been part of an eco-structure there, but they are expanding. Their range has been expanding for years. In these core counties, they are still very regulated, short season—September

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10-30.

CITES [Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species] tags are needed to hunt them. If they are not in one of these core counties, their season is different, actually takes place in the spring.”

Now, here is where the alligator regulations can get confusing. The TPWD Annual states alligators can be taken on private property only in non-core counties during the spring season. Then it says alligators can be taken from public waters by all lawful means except firearms, however, the person taking the alligator and the taking device must be on private property. Huh? Edmiston gave a possible scenario: “Let’s say you are in one of these non-core counties, for example, in Anderson County, and maybe the Trinity River runs through your property. That means you can go after alligators from the bank. You can’t float the Trinity River and hunt, but you can be on your private property hunting alligators that are in the Trinity River.”

Legal Methods for Taking Alligators You can’t shoot free-swimming ‘gators in public water, but you can shoot them after

they are caught. One legal “catching” method is with a gig. I don’t know about you, but even on a good day, I wouldn’t go after a gator with a gig.

Edmiston explained why this is not as bad as it seems: “If you shoot a free-swimming alligator, it sinks and your resource is lost. Legal methods for alligators are immobilization types of things. You are securing the alligator with a hook and line, snare, or archery equipment with a barbed arrow.

Dispatch can be with a firearm.”

He also said that in a recent conversation with a hunter who hunted alligators with archery equipment, the hunter said a 60pound gar put up more fight than an alligator.

“The gig is an immobilization technique where you exert a lot of pull on the lift on him, to where a proper dispatch can take place.” That’s when the use of a firearm comes into play.

thinking make it illegal to catch game fishes with your bare hands. However, any Tarzan wannabes can catch/ kill exotic animals— including feral hogs—as well as non-protected predators (coyotes, mountain lions, and other things that bite) and non-protected non-game fishes such as alligator gar and carp with bare hands, horseshoes, or hand grenades.

As in all bodies of law, there is more than one can digest. “We try to help folks out with some of the rules and regulations regarding hunting and fishing,” said Edmiston. “We have the same material you

have available to you. We look at it enough that we usually find those sections in the Outdoor Annual that answer somebody’s questions a little quicker than somebody else can.”

If in doubt, there is always the list of TPWD regional and field law enforcement office addresses and phone numbers on page 18 of the Annual. If you live close to Lake Texoma, you get a deal on a fishing license, but I wouldn’t recommend chasing alligators with a gig, no matter what the book says.

Moving Fish A regulation in the TPWD Annual says if you catch a tilapia or grass carp, you had better gut the fish immediately or you will be cited by the game warden. The reason is simple: TPWD doesn’t want the possible spread of the exotic to another body of water where it’s not supposed to be.

If you live in a subdivision and think it would be a good idea to create your own bass haven by bringing home a few live fish from your last trip and stocking the retention pond, that’s okay as long as it’s a private pond—which it would be if it were a subdivision water retention pond. But don’t move those fish from one public water to another public water. By moving fish around from one public body of water to another, where TPWD fishery biologists might be working on achieving a certain result, it could really mess up a lot of their work. Place the bass in your subdivision retention pond and good luck in raising a lunker.

Bare-knuckle Hunting & Fishing Even if you have the skills, cojones, or lack of good sense to try it, it is illegal to kill white-tailed deer or any other game animal with a knife, spear, or your bare hands.

According to TPWD law enforcement director David Sinclair, it is not because those methods are unfair or prone to decimate the animal populations, but because it is much easier to define what is legal than to define what is not. The same rules and T E X A S

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reservoir in 2009.

Lake Fork is considered by many to be the top ranked big bass lake in the nation. It also harbors outstanding populations of crappie and catfish. A 1996 survey indicated the lake generated more than $26 million annually for counties surrounding it.

Not surprisingly, the water pipeline was a hot topic of discussion during a recent meeting between representatives of the Lake Fork Sportsman’s Association, Lake Fork Area Chamber of Commerce, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, and the Sabine River Authority.

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Lake Fork is considered by many to be the top ranked big bass lake in the nation

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NE OF THE BEST WAYS TO COMPROMISE A good fishery is to stick a straw in it.

Suck more water out than comes in, and water levels are certain to drop.

Factor in a prolonged drought, and water levels can drop even more significantly.

Oftentimes, however, fluctuations in water level can be a blessing. This is especially true in the case of an older impoundment that seems to have lost its zip.

When water levels drop, soils that might not have seen sunlight for years respond with vigorous plant growth indigenous the geographic area. The longer the lake stays low, the more abundant the plant growth becomes.

Once the lake refills, the new-growth terrestrial vegetation fuses with the aquatic environment. The result is a sudden influx of nutrients and a virtual jungle of cover where big fishes can spawn, little fishes can hide from big fishes, and anglers can toss their baits. Everything is happy.

Seemingly overnight, a tired fishery can make the transformation into a vibrant one.

Fisheries scientists sometimes call it the “new lake effect.”

That is precisely what happened to Falcon and Choke Canyon reservoirs several years ago. Both reservoirs are currently yielding world-class results for bass anglers willing to make the drive.

The folks around Lake Fork don’t have much experience with topsy-turvy lake levels, except those brought on by annual evaporation and periods of extreme drought. For the most part, Fork has always been a “constant level” lake since it was built in the early 1980s.

Therein lie the concerns that some Lake Fork area residents and business owners share in regards to the City of Dallas’ plans to begin piping water from the 27,000-acre

Danny Choate, the SRA regional manager in charge of Lake Fork, said the SRA is well aware of how special a place Lake Fork is, and every effort would be made to keep it that way.

“We are very aware of the value of this lake, not only to this community, but to the nation as the best bass fishing lake in the country, and we intend to do all we can to maintain it,” Choate said.

Choate said the maximum amount of water the City of Dallas can take out of Lake Fork during a calendar year is 131,860-acrefeet.

Translation: The lake level would drop about 5 feet if there were no inflow from F i s h

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rainfall over the course of the year.

“That is less than the amount lost annually to evaporation, which is about 6.5 feet,” Choate said.

The SRA manager added that the drop would be less severe if the watershed receives average rainfall over the course of the year, which is about 44 inches.

True. But what happens during a drought year when there is not enough water coming in to replace that water consumed by evaporation, lawn sprinklers, showers, dishwashers, toilets, and such? How about during consecutive drought years?

Prolonged droughts have occurred in Texas before. They will come again. To assume otherwise is akin to thinking it will never rain again.

Bottom line: Things will change at Lake Fork once the pipeline valve goes in motion and water begins to flow. It’s inevitable.

Only time will tell what those changes will bring.

“It’s going to be different, no doubt about it,” said Phil Durocher, inland fisheries chief with TPWD. “The good thing is they [the SRA] are contractually limited in the amount of water that can be taken out each year.”

Durocher said the worst-case scenario would occur during a year with zero rainfall.

While the odds of such a severe drought occurring in eastern Texas are not good, there is always the outside chance that it could happen.

“The chances of that happening are not very good at all,” Durocher said. “If it does, then all bets are off. That’s just the way it is and there is nothing we can do about it.”

E-mail Matt Williams at freshwater@fishgame.com

U.S. AntiHunting Bill Introduced HEN I SAT DOWN TO WRITE THIS month’s column, I was in entirely too good of a mood. You see, in order to ensure this magazine arrives in your mailbox on time, we have to write these columns a few months in advance, so as I type this, the opening day of general deer season is less than 48 hours away. How can anyone be in a bad mood with deer season just around the corner?

That all changed when a federal bill, HR 3829, slid across my desk. Introduced back in October by Representative Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, the content of the proposed bill is as follows:

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A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain interstate conduct relating to exotic animals.

This Act may be cited as the `Sportsmanship in Hunting Act of 2007’.

SEC. 2. TRANSPORT OR POSSESSION OF EXOTIC ANIMALS FOR PURPOSES OF KILLING OR INJURING THEM. (a) In General- Chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: Sec. 49. Exotic animals (a) Prohibition- Whoever, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly transfers, transports, or possesses a confined exotic animal, for the purposes of allowing the killing or injuring of that animal for entertainment or for the collection of a trophy, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. (b) Definitions- In this section— (1) the term `confined exotic animal’ means a mammal of a species not indigenous to the United States, that has been held in 72

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captivity— (A) the majority of the animal’s life; or (B) a period of 1 year; and (2) the term `captivity’ does not include any period during which an animal lives as it would in the wild— (A) surviving primarily by foraging for naturally occurring food; (B) roaming at will over an open area of not less than 1,000 acres; and (C) having the opportunity to avoid hunters.’. (b) Conforming Amendment- The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new item: 49. Exotic animals.

I think I just heard a collective tightening of the posteriors among the high-fence exotic animal hunting crowd, but in reality, this opens a can of worms for the entire hunting community.

With the proliferation of so-called “hunting” stories floating around in recent years, that range from celebrities killing bears inside pens and claiming them as wild kills, to boys hunting farm raised pigs with handguns, it’s easy to see how this bill was generated. In its infinite wisdom and ability to know what is good for the rest of us, the U.S. government is attempting to legislate hunting ethics by presenting a bill that makes them feel better without understanding the long-term implications.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not a proponent of high-fenced canned hunts, whether it is in a 2-acre pen or 20,000-acre ranch, but any law that takes away the privilege of hunting based solely on emotion instead of scientific research is wrong.

It is obvious the intent is to make it illegal for someone to sell a canned hunt, but the loose language instantly makes criminals out of countless Texans and places guilt or innocents determination in the hands of game wardens and, potentially, juries.

The way this proposal reads, it protects only animals not native to North America held in captivity for the majority of their lives or a period of one year. So, the first task is understanding what is indigenous to North America and what is not. If you want to F i s h

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shoot a whitetail, mule deer, elk, buffalo, or mountain goat in a pen, this bill does nothing to stop you. If you want to shoot a pig, sorry, hogs are not native to North America.

The part that should really concern exotic hunters is the way “captivity” is defined.

The first area is fairly clear-cut, relying little on interpretation or judgment. If the exotic animals live inside a high-fenced area less than 1000 acres in size, then don’t even think about hunting them. After that, it gets tricky. The bill also defines an exotic as one that survives by primarily eating natural food sources. If you have food plots and feeders, how is it determined whether the axis buck that visits both daily is surviving off the sustenance received there or from other food sources? It also states that the animals must have the opportunity to escape hunters.

How, exactly, is that determination made?

Will the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate put together a committee to determine what is and what is not escapable habitat?

Some might think this doesn’t affect them they don’t hunt exotics or behind a fence. For now, they might be correct. But looking longterm, this could end up bad for all of us.

Think about it this way: If the anti-hunting crowd can ban hunting for exotics inside a high fence, that is just one step closer to banning hunting whitetails in an enclosure, which is just one step away from banning hunting them altogether.

If you think this is a Chicken Little mentality, talk to a Michigan dove hunter. That state has been yo-yoing between having a dove season and not having one for several years, based on the outcome of a ballot box.

Talk to bear hunters in Maine, whose destiny was also put to the test in a 2003 vote that allowed them to continue hunting with dogs and over bait by only a 4 percent margin of victory.

Based on the history of bills like this on a national level, it is doubtful it will pass. But, with the financial backing of anti-hunters, expect more like this in the future.

E-mail Paul Bradshaw at deerhunting@fishgame.com

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Cold Bass Fishing HE TEMPERATURE HOVERED AROUND 38 degrees, the wind blew, and it rained the whole day. Most people would rather spend time in front of a warm fireplace than sitting in a bass boat trying their luck for largemouth bass on a day like this. Ralph Morgan, November’s Trophy Quest winner, and his buddy, Rich Destault, drew a Trophy Quest largemouth bass fishing trip with fishing guide Jeff Kirkwood on Lake Fork when the first real cold front dropped down on the Lone Star State.

Nonetheless, the fishing action heated up a cold situation.

“I’ve fished in colder weather, but I have not fished more miserable weather; it was

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by Tom Behrens wet,” said Morgan. “It was raining when we got to Alba, and it was raining when we left Alba, and it didn’t stop while we were there.”

The trio originally planned to start their fishing day from Lake Fork Marina at Alba, where they spent the night before courtesy of

HOW YOU CAN WIN! TEXAS FISH & GAME HAS GIVEN AWAY OVER 200 TROPHY QUEST TRIPS. TROPHY QUEST is free guided hunting or fishing trips within the state of PHOTO BY TOM BEHRENS

bass. His 13.07-pound bass caught last April made the Budweiser ShareLunker list for 2006-2007. The fish that Morgan, Destault, and Kirkwood caught ranged from 2 to 3-1/2 pounds.

Morgan caught a bass immediately after they made their fist stop: “My second cast had a bass on. My partner, Rich, caught five fish, two of them about 4 pounds. Jeff caught several fish, probably five bass, a crappie, and a yellow bass.

“Every place the guide took us, TQ winner Ralph Morgan with the fruits of a cold day’s labor at within minutes of setting up, we were getting hit. To me, on a Lake Fork. day like that when it was so blessed miserable, it was obviTrophy Quest, but the wind forced a change ous he knows his fish, where to find them, of plans. and he’s fun to be with. We had just a great Kirkwood took the trio over to the other time the whole day.” side of the lake to launch the boat, trying to Morgan and Destault have scheduled get out of the wind and stay warmer. From another trip with Kirkwood in April. Hopethere, they worked their way down toward fully, it won’t be bad weather and maybe the dam, fishing the rest of the day and Kirkwood can put them on the big fish that breaking only for lunch. he wanted them to catch on this trip.

“We stayed dry but our hands...when we were running from one place to another, that SPECIES: Largemouth bass was pretty miserable,” said Morgan.

LOCATION: Lake Fork Kirkwood said considering the condiGUIDE: Jeff Kirkwood, 800-965-0350, tions, the fishing wasn’t bad at all. The trio www.fishinwithjeff.com boated 10 fish and missed about half that FOOD & DRINK: Moser’s Restaurant, many: “They were not bad fish, just not the 903-765-2087 size I was after.”

Kirkwood is accustomed to catching big

Texas. The package includes a guided trip for two people, one night's lodging and all food and beverage (non-alcohol). Winners are responsible for all travel expenses getting to and from the destination point.

HERE'S HOW YOU WIN! If you are a TF&G subscriber, your name is automatically entered on our monthly Trophy Quest Trip drawing.

If you are a subscriber and would like

your name entered 15 more times in our next monthly drawing, simply send us an email with your name, address and phone number* to trophyquest@fishgame.com.

You can still win even if you are NOT a subscriber. Simply email us with your name, address, and phone number* to trophyquest@fishgame.com and you're entered in our next drawing.

One winner is chosen at random each

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month. The winner must be available to go on one of two previously scheduled dates. If the winner is unable to attend on either dates scheduled for the TROPHY QUEST TRIP, the winner's name will be returned to the pool for future drawings and another winner will be drawn. *Phone numbers will ONLY be used to contact the winners and will not be used for any other purpose.

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PHOTO BY PAUL BRADSHAW

e’ve all heard the stories about grandpa’s trusty old brush-busting rifle that was capable of shooting though an 8-inch red oak and taking out the deer behind it, without the bullet so much as slowing down, deflecting, or deforming. The majority of these stories revolve around heavy, flat-nosed, slow-moving rounds typically chambered in short-barreled leveraction rifles. Since these rifles are right at home in dense forests, where a quick handling rifle is mandatory and brush is rampant, it is easy to understand how these tales got started. Whether or not they are true is another story.

Along the same lines, there are also stories of rounds moving so fast that they can explode or be misdirected dozens of feet by hitting an errant mosquito. So, in an attempt to determine whether or not brush-busting rounds exist, I conducted a little experiment.

The results will surprise some and make others say, “I told you so.”

The Participants When selecting the calibers to be tested, a few of the participants chosen were no-brainers, as they are the traditional brush-busters, while others were selected just because I wanted to know how they would perform.

All calibers chosen for testing can be legally used to take deer in Texas.

The most popular brush-buster, and arguably the most popular deer cartridge of all time, is the venerable .30-30. For better than a century, everything from rabbits to deer and bear have fallen to this slow-moving, flat-nosed round, which is more than likely the caliber that originated the brushbusting myth. You would be hard pressed to find a deer camp between the Red and Rio Grande rivers that doesn’t have at least one .30-30 hanging out as the primary weapon or a back-up gun. Another slow-plodding, hard-hitting round that was tested was the .45-70. Countless buffalo were killed with this cartridge, which is gaining resurgence among hunters, so a few sticks shouldn’t be a problem—should they? We’ll see.

While not considered brush-busters, a few other rounds were chosen for testing based on their popularity. The .308 is a versatile round that can be used for just about anything walking in North America. A .257 76

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The most common affect to bullets fired through "brush" was deflection and tumbling, the latter producing a "keyhole" on the target.

Roberts was also tested as the oddball rarely-used but highly effective round. This little round is more than capable of taking Texas deer without subjecting the shooter to punishing recoil. Finally, a .223 was run through the ringer due to the growing popularity of AR-type rifles.

The Test The only way to really determine whether a bullet can shoot through a stick or tree limb and still kill a deer is to put a deer behind a screen of limbs and shoot it. Since finding a deer that would stand still while I shot a few dozen rounds at it is not likely to happen, I had to improvise a little.

Using 1/2-inch hardwood dowel rods, I constructed a screen of sticks that could be shot through and guarantee the bullet would strike at least one piece of fake brush. This man-made brush could be moved to ensure that each shot went through a fresh dowel.

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each bullet by measuring the deflection. A little more woodwork was needed to accomplish this.

To make sure the amount of deflection could be easily measured, we needed to know where the bullet is striking prior to busting the brush, and again, where it is hitting afterward. To accomplish this, we lined up two targets in stands about 8 feet apart, and then shot through both of them. The front target indicates where the bullet strikes when not impeded; the back target shows how far the bullet is deflected by the brush.

To ensure the targets would stay in line throughout the entire test, they were connected with boards and set on top of sawhorses.

A few shots through both targets ensured the shooting table, front target, and back target were in line.

For each rifle tested, a shot was fired through both targets without any obstruction. This would be the baseline that this particular rifle and round was judged against for all subsequent shots. After the baseline shot was fired, the brush was placed between the targets, directly behind the first target

and held in place with C-clamps to ensure it didn’t fly off. With the brush in place, another shot was fired through the targets and the difference measured.

Before getting too deep into how each caliber fared, I must remind you that these results are based on the deflection of the bullet after only 8 feet. In other words, if the deer is standing eight feet behind the brush that deflects the bullet, then these results show how far off the bullet will strike the deer in relation to where you were aiming.

However, 8 feet isn’t that far, so a small deflection at that distance can turn into a substantial difference at 30 yards. For example, a bullet that hits the brush and moves 1 inch off target at 8 feet is deflected only 0.6 degrees but will have moved more than 11 inches off target at 30 yards. So, if the deer is standing 30 yards behind the brush, chances are you wounded or missed it altogether.

To test these rounds, I enlisted the help of my hunting buddy, Chris Jenkins, because, well, I didn’t feel like subjecting my shoulder to that much recoil and needed someone to take pictures. Even though shooting miniscule groups was not the intention, we started the test with the smallest calibers to reduce shoulder fatigue and potential flinching, which would send rounds flying well off target. We’ll go over the results in the same order.

Starting with the .223, we tested two different bullets that are readily available off the shelf: a 45-grain full-metal-jacket, and a 55grain soft point. While the full-metal-jacket is not suitable for hunting, the results are worth noting. The full-metal-jacketed bullet cut easily through the dowel and deflected 7/8 of an inch (low right), but most notably the bullet started tumbling and actually cut through the second target sideways (a “keyhole effect). The 55-grain bullet also deflected 7/8 of an inch (low left this time) and entered the target sideways, but it also fragmented, with a piece cutting through the second target 2-5/8 inches high. These two bullets struck the first target within 1/4 inch of each other, but were over 1-1/2 inches apart on the second target.

The .257 Roberts is a dark horse of biggame hunting. It is a rarely used yet highly effective alternative to the more popular magnum rounds, and while it might not 78

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The Results

The author created artificial "brush" using wooden dowel rods. make a huge entry hole, it still does a lot of damage. This fast little round was knocked off target by 1 inch (left), deformed after hitting the brush, and tumbled through the second target similar to the .223.

From the .257, we moved on to the originator of the brush-busting myth, the .30-30.

While all of the bullets were deflected, the 30-30 moved the least. Shifting the point of impact by 7/16 inches (high and left), the bullet also fragmented with a sizable chunk hitting more than 3 inches higher than the rest of the bullet. Also noteworthy is the fact that the bullet mushroomed upon contacting the brush, and the bullet hole through the second target was substantially larger than the first.

Wanting to test a popular modern day deer cartridge, we put a .308 through the man-made brush-busting test with somewhat surprising results. The .308 took out a sizeable chunk of dowel rod before hitting the second target 3/8 of an inch to the right of where it should have. This made it the second least-deflected of our test, however, it was also slightly tumbling when it cut the paper, just like the other pointed nose bullets.

The final guinea pig in our little experiment was also the largest and came in the form of the .45-70 Government. Weighing in at 300 grains, the jacketed hollow-point was almost twice as heavy as the next largest bullet tested, and the man-made brush could testify to its lethality. While all the other calibers simply cut a small hole through one or more dowel rods, the .45-70 cut a hole F i s h

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through half of one and cut another down entirely. The 300-grain bullet was deflected 5/8 of an inch to the right, with a fragment hitting 1-3/8 inches high and to the left.

So, in the deer woods what, does this all mean? First, every bullet was deflected to some degree. Even the so-called “brushbusters” moved off the intended path by up to 1/2-inch at 8 feet. That means at 30 yards, the bullets tested would be between 4.21 and 11.24 inches off target. The farther the brush is from the intended target, the farther off course the bullet will become.

Second, every bullet was deformed before hitting the second target, many of them sending fragments flying in all directions. That means by the time the bullet hits the animal, it will have lost velocity and mass, expending most of its energy in the wood and not the deer. That will lead to a lot of time tracking and possibly a lost animal.

Conclusion There is no such animal as the mythical “brush-busting” round. Just about any round can shoot though sticks, some much more dramatically than others. However, anything short of a .50-caliber BMG round (which, trust me, I would have tested if I could have got my hands on one) will be deflected by the sticks to a degree that makes it unadvisable to attempt the shot.

Profiling Collegiate Bass Anglers HO ARE THE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN who participate in college bass fishing? A glance at the angler profiles of those who competed in the 2007 BoatUS National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship shows they come from all parts of the country, large cities and small, and that for the majority of the participants, fishing has been something important in their lives for many years.

When asked how long they have been fishing, answers ranged from “as long as I can remember” to “not long enough.”

Considering the ages of the participants, the responses certainly tell their passion for the sport, and that most were introduced to the activity at an early age.

Most anglers fell in the age range of 1924. There was an 18-year-old among the group and the oldest was a 37.

When asked who their fishing idols were, many cited the names of top professional anglers, but several said, “Dad” or “granddad.”

One of the female anglers, Tiffany Spencer of the University of TexasArlington team, said she has a very strong relationship with her dad because of fishing.

She has been his fishing partner for a long as she can remember and still enjoys spending time in the boat with him today. Spencer started the fishing team at her school because

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she wanted the university represented in the national championship event on nearby Lake Lewisville.

Some participants in this year’s event were much newer to the sport. One is Tyler Hughes, a junior at Tennessee’s FreedHardeman University, who said he didn’t start fishing until his sophomore year in high school.

Most of the collegiate championship anglers do not have aspirations of becoming professional tournament anglers. Their majors imply the career interests: geology, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, criminal justice, finance, business, marketing, biology, psychology, communications, and more.

While a pro fishing career does appeal to some, like Western Michigan University’s Jonathan Van Dam, the nephew of bass superstar Kevin Van Dam, the majority of the group said fishing, both for fun and in tournaments, would remain an important part of their lives once they graduate and start their careers. All said they would be getting a college degree first and foremost, and that for now, they are enjoying campus life and collegiate bass fishing to the fullest.

“Fun” is certainly part of the fishing experience, and that isn’t lost on this group.

When asked for their most unusual catches, responses ranged from “my bass-fishing wife” to a “toilet seat.”

One thing is certain: The parents of the youngsters who participated in the 2007 BoatUS National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, and the officials of the colleges from where the students are from, should be especially proud of this group of young men and women who represented them in the finest manner at this event.

Here are brief profiles on some of the Texas anglers:

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Brady Beal Nickname: Billy Bass Age: 23 Hometown: Abilene, TX School: University of Texas at Arlington Bradley Bell Age: 21 Hometown: Austin, TX School: University of Texas Ty Brockhoeft Nickname: Turbo Age: 22 Hometown: Austin, TX School: University of Texas Josh Bryant Age: 22 Hometown: Wheeler, TX School: Oklahoma State University Eddie Campirano Age: 23 Hometown: Brownsville, TX School: University of Texas at Arlington Cameron Crow Nickname: The Avenger Age: 21 Hometown: Houston, TX School: Texas A&M University-Kingsville Jerod Hawkes Nickname: Hawkes Age: 20 Hometown: Sabinal, TX School: Texas A&M University-Kingsville Jay Holland Nickname: Jaybird Age: 20 Hometown: Waco, TX

School: Baylor University Jacob Kinard Nickname: Red Age: 19 Hometown: Forney, TX School: Texas Tech University Cole Koenig Age: 22 Hometown: Cross Plains, TX School: Tarleton State University Bryan Lewis Age: 24 Hometown: Taylor, TX School: University of Texas at Arlington Daniel McGrew Nickname: McGrew Age: 20 Hometown: Muenster, TX School: North Central Texas College Timothy Merkin Nickname: Tim

Age: 26 Hometown: Wimberley, TX School: University of Texas at Arlington Chris Michels Age: 23 Hometown: Granbury, TX School: Tarleton State University

Kenny Stewart Age: 25 Hometown: Conroe, TX School: Texas A&M University

Tanner Morgan Age: 21 Hometown: Stephenville, TX School: Tarleton State University

Blake Whatley Nickname: Watts Age: 24 Hometown: Atlanta, TX School: Stephen F. Austin State University

Alex Sahliyeh Age: 23 Hometown: Dallas, TX School: Drury University

Richard Wilson Nickname: Wilson Age: 20 Hometown: Peaster, TX School: Texas Tech University

Andrew Shafer Nickname: Andy Age: 21 Hometown: Rice, TX School: Texas A&M University

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Casey Sobczak Age: 24 Hometown: Spring, TX School: Stephen F. Austin State University

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Looking To the Future HE ARRIVAL OF A NEW SON IN OCTOBER GOT me thinking about—among other things, at my age—the future of offshore fishing. Despite some foreseers’ gloomy outlooks, I remain generally optimistic about the northwestern Gulf of Mexico.

Texas’ corner of the Gulf is special to me.

It produced many “firsts” on my personal catch list, more than a dozen species from amberjack to wahoo. My son deserves the same opportunity, and I believe he will have it.

Granted, a few species have been knocked for loops in recent years by careless, and in some cases reckless, mismanagement and overfishing.

Red snapper come to mind and will be good barometers of the region’s health.

Botched and bungled by federal managers for more than a decade, recovery of this species finally is being taken seriously after a judge issued an ultimatum to current overseers.

All of us who fish deep water will have to deal for years with severe restrictions on that species, and with valid reason. Any farmer can tell you that it’s tough to grow a good crop if you’re killing most of your seeds.

Once red snapper are recovered, which current sacrifices should help to facilitate in the not too distant future, then managers had better be willing to loosen the shackles they’ve got on us now.

It bothered me that some of the state’s longest-running party boat services, including Capt. Elliott’s at Freeport, were financially crippled by slipshod management of so popular a sportfish as red snapper. That operation’s owners felt they had no choice but to hang “For Sale” signs on the entire fleet.

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PHOTO COURTESY NOAA

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King mackerel take up the slack left by egregious red snapper regulations—but could additional pressure also impact this fishery?

Other party boat companies shifted focus to a variety of species on which limits were looser or non-existent. I was concerned that plentiful stocks of offshore fishing’s “alsorans,” species considered throwbacks or worse when snapper limits were more liberal, might wind up as collateral damage. I’d still rather not see skippers encourage clients to load their sacks with fish simply because they’re gullible and unregulated, but Texas’ sportsmen know enough about conservation to avoid causing any long-term harm to a fishery.

Red snapper certainly are not the only species that warrants a watchful eye. Count among the others pretty much any fish on which there are size, bag, or season restrictions. If you can only bring home one or two of a particular fish, then that stock isn’t what it should be. But it can be.

Fortunately for my son, fisheries problems are being addressed at the state and federal levels with a determination and honesty not always present in the past. Progress is not coming as quickly as I would prefer, frankly, but it is being made.

As my boy gets his first shots at piggy perch and croaker, then mackerel, snapper, and ultimately tuna and blue marlin, he will do so as a member of an entire generation of F i s h

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fishermen who understand the benefits of and willingly practice conservation.

When I was young, too many anglers treated the Gulf and the oceans as bottomless pits filled with tasty seafood. Recreational fishermen, for the most part, could keep all or most of what they caught.

Even today, recreational fishermen— when regulated with bag and size restrictions—cannot do irreparable damage to a stock. Once limits are established, so long as they are science-based and correct, the stock is safe from sportsmen and has a shot at rebound.

I am eager to get my son onto deep water, to take him far enough from shore that he can stand tall in the boat, turn in a full circle and not see land. It will be years before that is a good idea, but the wait only gives fisheries more time to recover.

The Gulf off Texas is on the mend from a history of inexplicable and inexcusable errors. By the time this boy is ready to handle big fish, there will be more big fish out there than he can handle.

Capt. Mike Holmes runs tarpon, shark, and bluewater trips on a classic 31 Bertram.

To book a trip, call 979-415-0535. Email him at mholmes@fishgame.com.

DU Launches Podcast Program T HE WORLD OF WATERFOWL IS now online and on demand, thanks to Ducks Unlimited’s new downloadable podcast.

The hour-long podcasts feature celebrity interviews, hunting tips, conservation segments, and outdoors-related product reviews.

“Podcasting is quickly becoming a major source for entertainment and news in today’s society,” said David Schuessler, DU’s director of event and volunteer promotion.

“We created a show that is both entertaining and educational, much like our DU TV show.”

Jim Ferguson of the awardwinning Great American Outdoors Trail Radio Magazine will host the podcast.

“As an avid outdoorsman and radio veteran, Ferguson is the perfect fit to host the new DU program,” said Schuessler.

New DU podcasts will be available at the beginning of every month on the DU Web site, www.ducks.org/podcast, or through DU’s monthly enewsletter. Subscriptions to the e-newsletter are free at www.ducks.org/newsletter.

Podcasts are media files that are downloaded on personal computers or portable media players for on-demand viewing or listening. The DU podcast will be available in both videoand audio-only selections.

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supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization, with almost 12 million acres conserved.

The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands— nature’s most productive ecosystem— and continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres each year.

Hen Houses Boost Mallard Production The area around Minnedosa in the parklands of southwestern Manitoba, Canada, has become waterfowl’s equivalent of the “roach motel”—ducks check in but they don’t check out.

In recent years, nest success rates have been so low that Minnedosa qualifies as a “population sink.” Translation: more ducks set up housekeeping each spring than migrate south in the fall.

Yet despite Minnedosa’s apparent lack of productivity, the breeding population of mallards has actually increased, climbing from 10 pairs per

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square kilometer prior to the 1990s to 16 pairs in the 2000s.

Scientists know that given adequate wetland conditions, hen mallards often return to the area where they were hatched, but if Minnedosa is producing so few ducklings, where are all those breeding birds coming from?

That’s the question University of Saskatchewan Ph.D. candidate Dan Coulton set out to answer in 2002. What four years of field research showed is that the local breeding population has been propped up by artificial nesting structures called “hen houses.”

Developed by Delta Waterfowl, hen houses are wireframed, grass-lined cylinders mounted on posts and erected above the waterline to buffer hens and nests from predators.

Nest success for mallards using hen houses during Coulton’s study was 58 percent.

That’s well above the 12 to 15 percent minimum necessary to sustain the population.

Mallards nesting in Minnedosa’s upland cover haven’t fared nearly as well in recent years. In a study conducted by Ducks Unlimited’s Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl

Research (IWWR), nest success on “managed upland cover” in the Minnedosa region was just 1 percent, and that was in 1998, a time when mallard populations were soaring.

Coulton’s research mirrored those findings: non-tunnel nesters averaged just 2.8 percent nest success, and one year nest success was just one onehundredth of a percent, which translates to one successful nest for every 10,000 initiated (waterfowl scientists measure nest success using a complex formula rather than a straight percentage).

Hen survival was also higher for birds nesting in hen houses.

“Hen House females spend less time attending nests,” Coulton explains. “Hens whose nests are destroyed early in the breedingseason will typically attempt to re-nest, often several times. The more time hens spend nesting, the greater their exposure to predators. Most terrestrial predators that prey on hens don’t swim, thus they cannot access hens in nest tunnels.”

Hen houses, most of them erected as part of Delta’s Duck Production (DDP) program, enjoyed occupancy rates ranging from 85 to 92 percent during Coulton’s study.

Scientists know that nest success and hen survival are the two most important factors in determining mallard populations, and Coulton’s research

confirms that hen houses are a cost-effective tool for increasing both.

In the beginning, Coulton had to consider the possibility that Minnedosa was being populated by ducks hatched in other places.

The immigration hypothesis seemed plausible given Minnedosa’s proximity to the highly productive Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres just across the border in North Dakota, but determining where a Minnedosa-nesting hen originated would be a challenge. After all, migrating ducks don’t leave forwarding addresses.

To find the answer, Coulton incorporated a bit of high-tech sleuthing that sounds like a plot from one of television’s crimescene investigation shows: stable isotopes.

“Ducklings grow their first flight feathers from the food in their natal area, and stable isotope patterns from these foods are incorporated into feathers,” explains Coulton.

“They don’t molt those feathers until after their first breeding season, so by analyzing the feather tissue of juvenile birds, we can link the stable isotope values to breeding regions and re-track which region an individual came from.”

Surprisingly, these “isotopic signatures” showed most of the juvenile females captured by Coulton originated not in the U.S. prairies but in Canada’s parklands. While stable isotopes cannot reveal exactly where in the parklands those ducks hatched, Coulton’s banding data did confirm that hen houses are an important source of juvenile mallards in Minnedosa.

“My top-performing model said that tunnel recruits were important to the Minnedosa mallard population,” Coulton said. “Of the banded juvenile females I recaptured during the study, 89 percent hatched in hen houses the previous year.”

A native of Bay Village, Ohio, Coulton is working on his Ph.D. at University of Saskatchewan and hopes to publish this research in the near future.

The Eyes Have It NE OF THE BEST INVESTMENTS ANY SHOTgunner can make is high quality shooting glasses. Of course, shooting glasses will protect your eyes from thorns, sticks, and stray pellets, but they have other important bene-

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fits as well.

Shooting glasses are designed to ride high above the eyebrow line. This design permits the shooter to look through the lenses while keeping the cheek in firm contact with the stock.

Most shooting glasses are available with interchangeable lenses in a wide variety of colors. By simply changing the lenses, you can significantly increase your ability to see the intended target. For example, yellow lenses increase brightness on a cloudy day, while lenses with a red tint increase contrast

between clay targets and background distractions such as trees and clouds.

A variety of manufacturers make good quality shooting glasses today, and they should be considered a vital part of your equipment inventory. —David LaMascus

Campout Creepies UR STORY BEGINS IN A PRIMITIVE CAMPSITE one dark night in 1974, somewhere in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. Inside a bright yellow, two-man nylon tent, college roommates Chuck and Yours Truly huddle in fear as something snuffles around outside.

“What is that?” Chuck asked, nervously fondling his flashlight.

“Forget that...what was that?”

“Well, the first that might have been a raccoon, but your That sounded bigger.”

I glanced at the tissue-thin tent wall, expecting it to bulge inward in the shape of a grizzly bear muzzle.

“We’re just being a couple of babies.”

Rocks rattled outside.

“Mama,” Chuck whispered.

“Look, we’re civilized humans. For thousands of years our ancestors avoided being lunch because we’re smarter and we have thumbs,” I said, trying to reason the fear away.

“What do thumbs have to do with anything?”

Chuck asked.

“I don’t know.

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Thumbs just set us apart from animals. We’ll be all right. Just think of this as being on the upper end of the food chain.”

“Yeah, I know how the food chain works,” Chuck said. “I’ve seen pictures of the Serengeti with grass as far as you can see and a big watering hole in the distance. But what you don’t see in those pictures are two eyes peeking over the top of the grass like a frog’s eyes in a pond. The things belonging to those eyes are lions...oh, Lordy. They’re the upper end of the food chain, not us. Do you think there’s a lion out there?”

“No,” I said. “We’re working ourselves into a lather. I bet it’s nothing.”

Something rattled the cooler.

Something cried in the darkness.

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“Did you bring any bear bells?” Chuck asked. “They’re supposed to scare them off.”

“You don’t use bear bells after the bear arrives. A bell now will only help them locate us better. It’ll be like a dinner bell.”

“I’d try anything to scare them off.”

“That rattling sound won’t work?” I whispered. “Stop making that noise.”

“I’m not intentionally rattling anything,” Chuck answered. “That’s my teeth chattering.”

“Well, stop it.”

A footstep crunched not far from the tent.

“It sounds like someone’s out there,” Chuck said.

My mother’s dire warnings suddenly came to me. “Did you bring the axe inside

ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL WATSON

the tent?”

“No. It’s out there beside the woodpile.

Why?” “I think we just gave an axe murderer something to work with.”

“Axe murderers usually bring their own

tools,” Chuck reminded me, repeating the exact words I’d told my mother as a child.

“Maybe the axe murderer will use it on the bear out there.”

“Maybe the bear will eat the axe murderer.”

Something squeaked and then squealed.

“Something ate something,” I said.

Chuck rattled and chattered some more.

“Look, we’re grown. We’re college students. We survived Mardi Gras.”

“Define survived. We both flunked out that semester.”

He was right. While other students worked to achieve the first two letters of the alphabet, my own X, Q, and W didn’t bode well with my dad. “Well, we came back alive.”

“Barely. You went to sleep driving on the way back and nearly ran us off the road,” Chuck accused.

“Why are you bringing that back up?” I asked, annoyed. I didn’t want to be reminded of our near-death experience so close to being killed and eaten in the wilderness. It complicated things.

“It’s going to complicate things when the bear eats us and no one knows we’re gone.

Did you tell your parents we were coming up here?”

“Of course not. They would have said no.”

“Then this is all your fault. If you’d told your dad then he would have said no and we wouldn’t be here in the first place.”

Something scratched outside.

“Wish we had guns,” Chuck said.

“I’d prefer a flamethrower at this point.”

“Shine your flashlight out there and see what’s going on,” Chuck suggested.

It sounded like a pretty good idea, so I slowly unzipped the tent and flicked the light on. Although nothing was within range of the beam, the flashlight lit two-dozen sets of eyes that looked like coals in the darkness.

I slipped back into the tent and put on my shoes.

“What are you doing?” Chuck asked.

“Getting ready to run,” I answered and laced up the shoes.

“You can’t outrun a hungry bear,” he argued.

I reached over and kicked him in the ankle. “No, but now I can outrun you, and that’s all I need to know about the food chain.”

E-mail Reavis Wortham at humor@fishgame.com

Sabine’s Super Specks ABINE LAKE—OR THE “FORGOTTEN BAY,” AS it is referenced in Texas history books—is a sprawling 120-squaremile bay located on the Texas/Louisiana border. With watersheds of the Sabine and Neches rivers, this overlooked system offers great monster speckled trout fishing in the winter months.

Large, double-digit trout don’t feed every day during cold-water periods. Most of the shrimp have purged the system, leaving only finfishes such as mullet, mud minnow, croaker, and small trout as the main diet. Knowing how to consistently locate the right feeding grounds to catch these horses is a must. The following will arm you with vital information to make your late winter/early spring big trout fishing adventure on Sabine more successful.

Each year, we focus on the back bays, lakes, man-made cuts, and bayous on the east side of the bay. These smaller, protected waters will always be warmer that the main bay. There is a lot of backwater with the potential to spit out large trout. These

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PHOTO BY GRADY ALLEN

nursery waters are always the first spots to produce first-year pogy (menhaden).

Location You are going to be working the eastern side of the lake, a.k.a. “the Badlands.”

There is a small man-made lake located just east of Garrison’s Ridge. You will have to trim up and idle through some skinny water

by Capt. Skip James to access this small bay. Once you get into it, you will notice the depth drops to as deep as 11 feet in some parts of it. You will also notice plenty of duckweed growing as far as 20 feet out from the back. That’s the key; the underwater vegetation holds bait and attracts fish, and most importantly, holds warmth.

As you travel east on the main lake, your next big trout haven is called the Dredge Hole. Specifically, it is 100 yards east of the A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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“pilings.” This spot has a narrow entrance.

Be careful as you ease in, because there is a large pipe on the left side of the entrance. At low tide, you won’t have a problem seeing it.

As you move toward the back of the Dredge Hole, you’ll notice on the left side a square man-made lake. Again, there is grass along the rim. Some of the biggest trout we have ever caught came out of this hole. It is protected from the north wind and has a depth to 8 feet.

As you go into the Dredge Hole, on the right side is a narrow bayou that comes out to another man-made lake. We call this the “Ship Graveyard.” You can’t miss it because there are several old dredge boats and shrimp boats deposited back there by Hurricane Carla. Use only your trolling motor to move around. There is pipe under water, so be careful. Again, lots of grass and warmer waters.

As you continue eastward on the main bay past Greens Bayou, you will arrive at the famous Gator Hole. This man-made lake has produced more big fish than any G a m e ® / F E B R U A R Y

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In This Issue C1

COVER STORY • Sabine Super Specks |

BY CAPT. SKIP JAMES

HOTSPOTS & TIDES SECTION

C6

TEXAS HOTSPOTS • Texas’ Hottest Fishing Spots | BY CALIXTO GONZALES & JD MOORE

C12

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: UPPER COAST • Big Reds & Trophy Trout |

BY CAPT. SKIP JAMES

C14

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: GALVESTON COMPLEX • Surviving Winter |

BY CAPT. MIKE HOLMES

C15

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: MATAGORDA & MID COAST • Things to Think About |

BY BINK GRIMES

C16

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: ROCKPORT TO PORT ARANSAS • Cold = Suspended Fish |

BY CAPT. MAC GABLE

C17

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: CORPUS TO BAFFIN BAYS • Baffin Beauties |

BY CAPT. JIM ONDERDONK

C18 C20

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: LOWER COAST • Playing in the Sand | BY CALIXTO GONZALES SPORTSMAN’S DAYBOOK • Tides, Solunar Table, Best Hunting/Fishing Times |

BY TF&G STAFF

GEARING UP SECTION

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TEXAS TESTED • Ardent Reels; Surefire Flashlights; and more | BY TF&G STAFF

C30

NEW PRODUCTS • What’s New From Top Outdoor Manufacturers | BY TF&G STAFF

C34

INDUSTRY INSIDER • Evinrude Etec; Century Boats | BY TF&G STAFF

OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE

C36

SHOOT THIS • Stag Arms AR-15 |

BY STEVE LAMASCUS

HUNTING SECTION • C38 SPECIAL Trophy Fever | TF&G S INSIDER • Walmart TTT more | M W C55 andTOURNAMENT ON & OFF THE ROAD • Ted Nugent Teams Snap-on Tools | TF&G S C57 with GURLZ PAGE • The Case of the Dissenting C60 Decoy | M H OUTDOORS • The Snow Goose C62 MYHuntPLACE | R V WITH BARRY • Cold Crappie Fishing | B C64 AFIELD S .C TALES • 3-D Archery Tournaments | L M C66 SPORTING IN THE FIELD • Fish on the Mind | C69 CHESTER C M INSIDE CCA TEXAS • CCA Texas Funds C70 $30,500 Snook Study | L G FROM THE COAST • Texas Clipper C72 NEWS and more | C M TEXAS TASTED • Habanero Glazed HighC74 Flying Quail | B S DISCOVER THE OUTDOORS • | TF&G S C76 Classifieds ALBUM • Your Action Photos | C78 PHOTO TF&G S

HOW-TO SECTION

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TEXAS BOATING • Hard on the Hook |

BY LENNY RUDOW

BY

BY

TAFF

ATT

ILLIAMS

BY

SALTWATER BAITS & RIGS • Fool ‘em with Flash | BY PATRICK LEMIRE

BY

FRESHWATER BAITS & RIGS • All Dressed Up | BY PAUL BRADSHAW

ARI

TAFF

ENRY

BY YAN ICK

TEXAS KAYAKING • Avoiding Bankers |

BY GREG BERLOCHER MISTER CRAPPIE • Stumps and More Stumps | BY WALLY MARSHALL REDFISH TRAILS • Take a Big Kid Fishing |

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other place on Sabine—lots of 8- to 10pound trout in January, February, March, and April. You will know you are there because the mouth is wide, about a half block across. You are headed to the back end. Again, we are keying on underwater vegetation. There are three small bayous that drain the duck marshes feeding the back end, making it rich with nutrients and warmer water. By far, this is our favorite spot. Fish the mouth of the bayous and the patches of grass located in the center of the bay. A word of caution: Idle in on the left side of the entrance to access the back. The right side can hang you up.

Presentation Large trout bite due to intrusion of their domain, or hunger. When fishing for Moby Tout on Sabine, remember one word: slow.

Over the years, we have tried every possible bait and trick to entice these monsters to strike. Most of my new customers think topwater, but that is simply not the case. There are three effective lures that have a proven track record of success for Sabine trophy trout. How you work them is the key to success.

The first bait we prefer is the MirrOlure Catch 2000 series III. This is a slow-sinker bait with extremely sharp hooks. Before using the plug, we put it the swimming pool and count down the descent rate. A 5-gallon pail will work almost as well. We use long, custom made, Laguna 8-1/2-foot spinning rods so we can get the bait out as far as possible from the boat. We use 15-pound-test braided line with a 3-foot fluorocarbon leader. You want to get into position and drop the anchor quietly and work the area thoroughly.

Our casts are typically 3 feet apart. We

literally dissect an area. We keep our rods pointed down. Turn your handle as slowly as you can, and then cut that in half. Long casts and a super-slow retrieve are of paramount importance. Remember, it is not summer, and these fish will not chase a bait.

They prefer to position on the edge of weeds and ambush anything that gets within striking range. After completely working a zone, simply let out about 20 feet of anchor line and repeat the same process. These mammoth trout didn’t get big because they are dumb. Be sure you are as quiet as a church mouse. Our favorite colors for the Catch 2000 are chartreuse with gold sides, and Electric Chicken.

The second bait we have discovered the trout will swallow is the Old Bayside 5-inch Shadlyn. We rig it with an Old Bayside 1/16-ounce heavy hook. This hook has the lead hidden on the shaft for finesse and subtle presentations. We prefer using this bait

on days with very light wind. Don’t work it like you are fishing trout under the birds in fall. A slow “do nothing” presentation is the ticket. Keep your hook sharp enough to catch your fingernail, and sharpen it after catching a fish. We like adding a strip of Fish Bites in shad flavor. These little strips leave a molecule track for the fish to home in on.

When working both of these baits, you are going to have a tendency to keep your rod tip pointed up. But remember this is winter, and those trout are belly to the bottom. Keep your rod pointing down so your bait stays in the bite window longer. I am sure there are other baits that will produce double-digit trout here in winter, but these are the two we prefer.

The third bait that we have had good results with is called the Rouser. It is an inline spinner made by Old Bayside. You won’t find these baits in the stores simply

because they have not hit the market yet. We have been fine-tuning the prototypes for some time now. We like this bait when the water is off-color. Throw it as far as you can, let it hit the bottom, and work it slow. By using braided line, you can feel the blade turn a couple of times, then just drop the bait—the basic stop-and-go retrieve along the bottom. Apparently, the vibration of the blade in off-color water triggers the strike.

Don’t be surprised if you catch huge reds and occasional flounder the size of a trash can lid with all the baits mentioned.

Live Bait Trick There are times when we fish the backwaters with live bait. It is not often, but generally when we take a break to eat and rest.

Rig a 6- to 8-inch mullet under a cork, and let it sit over the edge of the weedline. Here

is the trick: cut the tail off the mullet. Obviously, by cutting the off the tail, the mullet will swim in a distressed fashion, almost in a figure-8 pattern. Hook the mullet just under the dorsal. Do not use any weight.

Dr. Kelly Rising of Beaumont, Texas, currently holds the Sabine Lake record for speckled trout. This giant 11-pound, 8ounce speck was caught in early March.

“I focus on three main factors while targeting large, double digit trout,” Dr. Rising said. “First, I look for the presence of mullet—mullet displaying a certain type of behavior. Second, I like fishing water that is close to deep water. Third, I like to find bottom composition that is made up of mud and oyster. The biggest mistake I see anglers making each year is not being able to cast far enough.”

If you are planning a trip to Sabine Lake this winter, call or email me for an up-todate report; 409-886-5341, jjames@gt.rr.com.

Legalities of Fishing Sabine Lake • If you are fishing the main bay, Louisiana and Texas licenses are reciprocal, but the limits differ.

• If you put in at a ramp in Texas, you can possess only Texas limits of fish.

• If you put in at a ramp in Louisiana, you can possess only Louisiana limits of fish.

• If you are fishing off the main bay in the backwaters on the eastern Louisiana side, you must possess a Louisiana license.

• If you plan to fish for the big trout in the Louisiana badlands area of Sabine Lake, call 888-765-2602 for assistance in obtaining the appropriate license.

• Louisiana allows Texas senior residents 65 years of age and older to fish throughout Louisiana public waters if they possess any type of valid Special Texas Resident Fishing license.

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by Calixto Gonzales, South Zone Fishing Editor & JD Moore, North Zone Fishing Editor

Gulp! a Laguna Trout LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Markers 9-11 GPS: N26 5.16, W97 11.090 SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: Gulp! Shad, Shrimp; live bait CONTACT: Captain Luke Bonura, 956457-2101 TIPS: Fish the stretch of deep water between these two markers for speckled

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trout that prefer the comfort of deeper water after a cold snap. Fish live shrimp under a popping cork, or with a sinker if the trout are deep. You can do the same with artificials, but bottom bouncing is just as effective.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Holly Beach (bank access) GPS: N26 8.880, W97 17.755

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SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: live shrimp, cut ballyhoo; gold spoons; topwaters in Bone, orange/black back CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez, 956551-9581 TIPS: The muddy bottom warms up quicker than sand and retains it longer.

Trout and redfish gravitate to this area and target the mullet that also prefer warmer flats. After several warm days, these fish will spread around the flats. If the weather is inconsistent, then focus closer to the channel that brackets the cove with the shoreline.

Top Dogs draw some aggressive strikes after

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the warm spells.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Airport Cove GPS: N26 8.813 , W97 17.740 SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: soft plastics in pearl white/chartreuse, red/white; live shrimp CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956459-3286 TIPS: Fish the shallows near the spoils during incoming tides. redfish tend to block the gaps between spoil islands to intercept baitfish moving in and out of the cove. If he tide is at full peak, or beginning to back off and fish slightly deeper water. Scented artificials such as Fish Bites and Gulp! are good choices if live bait is scarce. A Halo Shrimp slathered with Carolina Lunker Sauce is another good choice.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Green Island GPS: N26 23.533, W97 19.330 SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: Gulp! Shrimp; gold spoons; live shrimp CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956459-3286 TIPS: Fish from behind the island northward with a southeasterly wind. Look for redfish to be lurking around the large algae

beds that dot the area. Gold spoons are good choices, unless the moss is especially clingy. In that case, live shrimp or artificials under Alameda floats or Maulers are good alternatives LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Mouth of the Arroyo Colorado GPS: N26 21.604, W97 20.112 SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live shrimp; soft plastics in red/white; Gulp! baits

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Old Causeway Pilings GPS: N26 26.459, N97 10.927 SPECIES: sheepshead BEST BAITS: fresh dead, live shrimp CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez, 956551-9581 TIPS: sheepshead start hovering around the pilings while they get ready for the spawn. Anchor upcurrent, and fish close to the to the pilings with a live shrimp or a peeled shrimp three feet under a popping cork. If the sheepshead are there, they won’t take to long to make their presence known.

Using a cork gives you just a second more time to prevent the fish from running into the pilings.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: South Cullen Bay GPS: N26 14.380, W97 18.26 SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: gold spoons; Gulp!

Shrimp/Mauler combos CONTACT: Captain Luke Bonura, 956457-2101 TIPS: Drift the broad shallows that start at the near end of the bay is usually holding good numbers of hungry redfish after a few warm days. Watch for mud boils to cue you to where pods are cruising. Drift with the wind, and work gold spoons and soft plastics. If the water is stained (as it often is this time of year), then switch to Gulp! baits under popping corks or Mansfield Maulers for added sound and scent.

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CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956459-3286 TIPS: The deep water at the mouth of the Arroyo is a winter spot for speckled trout, especially when a cold snap drops water temperatures around Laguna Madre. Fish the edges with live baits or with soft plastics rigged on 1/4 ounce jigheads. Fish them near the bottom and slowly. If there is a mushy feeling, or your line suddenly slackens, set the hook.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre @ Port Mansfield HOTSPOT: Sout Mansfield jetties (bank access) GPS: N26 33.746, W97 16.133 SPECIES: redfish, sheepshead BEST BAITS: fresh dead, live shrimp, cut bait CONTACT: Quick Stop, 956-943-1159 TIPS: It is a long drive to the South Mansfield Jetties from South Padre Island, but the fishing is well worth it. On a calm, warm day, the adventure includes redfish in the surf and sheepshead around the rocks. Fish a bottom rig that features a slip-sinker, a short leader, and a live shrimp or mullet, or a chunk of mullet should find the redfish that aer in the surf. live or peeled shrimp

under a cork will entice sheepies that are lurking around the rocks.

Assassinate a Speck LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: East Kleberg Point GPS: N27 16.161 W97 30.284 SPECIES: speckled trout

BEST BAITS: RT slugs; Bass Assasin Blurps in natural patterns CONTACT: Captain Robert Zapata, 361851-1161) TIPS: Fishing is wind dependent in February. If a north wind is blowing, start your drift just north of the point and work the around the worm rocks in the area. Slugs and Blurps should be worked on smaller heads and as slowly as you can. The fish will be deep, on top of mud. Pay attention!

A mouse-tap could be a-28 incher.

LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: South Shoreline GPS: N27 14.510, W97 34.480 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: soft plastics in plum/chartreuse; topwaters early CONTACT: Captain Robert Zapata, 361851-1161 TIPS: When the wind is pushing out of the South or Southeast, Baffin’s south shoreline is a good place to target. Mild weather and a sheltered area make for ideal foraging and, consequently, fishing. Topwaters are good, especially early in the morning, but soft plastics will also work. Focus on depth changes and color changes.

LOCATION: Baffin Bay Bay HOTSPOT: Black Bluff GPS: N28 13.975, W97 32.092 SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: Corky-style lures; topwaters; Exude lures in plum/chartreuse, dark colors CONTACT: Captain Robert Zapata, 361851-1161) TIPS: The colder fronts of February push fish to shorelines such as around Black Bluff. Watch for nervous mullet flitting about. That is a hint that a big trout is in the area. These are mostly larger (20-plus inches) that are solitary in nature. On warmer days, topwaters are effective, but if the weather sours, use suspending plugs such as the B&L Corkie or the Tsunami Bloodhound. Plastics on small (1/16-ounce) jigheads are also very effective. Fish slowly for best chances.

LOCATION: Upper Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: ICW at 55 GPS: N27 36.034, W97 15.315 SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: RT Slugs, Bass Assassin Blurps in natural patterns; 1/8-ounce jigheads/shrimp tails CONTACT: Captain Robert Zapata, 361851-1161 TIPS: Captain Zapata reports that there is little change in fishing styles from January to February. The deeper water of the ICW will always hold fish on colder days. Fish near the bottom with soft plastics to locate these

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cold-affected fish. As per winter S.O.P., fish slowly to give trout a chance to find your bait.

LOCATION: Upper Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Beacroft’s GPS: N27 32.462, W97 19.423 SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: RT Slugs, Bass Assassin Blurps in natural patterns; 1/8-ounce jigheads/shrimp tails CONTACT: Captain Robert Zapata, 361851-1161 TIPS: The magic number is 4. If you find deeper water, which on Laguna Madre is usually four, even five foot deep, you have a chance at finding winter trout. The area where the Pure Oil Channel intersects Beacroft’s Hole could be such an area. Fish the edges of the channel and depth changes with Exude baits, or Blups with 1/8-ounce heads. Suspending plugs are another option.

Jetty Action

SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: soft plastics in Red Shad, Morning Glory, black/chartreuse; topwaters in Bone CONTACT: Captain Randy Foreman, 409719-6067 TIPS: When days are mild, or there’s a stretch of mild weather, the Louisiana shoreline is a good area to spend the morning.

Cast topwaters towards the shallows early in the morning, or on an incoming tide. Work soft plastics along the depthline into deeper water as the day stretches on.

LOCATION: East Galveston Bay HOTSPOT: Wildlife Refuge Shoreline GPS: N29 33.317, W94 31.938 SPECIES: redfish, speckled trout BEST BAITS: suspending plugs in dark patterns; soft plastics in natural patterns CONTACT: Captain George Knighten, 832385-5821, video1052@yahoo.com TIPS: The shoreline along the Anahuac Wildlife Refuge is a big trout haven in winter. Watch for nervous bait to cue you in on the whereabouts of lurking predators. Fish either a suspending plug such as the Corkie

or the Bloodhound, or fish with slug-style plastics on light (1/16- to 1/8-ounce) swimming heads. The fish will either be holding over warm mud, or if the day is mile, they’ll be sunning themselves and can actually be spotted.

LOCATION: West Galveston Bay HOTSPOT: Confederate Reef GPS: N29 15.616, W94 56.192 SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: suspending plugs in dark patterns; soft plastics in natural patterns CONTACT: Captain George Knighten, 832385-5821, video1052@yahoo.com TIPS: Redfish are still partial to bottoms with plenty of shell and gravel. Confederate Reef will still produce well in February.

Cast across current lines and let the lure sweep along before working it back to you.

Subtle actions seem to appeal to reds best this time of year.

LOCATION: West Galveston Bay HOTSPOT: Starvation Cove GPS: N29 14.110, W94 56.183 SPECIES: redfish, speckled trout

LOCATION: Sabine lake HOTSPOT: Sabine Jetties GPS: N29 38.655, W93 49.513 SPECIES: black drum, sheepshead BEST BAITS: fresh dead, live shrimp; crab chunks CONTACT: Captain Randy Foreman, 409719-6067

TIPS: The deep holes on the channel side of the jetties are hidey holes from some bearded, grunting beasties that are just waiting for someone to send down a Carolina rig with a cocktail shrimp or crab chunk to them. Use your electronics to find the head of the hole, and then fish down current, or straight into the pit of the hole on a slack tide. live or peeled shrimp fished on a splitshot rig near the rocks should also snag you some fat sheepshead. Stout tackle (12pound minimum) will help you turn fish just short of the rocks.

LOCATION: Sabine Lake HOTSPOT: Louisiana Shoreline GPS: N29 42.365, W93 48.764 A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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BEST BAITS: gold spoons, soft plastics, topwaters CONTACT: Captain George Knighten, 832385-5821, video1052@yahoo.com TIPS: If there is an extended warmup, then trout and red fish will spread out around starvation and forage. The fish can

be aggressive, and will blast a topwater skyward to scare a daydreaming fisherman. If they are striking short, switch over to a lightly-weighted, or weightless soft plastic rigged Texas-style. The sub-surface bait offers a better target for trout and reds to key in on and clobber.

LOCATION: West Matagorda Bay HOTSPOT: North Shoreline GPS: N28 37.710, W96 5.261 SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: Gulp! tails, soft plastics CONTACT: Captain Ron Elkins, 361-9832265 TIPS: The shoreline provides the sort of environment that redfish look for when foraging. Work the area thoroughly with soft plastics or Gulp! lures hopped along the bottom (if you can kick up puffs of sand and mud, so much the better) to get redfish’s attention. If the water is off-color, use an alameda float or popping cork to draw even more attention.

LOCATION: Espiritu Santo Bay HOTSPOT: Shoalwater Bay GPS: N28 20.490, W96 36.326 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: soft plastics in black/chartreuse, Plum/chartreuse, Red Shad; gold spoons CONTACT: Captain Ron Elkins, 361-9832265 TIPS: Fish near the shoreline where the depth breaks are. Use darker patterns if the water is stained or it’s an overcast day, and brighter colors otherwise. Shrimp tails under an Alameda float can be very effective.

Falcon Cat Cut-ups LOCATION: Falcon Lake HOTSPOT: Big Tiger GPS: N26 342.631, W99 09.982 SPECIES: catfish

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BEST BAITS: cut shad, prepared baits CONTACT: Falcon Lake Tackle, 956-7654866 TIPS: Catfish can be found in good numbers in 12-13 feet of water around creek channels in February. Oily pieces of shad on a Carolina rig or a dropper rig can be fished near the edges or around wood for best results. If you are looking for a mess of smaller catfish for frying, try using a prepared bait a cheese or punch bait on a sponge or catfish worm.

LOCATION: Falcon Lake HOTSPOT: Arroyo Salinillas GPS: N26 35.551, W99 13.043 SPECIES: largemouth bass BEST BAITS: Texas-rigged plastics in Watermelon red; white spinnerbaits CONTACT: Falcon Lake Tackle, 956-7654866 TIPS: Bass will be up in the flooded hardwoods, so short rods and heavy lines are the order of battle. A very wet late summer and fall prevented lake levels from falling too far, so bass will still be concentrated around old stumps. Soft plastics rigged Texas-style are always effective, as are white spinnerbaits slow-rolled near stumps.

LOCATION: Delta Lake HOTSPOT: FM 88 pump GPS: N26 25.100, W97 57.23 SPECIES: crappie BEST BAITS: live minnows; crappie jigs CONTACT: Delta Lake Bait and Tackle, 956-262-3385 TIPS: Crappie are beginning their spawn, and they’re in a feeding mood. Fish the rip rap and the deep hole where they water flows out from the circulation pipe that passes under FM 88 with live minnows or crappie jigs under a teardrop float. The water is higher than it has been in years because of the rains of summer 2007, so you might want to dabble a bit in the cattails around the area on speculation.

LOCATION: Resaca De Los Quates HOTSPOT: Henderson Road Bridge GPS: N26 5.12, W97 29.050 SPECIES: alligator gar BEST BAITS: cut mullet, shad

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CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez, 956551-9581 TIPS: Alligator gar do not go entirely dormant during the winter. In fact, after a stretch of mild weather, they can get active enough to feed. A chunk of mullet or shad fished under a balloon is sometimes a perfect temptation to get these big dinosaurs to bite. Be very, very, very patient though when a fish swims off with your bait. They like to swim a ways before swallowing their meal.

Pelican Island Cats LOCATION: Gibbon’s Creek Reservoir HOTSPOT: Pelican Island GPS: N30 37.314, W96 04.220 SPECIES: catfish BEST BAITS: shad, cut bait CONTACT: Weldon Kirk, 979-229-3103, Weldon_edna@hotmail.com

edges of timber, as the bass are heading to spawning areas.

BANK ACCESS: Lake Fork Public Park

Stink up a Cat LOCATION: Lake Somerville HOTSPOT: Rocky Creek Point GPS: N30 18.534, W96 33.493 SPECIES: catfish BEST BAITS: shad, stinkbait CONTACT: Weldon Kirk, 979-229-3103, weldon_edna@hotmail.com

TIPS: Good year-round, best January through April. Anchor close to buoys and fish tight line for channel and blue cats.

BANK ACCESS: Yegua Pier; largemouth bass, white bass, catfish

O.H. Whities TIPS: Be careful, Pelican Island is only 1foot deep in the middle of the lake. Anchor on lake side of hump and fish a tight line Carolina Rig, in 8-12 feet of water for mostly blue cats. Fish come out of Hog Creek channel to feed on this flat. Good day or night. Best fished January through March.

BANK ACCESS: 250-foot fishing pier

LOCATION: Lake O.H. Ivie HOTSPOT: Colorado River GPS: N31 34.603, W99 44.723 SPECIES: white bass BEST BAITS: live minnows; jigs Kevin Burleson, CONTACT: kevin2841@verizon.net

Duck Call for Bass LOCATION: Lake Fork HOTSPOT: Duck Call cove GPS: N32 54.284, W95 38.464 SPECIES: largemouth bass BEST BAITS: jig & pig, Carolina & dropshot rigs

CONTACT: Michael Rogge, 903-3833406, microg@texascellnet.com TIPS: Bass will be more active as the water warms, particularly in the northwest part of the lake. Work edges of creek channels and

TIPS: The whites are on the move up rivers and creeks to spawn. Troll or drift middle channel for spawning whites. When you find them in shallow schools, cast and retrieve quickly, into the school using noisy baits to get the white’s attention.

BANK ACCESS: Concho Park Recreation Area; bream and bass in grass; catfish at night Contact South Regional Fishing Editor Calixto Gonzales by email at hotspotssouth@fishgame.com Contact North Regional Fishing Editor JD Moore by email at hotspotsnorth@fishgame.com A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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Big Reds & Trophy Trout ISHING IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY ON Sabine Lake is like most of the other bay systems along the coast—hit or miss. It’s not that the fish aren’t there, but a matter of where the weather will safely allow you to fish.

Over the years, our most consistent area to catch reds in February is the Sabine River.

Live bait is the ticket. If you can’t find live bait such as mullet or shad, fresh dead shrimp works nearly as well.

One of the most productive spots in the Sabine River is Burtons Ditch. On any given

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Saturday, if the weather is halfway decent, you will see several boats anchored there, catching reds and the occasional striper. Our Sabine River striper fishing in winter is probably the most overlooked fishery in the state.

Two other good areas to work are the mouths of both Cow and Adams bayous.

Both of these bayous drain into the river and offer protection from the north wind. Fish the drop-offs near the points.

My “go to” spot is the mouth of the DuPont Hot Ditch. There is always a lot of bait holding in this area simply because of the warmer water being released back into the river. (Incidentally, the hot ditch is the best place to throw your cast net for live bait.) The north point seems to be the best early in the morning. Work the drop-off directly in front of the ditch from 10 a.m. to late afternoon.

Another great place to spend the day is the Entergy Hot Ditch. There is a lot of water to fish there, and it always holds reds during the winter months. This hot water discharge is located just west of the Veterans Bridge on Highway 87 north of Port Arthur on the

Neches River. Some of our best catches of redfish have come out of the Entergy Ditch.

Every now and then, don’t be surprised if you hit a bonus flounder.

All the February hotspots mentioned above are very easy to work. Simply drop anchor and fish in 3-10 feet of water. Depending on the strength of the tide, you will have to experiment with the size of your weight.

For those of you that want to try your hand at some of those great double-digit trout, I suggest working the Badlands on the Louisiana side of the bay. There are many small bays and manmade ditches that will have warmer water in them. For example, the little bay behind the island just east of Garrison Ridge is a good spot to work.

When fishing for super trout in February on Sabine, remember to slow down. We like throwing two baits that have a proven track record for success: MirrOlure Catch 2000 series III and Old Bayside 4-inch Shadlyn.

We tip the Shadlyn with a small strip of Fish Bites in shrimp scent. Remember to work these baits slowly. Early in the morning, try near the banks. As the day goes by and you get more sunlight penetration, work the deeper water, casting about a boat length off the bank.

If the bay is calm, grab your binoculars and look for working birds. It’s rare, but sometimes you find massive schools of 3- to 4-pound winter specks under the birds.

Contact: Skip James 409-886-5341, jjames@gt.rr.com.

THE BANK BITE HOTSPOT: Walter Humphreys Fishing Pier LOCATION: South End of Pleasure Island on Highway 82 SPECIES: redfish, drum, sheepshead LURES/BAITS: fresh dead shrimp/mullet BEST TIMES: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on low tide C12

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Surviving Winter This is my quest, To follow that star. No matter how distant, no matter how far...

HEN ROBERT GOULET (1934 - 2007) sang that verse with his amazing voice, it sent chills up the spine, and February on the Texas bays can have the same effect, but often with less pleasant results.

When those numbered days of real winter we experience here fall in the second month of the year, it often seems we would be better off following Bob Goulet’s star to a tropical clime—or at least a few columns farther down the magazine to portions of the Texas coast at least a bit more suitable for cold-weather fishing. Capt’s Bink, Mac,

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and Jim can direct those seeking even slightly warmer weather to areas from Matagorda to Baffin Bay, and Calixto can provide even more solace from the lower Laguna to Boca Chica. Even if the temperature isn’t in the short-sleeve realm down there, the clarity of water in winter bays and surf south of Corpus is almost certain to pick up the spirits of a shivering fisherman from the upper end of the Texas coastline.

If you can’t squeeze such a trip into your February schedule, take the time-honored advice about the best time to go fishing— “when you can”—and modify it to read, “When the weather will let you.” Fishing, after all, is supposed to be fun. If you enjoy being wet, cold, and muddy on your days off, take up waterfowl hunting. If you want to fish, pick a nice sunny day with light wind and enjoy yourself regardless of the catch.

Low tide periods are still good for scouting new or familiar areas to check the location of holes, cuts, oyster beds, and other “obstructions” that might have changed from last season. I recently exchanged canal

properties and discovered on the first really low tide that the silted bottom in front of my new dockage was scattered with clusters of oyster. This is good for fishing, so-so for boat propellers, but good to know about in either case. Oysters are always fish magnets.

Even though most fish don’t actually feed on oysters, they do feed on the related smaller organisms that live among them. These clusters on a silty bottom might not attract the numbers of fish that a full blown reef could, but they are easier to fish as far as less snags and hang-ups, and the soft bottom is more likely to add a few flounder to your fish box—and warms up fast on a sunny day.

Late February should see the beginning of the black drum run for those who like to feel something heavy on the end of their line.

Boaters can take big drum on relatively light tackle, but bank and pier chuckers probably want at least 30-pound gear, long rods, heavy mono leaders, and circle hooks. Blue crab is the traditional drum bait, but “seabobs” (shrimp), squid, and cut bait will draw bites at times.

Catching fish in the Galveston Bay area in February can be slow, but it is certainly not, “The Impossible Dream.” (We’ll miss you, Robert.)

Capt. Mike Holmes runs tarpon, shark, and bluewater trips on a classic 31 Bertram. To book a trip, call 979-415-0535.

Email him at mholmes@fishgame.com.

THE BANK BITE LOCATION: The Texas City Dike lighted pier ALTERNATE SPOT: The bank inside San Luis Pass, Brazoria County Park SPECIES: black drum, slot redfish, various panfishes BAITS: halved blue crab, large seabobs (for drum); dead shrimp, cut bait, squid (for other species) BEST TIMES: moving tide C14

• F E B R U A R Y

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Things to Think About HAT IS THIS WEATHER GOING TO do to the fishing?” That is the million-dollar question I am asked throughout the

“W

year.

Honestly, I don’t know. I have a theory, but theories are nothing if you can’t prove

them, and my theories are based on years past. However, ever year is different.

Confused yet?

One thing is certain in fishing: fish swim.

They move from guts, to sand flats, to mud, to shell, to back lakes, to the pass, to channels, to bars, to spoil islands, to grass, to the first gut, to the second gut, and to the short rigs, not necessarily in that order.

Water temperatures, hours of daylight, tide levels, moon phases, the presence of bait, and many other undetermined factors play a role in when and where to fish. Fish like constants; too cold, and they retreat to warmer, deeper water; too hot and they retreat to cooler, deeper water. More often than not, fish frequent the same areas as they did year ago, give or take a few weeks—but, not always.

A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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THE BANK BITE HOTSPOT: Colorado River LOCATION: Matagorda SPECIES: speckled trout LURES/BAITS: Glow DOA Shrimp, Glow Bass Assassins, MirrOlure MirrOdines BEST TIMES: At night under the lights on your favorite pier or at the jetty pier.

Clear yet?

The pros keep a logbook, diary, or journal. Ten years ago, I began a journal of all my outdoor experiences (good and bad), logging the date, temperature, wind speed, sky

G a m e ® / F E B R U A R Y

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•

C15

Cold = Suspended Fish OR FEBRUARY, MOST REDS AND TROUT WILL be suspended in deep to mid-depths.

If the water temperature hovers in the 55-degree range, work your bait relatively slowly and allow it to sit stationary for long periods. Patience is the key this time of year. If the water temperature warms above 65 degrees, then move into the shallows and work the transition between major bay systems and the ICW. Copano Bay: At the mouth of Port Bay, fishing live shrimp or dark green Berkley Gulp! Shrimp using a fish-finder rig or bub-

F

ble cork will produce trout, and if fished slowly, you have a good chance at some big black drum. Use Bone colored Super Spooks for clear water, and Electric Grape or black Kelly shrimp tails in murky/dark water.

Aransas Bay: Drift or wade the Blackjack shoreline, paying close attention where small feeder creeks create cuts running perpendicular to the shoreline. Use shad tails in Smoke, red/white, and Morning Glory colors bumped off the bottom for black drum and roly-poly reds.

Mesquite Bay: Fish the shoreline southeast of the fish huts using soft plastics in bright colors. Work the shoreline from a good distance out, as this area holds shell cuts that riddle the area running parallel to the shoreline.

Ayres Bay: Working the east shoreline in 3-4 feet of water using a popping cork with cut bait is the formula for success here. I like menhaden and Berkley Gulp! Crab Molting. If you have a light north wind with little wave action, use suspending plugs in Bone

THE BANK BITE LOCATION: Copano Bay Bridge, east side SPECIES: trout, redfish LURES/BAITS: gold/red spoons, topwaters in chrome/black BEST TIMES: moving tide color for the trout of a lifetime.

Carlos Bay: Wade the northeast shoreline using topwaters in white/chartreuse and Pearl/chartreuse with a focus where the lake empties into Carlos Dugout. This is a feast or famine bay system this time of year, but if you play the conditions right, the action can be non-stop for trout and reds.

Contact: Capt. Mac Gable, Mac Attack Guide Service, 512-809-2681, 361-790-9601

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: MATAGORDA & MID COAST Continued from Page C15 conditions, water temperature, tidal flow, location, and lunar phase. Depending on if it was a fishing or hunting trip, I included the baits used, fish caught, or birds harvested.

The advantage of keeping an outdoor journal or log is it helps you trend fish and wildlife movements, feeding times, and locations annually. Chances are, if you caught fish in a particular spot a year ago, they are often in the same vicinity a year later.

Serious anglers know the value and success of keeping with the movements and patterns of fishes. Be it a journal, log, or diary, writing down your detailed experiences and exploits is the best recipe for return success on the water.

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All good fishermen have a checklist in their heads before they leave the dock of where they want to fish. Most have a good memory, but it never hurts to write it down.

If you are out of the loop and do not know the current pattern, refer to newspapers or internet sites with fishing reports.

Read through the lines and look for patterns, then fish the appropriate terrain (e.g., sand, shell, grass, mud) for the conditions.

When I plan to fish, the first thing I search the day before is the weather forecast, and that determines where I fish. The next thing I look at is the tide forecast, which determines when I fish.

Knowing your tides before you hit the water can help eliminate unproductive water. Incoming tides push fish closer to shorelines, depending on the height of the F i s h

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tide. The outgoing tide pulls fish away from the shoreline; as the tide falls, so do the fish off the shore. Typically, trout and redfish stage in guts, channels, and drop-offs until the next incoming tide pushes more water and bait onto the flats.

When fishing around cuts, drains, and back lakes, work the outside on a falling tide and the inside of the back lakes on a rising tide. The best tides occur around a full or new moon. Four-tide days are best on the upper coast, while two-tide days are proven along the middle and lower coast.

One thing is for certain: as long as the water is moving and your bait is in the water, you have a chance.

Contact: Bink Grimes, www.binkgrimesoutdoors.com

Baffin Beauties EBRUARY IS HERE, AND YOU KNOW WHAT that means—big Baffin trout season. This my favorite time of year, I get more enjoyment out of watching one of our clients hook up on a double digit Baffin beauty and sharing the experiencing of a special moment of catching that Trout of a life time.

Baffin, this time a year even attracts full time guides from Matagorda, Port O’Connor, and elsewhere, luring them away from their home waters in search of a shot at a trophy trout.

First lets talk tackle. I have been using a Shimano Cantar medium-light 6-foot rod; you need great sensitivity, and this rod will do it for you. I also use braided line on my bait-caster (Power Pro). For sensitivity, you can’t beat braided line. I will also rig up using 1/16-ounce screw-lock jigheads. The light head allows for better bait presentation because you can work it slower. Bass Assassins in Plum or Morning Glory are my winter colors. Make sure and have a few smaller topwater lures with you, too.

If you are at the right time and at the right place, they can be priceless. Slow sinkers like the Catch 5 and Corky Devil will be in my arsenal; I will not leave home with out them.

Now lets talk fishing. Starting up from Corpus and working south, hit the intersection of Natural and Humble channels, working south just off of the edges and drop-offs of Natural

F

Channel. This area has a very good mud bottom, which is warmer, and as cold as the water is, the trout should stack up there.

Try wade-fishing Beacrofts Hole. This whole area on the west side will hold good numbers of trout. You will want to fish the deeper areas just off the grass lines.

Moving down Laguna Madre, the King Ranch shoreline has always been good for some real heavy trout. While wading here, watch for baitfishes. If the sun starts getting up there, the water temperature might warm up a bit, thus the fish will also move to the warmer water.

Moving on down Baffin way, try the Badlands. This is a great place to fish because you have deep-water rocky structure and soft mud

bottom around this area. Trout could not ask for a better place to wait to ambush schooling baitfishes.

Los Coralles has been looking good, too.

Several large schools of bait have been hanging around this area. Topwater action will be good here.

In Alazan Bay, try back by sunken Island.

You will want to fish the gut all the way around the Island. An 11-pound, 32-1/2-inch trout was caught in this area last year. The most important thing to remember is that you will need to fish your baits slowly.

Contact: Capt. Jim “Donk” Onderdonk, 361-774-7710, www.pocolocolodge.com

THE BANK BITE HOTSPOT: Rocks near USS Lexington LOCATION: Corpus Christi Bay SPECIES: sheepshead LURE/BAITS: dead shrimp BEST TIMES: high tides A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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Playing in the Sand HE VAST MAJORITY OF WINTER VISITORS that set up camp in South Texas during the cold months of the year cannot afford a boat. It simply is not in the budget of a retiree. Not only that, but the cost involved in schlepping a boat all the way down from the Great White North (especially with gas prices tickling $3/gallon) makes bringing a boat to the coast prohibitive. A boat is simply not in a winter

T

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Texan’s equation, and that makes many of the classic Laguna Madre fishing spots beyond their reach.

Still, these mature ladies and gentlemen catch their share of fish every year. Sometimes, they do better than some of the longtime residents do. Their secret?

Sand. Lots and lots of sand.

Winter Texans take advantage of the South Padre Island surf to provide the sort of fishing action they crave. If you drive on Padre Boulevard on SPI, or up and down Highway 100 through Port Isabel, you will see a plethora of trucks with out-of-state plates sporting PVC rod racks battened to the front bumper, all of them bristling with 8- to 12-foot surf rods. Clusters of these trucks park up and down the island in February, their passengers sitting in lawn chairs, rods now off the bumper and in wroughtiron rodholders, baits out among the suds.

Sooner than later, a rod begins bucking, and another fish is hauled onto the beach.

The surf offers a great fishing opportunity for the land-bound angler, or even for the boat owner who wants a change of pace along with saving a few bucks in gas money.

The same vehicle with four-wheel-drive that you take to the deer lease is well-suited to negotiate the sand of the beach, and the sand along the high-tide line is packed down enough that some two-wheel drive vehicles can get out to the suds. (Take a shovel with

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you, though, just in case you need to dig yourself out of a soft spot.) A variety of fish will readily grab a bait presented by even the most inexperienced angler, almost all of them excellent table fare.

The most common fish that swims the guts and bars of the Padre Island surf in February is the whiting. Actually, there are two types of whiting: the Gulf whiting and the southern whiting. The Gulf whiting is most common in the surf, and is silver in color with a sleeker profile. The stouter, squatter southern whiting is more common in the bay and around passes, but is also present in the surf, especially around the Brazos-Santiago jetties. These are strong fish that will give a good hard yank when first hooked, then, after token resistance, obediently come along when they realize resistance is futile. These guys are plentiful; it doesn’t take long to catch enough for even the biggest fish fry. They are surprisingly large (average 12-13 inches, but it isn’t uncommon to catch a half dozen bull whiting measuring 18-20 inches), and the clean white fillets fry up beautifully.

A second fish worth every surf-fisherman’s attention, and is actually a prize catch on any trip, is the Florida pompano. These scrappy cousins of the Tyson-esque jackfish and the cosmopolitan permit zoom up and down the surf in search of shrimp and sand fleas, and sometimes grab a baited hook.

They run 1-3 pounds, but their short, powerful bursts and bulldog determination make for sport on all but the stoutest Hatteras Heaver. As for table qualities, a whole pompy baked inside a paper bag with butter, white wine, green onions, and mushrooms is a delicacy worthy of an Iron Chef (although Morimoto-san would probably turn it into ice cream or gelato, or some such abomination).

Whiting and pompano are not difficult to catch. A 7-1/2- to 9-foot surf rod matched with a 4000-6000 sized spinning reel spooled with 14- to 20-pound line is ideal.

Most of the fishing is in the wade gut or up against the first bar, so pyramid and disc sinkers in the 1- to 2-ounce range is fine, and a box of No. 2 (not 2/0) Eagle Claw 066N 2X long shank hooks should cover your needs. Most fishermen get the pre-fabricated double-stage leaders available at Wal-Mart or the bait shop by the dozen, but many wily fishermen know that a handmade leader of 30-pound mono is more effective for fooling leader-shy pompano.

Simply pin a peeled bit of shrimp on each hook and flip your rig into the near bar where the waves are breaking. It normally doesn’t take too long for a whiting to find your rig and give it a yank. Sometimes, a second whiting grabs the other bait while you’re reeling the first one in, and the double header is good for a few whoops when you drag it onto the sand.

If you hook into a pompano, the whoops get even louder.

There is a very good reason to rig with heavier line—redfish. Some of these bad boys are still roaming the surf, and they’ll grab one of your little whiting/pompano rigs out of pure meanness and make the drag on your spinning reel sing.

That’s when the whooping gets loudest of all.

Contact: Calixto Gonzales by email at hotspotssouth@fishgame.com

THE BANK BITE LOCATION: Dolphin Cove (GPS: N26 4.02, W97 9.42) SPECIES: black drum, sand trout LURES/BAITS: shrimp, crab on a bottom rig BEST TIMES: moving tide A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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Tides and Prime Times for FEBRUARY 2008 USING THE PRIME TIMES CALENDAR

The following pages contain TIDE and SOLUNAR predictions for Galveston Channel (29.3166° N, 94.88° W).

T12

T10

TIDE PREDICTIONS are located in the upper white boxes on the Calendar Pages. Use the Correction Table below, which is keyed to 23 other tide stations, to adjust low and high tide times.

T8

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY is shown in the lower color boxes of the Calendar pages. Use the SOLUNAR ADJUSTMENT SCALE below to adjust times for points East and West of Galveston Channel.

T16

T15

T9 T7

T4

T11

T6

T17

T5

T14

AM & PM MINOR phases occur when the moon rises and sets. These phases last 1 to 2 hours.

T18

AM & PM MAJOR phases occur when the moon reaches its highest point overhead as well as when it is “underfoot” or at its highest point on the exact opposite side of the earth from your positoin (or literally under your feet). Most days have two Major Feeding Phases, each lasting about 2 hours.

PEAK DAYS: The closer the moon is to your location, the stronger the influence. FULL or NEW MOONS provide the strongest influnce of the month.

T20

PEAK TIMES: When a Solunar Period falls within 30 minutes to an hour of sunrise or sunset, anticipate increased action. A moon rise or moon set during one of these periods will cause even greater action. If a FULL or NEW MOON occurs during a Solunar Period, expect the best action of the season.

T21

KEY T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6

TIDE CORRECTION TABLE Add or subtract the time shown at the right of the Tide Stations on this table (and map) to determine the adjustment from the time shown for GALVESTON CHANNEL in the calendars.

PLACE Sabine Bank Lighthouse Sabine Pass Jetty Sabine Pass Mesquite Pt, Sab. Pass Galveston Bay, S. Jetty Port Bolivar

HIGH -1:46 -1:26 -1:00 -0:04 -0:39 +0:14

LOW -1:31 -1:31 -1:15 -0:25 -1:05 -0:06

KEY PLACE HIGH Galveston Channel/Bays T7 Texas City Turning Basin +0:33 +3:54 T8 Eagle Point +6:05 T9 Clear Lake +10:21 T10 Morgans Point T11 Round Pt, Trinity Bay +10:39

LOW +0:41 +4:15 +6:40 +5:19 +5:15

T22

T23

SYMBOL KEY

★ ★

Minor Feeding Better Day Periods (+/- 1.5 Hrs.) Major Feeding Periods (+/- 2 Hrs.) Best Day TIDE LEVEL GRAPH: Daytime

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY: AM Minor: 9:05a

PM Minor: 9:26p

AM Major: 2:55a

PM Major: 3:15p

Moon Overhead: 4:39p

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

Moon Underfoot: 4:18a

Blue: Rising Tide

MOON PHASES C20

Moon’s Highest Point in Sky

NEW MOON

Am/Pm Timeline Moon Directly Underfoot

1ST QTR

• F E B R U A R Y

KEY PLACE T12 Pt Barrow, Trinity Bay T13 Gilchrist, East Bay T14 Jamaica Beach, W. Bay T15 Alligator Point, W. Bay T16 Christmas Pt T17 Galveston Pleasure Pier

HIGH +5:48 +3:16 +2:38 +2:39 +2:32 -1:06

LOW +4:43 +4:18 +3:31 +2:33 +2:31 -1:06

KEY T18 T19 T20 T21 T22 T23

PLACE San Luis Pass Freeport Harbor Pass Cavallo Aransas Pass Padre Island (So. End) Port Isabel

SPORTSMAN’S DAYBOOK IS SPONSORED BY:

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

Green: Falling Tide

TIDE PREDICTIONS are shown in graph form, with High and Low tide predictions in text immediately below.

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY data is provided to indicate major and minor feeding periods for each day, as the daily phases of the moon have varying degrees of influence on a wide variety of wildlife species.

T13

T19

Nighttime

T3 T2 T1

FULL MOON LAST QTR 2 0 0 8 /

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HIGH -0.09 -0:44 0:00 -0:03 -0:24 +1:02

LOW -0.09 -1:02 -1:20 -1:31 -1:45 -0:42

Tides and Prime Times for FEBRUARY 2008

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

MONDAY

.12 ft 0.61 ft 0.19 ft 0.69 ft

FEET

12p

TIDE LEVELS

AM Minor: 11:15a

6p

-0.04 ft 0.58 ft 0.44 ft 0.70 ft

6a

12p

6p

Moon Overhead: 6:17a 6a

12p

AM Minor: 12:20a

6p

Moon Overhead: 7:03a 6a

12p

FEB 1 PM Minor: 12:45p

AM Minor: 1:06a

Sat 2/2/08

Moon Underfoot: 7:28p

6a

12p

PM Minor: 1:32p

AM Minor: 1:53a

Sun 2/3/08

Moon Underfoot: 8:18p

6a

12p

PM Minor: 2:19p

7:03 10:51

Moon Overhead: 9:36a

High: 05:18 PM / 1.00 ft

12a

Set: 5:54p Set: 2:38p

AM3 Major: PM Major: Low: 07:45 AM / -0.60 ft 8:32p 8:06a

7:04 10:49

High: 05:08 PM / 1.01 ft

SATURDAY 6p

3

Sunrise: 7:03a Moonrise: 4:36a

Moon Overhead: 8:44a

High: 05:12 PM / 0.98 ft

12a

Set: 5:53p Set: 1:44p

AM PM Major: 2 Major: Low: 07:02 AM / -0.53 ft 7:45p 7:19a

7:04 10:48

FRIDAY 6p

SUNDAY

2

Set: 5:52p Sunrise: 7:04a Set: 12:55p Moonrise: 3:43a

Moon Overhead: 7:52a

High: 04:58 PM / 0.92 ft

12a

SATURDAY

AM PM Major: FebMajor: 1 Low: 06:13 AM / -0.45 ft 6:58p 6:33a Fri 2/1/08

THURSDAY

Moon Underfoot: 6:40p

SUNDAY 6p

12a

Moon Underfoot: 9:10p

6a

12p

6p

4 Low: 08:23 AM High: 05:09 PM Low: 09:26 PM

12a

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 10:03p

+1.5 +1.0 +0.5

00

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

3:16 AM 12:08 PM 12:44 PM 7:02 PM

PM Minor: 12:00p

AM PM Major: Jan 31Major: Low:5:48a 05:17 AM / -0.36 ft 6:12p

High: 05:02 PM / 0.83 ft

12a

Set: 5:51p Sunrise: 7:04a Set: 12:12p Moonrise: 2:48a

Thu 1/31/08 7:05 10:46

WEDNESDAY

Moon Underfoot: 5:54p

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

JA N 3 1

AM Minor: -----

AM PM Major: 30 Major: Low: 04:17 AM / -0.27 ft 5:26p 5:03a

Moon Overhead: 5:33a

12a

PM Minor: 11:38p

Wed 1/30/08 7:06 10:44

TUESDAY

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

2:20 AM 9:25 AM 1:21 PM 7:36 PM

30

FRIDAY

TIDE LEVELS

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

PM Minor: 10:52p

7:06 10:44

High: 12:08 PM / 0.63 ft Low: 12:44 PM / 0.63 ft High: 07:02 PM / 0.73 ft

MONDAY

THURSDAY

Set: 5:50p Sunrise: 7:05a Set: 5:50p Sunrise: 7:06a Set: 11:02a Moonrise: 12:54a Set: 11:35a Moonrise: 1:51a

AM PM Major: 29 Major: Low: 03:16 AM / -0.17 ft 4:41p 4:19a Tue 1/29/08

Moon Overhead: 4:50a

00 -0.5

AM Minor: 10:30a

High: 09:25 AM / 0.58 ft Low: 01:21 PM / 0.44 ft High: 07:36 PM / 0.70 ft

Moon Underfoot: 5:11p

+1.5

+0.5

PM Minor: 10:06p

AM PM Major: 28 Major: Low: 02:20 AM / -0.04 ft 3:56p 3:35a

6a

29

Set: 5:49p Sunrise: 7:06a Set: 10:32a Moonrise: None

Mon 1/28/08 7:06 10:43

12a

+2.0

+1.0

AM Minor: 9:45a

28

WEDNESDAY LAST QTR

SOLU-

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

Sunrise: 7:06a Moonrise: None

TUESDAY

-0.17 ft Low Tide: 4:17 AM 0.63 ft High Tide: 5:02 PM 0.63 ft 0.73 ft

-0.27 ft Low Tide: 5:17 AM 0.83 ft High Tide: 4:58 PM

-0.36 ft Low Tide: 6:13 AM 0.92 ft High Tide: 5:12 PM

-0.45 ft Low Tide: 7:02 AM 0.98 ft High Tide: 5:18 PM

-0.53 ft Low Tide: 7:45 AM 1.00 ft High Tide: 5:08 PM

-0.60 ft 1.01 ft

FEBRUARY’S PEAK FISHING AND HUNTING TIMES • BY PAT MURRAY • BEST DAYS HIGHLIGHTED YELLOW MON 28

5:05pm – 6:45pm

MON 4

3:15pm – 4:45pm*

MON 11

4:35pm – 5:50pm

MON 18

2:00pm – 3:20pm*

MON 25

5:45am – 6:50am

TUE 29

10:10am – 11:25am

TUE 5

3:00pm – 4:10pm

TUE 12

4:50pm – 6:30pm

TUE 19

2:40pm – 3:55pm

TUE 26

7:40am – 9:10am

WED 30

10:45am – 12:15pm

WED 6

2:50pm – 4:05pm*

WED 13

4:55pm – 7:20pm

WED 20

3:10pm – 4:15pm

WED 27

8:00am – 9:25am

THU JAN 31

2:45pm – 4:20pm

THU 7

2:00pm – 3:10pm

THU 14

10:10am – 11:50am

THU 21

3:25pm – 4:55pm

THU 28

1:20pm – 2:40pm

FRI FEB 1

4:00pm – 5:45pm

FRI 8

2:30pm – 3:50pm

FRI 15

1:10pm – 3:00pm

FRI 22

4:00pm – 5:25pm

FRI 29

2:00pm – 3:20pm

SAT 2

4:10pm – 5:50pm

SAT 9

2:45pm – 4:10pm

SAT 16

2:05pm – 3:35pm

SAT 23

4:25pm – 5:55pm

SAT MAR 1

2:50pm – 4:00pm

SUN 3

4:10pm – 6:00pm

SUN 10

3:45pm – 5:15pm

SUN 17

2:25pm – 4:00pm*

SUN 24

5:10am – 6:30am

SUN 2

2:40pm – 3:50pm

A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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-0.5

Tides and Prime Times for FEBRUARY 2008 MONDAY

★

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

-0.60 ft 1.01 ft

Set: 5:55p Set: 3:37p

AM Minor: 2:40a

PM Minor: 3:07p

Sunrise: 7:02a Moonrise: 6:09a

Tue 2/5/08

Moon Overhead: 10:29a

Low Tide: 8:58 AM High Tide: 5:20 PM Low Tide: 9:22 PM

FEET

+2.0

12a

6a

AM Minor: 5:07a

Low Tide: 9:32 AM High Tide: 5:34 PM Low Tide: 9:49 PM

Thu 2/7/08

12a

12p

AM Minor: 5:57a

Fri 2/8/08

Moon Underfoot: None

6a

12p

Moon Underfoot: 12:37a

12a

6a

Low Tide: 11:18 AM High Tide: 6:16 PM Low Tide: 11:46 PM

Moon Underfoot: 1:25a

12a

6a

Low Tide: 8:23 AM High Tide: 5:09 PM Low Tide: 9:26 PM

C22

-0.66 ft High Tide: 12:02 AM 1.01 ft Low Tide: 8:58 AM 0.93 ft High Tide: 5:20 PM Low Tide: 9:22 PM

• F E B R U A R Y

0.95 ft -0.69 ft 1.01 ft 0.87 ft

2 0 0 8 /

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

T E X A S

1:16 AM 9:32 AM 5:34 PM 9:49 PM

0.96 ft -0.68 ft 0.99 ft 0.77 ft

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High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

2:20 AM 10:06 AM 5:49 PM 10:23 PM

0.95 ft -0.61 ft 0.95 ft 0.61 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

G a m e ® / A L M A N A C

3:25 AM 10:42 AM 6:04 PM 11:03 PM

0.92 ft -0.46 ft 0.89 ft 0.42 ft

Moon Overhead: 3:22p

Low Tide: 11:56 AM High Tide: 6:24 PM

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

4:36 AM 11:18 AM 6:16 PM 11:46 PM

0.03 ft 0.80 ft

SUNDAY 6p

Moon Underfoot: 2:12a

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

PM Minor: 8:04p

AM PM Major: 10 Major: High Tide: 5:57 AM 0.82 ft 1:29a 1:52p

-0.24 ft 0.84 ft 0.19 ft

12p

10

Set: 6:00p Set: 9:52p

Sun 2/10/08 6:59 11:01

SATURDAY 6p

00 -0.5

AM Minor: 7:41a

6:59 11:00

Moon Overhead: 2:35p

-0.46 ft 0.89 ft 0.42 ft

12p

PM Minor: 7:11p

Sunrise: 6:59a Moonrise: 8:59a

AM>9Major: PM Major: High Tide: 4:36 AM 1:00p 0.87 ft 12:37a Sat 2/9/08

FRIDAY 6p

Set: 5:59p Set: 8:49p

AM Minor: 6:48a

7:00 10:58

Low Tide: 10:42 AM High Tide: 6:04 PM Low Tide: 11:03 PM

THURSDAY 12a

PM Minor: 6:21p

SUNDAY

9

Sunrise: 6:59a Moonrise: 8:28a

Moon Overhead: 1:49p

Low Tide: 10:06 AM -0.61 ft High Tide: 5:49 PM 0.95 ft Low Tide: 10:23 PM 0.61 ft

6p

8★

Set: 5:58p Set: 7:47p

AM PM Major: >8 Major: High----Tide: 3:25 AM 0.92 ft 12:09p

7:01 10:56

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

SATURDAY

TIDE LEVELS

Moon Underfoot: 11:47p

6a

PM Minor: 5:32p

Sunrise: 7:00a Moonrise: 7:57a

Moon Overhead: 1:01p

-0.68 ft 0.99 ft 0.77 ft

WEDNESDAY 6p

7★

Set: 5:57p Set: 6:45p

AM PM Major: >7 Major: High Tide: 2:20 AM 0.95 ft 11:19a 11:49p

7:01 10:56

Moon Overhead: 12:13p

-0.69 ft 1.01 ft 0.87 ft

12p

PM Minor: 4:43p

AMN6 Major: PM Major: High Tide: 1:16 AM 0.96 ft 10:30a 10:56p Wed 2/6/08

TUESDAY 6p

Sunrise: 7:01a Moonrise: 7:24a

FRIDAY

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

0.87 ft High Tide: 5:57 AM 0.82 ft -0.24 ft Low Tide: 11:56 AM 0.03 ft 0.84 ft High Tide: 6:24 PM 0.80 ft 0.19 ft

11 Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 2:58a

+1.5 TIDE LEVELS

+0.5

12p

Moon Underfoot: 10:56p

+1.5 +1.0

6a

Set: 5:57p Set: 5:43p

AM Minor: 4:18a

7:02 10:54

Moon Overhead: 11:22a

1.01 ft 0.93 ft

MONDAY 12a

PM Minor: 3:55p

THURSDAY

6★

NEW MOON

Sunrise: 7:01a Moonrise: 6:48a

AM>5 Major: PM Major: High Tide: 12:02 AM 0.95 ft 9:42a 10:08p

7:03 10:52

High Tide: 5:09 PM Low Tide: 9:26 PM

Set: 5:56p Set: 4:39p

AM Minor: 3:29a

AM PM Major: >4 Major: Low Tide: 8:23 AM -0.66 ft 8:54a 9:20p Mon 2/4/08

5★

4★

Sunrise: 7:03a Moonrise: 5:24a

WEDNESDAY

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

AM PM

TUESDAY

+1.0 +0.5

00

-0.5

12:33 7:30 A 12:33 6:25 P

MONDAY SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

Sunrise: 6:58a Moonrise: 9:32a

0.82 ft 0.03 ft 0.80 ft

FEET

AM Minor: 8:34a

PM Minor: 8:59p

AM Minor: 9:30a

12p

Moon Underfoot: 3:46a

TIDE LEVELS

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

C24

12:33 AM 7:30 AM 12:33 PM 6:25 PM

-0.06 ft 0.78 ft 0.34 ft 0.80 ft

6a

6p

12a

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

• F E B R U A R Y

1:28 AM 9:21 AM 1:09 PM 6:13 PM

6a

AM15 Major: PM Major: 6:09a 6:40p Low Tide: 4:56 AM -0.76 ft

AM Major: 16 7:06a Low Tide:

AM Minor: 12:01a

High Tide: 4:30 PM

12a

Moon Underfoot: 5:30a

6a

12p

Sat 2/16/08

High Tide: 3:54 PM

Moon Underfoot: 6:28a

12a

6a

12p

Set: 6:05p Set: 3:27a

Sunrise: 6:53a Moonrise: 2:41p

PM Major: 7:37p -0.84 ft

AM 17Major: 8:01a Low Tide:

PM Minor: 1:21p

AM Minor: 1:46a

6:54 11:11

6:09 AM High Tide: 4:08 PM

Moon Underfoot: 7:29a

12a

6a

12p

Set: 6:05p Set: 4:25a

PM Minor: 2:16p PM Major: 8:31p -0.88 ft

7:15 AM High Tide: 4:25 PM Low Tide: 9:57 PM High Tide: 10:45 PM

Moon Overhead: 10:01p

1.22 ft

SATURDAY 6p

★ 17

Sun 2/17/08 6:53 11:12

Moon Overhead: 9:01p

1.20 ft

FRIDAY 6p

SUNDAY

16

AM Minor: 12:51a

6:55 11:09

Moon Overhead: 8:00p

1.10 ft

THURSDAY 6p

PM Minor: 12:25p

Fri 2/15/08

Moon Overhead: 6:58p

0.91 ft 0.90 ft 0.97 ft

12p

Sunrise: 6:54a Moonrise: 1:35p

AM Major: PM Major: 14 5:41p Low5:11a Tide: 3:40 AM -0.64 ft

Moon Overhead: 5:59p High Tide: 11:47 AM Low Tide: 1:29 PM High Tide: 5:34 PM

PM Minor: 11:56p

15

Sunrise: 6:55a Set: 6:04p Moonrise: 12:33p Set: 2:24a

Thu 2/14/08 6:56 11:07

WEDNESDAY

Moon Underfoot: 4:36a

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

AM Minor: 11:26a

AMQ13Major: PM Major: 4:14a 4:42p Low Tide: 2:30 AM -0.48 ft

0.80 ft 0.64 ft 0.86 ft

12p

PM Minor: 10:56p

Wed 2/13/08 6:56 11:06

Moon Overhead: 5:03p

12a

14

SATURDAY

1.18 ft 1.03 ft 1.03 ft

SUNDAY 6p

Moon Underfoot: 8:31a

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

18 Low Tide: 8:12 High Tide: 4:41 Low Tide: 9:18

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 9:32a

+1.5 TIDE LEVELS

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

AM Minor: 10:28a

TUESDAY 6p

FRIDAY

Sunrise: 6:56a Set: 6:02p Sunrise: 6:56a Set: 6:03p Moonrise: 10:50a Set: 12:06a Moonrise: 11:38a Set: 1:15a

6:57 11:04

High Tide: 9:21 AM Low Tide: 1:09 PM High Tide: 6:13 PM

THURSDAY

13

1ST QTR

AM Major: PM Major: 12 3:17a 3:43p Low Tide: 1:28 AM -0.28 ft

MONDAY 6a

PM Minor: 9:57p

Tue 2/12/08

Moon Overhead: 4:10p

00 -0.5

12

High Tide: 7:30 AM 0.78 ft Low Tide: 12:33 PM 0.34 ft High Tide: 6:25 PM 0.80 ft

+1.5

+0.5

11

AM Major: PM Major: 11 2:22a 2:47p Low Tide: 12:33 AM -0.06 ft

12a

WEDNESDAY

Set: 6:01p Sunrise: 6:57a Set: 6:01p Set: 10:57p Moonrise: 10:08a Set: None

Mon 2/11/08 6:58 11:03

+2.0

+1.0

TUESDAY

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

AM AM PM

Tides and Prime Times for FEBRUARY 2008

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

+1.0 +0.5

00

-0.28 ft 0.80 ft 0.64 ft 0.86 ft

2 0 0 8 /

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

T E X A S

2:30 AM 11:47 AM 1:29 PM 5:34 PM

-0.48 ft Low Tide: 3:40 AM 0.91 ft High Tide: 4:30 PM 0.90 ft 0.97 ft

F i s h

&

-0.64 ft Low Tide: 4:56 AM 1.10 ft High Tide: 3:54 PM

G a m e ® / A L M A N A C

-0.76 ft Low Tide: 6:09 AM 1.20 ft High Tide: 4:08 PM

-0.84 ft Low Tide: 1.22 ft High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

7:15 AM 4:25 PM 9:57 PM 10:45 PM

-0.88 ft 1.18 ft 1.03 ft 1.03 ft

-0.5

MONDAY

★

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

Sunrise: 6:52a Moonrise: 3:49p

-0.88 ft 1.18 ft 1.03 ft 1.03 ft

FEET

PM Minor: 3:08p

AM Minor: 4:19a

High Tide: 4:54 PM Low Tide: 9:30 PM

6a

Sunrise: 6:49a Moonrise: 6:58p AM Minor: 5:06a

High Tide: 5:07 PM Low Tide: 9:56 PM

Moon Underfoot: 11:23a

12a

6a

PM Minor: 5:28p

Sunrise: 6:48a Moonrise: 7:55p AM Minor: 5:52a

Moon Underfoot: 12:12p

12a

6a

12p

22 ★

Set: 6:09p Set: 7:35a

PM Minor: 6:13p

12a

Moon Underfoot: 12:58p

6a

High Tide: 5:43 PM Low Tide: 11:42 PM

Moon Underfoot: 1:41p

12a

6a

12p

-0.86 ft High Tide: 12:47 AM 1.10 ft Low Tide: 9:01 AM 0.93 ft High Tide: 4:54 PM Low Tide: 9:30 PM

1.03 ft -0.76 ft 1.01 ft 0.76 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

2:05 AM 9:46 AM 5:07 PM 9:56 PM

1.03 ft -0.60 ft 0.92 ft 0.57 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

3:13 AM 10:25 AM 5:20 PM 10:29 PM

A L M A N A C / T E X A S

1.01 ft -0.38 ft 0.85 ft 0.38 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

F i s h

&

4:18 AM 11:02 AM 5:33 PM 11:05 PM

Moon Overhead: 2:44a

High Tide: 5:51 PM

0.97 ft -0.14 ft 0.81 ft 0.20 ft

SUNDAY 6p

12a

Moon Underfoot: 2:23p

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

5:23 AM 11:34 AM 5:43 PM 11:42 PM

0.79 ft

6a

G a m e ® / F E B R U A R Y

6p

12a

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

High Tide: 6:31 AM 0.88 ft Low Tide: 12:03 PM 0.37 ft High Tide: 5:51 PM 0.79 ft

2 0 0 8

•

C25

25 Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 3:05p

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

0.93 ft 0.12 ft 0.79 ft 0.06 ft

12p

+1.5 TIDE LEVELS

Low Tide: 8:12 AM High Tide: 4:41 PM Low Tide: 9:18 PM

PM Minor: 7:47p

AM PM Major: 24 Major: High Tide: 6:31 AM 0.88 ft 1:15a 1:36p Low Tide: 12:03 PM 0.37 ft

SATURDAY 6p

24

Set: 6:11p Set: 8:31a

Sun 2/24/08 6:46 11:25

0.79 ft 0.06 ft

00 -0.5

AM Minor: 7:25a

6:47 11:23

Moon Overhead: 2:02a

0.81 ft 0.20 ft

12p

PM Minor: 6:59p

Sunrise: 6:46a Moonrise: 9:46p

AM>23Major: PM Major: High Tide: 5:23 AM 12:49p 0.93 ft 12:28a Low Tide: 11:34 AM 0.12 ft Sat 2/23/08

FRIDAY 6p

Set: 6:10p Set: 8:03a

AM Minor: 6:38a

6:48 11:21

High Tide: 5:33 PM Low Tide: 11:05 PM

SUNDAY

23

Sunrise: 6:47a Moonrise: 8:50p

Moon Overhead: 1:20a

High Tide: 5:20 PM 0.85 ft Low Tide: 10:29 PM 0.38 ft

THURSDAY 6p

SATURDAY

AM PM Major: >22 Major: High ----Tide: 4:18 AM 0.97 ft 12:03p Low Tide: 11:02 AM -0.14 ft Fri 2/22/08

Moon Overhead: 12:36a

0.92 ft 0.57 ft

12p

21 ★

Set: 6:08p Set: 7:05a

AM PM Major: F21 Major: High Tide: 3:13 AM 1.01 ft 11:17a 11:47p Low Tide: 10:25 AM -0.38 ft

WEDNESDAY 6p

FRIDAY

Thu 2/21/08 6:49 11:19

Moon Overhead: None

1.01 ft 0.76 ft

12p

PM Minor: 4:43p

FULL MOON

TIDE LEVELS

12a

20 ★

Set: 6:08p Set: 6:33a

Wed 2/20/08 6:50 11:18

TUESDAY 6p

THURSDAY

AM PM Major: >20Major: High Tide: 2:05 AM 1.03 ft 10:31a 10:55p Low Tide: 9:46 AM -0.60 ft

6:51 11:16

Moon Overhead: 11:48p

0.93 ft

12p

PM Minor: 3:56p

Sunrise: 6:50a Moonrise: 5:58p

AM PM Major: >19Major: High Tide: 12:47 AM 1.03 ft 9:43a 10:09p Low Tide: 9:01 AM -0.76 ft Tue 2/19/08

MONDAY 6a

Set: 6:07p Set: 5:57a

AM Minor: 3:30a

Moon Overhead: 10:57p

Low Tide: 9:18 PM

WEDNESDAY

19 ★

Sunrise: 6:51a Moonrise: 4:55p

AM PM Major: 18 Major: Low Tide: 8:12 AM -0.86 ft 8:53a 9:22p High Tide: 4:41 PM 1.10 ft

Moon Underfoot: 10:29a

+1.5

+0.5

18 ★

Set: 6:06p Set: 5:14a

Mon 2/18/08 6:52 11:14

12a

+2.0

+1.0

AM Minor: 2:39a

TUESDAY

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

5 AM 5 PM 7 PM 45 PM

Tides and Prime Times for FEBRUARY 2008

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

+1.0 +0.5

00

-0.5

12:22 7:46 12:25 5:48

Tides and Prime Times for FEBRUARY 2008

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

MONDAY

TUESDAY

AM 0.88 ft 3 PM 0.37 ft PM 0.79 ft

26

Sunrise: 6:45a Set: 6:11p Moonrise: 10:43p Set: 9:01a

Sunrise: 6:44a Set: 6:12p Moonrise: 11:40p Set: 9:33a

AM PM Major: 25 Major: Low Tide: 12:22 AM -0.05 ft 2:03a 2:24p

AM PM Major: 26 Major: Low Tide: 1:06 AM -0.12 ft 2:51a 3:13p

AM Minor: 8:13a

PM Minor: 8:35p

AM Minor: 9:02a

Mon 2/25/08 6:45 11:26

Tue 2/26/08

Moon Overhead: 3:26a

FEET

+2.0

TIDE LEVELS

00 -0.5

6p

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

C26

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

12:22 AM 7:46 AM 12:25 PM 5:48 PM

-0.05 ft 0.85 ft 0.58 ft 0.81 ft

12a

6a

12p

12a

• F E B R U A R Y

6a

12p

12a

T E X A S

6a

12p

AM Minor: -----

High Tide: 4:31 PM

Sat 3/1/08

Moon Underfoot: 6:09p

12a

6a

12p

PM Minor: 12:21p

AM Minor: 12:44a

High Tide: 4:43 PM

Sun 3/2/08

Moon Underfoot: 7:00p

12a

6a

12p

PM Minor: 1:10p

6:39 11:37

Moon Overhead: 8:18a

1.12 ft

High Tide: 4:19 PM

SATURDAY 6p

2

Set: 6:16p Set: 1:22p

AM PM Major: 2 Major: Low Tide: 6:25 AM -0.28 ft 6:57a 7:23p

6:40 11:35

Moon Overhead: 7:25a

1.09 ft

FRIDAY 6p

Set: 6:15p Sunrise: 6:39a Set: 12:26p Moonrise: 3:15a

AMMAR Major: PM Major: 1 Low Tide: 5:27 AM 6:34p -0.22 ft 6:08a

6:41 11:33

Moon Overhead: 6:34a

1.04 ft

THURSDAY 6p

PM Minor: 11:57p

SUNDAY

MA R 1

Set: 6:14p Sunrise: 6:40a Set: 11:35a Moonrise: 2:25a

AM Major: PM Major: FEB 29 Low5:19a Tide: 4:15 AM -0.18 ft 5:44p Fri 2/29/08

Moon Overhead: 5:44a

High Tide: 4:16 PM

Moon Underfoot: 5:20p

1.12 ft

SUNDAY 6p

Moon Underfoot: 7:51p

12a

6a

12p

6p

3 Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

12a

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 8:44p

+1.5 +1.0 +0.5

00

-0.12 ft Low Tide: 1:58 AM 0.83 ft High Tide: 4:20 PM 0.76 ft 0.86 ft

2 0 0 8 /

FEB 29

AM Minor: 11:32a

AM PM Major: 28 Major: Low4:29a Tide: 3:01 AM -0.16 ft 4:54p

0.95 ft

WEDNESDAY 6p

PM Minor: 11:06p

Thu 2/28/08 6:42 11:31

Moon Overhead: 4:56a

High Tide: 4:20 PM

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

1:06 AM 9:18 AM 12:33 PM 5:15 PM

AM Minor: 10:42a

AM27 Major: PM Major: Low Tide: 1:58 AM -0.15 ft 3:40a 4:04p

Moon Underfoot: 4:33p

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

28

SATURDAY

TIDE LEVELS

+0.5

12p

Moon Underfoot: 3:48p

+1.5 +1.0

6a

PM Minor: 10:15p

Wed 2/27/08 6:43 11:30

TUESDAY

FRIDAY

Set: 6:13p Sunrise: 6:42a Set: 6:13p Sunrise: 6:41a Set: 10:08a Moonrise: 12:37a Set: 10:49a Moonrise: 1:32a

AM Minor: 9:52a

6:44 11:28

High Tide: 9:18 AM 0.83 ft Low Tide: 12:33 PM 0.76 ft High Tide: 5:15 PM 0.86 ft

MONDAY

27

Sunrise: 6:43a Moonrise: None

Moon Overhead: 4:10a

High Tide: 7:46 AM 0.85 ft Low Tide: 12:25 PM 0.58 ft High Tide: 5:48 PM 0.81 ft

12a

PM Minor: 9:25p

THURSDAY LAST QTR

SOLU-

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

25

WEDNESDAY

-0.15 ft Low Tide: 3:01 AM 0.95 ft High Tide: 4:16 PM

F i s h

&

-0.16 ft Low Tide: 4:15 AM 1.04 ft High Tide: 4:31 PM

G a m e ® / A L M A N A C

-0.18 ft Low Tide: 5:27 AM 1.09 ft High Tide: 4:43 PM

-0.22 ft Low Tide: 6:25 AM 1.12 ft High Tide: 4:19 PM

-0.28 ft 1.12 ft

-0.5

7:12 A 3:58 P 9:11 P 11:08

Alton Jones on the Ardent Casting Reel The reel has only been around for a couple of years, and it is becoming much more popular and available at all major retailers.

What Ardent is trying to do is go after the high quality, high-end market. It’s a reel that is “well mannered,” a phrase I like to use to describe its casting performance.

There are two primary reels that I use in their Casting line, the XS1000 and XS600. The only difference in the reels is the number of ball bearings and some graphic differences.

A couple of things I like about them are their small profile, light weight, very comfortable, and easy to hold in your hand. I am

holding a rod during a tournament 8-9 hours a day during practice, 12-14 hours a day in competition. I need something that feels good for the duration. It’s by far the most comfortable feeling reel that I have ever fished.

It’s the best casting reel I have ever thrown. It’s an easy reel to teach someone C28

• F E B R U A R Y

2 0 0 8 /

T E X A S

how to cast. That doesn’t mean you can’t backlash it, because you can backlash any bait-casting reel. I can cast farther and with greater ease, with less risk of a bird’s nest, of anything I have thrown.

The first thing I did when Ardent sent me a reel to test was set it for pitching, and I picked it up and threw it. I used to fish with one reel for casting a spinnerbait, another reel for flipping and pitching. In pitching, the reel has to be extremely freespooled to cast accurately. If I picked up that reel, I used for pitching and tried to cast with it, then I would create a backlash. If I picked up the one I cast with and tried to pitch with it, I couldn’t pitch right.

This is the first reel I ever used that I can do both jobs effectively. All it really needs to make that switch is about 1/8 of a turn on the tension control knob. A lot of times, I don’t even make that turn.

They spent a lot of time on the engineering. It’s all quality components inside, all brass gears, machine tooled to very tight tolerances.

Even the handle, the grips, there’s ball bearings in the grips.

If there were any problems I found, it was in the 07 reel; the spool release button was a little bit stiff to operate, took a little more force, but that’s something they worked out. That’s another nice thing about Ardent—they listen to what fishermen are telling them. If there is an issue, they fix it. They are all about quality. I used my reels last year on the tournament trail, close to 200 days on the water with one set of reels.

They are extremely reliable, plus they are made in the U.S. Contact: Ardent Outdoors, www.ardentoutdoors.com —Alton Jones as told to Tom Behrens

F i s h

&

G a m e ® / A L M A N A C

Surefire Flashlights are Sure Fire When I was a law enforcement officer, approximately 1/3 of my duties were performed at night. It didn’t take long for me to learn that a good flashlight was almost as important as a good sidearm.

In the search for a durable,

bright, long lasting flashlight, I went through dozens of different models and brands. Recently, I discovered a brand that I wish had been around when I was an active duty agent.

Surefire is the brand, and they make the best flashlights that I have ever used.

I have tested several different models and sizes. Surefire makes lights small enough to carry in a pants pocket like a pocketknife, and others so large and powerful as to almost need wheels. They are all durable, some made of aircraft grade aluminum and some from space age polymers. In addition, several different models offer different color beams, produced by LED technology rather than colored lenses. I have used both the A2 Aviator in red/white and the Kroma with red/white/blue. I use the red a lot when predator calling at night or when walking to a deer stand before daylight. The blue can, sometimes, be helpful in following a blood trail at night.

There is a light called the M4 Devastator that can be mounted on your riflescope and equipped with a flip-up red lens for night shooting, or taken off for use as a standard flashlight. There is also a six-cell monster called the M6 Guardian that has as much power as a small spotlight. Surefire

also has a line of specialized law enforcement tactical lights. Whatever your need, Surefire will have a flashlight to suit you.

Contact: SureFire, LLC, 800-8288809, www.surefire.com —Steve LaMascus

Leadhead Lures Talon Series The two largest bass I have ever caught both succumbed to the deception of a jig and trailer combination. In spite of this, I never have been one who keeps a jig tied on at all times, throwing it in every piece of cover I can find. That might be about to change.

Recently, I got my hands on a few packets of the Talon Series jigs and spinnerbaits manufactured by Leadhead Lure Company out of Milam, Texas (about the middle of Toledo Bend Reservoir), and for the past few trips, have had a hard time putting them down. These things catch fish, but we will get to that later.

The most striking feature of the jigs is the coating on the jighead itself. We have all seen jigs with painted heads that look like it was applied with a can of spray paint in someone’s garage and flakes off after catching a single fish. That isn’t the case with the Talon series. Coated with a process known as Intellicoat, the finish on the jig will last longer than you will.

In a two week period, I bounced a 1/8-

ounce Lipstickers Shaky Head jig off countless rocks and boat houses, punched it through grass mats, caught a boat load of bass, and the jighead looked just like the day I took it out of the package. In fact, it is the only one I took out of that package because I couldn’t break or chip the paint off the head.

Another feature of the Lipsticker Shaky Head and Finesse Jigs is the Spring Lock Bait Keeper. Twist your worm, lizard, or creature bait on the spring coming out of the jighead, and it is not coming off. The Spring Lock Bait Keeper held a single Baby Brush Hog creature bait on for three hours of fishing and caught seven bass before the bait tore in half with the front half still screwed onto the bait keeper.

In addition to the Lipstickers, Leadhead Lures also makes various other jigs, buzzbaits, and spinnerbaits, and will even custom build them to your exact specifications. Try to find another major lure manufacturer who will do that for you.

While I haven’t had a chance to run the spinnerbaits through the ringer yet, I will go ahead and mention their unique Texas 2Step spinner.

Unlike other spinnerbaits that have painted or nonpainted blades, the Texas 2-Step has both. One side of the blade is nickel or gold, and the other is painted.

If you wonder if the Lipstickers catch fish, I will answer with a resounding, “Yes!” In a single afternoon of fishing nothing but the Lipsticker and Brush Hog combination, I pulled bass from beneath boat houses, brush piles, dead timber, grass flats, and even swam it through schooling bass. A lure that can do all that is hard to beat. Having it made here in Texas is just icing on the cake.

Contact: Leadhead Lures, 409-6251261, http://talonlures.com —Paul Bradshaw

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Strike Pro Flexes its Swim Baits Strike Pro America announces a new line of flexible swim baits to the U n i t e d States market. Marketed under the brand Flex Phantom and Flex X, this line of fishing lures are the next generation of swim baits to hit the market.

Using a patented bike chain joint system to connect the lure segments gives these lures the most realistic swimming action available in a hard body fishing bait.

Like all Strike Pro lures, the quality and craftsmanship are second to Strike Pro Flexinone and only ble Swim Baits the finest compo-

nents such as VMC and Owner hooks are used.

The Flex Phantom has a unique, fish attracting internal flasher, which reflects light throughout the water column. Other features include an internal ball bearing rattle and a wide gap Owner treble hook to increase hook-ups. The Flex Phantom comes in six colors and three different sizes to mimic popular baitfish throughout the United States.

The Flex X was originally introduced in 2005, but has gone through a significant redesign to give it a more realistic action, particularly with a slow retrieve. The Flex X comes equipped with VMC ultra

sharp treble hooks.

Because of its minnowlike shape, two sizes, and eleven available colors, the Flex X may be the most versatile hard bait on the market today. Whether it's chasing saltwater species such as redfish, spotted seatrout, or snook or freshwater species such as bass, walleye, pike, or muskie, the Flex X comes in a size and color to target just about any American fish species.

The Flex X will be available this fall and the Flex Phantom will be available in the Spring of 2007. Ask for them at your favorite outdoor or sporting goods store.

Strike Pro America is the U.S. subsidiary of the Strike Pro Company. Headquartered in Taiwan since 1973, Strike Pro is one of the most popular brands of fishing lures around the globe. Strike Pro has set the standard in the industry for quality and innovative fishing lures. For more information, visit our website at www.strikeproamerica.com.

Change Lures in a Snap... Without the Snap The Original Quickswirl is specifically designed for easy use and durability. Stress tested to outperform all it's competitors.

Functionality is the focus, with design features that ensure the lure will stay attached and survive the most extreme conditions.

Quickswirl makes lure changes quick & easy.

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How to Use: To attach the lure, simply place the eye of the lure onto the end of the exposed coil adjacent to the shaft and swirl two rotations to the base of the product. To remove and replace the lure, simply reverse the process. Quickswirl on/Quickswirl off.

Raw Material: The raw material we use is comprised of .026 dia. stainless steel wire and is specifically made for abrasion resistance and protection from sharp teeth.

It has been torsion straightened and treated so it is nearly invisible beneath the water, and has a dark coffee colored finish. These specifications ensure the highest quality product every time.

Striper 21 CC: Reel Innovative With features like Lockable Rod Storage, two Tier Console Door for Easy Access to the head in the console, Full Transom door, Three-Position Bow table, and Cockpit Bilge Access, the New 21’ Striper Center Console will send the other boat

Seaswirl’s Striper 21 Center Console.

builders back to the drawing board. This boat has what it takes. Complete family friendliness without loosing any of the hardcore fishability that Striper is known for.

Whether your time on the water includes chasing fish offshore or taking the family to the sand bar, you will be impressed with all of the reel innovative features that have been packed into this 21’ Center Console. The wood free construction and 10 year transferable warranty assures excellent service for the life of the boat, not to mention the clean custom fish boat look will make you the envy on the water.

Specifications: LOA Beam Weight Draft Max hp Min hp Fuel Livewell Fish Box

21’ 8’6” 2,700 16” 250 150 105 gal 30 gal 128Qt

Contact: Seaswirl, 901 Martin Downs Blvd, Palm City, Florida. Phone 772-4269925; Fax: 772-426-9945 Email: rodriguezm@seaswirl.com Website www.Striperboats.com

FoxPro Scorpion

FoxPro Scorpion, Big Sting in a Small Package FoxPro has introduced the smallest and lightest weight caller in its class. The new Scorpion from FoxPro is packed with more features than any other unit of its kind, and is equipped with the popular TX200 remote control.

This gives you more control at your fingertips than any other remote control in the industry-period. The TX200 gives you 4 custom presets at the push of a button, which not only instantly plays the sound of your choice, but also at your pre-determined volume level (think about this – coyote ki-yi at high volume with one button press, or a rodent at low volume with another button press) – the only remote to offer this feature.

Other popular features include a battery indicator, timer, volume indicator, recall button, full graphic LCD display (no more need for sound lists!), and many other features! Plus, the new Scorpion from FoxPro also allows you to turn on and off your caller from the remote control. This allows you to set your caller out weeks in advance, and be able to turn it on when you return for maximum scent control.

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added or changed with the built-in USB port (no reader/writer necessary).

Enjoy crisp and clear loud volume thanks to the built-in high efficient Mylar Cone Speaker and powerful amplifiers.

Other features of the Scorpion include a battery management system, mono or stereo selectable, dual external speaker jacks and much more! For more information, call 717-248-2507 or visit: www.gofoxpro.com

power silencers quiet exhaust noise using their unique and patented Hushpower Wide Spectrum Sound Cancellation technology and feature our unique Cool Shell™ insulated design. Hushpower ATV Silencers have been tested in the field and on Hushpower’s ATV dyno to perform as specified. The insulated Cool Shell™ case uses rugged 18-gauge aluminized-steel while the internal core is made of perforated T409 stainless steel for durability.

Like all Hushpower products these silencers are totally manufactured in the USA and carry a three-year warranty.

Everglades Hushpower: Mute Redefines the Button for ATVs Cuddy

Hushpowers unique line of ATV silencers are designed for hunters, security and military applications where sound control and full power is a necessity. Developed from the HP-II™ line of Hushpower street mufflers, the ATV Silencers do not mask any power and can reduce sound levels by up to 10db. This equates to a perceived noise reduction of roughly 40-60%.

These silencers are designed for easy on and off installation and do not require any modification to the ATV. Currently there are 14 models available for Honda, Yamaha, Polaris, Bombardier and Arctic Cat, plus a universal model which offers fitment to many other and earlier ATV’s.

These new Hush-

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Everglades Boats officially debuted its newest work of art at the 2007 Ft. Lauderdale International Boat show on October 25 – 29. The 350LX, a cuddy that redefines the term, is a seamless combination of performance, style and comfort like no other boat on the market. The Everglades 350LX is the brainchild of the company’s president, Stephen Dougherty, and his mentor, CEO Bob Dougherty. The cuddy draws upon the innovation and design of the 350cc while creating a uniquely different appeal.

“It’s rare to find a boat that satisfies fishing enthusiasts and yet has cabin space to accommodate fishing trips and family outings. We really wanted this to satisfy both needs without sacrificing comfort and amenities,” said Stephen Dougherty. “The 350LX successfully embodies a fishing vessel that can also be a comfortable cruising vessel. The orders for this boat have been pouring in since we launched it.”

The list of amenities and distinctive features is extensive, but most notable is the fact that the 350LX can comfortably sleep six – four in the cabin, and two more on the upper deck, where, with the touch of a but-

and lures with ease. Perfect for fishing, boating, and driving. The bifocal segment is integrated to the backside of the lens, not noticeable to onlookers making them suitable for casual wear as well. Good looking nylon and metal sport frames come with your choice of hi-contrast copper or neutral gray lens tints. Available in +1.50, 2.00, 2.50 powers Price $79.99 retail. For more information, please call (585) 385-7580 or visit www. www.coyoteusa.com

Everglades 350LX

Trophy Pod Comes Full Circle ton, a dinette table converts to a comfortable sleeping area. Those choosing to sleep in this space can enjoy sleeping under the stars with fresh air, or they can secure the area with the weather enclosure for a fully airconditioned room.

The innovation doesn’t stop there. The interior includes a full stand-up head with shower; granite countertops in the head and cabin; stainless sinks in the head and cabin; a fresh- and saltwater sink that doubles as a cutting board to create a flat workstation; stainless microwave with built-in coffee maker; swivel flat-screen television and DVD player; refrigerator; and A/C in the cabin and cockpit.

Unique, distinctive features can be found at every turn. For example, the hard top has three tinted skylights, 10 LED lights and four speakers. Angling amenities abound as well. There’s a huge fish box across the transom, a livewell, and rod storage under the gunnels on both sides. There’s also storage for 10 rods on the underside of the hard top, as well as TACO Grand Slam Outriggers.

The 350LX has plenty of room for friends and family, and contains tons of storage so that walkaround space can be used for socializing, fishing and relaxing. Like all Everglades Boats, the 350LX is built with the Doughertys’ patented RAMCAP construction process to create a truly unsinkable fishing boat for the safest experience on the water.

Everglades Boats, based in

Edgewater, Fla., is a leading manufacturer of family-fishing boats. Founded in 1999 by Bob and Stephen Dougherty, the company is famous for its patented RAMCAP construction process, which makes all Everglades Boats unsinkable. Over the past six years, Everglades has been recognized with three coveted industry awards. The company recently marked a major milestone with a 65,000 sq. ft expansion of its existing 45,000 sq. ft. boat manufacturing facility.

For more information, visit www.evergladesboats.com.

Summit Treestands new Trophy Pod is a 360-degree hunting machine with a platform area all the way around. The silent swiveling seat, set at a height of 8-feet, is

Coyote Eyewear: Mid-Priced Polorized Bi-Focal Coyote Eyewear USA, the leader in mid-priced polarized sunglasses has launched the indusrty's only patent pending impact resistant Polarized Bi-Focal / Reader sunglass. Three years in development, this fully polarized sunglass features a bifocal segment in the bottom portion of the lens that allows you to read fine print, maps or tie-on flies

Coyote Eyewear

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Trophy Pod 360-degree deer stand.

Summit comfortable and includes a fully adjustable padded gun rest that flips over your head and out of the way when not needed. All padded surfaces feature Next Camouflage G1.The Trophy Pod is great for bowhunting or gun hunting and has a maximum weight limit of 300 pounds.

For more information contact Summit Treestands LLC, 715 Summit Drive, Decatur, AL 35601; 256-3530634; www.summitstands.com.

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New Evinrude E-Tec 250 High Output Outboard OMBARDIER RECREATION PRODUCT’S (BRP) 2008 model year line-up is headlined by its largest, most powerful outboard yet—the 250-hp High Output. With 3.4 liters of displacement, the additional power and low weight of the 250 H.O. allows boaters to plane heavy loads, make faster hole shots and increase top speed on a variety of recreational boat applications.

Enhancements have been made throughout the entire Evinrude E-TEC line with component and design upgrades that extend the easy-to-own, low maintenance attributes to maximize the owner’s quality time on the water. The following upgrades create increased durability, longevity and operator comfort: unique iridium spark plugs; enhanced calibration and a patent-pending fast rise inductive ignition system for smooth running at every RPM range; improved cylinder sleeve design; and enhanced fuel injectors. BRP continues to refine its outboard line for continuous cutting-edge leadership in superior engine performance and reliability.

“We have improved our entire product line to incorporate advancements in technology that have evolved at a very fast pace.

Evinrude engines offer a perfect package of power, ease of use, reliability, and cleanli-

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ness no matter the horsepower,” said Roch Lambert, vice-president and general manager, Outboard Engines, at BRP. “The model year 2008 line-up expands consumer choices in high quality, low maintenance outboards and substantiates BRP’s commitment to expand its Evinrude line-up above 250 hp and below 40 hp.”

Like all Evinrude E-TEC outboards, the 250 H.O. is compact and lightweight—an amazing 128 pounds (58 kg) lighter than competitive engines at the same horsepower.

With less weight comes improved fuel efficiency, less draft and improved boat handling, superior visibility while planing the boat quicker, and less stress on the boat transom. The 250 H.O. tops-off the Evinrude E-TEC line-up in horsepower and advanced innovative features including the high-speed, nose cone Lightning gear case, manufactured from the toughest grade metals and alloys for increased strength and performance.

“As we roll out our Evinrude E-TEC line-up, we want to keep it state-of-the-art.

This is why it’s critical for us to continue to innovate,” noted Michel Hade, vice-president and general manager, BRP International Division. “The Evinrude E-TEC technology is changing the industry; it has been a key driver of growth in our markets around the world and has resulted in profitability for both our dealers and distributors and BRP.” The Evinrude E-TEC expansion includes nine models in the 40 through 60hp in-line two cylinder engines; three models in the 75 through 90-hp in-line three cylinder engines; one new model in each of the 115-hp V4 60-degree and 150-hp V6 60-degree engines; two models in the 200 through 250-hp V6 90-degree platform; and two models in 250 H.O. The additions include new tiller choices, increased color and shaft length options, and counter-rotation availability for 115-hp twin applications. Also new for 2008 are 65 and 90-hp Evinrude E-TEC outboards developed for F i s h

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commercial and government use. Available in four models, the engines are more tolerant to varying fuel grades and the demands of commercial markets.

I-Command instruments, designed specifically for the NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) 2000 certification, are standard in Evinrude E-TEC V4 and V6 engines. The 2008 Evinrude E-TEC line-up, including the 250 H.O. engine, will be on display at the following events: ‘ - Genoa Boat Show, October 6-14, Italmarine’s booth, BRP’s distributor in Italy - Club BRP, Gold Coast Resort, Australia, October 15-19 - Fort Lauderdale Boat Show, October 25-28, booth 2035.

Bombardier Recreational Products, a privately-held company, is a world leader in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and marketing of motorized recreational vehicles. Its portfolio of brands and products includes: Ski-Doo and Lynx™ snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft and sport boats, Evinrude and Johnson outboard engines, direct injection technologies such as Evinrude E-TEC, Can-Am all-terrain vehicles and roadsters, Rotax engines and karts.

Century Introduces 2400 Inshore ENTURY BOAT COMPANY, INC. HAS introduced its largest inshore offering to date, the 2400 Inshore, a boat packed with features and designed with the performance and reliability needed to chase any inshore sport fish.

Century continues to place a strong emphasis on the serious inshore angler with its broad model offering, which includes the 2202, 2102, 1902 Inshore and new for

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2008, the 2202 Inshore Tunnel and Tower options.

With the success of Century’s team of professional anglers, the company wanted to offer serious inshore fishermen, tournament anglers and fishing guides a larger boat, capable of traveling further distances in rough water conditions. But Century packed the 2400 Inshore with numerous features, making the 2400 Inshore a familyfriendly boat for recreational and weekend anglers alike.

“This latest offering from Century is a perfect link between inshore and offshore fishing, providing anglers with the ability to reach fishing spots well offshore,” said Richie Rodgers, National Sales Manager for Century Boat Company, Inc. “The 2400 Inshore boasts a full 24 feet in length and an 8-foot, 6-inch beam, providing a large and stable platform. And, owners can select outboard power options that include a single Yamaha engine, or twin Yamaha F150s.”

The 2400 Inshore features innovative storage. The bow features a cavernous 13cubic-foot dry storage box under the front

casting deck, with recesses for two 5-gallon buckets, easily accommodating cast nets and gear.

Port and starboard rod boxes are equipped with six-rod organizers per side, with tubes designed to protect expensive rods and reels. The lockers can easily hold 8-foot rods.

Operators have quick access to a 25-gallon baitwell housed in the leaning post.

Additionally, the leaning post features sixrod holders, tool storage, and a tackle drawer. Forward of the console is a 72-quart removable cooler, which doubles as a seat.

The rear deck features a 35-gallon live/release well for tournament anglers. An insulated 44-gallon fishbox/cooler is located in the port rear deck, and a 9-cubic-foot storage area is accessible on the starboard side. Also, the 2400 Inshore features an enclosed portable head.

The 2400 Inshore helm features a tinted windshield, large area to flush-mount electronics, stainless steel steering wheel, hydraulic steering, and Yamaha Multi-Function Gauges, including, horn, multifunction speedometer, fuel gauge and clock, tachome-

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ter with trim gauge and oil status, and analog water pressure gauge.

The easily accessible wash-down fitting allows convenient use. The model also features an easily accessible and labeled battery switch panel, in addition to a waterproof trolling motor battery disconnect switch.

Owners may select from a host of options, including console storage box, bench seating, stainless steel boarding ladder, Edson steering wheel, stereo system, Bimini top and Raymarine electronics.

The 2400 Inshore has an overall length of 24 feet, a 77-gallon fuel tank, and maximum rating of 350 hp. A 10/3/1 year 100 percent transferable protection plan is also standard. The MSRP for the 2400 Inshore powered by a Yamaha F250 is $60,216.

MSRP with twin Yamaha F150s is $68,927.

Century Boat Company, Inc., has a long history of high quality boats designed and built for boaters and anglers who demand fishability, luxury, and reliability. For more information about Century Boats, visit www.centuryboats.com.

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der Patrol Agent, so the ARs really hold no great thrill for me. In addition, I have always been a lover of fine wood and the accuracy and dependability of the bolt-action rifle.

However, AR-15s are wonderful tools for some forms of hunting, one of which is predator calling. They are also the most

Stag Arms AR-15 HERE IS A BEWILDERING NUMBER OF AR-15 models on the market today, and in most ways, they are all practically identical. However, the quality of the workmanship, precision of the machining, and quality of the barrels differ.

I decided last year that I needed a new AR-15. I carried an M-16 or other military-type weapons, such as the HK MP-5, almost daily for years in my duties as a Bor-

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by Steve LaMascus accurate of the small semi-auto rifles. Some ARs will deliver groups that compare favorably with run-of-the-desert bolt-actions. The big drawback that I see with AR-15s (with almost all semi-autos, for that matter) is the triggers. They are usually heavy, gritty, and creepy.

Some of that can be remedied with an

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aftermarket trigger, but I have never seen one with a trigger that would compare with the best triggers in a bolt gun or a singleshot. That is, I suppose, just the nature of the beast.

At the SHOT show last year in Orlando, Florida, I had a chance to meet with the president of Stag Arms, Mark Malkowski.

After talking to Mark and looking over his guns, I decided to buy one. After I returned home to Texas, I called Stag Arms and ordered a standard AR-15 with a flat top (detachable carrying handle and rear sight), Vietnam style butt, 20-inch barrel, and round fore end. I wanted the flat top with a Picatinny rail because I intended to use a scope. So, I also called Brownells and ordered their riser and rings to attach the

PHOTO BY STEVE LAMASCUS

Stag Arms AR-15.

scope and get it up high enough to use.

When the AR arrived, I outfitted it with an Alpen Apex 3-9x42 scope and headed to the range to see how it would perform. In short, it did quite well. I shot it with several kinds of .223 ammo—Federal, Winchester, Black Hills, Hornady, and my handloads. It handled them all perfectly, shooting most into three-shot groups of around 2 inches.

Occasionally, when I held my mouth just right, or flinched just right, it would get down to 1-1/2 inches. It seemed to prefer the Hornady T.A.P. 55-grain ammunition by a slight amount, followed by the Black Hills 55-grain soft points, but there really wasn’t enough difference to worry about, so I shoot whatever I have handy at the moment.

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One very important item of interest to you southpaws: Stag also makes their AR15s in a left hand version. Now, you don’t have to shoot a gun that spits the empties out in front of your face—or down the front of your shirt.

I now have put several hundred rounds through the gun, and it has never faltered or malfunctioned. Accuracy seems to be improving as time passes—not an unusual thing, as the barrel is smoothed by shooting.

I still haven’t managed to take any predators with the rifle, but that will come shortly. I took it out a couple of nights ago, but the varmints were all hiding and I didn’t get to fire a shot.

If you are looking for an AR-15 and are wondering what to buy, I can tell you that I am most pleased with my Stag Arms AR. Accuracy and dependability are what you need in a rifle, and this one has both.

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My 2006 Safari with Limcroma Safaris HE DAY BEFORE DAD AND I LEFT FOR MY 2006 safari, I came down with a 101degree fever. Mom took me to the doctor and he gave me a shot and some medicine. I was feeling very bad, but I was excited about my trip to South Africa.

We landed in Johannesburg and headed to camp. We met my best buddy, Hannes Els with Limcroma Safaris. Dad wanted me to sleep in the first morning to try to get rid of the fever, but I wanted to sit in a bow blind and start hunting.

I drank some hot tea for breakfast and headed to the bow blind with Dad and our PH (“professional hunter”—what they call guides in Africa), Johan. In a matter of minutes, several warthogs came in. One was a shooter. I grabbed my bow and got ready to try a shot. Because I was sick, it took all my might to draw my bow. I sent a Beman arrow into the big warthog and it bolted.

After the shot, I got excited and started coughing hard, but it felt good because I was holding my cough back a long time.

We took some pictures of my warthog and jumped back into the blind. I ate an orange and drank a Fanta to try to get my energy up. I was very excited but still had my fever.

Out of nowhere, a huge blesbok stepped out into the water. I had a tough time drawing my bow again, but I managed to send an arrow into the blesbok. Dad and Johan took

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me back to camp to lie down and rest. I was very sick. Eric, the head PH, went with the trackers and found my blesbok. It was huge!

The biggest one taken with a bow!

The next morning, my fever was down and I was feeling a lot better. We sat in the river blind later that morning and had a ton of critters come to water. When a huge waterbuck came in, Johan said to me, “Ty, I want you to shoot him when he is quartering away.”

Dad gets hunting credits for booking safaris and I am very fortunate to be able to hunt trophy animals like this. I was pumped! Dad was excited, too, because I saw him trying to turn on the video camera, and he was shaking. I drew my bow with

by Ty Weaver Pro Staff, Crimson Talon Broadheads ease and put my red pin on the crease of the shoulder for a quartering-away shot. I watched my arrow zip into the crease. The huge bull kicked and ran 40 yards, stopped, and fell down. Dad slapped me on the shoulder and almost knocked me over!

Johan was excited, too, and told me that I just shot one of the largest waterbuck he has ever hunted! We took some awesome photos and went back to the camp.

The next morning, Johan said, “Ty, let’s go hunt a monster eland.”

We went to the river blind, and in minutes, waterbuck, warthog, and kudu came in. I was watching a big kudu when Johan bumped me and pointed to my bow and then pointed to the side window of the blind. I grabbed my bow and looked out the side window to see this huge eland bull coming in. Dad got the video camera ready, and when the bull stretched out its leg, I drew my bow. The eland picked up its head and then put it back down to water. I concentrated on the heart and touched the release.

I heard the arrow hit and the bull kicked and ran. The bull stopped at 50 yards, started F i s h

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swaying, and fell over. I was so excited that I can’t remember what happened next. We waited a few minutes and walked up to the bull. I could not believe how big it was.

Johan said it was close to 2000 pounds! We took some cool pictures.

When we got to camp, the skinners and trackers could not believe I shot that big eland with a bow. Hannes was excited and said, “Little Weaver, you are amazing!”

The next morning, Dad and I hunted the river blind by ourselves because Johan had to go back to his full-time job. He is a poaching policeman. It was cool being in the wilds of Africa—just me and Dad! In a matter of minutes, a big impala came to water. It was huge! It was walking right toward us, but at 10 yards, it turned and presented me with a great shot. I drew my bow, found the spot, and released the arrow.

My arrow zipped through the impala and he jumped strait up in the air. Dad kept saying to me, “What an animal, Ty, what an animal.” I didn’t realize how big it was until we walked up to it. Hannes said, “This Impala is one of the biggest ever taken with the bow!”

Hannes turned to me and said, “Ty, my boy, you need to finish your Africa spiral horn slam, and that includes a nyala and a bushbuck.”

It was hard to sleep that night. I kept thinking about that nyala.

We sat in the blind until after lunch waiting for the nyala to return. We saw everything but a nyala. We went back to camp for a bite to eat. We were sitting at the table and Hannes asked my Dad what should we do this afternoon. Dad said, “I think we should try for that nyala again.” Dad didn’t know it, but Hannes and I worked out a plan.

Hannes turned to me and said, “Ty what do you think we should do this afternoon?” I said, “I think we should set up at the north water hole and video my Dad shooting a blue wildebeest with his bow.” Dad was very surprised and was smiling. Dad has never shot an African animal because he

Trophy Fever

Special Hunting Section

PHOTO BY TY WEAVER

This record book in nyala is one of Ty’s favorite trophies.

always said he likes to watch me more than hunting himself.

Hannes, Dad, and I headed for the blind. Within minutes, animals were coming

to water, including a monster blue wildebeest. Hannes grabbed the video camera and whispered to Dad, “He is a monster.”

My heart was beating fast. I looked at Dad

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and could see the arrow shaking in his biscuit rest. He came to full draw and released the arrow. The wildebeest was hit in the heart and only the fletching was sticking out.

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Special Hunting Section

Trophy Fever

The wildebeest went crazy and jumped into the water. I was excited for Dad and he was pumped. His first African animal was a huge “poor mans buffalo.” Back at camp, we set out a plan to head back to the river blind to try for my nyala.

We got in the blind early. Animals were everywhere! We sat until 1:00 p.m., but no sign of the nyala. We started to pack up and Dad’s eyes got big and he said, “Grab your bow! Nyala!” It was at 25 yards. Dad looked at me and said, “Can you make that shot?” I nodded yes, drew my bow, and released an arrow. My arrow found its mark! Dad said, “He’s going down, he’s down!” I was pumped and Dad gave me a high five.

When we walked up to the nyala, we could not believe how big it was. Hannes grabbed the horns and said, “Unbelievable, little Weaver! Now we must get that bushbuck for sure!”

We hunted bushbuck hard for several days. We saw several but not a monster. We hunted hard and it was getting late. Finally, I got my chance. I made the shot count and soon was standing over my monster bush-

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A warthog—easily the ugliest big game trophy in the world.

buck with Hannes and my Dad. Hannes shook my hand and said, “Congratulations, Ty. You have just completed your South Africa spiral horn slam! Unbelievable!”

On the last day of our safari, Dad and I decided to sit in a blind a short way from

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camp and shoot some guinea with the bow.

I shot several guinea and we were eating lunch in the blind when Dad looked over at me and said, “Ty, grab your bow.” He pointed to the far end of the water hole at a monster, monster warthog. It was the biggest one I have ever seen! I quickly came to full draw and sent an arrow through Pumba at 25 yards. I was pumped! It all happened so fast!

I had the best time of my life during the safari. The best part was hunting with my Dad. It was like a dream come true! I didn’t want to leave. I am working hard at helping Dad sell more safaris so we can return to Africa. I can’t thank my buddy Hannes enough!

Note: Four of Ty’s animals scored as new Diamond World Records with Trophy Game Records of The World. To enquire or book a safari with Limcroma, contact Al or Ty Weaver at aweaver1@gt.rr.com, or call 409-223-2260. Visit www.Limcroma.com.

PHOTO BY TY WEAVER

Keeping Gear in Shape OW THAT DEER SEASON IS OVER, MANY hunters sit back, relax, and reflect on the many hunting memories forged over the last few months.

Try not to get too comfortable, though, as there are hogs, turkey, and exotics to hunt, plus extremely important post-season maintenance to consider.

Maintaining your hunting gear is not only important, but also essential for safety and continued success. Why not take care of this task right now while you are still thinking about all those hunts?

I like to gather my portable stands and store them in one location. One by one, I inspect each stand for wear. Loose bolts and screws get special attention. I like to dab a little gun oil or a silicon spray on every metal part to help keep the rust to a minimum.

Some of the older ladder stands came with a wooden platform. I still have two of these. If squirrels chewing on them for lunch have damaged any of the wood, now would be the time to replace any unsafe platform or seat.

If you hunt as hard as I do, or even if you do not, your bow will need to be looked at as well for any wear that might have happened during any of the season.

The first thing you need to look for is any loose screws on the bow itself. Most of the Allen wrench screws will be located on or near the riser. Check where your cams are located and inspect them closely. Make sure the lock washers on the cam and wheel pins are still there. This is very important because if your bow is missing a lock wash-

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er, it could come apart This Copper John pin in your hands at full shroud protects delicate draw—and I can almost fiber optic sights from guarantee that you will encounters with the be having a bad day if hunting environment. that happens.

The screws that hold the quiver in place become unscrewed more than any other part of the bow. If you are like me, I use a Kwikee Quiver and take my quiver off my bow whenever I get in a stand.

The constant on and off motion that I do is probably the reason I need to pay attention to that part. One quick and easy way to find out if the string on a regular basis. For any novice anything has become loose is to hold your hunters out there, they sell a special wax that bow in one hand and simply tap your bow comes in a tube especially for bows. It is inexpensive and really should be in every in different locations with the other.

If anything is loose, you will definitely bow hunters’ toolbox.

A bowstring consists of many different hear it rattle then. Dip a Q-Tip in a little oil strands that make a very strong string. Now and dab all the metal parts on the bow. I would be a good time to inspect each strand always try to remember to wipe my bow to make sure that none are broken. If you down if hunting in rainy weather, but if I forfind one that is broken, chances are good get, then a little oil goes a long way in the that there are more.

Replace the string and life of the bow. do it now while the bow shop is not busy.

Walking through all that thorny brush Something else to consider is once you and thick tangles of the Brush Country have your bow perfectly tuned, measure might do a number on your sight pins. It everything you can think of.

How far is the does not take much to break one of the fiberknock point from the cam?

What is the disoptic pins. If you catch your sight on anytance between the knock and the peep sight? thing at all while you are hunting, you run the risk of either bending or breaking the If you are shooting arrows in a tight group sight pin. Now would be the time to replace now, then it should be a simple calculation any damaged sight pins. Copper John has to make sure everything is where it was a eliminated that problem by offering an inex- year ago.

It just makes sense to maintain our equippensive cover for their sights. This spring ment so that we might enjoy hunting year loaded plastic cover keeps your sight pins after year with as few problems as possible. protected all year round. It works quite well, As I said earlier, the hunting season is never and saves you the aggravation of looking really over in Texas but you should still take down your broken pin when you have a nice the time to take care of your gear so it takes buck 20 yards away. care of you.

The bowstring might need some attenE-mail Lou Marullo at tion as well. It is always a good idea to wax lmarullo@fishgame.com.

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PHOTO BY LOU MARULLO

BUCK—MCCULLOCH COUNTY, TEXAS

BUCK—BAYLOR COUNTY, TEXAS

Mary Filer, age 9, of Conroe, Texas, took her first deer in McCulloch County, Texas. The 8-pointer weighed 141 pounds, field dressed.

J.J. Croix and son Griffen, age 5, of El Campo, Texas, bagged this 10-point deer with an 18-inch spread, along with a large hog in Baylor County.

BUCK—MCMULLEN COUNTY, TEXAS

BUCK—LUFKIN, TEXAS

BUCK—LAREDO, TEXAS

Michael Joseph Callanan V of Houston, Texas, shot Katy McBride, age 11, of Lufkin, Texas, killed her SSG James A. West killed this deer in south Texas, this 11-point buck in McMullen County, outside of first buck, an 8-pointer, while hunting with her around Laredo. It scored 148 inches and was a perThree Rivers, while hunting with his dad, who dad Bryan. She used a 22 Hornet. fect typical 10. shot an 8-pointer earlier in the day. The buck had a 20-1/4-inch spread and weighed 170 pounds.

Photo submitted by his uncle, Mike Roese.

GOT BUCKS? GOT HOGS? GOT TURKEYS? GOT BANDED DUCKS?

If so, we need photos and hunting stories for our new TROPHY FEVER SPECIAL SECTION. Send pics and hunting tales to : TROPHY FEVER SPECIAL SECTION 1745 Greens Road, Houston, TX 77032 or by email: photos@fishgame.com.

PLEASE INCLUDE PHOTO CAPTION: NAME HOMETOWN WHEN & WHERE TAKEN SIZE AND WEIGHT

(Please include “Trophy Fever” in the subject.)

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OES ANCHORING UP SAFELY, EASILY, AND quickly every time you drop the hook sound like a piece of cake to you?

Then the chances are you simply don’t anchor very often. Different conditions, depths, and bottom surfaces conspire to turn this seemingly simple maneuver into a disaster. To make matters even worse, certain types of activities-wreck fishing, for example-require pinpoint anchoring accuracy. Want to know how the pros make anchoring look easier than it really is? Then use these tricks and tactics.

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Anchoring Accuracy: Setting your boat on-station over a wreck the size of Volkswagen in 50 feet of water can be a real challenge. And as with most jobs, what you need is the proper tool for the job: an anchoring buoy. Before you identify the hotspot you’re looking for on the fish-finder, prepare your buoy; the old Clorox bottle works just fine, but it’ll have to be rigged right. For starters, use braid fishing line or monofilament, not rope, to attach the weight. These materials catch far less resistance from the water.

Wrap the line around the outside of the float so that when you drop it over the side, the weight at the end of the line will cause the float to spin in the water and deploy itself automatically. Wrap a large rubber band over the line and the float to give it some resistance, so it stops letting out line when the weight hits bottom.

When using weights like sash weights or large bank sinkers, bend a clothes hanger through an eye or around the end of the line.

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Calm Weather Trick: In good conditions you can get even more accurate in even less time, by anchoring with a fishing line.

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Hard on the Hook

it’s time to retrieve the rig.

Now you’re ready to find that spot and drop the buoy. When you do so, immediately shift into neutral. Allow the wind or current to push the boat along for a few minutes, long enough to create a distinct trackline on your chart plotter. Now, you’ll know the exact direction of your drift. Drive back to the buoy and, heading directly along that track line, pass it by five times the depth; if it’s 50 feet, for example, motor 250 feet forward of the buoy.

Drop your anchor, let out about 200 feet of line, and wait for it to come taut. Is the

buoy directly astern? It should be. If not, pull that anchor and reposition to port or starboard, as necessary. Once it’s in line drop back additional anchor line until you can reach over the side and grab the buoyand the wreck or structure should be directly below you.

Calm weather trick: In good conditions you can get even more accurate in even less time, by anchoring with a fishing line.

Spool up a reel with 130-pound-test braid, and tie a large diamond jig on. Simply drag it over the wreck and snag it, then cleat off the line. It sounds impossible but modern braids of this test will actually hold a boat up to 30 feet in position, when there aren’t a lot of waves.

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tests is because they aren’t using the proper anchor for the bottom type. You think you can get by with just one good all-around anchor? No way. Danforths are excellent in mud and sand bottoms, but they just bounce over shell beds. And if you use one to grab a wreck, chances are you’ll never get it back.

Plows do the trick in sand and weeds but in muck, they’re little more than ditch-diggers that drag on endlessly. And on shell, again, they just bounce. Grappling anchors won’t do a thing for you on soft bottoms, but they’re the way to go when grabbing wreckage or shell mounds. Box anchors are good for both shell and soft bottom, but can’t get a grip in wrecks, and slide over weeds. Bottom line: every boat should have either a Danforth or a plow for soft bottom and a grappling anchor for hard structure, and go with the box only if you regularly anchor over shell and want an anchor that stows flat.

Material Call: Is heavier better when it comes to anchors? Many manufacturers would have you believe the answer is no, and high-dollar lightweight anchors are all the rage. What the manufacturers don’t tell you is that these anchors will plane if dragged through the water, and you’ll have a very tough time getting them to set. Unless, of course, you use a long, heavy length of chain, which simply replaces the weight of those less expensive anchors.

Chain (read “weight”) is, of course, always advantageous when you’re trying to get an anchor to set. But many people don’t like to use it regularly because it can beat up the boat, and break your back. The solution? Leave your anchor rigged without chain, but use a quick-release clip to connect the anchor line to the anchor shackle. Then, rig a length of chain with a quick-release clip at either end and stow it in a padded bag, or wrap it in canvass. When sea conditions and depths require the use of the chain, simply break it out and clip it in place. Still no luck gripping bottom? You can always gain an advantage by adding a few pounds of leadsash and dive weights work well-about 20

feet up the anchor line. Simply tie them onto the anchor line with a piece of clothesline or thin rope.

Can’t-anchorus: You’re doing everything right, and still can’t get the hook to set? Remember that all anchors grab better when going uphill. The wind and current may force your boat, however, to travel downhill over the bottom. In this situation set your boat up crosscurrent, and motor off the edge of the incline. Then drop the anchor, let it hit bottom, and put the throttles into reverse. Give it just enough power to keep the boat moving across the current (and the anchor, therefore, moving uphill.)

Drag it until it grabs, then immediately shift into neutral. Often it will hold for a moment or two, then pull free as the boat swings; don’t give up hope, just give it another shot.

After two or three attempts, you should get it to stay put.

Stationary Moving: Let’s say you’ve finally gotten the anchor to hold, but you’re slightly off-target. Before pulling and starting over, see if you can salvage the situation.

If you pull the anchor line back to a spring cleat off the starboard side, the boat will swing significantly to port. Cleat it off the port side, and you’ll swing starboard. But remember, there’s a price to pay for this maneuver: the boat will lie more beam-to in the seas than bow-to, which will increase rocking and rolling. Close, but still not good enough? Cut the wheel in one direction or another. Often the force of the current against the rudder or outdrive will help the boat swing even farther over.

The Anti-Anchor: It’s tempting at times, but never, ever anchor off the stern. If a wave strikes it can roll right into the boat, swamping you in no time. Even in calm seas, it’s a bad idea, as you never know when another boat will go cruising by and create a wave large enough to wash over the transom.

Don’t drive forward to pull the anchor. If it’s not caught well, it can pull right off the bottom and the line could easily get wrapped around the prop, and if it is caught well the tension can be enough to yank the bow of your boat underwater.

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One final mishap to avoid when anchoring: never try to wrap an anchor line around a cleat when there’s full tension on it. It’s quite common for fingers or thumbs to get caught in the line, and pulled into the cleat.

If this happens, you’re going to lose a digit.

Neophytes won’t recognize this danger, so as captain, it’s up to you to motor forward and release the tension on an anchor line when an inexperienced buddy is on the bow.

Now you’re ready to anchor up solidly in just about any conditions, right? Mostly, but one final thought to always keep in mind: Make sure you have sufficient scope out for the conditions, or the first large wave will yank the anchor free and set you adrift again. In calm conditions, 3:1 scope should do the trick. In moderate conditions, go to 5:1. And when it’s really rough, let out 7:1.

If the seas are so tough that the anchor still won’t hold with 7:1 scope out, the chances are you belong at the dock.

E-mail Lenny Rudow at boating@fishgame.com

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Fool ‘em with Flash LASHES OF COLOR AND FLASHES OF LIGHT OFF of reflective materials have both helped fool predators into striking, from small inshore fishes to the ocean’s largest predators.

This is about tying up some low-cost hook dressings, a sort of low-tech saltwater fly, in whatever size or hook style you wish.

It is an opportunity to do something different, like fly-fishing without the expensive gear that goes with it.

The first option is hook styles and sizes.

Sizes 2/0 - 11/0 have worked for me in various fishing situations. Circle hooks used most often are Daiichi D84Z Circle Chunk Light in sizes 3/0-7/0. The only caution is to not obstruct the point-to-shank area with the skirting’s overwrap and underwrap “peak.” The J-style hooks used most often are Mustad 10829BLN Big Gun live bait models in sizes 2/0 - 11/0.

You can use just about any type thread for the wrapping, including nylon, polyester, cotton, and cotton. I use standard cotton/polyester sewing thread.

Most of the Mylar skirting material used comes under the names Flashabou and Krystal Flash. Many color and flash options are available. Most well equipped tackle and fly-fishing shops and Cabela’s have them. Color combinations I have used include glow pink/glow white, pink/pearl white, pink/chartreuse, blue steel/white, all white, all glow white, and all silver.

To tie one of these Mylar skirted hooks, note in the “see through” area of the illustration that the base wraps on the hook shank have an angled shoulder. The purpose is to push the skirting out for a fuller look and better “breathing” qualities with a

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twitch-and-pause retrieve. You can also make the underwraps level with the hook shank.

Start at the hook eye, making a series of level wraps, finishing with a shouldered or leveled look. Tie off the thread with four to six half-hitches, reversing the “loop over” between each knot. Now, Super Glue it all in place with the liquid version, not the gel.

The liquid will soak through the threads and not only bind the wraps to themselves, but also to the hook shank.

The overwrapping of the Mylar skirting over the underwraps can be tedious; patience is required for a non fly-tyer—and that includes me. When the thread wraps over the skirting are completed (use 25-30 tight ones), do the half-hitches and Super Glue treatment again. The Super Glue saturated threads work well alone, but a light coat of two-part epoxy finishes them off nicely.

When finished, you will have a heavyduty saltwater fly (if the hook qualifies) with the color, flash, and breathing qualities that add to the look of being alive.

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would if they were unskirted, such as Carolina rigged, free-lined, single-drop bottom rig, under a float, tandem rig, or with a nose-hooked baitfish.

As far as colors go, remember that red goes to gray at a depth of about 20 feet in clear water on a sunny day. Colors such as chartreuse, yellow, or white are visible through a greater depth range, depending on the light.

If using glow (luminescent) colors, you can charge them up quickly and keep them glowing longer with an LED flashlight that has a super bright white beam. Another great option is to use a camera flash unit.

Don’t forget that glow also works during the day when fishing deep, or at any depth at night.

Wrap up some of these Mylar skirted hooks for upcoming spring and summer fishing. These things help generate strikes from a multitude of species, offshore and inshore.

E-mail Patrick Lemire at saltrigs@fishgame.com

ILLUSTRATION BY PATRICK LEMIRE

All Dressed Up HAVE NO IDEA WHY A BASS WOULD HIT A spinnerbait, I really don’t. The theory is that a spinnerbait looks like baitfish, but if you saw a fish swim past your boat that resembled a spinnerbait, you would probably call Texas Parks & Wildlife to report an alien—and I do mean alien— species in the lake. So, if these lures, which look like something out of a Rube Goldberg drawing, don’t appear natural, why do they work? Beats the heck out of me. I just know they do, and in early spring, they are hard to beat for putting fish in the boat.

Just about any spinnerbait will catch bass straight out of the package; lure manufacturers would go broke if they didn’t. However, there are a few simple modifications you can make to improve performance and tune them to your fishing style or the circumstances of the day. More often than not, a dressed-up spinnerbait will catch more fish than an un-modified one.

The first change many anglers make is trimming the skirt. Cutting the skirt back to where it does not extend past the bend of the hook makes the bait appear smaller for finicky fish, and also leads to more hook-ups from short-striking fish since the hook now extends the entire length of the bait.

In addition to skirt trimming, small pieces of Mylar can be added to the skirt to give the bait more flash, attracting more bass from a greater distance.

Another common modification popular with tournament pros and guides is the addition of a stinger hook. If one hook is good, two should be better. Two points means more hook-ups on bass, but occasionally means more hang-ups in grass.

Slide the eye of a small straight-shank hook

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ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL BRADSHAW

over the point of the spinnerbait’s original hook. Follow this with a piece of old plastic worm to keep the trailer hook from coming off. Make sure the stinger hook is pointed up and in line with the original hook, and is smaller than the original hook to minimize hang-ups.

Another trick is the addition of a curlytail grub trailer. By simply sliding a white grub onto the hook, you increase the size of the bait so it pushes more water, and the tail gives off additional vibration. It also increases the buoyancy of the bait, making is sink slower and look more like a dying baitfish as it slowly falls to the bottom. This additional buoyancy also allows the bait to be run slower in shallow water. Instead of having to burn the bait to keep it just under the water and bulging the surface, you can reel it slower at the same depth, thus keeping it in the strike zone longer. If you want to add buoyancy without the additional length added by the grub tail, then cut off the tail and use just

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the grub body.

If you want to get a spinnerbait deep, add some weight to the shank of a smaller spinnerbait’s hook. A few split shot crimped on the shank near the head of the bait will make it sink faster and cast farther while still running straight. A rubber core lead weight with the rubber removed can be put on the hook shank as well.

I know most anglers are hesitant to make drastic changes to baits right out of the package, especially if the changes can’t be undone. However, some simple blade modifications can make all the difference in the world. An electric drill with a 1/8-inch drill bit can be used to put a few holes in the blade, which will make it give off more sound and vibration. A less refined approach involves using a ball-peen hammer to hit the blade and make it more concave, which also increases vibration.

Spinnerbaits work great right out of the box, but look just like the ones every other angler is using. A few little changes will make yours standout and help fill up the livewell.

E-mail Paul Bradshaw at freshrigs@fishgame.com

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Avoiding Bankers ANKERS ARE A NICE GROUP OF PEOPLE, BUT I do my best to avoid them in February. My problem is they stand elbowto-elbow, practically surrounding a small body of water, and there isn’t enough room for me to use my fly rod. Trying to mix fly rods and bankers is a recipe for disaster.

Snagging a banker, one of their children, or the family pet with an errant back-cast is definitely bad form.

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Bankers, those folks who fish from the bank, will be out in force this winter, angling to catch their fare share of the rainbow trout the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department will be stocking in neighborhood lakes and ponds. Toting a kayak along on your next rainbow expedition is a great way to get away from crowded shorelines and catch more fish.

Over the last 30 years, TPWD’s putand-take fishery has grown in size and popularity. From a humble beginning involving 10,000 fish, TPWD now stocks more than 270,000 rainbow trout in 100 selected ponds, lakes, and rivers during winter months. Many of the lakes are in city and county parks, providing city dwellers a chance to fish in a local venue.

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Todd Engeling, Chief of Inland Hatcheries for TPWD said: “The trout stocking program is a great success and continues to grow each year. The program allows folks in cities the opportunity to catch fish that may not otherwise get a chance. It also allows children the chance to fish, which we feel is very important.”

TPWD has a complete list of stocking sites and times listed on their website at www.tpwd.state.tx.us.

Rainbow trout are cold-water fish and the transplants won’t survive Texas’ blistering hot summers. Therefore, TPWD encourages anglers to harvest what they catch. Stocking days are highly anticipated and shorelines are crowded with anglers of all ages. TPWD allows a five-fish daily bag

limit and all fishermen age 17 and older must have a fishing license with a freshwater endorsement.

Impaling a kernel of corn on a thin wire hook and suspending it under a small bobber is the most popular method for taking

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Toting a kayak along on your next rainbow expedition is a great way to get away from crowded shorelines.

make sure you wear a personal flotation device (PFD) at all times while on the water. I prefer inflatable suspender PFDs, as they provide a greater range of motion while I am fishing. A quick tug on the lanyard and the air chambers inflate.

The lakes and ponds found in most parks are usually close to the parking lot, making it a short shuttle to the water’s edge. Shorelines are rarely dramatic, allowing for a quick and simple launch. A few strokes later, you will find corn-free water with plen-

ty of room to cast.

TPWD’s rainbow trout stocking program is now entrenched as an annual event anticipated by a large number of anglers. If you love catching rainbows on a fly rod, toting a kayak along to the city park will help you catch more fish.

February is the one month you won’t find me rubbing elbows with bankers.

Email Greg Berlocher at kayak@fishgame.com

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stocked rainbow trout. I don’t have proof of this, but scores of half-empty tins of the yellow vegetable seen in trashcans around trout lakes is enough anecdotal evidence for me.

A small glob of Power Bait or a night crawler pinned on a hook works, too.

Trout will readily strike artificial lures, with small spoons and in-line spinners topping the list. Ultralight tackle spooled with 2- or 4-pound-test is just right for delivery tiny payloads.

Although bait and lures are effective for dispatching rainbows, my personal favorite is catching them on a fly rod. Beadhead nymphs and Woolly Buggers are go-to patterns that rarely disappoint, but crowded shorelines combined with surrounding trees and shrubbery limit my ability to make unfettered casts. Enter the kayak.

Kayaks are the perfect vessel for fishing TPWD trout lakes. These bodies of water are usually posted forbidding powerboats of any kind, but are kayak friendly.

The lakes chosen for stocking by TPWD are typically several acres in size; too big to cast completely across. Stocked rainbows don’t rank high on the intelligence scale, but they can and do sense fishing pressure. A few of them—the ones with their “wily” genes still intact—will abandon shorelines and seek the solitude found at the middle of the lake. Floating fishermen are the only ones who can snipe at this group of fish.

It is impossible to go kayaking and not get wet. The water temperature in February is the coldest of the year, and the frigid water will provide a dramatic jolt to the nether regions. Breathable waders are the best option for staying dry. Capsizing while wearing waders can be life-threatening, so A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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Stumps and More Stumps!

HIS PAST YEAR, CRAPPIE MASTERS tournament trail was holding their annual Crappie Classic Fishing tournament on Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee. Reelfoot Lake was actually made from a big earthquake in 1811 that made a big sinkhole in the ground, and all of the

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cypress trees and anything standing is now out in the lake. That year when the earthquake hit, the mighty Mississippi River ran backwards.

Reelfoot Lake is located in the northwest corner of Tennessee near the town of Tiptonville. Reelfoot is only 13,000 acres, but it is nothing like you have ever seen.

You are in Tennessee, but the lake looks like you’re in the Everglades—cypress trees, lily pads, stumps, stumps, and more stumps.

The deepest part of the lake is only about 16 feet, and that is in only one spot out in the middle. This year, there was a drought all summer long, and Reelfoot was at an all-time low. “Low” wasn’t the best word; you could hardly launch your boat without tearing up something. With the draught all summer, every stump in Reelfoot was sticking up.

Many years ago, the lake was full of standing timber, mostly cypress. So, they dropped the lake to cut off most of the timber in the lower basin at water level, about 3 feet lower than normal pool.

Usually, you don’t see any stumps, but if I hit one stump, I hit 300 a day for four days straight because the stumps were at water level. Thank God I was in my Tracker TV18, witch handled the stumps very well.

Now lets get to the good stuff—Fishing Reelfoot lake: For two days practice, Jeff Heuman, my partner, and I fished in the upper basins in water depths of 1-5 feet with no success. We were fishing lily pads and manmade stake beds. We didn’t catch enough fish to make a sandwich in practice, so, when the tournament started, we headed out to fish the stump fields.

I was using a Wally Marshall 9-foot pro series rods with a pro series reel loaded with 8-pound Mr. Crappie Hi-Vis line, and a 1/8-ounce Road Runner Crappie Thunder with pro series head. We used chartreuse heads with a blue and white Crappie Thunder body, fished vertical in cypress stumps of all sizes. There was so many stumps it was hard to tell witch ones you had fished and ones you hadn’t.

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We started picking up a few good size crappie; it seemed to be the smaller size stumps about 8-10 feet down in 12 feet of water that were producing. About 10 o’clock on the first day of the tournament, I dropped my jig beside this good looking stump, jigged it a little, stopped it for a second, then, bam!, I thought I had a big catfish until I saw the mouth on this big crappie. I hollered, “Get the net!”

After the slab was in the net, I thought it might be close to 2 pounds. That’s a big crappie for Reelfoot. For many years up until 2001, you could commercially fish Reelfoot for crappie. Since then, they have cut out the taking of crappie commercially, so every year the crappie are getting bigger.

It had started raining earlier in the week, so the lake was on the rise and stumps were disappearing by the minute. I’m sure glad I had marked several of those stumps with GPS where we caught fish the day before.

Also, when the sun was shinning, I could see the submerged stumps that were right under the water level with my Costa Del Mar Polarized sunglasses. A lot of anglers were passing them up and fishing the stumps they could see. Most of out better crappie came off of stumps that were 5-6 inches in diameter; the larger stumps produce only small fish.

To make a long story short, it is always good to pay close attention to the structure you are fishing. Stumps make great shade and cover for crappie.

Oh, by the way, there were 237 teams fishing the Crappie Masters Classic, Jeff and I finished 14th overall, and the big crappie I caught won Big Fish of the Tournament at 2.05 pounds. It paid us more than $2000.

Not bad for a fun day of fishing at Reelfoot Lake.

Watch out for those stumps—they might have a crappie around them.

E-mail Wally Marshall at mrcrappie@fishgame.com.

Visit his website at www.mrcrappie.com

Take a Big Kid Fishing HEN EVERYONE LEAVES TO GO TO DEER camp, the fishing in the bay can be the best. With hunting season going on full bore, the boats on the bay become fewer and the fishing pressure light. This is a great time to capitalize on some great action, whether wading a shallow flat or drifting shell reefs in the middle of the bay. I love this time of the year.

I try to target afternoon spots, my favorites being shallow flats with a mud shell mix next to deeper channels. These spots are most productive about two days after a cold front blows in. The fish move up on these flats to feed as the water warms up during the day.

When the water is real cold, the fish fall off into the deeper guts to chill out. Then, after a few days, they get hungry and slide up into the warmer flats to grab a big meal. That is why with these conditions one should throw a bigger bait, such as a big topwater or slow sinking sub-surface bait like a Corky or Catch 2000. Your bites will not be numerous but there is a good chance that the bites you get will be big.

I enjoy wade-fishing this time of year, even though it is a tad bit cold, because the chances of getting that trophy bite are greater.

So, lets face it: fishing out of a boat is much more comfortable, but when you are wadefishing, you have the opportunity to work an area slower, and that is important in the colder, clearer water. By wading, you can also be stealthier and more methodical working over a spot and fanning your casts.

Last December, I was able to take my friend on his first wade-fishing trip. This was a perfect opportunity for him to experience the thrill of wrestling a big fish, up close and personal, while standing in the water. My

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friend, Nathan Beck, who has been fishing out of his boat for years, received wading gear from his wife for Christmas several years ago, but never got out of the boat to fish.

Some people think it is stupid to get out of a perfectly good boat to fish to begin with, but it really can have advantages when you are chasing trophy trout in the winter months.

So, it was a December morning that Nathan and I pulled up in a cove at first light. It was foggy and great scene for a topwater bite—perfect for anybody’s first wadefishing experience. We walked about 50 yards from the boat and Nathan popped his first trout while wade-fishing on a chrome and black She Dog. I watched closely as he almost dunked his reel trying to figure out how to get this fish on a stringer and not get

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one of the treble hooks in his hand. We had a great day of fishing and caught a bunch of fish, but no trophies. Most of the year, I fish out of the boat and have become pretty good at working shorelines hunting redfish, but there is still something a little reverent about walking in the water.

It was great to be able to introduce a friend to wade-fishing. You can imagine the excitement, the apprehension, and the fear of the unknown as well as the new adventure. It was like taking a kid on their first fishing trip, but in this case, it was a big kid on his first wade-fishing trip.

E-mail Tommy Lomonte at tlomonte@fishgame.com.

Visit his website, www.DrRedfish.com.

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Predators Expand Hunting Horizons ANY OF US PRIDE OURSELVES IN BEING good at a particular type of hunting, whether it is being an excellent wing-shooter, superb duck or goose caller, or maybe tracking wounded animals.

Certainly there is nothing wrong with that, and there are many experts in all fields of hunting. Unfortunately, many hunters I know have limited themselves by not being versatile.

Being versatile does not mean giving up or slacking off on whatever you are best at and have strived to perfect. Being versatile means to challenge yourself to expand your hunting prowess into areas that seem fun to you, but at which you have had limited experience.

Not long ago, I asked a duck-hunting buddy if he ever had tried predator calling.

He said he had read a lot about it, but had never given it a try. I told him he was a natural for becoming a good predator caller with a mouth-blown call, because he already had become one of the best duck callers I have ever hunted with. A hunter with that type of skill with a duck call, I told him, should have no problem mimicking an injured rabbit with a call tuned to presenting that distress call.

He agreed, but admitted that he knew little about predator behavior or how to set up to call them. I told him it was a lot like duck hunting, and had mostly to do with one

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thing: the wind. Put the wind in your favor, I told him, and you will have better success calling ducks or predators, regardless of how good you are with blowing a call.

When you hunt ducks, you want your back to the wind and your decoys in front of you. It is just the opposite with predators.

You want the wind in your face, just like deer hunting. The main thing is to use the wind to your advantage and learn to call the best you can.

Why call in coyotes, fox, bobcats, raccoons, and other predators? The answer to me is simple: They often present an extraordinary challenge parallel to the smartest whitetail buck you ever have tried to rattle up, and they can be hunted year-round whether you are carrying with you a weapon, camera, or just a desire to bring in an animal for close observation.

I have been calling predators since the early 1960s. My first mouth-blown call was a Weems Wild Call, a wooden tube caller with a metal reed made by the Wintress Manufacturing Company in New York.

Although I later tried using a Weems portable record-player as well as various mouth-blown calls and more modern electronic calls made by Johnny Stewart and others, my favorite continues to be that tiny little metal reed that can be found in many mouth-blown calls.

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Glen Avery of Electra, a predator-hunting buddy, while hunting with him in South Texas. We used to head to the Brush Country every weekend, just as many people head to the lakes to fish on weekends today. We called day and night, often standing back-toback to cover a 360-degree perimeter. If a coyote or bobcat responding to our call held up, Glen would press his lips tight on one of the metal reeds to produce a high-pitched squeaking sound much like that of a mouse.

That high-pitched cry would spur the animals into a quick reaction, and many of them were in our laps almost before we knew it.

Avery called the reed his “close in” call, but I learned how to tune the flat portion of the reed to produce the coarse distress calls of a jackrabbit, and to use the pressure of my lips to sound more like a cottontail rabbit and even a rodent.

What type of call you use is your choice.

There is a host of electronic calls as well as mouth-blown calls available today that perform great for attracting predators.

Back to being versatile: Over the years, I have encouraged many hunters to carry a predator call with them while hunting, especially for deer. While it is true many animals like coyotes, bobcats, and fox spend a lot of time hunting for food at night, their activities absolutely are not limited to darkness. I have called up as many predators during the daytime as I have at night, including many from a deer-hunting stand just before I planned to climb down after a morning’s hunt, whether I have shot a deer or not.

If you take a youngster hunting, which I encourage everyone to do, teaching them one more thing about hunting and the wildlife they can expect to see while enjoying their trips afield, rather than just focusing them on one particular animal or bird, will help them learn to appreciate and learn about all that is out there awaiting them.

E-mail Bob Hood at hunting@fishgame.com.

PHOTO BY BOB HOOD

Do You Need A Magnum?

VER THE LAST 10-15 YEARS, I HAVE SEEN A disturbing trend developing in which more hunters are showing up in Texas deer camps with magnum rifles better suited to hunting Cape buffalo than white-tailed deer. One of the outsized magnums I have seen in the hands of deer hunters is the fearsome .30/378 Weatherby Magnum, which legendary hunter Elgin Gates called the Super .300 and used to take an African elephant (The Trophy Hunter in Africa). Another popular cartridge is the .300 Winchester Short Magnum, a cartridge producing about 200 feet per second more than the .30-06. Both of these cartridges are powerful and accurate, more than sufficient for game several times larger than the common Texas whitetail.

Sadly, as the size of the cannons in the hands of deer hunters has increased, it seems that the shooting ability of the hunters has decreased. I began to wonder if there was a correlation between these two things, and if there was any valid need for such powerhouses in Texas deer hunting.

I have said this before in various places, including a Great Debate piece in this magazine sometime back, but I think it needs to be said again: There are very few times hunting in North American when a magnum caliber is actually needed. The vast majority of the time, a milder caliber will get the job done just as well as a kicking, bellowing magnum. White-tailed deer in particular do not require the power provided by the .300 magnums, and the big magnums do not give the shooter the extra range that

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most folks seem to think they do. Jack O’Connor shot most of his elk, moose, and grizzly bears with a .30-06 or .270 and found them completely adequate. It is our own inadequacies, misleading magazine articles, and highly effective advertising by the manufacturers that lead us to think we need guns that are more powerful.

Now don’t get me wrong: a magnum in the hands of a hunter who can shoot it is extremely deadly. I sometimes (but very rarely) use a magnum to gain the few extra yards it might provide or to gain a bit of power at the extended range at which I might have to shoot. Howev- The author says you do not need a magnum caliber to consistently take er, I have never actual- Texas whitetails. ly been in a situation where such a magnum saved the day or beats the new magnum. Why? Because it is where a milder caliber would not have shooting a bullet with a better ballistic coefficient. served just as well.

If we step up to a .300 Weatherby, a My longest shots at game have all been with standard calibers, and all performed 180-grain bullet, same 250-yard sight-in, perfectly. The two longest shots I remember and push it to the Weatherby’s maximum of taking at whitetails were with a .25-06 3300 feet per second, we find that the difRemington and a .270 Winchester, and ference between the .270 and the .300 WM both deer went down just as quickly as they at 500 yards is only 2.8 inches in favor of would have if clobbered with a super .300 the Weatherby. The cost in recoil, however, is substantial, with the .300 WM recoiling magnum.

At 500 yards, a distance far beyond the with twice the force of the .270. I don’t capabilities of most of us, a 130-grain .270 know about you, but for deer and other anibullet at 3100 fps muzzle velocity, sighted in mals that are not dangerous and are not so at 250 yards, will drop 29.7 inches. A 150- large as to justify a howling magnum, I grain bullet from a .300 WSM at a muzzle much prefer the milder calibers, and I know velocity of 3300 feet per second will drop I shoot them better.

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FLW Sues Angler Over Blog Comments CCORDING TO A PIONEER PRESS ARTICLE, THE company behind the FLW pro tournament tour has filed a lawsuit against a participating angler alleging false and defamatory remarks about FLW. Minneapolis-based Operation Bass Inc., also known as FLW Outdoors, filed the suit in federal court in December 2007. The suit is against Perry Johnston, a North Carolina fisherman who has participated in tournaments, alleging Johnston “publicly and privately impugned the integrity” of FLW tournaments.

The suit also alleges Johnston threatened to sue FLW if it did not comply with his “extravagant” demands.

Johnston, a professional kingfish angler,

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has “accumulated a series of perceived grievances” against FLW, a group founded by wealthy Minneapolis financier Irwin Jacobs.

Johnston told Pioneer Press, “They don’t have any grounds to sue me for anything.”

Dave Washburn, vice president of communications for FLW, declined to elaborate on the suit.

According to the lawsuit: Johnston, 45, finished sixth in one of FLW’s qualifying kingfish tournaments. He then lodged a protest that the captain of one of the top five boats had not been on board and that that violated tournament rules. He lost money because of that decision, he alleged.

FLW determined that no violation had occurred.

Johnston was not satisfied. He demanded a three-year deal that included payment of all of his kingfish tour entry fees, a sponsorwrapped boat and free use of a Chevrolet Suburban, the suit says.

Johnston later complained that the group was guilty of fraud and false advertising when it failed to give him the money he had won in the 2007 championship event.

FLW sent him the money via check, the lawsuit says, but Johnston allegedly did more than just talk and posted comments about FLW on a boating website called “The Hull Truth.” It quotes Johnston as

writing on November 10 that the supposed non-payment of the prize money “will prove to be a big mistake for the FLW organization. In 12 days, the FLW [and] all their sponsors for this event will be served with a lawsuit ... Gee, I wonder how Kellogg’s, Proctor & Gamble, Duracell, and the other sponsors are going to like a lawsuit they receive concerning the FLW stealing prize monies from the fishermen?” [sic] Johnston said he does little if any blog writing. He also said he did not make threats. Johnston confirmed that he is in the process of suing FLW. FLW has a solid reputation nationwide, according to Barbara Thompson, editor of Texas-based FishingWorld.com: “They’ve put the opportunity to win reasonable money into the hands of ordinary, everyday, weekend fishermen.”

Thompson does not know Johnston or the details of the dispute, but she said it was unlikely that an organization of FLW’s caliber would pull the kind of antics that Johnston alleges.

“I’d be inclined to say he’s a little out in left field, myself,” she said.

E-mail Wayne Watson at outlaw@fishgame.com.

TEXAS GUNS & GEAR Continued from Page C53 I guide, at times, for a couple of outfitters during the Texas deer season. For the last several years, I cannot remember any deer shot and lost with anything but magnum calibers. A couple of those were the new .300 Short Magnums, one was a .264 Winchester Magnum, one was a .300 Winchester Magnum, and the others I don’t recall the caliber. The reasons were all the same: the shooter was scared of his rifle and pulled the shot.

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The old excuse, “I use a bigger gun because I can’t always put the bullet in the right place,” is pure nonsense and wishful fantasy. A bullet in the guts from a cannon is just as ineffective as a bullet in the guts from a .222. The bullet has to be put in the right place to kill well—period.

My advice is this: If you aren’t hunting game that actually requires the power of a magnum, and most especially if your game is deer, do yourself a favor and get a nice, mild rifle firing a cartridge on the order of the .270 Winchester, 7mm-08 RemingF i s h

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ton, 7x57 Mauser, .280 Remington, .2506 Remington, .308 Winchester, .300 Savage, .30-06 Springfield, or even a .257 Roberts or .260 Remington; learn to shoot it well; then practice with it regularly. A magnum is justified for such animals as Kodiak bear and American bison, but everything else in North America can be taken quite handily with standard calibers.

E-mail Steve LaMascus at guns@fishgame.com

Curtis Wins Wal-Mart TTT AVID CURTIS IS DEVELOPING A REPUTATION as one of the best in the business when it comes to catching fish—big ones—when they count the most.

Most recently, Curtis put his big bass magic to work on Sam Rayburn Reservoir and reeled enough weight to win the 2007 WalMart Texas Tournament Trail Championship.

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by Matt Williams Curtis qualified as the 40th man in the standings, but fished his way straight to the top as he crushed the field with a two-day total of 42 pounds, 15 ounces. Curtis’ twoday total was anchored by an opening round limit that weighed a whopping 28 pounds, 3 ounces.

Curtis TTT victory is his fourth among FLW Outdoors ranks and his second TTT Championship win in the last four seasons.

He earned $75,000 in cash and prizes, which boosted his career earnings to more than $400,000.

Curtis said he caught his fish on a trio of lures, including a shad pattern Norman DD22 crankbait, Lake Fork Creature Carolina rig, and a 3/4-ounce Stanley Jig.

East/West Fish-off Texas bass pros Clark Wendlandt of Leander and Jim Tutt are among the 30 pros from the FLW Series Eastern Division who earned berths to compete in a winnertake-all fish-off against 30 FLW Series Western Division qualifiers. The tournament will be held on February 7-9 on Lake Amistad near Del Rio. At stake is a $25,000 cash prize in the pro division and $5000 on the co-angler

side. More importantly, the Top 30 finishers will secure invitations to compete for $1 million in the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup Championship scheduled for next August on Lake Murray in South Carolina.

Arkansas pro Scott Suggs was awarded $1 million for winning the Cup in August 2007. It was the largest payout in the history of pro fishing.

Texas Team Nets Redfish Title Hats off to Bennie Hatten of Deer Park and Randy Macik of Bay City. The Texas duo teamed up to win the 2007 FLW Redfish Series Championship held last fall in Orange Beach, Alabama.

Hatten/Macik said they found their fish in an isolated 20-acre pond in the Mississippi marsh, located roughly two hours from weigh-in. They used Rapala SkitterWalks to work the spot for six reds totaling 35 pounds, 1 ounce, which earned them the $50,000 top prize, plus an additional $50,000 in contingency bonuses from Ranger Boats and Yamaha Outboards.

Mike Patterson and Britt Phillips, both of Rockport, finished second with 33-13.

Bass Champs Bang it out at Falcon Lake Falcon in deep South Texas continues to shock the imagination with its banner catches of big black bass. Bass Champs held its North/East divisional championship there in October 2007. The top spots were decided by a slugfest.

Vince Neal and Kyle Rowe won the $30,000 top prize with 10 bass weighing 57.08 pounds. Willie Bensley and Michael Hulsey took second with 50.94. Big bass of the event was a 10.66-pounder turned in by Jeff Scrifes and Philip Hanks.

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of the field. It took 40.80 pounds to make the check cut in 25th place; 77 teams weighed in 30 pounds or more.

Some anglers are saying Lake Falcon is poised to overtake Lake Amistad as Texas’ newest big bass hotbed. Others believe the lake is so good that it could crank out a fourday weight to top BASS Elite Series pro Steve Kennedy’s all-time record of 122 pounds, 14 ounces set last spring on Clear Lake in California.

We’ll find out early in 2008. The FLW Outdoors Stren Series Texas Division will open the season there on January 9-11, followed by the BASS Elite Series “Lone Star Shootout” on April 3-6.

Hopkins Notches Win at Texoma The Stren Series Texas Division wound up its 2007 season on Lake Texoma on October 17-20, and a pair of Okies took the pro and co-angler titles.

Ronnie Hopkins, Jr., of Mounds, Oklahoma, finished first on the pro side with 55 pounds, 15 ounces. Bo Middleton of Elgin, Oklahoma, caught 36 pounds to earn first among co-anglers. Middleton’s victory also helped him nail down the Co-Angler-of-theYear title.

Texas pros who finished among the top five: Ryan Lovelace, Denison, 3rd; Keith Combs, Temple, 4th; Craig Hatchel, Whitesboro, 5th.

Texas co-anglers who finished among the top five: Richard Carpenter, Jasper, 2nd; Dan Wilson, Pilot Point, 3rd; David Underwood, Waco, 4th.

Pro points leader Stephen Johnston of Hemphill finished 40th at Texoma. Thanks to three consecutive Top 10 finishes earlier in the year at Sam Rayburn, Amistad, and Toledo Bend, Johnston held on to win the AOY points race just two points ahead of Russell Cecil of Willis.

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Tube Bait Versatility UBE BAITS ARE ONE OF MY TOP FIVE LURES TO fish because of their versatility in so many situations. Winning the Bassmaster Classic on a Zoom tube was a highlight in my career that has made the lure dear to my heart. Gain confidence in the tube and it can become one of your “go to” baits in numerous situations. It’s a great bait to use in finesse situations, but also can be a power bait for big fish.

There are many ways to fish a tube, and my favorite is to flip in heavy cover. Zoom makes two sizes, 3-1/2 and 4 inches. I mainly cast with the shorter one and flip with the longer.

When I flip or pitch a tube, I rig it with Woo’s XPS Tungsten 1/4-ounce tube weight, available at Bass Pro Shops. This is a rubber weight that has ground tungsten in it to give it the weight. You insert the weight into the tube and a Mustad 4/0 wide gap tube hook goes through the tube and the weight. This eliminates a sinker on the outside, holds the tube on the hook, and gives

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the tube a very natural looking horizontal fall that bass can’t resist. Spray it with Jack’s Juice Crawfish formula. Fish the tube on a 7-foot XTR70HT Woo Daves Extreme rod, and Pro Qualifier bait-cast reel. Flip right into the center of bushes or laydowns and just yoyo it up and down. One neat thing about a tube is that each time you drop it; it will go off in a different direction, creating an action bass love to bite.

When fishing a tube, I use a sweeping hard hookset. The Mustad tube hook is made to insert all the way through the tube, and the point lays on the outside of the bait so when the fish bites down, the hook is exposed.

When I cast the tube, I usually fish it on a 6-foot -6-inch MH Woo Daves Extreme rod and 10-pound BPS Excel line. If I’m fishing cover, I rig Texas rig with Woo’s XPS Tungsten 1/8-ounce tube weight. If I’m fishing open water, I rig on a light jighead with the hook exposed. A super trick when fishing on a jighead is to back the head up about 1/2-inch in the tube. This lets your tube fall more horizontal, giving a lot better spiraling effect. Each time you twitch, the tube will take off in a different direction, making it look more natural.

Tubes are also great baits to use for dropshotting and Carolina rigging. A lot of times when I Carolina rig, I put a small piece of

Styrofoam or cork in the tube to make it float up a little. This can be very deadly at times, especially right after the bass come off the beds.

When fishing is tough, this is when tubes really become effective. I believe this is because of their size and natural action.

When flipping, I use the black/red flake color mostly, and when casting, either Green Pumpkin or Watermelon, sometimes dipping the tail chartreuse or red.

When it comes to smallmouth, there is not another bait made that can compete dayin, day-out with a tube. One of the best techniques for smallmouth is to let the wind blow you along and just drag the tube along the bottom. Don’t hop it or try to give it action. Smallmouth can’t stand it. If there is no wind, I fish it on a Carolina rig with a 3/4-ounce Lindy No-Snagg Rattlin’ weight and make long casts. Point the rod at the bait and just reel very slowly, never stopping the bait.

Put a load of tubes in your box and give them a try this year. I promise you will catch fish.

TOURNAMENT INSIDER Continued from Page C55

Collett, Walker Battle at Rayburn Speedy Collett and Jessica Walker of Zapata reeled in nine bass weighing 36.24 pounds to take the $30,000 top prize in the Bass Champs South/Central division championship held October 2728 on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Mike C56

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Kernan and David Weber finished second with 30.74.

Collett/Walker caught their fish off ledges in 23 feet of water using Senkos, Deep Little N crankbaits, and Carolina rigs. The fish were holding at about 5-feet around stumps.

Berkley Big Bass Sam Trinca of Monroe, Louisiana, used a Berkley Power Hawg to catch a 9.72 pounder that took top honors in the F i s h

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2nd Annual Berkley Big Bass tournament on Lake Fork. Trinca’s catch earned him a fully rigged Skeeter valued at $37,000, plus $600 for big bass of the hour.

Jerry Norris of Kilgore also won a boat for catching the heaviest bass under the 16-24 inch slot limit, a 3.02-pounder.

More than 700 anglers competed in the annual two-day event, which paid out $115,000 in cash and prizes.

Ted Nugent Teams with Snap-on Tools OR TECHNICIANS WHO LOVE TO PACK UP THE truck Friday after work with rods, rifles, and bows and head for the woods, there is a new toolbox designed just for you.

Snap-on Tools has teamed up with legendary rocker, gonzo sportsman, and TF&G bowhunting editor Ted Nugent to introduce a new line of limited edition roll cabinets and accessories.

Snap-on’s Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild tool storage units are available in a traditional 54-inch roll cabinet (KRA2411PNC) and a complete workstation (KRA2411WCPNC). A top chest (KRA2408PNC) and bulk overhead unit (KRWL5435PNC) are also available.

“Our collaboration with Ted Nugent finds common ground in his love for hunting and his sponsorship of hunting-related causes,” said Jay Serpe, product manager, tool storage, Snap-on Tools. “A high percentage of Snapon customers are interested in hunting and other outdoor sports and identify with Ted Nugent as a well-recognized, nationally-known advocate.”

The roll cabinets and top chest are painted with a textured black powder coat and feature Mossy Oak Breakup coated aluminum drawer fronts, the same camo pattern used on firearms, bows, optics, and other outdoor equipment. The bulk overhead unit includes a factory-installed limited edition Ted Nugent signature designer front panel. Both the roll cabinet and workstation feature a limited edition castmetal Ted Nugent Spirit of the

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Wild medallion on the bottom deep drawer.

To protect the tops of the units, the roll cabinet and top chest come with a thick rubber top mat featuring a large camouflage Snap-on logo and Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild graphic images, while the workstation includes a steel worktop with tough, scratchresistant ArmorEdge truck bed liner coating.

As part of Snap-on’s Classic Series, the Spirit of the Wild roll cabinet and workstation include double-wall construction with fullheight inner

er slides, and Lock ‘n Roll drawer retention.

The 54-inch wide, two-bank roll cabinet has approximately 23,600 cubic inches of storage space, stands at 39-1/4 inches high, and has a depth of 24 inches. In addition, the workstation’s factory-assembled 54-inch wide, 231/2-inch tall riser, is 21 inches deep, and features a bi-fold locking front door equipped with gas struts for easy open and shut operation.

The full-width top drawer of the roll cabinet and workstation provides a convenient place for storing technicians’ most used tools.

The drawer also features double slides for added weight capacity, and extra-deep drawer pulls for easy operation.

Both the roll cabinet and the workstation include 2-inch mounting centers for flexibility in arranging drawers, solid engineering, corner gussets for added strength, and Snap-on’s lifetime warranty on workmanship and materials.

Contact: Snap-on Tools, 877-762-7662, www.snapon.com.

walls welded in place for strength, ball bearing draw-

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Montana to Mexico ONTANA: DAYLIGHT HOVERED BEYOND the eastern ridge and slow drops of dew dripped from tree limbs onto the tarp covering my bedroll. A low swooping limb was my roof. The secondary branches splayed wide and the pine needles protected me from rain showers. Packsaddle pads for mattresses softened the rocky ground and the stuffed Bugs Bunny toy that my little daughter gave me for companionship nestled against my shoulder. The moon and stars that shine God’s own nightlights began to fade while the critters of the dark withdrew to their forest lairs.

My position was on a slight rise of ground between the horse pens and the cook tent. It allowed me a sentinel point watching over the entire camp, as well as, provided solitude and fed the mystique of a lone cowboy guarding the pilgrims.

Feeling around beneath the tarp, I located my pants and boots. It was a common sense trick to tuck these items away so that they would be warm and dry on damp frosty mornings. Another fact is that sleeping under the stars acclimates a man to the elements. Dealing with the rain, wind, and cold becomes as natural as remembering to put gas in your car. The northern Montana wilderness summer trips afford a southern cowboy to assimilate to the lifestyle once recorded by Charlie Russell and Frederick Remington. By the fall hunting season, the wrangler-turned-hunting guide will be ready for snowy blizzards and trudging across the mountains in search of giant mule deer bucks and the elusive wapiti. Ice in your whiskers will be a regular occurrence. If you are good, you can make fire after a week of freezing drizzle with what your client thinks

Sal Cannatella with a Mexico buck.

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is wet tinder. Now, toast his sandwich at lunchtime, provide some warmth and comfort, and you will hear mutterings that his guide is a dyed-in-the-wool-sure-nuff mountain man.

My personal problem is that after a dozen years of such wonderful experiences I realized that the life expectancy in the 1800’s was much shorter than nowadays.

Sleeping on the ground and drinking whiskey for what ails you takes its toll. The scars from never going to a doctor begin to accumulate both inside and out. For once, I had a small modicum of foresight and began seeking something easier. Forsaking the hard-learned lessons was out of the question, but the idea of finding warmer camps and sleeping in a bed became attractive.

Mexico: Much has changed since the first hunter followed me up a hill in hopes of shooting wide-antlered game. Things that we once laughed at, like camouflage pants, high fences, and four-wheeled ATV’s have become accepted ingredients of normal hunting practices. Then, stuff that we squinted at with curiosity, like B&C scores and the lower-rate cable television networks, began inhibiting our ability to please clients.

Another saddening fact is that as more wild country is urbanized, outdoor writing evolves into Popular Mechanics, and whitetail deer can practically be ordered from a F i s h

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catalog, the public is losing its connection to the heritage of self-independence and feeding itself with wild meat. A whole new generation of uninformed soccer moms waits to spew their emotions when their sons and daughters decide to go afield. Fortunately, after years of sailing through South Texas and Mexico hunting camps, I drifted into a crowd of like-minded earthy people and found a younger outfitter more suited to dealing with a changing world.

“Hey, Hermie, you wanna come learn the new ranch?” came the call from Mexico Outfitters Unlimited, Clay Young.

“Yeah sure, what’s the plan?” I answered.

“A bunch of the guides are going to get together to figure out how to hunt the place.

Y’all have 35,000 acres to roam,” said Clay. “Y’all can check out the lay of the land and I’ve invited Sal Cannatella to hunt while we’re getting everything ready.”

This was an amusing thought. Sal was a long-time yearly client, but he would need to fly in from New Jersey. I had guided Sal many seasons ago when Clay initially went into business. There had to be a better reason than the notion that he missed us for him to make the trip.

“I’ll meet y’all in Del Rio,” I said and the necessary logistics were related.

A week later, our caravan crossed the

international bridge. We eased through the congested narrow streets of the border town, Acuna. The gaudy signs and third world feeling of the fresh painted crumbling concrete buildings welcomed us. A man can shed his nebulous troubles like a snake sheds its skin when you enter another culture and the main concern becomes the language barrier and the realization that you are now the minority.

This is where Clay’s expertise and association with the Mexican outfitter Chema Carrillo comes into play. Cruising through customs and bringing rifles across the border isn’t a problem when proper procedures are followed. Clay grew up in this semi-arid desert country. He speaks Spanish and knows the nuances and habits of the natives.

His dad was an outfitter and he has a crew of no-nonsense full-grown guides that know how to behave in all situations.

Soon we left the city and followed our leader down a back road into the countryside. Then we turned onto a gravel road and went through a cattleman’s association locked gate. From here, we were driving through the Chihuahua Desert cow country.

Low brush clutters the rolling hills while great arroyos and the accompanying draws and headers holds a multitude of wildlife.

This is the land of the Mexican bear, Mexican eagle, mountain lion, coyote, and Muy Grande whitetail deer.

Forty miles later, we turned into a grand hacienda. The main lodge sprawls invitingly with watered lawns and tiled verandas.

The walls are two feet thick and solid mesquite-wood doors insure security. A large open fireplace is the center for relaxing and storytelling in the main living room. Private bedrooms with heavy rustic furniture are on side halls. And a kitchen with a giant table indicates a natural gathering spot for a luxurious homey environment. The entire structure, with its dimly lit enclaves, breathes the aura of a Mexican palace.

We appreciated our surroundings and inspected the oversize ranch maps displayed on the walls. Then we retired for the evening and burrowed into our beds, and me, once more with Bugs Bunny snuggled beside my shoulder.

The next morning we split and went in different directions. As scouting and hunting goes - it was an exceptional day. Sal went with Clay and came back at dusk with a 193 B&C buck. The rest of us glassed,

studied tracks, and formed our war plans for the coming season.

That night I chatted with Sal, in the living room, and the burning embers in the fireplace glowed soft yellow light onto our faces.

“Sal, did me and you kill a deer when I guided you?” I asked.

“No, we should have shot that one old buck but we didn’t.” There was a short silence. “That’s okay, we had a good time.

You don’t have to kill something every time

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you go hunting.” There was another short silence and a log popped sparks. “I just enjoy being here!”

He echoed my sentiments and it felt good.

For more info on Mexico whitetail hunts, contact Herman at his fishgame.com email address, or Clay Young at Mexico Outfitters Unlimited, 830-313-1577.

E-mail Herman W. Brune at wilderness@fishgame.com

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The Case of the Dissenting Decoy LL-RIGHTY-THEN, THIS IS THE KIND of ducky weather I am talking about! Yep, rainy, cold, and overcast. We will see what kind of duck hunters you all really are.”

Oh perfect, another testosterone test in the field. Quien es mas macho?

“Mom! I can’t find my waders!”

“Well, they have to be around somewhere. Did you look in…”

“Yes, yes, I looked everywhere, Mom! Why is it that my stuff is always missing?”

Because it is a conspiracy and we are all trying to drive you crazy before you turn 18.

It is our mission in life. Jeez!

“Max, here, wear this rain suit of mine,” offered David. “It will work great!”

Well, that certainly is handy. Finally, the two men in my life being the same size. Haha! Can’t wear my gear anymore!

“Okay, let’s load ‘em up. It is going on 4 a.m. Got to get out there before the ducks wake up.”

“Yeah, Baby. Looky, there’s, a good ol’ truck stop. Let’s get some breakfast.”

Oh, joy! Well, let’s see, a plethora of breakfast goodies comprised of sugar-coated, chemically enhanced, trans-fatty Ding Dongs, pink Snowballs, Little Debbies and—not to be denied—what looks like a three-month-old baked pie. Yummy!

“Okay, now that we have some nourishment, we just have to go down the road a bit to meet Steve, at Mary’s restaurant.”

“David, I am going to go in and change into my neoprene’s in the ladies room.”

“Baby, you don’t need to do that. You can change right here in the driveway, nobody will care.”

Right! Change in the cold and rain or in

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a dry, perfectly good bathroom. What is this, another rite of passage? The 5 a.m. wader-hazing in the parking lot. And they say women are exhibitionists.

“Morning, Steve,” I greeted.

“Hi,” was the only reply.

Well, he sure isn’t very friendly at 4 a.m.; must be a two-cupsof-coffee kind of guy.

“Okay, Baby, all ready?”

David said.

“Mari? Oh, gosh, I didn’t recognize you. Good morning!”

Steve then said.

“Steve! Well, who did you think it was? Some duck-hunting groupie hanging out in the parking lot looking for a blind to land in?”

“Umm, well you just looked so different all camo’d up.”

That’s right buster, I ain’t just some dumb gurl hanging out in the Quickstop parking lot at 5 a.m.—I am a hearty duck hunter that can take the cold and rain and like it!

“Okey-dokey, let’s move ‘em out. We are trading daylight for dark,” Steve said.

“Wow! Look at that great tank!” David enthused. “We need to get some brush and make ourselves a blind. Max, see if you can find some big branches to camouflage us. I am going to go put out the decoys.”

Said tasks accomplished, David got serious: “Okay, listen up! I will be the lookout and you all keep your eyes down until I say ‘take em.’”

I love a man who takes charge! “Take ‘em!,” the universal phrase in the hunting world. It doesn’t matter what language you speak or where you come from, anyone that has a gun in his hands, understands, “Take F i s h

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‘em!” Followed by “Got ‘im!” as the bird falls from the sky. Gun fired or not, everyone yells, “Got ‘im!”

Two hours after sunup, the duck and goose decoys are bobbing along quite nicely.

Max is sitting eagerly yet patiently. Steve has discovered that his rain suit is less than a deterrent to the wet weather, as it is leaking from the rear, but, being a good duck

hunter, there is no whining. Regardless of how wet and cold it gets, ducks or no ducks, first rule of being a master duck hunter is “no whining.”

“Baby, how are you doing? Are you warm enough?” David asked.

Oh, no, I am not falling for that ploy! I am keen to your tricks! No siree, you will not hear any whining out of this gurl. I can take it like the rest of you. Although, those feet warmers that you gave me were a test, I am sure of it. They are now a big wad, all scrunched up in between my waders and my wading boots.

“Oh, yes, snug as bug. No problem here.”

“Hey, guys, what do you say I pick up the decoys and we try another tank? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of action around here.”

“Okay, David. Here, you retrieve and I will bag.”

ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL WATSON

Oh, no! Quicksand! I am sinking! I can’t move! I am going under! The mud is sucking me under! Don’t panic. No screaming. They will hear you and you will fail the Duck Hunter Test. Lift quietly. Please for the love of duck pate, don’t let me do a face-plant.

“David, quick! To your left!” I warned.

“That dissenting goose is getting away! He is heading for the bushes! Grab him!”

“Crap, I can’t reach him. Oh, boy!

There is a big drop-off here, better not do that. Hurry, see if you can find me a branch to snag that sucker.”

Sure, as soon as I get loose of these suction cups on the bottom of this pond, I mean tank.

“Here, try this,” as Max hands me a branch.

“No way, too short.”

“David, grab the short branch, hold onto me, and then lean in with the other hand and maybe you can pop that goose up from around the neck.”

“Sweetie, lean in more from your waist.

Do the down dog yoga pose.”

“What? Down yogi? What does Yogi Bear have to do with this?”

“I didn’t say yogi, I said… oh forget it.”

“This is not working. We need a longer stick or I am going to just have to swim for it.”

“For crying out loud, David! We can buy another goose decoy. Let it go,” Steve pleaded.

“No way. I just bought these dang decoys. That stupid goose is mine and I am not leaving it.”

“David, look! Get down! Here they come!

Duck-gone-it! Where is my gun? Max? Oh, yeah, he is looking for a branch. Steve surely has his gun. Nope, he is running for it, too. I can’t move my feet! My ear protection!

Put the ear protection back in!

We all stand and glare at the sky in disbelief. There they go, our first—and only —good opportunity. And here we are in the water, looking for branches and without guns.

“Okay, that does it! I am going to swim for that blasted goose!” yelled David.

“Wait, come over to this side. I think you can straddle the tree, lean forward, and reach over without falling completely into the water.”

“Good idea, Steve! Baby, what he said.

Try that.”

Straddling, reaching, leaning on the tree branch, belly to the water, reaching, reaching… got it!

Finally, the traitorous goose decoy in hand, unstuck from the quicksand, we all sit wet, cold, and empty handed as we watch the ducks quack away.

“Well, you know what the good news is?” David said.

We all glare at him.

“You mean other than the fact that we were all unarmed, unprepared, and not one

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of us got a shot off at that huge flock of ducks that flew right over our heads, cuz we were fussing with that stupid decoy?” Steve replied.

“Yeah, but now we know they are here for when we come back!”

“So true, Sweetie, except you just saw your dinner fly off. So the other good news is that you can take us all out for dinner tonight.”

E-mail Mari Henry at gurlz@fishgame.com.

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The Snow Goose Hunt E WENT GOOSE HUNTING THIS PAST weekend, but it wasn’t like any hunt I have ever been on. Usually, Dad, Sis, and I do our hunting just a few miles from where we live.

Sometimes we hunt ducks and geese on the lakes around here, or we do what Dad calls “puddle jumping.”

Puddle jumping is when we sneak up on the stock tanks or ponds and shoot the birds when they jump off the water to fly away. We usually get one or two, and sometimes three birds this way, but once they are gone, we have to find another tank. Sis and I like to hunt that way, because it lets us move around a lot and we don’t get cold like we do sitting in a duck blind.

But this weekend, Dad and Uncle Larry took us down to South Texas, just west of Houston, to hunt the rice fields there. I kind of like those types of trips, because the drive down is fun. I get to listen to the men talk, or I can read while we are in the truck. Sis always likes to wrap up in a blanket in the back seat and read, too.

This time I listened to Dad and Uncle Larry talk about hunts they have been on. I sure hope someday I find a hunting buddy that will go with me everywhere and we can have some adventures like Dad’s group.

Dad says I have a hunting buddy already— my twin Sis. I guess he’s right, but I don’t think it’s the same as having a guy with me.

We got to the motel after dark Friday. We checked in, and after eating supper, Dad

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and Uncle Larry told us we needed to hit the hay pretty quick because we would be getting up pretty early. He wasn’t kidding.

The alarm went off at about 3 o’clock in the morning, and I thought Dad was going to have to drag Sis out of bed.

We dressed warm, but the air outside wasn’t anything like I expected. It was actually comfortable when we walked across the parking lot to eat breakfast at the café. I was surprised they were open so early, but when we went inside, I saw the reason. Everyone there was wearing camouflage, and they were all goose hunters. The men drank cof-

fee and talked while Sis and I ate pancakes until we couldn’t move.

Back outside, it was so dark you couldn’t see past the parking lot. Sis and I went back to the room to peel off a couple of layers, because we were so warm. Everyone was ready when we got back to the truck, and Dad pulled out to follow what looked like a train of trucks. Our guide, Coop, drove dirt and gravel back roads until he parked next to an old barn. Everyone stopped, turned off their headlights, and we got out.

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Coop unloaded a four-wheeler and hooked it up to a small trailer full of duffel bags. He told us to put our guns on the duffels and to follow him into the field. It was hard walking through the dry rice field in the dark with only flashlights to see by, but we followed along behind until he stopped.

I couldn’t tell why he liked this one spot so much, but it didn’t make any difference.

Coop showed us how to set out the decoys, which are not anything more than a stick with a white plastic bag tied onto it. He said the flying geese see the bags and think other geese are feeding below. It seemed pretty stupid to me, but we put out about five hundred decoys in the dark. Sometimes he would tell us to stick a few here and there until he was satisfied, then he called us in and started telling everyone where to lay down.

That was the part that got us.

Instead of sitting in the middle of the decoys, Coop told us to lay down with our feet in the same direction with our shotguns pointed in the direction of our feet. That was when I noticed we were all in a sort of line, so that no one had a gun pointed at them at any time.

Coop told us of a hunt several years ago where two guys were laying next to each other and one didn’t listen to the instructions.

He had a shotgun across his stomach, pointed at his friend. When the geese came over, he got excited and pulled the trigger and killed his friend.

That story scared me, so I made sure my safety was on with my shotgun pointed away from everyone. Dad was between me and Sis. Uncle Larry was between Sis and Coop. Then we lay there as the light started to come through the clouds. A far off sound I had been hearing for some time finally got louder. Since Sis was closer to the guide, she asked him what it was.

ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL WATSON

“About 50,000 snow geese,” Coop said and raised up on his elbow. “You kids raise up and look over there,” he said and pointed off to our left. We looked and I thought I saw smoke over there, and then I realized it was geese coming off the night’s roost. It was hard to understand how there could be so many geese in one place. The guide said most were snow geese, with some specklebelly and Canadas thrown in.

Then we lay back while he called. One bunch split off from the others and he said real quiet to be still and not move a muscle.

They came lower and lower, and I thought he wasn’t going to let us shoot at all, then the geese set their wings to land and he hollered, “Pour it on ‘em!” Dad and Uncle Larry raised up to shoot, but I tried a shot while I was laying down because I had never shot that way.

The birds were going so slow that you really didn’t have to lead them much. I picked out a big white bird with black on its wingtips and pulled the trigger. It fell like someone had cut a string that was holding it up. Then I saw another big goose. This one was kind of blue-gray in the light and I shot it, too. It looked to me like I’d missed, and it started pulling with those big wings to get back in the air, so I hit it again and this time it dropped one leg and a wing. I saw Dad swing his shotgun over and he shot and the goose fell.

I had time to look over, and Sis pulled the trigger and feathers flew off of a big snow goose. I could hear the sharp cutting sound when the pellets went through the feathers, but the bird didn’t go down. Coop jacked a fresh shell in his pump and shot Sis’ goose again and it fell. I can still remember how everything looked, because it all seemed to happen in slow motion. I even remember how the blue shotgun shell flew out of Coop’s pump and seemed to kind of hang there in the air for a moment.

Then it was all over and they were gone.

Dad and the guide hurried out to pick up all the geese we had shot, and they ran back to get ready for the next bunch. It was like that all morning, but none of the other flocks were so close, so Sis and I shot more than we hit.

After it was all over later that morning, the worst part was picking up all the decoys we had put out in the dark. Things didn’t look as good, either; just mud and straw in the gray light.

We were really tired when it was all over, but I knew I could sleep all the way home while Dad and Uncle Larry told stories.

That’s why I like those long trips.

On the way home, Sis and I talked like crazy about the hunt and how it felt to shoot at those big geese. We were both using 12gauge shotguns because Dad said we needed more punch for the big birds, and both of our shoulders were bruised even though we used borrow automatics to absorb some of the recoil. Automatics use springs and gas

from the first shot to eject the shells, and that takes some of the kick out of the gun.

Then Dad said something to Uncle Larry about the two hunting partners in the back were going to have a lot of fun during the coming years, but Sis was telling me how big her first snow goose was, so I didn’t get to see what he meant.

Oh, well. It was a great hunt. —Ryan

Cold Crappie Fishing RIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE, hoping crappie fishing’s great!” My daughter and I belted out the parodied lyrics to a popular county-western song as we drove to one of our favorite winter crappie

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spots. I had somehow convinced the whole family to go fishing, as my son was home from college for the holidays, wife and daughter were out of school too, and the weather forecast for the day looked promising. Texans are blessed with terrific wintertime angling opportunities, and one of the best is fishing for crappie.

The most common image of catching crappie involves long limber rods (or “poles,” as they are referred to in the crappie world), a small float, and a lively minnow or tiny jig. The lure or minnow is then dabbled, dunked, or jigged around in shallow brush- or weed-infested areas close to the shoreline. That type of fishing works great during the two-month or so spawning season in spring, when crappie move into

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skinny water to do their reproductive business. The other 10 months, crappie live in deeper water. In the winter when surface temperatures grow cold, it is not unusual to catch them at depths of 50 feet.

Leave the long rods and bobbers at home when targeting deep-water crappie. Four things are necessary to catch crappie in their winter haunts: a good depthfinder, precision anchoring, a sensitive graphite rod, and linewatching patience.

Finding concentrations of crappie in deep water requires a depthfinder. The fish will school up by the hundreds on some type of underwater structure or cover. Locating these places is not that difficult with a lake map that shows details such as contour lines and creek channels. Crappie choose areas

offering protection from the cold, but also because of the presence of wintering baitfishes. Use a map to find likely areas in water depths of 30 to 50 feet and then the depthfinder to locate schools of fish. Creek mouths that empty into main lake bodies where water depths correspond to the 30- to 50-foot depth range are likely targets. Run the contour lines and pay special attention to sudden drop-offs or cover attached to the bottom. Even a 5-foot drop in these areas can harbor large concentrations of crappie.

Rare is the winter crappie that will move very far to bite a bait. To catch them once a school is located, precision anchoring is a must. Close does not count when setting up over a potential crappie hotspot. It is important to read the prevailing wind and current correctly and place the boat directly over the fish. Just a few feet off the target can result in a zero catch rate.

The easiest way to do this if fishing brush piles (another favorite crappie hang-out) is to anchor in the pile. A special anchor is necessary unless donating a Danforth anchor to the brush is the goal. Old window sash weights work great for this type of fishing, but anglers can make their own by filling a 2-inch diameter piece of PVC pipe, 18 inches long, with concrete mix. Form a U out of No. 10 electrical wire about a foot long, and stick it in one end to form an anchor loop while the concrete is fresh. The cylindrical shape makes it easier to retrieve the anchor from the brush.

Crappie are light biters. Fishing for them in deep water compounds the problem of detecting strikes. The solution is to use graphite rods 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 feet in length with medium-light actions and sensitive tips coupled with small diameter monofilament, or one of the new super lines. I have had very good success with the Fireline brand of super lines on a lightweight spinning reel. It has no memory and very little stretch. Lines that test 8-12 pounds in breaking strength are about right.

The fourth ingredient is learning to become a good line-watcher. Crappie have a maddening tendency to take a minnow and move up with it or just hold onto it without swimming away. Many times the only indication of a “bite” is a lack of any resistance.

Watching the rod tip for any telltale quiver and monitoring the angle of the line where it enters the water for any sideways movement are important for detecting strikes. Using

high visibility line is also helpful in detecting micro-biting crappie.

Crappie can be frustrating to catch when they are in a delicate feeding mode, as my wife found out on the adventure mentioned at the beginning of this piece. We had located a large school of fish on a drop-off in 36 feet of water. For the first 30 minutes, she could not detect when or if she was getting a bite. Yet, minnow after minnow disappeared from her hook. At one point, she hung her head and declared, “I am a crappie fishing

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failure.”

Nonetheless, the story ends happily ever after. Eventually, she learned to detect the subtle bite, how to react to it, and ended up catching a nice mess of fish.

“Whew” is all I have to say about that.

E-mail Barry St. Clair at bstclair@fishgame.com.

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3-D Archery Tournaments reality, you need to shoot year-round to maximize your potential in the field.

3-D target shooting is a fun way to keep your edge year-round, and it has become more popular than ever in the Lone Star

How and Where to Compete During the Off-Season AVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY SOME people seem to always score every bow season no matter what species they are hunting? I know I have.

These are the people we like to call “game magnets.” No matter what they hunt, they are successful.

I did a little research on this subject, and after talking to some game magnets I know, their “secret” turned out to be quite simple.

Are you ready?

Practice.

That’s it.

Practice.

I am sure this is not the only reason, but it is high on the list. The old saying that practice makes perfect certainly holds true here. Most of us work hard at getting proficient a few weeks before the season, but in

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by Lou Marullo State. Much of this probably has to do with 3-D targets looking more realistic than the standard fare. Many companies provide box or bag targets with multiple circles used as mini targets. These serve a good purpose, but if you miss your designated circle, the target is so big; you hit another part of the target. However, if you miss a 3-D target, you might never find your arrow. This alone makes you concentrate more on your aim, release, and follow-through while practicing with your bow.

Not long ago, Mel Gibson’s movie “The Patriot” had a line in it that I will never forget: “Aim small, shoot small.” I use that phrase during my bowhunting classes all the time. It makes perfect sense. The smaller F i s h

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your target, the more accurate you will become.

Some of the pro shops have their own shooting range with 3-D animals. If you are lucky, you might find a 3-D course set up in a woodlot to give a more realistic view of what you will actually encounter under hunting conditions. 3-D courses not only help you with your shooting ability, but can be a lot of fun. Take a few friends with you so everyone can enjoy a good laugh when one of you misses.

The rules are simple: When you reach your numbered target, you will notice a stake or marker of some kind in the ground.

One of your feet must touch the marker while you bend, twist, or turn slightly to get the shot off. Some of the better courses have tree limbs strategically placed in the line of fire, forcing you to find a hole through which to fire your arrow. Some courses are easy, some are not, but all are fun.

Speaking of fun, try this sometime: My friend and I have installed a 3-D target on a wooden platform that has wheels and a hanPHOTO BY RUSSELL GRAVES

dle. The platform is wide enough so it will not tip over from being top heavy. We tie a rope on the handle to make it easy to pull along in the field. One of us gets up in a stand with a bow while the other person pulls the 3-D target. It really gets fun when you stop the target as soon as the vital area is behind a tree and your friend is already at full draw! I wonder how long he will be able to hold full draw.... As soon as he lets his string down, start pulling the target again.

Now that is realistic. You will need to make sure the rope you use is long enough to keep clear of the line of fire. This kind of 3-D practice is as real as it gets.

The familiar paper target with the X circle can be found everywhere in Texas.

There have been tournament leagues for years using this kind of target. You shoot 10 stations using six arrows at each one, totaling 60 arrows. A perfect score would be 300, with many shooters scoring well under that mark. Although you can still find these

PHOTO BY RUSSELL GRAVES

Shooting at realistic 3-D targets at unknown ranges is ideal practice that translates to success in the field.

tournaments, one using 3-D targets is definitely more challenging.

Each target has a series of circles in the kill zone. Some kill zones on a 3-D target might be questionable, but still, you have to hit those particular spots. Your score is based on how many times you hit the small X ring in the center of the kill zone.

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There is also a 10-inch circle around the X ring. A wound on the animal results in points deducted or simply a zero. Most if not all of the 3-D tournaments in Texas follow the Fred Bear rules. These rules dictate how much a shot is worth by its location on the target. There are a few extra regulations that apply as well. Tournaments categorize

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age, type of bow (compound or traditional), and whether or not a hunter uses sights.

There are no broadheads allowed in these tournaments, and safety is a paramount concern.

Mackenzie makes most of the targets used in these tournaments, and they are very durable, handling many shots before they need to be replaced. Some even have a replaceable vital area. These are not cheap, so the fact that you can replace the vital spot makes these targets a bit more affordable in the end. After participating in a few of these tournaments myself, I saw that many shooters carried a small pack of cards that show a picture of the animal you are aiming at. I mentioned earlier that some of the vital areas on these targets could be questionable.

These cards show exactly where the kill zone is, and if you want a good score at the end of the tournament, I suggest you purchase these laminated cards to make sure of

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the target X or kill zone location.

If you find yourself at a tournament without the cards, carry binoculars. Believe me, if you use these, you will not be the Lone Ranger. Many of the shooters have them and use them often.

My friends and I like to shoot these 3-D tournaments not only for the practice, but also for the good time. We do not really care too much about a scorecard, nor do we expect to be one of the top 10 shooters there.

We take turns shooting first at a particular target. The shooter guesses the distance and writes it down on a separate card. Then he takes out his rangefinder just to make sure.

After he makes his shot, we all in turn do the same thing and then check to see who came closest to guessing the real distance.

By doing this, we not only get to continue shooting at realistic targets, but it also challenges our judging distance and we lose a lot less arrows. There is still an abundance of

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arrows that need re-fletching after the tournament is over. Such is the problem of shooting with people that practice a lot.

In Texas, many different organizations support archery hunting. 3-D tournaments take place throughout the state all year long to help keep the serious archer in tune with his hunting equipment. One worth mentioning is 4-H. This group teaches kids all about the outdoors and other life skills that they might need. The 4-H claims to introduce archery to at least 700 to 800 children every year. You can read more about their 3D tournaments on the website www.texasarchery.org.

The TFAA (Texas Field Archery Association) is another well-known group that supports 3-D shooting. They sponsor tournaments throughout the State and are true leaders in the sport. For more information,

Continued on Page C71

Fish on the Mind SPENT A LOT OF TIME FISHING THROUGHOUT Texas and around the country over the last year, as well as covering fishing related conservation stories. Looking through my recent photos, I found that fish have definitely been on my mind—and sometimes in my face.

Chester loves to fish for salmon in A Lake Ontario out of New York. He got to spend some time fishing in the Oswego River and caught this nice king on light tackle.

Chester had the pleasure of introducB ing Josh Sonnier to his first fish, a bream caught on Toledo Bend. Josh’s mom, Valerie, looks on while his dad, Todd, took

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PHOTO BY TODD SONNIER

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the picture. There is nothing like seeing kids experience nature.

Chester is eye-to-eye with a ling at the C University of Marine Science Institute

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at Port Aransas. The facility is pioneering ling aquaculture techniques.

PHOTO BY LISA MOORE

PHOTO BY CHRIS EVANS

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CCA Texas Funds $30,500 Snook Study CA TEXAS EXECUTIVE BOARD RECENTLY funded a $30,500 snook study that will take place at the University Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas. This study will be conducted in the recently completed $700,000 CCA Texas Marine Larviculture Laboratory and will focus on brood stock collection and induced spawning of common snook. Izhar Khan, Ph.D., and Rick Kline will be the

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researchers in this project.

In the early to mid 1900s, there was a viable snook fishery in South Texas. In fact,

by Luke Giles in 1928 commercial fishermen took 200,000 pounds of snook for commercial sale. The snook population today is growing slowly, but it could use a helping hand if it

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is ever to be a long-term and viable recreational fishery. Snook populations are susceptible to freezes, red tide blooms, and many man-made conditions and obstacles.

With the many variables facing the snook fishery it has been determined a brood stock enhancement program could be as beneficial for this species as it has been for trout and redfish. A successful enhancement program would be a benefit for both the snook population and to an already great fishery in South Texas that is enjoyed by many anglers.

“CCA is pleased to work with UTMSI on such an exciting project,” said CCA Texas Executive Director, Robby Byers.

“What could be more exciting than to catch a new “Texas Slam” of a redfish, flounder,

trout and snook all of which were possibly raised in the new CCA Texas funded Larviculture Lab at the university.”

Florida researchers have a considerable amount of information on the timing and locations of snook spawning for Florida stocks, however very little is known about the snook population in Texas. To date there has been only one snook captured in spawning condition by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). This project will focus on the collection of mature male and female snook for captive spawning trials and gather information about the spawning season and spawning locations in Lower Lagu-

na Madre.

Lower Laguna Madre holds the largest population of snook in Texas and thus has been determined to be the best location for this data collection. Researchers in Florida have had success in hormone-induced spawning of snook, but these offspring from Florida stocks cannot be released in Texas because of genetic differences. This project will develop techniques for induced spawning of snook in Texas and will be transferred to TPWD for potential stock enhancement

of the species in Texas waters.

CCA Texas remains committed to science based fisheries management as it continues to move forward in conserving Texas’ coastal resources. For more information about CCA Texas, be sure to visit www.ccatexas.org.

SPORTING TALES Continued from Page C68 go to their website at www.texasfieldarchery.org.

Cowtownbowmen.com has a huge list of different tournament shoots that they sponsor. There is something for every outdoorsman every week listed on this site. There is a month-to-month listing of what is happening in their area for any tournament shooting.

3-Dshoots.com could very well be the most informative site there is to find archery tournaments in the area you live. You can find just about everything that is happening in the archery world for the entire state of Texas. This site had over 4000 shoots listed in 2007 and promises to be just as busy in ‘08.

“Many bow shops that have an indoor range will have access to a 3-D course,” said Glynn Walker of Fannett, former owner of Trophy Hunter’s Archery. “The best thing you can do is to contact your pro shop and ask what group they recommend. You will be surprised how many little local leagues are out there that offer great, fun competition.”

He is one of those game magnets I was talking about, and much of his success hails from year-round practice.

That seems be a running theme, and it’s one that has inspired this bowhunter to stay in the field whether I am pursuing deer made of foam rubber or flesh and bone.

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HEN THE USTS TEXAS CLIPPER FINALLY plunged beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico in a plume of spray at 12:35 p.m. November 17, it is fair to say the mood aboard many of the boats chartered to observe the sinking was euphoric.

More than $4 million and a decade of planning and preparation had gone into converting the storied ship into an artificial reef, and the sinking itself was twice delayed in that final week due to rough seas.

The reef is intended to provide benefits to the local community by attracting divers and recreational fishing to the site and the area.

Nearly 200 people viewed the ship as she took her final resting place that will provide ecological benefits for years to come.

A sonar survey and follow-up dives revealed that the ship is resting on her port side. The intention was for the ship to rest on its keel and in an upright position. In that orientation, it would be available to a broad range of divers, from beginners to the experienced.

“The ship, as she now sits on the bottom, will still have some of the biological benefits to corals, sponges, fishes, and other organisms as originally intended,” TPWD Artificial Reef Program Coordinator Dale Shively said. “We certainly wished that she had landed upright because that would have maximized the recreational benefits of the ship to the fishing and diving communities.”

TPWD is currently working with the contractor, Resolve Marine Services, Inc., to reposition the ship to an upright position.

The USTS Texas Clipper reefing project was funded from donations to the artificial reef fund from the Rigs-to-Reefs program, and through matching funds from the U.S. Fish

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PHOTO COURTESY OF TEXAS CLIPPER

Texas Clipper Reef on Its Side, Not Its Keel, as Planned The USTS Texas Clipper was scuttled on Nov. 17, northeast of South Padre Island. and Wildlife Service and the United States Maritime Administration, which will allow the state to recoup about $2.5 million of the project cost.

The USTS Texas Clipper reef site is approximately 17 nautical miles (19.5 statute miles) northeast of South Padre Island. A yellow lighted spar buoy is connected to the bow of the ship, which rests at latitude 26 11’ 24.31646”, longitude -96 51’ 41.16392” (NAD 83). The stern of the ship rests at latitude 26 11’ 28.8.828”, longitude -96 51’ 42.56449”.

Source of Bay Polution Found The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a close look at an old paper mill on the San Jacinto River east of Houston.

The agency and U.S. Congressman Gene Green are concerned the waste pits on the property have allowed harmful and potentially cancer-causing dioxins to flow toward Galveston Bay. Due to the severity of the problem, EPA officials are considering turning the pits into a Superfund site.

“This is a major step toward really getting the river cleaned up,” Rep. Green (D-Texas) said in an official statement. “I’ve been working with the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality [TCEQ] to get to this point when the source of the dioxin was discovered.”

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2007, Green and Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) asked the EPA to designate the waste pits a Superfund site, and in July, the State of Texas added its name to the request.

“The San Jacinto River has been a part life for folks in that area long before the Texas Revolution,” Poe said. “Cleaning it up for future generations must take a top priority. I am very pleased that the EPA has recognized the need to do so, and I will continue to work closely with Congressman Green to see that we do everything possible to get the federal assistance needed to clean it up.”

The Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) has a standing warning against consuming fishes caught in the area, extending from the Houston Ship Channel and upper Galveston Bay area due to the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs. This potential Superfund site is likely the source of that contamination.

The waters affected by this advisory include portions of upper Galveston Bay, Tabbs Bay, San Jacinto Bay, Black Duck Bay, Scott Bay, Burnett Bay, and Barbours Cut, and encompasses approximately 33 square miles out of a total Galveston Bay ecosystem area of approximately 600 square miles.

This area is popular in the summer for producing big trout over spoils in the ship channel.

TDSHS officials said they recommend eating no more than 8 ounces per month of fish caught from the identified waters.

“Women who are pregnant or nursing, or

who may become pregnant, and children should not eat any of the fish. A 1990 advisory still in effect applies the same consumption advice to catfish and blue crabs from the same area.” —Chester Moore

increase from seven boats last year to 22 boats this year, a 68 percent increase.

“One factor at work here is the TPWD shrimp license buyback program, which is nearing our goals in the program,” said TPWD Coastal Fisheries Division Director Larry McKinney, PhD. “Other factors obviously contributing to the reduction in shrimping effort seen is the continued low shrimp prices and the higher costs for fuel.”

2007 Shrimp Boat Counts Lowest on CBGA Examining Record Coastal Issues

Last year was a bad one for shrimping effort on the Texas coast. Aerial counts of bay and bait shrimp boats working the Texas coast took place last summer after the commercial shrimp season opened. A total of 180 boats were counted coast-wide, the lowest number since TPWD began opening day surveys in 1994. In 2006, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) coastal fisheries officials counted 213 boats active on opening day for the 2006 fall season. Galveston Bay showed a decrease from 122 boats last year to 91 boats this year, a 25 percent decline.

In contrast, Corpus Christi Bay showed an

The Coastal Bend Guide’s Association (CBGA) is taking a hard look at some of the pressing and controversial issues facing the Texas coast.

“We’re trying to upgrade the professionalism of guides on the coast within our own ranks, as well as working to make sure the coastal resources we enjoy now will be enjoyed by our children and their children in the future,” said CBGA President Capt. Tom Hall.

Hall said a key issue now is working to

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open fish passes along the coast: “There are lots of fish passes that are closed now that we need to look at opening back up. This is something that affects many areas of the coast, and if the general public really knew how many areas were shut off now, they would probably be shocked.”

Capt. Mike Caserta, a CBGA board member, said he presented evidence to TPWD and other agencies in a recent meeting in Rockport, showing that the closing of fish passes has limited the spawning potential for redfish: “They spawn in the nearshore Gulf, and if there are a limited number of places the offspring can get inshore, then it could possibly limit populations.”

Other issues being looked at including regulation compliance stickers for guides so TPWD wardens would not have to take the time to check for them; for safety rules like the number of life vests, etc. due to a guarantee of compliance; the croaker issue; and plans to restrict shark and triggerfish harvest.

For more information on CBGA, go to http://cbga.org. —Chester Moore

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Habanero Glazed High-Flying Quail UAIL HUNTING IN SOUTH TEXAS THIS season might be the best in several years. With the wet spring and summer we experienced, there have been plenty of insects, which are crucial to the nutritional health of chicks. The undergrowth has created good cover for a bumper crop of hatches, producing a great comeback year.

If you go bird hunting, don’t forget your snake leggings because we have seen a bumper crop of rattlers, too. The odds are low for encountering one in January, but it is

The Glaze 1 dried ancho pepper stemmed, seeded, and chopped

For the Brine Add 1/2 cup sea salt to 1/2 gallon of ice water in a large bowl. Submerge the quail in the ice water. Allow meat to sit for 1-2 hours. Pour off water and rinse the meat again with cold water.

PHOTO BY JIM OLIVE

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South Texas, after all.

I created this recipe several years ago, and it has been enjoyed on many ranches and in several gourmet restaurants. I hope you enjoy it as well.

This recipe is for 12-18 quail. Be sure to pluck, clean, and rinse well. Check for pellets.

1/2 jar Texas Gourmet Habanero Pepper Jelly 16 oz. can chicken broth 3 Tbs fresh cilantro 4 Tbs honey 2 cloves garlic 1 Tbs black pepper 1 Tbs soy sauce 2 Tbs lime juice 2 oz. Gold tequila (substitute apple juice) 2 tsp. olive oil cooking spray (Pam Olive Oil)

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Place the ancho pepper into a saucepan with the chicken broth, garlic, and cilantro; bring to a boil and cook 5-7 minutes.

Remove from heat, scoop out ingredients with a slotted spoon, and place into a blender with 1 cup of the liquid. Blend until all the chunks are gone and the mixture is smooth.

Return to the saucepan and place on low heat. Add the Habanero Jelly, honey, and remaining ingredients. Heat for 8-10 minutes over medium-high heat to allow flavors to blend, then bring to a good boil. Add the tequila and ignite the mixture with a match or long handled lighter (be careful, and use a long-handled spoon as well). Stir down while on boil until the flame goes away, then remove from heat.

Spray the quail with Pam or rub down with olive oil. Place the quail on a pre-heated grill indirectly over fire (mesquite or charcoal) skin side up. Cook with the lid closed or cover with an aluminum pan. Baste with the glaze mixture, turning every 3-5 minutes, basting as you turn. Cook for about

Chef Slaven with one of the perils of early season quail hunting in South Texas.

12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Don’t overcook. Remove from grill and rest the meat by covering with a foil tent for approximately 8-10 minutes.

Be sure and check out our website at www.thetexasgourmet.com for other wild game and spicy food recipes, and our fine family of products. Call us at 888-2347883.

Contact Bryan Slaven, "The Texas Gourmet," at 888-234-7883, www.thetexasgourmet.com; or by NEW EMAIL at texas-tasted@fishgame.com.

PHOTO BY JIM OLIVE

Preparation

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TEXAS SALTWATER

PORT ARANSAS

GALVESTON

First Redfi sh Akins Salt water Gu ide Servic e

For Classified Rates and Information call Samantha at 1-800-750-4670, ext. 5599.

TEXAS FRESHWATER t First Trou ter Guide Service wa Akins Salt

BAFFIN BAY CORPUS CHRISTI

ROCKPORT Dave Morr isey Striper Striper Ex press

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ADVERTISERS, MAIL IN YOUR PHOTOS TODAY! 2 0 0 8 /

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Chris Carey Striper Striper Express Guide Service

Captain Hugo Ford 29-inch Trout rvice Hugo Ford Guide Se

TEXAS FRESHWATER

OUTDOOR SHOPPER

Kevin Barenberg Russian Boar Hog rs White Oak Outfitte

OUTDOOR SHOPPER

LAKE TEXOMA

LAKE AMISTAD

TEXAS HUNTING

COLORADO

OUTDOOR SHOPPER

For Classified Rates and Information call Samantha at 1-800-750-4670, ext. 5599.

SPOTLIGHT: STRIPER EXPRESS “Welcome to Striper Express!” is the greeting you’ll receive the minute you board one of the Striper Express boats. For owners and pro-guides Bill and Chris Carey, friendliness and professionalism are not just words; they are a way of life. For the past 23 years, Striper Express Guide Service has been offering first-class fishing for striped bass on Lake Texoma.

“We sell fun!” states the father and son team. Our slogan is, “Every Trip is an Adventure!”

Lake Texoma boasts twice the state limit for striped bass at 10 fish per person. The lake is located on the TexasOklahoma border just 75 miles north of Dallas. This 90,000 acre impoundment is a fisherman’s dream come true.

We asked Bill and Chris what are their most memorable moments and without hesitation they both stated, “It’s the kids! They are our future fishermen!”

If you would like to book a guided fishing trip on Lake Texoma, call Bill or Chris Carey at Striper Express Guide Service. You can get in on the “striper success,” too. The toll free number is: 877-786-4477 or visit their website at www.striperexpress.com. —The Striper Express Team A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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TROUT—LOWER LAGUNA MADRE, TEXAS

REDFISH—SURFSIDE JETTY, TEXAS

Joe Chaney of Lolita, Texas, caught and released his personal best trout while fishing with friends in Lower Laguna Madre. The fish was 28-3/4 inches and weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces and was caught just before an approaching front, using a corky devil in pearl/chartreuse.

James Dedman of Houston, Texas, is showing off a 43-inch redfish, one of three that he caught at the Surfside Jetty. The smallest of the three was 38 inches. In addition, he also caught 6 Spanish mackerel, an 8-pound gafftop, and a 3-1/2-foot black tip shark. All were successfully released.

TROUT—NUECES BAY, TEXAS

BUCK—VICTORIA COUNTY, TEXAS

Todd McMillin of Corpus Christi, Texas, caught this 25-inch trout on artificial bait in Nueces Bay. The trout was one of six fish caught on the same trip to make a nice stringer.

Morgann Zimmer, age 16, of Victoria, Texas, Jerrod Young, age 15, caught this 26-inch carp bagged her first deer at Martin Lake Ranch in Vic- while fishing in the San Marcos River. toria County while hunting with her Pampy. The deer was an 8-point buck, weighing 120 pounds, field dressed, and was shot at 175 yards.

SEND YOUR PHOTOS TO: C78

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TF&G PHOTO ALBUM 1745 Greens Road Houston, Texas 77032 OR BY EMAIL: photos@fishgame.com

CARP—SAN MARCOS RIVER, TEXAS

PLEASE INCLUDE NAME, HOMETOWN, WHEN & WHERE CAUGHT, SIZE AND WEIGHT

Note: All non-digital photos submitted become the property of Texas Fish & Game and will not be returned. TF&G makes no guarantee when or if any submitted photo will be published.

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REDFISH—FREEPORT, TEXAS

BUCK—STEPHENS COUNTY, TEXAS

REDFISH—GALVESTON BAY, TEXAS

Hunter Pike, age 6, caught this bull redfish out of Tyler Killgore, age 14, of Burleson, Texas, shot his Sarah Bingham of Friendswood, Texas, caught this Freeport. The red was almost as big as he was! first deer on a youth weekend in Stephens County. 27-inch, 7-pound redfish in Galveston Bay. This field-dressed 10-pointer weighed 155 pounds.

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