March 2008 by Texas Fish & Game

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

P R O D U C T I O N

JIMMY BORNE ART DIRECTOR

LINDSAY WHITMAN

• GRAPHIC ARTIST

A D V E R T I S I N G

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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. Periodical class permit paid at Houston, TX 77267-9946 and at additional mailing offices.

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MARCH 2008 • Volume XXIII • NO.11

BASS SPAWN SECRETS OF THE PROS Fortunately there is no closed season for bass in Texas. There is, however, a Trophy Bass Season. Three pro’s tell how they strike it “bass rich” during the spring spawn.

by Matt Williams

BEACH CLOSED Every foot of beach from Sabine Pass to the Rio Grande (minus the Padre Island National Seashore) is public property. So why are beachfront property owners gaining more and more control over your access to your beaches?

by Paul Bradshaw

WHAT IF THE COMPOUND BOW DIDN’ T EXIST? The primitive longbow was invented before recorded history; the recurve bow dates to the Egyptian empire; and the compound bow less than 40 years ago. What would bowhunting be like if the wheels of invention had stopped before 1969?

by Eric Adams

SIGHT-CASTING WITH BAIT Some days, you can see the fish but they give you the cold shoulder no matter what lure you cast. How does one coastal pro deal with this delimma? Throw them real bait.

by Greg Berlocher

ON THE COVERS: COASTAL: David Christian of LMC Marine in Houston helps Triton Boats rep Larry Puckett land a nice Aransas Bay red. Photo by Bill Olive

INLAND/NORTH: Tournament pro Alton Jones holds a great catch at Fayett County Reservoir. Photo by Jim Olive

ALSO IN MARCH:

FRESHWATER MYTHS

Fishing fact vs. fishing fiction.

BY MATT WILLIAMS

GPS JOURNEY

Getting there is half the fun.

BY TOM BEHRENS

SNORKEL VIEW

Don a dive mask & fins to unmask submerged fishing structure.

BY REAVIS WORTHAM

2008 TURKEY FORECAST Ample rain, bumper crops of acorns and pecans, and good ground cover all combine to build great expectations for the coming spring turkey season. Here’s how the outlook shapes up, by ecological region.

SKINNING CATS

Photo essay on catfish cleaning.

BY MATT WILLIAMS

HANDGUN HUNTING

Great tools for big game sport.

by Bob Hood 4

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BY STEVE LAMASCUS

MARCH 2008 • Volume XXIII • NO.11

COLUMNS 16 Editor’s Notes

56 Texas Bowhunter

Youth Essay Contest

Compound Confusion— The Early Years

by DON ZAIDLE TF&G Editor-in-Chief

by TED NUGENT TF&G Bowhunting Editor

26 Chester’s Notes

74 Texas Freshwater

When Is a Trout a Trophy?

Boats I Have Owned

by CHESTER MOORE TF&G Executive Editor

by MATT WILLIAMS TF&G Freshwater Editor

28 Commentary Elitism Is Killing Us

What Does It Score?

by KENDAL HEMPHILL TF&G Commentator

by PAUL BRADSHAW TF&G Contributing Editor

106 Texas Offshore

The TwentyFifth Bear

Beware the Idles Of March!

by JOE DOGGETT TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

by CAPT. MIKE HOLMES TF&G Associate Offshore Editor

44 Texas Saltwater

110 Open Season

The High Cost Of Distrust

The Monkey Tree

by CALIXTO GONZALES TF&G Saltwater Editor

by REAVIS WORTHAM TF&G Humor Editor

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YOUR LETTERS

BIG BAGS & CATCHES

TF&G REPORT

TROPHY QUEST

104

TFG ON

96 Texas Deer Hunting

30 Doggett at Large

DEPARTMENTS

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CAMPUS

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WINGS OVER TEXAS

REFUGES, NOT PARKING LOTS My husband and I just finished Chester Moore’s Chester’s Notes column in the January 2008 issue of Texas Fish & Game, “Give Me Refuges, Not Parking Lots.” We were very interested in this column because you hit on a hot subject in regards to the recent sale of 1.55 million acres of timberland in East Texas from Temple-Inland to The Campbell Group, and the large timber acquisitions by investment firms. We hunt on a portion of this timberland up near Honey Island, on the Honey Island Hunting Club, with several other members that have been equally concerned about the future of this continuing to be a place to hunt. My husband and I witnessed first hand the destruction of beautiful woods the second weekend of hunting season. He took me to my stand early one morning while still dark, and upon the sun rising, my heart sank when I looked out and saw what you could call a “parking lot” of unwanted timber and big piles of unwanted trees and scrubs all pushed off to the side, where once stood the most beautiful tunnel with trees on both sides. After the hunt we walked around and saw that they had select cut all around my hunting area, up, down and across, leaving big rubbles of broken down trees and debris all up and down my lanes and in between. It was sickening to see all that had been done in a matter of days. As much as we do understand that the timber companies have every right to come in and harvest their crop, we are not quite sure if this was the companies themselves or the investments firms you mentioned in your column. My husband has been on this lease for over 20 years now, and has never seen the timber company come in and leave such undue destruction. I have witnessed the timber companies coming in and clear-cutting an entire section and then come back within 8

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months and replant for new growth, but nothing like was done this year. We and many other hunters on our lease are terribly concerned about the future of hunting, and these timberlands not only for us, but for our grandchildren that we bring up and teach about the outdoors, camping, and hunting. Any light you can shine on this subject is greatly appreciated. We hear only rumors of what is to be, and would like to come out of the dark and find out what is really happening. We don’t know if we should be concerned enough to be looking elsewhere for a place to hunt, or just wait it out and see what happens. We don’t want to loose our woods, and hopefully your column will be an eye opener to those that matter the most. Emily & Ronnie Fleming Crosby, TX I just got a copy of your magazine today at Gander Mountain in Tyler, and read Chester Moore’s editorial about refuges. This really strikes home for two reasons. One that few people oppose the Neches River Refuge is for the same reason Chester did at first—not wanting the federal government to own land in Texas. I put it to those folks this way: Some government entity is going to own the Neches River bottom— probably the feds with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or City of Dallas Water Utilities (Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority). Which would you rather have own it—USFWS that would try to improve it and allow public utilization, or destroyed with a dam and a reservoir by Dallas Water Utilities? For me, the answer is an easy one. I recently had the benefit of hunting on a National Wildlife Refuge. I had no idea you addressed this in your editorial until I read it today. I was drawn to hunt on the Hagerman NWR near Sherman in November 2007. The hunt was a wonderful utilization of federal land for the public. In the proposal for the Neches River

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Refuge, hunting along with many other public usages is listed to occur with the development of the Neches River Refuge. Thank you for your insight on this issue, which has not had much representation and needed to be brought to the attention of the public. Michael Banks Via email I hunt public land almost exclusively, and I find access to National Wildlife Refuges extremely easy. I am totally unacquainted with Chester Moore’s experience that “...hunting is restricted and made extremely difficult at the majority of national wildlife refuges.” My experience with Texas NWRs is easy access. Thanks to Texas Fish & Game for your great magazine! I love it! Dan Carlson Austin, TX Thank you for your great editorial supporting the Neches River National Wildlife Refuge. Once lost, it could never be found, and I truly appreciate your attention to such a worthy project. Joe Anna Arnett Via email Thank you for your recent editorial in support of the Neches River National Wildlife Refuge. Many people have fought long and hard to keep this piece of Texas wildland intact. We appreciate your support. Kenneth & Sarah Welch Rusk, TX

VOTES FOR NO. 2 “BRUSH COUNTRY PLAYER” Editor’s Note: Joe Doggett’s Doggett at Large column in the January issue asked readers to nominate their picks for “No. 2

Brush Country Player.” These are a fewof the responses. I think that the No. 2 Brush Country Player should be the horny toad. Jason Carter Via email Please consider the horned toad as a candidate for the No. 2 spot on your “Top 10 Brush Country Players.” As you are aware, it used to be commonplace to see horny toads while walking the Brush Country in the 1960s and 70’s. Now days, it is a great occasion to see one. Charles H. Mikolajczyk Jr. San Antonio, TX I vote for the porcupine for No. 2 Player. These critters are beautiful and can get very big. This world would not be the same without these beautiful, unique critters. Please don’t listen to all the hunters that vote for the feral hog. While hogs are fun to hunt, they are devastating to native species. A part of me is glad that feral hogs are there for us to hunt, but my common sense screams that feral hogs will likely ruin hunting as we know it, and that they should be exterminated to the extent possible. Dan Carlson Austin, TX I enjoyed Joe Doggett’s column in the January issue, and I agree that without any one of the “Brush Country Players,” the Brush Country would never be the same. My pick for No. 2 is the roadrunner. When this member of the cuckoo family cocks his head to one side, looks up at me in my blind, and raises his crest, it is a special moment. Edwin Pharis New Braunfels, TX

BOWHUNTING TECH IS GREAT I just picked up a copy of the January issue at Academy last night and loved the

new bowhunting column, Bowhunting Tech, in the also-new Trophy Fever section. I loved Mr. Marullo’s column on winter bowhunting, and appreciate his fresh approach to bowhunting. Double kudos! Rick Courtney Via email

NUGE CHRISTMAS BUCK After reading Ted Nugent’s column, “My Christmas Eve Buck,” in the December 2007 issue, I must write you to say how impressed I was. I have appreciated Ted from as far back as “Journey to the Center of the Mind,” but have a newfound appreciation for him as a person after reading this column. I also love the thrill of the hunt, as I am a product of the great whitetail of East Texas. I grew up in Beaumont, but now call Austin home. I work as a paramedic for the City of Austin and see some of the best—and the worst—in people. I am surrounded by people who are so ungrateful for everything in life, and it makes me sad. I truly appreciate Ted’s obvious respect for our Creator through whom all things are possible. I also wanted to thank him for his recognition of our troops that defend us and provide us the ability to live in such a great country. Next month, my family will mourn the one-year anniversary of my cousin’s combat death in Iraq, but we will also celebrate the gift of freedom that his spilled blood has provided us. Thanks to Ted for his stance, as I know it mustn’t be easy to be a legendary rocker and love the Lord. Long live the hunt. Jeb Hurt Austin, TX I just had the blessing of putting my 9year-old son to bed. Earlier in the day, he requested that I read him Ted Nugent’s column, “My Christmas Eve Buck,” so it was our bedtime story. I have always respected his views and incredible ability to articulate. I was anticipating a great description of his hunting experience that Christmas Eve, and although he did a good job with the description of his bone-chilling hunt (he is a

Madman—30 below wind chill), my son and I were both moved by the true spiritual tone of his column. My son is currently learning to hunt whitetail. He has killed his first doe and spike this year, and has an insatiable appetite for hunting. Just this weekend, we discussed the importance of respect for the animals and nature. For me, it is quite possibly the best time for teaching and loving a child. My dad shared with me, and I now share with my son. The challenges and ups and downs of this sport certainly allow virtues to develop in a young man. We too take time for prayer and thanking the Lord for our blessings, whether we bag a buck or not. Ted’s writing reached a great 9-year-old and his father and mother tonight. Thank you for taking the time to honor our Lord with you column. God bless the Nugent family and may their Christmas traditions grow stronger every year. Rob Anderson Fair Oaks Ranch, TX

KUDOS FOR CHESTER & TED Being a teacher, an outdoorsman, and a new outdoor columnist for our local paper, I cannot give enough praise to Chester Moore and Ted Nugent for their awesome columns in the December issue. We are lucky to have both of these men on our side, and I am particularly proud of Chester Moore, who is from our area of the state. Ted Nugent has held his position through criticism and the 1960s, when he could have fallen victim to drugs the way scores of other rock musicians did. And yes, Uncle Ted, we all need to remember Christ this Christmas. Their columns hit more bulls-eyes than you find in Guns-n...that other magazine. Bob Smith Thicket, Texas

WATERFOWL MEMORY I was at a conference this summer for English teachers, and our writing assign-

ment was to recall a special memory. Duck hunting was the memory of choice, but I was unable to narrow down my recollections. In much anticipation of what was then the upcoming season, I drifted down the muddy sloughs in my mind. I even surprised myself. In my mind, morning revives my spirit, and another day of pursuing my passion begins. Morning begins with the moonlight flickering from the water’s surface. The clanking of plastic, the splash of water, the silence of anticipation. As the water reflects the moon’s light, eerie shadows creep across our pothole. Tricks of the mind are played and quickly forgotten. The dank grass envelops my equipment; a stray hen skirts across the water’s surface and everything stops, including my heart. In the distance, the sun slips from its bed, continually unnoticed as the “others” circle, whistle, and cup. Morning, like feathers, will rain down from the heavens shortly. As the last preparations are made, I settle into the grass, the hum of mosquitoes in my ears. The water seems to soak into my skin, but truly, it permeates from the inside. The sawgrass and cattails sway in the breeze that wafts my spirit across the marsh. The stale water of microorganisms, aquatic plants, and feathered memories turn the stomachs of most, but sweetly fills my nostrils with the aroma of life. As the darkness lightens, the pond is active, as is my soul. A duck hunter knows only one sunrise and one sunset on Earth. The sunrise is his first duck, and the sunset his last. All the other sunrises and sunsets only occupy the time and present him with memories. For the duck hunter, duck season never ends; it is firmly planted in the muck and the mud, the black cauldron of soupy gumbo that protects his soul and his memory from the fading effects of time.” Anyway, just thought you might be interested. I knew at the very least, you could appreciate the memory. What a way to live! T.C. Landry Nederland, TX

Youth Essay Contest Y EARLIEST CHILDHOOD MEMORIES involve my family’s fishing camp on Lake Bridgeport, and hunting with my grandfather. In my pre-pubescent years, I devoured with unrestrained voracity the monthly infusion of outdoorsmanship in the hallowed pages of Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, and Sports Afield magazines. By age 12, my boyhood ambition was to be an outdoor writer; Jack O’Connor, Russell Annabel, and Russell Tinsley (the latter a long-time contributor to and one of the founders of this magazine, whose death many—including Yours Truly—still mourns) et al were my heroes. Like most childhood vocational aspirations (usually—at least among my generation—of cowboy, astronaut, policeman, or fireman), mine went unfulfilled. However, after years of jobs as a garbage man, soldier, truck driver, security guard, private investigator, electronics technician, and electronics test engineering consultant, I realized that boyhood dream of being an outdoor writer was still alive. I bought books, learned all I could about the industry, and started writing and photographing. Slowly, I started selling stories and photos to magazines and developing a reputation. I achieved my goal of having stories published in all of the “Big Three” outdoors magazines (Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, and Sports Afield) and, ultimately, wound up as editor of this magazine. My colleague, Chester Moore, executive editor of this magazine, had similar aspirations at age 16, and won the now defunct TPWD Wildlife Expo Essay Contest at age 18, thus launching his outdoor writing career. Anyone who reads this magazine obviously has a passionate interest in the outdoors, and many harbor a desire—open or secret—to become a chronicler of their own adventures, accrued knowledge or insight, or those of others. To that end, in the interest of encouraging

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participation in the outdoor writing vocation, we announce in this issue the First Annual Texas Fish & Game/Outdoor Texas Camp Essay Contest. The contest is open to youths age 11-17. The rules are simple: Write a 1000-word essay on what the outdoors means to you, and why. Entries will be judged by Texas Fish & Game staff. In the event of a tie, Texas Outdoor Camp owner/director David Todd will cast the deciding vote. Persons employed by Texas Fish & Game, its vendors, and advertisers or family members thereof are not eligible. Entries sent via email must be received no later than midnight May 1, 2008; entries sent via U.S. Postal Service mail must be postmarked no later than midnight May 1. Entries submitted electronically (via email or a postal mailed CD) must be in MS Word or plain text (ASCII) format. Hard copy entries must be neatly typed, double-spaced, on 20-pound or better bond paper. First prize is a scholarship to the winner’s choice of the Texas Outdoor Fishing Camp or Hunting Camp, valued at $1000. The camps are held at Stoney Creek Ranch, a full-service facility near Columbus, Texas. Camp dates are: Fishing, June 8-14 and July 20-26; Hunting, June 15-21 and July 27-August 2. Second and third place prizes of a nature and value yet undetermined will also be awarded. All entries become the property of Texas Fish & Game Publishing, LLC. Winning entries will be published in Texas Fish & Game magazine at a time and in a manner at its management’s sole discretion. Other entries might be similarly published. The Texas Outdoor Camps are not the typical “summer camp” experience. Fishing Camp activities include: Coastal Fishing - Provides instruction on Texas bay systems, seasons of the year, live and artificial baits, why fish do what they do, fishing from a boat, wade-fishing, surf- and pier-fishing, needed equipment, Texas rules and regulations, and more. Fly-Fishing - This includes fly-casting, fly presentation, reading the water, when to fish and where (fresh- and saltwater), equipment, and great places to fish with public access. Fly Tying - An abundance of fly tying F i s h

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equipment and supplies in conjunction with professional instruction teaches campers how to tie flies. Bait- & Spin-Casting - Each camper will learn the techniques, dos and don’ts, and when to use bait- or spin-casting. Cane-Pole Fishing - Campers get back to the basics with this camp favorite. Camping, Survival & First Aid - Each camper gains a strong foundation in basic camping skills; what to do if lost, caught in extreme weather, injured, or ill. Kayaking & Boating - The lakes of Stoney Creek Ranch provide the perfect place for hands-on instruction and fun. Hunting Camp activities include: Shotgunning - Multiple instruction sessions with trap, skeet, and sporting clays ensure the success of each and every camper. Predator Calling - A favorite activity, as not many campers have experience with predator calling. Camping, Survival & First Aid / Kayaking & Boating - These activities and training are the same as provided to Fishing Camp attendees. Riflery & Archery - In-depth instruction helps improve skills while ensuring safety, taught with the goal of achieving hunting expertise. Bird Hunting - Instruction covering duck, quail, dove, goose, and turkey hunting, including locations, techniques, equipment, and calling. Laser Shot - This is a great indoor activity for the campers used extensively in shotgun and rifle training. The camp tournaments are a huge favorite. Further information is available from: Texas Outdoor Camps, David Todd, P.O. Box 2608; Bandera, Texas 78003; phone 830-562-3354, 512-217-1587; www.outdoortexascamp.com. Send email entries to essaycontest@fishgame.com; CD or hard copy submissions to Essay Contest, Texas Fish & Game, 1745 Greens Rd; Houston, TX 77032. E-mail Don Zaidle at editor@fishgame.com

Sparks Fly At Snapper Meeting E

MOTIONS RAN HIGH AND OPINIONS FLEW AT a scoping meeting regarding offshore saltwater fishing regulations held January 10 in Port Isabel. “Some of us have spent 50 years working so we can come down here and fish. If you take away red snapper, we have no reason [to come down here]. You’ll be killing tourism, you’ll be killing the state.” Several “Winter Texans” nodded in agreement with Bryan Hendrickson’s sentiments. The group, along with a mix of recre-

ational anglers and charter boat captains, were attending the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) scoping meeting in Port Isabel’s Community Center, and had just listened to TPWD’s Art Morris present a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) petition for the state to modify its bag and size limits for red snapper (currently four fish per person per day, 16-inch minimum length) to match federal limits of two fish and 16-inch minimum length. Other issues were raised, including a fed-

eral petition for certain species of shark in state waters to be placed on a “restricted from harvest” list to protect three endangered species, and a proposal to close state waters to commercial menhaden harvest. But the issue that elicited the most response was the snapper petition. The NMFS stock assessments of Gulf red snapper lists the species as “over-fished” and states a targeted recovery date for the fishery of 2032. As part of that recovery plan, according to Morris, NMFS submit-

BIG BAGS & CATCHES

BLACK DRUM—Matagorta Bay

EASTERN TURKEY—Snow, Oklahoma

CATFISH—King Point Lake

Ten-year-old Fabian Billings of Round Rock, Texas, caught and released this 37-inch black drum while fishing with guide, Clay Naumann, in Matagorta Bay.

After taking many rio grandes in South Texas, Cecil Smith of Rockport is halfway to a U.S. grand slam with this 23-pound Eastern taken in Snow, Oklahoma. He plans on a Merriam’s next year and an Osceola the year after.

Matt Middlebrooks caught this 28.2pound, 39-inch catfish on the Kings Point Lake (pond). Matt will not divulge what kind of bait he used, but his friend guesses hotdogs, stinky liver or a flying wood roach.

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ted a petition to TPWD to change the bag limits for red snapper in state waters (from shore to nine nautical miles out). The red snapper stocks in state water are considered part of the general red snapper biomass in the Gulf of Mexico, and are thus considered part of the over-fished population. Morris said that Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have all adjusted bag limits accordingly. “Texas and Florida are the lone holdouts,” Morris said. Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) Texas chapter chairman Jim Smarr expressed the hope that the state will continue to maintain control of the state snapper fishery. “Texas has done an excellent job managing red snapper, and there is no need to buckle to the Feds,” said Smarr, who attended all four meetings, including Port Arthur, Dickenson, and Port Aransas. “The numbers of red snapper in Texas waters has grown and continues to grow. Any restriction on the size and bag limits is uncalled for.” TPWD trawl studies confirm that assertion, as the numbers in the 0 to 1 age group of snapper has grown over the past several years. The result of the increase, according to several members of the audience, has been an abundance of red snapper wherever there is structure. “Within a week of the Texas Clipper being sunk [just outside of state waters], divers said there were snapper on it,” according to Captain Tony Dunkin. “We tried trolling over it for kingfish, and we couldn’t get past all the snapper that were on it.” Several seasonal tourist-anglers (“Winter Texans”) backed up Dunkin’s assertion. “Whenever we get out on a nice day, we always find snapper,” one attendee said. “We used to use a 16-inch board to make sure that our fish were legal. We hardly ever use that board anymore.” Many of the Winter Texans also concurred with Hendrickson’s statement that any reduction of the red snapper bag limit would take away one of the primary incentives for visiting the Texas Gulf Coast. Were that to happen, according to the captains and business owners in the audience, it would impose a substantial economic hardship on communities up and down the coast. Captains were also concerned about the continued reduction of business opportunities. Murphy complained that the federal

list of shark species off-limits to harvest. The list would include blacktip (the most common shark caught in Texas waters), bull, and spinner sharks. The primary purpose of prohibiting harvest of these sharks, according to Morris, was to prevent accidental retention due to misidentification of three federally protected species: porbeagle, sandbar, and dusky sharks. “The feds don’t think that fishermen can tell the difference [between shark species], and to protect the three, they are going to prohibit the other species,” Morris said.

snapper season has been shortened (currently June to October), along with the reduced bag limit. The reduced bag limit in state waters would drive away more clientele. “If that were to happen, we’d all just become part time guides,” ” said charter boat owner Captain Steve Strohmeyer. Smarr said the responsibility for managing Texas red snapper should remain with the citizens of the state of Texas. The other important issue addressed by the scoping meeting concerned another federal petition requesting that TPWD create a

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Of the three protected species, the porbeagle’s range is limited to the North Atlantic and does not extend south of New Jersey. The sandbar and dusky sharks are rarely seen in Texas waters. Many attending the meeting expressed dismay that three of the most popular sharks on the Texas Coast would be made off-limits to protect three species that are unlikely to be caught in Texas. “I like eating blacktip,” one fisherman said. “I’ve never even heard of those other sharks.” Morris also pointed out that the Federal regulations have yet to be published in the Federal Register, and if it isn’t published before the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission meets March 26 and 27, it might not take action on the proposals. “I hope you don’t,” Hendrickson replied. The third regulatory issue discussed at the meeting concerned closing state waters to commercial harvest of Atlantic menhaden.

There was no extensive public comment concerning the issue, although a heated comment erupted between Smarr and representatives of Omega Protein, the sole concern harvesting menhaden on the Texas Coast, concerning the impact of over-harvest of menhaden, and if there was an actual issue of over-harvest. Morris mentioned that the chance of an increase in the harvest of Texas menhaden stocks was problematic because of the cost of obtaining fishing permits for each fishing vessel ($4200 per vessel). Omega Protein’s representatives also said that their Atlantic fleet, which has been relatively inactive since most Atlantic states have imposed a moratorium on menhaden fishing in order to replenish the stocks, would be unable to function on the Texas Coast because of their hull designs, which require deeper water to trawl than can be found on the Texas coast. When asked if they would assure those present at the meeting that Omega Protein

would never consider bringing the Atlantic fleet to Texas, Omega representatives did not answer. Menhaden are considered an important forage and ecological species. As filter feeders, menhaden purify thousands of gallons of seawater per day. Their high oil content and caloric potential make them a vital forage species for redfish, speckled trout, tarpon, kingfish, and other predators. TPWD will consider the proposed regulation changes and then present them to the Commission. After a discussion period, which includes public meetings, the Commission will vote during their March meeting whether to pass or reject the proposed measures. An exclamation by an unidentified person, “We just want to catch fish!” summed up the consensus of meeting attendees. Calixto Gonzales

PHOTO BY CHESTER MOORE

NMFS is pushing for state compliance with federal shark as well as snapper regulations.

Editor’s Note: As this story went to press, the TPW Commission met on January 2223 in Austin to consider staff members’ recommendations on regulation changes. The Commission decided to remove from further consideration both the shark and red snapper petitions. The Commission agreed to possibly revisit the issues should there be a “significant” change at the federal level

CCA Stance on Snapper, Shark Rules Management of the red snapper fishery is arguably the most controversial issue on the Gulf Coast. Recently, when Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials proposed reducing the bag limit in state waters from four fish to two with the goal of matching federal zone regulations, the controversy reached new heights. TPWD Commissioners rejected the proposal for the time being, but there could be similar battles in the future due to the legal complexities of the issue.

Officials with the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) took the position that TPWD should acquiesce to federal requests and mirror their snapper regulations. “It’s not that we think the federal government should be mandating regulations in state waters, but on this particular issue, we do believe Texas should do its part to help restore the fishery,” said CCA Texas Executive Director Robby Byers. Byers said that in 2007, after decades of mismanagement the federal government finally adopted a management plan that could help recover snapper. “There is a real chance here after 20 years to finally do something to restore the snapper population,” he said. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), along with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, has adopted an interim plan that includes a 107-day season with a total allowable catch (TAC) of 6.5 million pounds for both commercial and recreational anglers, reduced from 9.12 million pounds. The plan mandates a reduction in shrimp

by-catch mortality by 74 percent and requires the use of circle hooks and venting devices on all vessels. The plan also lowers the recreational bag limit to two fish with a 16-inch minimum size limit. The commercial fishery was given a 13-inch minimum, which according to NMFS was to reduce the nearly 100-percent mortality in that fishery. “CCA has been involved in the management of red snapper for more than two decades and actively advocated for the conservation measures specified by this management plan. We are calling on the TPWD to do its part and adhere to the federal regulations,” said CCA in an official statement on the issue. When asked if CCA believes the NMFS estimation of snapper numbers are accurate Byers said: “They are the organization we have to work with, and we can either get mad at them and go stomp our feet, or we can find ways to work with them for the benefit of the fishery and the fishermen.” According to NMFS and CCA, the largest contributor to the decline of snapper is by-catch from the shrimping industry. “By-catch represents 82 percent of the mortality, and that comes mainly from juveniles. It took us 20 years to get this addressed, and although shrimping pressure is down due to the effects of the hurricanes in 2005 and other issues, it could come back. We have to address by-catch and shrimping effort to recover this fishery,” Byers said. “Yes, there are other factors, but this is the major one.” One reason many anglers were upset with the idea of going to federal regulations for snapper is that TPWD biologists said the state fishery is in good shape. Public hearings around the state had huge turnouts, with nearly all anglers in attendance against TPWD caving to federal pressures on snapper. Consensus seems to be that, if the state fishery is healthy and shrimping-related bycatch is the biggest problem, why did CCA advocate Texas recreational anglers taking the hit. “The Gulf snapper fishery is managed as a whole, and those fish in state waters don’t just stay there,” Byers said. “They also venture into federal waters and are part of the overall equation. With the changes made last year, we have a real chance to do something

on snapper, and on this specific issue, we believe mirroring federal regulations is the way to go as all states should do their part to restore snapper.” Byers said the current system allows commercial snapper anglers to sell their quota allotments to others in the business. In three years, however, it will be open to the free market, and CCA has designs on using that to aid the recreational fishery. “We would like to use that opportunity to buy some of those quotas from commercial

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snapper fishermen to add to the recreational side. That could be a very beneficial thing,” Byers said. TPWD also considered matching state shark regulations to those in federal waters, but tabled that proposal as well. “We believe there is no science to show recreational anglers are causing problems in the shark fishery, so regulations should stay as they are in Texas,” Byers said. —Chester Moore

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T SOME POINT, CATCHING A 30-INCH SPECKled trout became the benchmark for saltwater angling success. A 28-incher might be big, but not until an angler reaches the big “three-oh” does he truly catch a trophy. These, of course, are not official rules of any kind, and I personally consider them ridiculous, but there is a large enough contingent of people who think that way to make them influential with those who make fish and game laws. All of the commotion about banning live croaker as bait and cutting size and bag limits is about producing the elusive 30-incher, and its even more prestigious larger kin. There are people in Texas right now who would support anything from a one-fish bag limit to artificial-only for trout if it meant they could catch more “trophy” trout. Some of them want to do so to impress friends, outdo fellow fishing guides, or just to achieve personal goals. Whatever the reasons, this obsession is real. Looking back, it is difficult to discern where it all began, but I believe it was around the time redfish recovered from years of over harvest and catching a limit of them became commonplace. Trout have always been an important species, but not until the 1990s did they become the be-all, end-all of Texas saltwater fishing for many. The creation of speckled trout series tournament fishing combined with the advent of the internet and the phenomenon of online fishing communities sped the process along at a breakneck page in the late 90s.

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The “record book or bust” mentality of deer hunting has filtered down into coastal fishing.

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When is a Trout a Trophy?

Here we are now with speckled trout related controversies popping up along the coast every couple of years, and with the spirit of fishing being broken by a measuring tape. The bottom line is that the “record book or bust” mentality of whitetail deer hunting has filtered down into the coastal fishing scene via speckled trout. Whereas it was once pretty cool to bag an “eight-pointer,” now many hunters have to attach a Boone & Crockett score to their kills to justify its value to their buddies. The danger in this push is that it has caused deer hunting prices to soar beyond the reach of the average hunter in many areas, and while trophy trout mania is not likely to make fishing more expensive, it has already made it more complicated.

That is a not problem for someone like me who is fortunate enough to be able to fish anywhere he wants in Texas, or for those who can afford $50,000 bay boats and the luxury of time to pursue their angling dreams. It will, however, affect entry-level anglers and those who simply want to catch a mess of fish without having to jump hurdles of red tape. At what point do fishing regulations change from being conservation measures with legitimate resource protection in mind to being ways to tweak a fishery to produce a few more “trophy” fish? That is a question that can be asked of several of the key fishing issues going on along the Texas coast right now. F i s h

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Perhaps more importantly, if we start producing more 30-inchers to the point of them becoming commonplace, what is the next benchmark—33 inches, 36? We are already seeing whitetail deer selectively bred and their genetic potential bought and sold on the market. On top of that, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has announced they have a goal of producing the world record largemouth bass in Texas, and they are using genetic research conducted through the ShareLunker program to achieve this. Is a world record speckled trout far behind, and if so, how will it affect regulations? These are difficult questions and ones those of us who support true conservation (the wise use of resources) will have to answer them in the near future. I love to catch speckled trout, and I really love to catch big speckled trout, but the day I start measuring fishing success with a yardstick alone is the day I pack up my rod and reels for good. Fishing is about more than that. People should not confuse their personal aspirations to catch huge trout or whatever species they desire with the hopes and dreams of all anglers. Everyone has a different reason for fishing, and none of them are wrong. However, creating laws to cater to the obsessions of a few while the many suffer is absolutely wrong, and so is creating a dockside atmosphere that says only trophies count. What does that say to the kid who caught his first legal speck, or the father who is proud to put his son or daughter on a limit of keepers? That is a question we all need to ask as the age of the trophy trout rolls along and has the potential to see great things happen, or through the prism of history, becomes an example of how not to manage a fishery and the people who pursue it.

E-mail Chester Moore at cmoore@fishgame.com

UR RANKS ARE SHRINKING. NO ONE CAN tell us exactly how many hunters and anglers there are in the United States, but by looking at the numbers of licenses sold annually, we can easily discern that fewer people in America are going afield in these pursuits every year. Barring the unlikely possibility that more and more outdoorsmen choose to hunt and fish illegally, we have to accept that our already small minority is growing gradually, but continually, smaller. We can look at this situation in one of two basic ways: On one hand, the fact there are fewer people out there allows more room, and maybe easier access, for those of us who still enjoy the outdoors. This might be true in the short term, but it will come back to haunt us down the road, because of what’s on the other hand. The fewer of us there are, the smaller our voice. The smaller our voice, the less our opinions are heard. The less our opinions are heard, the more likely our representatives are to listen to those who view our outdoor activities as unnecessary, or even detrimental to the environment. The bottom line is that we need one another, now more than ever before. This might be difficult for some of us to accept, but if you happen to be a staunch lure fisherman, you need the guy who fishes with nothing but croaker and minnows. If you are a bowhunter who doesn’t even own a gun, you need the fellow who shoots deer with a .50 BMG, a semi-automatic military style black rifle, or a crossbow. If you

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If you believe hunting deer over a corn feeder negates fair chase, don’t do it—but please don’t berate the fellow who does.

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Elitism Is Killing Us

bowhunt with only a longbow or recurve, you need the woman who hunts with the latest compound bow adorned with every gadget imaginable. If you are a fly-fisher and never put anything in the water you didn’t tie yourself, you need the kid down the bank sliding earthworms onto his barbed hook. We all need one another. Anti-hunters, regardless of what we sometimes think of them, are not stupid. They know the easiest way to defeat us is to turn us against ourselves. Anti-hunters started the fight between rifle hunters and bowhunters several years ago, spreading rumors among

rifle hunters that bowhunting was inhumane, and seeding thoughts among archers that rifle hunters were unskilled and lazy. That war fizzled out, but if the antis can find any chink in our armor, any Achilles heel, they will exploit it. This is why we need to avoid elitism at all costs. Part of the problem, however, is that few of us think of ourselves as elitists. Everyone believes his or her opinions are correct, and most of us are less tolerant than we would like to think. I once met a man at a sportsman’s event who was a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation. He was one of the most friendly, intelligent, personable people I have ever encountered. Hunting turkey was a passion for this guy. We got along fine until I F i s h

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mentioned shooting a turkey with a rifle while deer hunting, and then the climate changed drastically. This fellow believed the only way to hunt turkeys was with a shotgun, and only during the spring season. Suddenly, I was a criminal in his eyes. Just about every aspect of hunting and fishing is susceptible to this kind of elitism. Fly-fishermen might look down their noses at bait-casters, who might disparage live bait fishermen, and on and on, ad nauseum. Boaters might feel superior to shore fishermen, and just about everyone can find a barefoot kid with a cane pole to talk down to. This intolerance, of course, goes both ways. And no matter where we find ourselves on the scale, there is probably someone who thinks we are doing it wrong, hunting or fishing unethically, messing things up for the future. While we point to what we know is the real problem, so is someone else—and they are pointing at us. During the past several years, a great deal of ink has been used to point out the problem of our shrinking numbers, and to offer such solutions as introducing others, especially women and children, to hunting and fishing. Fine and good, but if we bring others into an environment of elitism and finger pointing, we are doing them, and ourselves, a disservice. Ethics are largely personal, and we should all live by our conscience without attempting to impose our opinions on others. If you believe hunting deer over a corn feeder negates fair chase, don’t do it—but please don’t berate the fellow who does. As Jesus pointed out in Matthew 12, a house divided against itself cannot stand. Elitism has no place in the future of our outdoors. More importantly, our outdoors has no future in elitism.

E-mail Kendal Hemphill at commentary@fishgame.com

The TwentyFifth Bear LASKA DURING EARLY SEPTEMBER CAN POSE many surprises. The first during an afternoon on “Dream Stream” was a magnificent 28-inch rainbow trout that swirled and struck as my egg-imitation bead drifted across a gravel shelf. The second was the astonishing fact that I did not “ham hand” the sudden hit by snapping the 6-pound tippet. The rod bent and line raced smoothly behind the leaping fish. The run carried around an alder-choked bend. I scrambled through the knee-deep flow and held the rod high—and faced the third rapid-fire surprise. A brown bear was grubbing along “my” bank 50 yards downstream. The ponderous sow halted and stared. The beady eyes were framed in a wide face that seemed as wide as a trash can lid. “Hey, bear!” I yelled, waving the rod and a free hand. “Go on, bear!” The bear lumbered and swayed into the green brush. During the confrontation, the unattended rainbow shook free. Normally, I would be extremely aggravated over losing an “upper 20,” but the charged excitement diminished the angling aspects of the incident. I was reeling in the backing when Tyler, the fishing guide, pushed around the corner. “Heard you yelling,” he said. “How close this time?” “Too close—but it took off like all the rest.” He studied his watch. “Speaking of taking off, we need to get moving. We’ve got a long walk and less than 30 minutes to reach the float plane.” Tyler and I had wandered farther than intended, following the sparkling runs and pools stacked with big rainbows, and the fastest way back was through a terrible tangle of alders. Narrow bear trails beaten through

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the high grass and green gloom were the only practical way to commute. The canopied paths were greasy with the remains of salmon and littered with fresh piles of dung. Entering the low alders probably was not the wisest course, but the walk around would take too long. We picked a trail leading to the far rim of tundra and began hiking, crouching in cumbersome chest waders and weaving through the overhanging limbs. Visibility was reduced to scant yards. The chill wind was gusting into our faces—an excellent situation if a big rifle with the bolt down and the safety off was involved in the tableau, perhaps not so great if the heaviest weapon within reach was a 7weight fly rod. “Make noise, start yelling or singing or something,” Tyler said. “We sure don’t want to surprise one in here.” I belted with gusto the first song that came to mind: “Let’s go surfing now, everybody’s learning how, come on a surfari with me. Early in the morning we’ll be starting out and some honeys will be coming along. We’re loading up our woody with—Opfh!” The Beach Boys concert abruptly ended as I stepped into a hole and fell headlong onto the slick path. I scrambled up and resumed chorusing: “At Huntington and Malibu they’re shooting the pier, at Rincon they’re walking the nose. We’re going on surfari to the islands this year so if you’re coming get ready to—What! What?” “I said, please shut up! A bear can’t be as bad as all that racket.” “Well, if that’s the way you feel...oh, what’s that?” Tyler and I stopped. Neither of us moved. Not 10 yards ahead, the green wall of limbs and leaves stirred. The vague hulk of a Big Boy was right there. Putting the nearness into perspective, the earlier 50-yard encounter might as well have been on the east side of the Shelikov Strait. And this beast was bowing up and holding its ground. It popped its teeth. That’s not good. You really don’t want to hear that curiF i s h

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ous snapping noise. That means you have irritated a very large carnivore at very close range. If Lady Luck owes you any favors, now’s the time to call in a big one. We backed up, slipping quietly and contritely back down the trail. Mercifully, the bear accepted the retreat, but we had entered a dangerous realm by violating the animal’s home space. The encounter was a good example of the “Twenty-Fifth Bear.” Early Alaskan adventurer and writer, Frank Dufresne, popularized the concept in his 1965 book, No Room for Bears. Based on numerous anecdotes, he concluded that approximately one brown/grizzly in two dozen will cop an attitude. Either the bear is downright mean, the animal is injured, or a rash intruder makes a mistake—for whatever reasons, you are facing the clear and present danger of a charge. And the rush of a full-blown roaring, slavering bear is right up there among the true horror stories of wilderness adventure. I have made more than two-dozen fishing trips to Alaska during the past 30 years, and encountered several hundred streamside bears. Only a few were threats. One thought I was a caribou on a game trail and made a full-on charge until it caught my scent. Two made false charges; one was a protective sow with cubs, the other was a big, irritable boar known as “Panhead” (named because of an injury that flattened the profile, allowing a fang to jut out in an unsettling manner). The fourth was the tooth-popper in the alders. It was the nearest of all and it seriously meant business. An advance in that direction would have been disastrous. That is my unshakable belief. I recount the incident to enforce the theory of the Twenty-Fifth Bear. And, worth note, you don’t have to travel to Alaska for the concept to be valid. In fact, it applies to more than bears. Come to think of it, you don’t even have to be outdoors; something to think about as you hone your survival skills in these uncertain times. E-mail Joe Doggett at doggett@fishgame.com

by Matt William s

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pring is the bewitching time for heavyweight largemouths, and crunch time for the 1 million-plus Texas bass anglers who chase them. Like casino junkies lured to the craps table, thousands of bass anglers across Texas will spend the next 60 days in hopes of making a lucky cast that will give them a good reason to pay a visit to the taxidermist. While most will fail, a few will succeed at catching the biggest bass of their lives. It happens every year. Texas fishing is top-notch year-round, but the odds of striking it “bass rich” are better during spring than in any other season. That is because now is when Mother Nature beckons big largemouth bass toward the shallows to perpetuate the species. Bass fishermen are inherently more comfortable fishing near the shoreline than in deep water. Factor in the steady influx of fish drawn to the banks over the next two months, and the stage is set for a big bass bonanza. Ken Cook, Jim Tutt, and Alton Jones know a thing or two about locating and catching big, springtime bass. Together, the bass pros have logged close to a century of bass fishing experience between them, much of it spent on Texas waters. I recently caught up with the three anglers and asked them to share some inside information about fishing during the height of a season that has helped make Texas bass-fishing famous. Follow their advice, and you are certain to boost your chances of reeling in a career lunker:

Cook’s Corner Ken Cook of Meers, Oklahoma, is a former fisheries biologist who turned full-time bass pro in 1983. Not surprisingly, the 1991 Bassmaster Classic champ has studied and fished for bass in a variety of situations under just about every condition imaginable. Cook’s observations have taught him much about spawning bass and the anglers 34

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who chase them. In his opinion, many anglers are under the impression that a high percentage of bass that live in a given reservoir will spawn at the same time. That is false. “In reality, only a small percentage of the fish will actually be on beds at any one time,” Cook said. “It is natural to fish for bass that you see on a spawning bed along the shoreline. But when you do that, it is important to realize the highest percentage of fish are probably going to be behind you.” Cook believes most lunker size females spawn at night, then retreat to the nearest habitat edge in slightly deeper water by day. The same fish might move in and out of the shallows multiple times over the course of several days before it is completely “spawned out.” In retrospect, the 14-time Classic qualifier thinks anglers can increase their chances of connecting with a big fish by targeting “staging” areas situated in relation to spawning areas. “One of my favorite techniques is to fish just outside the actual bedding area around the nearest habitat edge,” he said. “It could be an inside grass line, timber line, ditch, fence row, or creek channel. It is even better when you can find an intersection of those edges, say, where a fence row crosses a creek.” The Triton pro also pointed out that staging bass often choose to suspend between the top and bottom of the water column at midrange depths. That is why some lures work better than others. Two of Cook’s favorites are the Storm Suspending Wild Eye Shad swimbait and a suspending jerkbait like Rapala’s X-Rap. He prefers to use a slow, stop-and-go retrieve to give the fish ample time to react, especially following the passage of a cold front. Bass that are cruising around potential bedding areas, or those that are actually locked onto nests, demand a different approach. One of Cook’s favorite tricks for enticing cruisers is to rig a Berkley GULP! Sinking Minnow “wacky” style on a TruTungsten Weedless Drop and Shake hook. The bait works best when fished in relation to grass edges or flooded bushes. F i s h

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“The Sinking Minnow has a dying wiggle that can be very enticing as it falls slowly through the water column,” he said. “The action of the bait combined with its potent scent make it deadly on bass roaming in shallow water.”

Tutt’s Take FLW Tour pro Jim Tutt of Longview, Texas, has gained a reputation as one of the hardest working anglers on the road these days. Go early, stay late; that is Tutt’s philosophy. Tutt’s extensive experience on the water has helped him master a number of fishing trades. Knowing how to “read” bedding fish is among his strong suits. According to Tutt, you can learn a lot about a spawning bass by watching it. Each one has a different personality. Some are super aggressive and easy to catch. Others are spooky, and some are downright crazy. Most are catchable if you are willing to spend the time and do it wisely. One of Tutt’s favorite pre-tournament tricks is to tie on the actual lure he will use once the competition starts, minus the hook. If he spots a respectable bass that will do him some good, he invests some time trying to get the fish to bite before the tournament gets underway. If a bass is particularly large, he might spend an hour or more waiting for it to pull the trigger. The idea is to aggravate the bass’ mood, not to catch it. That is the reason for using a bait with no hooks. “I call it ‘priming the fish’,” Tutt said. “If I can get a bass to bite one day, I can usually go back to that fish and catch it on the first cast the next day. It works more often than not.” When targeting a spooky bedding bass in extremely clear water, Tutt sometimes primes the fish with one rig and catches it with another. “I might use a spinning outfit with 8pound-test line and a small bait like a Gitzit to agitate the fish until I can tell it is ready to bite,” he said. “The instant I am convinced the fish is ready, I reel in quick, pick up a heavier flipping stick with braided line, and throw right back in there. The heavier rod

and line can be especially handy if the fish is bedded around bushes or logs.” A topwater plug with no hooks might appear useless, but it can be a valuable tool in skilled hands. “Believe it or not, it can be a great locator bait during the spring,” Tutt said. “I use it a lot, especially during practice when I am trolling along a shoreline or over an open flat, just looking for beds. You can find bedding bass with a topwater that you might not find otherwise. You can’t see them all.” The Rebel Pop-R and Yellow Magic are among Tutt’s favorite search baits. He works the lures ahead of and to the side of the boat as he scans the bottom for beds. If a fish blows up on the topwater, he marks the spot so he can return to it once the tournament gets underway.

Jones on Sight-Fishing Skeeter bass pro Alton Jones is regarded as one of the most astute sight-fishermen in the business. One of the main reasons is because he pays such close attention to detail, particularly when it comes to stealth. “Stealth is extremely important when sight-fishing for bass, especially when it is a big fish that weighs upward of 8 pounds,” Jones said. “Big fish don’t get big by being stupid. They get big because their senses are keen, they are very aware of their surroundings, and they have learned to avoid fishermen. A big bass is just like a big deer—it behaves differently when it knows you are around.” Interestingly, Jones claims he can catch as many as 60 percent of the giant bass he finds on spawning beds—and on the very first cast. His secret is closely guarded, but he decided to tell it in order to pay tribute to what in his opinion is one of the finest baitcasting reels ever made—Ardent’s XS1000. “The farther you can stay away from the really big fish, the better off you will be,” Jones said. “That means making long casts. Ardent’s XS1000 allows me to cast 15 to 20 feet farther than I have ever been able to cast with other reels.” If Jones is in a tournament situation and

comes across a big fish that is reluctant to bite a lure pitched or flipped at close range, he makes a mental note of the location and returns to the spot an hour or so later. He sets up a considerable distance from the sweet spot and casts directly to it using a 7inch YUM Dinger rigged weightless on an 11/0 hook. “By the time I get my line tightened up, the fish is usually swimming off with my bait,” Jones said. “I can’t tell you how much money that one long cast has put in my pocket over the years. I’ve done it from Texas to Florida, and New York to California.” Jones pointed out several other sight-fishing points related to stealth: • +“Minimize boat noise to avoid spooking the fish. Don’t bang objects on the floor of the boat, and by all means avoid turning the trolling motor on and off.” • “If possible, anchor or tie off to an object so you can hold your position without having to maneuver with the trolling motor. My boat is equipped with a Power Pole, which allows me to hold the boat in water as deep as 8 feet with the push of a button.” • “The boat doesn’t scare the fish. What spooks bass is when they detect movement. If I have a dock, standing tree, or some other type of object the bass are accustomed to seeing, I use it to my advantage by hiding behind it to break up my outline. If there is nothing to hide behind, I position my boat parallel with the shoreline. The idea is make the boat an extension of the shoreline.” • “I turn off electronics to eliminate the ‘tick-tick-tick’ noise coming from the transducer.” • “Make the sun your ally. Position the boat so the bass is looking into the sun if it looks your way.” • “Never let a bass see you make the cast to it. I don’t want the fish to associate that lure in its bed to me.” Individually, the aforementioned factors might sound small in the general scheme of things, but lumped together, they can make a huge difference in the outcome of day spent on the water during the height of the spawning season.

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by Paul Bradshaw

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am going to share a little piece of information that might shock some of you. In spite of what many coastal residents and communities want you to believe, everyone reading this right now can stake a claim to the beaches in Texas. Not just you, but every legal resident of the state owns the sand from the water to the vegetation line (in most cases the sand dune) because all of those miles of sandy beachfront are public property. It is not just the areas designated as acceptable public gathering locations by the local governing body, but the entire beach bordering the Gulf from Sabine Pass to the Rio Grande, with the exception of the Padre Island National Seashore, is owned by the state. Just don’t point out this fact to coastal communities trying to capitalize by privatizing beaches, taking access away from the masses to provide a private stretch of sand for the privileged few with deep pockets. To understand the depth of the beach access issue, we must go back nearly half a century to 1959 when the Texas Open Beaches Act was penned. In a nutshell, the Open Beaches Act (OBA) states that access to the beach will not be restricted in any manner by private individuals or municipalities without equivalent access being created by the same individuals or municipalities. A few years later in 1962, Article 9 Section 1-A of the Texas Constitution was added, giving any county bordering the Gulf of Mexico the authority to “regulate and restrict the speed, parking, and travel of motor vehicles on beaches available to the public by virtue of public right and the littering of such beaches.” So, here we sit, with one piece of legislation saying that beach access cannot be restricted, and another saying vehicular access can be restricted at the discretion of the county it is in. Today, the battle between the counties along the Gulf and Texans who want to use their beaches is raging on the sand.

You can’t get there from here Historically, the beaches in Texas have been a landing point for explorers, home to cannibalistic tribes of Indians, and for the 40

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last two centuries, corridors for travelers. So, for all intents and purposes, the original beach access was all-inclusive and not restricted to just those who own adjacent property. Typically, this was not an issue since most of the land along the coast was uninhabited. The difference now is that all of the land behind the dune is inundated with houses, condominiums, and resorts who’s owners do not take kindly to strangers lugging coolers, umbrellas, and fishing gear across their lawns or walking across their dune crossovers to get to the public beach. However, according to the OBA, they really don’t get a choice. The OBA states: “It is declared and affirmed to be the public policy of this state that the public, individually and collectively, shall have the free and unrestricted right of ingress and egress to and from the stateowned beaches bordering on the seaward shore of the Gulf of Mexico.” Seems simple enough. Public property cannot be essentially privatized simply because it is surrounded by private property. The OBA act clarifies that the public has the right to enter and leave the beach in any manner that does not cause damage to the sand dunes, at any time it pleases, in any location it pleases. Any access that is restricted must be replaced with equivalent or better access. As an example, most beachfront communities have a dune crossover where the residents can walk over the dunes instead of through them to access the beach. While these crossovers are constructed by and specifically for the community residents, they can legally be accessed by anyone using the beach. These communities can either grant access to the beach via their current crossovers, or construct additional crossovers for the public. According to Texas Open Beaches Advocates (TOBA) President Tom Brown, some communities on Galveston Island are cutting off public access with little resistance from the city. Some homeowners have even been so bold as to approach families enjoying a day on the coast, tell them they are on a private beach, and need to leave. Not only is this inaccurate, it is illegal. According to the OBA: “No person may display or cause to be displayed on or adjaF i s h

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cent to any public beach any sign, marker, or warning, or make or cause to be made any written or oral communication which states that the public beach is private property or represent in any other manner that the public does not have the right of access to the public beach.” So, if you are at the beach in Texas and someone tells you it is private property, feel free to correct them.

No driving allowed When I go to the beach, my main goal is to catch as many big fish as possible; that’s why I typically avoid fishing Galveston Island. I’m not implying that there aren’t fish to catch on this upper coast tourist destination, it’s just that the restrictions placed on beach goers by the Galveston City Council makes it difficult to access many of the best fishing areas, which in turn makes surf-fishing on the island less appealing than other local stretches of beach. This same trend could be infiltrating the Matagorda sand as well. When I am hitting the surf, I am typically not just carrying a bait bucket, one rod, and a bottle of water. I have the back of the truck loaded down with enough equipment to give an elephant a hernia, so areas that are not accessible via a vehicle really are not an option, and I’m way to lazy to hump a kayak and 800 pounds of gear across a dune walkover. Even though I have the luxury of being lazy, many people do not. Many individuals with physical disabilities cannot navigate the walkovers and then shuffle through the sand to reach the surf. Vehicular access is the only way many of them can even think of hitting the sand. Over the past few years, Galveston Island has set up multiple stretches that have restricted vehicular traffic during the busiest time of year. Tom advised that cars are not allowed on the beach “between [beach] access points 33 and 35 on weekends between Memorial Day and Labor day, and one week in March.” For those without a calendar, those dates are consistent with the summer months and Spring Break, when many Texans are heading to the beach. Instead of opening their arms to vacationers, Galveston is locking down its beaches, cater-

ing to local homeowners who don’t want to see cars on “their” beach, and herding everyone else into a small parcel of land within walking distance of the designated parking areas. No wonder this island that once rolled out the red carpet for tourist is now commonly referred to as “Galvetraz.” If you think beach driving restrictions are strictly a concern of the upper Gulf area, think again. Corpus Christi struggled through a potential closure to vehicular beach traffic in 2006 due to a single individual that wanted to restrict public access to make his land more appealing to developers. The Beach Access Coalition petitioned to force a vote on the closure, and by a vote of 55 percent in favor of vehicular access and 45 percent against, the stretch remained open to cars. However, that’s not the end. Beach closure is still possible if the citizens of Corpus change their minds and vote that high-rise condominiums behind the dunes are more important than vehicular access in front of them. Even Matagorda, which has historically

been the domain of surf anglers, beach campers, and families on day trips, has been bitten with the closure bug. The stretch of beach where the Colorado River meets the Gulf is slated for closure to vehicular traffic. I doubt it is a coincidence that this section is in front of the only houses on the beach, effectively giving them a private beach.

Forced to Move Erosion happens. It’s a simple fact. Through the natural progression of tides that gradually move the beach inches a year, to catastrophic events such as tropical storms or hurricanes that suddenly erode hundreds of feet of sand in a single day, the beach is constantly changing. This has turned some homes along the coast into instant beachfront property, literally. They no longer have a dune between them and the surf; many are actually in the water, pounded by waves, turning a once fine home into an uninhabitable menace. While this raises the problem of addition-

al debris in the surf and littering the beach, more importantly, it brings about the issue that this structure is now on public property, illegally restricting access to certain sections of the beach. Remember, the property owned by the state starts at the low tide line and extends to the vegetation line, even if the vegetation line was moved drastically and quickly to behind the house. Currently in Galveston County, there are 116 houses partially or entirely on the beach, most of them becoming so during Tropical Storm Francis that hit in 1998. Here we are a decade later, and they are still on the sand, obstructing access to public property. I understand the frustration and disappointment of the homeowners, but if you build on the sand, you take your chances. The law is clear that they must be removed at the expense of the homeowner, but so far, the General Land Office has not forced the issue. In 2004, a moratorium on house removal was issued, giving the owners two years to see, if through the course of natural beach replenishment, the houses would again move back behind the vegetation line. None did, and still two years after the end of the moratorium, all 116 remain on the beach.

Where do we go from here? There are countless other examples of illegal beach closures or restrictions happening almost daily along the coast, and if enumerated in detail would fill every page in this magazine. The good news is there are groups along the coast fighting these closures. If you want to continue fishing or just hanging out at places like Mustang Island, Port O’Connor, Surfside, and Sea Rim, then get involved with organizations like TOBA (texasopenbeaches.org), providing financial support by participating in their surf fishing tournaments or making donations. All it will take for the Texas coast to resemble Florida and California, covered in hotels and off-limits to the public, is for nobody to stand up.

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The High Cost Of Distrust AM OFTEN ACCUSED OF TILTING AT WINDMILLS. Our editor in chief Don Zaidle often comments about how one of his writers, who is also an English Teacher in a South Texas High School, can be “such a damned idealist.” (Then again, Zaidle believes in the value of the Bowl Championship Series and the Designated Hitter rule, so he shouldn’t cast stones.) Maybe I am an idealist. I like my good guys to be good guys and my bad guys to be bad guys. I think that the hottest movie scene I ever watched was Doris Day turning off the water with her lovely, soapy foot in “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” and I know that some day I will, in fact, be caller number 10. In the end, everything comes out even, and Tyrone Power always gets Piper Laurie before the closing credits roll. That might be why I am troubled whenever I hear of another Texas guide suffering from some sort of debilitating disease, and he is now facing serious economic hardship due to a lack of personal health insurance. The most recent victim of this sort of crisis is a Port Mansfield guide whom I have come to know and consider a top-flight captain. (As of this writing, I was unable to contact the guide or his family in order to get permission to mention him here.) His story sounds too familiar: The cost of personal health insurance was always prohibitive, especially on a guide’s income. When it did come to health issues, family often took priority over personal needs. Like so many other guides along the Texas coast, he kept working and hoping that his luck and health would hold out and the unthinkable wouldn’t happen. Then the unthinkable did happen, and even if he survives, financial

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ruin could be the reward. (Fortunately, the local community and his colleagues have circled the wagons and helped raise funds to help defray the medical costs.) At the risk of sounding undiplomatic, and perhaps a bit idealistic, there is no good reason that there isn’t some sort of program to help independent contractors such as fishing guides have health insurance. This is not a commentary about the benefits or pitfalls of socialized medicine, or whether or not the President should have twice vetoed S-CHIP. Those issues aren’t germane because, honestly, they don’t exist in the typical American’s world, but rather in the political world. In reality, unless you have medical insurance, the only option is Medicaid, which requires you to completely exhaust your assets before it can step in. (Items such as boats, vehicles, homes, and savings accounts are considered assets.) Some guides have even gone into other professions because of the need to provide for their families’ health insurance needs. (I know of many educators who want to become full time guides, but can’t because they don’t want to lose the insurance benefits.) It would seem the most logical step would be for guides to band together and form an association that could get a group policy, pretty much the way many companies and school districts provide coverage for their employees. With the number of guides that work each of the different regions of the coast, it would make sense. Remember the old joke about government: “If an idea makes too much sense, it probably won’t get passed.” The thing is, there is such a great deal of mistrust among guides that they don’t want to band together. Many of the independent guides I’ve talked to—all of whom were reluctant to speak on the record because of potential backlash—felt that the guides who would control a group would try to push their pet projects rather than what is best for the members. The most common example cited to me was the idea of each captain F i s h

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securing anywhere from $250,000 to $300,000 worth of liability insurance. “If I can’t afford my own health insurance, then how in the world am I going to afford liability?” one captain asked. The logic is clear: Why would anyone join an organization that might not be pushing issues that are best for the general welfare of the membership? Paying dues to such a group would simply be sending good money after bad, money that could be of better use in each individual captain’s pocket. Ironically, these guides are being penny wise and pound foolish. The very fact that captains don’t join as a single united block undermines any important issue that needs addressing. The refusal—or inability—to band together because of the concern that personal motives will usurp the focus of the organization means that issues such as affordable health insurance will never be resolved. Several issues are tugging at captains’ sleeves right now: State and federal regulations that further limit their ability to earn a living, a growing population of captains, a stagnant economy that might affect the number of prospective clients, gas prices, environmental issues, and the 800-pound gorilla that has been the focus of this column, health insurance. For their good, and for the good of their families, captains need to figure out a way to set aside their differences and band together. Benjamin Franklin once exhorted his fellow members of the Continental Congress to sign the Declaration of Independence by saying, “We may as well hang together, for we will most assuredly hang separately.” Eli Wallach’s character, Tuco, also said in “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” “When that noose tightens around your neck, you can feel the devil bite your [butt].” When you see those tooth marks, it is too late.

E-mail Calixto Gonzales cgonzales@fishgame.com

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PHOTO BY JIMMY BORNE

by Eric Adams (Yes, Manowar fans, that Eric Adams) T E X A S

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Without the compound bow, bowhunting would likely not exist, at least not in its current form.

often let my mind wander a bit while in my tree stand for hours on end. I am sure that I have let some shooter bucks pass by while I blissfully gazed in the emptiness of space. One of the many thoughts that I have wrestled with is: What if the compound bow didn’t exist? To ponder this question, it is first necessary to look back at the history of archery, which I find quite fascinating. The primitive stick and string bow (longbow) was invented before recorded history as a formidable means of collecting dinner. Recurve bows made out of composite materials were used by, among other groups, the Hyksos, Magyars, Huns, and Mongols. The recurve bow spread to Egypt, much of the rest of Asia, and the Middle East countries in the second millennium B.C. Presumably Greek and Phoenician influence would have introduced the recurve to the rest of the Mediterranean region. The standard weapon of Roman imperial archers was a composite recurve, and the stiffening laths used to form the actual recurved ends have been found at Roman archeological sites throughout the Empire, as far north as Bar Hill on the Antonine Wall in Scotland. During the Middle Ages, composite recurve bows were used in the drier European countries; the all-wooden straight longbow was the normal form in wetter areas. Crossbows were later invented for battle and proved able to pierce light body armor. 48

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These were the bows of fashion until 1872, when a man from Massachusetts invented the first wooden bow with steel limbs. In 1953, the Bear Archery Company reintroduced the modern recurve bow to American archers. It was a huge breakthrough in the hunting world, but it was not until Mr. Holless W. Allen went a step farther and invented the first compound bow in 1969 that things really started to change. The first compound bows used triangular shaped wheels. Then came two round wheels, and finally cam wheels in 1982— invented by Matt McPherson who founded Mathews Inc., manufacturing compound bows with single cam technology. Most of today’s bows now have a single cam, which makes the bow even faster and more accurate. In fact, speed has become an important factor since the compound bow was developed. Bow manufacturers are making bows that shoot much faster. So, after considering the evolution of compound bow and the immense changes it has made in less than 40 years, what would things be like with out it? For starters, the accuracy range of bowhunters would be much different. Today, with a little practice, it is not unheard of to accurately place an arrow in a 6-inch circle as far out as 60 yards with a well-tuned compound. Without the power of a compound bow, shots would be limited to around 20 yards, and 30 would be pushing it. Of course, individual proficiency would vary, but that would certainly change the amount of opportunities for good shots hunters F i s h

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would get in the field. Without the speed of a compound bow, the use of sights would be limited at best, and largely impractical. More hunters would shoot instinctively. After all, distance to the target would be much less, and recurves and longbows the only bows. Additionally, wounded game would be a far more common occurrence. Without the invention of the compound bow, the trajectory of an arrow at 20 yards compared to 25 yards could be significant. That is enough to miss your target entirely or only wound the animal. Because of the wounding potential, bowhunting would probably be illegal in many jurisdictions. At the very least, the definition of “legal bow” might exclude many would-be bowhunters due to the greater difficulty of drawing a minimum-draw-weight recurve or longbow compared to a 50 percent or greater let-off compound. Penetration could also be a problem. The much faster compound bows have much better penetrating power. Arrows shot at high speeds usually blow straight through, leaving entrance and exit wounds that produce a prominent blood trail. Even with the technology of today, there are still plenty stories of deer “jumping the string.” Although it happens less often than with a longbow or recurve, it does happen with even the fastest compounds. I tell my students in safety classes that if a deer is looking at you and you are at full draw, do not release the string until that deer is convinced you are not a threat. Even at close range, it will drop to its belly in preparation PHOTO BY DON ZAIDLE

for an escape leap, and you will miss. The time invested in practice would also change dramatically. The fast bows of today are tuned so well that they almost shoot themselves. All a hunter needs to do is pull back the string and release, or so it seems. As long as your sight pin is set and you shoot with a peep sight and release aid, chances are it will not be long before you have a tight group of arrows. Without the aid of a sight-accessorized compound bow, archers usually shoot tight groups only after many weeks of practice. If you think about it, if the compound bow were never invented, it would force bowhunters to devote more time to the sport, and many of us would be better hunters for the effort. That would never be a bad thing. Continuing on that line of thinking, there would be far fewer bowhunters. Anyone worth their salt knows this is not a sport for the “quick fix” hunter. Bowhunting takes not only months of practice, but also a good dose of patience. More often than not, it can be frustrating, and even when everything seems to be in your favor, game animals find a way to frustrate you, making them a formidable prey for any seasoned hunter, much less newcomers. The invention of the compound bow has led to an industry that knows no boundaries. New material for arrows has been developed. Bow sights, string silencers, release aids, as well as hundreds of other accessories were all created because of the compound bow. If the compound bow didn’t exist, bowhunting would not be the industry it is today. In fact, the industry might not exist at all, at least not as we know it. Equipment probably would be rare, produced by a handful of small shops, and frightfully expensive. After all, no “major player” would invest in the tooling and production costs of a product for which there was only a relative handful of customers. It is highly probable that only a handful of bowhunting accessories would exist. Since aluminum arrows predate the compound, we probably would still have those, but certainly not carbon arrows. There would be maybe a half-dozen broadhead choices, and replaceable blade or mechanical heads would not be among them. Flipper, biscuit, and fall-way rests would not be needed, and therefore non-existent. Bow-mounted quivers do not play well on longbows and recurves, so most archers would use back or belt quivers. There would not be a sufficient market

to justify production of lifelike 3-D targets. Shorter effective range means rangefinders for archers would not be available. With fewer bowhunters in the woods, it could bring the number of deer and other game to a much higher level. I could see it all snowballing to more deer equaling more deer-vehicle accidents equaling more human deaths. The amount of deer would also overrun our farmlands, causing more problems down the road. I realize that some gun hunters might read this and think, Hey, we have enough gun hunters out there to take care of the deer population. I disagree with that. I think many rifle hunters are introduced to the sport by bowhunting. In addition, in many areas of the United States, like the Pineywoods of East Texas and the coastal prairies around Matagorda, the rut occurs before the gun season. Many of the does are already bred and will give birth to twin fawns. Bowhunters help eliminate the number of does bred each season, which in turn helps keep the general deer population down to reasonable levels in a way that might not fit easily into management surveys. There is also the urban factor to consider. Areas like Austin and San Antonio are expanding at a huge rate, and in many municipalities, firearms hunting is banned for obvious reasons. Bowhunting is an important management tool in these situations, but without the compound, it is unlikely there would be enough hunters to make a difference. We live in a fast world with a need for speed that is never satisfied. It is part of who we are as humans; from horses to cars to trains and planes, and jets to faster internet service. Admit it: We get upset if we have to wait at the drive-through window at McDonalds for our fast-food meal. New technology means changes that usually bring better and faster inventions. The bow has come a long way in a relatively short time thanks to the innovation of visionary companies such as Mathews Archery. From 1969 when the compound bow was first introduced to 39 years later, look at all the inventions that have made our hunt more accurate and faster that ever before. Where will we be 10 years from now? I do not have the answer, but I will say this: Technology is like the white-tailed deer—it does not wait around too long, but moves on.

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Compounds In the Movies If the compound bow didn’t exist, some of your favorite (or maybe least favorite) movies would be quite different. John Rambo, played by Sylvester Stallone in the “Rambo” movie trilogy, blew up a passel of filthy red communists in “Rambo: First Blood II” and “Rambo III” with grenade-tipped arrows fired from a takedown compound bow. The Hoyt/Easton Company even sold a “Rambo” branded bow. Although I have not seen the “Charlie’s Angels” movie (has anybody?), movie review websites tag the film with “compound bow” as an included element. The world might never know. According to a review of the movie “The Punisher,” protagonist Frank Castle uses a compound bow to pick off sentries guarding the evildoer’s lair. From the same reviewer, in the movie “Elektra,” the title character was “going to assassinate her mark via a compound bow from a few hundred yards across a nice, placid lake. She was shooting the target through a window (not open, so there is glass) and then aiming at the victim’s head. If the arrow did manage to make it the few hundred yards to hit the window and go through the glass without yawing off at some crazy angle, then it would be a hell of a shot to actually cause a fatality at that point. I must also add-in that the bow and arrow featured a scope.” It has been many years since I saw the movie “Deliverance” (although I have met a number of people I suspected were rejects from the cast) starring Burt Reynolds. I remember clearly Reynolds and co-stars dispatching at least two malevolent hillbillies with bows, and for some reason believed they were compounds. Alas, research revealed they were takedown recurves. —Don Zaidle &

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by Greg Berlocher

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he flat was alive with activity as mullet milled about, dimpling the surface. Tails pierced the water’s upper boundary, momentarily heightening expectations. A closer inspection revealed they were forked—false alarm. My wading booties slid across the bottom as I eased down the spartina grass hedgerow lining the shoreline. A great blue heron was eying breakfast as I approached. A few steps later, the massive bird lifted off, spewing avian expletives at me in a highly indignant tone. I stood for a while, taking in the surroundings, concentrating on seeing rather than walking. Five minutes passed and I shifted my weight from leg to leg, combating the desire to move around. More tails appeared, just at the edge of my casting range; broad square flags, each dotted with a coalblack spot and trimmed with turquoise, shimmering in the morning sunlight. I crouched a bit to lower my profile and flipped the bail of my spinning reel. Fingering the light line feeding off the arbor, I propelled the tiny payload toward the school. It landed several feet in front of the reds. Upon touchdown, the little brown shrimp went into panic mode. Snapping desperately, the shrimp cleared the water every few seconds, cruel gravity pulling the crustacean back into harm’s way after every jump. The redfish’s rush was as violent as it was fast. My line tightened and I set the hook, setting off another rush, this one considerably longer than the red’s initial 3-foot charge to engulf the tiny shrimp. That scene happened several years ago and is reminiscent of many similar encounters I have had with big fish in skinny water. Sight-casting is an extremely visual experience, making it enormously satisfying. But sight-casting isn’t the exclusive domain of those who cast artificial lures or flies. You can enjoy the same rewarding shallow water experiences with bait.

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Stickbaits on Ice Captain Chuck Scates (361-727-1200), a light tackle specialist who guides lure and fly fishermen in the Rockport area, is a master at coaxing big fish to bite. Scates landed an 8.68-pound speckled trout on a fly rod back in 1989 and the catch still reigns as the IGFA world record speckled trout caught on 2-pound tippet. Scates, a long time friend and confidant, excels at finding spots and specs in skinny water and pointing them out to eager clients. Scates explained the sight fisherman’s dilem-

When you can sight-cast to trout and reds that will not take artificial offerings, slip them something alive—or that used to be.

ma: “On some days your lure gets lots of follows and blowups but no firm takes. Other days, you see the fish but they give you the cold shoulder no matter what lure you throw.” Scates explained that his clients cast to a lot of lethargic fish when the water is warming up in the spring, and in the dog days. “The late spring is a transitional time and big fish love to sun themselves in skinny water,” Scates counseled. “They are often content to soak in the warm water and don’t care about feeding. Likewise, when the

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water reaches the 90-degree mark in August, the fish are apathetic towards lures.” Scates has developed a secret strategy to fool big fish that refuse to eat lures, regardless of the season: frozen finger mullet. Scates explained: “When my clients continue to see big fish, say, five trout, all close to 30 inches or over, they go nuts. After a while they stop caring what they catch then on; they just want to land a fish that big.” On most trips, Scates throws a bag of frozen finger mullet into his ice chest as an insurance policy. They can be thawed quickly by soaking them in water. “The secret is fishing the mullet as you would a lure,” Scates continued. “You want it to flutter through the water, like a broken-back. Some days the fish will take it like a topwater and other days they want it under the surface.” Scates adds a two-foot section of leader material to his main line and then ties on a thin wire, wide gap circle hook. In the winter when the water is alcohol clear, Scates will downsize his leader to 8-pound-test. He will also lengthen it to three feet. The hook gap is critical and must be wider than the mullet’s head, or else the bait will interfere with a solid hook set. “Everyone looses big trout,” Scates said with a chuckle. “I don’t know if they get nervous or what but I see a lot of big fish get away.” The light line required for a stealthy presentation in skinny water is partly to blame. Regardless of the reason, Scates insists his clients use thin wire hooks that will rust out quickly. Scates prefers finger mullet in the 3- to 5-inch range for sight-casting. He runs the hook point up under the chin and through the top of the mullet’s head. When rigged properly the bait should wiggle easily on the hook. Scates frowns on live finger mullet, preferring frozen baits. “Live baits will fight you when you retrieve them,” Scates continued. “Remember, you aren’t throwing the bait and letting it set; you are working the mullet like a lure. With frozen bait, you can put the plastic bag in your wading belt and have it on hand when you need it. You don’t have to walk around dragging a bait bucket. At the end of the day, you can throw the bag of baits away and you haven’t lost anything.” PHOTO BY GRADY ALLEN

Finger mullet are not readily available during winter and spring months. If you have a cast net, spend an hour or two during the fall stocking your fishing larder Fill zipstyle bags with a dozen baits and tuck them into the freezer (the back part if your spouse gets the willies seeing mullet heads where the green peas are supposed to be). Then grab a bag as you head out the door on your next trip. In case you forget to harvest a few mullet when they were plentiful, certain retailers sell frozen mullet. The trick is to make sure they are not too big. Scates said that baits shouldn’t exceed 5 inches in length. If the frozen baits are too long, Scates cuts off part of the tail, slicing them on a bias so they have a nice taper. When casting to a large trout or red in shallow water, you should avoid spooking the fish by dropping the bait too close. “You can cast a fly on a fish’s nose without spooking them, but you can’t do that with a finger mullet,” Scates coached. “It depends on the conditions and the way the fish are acting that day, but you should try to throw your bait 10-15 feet away from the fish. You want

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to swim the bait near the fish to get its attention and then away as if it were trying to escape. Whatever you do, don’t put your bait in attack mode. Large trout are not attacked by charging finger mullet. This is unnatural and the fish will refuse to eat.” Large trout have an annoying habit of showing themselves and then hovering just outside casting range. To enhance casting range, Scates will often add a small bullet weight ahead of the bait. The weight slides down onto the bait’s nose making it compact and very weedless. Scates will start with a 1/16-ounce weight, however he will switch to a 1/4- or even 3/8-ounce weight if the fish are spooky and are orbiting at great distances. Pinning a bait on a jighead is another good option if you are not going to be fishing in heavy grass. The added weight increases the chance a fish will spook when the bait splashes down, so your placement of the bait is much more critical. Scates confided that his mullet technique is not foolproof and conceded that there are days when the fish even turn up their noses at mullet; however, on the whole, casting a finger mullet to a large fish doubles or triples

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the chances of a hookup. Live shrimp will also draw thunderous strikes when presented to shallow water predators. Sight-casting with shrimp is a bit more challenging as you must drag along a sloshing bait bucket - not the stealthiest thing in the world - but it can be done. Ferrying the bait bucket to a central location and tethering it temporarily to a duck blind, or other object, will allow you to stalk your quarry unhindered by the distraction of a constant tug on your belt. Scates poles clients across productive flats and massive trout and redfish show themselves without any warning. The opportunistic angler who is prepared will catch the largest fish. Scates keeps a backup rod baited with a finger mullet he can cast in an instant if the spotted prize refuses to eat lures. Sight-casting with bait provides the visually stimulation that hardware and fly enthusiast dream about. Plus, when a monster shows itself, you have a good chance of making it the catch of a lifetime instead of a haunting memory that just swam away.

Compound Confusion FIRST MET FRED BEAR SOMETIME AROUND October 1954 BC (Before Compounds). Already a full-on, hardcore, gung-ho addict of the mystical flight of the arrow and all things wild, I stood in sheer awe of this grand, legendary gentleman/bowhunter/naturalist/conservationist/inventor/promotional genius. Thank God my father, Warren Henry Nugent, fresh out of the victories of WWII and the Korean conflict as a U.S. Army hero, had been bitten by the much needed, soul cleansing witchery of the archery bug, no doubt as a direct result of Fred’s contagious promotional celebration of this age-old projectile discipline, particularly in our shared home state of Michigan. Our annual family pilgrimage to the magical forests and swamps of Michigan’s North Country for cherished bowhunting excursions, and our obligatory yearly stopover at the ever-growing Bear Archery World Headquarters in Grayling on the way, was certainly the highlight of my American outdoor loving lifestyle dream. Being there to witness first hand Fred’s bowhunting dream explode from a little prefab, garage-sized bowshop to the huge Fred Bear Museum remains right up there in the top 1 percent of my most powerful, glowing memories of my life. In the wind, he’s still alive. I do believe you can count on one hand the number of days that I have not shot my bow throughout my high-energy, over the top, fun and exciting American rock-nroll/bowhunting adventure. From those early pre-teen days exploring my sacred Skunk Hollow woodlands and marshes along the banks of the mysterious Rouge River on the outskirts of Detroit, stalking the ever elusive river rats, fox squirrels, coons, possums, rabbits, quail, and pheasant with my trusty long-

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bow and beautiful Port Orford cedar arrows, right up to today’s exhilarating Texas tree stand whitetail deer hunt, every magical moment beyond the pavement, bow in hand, has brought me immeasurable joy and happiness for 59 exhilarating years, so far. I am sure that my quality of life overall is best measured by the physical spirituality of each and every Zen-like arrow I fling. It is really that moving for this old guitar player. Always has been, always will be. From whichever design of bow my arrows fly, it matters not. I have more than one barn, garage, and home wall covered with yew, Osage orange, hickory, and bamboo longbows; beautifully laminated recurve bows by Bear, Grumly, Wing, Shakespeare, Jefferies, Jennings, Damon-Howatt, Martin, Hoyt, Lee, Black Widow, Weisner, and more. And, of course, a slew of wonderfully technologically advanced mechanical wonderbeasts with their own wonderful archery allure by Allan, Jennings, Martin, Sims, Bear, PSE, Mathews, Renegade, Genesis, Browning, Oneida, Ross, Hoyt, BowTech, Whisper Creek, and many, many more. I love ‘em all and they all get a regular workout. That is not to say I wasn’t a stubborn holdout against those first ugly-ass compound bows. Like Fred Bear and most of my friends at the time, those early wheels and pulleys really turned me off. After all, archery was about grace and beauty, the mystical flight of the arrow, not the mechanical flight of the arrow. Drawing those early Allan bows actually made me angry. Archery was all about feel, and these new contraptions sure didn’t feel like archery to me. Though I remained adamant that my archery and bowhunting would remain all about my beloved Bear Kodiak Magnum takedown recurve experience, I nonetheless must admit that I couldn’t help but try every compound development that I could get my hands on. Call it the road less traveled or simply the craving of adventurous experimentation, I made it a point to seek out and shoot every compound bow I could get my hands on, just to see what was next. My fasF i s h

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cination was growing. Nonetheless, I resisted. I just wasn’t ready to trade in my beloved artistic green and black Bear recurve just yet. Then it hit: Target Panic Hell. I thought I was gonna die! Out of nowhere, in the fall of 1978, I began to freeze off-target, and couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn from the inside. The word “panic” is most apt. I was livid, sick to my stomach, and totally, hopelessly confused as to what had happened to my beloved mystical flight of my precious arrow. Overnight, I went from being able to nail squirrels in the treetops to flat-out missing a standing broadside buck at 15 yards. So very strange and painful. I called Fred right away, and thank God he knew exactly what I was going through, having gone through it himself. Fred immediately began to guide me through my long, painful rehab. As per Fred’s expert advice, I got a Bear Hunter recurve of only 39 pounds draw weight, concentrated on closeup 5- to 10-yard practice sessions at big targets with a small bull’s-eye, and developed a three-point shooting mantra to get me back on track. But it was the freezing off-target malady that made me think of the possible advantages of a bow that provided a reduced hold, reduced tension “let-off ” prior to the shot that put a Jennings T-Hunter compound in my trembling hands. Amazingly, at first, that did it. Still shooting instinctively with no sights, bow canted, the 60-pound Jennings provided just enough change and resultant diversion in my shooting regimen that it was new enough to divert my attention from certain bad shooting habits that were very much a part of my target panic problems. The 50 percent letoff at full draw allowed me to more effortlessly zero in on proper shooting form. I returned to killing much game with aplomb. Ishi, we have liftoff!

E-mail Ted Nugent at bowhunting@fishgame.com

by Bob Hood

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TURKEY PHOTO BY GRADY ALLEN

ven in the pre-dawn darkness, everything seemed the same as it was a year earlier on opening day of the spring turkey season, when we had parked my truck next to a windmill and walked to a small opening near the creek. Just as we had done a year earlier, Josh Edwards of Stephenville and I grabbed our shotguns and calls then began the long hike down the same cow trail. It led to the little clearing that had provided each of with nice gobblers 12 months earlier. Once there, we sat down with our backs against a pair of pecan trees, piled a few fallen limbs and branches in front of us for added cover, and waited. , I wondered how many times had this scenario played among hunters across Texas’ vast and incredibly diverse regions of prime turkey country. The air was cool and calm. I looked above the dark line of treetops to the east and saw bright stars that promised a clear morning. Through a small opening on the left side of the creek, I could see the faint pinkish hints of daylight creeping in. Suddenly, the silence was shattered, but not by the sounds of gobblers sounding off as had been the case here on so many other spring mornings like this one. The loud—and, at the moment, annoying, ker-plunking sounds of a newly-installed oil well pump as it was put into motion by its timer echoed through the creek bottom. I couldn’t see the expression on Josh’s face behind his facemask, but I imagined it was much like mine. Although the oil well pump likely sounded like the ringing of a cash register to the landowner, its startling start-up seemed out of place so close to a long-time turkey roost. But, we soon discovered, the annoyance was limited to us. Seconds after the pump kicked into gear, a gobbler thundered down from up the creek, followed seconds later by another. The turkey probably could have cared less about the loud pump. After all, it was now just a part of the landscape and they had become accustomed to it. We continued to listen to the gobbles for several minutes as dawn spread across the creek bottom. A few soft hen clucks from Josh’s slate call brought an immediate response from one of the roosting birds, but instead of answering his gobbles, we sat quietly and waited. There appeared to be at least three gobblers in the trees perhaps 175 yards down the creek, but we knew there could be more—maybe not in the same spot, but perhaps elsewhere along the creek. The pump continued to pound, but on at least one occasion, I thought I heard two turkey fly down from roost. It was just a guess, but when I looked at Josh and saw him nod affirmatively, I knew he had heard the same thing. Once again, he scratched out a few hen clucks and purrs and got an immediate response from one of the gobblers. Each time the call was used, there was a response from a gobbler, and it soon became apparent the bird was coming our way. Then there was movement at the base of the trees along the creek directly in front of us, but instead of seeing the bright

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red head of a gobbler moving out of the creek, we suddenly realized it was not one but three hens. Soon, the little birds were scratching and plucking grass and weeds no more than 30 yards in front at the edge of the creek, working slowly toward us—but they were not alone. A thunderous gobble-gobble-gobble! came from behind them and just over the bank of the creek. The hens worked to our right, but still were slightly in front of us when the gobbler came out of creek and went into full strut. Its beard appeared at least 10 inches long and quite thick. I don’t now why it is that when a hunter has hens so close to him and a gobbler “almost-in-range” that he develops a sudden urge to scratch an itching ear or feels a need to shift his rear off an annoying pebble, but it happens. The hens continued scratching and plucking and the gobbler continued strutting and gobbling. My ear continued to itch and my rear continued to feel the sharpness of the rock. Josh managed to scratch out a few soft

hen calls and immediately the gobbler’s feathers folded as his neck stretched skyward. He then turned and took several steps toward us before going into full strut again. When the gobbler got to within about 20 yards, Josh shouted a loud “Good morning!” Once again, the gobbler’s feathers folded and his head shot upward, providing just the right shot for me and my single-shot 12-gauge. The old tom was indeed a fine one with a 10-1/4-inch beard and 1-inch spurs. The excitement the gobbler (and don’t forget the hens) brought to us on this clear, crisp morning was a fine kick-off to another spring season. If you are one of the estimated 70,000 hunters who hit the woods annually for the spring turkey season, I’m sure you, too, have had similar experiences that make you excited about what is expected to be another great season this year. Record rainfalls in many areas of the state last spring and summer plus more than generous moisture in still others set the stage for excellent turkey production, which likely

will result in a bumper crop of jakes this season. On the downside is fact that broomweeds still are so thick and tall in many areas of North and West Texas that visibility around old, favorite calling places might be poor. Hunters will simply have to adjust, but that’s just part of turkey hunting. Although some areas of the state went from record rains to drought conditions by late winter, overall range conditions remain good for turkey. Last fall’s bumper crops of acorns and pecans helped carry them through the colder months. That, coupled with an abundance of cover, has helped create what is expected to be a good season statewide. Here’s how things shape up by ecological region:

Hill Country No other area in Texas has more turkey than the Hill Country in the geological center of the state. So, it should not be surprising that almost one-third of the state’s spring turkey hunters head for the abundant creeks, rivers, and draws in this rugged region of the state. Approximately 20,000 Hill Country hunters shoot an estimated 7500 turkey each year. Among the top counties are Kerr, Junction, Burnet, Menard, and Llano, but good turkey populations are found throughout the 25-county region.

Prairies and Lakes Turkey numbers remain steady throughout most of this area located north and west of the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex. Many counties received record amounts of rainfall last spring and early summer, which prompted heavy growths of broomweed, bumper crops of acorns, and overall improved habitat conditions for the birds. The best hunting has and likely always will be around the major creeks and rivers. Wheat fields in the predominately ranchland areas of Throckmorton, Jack, Stephens, Palo Pinto, and Young counties. Southward to Erath, Brown, Comanche, and Coleman counties also should produce good hunting, as they have in the past. Excellent hunting also can be expected along the Brazos River, especially in Young and Palo Pinto counties, where turkey numbers appear to be up this year. 60

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Panhandle Plains I have heard about the excellent turkey populations in many areas of the eastern Panhandle and Rolling plains for several years, but got my first taste of hunting there only in the last few years at Canadian in the upper eastern corner of the Panhandle, and around Memphis near its center. I bagged big adult gobblers in both areas, and would go back to hunt there again in a heartbeat. On Robert Hughes’ ranch at Memphis, I called in four adult toms together in a group the first morning out. They began gobbling at the first scratch from my slate call and didn’t stop until my 12-gauged thundered on one of them at 15 yards. Any patch of timber close to a creek is likely to hold turkey, which makes locating them relatively easy in this generally open landscape.

Brush Country Although recognized predominantly by hunters for its trophy whitetail deer and excellent quail hunting, the Brush Country

provide the best places to hunt. Eastern gobblers often are a little harder to call than Rio Grandes, which makes hunting them an even greater challenge.

of South Texas has some very good turkey hunting, too. The major rivers as well as creeks that serve as tributaries generally host the largest numbers of birds. In fact, very few birds are found far away from these major water sources. South Texas turkey hunters represent one of the smallest groups by region in the state, with approximately 7500 hunters annually harvesting between 5000 and 6000 birds.

Big Bend Turkey populations in the Big Bend area are not high, mainly because of a lack of suitable habitat. Much like some areas of the eastern Panhandle, the best habitat is along the brushy creek bottoms, draws, and around livestock watering holes. Because the populations are low, the competition among gobblers for the limited number of hens is high, and that’s a plus for hunters. Finding places to set up to call often is challenging because of the low, sparse vegetation. Morning hunts generally produce the best results. Hunters should plan to allow plenty of time before dawn to get to a calling site.

Pineywoods Thanks to the very successful eastern turkey restoration program that began in Red River County in Northeast Texas in the 1970s, and has been going on in the East Texas Pineywoods in the years since, turkey hunters now have a good chance to score on “easterns” in many counties. Good hunting often occurs on private land, which usually is small tracts, but large areas of public land in the Angelina and Sabine National Forests offer good hunting, too. The major creek bottoms, clear-cut fields, and open meadows

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PHOTO BY GRADY ALLEN

by Matt Williams

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ishermen are among the world’s greatest storytellers. They also are among the world’s worst when it comes to exaggerating the facts. Personally, I have known very few anglers who are not prone to stretch the truth every now and then. Just call it the nature of the beast. Human nature being what it is, good fishing stories have a remarkable way of becoming more colorful each time they are told. If you live in East Texas, you are sure to have heard one of the tallest fishing tales to surface in recent times. It revolved around a giant catfish that reportedly leaped out of the water and gobbled up a lady’s 85-pound German shepherd as it walked along the shores of Lake O’ The Pines in East Texas. The fish, which was rumored to weigh in excess of 1000 pounds, was thought to be the same one that had already snapped several trotlines fashioned from 750-pound-test tarred nylon. A media blitz followed. Within a week, local television stations aired interviews with state fisheries biologists who discounted the possibility that such a catfish might exist, and several bounty hunters who insisted they were going to haunt Big Cypress Bayou until they finally caught it. A newspaper colleague who worked the city beat at the time asked why I didn’t join in the media frenzy. Laughingly, I told him I would rather get scooped on a good story than add fuel to one that has no business in the news in the first place. In fact, I wouldn’t have even mentioned it in this article had it not been the perfect fit for a story meant to debunk some of freshwater fishing’s most long-lived fishing myths. If you fancy whiskered fish, perhaps you have heard the urban legend of scuba divers reporting huge catfish lurking around the dams of major reservoirs in just about every corner of the country. The way the story goes, divers sent to inspect the base of the 64

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dam saw catfish “as big as a Volkswagen and large enough to eat a man.” Entertaining, yes. True, no. One-thousand-pound catfish do not exist. Not in these parts, anyway. There are a number of different catfish species native to North America. Blue cats and flatheads have been documented at weights beyond 100 pounds. The world record blue cat stands at 124 pounds. The record flathead is 123 pounds, 9 ounces. Big fish, indeed, but hardly as large as a car. The only cats that come remotely close are the wels and Mekong. Native to European waters, the wels has been known to exceed 400 pounds, and Encyclopedia Britannica once credited the fish with attaining 800 pounds and 13 feet in length. The Mekong of Southeast Asia has been documented at weights up to 646 pounds. Here are 15 more common freshwater fishing myths and misconceptions that frequently pop up in conversations at boat ramps, tackle shops, and other places where fishermen congregate: 1. Cows feeding in a pasture are a good indicator that the fish biting. Cows are cows, and fish are fish. Based on my experiences, there is no activity correlation between the two. Longview bass pro Jim Tutt agreed: “I can recall plenty of fishing trips when I saw cows grazing on the way to the lake, but wound up not catching jack. I don’t think there is any connection at all.” Here is a good question for believers: How do you assess a fishing situation when the cows on one side of the highway are grazing, while those on the opposite side are resting in the shade? 2. Alligator gar as long as the boat. A two-man bass buster rig, maybe. A fullsize bass boat, no. While alligator gar longer than 10 feet have been documented, fish exceeding 8-9 feet in length are very rare. 3. Depth-finders spook fish. I have shared the boat with several anglers, some of them accomplished pros, who believe sounds emitted by electronic units can spoil the chances of getting bit. Others, including some fisheries scientists, say the theory holds no water at all. F i s h

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“I’ve used a drop-shot rig to catch a lot of bass that I could actually see on my electronics in 9 feet of water,” said Todd Driscoll, a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department biologist and tournament angler from Jasper, Texas. “If those fish were spooked, they sure didn’t act like it.” 4. When the wind is from the east, the fish bite the least. This one has been around long enough that my 83-year-old dad knows about it. In my book, it has about as much merit as the rest of a poem that goes something like this: “When the wind is from the west, the fish bite the best. When the wind is from the south, it blows the bait in the fish’s mouth. When the wind is in the north, the skillful fisherman goes not forth.” 5. A released fish caught from a school will go back and spook the others. Another serious misconception. If the fish suddenly quit biting, they probably just moved or simply went off the feed. It also could be that the hooked fish spooked the school during the fight. 6. Flathead catfish can’t be caught on anything except live bait. It is true that “ops” prefer fresh meat, but they also will eat dead bait or artificial lures from time to time. I have caught blue and channel catfish while fishing for bass with spinnerbaits, plastic worms, crankbaits, and topwaters. Last fall, a good friend of mine used stump hooks baited with bream heads to catch several ops in the 40- to 50-pound range at Toledo Bend. Several years ago, I interviewed a pair of elderly gents who landed a 92-pound flathead that ate a 1/2-ounce jigging spoon intended to catch white bass. Interestingly, one of the men was a heart patient recovering from quadruple bypass surgery. The other had been declared legally blind. 7. Catfish are bottom-feeding scavengers. Totally false. While catfish do have a broad diet that sometimes lures them to the cellar, they are eating machines aggressive enough to chase down shad, perch, and other prey at mid-range depths or even on the surface. 8. All bass spawn at the same time. Most Texas bass spawn during the spring,

usually during March and April, but not all of them. Many fisheries biologists agree a certain amount of spawning activity takes place during other seasons as well. David Campbell, who heads up TPWD’s popular Budweiser ShareLunker program, has witnessed spawning activity at odd times in hatchery environments. “We see it in our hatchery ponds, so there is no reason to think it is not happening in our public lakes,” Campbell said. “These fish move shallow and build nests just like happens during the spring. There just aren’t as many of them.” 9. All catfish go deep during the winter months. Another age-old myth I have seen proven wrong time and again. Take a trip to a good catfish lake and you might be surprised at what is roaming around in skinny water, 2 feet deep or less. 10. The reason windy shorelines are so productive for fishing is because the wind blows baitfishes to

the bank. Windy shorelines hold baitfishes because the baitfishes want to be there, not because they can’t swim against the waves. Wind blows in zooplankton and other tiny microorganisms on which shad and other baitfishes feed. Bass, catfish, and other predators naturally go where the goodies are. 11. The only time a topwater lure will catch bass is during low light conditions—early in the morning, late in the day, and at night. Not always. The topwater bite can be predictably unpredictable. The best time to throw a topwater is when the fish want it. I have enjoyed some outstanding surface action in triple-digit temperatures under bluebird skies with the water slick as glass. 12. Alligator gar are trash fish that are no good to eat. While the alligator gar doesn’t rank very high on the sport fishing hit list, the meat is quite tasty. The best cut is the tenderloin that runs along the backbone. The meat cooks up white and flaky; it

can be fried, broiled, baked, or grilled. 13. Crappie won’t bite a dead minnow. A crappie can be finicky as a house cat one minute, a voracious predator the next. Often times, when the fish are on a strong feed and competition is high, a lifeless shiner will catch fish just as well as a live bait or jig. 14. It is legal to catch catfish with your hands. “Noodling” for catfish is legal in Louisiana and a host of other southern states, but not in Texas. 15. Tournament anglers don’t work. Fishing competitively can be physically draining and mentally exhausting. Touring bass pros drive thousands of miles, fish under good and bad weather conditions from daylight to dark, and sometimes stay up late preparing for the next day so they can do it all over again. That sounds like a lot of hard work to me.

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PHOTOS BY DON ZAIDLE

by Tom Behrens

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emember when a compass was one of the key items needed for a backcountry hike or hunting trip? Or a compass was mounted on the dashboard of a car, truck, or boat to help find the way? Newer models of vehicles still have compasses on the dashboard, except they are digital, not the rotating little ball in the gimbal mount. A compass still is an excellent tool for keeping a person from getting lost—if you know how to use one. My first contact with what I mistakenly remember as GPS was back about 1993 when fishing guide and instructor, Will Kirkpatrick, showed me his new toy on his boat while on a fishing trip on Lake Sam Rayburn. Kirkpatrick guides on Rayburn and has been teaching map and electronics classes since 1994 at the Stephen F. Austin State University’s Pineywoods Conservation Center. The screen on a black box on his boat showed the exact course we were following to an open water structure hideout of black bass. Once the route was stored in the memory of the black box, finding it again was as simple as following the same route. This new gadget was not GPS, but Loran. The signal to the Loran unit was transmitted by land based radio towers. The direction-finding tool of today is the Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS not only tells what direction a person is heading, but if used properly, will direct you over hill and dale, lake and ocean, and through all the twists and turns to where you want to be. While on the way, it will tell you exactly where you are, the weather forecast, altitude, fishing prospects, plus a lot more information if you are interested and the unit is equipped to display it. GPS systems come as small as a wristwatch, or as handheld units that fit it in a shirt pocket, and mounted units for the dashboard of your boat, truck, or ATV. Spend some time browsing the web to see how many varieties of GPS systems are available. While the product keyword was once “Lowrance,” a recent tally of units available at Bass Pro Shops included Lowrance, Magellan, Eagle (a division of Lowrance), Bushnell, Garmin, Cobra, Humminbird, Raymarine, TomTom ONE, and Uniden. One of the newest entries in the ever growing GPS world is Bushnell’s hand-held 70

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Onix 400, which uses XM satellite broadcasts to access live weather feeds, such as animated Doppler radar that you can overlay onto a 3-1/2-inch color screen map. The Onix can store up to 1000 waypoints, 20 trails, and 20 routes. Lowrance offers large screen sonar, GPS chart plotter, and radar combos for marine use. Resolution rated to 600V x 800H, packed with all the latest Lowrance features. Options include 30 GB hard drive preloaded with tons of mapping and electronic charts, and you can download other maps and features from the Lowrance website, including maps of specific water bodies. Water body maps show shorelines and small inlets, and are truer to the actual contours, not angular or generalized. Small islands are included, and bottom structure such as river and creek channels are depicted. Best of all, these lake maps show depth contours with each contour labeled with its actual depth. The Garmin 76CSx includes fishing schedules for the best days and times to fish. A barometric altimeter helps determine the best times to fish. For planning a group event, you can use GPS to set a waypoint marker for all attendees—not only for the lake itself, but also for the best fishing spots on the lake. There is also sunrise and sunset information, moon phases, and tide tables for those who fish the Gulf. Hunters and dog handlers tired of searching for their hunting dog in tall grass or dense cover can use a Garmin Astro, which pinpoints the dog’s position even when you can’t see or hear it. The Astro system includes a color screen handheld GPS device and wireless transmitter, the DC 20. To get started, just take Astro outdoors and turn on the handheld and transmitter to acquire GPS satellite signals. Then attach the DC 20 to your dog, either with the included dog harness or by threading it onto a 1-inch collar. No other setup required. As often as every five seconds, your dog’s DC 20 transmits its position to your handheld, and you can see its current location and a trail of where it has been on the map page of the handheld. Switch over to the Dog Tracker page to view a compass pointing to your dog’s location, as well as its current status: running, sitting, on point, or treeing quarry. Astro can also sound an alarm to let you know instantly when your dog goes on point. All this might seem confusing to those unfamiliar with the technology. Many wonder what, exactly is GPS, and how does it F i s h

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work? With thanks to Lowrance for use of their excellent “GPS Tutorial” (the full version of which is available at the company website, www.lowrance.com under the “Support” tab/dropdown menu): The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space age navigational system that can pinpoint your position anywhere on the globe, usually within a few yards or meters. This amazing technology is available to everyone, everywhere, day and night, and best of all, at no cost for use of the navigational data. GPS uses a constellation of 24 satellites in precise orbits approximately 11,000 miles above the earth. The satellites transmit data via high frequency radio waves back to Earth and, by locking onto these signals, a GPS receiver can process this data to triangulate its precise location on the globe. GPS operates 24 hours a day, in all weather conditions, and can be used worldwide for precise navigation on land, on water and even in the air. Some of its many current applications include: boating, fishing, hunting, scouting on land or from the air, hiking, camping, biking, rafting, pack trips by horseback, hot air ballooning, general aviation, snowmobiling and skiing, search and rescue, emergency vehicle tracking, 4 wheeling, highway driving and a host of other outdoor activities where accurate positioning is required.

How it Works GPS uses satellite ranging to triangulate your position. In other words, the GPS unit simply measures the travel time of the signals transmitted from the satellites, then multiplies them by the speed of light to determine exactly how far the unit is from every satellite it’s sampling. By locking onto the signals from a minimum of three different satellites, a GPS receiver can calculate a 2D (two-dimensional) positional fix, consisting of your latitude and longitude. By locking onto a fourth satellite, the GPS can compute a 3D (threedimensional) fix, calculating your altitude as well as your latitude/longitude position. In order to do this Lowrance uses a 12 parallel channel receiver in all of its current products. Three of the channels lock on to satellites for triangulation. Another channel locks on to a fourth satellite for 3D navigation, which lets the unit calculate altitude in addition to latitude and longitude. These four channels continuously and simultaneously track the four satellites in the best geometrical positions relative to you. The additional eight channels track all other visible satellites, then add this data to the data from

the original four satellites. The unit then over-resolves a solution, creating an accuracy-enhanced reading. The additional channels also ensure reliable, continuous, and uninterrupted navigation, even in adverse conditions such as valleys or dense woods.

Accuracy GPS was conceived in the 1970s, and is controlled by the United States Department of Defense. Although GPS was initially

envisioned for military use, the Government realized early on that there would be numerous civilian applications as well. Subsequently, the Department of Defense (DOD) created two transmission codes: the P code (Precision code) for military use, and the C/A code (Civilian Access code) for civilian use. The highest accuracy levels were reserved for the military to prevent hostile enemy attacks against the U.S. using our own navigational system. However, once in opera-

tion, the civilian GPS receivers using the C/A code proved to be more accurate than the DOD had intended. Consequently, the military developed a system for randomly degrading the accuracy of the signals being transmitted to civilian GPS receivers. This intentional degradation in accuracy is called Selective Availability or S/A. This reduced the civilian GPS accuracy levels to being within 100 meters or less, 95% of the time. However, typical accuracy for most users averaged between 20 and 50 meters the majority of the time. You could easily see the effects of S/A on a GPS receiver when you were not moving. Typically, there would be random movements in speed, altitude and position readings, along with slow position “wandering” on the plotter trail. This was easily seen when you were on a .1 or .2 mile zoom range, and not moving. For example, while parked at the dock in your boat, you would see unexplainable changes in your digital speed readings up to a few miles per hour, even though you were not moving. Effective May 2, 2000 selective availability (S/A) has been eliminated. The United States Department of Defense now has the technology to localize the control system to deny GPS signals to selected areas. It is not often that your electronics products increase in value after you have purchased them. Now boaters, aviators, drivers, hikers, hunters, and outdoor enthusiasts of all types can locate their position up to ten times more precisely (within 10 to 20 meters) and navigate their way through unfamiliar terrain. Anglers can now return to their favorite spot on a lake or river instead of just their favorite area. A GPS receiver like the GlobalMap 100 (with extensive mapping capabilities and Lowrance’s optional IMS MapCreate Marine and Recreation CD-ROM) in combination with advanced technology of today’s GPS management will take you anywhere you want to go. The decision to allow civilians so much accuracy in location information was finally made because GPS is continually playing a more important role in the lives of people around the world; it is becoming a national utility. GPS is the global standard in navigation because it is completely free of charge to the public. The GPS units now available are mindboggling. Whether hiking, hunting, fishing, or boating, there is a unit or system designed for the task. The compass will never go away, but GPS might someday make it an antique.

Boats I Have Owned It was painted red it’s stripe was white It was 18 feet from the bow to the stern light Second hand from a dealer in Atlanta I rode up with Daddy when he went there to get her Put on a shine put on a motor Built out of love and made for water Ran it for years till the transom got rotten A piece of my childhood that’ll never be forgotten It was, just an old plywood boat 75 Johnson with electric choke A young boy, two hands on the wheel I can’t replace the way it made me feel And I would turn it shoreline and make it wide He’d say, ya can’t beat the way an old wood boat rides Just a little lake across the Alabama line But I was king of the ocean, when daddy let me drive —Alan Jackson ACH TIME I HEAR THE LYRICS TO ALAN Jackson’s popular country and western tune “When Daddy Let Me Drive,” I am reminded of my childhood years and those sultry summer holidays spent tooling around in my daddy’s 1958 model Yellow Jacket. It was a homemade rig built from a kit he bought for $100. The 14-foot boat was slick in its day. The deep-V hull was molded from Honduras mahogany, with a pinstriped oak deck and transom, all held together by brass screws. There were two hardwood bench seats cradled by heavy duty coil springs, and a windshield to cut the wind as the boat raced across Lake Lavon near my hometown of Garland. My two older sisters learned to slalom

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behind that boat. So did I, but not until I rescued it from a dilapidated wooden barn and gave it an overhaul in 1980. Dad’s old wooden boat eventually followed me to East Texas, where I attended college at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. It rode on a homemade trailer fashioned from 2-1/2-inch pipe with 15-inch wheels and baby moon hubcaps. It is funny how many friends you can develop when you are the only one in a trailer park who owns a boat. I had lots of them, so finding a fishing partner willing to cut morning classes in exchange for a trip to Lake Pinkston was rarely a problem. Everyone used to marvel at the old wooden boat, mainly because of its unique styling. One of my best friends nicknamed it “Waldo” because it reminded him of Darwood Kaye’s speedboat in The Little Rascals, a popular television series that aired when we were kids. Anyone who took a spin in Waldo was shocked by the power of the 1958 model 35horsepower Johnson SeaHorse that hung off the transom. The motor cowling was maroon and white with two fuel adjustment knobs on the face. It ran best with the knobs dialed to the center numbers. We folded six-pack boxes and wedged them behind the knobs to hold them in place. Waldo lived with me until the mid-1980s. That’s when I sent her home and got myself a real fishing boat—a 10-foot aluminum Vbottom powered by a 1955 Johnson 10horse that I custom painted with Krylon spray paint. Ol’ Blue was probably worth less than the tools I kept on board to work on it, but it was the perfect multi-species boat. I used it for bass and catfishing by day, then turned it into a bowfishing rig about four nights a week. Ross Fairchild was my official spotlighter in those days, but a guy named Dale Jaresh was manning the Q-beam on that fateful August night at Sam Rayburn Reservoir when I arrowed a 150-pound alligator gar out of the swimming area at Shirley Creek F i s h

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Marina. It was a big battle to attack in such a little boat, but somehow we managed to win it. My next boat was a vintage Skeeter Hawk given to me by an old college friend, Kirk Wolfe. The fiberglass boat was equipped with an early-60s model Mercury 50-horse that would not run. Rather than spending the money to repair the engine, I robbed the 10-horse off Ol’ Blue and strapped it to the transom. The boat was great so long as you weren’t in a hurry. Plus, it fished like a dream, particularly in super skinny water. I ran the Hawk until the engine broke down miles from the boat ramp on a blustery winter day with my new bride on board. We exhausted the trolling motor battery bucking the stiff north breeze, and finally managed to get towed to shore three hours later. Cold and wet, Jan suggested I sell the boat and take out a note on something more dependable. Otherwise, she was hanging up her rods. I sold the Hawk in 1994 for a whopping $700 and used the money as a down payment on a 15-foot Alweld commercial flatbottom. The metal boat was powered by a 1994 model 40-horse Yamaha with tiller control. It was the first boat I ever owned that wasn’t an antique. Better yet, I didn’t need a mechanic on call to keep it running. I liked the boat so much that I still own it. I use it primarily for trotlining, bream fishing, and navigating the Sabine and Angelina rivers during the height of the annual white bass run. The flatbottom sits beneath a lean-to I built at the rear of my shop. It used to live inside until the parking spot was taken over by a 2000 Triton TR186 bass boat that was replaced by a 2006 Ranger 521VX last spring. What’s next? Who knows. Perhaps one day I’ll buy another old Yellow Jacket to stick in an open corner, just to remind me where I came from. E-mail Matt Williams at freshwater@fishgame.com

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Snorkeling in Texas is a relatively unknown activity, practiced by only a few true pioneers. To my knowledge, there hasn’t been much specifically written on snorkeling in the Lone Star State, other than one information-packed book by Barbara Dunn entitled, Diving and Snorkeling Guide to Texas. My family and I have snorkeled in a number of locations in Texas, Cancun, and Florida, with results ranging from astonishment to sheer terror. There is more involved that you would imagine in this highly entertaining activity. One key technique is to know when to suck in and blow out of the breathing tube. You learn quickly not to inhale while completely submerged. Believe it or not, a lot of water in this state is suitable for snorkeling. Participants can view a vast variety of underwater wildlife without extensive training or expense. Snorkeling Texas waters allows us to see

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how fish behave and where they like to hang out. My first snorkeling experience was in a shallow bay near Florida’s Crystal River. Our family went there in July y to see a manatee. As luck would have it, there were still a few of the massive mammals in the area. It took a while to talk my young daughters into joining me in the water to view the gentle giants that were once mistaken by seafarers as “mermaids.” “I’m not getting into the water with those big things,” my youngest said, peering fearfully over the edge of the boat as I finned the water and held onto the side, pleading with them to get in. After 20 minutes, their butts were still glued to the seat. Drawing on my extensive career as an educator, and my expertise as a dad, I formulated a carefully constructed argument that soon had them in the water beside me: “I paid good money for this trip and to rent this boat, and if you don’t get in this water right now, I’m going to climb out and throw you in!” Once in the water and floating face down, their girls’ unease turned into amaze-

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ment as a female manatee and her calf swam past only inches below our fingertips. In that moment, they became dedicated snorkelers. Most people associate saltwater with snorkeling, and for good reason. There are numerous prime snorkeling locations along the Texas Gulf Coast, one of the best being along the South Padre National Seashore. The Coastal Bend can be murky when the wind is acting up, with only 3-4 feet of visibility, but on calm days, snorkelers around the jetties at Mustang Island and Port Aransas Island can find relatively clear water (10-20 feet visibility) and generous numbers of brightly colored saltwater fishes. Flounder, stingray, crab, and a variety of fishes make their homes at Bird Island Basin, in Laguna Madre, and at Padre Island National Seashore. With visibility up to 10 feet, snorkelers can get a good look at life on the sea floor. It is a perfect opportunity to understand how the food chain works and what can be expected while fishing along the coast. I have observed the underwater world in the Frio River, in San Marcos and Aquarena Springs, the Comal River, and in

the Guadalupe River. Each time, my family is astounded by what lives in a world that few take the time to see. While tube floating the Frio last summer, I passed several deep pools holding small catfish. After completing our float, I returned to the camper and retrieved my snorkeling gear. Back in the river, I returned to the pools. After donning my mask and flippers, I spent a considerable amount of time watching the cats work the pools. Apparently comfortable with the animated tubers passing overhead, the fish became agitated only when someone splashed out for a quick dip. My interest piqued when a fisherman appeared on the shore with his tackle box. I moved toward the opposite back, held onto a thick root as an anchor in the current, and watched as he cast a variety of baits to the fish. For the most part, they ignored his offerings, even finning out of the way when the lure passed too close. However, lures that fell, or those simulating a wounded baitfish, caught their attention. I quickly understood how fish hang along the edge of drop-offs, waiting for

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something to swim past. The fluttering baitfish-mimics falling over the submerged edges were the only lures they wanted. All lakes have submerged drop-offs, boulders, timber, or even algae-covered cars that attract baitfishes, which in turn attract game fish. Seeing how fish stack up along underwater ridges brings home the lessons we have learned about this type of structure holding fish. Some lakes with rocky shores and cliffs, Possum Kingdom, for example, are better suited for snorkeling. Nearly all lakes have at least some visibility, but the worst times are during weekends when swimming activity, boat, and Jet Ski traffic are their peaks. The best snorkeling, of course, is in clear water. As I mentioned, the Frio and Guadalupe rivers are prime water for exploration. (If you find a Mexican peso stamped into a Texas Ranger badge money clip, please contact this magazine because I lost it in the river near Greune four years ago.) Barton Springs protects a rare purple salamander that can be found, with a little luck, by poking through the rocks in the icy,

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crystalline water that has percolated up from the Edward’s Aquifer. If you are into aquatic salamanders, another species lives in the San Marcos River and Spring Lake. Both of these colorful little guys require clean, clear flowing water of constant temperature, and share this pristine environment with a variety of other interesting creatures. In the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas, you can explore the artesian San Solomon Springs at Balmorhea State Park. In this miraculous environment, snorkelers can see turtles, catfish, minnows, Mexican tetras, and the Comanche Springs pupfish that flourish in the 74- to 78-degree water. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enclosed the spring in a 200foot concrete circle that preserves the integrity of the original pool. Where else can you stand on concrete instead of sand or mud to prepare for a snorkeling excursion? Don’t be fooled by the swimming pool appearance. The CCC left the natural bottom intact, and once you get past the decking, the experience is spectacular. Snorkeling doesn’t require extensive lessons or expensive gear. The sport only requires a mask, fins, an inflatable float vest for safety, common sense, and the ability to control your breathing. I am sure there are dozens of companies making fine snorkeling and diving gear, but I am familiar with only a few. Oceanic, DiveAeris, U.S.-Divers, and Mares manufacture quality gear that will last for years with good care. My own diving mask was custom made, not because of vanity, but because I am blind as a bat without my glasses. Think about it: you can’t wear spectacles with a mask, so I visited the folks at Aquaworld in Garland, Texas, where the professionals there led me through the process of acquiring a mask with a prescription faceplate. The breathing apparatus is called a snorkel. Listen to the professionals and get a tube that will last. Some feature custom mouthpieces, ergonomically engineered for comfort. Look for one with a housing that incorporates a float valve that buoys up when the snorkel is submerged. The valve prevents water from entering the top of the snorkel; you really want that. Another feature to look for is a purge housing and valve, which prevents the user from aspirating water into the lungs; you

don’t want to do that. Natural springs are cold, so consider a wetsuit, which can also be used in lakes and bays during the cooler, less crowded months. We didn’t understand the value of wetsuits until my youngest daughter, Taz, and I spent over an hour floating in a Florida spring while watching crabs crawl along the bottom almost 60 feet below. Despite the July Florida sunshine, she turned a delightful shade of blue that we didn’t notice until we

were back in the boat. Fins help propel you through the water and are essential. Safety in and around water is always a concern. Explore with a partner. Watch out for boat and Jet Ski traffic. Always look up before surfacing. Remember to put plenty of sunscreen on your back, the most exposed portion of your body. Carry a knife in case you or your partner becomes entangled underwater.

A whole world is waiting to be explored by the adventurous. We’re accustomed to the surface of our watery resources, but only a few of us have ventured into the depths to get a first hand look at underwater life. It reminds me of a quote from Edward Abbey, Twentieth Century desert anarchist, a character of elaborate contradictions and eccentricities whose words either infuriated or delighted his readers. He wrote: “You can’t see anything from a car; you’ve got to get out of the ... contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the ... cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail, you’ll see something, maybe.” The same holds true for the vast underwater world of this great state. With apologies to Abbey, get out of your boat or off the beach, put on a diving mask, and take a slow, wet up-close look at one of the most fascinating habitats in the world.

Recommended Snorkeling Destinations Laguna Madre Estuary South Padre National Seashore Mustang Island and Port Aransas Island Balmorhea State Park Guadalupe River Comal River Frio River Llano River Lake Amistad Canyon Lake San Marcos area/Aquarena Springs Lake Travis Possum Kingdom Lake Squaw Creek Athens Scuba Park Toledo Bend

How to dress and clean catfish • by Matt Williams

here is a passel of ways to catch a catfish, and probably even more ways to clean one. Just about every savvy catfisherman has their druthers when it comes time to get Mr. Whiskers all dressed up for the frying pan. Charlie and Rhonda Shively are masters at cleaning catfish. They should be: the Shively’s own Bill’s Landing, a fishing man’s fishing camp on the upper reaches of Toledo Bend Reservoir. Each year, they dice up thousands of pounds of catfish for customers who would rather pay to get the dirty work done. The husband/wife team can make fast work of a fat cat—”fast” as in taking a 30-pound blue from the hanging hook to freezer bags in 20 minutes or less. Channel cats weighing 1-2 pounds are a lot less trouble—none of that rank fat or tart, red meat to worry about on a fish that size, just skin and a fistful of guts.

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PHOTO BY MATT WILLIAMS

Skinning a catfish is a simple process that calls for a cut here, a cut there, and a firm grip for peeling back the slimy hide. I caught up with Shively during the height of the trotlining season last spring and asked him clean a cat while I took pictures. What follows is a 10-step lesson plan for getting a frying size cat ready for a spicy corn meal batter and hot grease.

Things you will need: • Kevlar glove (for gripping fish and protection from the knife) • some catfish

• flat, clean work surface • sharp filet knife • skinning pliers

1 Step 1: A sharp filet knife is must. Shively says he rarely uses a sharpening stone, but touches up the blade with a steel after every fish. The sharper the knife, the easier the job.

2 Step 2: Beginning at the back of the head, make two shallow cuts, one on each side of the dorsal fin. Join the cuts on the backside of the dorsal fin. Continue one of the cuts about two inches down the center of the fish’s back.

3 Step 3: Using catfish skinning pliers, grab the skin on the topside near the head and twist downward, towards the belly. Pull the skin about halfway down the body and stop. Repeat the process on the opposite side. Alternate sides until the skin comes off at the tail.

4 Step 4: Make a shallow incision down each side of the anal fin. This allows for easy removal of the fin and bones later.

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5 Step 5: Make a V-shaped cut beginning on the on the backside of each pectoral fin. The cuts should meet on the bottom side of the lower jaw.

6 Step 6: Make an incision just behind the anus and stop at the base of the ventral fins.

7 Step 7: Grab the ventral fins with pliers and pull to the head. This removes any remaining skin on the body cavity.

8 Step 8: Use the skinning pliers to remove the dorsal fin and remove the head.

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9 Step 9: Open the body cavity and use the pliers to remove the guts.

10 Step 10: Make an incision just behind the anus and stop at the base of the ventral fins.

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HEN YOU SEE A PICTURE OF A DEER VIA email, on the internet, or in a Polaroid at the local feed store, what is the first thought that crosses your mind? If the picture is via email or on the internet, the first response typically is to question the credibility of the photo. After that, many mentally muse, I wonder what it scored. I am guilty of this as well, playing armchair Boone and Crockett scorer on just about every picture of a buck that crosses my desk, estimating width, tine length, and throwing in a wild guess for mass measurements. Ten years ago, the average deer hunter wouldn’t know the difference between a G2 and a guitar string, but now quite a few can estimate the gross score of a buck within 10 inches while watching it at a feeder for a few minutes. Times have changed, and I am not so sure it is for the better. I have shared before that my first deer was a doe. Nothing special, just a doe, but you could have fooled me. To me, it was the biggest, smartest, most elusive deer in the woods. Back in those days, we didn’t simply gut the deer and take it to the processor. No sir, on opening morning, there was a gathering of men at a relatives’ shed where all the deer shot that morning were skinned. There was no shortage of men willing to pull the hide off a deer, and there was also no distinguishing between bucks and does. Any deer was a good deer, especially if it was someone’s first. Somehow, we have lost sight that every deer is a good deer, and now a deer has value only if it has headgear meeting some minimum standard. If you spend any amount of time at all on the internet, you no doubt have visited one of the websites dedicated to Texas hunting.

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If you haven’t noticed, recruitment of new hunters is not exactly at an all-time high.

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What Does It Score?

These sites are great for sharing information and passing time between seasons, but they seem to push away as many potential hunters as they recruit due to the overwhelming “trophy hunting” mentality of most participants. Countless times during each hunting season, you see all kinds of proud hunters posting pictures of deer they have taken, expecting a pat on the back and a welcome into the fraternity. Instead, the responses are most often along the lines of, “I’d have let him grow another year” or “He’s got good tine length but his mass is lacking.” The worst part is that some of these comments are directed at youngsters, so we are passing along to the next generation the notion that only “big” deer are worth the trouble of shooting. I have even seen it go so far that one internet trophy hunter commented that any deer 2-1/2 years old or older that isn’t an eight-point or better is “trash.” It might not live up to an arbitrary standard set by some, but it is far from being trash.

The trophy hunting mentality isn’t limited to hunters who chase deer inside a fence or on large, well-managed leases. (By the way, if a high-fenced ranch owner tells you the fence was installed to increase the overall health of the herd and you believe him, then I have some ocean front property in Arizona I’ll sell you—cheap.) The “bigger is better” mentality has infiltrated the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, too, manifested in the form of antler restrictions. Antler restrictions were proposed to the public with the intent of improving the age structure of local deer herds, reducing over-hunting of bucks, and provid-

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ing more hunter opportunity. (“Opportunity” and “success” are two different things.) However, when judging the overall success of the program, it is typically measured in B&C scores before and after antler restrictions were implemented. I hunt in an antler-restricted county, and I am not completely sold on the program based merely on data from my hunting area. In 2005, the year prior to antler restrictions, four deer were taken off our place—two bucks over 13 inches, one buck under 13 inches (that particular hunter’s first deer ever), and one doe. In 2006, the first year of restrictions, we shot four deer again—one buck over 13 inches, two bucks with at least one unbranched antler, and one doe. In 2007, three deer were taken, all doe. If hunter opportunity is measured in the amount of hours spent on a stand trying to decide if that 10-pointer that just ran by chasing a doe was legal, then it has increased. If measured by the number of animals seen or bucks taken, then the benefits are not being realized. If you haven’t noticed, recruitment of new hunters is not exactly at an all-time high. Trying to raise a generation of trophy hunters and not allowing—or looking down upon—young hunters who take a doe or small buck as their first deer will surely fuel this trend. Few kids today will devote time sitting in a stand for hours on end, not allowed to shoot deer because of some arbitrary “trophy” standard imposed by law. Don’t get me wrong, I like seeing big antlers just as much as the next guy, and if a 200-inch monster walks in front of me, I won’t think twice about dropping the hammer on it. But, if a smaller legal buck walks out and I feel comfortable taking it, I will be just as proud. I can help but think that if the only reason most of us hunt is to see who can hang the largest set of antlers on the wall, then perhaps we have lost sight of the real reason we hunt in the first place.

E-mail Paul Bradshaw at deerhunting@fishgame.com

Getting Goosed, Texas Style ASTLAND, MISSISSIPPI, TEXAS FISH & Game subscriber Tab Felts won the Trophy Quest trip for December and got to sample Texas goose hunting. The December hunt over the Christmas holidays worked out just great for him. Tab and his son, TJ, were guests of the Blue Goose Hunting Club in Altair, Texas, right on the flyway for migrating geese. Blue Goose has more than 100,000 acres of land, with options to hunt over rice, soybean, oat, wheat, corn, and milo fields. Tab and TJ were hunting a plowed rice field. Their hunting guide, Jeff Neu, has been guiding goose hunters for 13 years, 10 of which have been

by Tom Behrens for the Blue Goose Hunting Club. Tab and TJ arrived the evening of December 26. At 4:00 a.m. the next day, Neu was knocking on their door, and after a quick breakfast, the group followed him to the assigned field. “We helped load the decoys on to the trailer behind the 4-wheeler, we hopped on, and he towed us out into the

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

TJ (left) and Tab Felts enjoyed the hospitality and goose hunting at Blue Goose Hunting Club in Altair, Texas. This was their first goose hunting trip. field,” said Felts. “We set up 700-800 windsock decoys and were ready for the birds to start flying,” said Neu. His specialty is placing his clients in the middle of the spread and calling the birds to the spread. “I always stick to the spread; I don’t ever jump in a ditch or get on a fence line.” Everybody was garbed in white parkas, laying flat on their backs in the middle of the spread, waiting for the action to begin. By 7:30 a.m., they had their first goose. “Jeff was an amazing caller,” said Tab. “He does most of the calling with his mouth—no manmade call used.”

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

“We had steady action, birds setup all around us,” said Neu. “We had one big bunch of Canada geese come in and we killed three or four out of that bunch. Everything else was singles and doubles.” By 11:00 a.m., the birds quit flying; the party had nine birds for their efforts. “This was TJ’s and my first goose hunt, and we found it very enjoyable. We had a good time and are looking forward to doing it again,” said Felts. Note: All services, lodging, and meals provided by: Blue Goose Hunting Club, Altair, TX; Pho. 979-234-3597

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 T E X A S

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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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FEATURE DESIGN BY JIMMY BORNE

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PHOTO BY STEVE LAMASCUS

The author zeros a T/C “hand cannon” at the range before taking it afield.

s far back as the 1950s (just about the time that bowhunting was starting its climb up the popularity hill), Elmer Keith and others were touting big-bore handguns as great tools for sport hunting. In his book, Sixguns by Keith, Elmer wrote that he was perplexed when the game departments of various states began to legalize archery for deer hunting and open special archery seasons, but ignored handguns. I can’t say I blame him; it makes no sense to me, either. It is, I suppose, because handguns have never been considered “sporting” firearms, but a tool for personal defense. I admit that as a ready-to-hand personal defense weapon, the handgun has no equal. In addition, it can be sufficiently accurate and powerful for hunting—more so, I think, than the bow and arrow. I concur with Elmer’s idea that if there is going to be a special season for bowhunters, there sure as heck should be one for handgun hunters. Why? Because hunting deer and other big game with a handgun is a wonderful pursuit that encompasses all the best things about sport hunt100

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ing, and adds the colorful, Western American mystique of the handgun to the mix. Handguns suitable for hunting big game can be classified into two broad categories: First is the big bore handgun that Elmer Keith, Skeeter Skelton, Jeff Cooper, and others of the era considered the ultimate. This type of handgun is best identified with the various .44 Magnums, but there are a number of suitable calibers, many of which are more powerful than the mighty .44. Next is the hand rifle. This is a short gun, sans buttstock, that fires a bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It will generally wear a scope and be accurate to many times the range of a bigbore handgun. This type of handgun is best represented by the Thompson/Center Contender and Encore—single-shot, breakaction handguns capable of handling just about any rifle cartridge you care to name. In the big-bore group, there are basically three types of handguns: double-action revolvers, single-action revolvers, and semiautos. Of these, the revolvers are most commonly used for hunting; and because they usually have longer barrels and are chambered in more powerful cartridges than the common semi-autos such as the 1911 .45 ACP, they are more versatile and better suited to the task. Choosing which type of big bore you F i s h

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want is a personal thing. The two best choices for most of us are the single-action and double-action revolvers. The Ruger Blackhawk and Super Blackhawk, Freedom Arms Model 84, and several others offer ultra-strong, extremely accurate and powerful single-actions. Since rapidity of fire for multiple shots is not a concern in a hunting handgun, a single-action will perform just as well as a double-action. If your taste follows the line of the old, romantic thumb buster, the single-action is a great choice. The double-action has some mechanical advantages over the single-action. It is easier and quicker to reload, can be fired without first cocking the hammer, and offers a grip style that provides a bit more control in rapid fire. In some instances, the double-action will have a bit better single-action trigger pull than some single-action pistols, and the lock time of the double-action is almost always faster than the single-action (a very minor consideration, in truth). However, the single-action has some advantage in the strength department for guns of equal size and weight. The type of gun you choose is unimportant. Of great importance are the caliber, barrel length, and accuracy with which you can shoot the gun. Caliber is probably the most important factor when choosing a big game handgun.

While a .357 will certainly kill a whitetail deer, it is on the bottom end of the power spectrum. It is normally considered as fact that a deer cartridge should deliver 1000 foot-pounds (ft-lbs) of energy at the target to be sufficient for hunting white-tailed deer. The .357 Magnum, with its delivery of approximately 500 ft-lbs with a 158-grain bullet, is pretty anemic for a deer cartridge. If you feel you must hunt deer with a .357 Magnum, please, be extremely careful in choice of your ammunition. The best self-defense ammo is not the best hunting ammo. The two purposes do not have the same criteria for bullet performance, and self-defense ammo will often fail to provide sufficient penetration to cleanly kill a deer-sized animal. I could explain this odd phenomenon, but that would take up more room than we have in this article. Just take my word for it and pick a heavier, tougher bullet for your hunting needs. Cor-Bon makes a very good 180-grain hunting load for the .357 Magnum, and handloaders can pick from a large array of suitable bullets and loads. My preference is a 160-grain Lyman 358156 semi-wadcutter with a gas check, loaded over a maximum charge of H-110. This bullet provides penetration and accuracy and does not have to depend on bullet upset to do its job. Hunting calibers for the big bores really start with the .41 Magnum. The .41 was originally intended as the perfect police cartridge, but most policemen (who were required to carry the thing 8 or 10 hours a day, and who did not shoot at all regularly) found it too loud, too heavy, and too powerful for their liking. Contrary to popular belief, many cops are not very good shots with their sidearms and seldom practice. On top of that, the average police officer never has to fire his sidearm in self-defense, and has no idea if it is adequate. The .38 Special was definitely inadequate and the .41 Magnum was too powerful for the average cop to control. However, for hunting deersized game, the .41 is a great choice. The .44 Magnum is still the king of the big bores. It is powerful, small enough to be manageable in a gun of reasonable size, and powerful enough for almost any hunting situation for which a handgun is a suitable choice. With the proper bullets, a .44 Magnum will kill any animal on the continent. The real powerhouses are the .454 Casull, .480 Ruger, .460 Smith & Wesson, 102

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and .500 Smith & Wesson. These cartridges are large, exceedingly powerful, require large, rugged handguns, and are darned hard for most of us mere humans to shoot well. They kick like mules and have enough muzzle blast to knock the ears off a brass statue. However, if you are one of those individuals who can shoot them well, they are wonderful hunting calibers, capable of cleanly taking any of the non-dangerous game in North America. My personal opinion is that Joe Average is much better off with a .44 Magnum than with any of the more powerful calibers. I do not enjoy shooting the big boomers, and for a person to practice enough to maintain proficiency with his handgun, shooting should be fun and not an unpleasant chore. A .44 can be handloaded to even milder velocities and then becomes a very pleasant gun to shoot. I practice mostly with reduced loads, and carry the full-house Magnums for hunting and defense. However, somewhat reduced loads in the big .44, with proper bullets, are also good self-defense loads. Barrel length is a personal thing. I prefer a barrel of between 6 and 7 1/2 inches on my hunting handguns. This gives me the ultimate in accuracy and ability to see the sights properly. The longer the barrel, the greater the velocity and longer the sight plane. All things being equal, a handgunner should be able to shoot a long barrel more accurately than a short one, but my personal experience is that this difference is surprisingly small. Also, there is no real difference in the mechanical accuracy potential either way, but merely the shooter’s ability to hold and squeeze. For example, my buddy Dave Biggers, VP of Sales and Marketing with XS Sight Systems, absolutely dotes on his “HalfBaked Alaskan,” a Ruger Super Redhawk .44 Magnum that he sawed off to about 3 inches, fitted with XS express sights, and named (tongue firmly in cheek) after the Ruger Alaskan of commercial availability. I have seen him ring my plinking gong (an old junk wheel) at 100 yards with annoying regularity with the length-challenged thing. Most of us don’t have Dave’s skill with a handgun. On the other hand, a snub-nosed .44 Magnum is a great carrying gun for someone who is a good shot and needs both portability and power in a handgun. In the final cut, it is your choice to make, and it makes no difference which you choose. Any of the possible selections will F i s h

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get the job done, provided you do your part. At the other end of the spectrum are the Thompson/Center Encore and its progenitor, the Contender. These are single-shot, break-action guns with the ability (in the Encore, at least) to chamber and fire just about any rifle cartridge you can name. The Contender, the first on the market, is limited in its ability to chamber and fire powerful cartridges. It made popular such cartridges as the .30-30 Winchester, the 7-30 Waters, and other rimmed cartridges of moderate power. I have had Contenders in .30-30, .22 Hornet, .223 Remington, and .44 Magnum. The .223 was especially interesting, since it would average three-shot groups at 100 yards of about 1-1/2 inches. The Encore, T/C’s latest single-shot powerhouse, is stronger than the Contender and capable of shooting any cartridge you are man—or woman—enough to hold onto. Surfing the T/C website (www.tcarms.com), I see the Encore is available in, among other calibers, .270 and .308 Winchester. The old .35 Remington, once on the way to obsolescence, has seen a surge of popularity in the Encore as a handgun cartridge, and the versatile, powerful 7mm08 is a popular cartridge for the Encore. These guns far outstrip the big bore revolvers in both power and accuracy, and offer the handgun hunter true big game capability at ranges impossible for a standard handgun. Other types of handguns are capable of taking big game. My brother David has shot deer with a Kimber 1911 in .45 ACP. Savage Arms makes the Striker, a boltaction handgun; Remington made the XP100, also a bolt-action and the first of its type, and there are several other custom and semi-custom models available. Handgun hunting is a wonderful sport. If you are looking to add some spice to your hunting and just can’t get excited about hunting with pointy sticks, you should try hunting with a handgun. It is perfectly legal in Texas, but if you want to use a handgun in other states, you should check their regulations first. Some states are not as enlightened as Texas and have weird notions about handguns. I hope someday the politicians of the world (and the reality challenged) will come to their senses and realize that no gun is evil—only man can claim that dishonor.

Casting Call For Collegiate Bass Anglers OLLEGIATE BA SS FISHING DOESN’ T discriminate when it comes to age, gender, years of practice, or experience level, but it does bring out the best in fierce competition.

That competition, fueled by long-time school rivalries and the pure spirit of collegeaged competitors, debuts in a 26-week television series featuring the 2007 BoatU.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship (NCBFC), plus coverage of regional collegiate fishing tournaments leading up to the main event. The 2007 NCBFC, held last September on Lake Lewisville near Dallas, featured 83 teams from 48 schools across the country in contention for thousands of dollars in scholarship monies, not to mention prestige and bragging rights. The Texas A&M team of Justin Rackley and Trevor Knight took the national title back to College Station. Details of this and other collegiate fishing interests can be seen on the NCBFC series on the Fox College Sports (FCS) network On the FSN Southwest network, the series began airing on January 10 at 3:30 p.m. (ET) and will continue every Thursday thereafter at the same time until early July. “The young men and women who are competing in collegiate bass fishing are a breath of fresh air in this day and time of national athletics,” said Wade Middleton, NCBFC tournament director. “For high school students and younger kids who are really looking for role models and a sport they can compete in for life, they need to tune into one of these television shows to see what this program is all about. I know I’m biased, but it’s something to make the adult 104

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PHOTO COURTESY OF NCBFC

by Gary Dollahon

The Texas A&M team of Justin Rackley and Trevor Knight won the 2007 BoatU.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship. generation feel really good about what is coming behind us.” The 2007 NCBFC was the second year for the event. North Carolina State won the inaugural championship in 2006. College bass fishing clubs and teams have been on a steady increase ever since. F i s h

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“Three years ago, only a handful of competitive bass clubs existed at the collegiate level, now we have more than a hundred,” explained Mike Hastings, the NCBFC liaison who helps college students start fishing programs. “As programs across the country grow, so does the number of local and

regional competitive fishing opportunities for them. Fishing is a healthy, wholesome activity for students everywhere.” Schools of all sizes are currently involved in the NCBFC. In fact, on the first competition day of the 2007 championship, it was the University of Montevallo, a 3000-student school located in Alabama that was atop the standings over teams from the Big 12, SEC, PAC-10, Big East, Big 10, WAC, and many other conferences. In the end, though, it was Rackley and Knight that took the championship trophy and $14,000 scholarship check back to Texas A&M. More than $35,000 in scholarships and prizes was divided among the top 10 teams. “In college bass fishing, there are no glittering pep rallies or sports stadiums filled with 50,000 screaming fans. These students participate for one reason—they love catching fish. It’s great at the end of the day to say BoatU.S. Angler helped them do that,” said Mike Pellerin, assistant vice president, BoatU.S. Angler program. The third annual NCBFC will be held again in the fall of 2008 with more details coming soon. The NCBFC is sponsored by BoatU.S., BoatU.S. Angler, Cabela’s, Ranger Boats, Yamaha, Garmin, Costa Del Mar, Stearns, Pioneer Beef Jerky, Anglers Legacy, EGO Nets, Sebile, American Rodsmiths, Aviva Fishin’ Buddy, Biosonix, Bill Lewis Lures, Gene Larew Lures, Nemire Lures, Keelshield, Minn Kota, Sperry Top-Sider, Power-Pole, Outdoor Specialty Products, City of Lewisville, Sneaky Pete’s Marina, and Fox College Sports. The BoatU.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Champion television series is field produced by Careco Multimedia, a full-service video production company experienced in field acquisition and editing of top quality outdoor programming. The company produces and markets several outdoor fishing programs, including IFA Redfish Tour, Fishing and Hunting Texas, Americana Outdoors and more. For more information about the championship, participating schools, and how to start a collegiate fishing club, visit www.collegiatebasschampionship.com.

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Beware the Idles Of March! ARCH IS NOT A PRIME MONTH FOR OFFshore fishing, at least not off the Texas coast. Snapper season will open again next month—provided the requested changes to the season have not been approved—but anyone wanting fresh red ones for dinner now will have to hunt for a supply in Texas waters. This mostly involves finding an inshore wreck, usually of the shrimp boat variety (you knew they had to be good for something, right?) or a spot of bottom with natural structure. Off Freeport, the Southeast Lump is technically just a bit outside state waters, so the East Bank, Middle Bank, and Shell Ridge areas are the most popular spots to scout. Even closer inshore, the George Vancouver Liberty Ship wreck is only 4.5 miles offshore of the mouth of the Brazos River. This should be a decent spot for bull reds, Gulf trout, various “inshore” species, and maybe a few legal snapper. There is a rig near the wreck with a deep hole washed between them that should be a good area for cool weather fishing. The Middle Bank can produce outstanding “sow” snapper catches, depending on weather conditions, but is generally an area where at least some legal snapper and Gulf trout can be scratched out. Bull reds can also be found here, as well as closer to shore. Live bait like finger mullet or croaker is good when available, as well as piggy perch. While there are popular spots that are either a hole or a rise, these might become crowded on nice days. Drifting with several rods out and an eye on the fish-finder will often find a concentration of fish that are not

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where they are supposed to be. For more of a sure bet on “Texas” snapper, head for Port Mansfield. There are rock formations a few miles off the Padre Island shoreline that offer action for snapper in the “sow” class year-round. This is a long drive for most of us, and the seas tend to run rough down there, but the fishing is excellent and weather could be warmer than farther up the coast. There are affordable charter services at Mansfield if you don’t want to haul your boat that far. Just a bit farther offshore, bluefish might be around rigs or sometimes working open water. Bluefish are here year-round, but they migrate to the Gulf in winter and will be running larger. While other fishes might feed sluggishly in cold water, blues are rarely shy about whacking a bait. They will hit most any type of cut natural bait, as well as jigs and spoons. Although blues have a mouth full of dentures that can bite off a red snapper behind the head, 60- to 80-pound mono leaders will work if changed after several fish are caught. Single strand wire is probably a better choice for bait fishing. A bluefish will outfight a king mackerel twice its size on appropriate tackle. They are very abundant when located, and relatively easy to catch with no limits on size, bag, or possession. Some folks don’t eat them, but I find them very tasty when fried crisp. They need to be fresh for the best taste, and the red strip of meat along the lateral line must be removed, as with any fish that has such flesh. There is also a spot just behind the eye of a big blue where a piece of boneless meat the size of a silver dollar on the large ones can be “scooped” out. This is probably the choicest cut on a bluefish. Spanish mackerel will often be found feeding in an open-water school with bluefish and bonito. When this happens, it can lead to excellent light tackle action on spoons or jigs. The daily limit on Spanish is 15 per angler. The flesh is whiter and much tastier than their larger cousins, the kings. Usually, there will be birds marking the spot where these fish have pushed bait to the surface. F i s h

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Care must be taken not to spook the school when approaching, and they move pretty fast most of the time. If possible, get downcurrent of the school and let them come to you; otherwise, a long cast will be necessary. Bucktail jigs in white are best, unless you can find some of the old “Hooties.” Deep-water anglers watch for a good weather window to head for blue water, and are often rewarded with good catches of blackfin tuna from behind deep-water shrimpers, or at night under rig lights. Shrimp boat tuna action is especially good off Port Aransas. When you can get out, grouper and vermillion snapper offer good bottom fishing around spots like Saratoga Ridge and Little Campeche. Besides watching the weather, watch out for a large bycatch of illegal red snapper that might not survive being released. The same can be said for deep-water rigs like those in the intersection group. Whatever flavor of offshore action you prefer, don’t try to rush the season if the weather is not perfect. Cold water immersion kills, and big wind-driven seas capsize boats. If the situation looks iffy, stay at home or fish protected waters around jetties. Sometimes, good catches of mangrove snapper can be pulled from around harbor dock pilings, and there is usually something to be caught on the lee side of a jetty. The “New” Brazos River offers water deep enough for most offshore boats inshore of the mouth, and anything from bull reds to gafftops might be found there. If the wind is really honking, stay home or at the dock. There are always chores to catch up on involving the boat or tackle, and planning warm weather trips over charts can help pass the time until true offshore weather arrives. Just don’t let your fishing persona “idle” too long—it makes it hard to throttle up for the peak season.

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.

McFaddin NWR Habitat Enhancement

UCKS UNLIMITED HELPED

restore more than 2200 acres of significant freshwater marsh along the upper Texas Gulf Coast. Wetland managers can now regulate water levels, control undesirable vegetation, and promote the growth of wetland plants beneficial to waterfowl and other wildlife. “The Willow Slough project contributes to the long-term health of the Texas Gulf Coast ecosystem and the M c Fa d d i n National W i l d l i f e Refuge,” said Ducks Unlimited Biologist Eric Lindstrom. Historically, Willow Slough provided wintering and staging habitat for thousands of waterfowl including ring-necked ducks, scaup, gadwall, northern shovelers, and blue-winged teal. Over time, hydrology alteration in the marsh reduced the amount of submerged aquatic vegetation and allowed undesirable plants, such as maiden cane and willow, to dominate the slough. Ducks Unlimited partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

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Service and the Jefferson County Drainage District to restore hydrology and increase capabilities to eliminate invasive vegetation. Partners installed a spillway and a water control structure that facilitate water removal and allow additional management activities that improve the marsh value to waterfowl. Two private landowners in East Texas and a North American Wetlands Conservation Act ( N AW C A ) grant provided additional funding for this project. In Washington, D.C., DU governmental affairs staff works with Congress in support of annual funding for NAWCA. To date, NAWCA has helped fund 38 wetland projects on over 99,000 acres in Texas. Since 1990, NAWCA funding of $17.1 million stimulated partners including private landowners, corporations and Texas governments to contribute over $36.2 million to conserve wildlife habitat in the state. Hunting opportunities are available on McFaddin NWR. T E X A S

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Portions of the refuge are open to hunters free of charge while other areas require a use fee. Hunters can access approximately 25,600 acres by foot or by boat. For more information on NAWCA, go to www.ducks.org/nawca.

Tips for Taking a Child Turkey Hunting LMOST ALL CHILDREN HAVE three things in common: they are observant, inquisitive, and above all, love to have fun. Hunting can bring out all these traits and is a great way for you to spend quality time with your son, daughter, or grandchild. Making the hunt fun is probably the most important lesson to remember. If three hours in a blind doesn’t seem to fit your child’s personality, try 30 minutes in the blind and follow it with a hunt for mushrooms or a search for crawly critters underneath a log. Always keep in mind that you are on your child’s schedule. Hunting is a great way to pass on the hunting heritage to our children. Be patient, hunt safely and the child in your life will be begging to return to the woods with you real soon. Here are some additional tips to keep in mind when taking your child hunting:

- Make hunting a casual adventure rather than a forced

march through rough terrain. - Give a child his or her own turkey call. - Teach the child how to call, then let them call in the woods (do this where it won’t interfere with or spook birds you plan to hunt later). - Teach a child how to blow an owl hooter call and explain why it is used. - Take a child while you scout or roost birds in the evenings. - Let a child locate a gobbler with an owl call. It’s awesome for them to actually communicate with a gobbler. - Teach a child what turkey signs looks like. Teach them the difference between gobbler and hen tracks. - Watch tasteful turkey hunting videos together and discuss any questions or concerns the child may have. - When it’s time to actually go hunting, make sure the child is dressed comfortably. - When setting up on a gobbler, place the child in your lap or let them sit between your legs. This allows the adult to control the gun and whisper instructions with minimal movement. Your child can learn more about the wild with a membership to the JAKES program for just $5. With the membership, your child will begin receiving JAKES Magazine. The quarterly publication is filled with interesting facts, games and more, geared to spark your child’s interest in the outdoors. For more information, see www.nwtf.org.

The Monkey Tree HE HUNTING CLUB MEMBERS WERE, AS usual, seated in the round corner booth of Doreen’s 24 HR Eat Gas Now Café. “Monkeys are funny,” I announced as I walked up to the booth. “My wife says it’s just because I say the word monkey funny, but you tell a story with a monkey in it, and everyone grins.” “Wanna hear a monkey story?” the Cap’n asked. “Sure,” Wrong Willie said. He’s always in the mood for a good monkey tale. The Cap’n sipped his coffee. “When I was 10, I went on this coon hunt with my friends, Richard and Brad one night, when the dogs picked up on a trail pretty quick and barked treed behind the house of the local doctor. We were surprised to cross a raccoon trail so close to town, but we were kids and didn’t think much of it at the time. “About that time, everything went to pieces. We went running up in the dark and shined our flashlights in this old pecan tree while the dogs barked and jumped up on the trunk. They started fighting with each other and Brad kicked at them to break it up. “What we didn’t know was that the old doctor had chained a pet wooly monkey to the tree and it lived up there. All the commotion kind of stirred him up when we arrived.” “Didn’t he get tangled up in his chain?” Woodrow asked. “Yeah, but it was a monkey. He figured it out and just untangled himself after a

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while. Anyway, with the coon hiding in the tree, and the dogs barking, and Brad kicking them and all of us boys yelling, we annoyed the monkey.” “You don’t want to annoy your monkey,” Woodrow stated as if he dealt with monkeys on a daily basis. Cap’n agreed. “The first thing w e

knew, this chain-rattling apparition dropped out of the darkness right onto Richard’s head. He stood absolutely still, horrified

for a moment until the monkey grabbed a handful of hair and commenced to screeching and clawing at Richard, who started squalling and fighting at whatever had a hold of him in the dark. “Brad and I didn’t know what happened, either. From all the rattling, for all I knew this was some kind of leather vest-wearing motorcycle gang monkey that was whupin’ the snot out of Richard with a bicycle chain or something. “Brad wasn’t much help. He dropped his flashlight and fled the scene, runF i s h

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ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL WATSON

ning across the yard, thinking there might be another Hell’s Angel monkey about to attack him. He didn’t get far, though, because in the darkness he encountered something we don’t see much anymore these days—a clothesline.”

Three Hunting Club members put a hand to their throats, remembering similar experiences. “While Brad was busy clotheslining himself, the dogs thought something in the tree was going to eat them, tails and all, so they

took off yelping for the doctor’s house. They hid under the porch and were out of the fight. “Richard said later that he might have actually been able to tolerate whatever was attacking his head, cause he was kind of a Cosmic Cowboy, if you know what I mean, and strange sensations on and in his head were nothing new to him. But it was the monkey’s tail wrapping around his throat that sealed the deal. Like he said, that kind of thing is just unnatural.” “Natural being a monkey on your head,” Jerry Wayne offered. The café patrons were laughing so much that the Cap’n had to stop and sip his coffee for a moment before anyone could hear him. “Richard took off running in the other direction with the monkey still screeching and fighting his ol’ head. He was making a pretty clean getaway, too, despite the monkey, and was about 15 yards from the tree when he finally reached the end of the monkey’s chain. The monkey had such a tight grip on Richard’s head with his tail around his neck, that when they ran out of chain it just yanked him right off his feet. I can still see his P.F. Flyers thrashing in the moonlight above his head before he slammed into the ground. “He just lay there with the wind knocked out of him, which is probably what saved him from further monkey molestation. The monkey didn’t like being on the ground, so it bit him one more time and ran back up the tree and sat there, jabbering at us and throwing leftover pecans at anything that moved. The coon got away. “The next day, Richard was all clawed up around his head, Brad’s neck looked like he’d been garroted, and none of those dogs ever hunted again.” Most of us were wiping tears from our eyes by that time. Giggles and sniffles continued for some minutes. Finally, Doc couldn’t stand it anymore. “Is there a moral to this story?” The Cap’n thought for a moment. “Never chase a coon up a monkey tree.”

E-mail Reavis Wortham at humor@fishgame.com

Tackling Trinity Bay RINITY BAY IS EXTREMELY INTIMIDATING TO newcomers. Roughly three times the size of Baffin Bay, the vast expanse of water leaves people scratching their heads where to start. Factor in flood water that would make Noah scrabble for cover, as well as seasonal movements of fishes, and you begin to grasp a few of the challenges that come when fishing this incredibly fertile and productive bay system. Trinity Bay is one of the four sub-bays making up the Galveston Bay System. Flanked by Chambers County to the east and north, and Galveston Bay to the west, Trinity Bay has over 200 square miles of surface area. The Trinity River provides a constant flow of fresh water into the bay, but can vomit huge amounts of muddy water after a flood. The river’s mood has a major impact on both fish and fishermen. Few people, alive or dead, have logged more hours fishing in and on Trinity Bay than Captain Mickey Eastman (281-3832032). In a conversation several months ago, Eastman explained some of the metrics that anglers need to apply when fishing Trinity Bay.

PHOTO BY GRADY ALLEN

man continued. “Current moves baitfish, prompting predators to feed.”

A River Runs Through It The flow of the Trinity River influences how Eastman will fish the bay. Eastman explained: “Freshwater dictates how we fish. A large influx of runoff will concentrate the fish in saltier areas, closer to the ship channel. In saltier years when we didn’t get as much flooding the fish aren’t as concentrated.”

For the Birds Birds work constantly throughout the year on Trinity Bay. Wheeling and crashing gulls are easy to spot and signal that something is feeding below. “Bird activity is yearround on Trinity,” Eastman counseled. “Even in the winter, it is common to find gulls diving.” “The secret to catching good fish under the birds is to be selective. You may work three separate groups of gulls and catch nothing but pencils; then try a fourth group and start catching three- to five-pound trout. We catch a lot of bigger trout under the birds, but you have to be selective.”

by Greg Berlocher “The biggest mistake newcomers make is running from dirty water. Although there may be a two-foot layer of dirty water on the surface, the water down below is still salty and holds lots of fish.” “Later in the year, the water is more dingy than dirty,” Eastman continued. “If there is 6-inches of visibility, the fish can find your lure.” Eastman suggested upsizing topwaters and soft plastics when water is turbid to help fish locate your offering. “The river flows constantly, creating a current that really helps the fishing,” EastA L M A N A C / T E X A S

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Thar She Blows! Seasonal winds affect Trinity Bay’s personality and there is a long fetch no matter the direction of the wind. This bay can get rough in a hurry and your boat should be seaworthy in every sense of the word. &

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In This Issue C1

COVER STORY • Tackling Trinity Bay | BY GREG BERLOCHER

HOTSPOTS & TIDES SECTION

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

C12

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: UPPER COAST • Sabine Spring Flounder | BY CAPT. SKIP JAMES

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HOTSPOTS FOCUS: GALVESTON COMPLEX • Surviving the Lion, Looking for the Lamb | BY CAPT. MIKE HOLMES

C15

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: MATAGORDA & MID COAST • Mercury Dictates | BY BINK GRIMES

C16

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: ROCKPORT TO PORT ARANSAS • The Fishing Climate | BY CAPT. MAC GABLE

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HOTSPOTS FOCUS: CORPUS TO BAFFIN BAYS • Baffin is Turning On | BY CAPT. JIM ONDERDONK

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HOTSPOTS FOCUS: LOWER COAST • Channeling Your Efforts | BY CALIXTO GONZALES

C20

SPORTSMAN’S DAYBOOK • Tides, Solunar Table, Best Hunting/Fishing Times | BY TF&G STAFF

GEARING UP SECTION

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TEXAS TESTED • Eagle Claw; US Reels; and more | BY TF&G STAFF

C30

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

C34

INDUSTRY INSIDER • Texans Out-Fish, OutHunt, Out-Spend Nation | BY TF&G STAFF

OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE

C36

SHOOT THIS • Trijicon’s New Rifle Scope | BY STEVE LAMASCUS

HUNTING SECTION • C38 SPECIAL Trophy Fever | TF&G S TOURNAMENT INSIDER • BASS Opens Classic Shot | M W C54 Women’s GURLZ PAGE • The Man Dance | C66 M H

HOW-TO SECTION

C44 C46 C47 C48 C50 C52 C56 C58 C60 C62 C64

TEXAS BOATING • The Good Boatkeeping Seal of Approval | BY LENNY RUDOW

TAFF

ARI

ATT

ILLIAMS

ENRY

SALTWATER BAITS & RIGS • Snells Good to Me | BY PATRICK LEMIRE FRESHWATER BAITS & RIGS • Bassing with Fizz | BY PAUL BRADSHAW TEXAS KAYAKING • Tandem Kayaks | BY GREG BERLOCHER MISTER CRAPPIE • How You Fixed for Rigs? You Better Look! | BY WALLY MARSHALL REDFISH TRAILS • The Parks Passion | BY DR. TOMMY LOMONTE HUNT TEXAS • Persistence = Success | BY BOB HOOD TEXAS GUNS & GEAR • The 7mm MauserStill the Best | BY STEVE LAMASCUS WOO’S CORNER • Bass in Numbers | BY WOO DAVES TEXAS OUTDOOR LAW • Mandatory Hunter Ed | BY WAYNE C. WATSON WILDERNESS TRAILS • On the Road Again | BY HERMAN W. BRUNE

WITH BARRY • River Folks, Yellow Worms, & Weenie Dogs | B C68 AFIELD S .C IN THE FIELD • Traveling Man | C70 CHESTER C M CCA TEXAS • What is CCA? | C72 INSIDE TF&G S TEXAS TASTED • Baked or Grilled Stuffed C74 Flounder | B S DISCOVER THE OUTDOORS • C76 Classifieds | TF&G S ALBUM • Your Action Photos | C78 PHOTO TF&G S BY

BY HESTER

OORE

TAFF

RYAN LAVEN

ARRY T

TAFF

LAIR

During the spring, the east shoreline is the best place to get out of the wind. The old Trinity Ship Channel is carved through this shoreline, providing both shallow and deep water, with a mixture of shell and mud on the bottom; both are important fish attractors when the water is cold A series of calm days provide anglers a small window of opportunity to fish the middle of the bay. As summer approaches, the winds abate, providing more-reliable access to deep water.

Like Clockwork Eastman explained that fish have a natural counterclockwise movement in Trinity Bay. “In the spring, trout and redfish move down south near the jetties,” Eastman explained. “Then as the summer arrives, they start moving back into the bay, moving up the south shore. In the fall, the fish will be in the north end of the bay feeding heav-

natural gas wells that dot Trinity Bay heats up just like the water. The production platforms found in the bay have oyster shell pads at their base. The thick blanket of shell provides sanctuary for bait and the platform shades the water. Eastman noted that the shell pads on some wells are on the north end of the platform, while others are on the south end. Drift by the pad you wish to fish and check out the bottom with your depth finder to make sure you anchor on the right end. Although Eastman and his clients probe the water around the wells with plastics threaded onto 1/4 - 3/8 ounce jig heads, many bay fishermen prefer live bait. Croaker fished on a Carolina rig and live shrimp under popping corks are the most popular choices. Eastman suggested dawn patrollers set their corks at 3-4 feet, sliding them out to a full six-foot depth as the sun goes up.

ily on the shrimp, as they migrate out of the marshes to the gulf. As winter arrives, they slide over to the west shoreline.” “The west shoreline has a defined drop off, with good access to deep water. Look for mud and shell together. The warm water discharge from the power plant is also a good area in the winter time as the water will be warmer - especially if it is bitterly cold.” Although the fish movement cycle repeats every year, it isn’t always predictable. “Once we locate fish, we like to stay on them - sometimes for several weeks,” Eastman explained. “We might catch a bunch one day, and the next day they are all gone. Then you have to go find them again.”

Well-Being Around the Forth of July, the thermostat gets cranked up and the water temperature begins climbing quickly. Action around the

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Getting Started How does a neophyte approach the mighty Trinity Bay with any hopes of success? “The best strategy is to take a slice and focus on it,” Eastman counseled. “Look for slicks, which indicate feeding fish. If there is a lot of fresh water, the fish will stack up in saltier areas; try to locate these areas and you will find the fish.” Eastman suggested that fishermen should always keep an eye out for large mud boils (muds), which are created by schools of bottom hugging fish: “Muds are created by roaming schools of gafftop and drum. They scour the bottom and churn up the mud. Trout and redfish often shadow these schools, eating the leftovers.” “A lot of muds are quite large, making them easy to see, but you have to look for them. I have seen mud patches that covered two full acres. When fishing a mud, there

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will be drum on the leading edge, swimming either with the current or against it. You can tell the direction the school is moving by the appearance of the mud. One end of the muddy patch will be stale looking, while the other looks like it was just churned up. The fresh mud is where the fish will be. Position your boat with a trolling motor and cast to the clear water near the edge of the mud. Once you get on the right end of the school you will start catching trout and redfish.” Trinity Bay enjoys a large population of black drum; some of them are jumbo size. “Keep in mind that drum will strike artificial lures too,” Eastman said with a chuckle. Imagine his trout-seeking clients’ surprise when they hook up with a fish weighing as much as the average kindergartner. Regardless where he fishes in Trinity Bay, Eastman stressed the importance of finding the right kind of bait. “It isn’t enough just to find bait activity,” he

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explained. “There is a big difference between a happy mullet and a scared mullet. You can always find rafts of mullet milling about but there isn’t any life underneath them. A scared mullet shoots out of the water like a rocket. You can tell something is trying to eat him. That is the bait activity you want to find.” Speckled trout are not the only fish that will drive bait to the surface. Eastman noted that redfish will attack schools of baitfish with reckless abandon. “Man, you should see it when a half-acre of redfish really go after it,” Eastman explained enthusiastically. “It is piranha city!”

Tidal Movement Because it so large, tidal flow inside Trinity Bay is an interesting dynamic. Incoming tides run southwest to northwest and outgoing tides run northeast to southwest; except along shorelines, where water doesn’t tend to slip sideways as much, simply rising and falling. The bays of Texas have two weeks with four tidal shifts per day while the other two weeks see only two tidal changes. Eastman explains that since the bay is so large, incoming and outgoing tides tend to cancel themselves out on four-tide days. “Days with only two tides are the best times to catch fish on Trinity Bay,” Eastman continued. “The longer the water push, the better. A two-tide day with an extended outgoing tide is straight butter because the current dictates what the bait is doing. The long outward flow pulls bait from the marshes and dumps them into the bay. Trinity Bay receives considerable yearround fishing pressure and for good reason: It consistently produces quality fish.

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

Laguna Sheepies LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Coast Guard Station GPS: N26 4.360, W97 10.031 SPECIES: sheepshead

BEST BAITS: live shrimp CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez, 956551-9581 TIPS: Any structure around the bay will hold sheepshead, but the outer part of the sea wall holds some large ones due to its close proximity to deep water. Don’t fish directly next to the wall (they don’t like that), but rather off at an angle and along the channel. Use a standard free-line rig with a live shrimp, and fish the drop-offs. If the bite is very light, switch to a cork 3 feet above your shrimp. LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Stover’s Cove GPS: N26 13.930, W97 19.390 SPECIES: black drum, speckled trout BEST BAITS: live shrimp, fresh shrimp, spinnerbaits w/chartreuse plastics CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956459-3286 TIPS: Pods of drum get up into shallower water and forage when the wind starts to pick up. Work the windward shorelines, where the waves start to push up. Back off into calmer water if you’re looking for trout. Bait always works, but a great option is a safety-pin style spinner bait with a chartreuse curly-tailed grub. Slow roll them under the surface in calm weather, and a little deeper in stained water LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: The Drum Boat C6

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GPS: N26 10.713, W97 11.107 SPECIES: redfish, speckled trout BEST BAITS: live bait; 1/4-ounce gold spoons; soft plastics in red/white, New Penny CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956459-3286 TIPS: Drift the basin that runs parallel to the Drum Boat for trout and some lingering redfish. There will be a marked color change along the drop-off, and trout will hold along the weedline to ambush forage fish and shrimp. Live shrimp under a popping cork, or a shad or shrimp tail rigged the same way are standard choices for this time of year. Pay attention to where you’re at; the shallows can get you stuck, but good. LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: The Color Change GPS: N26 10.429, W97 16.090 SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live shrimp; Gulp! shrimp in Nuclear Chicken, Lime Tiger; soft plastics in chartreuse patterns CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez, 956551-9581 TIPS: Trout start collecting in and around the color change after several mild days. Drifting where the transition from off-colored to sandy green is a good bet. Fish a live shrimp under a popping cork. Gulp! shrimp or plastic shrimp tails in glow/chartreuse or limetreuse are adequate substitutes. If the wind is particularly strong, try an Alameda float with the rattles inside. LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: North of Dunkin’s Shack GPS: N26 18.609, W97 18.199 SPECIES: redfish, speckled trout BEST BAITS: live shrimp/popping cork; topwaters early; red spinnerbaits, soft plastics in clear/red, red/white, Pearl/red CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956-459-3286

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Calixto

TIPS: Even when the March wind is blowing, the water around the spoils of Marker 25 North of Dunkin’s Shack stays fairly clear. If the wind isn’t blowing, experiment with topwaters early in the morning (there are some big speckled trout that will hit one). As the sun gets higher, move off the island and roll a spinnerbait in deeper water. If the wind is blowing, use a live shrimp/popping cork or a soft plastic sans the spinnerbait. Watch for the terns! They’ll swoop down and steal a shrimp just as it hits the water. LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Dunkin Channel. GPS: N26 20.170, W97 19.228 SPECIES: black drum, flounder BEST BAITS: live shrimp; Gulp! shrimp in Nuclear Chicken, Lime Tiger CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956459-3286 TIPS: Black drum hold in the deeper water of the channel, and flounder lurk on the edges when the tide is high. A No. 1 Kahle hook, a No. 3 split shot, and a 24-inch 20-pound leader is all you need to tempt either of the two into biting. Most of the drum are slot fish in the 14-18 inch range, but you never know when a big Thugly is going to take your live shrimp. Gulp! shrimp can be fished on a 1/8ounce jig to good effect. Hop it along the bottom while moving your rod tip from 11 o’clock to 12. LOCATION: Port Mansfield HOTSPOT: South Saucer GPS: N26 26.782, W97 22.757 SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live shrimp; Gulp! shrimp in pearl; soft plastics in Pearl/red, strawberry/white; Beetle Spin spinnerbaits CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956459-3286 TIPS: Drift just behind the fishing cabins that line the ICW for best results. If the wind

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is up (it usually is in March), stick to live shrimp or Gulp! baits under a popping cork. When the wind lays down, you can fish with safety-pin style spinnerbaits with a plastic trailer. Work the mid-to-deep part of the water column. LOCATION: Port Mansfield HOTSPOT: Bennie’s Shack GPS: N26 30.239, W97 23.648 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: soft plastics in red/white; live shrimp CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956459-3286 TIPS: Southwest of the island near Bennie’s Shack is a deeper area of water. Watch for birds working over feeding trout and redfish, or pelicans sitting on the surface to denote where you’ll find fish. Use either a shrimp/Alameda float combo or soft plastics on a 1/8-ounce head. Drift until you are about 300 yards past the island, then come back around and repeat the drift.

Wade for Trout LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: Black’s Bluff

GPS: N27 13.972, W97 31.112 SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: soft plastics in glow/chartreuse,

Plum/chartreuse, Rootbeer/red flake, Morning Glory, Pumpkinseed/chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Mike Hart, 361-9866089, 961-449-7441 www.brushcountrycharters.com TIPS: Wade-fish the waist-deep water around the rocks with a suspending lure or an eel-style plastic on a 1/16-ounce head. If you have a hard time getting a good rhythm with the light jighead, switch over to the same plastic under a Mansfield Mauler or Cajun Thunder and an 18-inch leader. Fluorocarbon is a good leader choice because of the snags in the area. It would just kill you to have a big trout saw through a flimsy leader. LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: Los Corrales GPS: N27 14.884, W97 30.032 SPECIES: speckled trout Devil in BEST BAITS: Corky Strawberry/black back, Smoke; eel-style plastics in Plum/chartreuse, Rootbeer/red flake, Morning Glory, Pumpkinseed/chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Mike Hart, 361-9866089, 961-449-7441, www.brushcountrycharters.com TIPS: The deeper rocks around Corrales are a classic Baffin pattern for late winter/early spring. Wade slowly near the rocks with Corkies or Corky Devils. You can also use Bass Assassins or similar plastics on a 1/16-ounce jighead. There are some big trout hanging around here, so there is always a chance you can latch into a big sow. LOCATION: Upper Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Compuerta Pass

GPS: N27 19.766, W97 24.133 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: B&L Corkies in Strawberry/black, Smoke; jerkbaits in Plum/chartreuse, Morning Glory CONTACT: Captain Mike Hart, 361-9866089, 961-449-7441, www.brushcountrycharters.com TIPS: Try wading around the potholes around Marker 183 just north of the pass (about 100 yards from shore). Use suspending or slow-sinking plugs and soft plastics on a light head. This is a classic late winter pattern, and you should find some speckled trout holding around the potholes, or redfish prowling between them. Use a Mauler 18 inches over your jigs if you feel you need to slow down your retrieve even furtherer. LOCATION: Upper Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Pink Cabin GPS: N27 25.392, W97 21.793 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: Corky Devil in Strawberry/black back, Smoke; eel-style plastics in Plum/chartreuse, Rootbeer/red flake, Morning Glory, Pumpkinseed/chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Mike Hart, 361-9866089, 961-449-7441, www.brushcountrycharters.com TIPS: Fish the grassline along the three big spoil islands near the cabin. The same techniques that work for Baffin should prove effective here to. Wade slowly and carefully, and work the area methodically. Swim your lures just over the grassline for best results. Float rigs should be very effective in this area, especially for beginners. LOCATION: Upper Laguna Madre /Corpus Christi Bay HOTSPOT: JFK Causeway GPS: N27 38.052, W97 14.773 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish, flounder BEST BAITS: jerkbaits in Plum/chartreuse, Morning Glory CONTACT: Captain Mike Hart, 361-9866089, 961-449-7441, www.brushcountrycharters.com TIPS: Maneuverability is importing in this area. Work the edges of the crash channels with a trolling motor and swim soft plastic along the drop-offs. Along with some nice

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trout and redfish, you might also find a few flounder. They’ll hit the same eel-type plastics the other big two will. A Texas slam is not a bad way to close out the winter. LOCATION: Corpus Christi Bay HOTSPOT: Shamrock Cove GPS: N27 45.884, W97 09.920 SPECIES: redfish, speckled trout BEST BAITS: live finger shrimp; plastics in Bone, chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Patrick Buchannan, 631-215-2608 TIPS: Trout and redfish will be holding downcurrent from the opening of the cove, attacking prey that is getting pushed out by strong March tides. Work the shallows with soft plastics that imitate the local forage. If water temperatures remain relatively cool, use a shrimp/float combo to maximize your chances at catching some spots and dots. LOCATION: Gulf of Mexico HOTSPOT: Bob Hall Pier GPS: N27 34.55, W97 13.07 SPECIES: Spanish mackerel, speckled trout BEST BAITS: live finger shrimp; silver spoons;

soft plastics in red/white, glitter CONTACT: Bob Hall Pier, 361-948-8558 TIPS: Several days of mild weather can push cleaner water around the pier pilings. Smacks will follow the water in. Early morning action can be fun, especially with a silver spoon or clear/glitter grub. Be sure to use a wire leader, or will go through lots of tackle. Speckled trout will be lurking under the lights at night. Live shrimp or soft plastics in Glow are the best baits for night work.

TIPS: When the weather begins to moderate, trout and redfish become active and start keying in on new hatches of baitfish and shrimp. Watch for birds working over schools that are pushing bait to the surface. Usually they’re hungry trout and redfish. Work deeper in the water column or along the bottom to find a better quality of fish. LOCATION: Sabine Lake HOTSPOT: Neches River GPS: N29 58.250, W93 51.210 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: soft plastic in chartreuse patterns CONTACT: Captain Bill Watkins, 401-7862018 TIPS: As the weather and water warms, the flats around the mouth of the river hold trout and redfish that are active and foraging. If the water is in the 55-degree range, however, a very slow soft plastic worked along the bottom is a good choice. If the water is over 60 degrees, then you can fish more aggressively

Night Specks LOCATION: Sabine Lake HOTSPOT: Causeway Reef GPS: N29 46.596, W93 34.586 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish

BEST BAITS: soft plastics in chartreuse, Pearl/chartreuse, Opening Night CONTACT: Captain Bill Watkins, 401-786-2018

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LOCATION: West Galveston Bay HOTSPOT: Confederate Reef

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GPS: N29 15.823, W94 55.235 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: Corkies in Pearl/chartreuse; Catch 2000 CONTACT: Captain George Knighten, 832385-5821 TIPS: Most of the March action in West

Galveston is weather driven. If there is a stretch of mild weather, then business will pick up for trout and redfish around shell and mud, especially if there is access to deep water. Confederate fits the bill well. If it is warm and sunny, fish up on the shallow edges of the reef with a soft plastic. If cloudy or cooler weather prevails, fish deeper with a suspending or slow sinking lure and work slowly and methodically. LOCATION: West Galveston Bay HOTSPOT: Meacomb’s Cut GPS: N29 16.680, W94 56.793 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: Corkies in Pearl/chartreuse, Catch 2000 CONTACT: Captain George Knighten, 832385-5821 TIPS: Drift over the shell bottom around Meacomb’s, especially around the deeper points and edges, where fish will tend to hold. The same lures and set-ups that you’d use at Confederate Reef can be used here. Slow your drift as much as you can. As weather warms up towards the end of the month, fish will become more aggressive. LOCATION: West Galveston Bay HOTSPOT: Offat’s Bayou GPS: N29 16.838, W94 50.160 SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: soft plastics in Glow/chartreuse, Pearl/chartreuse; Corkies in Pearl/chartreuse; Catch 2000 CONTACT: Captain George Knighten, 832385-5821 TIPS: Do not despair if you arrive at the boat ramp and discover that one last northern has blown in defiance of spring. You can still find good numbers of trout holding in the deep water of Offat’s. Switch to a 1/8- to 1/4ounce jighead and work near the bottom. You might want to use a braided line, because the bites could be very light. LOCATION: West Galveston Bay HOTSPOT: Green’s Cut GPS: N29 16.012, W94 59.286 SPECIES: speckled trout, redfish BEST BAITS: soft plastics in Glow/chartreuse, Pearl/chartreuse; topwaters; Corkies in Pearl/chartreuse; Catch 2000

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CONTACT: Captain George Knighten, 832385-5821 TIPS: If there is a stretch of mild weather, don’t be afraid to try fishing with a topwater. Trout and redfish are cold blooded, and the warmth gets them active. If the winter patterns persist, then work jigs and slow sinking plugs near the bottom. Again, methodical is the key word on cooler days. Fish take a little more time to react to a lure sitting in front of them.

Falcon Cats Take Mackerel LOCATION: Falcon Lake HOTSPOT: Tiger Island Flooded Retama GPS: N26 41.428, W99 7.779 SPECIES: catfish BEST BAITS: cut shad, mackerel, prepared baits

CONTACT: Falcon Lake Tackle, 956-7654866 TIPS: There are lots of catfish lurking around the trunks of the flooded in this area. It will be hard to get up where the fish are, but if the idea of 100 fish days with four pound average appeals to your, it’s worth the effort. Look for cormorant nests and fish underneath them with a 3/0 long-shank hook, a split shot, and a float 2 feet up the line. Toss up against the tree trunk or in a clearing and wait. It won’t take very long. LOCATION: Rio Grande River HOTSPOT: River above Anzalduas Dam GPS: N26 25.100, W97 57.220 SPECIES: largemouth bass BEST BAITS: spinnerbaits in white, black; plastic worms in black, Black Grape CONTACT: Anzalduas State Park, 956-5199550 TIPS: Bass will be up in the riprap in prespawn mode. Large white spinnerbaits with Carolina blades are good for covering a lot of water and locating fish. Once you find a concentration of fish, you can switch to a dark jig

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or plastic worm. This very underrated fishery is popular with local bass clubs. LOCATION: Choke Canyon HOTSPOT: FM 99 Bridge GPS: N28 32.492, W98 21.676 SPECIES: crappie BEST BAITS: live minnows; crappie jigs in white, white/pink, chartreuse CONTACT: www.tpwd.state.tx.us/ park/choke/choke.htm TIPS: Crappie are holding around the bridge pilings in a spawn and post-spawn mode. They will be suspended off the bottom, so vertical fishing is most effective. I’ve found that the fish will take your bait and then move upward, so a slackening of the line is usually your only hint of a pickup. LOCATION: Corpus Christi HOTSPOT: Lake Corpus Christi State Park (bank access) GPS: N28 3.327, W98 52.635 SPECIES: catfish BEST BAITS: cut shad, night crawlers, prepared baits CONTACT: Park Office, 361-347-2635 TIPS: Catfish are good all along the shorelines of the lake. Focus on the shoreline and deeper areas near timber. Use a bobber rig to prevent foul hooking. These aren’t very large catfish, 1-2 pounds mostly, but they’re plentiful, and if lake levels are down, they’re concentrated in the holes.

Whites on Runners

Cedar Creek Sandies LOCATION: Lake Cedar Creek HOTSPOT: Caney Creek GPS: N32 13.500, W95 59.000 SPECIES: white (sand) bass

BEST BAITS: Road Runner jigs CONTACT: Chuck Rollins, 903-288-5798, www.FishCedarCreekLake.com TIPS: Expect to find sand bass running up Caney Creek and other similar creeks in good numbers. Work your way up into the creek and cast a 1/4-ounce Road Runner against the banks as you work up the creek Whites will be spawning and hitting nearly anything you throw. Expect some fast action when you find the fish. BANK ACCESS: King’s Creek shoreline, white bass on live minnows, catfish on liver

Red Entices Bass LOCATION: Lake Fork HOTSPOT: Lake Fork Creek GPS: N32 55.279, W95 43.202 SPECIES: largemouth bass BEST BAITS: red-bladed spinner baits, red Rat-L-Traps, Baby Brush Hogs

LOCATION: Lake Buchanan HOTSPOT: Flag GPS: N30 47.620, W98 26.457 SPECIES: striped bass BEST BAITS: cut shad, live minnows, Road

Runners CONTACT: Ray Williamson, 512-825-8746, www.fishingforstriper.com TIPS: Drift over humps and bushes with shad and minnows. Cast Road Runners over hump and reel back quickly. BANK ACCESS: Jacker’s Cove off Camp Road 690, striper

CONTACT: Ricky Vandergriff, 903-5302201, ricky@rickysguideservice.com TIPS: You’ll find the bass up north on the river in pockets, and also in main lake pockets from there all the way to the dam. BANK ACCESS: Lake Fork Public Park, bass on spinnerbaits and Texas-rigged worms

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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Sabine Spring Flounder Sabine floundering reaches its stride in spring. PRING IS THE TIME OF YEAR ANGLERS OF THE Texas Gulf Coast yearn for—warming temperatures coupled with the best fishing period of the entire season. Flats-fishing once again improves dramatically as water temperatures steadily rise due to longer days and the lack of those old blue northers. While catch rates for most species improves in the spring, none can compare with that of the southern flounder. The migration of the flounder back into the bay systems from the Gulf is well understood by most fishermen, and the usual manner of catching them by rod and reel with a mud minnow or gig and lantern is widely popular. There’s another technique to fishing for flounder with a rod and reel that has not been as widely tried as other methods— deep water jigging. The deeper waters yield larger female flounder that can be specifically targeted with larger baits. For example, each year while fishing the famous Causeway Reef for flatfish, we catch lots of saddle blankets, some as large as 7-8 pounds. Not only do we catch them, but we see and talk to other anglers with two or three huge flounder that they took during the course of the day. While drifting the breakline through a specific area near the Louisiana side of the Causeway Bridge, we loaded up the boat with flounder by noon. We were not doing anything special, just drifting the same zones where we catch flatfish every spring. We went back the next day, and between 10 and 11 in the morning, we landed fourteen beautiful flounder.

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Those fish were not there the day before, so we can only surmise that these new flounder moved in to stage the night before. Yes, deep-water jigging for flounder is an overlooked technique. If you work the breaklines between 7 and 14 feet of water in the Causeway Reef area, you can be greatly rewarded with some true trophy flatfish. Don’t forget that the state record flounder came out of Sabine Lake and it was caught in spring. The same as any other time you fish, make sure you fish when the tidal currents are moving. The flounder relies on unsuspecting baitfishes or shrimp to swim within striking distance. Baitfishes and shrimp will be most active at times when the bull tides of spring are really flowing. Weaker baitfishes cannot negotiate the strong tidal currents of spring and will rest near the bottom where the flounder are waiting. Over the years, our best bait seems to be the Old BaySide 4inch, Speck Grub. We always tip the bait with a fresh piece of shrimp. If you plan on gigging flounder, choose nights with strong incoming currents. Incoming tides that occur after midnight and run until daylight offer better quantities of fish, and boat traffic should also be substantially reduced. Night boaters should take extra caution to ensure their boat is illuminated according to the regulations, and that a high candlepower light is used for navigation purposes. A hand-held light in the 500,000 to 1 million candlepower range will do a very good job of making sure you F i s h

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can see well and are visible to other boaters. Unquestionably, the best place to gig flounder in spring is Lighthouse Cove just south of the Causeway Bridge. Each year, many of our guests ask countless questions about flounder. Where do they live? Where do they eat? Where and when do they migrate? The more information you can gather about the fish you are after, the better. Understanding the spring movements is the key to successfully boxing flounder consistently this time of year. Flounder are popular commercial and recreational fish along the Gulf coast. Despite this popularity, very few fishermen deliberately fish for flounder. Most commercial landings come from shrimp trawls. Most of the recreational catch is taken a few fish at a time by fishermen chasing redfish and speckled trout. Southern flounder difficult for most fishermen to pattern, seeming to be here today and gone tomorrow. However, there are patterns to the behavior of this fish, and in understanding these spring patterns, you can improve your catch. Male and female flounder are almost like two different fishes. Males grow slower and have a short life span, almost never living over three years old or growing over 14 inches long. Females live longer and can grow to 28 inches long. After the first year of life, males live mostly in offshore waters. That means offshore shrimp trawlers catch some male flounder, but most of the recreational and

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THE BANK BITE HOTSPOT: Walter Humphrey’s Fishing Pier LOCATION: Southern end of Pleasure Island on Hwy. 82 SPECIES: flounder LURE/BAITS: Old BaySide 4-inch Speck Grub tipped with fresh, dead shrimp or mullet BEST TIMES: High tides in the morning PHOTO BY CAPT. SKIP JAMES

Surviving the Lion, Looking for the Lamb most bait stealers like crab and hardheads are not as active as they will be when the water warms up.

AY FISHING IN MARCH CAN BE TOUGH. Strong winds and low tides make boating conditions range from uncomfortable to unsafe. On rare calm days with moderate temperatures and sunshine, trout and reds can be found on or at the edge of flats and reefs, where lures worked slowly or live bait can result in hookups. Otherwise, look to deep holes that are charted for winter fishing, and stay on a lee shoreline or behind structure that blocks the wind. This is another time when tidal bayous and creeks are good fishing spots, if just for the protected waters they provide. Wear layered clothing on cold days, and a thermos of hot coffee can help survive the chill. Always let someone know your plans and when you expect to be back. With the miracle (or curse, depending on how you look at it) of the cell phone, it is fairly easy to keep in touch with family or friends on shore, but fishermen will get into trouble in cold water, count on it. Flounder should begin to move inshore, and might best be intercepted around Seawolf Park. Live mud minnows, finger mullet, or even live shrimp pay off, as

good bets for dry panfishing. While heavy tackle is often used, it isn’t necessary. A good popping rod and a reel holding no more than 17-pound mono or a similar diameter class of super braid (or a comparable spinning rig for those who prefer the coffee grinder approach) will catch just about anything still feeding in March in the bay systems. Next month, we should get warmer weather, calmer winds, and pleasant fishing.

Drum Run

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 black drum run should be well underway, and both boaters and bank fishermen can participate. The Galveston jetties, Texas City Dike, Seawolf Park, San Luis Pass, and sometimes the beachfront piers can be good spots to wrestle with big drum.

THE BANK BITE HOTSPOT: Seawolf Park on Galveston Island ALTERNATE HOTSPOT: Galveston surf or piers SPECIES: big black drum, redfish, panfishes BEST BAITS: halved blue crab or large seabobs for drum and reds; dead shrimp, cut bait, or squid for other species BEST TIMES: Moving tide, nighttime for big drum and reds

Panfishes are still good in the surf, again because the fewer numbers of bait stealers means you can fish for them with dead shrimp and keep baits on the hook much longer. Croaker, whiting, and sand or Gulf trout (sometimes a flounder or pompano) will pull on a line and fry up very tasty. Puppy black drum are around, and hard to tell from a redfish in hot grease. For those who don’t like to get their feet, the beachfront piers are a good choice. Piers on inland streams and the bay system are also

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: UPPER COAST Continued from Page C12 commercial inshore catch consists of females. Flounder, both male and female, spend the first year after hatching in shallow, low salinity estuary or even river waters. Southern flounder have been caught over 100 hundred miles from the coast up freshwater rivers. As they grow, they tend to use slightly deeper waters, but C14

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still within inshore estuaries. After hatching and early development, the young flounder under 2 inches long begin appearing in inshore estuaries between January and May to start the cycle over again. The seasonal spawning movement cycle is the key to understanding flounder biology. The tagging studies we have conducted over the last 20 years on Sabine have

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resulted in a greater understanding of how these fish trade in our system. The dynamics of the predator-prey relationship, territorial bondage and population dynamics are truly fascinating to study.

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

Mercury Dictates UR FIRST WADE WAS AT THE MOUTH OF Panther Lake. The bay floor was soft mud with mixed shell, much like walking in a bowl of corn flakes. Nevertheless, the terrain was ideal for water temperatures in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Guides Chris Martin and T.J. Christensen positioned us within casting distance of a reef with an adjacent elevation drop of 3-4 feet—a perfect spot for trout to stay warm and ambush minnows and

mullet taking refuge on the oyster bed. Christensen immediately hooked up with an undersized trout on a Jalapeno-color Norton Sand Eel Jr. Martin quickly followed, and this time the trout was over the minimum. Christensen and Martin strung several trout over the next hour, unexpected in that wind. “Use a slow approach when working soft shell and mud,” said Martin. “Pringle, Contee, Fifth, Tower, and Panther lakes are all solid choices when the wind is blowing.” Martin and Christensen’s 200-plus days fishing the minefields of San Antonio Bay reefs hone the skills and make it easy to distinguish between expert and novice. The two pros are unequivocally the latter. “If you barely lift your rod tip and feel resistance, then give the bait to the fish a few

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

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THE BANK BITE HOTSPOT: Jetty Pier LOCATION: Mouth of the Colorado River in Matagorda SPECIES: black drum BEST BAITS: cracked crab, cut mullet BEST TIME: Moving tide seconds longer before setting the hook,” said Martin. “Knowing the difference between getting hung up on the shell and catching a fish takes practice. All my clients who have not fished shell have to make an adjustment.” “When the fish are lethargic, you want to bounce the bait off the shell to create a dust

Continued on Page C16

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4 weeks. The bite is happening later in the colder months and earlier in the spring/summer months. Copano Bay: Two tactics prevail this time of year. During low tides, focus on shell piles adjacent to deep water in the geographic center of this bay system. On high tides, target the southwest shoreline, and the southeast shoreline if there is a good north wind. Use baits in the medium to large size (4 to 6 inches or bigger), and if the water temperature is close to the 70-degree range, break out the larger sand eels in Plum or Motor Oil colors,. Aransas Bay: Target the shell reefs that lay between Aransas and Carlos bays. With a light wind, this is a good place to dog-walk a topwater or slow-retrieve shad tails on a 1/8or 1/4-ounce jighead. Keep your rod tip movements deliberate and slow, increasing the speed of your actions until you hit the bite. Carlos Bay: Get the neoprene waders out and fish soft plastics into and parallel with the shell reefs that border Mesquite bay. Rootbeer, Motor Oil, and Morning Glory are the preferred colors in the early a.m., and Plum and or Electric Grape in the late evening. Mesquite Bay: Try the shoreline east of Ayres Cut for trout and sheepies. The tactic is to fish a good 50 to 75 yards from the shoreline, as numerous shell reefs litter this area and small guts/cuts between these reefs hold some good trout action. A popping cork with a light green Berkley Gulp! shrimp or live shrimp is

The Fishing Climate HERE IS WINTER? THE FISHERMAN that reads the signs and adjusts accordingly will have success while the hardheads (no pun intended) who continue their old ways more than likely will not be nearly as fruitful. Call it global warming, Earth’s natural cycle, or celestial confluence, the truth is our climate is changing and the smart angler will adjust his tactics to get in the game. When colder temperatures show up, they might stay longer or might vacate as rapidly as they arrived. Your historical fishing patterns from year to year or month to month might not hold the gospel they have in the past; tides, wind, water temperature, and barometric pressure need to be studied with new urgency. Just because the fish have always been in your favorite hole in March doesn’t mean they will be there these days. For example, many of my late summer hotspots (that’s what we call “autumn”) have produced fish through January and early February this year. Consider this subtle rule of thumb: If you fish by the calendar, move your line-wetting activities out 3-

THE BANK BITE HOTSPOT: St. Charles Bay Cut SPECIES: trout, reds BEST BAITS: free-lined live shrimp, finger mullet, mud minnows BEST TIMES: Moving tide productive here. Ayres Bay: North reefs between Ayres Bay and San Antonio Bay will produce good red action with an occasional trout mixed in. Free-line live shrimp and don’t over-react to hits. With colder water temperature 60 degrees or cooler, wait for a tap/bite, give it a five count, and set the hook. Cut bait is also good here—mullet, menhaden, or sardine using a fish-finder rig. Sundown Bay: Fish the outer reef system running parallel to the ICW. This holds some good trout. Keep your eyes on the grassline closer to shore for early bait action. If bait is being worked up close to the grass pole your boat over or let the wind drift you. You need to be silent and invisible, with the rewards being some “old toe” reds that feed in this area. Use soft plastics in chartreuse and pink on the outer reefs, and a fish-finder rig with cut mullet next to the turtle grass. Contact: Capt. Mac Gable, Mac Attack Guide Service, 512-809-2681, 361-790-9601

HOTSPOTS FOCUS: MATAGORDA & MID COAST Continued from Page C15 cloud. As the water warms, the fish hit the bait in the middle and upper water column. T.J. likes to reel side-armed and drag it along the bottom. You’ll catch a lot of flounder with this approach.” The problem with fishing in March is winter does not know if it wants to let go, and spring sometimes is not strong enough to overpower the cold. Hence, as March commences, expect fish to be hanging around the mud. Then, as sunny afternoons C16

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warm the shallows, expect trout and reds to meander to a sandier bottom. “Some days they are on the mud and some days they want the sand,” said guide Bobby Gardner of Matagorda. “One degree of difference in the water temperature makes all the difference. It really depends how late a winter we have.” Guide Lynn Smith of Port O’Connor chooses to head south during March. “I like working south of Panther Point, closer to Ayres Bay,” said Smith. “Ayres Dugout and the reefs in Mesquite Bay give

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you a close area with both sand and mud. If the fish aren’t on a muddy bottom, I will head to the sand, and vice versa.” Remember, if you don’t see bait in an area, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Mullet and shad, much like trout and reds, are not as frisky in chilled waters. However, if you see a flipping mullet in March, chances are there are many more. Best baits for the transition from cold to warm are suspenders: MirrOlure Catch 5, Catch 2000, MirrOdine, Corky, Crazy Croaker, broken-back, and soft plastics

Baffin is Turning On! REALLY HAVE SOME BIG EXPECTATION FOR THE month of March. Fishing will really turn on with the water temperatures slowly on the rise. Trout have gone from feeding once every three days to feeding on a daily basis, and with every few degrees warmer the temperature gets, the trout’s metabolism will also increase, thus making for an eventful fishing experience. My arsenal for this month will contain AR H3 Titanium ultra-wade 6.5-foot rod. It will be equipped with a Shimano Core 100 MG reel, spooled with Power Pro 40pound (12-pound diameter) line. I will have plenty of 1/16-ounce Norton screw lock jigheads on hand. My go-too soft plastic will be Bass Assassins and Brown’s Devil Eyes, in colors Plum, Morning Glory, Red Shad, and Rootbeer. My slow sinker choices will be MirrOlure Catch 5 and the Corky Devil—by far the best producers of my wall hangers. I will also have a couple of She Dogs readily available. Starting from Corpus down, try the Pita Island area; this area can be waded or drift-

great fishing. This area holds redfish, trout, and some flounder. This would also be a very good time to break out those slow sinkers. Remember, you will need to be patient when fishing the slow sinkers. Sunken Island in Alazan Bay will be hot, too. Contact: Capt. Jim “Donk” Onderdonk, 361-774-7710, www.pocolocolodge.com

ed. Don’t pass up the King Ranch shoreline around Beacrofts; fish the deeper grasslines and guts. The area around Nighthawk will be holding good numbers of specks. Wade-fish the shoreline around Emmords Hole and watch for schooling baitfish. The rocks behind Compuertas Pass will be a very good place to bounce a plastic off the bottom. Getting down Baffin way, the soft mud and rocky structure around the Badlands make for a day of fishing. It has the best of both worlds—warming mud and structure to help hold bait. Penascal Point will hold trout early morning and in the late evening hours. The whole King Ranch shoreline between Penascal and Rocky Slough makes for some

THE BANK BITE HOTSPOT: Rocks near USS Lexington LOCATION: Corpus Christi Bay SPECIES: sheepshead LURE/BAITS: dead shrimp BEST TIMES: high tides

rigged weightless. If you must use a jighead, try a 1/16-ounce head with a Bass Assassin, Sand Eel, Trout Killer, Stanley Wedgetail, or Hogie. As mercury readings plunge and Old Man Winter blows water out of our bays, find a cozy spot in the mud where fish congregate. If March turns into a mild month of sunny, Spring Break-like weather, head to the sand. Contact: Bink Grimes, www.binkgrimesoutdoors.com A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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Channeling Your Efforts S MARCH RUMBLES ON, WATER temperatures on Lower Laguna Madre begin to warm, and fish start becoming more active. Speckled trout and redfish begin to prowl flats and guts looking for prey to clamp down on. Sheepshead congregate around pilings, rocks, and seawalls in preparation to sow their piscine oats. Mangrove snapper and black drum also join in on the fun and start feeding in earnest after of a long winter. Fishermen are often faced with having to choose what to chase. Do you go after trout and redfish, and deal with the parking lot that so many of the most popular fishing areas become this time of year? Do you go seek out some fat black drum for the table?

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Maybe you want to tussle with sheepshead. Decisions, decisions... Of course, you can always try to hit all of the above by making a run up into the Brownsville Ship Channel. This big ditch is the artery that links Lower Laguna Madre and the Intracoastal Waterway to the Port of Brownsville, the southernmost major port in the United States. The combination of deep water, ledges, pilings, shoreline structure, and side canals also makes for an ecosystem that provides for excellent fishing opportunities for anyone willing to make the long run up the Channel. One of the most accessible fishing sites on the Ship Channel is the area known as the “Y” (N26 2.53, W97 12.29). This linkup between the Port Isabel Canal and the Ship Channel has a large island that bisects the intersection between the two water bodies. The shoreline of the island holds good-sized redfish, especially where small guts push into the island. On a flood tide, it is possible to see redfish tailing inside these guts and indentations. On calmer

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days, large speckled trout also hang out along the shoreline and closer to the drop-off edges. The best bet to tempt these bruisers is a live shrimp under a Mansfield Mauler or Cajun Thunder, especially if the wind is up. The standard marsh lures (topwaters, gold spoons, and spinnerbaits) are also excellent choices for this fishing situation. If a cold front does cause temperatures to dip, or if the trout and redfish don’t seem to be very cooperative, it doesn’t take too much to back up a bit and fish the drop-off around the edges of the island. Trout will hold on the edges, as do some chunky sheepshead. Black drum of varying sizes (ranging from slot-sized fish to beasts over 40 inches) also roam up along the deeper part of the channel, especially on the south side of the island. If you move farther up the channel, you’ll note some concrete riprap lining the edge of the shoreline. It doesn’t hurt to pull up to these formations and bounce a soft plastic, Gulp! shrimp, or live shrimp on a split shot rig to see if anyone is to home. Redfish like this area, and when there is a warm trend, you will find some solid mangrove snapper and sheepshead sharing the area with the bronze bombers. Even farther up the channel is the Highway 48 Boat Ramp channel and Low Water Bridge. In March, there is little boat traffic coming out of this ramp. Fish the points that are formed by the mouth of the channel with live or fresh shrimp on a Carolina Rig for both drum and snapper. Don’t be surprised if you latch on to some 12- to 14-inch croaker while working the area. The loud panfish is starting to have a greater presence along the lower Texas Coast, and Texas Parks and Wildlife indicates that numbers are beginning a slow, but steady increase. Once you start to approach the industrial part of the Ship Channel, you will begin to notice side channels (such as the one at N25 58.21, W97 20.37). The riprap on the points of the channel entrances hold

sheepshead and mangrove snapper in March, and some of those fish can get rather large (last year, several mangroves in the 5to 7-pound range were yanked out of one of the side channels). Use live shrimp on a free-line rig, and let it sink along the contour of the point. Standard trout tackle will work, but leave the 10-pound-test at home. These fish require at least 14-pound, and perhaps even 17-pound line to horse them out of their environment (8/30 braid is even more effective, and if the fish are really holding tight to the structure, I’ll go to 10/40 or even 12/60). Trout and redfish will also cruise along the riprap, especially in areas where it lines a section of the Channel. They’ll also take a live shrimp that is intended for other species. If you want to target them specifically, bounce a shrimp tail or Gulp! shrimp down the rocks. I’ve also had some success with large-billed crankbaits parallel to the shoreline. Just like with freshwater bass, redfish will hit the crank when the bill collides with a rock and forces the bait to come to a sudden stop. The docks in the industrial area are fish magnets, but exercise caution and common sense while fishing up in the ship channel. A lot of these areas have work going on around them 24 hours a day, and the dockworkers and security personnel don’t take kindly to boats getting too close because of safety and security concerns. There are plenty of areas to fish where you maintain a respectful distance from the oil rigs being built or the ships being loaded/unloaded. There is no need to become a nuisance. Except, of course, to the fish.

Contact: Calixto Gonzales by email at hotspotssouth@fishgame.com

THE BANK BITE HOTSPOT: Highway 48 Bridge at Laguna San Martin LOCATION: GPS N26 00.08, W97 17. 57 SPECIES: snook, mangrove snapper BEST BAITS: live shrimp, finger mullet; soft plastics in red/white, chartreuse/white BEST TIMES: The bridge pilings on incoming tide A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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Tides and Prime Times for MARCH 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.

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

T11

T17

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

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.

KEY T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6

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

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

12p

12a

Moon Underfoot: 4:18a

Blue: Rising Tide

MOON PHASES C20

Moon’s Highest Point in Sky

NEW MOON

• M A R C H

Am/Pm Timeline Moon Directly Underfoot

1ST QTR

FULL MOON LAST QTR

2 0 0 8 /

LOW +0:41 +4:15 +6:40 +5:19 +5:15

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

T E X A S

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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

S P O N S O R E D BY:

Tides and Prime Times for MARCH 2008

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

MONDAY

TUESDAY

AM 0.88 ft 3 PM 0.37 ft PM 0.79 ft

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

12a

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

= 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

12p

Moon Underfoot: 4:33p

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

PM Minor: 11:06p

AM Minor: 11:32a

28 Low Tide: 3:01 AM High Tide: 4:16 PM

-0.16 ft 1.04 ft

FEB 29 Low Tide: 4:15 AM High Tide: 4:31 PM

AM Major: 4:29a

12a

12p

PM Major: 4:54p

AM Major: 5:19a

Fri 2/29/08

Moon Overhead: 5:44a

0.95 ft

Moon Underfoot: 5:20p

12a

12p

PM Minor: 11:57p

AM Minor: -----

PM Major: 5:44p

Sat 3/1/08

-0.18 ft 1.09 ft

12a

Moon Underfoot: 6:09p

PM Minor: 12:21p

AM Minor: 12:44a AM Major: 6:57a

6:40 11:35

Sun 3/2/08

12a

Moon Underfoot: 7:00p

PM Minor: 1:10p PM Major: 7:23p

-0.28 ft 1.12 ft

Moon Overhead: 8:18a

1.12 ft

12p

Set: 6:16p Set: 1:22p

6:39 11:37

2 Low Tide: 6:25 AM High Tide: 4:19 PM

Moon Overhead: 7:25a

High Tide: 4:43 PM

SATURDAY

12p

Set: 6:15p Sunrise: 6:39a Set: 12:26p Moonrise: 3:15a

AMMARMajor: PM Major: 1 Low Tide: 5:27 AM -0.22 ft 6:08a 6:34p

6:41 11:33

FRIDAY 6p

SUNDAY

M AR 1

Set: 6:14p Sunrise: 6:40a Set: 11:35a Moonrise: 2:25a

Moon Overhead: 6:34a

THURSDAY

SUNDAY 6p

12a

Moon Underfoot: 7:51p

12p

12a

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 8:44p

-0.12 ft Low Tide: 1:58 AM 0.83 ft High Tide: 4:20 PM 0.76 ft 0.86 ft

-0.15 ft Low Tide: 3:01 AM 0.95 ft High Tide: 4:16 PM

-0.16 ft Low Tide: 4:15 AM 1.04 ft High Tide: 4:31 PM

-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

MARCH’S PEAK FISHING AND HUNTING TIMES • BY PAT MURRAY • BEST DAYS HIGHLIGHTED YELLOW MON 25

5:45am – 6:50am

MON 3

2:30pm – 3:30pm* MON 10

5:35am – 6:50am

MON 17

12:50pm – 2:20pm MON 24

3:40am – 5:05am

MON 29

TUE 26

7:40am – 9:10am

TUE 4

1:40pm – 3:00pm* TUE 11

5:45am – 7:00am

TUE 18

1:10pm – 2:50pm

TUE 25

4:05am – 5:35am

TUE APR 1 4:00pm – 5:45pm

WED 27

8:00am – 9:25am

WED 5

1:50pm – 3:15pm

6:00am – 7:20am

WED 19

2:00pm – 3:15pm

WED 26

6:35am – 7:50am*

WED 2

4:10pm – 5:50pm

THU 28

1:20pm – 2:40pm

THU 6

WED 12

2:50pm – 4:30pm

11:00am – 12:20pm THU 13

6:15am – 7:45am

THU 20

2:20pm – 3:50pm* THU 27

6:40am – 8:00am

THU 3

4:10pm – 6:00pm

FRI FEB 29 2:00pm – 3:20pm FRI 7

11:10am – 12:45pm

FRI 14

6:40am – 8:10am

FRI 21

1:20am – 2:40am

FRI 28

6:50am – 8:15am

FRI 4

3:15pm – 4:45pm*

SAT MAR 1 2:50pm – 4:00pm SAT 8

12:05pm – 1:25pm

SAT 15

12:25pm – 1:50pm

SAT 22

2:00am – 3:15am

SAT 29

7:05am – 8:35am

SAT 5

3:00pm – 4:10pm

SUN 2

12:40pm – 3:00pm SUN 16

2:05am – 3:40am SUN 30

2:45pm – 4:10pm

SUN 6

2:50pm – 4:05pm*

2:40pm – 3:50pm SUN 9

3 Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

+1.5 +1.0 +0.5

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

1:06 AM 9:18 AM 12:33 PM 5:15 PM

AM Minor: 10:42a

WEDNESDAY 6p

FEB 29

Thu 2/28/08 6:42 11:31

Moon Overhead: 4:56a

High Tide: 4:20 PM

SATURDAY

TIDE LEVELS

+0.5

PM Minor: 10:15p

AM PM Major: 27 Major: Low Tide: 1:58 AM -0.15 ft 3:40a 4:04p

TUESDAY

Moon Underfoot: 3:48p

+1.5 +1.0

12p

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

Wed 2/27/08 6:43 11:30

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 6a

AM Minor: 9:52a

6:44 11:28

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

Sunrise: 6:43a Moonrise: None

THURSDAY LAST QTR

SOLU-

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

WEDNESDAY

12:40pm – 2:10pm SUN 23

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

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-0.5

7:12 AM 3:58 PM 9:11 PM 11:08 PM

MONDAY

★

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

Sunrise: 6:38a Moonrise: 4:01a

-0.28 ft 1.12 ft

FEET

PM Minor: 1:57p

AM Minor: 2:18a

12p

PM Minor: 2:43p

Low Tide: 8:26 PM

Set: 6:17p Set: 4:29p

Sunrise: 6:35a Moonrise: 5:54a

AM PM Major: >5 Major: High Tide: 12:42 AM 1.07 ft 9:15a 9:40p Low Tide: 8:30 AM -0.32 ft

AM Major: AM 10:00a1:53 9:07 AM

AM Minor: 3:03a

6:37 11:40

Wed 3/5/08

12p

AM Minor: 3:48a

Thu 3/6/08

High Tide: 4:07 PM Low Tide: 8:42 PM

>6 High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

12a

Moon Underfoot: 10:27p

12p

6★

Set: 6:18p Set: 5:33p

Sunrise: 6:34a Moonrise: 6:27a

PM Major: 10:24p

AM Major: 3:01 AM 10:46a9:46 AM

PM Minor: 4:12p

AM Minor: 4:34a

6:35 11:43

Fri 3/7/08

N7 High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

1.11 ft -0.24 ft 1.04 ft 0.59 ft

Moon Overhead: 11:40a

1.08 ft 0.79 ft

WEDNESDAY 6p

FRIDAY

4:18 PM 9:12 PM

12a

Moon Underfoot: 11:16p

12p

Set: 6:19p Set: 6:36p

PM Minor: 4:58p

AM Minor: 5:22a

PM Major: 11:09p

1.15 ft -0.08 ft 1.00 ft 0.35 ft

Moon Underfoot: None

12p

C22

7:12 AM 3:58 PM 9:11 PM 11:08 PM

-0.32 ft Low Tide: 7:52 AM 1.12 ft High Tide: 3:59 PM 1.02 ft Low Tide: 8:26 PM 1.03 ft

• M A R C H

2 0 0 8 /

-0.35 ft High Tide: 12:42 AM 1.10 ft Low Tide: 8:30 AM 0.94 ft High Tide: 4:07 PM Low Tide: 8:42 PM

T E X A S

F i s h

1.07 ft -0.32 ft 1.08 ft 0.79 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

1:53 AM 9:07 AM 4:18 PM 9:12 PM

1.11 ft -0.24 ft 1.04 ft 0.59 ft

12a

G a m e ® / A L M A N A C

3:01 AM 9:46 AM 4:29 PM 9:48 PM

1.15 ft -0.08 ft 1.00 ft 0.35 ft

12p

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

4:08 AM 10:26 AM 4:39 PM 10:28 PM

PM Major: 1:26p

Moon Overhead: 3:04p SUNDAY

Moon Underfoot: 12:51a

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

PM Minor: 7:39p

7:31 11:49

***>9 High Tide: 6:20 AM 1.20 ft Low Tide: 12:08 PM 0.40 ft High Tide: 5:46 PM 0.97 ft

SATURDAY

Moon Underfoot: 12:04a

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

AM Major: 1:01a

Sun 3/9/08

Set: 7:20p Set: 9:46p

1.18 ft 0.14 ft 0.97 ft 0.10 ft

12a

12p

12a

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

High Tide: 6:20 AM 1.20 ft Low Tide: 12:08 PM 0.40 ft High Tide: 5:46 PM 0.97 ft

10 Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 2:39a

+1.5 TIDE LEVELS

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

AM Minor: 7:14a

6:33 11:46

High Tide: 4:39 PM 0.97 ft Low Tide: 10:28 PM 0.10 ft

00 -0.5

PM Minor: 5:46p

Start Daylight Saving Time

Sunrise: 7:31a Moonrise: 8:32a

Moon Overhead: 1:15p

Moon Overhead: 12:27p

12a

Set: 6:19p Set: 7:39p

AM>8 Major: PM Major: High Tide: 4:08 AM 1.18 ft 11:34a ----Low Tide: 10:26 AM 0.14 ft Sat 3/8/08

FRIDAY 6p

SUNDAY

8★

Sunrise: 6:33a Moonrise: 6:59a

6:34 11:45

4:29 PM 9:48 PM

THURSDAY 6p

SATURDAY

7★

NEW MOON

TIDE LEVELS

12a

PM Minor: 3:28p

6:36 11:41

Moon Overhead: 10:51a

0.94 ft

TUESDAY 6p

THURSDAY

5★

Sunrise: 6:36a Moonrise: 5:20a

Moon Overhead: 10:01a

1.02 ft 1.03 ft

MONDAY 6a

Set: 6:17p Set: 3:26p

AM PM Major: 4 Major: Low Tide: 7:52 AM -0.35 ft 8:30a 8:56p High Tide: 3:59 PM 1.10 ft Tue 3/4/08

Moon Overhead: 9:10a

Low Tide: 9:11 PM High Tide: 11:08 PM

WEDNESDAY

4★

Sunrise: 6:37a Moonrise: 4:42a

6:38 11:38

Moon Underfoot: 9:36p

+1.5

+0.5

Set: 6:16p Set: 2:23p

AM PM Major: 3 Major: Low Tide: 7:12 AM -0.32 ft 7:44a 8:10p High Tide: 3:58 PM 1.12 ft Mon 3/3/08

12a

+2.0

+1.0

AM Minor: 1:31a

TUESDAY

3★

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

AM PM

Tides and Prime Times for MARCH 2008

+1.0 +0.5

-0.5

12:12 AM 7:38 AM 12:50 PM 5:48 PM

Tides and Prime Times for MARCH 2008

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

MONDAY SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

M 1.20 ft PM 0.40 ft M 0.97 ft

FEET

-0.5

Moon Overhead: 3:57p

TIDE LEVELS

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

12:12 AM 7:38 AM 12:50 PM 5:48 PM

PM Minor: 9:39p

AM Minor: 10:15a

1.23 ft 0.95 ft 1.09 ft

High Tide: 10:53 AM Low Tide: 2:14 PM High Tide: 5:06 PM

-0.14 ft 1.22 ft 0.69 ft 1.01 ft

12p

Moon Underfoot: 4:24a

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

1:02 AM 9:06 AM 1:33 PM 5:39 PM

12a

AM Major: PM Major: 13 Low5:04a Tide: 3:05 AM -0.50 ft 5:35p

AMQ14Major: PM Major: Low Tide: 4:22 AM -0.51 ft 6:07a 6:38p

AM Major: 15 Low Tide: 7:06a

AM Minor: 11:19a

PM Minor: 11:50p

AM Minor: -----

Thu 3/13/08 7:27 11:55

Fri 3/14/08

Moon Overhead: 6:54p

1.25 ft 1.17 ft 1.20 ft

12p

Sunrise: 7:25a Moonrise: 1:33p

High Tide: 1:27 PM Low Tide: 3:00 PM High Tide: 3:40 PM

WEDNESDAY 6p

Moon Underfoot: 5:22a

12a

12p

PM Minor: 12:22p

AM Minor: 12:53a

7:26 11:57

Sat 3/15/08

High Tide: 3:22 PM

Moon Underfoot: 6:23a

12a

12p

Sunrise: 7:23a Moonrise: 2:39p

PM Major: -0.49 ft 7:36p

AM 16Major: Low Tide: 8:01a

PM Minor: 1:21p

AM Minor: 1:47a

7:25 11:59

Moon Underfoot: 7:25a

12a

12p

PM Minor: 2:15p PM Major: 8:29p

7:03 AM -0.46 ft High Tide: 4:06 PM 1.32 ft Low Tide: 10:01 PM 1.11 ft High Tide: 11:10 PM 1.11 ft

Moon Overhead: 9:51p

1.38 ft

SATURDAY 6p

Set: 7:24p Set: 4:11a

Sun 3/16/08 7:23 12:01

Moon Overhead: 8:55p

1.38 ft

FRIDAY 6p

SUNDAY

Set: 7:24p Set: 3:20a

5:45 AM High Tide: 3:47 PM

Moon Overhead: 7:55p

1.32 ft 1.31 ft 1.32 ft

THURSDAY 6p

SATURDAY

Sunrise: 7:26a Set: 7:23p Moonrise: 12:28p Set: 2:21a

Moon Overhead: 5:52p

Moon Overhead: 4:53p

12a

Wed 3/12/08 7:28 11:54

TUESDAY 6p

PM Minor: 10:45p

FRIDAY 1ST QTR

Sunrise: 7:27a Set: 7:22p Moonrise: 11:28a Set: 1:15p

AM12Major: PM Major: Low Tide: 1:59 AM 4:30p -0.45 ft 4:00a

7:29 11:52

High Tide: 9:06 AM Low Tide: 1:33 PM High Tide: 5:39 PM

MONDAY 12p

Set: 7:22p Set: 7:21p Sunrise: 7:28a Set: 12:05a Moonrise: 10:35a Set: None

AM Major: PM Major: 11 Low Tide: 1:02 AM -0.32 ft 2:57a 3:25p Tue 3/11/08

THURSDAY

SUNDAY 6p

Moon Underfoot: 8:25a

12a

12p

12a

17 Low Tide: 8:09 AM High Tide: 4:18 PM Low Tide: 9:31 PM

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 9:23a

+1.5 TIDE LEVELS

AM Minor: 9:11a

High Tide: 7:38 AM 1.22 ft Low Tide: 12:50 PM 0.69 ft High Tide: 5:48 PM 1.01 ft

Moon Underfoot: 3:30a

+1.5

+0.5

PM Minor: 8:37p

AM Major: PM Major: 10 Low Tide: 12:12 AM -0.14 ft 1:57a 2:24p

Set: 7:21p Sunrise: 7:29a Set: 10:55p Moonrise: 9:48a

Mon 3/10/08 7:30 11:51

12a

+2.0

+1.0

AM Minor: 8:10a

WEDNESDAY

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

Sunrise: 7:30a Moonrise: 9:08a

TUESDAY

+1.0 +0.5

-0.32 ft 1.23 ft 0.95 ft 1.09 ft

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

1:59 AM 10:53 AM 2:14 PM 5:06 PM

-0.45 ft 1.25 ft 1.17 ft 1.20 ft

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

3:05 AM 1:27 PM 3:00 PM 3:40 PM

-0.50 ft Low Tide: 4:22 AM 1.32 ft High Tide: 3:22 PM 1.31 ft 1.32 ft

-0.51 ft Low Tide: 5:45 AM 1.38 ft High Tide: 3:47 PM

-0.49 ft Low Tide: 1.38 ft High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

7:03 AM 4:06 PM 10:01 PM 11:10 PM

-0.46 ft 1.32 ft 1.11 ft 1.11 ft

-0.5

MONDAY SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

Sunrise: 7:22a Moonrise: 3:45p

-0.46 ft 1.32 ft 1.11 ft 1.11 ft

FEET

PM Minor: 3:04p

AM Minor: 4:06a

High Tide: 4:29 PM Low Tide: 9:40 PM

AM Minor: 4:47a

Moon Underfoot: 11:07a

12p

4:48 PM

12a

Moon Underfoot: 11:53a

>21 High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

4:58 PM

12a

Moon Underfoot: 12:36p

PM Minor: 6:31p

High Tide: 5:06 PM Low Tide: 11:25 PM

-0.38 ft High Tide: 1:14 AM 1.23 ft Low Tide: 9:04 AM 0.98 ft High Tide: 4:29 PM Low Tide: 9:40 PM

1.13 ft -0.26 ft 1.14 ft 0.80 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

2:35 AM 9:52 AM 4:38 PM 10:01 PM

1.17 ft -0.08 ft 1.06 ft 0.60 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

3:43 AM 10:34 AM 4:48 PM 10:26 PM

1.21 ft 0.12 ft 1.02 ft 0.40 ft

12a

Moon Underfoot: 1:18p

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

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

4:46 AM 11:12 AM 4:58 PM 10:55 PM

F i s h

AM Major: PM Major: 6:43 AM 1.26 1:05p ft 12:50a12:18 PM 0.76 ft

>23 High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

Moon 11:58 Overhead: PM 0.00 ft2:21a

1.00 ft

5:11 PM

SATURDAY

12p

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

5:45 AM 11:47 AM 5:06 PM 11:25 PM

1.02 ft

SUNDAY 6p

12a

Moon Underfoot: 2:00p

1.24 ft 0.34 ft 0.99 ft 0.22 ft

PM Minor: 7:16p

Sun 3/23/08 7:15 12:13

Moon Overhead:0.09 1:39a ft

0.99 ft

Set: 7:28p Set: 8:00a

G a m e ® / M A R C H

12a

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

6:43 AM 12:18 PM 5:11 PM 11:58 PM

2 0 0 8

1.26 ft 0.76 ft 1.02 ft 0.00 ft

•

C25

>24 High Tide: 7:42 AM Low Tide: 12:46 PM High Tide: 5:06 PM

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 2:42p

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

1.26 ft 0.56 ft 1.00 ft 0.09 ft

12p

+1.5 TIDE LEVELS

Low Tide: 8:09 AM High Tide: 4:18 PM Low Tide: 9:31 PM

AM Minor: 6:54a

7:16 12:12

00 -0.5

Sunrise: 7:15a Moonrise: 9:32p

AM PM Major: F22Major: High Tide: 5:45 AM 12:20p 1.26 ft ----Low Tide: 11:47 AM 0.56 ft Sat 3/22/08

FRIDAY 6p

Set: 7:28p Set: 7:31a

AM Minor: 6:10a

7:18 12:09

Moon 10:55 Overhead: PM 0.22 12:59a ft

1.02 ft

12p

PM Minor: 5:48p

SUNDAY

22 ★

FULL MOON

Sunrise: 7:16a Moonrise: 8:35p

AM Major: PM Major: 4:46 AM 1.2411:59p ft 11:38a11:12 AM 0.34 ft Fri 3/21/08

THURSDAY 6p

Set: 7:27p Set: 7:03a

AM Minor: 5:27a

Moon 10:26 Overhead: PM 0.4012:15a ft

High Tide: 4:38 PM 1.06 ft Low Tide: 10:01 PM 0.60 ft

12a

PM Minor: 5:08p

SATURDAY

21 ★

Sunrise: 7:18a Moonrise: 7:40p

AM Major: PM Major: AM 1.2111:19p ft 10:57a3:43 10:34 AM 0.12 ft

>20 High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

WEDNESDAY 6p

20 ★

Set: 7:26p Set: 6:35a

Thu 3/20/08 7:19 12:07

Moon Overhead: None

1.14 ft

12p

PM Minor: 4:28p

Sunrise: 7:19a Moonrise: 6:44p

FRIDAY

TIDE LEVELS

12a

19 ★

Set: 7:26p Set: 6:05a

Wed 3/19/08 7:20 12:06

TUESDAY 6p

THURSDAY

AM PM Major: 19 Major: High Tide: 2:35 AM 1.17 ft 10:17a 10:40p Low Tide: 9:52 AM -0.08 ft

7:21 12:04

Moon Overhead:0.80 11:30p ft

0.98 ft

12p

PM Minor: 3:48p

Sunrise: 7:20a Moonrise: 5:47p

AM PM Major: 18 Major: High Tide: 1:14 AM 1.13 ft 9:36a 10:00p Low Tide: 9:04 AM -0.26 ft Tue 3/18/08

MONDAY 6a

Set: 7:25p Set: 5:32a

AM Minor: 3:23a

Moon Overhead: 10:43p

Low Tide: 9:31 PM

WEDNESDAY

Sunrise: 7:21a Moonrise: 4:48p

AM PM Major: 17 Major: Low Tide: 8:09 AM -0.38 ft 8:51a 9:17p High Tide: 4:18 PM 1.23 ft

Moon Underfoot: 10:17a

+1.5

+0.5

Set: 7:25p Set: 4:55a

Mon 3/17/08 7:22 12:03

12a

+2.0

+1.0

AM Minor: 2:38a

TUESDAY

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

AM PM PM PM

Tides and Prime Times for MARCH 2008

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

+1.0 +0.5

-0.5

MONDAY

TUESDAY

★ SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

Sunrise: 7:14a Set: 7:29p Moonrise: 10:29p Set: 8:31a

1.26 ft 0.76 ft 1.02 ft 0.00 ft

FEET

-0.5

Moon Overhead: 3:04a

High Tide: 5:06 PM

12p

TIDE LEVELS

AM Minor: 9:25a

Low Tide: 1:07 PM High Tide: 4:38 PM

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

High Tide: 7:42 AM 1.26 ft Low Tide: 12:46 PM 0.92 ft High Tide: 5:06 PM 1.05 ft

12a

Low Tide: 1:14 PM High Tide: 4:05 PM

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

12:34 AM 8:48 AM 1:07 PM 4:38 PM

27 Low Tide: 2:04 AM High Tide: 4:06 PM

-0.03 ft 1.24 ft 1.06 ft 1.11 ft

12a

12p

PM Minor: 10:44p

AM Minor: 11:12a

PM Major: 4:31p

AM Major: 5:00a

Fri 3/28/08

Moon Underfoot: 5:01p

12a

12p

AM Minor: -----

PM Major: 5:25p

Sat 3/29/08

0.05 ft 1.31 ft

Moon Underfoot: 5:51p

12a

12p

PM Minor: 12:05p

AM Minor: 12:31a AM Major: 6:44a

7:08 12:23

30 Low Tide: 5:23 AM High Tide: 3:44 PM

Moon Underfoot: 6:42p

12a

12p

PM Minor: 12:56p PM Major: 7:09p

0.09 ft 1.33 ft

Moon Overhead: 7:59a

SATURDAY 6p

Set: 7:32p Set: 1:08p

Sun 3/30/08 7:07 12:25

Moon Overhead: 7:08a

FRIDAY 6p

Set: 7:31p Sunrise: 7:07a Set: 12:10p Moonrise: 2:53a

Q29Major: AM PM Major: Low Tide: 4:10 AM 0.08 ft 5:52a 6:18p High Tide: 4:29 PM 1.33 ft

7:09 12:22

Moon Overhead: 6:17a

THURSDAY 6p

PM Minor: 11:38p

SUNDAY

LAST QTR

Set: 7:31p Sunrise: 7:08a Set: 11:17a Moonrise: 2:07a

28 Low Tide: 3:02 AM High Tide: 4:20 PM

0.01 ft 1.26 ft

SATURDAY

Set: 7:30p Sunrise: 7:09a Set: 10:28a Moonrise: 1:16p

Moon Overhead: 5:26a

1.16 ft 1.19 ft

WEDNESDAY

Moon Underfoot: 4:13p

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

AM Major: 4:06a

FRIDAY

Thu 3/27/08 7:10 12:20

Moon Overhead: 4:37a

1.06 ft 1.11 ft

12p

AM Minor: 10:19a

Wed 3/26/08 7:12 12:18

TUESDAY 6p

PM Minor: 9:49p

Sunrise: 7:10a Moonrise: None

26 Major: AM PM Major: Low Tide: 1:15 AM -0.03 ft 3:13a 3:37p High Tide: 10:06 AM 1.22 ft

7:13 12:16

Moon Overhead: 3:50a

1.05 ft

MONDAY 6a

PM Minor: 8:56p

Sunrise: 7:12a Set: 7:30p Moonrise: 12:22a Set: 9:44a

25 Major: AM PM Major: Low Tide: 12:34 AM -0.03 ft 2:21a 2:44p High Tide: 8:48 AM 1.24 ft Tue 3/25/08

THURSDAY

SUNDAY 6p

Moon Underfoot: 7:33p

12a

12p

12a

31 Low Tide: 6:27 AM High Tide: 3:22 PM

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 8:24p

+1.5 TIDE LEVELS

AM Minor: 8:32a

>24 Major: AM PM Major: High Tide: 7:42 AM 1.26 ft 1:31a 1:53p Low Tide: 12:46 PM 0.92 ft

Moon Underfoot: 3:27p

+1.5

+0.5

PM Minor: 8:04p

Sunrise: 7:13a Set: 7:29p Moonrise: 11:26p Set: 9:06a

Mon 3/24/08 7:14 12:15

12a

+2.0

+1.0

AM Minor: 7:42a

WEDNESDAY

25 ★

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

AM PM PM PM

Tides and Prime Times for MARCH 2008

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

+1.0 +0.5

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide:

1:15 AM 10:06 AM 1:14 PM 4:05 PM

-0.03 ft Low Tide: 2:04 AM 1.22 ft High Tide: 4:06 PM 1.16 ft 1.19 ft

0.01 ft 1.26 ft

Low Tide: 3:02 AM High Tide: 4:20 PM

0.05 ft 1.31 ft

Low Tide: 4:10 AM High Tide: 4:29 PM

0.08 ft 1.33 ft

Low Tide: 5:23 AM High Tide: 3:44 PM

0.09 ft 1.33 ft

-0.5

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Mar 3 1

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

Sunrise: 7:06a Moonrise: 3:36a

0.09 ft 1.33 ft

FEET

-0.5

12p

TIDE LEVELS

AM Minor: 2:49a

High Tide: Low Tide:

3:24 PM 8:41 PM

0.08 ft 1.31 ft

12a

12p

Set: 7:34p Set: 4:14p

PM Minor: 3:14p

Sunrise: 7:02a Moonrise: 5:22a AM Minor: 3:32a

AM Major: PM Major: 2 High9:02a Tide: 12:46 AM 1.179:26p ft

7:05 12:28

Wed 4/2/08

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

8:09 AM 3:31 PM 8:39 PM

Thu 4/3/08

3 High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

Moon Underfoot: 10:04p

= Daylight Hrs. = Nighttime Hrs.

Low Tide: 7:21 AM 0.10 ft High Tide: 3:24 PM 1.28 ft Low Tide: 8:41 PM 1.06 ft

12a

12p

PM Minor: 3:55p

Sunrise: 7:01a Moonrise: 5:54a

12a

Moon Underfoot: 10:52p

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

9:43 AM 3:49 PM 9:38 PM

12a

Moon Underfoot: 11:39p

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

12a

Moon Underfoot: None

12p

6:59 12:37

Moon Overhead: 1:45p

10:30 AM 0.63 ft 3:58 PM 1.17 ft 10:17 PM 0.05 ft

PM Minor: 6:51p

AM PM Major: 6 Major: High Tide: 5:40 AM 1.58 ft 12:11a 12:38p Sun 4/6/08

Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

SATURDAY 6p

Set: 7:36p Set: 8:36p

AM Minor: 6:25a

7:00 12:35

Moon Overhead: 12:52p

0.42 ft 1.17 ft 0.34 ft

12p

PM Minor: 5:24p

Sunrise: 6:59a Moonrise: 7:02a

AM Major: PM Major: 5 High Tide: 4:32 AM 1.48 ft 11:11a 11:36p Sat 4/5/08

FRIDAY 6p

Set: 7:35p Set: 7:26p

AM Minor: 4:59a

7:01 12:34

Moon Overhead: 12:03p

0.26 ft 1.20 ft 0.62 ft

12p

PM Minor: 4:38p

SUNDAY

5★

NEW MOON

Sunrise: 7:00a Moonrise: 6:27a

AM PM Major: 4 Major: High Tide: 3:23 AM 1.37 ft 10:26a 10:50p Fri 4/4/08

THURSDAY 6p

Set: 7:35p Set: 6:20p

AM Minor: 4:14a

7:02 12:32

8:56 AM 3:40 PM 9:04 PM

SATURDAY

4★

3★

Set: 7:34p Set: 5:16p

Moon Overhead: 11:16a

0.15 ft 1.24 ft 0.87 ft

WEDNESDAY 6p

FRIDAY

AM Major: PM Major: ft 9:43a 2:10 AM 1.2610:07p

7:03 12:31

Moon Overhead: 10:28a

1.28 ft 1.06 ft

TUESDAY

= RISING TIDE = FALLING TIDE

Low Tide: 6:27 AM High Tide: 3:22 PM

PM Minor: 2:30p

Sunrise: 7:03a Moonrise: 4:49a

Moon Overhead: 9:40a

1.31 ft

MONDAY 6a

Set: 7:33p Set: 3:11p

AM PM Major: ?Apr 1Major: Low8:18a Tide: 7:21 AM 0.108:43p ft Tue 4/1/08

Moon Overhead: 8:50a

High Tide: 3:22 PM

Apr 1

THURSDAY

11:19 AM 0.87 ft 4:05 PM 1.20 ft 11:00 PM -0.19 ft

SUNDAY 6p

12a

Moon Underfoot: 12:28a

12p

12a

7 High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

FEET

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 1:18a

+1.5 TIDE LEVELS

AM Minor: 2:06a

AM PM Major: 31 Major: Low7:32a Tide: 6:27 AM 0.087:57p ft

Moon Underfoot: 9:15p

+1.5

+0.5

PM Minor: 1:45p

Sunrise: 7:05a Moonrise: 4:14a

Mon 3/31/08 7:06 12:27

12a

+2.0

+1.0

AM Minor: 1:20a

Set: 7:33p Set: 2:09p

WEDNESDAY

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY

M M

Tides and Prime Times for MARCH 2008

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION

+1.0 +0.5

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

12:46 AM 8:09 AM 3:31 PM 8:39 PM

1.17 ft 0.15 ft 1.24 ft 0.87 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

2:10 AM 8:56 AM 3:40 PM 9:04 PM

1.26 ft 0.26 ft 1.20 ft 0.62 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

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

3:23 AM 9:43 AM 3:49 PM 9:38 PM

F i s h

1.37 ft 0.42 ft 1.17 ft 0.34 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

4:32 AM 10:30 AM 3:58 PM 10:17 PM

1.48 ft 0.63 ft 1.17 ft 0.05 ft

High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

G a m e ® / M A R C H

5:40 AM 11:19 AM 4:05 PM 11:00 PM

2 0 0 8

1.58 ft 0.87 ft 1.20 ft -0.19 ft

•

C27

-0.5

6:50 A 12:10 4:08 P 11:49

Eagle Claw Circle Sea Hook

US Reels Supercaster 230

When some truly interesting products come along, I would be neglecting my outdoor writer responsibilities if I did not mention them, especially in the case of products that are necessary for new regulations in Texas waters. Take the Eagle Claw Circle Sea Hook, for example. It is now a legal requirement to use circle hooks when fishing for red snapper in state waters, so many anglers are now turning to these unusual looking items. Many of the circle hooks on the market today experiment with various versions of the old circle hooks popularized many years ago by Japanese commercial fishermen. The idea of a circle hook seems strange because, looking at one, you would not think they would be as effective as a standard J-style or a treble hook. The fact is, these hooks almost always hook fish in the bony corner of the mouth where they cannot spit it out, and do not require a typical hookset. You can literally just start reeling with circle hooks once you feel a bite. I have fished recently with the Eagle Claw Sea Hook, which comes with an extremely sharp point and slightly offset design that has become popular with those familiar with them. I recently used it while fishing for bull redfish and managed to set the hook in the corner of the big brutes’ mouths, where it did not harm the fish and I was able to release it alive and well. I used the big 13/0 for that deed, since the bull reds’ mouths are so big, and I was using huge live mullet. Try these hooks and you will not be disappointed. Contact: Eagle Claw, 303-321-1481, www.eagleclaw.com —Chester Moore

Serious anglers like to match their line class and type to the specific fishing condi-

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er size doesn’t impact performance in any negative way. If anything, it helps increase casting distance. The drag system is smooth and the anti-reverse is infinite. For a lighter feel, go with the (less expensive) XL model, which has some resin parts. I did see some flexing in the body when I kept the bail from moving and forced the handle, so if longevity is your main concern, you will probably like the SX model, which has an aluminum body. Price ranges from $99 to $170. Contact: US Reels, 314-962-9500, www.usreels.com —Lenny Rudow

PoleCat Shooting Sticks

tions, and in many cases, that can mean hauling a variety of gear on any given day of fishing. If you have ever wished for a spinning reel that could handle a wide range of line classes in both monofilament and braid, then you will want to check out US Reels’ new Supercaster. The smaller model can take anywhere from 2- to 16pound-test, and the larger model has no problem with any line ranging from 6- to 30pound. Yes, there is a problem with this—you’ll have a harder time explaining to Lovie why you need 10 different rod and reel combos—but since the reel comes with two spools, you can have a couple of different weights or types ready to go at any time. The spool on the Supercaster looks huge, and it comes with an arbor to change the effective diameter. An afternoon of casting jigs and crankbaits proved that the largF i s h

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I confess that I have had deer in my rifle sights but the adrenalin racing through my body created a bad case of the “shakes.” After all the work of locating the game and missing because of not holding the rifle steady is the pits. PoleCat Hike ‘N Hunt Combo by Stoney Point prevents that happening again. The Combo is extremely versatile. The outfit comes with two adjustable monopods that can be used separately as walking or wading sticks. The monopods extend from 25 inches to 62 inches with screw-on tips for use on hard or soft ground. What originally drew my attention to the outfit was the ability to screw my digital

SLR camera to the top of one of the monopods, thus taking the shakes out of picture taking. Stopping and trying to capture the perfect photographic moment, especially if it’s a quick shot, can be a challenge to hold the camera perfectly still. Telephoto lenses tend to magnify all of your mistakes. Mount the two monopods together with a molded rubber cradle, and you have a rifle or shotgun rest. If you are not into walking sticks, the poles can be carried in a collapsed state in a clip on belt sheath, or don’t collapse the pole and carry it over the shoulder with a shoulder strap ready for steadying your rifle or shotgun. Contact: Bushnell Outdoor Products, 800-423-3537, www.stoneypoint.com —Tom Behrens

Quantum Aruba PT 30S Reel We don’t usually think of Quantum as making big game reels, but that’s about to change with the Aruba series. I tested out a 30 PTs, which holds 750 yards of 30pound-test, has 3.2:1/1.7:1 gear ratios, and can apply a whopping 60 pounds of drag in the “Full” position. One good run from a 50-pound bluefin tuna proved the reel’s performance; the dual carbon drag system is incredibly smooth, even when a pelagic puts on the heat. The reel’s spool is supported by three nitrogenalloy PT bearings, which make it feel silky

smooth whether line’s running out or (hopefully) being cranked in. T h e

Aruba’s built with stainless-steel gears and the frame is constructed of CNCmilled billet aluminum, so it feels beefy in your hands, but should hold up to saltwater abuse. The only downside I could find was the reel seat clamp’s safety loop attachment sticks out the back instead of out the side, as on most other reels, and it caught my hand now sometimes as I slid it up or down the rod. Fortunately, this piece can be swapped out without a problem. Price on this reel is worth noting, too. It lists at a hair under $500, which is about $60 less than the nearest competitor in its class. You can find it on the web for as little as $440 (www.alltackle.com). If you are outfitting your boat with a new set of reels, that means you will essentially be able to get a set of five Arubas for the price of four standard rigs. After fighting fish with the Aruba, I say there’s no doubt, so far as operation goes, this reel is on a level playing field with all competitors, but what about longevity? Only time will tell, but a month after using it in the brine, I disassembled the reel and found no hints of corrosion or wear. —Lenny Rudow

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LazerRope Springs into Action for Boaters Your onboard or dockside ropes are never going to be the wrong length, moldy, tangled or lost again. LazerRope™, developed in Seabrook, Texas, with the help of the NASA-funded Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP), is a product of space-age thinking and technologies and is always the perfect length and right tension – the rope that doesn’t go slack! Available in five sizes (the smallest about as big as an orange), LazerRope installs in just minutes on everything from personal watercraft to yacht-class vessels to docks or pilings. Stark in its simplicity and graceful in design, this new watercraft tiedown and dock line storage system will help you secure your vessel efficiently without all the hassle you have become so used to. In

addition, LazerRope is engineered to be impervious to harsh saltwater environments utilizing a system containing only two moving parts and is resistant to corrosion, abra-

sion, heat and chemicals. LazerRope is now available as optional equipment on Blue Wave and other leading boat lines and at select boat supply stores or online at LazerRope.com. Salt or fresh water, bay or inland lake, personal watercraft or bass boat, with optional lights or by itself, LazerRope will change forever the way you secure your boat! LazerRope.com or 281-893-7088.

Buck Adds Choices to Compact Knives When Buck Knives introduced the handsome Nobleman frame-lock and the handy little Transport key ring knife, there were several choices of finish and color – and now there are more to choose from. The high-tech Nobleman gentleman’s knife still has the elegantly sculpted slimline design that proved to be so popular, and the new Model 327CF adds some new features. The textured carbon-fiber graphic handle gives it a distinctive look, and one side has been rubber-coated to soften the feel and C30

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provide a sure grip. Its 2-5/8” drop-point blade is titaniumcoated 440A stainless steel and has a thumbstud for easy one-hand opening. Buck’s frame-lock design assures a slim profile, reduces weight, minimizes working parts and keeps the blade safely locked open in use. A titanium-coated clip makes the 3-3/4” knife easy to carry. It weighs only 2.6 oz. MSRP, $32. At the same time, Buck has added three bright new colors to the Transport, the little one-hand knife for key ring, pocket or purse. The unique SafeSpinTM blade rotation lets you open the blade with one finger. Its 1-1/4” drop-point blade locks open for safety and you’re sure to find the bottle opener useful. Closed, the Transport is 2-1/4” and it weighs less than one ounce. The three new colors for the molded nylon handle are Metallic Blue, Lime Green and Pink. MSRP, $20.

Pflueger accomplished just that with a new level of performance never before achieved in the Pflueger low profile line up. Coming in at just 8.4 ounces and with two models and gear ratios to choose from (6.4:1 & 7.1:1), the Patriarch‘ is a formidable weapon in the high performance freshwater and inshore markets.

Blades for these and all Buck knives are finished with Buck’s a d v a n c e d Edge2xTM technology, which makes the blade sharper out of the box, hold an edge longer and easier to re-sharpen. And they are backed by Buck’s unconditional lifetime warranty. Visit www.buckknives.com or call 800-3262825.

Features and specifications of the Patriarch‘ Low Profile include: 10 double-shielded stainless steel ball bearings One-way clutch instant anti-reverse bearing Ultimate Brake System‘ combines centrifugal and magnetic brake cast controls Titanium-plated side plates Titanium line guide Machined, ported, and double anodized aluminum spool

New Standard for High End Low Profiles Given Pflueger’s history and current line of outstanding low profile reels, creating a new reel that would take the position as top of the line in the low profile category was a grand undertaking. In 2008

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Main gear applied star drag system with carbon fiber washers Lightweight aluminum frame with aluminum handle side plate and palm side Smooth multi-disc main gear applied drag system with audible star adjustment Dual soft-touch knobs Neo prene reel bag For more information, please go to www.pflueger-fishing.com or call 800-3349105.

action core construction of the PowerCore® allows the bullet to adjust its behavior based on impact velocity. At high impact velocities both cores chain react at different depths maximizing tissue destruction but still penetrating deep. At low to moderate velocity the front core causes massive tissue destruction and the rear core remains intact for

MDM’s Dual Action Green Bullet Muzzleloading hunters are demanding. They want a bullet that shoots accurately with terminal performance that equals or exceeds that delivered by centerfire cartridges. Most muzzleloading bullets are weak on terminal performance; either failing to expand sufficiently or over expanded with shallow penetration. After listening to hunters MDM has designed a bullet especially for big game hunters. MDM proudly announces the PowerCore® bullet. The new PowerCore® bullet is a nonlead bullet that uses dual core technology to enhance performance. The unique dual

maximize penetration. MDM’s new PowerCore® takes muzzleloading bullet technology into the new Millennium giving muzzleloader hunters optimum terminal performance with a bullet that is environmentally safe. Visit mdm-muzzleloaders.com or call

802-676-3311.

A Better Way to Measure Crappie You won’t hear Missouri crappie fisherman Kendal Bailey talking about the big one that got away. His innovative measuring tool promises to allow fishermen to quickly, easily and safely size up a crappie’s length to determine if it’s within state-mandated minimum lengths. The Grip N Check crappie measurer incorporates several unique features not found in other fish measurers. The fish fits head-first into the polycarbonate tool; a thumb tab “stops the flop,” and, if the fish isn’t keeper-sized, the fisherman can release it back into the lake without harming it. The Grip N Check also protects the user by keeping the fisherman’s hands away from the crappie’s sharp fins. Ken points out that one of his favorite features is that the Grip N Check is manufactured in Grandview, Missouri. “That “Made in the U.S.A.” means a lot to me, and, from what I hear, to a lot of other fishermen,” he says. In addition to selling from its website, www.gripncheck.com, KB Innovations sells through large retailers like Cabela’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, as well as from smaller bait and tackle shops around the country.

NuCanoe Fishing Models NuCanoe Inc., makers of the versatile, stable, and fun NuCanoe, unveiled two new fishing models in their 2008 product lineup. C32

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The new models increase the versatility and function of the NuCanoe for fishing. The Tandem Adventurer exploits revised seat positions to make a fishing craft capable of carrying two anglers and their gear. It includes two comfortable Captain’s seats and four rod holders. The Ultimate Adventurer, ideal for the solo angler, features a Captain’s seat, two rod holders, a paddle holder, stern anchor system, and sport box. New accessories include a hands-free trolling motor kit, a light-weight Expedition seat, and a U-Joint tiller extension handle. “The 2008 NuCanoe fishing models provide a ready to use solution for anglers,” said Blake Young, Director of Business Development for NuCanoe, Inc. “The new accessories and rigging options greatly increase the function of the NuCanoe for fishing in both saltwater and freshwater.” The NuCanoe, designed by Tim Niemier, features an innovative, high-flotation, sealed hull that is virtually unsinkable and provides an optimal balance of tracking,

to protect some of your most valuable possessions and the most unique feature, “SafeBOX” is portable. Mount the steel sleeve in your car, boat, RV, house, office, almost anywhere. Unlock from the sleeve and “SafeBOX” slides out and is now a portable lock box. It can be open and locked until secured back into the steel sleeve again. By purchasing additional sleeves your valuables can be secured in multiple locations. AT THE BEACH OR AT THE LAKE: Lock up your wallet, jewelry or watch in your “SafeBOX” mounted in the trunk, under a seat or behind a panel in your car instead of hiding it in a beach bag. SPORTSMAN: Secure your handgun while transporting to and from the range. Even when out of the sleeve “SafeBOX” is a secure and locked steel box. Visit their website at www.RTIsafeBOX.com, e-mail to sales@responsetech.com or call 800-450-5445 to place your order. Quantity discounts are available and dealers are welcome.

maneuverability, and speed. The NuCanoe is stable enough to stand in and incredibly difficult to tip, making it great for fishing in all types of water. For more, see www.nucanoe.com.

Safebox Keeps Your Stuff Secure Response Technologies is proud to announce our new “SafeBOX” portable security unit. “SafeBOX” is small enough to mount almost anywhere and large enough

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Texans Out-Fish, OutHunt, Out-Spend Nation RANKING OF STATES IN CATEGORIES including total number of hunters and anglers, spending by sportsmen, jobs supported, taxes generated, number of days spent hunting and fishing, and the most traveled-to states by hunters and anglers has been released for the first time. Nationally, Texas is at the top of the pack. It is No. 1 in total hunters and anglers (2.6 million), money spent ($6.6 billion), jobs supported (106,000), and tax revenue generated ($1.3 billion). Florida lands the trophy for the No. 2 spot. The new state-by-state rankings were compiled to complement a national report, Hunting and Fishing: Bright Stars of the American Economy ~ A force as big as all outdoors, which spotlights the immense impact hunters and anglers have on the economy at the national and state level, as well as a constituency. Further data from the report includes: Most hunters and anglers: Texas is No. 1 (2.6 million), Florida No. 2 (2 million), California No. 3 (1.7 million), Ohio No. 4 (1.48 million), and Pennsylvania No. 5 (1.41 million). Highest expenditures: Texas is No. 1 ($6.6 billion), Florida No. 2 ($4.8 billion), California No. 3 ($3.6 billion), Pennsylvania No. 4 ($3.5 billion), and Minnesota No. 5 ($3.4 billion). Jobs supported: Texas is No. 1 (106,000 jobs), Florida No. 2 (85,000), Wisconsin No. 3 (57,000), Minnesota No. 4 (55,000), and California No. 5 (53,000). When it comes to who spends the most time in the field and woods, Pennsylvanians beat out Texans, spending 16 million days hunting compared to the 13.4 million that

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Texans spend. Leaving a wide wake, Florida is out in front for the number of days spent on the water (41.5 million), compared to the No. 2 state, Texas, with 38.9 million days. Not surprisingly, Florida is also the No. 1 destination state for fishing, with North Carolina showing up at No. 2. When it comes to the most traveled to state for hunting, Georgia is No. 1, followed by Colorado in the No. 2 spot. It is a simple fact: hunting and fishing have a major impact on every state in the country. When you analyze the amount of money spent on these activities, as well as the jobs and taxes created, the impact becomes much more tangible. Every single state contributes through revenue, taxes, and jobs. “The economic impact that sportsmen have on state economies should be a wake-up call to state governments to welcome and encourage hunting and fishing in their state,” commented Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “The evidence is clear: states that encourage hunting and fishing by providing access and maintaining healthy habitats and fisheries benefit many times over through jobs and taxes, as well as enjoying a boost to travel and tourism.” When you compare spending by hunters and anglers to other sectors, their impact on the state’s economy becomes more tangible. Here are a few highlights: - Sportsmen support more than twice the jobs in Texas as Dell Computer Corp., Lockheed Martin, Electronic Data Systems, and Dow Chemical Co. (106,000 jobs vs. 49,000). - Sportsmen support more jobs in Florida than Disney World (85,000 jobs vs. 61,000). F i s h

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- Pennsylvania sportsmen outnumber the combined populations of Allentown, Erie, Pittsburgh, Reading, and Scranton two to one (1.4 million vs. 680,297). - Michigan sportsmen annually spend more than the combined cash receipts for dairy, greenhouse/nursery, corn, soybeans, and cattle—the state’s top five agricultural commodities ($3.4 billion vs. $2.9 billion). - Annual spending by Florida anglers is three times greater than the cash receipts from the state’s orange crop ($4.4 billion vs. 1.2 billion). - Annual spending by Wisconsin sportsmen is equal to the revenues of the state’s dairy industry ($3.1 billion). - Annual spending by California sportsmen is greater than the cash receipts of the state’s grape crop ($3.6 billion vs. $3 billion). “Spending by sportsmen benefits not only the manufacturers of hunting and fishing related products, but everything from local mom and pop businesses to wildlife conservation,” noted Doug Painter, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. “And because most hunting and fishing takes place in rural areas, much of the spending benefits less affluent parts of the state.” On the national level, 34 million sportsmen age 16 and older spent more than $76 billion in 2006, supporting 1.6 million jobs. If a single corporation grossed as much as hunters and anglers spend, it would be among America’s 20 largest, ahead of Target, Costco, and AT&T. These statistics are impressive and, if anything, underestimate the impact of sportsmen since they do not take into account the millions of hunters and anglers under 16 years of age or people who were not able to get out and hunt or fish in 2006. When sportsmen’s spending is thought of in business terms and compared to other sectors of the economy, it is quite remarkable. From small rural towns scattered across our country’s landscape to the bottom-line of Fortune 500 companies located in major cities, if you take away hunting and fishing, you take away the equivalent of a

multi-billion dollar corporation. The national report was produced by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) with support from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, National Marine Manufacturers Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, and SCI-First for Hunters. The report and state rankings uses the results from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation and statistics provided by the American Sportfishing Association and Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. CSF is the most respected and trusted hunting and fishing organization in the political arena. With support from every major hunting and fishing organization, CSF is the leader in promoting sportsmen’s issues with elected officials. CSF works directly with the bi-partisan, bi-cameral Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus in the U.S. Congress, as well as affiliated state sportsmen’s caucuses in state legislatures around the country. The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the shooting, hunting, and firearms industry whose purpose is to provide trusted leadership in addressing industry challenges. NSSF concentrates efforts on measurably advancing participation in and understanding of hunting and the shooting sports; reaffirming and strengthening their members’ commitment to the safe and responsible use of their products; and promoting a political climate supportive of America’s traditional firearms rights.

ner, Massachusetts-based manufacturer of single-shot rifles, and L.C. Smith shotguns to the Remington line. The single shots, marketed as Harrington & Richardson and New England Firearms, make H&R 1871 the largest manufacturer of single-shot rifles and shotguns in the world. That company was acquired by Marlin in November 2000. Tommy Millner, Remington’s CEO, told The Outdoor Wire: “I am pleased to announce that Marlin’s well known brands with a long heritage of providing quality rifles

and shotguns to hunters and shooters around the world will join the Remington family. The opportunity to combine two historic U.S. based companies with such storied and proud histories is both challenging and exhilarating. “We look forward to working with Bob Behn, a well-respected member of our industry. He will remain as president of Marlin, charting a course of further growth and operational improvement.” —The Outdoor Wire

Remington Acquires Marlin Information acquired in January revealed that Remington Arms of Madison, North Carolina, has acquired another of America’s longest-operating firearms companies, Marlin Firearms of North Haven, Connecticut. With that acquisition, Remington acquires the manufacturer of two of the longest-manufactured firearms in the world. Marlin first produced their models 1891 and 1893, as quality firearms for the period. They had no reason to imagine they would become the oldest shoulder arm designs in the world. Today, they live as the Models 39 and 336 in the Marlin line. This acquisition also adds H&R 1871, Inc. (Harrington & Richardson), the GardA L M A N A C / T E X A S

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Trijicon’s New Rifle Scope

each change. The adjustment knobs also have a way to make them free moving, so they don’t click. I see no real purpose for

RIJICON IS KNOWN MOSTLY AS A manufacturer of night sights for handguns and the various optical aiming systems for the M16 and other combat arms. Until now, they had not seriously entered into the hunting scope arena, but that has changed in a big way. Recently introduced, the Trijicon AccuPoint is a revolutionary approach to riflescopes. It has avoided the ordinary and does not use standard crosshairs. Instead, it uses a post with an illuminated chevron or triangle at the tip of the post. There is no horizontal crosshair and the field of the scope is open and uncluttered. My first impression upon looking through the scope was that it had a much larger field of view than normal, but that is just an optical illusion caused by the open field of the scope. Without an upper or a horizontal crosshair, the field of view is seemingly immense. Also, the clarity of the glass is as good as I have ever seen. Light transmission is on a par with the most expensive scopes on the market. I mounted the AccuPoint 3-9x40 on my pet .270 and sighted it in. The chevron at the aiming point is highly visible. It is made of tritium, a radioactive material that glows in the dark, and is supplemented for daylight viewing with a fiber optics system that transmits daylight to the reticle. The chevron is sufficiently small and precise for most hunting applications, but a bit too coarse for true long-range precision on small targets. The adjustments seemed solid and moved exactly the prescribed distance with

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this feature, but maybe it is useful for something I am unaware of. At any rate, adjustment was easy and precise.

Accuracy at 100 yards with the AccuPoint was quite good. My rifle is a Hill Country Rifle Company job that will shoot groups of less than an inch all day long. With the Trijicon AccuPoint, accuracy ran about an inch. While not as good as I have done in the past with conventional scopes, it could certainly have been my fault and not the scope. I do have bad days occasionally. I set the point of impact 2 inches above the tip of the post, which placed actual zero at about 200 yards. I used the Trijicon on a South Texas deer hunt on the Duval County Ranch near Freer and was quite happy with it. I took my buck at about 185 yards and the bullet went exactly where I wanted, killing the buck in its tracks. The shot was taken very late in the day, and the glowing tritium aiming point was a great help in placing the bullet precisely. After taking my buck, I concentrated on predator calling. The first day with the calls was great. My guide, Adam, and I managed to call in six coyotes, but bagged only one. They were skittish and only one presented a good shot. I took it at about 125 yards as it stood facing me. The first shot was a bit high and left, so a second was needed. I missed another chance at about 200 yards on a broadside coyote. The second day of calling was a total bust. We called all day, with a break for lunch and some rest. The only coyote that answered the calls came late in the afternoon. I missed it at about 225 yards. I had a solid rest and the shot felt good, so I don’t know what happened. My impression of the scope is that, overall, it is a great product. With its tritium chevron aiming point, it should be especially good for nighttime predator calling, where shots are usually less than a hundred yards. The only mark on the debit side was that the scope seems less precise than a standard crosshair for long shots. This might or might not account to my unfamiliarity with the Trijicon post and chevron reticle. I do know that I missed two shots that I would normally have made. The first shot might have drifted high just as the rifle fired, but the second felt perfect. However, I still have unbridled faith in the product. PHOTO COURTESY OF TRIJICON

I intend to put this Trijicon on my pet varmint rifle for some nighttime fox and bobcat hunting this winter, and I expect it will serve admirably for that purpose. It would also be a perfect choice for the deep woods hunter, where a quick shot in heavy brush is the norm. I will let you know how it works. A person who is experienced in using the

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military-style reticles of the ACOG on M16s and AR15s will find this scope as comfortable as old shoes. It doesn’t seem to take any time at all for old crosshair users like me to become accustomed to it. I believe that some type of horizontal crosshair to go with the chevron would improve the precision of the scope on longer shots, but it is sufficiently precise for most uses as-is. In my opinion, Trijicon has a real winner with the AccuPoint. —Steve LaMascus

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First Buck— a Trophy x 2 N SATURDA, NOVEMBER 24, 2007, WE GOT to the stand around 6:15 a.m. on a ranch in Montague County that I have hunted for seven seasons now. By 7:30 a.m., Ross had spotted a cow with calf and two does crossing our field of view to the left of our stand on the west side. Just before 8:00 a.m., we heard noises that would stand the hairs on our necks. Buck growls, snorts, and leaves rustling from

deer pushing each other echoed in the woods about 150 yards from our stand. Our stand is surrounded by a creek with woods behind us to the south, and otherwise circled by fencerows of trees that are perfect for funneling deer to our open spot. After

by Adrian O’Hanlon, Jr. TF&G Reader hearing the tussle in the woods, we spotted two does on the east side running to beat Speed Racer. They were followed by a small four-point chasing them, and his partner—that looked to be about 14 inches across and a six-point. They were trying to keep up with the NASCAR does.

We never had a chance at a shot since their path included two pecan trees at the farthest point between us and them. They were really hauling it, and Ross said that was cool. I told him they might circle back, so get ready. Ross moved to my chair and I knelt down to his left. He readied the rifle and I kept watch with binoculars. After about 10 minutes, we spotted some different deer entering the pasture. A really big doe was casually walking across from behind the pecan trees. I told Ross there was a buck following her. He said, “I see him! Can I shoot him?” I said yes, but to let the buck follow the doe clear of the trees, and when it stopped at the spot she was, then he could shoot. I reminded him to “breath and squeeze” when he

Trophy Fever

Special Hunting Section

PHOTO COURTESY OF ADRIAN O’HANLON, JR.

Ross O’Hanlon’s buck was bigger than the one his dad took the previous season.

took the shot. The buck was not going to stop where we needed for a good shot. I told Ross to wait

until I stopped the buck. I leaned forward and made a deer “bleat” calling sound. The buck kept walking, following the doe. Again

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I “mawed” even louder. The buck stopped. Ross took off the safety, then, to my amazement, “breathed and squeezed.” Boom!

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Special Hunting Section The buck was headed north to our right. It whirled to face us and took about four steps, whirled again to its left, and dropped with legs kicked up and expired right there. Ross’ first words were, “I can’t believe it! The rifle hardly kicked at all! I got a buck!” The time was 8:15 a.m. We were both very excited to say the least. After giving congratulatory hugs and knuckle bumps, Ross asked, “Can we go get him?” I told him we needed to wait and for us to calm down. When we looked out again, the lovely sight of a white belly and antlers sticking up out of the brush looked like heaven. The big doe had come back, too! Ross said, “Dad! There’s another buck!” Looking through the branches of the pecan tree with binoculars, I saw a nice eight-pointer at the treeline. I racked the Remington 710 with another .243 cartridge to take the shot. I looked through the binoculars again to see the buck calmly turn and re-enter the woods. No shot for Dad today. I just enjoyed the moment of being with my youngest son to take his first buck deer at age 11.

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Trophy Fever The vital statistics of Ross’ buck are: six points, 16-inch inside spread, 175 pound live weight, shot at 115 yards with a firstshot from a Remington model 710 chambered in .243, 100-grain Winchester ammunition. We looked out and wondered if the deer was still there. We had lost its figure in the pasture grass and brush. After glassing with binoculars, we found it still laying as we last saw it. After another 10 minutes, we left the elevated box blind to get our hands on it. This deer did not suffer from ground shrinkage, but looked bigger as we approached. We gave each other another knuckle bump and began to take field photos. During the photo shoot, Ross asked, “Is my buck bigger than yours was last year?” It was, but I did not respond. The disposable camera worked okay, except that Dad kept cutting Ross’ head off in the frame. I could have sworn it looked good when I snapped the shutter. I also took some with my phone camera. Field dressing brought an unexpected biology lesson. Since Ross asked about the internal parts, I felt obliged as an agriculture

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teacher to share some education. The weather had been good to us this morning. Now that the buck was loaded in the truck, it began to drizzle and drop some sleet. We went back to camp with our trophy to change clothes for the trip home to the processor and taxidermist. The time traveling from Montague back to Grayson County was spent calling everyone in the family to tell the story. The person Ross was most anxious to call after his mom was Uncle Steve. He must have asked me a half-dozen times, “When can we call Uncle Steve?” Uncle Steve answered the phone with, “How big is he?” I handed the phone to Ross to tell his story. Now we talked more about our experience together and how Ross would have the deer processed. Our next stop would be to the taxidermist for Ross to decide the style of his mount. I hope others can share these kinds of moments in the outdoors with their children, and enjoy the freedom that God-fearing Americans have in this great country.

Turkey Hunting the Hard Way T’S ALMOST APRIL, AND THAT MEANS IT IS almost turkey time.

Next to deer season, this has to be my most favorite time to hunt. It is unlike any other season in that you are not just hunting your game, but your game is actually hunting you. Sit as still as you can and call like a lonely hen while that big bird searches you out. Shooting a gobbler with a gun is challenging, but put a string and a stick in your hands and you just upped the challenge tenfold. I can guarantee that once you are successful getting a bird with a bow, you will choose archery tackle and take up this challenge every time. I am sure there are hunters that will tell you that they have shot turkey from a tree stand or an open ground blind and were happy with the results. However, more often than not, turkey bust archers drawing back their bows, as these birds have superb eye-

Signs such as shed feathers are good guides to where to set up on turkey.

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sight. I have found that the easiest way to take a gobbler with a bow is with the aid of a Double Bull blind or similar shoot-through style ground blind. We know that these birds are very wary, but for some reason, they pay no attention to these stand-up portable blinds. I do not have an answer as to why they show no interest, but even when they come in as a group (fall hunting), they will walk so close to your blind that you can almost reach your hand out one of the windows and strangle them. The state should make a special “strangling” season just for April. Think of all the arrows you would save. The biggest advantage of a tent blind is the fact that you can move around without the birds seeing you. I swear that if these birds had a sense of smell, we would never get them. For those who ever thought about filming a hunt, this is your perfect opportunity. If the blind is big enough, you can bring a friend to do the filming, or if you are alone, you can film out of one of the windows using a video camera on a tripod. Shooting an arrow from a blind requires some practice. It can be difficult for some to shoot from a chair or while on your knees. I try to be as comfortable as I can. Bring a small folding chair with you, but remember you might need to pack everything up for a quick move to get closer to the bird. The use of decoys is almost a must— “almost” because sometimes turkey get decoy shy. It might be better to try to coax them into bow range while they are searching for their spring fling. You will need to make a judgment call. Normally, decoys work great and take all the attention of the bird away from you. Decoys come in a variety of styles, from hen to jake and all in between. There are mounting pairs of decoys, half strut, full strut, and even a decoy that moves from side to side on a slide. Pretty cool, huh? The decoys of today are so realistic that sometimes it is hard to distinguish the real F i s h

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A portable ground blind is a great advantage when bowhunting for turkey.

from the fake. One company even sells a full body mount decoy. Prices vary for decoys, and you can spend anywhere from $20 to $500. It is a matter of how deep your pockets are. I once had a friend who belly-crawled to within shooting distance of a bird and was very proud of this feat. It was only after he shot that he realized he had just killed a decoy, and he had to cough up some considerable change—not to mention his embarrassment. Accidents do happen. I will never understand how people can mistake other people for game, but it seems that every year there are accidents. Fortunately for bow hunters, it is still the safest way to hunt. According to the Houston Chronicle, shotguns account for 55 percent of all accidents. The rifle is next with 38 percent, followed by handgun accidents with 5 percent. Accidents and incidents with a bow amounted to only 2 percent in this particular survey. It is similar all over the country. April is turkey time, so why not leave the pavement for a while and get out there in the turkey woods: It is a great time of year and a wonderful way to lose that cabin fever you had since last deer season. Remember to be safe. Be sure of your target—and don’t forget to take your bow. E-mail Lou Marullo at lmarullo@fishgame.com.

PHOTOS BY LOU MARULLO

BUCK—LAKE JACKSON, TEXAS

BOAR—YOUNG COUNTY, TEXAS

Erin Gonzalez, age 9, from Lake Jackson, Texas, shot her first deer, a 7point buck, while hunting with her dad.

Nate Jackson, age 11, of Arlington, Texas, killed this 248-pound boar, along with an 11-point buck, while hunting with his grandpa, Tony Befort, in Young County. Nate shot both with a 25-06 and dropped them on the spot.

BUCK—LA SALLE COUNTY, TEXAS

BUCK—PARKER COUNTY, TEXAS

BUCK—YOUNG COUNTY, TEXAS

Madisyn Stancik, age 9, of Eagle Lake, Texas, killed her first buck while hunting in La Salle County with her dad. She shot this 8-pointer with a .234 caliber.

Julie Strickland, age 13, of Bellaire, Texas, took her first deer while hunting on her PaPa’s farm in Parker County. Julie dropped the 9-boint buck with a single shot from a .223 Remington.

Matt Befort of Arlington, Texas, killed this 150class double droptine buck while hunting in Young County. He had passed on several 10-pointers prior to dropping this one with his 270 Win.

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

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The Good Boatkeeping Seal of Approval O YOU WANT TO BE A SAFER BOATER, without changing a single thing you do? Simple: Make sure the next boat you buy is National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) certified. According to U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) data documenting 4936 accidents involving 409 fatalities, NMMA certified boats are five times less likely to be in an accident than un-certified boats, and NMMA certified boats are seven times less likely to be recalled. During the past year, NMMA made it a goal to ensure that all of their member boat builders became inspected and certified using American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) standards. A simple measure? Not quite—it requires an entire inspection team of five in the U.S., one in Canada, and one in Europe. These are not NMMA employees but impartial third-party independent contractors. They work with two checklists, one for boats up to 26 feet and one for boats over 26 feet, the latter classified as yachts. If they find a problem (a “variance” in inspector parlance), they give the manufacturer a 30-day window to fix it, as well as suggestions on how it could be done.

Under the Microscope Great, so NMMA sends out inspectors. The government has lots of inspectors for lots of things, and they are usually about as reliable as plastic cotter pins. That’s why I tagged along with one of their guys when he inspected the facility of a major manufacturer of sportfishing boats. Does this NMMA certification really mean anything? I wanted to see for myself. C44

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I met up with Tim Pitts right as the plant opened one Monday morning, and noted right off the bat that the guy was armed for the job: He packs a 280-point inspection list that details ABYC standards, a flashlight, a tape measure, and a magnifying glass. After a 25-year stint in the USCG that included

inspecting naval vessels in Guantanamo Bay, Tim is one detail-oriented guy. Slowly but surely, as I watch him start inspecting the boat, he looks at that list and then checks off each box. Still, I reserve judgment until I see Tim in action for real. I don’t have to wait long. Almost as soon as he climbs aboard a half-built fishing boat, he crams his body into a partially-finished stowage locker that has wires running along the back. On comes the flashlight and Tim checks the wires, making sure they are properly loomed. Only partially satisfied, he reaches up and gives them a firm yank. No movement. He put another check mark on his master list. Next, he turns his attention to the grab rails. Tim grabs them one by one, and slides his hand back and forth. “If the manufacturer mounts one on an angle sharper than 45degrees, it’ll trap your knuckle. Ouch. That’s a problem we see on a lot of uninspected boats,” he says. With this cool new tidbit of info filed away in my brain, I watch Tim check out every rail on the boat. Then he moves on to F i s h

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the running lights. He is checking them to be sure these accessory parts are on the NMMA’s “Type Accepted” list. Since builders use many pieces and parts from different suppliers, the NMMA maintains a list of component manufacturers whose equipment is tested and meets the applicable standards. Of course, he can’t inspect every boat that comes off the line, and the NMMA can’t inspect even a portion of those built by their member manufacturers. Instead, Tim and the other inspectors walk down the assembly line and check different boats of the same model, in different stages of construction. That way, the hull structures, wiring, power systems, hydraulic systems, water systems, and so on can all be viewed. Each separate model gets a separate inspection before the NMMA gives it their thumbs-up—or -down.

Inspect Yourself What do you look for to be sure the entire boat is NMMA certified when you are in the market for a new ride? There is a good chance the manufacturer will be promoting the fact that it is certified. Many dealerships make hay of the fact, and display the certification sticker on every transom. You can also find the NMMA Certified logo on the boat’s capacity plate. If you’d like to do a little pre-shopping research, or find out if the boat you already own is certified, go to the website www.discoverboating.com/certification. There, you can find a complete list of all NMMA-inspected boats. Still not good enough? You say you want to do some inspecting yourself? Fine. Here are some common problems the inspectors—and boat testers like me—spot on a regular basis, which you can easily check for yourself. Before you start poking around, however, be sure to grab a few important tools. Start with a rigid, fold-out ruler. Sure, most of us use tapes these days, but a rigid ruler will allow you to measure things without a helper. Next, get yourself a mirror on a telescopic arm. These are invaluable for

looking into cracks, crevices, and boat parts between the gunwale and the deck liner that are too small to wedge your head into. Of course, you also need a mini-flashlight to illuminate those cramped compartments. When you are examining a boat that you might consider buying at a dealership or a boat show, add a mini digital camera to the list. That way, you will be able to check and re-check your own observations, from the comfort of your own home. Now, let’s hope you don’t see anything that’s on this list! 1. Fuel Hose Connections - Clamps depending solely upon the spring tension of metal are not acceptable-they fail often, and easily. Look instead for clamps that either have a set screw or latch down with metal on metal. Not sure that clamp is stainless steel? Run a magnet over the clamp and find out; real stainless steel isn’t magnetic. Check the set screw, too, because some manufacturers save a penny by using stainless clamps with cheap screws in them. 2. Anchoring Systems - Boats over 20 feet LOA should have “strong points” (read “cleats”) of sufficient size and

strength to deploy two anchor lines over the bow at the same time. Ever seen a 20-footplus boat with a single bow cleat that’s not large enough to handle two lines at once? Yup, I have, too. 3. Batteries - Batteries must not be installed directly below battery chargers or inverters. Manufacturers usually know better, but, oops! Lots of dealerships and aftermarket installation services are not familiar with this rule, and it is often violated. Bass boats and electric trolling motor-equipped bay boats are the most common offenders, since they don’t have many large, open below decks compartments. Usually, the few they do have are crammed full of things. Things like batteries. You see the conflict. 4. Re-boarding ladders - The top surface of the lowest step of a re-boarding ladder is supposed to be at least 12 inches below the waterline when a boat is floating in the static position. Look to discover this problem on boats with removable ladders that fit into receiver mounts. The problem isn’t with the ladder itself; it’s a question of where the manufacturer placed the mount. If it is elevated too far up the transom, this could be a

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problem. 5. HIN numbers - Here’s a nifty factoid: Duplicate HIN numbers are required to be located in an unexposed area on the interior of the boat, such as beneath a fitting or installed on an item of hardware. Assuming your manufacturer makes the grade, it is important you know where this HIN is. If case your boat ever gets stolen you will be able to positively ID it, even if the thieves changed the original HIN. Of course, there are a few things that boat-heads like me want to see, even if they are not on the official inspection list. You want a better boat? Make sure it has these, too: 1. Double clamps on all fittings and hoses located below the waterline. 2. Rubber-lined cushion clamps supporting all wiring looms, at least every six inches. 3. Metal or phenolic backing plates behind all deck hardware—washers don’t

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Snells Good to Me HIS KNOT IS AN UNDER UTILIZED hook-to-line or -leader knot that has been around for many years. The snell knot was first used in England, back when most fishhooks didn’t have eyes. Its grip around the hook shank was a secure connection that’s still widely used today, primarily in billfishing. My uses have been mostly on mono leaders for snapper, grouper, ling, dolphin, and such. I’ve also applied it to 49-strand or braided cable leaders for kingfish, wahoo, etc. More later on using the braided cableto-hook snell knot. I believe the main downside of this 100 percent knot strength connector, besides its obscurity, is the notion that it’s complicated and hard to form up and tighten. While it might look that way, that’s far from the truth; with practice the snell is as easy to tie as many other knots. To tie a snell, my preference is to start with the mono passing through the hook eye from the bend side, as shown in the top panel of the illustration. The purpose is that when your target species strikes, the mono will push down on the eye, giving a rotational motion to the hook bend and hook point, which will greatly aid in both its penetration and in a solid hookset. Pass about a foot of mono through the hook eye and make a loop, as in the top panel. Next, pinch the mono against the

hook shank and eye at the crossed mono, shown at (1). Note that the tag end is behind the standing end. The center illustration panel has the left side of the mono wound around the hook shank and the tag end in tight coils, using a circular and twisting motion. Work these wraps down the shank toward the hook bend while firmly grasping the coils in place, as at (2). When 8 to 10 wraps are completed, hold at (3) with your left thumb and forefinger to prevent the coils from coming unwrapped. Now, pull on the standing end of the mono slowly, pulling the entire loop under the coils, then snug tight. If your snell now looks like a mini work of art with no crossed wraps, etc., tighten carefully by holding the hook tightly and pulling tighter on the standing end. Now give the tag end a final tightening pull, getting rid of any slack near the hook eye. The penultimate step is a final pull on the standing end. The snell is now complete except for cutting the tag end about 1/4-inch from the wraps. Some important basic points to consider in mono knot tying include lubricating the mono with saliva between the knot forming and tightening. If the knot doesn’t look good, cut it off and start again. Use gloves

when heavy mono or cable is involved, and be extremely careful of where the hook point is—and where it can be in a heartbeat. Using 49 strand or braided cable to form a snell knot at the hook is a practice I’m sure most haven’t seen or heard of. This is a secure connection that j u s t requires a bit more attention to keeping the coils where they should be during the forming and tightening process, as opposed to when using mono. The cable snell knot was originated by one of my fisherman friends, Bob Riggs, in 1987. He showed it to me about 1997, and it’s been part of my offshore fishing gear ever since. The snell knot is another of those pieces of the puzzle that gives you confidence to fish it without the worry of it being the weakest link in your connection to the fish. I’ve used it for many years without a failure on both “J” and circle hooks, with high drag settings, plus aggressive rod pressure being used during the fight. That’s about all you can ask from any knot. E-mail Patrick Lemire at saltrigs@fishgame.com

TEXAS BOATING Continued from Page C45 count! 4. Mechanical fasteners along the hull to deck joint. Modern super-adhesives are C46

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great, but we want some good, old-fashioned through-bolts backing the stuff up. 5. Anchor locker drains located in the bottom of the anchor locker. Many are located several inches above the bottom, F i s h

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and water pools inside. Your anchor rode will be perpetually wet, and will rot in no time. E-mail Lenny Rudow at boating@fishgame.com ILLUSTRATION BY PATRICK LEMIRE

Bassing with Fizz OU ARE ABOUT TO LOOK AT ME FUNNY AND you won’t be able to stop yourself. It will be like when you talk to your dog and it cocks its head to the side. You will probably even mutter something under your breath about me being a complete idiot, which realistically, won’t be the first or last time. Ready? Here goes: You can catch bass on Alka-Seltzer Heartburn Relief Tablets. You did it, didn’t you. This little tip was passed along by Morris Alder of Outlaw Adventures (469-3960558), who spends his days putting customers on just about any type of fish swimming in Ray Hubbard, Lavon, Fork, and other lakes local to the D/FW Metroplex. These lakes take a daily pounding from thousands of anglers living within 20 minutes of their banks, especially during the spring. So, to consistently put fish in the boat sometimes requires taking a slightly different approach. According to Morris, the “Outlaw Rig,” as he calls it, will fool more spawning bass than anything else out there, especially when they are being particularly stubborn. To make this perfectly clear, this is not a blind-casting technique so don’t go pitching boathouses and standing timber with this rig. It is specifically for sight-casting to shallow bass. If you can’t see the bass then you might as well stick with your standard Texas rig around structure. During spring, as bass start moving shallow and bedding, Morris locates spawning beds at night with a spotlight and marks their locations. The next morning, he fishes them with his Outlaw Rig, rarely making more than one cast to a bed before the bass

ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL BRADSHAW

still cast accurately. Accuracy is a key element to Outlaw Rigging since the Alka-Seltzer does not last long once it hits the water. The light weight helps because you want to lightly place the bait into the bass’ nest, not drop it like a cannonball. Rig a small lizard or craw-worm on the hook. Smaller plastics work best because bass are notorious for picking up a worm by the tail and not getting the hook in their mouth. Once you cast the bait into the nest, the Alka-Seltzer will start fizzing, which apparently drives bass crazy, making them grab it to remove it from the nest. Use the small pieces first to determine the attitude of the bass. Most fish will hit these, but there are cases where finicky fish might require a longer look, so you will need to use the larger pieces, which will take a little longer to dissolve. You might get some strange looks from your fishing partners the first few times you pull a little pill bottle full of broken pieces of Alka-Seltzer out of your pocket, but all the laughing will stop when you start pulling in huge bass.

hits. Morris said this rig is so successful that he has seen other anglers pitch a bait to a bedding bass for hours without success, then he follows them with the Outlaw, makes one cast, and gets the bass to hit. The key to a successful Outlaw Rig doesn’t come from the local sporting goods store, but from the medicine cabinet. Open a package of Alka-Seltzer (I don’t think the bass care if it is regular or lemon flavored) and break the tablets into small pieces of various sizes, some small, some large. In order to rig the Alka-Seltzer you must drill a small hole through the center of each piece. Use the smallest drill bit you own. If the pieces keep breaking, you can turn the drill bit by hand. It takes longer but still works. Store all of the pieces in a small, watertight non-crushable container. There is nothing worse than getting to the lake and discovering all your hard work has either fizzed away or turned into a pile of powder. Rigging is fairly simple. Just use a basic Texas Rig, but after sliding your bullet weight onto the line, slide a piece of AlkaSeltzer on behind it before tying on your worm hook. When choosing a weight, go with the smallest size possible that you can

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E-mail Paul Bradshaw at freshrigs@fishgame.com

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Tandem Kayaks HE BRIGHT YELLOW HULL PARTED THE spartina-grass fence separating the two shallow marsh lakes. In reality, it was one big body of water with a vegetation boundary marker. Once we were through the saltwater hedgerow, we sat scarecrow-still and drifted across the shallow flat, looking for telltale signs of rummaging redfish. The marsh lake appeared barren, with the exception of two male crab preparing for a turf battle; their vivid blue claws extended arrow-straight as they tried to intimidate one another, each trying to show who had the broadest reach. The shadow of our hull fell on the combatants as we drifted over them, giving them

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momentary pause. “I don’t see any bait working,” my wife whispered as she eyeballed the skinny water from the bow seat of our tandem kayak. “Let’s give it a minute,” I suggested. “There might be something against that far shoreline. I will paddle us a bit closer and you cast in next to the grass.” As we slid closer, a school of baitfish began dimpling the surface, betraying their presence. The tiny plug made a long arch and splashed down in a protected pocket amidst the milling baitfish. On the way back to the kayak, the plug disappeared in a satisfying swirl. I maintained our position in the middle of the lake, allowing my wife to concentrate on the redfish rocketing underneath the thin sheet of water. My wife loves catching redfish more than any other fish, and she beamed when it slid to hand. I seriously doubt she would have caught that fish had it not been for the tandem kayak we were fishing from. It

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was her second fishing trip in a kayak, and this time she didn’t have to worry about the technical stuff, like paddling without spooking the fish, retrieving rods from holders while afloat, etc. To the casual observer, tandem kayaks are novelties, like bicycles built for two, but they are great fishing platforms and ideal for introducing anglers to kayaking—especially if they are at a different skill level, such as a child or seasoned citizen. Tandems are also great tools for reaching out to reluctant paddlers. All they have to do is ride along and fish, hopefully learning while they go. My wife discovered on that trip that she really likes the beauty and solitude of marsh lakes. The scenery was as majestic as the fishing. Great blue herons played peek-a-boo from the tops of the black mangroves, squawking loud protests to anyone within earshot that we had invaded their personal space. Roseate spoonbills waded through the shallows, vivid scarlet plumage erupting in the sunlight. All afternoon, foot-long horse mullet practiced the high hurdles; a few began their dash a paddle length away. Grass beds covered the bottom and gave the illusion of firm footing, but a muddy floor lay hidden beneath the carpet. Deep mud, treacherous mud—the type that swallows the legs of wade-fishermen, holding them captive with intense suction. There is no way we could have negotiated 100 yards of the goo-pie bottom on foot, but our tandem kayak allowed us to ignore the mud and prospect a mile or more of pristine water. The trip unlocked a whole new universe for my wife. Tandem kayaks require a bit of knowledge to navigate. Adding fishing rods and lures with dangling treble hooks to the equation adds a degree of difficulty. Never pair two inexperienced paddlers in a tandem kayak. Unless Divine Providence intervenes, the hull will ping-pong in one direction and then another, or it

will go around and around, going nowhere while shouts erupt from the both ends of the hull: “Paddle!” “I am paddling!” “No, the other way!” “Don’t tell me what to do!” It is simply prudent to outfit every tandem boat with one experienced paddler. The neophyte sits up front and the greybeard sits in the back. Regardless of whether one or both paddle, the stern paddler is the driver, responsible for steering and correcting the vessel’s course.

If you plan to fish from your boat instead of wading, it is much easier to have the person in the bow concentrate on fishing while the person in the stern paddles, much like a guide poling a flats skiff. I paddled my wife all afternoon, allowing her to concentrate on fishing. When we called it a day, she broke out her paddle on the way home and provided some extra propulsion so we could make a quick dash across a channel busy with powerboats. It is the rare child or senior that wouldn’t enjoy a kayak ride, especially if they

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get to do a little fishing. Tandem kayaks are great family fishing platforms. Consider adding one to your personal armada.

Email Greg Berlocher at kayak@fishgame.com

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How You Fixed for Rigs? You Better Look! ANY YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS A LITTLE feller, I had my cane pole, some nylon line, pinch-on weight, a big gold hook, and a bobber that had “No Wake Zone” stamped on the side. A metal minnow bucket and metal fish basket with a chain stringer hooked to it so you could attach it to a root on the creek bank. The two most important pieces of equipment was a spoon right out of the kitchen for scaling fish, and a butcher knife to cut off the heads. The best part of crappie when I was a kid was the tails, fried real crisp, and you didn’t have to worry about the bones getting stuck in your throat. Crappie fishing gear today is a lot more species-specific. In the old days, we had to use whatever was available. Today, we have so many rods, reels, and lures to choose from, it sometimes gets confusing. Let’s see if we can make some sense of it all. Let’s start out with the boat I fish out of. The Tracker TV18 Aluminum with a 150 Mercury Opti-Max makes for a great fishing rig for all types of water conditions. It

has a deep V that allows you to cross rough water to get to your favorite crappie holes. The Tracker TV18 is a wide and sturdy boat, especially if you like to spider-rig or troll for crappie. The boat has a great livewell system to keep bait and fish alive. The trolling motor is a MotorGuide Digital 82-pound foot control that has more than enough power to control the boat in a stiff breeze. For electronics, I use the Lowrance X-26 with GPS on the console, and a 332 with GPS on the bow. The bow unit helps you stay right on the structure at all times. A good set of rod holders for trolling is a must. Two years ago I designed the Mr. Crappie Pro Series Rod Holder System that holds four crappie rods per set, and I have four sets mounted on my boat at all times because you never know when you might need to troll. These systems are very easy to mount and you need no tools to remove them or adjust your rods. When I’m slow trolling, I use the front rod holders. When I’m trolling cranks, I use the back rod holders.

Now for the good stuff—rods, reels, lures, and more stuff. You can never own to many crappie rods and reels. I fish with the Wally Marshall Signature Series Crappie Rods for all types of crappie fishing. I have crappie rods that range from 4.5 to 18 feet. A lot of lakes that I fish are crystal clear, or the crappie spook real easy. With the longer poles, you have the advantage of getting the baits to the crappie before your trolling motor or boat spooks them. Also, when you are fishing standing timber or brush piles, or even shallow water structure, a 10-foot rod is deadly. When tight-line trolling, I like to use baitcast reels on my long poles loaded up with 10-pound Mr. Crappie Hi-Vis line. It makes it so easy to adjust your depths and hold your baits in the strike zone. When long-line trolling or pulling crankbaits, I like to use the Wally Marshall Pro Series spinning reels loaded with 6- and 8-pound line. These reels have five ball bearings, a nice drag system, and lots of line capacity for trolling. Lures selection is not a hard one to figure out. I have been fishing with Blakemore Road Runners since I was very young, and still today the Road Runner is the No. 1 lure for crappie. In my tackle box, I have marabou Road Runners for fishing open water like around bridge pilings, submerged brush piles, and for trolling. My go-to Road Runner in my box is the lure I designed three years ago, the Road Runner Crappie Thunder. My favorite color of all times for crappie fishing is a Road Runner with a chartreuse head with a gold blade with a blue and white Crappie Thunder body. You can fish anywhere in the world and catch fish constantly on blue and white Road Runners Be sure to have good maps of your favorite lakes and plenty of buoy markers on hand in case you find a lot of brush piles. E-mail Wally Marshall at mrcrappie@fishgame.com. Visit his website at www.mrcrappie.com

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The Parks Passion N EARLY DECEMBER, AMBER AND I WERE excited about making a trip to the newly built Blue Wave Boat facility in Seminole, Oklahoma. We flew to Oklahoma City, rented a car, and drove about 60 miles south to Seminole. We met the Parks family, owners of Blue Wave Boats, at the local lunch spot and chatted about the new factory and the new 24 Pure Bay model we came to see. After lunch, Steven Parks gave us a detailed station-by-station tour of the facility, which Amber and I found fascinating. The entire process for building boats is state-of-the-art and clean as a whistle. One can only imagine the feeling of seeing all those boats at various stages of progress popping out of the molds, and the smell of fresh fiberglass. For me, it was truly like being a kid in a candy factory. Blue Wave Boats is owned and operated by the Parks family, founded by Pam and Roger Parks. Now their sons, Richard and Steven, are at the helm with Mom and Dad working alongside them. I am proud to have Blue Wave, a truly family-owned and operated company, as my tournament boat sponsor. They have supported me since I started fishing tournaments professionally. Their support has been paramount to our success, not just for the supply of great boats, but for the passion they put into their product. Steven took us to see the newly developed 24-foot model that was still in the mold; there were three different molds. Amber tapped me on the shoulder and told me to wipe the drool from my mouth. In my mind, I was thinking about the extra 3 feet of length, the additional storage, the many custom features… and I knew this boat

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Tommy and Amber (center) surrounded by the Parks family: Roger, Steven, Richard and Pam, at the Houston Boat Show. would work great for a day on the bay, and the many trials of tournament fishing. Looking at the molds and various stages of assembly: there is a hull, a stringer system, and a cap, it is all assembled—glued, and screwed, and packed with foam… you have to use your imagination to get a feel for how it all goes together. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. This was the birth of a new Blue Wave baby. Richard and Steven put great effort into getting this baby ready for its debut at the Houston Boat Show. I could not wait for the show to start. Five o’clock on Friday, January 4, 2008, Amber and I locked the office up and headed downtown to the Reliant Center for the annual Boat Show. Upon entering the door, as all of you know who have ever been to the boat show, the first thing you experience is the aroma of those candy-roasted nuts. Resisting the urge to stop along the way, we quickly found our way to the Texas Marine F i s h

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booth where we went to see for the first time, the new 24-foot Pure Bay—complete. This is what Captain Jim West and I will be sporting in this year’s Redfish Cup tournament series. The Pure Bay is 24 feet of sleek fiberglass with tons of storage, and fit and finish of championship caliber. It was truly emotional to see the finished product after being in Oklahoma and seeing all the parts separate, and loving boats the way I do. What an accomplishment! I have been accused of being a little obsessive about fishing. I choose to call it passion. I think this is one of the reasons I have such a great relationship with the Parks family. I believe we share a passion and love of boats, and for things that we do.

E-mail Tommy Lomonte at tlomonte@fishgame.com. Visit his website, www.DrRedfish.com. PHOTO BY DR. TOMMY LOMONTE

BASS Opens Women’s Classic Slot BASS recently took another step toward nurturing its Women’s Bassmaster Trail into something special. In mid-October, the Florida-based tournament giant announced a new format that will reserve one of 51 slots at the 2009 Bassmaster Classic for the 2008 WBT Angler of the Year. The AOY race will be determined by a points system that weighs heavily on consistency. The lady angler who finishes highest in the points after five WBT qualifying events in 2008 will earn an automatic berth at the Classic the following year.

The first of the qualifying events is slated for April 10-12 on Lake Lewisville near Dallas. The winner earns a $50,000 boat and $1000 cash. More importantly, the lady angler who catches the heaviest total over three days will take the lead in an all-impor-

by Matt Williams tant points race that eventually will send a woman to bass fishing’s Super Bowl for the first time in history. Never before has a woman competed in the ‘Classic. Nor has a woman ever had the opportunity to fish for a $500,000 cash prize in such a high-profile event. Not surprisingly, the ladies are excited about the opportunity. Debra Hengst is a San Antonio pro who has been competing in tournaments since 1995. She has been following the WBT since its inception in 2006. Hengst said she applauds BASS’ efforts to promote women’s fishing and appreciates the door that has been opened for lady

anglers by making a slot available at the Classic. “The first woman to qualify for the Classic is definitely going to have a lot of pressure on her from the media,” Hengst said. “Personally, I hope it’s me. This is going to be a great step up for our sport.” The Women’s Bassmaster Tournament trail is open only to female competitors. To learn more, check the website www.bassmaster.com.

Honeycutt Takes Stren Co-Angler Title Temple, Texas co-angler Keith Honeycutt parlayed 12 bass into a $62,500 payday at the 2007 Stren Series Championship held last November on the Mobile-Delta in Mobile, Alabama Honeycutt, who qualified for the yearend championship in the No. 16 spot in the Texas Division, advanced to the final round in sixth place after accumulating 10 pounds, 3 ounces on days one and two. He won it with five bass weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces. David Curtis of Trinity placed third in the pro division, netting $35,355 in cash. Other Texans who collected checks in the pro division: Stephen Johnston, Hemphill, 25th; Jim Tutt, Longview, 43rd; Harold

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS - Elite Series “Lone Star Shootout”: Lake Falcon, April 3-6 - Elite Series “Battle on the Border”: Lake Amistad, April 10-13 - Bass Champs South: Choke Canyon, March 15 - Bass Champs North: Lake Tawakoni, March 8 - Bass Champs Central: Lake Belton, March 1 - Bass-N-Bucks East: Sam Rayburn, March 2 - Bass-N-Bucks Conroe Series: March 15 C54

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Keith HOneycutt of Temple won the 2007 Stren Series Championship with 12 bass. Allen, Shelbyville, 44th; and Toby Hartsell, Livingston, 45th. Co anglers: Ray Peace, Arlington, 10th; Gilbert Herald, 23rd; and Brad Stewart, Hutto, 42nd.

FLW Outdoors Cancels TTT Circuit Citing better opportunities for anglers to advance to higher levels of competition through the company’s Stren Series and Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, FLW Outdoors has opted to do away with its highly popular Texas Tournament Trail. The announcement came late last October, following the 2007 TTT Championship held on Sam Rayburn. “The TTT was a very popular tournament trail, but it did not offer anglers the

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PHOTO COURTESY OF KEITH HONEYCUTT

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Persistence = Success NE THING WE ALL LEARN AS WE GO through season after season pursuing upland game birds, deer, turkey, hogs, and all the other renewable natural resources available to us, is that good equipment is important. We also learn good equipment is not the No. 1 key to success. Nor is knowledge of game animals. True, you must strive to acquire all the knowledge you can about animal behavior, seasonal patterns, food preferences, and breeding periods as well as which firearms and other equipment are best suited for you. Those all are important and should be never-ending thoughts toward improving your hunting expertise. If there is any one thing that leads to success whether hunting quail, turkey, deer, or other animals, however, it is persistence— the desire and ability to set a goal for one day, one week, or the entire season and never deter from it.

Bud Dearing of Gordon with the results of a 34-day quest for a buck of a lifetime: a 14-pointer with 29-inch spread and 188 gross Boone and Crockett Club points that he shot on his northern Erath County low-fenced ranch. That might seem like a hard chore for some hunters to tackle, but being persistent will lead to success more than just about any other hunting tactic whether hunting for squirrels or big game. I have known a lot of persistent hunters over the years, but few, if any, that are more persistent than a good friend, Bud Dearing of Gordon. At age 77, Dearing displayed

one of the most incredible persistent and patient pursuits of one whitetail buck during the 2007-2008 season that I ever have seen or heard of. Dearing and his friend, Steve Whisenant, had seen a huge buck only twice on Dearing’s 1400-acre low-fenced ranch, but had learned it had been seen four times on neighboring ranches. They calculated the

TOURNAMENT INSIDER Continued from Page C55 opportunity to advance to higher levels of competition,” said FLW Outdoors President and CEO, Charlie Evans of Benton, Kentucky. “It filled a gap in our tournament circuits that no longer exists, and hasn’t since 2006 when we dedicated an entire Stren Series division to the state.” The Stren Series Texas Division recently completed its second of four qualifying events for 2008. The circuit opened its season on Lake Falcon in January, followed by a stop at Sam Rayburn in February. The next event is scheduled for C56

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May 7-10 on Lake Texoma. The season ends on the Red River in September. The top 40 points qualifier in the pro and coangler divisions will advance to the 2008 Stren Series Championship on Table Rock Lake in Missouri, November 5-8.

Texans Reel in All-American Angler Berths

Jr., both of Texarkana, recently qualified to compete in the 2008 Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League All-American on the Connecticut River in Hartford, Connecticut, May 29-31. Campbell advanced by winning the BFL Regional Championship on Wright Patman Reservoir. Brower finished second at the regional championship and Jones finished sixth. Top prize in All-American pro division is $140,000; $70,000 in the co-angler division.

Texas anglers Ricky Campbell of Waxahachie, Keith Jones and Mike Brower, F i s h

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PHOTO BY BOB HOOD

buck’s known movements and decided that if Dearing were to be able to shoot it, the shot would be made from one of three box blinds on Dearing’s ranch. Dearing’s ranch is under the state’s Managed Lands Deer Permit program, which means the season runs from September 29 through February 29. Dearing began his quest for the buck in October, alternating his hunting sites mornings and evenings between the three box blinds, including one that was housing five baby barn owls with a stink that would drive most hunters away. Finally, on the 34th straight day of hunting, the buck appeared near the blind Dearing was in. The shot Dearing made not only dropped the buck in its tracks, but also helped put the rancher into the record book. Dearing’s persistence had earned him a 14-point buck with an incredible 29-inch spread of antlers that grossed 188 Boone and Crockett points. Dearing was completely humbled by the accomplishment and has expressed it in many ways since. And it is his 34-day pursuit of that one whitetail buck that prompted me to relive some of my own memories of being persistent and patient as well as recall the persistent tactics of other hunters I have known. About 10 years ago, I shot a mountain lion while hunting with Dearing and Whisenant on a ranch near Van Horn. The mountain lion had entered a draw 65 yards below us, but it was only a blurred flash when it leaped from the bottom of the draw to some rocks above. I saw the flash and took a position at the end of the rock outcropping. I started three times to ease down toward where I had last seen the cat, but decided persistence was the best ticket. After many minutes, I finally spotted something peculiar on the rocks, something white yet brown. It was much like trying to determine whether a yucca plant was a mule deer’s rump, or if I were looking at a mountain lion. Suddenly, I realized I was staring right into the face of the big cat as it sat motionless and upright on a ledge. It had been watching me for at least 15 minutes. The .243 did the job, but it was persistence and patience that really accomplished the feat. I feel certain that many other hunters can remember experiences where not giving up resulted in a memory of a lifetime—one that could have been snuffed out by less patience.

A squirrel hunter who sits in one place waiting for the calm to return to the woods and the squirrels to starting moving again certainly knows what persistence and patience are all about. So do quail hunters, after a long day of not finding many birds who decide to head in the opposite direction of their trucks one more time to check out a fencerow that has held birds in the past. So do turkey hunters, who know to stay put rather than trying to move closer to a tom after it has ceased answering their calls.

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The scenarios go on and on, from duck hunters remaining in their blinds waiting for the fog to finally lift, to just about any hunting situation you have found yourself in. I respect good hunting equipment and have learned a lot about animal behavior, but I’ll put persistence and patience above all the rest when it comes to making hunting memories. E-mail Bob Hood at hunting@fishgame.com.

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The 7mm Mauser— Still the Best LEANOR O’CONNOR, JACK’S WIFE, WAS A very experienced hunter in her own right. She hunted all over the world and killed a lot of game, from zebras to Dall sheep. She was not, however, a gun person. She did not care one micron for the fancy newest and best cartridge on the market. All she wanted was a cartridge that could be built into a rifle that was easy to carry, accurate, mild recoiling, and powerful

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enough to take most of the game animals of the world. She found her perfect cartridge in the 7x57mm Mauser. With it, she shot game in India, Africa, and Alaska. She used almost exclusively one load that her husband handloaded for her, a 160-grain Speer bullet at about 2650 feet per second. Eleanor was a very discerning hunter and she was perfectly satisfied with the performance of the 7mm for almost all her hunting

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needs. I incline to agree. I had been looking for a good rifle in 7x57mm Mauser caliber for several years. A few years ago, I found a Ruger Model 77, but it did not shoot well, so I traded it off. Just recently, I found a Model 98 Mauser (actually, it is one of the Dominican Republic Armeria Mausers that I understand were made with Brazilian actions and pre-WWII German barrels) that looked worth the money, so I bought it. I called the guys at Federal and begged a few boxes of ammo from them for testing. Unfortunately, due to the war in the Middle East, all they had available at the time was the 175-grain round-nose loads; a great choice for moose, but not the best choice for accuracy or performance on Texas game animals. Still, they would give me an idea of the gun’s potential, and Federal brass is very good for reloading. The cartridges would also work well on feral hogs. When the rifle arrived, it looked just as good in my hands as it had in the photos. The stock was a very nice piece of fiddleback maple carved in the Sako style of the 1970s. I mounted a 4X Leupold M8 scope on the rifle and took it to the benchrest to see if I had bought a cherry or a lemon. I carefully bore-sighted the rifle and then fired the first round. The gun fired, there were no surprising fireworks, and the bullet hit just off the top left edge of the 8-inch Birchwood Casey Shoot ‘n See target. I inspected the brass and it looked normal in every way, the primer nice and round with no flattening or cratering. The rifle appeared to have perfect headspace. I made the necessary sight corrections, fired a second shot, corrected one more time, and fired for group. The first group measured about 1-1/2 inches. Not bad for a restocked battle rifle. I reloaded and fired a second group that went into just over an inch. Even better! I did not have a set of reloading dies, apparently having loaned mine to someone. I ordered a set of Redding dies from Midway U.S.A., but until they arrived, I would

have to make do. I did have a set of 7mm08 dies and some new, unprimed 7x57 Winchester brass. I prepped 10 rounds of the brass, primed it, charged it with 47.5 grains of Reloader 19, and carefully seated some 139-grain Hornady Spire Point bullets using the 7mm-08 seating die backed way out. Again at the bench, the first round of the handloads hit about 2 inches higher than the Federal 175-grain loads. The next two rounds followed the first into a nice, tight, triangular 1-inch group. To say I was happy would be a world-class understatement. All this, remember, was done with a 4X scope. This, again, helps prove a theory I have had for a long time, that the major advance in firearms technology in the last 50 years is not in the accuracy potential of the rifles, but in the quality of the bullets we now have available. I am very happy with my new old gun, and it consistently groups about 1-1/2 inches or slightly less. But, why, you ask, did I want such an antiquated firearm and cartridge? I’m glad you asked. The 7mm Mauser cartridge was intro-

duced in 1892 and adopted by Spain as its military cartridge in 1893. Since that time, is has been the official military cartridge of a number of countries around the world, especially in Central and South America. Believe it or not, today it is still one of the very best mild cartridges in the world. With handloads, the 7x57 will push a 139-grain bullet to over 2800 feet per second. It will fire a 175-grain bullet at above 2500 feet per second and a 160-grain at about 2650. Recoil is very mild, accuracy is excellent, trajectory is plenty flat for 90 percent of hunting situations, and it is powerful enough for any of the non-dangerous game of North America, and probably the world. In short, this ancient cartridge will pretty well do it all, and with less noise and recoil than any of the modern magnums. In addition, it is a wonderful cartridge for ladies and beginners who need power, but don’t want to get kicked out from under their hats. As mentioned, this was Eleanor O’Connor’s favorite cartridge, and she did some wonderful things with it in game fields of several continents, including Africa, where she once took 17 big game animals

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with 19 shots. It was also the cartridge that Karamojo Bell used (with 175-grain solid bullets) to kill the majority of his 1000-plus elephants. He called it a .275 Rigby, but it was none other than the 7x57 Mauser dressed in British tweeds. The 7mm Mauser cartridge taught me hunting and shooting. My father had a Model 98 Spanish Mauser that he “sporterized” with a nice Bishop stock. It also sported a cheap 4X scope. With it, I shot my first deer and innumerable coyotes and bobcats before I bought my first new commercial rifle. I never found the 7mm wanting in any way. The longest shot I ever made on a coyote was about 400 yards, and I was shooting that Mauser with, I think, Federal 139grain factory loads. My brother now has the rifle and it still shoots great. He used it to take a whitetail doe a couple of seasons ago, just for the fun of hunting with the old warhorse. It did just as well as the ultramodern .25 Winchester Super Short Magnum I used on the same hunt, which proved nothing more than that a 140-grain .284-

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Bass in Numbers ARCH IS THE BEGINNING OF THE SPAWN on many lakes, and like April and early May, offers some great fishing. This is a good opportunity for catching numbers of bass. Once they come off the beds, the bigger bass seem to just disappear, but the numbers are still there. Topwaters and plastics seem to be the key to this month, but don’t be scared to throw medium running crankbaits like a Bagley KBII in a deep foil shad. The middle of coves with ditches in them can be deadly after the bass move off beds, as this is usually the first place they go. This pattern can last up to two weeks and can put a lot of bass in the boat for you. This is when I am going to want to be near spawning flats or spawning areas. The bass are usually aggressive and I will fish a Zoom trick worm floating style more this month than any other time. I like to use the 6-foot, 8-inch Woo’s Extreme spinning rod, a Pro Qualifier spinning reel with 10pound-test Bass Pro Shops Excel line, and a Mustad J-bend wide gap 2/0 hook. I will

fish a pink, yellow, or white Zoom worm. If I want slow action, I will go to a 1/0 Mustad hook. If the bass want fast action, I will go to a 4/0 Mustad hook. A lot of times, you can just crank up the MotorGuide and cover a lot of water with a floating worm, and you will be surprised at what you catch. The main key to the Zoom floating worm is to find the depth and the speed of the retrieve the bass want. Be sure to spray all your plastics with Jack’s Juice in crawfish or garlic scent. Another good pattern is to fish docks with baits like the floating worm or the ZNail bait by Zoom. Bass not only like to spawn around docks but they will move their fry to docks for protection after the spawn. This is also the start of topwater fishing. You better have a Bagley’s Bango lure, or Bass Pro Shops SlimDog or Z-Pop tied on because one of them is going to catch fish. I love the Bango lure around the spawn and will go to the Z-Pop next and later in the month the Slim Dog. These three lures have been deadly for me for the last four years. I also like to use the 6-inch MLT Extreme Woo Daves’ bait-caster with an Extreme 7:1 ratio reel, and 12-pound-test line for best results. On cloudy days, you need to use a Bass Pro Shops Buzz Master buzzbait. If all else fails or you just want to catch a lot of fish, this is the time to fish flat points with a Carolina rig. It’s hard to beat a

Zoom trick worm, lizard, or Centipede fished on a 2/0 Mustad hook with a 1/2ounce Lindy No-Snagg Rattlin’ weight and a 3- to 4-foot leader. Longer leaders work a lot better for me this time of year. You can cover a lot of points in a day with this rig, and usually come in with a good sack of potatoes. If you haven’t used a Carolina Keeper, you need to get one, as it will save you a lot of time rigging, plus give you a direct feel to the worm while eliminating two knots and the swivel. This is about as foolproof a rig as you can get. Look for flats that offer good spawning waters first, then look for coves with sandy bottoms, as this is where fish like to spawn, and usually these coves will be found on the lower end of lakes. Don’t ask me why, that’s just the way it is. Always wear your Fisherman Eyewear polarized Woo sunglasses for eye protection. Look for beds or white spots to throw your lure to. If it is cool in the morning and you see some white spots but there are no fish around them, be sure to check them again later in the day as it warms up. Many times, the bass will leave and come back according to the weather, so remember those places you spot so you can check later.

TEXAS GUNS & GEAR Continued from Page C59 caliber bullet fired at 2800 feet per second will kill a white-tailed deer. The 7mm Mauser, ancient as it is, is ballistically slightly superior to the much more modern 7mm-08. It has a bit more case capacity and will produce slightly higher velocity, especially with the heavier bullets, and will run head-to-head with the hotrod .270 Winchester with 130-grain bullets. The old Mauser cartridge has C60

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almost the perfect ratio of case capacity to bore diameter to produce high velocities with maximum efficiency when using midweight bullets of 130 to 150 grains. It works so well that a myth has grown up around it, stating that it has some mystical quality that allows it to kill better than other similar cartridges. Of course, that is just so much fertilizer. It does not have any special powers and kills no better than any other cartridge firing a similar bullet at similar velocities. What is true is that in F i s h

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more than 100 years, it has not been improved on to any great degree, and barring some fantastic discovery in the field of ballistics, it never will be. If you want a cartridge that is powerful, easy to shoot, accurate, and versatile, you can’t go wrong with the 7x57 Mauser.

E-mail Steve LaMascus at guns@fishgame.com

Mandatory Hunter Ed VERY HUNTING SEASON, THE TEXAS PARKS & Wildlife Department is inundated with questions about mandatory hunter education. Here is the skinny as provided by TPWD. Every hunter (including out-of-state hunters) born on or after September 2, 1971, must successfully complete a Hunter Education Training Course. Minimum age of certification is 12 years and cost is $15. If you were born on or after September 2, 1971 and you are: - under 12 years of age, you must be accompanied while hunting. - age 12 through 16, you must successfully complete a hunter education course, or must be accompanied while hunting. - age 17 and over, you must successfully complete a hunter education course, or purchase a “Hunter Education Deferral,” and you must be accompanied while hunting.

“Accompanied” means by a person who is at least age 17, is licensed to hunt in Texas, has passed hunter education or is exempt (born before September 2, 1971), and be within normal voice control of the person accompanying you. You must carry proof of certification or deferral on your person while hunting. Certification is not required to purchase a hunting license, but you must possess a license and certification when hunting. Any person 17 years of age or older who has not completed a hunter education program may defer completion for up to one year. A deferral may be obtained only once, and is only valid until the end of the current license year. You must be accompanied while hunting if you have a deferral. A person who has been convicted or has received deferred adjudication for violation of the mandatory hunter education requirement is prohibited from applying for a deferral. Take the course by August 31 of the current license year for a $5 discount. If you lose your certification card, duplicate may be obtained. Failure to carry proof of certification or deferral while hunting is a Class C, Parks and Wildlife Code Misdemeanor punishable by a fine no less than $25 or more than $500. “Mandatory” hunter education became

law in 1988. Since 1972, TPWD has certified more than 650,000 Texans. The traditional Hunter Education course is a minimum of 10 hours spread over at least two days. If you choose the Home Study or online study option, the one-day Field Course/Skills Trail is a minimum of 4 hours, but may extend longer. TPWD certified instructors teach: - Hunting Rules and Regulations - Ethics and Responsibilities - Wildlife Conservation - Modern and Primitive Sporting Arms and Ammunition - Safe Firearm Handling and Storage - Outdoor Survival and First Aid - Field and Live-Firing Exercises are often included in traditional courses - Field and Live-Firing Exercises are mandatory in Home Study testing. The traditional Hunter Education Course, materials, and certification by the state costs $15. The one-day Home Study/Skills Trail Testing costs $15. The Home Study Video package varies according to vendor, however, the manufacturers recommended price is $14.95. The Online Course is free. Certification is not a “gimme” for a fee; you must earn it. You can fail the course

because of unsatisfactory knowledge, skill, or attitude as evaluated by your instructor. The minimum score on the final exam is 70 percent for the traditional course and 80 percent for Home Study. However, if you achieve a higher score, but are determined to lack safe skills in live-fire or field exercises, or because of classroom disruptions or incomplete attendance, you can fail the course. Additional bowhunter education courses are available, but this is not mandatory to hunt in Texas and does not replace hunter education. Texas hunters who fall in the required age classes must complete Hunter Education regardless of the type of sporting arm used or species hunted. The two-day Bowhunter Education is mandatory in some states. Concealed handgun permit holders are required to take the Hunter Education course. Hunter Education includes many topics that are not part of handgun education. Persons who have taken a course and been certified in another state are not required to retake the course to hunt in Texas. The state recognizes Hunter Education certificates from all other states. You still need to carry a proof of that certification on your person while hunting

the message does not confirm your place in the class. If you can locate a class held during nonpeak time (sometime other than autumn or late summer), take advantage of it to avoid the inevitable last-minute rush of procrastinators. To learn about classes in your area, visit the TPWD website at www.tpwd.state.tx.us, or call 800-792-1112, ext. 63.

in Texas. All states and provinces requiring hunter education recognize Texas certification. You must carry your certification card with you. Note that Hunter Education instructors are volunteers that might work at regular jobs and might not be available when you try to contact them. Most list their home numbers as the contact. Try calling early in the evening after work or leave a message for them to call you back. Leave your name and a contact phone number. Leaving your name only on

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E-mail Wayne Watson at outlaw@fishgame.com.

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On the Road Again HE DIGITAL CLOCK SHINED COLD ELECTRONIC numbers at my eyes. The alarm wasn’t set. Maybe it was habit or maybe there was a subconscious idea that being late didn’t matter. Or, maybe there was the thought hiding in the folds of my thinker that I didn’t really want to go; nevertheless, the alarm wasn’t set. The pillow felt good and the warm bed almost lulled me back to sleep. The numbers turned warm and began burning into my brain. They said 5:35 a.m. and the wheels in my head clinked into a churn. “Let’s see, that thing is about 25 minutes fast,” an inner voice said. “Either lay here for awhile, or...” With a deft kick the covers flipped back and the day was in motion. My hunting clothes were folded at the foot end of the bed. The knife bag, flashlight, boots, sack of spare batteries, and other miscellaneous essentials lay on the floor beside a chair. My hat hung on the back of another chair while the stuff for my pockets lay in an organized pile on my nightstand.

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Daylight wouldn’t show up for more than an hour and the housecat yawned and looked at me like I was stupid. It re-curled itself on the other side of the bed and buried its nose beneath a paw. Everything was in a prearranged spot. The gathering process was systematic. My camera was in a briefcase with the radio gear, books to give away were in a box, and extra snuff set on the counter where it could be grabbed on the way out the door. The old wooden farmhouse’s floorboards creaked under my feet as I limped into the living room. Sam, my daughter, was asleep on the couch. It was a sad realization that she was more comfortable here, next to the propane stove, rather than the stark coldness of her tiny bedroom. For a moment, I felt inadequate. The troubling questions about my life’s choices were in evidence at every turn. Maybe paranoia had set in, or maybe it was the regrets of a midlife crisis. But, everything I looked at was a reminder that somehow I’d missed some early-perceived potentials. Then she peeked at me, smiled, and stretched. “Hey Daddy, are you about to leave?” “Yeah, Pudi, I’m about to head out,” and something inside me sank and then felt better all at once. Her pleasant demeanor soothed my irritated nerves. The chore at hand would provide immediate needed income. She lifted herself from her nest and gave me a hug. “You be careful Daddy, and have fun in Mexico.” “Yeah, sure, Pudi. You be careful and watch out for the idiots. I know what to do where I’m going.” With that statement, my swaggering attitude sparked and the new day didn’t seem as dark. Then I gave her a big hug, kissed her on the forehead and left to load the truck. In 30 minutes, I was on the road, roaring west. The dial lights on the dashboard and the stripes on the interstate perpetuated a hypnotizing atmosphere inside the vehicle’s F i s h

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cockpit. Too often, the drive to work is a mind-numbing opportunity to seek more sleep. But today was the first day of a new hunting year in Mexico. A multitude of thoughts clogged my noggin. Countless controversies seethed and the inner voice jabbered overtime. “This isn’t a real way to make a living,” it said. “You’re a dimwit! Why didn’t you learn to sell insurance or work at the bank? Between riding broncs and guiding hunters, you’ve lost every wife and girlfriend that ever took interest in you. Now, you’re own daughter is growing up and seeing how foolish you are.” Then I spent a long minute contemplating my standards in women. “Okay, maybe that wasn’t much loss but you know durn well that you’re lonesome and need someone to bounce dumb ideas off before you say them out loud.” Then I chuckled and my mind clicked to another topic. “Why in the hell do people argue about the simplest things? The outdoors was meant to be enjoyed, not to fight over. We manage the deer herds on these Mexico ranches so that we’ll have trophy bucks every year. But in Texas, folks want to bicker and split hairs over shooting spikes. Who cares? It’s such a low percentage of the herd that it makes little difference. It’s not like everybody in the county is hunting the pitiful skinny critters. Every now and then one gets blasted, but nobody can claim that they’ve seen a deer herd decimated because spikes were shot. “Instead of reading scientific reports and understanding the value of reliable sources, people read and listen to the junk blathered by the self-anointed or editor-anointed experts. For crying out loud, two outdoor writers in Pennsylvania admitted to me that they keep the controversy going because it’s their way of having job security. But the bottom line is that the argument isn’t worth the breath, more or less losing friends over, or starting fights between neighbors.” Then my mind changed channels again.

“What’s this crud about using tax dollars to convince the public about TX Dot projects? Apparently, it’s illegal unless they’re touting a toll road campaign. So now they’re putting up billboards and buying radio ads, and, this is the same project that cost this governor his Republican base.” I shook my head. “The saying is that perception is reality. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking politics, whether the price of eggs is worth the wear and tear on a chicken’s butt, or whether blondes have more fun - people believe what they want to believe. Before bull riding and hunting shows were on television, neither was a mainstream acceptable profession. Who would have ever thunk that you could be a professional bass fisherman? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Fishing was associated with a degree of laziness when I was growing up. Now, it’s a profession. At least this swerve in social standards has allowed me some breathing room. But shoot, this hunting we do in Mexico isn’t guiding. All we do is judge age and grade deer horns. It may be free ranging wildlife, but my main job is to know how old an animal is on the hoof, and guessing his B&C score. And there’s another fly in the ointment. B&C scores do more damage than good when a fella just wants to have a good time. Suddenly, there’s a numerical value attached to what should be a pure experience.” By the time I’d hashed out the world’s problems, as well as admitted my weakness for silicone bimbos and my general dislike for puffy bureaucrats, I was pulling up to Don Marcelino’s restaurant in Del Rio. Four guides and four hunters were already seated at a table. They were laughing and seemed somewhat out of place decked out in full camouflage in a Mexican Restaurant, but it didn’t matter. It was easy to sense the camaraderie in the room. There is no doubt this level of joviality is never attained in a boardroom. These people were obviously letting their hair down. For five days, they will trust their guides and relinquish many personal defenses. They will allow a relative stranger to hear their innermost thoughts and know that he will do everything possible to enhance their Mexico hunt. I grinned and for the first time that morning remembered that there’s more than one reason that I’m a guide. There’s more to be enjoyed than the desert on a cool frosty

morning. More than seeing a black-antlered buck following a doe through the brush. And there’s more than a campfire on a starry night at day’s end. There’s the people and the genuine smiles that they share. There’s the feeling of honesty and the satisfaction of watching a happy hunter when he gets his picture taken with a trophy. There’s the hunter that watches over your shoulder while you cape his deer, and the hunter that steps off the distance of his shot to the exact yardage that you guessed without a

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rangefinder. But the crux of the job is that a guide is also a psychiatrist and friend. He’s the one person a hunter can call upon anytime during the year and know that he’s going to hear a happy voice. Yeah, I’m glad I never learned to sell insurance or worked in a bank. I’m a hunting guide. E-mail Herman W. Brune at wilderness@fishgame.com

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The Man Dance OM, REALLY IT’S OKAY, I CAN MISS A day of school on Friday.”

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“Really? Well, what about your classes?” “Oh, I am way ahead. I won’t miss a thing. Trust me, it won’t be a problem.” Right! That kid will say anything to go hunting or fishing. “Mom, we don’t do anything on Friday, anyways. It is mostly study hall.” “But Max, you took off last week to go hunting. I am not sure it is such a good idea to keep missing Fridays.” “But, Mom! You can’t go without me! That wouldn’t be fair. Plus, I have never been hog hunting.” Great! Now that we have injected this disease into his veins, we are going to have to feed the disease at all costs. “Look, we can leave late Thursday night and get up early for a Friday morning hunt. Hunt Saturday and Sunday morning, and drive back right after hunting. I will have plenty of time to do my homework in the car or on Sunday afternoon.” “Okay, but you have to promise me that you will not fall behind in your studies.” “Sure, sure, no problem. I promise.” As we all pile into the truck at 6:30 p.m., David and I look forward to a five-hour drive after working all day. No sooner have we pulled out of the driveway and onto the highway, Max is sound asleep in the back seat with his headphones on. “Look, David, he is studying!” Are we doing the right thing in promoting this hunting and fishing at the expense of school? C66

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“Can’t get an education like this in the classroom. Don’t worry, he will be all right.” Five a.m., off we go tooling down the road in a very conspicuous diesel fourwheeler. “What is that? Brent, look, that hog is running toward us! Look out! He must be mad! He is going to ram us! Is he foaming at the mouth? Why are you slowing down?!” “No, no, that’s Leroy. He is looking for corn or beer. He is one of the protected ones on the ranch.” “Yeah, there, Leroy. No beer today,” said Brent. “Uh, excuse me, Brent, what is he doing?” With both front feet on the floorboard of the truck, Leroy’s snout was rooting around —on my side of the truck! Yikes, that snout is sniffing my shorts. Reminds me of some of the lulus I dated who needed a smack upside the head. Listen hear, Buster! Okay, now, don’t scream. Remember that would not be a cool Mom move. But, man! He’s got the uglies, bad! I have never seen a hog up close and personal—dead, yes, but not snorting and snotty and all over my person. Okay, well, there was that one guy, Vern… Boy, did he get a good smack. “Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you. Okay, let’s get going. See ya, Leroy. We are looking for deer and some of your cousins.” “Yeah, Mom, you really know how to reel them in.” “Hold up! Brent, look over there!” A beautiful buck stopped for a brief second to give us a glance before disappearing into the brush. David squealed: “Holy mackerel! That is what I’m talking about!” “Brent, how are we supposed to sneak up on these guys with the sound of this diesel? They can hear us fifty miles away.” “Let’s park here and walk a bit over to this feeder,” Brent said. “The hogs usually F i s h

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hang out about this time of the morning for some breakfast.” “Shhh. Look, M a x , there ya go. One big hog for dinner.” The hog had its head down, not too concerned about anything else but that corn. “Quick, Max, come over here behind this bush. See him? Can you get a shot?” David whispered. Max rested his rifle on a tree limb. Uh, Max, I don’t think that is such a good idea! Oh, boy, he is going for the ear protection with his other hand. Oh jeez, your cap is kitty whompas. Okay, that is a good idea, throw the hat down. Watch out! Your gun barrel is taking a plunge! Grab it! Oh, no, your ear protection is now laying over your eyes. Here, I can help! Nope, better not, he is a big boy. Hmmm, now, that is an interesting move. Rest the barrel on your knee with one hand while maneuvering the ear protection on both ears. Well, what do you know, it worked. Don’t laugh. They get mad at this age when you laugh. Besides, that could be you. Most likely would be you, has been you, you dumb mom-gurl. “Can you hold it steady?” David whispered. Max whispered something back to David, but I could not make out what he said. What? What did he say? I just hate it when I can’t hear what they are saying. Should I see if there is something that I can do to help? After all, that is what moms are supposed to do, right? I picked him up when ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL WATSON

he fell down, held his head when he was sick, assured him when a kid was mean to him, held his hand when he crossed the street, and cried the first time he got his vaccinations. But at age 15, taller and bigger than me, face it—he does not want my help. Stay back and let him figure it out. You are the mom from afar now—grow up! What? They are crawling commando style through the grass to get down behind a bush. Wait a minute, boys. I don’t think that is such a good idea. Jeez, he is going to get all cut up and bug bites all over him. Please! I really do not think that is such a good idea. He will be scratching all night. And infection, he is going to get an infection, for gosh darn sake. That is going to leave a mark! Stop that! I looked over at that hambone and it was eating like a pig out of work. You would think it had never seen a feeder before in its life. Two hundred and twenty yards away, it is clueless. Max rests the barrel on David’s outstretched boots. The world is silent. A decade of time goes by before the boom! The whole outdoors explodes into motion— except one hog that just had its last corn soufflé. Hog down, hog dead, dead hog. This little piggy is going to market. “Oh, man! Yes, yes! Great shot, Max!” David shouted. Brent jumped up and down. The World of Man began a dance ritual of high fives and pats on the back. I looked over at Max, wondering what his reaction would be. He was staid, unruffled, resolute, and downright humble as we all began the trek over to the feeder to review Porky. Holy cow, I mean, holy hog! What do I do? My role has been to encourage, comfort, console, reassure, but none of that is needed. I am in un-chartered territory. He is a young man in charge and has just made the perfect shot. As a mom, we are not supposed to exhibit public displays of affection, and under no circumstances will there be any crying! As we stand over the hog, it was in fact the perfect shot. David was cackling with delight as more high fives and adulation doled out. And, of course, after the male dance, now comes the dead animal inspection. “Yep. See? You nailed it perfectly right in the heart.”

Now comes the second phase of the ceremonial male dance—you must stand around and gaze at the animal as you shuffle dirt back and forth and view the animal from every side and angle. Once you have hunted and killed the animal, now comes the replay and reverence. The old how-you-didit, what-you-did, and most importantly, how-amazingly-you-did-it ceremony with every other word, “man.” “Man, did you see how far away he was?”

“Man, you were so right on!” “Man, that is one heck of a hog!” Yeah! That’s my baby! I am a proud Mama! Yes-siree! I mean… “Well done, Max! Man-oh-man, that is one big hog! You the man!”

E-mail Mari Henry at gurlz@fishgame.com.

River Folks, Yellow Worms, & Weenie Dogs IVER FISHING FOLKS ARE A DIFFERENT SORT. From my experience, they are an informal group of individuals with one thing in common: they prefer angling in moving water. Rivers are to lakes as trees are to rocks. One is dynamic and living, the other static and unmoving. Fishing rivers requires a certain amount of community interface—interaction with local wildlife and anglers who prowl the shores. Rivers are inti-

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mate. They are narrow eco-systems, some mere yards wide. One of the benefits of interacting with this finite community is the opportunity to meet the eclectic human characters that comprise it. I was sitting on a blow-down log after fruitlessly fishing for white bass in a cut-bank pool on a small East Texas river. Early spring is when the whites undertake their annual migration from reservoirs into tributaries to

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reproduce. They will move upstream as far as favorable water conditions allow, and stage in holes or pools to rest and feed. The annual white bass migration is an eagerly anticipated angling event for Texas fishermen. It signals the end of winter and the beginning of fishing season to many. Thousands of fish crowd into tributaries large and small. Usually they are ravenous from all the effort it takes to swim upriver. Find the right spot, and easy catches are the rule. The fish were spawning in the river below me as evidenced by the occasional splashing of males and females in the riffle at the head of the pool, but they were refusing to feed. At least, that was the conclusion I had drawn after 20 minutes of casting a small jig into every likely spot without a strike.

While I was contemplating the meaning of life on that log and enjoying a cold burrito for breakfast, another angler in a small, flat-bottomed aluminum boat motored into the pool. He tied off to a snag across the river about 50 feet below my log outpost. His grizzled appearance and battered boat marked him as a local. Quickly, he grabbed a rigged fishing rod and made a cast toward the cut bank on the opposite side of the pool. There was nothing unusual about that except for the way he cast the lure. Instead of a conventional overhand or sidearm motion, he used a slingshot technique. Grasping the lure in his off hand, he pulled the rod into an arc and then released the lure much as an archer would when releasing an arrow. I watched in amazement as the lure flew underneath the overhanging bank, landing perfectly at the edge of the current. He cranked the reel handle a time or two and then his rod bowed into the telltale arc of a fish on. Four casts, four fish, and from an area I had already fished thoroughly. It was humbling to watch. He looked up after putting his fourth fish on a stringer and politely asked if I was having any luck. I had caught a few fish that morning, and said as much. Then I remarked that I was not doing as well as he was. He chuckled and asked, “What color lure are you using?” I held up a redheaded Road Runner jig with a chartreuse grub body and replied, “This kind, red head with chartreuse body.” He said, “About all I use in this river are little yellow worms.” I replied, “I guess having the right color makes all the difference, because I have fished that exact spot where you just caught four fish, and I caught nothing.” He laughed again, untied his boat, and motored up to where I was sitting on the riverbank. The boat grounded softly on the sand bar below me. The angler reached into his tackle box and tossed me a half-pack of the yellow plastic grubs he was having so much success with. “Try these,” he said. “I am heading on up the river.” I thanked him and wished for his continued success as he motored away. Eagerly, I threaded one of those yellow worms on my hook and started fishing the river pool again. I never got a strike. Makes you wonder. I sat back down on my log, temporarily

defeated but not unhappy. Just being on the river was enjoyable; catching fish was a bonus. While in that happy contemplative state, another river angler happened by, trailed by three dachshunds—“weenie dogs” is what my family always called them. The man was tall and gaunt, with a beard that tumbled down his chest. The weenie dogs followed him down the river path like ducklings behind their mother. He talked softly to them as they neared my location, his words unintelligible to me. We made eye contact and he

bobbed his head in affirmation of my existence and then quietly asked if I was having any luck. I answered truthfully that the bite was a little slow and he agreed with me. The dogs had also stopped and were sitting patiently on the trail behind him. With a clucking sound directed toward them, he and they moved on, talking in some unknown tongue they all seemed to understand. Rivers are interesting places. E-mail Barry St. Clair at bstclair@fishgame.com.

Traveling Man OW, THE LAST FEW MONTHS HAVE been crazy for traveling. I have logged many thousands of miles on my truck, and got to experience the best of what Texas has to offer for hunting and fishing. The biggest project was the Texas Duck Tour, a join project between Texas Fish & Game and Ducks Unlimited (DU) that saw me and DU’s Tim Soderquist hunt seven

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PHOTO BY CAPT. SKIP JAMES

locations in seven regions of the state in seven days. The idea was to raise awareness of conservation problems in different areas

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and determine the concerns of local hunters. The results were wonderful, and we got to see places like Marsh Point south of Win-

PHOTO BY WAYNE MASK

PHOTO BY RONNIE BIDDY

nie, Pintail Ridge Hunting Club at Crockett, Port Bay Hunting Club at Rockport, Pierce Ranch outside of Wharton, and do some surprisingly awesome hunts in the Texas Hill and Brush countries. This will become an annual event, and we will be doing it this year to raise funds for DU and again raise awareness of habitat conservation issues through a series of articles. For

more information, visit our myspace page, at www.myspace.com/texasducktour The author spent a day “across the A border” at the Hackberry Rod and Gun Club catching redfish in Louisiana. The tally for the day was 50-plus reds, most of which were caught and released to fight another day; but a legal limit did make it to his freezer.

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The author and DU’s Tim Soderquist chat over a nice strap of birds taken at Pintail Ridge Hunting Club The author and Phillip Samuels of C Groves show off some nice flounder caught at Sabine Lake. Sometimes, there is really no place like home. B

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What is CCA? HAT IS THE COASTAL CONSERVATION Association? If you do not already know about CCA, or better yet, are already a member, you have likely seen the orange redfish stickers on a member’s truck, car, or boat. Through the past three decades, CCA has become a tradition in Texas and national marine conservation. We are grateful to Texas Fish & Game for allowing us another avenue through which we can spread our conservation message. By reviewing a few facts about what CCA is and what the organization has done, hopefully if you are unacquainted, you can gain a clear vision of where CCA is going and what we can accomplish together. CCA has more than 175 local chapters

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through 17 coastal states with a combined membership almost 100,000. Through the efforts of volunteers and staff, CCA state chapters put on hundreds of events and fundraisers annually. CCA has dozens of state and national committees, and hundreds of board members on a state and national level. Without this level and breadth of volunteer involvement, CCA could not begin to wield the positive impact we currently have on state and national marine resources. There are threats to the conservation of our resources that wilt before blooming by the mere presence of a proactive organization like CCA, and when called into action, CCA’s grassroots machine is unparalleled. CCA has been active in virtually every national fisheries debate since 1984 and has demonstrated a historic participation in state and federal fisheries management issues for decades. CCA has two registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C., two in Austin, and retains multiple other state and federal fisheries management consultants. Our legal defense fund has been used to defend net bans and by-catch reduction

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devices, support pro-fisheries legislation, and address rebuilding important species such as redfish and speckled trout. We operate as a three-tier organization (local, state, and national) and establish all regional, state, and national policies through our extensive volunteer committee system. CCA’s grassroots network and unique combination of membership, fundraising, communications and advocacy have enacted positive change on all levels of coastal marine conservation and management. CCA has been engaged in hundreds of local, state and national programs and projects related to marine conservation, such as initiating scientific studies, working to pass pro-resource legislation to remove destructive gillnets and create gamefish status, funding marine science scholarships, habitatrestoration projects, funding state-of-the-art hatcheries, fighting for quality and quantity of freshwater inflows for coastal bays and estuaries, supporting local marine law enforcement, funding a $800,000 aquaculture lab at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and much more. From Austin to Capitol Hill, CCA is making a difference in the conservation, enhancement, and longevity of our coastal marine resources. Through our state chapters and multi-tiered system, CCA works on issues as divergent as marlin conservation on the east coast to flounder stocking on the Gulf coast. It becomes difficult to separate the line between state and federal marine resource issues. Gulf shrimp trawls in federal waters affect recreational anglers from all Gulf States. Longliners in federal and international waters affect recreational anglers in states from the Gulf to north Atlantic. But, by operating on a local, state and national level, CCA not only deals with all levels of problems, but also deals with problems on all levels. CCA is only as successful as it is because of the dedication of our members and volunteers. With such a strong grassroots base, politicians and policy makers have no choice but to pay attention to so many unified conservation-oriented voices. We need your voice to make us even stronger.

Baked or Grilled Stuffed Flounder Flounder! No, we are not talking about that pudgy fraternity pledge in the movie “Animal House,” but that flat, spotted, strange bottom-hugging fish known as the southern flounder. For most of the year, the elusive flounder avoids the efforts of a large number of coastal rod and reel fishermen. However, every fall, the urge to migrate out and into the open Gulf of

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Mexico brings this homely critter into areas where those very same anglers can more easily target them. Flounder might not be glamorous, but one thing is for sure, to quote a well-known TV chef, “Flounder are good eats!” Here’s a recipe that proves that adage. —Introduction by Loy Moe

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olive oil for sautéing heavy-duty foil 1/2 lb. bay scallops 1/2 lb. lump crabmeat 1/3 cup chopped onion 4 Tbs chopped celery 3 Tbs chopped red bell pepper 2 tsp minced garlic 1-1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs 1/3 cup white wine 1/2 fresh lemon, juiced chicken stock to moisten 1/2 stick butter 1 large (2 lbs) flounder, gutted 2 Roma tomatoes, cut in half 3-4 whole mushrooms Texas Gourmet Sidewinder Searing Spice

Heat 2 T olive oil and the butter in a sauté pan, add the scallops, lemon juice, onions, celery, and peppers, and cook on high for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the crabmeat, breadcrumbs and enough wine and stock to moisten the stuffing. Season with Texas Gourmet Sidewinder Searing Spice. Set aside to cool. Preheat grill or oven to 400 degrees. Place the flounder, brown side up, on a cutting board in front of you. Using a sharp boning knife, cut along the center bone to peel open the fish, folding the flesh back to work your way around the bones, removing the entire skeleton of bones, leaving you with one piece of fish, all opened up. Spoon the cooked stuffing into the cavity and fold the flaps over the stuffing. Place into a foil boat made with 2 layers of heavyduty foil. Place the tomato wedges and mushrooms around the flounder in the foil. Place on the grill or in the oven and cook for 20 to 24 minutes with the lid closed.

PHOTO BY JIM OLIVE

Remove from grill or oven, cover with a loose piece of foil, and rest for 5 to 7 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

S P O N S O R E D BY:

Contact Bryan Slaven, "The Texas Gourmet," at 888-234-7883, www.thetexasgourmet.com; or by email at texas-tasted@fishgame.com.

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TEXAS SALTWATER Captain H ug 27- & 28- o Ford inch trou t, ca Hugo Ford Guide Serv tch and release ice

PORT ARANSAS

GALVESTON

good Service elinda All John & M ut;Hillman Guide o Tr f o s Limit

For Classified Rates and Information call Dennise at 1-800-750-4670, ext. 5579.

TEXAS FRESHWATER BAFFIN BAY CORPUS CHRISTI

ROCKPORT Chad Mass ey Striper Striper Ex press

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ADVERTISERS, MAIL IN YOUR PHOTOS TODAY!

Rick Haddock with other clients Bass Stripers and Sand Striper Express Guide Service

TEXAS FRESHWATER

Clint O’Neil 26.5-inch Trout Hillman Guide Servi ce

Russian Boar Hogs rs White Oak Outfitte

TEXAS HUNTING

OUTDOOR SHOPPER

LAKE TEXOMA

LAKE AMISTAD

COLORADO

ADVERTISERS, MAIL IN YOUR PHOTOS TODAY!

SPOTLIGHT: HILLMAN GUIDE SERVICE OUTDOOR SHOPPER

For Classified Rates and Information call Dennise at 1-800-750-4670, ext. 5579.

My entire life has been spent here on Galveston Bay. My great, great grandfather and his family moved here in the early 1920’s and he became one of the first shrimpers on Galveston Bay. He trawled with his boat, “Grandpa’s Pride” which was a 16-foot wooden hull that was powered by a 4-cylinder engine and a transmission from a Model T. My pawpaw and my father both followed in his footsteps by starting their own seafood businesses. We lived in a very small frame house on Dickinson Bayou from the early 70’s to the early 80’s. In 1982, I got my first boat which was a 12-foot John boat powered by an old 9.9 Johnson. During summer, when I wasn’t working on an oyster boat or filleting fish in our seafood market, I would venture out to areas in Dickinson Bay and lower Galveston Bay that my dad and my great uncle BB Hillman had shown me. I learned how to use MirroLures and Kelly Wiggler shrimp tails at a very early age because of them. It became obvious that saltwater was in my veins. Through my heritage and my love for fishing I decided to start my own charter business in 2004. I enjoy meeting people and I thoroughly enjoy sharing my fishing experience with them. Hillman Guide Service is 4 generations of knowledge, hard work, and the blessing of being able to share it with others all rolled into one. I run a 23-foot Gulf Coast and a 22-foot Boston Whaler equipped with state-of-the-art electronics. Please visit me at www.hillmanguideservice.com or call me at 409-256-7937 to schedule your next fishing trip. Happy fishing! – Captain Steve Hillman A L M A N A C / T E X A S

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SHARKS—BOLIVAR PENINSULA, TEXAS

TROUT—EAST MATAGORDA BAY, TEXAS

Jennifer, Joy and Gloria Cooper of Paris, Texas, caught these 37-inch black-tip sharks on Bolivar Peninsula while on vacation at Crystal Beach. Photo submitted by John Cooper.

Colby Bosch, 6 years old, caught a 28-inch trout on artificial bait under the lights in East Matagorda Bay. His family is very proud of him.

DEER—POLK COUNTY, TEXAS

DEER—MENARD COUNTY, TEXAS

WHITE-TAILED DOE—LEON COUNTY, TEXAS

Dustin “Peanut” Brewster, age 10, of Apple Springs, Texas, killed this doe at the Camden Hunting Club in Polk County. He made the shot at 98 yards with a 30-30 rifle. The deer weighed 85 pounds field dressed.

Megan Calfee, age 8, of Humble, Texas, took her first buck, a 7-point, in Menard County. Pictured with Megan is her Papa Byron. Photo was taken by Megan’s dad, who killed his first buck in the same spot 26 years prior.

Cody Prater, age 9, bagged his first deer, a doe, while hunting with his stepdad, Colin, on the family lease in Leon County. Cody made the perfect shot at 100 yards with his .223.

SEND YOUR PHOTOS TO:

TF&G PHOTO ALBUM 1745 Greens Road Houston, Texas 77032 OR BY EMAIL: photos@fishgame.com 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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S P O N S O R E D BY:

FLOUNDER—GALVESTON, TEXAS

HOG—BERCLAIR, TEXAS

HOG—MASON COUNTY, TEXAS

Marcus Klibert, age 6, of Pearland, Texas, caught Dustin Witzsche, age 10, of Corpus Christi, Texas, Jake Holloway, 12 years old, of LaPorte, Texas, this 6-pound flounder while fishing with his dad, shot this 130-pound sow with a 22-250 at his took this 20-pound feral hog, his first bow kill, Randy, in the Galveston Ship Channel. dad’s lease near Berclair. This was Dustin’s first with a head shot in Mason County. hog; he got his second a week later.

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