May 2012 by Texas Fish & Game

Digital Edition

www.FishGame.com

Fish Cleaning BASICS

MAY 2012 | VOL. XXIX • NO. 1 | $3.95

Carolina Crankin’ Carolina-Rigged Cranks Go Deep for Bass

10 TEXAS

Redfish Hotspots You Don’t Shoot AS WELL

AS YOU THINK

RULES OF THE GAME:

Hunting Small Game WHAT PART OF

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Digital Edition

www.FishGame.com

Fish Cleaning

BASICS

MAY 2012 | VOL. XXIX • NO. 1 | $3.95

WHAT PART OF

No Fishing Zones DO

YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?

Carolina Crankin’

Red Hot

10 Texas Redfish Hotspots

FOR DEEP-WATER BASS

A Saltwater

You Don’t Shoot AS WELL

RULES OF THE GAME:

AS YOU THINK

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www.FishGame.com Published by Texas Fish & Game Publishing Co., LLC. Texas Fish & Game is the largest independent, family-owned outdoor publication in America. Owned by Ron & Stephanie Ward and Roy & 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

Joe Doggett Doug Pike Ted Nugent Bob Hood Matt Williams Calixto Gonzales Lenny Rudow Steve LaMascus Lou Marullo Kendal Hemphill Reavis Wortham Greg Berlocher Paul Bradshaw Capt. Mike Holmes Dustin Ellermann Lisa Moore John Gisel

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR EDITOR AT LARGE HUNTING EDITOR FRESHWATER EDITOR SALTWATER EDITOR BOATING EDITOR FIREARMS EDITOR BOWHUNTING EDITOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR HUMOR EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING PHOTO EDITOR WEB CONTENT MANAGER

A D VE R T I S IN G

Ardia Neves

VICE PRESIDENT/ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Viga Hall • NATIONAL ADVERTISING SALES 1745 Greens Road, Houston, TX 77032 Phone 281/227-3001 • Fax 281/227-3002

MA R K E T IN G

Sheila Nelson •

MARKETING MANAGER

S ubs c r i pt i o n s 1745 Greens Road, Houston, TX 77032 Phone 800/725-1134

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A D MINI S T R A T I O N

Dennise Chavez ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR 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. Content is not to 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 postage paid at Houston, TX 77267-9946 and at additional mailing offices.

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CONTENTS

ter Moore Photo: Ches

FEATURES

MAY 2012 • Volume 28 • NO. 1

BIG LAKE, BIG CRAPPIE

Toledo Bend, the South’s largest man-made reservoir has long had a national reputation as a trophy bass lake. Less known is its killer rep as a monster crappie producer.

by Chester Moore

Carolina Crankin’ STORY:

Using crankbaits to reach bass in deep cover, Carolina style.

by John N. Felsher

no fishing zones

Angler outrage seems relatively muted as unprecedented restrictions on Gulf fishing access grow at an alarming pace.

y Upton Photo: Terr

ON THE COVERS:

by Chester Moore 10 Redfish Hotspots

You Don’t Shoot as Well as you think

There’s nothing wrong with confidence in shooting, but keeping a healthy grasp on reality is well advised.

by Paul Bradshaw

STORY:

Ten Texas spots for some of the best redfish action on the Gulf Coast.

by Chester Moore ALSO IN May:

SMALL GAME HUNTING

Part 5 in our “Rules of the Game” series looks at the laws and regulations governing small game hunting in Texas.

A Saltwater Birthday Wish STORY:

by Bob Hood

A 6 year old chooses fishing over the standard pizza party.

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CONTENTS COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS

MAY 2012 • Volume XXIX • NO. 1

COLUMNS 10 Special Report

46 Hunt Texas

TPWD in a Deal with the Devil?

Red Wood, Bladesmith

by DON ZAIDLE TF&G Editor-in-Chief

by bob hood TF&G Hunting Editor

14 Chester’s Notes

47 Texas Bow Hunting

8 letters 10 big bags &

by CHESTER MOORE TF&G Executive Editor

by Lou Marullo TF&G Bow Hunting Editor

38 NEW! texas

Ancients Roam Among Us

SHOT Show 2012

16 Doggett at Large Let’s Get Small

52 Texas Freshwater

by Doug Pike TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

by matt Williams TF&G Freshwater Editor

20 TexasWild

54 Texas Saltwater

by Ted nugent TF&G Editor At Large

by Calixto Gonzales TF&G Saltwater Editor

21 Commentary

64 Open Season

by Kendal Hemphill TF&G Politcal Commentator

by reavis wortham TF&G Humor Editor

Silencers Sound Off in Texas

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Bass in the Jungle

Rumblin’ and Mumblin’

Right Answer— Wrong Question

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department of defense

18 Pike On the Edge

catches

48 True green

by JOE DOGGETT TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

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DEPARTMENTS

Idle Talk

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www.FishGame.com Correction: We attributed an incorrect credit for the photo on the April Coastal Edition Cover. The photo was taken by Will Drost for Hackberry Rod & Gun.

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Letters to the Editor Long-Range Shots I appreciate the article by Steve Lamascus, “Long Range Shots at Big Game” (“Texas Guns,” February 2012). I hope folks pay attention. It’s so great to have someone writing articles about guns that actually has the knowledge based on experience. Too many of these long range hunting shows leave the viewer with the impression that anybody can do it. It makes for a really good show for those that don’t understand. And Steve is exactly right about this giving the antis more fodder for their anti-gun crusade. Making a lethal shot at ranges beyond 600 yards is not practical. People shooting competition at long ranges don’t achieve first shot Xs at 1000 yards without several years practice. Without exception, those I have talked with do not recommend these type shots at game animals. Becoming proficient beyond 600 yds takes several thousand rounds which the average hunter will not shoot in two-three life times.

Kenneth Gaby Via Email

E-Newsletter I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy getting the TF&G Report via email. With all of the work email and spam, it’s nice to have one that I actually enjoy reading.

Johnny Rayburg Via Email

In your March issue “What is a Canceled Carry Gun?,” (“Texas Dept. of Defense,” March 2012) Steve LaMascus shows his bias for, and membership in, your “Carry a Cannon” fraternity. Even though he mentions that even experienced Border Patrol agents could not handle powerful cartridges, he recommends the .40 cal, 9mm with +P+ loads and his beloved .45ACP as excellent choices for concealed carry. He has nothing but derision for any lesser caliber. Although this is supposed to be a “con-

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Charles D. Anderson CDR USNR Ret. Pearland

Modern Camo

Concealed Cannons

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cealed carry” article, LaMascus glosses over the weight factor and he only scantily touches on how you can conceal those large pieces of artillery, although he does mention that the gun that is not available is useless. I carry a KelTec 380 in a leather inpocket holster that ergonomically orients it for immediate draw. It makes no more of a bulge than a cell phone. It weighs less than half of LaMascus’.45 cannon. Since it fits nicely inside the pocket of any of my pants. I do not have to limit my clothes choices to accommodate my concealed carry. My concealed carry instructor emphasized that most emergency confrontations requiring deadly force will occur in a 10 foot, 2 second envelope. At that range, with my anti-personnel ammunition, the 380 is an effective weapon. Do not get me wrong, I have a great belief in the right gun for the right situation. A 9mm resides under the seat of my SUV, and a Colt Delta Elite 10mm is my home defense weapon, but when I walk across that dark parking lot or into any other negative environment my hand is in my pocket, on the butt of that little pistol, and I have immediate access to an effective weapon. I will bet I can get three shots off before LaMascus can bring his big.45 cannon into play.

Hey Reavis, loved the article this month! (“Open Season,” April 2012) All I could think while reading it was, “He must shop at the Orvis store in The Woodlands.” Sadly, it’s the only “fly shop” near my office. One Friday, not long ago, I went in there to pick up a couple of redfish flies before heading off to POC directly from work. I thought I mistakenly walked into a Neiman-Marcus outlet given the stacks of “yuppie uniforms” on the shelves, until I noticed a couple of dusty fly rods in the back. I asked the sales clerks if they had any red/white deceivers

F i s h

and was given a full 90 second “deer in the headlights” look before being told that the only person in the whole store who knew anything about fishing was on vacation and wouldn’t be back until next week... Lord help us all! Mike Quigley Houston

One More Thing… Chester, while there is no debate on the worthiness of the five items on your “5 Things that Screw Up Saltwater Fishing,” (March 2012) I would like to add another. Reckless boaters! There aren’t many things worse that having a boater zip by your fishing spot – whether I’m fishing from my boat (anchored, or on troll motor), or wading my favorite spot along the coast. It’s safe to say, if you run over my fishing line, you’re WAY too close. I would support State mandated regulations for the ability of any individual to operate any boat. I feel that this requirement should include the successful completion of a written exam, and a field test of boating skills. To me, it doesn’t make much sense to know the right thing to do if you can’t execute the proper procedure. Also, I tip my fishing cap to the many offshore fishermen in Port Mansfield. These Captains have always taken care to throttle their big rigs down to idle speed for all the fishermen on the edge of the channel leading to the jetties – well done! Back to my pile of tax returns . . .

Tim Kiker, CPA San Antonio

Send your Comments to: Editor, Texas Fish & Game 1745 Greens Rd Houston TX 77032 Email: editor@fishgame.com

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Special Report by Don Zaidle | TF&G Editor-in-Chief

TPWD in a Deal with the Devil?

March 20 Texas Parks & Wildlife Department news release announced the department was “continuing to explore the feasibility of non-lethal alternatives to manage the feral burro problem at Big Bend Ranch State Park.” Mainstream media outlets gleefully embraced the announcement, which seemed to portend a reprieve for animal rights activists’ latest poster child. TPWD caving to animal rights interests aside, one chilling aspect of the announcement seemingly escaped notice by the outdoors media:

“The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has offered its resources to assess non-lethal options. In January, state parks and HSUS staff met at Big Bend Ranch to allow HSUS to assess the landscape and conditions. HSUS is working with a private contractor to conduct an aerial survey to determine the numbers and locations of burros at the park, an essential first step to assess costs and feasibility of control options. TPWD has agreed to cost-share up to $10,000 to help pay for the survey.” The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is the largest, best-funded, and most insidious animal rights, anti-hunting, anti-trapping organization in the nation. Why would the agency tasked with managing the state’s wildlife resources enter such an unholy union—and pay the bill for it? Did TPWD make a deal with the Devil? TPWD seemingly cozying with HSUS stems from a conservation policy of eradicating invasive species from ecosystems. Feral burros are one such invasive species.

The burro (a.k.a. ass, donkey), Equus africanus asinus, Equus asinus, is native to Africa. The first North American donkeys may have been the two taken to Mexico by Juan de Zumárraga, the first bishop of Mexico, who arrived there on December 6,1528, while the first donkeys to reach what is now the United States may have crossed the Rio Grande with Juan de Oñate in April 1598. Just as fire ants and feral hogs, burros are immigrant invaders that wreak havoc on native habitats and compete for resources to the detriment of indigenous species. Feral burros have negative value for any purpose. Thus, TPWD wisely tries to eradicate established populations. That doesn’t sit well with the “animal people.” The earliest public uproar over burro eradication occurred in 2007 after TPWD employees shot 71 of the

Big Bags&Catches

Black Drum

Largemouth bass

Mule Deer

Galveston Bay

Falcon Lake

Brewster County

Ten-year-old Sam Messina caught this 47-inch drum while fishing with his family in Galveston Bay. He used a Penn reel with 8-pound line. The giant drum was released after the photo.

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Langston James from Fredericksburg shows off a 6.8-pound bass he caught while fishing on Falcon Lake.

F i sh

Benny Rodriguez of Dale, Texas shot this 7-point mule deer on the Terlingua Ranch in Brewster County.

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Special Report animals in Big Bend Ranch State Park. Bowing to uninformed—or misinformed— public outcry, the department placed a moratorium on the practice. After a series of public hearings, the agency agreed to let wildlife groups capture burros for relocation. But after two years, not a single burro was trapped. “The terrain is just too rugged, and the wily burros would have nothing to do with trapping,’’ state parks director Brent Leisure said in an interview with the Fort Worth Star Telegram. After the trapping effort failed, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission lifted the ban on “lethal controls” in December 2011, and about 40 burros have since been shot. “The burros don’t have any predators, and they are very prolific. Their impacts are great. They are so difficult to round up that really our only option was to humanely harvest these animals,” Leisure said. “It’s not uncommon for us to do this with things like feral hogs that have similar impacts on resources.” The renewed eradication effort spurred the jackass defenders into high gear. The Wild Burro Protection League started an online petition to stop the extermination of burros. “This atrocity has gone on for far too long,” said Karen Van Atta of Milwaukee, who launched the petition. “It is absolutely shocking that Texas Parks and Wildlife hasn’t recognized what incredible living assets the wild burros are.” A blogger on the Houston Chronicle website used burro management as a tool for slinging political mud at Gov. Rick Perry. Under the headline, “Does coyote-killing Rick Perry support Big Bend burro slaughter?”, political blogger Peggy Fikac wrote: “Gov. Rick Perry — who’s bragged about gunning down a coyote on a morning jog (to save his daughter’s dog, he said) — is steering clear of a controversy over the shooting of burros in Big Bend Ranch State Park by Texas government workers. “The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — overseen by a Perryappointed commission — has killed ‘50 some-odd’ burros in the park since re-instituting the shoot-to-kill policy last year, said 12 |

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Brent Leisure, state parks director. “Or in parks-speak: ‘We have undertaken a practice of using lethal means for burro control … It was really our only safe and effective alternative in controlling that particular invasive species.’” Then the jackasses went to Austin, where police dealt with traffic disruption caused by six asses making their way to the Capitol to deliver the aforementioned petition. At the capitol, Wild Burro Protection League founder Marjorie Farabee demonstrated the ignorance that pervades the anti side of the matter by claiming burros are native to the Big Bend area. Farabee also claimed in a press release that TPWD was eradicating the burros in preference to desert bighorn sheep, a native species reintroduced in Big Bend Ranch State Park. TPWD caved to the protests of a vocal minority, but issued a challenge. TPWD executive director Carter Smith told Texas Fish & Game in an exclusive interview on this subject in late March: “When the animal rights activists just went ballistic last fall about us engaging in lethal control of burros, we basically issued a challenge and said, look: We’re managing a state park, not a feral burro sanctuary. And we’re not going to manage this park to support feral burros. If any group wants to come forward with a viable and sustainable plan to help try to control the feral burros in a non-lethal way, then we’re all ears.” That’s when HSUS stepped in, offering to “assess non-lethal options.” TPWD then had two choices: Tell HSUS to bugger off—as Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman did to a standing ovation, telling HSUS, “We’re going to kick your ass and send you out of the state.” or... Accept HSUS’ offer. After choosing the latter, the question becomes why is supposedly cash-strapped TPWD fronting $10,000 for HSUS to “assess non-lethal options.” “I want to be abundantly clear about this, we’re not providing any money to the Humane Society of the United States,” Smith told TF&G. “Any funds that we bring to the table would go to help pay for an aerial survey of the burro population of F i s h

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the park; and those funds would be paid directly to a contractor that would do the aerial flying.” Smith said the reason for offering to pitch in was to ensure TPWD had unfettered access to the survey: “If there is going to be some kind of feral burro census on the state park, and data is going to be used by a group like the Humane Society, then we want to make sure we have got ownership of that data, too, and [that] we know what it says. “Bringing a little bit of money to the table to help define the extent of the problem we have been trying to address out there just makes business sense to us.” When asked why TPWD would fund HSUS’ contractor, Smith said no contractor had yet been hired and “discussions were going on.” Smith told us that entertaining overtures from an activist organization was incumbent on TPWD as a state agency: “We’ve got that obligation to be responsive to all stakeholders, particularly on a state park. “HSUS—which, obviously, we’ve never had any arrangements with in the past— stepped forward, they met with our state parks team, they visited Big Bend Ranch State Park, and they said, ‘We want to submit a plan for your consideration, but prior to doing that, we want to get a handle on what the extent and distribution of these burros are, and we’re proposing an aerial survey’.” Smith downplayed the HSUS relationship, stating, “I want to be real clear about this—this is not a partnership.” As sportsmen, we can only hope that is the case. This is the same HSUS that: — its CEO Wayne Pacelle led the antihunting Fund for Animals for six years, and HSUS merged with that group in 2005. Pacelle has stated, “If we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would.” — supports banning lead ammunition — led the attempt to unseat California Fish and Game Commission president Daniel W. Richards because he went on a mountain lion hunt in Oregon — fronts itself as an “animal welfare” group, but shared with animal shelters only 1 percent of the $187,515,301 it collected during 2010 — championed the closure of the last

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U.S. horse slaughter plants in 2007, producing a glut of unwanted horses left to starve — filed (but lost) a lawsuit to stop hunting on 39 National Wildlife Refuges — is currently pushing legislation to ban bear and bobcat hunting with hounds in California Those are but a few grains on a wide, deep beach. Let us hope that the precedent set

by this unholy alliance between TPWD and HSUS comes to naught. Otherwise, TPWD might drag Texas sportsmen down to its own Faustian fate. Email Don Zaidle at dzaidle@fishgame.com Hear Don Zaidle’s complete audo interview with Carter Smith at: www.FishGame.com

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Chester’s Notes by Chester Moore | TF&G Executive Editor

Ancients Roam Among Us

by steel a time or two? How many miles had it traveled? The former world record blue catfish “Splash” that was caught at Lake Texoma and housed at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens after it died was aged at 23.

few years back I read an account of a snapping turtle caught in the 1980s that had a Civil War era bullet lodged in its shell. That meant the turtle was around well over 100 years ago and could have been pushing 150 years of age. Now every time I encounter an old animal whether it is on the end of a fishing line or through the lens of a camera, I wonder about its age and experiences. My father and I fished for sturgeon in the Columbia River back in 2000. We caught some big fish the first day of our trip but on the second day we both had legitimate monsters. I caught one over eight feet long that our guide estimated weighed in the 300 pound class and was probably over 50 years old. Dad however caught an absolute beast. It was more than 10 feet long and was bigger around than a 55-gallon drum. It would easily top 500 pounds and according to our guide could very well be 100 years old. In 100 years what would a fish like a sturgeon see? They move in and out of the ocean, so for starters this one had seen dams placed in its path and before that hundreds of miles of river and eventually the Pacific. It had probably had hooks in front of it thousands of times and had either dodged or been entangled and broke through nets set in the river over the years. A snow goose banded in 1979 was shot by a hunter in 2002, making it 23 years old. In migrating from the Arctic down through the United States, how many hunters do you think it avoided? How many times had it been shot at, perhaps peppered 14 |

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electronics and fishing gear they seem primitive but their survival shows that instinct usurps man’s innovations. All of my outdoors quests have been driven by one simple question, “What is out there?” Factoring in the advanced age of some animals and the incredible wariness inherent in them, that makes the question even more intriguing.

How many times had “Splash,” the world record catfish from Lake Texoma, been hooked and lost by under-equipped anglers in its 23 years?

How many perch and shad that monstrous catfish eaten over the years? How many times had it been hooked by anglers who just did not have the gear to bring it in? Then on the other hand how many hooked baits had it looked at and avoided? The fact that game animals and sport fish in modern times can elude being killed for so many years is amazing and shows they are not as “defenseless” as some make them out to be. Yes, compared to a rifle or modern F i s h

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I have endless fascination with the possibility of a world record largemouth bass lurking in Texas lakes. I am more than confident there are several world records out there but due to fishing pressure and the inherent wariness of super-sized bass, the fish simply has not been caught yet. Might there be a world record bass on that deep ledge I fish at Sam Rayburn? Or maybe it is on a rarely fished stump you have drove over 100 times on Choke Canyon or Lake fork. It might have been in the area all the time, simply eluding you and everyone else that try to fool it. These are the kinds of things that personally inspire me to dig deeper into the study of wildlife and that is a goal of mine in 2012. Expect more articles on the life habits and unique traits of not only the fish and game we pursue but the other wild creatures that thrill us with by simply being there. The next time you encounter a wild creature of advanced age, take a little time to appreciate what had to transpire to put it in front of you. If you do so, your respect for our fish and game will rise to new levels.

Catch Chester on the radio Fridays, 6pm on 560 KLVI Beaumont, (www.klvi.com) Email him at CMoore@fishgame.com Photo TPWD

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Doggett at Large by Joe Doggett | TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

Let’s Get Small

light spinning outfit belongs in every serious angler’s quiver. The little rig makes the most of small fish. And, significant to this discussion, small fish are a lot more common than big fish. A specialized campaign for a trophy largemouth bass or speckled trout is great but sometimes we get impatient for a pull. I know I do. And there’s nothing wrong this side of a major tournament with targeting small fish. Scaling down allows you to take advantage of angling options otherwise overlooked. The annual winter rainbow trout stocking program and late-spring shoreline fishing for “bedding bream” are great examples in freshwater. So, also, are fishing for shallow or nearA light spinning surface schools of white rig can be big bass (reservoir whites fun with small holding near bottom fish. in deep water require heavier lures and beefier rods) or wading or drifting one of the small, clear Hill Country streams. In saltwater, fishing for school specks at night “under the lights” of a dock or pier is an excellent application. So is walking a summer jetty and casting a small spoon rigged with a short wire leader for schools of Spanish mackerel. During any of these outings, catching a fish weighing more than an honest two pounds is exceptional. Many are less than one pound. The typical 12- to 15-pound class casting outfit is major overkill. For starters, handling the suitably small spoons, jigs, and in-line spinners is difficult — both 16 |

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distance and accuracy suffer. No, these are light spinning situations. By “light,” I mean a whippy rod and a small reel spooled with no heavier than sixpound-test monofilament. I prefer an openfaced spinning reel but a quality close-faced spincast reel will suffice. Keep in mind that the former is a bit more polished, boasted a faster retrieve ratio and a superior drag system. It’s a mistake to use one of the cute little reels about as large as your big toe. Or, worse, one of the “Snoopy” type outfits for kids. The serious light-tackle reel isn’t a toy. Select a model with ample spool diameter to really shovel line and accommodate a smooth drag system with large washers. On that note, I would avoid an open-faced reel with the drag assembly and adjustment knob on the rear of the reel — the remote positioning tends to make the drag too sticky and balky. You want the disk in direct contact with the face of the spool for the smooth performance. And “smooth performance” should not be discounted. You might get away with a lousy drag with 15-pound line on routine fish but the little rig doesn’t have much margin for error. And big fish have been known to snap at small lures. Incidentally, true ultralight or “threadline” spinning is defined as 4-pound-test and under. I don’t recommend going that light for most situations; it’s seldom necessary and the negatives can outweigh the advantages. For starters, a super-thin mono frays and breaks easily. And the wispy line is hard to control in the wind. Finally, if you are forced to fumble for drugstore readers to tie a knot, the damned gossamer filament can be almost impossible to see. Quality 6-pound mono is a good compromise, much easier to work with while thin enough to cast the typical 1/8th- to 1/16thounce payloads. And I would shun the tricky little 4- or 4 1/2-foot spinning rods often matched with the toe-sized reels. The short sticks are suitable for deep vertical jigging or maybe close-quarters flipping, but most are too stiff F i s h

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for a finesse presentation with a conventional overhead or sidearm delivery. A 5 1/2- to 7-foot rod with a soft action for loading the light payloads works well for extra distance in most situations. Here are a few tips on casting: First, with the open-faced reel, don’t over-fill the line flush with the flange of the spool; allow a bit of a gap. A flush spool encourages coils to spill over the face — a major fiasco. Conversely, don’t short-change the spool; too much gap creates a sharp angle and excessive friction as outgoing coils leave the spool. When casting, use your index finger to apply a tad of pressure to the spool as the lure drops and the momentum stops. Maybe lift the rod tip (with index still on the spool) to take up slack. This keeps the line tight as you crank the handle to flip the bail and begin the retrieve. Tension on the line is the key to trouble-free spinning during the bail pickup and retrieve. A billow of slack can allow an incoming coil to throw an extended loop off the spool — a guaranteed tangle during the next cast. Be ever-wary of those loops. It doesn’t cost anything to glance at the spool prior to every retrieve. On second thought, those confounded loops are perhaps the best endorsement for a push-button reel. Despite the excruciatingly slow retrieve ratio on most spincast models, the enclosed spool minimizes errant coils; however, if you do get a tangle within the guts of the reel it can be a bloody nightmare. With either style of reel, when extra distance matters there’s no law against adding small pinch of split shot on the line a foot or so above the lure. The tiny lead weight can make a significant distance with, say, a 1/16th ounce payload into the wind. A light spinning rig has numerous uses and, worth note, decent tackle is reasonably priced. Most important, It’s a great way to make the most of all-too-common small fish. Email Joe Doggett at JDoggett@fishgame.com Photo: Joe Doggett

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Pike on the Edge by Doug Pike | TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

Silencers Sound Off in Texas

hen the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission waved its wand of approval this past spring over the use of noise suppressors by Texas hunters, it breathed all the more life into an already robust industry. Texans love our guns, and we love our toys, and the commissioners just let us add toys to our guns. That we can use, if we choose, to hunt wild hogs from helicopters. Damn, I love this state. Along a more practical path, there actually are legitimate benefits associated with adding “cans” to rifles or handguns. Jeremy Alcede, owner of Tactical Firearms and its mega-sized indoor range in Katy – you can shoot anything up to .50-caliber weapons there, including fullauto – raised a couple of valid points during a suppressor-centered radio interview on my show. For starters, he pointed out, the addition of a silencer will save your eardrums from slow but steady functional erosion. I’ve done it. You’ve done it. We’ve all done it in hunting situations. You either forgot hearing protection (no excuse) or didn’t have it in place (poor planning) when a huge buck stepped out. No time to lose. Quick, before the monster disappears into the mesquite. BANG! The big gun roars, the bullet finds its mark, and that buck is down. And your ears ring for the rest of the day…or your life. Or, as the stories will go for so many hunters beginning this fall. You don’t even carry hearing protection, because you’ve screwed a quality silencer onto the barrel in advance. The buck steps out, you concen18 |

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trate on making the shot rather than fumbling through your day pack for ear muffs, and you squeeze off the shot with time to spare. The sound of a high-powered rifle, even in a box blind, easily can be reduced to that of a thunderclap. Pay enough money, and you can drop the noise down to what Alcede calls that of a “mouse fart.” At his range, I got the chance to shoot a .45 caliber handgun fitted with a good but not great silencer. This was prior to the facility’s public opening, and its cinder-block walls hadn’t yet been covered with noisereducing materials. It was a long, narrow concrete box in which we shot, essentially, and the bark of that big .45 was reduced to a yip. There was no question a large handgun was being fired, but the noise level was such that it wasn’t the least bit uncomfortable to unprotected ears. In Europe, where it’s not easy to own guns, most of the people who have guns add noise suppressors on their weapons. Cans are common accessories, Alcede said, routinely added and readily available to folks who manage to meet their governments’ ridiculous standards for firearm ownership. We’ve got a lot more guns here, which some say makes us citizens and not subjects, but only a small fraction of those long guns and short guns are fitted with silencers. For a number of reasons. First, there’s the cost. Silencers cost hundreds of dollars. Add to that the cost of required federal paperwork and the months required to earn Washington D. C.’s stamp of approval. And until this year, at least in Texas, the lawful ownership of a silencer still didn’t allow you to shoot much more than pigs and paper with the darned thing. Even now that suppressors are lawful accessories for hunters, it’s still so much easier to just buy ear protection. (Which, by the way, is a whole lot cheaper than a hearing aid.) Granted, uncasing a rifle fitted with a high-tech silencer will be a whole lot cooler in deer camp this season than reaching into F i s h

your pocket for a couple of orange-foam ear plugs. Either way, though, truth is, you get protection at both ends of this spectrum from the jolting blast that occurs when a spark touches a thimbleful of gunpowder. There’s another “maybe” benefit to the use of noise suppressors for deer hunting. I’m not entirely sold on this one, but a couple of people whose opinions I trust have sipped the Kool-Aid and liked the taste. According to one camp, silencers actually are good also for Texas’ deer herd. Not bullets. Silencers. Here’s why. If you shoot at a deer and miss – unlikely for a Texan, I know – or shoot one deer where others are standing nearby, the noise downrange actually may harm that animal’s hearing. Or so they say. I think you’d have to be mighty close for that sound to be loud enough to ring a deer’s bell, but let’s go with it. If true, without suppressors, we’ve unwittingly made it slightly more difficult for deer to hear approaching predators and maybe moved them into death’s express lane. So far, I can’t decide whether that story is being told by anti-hunters or silencer manufacturers. Form your own opinion on that. Ultimately, silencers won’t be for everyone, but it’s certainly nice to live in a state that‘s giving us more choices as hunters than fewer. Email Doug Pike at DPike@fishgame.com

On the Web Watch TF&G’s Dustin Ellermann demonstrate the use of a suppressor: www.FishGame.com/video

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Ted’s TexasWild by Ted Nugent | TF&G Editor-at-Large

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here are some hunting destinations around the world that any, if not all hunters would do just about anything to experience at least once in their life. Africa, Alaska, across the wilds of Canada and pretty much every top hunting destination in North America have provided me many dream hunts so far. I’ve been so lucky it is inexplicable, but I shall continue to pursue, wrangle, manipulate, beg, borrow and almost steal to continue my good blessings. I moved to Texas nine years ago for a series of coincidental reasons, but at the top of the list is the incredible quality hunting all across the mighty Lone Star State. From the deer and exotic infested Hill Country to the world’s best kept mule deer secret of West Texas, to those maximum quality managed deer heavens around Albany, to the pig and Auodad dreams, waterfowling, varmints and beyond, there is no doubt that my favorite hunting is celebrated in South Texas where the deer are big and ubiquitous, the land is beautiful and endless, and the people are the best on earth. I return to the famed Kenedy Ranch each winter to plunge headfirst into the dynamic tradition of deer hunting there, and can honestly say it is like no place on earth. The terrain is diverse, the land loaded with populations of wildlife that seem to defy the truism of carrying capacity. The huge, delicious, ultra wary Indian Nilgai antelope provides some of the most challenging hunting found anywhere. Javelina, feral hogs, Rio Grande turkeys and whitetails are everywhere. Because the land is private and vast, these dense populations of game animals are minimally pressured and are more relaxed than any game I have ever encountered, except for Mexican critters. But only a fool would subject themselves to the evil dangers and corruption of the world’s most vile government, and actually help finance the slaughter of innocents in Mexico. No thanks. So BloodBrother and bowhunting/

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VidCamDude Bobby Bohannon and I returned to the fabled Kenedy with our BloodBrother Greg Curran and gang for another fantasy hunt. Bobby and I prepared for venison liftoff. Unfortunately, bowhunting 101 was violated and we were directed to a brand new elevated box blind with too many windows that the deer had not become comfortable with, and all the bucks avoided it like the plague. Our first morning we were able to stealth into a big fat cactus donkey and I arrowed a pretty old she deer for Spirit of the Wild TV. Having been boogered by some damn fine bucks that morning, we hurried to relocate our double ladderstand setup in the perfect cover for an afternoon ambush. They would never know what hit them. We weren’t in our new killer stand very long when a sounder of eight hogs grunted their way into our grove. When a huge black sow got broadside, I managed to miss the quartering shot at thirty yards. But for what I may lack in accuracy, I more than make up for in tactics, and within two seconds, I zipped a perfect arrow into a fat brown boar. Bobby is the best tracker I know, and he found where the coyotes dragged off my pig and he recovered what was left of the hams and straps at dark. Two sets, two kills. This is fun. At dawn the next morning, we were somewhat surprised to see a sounder of good looking hogs moving our way and got ready for pork. One giant, very tusky red boar was the only pig in the group that kept out of range, but after a long wait, he finally made the mistake of looking the other way, broadside, and I sent the prettiest arrow you ever did see smack dab into that pumpy crease. With an instantaneous vicious snort, loud grunt and hyper squeal, the old warrior exploded through the scrub and tumbled porkchops over ham steaks in a swirling cloud of grey dust a short fifty yards yonder. Like only South Texas can, it wasn’t long before deer could be seen skulking our way through the mesquite and live oak. Several does cautiously milled about snapF i s h

ping up kernels of corn, but were strangely fidgety for the area. As they moved off, three bucks appeared and took no time in stepping into the shooting zone. One real handsome eight point posed for a bowhunter education poster, and I obliged by giving it to him. He tipped over right there with a severed central nerve, and I finished him instantly with another arrow. Ace bowhunter and guide Kris Helms fetched us a short time later, and we took care of the animals, had a good lunch and commenced to enjoy a live pigeon shoot into the afternoon. Things didn’t go as planned on the afternoon set, with my most important arrow of the season skimming low on a monster 150 class 10-pointer that brought painful consternation to our otherwise joyous hunt. On our last morning with only an hour before departure from camp, we hit a distant thick area, corned the road, and settled in for a last ditch effort to try my brand new Ted Nugent Hunting Ammo. Does filtered out of the forests, and then one heck of a dandy 10 point buck emerged from a few hundred yards. Bobby settled the vidcam and I anchored my GA Precision .270 on a solid rest as the bruiser followed the does closer and closer. At just under 200 yards, the big buck stood facing us and I told Bobby I was going to take him. The 140 grain Nuge bullet slammed him dead center so hard, it throttled him straight up and back, flipping him up, over and upside down with only one or two kicks before he was still. As we prepared to celebrate, a big doe darted out from the edge just beyond the buck, and Booby captured it on tape as my 2nd round found her heart, making a quick, perfect strapper double. My new signature ammo proved itself, and we had pulled off a triple double. Two doe, two bucks and two hogs at the mighty Kenedy Ranch 2012. All is good in Tedland. Email Ted Nugent at TNugent@fishgame.com

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4/10/12 10:18 AM

Commentary by Kendal Hemphill | TF&G Political Commentator

oncealed carry advocates across the nation have been giving one another high fives since March 14, when a Virginia jury found Virginia Tech negligent in its response to a 2007 campus shooting, which left 33 dead. The ruling, although appeals may be filed ad infinitum, has college administrators wondering if they should rethink the issue of allowing students to legally carry on school grounds. On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 25 more at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, and then took his own life. The tragedy sparked a heated debate over the issue of campus safety, and gave rise to student advocacy groups in favor of legal campus carry. When the jury hearing the case found that VT officials failed to promptly notify the campus that Cho had shot his first two victims in a dormitory, resulting in 30 more fatalities, a door was opened which could potentially lead to similar finger pointing at colleges all over the U.S. The question seems to be: Are universities liable for the safety of their students, and if so, how should they effect that safety? With two sons in college, and another who will be graduating high school in a couple of years, I am certainly an advocate of legal concealed carry on American campuses. Gun Free Zones are, in effect, soft, defenseless targets, leaving unarmed students vulnerable to mass murder. Arbitrarily banning guns from schools does little more than guarantee attackers a safe haven to kill.

“ Gun Free Zones are, in effect, soft, defenseless targets leaving unarmed students vulnerable to mass murder.

The two armed students in this case, it must be noted, did not know the other had retrieved a weapon, and approached the shooter from different angles. This incident would seem to dispel the theory that ‘good Samaritans’ with guns only end up shooting one another and confuse the issue. Quick action by law-abiding gun owners, obviously, can help to keep loss of life to a minimum, in some cases. During the VT shooting, a student or teacher with a legal concealed weapon may have been able to stop Cho after his first two victims. Even so, the Virginia jury’s ruling may be a step in the wrong direction. It violates the principles embraced by legal gun owners T e x a S

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everywhere, and attempts to place blame, not on the violator, but on whoever has the deepest pockets and happens to be connected to the case in some way. The ruling serves to encourage the idea that, when something bad happens to us, we should look for someone to blame, regardless of whether they are responsible. Personal responsibility is the cornerstone of gun ownership. Those of us who choose to carry weapons for personal defense realize we must be in control of our guns at all times. The whole point of concealed carry is to avoid dependence on others for our own safety. When we applaud a ruling that places guilt on any party other than the criminal in a shooting, we swim against our own current. This case, however, is more complicated than that. The administration of VT chose to ban all guns on campus, as most colleges do. When a school violates the U.S. constitution in this way, and denies its students their right to self defense, it necessarily takes that responsibility on itself. So when a student is killed as a result, as happened at VT, the school is at least partly to blame. The jury in the VT case, of course, did not find the school was wrong for banning guns on campus. It blamed the administration for failing to notify students of potential danger. The jury came, I believe, to the right decision for the wrong reason. And in case law, that kind of detail can make a huge difference down the road. One of the main arguments for concealed carry is the undeniable fact that police cannot protect us from crime. Another fact is that a school is similarly incapable of protecting its students. Holding VT liable for at least some of the deaths Cho caused may make sense, but the fact the school failed to inform students of the threat is not necessarily the administration’s primary error. Taking away their constitutional right to self defense in the first place was a far greater injustice.

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Right Answer – Wrong Question

Those opposed to guns on campuses, legal or otherwise, claim allowing students to legally carry would only result in more mayhem, not less. The facts, however, seem to refute such fears. Consider, for example, the shooting at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia. On January 16, 2002, a former student entered the Appalachian campus with a handgun and shot a college dean and a professor in their offices. As he left the building he was confronted by three students, two of whom had quickly run to their vehicles to retrieve legally owned firearms. The gunman was captured without further loss of life.

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Using Crankbaits to Reach Deep Cover, Carolina Style by john n. felsher 22 |

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Photo John N. Felshur

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WHEN THE SUN BROILS THE SURFACE during the Texas summer, bass often go deeper to find more comfortable conditions. For tempting lunker largemouths in the depths, many anglers turn to deep-running crankbaits or soft plastics on a Carolina rig. T e x a S

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“The best way to find big groups of fish in the summer is to fish deeper water,” explained David Vance, a professional bass angler and Lake Fork guide (903-6297699/Lakeforktexasbigbass.com.) “During the summer, bass on Lake Fork congregate on main lake points, roadbeds and old humps in 15 to 25 feet of water. The best way to fish them is with deep-diving crankbaits or Carolina rigs.” Crankbaits look like baitfish and catch bass, but running long-lipped crankbaits through 25 feet of water can quickly exhaust even the most physically fit, die-hard bass angler. Except when trolling, especially with lead-core lines or downriggers, few crankbaits plunge much deeper than 10 to 15 feet even with significant effort. In addition,

but bass don’t always sit near the bottom. Sometimes, bucketmouths suspend a few feet off the bottom. When bass suspend in deep water, but want small fishy looking baits, what do you do? Combine two proven techniques into one -- Carolina cranking! “Carolina cranking is exactly the same as fishing a Carolina rig,” said David Fritts, a professional bass angler from Lexington, N.C. “I’ve fished it successfully along railroad trestles in 15 to 20 feet of water. The only thing that could hit that is a Mann’s 30 Plus and it’s even hard to do with that. With a big sinker, it doesn’t take long to get a small crankbait down there at all.” Essentially, Carolina cranking involves attaching a floating crankbait or jerkbait to a conventional Carolina rig to fish tiny

lengths. Instead of tipping the leader with a lizard or other soft plastic enticement, tie on a buoyant bait. “A Carolina rig is a good way to get a small floating bait down near the bottom,” said Ken Cook, a former Bassmaster Classic champion from Meers, Okla. “I fish it when I want to get close to the bottom, but not on the bottom. In deep water, if I can’t get a regular crankbait down to them or get them to bite a conventional Carolina rig, a Carolina-rigged crankbait is a good option. It’s been a good numbers technique for me when other techniques don’t work. It’s kind of a last resort when bass are hard to catch on anything else.” Suspended off the bottom, a small Carolina-rigged crankbait or jerkbait can

Carolina Cranks LEFT: Kevin VanDam lands a bass that he caught on a jointed crankbait at Lake Amistad. A flat-sided crankbait gives a narrower profile and mimics live shad.

lethargic summer bass may want something smaller than a giant crankbait. “I’ve caught lots of 10and 11-pound bass on small baits,” Vance said. “Match the bait size to the size of the dominant forage species. Many bass feed upon small shad. In the summer, I often downsize baits to match the shad hatch. Most shad in Lake Fork are about two inches long.” With large weights, Carolina rigs can certainly get small baits to the bottom quickly, 24 |

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CENTER: Ken Cook, a professional bass angler from Meers, Oklahoma, lands a bass that hit a jerkbait rigged Carolina style.

RIGHT: Stephen Browning, a professional bass angler from Hot Springs, Arkansas, lands a bass that hit a Carolina-rigged jerkbait.

baits in deep water, but off the bottom and avoid suffering a heart attack getting it there. Simply slip a weight on a line above a barrel swivel. Attach a fluorocarbon leader to the swivel. Leader length depends greatly upon the bottom cover in an area. In open water, use longer leaders. In thick cover, use shorter F i s h

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seductively hover in the strike zone for as long as the angler wishes. Separated from the heavy weight by a leader, the buoyant floating bait stays above rocks, logs, stumps and other bottom debris. At depths, a bass might not chase a fast-moving bait or even descend a few feet to snatch something off the bottom, but it might grab an irresistible morsel hovering in front of its nose. “The rig needs a heavy sinker to overcome the buoyancy of the crankbait,” Cook Photos: John N. Felsher

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John N. Felsher shows off a bass he caught on a Carolina rig while fishing with David Vance at Lake Fork.

said. “I like a 1-ounce tungsten sinker. A tungsten weight is important because it’s smaller and more compact than a lead sinker.” Attaching a sliding sinker to the line enables an angler to vary the fishing depth. Tightening up the line pulls the bait down toward the bottom. Letting more line slip through the sinker allows anglers to fish a little higher off the bottom. Adding more

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line allows baits to back out of entangling cover more easily. “When people fish deep water, the heavy sinker on a Carolina rig brings the bait to the bottom faster,” Vance explained. “When fishing a Carolina rig, I prefer a bullet weight to a barrel weight. A barrel weight tends to hang up in the grass more than a bullet weight.” Anglers can work Carolinarigged crankbaits several ways. Drag the weight across the bottom slowly almost like a conventional plastic-tipped Carolina rig or pull it relatively fast and steadily, pausing occasionally. Anglers can also hop them off the bottom around cover. Frequently, aquatic grasses grow up a foot or two from the bottom. Even hunkered down in thick grass, bass habitually look up to see prey silhouetted against the bright surface and may not see something crawling

along the bottom clutter. Around grassy bottoms, work a short-lipped bait with a series of swift jerks so that it dives into the grass tops and floats back upward again. Pause frequently so that the bait hovers tantalizingly just over the grass at times. “In areas that get a lot of pressure from plastic worms and Carolina-rigged lizards, showing bass a bait that floats off the bottom and wiggles works,” Cook recommended. “I’ve used this technique very effectively at Lake Sam Rayburn. I often use this technique as a backup to a regular Carolina rig. I might work an area with a regular Carolina rig and then follow up with this technique to catch a few more bass after they quit biting the soft plastic.” Just about any small realistic-looking floating crankbait or jerkbait might work with this rig. Anglers probably won’t start with this technique, but it could put more fish into the livewell on tough days. When Ol’ Mossbacks refuses the “usual” offerings, try something radical.

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Photo: Chester moore

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Ten Texas Hotspots for Some of the Gulf Coast’s Best Redfish Action ANGLERS SEEKING REDFISH have no problem scoring virtually anywhere along the Gulf Coast. Conservation efforts directed at the species have enhanced the fishery to an astounding level, but that does not mean certain spots are not better than others are. Here are the best of the best. 1

SABINE LAKE

Sabine redfish start their most consistent bite pattern in summer months, which reaches a dramatic climax in the fall. Summer reds school in the open water of bay systems in mid-day “slick offs.” Running the open bay looking for hints of bronze on the water and massive schooling action is the best way to locate these brutes. In the nearshore Gulf of Mexico out of

Sabine pass, big schools of reds chase menhaden and shrimp, most frequently between 200 yards and 2 miles from the beachfront. Gold spoons and Rat-L-Traps are best for schooling reds in the bays, while the ones offshore turn up their noses to anything except live or fresh-cut fish and crab. During the early part of fall, the attention turns back to the shorelines. Anglers wading or fishing with carpeted flatbottom boats or skiffs should look for tailing reds or fish

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cruising along shorelines. Winter months see redfish action dwindling to near nothing. About the only consistent action is at the Entergy Plant warm water discharge. Bull redfish still haunt the Sabine Jetties.

KEITH LAKE

Keith Lake is the first of a long series of small lakes that border the

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town of Sabine Pass, Texas. The area has many sloughs, cuts, and marshy shorelines to fish. One of the best spots is where Keith Lake Cut empties into the lake. There is a spot where sand meets a mud bottom and schools often congregate there. Having to fish from the bank is not an enviable task. Most of the best fishing spots are not accessible to bank-fishermen, and those that can be reached from land are often crowded. Nonetheless, land-bound anglers in Texas have it better than folks in other areas. We have plentiful access to good bank-fishing, especially in saltwater. Some areas are well known and can be highly pressured at times, while others see little pressure. The following are some of the best bank-fishing spots on the coast.

HANNA’S REEF

As PRIME Upper Coast hotspots go, Hanna’s Reef in Galveston Bay is one of the best known. The entire area from the reef to near Lady’s Pass and Bull Hill has been a consistent producer of redfish, particularly during the spring and early summer. This area is especially productive when a light wind coincides with a low, incoming tide. These conditions are ideal, but as long as the tide is moving, the reds will bite. The 51 Series MirrOlures and soft plastics are great to fish over the shell. Someone chucking from a Chester Moore literally wrote the book on Texas redfish. “SALTWATER STRATEGIES: TEXAS REDS” features these and more redfish hotspots, plus a wealth of information on the species and how to catch them. Order it online at www.FishandGameGear.com

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boat might want to go with the 52 Series. Either way, some of the better color patterns are chartreuse, pink, and white with gold sides, Bass Assassins also work great here. Shell reefs are often loaded with sand eels, which reds love. As such, a soft plastic jerkbait makes a good sand eel imitation.

PORT O’CONNOR

One of the best places to intercept redfish in Texas is around the gas wells in Espiritu Santo Bay and in the Port O’Connor surf. There are about 20 gas wells in Espiritu. The best way to fish them is to target the shell pads at the bottom. Bouncing a soft plastic will often draw a strike, but fishing with live croaker can be unbelievable. Croaker fishing is very consistent here. Because of their reliability, the gas wells are a good backup plan when you want to go exploring. Another viable option is running the surf out of Pass Cavalo. When light southeast winds blow, the fishing is tough to beat. Much of this has to do with structure along the beach. The only structure on most beaches is sand and more sand. In this area, there are a number of shrimp boat wrecks that always hold some very large fish in summer. Throwing live croaker around those wrecks is good as is a gold spoon or MirrOlure.

ARANSAS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Located along San Antonio and Aransas Bays, the 70,504 acres of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is well known for its resident wildlife and winter whooping cranes. There are some fine fishing opportunities to be found there, too. For more information, call 512-286-3559. graphics: texas fish & Game; map, Bing.com

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COPANO CAUSEWAY

Located on Highway 35 N, the pier divides Copano Bay and Aransas Bay. It is lighted, has cleaning tables, and is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Contact the north end at 361-729-8519, the south end at 361-729-7762.

PORT ARANSAS SOUTH JETTY

PORT MANSFIELD

Anglers looking to get in on some shallow water wade-fishing have plenty of options at Port Mansfield. Gladys Hole just east of the famous Land Cut is a top wade-fishing destination, although it has a soft bottom. Anglers that are really out of shape might want to pass this one by and let the fitness nuts go at it. The large sandbar east of Marker 110

gives up its share of redfish, as does Butcher’s Island near Marker 113. Butcher’s Island the top site to get in on tailing redfish action, and on weekends can be highly pressured. It would be a good idea to get there early during times of heavy boat traffic. Other good spots include the shorelines near markers 17 and 20 and the East Side of Green Island. This spot can be super for reds, but is very, very shallow and can be treacherous for boaters not used to navigating the area. It is also a good place to get

During summer months, jetties give anglers some of the most consistent action for reds. The South Jetty at Port Aransas may be one of the best (even though it’s greatly overlooked) in the Texas Coastal Bend. Pre-dawn runs can yield good fish on black topwater plugs fished right along the rocks, while later in the day the action shifts to live bait. Croaker is popular with locals, but piggy perch can be just as effective. My best advice would be to fish as close to the rocks as possible since they hold the fish. Look for little holes in the rocks where water can trade from the Gulf to ship channel side. These spots are magnets to reds. Throw your piggy perch in there and be ready

UPPER LAGUNA MADRE

Upper Laguna Madre is an underrated destination for redfish. Lots of the time this area turns on in early June when light southeasterly winds push clear water up from Port Mansfield. With the clear waters comes good fishing. Any of the shorelines of the islands adjacent to the ship channel can provide a good topwater bite early in the mornings, especially when the wind lays. When the tide is low and the sides are dry, work the cuts leading into the Intracoastal. If the tide is in, expect to see tailing reds on the edge of the grass, even during the heat of the day. Stick to spoons, big topwaters, or a Bass Assassin rigged with only a hook for best results. Another good method is to drift the shoreline and fish a live shrimp either freelined or under an Alameda Rattling Float or a Mansfield Mauler rig. This method is especially good when the water is super clear.

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stuck when the tide goes out. If you plan to fish here, pay special attention to the tide tables, else, you could wind up waiting for the tide to come back in. Port Mansfield is on the shores of Laguna Madre, a shallow body of water along the Intracoastal Canal between the coast and Padre Island. The town is 25 miles from Raymondville on Hwy. 186, which runs into US 77. This is a beautiful stretch of highway to drive, especially for those who like to view wildlife.

PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE 10

This is Texas’ single largest bank-fishing spot. Counting both sides of the island, there are more than 150 miles of fishing holes covering the Gulf of Mexico and Laguna Madre. It offers the bulk of South Texas bank-fishing. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials, Padre Island National Seashore encompasses 133,000 acres of America’s vanishing barrier islands. It is the longest remaining undeveloped barrier island in the world. Part of Padre Island’s greatness as a fishing destination comes from its diversity. Waders can venture chest-deep into the blue-green waters and chuck surface lures for slot-sized reds, while their counterparts battle big bull sharks on surf rods from the white sand beaches. The biggest problem with Padre Island is its remoteness. There is a whole lot of island that sees very few people due to the inhospitable nature of the sand dunes. Some of the easier places to reach are Malaquite Beach, a semi-primitive campground with water, restrooms, showers and a concession stand with plenty of excellent fishing holes. There is also Bird Island Basin, which offers great fishing and a very primitive campsite with only pit toilets.

BANK-FISHING HOTSPOTS Having to fish from the bank is not an enviable task. Most of the best fishing spots are not accessible to bankfishermen, and those that can be reached from land are often crowded. Nonetheless, land-bound anglers in Texas have it better than folks in other areas. We have plentiful 30 |

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access to good bank-fishing, especially in saltwater. Some areas are well known and can be highly pressured at times, while others see little pressure. Below are a few of the best bank-fishing spots on the coast. Pleasure Island: Located on the west bank of Lake Sabine, Pleasure Island offers miles of access to bank-fishing. To get to Pleasure Island take the Highway 73 in Port Arthur to the Highway 82 (Martin Luther King) Exit. Follow 82 over the Martin Luther King Bridge and you are on Pleasure Island. Humble Channel at JFK Causeway: Located between Baffin Bay and Port Aransas, this area is a favorite of experienced bank-fishermen. Goose Island State Park: This 321-acre park is surrounded by Aransas and St. Charles Bays and offers anglers a good chance at redfish. The shoreline is comprised of concrete bulkhead, oyster shell, mud, flat and marsh grass. For more information, call 361-729-2858. Matagorda Island State Park: If seclusion is your idea of a good time, then this is your spot. This is one of the best spots in the state to catch bull redfish in the late summer and fall. The surf here gets deep quick, so be careful when wading out to cast a surf rod, and be especially careful at night when the big sharks will be prowling. Use your head because Matagorda Island is a long way from a hospital. For more information, call 361-983-2215. Mustang Island State Park: This 3,954-acre park offers five miles of beach on the Gulf of Mexico, and it is loaded with redfish. If you plan on driving down the beach, be careful not to get stuck. The sand here is infamous for that. For more information, call 512-3898900. Boca Chica State Park: The park is just under 1,100 acres, located in the Boca Chica Subdelta of the Rio Grande River, in southeastern Cameron County. The south shore of South Bay, west shore of Boca Chica Bay, and the flat, sandy, northern end of Boca Chica Island are prime redfish spots. The water is generally very clear, so adjust fishing tactics accordingly and look for drop-offs from the shallow water. For more information, call 956-585-1107.

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TOLEDO BEND IS MIND NUMBINGLY LARGE. At 185,000 acres, it is the South’s largest man-made lake and over time has gotten an incredible reputation for its bass fishing. It was extremely important in the development of some of pro bass fishing’s early pioneers like Tommy Martin and Larry Nixon and just last year none other than 4-time Bassmaster Classic Champion Kevin VanDam called it “…one of the absolute best bass lakes in the country.”

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by Chester Moore

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The crappie fishing there, however, is overlooked. Well, it is not overlooked by locals who realize this lake is a virtual crappie producing factory but the outdoor media has sort of missed the boat on what this lake has to offer for crappie fishing fans. And what interests me here are the big crappie. I mean really BIG crappie that dwell in the thick, dense tree-filled underworld of Toledo Bendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deep river channels and along the cover in its 1,200 acres of shoreline. The black crappie record is a whopping 3.69-pound and was set in 1985 while the white crappie record was broken in 2011 and is an equally impressive 3.44 pounds. This year, I will be further testing my F.L.E.X. Fishing ÂŽ system specifically on crappie and will do the majority of the fishing at Toledo Bend and nearby Sam Rayburn. The following thoughts, strategies and techniques are right out of my playbook, especially for Toledo Bend. I believe they will help

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you catch big crappie on this big lake. The opportunity for crappie to grow largest will be on parts of the lake where the fewest anglers pursue them since most research indicates they are not constantly moving long distances. Think about locations where lots of crappie guides frequent and also where you see lots of pontoon boats set up on spots on the main lake. While these areas certainly yield incredible numbers of crappie and even some very large ones, try areas where the pressure is lighter when seeking maximum crappie. What about the open water near the dam? I know this may sound a bit odd but do not look at it

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from the surface, but instead study what is below. How many trees, stumps, drop-offs and other cover/structure elements are there in this area that is mainly targeted by striper fishermen? These spots have potential to hold some huge crappie that rarely gets targeted. Remember, a fish has to reach maturity before it can get big. Night fishing for crappie is popular on this lake but most of it is done over large, established brushpiles and docks and it is done from the viewpoint of catching crappie for the frying pan. (I do by the way consider that the most noble reason. Nothing beats crappie.) However for big fish take some other things into consideration. Studies show peek feeding times for black crappie are often between midnight and 2 p.m. Consider taking a couple of small fishing lights out and hitting some obscure stumps, trees or even rarely fished brushpiles. The small light would be to avoid attracting hordes of smaller crappie and the late timing would of course be to match peak feeding time for blacks. White crappie are more tolerant of murky water than black crappie and that gives some unique options. Some of the back creeks flowing into the lake stay off-colored most of the year and the

Photos: Matt Williams

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depths can be greater than many anglers might guess. Set some brush in some of these areas or target natural cover and structure with micro crankbaits and spinners geared toward white crappie. If the creek has a drop-off opening up into a cove or some other stark transition zone, give it strict attention. Whites are also more prone to being in open water than blacks, so the humps and ridges popular for producing schooling largemouths and white bass in summer Toledo’s bigger months have serious potential for crappie like big whites. Anglers catch crappie open water there fairly frequently but there near the dam. is limited targeting because the action is so hot for the bass. Flip a shiner tight to any trees or other cover and see what happens and consider visiting the areas at night with lights. Crappie are more of a fish of aggregation than schooling around brushpiles. That the vicinity. Crappie will move in and out means the fish are not necessarily heavily as they please and perhaps move from one bonded to one another but fixated on the pile to another in areas with lots of them. cover itself. Look for big fish around old, forgotten piles If you have proven brushpiles manmade or giant stumps and logjams in between key or otherwise, search out “satellite” cover in locations. It is my contention that big fish of

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all species have a natural affinity for avoiding fishing pressure or else they would not reach large sizes. This is certainly true for crappie on a lake like Toledo Bend where there is a lot of pressure. Big fish moving between pressured brush and satellite cover makes perfect sense and gives anglers key spots to target. Last year I fished with guide Jerry Thompson of Living the Dream Guide Service and caught a massive white crappie that was on some cover just off a main pile. Although we never spoke specifically about it, I could tell Thompson was savvy to this habit of big crappie and he was also incredibly good at putting me on some fish to bring home to eat. The man knows where the crappie are on Toledo Bend. And the good news is they are really all over the place. It is up to you to formulate a game plan and if you are like me, the idea of targeting the biggest crappie on Texas’ biggest lake is too intriguing to resist.

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NO-FISHING ZONES ARE A REALITY ON THE GULF COAST by chester moore

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Graphic: NOAA

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ANGLERS GET FIRED UP at the mention of “no fishing zones.” I know because over the years the subject has been discussed on my radio program and in various seminars conducted along the coast and anglers get fighting mad at the idea of the federal government shutting down their fishing access. So, why aren’t anglers fuming right now? The federal government has already instituted no fishing zones right here on the Gulf Coast. The Sabine National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is closed to fishing Oct. 15-March 15 and the Aransas NWR allows no angler access Oct. 15-April 15 and although they are not labeled as “No Fishing Zones,” both huge tracts of fishing habitat are officially recognized as “Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).” According to the government’s official MPA website, “In practice, MPAs are defined areas where natural and/or cultural resources are given greater protection than the surrounding waters.” “In the U.S., MPAs span a range of habitats including the open ocean, coastal areas, inter-tidal zones, estuaries, and the Great Lakes. They also vary widely in purpose, legal authorities, agencies, management approaches, level of protection, and restrictions on human uses.” In addition to the aforementioned properties, the San Bernard, Aransas, Anahuac, Big Boggy, Brazoria and Flower Garden Banks are listed as MPAs. To be fair, most of these do not prohibit recreational fishing but that is a part of the management strategy and admitted aim of many who are pushing for more MPAs along the coastline. MPAs got their first big push in 2000 when President Bill Clinton made Executive Order 13158 which outlined a call for this method of fisheries management and was followed up by President George W. Bush who created the largest MPA on the planet in the Pacific Ocean by the stroke of his pen in January 2009. Presidents always do these kinds of orders during the last days of their term and there is already major concern that President Barrack Obama will do the same and perhaps in far greater fashion. His NOAA appointee Jane Lubchenko is arguably the most outspoken MPS advocate, having pushed heavily for them during her tenure at Oregon State University. She

is considered the preeminent expert on the subject. An article in the Los Angeles Times in 2006 quotes her as saying, “Our coastlines are under increasing stress. The interest in no-take marine reserves is growing out of increased realization that our oceans are in trouble and that we need to be thinking differently than we have in the past about how to protect the valuable resources that are there.” In the Aug. 20010 edition we first wrote that that various high ranking environmental experts and organizations have openly stated they hope to use this tragedy to create a huge network of no-fishing zones, officially called marine-protected areas. In an interview with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Daniel Pauly, a professor at the Fisheries Centre of the University of British Columbia said the following: “The Gulf has just been declared a large marine protected area as a result of the spill…no fishing! It is possible that a massive rebound of the fish population will occur because we are not fishing them. If the fishing is discontinued for a month or two, or a season, we may see massive changes in the Gulf.” He went on to say money doled out for job losses should be permanent as should fishing closures. “I would use the opportunity of having to dole out compensation for lost jobs to make some of the changes permanent and to have some areas permanently closed to fishing, especially the areas adjacent to parks on land and to coastal protected zones. And I would establish a quilt of protected, unprotected, and partly protected zones in the Gulf.” The highly influential, United Nations-affiliated International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issued an official blog calling for using the spill as a means of advancing marine protected areas. “Moving forward from the Gulf of Mexico spill means delivering a better framework within which we don’t just recover from the spill but we maintain and grow the health of T e x a S

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the ocean. Marine protected areas have an important role to play in this forward-looking agenda,” they said. The IUCN went on to say, “Opportunity should therefore be taken as recovery plans start to be discussed for the Gulf to go beyond the expected and anticipate restoration needs to do what is actually required to establish a fully representative network of marine protected areas.” “This network should include the shoreline, but also in open waters and the deep ocean throughout the Gulf to comprehensively and effectively ‘fill the gaps’ in coverage. Such a declaration would give the areas-based stimulus for recovery that will be needed, alongside making any necessary improvements to wider management and stricter regulatory regimes in the aftermath of the spill.” No-fishing zones are coming into play like everything that hails from the progressive movement that began in America in the early 1900s, slowly and methodically. First they take a few months away, then a few more, then restrict the types of motors and on and on and on. Then at some point someone sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. pays back environmental supporters through Executive Order. It happened with President Clinton and President Bush (although I cannot think of any environmental supporters for him) and without question will happen with President Obama. The question will be how big will they be and how far reaching. The point of this article is to introduce the ideas that no fishing zones do not necessarily come in the package you might expect and that we should start looking at all restrictions on fishing access more seriously. The enemies of sportfishing have been doing it for years.

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Texas Department of Defense Where to Shoot ‘Em

ne of the subjects that is studiously avoided in most of the magazine articles I have read over the years is bullet placement on the human that is attacking you. I understand why this is so (it is a very depressing subject), but I also believe that it is something we need to stop dancing around and discuss. So here it is, straight and honest.

When you draw your gun with the intention of using it on an attacker you are not being attacked by a paper target. You are not counting score to see if you qualified. You are shooting a person for the very good reason that he or she is trying to take your life. If your life is not in danger you should not be shooting (and for the purpose of this article we will specify that “grievous bodily injury” is life threatening and justifies your responding with your handgun). And while we are on the subject, it is not necessary that the person attacking you be armed with a firearm. A

knife, baseball bat, pool cue, crow bar, ax, shovel, hammer, nail gun, or any one of a few hundred other implements, including what we in the Border Patrol used to call a BFR, a Big Freakin’ Rock, can be a deadly weapon in the hands of a person with the will and desire to kill you (An officer friend of mine was killed a good many years ago by three wanted criminals he stopped for a traffic violation. He was beaten to death with a rock). In fact, if you are a small woman,

Tactical Training Tips MANY GUN OWNERS are great marksmen, but there is a difference between being able to pull off a great shot at a static range and defending your life in a defensive situation. This is why I encourage gun owners who keep firearms for self defense to train differently than simply “going to the range.” To begin with, the shooter should consider stance. In a defensive situation you might not be able to take the traditional shooting stance. In fact you might not even be able to have a stable twohanded grip. If you are being attacked there is possibility that you may barely clear your pistol from your holster when your assailant is already upon you. So instead of shooting at a comfortable dis38 |

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Retention Position Firing – Using your support hand as you block an attack and firing with the pistol tucked in by your chest. Dustin’s range has ground level targets, at a traditional range the pistol would be pointed higher.

tance square to a paper target try shooting from a different and even awkward positions. For example, the retention position is firing at a target about 1-3 yards with your support hand shielding F i s h

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your head, pistol drawn at chest level and tucked around your armpit held close to the body yet at an angle where the slide will still be allowed to reciproContinued on page xx 40 u Photo: Dustin Ellermann

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an invalid, or elderly, a strong 6-foot man is a deadly weapon, even if he has no tools or weapons at all. He can kill you just as dead with his bare hands. I would have no compunction shooting a 220-pound, 25 year old thug if I he was attacking me. I am 60 years old and in no condition to win a fistfight or wrestling match with a muscular young man. So if you and I ever have a tussle, remember that. Now, where to shoot him... Most police agencies teach the tactic of always shooting two (2) shots to “center mass.” This is termed a “double-tap,” and that is as good a term as any. Two shots placed in the area of the solar plexus, or the center of the chest, with a gun of sufficient power, is usually enough to stop most bad guys. This is what you should practice. Draw the gun, fire two shots that are intended to strike in the heart/lung area, and then assess the situation to see if your attacker needs more shooting, or if there are other threats present. If you are using a small caliber, such as a .32 or .380 (and sometimes even with a large caliber), the first two may not do the job. If not, continue until the threat is neutralized. If it takes the whole magazine then give him the whole magazine, or more. There is, also, the occasional brute that simply does not feel pain. This may be because he is just plain mad clear through, it may be because he is stoned out of his mind on some kind of drug, it doesn’t really matter. Just keep in mind that he is out there somewhere and that he may be looking for you, so you need a Plan-B. Do not, ever, fire your two shots center mass and holster your gun. That is a great way to end up a fatal statistic. Instead, draw your weapon, fire the two shots, then keep the gun on the assailant. Wait (by wait I mean about a millisecond) to see if he really is disabled, then, if he is, look around to see if there are other dangers lurking in the shadows, not all bad guys operate alone, they are like wolves and often run in packs.

If the bad guy is still on his feet after the first two shots, you have a couple of options. I know of at least two agencies that are now teaching two-to-the-chest, one-to-the-head techniques. This is done because the bad guy may be wearing body armor. This could apply in your case, also. I recommend that you practice firing two shots center mass, and then hesitate to assess the situation. If the attacker is still coming, go with the two-

to-the-chest, one to-the-head tactic. If he is still coming, you have a serious problem. At that point, as I said above, you should continue firing until the gun runs dry or the bad guy runs out of steam. He may kill me with my own handgun, but if so he’ll have to beat me to death with it, because it will be empty when he gets it. Another thing to remember is that a person with a shattered pelvis or hip is going

Note: We’ll have more on this aspect of the self-defense scenario later, so don’t write me nasty-grams telling me about tunnel vision, how we should be aware of our surroundings, and so forth. I know. We’ll get there. There is only so much you can cover properly in a short magazine article. T e x a S

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Texas Department of Defense to go down. I cannot recommend aiming for the pelvis, but either is a disabling wound, should that be the only option you have. It

will also stop a person with a knife or some other blunt or edged weapon who has to get into contact range to do you damage.

However, I know of no agency or academy that teaches their trainees such tactics It is strictly a target-of-opportunity technique,

Training Tips

include in your training, but the following are ones I use consistently: Ball and Dummy Drill – load a few magazines but mix in “dummy rounds” (or snap caps, these can be purchased at most shooting/reloading resellers) then mix up the magazines, load up and start sending rounds downrange. Eventually you will encounter a dummy round and treat it as a malfunction performing a “tap and rack” drill. Tap the bottom of the magazine to ensure proper seating, then clear out the dummy round by racking the slide and continue firing. Too many times in “target practice” shooters come across a malfunction and everything shuts down to diagnose the

balloons in that order. You can make this more difficult by twisting the tips of the balloons together and adding a shoot/no shoot element into the scenario. Reload Drill – With all the high capacity semi-automatic pistols on the market, the reloading skill seems to fade. One way I try to keep my reloading sharp is by only loading about 5 rounds into my magazines at times. Purchase and wear a solid magazine holder along with your holster, and force reloads into your practice. And of course don’t just stick with 5 rounds, vary the round count, mix up your mags and let it take you by surprise when you need to reload.

t Continued from page 38 cate upon firing. Practice firing a few rounds, until you learn where your pistol should be pointed. This is somewhat easier of course because you are only a few feet away, yet you should train your muscles where they need to be pointed since you cannot use your sights. Next you should practice shooting on the move, your attacker would love for you to stand still like you practice on the range, so you need to practice creating distance, finding cover, firing and reloading while moving. While I was participating in an FBI shooting simulator they actually had a remote fired mounted airsoft gun that would fire at you forcing you to move and find cover while you returned fire. Proper weapon manipulation will also give you a fighting advantage. I’ve seen some beginners shoot who only want to know how to fire the pistol. They can’t load mags, are unable to work the slide, and need the gun handed to them loaded with the safety off to accomplish the task. This is terrible training. I spent an hour with a beginner one day who called me the next week asking for some extra training. A prowler was outside her house, she eventually grabbed her pistol and flashlight and secured the area only to return to her room and realize she hadn’t loaded the magazine into the pistol. Marksmanship is worthless without a working firearm. You should drill the proper loading, unloading, safety manipulation, holstering, presentation and malfunction clearing every time you hit the range to train for defensive situations. This also extends to training in different environments and using accessories such as flashlights and lasers or even gloves in colder weather. There are several great drills to 40 |

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running reload – Moving to cover while shooting and reloading is a far better tactic than the traditional target shooting stance.

problem; this habit can get you killed in a gunfight. Instead – clear that pistol and get back in the fight. Furthermore, use of this drill will also diagnose your trigger press because jerking of the trigger will be much more evident when not disguised in recoil. Target Acquisition Drill – Air up several balloons of various colors and sizes, then have a partner call out one or two colors and you must shoot the F i s h

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Defensive shooting training differs greatly from the traditional target shooting. But these tactics must be used with the utmost safety and common sense. Most ranges won’t let you practice with half of the skills I suggested here. But there are alternatives like dry fire and even airsoft guns to get a solid sense of the tactics. Stay safe and shoot straight. —Dustin Ellermann Photo: Dustin Ellermann

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something to keep in the back of your mind. Do not ever try to pull the movie stunt of shooting the gun out of his hand, or shooting him in the shoulder. These things do not work in real life. Every shot you fire should be aimed at a vital area; one that has the best possible chance of stopping that bad guy in his tracks. And, again, let me say that stopping him, not killing him, is the purpose of shooting him. I hate the term deadly force. It is, unfortunately, very descriptive of what often happens, but the killing of another human should never be the purpose, the desire, or the intent of the defensive shooter. Pray that you never have to take a life, but practice like it is going to happen In self defense shoottomorrow. And make up ing, your assailant will your mind right now if not have a round bullsyou are going to pull the eye target pinned to his trigger, because you will chest. Use a silouette not have time to think target for practice, like this clever “zombie” about it when the time edition from Birchwood comes. Casey. Which brings us to targets. If you carry a

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handgun for self-defense, do not do your practice on bull’s-eye targets. If you ever have to draw that gun with the intent of shooting a person, that person will not have a nice, round bull’s-eye pinned to his chest, but will have a chest, arms, legs, and a face with eyes. Buy a good supply of man-shaped silhouette targets and use them for your practice. It does not matter what kind of silhouette it is as long as it is in the shape of a man. It matters not at all if it has scoring rings, because you are not shooting for score. The best are probably the kind that have a photograph of a bad guy on the front, so that you get used to shooting at a person with a face. Birchwood Casey is producing some really neat “Zombie Targets,” that will allow you to shoot at a target with a face without getting the heebie-jeebies, as you might if shooting at a too real target. Well, that’s about it. As my old game warden buddy used to say: “If you have to shoot ‘im, shoot ‘im with a big gun, shoot ‘im where he’s biggest, and keep shootin’ until he quits comin’.” —Steve LaMascus

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As Well as You Think You Do THERE ISN’T A HUNTER alive who doesn’t think they can shoot the wings off a fly at 100 yards, with open sites, in a stiff breeze, with one eye closed, left-handed, with a BB gun. We all believe that we can shoot. Heck, this is Texas; the land of cowboys and deer hunters. We learn to shoot rifles before we learn to walk. T e x a S

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Admit it, you watched Season 3 of Top Shot on the History Channel and every time one of the shooters pulled the trigger you knew that should have been you. When Texas Fish & Game’s own Dustin Ellerman made a remarkably impossible shot, like hitting a golf ball at 100 yard with a .22, you thought to yourself “I can do that.” I hate to break it to you, but no, you can’t. In your current form, you’re not a world class shooter (when I use the word “you,” I include myself in that group). I’m not saying you are a horrible shot, just not as good as you think you are. That’s my theory anyway, and I figured that if I was going to spout off about your shooting abilities, I might as well test that theory. In order to do this testing, I enlisted the help of a few friends of mine and asked them to send a few rounds down range with the main goal being to measure the size of the groups they shot. The shooters for this test were Lindsey and Cindy Miller—yes, they are married, yes, they were talking smack to each other—and Robert Miley. I consider these folks to be your average hunter. Their hunting experience ranges from just a single year to about a decade. They all have families, jobs and various other commitments so they can’t spend hours at the shooting range practicing or nights on end making handloads. They shoot factory ammunition out of standard off the shelf rifles just like the majority of the hunters in Texas. To begin the test, I gathered the shooters at Best Price Guns Shooting and Paint Ball Range (thebestpriceguns.com) and after a few warm up rounds I asked each hunter to shoot a three shot group at 100 yards to get a base-line accuracy level for each person and their rifle, but this didn’t work out as planned. A 100 yard shot isn’t exactly a chip shot so I moved the target into around 75 yards to ensure the shooters could make a decent three shot group. It might have just been a trick our mind was playing on us but the target at 75 yards looked exponentially closer than it did at 100. All shots were taken from a seated position, with the rifle supported only by a table to mimic a shot taken from a standard box stand. Also, for these base-line shots the shooters could take as long as they wanted. There was no pressure at all, other than the pressure of having three people watch them 44 |

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shoot and ridicule their accuracy. For the base-line shots there was one constant that I noticed right away. All three shooters had no trouble putting two shots within an inch of each other but all three had a flier (a shot that went somewhere other than expected) and it was usually the second shot in the string. Cindy shot the smallest control group with an overall group size of 1.75inches. She put two shots within .25 inches of each other, center to center, with her flier landing 1.75 inches above the other two. This is easily accurate enough to kill a deer and a good reason why she took two deer this year with two shots. The second smallest control group was shot by Robert who put two shots within .375 inches, and had a flier 2.375 inches away. It’s not a MOA grouping but still well within the accuracy needed to quickly kill a deer. The largest control group of the day came from Lindsey. His first two shots were separated by only .4375 inches with his last shot hitting 3.25 higher than the other two. I just want to point out that all three shooters put two shots within half an inch of each other—which surprised and impressed me—showing that they and their rifles have the ability to shoot very accurately with just a little practice. Now that we had established each shooters accuracy level it was time to put them under pressure to see if they would crack. The next test involved shooting another three shot group, but this time each person only had 15 seconds to do it. This really sounds a lot shorter than it is but I figured the added pressure or shooting within a certain time period would stress them enough to affect their shooting, and it did, just not the way I was expecting. Watch TF&G’s Dustin Ellermann demonstrate his “golf ball” shooting at www.FishGame.com/video

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The smallest group on the timed section was again shot by Cindy, but you should know that she went over the allotted time. Instead of 3 shots in 15 seconds she took 20 seconds. So technically she was disqualified on this round but she shot so well I had to include the results. Her three shot group measured 1.1875, with the closest two shots just half an inch apart. If you look back earlier in the article you’ll notice that her group size actually shrank when placed under pressure. The second smallest group on this part of the test was shot by Lindsey. His three shot group measured 2.25 inches and he shot it in an amazingly fast six seconds. That’s right, six seconds for three shots with a bolt action rifle and they all landed inside a 2.25 inch circle. Lindsey improved on his earlier group by an inch. Maybe he should shoot fast all the time. The largest group of this round was shot by Robert, and while it wasn’t an improvement over his control group, it was so close that the difference is negligible. For this group Robert put two shots within .625 inches of each other, with one shot landing 2.5 inches higher than the others. This 2.5 inch group was shot in 12 seconds and was only .125 inches larger than Robert’s control group. It seems my theory about people shooting worse under pressure was ill conceived. The final test was a single shot by each hunter at 150 yards, which had to be taken within five seconds of shouldering the rifle. Closest to the bulls-eye wins. All three hunters hit above the bulls-eye (possible over compensating for the distance) and I’ll let you guess who was closest. Cindy hit 2.375 inches from the center, Lindsey hit 4.125 away, and Robert’s shot was 4.375 off the target. So what do we conclude from this less than scientific study of a small group of shooters? First, if they just have to shoot once, maybe twice, the average shooter can almost shoot as well as they think they can but doing it consistently is an issue. Second, adding pressure to a shooting situation actually makes the shooter better, or at the very least, just as good as they were without pressure. Last, never ever go against your wife in a shooting competition.

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Hunt Texas by Bob Hood | TF&G Hunting Editor

Red Wood, Bladesmith

“What’s really special about this knife,” I told him, “is who made it and the amount of workmanship he puts into all the knives he has custom-made for more than 23 years. His name is J.E. “Red” Wood and he lives in a small town called Zephyr south of Comanche. He has made and donated his esterday, a young boy named Nick custom knives to the Texas Outdoor Writers Jones who lives nearby approached Associations for the Wilke award for several my gate with a gleam in his eyes. years.” Something almost as bright was in his Red Wood’s story as a knife maker began right hand. when Wood was a young boy just like my “What do you have there?” I asked. neighbor. Simply put, Wood was fascinated “We went to Canton yesterday and I as a youngster with knives, but not just any bought this knife,” Nick said excitedly. “Do knife. Wood didn’t just want a knife that you like it?” functioned in cutting something. He wanted He handed me the shiny folding knife one that felt special when he held it in his and I opened it. The handle was designed hands, one that was crafted with special to look like a feather. It had a materials that set round piece just above the feathit apart from othered handle, which resembled an ers, and one that Indian head nickel of yesteryear. any knife-lover “That’s a mighty fine knife,” would want to I said. “That feather-like handle own. It is that and Indian head piece really set desire to build a it off.” knife that is visuThe young boy took the knife ally appealing, back and then said his grandfais well-balanced ther had a box-full of knives in the hand, and J.E. (Red) Wood that he has collected over has a razor-sharp working on one of the years. I told him I, too, edge, that sets his custom knives. am very fond of good ol’ Wood’s knives hunting and fishing knives. apart. “I’ve got several that were made for vari“I visited with Red Wood not long ago,” ous uses,” I told him. “Some are for gutting I told my young neighbor. “I went to his deer, hogs and other animals, others are for house to pick up another knife similar to skinning, some for cutting the meat up for this one to present to this year’s L.A. Wilke processing and some are made to eat with, Award recipient, but more importantly I but I’ve got one that’s very special to me and wanted to learn more about his passion for I haven’t brought myself to doing anything making custom hunting knives. with it other than just admiring it. I’ll show “When I arrived, Red’s wife, Mary, was it to you.” sitting in a chair in their living room,” I The boy thought it was a great-looking said. “She pointed to an empty chair next to knife but he seemed really impressed when her and told me that whenever Red wasn’t he saw my name had been inscribed on outside in his work shop making knives, he its blade. I explained to him the knife had would be sitting in that chair with a knife in been presented to me a year ago by the each hand. Texas Outdoor Writers Association along “He will sit there for hours, just rolling with their annual L.A. Wilke Lifetime knives around in his hands to get the feel Achievement Award. of them,” Mary Wood told me. “He wants

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every knife to feel just right. My job is to do the cleaning on them after he has finished making them and before they are shipped somewhere, but he just sits there for hours and rolls them around in his hands to make sure they have the feel he wants them to have.” I showed the youngster the handle on my Red Wood knife and asked him if he knew what it was made of. He said it looked like some sort of bone. He was right. “Elk horn is my favorite material for knife handles,” Red Wood told me when I visited him and his wife. “I have drawers full of (handle) blanks and have used red stag, axis, mule deer and whitetail, but elk is my favorite.” Inside Wood’s workshop are a series of grinders and polishers set up in a row. “I usually keep three or four knives going at a time,” Wood said. “There are several steps involved in making a knife so I just keep three or four going through the steps at the same time rather than just doing one at a time.” Wood’s knife blades are made of stainless steel, and he sharpens and polishes them to perfection. Countless numbers of Wood’s custom knives have been auctioned at numerous annual hunting organization conventions and shows during their fundraisers held throughout the country. On a wall inside his shop is a photo of Wood and Colt McCoy, the former University of Texas quarterback now with the Cleveland Browns who surprised Wood one day by calling him and asking him to make a knife for him. Many other celebrities and others throughout the country have sought Wood’s knives for personal use or as gifts knowing that when they receive one, it is, indeed, one that not only has been well-crafted but one that has gone through Wood’s own personal “final touch.”

Email Bob Hood at BHood@fishgame.com Photo: Bob Hood

4/9/12 12:42 PM

Texas Bowhunting by Lou Marullo | TF&G Bowhunting Editor

SHOT Show 2012

never really knew what the phrase ”green with envy” truly meant until I saw it in the eyes of most of my hunting buddies when I told them that I was once again heading to sunny Las Vegas Nevada to be a part of this year’s SHOT show. I was excited with anticipation of seeing all the new hunting products for 2012. Chester Moore and I had the distinct honor of having Dustin Ellermann join us for various video interviews that you, our readers, can see on the Texas Fish and Game web site. For those who did not know, Dustin, a Texan himself, was this year’s “Top Shot” winner. I might add that although he was busy signing autographs for three solid days, he still found time to join us for a few interviews. We sincerely thank him for that. This year’s SHOT Show had hundreds of booths that displayed interesting items, but in this column I can only mention a fraction of what I saw. My good friend Ron Bice of Wildlife Research Center showed me a very interesting product. We all know about their Scent Killer line. It has proven to be very effective at controlling human scent. However, now they have a new product called Scent Killer Gold. I had to ask Ron how it differed from Scent Killer. I had heard before that we should saturate our hunting clothes with any scent-eliminating product, but few hunters, if any at all, really do that. I told Ron that normally, hunters just give themselves a quick once-over and go in the field. After all, nobody can hunt in wet clothes and expect to be comfortable. Scent Killer Gold is formulated to last for 10 days after it is applied to your hunting clothes. WOW! Now you can follow the directions and saturate your clothes, let them dry, and they

will be ready to keep you scent free for up to 10 days! I love that, and I am really looking forward to giving that a try. Truglo was another booth that was on my list to check out. There, among many other new products, I found a bow sight that is unique from most others. I actually saw this sight in Bass Pro the last time I visited the store, but this time I spoke with the reps from Truglo and they agreed with me that this sight made a lot of sense. Not only are the pins different sizes, but they are also all green. Next month I plan on explaining why the human eye prefers the color green before any other color. This sight was first introduced to the bow hunting world in 2011 and it is obvious that some careful thought was put into it. The 20-yard pin size is .029. The 30 and 40-yard pin size is .019 and the 50-yard pin size is a tiny .010. If the animal is out at 40 yards or more, the pin will not cover the entire target area making it much easier to be more precise when taking aim. Very cool! I stopped at the Rocky booth and spoke to Mike Alday. He was eager to show me the new camo they offer. It comes in three different levels. A lightweight layer that can be used during the hot days of summer or as a base layer in the cooler months. Level 2 is for a normal hunting season in Texas. It is heavier than Level 1, but not too warm. Then they have Level 3. This is an outer shell and when combined with Level 1, it can be used if you are like me and just need something a little warmer. The coolest feature that I saw with this new camo are the gloves. For those of us that use our smart phones, you know that in order to make a text message or simply answer your phone, you need to remove your glove. Not any longer! Rocky has developed a glove with a special touch-screen compatible material sewn on the thumb and forefinger of the glove. I loved that idea. The time it takes to remove your glove and answer your phone, may have already caused you to miss the call, not to mention all of the movement needed. I think it is a great idea. Ameristep, along with their many porT e x a S

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table blinds, has manufactured a new single chair portable blind. It is called the Magnum Tent Chair Blind and it is designed with the bow hunter in mind. I saw one at the show and it was impressive. The front of the blind was longer than normal, complete with windows on the sides as well as the large opening in front. The roof is adjustable to accommodate larger bows as well, another great idea. I stopped to look at the game cameras in the Bresser booth. There they had a large display of all their new models. I noticed that some of the cameras were on so that passersby could see themselves and how clear the picture quality was. Bresser, along with other game camera companies, offered the new “black flash” camera. In layman terms that simply means there is no glare and no flash using infrared technology. Whatever game (or poacher) you are filming will never know that a picture has been taken. One of the coolest cameras offered by Bresser was a 360-degree camera. How great is that? Now when that deer happens to come in on the wrong side of the tree, you will still capture his image. No SHOT show is complete without stopping by my good friends at Hunters Specialties. There, along with all their scent and scent elimination products, was a plethora of new goodies for the hunters. I spoke with Matt and he showed me their new turkey calls. I saw that they also had a box call that no longer needed chalk and was waterproof. I tried it and it sounded incredible. The new turkey products were impressive enough, but then I was introduced to all of their new deer products as well. Get online and check them out for yourself. As a matter of fact, check out all of the companies I spoke about and while you are at it, go to FishGame.com and take a look at all of the videos that Chester, Dustin and I did. I have no doubt that you will find it both interesting and informative. Email Lou Marullo at LMarullo@fishgame.com &

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TRUE GREEN Wild Rice Forces San Marcos River Closure

TPWD Prepares for CWD in West Texas The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) has informed the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that three mule deer harvested a few miles from the Texas border last hunting season have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The deer were harvested in the Hueco Mountains, which extend into Texas northeast of El Paso in Hudspeth County. New Mexico has been monitoring annually for CWD since it was first discovered 10 years ago and this event is the closest to Texas that the disease has been detected. Texas also has had an active CWD-surveillance program for the past decade, and CWD has not yet been detected in the state. However, state wildlife officials have been preparing for the possibility since 2002. “While this finding is not a big surprise, we’re not going to ignore it,” said Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program Director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “We are working with TPWD’s 48 |

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Wildlife Health Working Group to develop a more intensive strategy for sampling, and to determine the geographical extent of the disease if it is detected in Texas.” The Wildlife Health Working Group is comprised of wildlife biologists, veterinarians and other animal-health experts from TPWD, Texas Animal Health Commission, Department of State Health Services, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, and USDA. NMDGF is also involved in the discussion. While several thousand deer have been tested for CWD in Texas, wildlife officials express concern that the Trans Pecos region is underrepresented because of the very low number of deer and the relatively low deer harvest in that region. Samples are obtained from hunter-harvested deer, deer found dead on public roadways, and deer showing clinical symptoms. TPWD is determining how many more deer need to be sampled and deer hunters in the region Continued on page 50 u F i s h

Parts of the San Marcos River will be off-limits to anglers, tubers, waders, and others during low-flow periods in an effort to protect the river and endangered rice plants found only in its uppermost two miles, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has unanimously decided. The rule designates as a state scientific area the stretch of the river between a dam near Aquarena Springs Road and the city’s wastewater treatment plant downstream of Interstate 35 starting Sept. 1. The rule also for the first time allows for a fine for people who intentionally rip out an endangered plant. Texas wild-rice, which is found underwater along the riverbed and grows up to 45 inches tall, has been listed as an endangered species since 1978 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Its deterioration can signal greater environmental harm to the river, fed by the San Marcos Springs out of the Edwards Aquifer, said Cindy Loeffler, the water resources branch chief for TPWD. “Protecting those species means we’re protecting our water supply, (and) we’re protecting an economic sector of tourism and recreation,” Loeffler said. —Staff Report «TG

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TRUE GREEN CCA Supports Protection of Gulf ‘Rig Reefs’ A motion made at the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting in Feburary in Mobile, Alabama, could be the first step to protecting what has been regarded as the largest man-made reef in the world – the vast forest of energy-related structures in the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Bob Shipp’s request to have Council staff clarify the definition of what qualifies as artificial structure could pave the way for rigs and other vital reefs to be classified as Essential Fish Habitat. “For anglers who have been greatly concerned about the impact of this Administration’s directive to summarily remove all non-producing energy structures, this is a very welcome development,” said Pat

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Murray, president of Coastal Conservation Association. “This is a chance for the Gulf Council and NOAA Fisheries to take a stand to protect that habitat.” In a misdirected response to the BP oil spill, the U.S. Department of Interior issued a directive in October of 2010 ordering that all non-producing rigs be plugged and any remaining structure removed within five years of the issuance of that directive. There are approximately 3,500 offshore structures in the Gulf of Mexico and the directive, known as the Idle Iron Policy, would immediately impact roughly 650 structures that have not produced oil or gas within five years of the directive issue date of Oct. 15, 2010.

“Anglers have already noted with alarm the disappearance of some rigs that have been in place for years – sometimes decades – that provided the base for flourishing ecosystems,” said Murray. “It is a completely avoidable tragedy, and we hope that the Council and NOAA Fisheries can bring a to halt this needless destruction.” Sen. David Vitter (R-La) and Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-Ms) have filed legislation that would prevent rigs and other structures from being summarily removed from the Gulf of Mexico, but both bills face a difficult road through the current Congress. A decision by NOAA Fisheries to declare artificial structures Essential Fish Habitat would be a significant addition to legislative efforts. In 2009, Dr. Shipp and Stephen Bortone published a paper on the importance of artificial habitat on the management of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico which Continued on page 50 u

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TRUE GREEN CONTINUED... CWD in W. Texas t Continued from page 48 could be asked for their assistance during the next hunting season. “We are using disease models to determine the intensity of sampling that would be required to detect CWD in that deer population if it is present with a prevalence of at least two percent,” said Ryan Schoeneberg, Big Game Program Specialist with TPWD. CWD was first recognized in 1967 in captive mule deer in Colorado and has also been documented in captive and/or free-ranging deer in nearly two dozen states and Canadian provinces, including New Mexico. Although fatal in deer, there is no evidence that CWD poses a risk to humans or livestock in the natural environment. CWD is a member of the group of

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diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other diseases in this group include scrapie in sheep and goats, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) in cattle, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease in people. CWD is a progressive, fatal disease that affects deer, elk, moose, and other cervid species and there is no vaccine or other biological

Gulf Rig Reefs t Continued from page 49 credits the deployment of energy structures in the mid-20th century for greatly increasing the harvest potential of red snapper. “If the habitat limitation hypothesis is correct, and I believe it is, then it would be necessary to maintain or even increase

method that prevents it. “It would be almost impossible to eradicate the disease once it becomes established in a population,” said Lockwood. “But, what we can do is manage the disease and minimize the risk of it spreading.” —Staff Report «TG

the amount of artificial habitat in the northern Gulf of Mexico to keep pace with fishing pressure,” said Dr. Shipp. “Taking it out makes no sense whatsoever.” To learn more about this issue, visit the Rigs to Reefs page on the CCA website, www.JoinCCA.org. —Staff Report «TG

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4/10/12 10:21 AM

Texas Freshwater by Matt Williams | TF&G Freshwater Editor

Bass in the Jungle

Chapman is a 55-year-old outfitter with an insatiable itch for adventure and a serious zest for the wild side. Those two traits combined with a passion for putting anglers on world class fishing waters that are largely unmolested are what brought him to South America way back in the 1980s. his isn’t your typical Texas There he explored the region and familFreshwater piece. Not even close. iarized himself with some of most remote This one was hatched more than river systems throughout Brazil and southern 3,000 miles from Texas soil, deep in Venezuela. Chapman eventually found himthe heart of Amazon Rainforest of South self a Venezuelan partner and constructed a America. pair of five-star lodges to house well-heeled I’ve just returned home from the Rio clients lured to the region by glowing reports Omero and visions of thick-shouldered pea- of tackle busting peacocks weighing upwards of 15 pounds. Sadly, the partnership dissolved after a few years and Chapman lost everything. The blow was devastating financially, but it didn’t keep the ambitious globetrotter from New Jersey reined in for long. Instead, he relocated to Mexico, Anglers Inn founder Billy Chapman with a colorful “three where he has been opening bar” peacock bass caught while fishing with the author doors to some of world’s best in January 2012 on the Rio Omero in Brazil. bass lakes and serving up cock bass are still dancing around in my unparalleled service for thousands of clients mind. Not surprising considering the tall ever since. His flagship Anglers Inn lodges numbers racked up by four anglers over on lakes El Salto and Mateos rank among six days. All total, we caught and released the premier bass fishing destinations on the 1,155 of the hard-fighting bruisers, includ- planet today. ing 30 upwards of 10 pounds and one just Good as Mexican bass fishing has been shy of the teens. to Chapman, he always had aspirations of There is not enough space here to delve returning to the jungle someday. That dream into all the colorful aspects of a world-class became reality in 2011 when he partnered expedition that was played out last January with Luis Brown’s River Plate Outfitters amid a wild and watery stage so remote that and breathed new life into an already sucwe never saw another boat. So I’ll just stick cessful operation with the introduction of a with the meat and potatoes and share some floating suite concept done up the Anglers insight on a lifetime fishing trip that should Inn way. go on the bucket list of every Texas angler I was the first journalist to visit Chapman’s with a taste for adventure. new camp, and I can honestly report the While it wasn’t my first trip to the entire outfit is everything it is cracked up Amazon, it was my first to share with a to be. For starters, the four air-conditioned guy who played a huge role in pioneering a cabins are set-up perfectly with all the creaBrazilian sport fishing revolution that contin- ture comforts of home for eight anglers. The ues to gain popularity throughout America insulated walls are decorated in an attracand beyond -- Billy Chapman, Jr. tive Brazilian motif, complete with picture

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windows that render panoramic views of the amazing surroundings that comprise the unique Amazon ecosystem. A spacious dining cabin sits adjacent to the suites, where anglers can take advantage of a well-stocked bar and enjoy excellent Brazilian cuisine prepared daily by a friendly Anglers Inn staff that treats customers like royalty from start to finish. “That’s just the way I do business,” Chapman said. “My staff goes the extra distance to ensure that each client is treated like a king from the moment they step off the airplane until they head back home. If there is another place where you can catch big peacock bass all day and then eat a banana split while lounging on a sandbar in the middle of the jungle, I haven’t heard of it.” While the top-notch facilities and service are nice, the real beauty of the Anglers Inn operation is its mobility. The entire outfit rides on shallow draft pontoons that can be linked together like a water train in a matter of minutes, then towed to areas so remote other outfitters can’t access them because of natural barriers or exclusivity rights secured through various Indian reservations and government preserves. “By staying mobile we are able to keep our clients on top of the best fishing waters available from one day to the next, and keep them comfortable at the same time,” Chapman said. It is not a deal where you are going to be sharing water with bunch of other fishermen, either. Chapman made the pledge early on to keep his camp small, limited to eight anglers per trip. In doing so, the staff is able keep things personal and guarantee clients the style of service for which Chapman’s name is famous. “We call it the Anglers Inn way,” he said. For more information on booking a trip with Anglers Inn Amazon, go online to anglersinn.com or call 1-800-468-2347. Email Matt Williams at mwilliams@fishgame.com Photo: Matt Williams

4/10/12 5:16 PM

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4/10/12 5:16 PM

Texas Saltwater by Calixto Gonzales | TF&G Saltwater Editor

ime now for that annual spring rite: The random ramblings and rumblings of a cogitating outdoor writer. Like I’ve written in the past, no subject is off limits, and if it is something that gets my attention, it’s on like neckbone.

• The latest issue among freshwater anglers—and slowly working its way into the

believe it won’t be as effective on trout and redfish. Again, it is important to remember that the Alabama rig has its roots in saltwater fishing. It never was an issue in the past,

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The Alabama rig has its roots in saltwater fishing.

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Rumblin’ and Mumblin

saltwater arena—is the question of the ethics of the Alabama rig. For those of you who haven’t seen or heard about it, the Alabama rig is a setup of five plastic swimbaits arrayed on wire droppers. Usually there are four swimbaits set up in a four corners pattern and a fifth swimbait in the center. The rig is cast and retrieved to simulate a swimming school of fish. In short, it’s a downsized version of the classic umbrella rig that is common among offshore trolling spreads. Here’s the thing: It’s incredibly effective for largemouth bass and has helped some bass pros win major tournaments. It is so effective that many decry it as unethical because of the potential to make multiple hookups on one cast. Some reports are filtering out that Alabama rigs are making their way into saltwater, and there is no reason to

and the possibility of more than a double hookup on any given cast, though possible, is unlikely. Besides, the design of the rig is ungainly and would make its use very limited in inshore applications. I recommend a waitand-see approach on the Alabama Rig as a real controversy. • Big time props to Shane Wilson and Fishing’s Future. The organization, which is dedicated to introducing fishing to children state and nation-wide, is starting to leave footprints everywhere. They have just opened chapters in Kansas and are looking to spread out even more. I’ve seen Wilson and his team in action. The impact they have on children, many of whom are fishing for the first time in their lives, is truly beautiful. They deserve as much of our support as they can get. • With Wilson, Bill Blodgett and Majesty Outdoors (who dedicates himself to taking fatherless children under his wing and out on the water and into the field) and countless of parents and adults taking young people fishing every day, I’d say the futures of hunting and fishing are in good hands. • You have not really known what the feeling of being watched is until you’ve

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looked behind you and spotted the eyes and snout tip of a 10 foot alligator following your boat’s drift. • I was very impressed with the feedback I got from my February, 2012 column, “One Man’s Trash.” It seems there are plenty of anglers on Texas saltwater that are perfectly happy spending a lazy afternoon catching what’s biting, even if it is a “lowly” species such as the skipjack or the lowly sea catfish. They say the Good Lord loves variety. So do fishermen.

• My wife used to complain about all the rods and reels I owned. Then she started fishing with me. Now, she has her own quiver of rods. It’s not as large as my own, but I haven’t heard a single complaint for quite some time. In fact, it’s a toss-up whether she or I will leave Joe’s Tackle with a new outfit. Sometimes it’s both of us.

• Yes, it really was a 10 foot gator. He’s still out there. Waiting…

• Call me a pansy if you want, but I just purchased a pair of breathable waders and

Email Cal Gonzales at CGonzales@fishgame.com

stingray boots for summer wading. I know I can get by with shorts and the ray guards, but I’m diabetic and paranoid about any scratch being infected with necrotizing fasciitis. Other diabetics should, too.

• I am dumbfounded by the reaction of some people about the punishment meted out to the New Orleans Saints by the NFL for Bountygate. I’m even more disturbed by the condemnation of whoever the “snitch” is that reported the team to Roger Goodell. The complaint wasn’t that it was a false report but that someone was a tattletale. I don’t get it: When did doing the right thing become “snitching?” I have raised my son, and I hope others have raised their children, to not be afraid of doing what is right, even if it’s unpopular. That includes when we see someone violating game laws. I’ve called the game warden on many people who were keeping too many or too small fish. I’ll continue to do so. I guess that makes me a snitch. GOOD! • As diplomatic as I try to be, I still believe that animal rights activists and vegans should be seen (rarely) and not heard. I am amazed that “advocates” such as Friends for Animals would be willing to cut their noses off to spite their faces. They would be willing to ban the hunting of exotic animals in Texas even if the cultivation and management of those exotics saves them from extinction. The logic? The idea that game management could be a form of conservation. Right now there are more scimitar-horned ibex in Texas than in their natural habitat. There are more nilgai in Texas than in Central Asia. Exotic ranchers are committed to not allowing more than 10% of their animals to be taken in any given year. That means that 90 out of every100 animals survive. What have the Friend for Animals, or PETA, or the vegans done that’s comparable? Given up cheese? Good for them. They can protect cows from being milked while outdoorsmen work to do real good.

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we walked down the pier together holding hands, my soon to be six year old and me, both of us knowing it would be a trip to remember. Connor had just caught his first speckled trout! It was his first cast of the night with his new “big boy” combo. The ‘ol Sponge Bob Square Pants rig he’d been honing his skills on, much to the dismay of Blanco river sunfish, didn’t make the trip. It was the first time my wife and I brought the kids to Rockport strictly for some saltwater fishing. His birthday was coming up in the middle of the following week. It was mid January and he decided he wanted to go fishing for his birthday. Well, I had presented it this way: “Do you want to have a birthday party at some pizza and games type place that we seem to find ourselves at every weekend for somebody else’s party with friends, or would you rather go on a family fishing trip to the coast where you might catch a big fish?” I thought it would be an easy sale since he’d recently stated, “Fishing is my most favorite thing to do.” I think he made the right choice even if I may have been subPhoto Rob Wilson, Bigstock

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consciously feeding my own desire to fish. Nonetheless, his decision warmed my heart. I felt like I had accomplished a personal goal I had secretly set for my son and daughter, for them to find fishing a fun activity. To actually want to fish, and enjoy it for all it’s worth. Being outside with nature and away from home, school, and the hustle and bustle of everyday city life. When I was a young teenager my parents took my nephew and I on a trip from Galveston to Port Isabel to visit a couple of my older siblings and we fished a few spots along the way. One of those spots was in Freeport and my nephew and I both caught our first redfish that day with dead shrimp on a bobber. They were both about 15 to

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17 inches and they were the only fish caught on the whole trip. It was in the middle of the day in blistering heat on a small pier in a back bay and we were all alone. As I recall, there wasn’t a soul in sight fishing that day for some reason. We probably weren’t supposed to catch those two fish that day, but God smiled and we did, and at least one fisherman was born and hooked for life. I thank my Dad for that and ever since my son was born I have hoped to do the same for him. We pulled into Rockport around 7p.m. or so and promptly checked-in, unloaded the vehicle, and I immediately set off for bait. I was hoping to find some live shrimp, as my own past experiences had shown me that you can catch all the 12-14-inch specks you can stand under lights on a pier in Rockport on most occasions. I knew Connor would just love all that action. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any luck finding live shrimp that night. Nonetheless, we headed out onto the pier that Friday night with frozen shrimp and artificial baits to try our luck. I guess it was about 50 degrees, a little windy and the fishing was disappointingly slow. I did

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manage to catch a 15-inch flounder on a yellow double speck rig as I watched it chase the lure up to the surface on my retrieve, but other than that it was a pretty quiet night. The four of us put in a good two hours or so of fishing before the wind chill factor chased off the wife and kids. Nonetheless, I appreciated them hanging in there for as long as they did. It was not the kind of weather you really want to be out in if you don’t have to or want to. I stayed up a couple more hours just convinced that the ‘ol Rockport feeding frenzy would commence at any moment. But I knew there was a chance this would be one of those few times when there was little or no action and there wasn’t. But we still had Saturday night to look forward to. On Saturday morning I did manage to find some good live shrimp and dropped them into my insulated aerator to keep them alive throughout the day. We tried a little daytime fishing off the pier with no success but I was still holding out hope for Saturday night under lights with live shrimp. They’re going to love it, I kept telling myself. Finally nightfall came. We layered up the clothing and out on the pier we went. I

had been nursing live shrimp all day to make sure they would be ready for duty when called on. That they were, and out under popping-corks they went while we patiently awaited the results of our offerings. I think we all claimed to feel a strike within minutes but no fish were landed after an hour or so. I was getting frustrated at this point, probably more just disappointed in not being able to share the fishing action I’d experienced here so many times before. Once again the chill factor became too much and the wife and kids again headed for the warmth of Hunts Castle while I maintained my offering of lively shrimp. Within 30 minutes of the family packing it in, I caught a couple of foot-long specks and quickly headed to the room to get the rest of my shrimp and see if anybody was interested in coming back out with me. Connor was tucked in bed and watching TV and his older sister was already asleep, but I didn’t have to ask him twice before he was up and getting layered up again to take another shot at getting his first saltwater prize. As we headed back out we passed a few people who were coming in for the night. It was just going to be me and the boy and

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the trout under the stars of a cloudless night. If nothing else, the time spent together would be memorable. We walked all the way down to the T-head and I quickly loaded his gear up with a frisky shrimp and Connor flung it out into the lighted water. In a matter of seconds, the slacking bow in line created by the now stiffening wind quickly disappeared. I pointed this out, allowing the juvenile trout just a second to get a good mouth hold on that shrimp, then urged the young fisher to set that hook. That he did, and the look on his face was priceless. All of a sudden he had more fight on the other end of his fishing line than he was used to. He did manage to muscle that thing in and we brought up to the pier for a closer look. It was a picture perfect 12-inch speck that brought great pride to a young boy and even greater relief to his dad. Mission accomplished. While re-baiting his line I remember being upset with myself that I forgot to grab the camera earlier and wasn’t able to get a picture of the moment. I glanced over at Connor to see if he was still smiling and that’s when time slowed to a crawl. He was crouched at the edge of the pier, underneath the railing, peering down into the water where one of the submerged lights is. And before I could even warn him to back up, he was in mid-air. I watched him just tip right over and the image of him spread eagle over the water will be one that will never fade from my memory. The shrimp I had in my hand was now left to fend for itself on the planks of the pier, the rod just dropped, and I looked up and down the pier as I stood up. We were still all alone. I jumped into the water with whatever I had on or in my pockets—good thing I had forgotten the camera after all. Luckily the water was only about four feet and Connor can swim, but it was the coldest water either of us had ever been in. But the height of the pier was too much for me to lift Connor back up. So I turned with him in my arms and started heading to shore, wondering how long it would take me to walk the 700-plus feet and how long it would take hypothermia to set in on us. It was very cold and our layers of clothing had us water logged, but I tried to comfort him as best I could while I wondered what had just happened. I carried him about 200 feet under the pier until we reached a point where I was able to hoist him up to the decking and he was able to pull himself the rest of the way

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up. Then I had to wedge myself up between two barnacle-laden posts with my back and feet to get myself up there with him. I asked if he was okay and he nodded that he was. His teeth were rattling too much to speak. I grabbed his hand and together we turned and walked down the pier knowing this would be a fishing trip we would never forget. When we finally made it back to the room, we stood in the doorway shaking with chills and chattering teeth while my wife took a moment to assess the situation. Before

she could ask what happened I announced, “Man Overboard!” After a warm shower and some hot chocolate, he and I slept like babes. It may not have been the way he imagined his birthday wish coming true, but he did catch the biggest fish of his young life. He didn’t get to feel the thrill of the spotted sea trout feeding frenzy. Maybe next time. We’ll be back.

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The Laws and Regulations Governing Small Game Hunting in Texas, What They Mean and Why They Exist

AMONG THE BIGGEST EXPERIENCES that have led many Texans to taking up hunting are the smallest critters that roam our woods and forests. After all, using small caliber rifles and handguns as well as small gauge shotguns is where many hunters got their beginnings while going after small animals like squirrels and rabbits and several species of other small furry species.

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There are three major types of squirrels in the Lone Star State: fox, gray, and rock. Of these, it is the fox squirrel and gray squirrel that are sought after by most hunters. The rock squirrel rarely is hunted, while two other species classified as non-game animals along with rabbits, the tiny flying squirrel and the ground squirrel, are not hunted. The largest squirrel sought by hunters is the fox squirrel, of which there are three varieties ranging in adult weight from about 1.3 pounds to 1.7 pounds. It is found in all regions except far South Texas, far West Texas and the mid-Panhandle. There are no closed seasons or bag limits for fox squirrels in counties with an open season for them, which is basically wherever they can be found. It’s a different story for 51 East Texas counties, however. Both gray and fox squirrels occupy the Pineywoods where those 51 counties have two open seasons, The most recent East Texas seasons were Oct. 1, 2011 through Feb. 5, 2012 and May 1-31, 2012, with a daily bag limit of 10 squirrels. Many East Texas hunters regard the opening of their squirrel seasons with the same excitement as the opening of deer seasons. Many “hunting clubs” in East Texas celebrate the squirrel season much as do deer hunters on hunting leases across the state, using dogs to locate the squirrels in

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trees and holding squirrel cookouts at their camps. The reason for the East Texas squirrel seasons in the 51 counties when compared to a no closed season for fox squirrels found throughout most other areas Squirrels are of the state are classified as thought by many game animals, people to be more while rabbits— of a tradition the second-most than anything. hunted small However, the reggame—are not. ulations do help keep harvest numbers in check with wildlife management goals in those areas where the hunting pressure is larger than elsewhere. Squirrels may be hunted with any legal firearm, which excludes pellet guns and other air guns while non-game animals may be hunted with pellet guns and other air guns, as well as any legal firearm. I got my start at hunting small game animals on my grandparents’ dairy in Comanche County where I hunted both cottontails and jackrabbits. As a youngster, I considered both species “rabbits” but

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Photo Stephen Coburn, Bigstock

Of all the small animals legal to hunt in Texas, it is the squirrel, a game animal, that is most sought-after, followed possibly by the cottontail rabbit, which is classified as a non-game animal. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials, the squirrel ranks as the No.3 most popular game animal among hunters in East Texas and No. 4 among all hunters statewide.

learned later that the jackrabbit is not a rabbit after all. The jackrabbit is a hare. What’s the difference? It’s mainly how the two are born. True rabbits such as the cottontail are born naked and with their eyes closed in places dug out by their mothers and lined with grass, hair from the mother’s breast and other soft materials. Jackrabbits, on the other hand, are born fully furred and with their eyes open. Thus, their nests are simply depressions without soft materials because A jackrabbit they can be up and on suns itself on their way very quickly a Stephens County ranch.

Photo Bob Hood

4/4/12 3:46 PM

Basic Texas Hunting Rules to Keep in Mind IT IS UNLAWFUL to hunt any animal on a public road or right-of-way to a public road. It is unlawful to discharge a firearm on or across a public road. A valid hunting license is required to

hunt any animal in Texas. Every hunter including residents and non-residents born after Sept. 2, 1971, must successfully complete a Hunter Education Training Course. Proof of certification or deferral must be carried

after being born. A third animal found in portions of Texas is the swamp rabbit. It has characteristics of both the cottontail and the jackrabbit. It is born fully furred like the jackrabbit but with its eyes closed like those of the cottontail. Cottontail rabbits at adulthood weigh around two to three pounds. Adult swamp rabbits normally weigh around three to six pounds while jackrabbits hit the scales at between four and eight pounds.

sautéed, baked and grilled, they can be nuisances to homes, gardens, bird feeders and crops. Squirrels often chew their ways into attics and garages, often destroy cloth lawn chairs and cushions in an attempt to gather material for their nests, while rabbits can play havoc on gardens or flower beds. Nevertheless, they are fun to hunt and there’s more that can be enjoyed after harvesting them than the excitement of the hunt and the meat they provide for the dinner table. A few years ago while making a 32-day, 232-mile canoe trip down the Clear Fork of the Brazos River in West Texas

Although rabbits and squirrels are fun to hunt and tasty on a dinner plate when prepared in various manners including fried,

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on the person at all times while hunting. The minimum age for this requirement is nine years. The cost of the course is $15. A one-time, one-year deferral for the course by persons age 17 or older may be purchased for $10. Hunter orange clothing is not required while hunting on private lands but is recommended while hunting on public lands. —Bob Hood with a friend, I shot squirrels along with way with my .410 for dinner and used the hearts and livers from the squirrels for bait to catch catfish on drop lines near our camp at night. The squirrel bait never failed to produce a catfish or two from the river. More people hunt squirrels and rabbits with .22 rimfire rifles or .410 and 20-gauge shotguns than any other types of weapons but it’s fun to hunt them with any legal weapon. All you need besides a place to hunt them is a hunting license and some ammunition.

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Open Season by Reavis Wortham | TF&G Humor Editor

“D

id I ever tell you about the time that …” Doc began. “Yes,” we answered in unison. I think we may have hurt his feelings. He frowned at his empty plate. “I was just thinking about the first time I saw Mandy work birds.” “She’d run up to a thicket, stick her head in and listen for birds,” Wrong Willie finished for him. “Then if they were running out the other side she’d hurry around and cut them off.” Doc stared at Willie like pigeons had just flown out of his ears. The Hunting Club was killing a rainy Saturday afternoon in Doreen’s 24 HR Eat Gas Now Café. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Most of us have been together for so long that we’ve heard our same stories over and over again. Doreen did what she does best. She simply poured coffee and watched us wallow in a mire of familiarity. We didn’t even have Trixie to look at. She was off on a weekend in Cozumel with her twin sister Dixie. We just knew she and Dixie were laying on the beach in their new bikini bathing suits somewhere, sipping on drinks with umbrellas in them. It wasn’t good for us. In contrast, I idly wondered what kind of wax Doreen uses on her mustache. “Did I ever tell you guys about the time that the War Department and I hired a guide on the White River in Arkansas and for three days we caught nothing but two little bitty trout?” I was kinda pleased that I’d finished the sentence before someone cut me off. “Yeah, and it rained all the time you were up there and she threatened to throw your guide in the river,” Wrong Willie said. 64 |

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“

The Hunting Club was killing a rainy afternoon in Doreen’s 24 HR Eat Gas Now Café.

“

Idle Talk

We sighed. Youngster was quietly tying flies at the far end of the counter. Doreen had finally given in and allowed him to keep his tying vise at the café. Delbert P. Axelrod, our own version of Quasimoto, joined him at the counter. “Look,” Delbert said. “Horny toad.” Doreen nearly slapped his head off. “Ow! Let me show you what I have!” Slap again. In desperation, he quickly placed the little reptile on the counter. It did a few push-ups and glared at the café’s occupants.

I thought for a minute that we were going to have a fight. But Doreen quickly realized what was going on. “Get that reptile off my counter!” Doreen ordered by way way of apology. I put my hand against Delbert’s chest and pushed him back. “I mean the lizard.” Delbert rescued the lizard and put it in his pocket. Big Roger, who was sitting next to Youngster, didn’t even blink, but then again he’s worked with us for the past fifteen years and nothing surprises him. “I woke up one morning on the lease, swung my legs over the side of the cot and stepped on a horny toad in my bare feet…” Jerry Wayne began. “And it hurt so bad that you fell backward onto Doc’s cot and woke everyone up,” Woodrow finished. F i s h

Everyone returned to their coffee cups. “Anyone want to go to my house and help me clean out my tackle box?” I asked. “I cleaned out my box last year, put it on the dock and…” “One of the kids knocked it off and you lost most of your lures,” I finished. Silence. Thunder rumbled outside. “Hud and I were catching sandies off the boat ramp one day when it was thundering like this…” “And it was lightning so y’all were casting sideways to keep from frying yourselves,” Wrong Willie said. “We’ve heard it.” “I haven’t,” Big Roger said. There was a shocked silence in the café. We stared at him. A two-headed space alien couldn’t have gotten a better reaction. “Did you hear about the time I was gigging frogs with my Cousin and a lizard fell down his neck in the dark?” I asked hopefully. “Nope,” Big Roger answered. “What about the pheasant hunt in the panhandle when it was so cold we couldn’t feel our fingers on the trigger?” “Nope,” Big Roger answered, again. The café lit up like the sun had just peeked through the storm clouds. Someone who hadn’t heard all our stories was in our midst. “What about,” Doc began cautiously, “the dove hunt when we had to stay in the room where a man had died the night before and the pool water was so green that something was alive in there but no one had the courage to get close enough to find out what it was???” We waited breathlessly. Big Roger thought for a moment. “Nope.” “Huzzah!!!” We high-fived, pulled chairs around the counter to surround Big Roger. Doreen got her raincoat and left. She’d heard them all before. Email Reavis Wortham at RWortham@fishgame.com

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4/4/12 3:45 PM

Digital Edition

Saltwater

Fish Cleaning

Basics by will leschper

Photo: Will Leschper

CLEANING YOUR CATCH CAN BE a rewarding experience, especially when you’ve had a memorable outing on any number of our state’s bay systems. By the same token, there’s nothing worse than spending a day on the water and not properly caring for the fish you’ve earned – or even paid to earn – and not maximizing your meat haul. When it comes to fish cleaning, the key is to keep the process as simple as possible. Anglers with access to public fish cleaning tables will find what typically are sound surfaces and a water hose. All you need to bring T F & G

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in this scenario is a fillet knife, or two if you’ve got a large catch, and plastic bags to store the fillets. Optional items are a set of gloves, preferably with gripping material on the palms and which should be able to keep your hands from being cut in the event of a slip up, an electric fillet knife and extra blades and a fish scaler. Now that you’ve got everything you need, here’s a look at fish cleaning A L M A N A C

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basics for the most common saltwater catches by Texas anglers.

Redfish, Trout & Drum

Redfish and black drum are tougher than speckled trout, so many anglers prefer to use Rockport fishing guide an electric Jim Friebele cleans fillet knife a black drum with an with interelectric fillet knife. changeable &

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TF&G ALMANAC Table of Contents

texas guns & gear • Throw the Dice | by steve lamascus

GEARING UP SECTION

74 75 76 65

COVER STORY • Fish Cleaning Basics | by will leschper

texas boating • Navigating 68 GPS Units | texas kayaking • Olympic 71 Kayaker Strikes Gold | by lenny rudow

by greg

berlocher

paul’s tips • Different Strokes | by paul bradshaw

blades if they’re cleaning lots of fish rather than a standard fillet knife, but it’s all about preference. First, make a cut behind the gills down to the belly, making sure not to cut through the backbone. Next, cut along the belly from the first cut, down to the vent of the fish. Then, place the knife back in the first cut, turn it toward the tail and begin cutting down and alongside the backbone and down to the tail. As you cut toward the tail, don’t cut the fillet all the way off the

The Skin Game FILETING IS THE ACCEPTED practice for meat removal on almost every game fish species. However, with a little ingenuity, you can enjoy a new twist on great table fare by trying a different approach to cleaning your catch. In many other countries, cooking fish whole is as common a practice as filleting them is here, and it can be downright tasty if done correctly. The first step if you plan to smoke, grill or bake a fish in its own skin is to remove anything you wouldn’t consider edible. This means gutting and usually scaling 66 |

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industry insider • Harlingen, Pathfinder | by TF&G staff fish and game gear • Hot New Outdoor Gear | by TF&G staff

FISHING FORECAST SECTION

HOW-TO SECTION

texas tested • Scout, Suzuki, Elzetta | by TF&G staff

hotspots focus: upper coast • Let the Coastal Fishing Begin | by capt. eddie hernandez

hotspots focus: galveston • May Brings More Than Flowers | by capt. mike holmes

hotspots focus: matagorda • Sand, Surf and Shell | by

hotspots focus: rockport • Politics in Fishing | by capt. mac

hotspots focus: lower coast • Beach Brawl | by calix-

Texas Hotspots • Texas’ Hottest Fishing Spots | by tom behrens, calixto gonzales, & bob hood

sportsman’s daybook • Tides & Prime Times | by TF&G staff

special section • Father’s 101 Day Gift Guide | TF&G by

staff

OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE SECTION

114 116

texas tasted • Catfish and Wild Rice Soup | by bryan slaven freshwater tales • Freshwater Fish Cleaning Basics | by matt williams

CLASSIFIED 120 OUTDOOR DIRECTORY • Guides, Gear and More | TF&G by

122

staff

fish & game Photos • Your Action Photos | by TF&G readers

bink grimes

gable

to gonzales

www.FishGame.com

fish, leaving a portion of skin attached to the tail – something that will make it easier to cut the meat from the fillet if you choose to go skinless. In the case of redfish, some anglers prefer to leave the skin on for grilling “on the half-shell.” In that instance, it’s OK to cut the fillet completely from the fish rather than stopping just short of the tail. When you leave the fillet attached at the tail, place your knife flat and at a downward angle to begin cutting the meat away. If

you’re using a standard fillet knife you can use a back and forth sawing motion as you cut the meat from the skin. If you’re using an electric fillet knife this process is simpler as you typically can go straight down the fillet in one fluid motion. You likely will come away with some rib bones attached to your fillet, which easily can be removed with another slice of the knife, guiding the blade in an angular

whatever you plan to cook. When scaling a fish, you can use a number of implements, devices made specifically for the task as well as everyday utensils like a butter knife or a paint scraper. Scaling a fish also can be beneficial when attempting to fillet one with a tough exterior that quickly could dull a blade. Once you’ve scaled a fish you plan to cook whole, it’s time to gut it, which again is a relatively simple process. You will want to make a belly cut on whatever species you’ve caught and then remove all the innards and anything else you wouldn’t want to eat. You also should remove the gills, which can

leave a funky taste if they are cooked with the rest of the fish. “Bleeding” fish is not common on the Texas coast, as it is in other areas. The theory is that removing as much blood from the fish as possible it makes it more edible. But, as long as you keep the fish on ice and take care of it promptly and effectively at the cleaning table, you can remove whatever “red” there is on your meat. Also, trim any red meat if you plan to freeze your fillets, since it can leave a fishy taste if it sits for any length of time.

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—Will Leschper

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Navigating GPS Units

pend some time in the boating biz, and after a while you’ll start hearing the same sorts of questions time and again. Here’s one I’m asked regularly, this time by Raymond P., who runs his boat in the waters of Aransas: “Can you possibly run an article on the best marine GPS to buy for the coastal area and why? I’m in the market for one and I didn’t realize there were so many brands and models to choose from. Please help!” No problem Raymond, we’re here to serve—and to make sure your boating experience is a good one. So while you’re shopping, here’s what you should keep in mind.

1. Size Matters. You won’t find many guys who say their GPS/chartplotter screen is too big, but you can find plenty of people

who feel their screen is too small. It’s tough to see the numerals on many four and five inch diagonals, and in zoomed-out views, details often disappear. And don’t even think about using a split-screen view on a unit that small. Being able to split the screen is very important, since most people like to be able to look at a chart screen and a steering screen at the same time, when cruising. That way, you can see both the overall view of your location and direction of travel and at the same time, a numeric steering screen, such as a highway or compass view. These numeric screens enable you to be much more precise when steering a course line—but with a five-inch screen, forget about it. A seven-incher is absolutely minimal for effective split-screen use, and a nine-inch screen will make you a lot happier. Considering these factors, why do four and five inch screen units exist? First off because they’re inexpensive, and secondly, because looking at them in a store is very deceiving. Standing at the counter a four inch screen seems like it’ll work just fine,

because there’s no motion. As soon as you’re on a moving, rocking, rolling boat, however, you discover it’s a whole lot tougher to see those tiny numerals. So remember: when it comes to GPS/chartplotters, bigger is almost always better. 2. Reliability Rules. What good do marine electronics do for you when they don’t work? None, and in fact, an electronics failure at sea can get you into hot water. So make sure the unit you choose is a reliable one. Most modern manufacturers make decent products, but there are a few details to check for. First of all, consider waterproofing. If you have an open boat with an exposed helm and a unit is called “splash-proof,” that’s code for “imminent failure.” Look for a unit’s IPX (sometimes called IP or IEC) rating. A rating of IPX 4 means the unit is protected from splashing, but in real-world use, in my experience these units die quickly in the marine environment. IPX5 and IPX 6 units have been tested by spraying with pressurized jets (12.5 liters per minute for the 5 rating and 100 liters

when using a well-honed blade.

t CONTINUED FROM PAGE 66 motion to maximize how much meat is left. In the case of redfish with the skin on, it can be easier to leave ribs in and not waste meat, especially since the bones are easy to pick around when the fare is grilled up tender, but again, it’s all about preference. After you’ve taken care of the first side, simply flip the fish over and repeat on the other. Since the fish will be missing that chunk, it’s best to use a cutting surface such as wood that will hold the fish and make the second fillet easier to retrieve. You also may want to use a glove, though I’ve met some guides and other anglers who would rather not use one because they’ve said it can make them lose their feel, which isn’t a good thing 68 |

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Flounder

Some anglers think flatfish are difficult to fillet, when in fact they mostly are meat – of the great eating variety. First, make sure you have a clean, flat surface and wash off as much slime as possible to make the flounder easier to manipulate. The first cut

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should be through the skin behind the gills, making sure not to slice into any bones. Next, find the lateral line that runs down the middle of the side of the fish from the gills to the tail, which roughly marks its backbone. Then, make a cut from the center of the cut behind the gills down to the tail. Your knife will find the backbone and the cut should be on top of and down to the backbone, running to the tail. Insert the tip of your knife along the backbone and under the meat, using long strokes from the gills to the tail, which will begin removing one fillet. You can use your thumb to lift the meat away from the bones as you work down the length of the fish. Once you free the top piece from the CONTINUED ON PAGE 70

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per minute for 6) and these usually do well on boats. But for the most reliability, you want to get that rating up to 7. IPX7 units can be submersed for up to 30 minutes in water to a depth of one meter, and they’ll survive the experience. And let’s be real— haven’t you been through rough seas or a driving rain that made you feel like you were practically submerged? A second feature to consider is wire plug connections. All units will have a power cord connection and some will also have an external antenna. (NOTE: units with builtin antennas work great unless you’re mounting them under a metal hard top; they’re also a lot simpler to install. In most cases, these are the way to go). Combo fishfinder/ chartplotters will also have a transducer wire and plug. Cheap plastic plugs can be expected to break after a few years of exposure to the sun and saltwater, if they’re plugged and un-plugged regularly. If your unit is going to live on the helm this isn’t a huge deal, since you won’t be pulling those plugs very often. But if you keep your boat in an area where you have to remove the unit after use every weekend or risk theft, those plugs will quickly become a weak point. The final reliability factor you need to take into account is that of the company which produced your unit. Check out their reputation and also check out other people’s customer service experiences—a quick Google search will be quite illuminating. 3. Chartography Choices. The types of charts in your plotter’s brain will have a huge impact on how good a view it gives you. Most units come with a “background”

map, which should be considered useless for real-world navigation. The detail level is minimal, it won’t give you depth contours, and it won’t even show channel markers or buoys. In some cases you can purchase “bundles” of chartography pre-installed on the machine, and in others, you need to buy a chart card that fits into a slot on the machine. Both systems work just fine,but you need to pay close attention to the specific chartography available for your boating area, on a unit you’re considering. In some cases, specific providers who cover specific areas more thoroughly than others are only available with certain brand units. And on some more advanced models, you may be able to use your cell phone and an app to update or add chartography to your unit. 4. Button it Up. These days, touchscreens are all the rage. Some new units still have those old-fashioned buttons, some have a combination of tactile controls that go along with a touch-screen, and some are pure 100-percent touch-screen. The units with touchy-feely control are extremely intuitive, and you probably won’t ever need to refer to the instruction manual to navigate from point A to point B. But beware of the button-free machines. While they may seem great in the store and are okay on large vessels, these often prove un-usable on small boats that get bounced around by big waves. Especially while underway at planing speeds, you simply can’t hit the right part of the screen because of all that motion. With buttons, on the other hand, you can rest your hand on the corner of the unit and move your finger around until you feel the

right button, then give it a push, in virtually any conditions. 5. Consider a Combo. If you’re going to buy a GPS/chartplotter, in many cases it makes sense to spend an extra buck or two and get a combo GPS/fishfinder unit. This allows for data integration without any additional wiring or networking, limits your learning curve to a single interface, and simplifies mounting. More importantly, it opens up room at the helm to get that larger screen we were talking about earlier. What about that old argument that separate units are better, so if one fails you still have the other? A fishfinder won’t help you navigate home, and a chartplotter won’t help you find fish, so if one unit or the other goes bad you’ll be out of luck any way you cut it. On top of that, twice as many units means twice the possibility of something going wrong.

Well, Raymond, we hope that helps you make your decision. And whatever that decision is, we’re pretty sure you’ll be happy when all is said and done, because boating with a GPS/chartplotter is safer and more fun than going without, no matter what kind of unit it is. E-mail Lenny Rudow at LRudow@fishgame.com Check out LENNY RUDOW’s Texas Boating Blog at www.Fishgame.com/blogs

Cover Story: fish cleaning basics t CONTINUED FROM PAGE 68 backbone, continue the cuts to the bottom half, which will free the fillets from the backbone. You should leave the pieces attached to some skin near the tail which will make it easier to remove the meat. Next, fold them over so the meat is up and lay the knife flat, making a sawing motion after cutting down to the skin, removing as much meat as pos70 |

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sible. Then, finish the other fillet in the same fashion, holding the fish for leverage as you remove the rest of that side of meat. Once you’ve filleted the dark side, flip the fish over and repeat the previous steps, though it should be noted that the fillets on the white side are thinner. It typically is more fruitful when carving up a flounder to use a fixed blade fillet knife rather than an electric model since it can be easy to overdo

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a cut or cut too deep if you’re not careful. Proper care of your catch ultimately begins the second you land a fish and it’s your responsibility from both a legal and ethical standpoint to make sure you don’t waste a natural resource.

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4/20/12 9:12 AM

Olympic Kayaker Strikes Gold

Photo: Jackson Kayaks

nless you are a fan of competitive whitewater kayaking, you may not have heard of Eric Jackson of Tennessee. An 8-time Olympic champion, Jackson is a certified celebrity in the whitewater community and he launched a kayak company in 2004 based on his good name. As you might imagine, Jackson Kayak’s first hulls were purely whitewater products but the company began developing flat water hulls around 2010. With the addition of Drew Gregory to their team, the company began crafting hulls for fishermen for the first time. Gregory is a well-known kayak angler and Jackson Kayak wanted to add his body of knowledge to their already considerable brain pool. Under Gregory’s tutelage, Jackson Kayak has introduced two new siton-top hulls designed for fishing, the Coosa and the Cuda. Both hulls are loaded with features anglers will love. The hulls are designed for different types of water (more on that later) but a common attribute is stability. The company’s first design goal was to develop hulls that allowed anglers to stand up for prolonged periods and fish comfortably. I can stand up in a lot of hulls, but that isn’t to say I can work a surface plug or double haul an 8-weight fly rod while doing so. The Coosa and Cuda join a small group of hulls that provide anglers the freedom to stand and fish while afloat. Another nice feature both hulls share is T F & G

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the Hi/Lo Removable Seat. A was designed as a river boat, not good backrest is a must if you a flats boat. plan on logging any amount of The Cuda is a rocket ship time in a kayak and the Hi/Lo designed for long stretches of Seat utilizes a tubular alumiopen water. The hull is 14.25 num frame covered with fabric inches in length. Its sleek design to provide comfortable support. and needle sharp bow improve The cockpit design in both hulls efficiency and tracking. The hull allows the seat to be situated in is 29.75 inch wide providing the a high or low position. The high necessary stability if you want to position allows you to sit a few stand up and fish. inches taller in the saddle while One of my favorite features is the low position helps minimize the rod tip cover on the Cuda’s your profile if paddling in the bow. If you routinely push wind. through tangles of mangroves Standing and sitting in a in search of spots and specks, kayak can be a wobbly proposiyou understand the challenge of tion. Dropping your posterior keeping lines and lures from getall the way to the waterline gets ting tangled, or worse, breaking more difficult with age. (Don’t a rod tip. The rod tip cover proask me how I know this.) The vides a safe sanctuary for delicate Coosa and Cuda both feature rod tips while you are paddling. a strap Jackson Kayak calls The Cuda’s cockpit has a a Stand Assist Handle. The long, rectangular hatch in the strap is anchored to the hull, just cockpit, allowing anglers to store forward of the cockpit. When rods inside the hull. The extra standing or sitting, you lean large hatch can accommodate backwards a bit and hold tight to several shotgun cases as well. the strap, allowing the muscles Jackson Kayak will be releasing Jackson in your arms and shoulders to a cooler later this year which Kayak’s assist the muscles in your legs as you “Cuda.” will fit inside the storage hatch. Early raise or lower your body. The strap reports suggest that it will be large definitely makes it much easier to lower enough to hold a large redfish or several yourself. I found the extra few inches of seat speckled trout. height provided by the Hi/Lo seat to be In a market where it is common for quite welcome. manufacturers to add a couple of rod holdThe Coosa, Jackson Kayak’s first fish- ers to an existing hull and proudly proclaim ing hull, was designed for small water they have introduced an angling model, the duty, such as streams and rivers. Enhanced Coosa and Cuda are examples of what a maneuverability is key in tight quarters and real fishing kayak looks like. Looks like Eric Jackson’s river heritage shows in the hull’s Jackson has struck gold again. design. Taping just 11.5 feet in length, the Coosa is quite nimble. The river boat has a large, rounded bow which enhances stability Greg Berlocher can be and maneuverability. The only knock on the reached for question or comment at Coosa is the bow design makes it harder to GBerlocher@fishgame.com. control in the wind. As such, it isn’t a good fit for the coast, but in fairness, the Coosa A L M A N A C

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have an issue with boats powered by paddles. The issue is I own too many of them. If you happen to wander past my house and glance into the back yard you will see four kayaks and a canoe. On the side of the house there are two flat-bottom boats and an old dilapidated pirogue. That’s seven boats, and there are only four people living in my house. In my defense, one of the boats belongs to a friend of mine, but truly I do have a problem. Today, owning a boat powered by you instead of a motor can be very advantageous. First, gas is expensive. I can paddle around all day powered by a bottle of water and a few Twinkies where a big boat can easily burn $50 in gas if you run around a lot. Second, with water levels across the state well below average there are places you just can’t get to with a big boat, while a canoe can easily glide in just a few inches of water. Now, owning a canoe and knowing how to propel it are two different things. Simply jumping in and dipping your paddle in the water will move you forward, eventually. I speak from experience since in some of my earliest outings in a canoe I spent more time going in circles than forward. So let’s look at a few paddling strokes that will help you get your boat into likely fish holding places with the least amount of effort. These are just basics strokes, nothing elaborate or complicated. When there are two paddlers in a canoe the basic forward stroke will be used the majority of the time. One paddler uses this stroke on one side of the vessel while the other paddler does the same on the alternate side. This is an easy one. Start with the blade of the paddle perpendicular to the

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a little bit of practice you can have this one mastered in no time. At first, paddling a canoe seems to be illistration by paul bradshaw

Different Strokes

canoe; reach out in front of you dipping the blade into the water. Pull the paddle straight back along the side of the canoe until it reaches your hip—don’t go too far—then pull it out of the water and repeat. With both paddlers doing this stroke on opposite sides of the canoe with the same amount of force, the canoe will move straight ahead. If you ever find yourself on the water alone, you know that in order to keep your canoe traveling straight, a solo paddler usually has to alternate paddling on both sides of the canoe. Using a forward stroke on one side then moving to the other will move you forward but it is not the most efficient method. If you learn how to do a C-stroke you can keep your paddle on one side of the boat maximizing the time you have the blade in the water propelling the vessel forward. I’ll give you one guess as to why it’s called the C-stroke (the path of the paddle blade looks like a C). The C-stroke is a variation of the forward stroke with a few twists at the beginning and end of the stroke. Start the C-stroke by reaching out in front of you, just like the forward stroke, but instead of having the blade of the paddle perpendicular to the side of the canoe; it starts out parallel with the canoe. Now, instead of moving the paddle straight back along the side of the canoe you pull the blade slightly towards the boat. After this initial small movement, twist the paddle so that the blade is now perpendicular to the side of the canoe and perform a forward stroke by pulling straight back along the side of the boat. As the paddle reaches your hip, once again twist the paddle so that the blade is parallel to the side of the canoe. With another small movement, push the paddle away from the canoe slightly before pulling it out of the water. The completed stroke will resemble a C in the water. With

a straight forward event. It can’t be that hard since they make nine-year-olds do it at camps all across the nation, but realistically, it’s harder than it appears. The good news is, if you learn just a couple strokes you can easily handle any flat water situations that you might encounter.

E-mail Paul Bradshaw at PBradshaw@fishgame.com Check out PAUL BRADSHAW’s Outdoor Blog at www.Fishgame.com/blogs

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4/20/12 9:12 AM

Throw the Dice

n the last few years I have bought several used guns. Most of the time I have been exceedingly lucky and they have been from very good to outstanding. However, I have been stung a couple of times, also. Possibly the worst way to buy a gun is from one of the Internet auction sites. Not that they are crooked or deceitful, or anything like that, in fact, I spend a lot of time on them looking for one gun or another and I have never had a complaint. However, you never know about the guy selling the gun. He is probably not dishonest, but he may be dirt-ignorant about guns. Ask him if the barrel is good and he’ll tell you it looks fine, nice and shiny. The question is: Does he know what a fine barrel looks like, and does he know enough to tell the difference between a fine barrel and one with the rifling shot out for three inches ahead of the chamber? A barrel that is completely shot out will still look nice and shiny. A great example of this is the two .222 Remingtons I bought over the Internet within the last 5 years. One of them was a nice looking, older Remington Model 700 ADL, the other was a Remington Model 722 with an aftermarket stock. I bought them both at bargain prices. The Model 700 looked very good, but unfortunately didn’t shoot well. The best group I ever got out of it was about 3 inches and it averaged around 4”. The Model 722, however, which I just recently bought, is a jewel of rare quality. I just shot it for group with a new load using 52-grain Berger flat-base hollow points. I first shot a 3-shot group that measured .3”. I thought this might be a fluke. Most older guns do not shoot anywhere near that well. Then I T F & G

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shot a 5-shot group that measured .6”, and decided that I had bought a cherry rather than a lemon. The other shot on the target was made after I moved the scope to final zero an inch high. Now, you tell me, how many of you would expect to get a 50-year old gun over the Internet that would shoot like that? The average, by the way, is just four tenths of an inch at 100 yards. Heck, I can’t hold that well most of the time. When you buy a used gun you can never be 100 percent certain that it is not a lemon. If I can get my hands on the gun, and have the time to check it thoroughly, including taking it out of the stock to check the bedding and make certain the stock is not cracked or damaged, I generally can tell you if it will shoot or not, but there are things I can’t see with my naked eye. The other problem is when I don’t have the ability to take a good, close look at the gun. Once, for instance, I bought a beautiful .22 Hornet. For some reason that I do not remember, I did not get to check the bore. However, the gun was in such fantastic shape outside I was pretty certain that the previous owner had taken good care of it. Wrong! When I got the gun home and inspected it closely, I found the bore was badly pitted. Remember this, most people—but not all, by far—know they have to wipe off the gun and oil the metal parts or it will rust, but not all of them know that they need to clean the inside of the barrel. It is almost a given that the barrel of a used gun is going to need a thorough scrubbing with a brass brush and a good bore cleaner. I am amazed at the number of people who never clean out the barrels of their rifles. You would think that was common knowledge, but apparently it is not. I do not remember ever buying a used gun that had a properly cleaned barrel. I once bought an old FN Mauser .3006 that the owner sold because it was “shot out.” I picked it up for a song and was going to make it into a custom gun, which I finally A L M A N A C

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did, reluctantly. But when I got it home and checked the barrel it was so dirty that I decided to clean it up and shoot it before I sent it off to be rebuilt. I spent a couple of days off and on, cleaning the gunk out of the barrel of that old Mauser. When I finished it looked like it was practically new and I could see no reason it should not shoot well. The stock looked like it had been used as a hammer, but was basically intact. I took the gun to the bench and shot it for group. I was amazed when the first few 3-shot groups ran around an inch. The old gun was not shot out, it was just so dirty and full and metal and powder fouling that the bullets could barely squeeze through the bore. I kept the old gun, refinished the stock, and shot it for several years before I finally had it turned into a .35 Whelen by Hill Country Rifles. There are no real “tricks” to buying a used gun. Just look at it carefully. I have found over the years that the vast majority of used guns have been fired very little. They may have a lot of exterior wear, and cosmetic damage, but many are mechanically almost new. Most average gun owners will not shoot a gun 500 times in their lifetime, and the lifetime of the average barrel in a standard caliber is several times that. The gamble comes when you buy one sight unseen or over the Internet where you only get to see photos of the outside of the gun. Still, I have found that it is worth the gamble. I have gotten more great deals than lemons. If you do much gun trading, it is certainly worth throwing the dice. Your next gun may be like my last .222 and shoot 1/2-inch groups. If not, well, lots of gunsmiths will put a new barrel on it and glass the action. E-mail Steve LaMascus at SLamascus@fishgame.com Check out STEVE LaMASCUS’s Texas Guns Blog at www.Fishgame.com/blogs &

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Scout boats are known for innovative design, but there are some problems with small boats which simply can’t be solved, right? Like, where do you put that big, bulky, cooler on a small center console, without cluttering up what little deck space there is? News flash: This age-old problem is gone, on Scout’s new 177 Sportfish. The aft deck of this boat flips up easily on gas-assist struts, and underneath, you’ll discover a compartment sized for a 72-quart cooler. It’s kept hidden and since it’s protected from direct sunlight it even improves the cooler’s chilling ability. With a Yamaha 70-hp four-stroke, we cruised at close to 30-mph and topped out nearing 40-mph. Better yet, with the throttle held back to 3500 rpm, while running at a hair over 21-mph we got 9 mpg.

Scout 177 Sportfish

The hull has a 13-degree transom deadrise and it handled waves well, skipping across a one-foot chop without banging or soaking me. And when I cranked the wheel over, this little skiff responded with sporty, gripping handling—weaving through backcountry channels and creeks will be a blast. Hull draft is a mere eight inches, great for working flats and shallow bays. You’re a dedicated shallow-water angler? The 177 is also available in a flats version called the 177 Winyah, which comes with a poling platform and a trolling motor plug. Like other Scouts the 177 is well74 |

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equipped, with a standard features list including such goodies as a livewell, six vertical rodracks, two gunwale holders, a pair of built-in tackle drawers, and a 20-gallon fuel tank. The console sports a forward seat, which has Scout’s high-grade cushions—not some cheaper version many builders would slap on low-cost models. Down-sides? I really don’t have any to report, with this model. Check it out at www.scoutboats.com. —Lenny Rudow

Suzuki DF25

If you need a new 25-hp outboard, you’re in luck. Suzuki just introduced a new and improved DF25 that will make life easier and boating more pleasurable. The DF25 has a new, hotter ignition system. That means pull-starting just got easier and more reliable. This is one of the smallest engines around to incorporate an onboard computer, so you get high-tech perks like advanced ignition timing and engine monitoring. The DF25 is also fitted with other big-engine features; an over-rev limiter, a low oil pressure light, and a freshwater-flush. For a 25-hp outboard, this model also has plenty of kick. It’s a 70-degree V-2, four-valve OHV design, with 538 cc displacement and a 2.80” x 2.68” bore and stroke. That allows it to produce 25 horses while spinning at up to a maximum of 5500 RPM; most other 25s have an RPM rating of 6000, so they’re working harder and longevity could be reduced. This power package also offers plenty of flexibility, with 15” and 20” shaft lengths, tiller or remote steering, and manual or electric start. It also has a 15-amp alternator, Suzuki a nice bonus feature on a small DF25 outboard like this.

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Sounds interesting? Get more info at www.suzukimarine.com. —LR

Elzetta Flashlights

Elzetta flashlights are made in the USA and come in 72 different configurations. The high quality aluminum framed 2 and 3 cell lights use the industry standard 123 lithium batteries and the 2-cell is rechargeable battery compatible. Import manufactures might over-estimate lumen count, but Elzetta’s 235 lumen brightness is no exaggeration. The 3-cell series will produce Elzetta ZFL-M60 235 lumens for 2.5 hours then add another 10 hours of useful light under 235 lumens. A very useful 15 lumen secondary setting can produce up to 60 hours of light on a single set of batteries. Switches come in rotary, clicky, high/low, high/strobe, and remote cables. The Malkoff LED lamps come in standard 8 degree light beam and a 60 degree flood. And there are three choices of bezels; standard, low profile or crenellated. Elzetta even sells every part separately with the tailcap switch being the control center – for a new switch setting (like high/low to high/strobe) just purchase another tailcap. Elzettas have passed amazing durability tests from being disassembled underwater, frozen in ice, dropped 10 stories, drug behind vehicles, doused in burning fuel, hammering nails into wood and even shot – yet they never even blink, unless on strobe function, of course. These flashlights retail around $175, but you will never need a replacement. Order yours along with weapons mounts at www. elzetta.com or call (859) 707-7471. —Dustin Ellermann

Photos: Scout Boats; Suzuki; Elzetta

Scout 177 Sportfish

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4/20/12 9:12 AM

There’s Something for Everyone at Harlingen

Photo: Harlingen CVB

Location is key when visiting the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). That is why Harlingen is a magnet for visitors. Centrally located between the two other major cities in the RGV – McAllen and Brownsville – Harlingen is the ideal place to stay while experiencing what the entire Rio Grande Valley has to offer whether it is spending

the day on the beaches of South Padre Island, visiting the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, shopping at the RGV Premium Outlets in Mercedes, or catching a White Wings baseball game – Harlingen’s own professional baseball team – at Harlingen Field. With an average temperature of 75 degrees during the winter months Harlingen is an outdoors destination 365 days a year. A birders paradise, Harlingen is one of nine World Birding Centers in the Rio Grande Valley. The Arroyo Colorado/ Hugh Ramsey Nature Park is a lovely 55-acre tract with photo blinds, nature T F & G

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trails, a picnic area, ponds and streams. The Harlingen Thicket is a 40-acre tract with hiking trails, a remnant of Tamaulipas native brush, and an impressive plant variety in an urban setting. Both are excellent places to see the more than 30 species of birds that can only be seen in South Texas including the Altamira Oriole, Green Jay, Harris’s Hawk, and the Great Kiskadee. While all of Texas is home to some great hunting opportunities, Harlingen’s rich landscape and year-round greenery help develop some of the larger specimens to be found in the state. Nearby ranches offer professional hunts overseen by some of the best guides in the area. Wild game in the area include White-tailed deer, Javelina, Wild hogs, Dove, Quail, Ducks, and the exotic Nilgai – originally imported from India by the King Ranch. Anglers will enjoy all of the sport fishing available along the Gulf Coast, whether it is Redfish, Snook, Tarpon or Marlin, South Texas has them all. This tropical fishing experience is unlike anything else in the U.S. offering the same angling experience that fisherman travel the world to find. Fish the ankle deep flats in the Laguna Madre on Friday and explore the sapphire waters offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. A combination of Harlingen’s convenient and affordable lodging and the professional guide services available are sure to make lasting memories. The Texas International Fishing Tournament is held August. In the last seven decades the tournament has become the largest on the Texas Gulf Coast, and is ranked in the top ten billfish tournaments in the world. Harlingen is also the perfect destination for golf. In fact, according to a poll by the National Golf Foundation, the Rio Grande Valley has more playable days of golf per year than anywhere else in the United States. Harlingen has four public golf courses and one private course. Just down the road are two 18-hole championship courses at Rancho Viejo Resort and A L M A N A C

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a picturesque course along the Laguna Madre Bay – the South Padre Island Golf Club. And then there is the shopping. From a brand new Bass Pro Shop, to the historic downtown brimming with boutiques, antique shops and restaurants, to the spectacular Valle Vista Mall Ranked number one as the least expensive cities in the United States by the Council for Community and Economic Research, Harlingen offers a great vacation opportunity for any budget. Harlingen allows visitors to stay in affordable-quality accommodations, and dine in a variety of unique restaurants as they sit back, relax, and experience the best of South Texas – 365 days a year – all this and much more, only minutes from the beaches of South Padre Island and the legendary Laguna Madre Bay.

New Website for Pathfinder Maverick Boat Company, builders of the Pathfinder brand of bay boats, announced the launch of its new website, www.pathfinderboats.com. The site highlights Pathfinder’s 12 models with full screen imagery, product specific videos, an archived news blog and detailed image galleries with supporting captions. “We’ve been working really hard on enhancing the product line-up, evidenced by the recent additions of the 2200 TRS, 2300 HPS and 2400 TRS. This site does an exceptional job of showcasing those boats along with the rest on the lineup,” commented Scott Deal, President of Maverick Boat Company. Pathfinder boats are manufactured by Maverick Boat Company. Inc, builders of the legendary Maverick, Hewes, Pathfinder and Cobia boat brands. For more information, go to www.pathfinderboats.com. &

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Get Reel, Get Hooked

Streamlight TLR-4

Reel Hooked is a new, distinct style of fishing apparel featuring eleven unique designs with several more coming soon. Reel Hooked shirts come in men’s and women’s styles, short and long sleeve. For sun protection, Reel Hooked offers a performance shirt that is 100% polyester, quick dry, moisture wicking and UPF 50. They also carry a UPF 50 hat and UPF fishing gloves. Combined with their buff and you have maximum sun protection. Their other styles include light weight 50/50 cotton and polyester blend, perfect for fishing in the Texas sun. Reel Hooked also has caps and visors in a variety of colors, including quick wick-max dry and UPF50. Several women’s designs are available in all styles including performance and Just a few bling shirts. of Reel Visit Reel Hooked’s Hooked online at designs. www.reelhookedgear.com. 76 |

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The Streamlight TLR-4 is a compact, rail-mounted tactical light that features C4® LED technology and a red laser for long-range targeting. The new light is designed to provide extraordinary brightness and added versatility to compact and subcompact hand guns for a wide variety of tactical and home defense uses. The TLR-4’s 640-660nm red laser increases the user’s ability to focus on a target, such as a varmint or animal predator, or during emergency situations, under low-light conditions. The TLR-4 uses C4 LED technology to deliver 110 lumens and 5,000 candela, and features a textured parabolic reflector to produce a concentrated beam with optimal peripheral light. The TLR-4 can be deployed in Laser-Only mode to keep the gun on target, in LED-Only mode to provide bright, focused light, or in dual mode which uses both light sources. The light provides a run time of 1.5 continuous hours in LED Only or LED and Laser mode, and 11 hours regulated output in Laser-Only mode. The light mounts easily to most standard rail guns within seconds, using Streamlight’s one-handed, snap-on-and-tighten interface. A key kit with five interchangeable keys is included to securely fit the light to the broadest array of hand guns of any light on the market. Constructed with an impactresistant polymer, the TLR-4 is powered by a single 3 Volt CR2 lithium battery, with a storage life of 10 years. The light weighs only 2.81 ounces and measures just 2.73 inches in length. For more information, call (800) 5237488 or visit www.streamlight.com. F i s h

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Streamlight TLR-4 rail-mounted tactical light.

Not Your Grandpappy’s Porkrind Uncle Josh has made Pork Rind baits for 90 years. Leave it to experience to come up with the latest revolution in pork baits. Real pork fat is used with real bait products to make the best jig and bait trailers available! Available in minnow, frog, worm and many more body styles. The combination of real pork, real bait and 90 years of experience will add extra pounds to your catch! Real bait flavor with incredible action. This as close as Uncle you can get to live Josh’s bait and not be new Meat in trouble with jig and Mother Nature. bait trailCheck out ers. the entire prod-

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Welch Ct., Traverse City, MI 49686. For more information visit www.altusbrands. com or call 800-891-3660.

Pocket-Sized How-To Guides Pocket Guides are pocket-sized guide books loaded with expert material. Each Pocket Guide, 29 titles in total, is a standalone tool on a dedicated subject. www.pocketguides.net cover a range of outdoor subjects including fly fishing, fly fishing knots, species specific fishing techniques, canoeing, golf, outdoor photography, animal tracks, field dressing game, outdoor survival skills, emergency first aid and auto mainte-

Altus Brands publishes 29 pocket guide books titless.

nance and emergency repair. Measuring just 3 3/8” wide by 4 1/2” tall by ¼” thick– an amazing amount of information is packed into this compact, easy-to-carry book. Pocket Guides are durably laser printed on specially-formulated, heat-treated, PVC plastic pages that are tough, yet flexible. They are waterproof and virtually indestructible. Pocket Guides take the term “user friendly” to a whole new level. All Pocket Guides are spiral bound so that the book can be laid flat while reading– and it stays open even when the wind is blowing. There is just nothing else like them, anywhere, at any price. MSRP is $12.99. Altus Brands, LLC is located at 484 W. T F & G

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stealthy 3-D skins with marbled patterns developed from actual water photography. They call their visually quiet design “skyward” camouflage — from the fish’s perspective. Available in four environmentallybased colors, the water patterns can blend angler with nature to minimize detection from nervous finned creatures. If a good, comfortable fit with less fog, enhanced wicking, skyward camo design and maximum rated UV protection is of interest, do yourself a favor and upgrade to the SunGuard Tube. Aqua Design, located in rural Idaho, is the world’s leading manufacturer of camouflage apparel for anglers For more information, visit www.aquadesign.com.

Three Reasons to Upgrade to a Face Mask Tube For those who wear a neck gaiter for sun protection, the advantages of protecting face, ears and neck with a tube are obvious. Tubes are easy to put on (especially when compared to sun screen), they keep lines and equipment free of sun screen residue and smell, provide all day, long-lasting sun protection, wick perspiration, and tubes can add a camouflage element if their patterns are designed to blend into nature. But with all the advantages of wearing a face mask, there are three new reasons to consider upgrading to Aqua Design’s SunGuard Tube. One size does not fit all. To expect anglers to wear the same size tube would be like asking them to wear the same size wading shoe. Head, face and neck sizes can vary as much as shoe sizes. And if a tube isn’t comfortable, chances are it may stay in the glove box, opting for the sun screen bottle. The new SunGuard Tubes are available in three sizes. Breathe easier with less fog. But when trying to spot skittish fish while wading the flats, face-mask-fog can be one of the frustrating liabilities when wearing a tube pulled over the nose. Because exhaled air travels up a mask instead of through it, the fog can be downright irritating. SunGuard Tubes provide more porosity in the fabric design is required to enhance breathability. Blend into nature. Aqua Design has perfected

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Photos: Reel Hooked; Streamlight; Uncle Josh; Altus Brands, LLC; Aqua Design

uct line at www.unclejosh.com or call 866-BIG-BASS (866 244 2277).

Shop for innovative, new and hard-tofind outdoor gear at www.FishandGameGear.com Wearing Aqua Design’s SunGuard Tube while fishing is just plain smart.

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Let the Coastal Fishing Begin

over the next few months. Baitfish of every flavor have found their way inshore and the predators are taking full advantage. The best part about it is we are only warming up for what lies ahead during the next few months. The fishing that has

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The best part is we are only warming up for what lies ahead.

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adies and gentlemen, start your engines! Or should I say outboards? May has arrived in full force. Spring has definitely settled in and summer is knocking on the door. This is the month that gets the ball rolling and sets the wheels in motion for coastal fishing patterns that will be our bread and butter for about the next twenty weeks. That magic water temperature of 70 is here to stay and will continue to increase

already been mostly good, and at times, better than good, steps it up a notch in May as we inch that much closer to summer. With prevailing southerly winds and green tides, your options on Sabine are lim-

itless. The jetties and surf should absolutely come alive with real nice catches of trout and reds. Not to be outdone, the lake, rivers and bayous will be holding their own while also producing some impressive stringers of trout, redfish and flounder. For us, however, the choice is easy. After a long enough wait for a consistent bite south of the Causeway we take that heading and see what the Gulf of Mexico has to offer. That decision is made even easier knowing that a lot of our better trout over the years have come from the jetties in May. It’s not so much the numbers, which seem to get better with each trip, as it is the quality of the fish, especially the trout. Without doubt, the potential of catching a trophy trout comes with every cast. Trophy or not, the overall quality of jetty trout this month is what excites me the most and keeps us coming back. Live baits and artificials will both get the job done. Drift the rocks with topwaters, jerk baits and soft plastics, or anchor on a rock pile or washout with live shrimp, mullet or shad and you should have lots of rod bending action, not to mention some thick fillets for supper.

the bank bite Location: Keith Lake (Fish Pass) Species: Trout, Redfish, Flounder Baits/Lures: Live mud minnows, finger mullet, soft plastics Best TImes: Early and late with moving tides Contact Eddie Hernandez at, EHernandez@fishgame.com

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May Brings More Than Flowers

very small tarpon, and are excellent live bait for large trout, although hard to keep alive. It is best to begin fishing with one as soon as it is caught. I have also caught them in cast nets in the surf and had success on bull reds with them as cut bait. When there is too much freshwater runoff and some areas become muddy, most experienced anglers look to the jetties or the surf for speckled trout action. Another good tactic is to fish the various bars, reefs, and holes behind San Luis Pass on an incoming tide. Green water and baitfish should be available, and sport fish will follow. This is one of the last areas to be affected by runoff because no river empties into West Bay, although some muddy water intrusion will come via the ICW. The bars behind the Pass are constantly changing, but it is possible to do some very long drifts down the north side of Galveston Island to the east of the Pass, with the direction depending

Photo: Caroline Bloor, Bigstock

y May, we are well into spring season on the upper Texas Coast, especially this year when spring came early. Heavy rains in February have all but ended the drought conditions in a dramatic fashion, and hopefully somewhat “normal” weather patterns are returning. Swollen rivers have carried more than much needed freshwater to the bays and the Gulf, so boaters should keep an eye out for partially submerged debris when crossing or traveling the ICW and waters adjacent to it, or in Trinity Bay. For those who might doubt just how fresh portions of the bay systems can get, the new Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Texas Fish Records list contains entries from Galveston Bay for Blue catfish (16.66 lbs – 2005), Channel catfish (1.9 pounds – 2007), Alligator gar (186.19 pounds – 1995), as well as Longear and Orangespotted sunfish! Among fish more commonly found on the end of a line in Galveston Bay, speckled trout should be within reach of waders this month, both on reefs and sandy flats. The Seabrook area is often overlooked when discussing trout hotspots, but some very big fish have been taken on the Seabrook flats. Bait camps should have shrimp for those who prefer to fish with live bait, but some time with a cast net can provide anything from shrimp to mud minnows to small shad and finger mullet – even croaker. These baitfish are worth a try for both trout and reds, as well as flounder. Really dedicated big trout T F & G

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experts often spend time with a cane pole and tiny hooks baited with bits of shrimp catching skipjacks, also called horse mackerel by some. These silvery fish resemble a

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ind a piece of shell, any piece of reef in Matagorda, and chances are there are fish lingering nearby. Bloated May tides coupled with ardent southeast winds raise water levels nearly a foot above normal. When prime aquatic real estate like reefs become submerged with fresh saltwater tides, species like speckled trout, redfish, black drum, sheepshead, flounder, gafftop

Photo: Bink Grimes

Sand, Surf and Shell

and hardheads gravitate to the structure. Such is normally the case in May. Professional captains regularly begin and end their day over oyster shell. Live shrimp under a popping cork is normally the chosen offering, however, when tides rise to extreme levels the reefs in the back lakes are better choices. In Matagorda, skippers worked large pieces of shell like Oyster Lake, Crab Lake, Shell Island, Twin Islands and smaller reefs along the south shoreline of West Bay. “The trout are normally fat and solid,” said guide Lee Warmke of Half-Breed Guide Service. “We get on them pretty quick on live shrimp when we find shell with active baitfish.”

Trout, reds and other prime fish gravitate to structure submerged by fresh saltwater tides.

Higher tides hinder waders a bit. Speaking from experience, trout are much tougher to pattern as they scatter on the flats with the overabundance of water. When water levels are normal, there are

GALVESTON t CONTINUED FROM PAGE 79 on the wind direction on the day you fish. The water has sufficient depth for both a drift and to harbor good fish for those who don’t care to wade – just try to be considerate of fellow anglers who DO wade the area. Soft plastics work well in substitution for live bait. Although San Luis Pass can be a treacherous area to wade, most accidents occur on the Gulf side, where strong currents are encountered and deeper water is near. If you choose to fish this area, do so from a boat, close to shore (with a “buddy” close by), or from the bank itself. If going in the water to any depth, a PFD is very prudent. When green water pushes to the beach, seek speckled trout in the 80 |

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consistent hotspots on flats and shorelines where fish appear first on the incoming or outgoing tide. That’s not necessarily the case on flood tides like we experience in May, and catches suffer because of it. Waders who enjoy good catches on bloated tides concentrate tight to the shorelines or relocate to shorelines in the back lakes. “Fish scatter with all of the water, but when it (water) falls out again the trout will show up where they always do,” said guide Charlie Paradoski. Don’t be surprised to find sporadic bird action in May on outgoing tides. It may seem early, but some brown shrimp will be migrating through the bays; and, with calm conditions, you can work the birds like the fall of the year. Light winds also give up good catches for drifters on deep reef. Find fresh fish slicks and work upwind with your favorite plug or plastic. Another potential bright spot in May is the surf. Light winds and water temperatures in the mid 70s are a recipe for bent rods, especially if the surf is green to the beach with the morning incoming tide. If the surf turns flat, drop everything, call in sick, head south and don’t stop until you feel sand between your toes. Solid trout will be waiting to eat a topwater, soft plastic or live shrimp. Work the guts and bars and notice where finger mullet are staging – trout will be within a cast.

The first good catches of trout in the surf are caught every year in May. These solid stringers are a preview of what is to come for the remainder of the summer when winds subside and the Gulf becomes tranquil again.

the bank bite Location: Matagorda jetty Species: Speckled trout, Spanish mack-

erel, redfish, sand trout Baits: Live shrimp, mullet, soft plastics, gold spoons Capt. Bink Grimes owns and operates Sunrise Lodge on Matagorda Bay (www.matagordasunriselodge.com). Contact him at BGrimes@fishgame.com

FOCUS surf and enjoy some of the most pleasant weather the year has to offer.

the bank bite Location: Galveston Jetties, Gulf side. Alternate Spot: Public lighted pier on Bastrop Bayou, near Demi-John Island. Species: Trout, reds, flounder. Best Baits: Live shrimp, mud minnows, finger mullet Best Times: During moving tide 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.

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Politics in Fishing

t’s hard to get past all the political rhetoric that has invaded our space the last several months. It seems no matter where you go someone is supporting or dissing a candidate. The last thing a person who deals with the public in business needs to do is write or talk about it. But after the inundation I have received (especially over the past several weeks) I just couldn’t help myself. The bible says “render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s”. And “I have become all things to all people”. So with that as a good example, I try to do my best at being a guide and unless pressed pretty hard, keep my political opinions to myself. That said, one can only run and hide so far from such topics when confined to a

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23- x 8-foot boat for 8 hours. Suffice to say you get to know the folks you are fishing with rather well and — aside from “Where are you from? How old are you? Are you married? Do you have kids? What’s your sexual preference?—That one threw me a curve the first time I heard it—What war did you fight in? Where’d you get that scar? (and let me show you mine) Can we go for a swim? Whatcha got to eat and drink? Just where the heck are the fish?” — sooner or later the topic turns to one’s political views. Most guides I know have very definite opinions about politics, and at the risk of shooting their own foot off will share them in a heartbeat. They figure you are in their space, their office, their world, and for some strange reason opinions on a guide boat flow like an enlarging hole in a dike, even with the real possibility that the dike might break. I have studied this phenomenon and have yet to figure out what causes it. Even extra-sedated and quiet introverts seem to bare their souls on my boat. It’s either the

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salt air, the overdose of coffee, or the fumes from the gas tank vent that works as a truth serum, creating a climate that begs for political debate. That’s when I reach for my herbal tea hoping it will give me the energy to mediate and/or participate fairly or, better yet, thwart the oncoming deep-seeded opinions that flow like crap through the proverbial goose. I mean really, most of the anglers have spent the lion’s share of their free time together and one would think that they would have already hashed through this topic. I have seen such discussions set the mood for the fishing day “good” when all agree (which is seldom) and “bad” when we all don’t see eye to eye. “Capt. Mac, How do you think the man in charge is doing with our country?” “Well, he’s doing a little better than some and a little worse than others” is my standard fence walk reply. “Well by god,” says Fred the client, “ole Bob up there thinks the sorry !@#$% hung the moon don’t you Bob?” “He’s done a better job than that idiot you voted for Fred, don’t you think Capt. Mac?” Me: “Well I.....” “Oh yeah,” says Fred, “trillions of dollars in debt (is that a million million??), double digit inflation and there are so many unemployed it’s boosted the day time soap opera ratings by 40%!” “That’s your ass Fred! He didn’t do all that, your previous president did and you know it, didn’t he Capt. Mac?” Me: “Well, I…” “Who did you vote for Capt. Mac?” says Bob. “Well, I always try to vote, that way I can complain without feeling guilty.” I am sensing the answers to these questions might well slide with whatever tip I might get right into the water. “I haven’t voted in 10 years” says Bob. “Me either,” says Fred “but we still complain with the best of ‘em.” Me: “Well, I ..”

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“Besides,” says Fred, “it doesn’t matter, our vote doesn’t count anyway. Look at the last several elections. The candidate that won the popular vote lost the election, so tell me how my vote counts?” Me: “Well sir..” “Besides,” says Bob, “they talk in camouflaged language, no way to know what they truly stand for.” Me: “That’s no reason not to…” “A guy can’t fix stuff in four years anyway cuzz he’s still fixing the previous guys mistakes” says Bob, “so if I vote it’s only on a second term. Think you still have to have a voter’s registration to vote these days?” At this point I am speechless and, after turning into Mesquite Bay, am pretty positive—wishful thinking—that I have crossed the demarcation line which renders me, according to maritime law and my Coast Guard license, opinionless. As funny as this might seem, it is in fact a real conversation that took place on my boat and while it has a lighter side to it, it also has tragic undertones. It is true that our politicians talk in grey tones that are hard to discern, and it’s a cop-out to say that our vote doesn’t count, for we elect those that carry the electorate votes. It’s the process that drives our governing bodies. Yes, it’s true that our elected officials often do the opposite of what they said they would do and it’s our responsibility to hold them accountable for such actions. We voted them in and we can and need to vote them out. If, like me, the rhetoric confuses you about what’s best for our nation financially, abroad, energy wise, morally, ethically, and so on, then might I suggest looking at a smaller picture and let it help you guide your vote. Where do the candidates stand on our right to own firearms, our right to hunt, our right to fish, our right to enjoy the still great outdoors? Does the hope-to-be-elected official believe that animals have more rights than human beings? Does the candidate believe we are separate and unique as a species in that we have the God-given ability to change the way we think and that it sets us apart from any other species on this planet? That we have the gifts and talents to collectively and collaboratively conserve and manage the great, delicate, and divine resources of this nation? Seek those answers where our political candidates are concerned for they drive many of the grey issues and you will be well on your way as to where to cast your vote. T F & G

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for trout and reds with finger mullet and mud minnows on a light Carolina rig. Mesquite Bay – The shell reefs on the east shoreline close to Cedar Bayou are a good area to wade fish for trout using free lined croaker. The mouth of Little Brundrett Lake is good for flounder using grubs in white and new penny colors tipped with menhaden. Bludworth Island shoreline adjacent to the spoil area is good for reds and black drum using a silent cork and small live shrimp. Ayres Bay – Second Chain Island shell is the place for some early morning red action, with top waters in red/white and blue and silver. Still some black drum off of Rattlesnake Island using peeled shrimp on a light Carolina rig.

Yes, Bob, one still needs a voter’s registration card to vote and PLEASE VOTE, your nation needs you now more than ever. ••• Copano Bay – Mud minnows free lined at the mouth of Copano Creek are good for reds during high tide. Black drum on peeled shrimp are plentiful at the north shoreline adjacent the mouth of Mission Bay. Be patient and give a three count before setting the hook. The deeper water transition off of Egery Island is good for trout using small croaker or live shrimp. St Charles Bay – East Pocket on high tide is good for reds using sand eels in new penny and red/white and chartreuse. The mouth of Cavasso Creek is good for black drum using a silent cork and peeled shrimp. Red action is good at the mouth of Little Devils Bayou using cut mullet or menhaden. Aransas Bay – Grass Island Reefs are holding trout with croaker and live shrimp the preferred bait. Free lined is best if wind allows. Paul Mott Reef is good for trout on a falling tide using Jerk Shad in morning glory and electric chicken colors. Poverty Reef is still good for black drum using peeled shrimp or squid under a silent cork. Carlos Bay – Reefs at the south end of Carlos Dugout are good for reds and trout using live shrimp under a rattle cork. The east shoreline of Carlos Lake is a good wade

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the bank bite Shoreline behind the airport on Copano Bay is a good wade for reds and trout using gold and silver spoons. The tactic here is to wade out about 50 yards and move parallel to the shoreline casing 360 degrees. A few gators in this area so watch your stringers of fish. Contact Capt. Mac Gable at Mac Attack Guide Service, 512-809-2681, 361-790-9601

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Beach Brawl

here are plenty of coastal anglers that don’t own boats, whether by circumstance or design. Plenty of anglers just can’t afford or justify the expense of a boat in the current economic climate. Some simply ascribe to the idea that BOAT is an acronym for “Bust Out Another Thousand” and refuse to pull the trigger on the purchase. Even so, these anglers want to fish and succeed when they do.

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The Gulf of Mexico shoreline of South Padre Island offers options to fulfill the piscatorial goals of the shore-bound angler. When water warms and south east winds begin pushing warm water along the beach, baitfish and predators alike find new territory to roam in over the bars and in the guts of the SPI shoreline. Speckled and sand trout, redfish, whiting, Spanish mackerel, and even tarpon and snook late in the month are all present to satisfy fishing appetites both subtle and gross. The lucky angler who catches four or five different species in one trip should not be surprised. Perhaps the most underrated species that roams the suds and sand of SPI is the jack crevalle. “Jackfish,” are true hoodlums

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who look for every opportunity to wreak havoc and chaos among hapless baitfish and anglers. The smaller species—3 to 8 pounders—storm the beaches in schools and rip into schools of baitfish with malicious abandon. In the 2008 feature “Brute Thugs,” I likened a school of jacks attacking a school of bait akin to a drive-by shooting; they attack quickly, everyone scatters, and when it’s over there are no witnesses to recount the ordeal. The big ones—beasts that can reach 30 bruising pounds—live the solitary life of a rogue and mete their antisocial behavior on anything that can fit into their mouths. Plenty a beach angler has tossed a soft plastic or spoon into the breakers or guts and have almost had their rods torn out of their hands in a wrenching strike and watched helplessly as line was ripped of their reel in spasms until all that’s left are a bare spool and broken heart. Jackfish lack the table qualities of a redfish or trout. In fact, you’d have to be pretty desperate to choke down a bloody, coarse chunk of jack. But what the fish lack in food quality, they make with availability. In May, jacks may only be surpassed by whiting in how plentiful they are in the surf. When the trout and redfish are scarce, and the smacks are beyond casting range, the jackfish will save the day (unless you want to catch a bucket full of whiting, and that’s okay, too). The angler who decides to tackle a beach bully like the jack needn’t worry about lure selection. Much to a more discriminating angler’s chagrin, the jack will hit the same array of soft plastics, plugs, and spoons that more desirable game fish like. Still, the most productive lure, perhaps because of the relative durability of the product, is the classic Mirrolure. The ageless 51-M is a very good choice. Spoons such as the Tony Acetta or Johnson Sprite are also effective, and can be cast more effectively into the wind when Southeasterlies are gusting. Drive down the beach and watch both the water and the shoreline. If you encoun-

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“ Jackfish lack the table qualities of redfish or trout

“ ter an area with heavy shell on the beach, pull over and make a few casts. Start in the first gut—especially on high tide, when the water can be up to three feet. Work your way out to the second gut if there is no reaction. Don’t hesitate to turn around and make some casts behind you. I latched into a 30-pound jack once that was closer to the beach than I was, and then it about knocked me over when it stormed by me. Also watch the water for jumping bait or hovering or swimming birds. A seagull or pelican swimming in the gut is a sign of a

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milling school of bait. Where there is bait, Blackjack Crevelle is usually lurking. As stated earlier, jackfish aren’t the only fish you will find in the May surf. Once the water reaches above 70 degrees, speckled trout and redfish also move along the beach to forage. These trout are nice tide runners who seldom need to be measured to determine if they’re legal fish. Real trophies are a bit rare, but most of the fish are a solid 2 to 4 pounders. The redfish can range from barely keepers in the 20 inch range to some thugs over 30 inches that can give the jackfish a run for its money. It’s a good idea to use a short wire leader on any of your tackle, especially if you are going to make casts out into the second gut and beyond. Spanish mackerel are ever present in the spring and on into summer, and they can winnow down a lure selection in a real hurry. If you want to target these speedsters, which include some line-peelers stretching to 24 inches, the afore-mentioned Johnson Sprite or Acetta Spoon in gold or chrome are great choices. Chance out the treble with a #1/0 Sproat or O’Shaugnessy

hook and a red plastic curlytail to facilitate easy hook removal. Smacks rarely jump, so you can even pinch down the barb to make hook removal even easier. Most of the fish you encounter in the surf do have a habit of making long runs, so equip yourself accordingly. A 3000 or 4000-sized spinning reel loaded with 30 pound braid and a 7 ½ foot medium-action rod is ideal. You can use extra line capacity if a big jack or red grabs your hook. The question is do you have the heart for a good brawl.

the bank bite Location: Convention Center Shoreline Species: Speckled trout, redfish Techniques: Wade to the sand/grass line and cast either live bait or soft plastics. Contact Calixto Gonzales at CGonzales@fishgame.com

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UPPER GULF COAST

Christmas in May for Trout Anglers by GEORGE KNIGHTEN gtkphoto@yahoo.com

LOCATION: Christmas Bay HOTSPOT: Flats GPS: N29 3.90792, W95 10.22682 (29.065132, -95.170447) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live shrimp, topwater, Bass Assassins CONTACT: Capt. Greg Francis 409-939-1684 captgreg@saltwaterassault.net TIPS: Can be drifted or waded. Work areas with active bait. Watch for slicks and signs of feeding fish.

GPS COORDINATES are provided in two formats: “Decimal Degrees” (degrees.degrees) and “Degrees and Minutes” sometimes called “GPS Format” (degrees minutes. minutes). Examples (for Downtown Austin): Decimal Degrees: N30.2777, W97.7379; Degrees and Minutes: N30 16.6662, W97 44.2739. Consult your manual for information specific to your GPS device.

LOCATION: Bastrop Bay HOTSPOT: Shell GPS: N29 6.07734, W95 10.73364 (29.101289, -95.178894) SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: live shrimp, soft plastics CONTACT: Capt. George Knighten 832-310-9146 TIPS: Drift and work either live shrimp or soft plastic lures over shell humps. LOCATION: East Galveston

HOTSPOT: Big Pasture Bayou GPS: N29 30.31224, W94 35.5062 (29.505204, -94.591770) SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: Soft plastic lures CONTACT: Capt. Thomas Barlow 281-827-6815 Notoriosguideservice.com TIPS: Work the grass shoreline of the bayou with shad tails or jerkbaits. Pay close attention to points and bends. Watch for bait activity. LOCATION: East Galveston HOTSPOT: Hanna’s Reef GPS: N29 28.77252, W94 43.65066 (29.479542, -94.727511) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live shrimp or soft plastic lures CONTACT: Capt. George Knighten 832-310-9146 gtkphoto@yahoo.com knightensgalvestonfishing.com TIPS: Use live shrimp or soft plastic lures like Mirro-lures Provoker or 5” mullet. Anchor up with live shrimp under a popping cork or drift with soft plastics. LOCATION: East Matagorda Bay HOTSPOT: Brown Cedar Flats GPS: N28 43.33686, W95 43.50978 (28.722281, -95.725163) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: Bass Assassins, topwater CONTACT: Capt. Bill Pustejovsky 979-863-7353 Captbill@GoldTipGuideService.com TIPS: Work the shoreline using Bas Assassins and small topwaters like the She Pup. LOCATION: Trinity Bay HOTSPOT: East Shoreline GPS: N29 37.3986, W94 42.87048 (29.623310, -94.714508) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: Topwaters, Corkys

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CONTACT: Capt. George Knighten 832-310-9146 gtkphoto@yahoo.com TIPS: Great area to wade for large trout. Look for slicks and active bait when choosing your area. Use topwater lures like the Mirro-Lure Top Dog early in the morning and then go sub surface with a Corky later on. LOCATION: West Matagorda Bay HOTSPOT: Greens Bayou GPS: N28 29.71944, W96 14.29728 (28.495324, -96.238288) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: Bass Assassins, topwater lures CONTACT: Capt. Bill Pustejovsky 979863-7353, CaptBill@GoldTipGuideService.com TIPS: Fish the pot holes in the grass and around the sand bars. Use Chicken on a chain colored Bass Assassins and topwaters like Mirro-lures She dogs. Look for active mullet.

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MIDDLE GULF COAST

Aransas Red and Speck Action by GEORGE KNIGHTEN gtkphoto@yahoo.com

LOCATION: Aransas Bay HOTSPOT: Pauls Mott GPS: N28 3.07356, W96 56.91054 (28.051226, -96.948509) SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: topwater, soft plastics, Corkys CONTACT: Capt. Ben Wells 361-790-8107 www.wingandrod.com TIPS: Work the shoreline and mouth of the bayou. Also you can fish the shell points coming off of the bank. LOCATION: Aransas Bay HOTSPOT: Carlos Bay

GPS: N 28 07.735, W 96 53.697 (28.128917, -96.894951) SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: Corkies, soft plastics in plum, morning glory, dark colors. CONTACT: Captain Paul Braly, 361949-6795. TIPS: This is a conversion period for speckled trout. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve dropped their eggs and are starting to make the transition to their summer patterns and habits. Work the opening to the bay on an incoming tide to intercept these fish. They will be more aggressive, so you can fish a lure a bit faster than normal. Redfish will also be present along the flats and grasslines. LOCATION: Aransas Bay HOTSPOT: Spalding Bight GPS: N28 6.532, W96 53.110 (28.108867, -96.885167) SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: Topwaters, Corkies, soft plastics in darker color patterns. CONTACT: Captain Paul Braly, 361949-6795.

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TIPS: Fish will be present over soft mud bottoms, where the water will warm to optimum temperatures much faster than other areas in spring. On calm days, a nosy topwater should be a good choice. If the wind picks up, or the fish are so aggres-

sive they’re missing your bait, go submarine with plastic plugs or soft plastics. Again, the fish are going to be aggressive, so take advantage of reaction strikes with a faster retrieve.

LOCATION: Upper Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Emmords Hole GPS: N27 30.71766, W97 20.03652 (27.511961, -97.333942) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live shrimp, soft plastic lures CONTACT: Capt. Bill Sheka, 361-9917191 TIPS: Use live shrimp under an Alameda Rattling Cork or throw shad body soft plastic lures or jerkbaits. Good area for drift fishing.

LOWER GULF COAST

Jackfish on the Mansfield Jetties by CALIXTO GONZALES cgonzales@fishgame.com

HOTSPOT: Mansfield Jetties GPS: N26 33.70698, W97 16.18038 (26.561783, -97.269673) SPECIES: jack crevalle BEST BAITS: live bait, cut bait, soft plastics in red/white, gold spoons, Mirrolures CONTACT: Quik Stop, 956-943-1159 TIPS: Anyone looking for a brawl? Try a big jackfish. Drive along the beach and cast around areas where there are shell beaches. These brutes will hit almost anything. Use a high capacity reel with 17-20pound line. When one hits, hang on! LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: Tide Gauge GPS: N27 18.08202, W97 27.51198 (27.301367, -97.458533) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live croaker; Topwaters early; Soft plastics in strawberry/black back plum/chartreuse, rootbeer/red flake, Morning Glory, Pumpkinseed/chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Mike Hart, 361449-7441 TIPS: Trout are much more aggressive in warmer water. Croaker become strong medicine in May. Topwaters and shadstyle plastics fished fast are very effective 88 |

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too. Fish early and late. LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: Center Reef GPS: N27 16.206, W97 34.362 (27.270100, -97.572700) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live croaker; Soft plastics in strawberry/black back plum/chartreuse, rootbeer/red flake, Morning Glory, Pumpkinseed/chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Mike Hart, 361449-7441 TIPS: Using live bait is a great way to get fish feeding with abandon, at which time you can start chucking your favorite soft plastic at them. Any pattern with chartreuse will work well. Use a light head and fish relatively fast.

(26.564752, -97.293191) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: soft plastics in Pearl/red, strawberry/white, topwaters in Bone, chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Danny Neu, 979942-0165 TIPS: Fish the drop-offs where guts intersect the channel during an outgoing tide. Work the head of the channel, too. Topwaters early, then soft plastics later or

on the first dropoff. Watch for jackfish! LOCATION: Port Mansfield LOCATION: South Padre Island HOTSPOT: Airport Cove GPS: N26 10.425, W97 17.89398 (26.173750, -97.298233) SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: Cut bait, live shrimp; Gold spoons, Logic lures in Tequila Gold, rootbeer/gold

LOCATION: Baffin Bay HOTSPOT: Pensecal Point GPS: N27 15.672, W97 25.29 (27.261200, -97.421500) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live croaker; Soft plastics in strawberry/black back plum/chartreuse, rootbeer/red flake, Morning Glory, Pumpkinseed/chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Mike Hart, 361449-7441 TIPS: Work live croaker on a 3/0 Kahle hook with little or no weight near the rocks, Use soft plastics in the four to five-inch range if you prefer artificial lures. Use fluorocarbon to cut down on break-offs. LOCATION: Port Mansfield HOTSPOT: North of East Cut GPS: N26 34.365, W97 22.377 (26.572750, -97.372950) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: soft plastics in Pearl/red, strawberry/white, topwaters in Bone, chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Danny Neu, 979942-0165 TIPS: Wade or drift the sand flats east of the Cut. Topwaters are good early in the day, and even later on if the conditions remain calm. Otherwise, swim or hop plastics and Gulp! tails along the bottom as the day progresses. LOCATION: Port Mansfield HOTSPOT: East Cut GPS: N26 33.88512, W97 17.59146

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CONTACT: Captain Allen Salinas, 956561-3545 TIPS: Skip half a ballyhoo or a live finger mullet or live shrimp under a popping cork. As the sun gets higher, sight casters can start using 1/4-ounce weedless gold spoons with a plastic trailer or a tandem with gold glitter. Reds seem to prefer the flash. LOCATION: South Padre Island HOTSPOT: Convention Center GPS: N26 8.19798, W97 10.84302 (26.136633, -97.180717) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: Cut bait, live shrimp; Topwaters in Bone, Pearl, Logic lures in New Penny, Rootbeer/gold, chartreuse patterns CONTACT: Captain Allen Salinas, 956561-3545 TIPS: A long drift inside the grass flats is a good option for the area. Watch for

sandholes in the grass, and cast around them. Live finger mullet under a mauler is a great early-morning or windy day bait. Soft plastics are also very good. LOCATION: South Padre Island HOTSPOT: The Killing Fields GPS: N26 8.89098, W97 10.476 (26.148183, -97.174600) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live mullet, live shrimp; Logic lures in New Penny, Rootbeer/gold, chartreuse patterns CONTACT: Captain Allen Salinas, 956561-3545 TIPS: Fish the channel between the sandbar and the shoreline. Cast a live bait against the drop-off and let it fall into the channel. You can also use soft plastics on a jighead to plumb the channel. Best times are early and late.

LOCATION: South Padre Island HOTSPOT: Green Island GPS: N26 23.31, W97 19.87602 (26.388500, -97.331267) SPECIES: redfish BEST BAITS: live shrimp, cut ballyhoo, soft plastics in red/white, Pearl/glow CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez, 956-551-9581 TIPS: Drift the windward side of the island. Skip half a ballyhoo under the surface or under a popping cork. Live shrimp will also work. If shrimp are hard to come by, use Gulp! tails in red/white or glow/ chartreuse. LOCATION: South Padre Island HOTSPOT: South Cullen Bay GPS: N26 13.209, W97 17.26002 (26.220150, -97.287667) SPECIES: speckled trout BEST BAITS: live shrimp, cut ballyhoo, soft plastics in red/white, Pearl/glow CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez, 956-551-9581 TIPS: Big Trout. You can sight fish for larger fish if the wind is down. On windier days, swim a ballyhoo or fish it under a popping cork. Use light weights with soft plastics and fish them fast. Watch the water depth. Bay is treacherous at low tide. LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Brownsville Ship Channel GPS: N26 2.124, W97 13.108 (26.0354, -97.218467) SPECIES: Snook, mangrove snapper BEST BAITS: Live shrimp, topwaters CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez, 956-551-9581 TIPS: Cast towards dock pilings and riprap to find both snook and some goodsized mangrove snapper. Anchor or drift about 30-50 feet off the shoreline to give yourself some casting room. If fish are not rising to your topwater, fish along the dropoff with large live shrimp on a split shot rig. With all the snags in the area, a fluorocarbon leader is a very good idea. LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Old Queen Isabella Causeway GPS: N 26 04.721, W 97 12.216

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(26.078679, -97.203598) SPECIES: Snook, speckled trout, sheepshead, panfish. BEST BAITS: Large live shrimp or mullet, soft plastics in pearl, smoke. CONTACT: Captain Ruben Garcia, 956-459-3286. TIPS: Snook start returning to their old haunts when water temperatures start creeping up to over 70 degrees. Fish around the pilings with live bait or unweighted, Texas-rigged stickbaits. Watch for fish chasing bait early in the morning. There are also some nice speckled trout that hang around in the eddies that form on the down-tide pilings. Panfish are there for the children, too.

PINEY WOODS

Upriver for Toledo White Bass

GPS: N30 41.3889, W95 2.97888 (30.689815, -95.049648) SPECIES: white bass BEST BAITS: White Slabs, Pet Spoons CONTACT: David S. Cox, dave@ palmettoguideservice.com, 936-291-9602, palmettoguideservice.com TIPS: Fish the slope side of the drop-off. Jig the slabs right off the edge and feel for strikes as the slabs fall. Troll Pet Spoons across the same area. Beacon Bay Marina has bank access.

caddolakefishing.com TIPS: Look for largemouth bass feeding in the shallow lotus pads and grassbeds on bream, shad and frogs. The bream will be on their beds in the cypress islands and thickets, too. LOCATION: Conroe HOTSPOT: Lewis Creek GPS: N30 23.64744, W95 35.64078 (30.394124, -95.594013) SPECIES: crappie BEST BAITS: Minnows, crappie jigs CONTACT: Richard Tatsch, admin@fishdudetx.com, 936-291-1277, fishdudetx.com TIPS: The crappie will move out to brush piles in 12-14 feet of water early in the mornings. As the day moves forward, I move out to the 16-20 feet deep brush piles. Use a slip bobber and fish minnows or lures just above the brush to avoid snagging.

LOCATION: Lake Fork HOTSPOT: Purdy Point GPS: N32 51.642, W95 35.860 (32.8607, -95.597667) SPECIES: largemouth bass BEST BAITS: shad colored Rapala CONTACT: Ricky Vandergriff, 903-5302201, www.rickysguideservice.com TIPS: Fork is one of the better lakes when it comes to taking big bass on top waters in May and June. Good areas to catch bass on topwaters will be in the back of Indian Creek and down the main lake

LOCATION: Livingston HOTSPOT: The Lump

by BOB HOOD bhood@fishgame.com

LOCATION: Toledo Bend HOTSPOT: North End River Channel Sand Bars GPS: N31 20.94414, W93 40.17246 (31.349069, -93.669541) SPECIES: white bass BEST BAITS: Slab spoons, Rat-L-Traps, tail-spinners CONTACT: Greg Crafts, gregcrafts@yahoo.com, 936-368-7151, toledobendguide.com TIPS: Concentrate on the south inside bends of the river channel. Some schools of fish may be spread out, others concentrated. Watch your sonar unit to locate schools of baitfish. If the fish aren’t feeding shallow, move out to the river channel drop. LOCATION: Caddo HOTSPOT: Old Folk’s Playground GPS: N32 42.0879, W94 6.57792 (32.701465, -94.109632) SPECIES: largemouth bass BEST BAITS: topwater lures, plastic worms CONTACT: Paul Keith, caddoguide1@att.net, 318-455-3437, T F & G

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GPS: N33 8.32602, W96 27.77934 (33.138767, -96.462989) SPECIES: crappie BEST BAITS: Small minnows, jigs CONTACT: Billy Kilpatrick, straightlineguide@yahoo.com, 214-2327847, straightlineguide.com TIPS: Fish all the coves in this area with either small minnows or crappie jigs, targeting any brush you can find on the bottom. Some fish still are spawning.

pockets near Lends End Golf Course. There is timber, weeds and grass in these areas and the fishing does not get any better. When the day is at its hottest, try a big shad colored Rapala along the main lake points where you find standing timber.

PRAIRIES & LAKES

Texoma Stripers Like the Islands by BOB HOOD bhood@fishgame.com

LOCATION: Texoma HOTSPOT: The Islands GPS: N33 51.18984, W96 42.59664 (33.853164, -96.709944) SPECIES: striper BEST BAITS: Coho Minnows, Sassy Shad jigs CONTACT: Bill Carey, bigfish@striperexpress.com, 877-786-4477, striperexpress.com TIPS: Fish early around the islands and points on gradual drop-offs into 30 feet of water. Cast 3/4-ounce white-glow Coho minnows and Sassy Shads. Later in the day, move out into deeper water and locate fish on your sonar unit. LOCATION: Cedar Creek HOTSPOT: Enchanted Oaks GPS: N32 16.0209, W96 7.18662 (32.267015, -96.119777) SPECIES: catfish BEST BAITS: Punch bait, live shad, shrimp CONTACT: Jason Barber, kingscreekadventures@yahoo.com, 903603-2047, www.kingcreekadventures.com TIPS: Fish the riprap here as well as around the two stumps that still may be seen above the water out from the riprap. Also fish the points nearby and just outside the boat docks. The best action should be during early-morning hours. LOCATION: Lavon HOTSPOT: Main Cove Areas 92 |

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LOCATION: Lewisville HOTSPOT: Main Lake Points and Secondary Points GPS: N33 5.02026, W97 0.7038 (33.083671, -97.011730) SPECIES: catfish BEST BAITS: Fresh shad, Secret 7 Dip Bait CONTACT: Bobby Kubin, bobby@ bobby-catfishing.com, 817-455-2894, bobby-catfishing.com TIPS: Use a No. 6 treble hook on punch bait or dip bait and fish wind-blown points. If you use cut or live shad, you can expect to catch a variety of fish including catfish, white bass and hybrids. Look for feeding egrets to find active schools of fish.

PANHANDLE

PK Stripers are a Hit on Broadway LOCATION: Possum Kingdom Lake HOTSPOT: Broadway (between mouths of Cedar and Caddo Creeks) SPECIES: striped bass BEST BAITS: live shad, jigs, Slabs, deepdiving crankbaits CONTACT: Dean Heffner, fav7734@aceweb.com, 940-329-0036 TIPS: Look for suspended stripers 24 feet down in 50 feet-plus of water on points, humps, and edge of the river channel. This also is a good time for down&

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BIG BEND

The Spawn is On at Amistad by BOB HOOD bhood@fishgame.com

LOCATION: Amistad HOTSPOT: Evans Creek GPS: N29 30.22296, W100 55.6938 (29.503716, -100.928230) SPECIES: largemouth bass BEST BAITS: Spinnerbaits, swimbaits, topwaters, plastic worms CONTACT: Stan Gerzsenyl, stan@amistadbass.com, 830-768-3648, amistadbass.com TIPS: The bass will be in all phases of the spawn. Some will be caught on topwater lures shallow. My favorite is to fish the deeper points near creek channels slow-rolling spinnerbaits or on crankbaits. Some bedding fish can be seen on nonwindy days.

HILL COUNTRY

by BOB HOOD bhood@fishgame.com

F i s h

rigging 1-ounce bucktail jigs with 6-inch white, yellow, or chartreuse trailers. My favorite area is the south end of Broadway at Tabletop, a flat underwater area of limestone the size of three football fields that is about 30-36 feet down. Stripers often chase schools of shad on top of Tabletop.

Spooky Stripers on Canyon Lake by BOB HOOD bhood@fishgame.com

LOCATION: Canyon Lake HOTSPOT: Tom’s Creek GPS: N29 52.33956, W98 15.6204 (29.872326, -98.260340) SPECIES: striper BEST BAITS: Zara Spook CONTACT: Steve Nixon,

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steve@sanantoniofishingguides.com, 210573-1230, sanantoniofishingguides.com TIPS: The best colors are chrome with black back and Bone. Fish the north shore of the creek in 15-25 feet of water and watch for surface activity. The south wind will blow lots of bait up on the shoreline. I concentrate on points coming out from the bank. LOCATION: Granger HOTSPOT: Main Lake Open Waters GPS: N30 41.92002, W97 22.07772 (30.698667, -97.367962) SPECIES: crappie BEST BAITS: Maribou jigs CONTACT: Tommy Tidwell, crappie1@hotmail.com, 512-365-7761, www.gotcrappie.com TIPS: Use jigs because the fish will hit them better than minnows at this time of the year. Hold the jig very still at the top of the brush. Probe the area with the jigs and move to another area if you don’t catch fish. Fish vertically even at 4-5 feet.

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Veleno Creek in trees at 8 to 10 feet and fish straight down with Danny King’s and Sure Shot punch baits under slip corks.

SOUTH TEXAS PLAINS

Marker 11 Holds Falcon Cats

Find hundreds of Texas Fishing Hotspots with our HOTSPOT FINDER app: www.FishGame.com/hotspots

by BOB HOOD bhood@fishgame.com

LOCATION: Falcon Reservoir HOTSPOT: Marker No. 11 on main river channel GPS: N26 50.02, W99 16.115 (26.833667, -99.268583) SPECIES: channel catfish, yellow catfish BEST BAITS: cut shad, shrimp, tilapia CONTACT: Robert’s Fish N’ Tackle, robert@robertsfishntackle.com, 956-7651442, robertsfishntackle.com TIPS: Big cats are moving close to creek channels off the river. Anchor near the marker in 40 feet of water close to the point at the mouth of Veleno Creek or drift with cut bait or shrimp for big cats. Also, look for nesting cormorants in back of

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Tides and Prime Times

USING THE PRIME TIMES CALENDAR

The following pages contain TIDE and SOLUNAR predictions for Galveston Channel (29.3166° N, 94.88° W).

T12

T11

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.

T9 T8 T7

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.

T15 T16

T6 T17

T3 T2 T1

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 many wildlife species.

T13 T5

T14

AM & PM MINOR phases occur when the moon rises and sets. These phases last 1 to 2 hours.

T18

AM & PM MAJOR phases occur when the moon reaches its highest point overhead as well as when it is “underfoot” or at its highest point on the exact opposite side of the earth from your positoin (or literally under your feet). Most days have two Major Feeding Phases, each lasting about 2 hours.

T19

T20

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. 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 rightof the Tide Stations on this table (and map) to determine the adjustment from the time shown for Galveston Channel in the calendars.

KEY PLACE T1 Sabine Bank Lighthouse Sabine Pass Jetty T2 Sabine Pass T3 Mesquite Pt, Sab. Pass T4 Galveston Bay, S. Jetty T5 T6 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 Round Pt, Trinity Bay +10:39 T11

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

KEY PLACE Pt Barrow, Trinity Bay T12 Gilchrist, East Bay T13 Jamaica Beach, W. Bay T14 Alligator Point, W. Bay T15 Christmas Pt T16 Galveston Pleasure Pier T17

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 PLACE San Luis Pass T18 Freeport Harbor T19 Pass Cavallo T20 Aransas Pass T21 Padre Island (So. End) T22 Port Isabel T23

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

SPORTSMAN’S DAYBOOK IS SPONSORED BY:

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION T22 T23

KEYS TO USING THE TIDE AND SOLUNAR GRAPHS TIDE GRAPH:

Yellow: Daylight

12a

Tab: Peak Fishing Period

12p

12a

Light Blue: Nighttime

BEST:

5:30 — 7:30 AM

Green: Falling Tide

Gold Fish: Best Time

Blue: Rising Tide Red Graph: Fishing Score

Blue Fish: Good Time

MINOR Feeding Periods (+/- 1.5 Hrs.) Time Moon is at its Highest Point in the Sky

SOLUNAR ACTIVITY: AM Minor: 1:20a

PM Minor: 1:45p

AM Major: 7:32a

PM Major: 7:57p

Moon Overhead: 8:50a

12a

AM/PM Timeline

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AM/PM Timeline

Moon Underfoot: 9:15p

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MAJOR Feeding Periods (+/- 2 Hrs.) Time Moon is Directly Underfoot (at its peak on opposite side of the earth)

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Tides and Prime Times for MAY 2012

WEDNESDAY

Sunrise: 6:37a Set: 7:55p Moonrise: 3:22p Set: 6:47p

Sunrise: 6:36a Set: 7:55p Moonrise: 4:25p Set: 7:42p

May 1

Sunrise: 6:38a Set: 7:54p Moonrise: 2:20p Set: 5:53p

THURSDAY

Sunrise: 6:35a Set: 7:56p Moonrise: 5:31p Set: 8:38p

FRIDAY

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Sunrise: 6:34a Set: 7:57p Moonrise: 6:40p Set: 9:34p

SATURDAY

«5

¡6

Sunrise: 6:34a Set: 7:57p Sunrise: 6:33a Set: 7:58p Moonrise: 7:51p Set: 10:28p Moonrise: 9:01p Set: 11:20p

AM Minor: 12:57a

PM Minor: 1:21p

AM Minor: 1:42a

PM Minor: 2:07p

AM Minor: 2:26a

PM Minor: 2:51p

AM Minor: 3:11a

PM Minor: 3:37p

AM Minor: 3:59a

PM Minor: 4:27p

AM Minor: 4:52a

PM Minor: 5:22p

AM Minor: 5:52a

PM Minor: 6:23p

AM Major: 7:09a

PM Major: 7:34p

AM Major: 7:54a

PM Major: 8:19p

AM Major: 8:39a

PM Major: 9:04p

AM Major: 9:24a

PM Major: 9:51p

AM Major: 10:13a

PM Major: 10:41p

AM Major: -----

PM Major: 11:07a

AM Major: 11:44a

PM Major: 12:08p

Moon Overhead: 8:49p

12a

TUESDAY

12p

Moon Overhead: 10:30p

Moon Overhead: 9:39p 12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 11:36p 12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 12:21a

Moon Overhead: None 12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 1:22a 12a

12p

S O LU N AR A C T IVI T Y

MONDAY

l = New Moon º = First Quarter l = Full Moon » = Last Quarter « = Best Day SUNDAY

12a

feet

Moon Underfoot: 8:25a

+2.0

-1.0

T IDE LEVEL S

BEST:

1:30 — 3:30 AM

Low Tide: 5:15 am High Tide: 1:01 pm Low Tide: 7:01 pm

Moon Underfoot: 10:04a BEST:

2:00 — 4:00 AM

0.47 ft. 1.37 ft. 0.92 ft.

High Tide: 12:21 am Low Tide: 6:23 am High Tide: 1:20 pm Low Tide: 7:26 pm

1.17 ft. 0.60 ft. 1.33 ft. 0.67 ft.

High Tide: 1:51 am Low Tide: 7:31 am High Tide: 1:38 pm Low Tide: 8:02 pm

1.30 ft. 0.74 ft. 1.31 ft. 0.38 ft.

Moon Underfoot: 11:52a

BEST:

3:30 — 5:30 PM

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Moon Underfoot: 10:56a

BEST:

4:30 — 6:30 PM

High Tide: 3:06 am Low Tide: 8:36 am High Tide: 1:57 pm Low Tide: 8:43 pm

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1.46 ft. 0.91 ft. 1.32 ft. 0.09 ft.

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Moon Underfoot: 12:51p BEST:

5:30 — 7:30 PM

High Tide: 4:14 am Low Tide: 9:38 am High Tide: 2:17 pm Low Tide: 9:28 pm

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1.61 ft. 1.07 ft. 1.35 ft. -0.17 ft.

Moon Underfoot: 1:53p

High Tide: 5:17 am Low Tide: 10:36 am High Tide: 2:40 pm Low Tide: 10:16 pm

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1.73 ft. 1.21 ft. 1.41 ft. -0.37 ft.

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+2.0

BEST:

7:00 — 9:00 PM

8:00 — 10:00 PM

T IDE LEVEL S

+1.0

BEST:

Moon Underfoot: 9:14a

High Tide: 6:20 am Low Tide: 11:33 am High Tide: 3:08 pm Low Tide: 11:07 pm

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1.80 ft. 1.33 ft. 1.46 ft. -0.47 ft

+1.0 0 -1.0

4/20/12 9:13 AM

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION BEST:

7:45-9:40 AM

= Peak Fishing Period

= FALLING TIDE = RISING TIDE = DAYLIGHT HOURS = NIGHTTIME HOURS

Fishing Day’s Best Good Score Graph Score Score

MONDAY S O LU N AR A C T IVI T Y

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WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

Sunrise: 6:31a Set: 7:59p Sunrise: 6:31a Set: 8:00p Sunrise: 6:30a Set: 8:00p Moonrise: 11:52p Set: 12:08a Moonrise: None Set: 12:52a Moonrise: 12:01a Set: 1:33a

FRIDAY

Sunrise: 6:29a Set: 8:01p Moonrise: 12:48a Set: 2:11a

SATURDAY

Sunrise: 6:29a Set: 8:02p Moonrise: 1:28a Set: 2:48a

SUNDAY

» 13

Sunrise: 6:28a Set: 8:02p Moonrise: 2:04a Set: 3:25a

AM Minor: 6:57a

PM Minor: 7:29p

AM Minor: 8:05a

PM Minor: 8:37p

AM Minor: 9:13a

PM Minor: 9:43p

AM Minor: 10:18a

PM Minor: 10:45p

AM Minor: -----

PM Minor: 11:16a

AM Minor: 11:44a

PM Minor: 12:08p

AM Minor: 12:32a

PM Minor: 12:54p

AM Major: 12:41a

PM Major: 1:13p

AM Major: 1:50a

PM Major: 2:21p

AM Major: 2:58a

PM Major: 3:28p

AM Major: 4:04a

PM Major: 4:31p

AM Major: 5:03a

PM Major: 5:29p

AM Major: 5:56a

PM Major: 6:20p

AM Major: 6:43a

PM Major: 7:05p

Moon Overhead: 2:25a

12a

TUESDAY

12p

Moon Overhead: 4:30a

Moon Overhead: 3:28a 12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 5:28a 12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 7:11a

Moon Overhead: 6:21a 12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 7:57a 12a

12p

S O LU N AR A C T IVI T Y

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Sunrise: 6:32a Set: 7:58p Moonrise: 10:07p Set: None

Tides and Prime Times for MAY 2012

12a

feet

Moon Underfoot: 2:56p

+2.0

-1.0

T IDE LEVEL S

BEST:

7:00 — 9:00 PM

High Tide: 7:21 am Low Tide: 12:30 pm High Tide: 3:39 pm Low Tide: 11:59 pm

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1.80 ft. High Tide: 8:23 am 1.41 ft. Low Tide: 1:34 pm 1.49 ft. High Tide: 4:15 pm -0.48 ft.

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BEST:

8:00 — 10:00 PM

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Moon Underfoot: 4:59p BEST:

BEST:

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-0.40 ft. 1.69 ft. 1.40 ft. 1.41 ft.

Low Tide: 1:53 am High Tide: 10:21 am Low Tide: 4:58 pm High Tide: 6:09 pm

G a m e ®

Moon Underfoot: 6:47p BEST:

9:00 — 11:00 PM 10:00P — 12:00A

1.76 ft. Low Tide: 12:54 am 1.44 ft. High Tide: 9:24 am 1.47 ft. Low Tide: 3:03 pm High Tide: 4:57 pm

T e x a S

Moon Underfoot: 5:55p

BEST:

5:30 — 7:30 AM

-0.25 ft. 1.60 ft. 1.29 ft. 1.29 ft.

Low Tide: 2:54 am High Tide: 11:11 am Low Tide: 5:55 pm High Tide: 8:21 pm

T F & G

Moon Underfoot: 7:34p 12:00 — 2:00 AM

-0.04 ft. 1.50 ft. 1.13 ft. 1.16 ft.

Low Tide: 4:01 am High Tide: 11:51 am Low Tide: 6:35 pm High Tide: 10:26 pm

Moon Underfoot: 8:19p

+2.0

BEST:

12:30 — 2:30 AM

T IDE LEVEL S

+1.0

Moon Underfoot: 3:59p

0.19 ft. Low Tide: 5:14 am 0.42 ft. 1.41 ft. High Tide: 12:23 pm 1.33 ft. 0.94 ft. Low Tide: 7:11 pm 0.75 ft. 1.09 ft.

+1.0 0 -1.0

A L M A N A C

4/20/12 9:13 AM

ALMANAC Digital.indd 97

4/20/12 9:13 AM

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION BEST:

7:45-9:40 AM

= Peak Fishing Period

= FALLING TIDE = RISING TIDE = DAYLIGHT HOURS = NIGHTTIME HOURS

Fishing Day’s Best Good Score Graph Score Score

TUESDAY

Sunrise: 6:27a Set: 8:03p Moonrise: 2:37a Set: 4:03a

THURSDAY

Sunrise: 6:26a Set: 8:04p Moonrise: 3:41a Set: 5:31a

Sunrise: 6:26a Set: 8:05p Moonrise: 4:13a Set: 6:22a

FRIDAY

Sunrise: 6:25a Set: 8:05p Moonrise: 4:48a Set: 7:19a

SATURDAY

« 19

Sunrise: 6:25a Set: 8:06p Moonrise: 5:25a Set: 8:19a

SUNDAY

l 20

Sunrise: 6:24a Set: 8:07p Moonrise: 6:06a Set: 9:20a

AM Minor: 1:14a

PM Minor: 1:35p

AM Minor: 1:53a

PM Minor: 2:14p

AM Minor: 2:30a

PM Minor: 2:51p

AM Minor: 3:07a

PM Minor: 3:28p

AM Minor: 3:46a

PM Minor: 4:08p

AM Minor: 4:27a

PM Minor: 4:50p

AM Minor: 5:12a

PM Minor: 5:36p

AM Major: 7:25a

PM Major: 7:46p

AM Major: 8:03a

PM Major: 8:24p

AM Major: 8:40a

PM Major: 9:01p

AM Major: 9:18a

PM Major: 9:39p

AM Major: 9:57a

PM Major: 10:19p

AM Major: 10:39a

PM Major: 11:02a

AM Major: -----

PM Major: 11:48a

Moon Overhead: 8:41a

12a

Sunrise: 6:27a Set: 8:04p Moonrise: 3:09a Set: 4:44a

WEDNESDAY

12p

Moon Overhead: 10:05a

Moon Overhead: 9:23a

12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 10:48a 12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 12:18p

Moon Overhead: 11:32a 12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 1:05p 12a

12p

S O LU N AR A C T IVI T Y

MONDAY

Tides and Prime Times for MAY 2012

12a

feet

Moon Underfoot: 9:02p

+2.0

-1.0

T IDE LEVEL S

BEST:

1:00 — 3:00 AM

BEST:

3:00 — 5:00 PM

High Tide: 12:16 am Low Tide: 6:31 am High Tide: 12:48 pm Low Tide: 7:43 pm

98 |

Moon Underfoot: 10:26p

1.11 ft. 0.64 ft. 1.27 ft. 0.55 ft.

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High Tide: 1:50 am Low Tide: 7:46 am High Tide: 1:09 pm Low Tide: 8:13 pm

2 0 1 2

1.19 ft. 0.82 ft. 1.23 ft. 0.38 ft.

Moon Underfoot: 11:50p

3:30 — 5:30 PM

High Tide: 3:05 am Low Tide: 8:53 am High Tide: 1:26 pm Low Tide: 8:41 pm

T e x a S

F i s h

1.29 ft. 0.97 ft. 1.22 ft. 0.23 ft.

Moon Underfoot: None

BEST:

4:30 — 6:30 PM

High Tide: 4:06 am Low Tide: 9:53 am High Tide: 1:42 pm Low Tide: 9:08 pm

G a m e ®

1.39 ft. 1.09 ft. 1.23 ft. 0.12 ft.

5:00 — 7:00 PM

High Tide: 4:55 am Low Tide: 10:44 am High Tide: 1:55 pm Low Tide: 9:36 pm

T F & G

1.47 ft. 1.18 ft. 1.25 ft. 0.03 ft.

Moon Underfoot: None BEST:

6:00 — 8:00 PM

High Tide: 5:38 am Low Tide: 11:26 am High Tide: 2:08 pm Low Tide: 10:06 pm

1.52 ft. 1.25 ft. 1.28 ft. -0.02 ft.

Moon Underfoot: 12:41a

+2.0

BEST:

7:00 — 9:00 PM

High Tide: 6:18 am Low Tide: 11:59 am High Tide: 2:16 pm Low Tide: 10:38 pm

1.54 ft. 1.30 ft. 1.31 ft. -0.05 ft.

T IDE LEVEL S

+1.0

Moon Underfoot: 9:44p

+1.0 0 -1.0

A L M A N A C

4/20/12 9:14 AM

l = New Moon º = First Quarter l = Full Moon » = Last Quarter « = Best Day SUNDAY

Tides and Prime Times for MAY 2012 MONDAY

TUESDAY

S O LU N AR A C T IVI T Y

« 22

« 23

THURSDAY

Sunrise: 6:24a Set: 8:07p Sunrise: 6:23a Set: 8:08p Sunrise: 6:23a Set: 8:08p Sunrise: 6:22a Set: 8:09p Moonrise: 6:50a Set: 10:21a Moonrise: 7:38a Set: 11:20a Moonrise: 8:29a Set: 12:16p Moonrise: 9:22a Set: 1:10p

Sunrise: 6:22a Set: 8:10p Moonrise: 10:17a Set: 2:02p

SATURDAY

Sunrise: 6:22a Set: 8:10p Moonrise: 11:14a Set: 2:54p

Sunrise: 6:21a Set: 8:11p Moonrise: 12:11p Set: 3:46p

AM Minor: 6:00a

PM Minor: 6:24p

AM Minor: 6:51a

PM Minor: 7:15p

AM Minor: 7:44a

PM Minor: 8:08p

AM Minor: 8:38a

PM Minor: 9:02p

AM Minor: 9:32a

PM Minor: 9:56p

AM Minor: 10:25a

PM Minor: 10:48p

AM Minor: -----

PM Minor: 11:16a

AM Major: -----

PM Major: 12:36p

AM Major: 12:38a

PM Major: 1:03p

AM Major: 1:32a

PM Major: 1:56p

AM Major: 2:26a

PM Major: 2:50p

AM Major: 3:20a

PM Major: 3:44p

AM Major: 4:13a

PM Major: 4:36p

AM Major: 5:04a

PM Major: 5:27p

Moon Overhead: 1:54p

12a

FRIDAY

12p

Moon Overhead: 3:32p

Moon Overhead: 2:43p 12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 4:21p 12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 5:57p

Moon Overhead: 5:09p 12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 6:44p 12a

12p

S O LU N AR A C T IVI T Y

« 21

WEDNESDAY

12a

feet

Moon Underfoot: 1:29a

+2.0

-1.0

T IDE LEVEL S

High Tide: 6:58 am Low Tide: 12:25 pm High Tide: 2:16 pm Low Tide: 11:12 pm

1.55 ft. 1.33 ft. 1.33 ft. -0.06 ft.

Moon Underfoot: 3:08a

BEST:

7:00 — 9:00 PM

High Tide: 7:39 am Low Tide: 12:53 pm High Tide: 2:08 pm Low Tide: 11:47 pm

ALMANAC Digital.indd 99

BEST:

7:30 — 9:30 PM

1.56 ft. High Tide: 8:22 am 1.34 ft. 1.35 ft. -0.05 ft.

T F & G

Moon Underfoot: 3:57a BEST:

8:00 — 10:00 PM

Moon Underfoot: 4:45a BEST:

8:30 — 10:30 PM

1.55 ft. Low Tide: 12:23 am -0.02 ft. Low Tide: 1:01 am High Tide: 9:04 am 1.53 ft. High Tide: 9:45 am

A L M A N A C

T e x a S

Moon Underfoot: 5:33a

F i s h

Moon Underfoot: 6:20a

BEST:

+2.0

BEST:

9:00 — 11:00 PM

12:00 — 2:00 PM

T IDE LEVEL S

+1.0

BEST:

6:30 — 8:30 PM

Moon Underfoot: 2:18a

0.04 ft. Low Tide: 1:42 am 0.12 ft. Low Tide: 2:27 am 0.25 ft. 1.51 ft. High Tide: 10:22 am 1.47 ft. High Tide: 10:52 am 1.42 ft.

G a m e ®

M A Y

2 0 1 2

+1.0 0 -1.0

4/20/12 9:14 AM

NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION BEST:

7:45-9:40 AM

= Peak Fishing Period

= FALLING TIDE = RISING TIDE = DAYLIGHT HOURS = NIGHTTIME HOURS

Fishing Day’s Best Good Score Graph Score Score

TUESDAY

Sunrise: 6:21a Set: 8:11p Moonrise: 1:10p Set: 4:39p

Sunrise: 6:21a Set: 8:12p Moonrise: 2:10p Set: 5:34p

S O LU N AR A C T IVI T Y

º 28

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Sunrise: 6:21a Set: 8:12p Moonrise: 3:12p Set: 6:30p

Sunrise: 6:20a Set: 8:13p Moonrise: 4:18p Set: 7:26p

Sunrise: 6:20a Set: 8:13p Moonrise: 5:26p Set: 8:22p

Jun 1

SATURDAY

«2

Sunrise: 6:20a Set: 8:14p Moonrise: 6:36p Set: 9:15p

SUNDAY

«3

Sunrise: 6:20a Set: 8:14p Moonrise: 7:44p Set: 10:05p

AM Minor: 11:41a

PM Minor: 12:05p

AM Minor: 12:28a

PM Minor: 12:52p

AM Minor: 1:14a

PM Minor: 1:39p

AM Minor: 1:59a

PM Minor: 2:26p

AM Minor: 2:47a

PM Minor: 3:16p

AM Minor: 3:39a

PM Minor: 4:09p

AM Minor: 4:35a

PM Minor: 5:07p

AM Major: 5:53a

PM Major: 6:17p

AM Major: 6:40a

PM Major: 7:04p

AM Major: 7:26a

PM Major: 7:52p

AM Major: 8:13a

PM Major: 8:40p

AM Major: 9:01a

PM Major: 9:30p

AM Major: 9:54a

PM Major: 10:24p

AM Major: 10:51a

PM Major: -----

Moon Overhead: 7:31p

12a

WEDNESDAY

12p

Moon Overhead: 9:10p

Moon Overhead: 8:19p 12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 10:04p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: None

Moon Overhead: 10:58p 12a

12p

12a

12p

Moon Overhead: 12:03a 12a

12p

S O LU N AR A C T IVI T Y

MONDAY

Tides and Prime Times for MAY 2012

12a

feet

Moon Underfoot: 7:07a

+2.0

Moon Underfoot: 7:55a

BEST:

-1.0

T IDE LEVEL S

1:00 — 3:00 PM

Low Tide: 3:18 am High Tide: 11:15 am Low Tide: 5:45 pm High Tide: 10:55 pm

100 |

0.41 ft. 1.36 ft. 0.81 ft. 1.00 ft.

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ALMANAC Digital.indd 100

Moon Underfoot: 9:37a

BEST:

2:00 — 4:00 PM

BEST:

1.11 ft. 0.83 ft. 1.29 ft. 0.25 ft.

High Tide: 2:20 am Low Tide: 6:48 am High Tide: 12:08 pm Low Tide: 7:38 pm

T e x a S

G a m e ®

F i s h

1.28 ft. 1.03 ft. 1.30 ft. -0.05 ft.

Moon Underfoot: 11:32a

BEST:

3:00 — 5:00 PM

Low Tide: 4:17 am 0.61 ft. High Tide: 12:50 am High Tide: 11:34 am 1.31 ft. Low Tide: 5:27 am Low Tide: 6:14 pm 0.55 ft. High Tide: 11:51 am Low Tide: 6:54 pm

2 0 1 2

Moon Underfoot: 10:33a

BEST:

4:00 — 6:00 PM

High Tide: 3:34 am Low Tide: 8:13 am High Tide: 12:27 pm Low Tide: 8:25 pm

T F & G

1.46 ft. 1.20 ft. 1.35 ft. -0.32 ft.

5:30 — 7:30 PM

High Tide: 4:38 am Low Tide: 9:32 am High Tide: 12:54 pm Low Tide: 9:14 pm

1.61 ft. 1.33 ft. 1.40 ft. -0.52 ft.

Moon Underfoot: 12:35p

+2.0

BEST:

6:00 — 8:00 PM

High Tide: 5:36 am Low Tide: 10:38 am High Tide: 1:31 pm Low Tide: 10:05 pm

1.71 ft. 1.40 ft. 1.45 ft. -0.64 ft.

T IDE LEVEL S

12:00 — 2:00 AM

+1.0

Moon Underfoot: 8:44a

+1.0 0 -1.0

A L M A N A C

4/20/12 9:14 AM

Black Hills Ammunition

Page 113

Howard Leight/Sperian

Page 107

Chiappa Firearms

Page 104

KT Coolers

Page 106

Country Home Products

Page 111

Lansky Sharpeners

Page 104

Crackshot

Page 108

Larson Electronics

Page 113

DeSantis Holsters

Page 112

Quality Marine Service

Page 110

Faultline Outdoors

Page 108

Silver Spur Trade Show

Page 106

Fishing Tackle Unlimited

Page 109

Springfield Armory

Page 105

Gene Larew Tackle

ALMANAC Digital.indd 101

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Thermacell/Schawbel Inc. Page 103

4/20/12 9:14 AM

Almost Remembering by reavis wortham

udie Murphy shot Germans on

“Dad, do you remember the war?”

Memorial Day while the Old

“Naw.” It was his version of a long

Man, my hero since I was big

answer.

enough to walk, drank a choco-

late shake in his hospital bed.

Slurp. I looked out at the heat shimmering off

Nearly 70 years earlier, he was in the

the cars three floors below. “What about the spring we went crappie fishing on

nese coast when they dropped the atomic

Sanders Creek and I couldn’t get a bite,

bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

but you kept hauling them in one after

Photo: wvantveer, canstock

invasion force on a troop ship off the Japa-

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“What do I need that for?”

good looking and funny. He shrank as I

“Naw. When are we gonna eat?”

“Helps you breathe.”

got older and his hair turned gray, but he

“You’re doing it now.”

“Oh.”

never quit being good looking and funny. I

“Oh.” His hands fluttered.

He was who I always wanted to be.

remember him and all the Uncles laughing

another?”

“Leave that oxygen tube in your nose.”

When I was a kid he was redheaded,

together in fishing and hunting camps. But he was serious, too, the keeper of all knowledge. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do, as far as I was concerned. “You caught fish till the world looked level that day. We even switched places in the boat, but they followed you to the other end. I don’t think I caught a one.” “You didn’t know what you were doing.” “I knew I wasn’t catching any fish.” “When?” Instead of getting caught in that

familiar circle, I changed the topic. “Can you remember when the game warden almost caught y’all on the creek?” Daddy wasn’t a complete angel growing up. He and his cousin R.B. barely outran the game warden one night when he was a teenager by swimming his horse back and forth across a creek. To head them off, the game warden had to drive down a dirt road and over a bridge to the other side. In response, Daddy simply turned the horse around and swam back to the other side, and away. “I’d like to have a big old juicy burger,” the Old Man said “Won’t work. You lost your teeth, besides, you just had half a shake.” “I did?” “Yep. You want the other half?” “I could eat a horse.” “They’re sending one up.” “I’ll wait, then…” Gears meshed. “We were hungry.” “Huh?” 104 |

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4/20/12 9:14 AM

“Me and R.B. need meat. Wild game

and Keith Martin to camp up on Muddy

think?”

Boggy when we were kids?”

was all we had during the Depression and

“When?”

the game warden…” Silence. “What was

“Nope,” I answered. “You aren’t getting me in that dead-end loop. Remember

I saying?” “You were talking about poaching, I

when you took me and Gary and Rodney

“Naw?” “They were in high school, and I was little. We ran the trotlines in the dark. I remember hearing drum grumble under the boat. You took a Polaroid of us boys there by our canvas tent. I don’t remember catching fish, but you gave me a whole can of beer to drink by myself. Mama would have skinned you alive if she’d known.” He looked at me without saying anything. “It made me sleepy.” He favored me with a wide, toothless smile. “Miller Highlife!” I laughed aloud. It was the first truly funny thing we’d thought about in nearly a week. “Oh, you remember that, huh? Do you remember any of our other hunting or fishing trips?” The Old Man looked into the distance with cloudy, blue eyes. “Naw. When are we doing to eat?” I stared out of the window at the

cars going past on busy errands. “I wish it was fall so we could hunt squirrels in Chicota.” Silence. Dad loved to sit in the hardwood bottoms and chew Days Work while the leaves fell like snow around us. “Chicota. There ain’t nothing there for me anymore.” “I’m thinking about going fishing next week,” I said. “You wanna go?” He closed his eyes, as though overwhelmed by the impossibility of it all. I thought he was dozing off. He entered another time. “Hay hay sweet baby, don’t you thank a-maybe, we 106 |

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could have a brand new recipe!” “How can you remember a Hank Williams song, but not a thing I ask you?”

Cloyce and you got your socks full of sheep

when I was about four or five?”

burrs because you were wearing your Sun-

Nothing

day shoes?”

“I have that picture of me with a rabbit and blood all over my face.”

His eyes remained closed.

Silence.

“Remember quail hunting with Uncle

“Remember hunting rabbits in the snow

Silence. “Remember fishing the Brazos and the meteor shower that summer night? How about when you and Uncle Wilbert paid us kids to catch grasshoppers for bait when we were fishing on Tawakoni, but y’all really just wanted us from underfoot?” “Naw.” “What do you remember?” “I’m getting hungry.” “Well,” I said, surrendering. “I guess that’s more important right now anyway, than all that old stuff.” “Dad, stay with me here, I still need you. Do you remember anything?” He slept, I relived what he didn’t remember, and then he slipped away, My Old Man is gone this Father’s Day. I

believe that when he entered the Gates of Heaven two years ago, the angels wept with joy into their wings. His memory returned, I’m sure he hugged Mama, then touched the Man’s hand. Knowing Dad, he probably joined his Mama and Daddy and the brothers and sisters for a while, before heading out to fish with all the uncles and cousins that got there before him, especially R.B. If your Dad is still here, make more memories with him. If he isn’t, tell those stories you remember, because when the recollections fade like the remaining photographs, there’s nothing left but the stone.

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4/20/12 9:14 AM

The Patriarchal Redneck Wish List

acknowledge such in full recognition of the potential social consequences. Nonetheless and therefore, the following is not a case of casting aspersions or metaphorical stones from within a crystallized silicate domicile, and I can hold forth on redneck matters with impunity if not authority. Just as there are fly-fishermen, bait-

f you have not yet found within

Since I have to clear guns out of the

fishermen, lure-fishermen, offshore fisher-

these pages something suitable for

living-, dining-, and bathroom when com-

men, etc.; and deer hunters, quail hunters,

Fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day gifting, perhaps some-

pany comes; own a hound; start my pickup

duck hunters, etc.; there are classes and

thing less orthodox (albeit all but unob-

with a screwdriver; have more than one

sub-classes of rednecks. There are trailer

tainable) is a better fit. This requires a bit of

major household appliance on my porch;

park rednecks, ranch country rednecks,

pre-suggestion explanation.

and believe Larry the Cable Guy might be

small town rednecks, suburban rednecks,

a lost relative, I qualify as a redneck and

Saturday night rednecks, and intellectual

by don zaidle

rednecks, to name a few. (I have heard of

I have at sundry times in this publication held forth with an admixture of reticence, acknowledgement, and boast regarding my personal state of redneckness.

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urban rednecks, but they are mere philosophical disciples rather than practitioners

A L M A N A C

4/20/12 9:14 AM

and lean toward political correctness--some

part of it. This is partly to inspire sons,

discover the innermost secret desires of red-

of them even own poodles--so do not count

daughters, and sundry grandprogeny to

neck patriarchy and gift them accordingly

for our purposes. I allow some leeway for Saturday night rednecks in that, although part-timers, they subscribe to the doctrine full time and eschew political correctness.) All fishermen are still fishermen regardless of chosen practices, and all hunters are hunters notwithstanding species affinity. In like manner, all rednecks are rednecks and as such share certain core beliefs and innate desires. One could characterize the latter as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;wish listâ&#x20AC;? seldom expressed for reasons some might construe as political correctness, but it is actually more akin to the sense of self-preservation overriding the redneck gene. In the interest of diversity, multiculturalism, and furthering societal understanding and tolerance, I decided to publicly expose the Redneck Secret Wish List, or at least

ALMANAC Digital.indd 111

4/20/12 9:14 AM

• a store chain called “Alcohol, Tobacco, &

in observance of Father’s Day. In the event

Condensed Version of things all rednecks

you cannot locate the items or services list-

secretly wish for:

ed below, any of the offerings proffered via

• a gasoline-powered chainsaw pocketknife

• a pocket baling wire dispenser

advertisement in this section should make

• a Tackle, Bait, & Ammo department at Home

• legalized pickup bed Howitzers

suitable substitute.

Firearms”

• a restaurant chain featuring a Jerky, Slim

Depot

Here, then, is the Redneck’s Digest

• a 24-hour Field Dressing Channel

Jim, & Sardine Bar • horseshoes, spitting for accuracy, and catfish noodling as Olympics events • concealed carry licensing by mail • a multi-tool with a sledgehammer implement • good drip gas • the South had won (if you think this has anything to do with slavery, you are an urban redneck) • a weekly Carhartt’s sale at Tractor Supply • a pickup with gun rack, spare gas can, dog seat, duct tape dispenser, and built-in jumper cables as factory-standard equipment • a hog- and deer-size deep fryer • gravy in a bottle at Allsup’s • that John Deere made pickups • an open season and no bag limit on poodles • the return of Hee Haw, Curt Gowdy, and The American Sportsman • the same guns featured on the Military Channel available at Wal-Mart • Fred Bear, Elmer Keith, and Elvis were still alive • Tabasco sauce in vending machines • one-size-fits-all long johns • water-, diesel-, snake-, axe-, and beer-proof boots • a spouse detector (same principle/purpose as a radar detector) • jerky flavor PEZ in a Ted Nugent dispenser • a microwave freezer to quick-chill beer and Dr. Pepper • an HAV (High Altitude Vehicle) lane for liftkitted pickups • jeans with waistbands sized “.44 Revolver,” “.357 Magnum,” and “1911A1” • a “Wedding Model” shotgun

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Photo: Bryan Slaven:

Catfish and Wild Rice Soup

s a lifelong fisherman, my first memories are of catching bluegills and catfish. What a great fight those whisker bearing devils put on when my bobber disappeared. Of course sometimes a Red Eared Terrapin or a soft shelled snapper would surprise me, but the catfish were a great memory. Whether its channel, Opelousas, yellows or blues, catfish are fun to catch but are also great table fare. The list of ways to prepare catfish runs the gamut like a Bubba Gump Shrimp story, but when my wifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parents started raising blue catfish we got busy trying out

several ways to cook them. This version of Catfish and Wild Rice Soup originally came from The Catfish Institute website,

and I simply made some changes to my liking. It is wonderful and we make it often, feel free to substitute with Tilapia, trout or your favorite variety. Makes 6 servings 1 cup wild rice 4 cups water 1 medium onion, chopped 114 |

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1 cup chopped celery 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup butter or margarine 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 5 cups chicken broth 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon white pepper 1 teaspoon of your favorite Hot Sauce 2 pounds U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish Fillets, blackened and then cut into bite-size pieces 2 cups light cream or milk (whole milk will work fine and has a few less calories) 1/4 cup dry sherry ( have a little bit left to drizzle in the top of each bowl when serving) 3 tablespoons of Texas Gourmet’s Sidewinder Searing Spice Several very thin lemon slices 3 tablespoons of freshly cut green onion chives

Preparation: 1. Place rice in a colander and rinse under running water; drain.

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2. In a medium saucepan, bring water and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a boil; add rice. Return to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 45 to 55 minutes or until rice is tender. Drain. 3. In a large kettle or Dutch oven, cook onion, celery, and garlic in butter or margarine until tender. Stir in flour. Add chicken broth, and white pepper. Bring to a boil. For the catfish, brush the filets with melted butter, then dust the filets with Texas Gourmet’s Sidewinder Searing Spice on both sides. In a seasoned black iron or heavy skillet with med. high heat , cook the filets turning them carefully so they don’t get torn apart (or as little as possible) after they are cooked through and have a good rich color remove them from the pan and allow them to sit for a couple minutes to cool slightly. Now, cut them into bite sized pieces and

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place them in the pot with the other ingredients. Return to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily. 4. Stir in cooked wild rice, light cream or milk, and dry sherry. Heat through. 5. Garnish each serving with a slice of lemon and a tablespoon of chopped green onion chive ,(then I like a dash of Sherry on top. ) Bon Appetit! Email Bryan Slaven, “The Texas Gourmet,” at BSlaven@fishgame.com

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Freshwater

Fish Cleaning

Basics by Line

Photo: Matt Williams

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by matt williams LIKE MANY TEXANS, I LOVE eating fish. I’ve sampled a wide variety from both freshwater and salt and I like ‘em fried, baked, broiled or grilled. Studies have shown fish is healthy for the brain and good for ticker, too — all the more reason to wet a hook more often and keep a few for the table. As is the case with deer, squirrels, hogs, doves, ducks and other wild game, one of the main keys to preparing good-tasting fish is making sure it is cared for properly once removed from the river or lake, and diced up right once you get it to the cleaning table. While cleaning bass, catfish, white bass, stripers, crappie and bluegills may be an old hat to some TF&G readers, others may be relatively new to the game and welcome a few pointers. Here are a few helpful fish cleaning tips:

Caring For the Catch: Live fish are fine swimming around a livewell or bait box, but keep in mind they are perishable. It is important to get them on ice quickly once they die.

heads and guts.

Scaling: Bass, crappie and bream have scales a will need to be removed if you intend to fry them whole or with the skin left intact. Everyone has their preferences, but I don’t advise whole frying fish that are larger than 10-12 inches long. Scaling a fish is a simple procedure that can be carried out using a few simple steps: — Lay the fish on its side on a flat surface. — Use one hand to grip the head and the other to hold the scaling device. — Hold the fish steady. Using short, firm strokes, rake against the scales beginning at the tail and work towards the head, making

sure to remove all scales on the sides, collar, belly, back and around the fins.

Gutting: Some people like to leave the head on, but I won’t eat anything with eyes looking at me; I always remove the head first. Lay the fish on its side or belly and hold it steady while using a sharp knife to cut downward through the backbone and flesh until the head and gills are removed. — Lay the fish on its side and insert the knife blade between the body cavity and entrails. — Make a straight down the belly all the way to the anal vent. — Remove knife, open the body cavity and remove the entrails. Depending the fish,

Do it outdoors: Cleaning fish is a messy, bloody job that should always be performed outdoors, preferably near a good water source for rinsing the meat, filling freezer bags and cleaning up knives, spoons and other utensils. Tools You Will Need: — A fillet knife with a thin, flexible blade will enable you to make precise cuts close to bone so you don’t waste or butcher the meat. An electric knife will help you tackle large jobs in fast order. If you forget everything else about fish cleaning tools, remember to always keep knives super sharp. — A flat surface for cleaning. A cutting board is ideal, but you can also use a piece of old plywood or 2X12. — A tablespoon, butter knife or commercial fish scaler for removing scales. — A an ice chest with ice for storing cleaned fish before bagging. — Plenty of freezer bags. — A trash bag or bucket for disposing T F & G

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it may be necessary to do some trimming with the knife to ensure all the guts are removed. — Rinse thoroughly.

Filleting: Filleting is highly preferred for fish larger than say, 12 inches. It requires no

scaling and allows for deboning and dicing thick pieces of meat into thinner pieces that will cook much easier than thick ones. Learning to fillet takes some practice to master, but once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to turn a 1 1/2-pound crappie into a

pair of pearly slabs in a matter of seconds. For scaled fish like bass, crappie and bream…. — Begin by laying the fish on its side and cut downward behind the gill plate until the knife blade reaches the backbone. Do not cut through the backbone. — Turn the knife sideways and begin cutting towards the tail, following the rib cage, dorsal fin and back bone the full width of the fish. Stop cutting just before you reach the tail, leaving the skin intact. — Flip the cut so the meat is facing upward the skin downward. — Beginning at the tail, cut at a slight angle though the meat until you reach the skin. Turn the knife blade sideways and follow the skin to the opposite end to fully separate the meat. — Flip the fish and over and repeat on the opposite side. — Filleting a large catfish requires significantly more cuts. It is also a good idea to “bleed” the fish out before the actual cleaning process begins. This is accomplished by hanging the fish tail down on a hook or rope and removing the tail, just behind the anal fin.

Cleaning Up the Fillets: Once the fillets are removed, be sure to trim away any red strips of meat and excess fat. Otherwise, it will ruin the flavor. Once this is done, toss the meat on ice and move on to the next fish. Rinse all the fillets thoroughly with clean water before freezing.

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Bagging For the Freezer: Fish can be frozen in several different types of containers, but quart and gallon-size freezer bags are especially handy. — Divide the meat in portions to suit your normal dinner menu.

— Fill the bag 1/2 to 3/4 full of fish and add enough water to fully cover all the meat. — Drain any air pockets and seal the bag tightly before placing the freezer. Freezing fish in water will help prevent freezer

burn and keep fish tasting fresh for extended periods.

10 Steps to Skin a Catfish I’VE MET LOTS OF CAFISHERMEN over the years, but none that could hang with Charlie Shively of Strong when it comes to getting a frying size cat ready for the grease. Shively and his wife, Rhonda, own Bill’s Landing at the upper reaches of Toledo Bend. It’s a catfish hub popular with trotliners and rod and reelers a like. Shively offered a 10 step lesson plan for getting a frying-size catfish ready for the skillet:

TOOLS: Sharp filet knife & skinning pliers.

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

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

Make a V-shaped cut beginning on the back side of each pectoral fin. The cuts should meet on the bottom side of the lower jaw. Make a incision just behind the anus and stop at the base of the ventral fins.

Using skinning pliers, grab the skin on the top side near the head and twist downward, towards the belly. Pull the skin about halfway down the body and

STEP 7

Photo: Matt Williams

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

stop. Repeat the process on the opposite side. Alternate sides until the skin comes off at the tail.

Make a shallow incision down each side of the anal fin. This allows for easy removal of the fin and bones later. T F & G

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Use the skinning pliers to remove the dorsal fin and remove the head.

STEP 3

Open the body cavity and use the pliers to remove the guts.

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Use pliers to remove the anal fin, rinse until clean. Bag and freeze in water. —Matt Williams F i s h

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Striper Express Guide Servce

TEXAS SALTWATER

GALVESTON

MIDDLE Coast

ROCKPORT

Hook and Ladder

www.FISHGAME.COM

TEXAS HUNTING

Upper Coast (Sabine Lake)

NORTH EAST TEXAS

TEXAS HUNTING SOUTH TEXAS

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White Oak Outfitters

Rockport Redrunner

TEXAS FRESHWATER

LAKE AMISTAD

EAST TEXAS

LAKE TEXOMA

www.FISHGAME.COM

Call dennise for rates and information 281.869.5519

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SPOTLIGHT: WHITE OAK OUTFITTERS White Oak Outfitters is an owner-operated outfitting service offering deer, boar and bear hunts since 1993. They provide fair-chase hunts for hunters of all ages on 3000 acres in beautiful East Texas. Bear hunts take place in August and September in cooperation with Nolalu outfitters in Ontario Canada and carried out on 4 Bear Management Areas. Texas hog hunts have a two-day minimum and are conducted year around. Deer hunts run from October through December. Hunters can hunt as long as they want for the flat daily rate. White Oak Outfitters processes all game by quartering, wrapping and freezing all the meat. There are no trophy fees or any other hidden costs. Living quarters are provided along with cooking facilities at no extra charge. “We try to treat people the way we would like to be treated if we were hunting with them,” said Bruce Hunnicut, owner. “We feel we have one of the premier hunting areas in the country. We would be glad to book a hunt for anyone who wants to experience a hunt of a lifetime.” Call Bruce to schedule your next hunt @ (903) 537-2651 or visit www.whiteoakoutfittersinc.com T F & G

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White Bass Redfish

Trinity River

South Bay

Three-year-old Lainey Wolf of Midlothian caught this white bass on a RatLTrap. She was fishing on the Trinity River with Grammy, Grandpa, and Daddy.

Eight-year-old Jacob Fuentes caught this 29-inch redfish with cut mullet in South Bay.

turkey Runge Gage Whiteman, 9, of Clear Lake bagged his first turkey at the family’s ranch near Runge, Texas. He used a 20 gauge 870 youth model at 20 yards. The tom sported an 11-inch beard and 1-1/2-inch spurs.

Feral hog Huntsville Kyle Williams, 13, of Spring shot his first boar feral hog on his Grandfather’s deer lease near Huntsville. He shot it with a Remington .243 bolt action, perfectly clean to the lower heart.

Black Drum Port Mansfield Richard Roussett of San Antonio caught this black drum on shrimp at the Padre Island National Seashore near the Mansfield Jetties.

Redfish Corpus Christi Emma Grace Hermann, age 3, of Corpus Christi, caught and released her first keeper (21 inch) redfish while fishing with her daddy, Tommy. She also caught a 20- and a 23-inch red.

Whitetail

San Marcos

Kerr County

Joey Falschlehner, 6, a Houston first-grader, shot his first deer, a whitetail doe, over the Thanksgiving holiday in San Marcos. On his next hunting trip, he shot a whitetail spike.

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Kyle Wheeler, 10, from Katy, shot his first buck on a youth hunt at the West Kerr Ranch on Halloween day. The “Halloween Buck,” had an inside spread of 22.5 inches. What a treat!

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Toadfish Corpus Christi Colby Skinner, 8 years old, caught this 1-pound, 3.8ounce, 12-inch toadfish in Corpus Christi Bay. It is a Texas State Record for the Junior Angler division and he also received two water body records for both the Adult and Junior Divisions for Corpus Christi Bay. He caught the unusual fish on a rod & reel and was fishing with cut squid.

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MAIL TO: TFG PHOTOS 1745 Greens Rd, Houston TX 77032 NOTE: Print photos can not be returned.

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No guarantee can be made as to when, or if, a submitted photo will be published.

Whitetail Speckled Trout

Frio County

Sunfish

Aransas Pass

Private Pond

Mike Singleton and his 4-year-old granddaughter Brynn of Schertz with Brynnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first trout, caught off the pier at the ICW RV park in Aransas Pass.

Trenton Weiler with the first fish of the day, a sun perch. Dad Justin said it took a whole box of worms, but they got the fish!

Twelve-year-old Brandon Despault took this 9-point buck on the Morgan Farm in Frio County. He got it with a single shot with a .243 at 75 yards in a thick fog.

Feral Hog

speckled trout

Rosharon Nine-year-old Lane LaBauve shot this feral hog with his Browning 280 at 139 yards while hunting near Rosharon.

Arroyo City

Redfish

Two-year-old Karson Dyer of Harlingen caught his first trout fishing with his big sis, dad and grandpa in Arroyo City.

Port Mansfield Ian Hunter Solis, 6, of Raymondville, caught his first 42-inch bull red at the Port Mansfield jetties. Submitted by proud dad, Nathan Solis.

Sandhill crane | Big Spring Cameron Starnes, 7, and his dad Charles, on their first sandhill crane hunt in Big Spring over the Thanksgiving holidays. Cameron shot this bird and two more with a single-shot .410.

Whitetail Kerr County Ryan Maresh, age 9 from Austin with his first buck, a 9-point he shot with a crossbow while hunting in Kerr County.

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