Texas Freshwater

by MATT WILLIAMS :: TF&G Freshwater Editor

Hawg Hunting Season

WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF another lunker season in Texas. Bass junkies, it’s time to get your game faces on and get ready for war!

More heavyweight Texas bass are caught between January and April than at any other time of year.

Back in the late 1980s and 1990s, I spent several days shing with a guy named John Hope. Hope lived in Palestine at the time and worked as a shing guide on Houston County Lake. He was well known across Texas, largely through his a liation with the now-defunct publication, Honey Hole Magazine.

Hope lived for the big bite. He loved it so much that he became infatuated with learning all he could about big bass behavior. e guide was so obsessed with fat sh that he began equipping them with electronic transmi ers so he could monitor their daily routines.

Between 1986 and 1994, Hope surgically implanted electronic transmi ers inside 57 sh ranging from six to 15 pounds in more than a dozen Texas lakes. ree were Texas ShareLunkers, including a 15 pounder from Lake Fork, a 14 pounder from Lake Murvaul and a 13 pounder from Sam Rayburn.

Hope worked tirelessly on the project. He once spent ve consecutive days and nights tracking sh at Houston County. e guide slept in the bo om of his boat in a sleeping bag, waking periodically to document the movements of his nny subjects. e studies taught Hope a ton about big bass. He wrote a book documenting the ndings. Fi ingly, the book is titled Trackin’ Texas Trophies.

One of the more valuable lessons Hope learned is that big bass are home bodies.

“Every big bass has a bedroom where it rests and a kitchen where it feeds,” Hope said. “And those places won’t be very far apart. I never had a sh move more than 400 yards from its bedroom when it went to feed. ey don’t go roaming around all over the lake from one day to the next.”

Hope also learned that big bass feed predominantly at night, 12 months a year.

“Every sh over seven pounds is a nocturnal feeder,” Hope said. “ ey may feed periodically during the day, but they do most of their feeding at night, usually in two hour intervals. ey feed for a while, then rest for a while.”

Hope also learned something about how sh relate to cover and structure in shallow, mid-range and deep water. Furthermore, his ndings helped him rm up his “funnel point” theory.

“For several years I would mark an X on the map when I would catch a big bass,” Hope explained. “At the time, the only common denominators I noticed between the spots were deep water access, cover and structure.”

Hope was referencing the X-riddled lake map one day, when he made an interesting discovery.

“It was like someone icked a light switch,” he said. “ ere was a narrow trail leading to all the X’s. ey looked like funnels - wide at one end, narrow at the other. ese are the types of places big bass like to travel. Spend more time shing de ned funnel points, and you’ll catch more big bass.”

Mark Stevenson knows what it takes to land the big ones. Since 1984, Stevenson has caught nearly 300 weighing 10 pounds or more from Lake Fork, including a 17.67pound former state record that still ranks as the biggest Texas bass ever caught on an arti cial lure.

Stevenson says there are number of things anglers can do to boost the chances of ge ing big bites.

Location a huge key. e guide spends an abundance of time shing creeks. He does so slowly and methodically.

“I basically pick a creek apart, and I take my time doing it,” he explained. “I sh up one side, down the other and pay real close a ention to bends in the channel with sharp breaks, especially if there is a bunch of brush down there. e more cover there is, the better the big sh like it.”

When Stevenson’s bait comes in contact with thick cover, he makes a point to sh through it instead of around it.

“When I feel my bait bumping brush, I actually slow down and allow my bait get down into it,” he said. “I may not get the bait back. But then, I may get it back with a big bass holding on to it.”

Stevenson said it is essential to have the right mindset in when targeting big bass.

“Fishing for big bass is an entirely di erent ball game than going a er numbers,” he said. “You have to realize you aren’t going to get as many bites and not get discouraged. Fishing for big bass is a lonely game, but it can be really rewarding if you don’t mind pu ing in the time.”

According to Stevenson, big bass are prone to go on the prowl when nasty weather sets in.

“Don’t be deterred by the weather,” Stevenson said. “ e days that are most conducive for comfortable shing are not necessarily the days when big sh bite the best. For some reason, big bass go on the prowl during nasty weather. Something about it turns them on.”

Email Matt Williams at ContactUs@fi shgame.com

HE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS (BEA) released its 2020 report on outdoor recreation’s economic impact, which confirmed that boating and fishing remain the number one contributor to this critical sector of the U.S. economy.

The new numbers show outdoor recreation generates $689 billion in economic output, supports 4.3 million American jobs, and comprises three percent of all U.S. employees. The report, a snapshot in time of a challenging and uncertain year, includes national and state level data.

In 2020, conventional outdoor recreation activities (such as bicycling, boating, hiking, hunting, etc.) accounted for 37.4 percent of U.S. outdoor recreation value added, up from 30.6 percent in 2019. This increase was due to higher spending on boating and fishing, as well as RVing. Boating and fishing was the largest conventional activity for the nation – up nearly 30 percent compared to 2019 – as

well as the largest conventional activity in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

“Americans have faced a number of challenges and uncertainty since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but one thing is certain – recreational boating and fishing provided a much-needed outlet for millions of Americans, and continues to be a major economic driver,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

“Despite the pandemic, public lands and water closures, canceled trips and travel, gathering restrictions, supply chain issues and more, the outdoor recreation economy is a huge contributor to national and local economies,” said Jessica Turner, president of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR).

“This data, along with what we have seen throughout the past year and a half, proves how vital continued investments in our public lands and waters and recreation infrastructure are to the national

PHOTO: ADOBE

Outdoor recreation generated $698 billion during a year of shutdowns and closures.

and local economies and how communities big and small, rural and urban, bene t from outdoor recreation.”

During an ORR brie ng event on the new report, Steve Heese, President and CEO of Chris-Cra and Chairperson of NMMA’s Board of Directors, highlighted the increasing demand the industry experienced in 2020. According to Mr. Heese, America’s

recreational boating industry is strong and ge ing stronger and this trend is expected to continue in the years ahead.

Key highlights from 2020 data on the outdoor recreation economy: • Outdoor recreation generated $689 billion in gross output during a year of shutdowns and closures, and 4.3 million jobs in communities across the country. • Industry segments like boating and shing, biking, camping and RVing, hunting and shooting sports, and powersports experienced record sales and unprecedented growth. • 2020 was one of the toughest years in recent history. With so much isolation and loss, the outdoors was something we could all turn to in order to connect with families and friends while maintaining physical and mental health.

• Declines in travel and tourism had an outsized impact on outdoor recreation’s overall economic activity and related outdoor segments may continue to struggle. • Outdoor participation soared, especially close-to-home recreation, highlighting the importance of be er access to the outdoors for all communities. • Americans’ prioritization of outdoor recreation continued into 2021 with strong numbers in participation and sales data. is is the fourth consecutive year that BEA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has released government data on the outdoor recreation sector. e release shows how the outdoor industry continues to support communities across the country during the pandemic. is is despite the impact of widespread public lands and business closures, suspended trips and travel, gathering restrictions, supply chain issues and more, Prior to 2020, the outdoor recreation economy was growing faster than the economy as a whole in every indicator. It has served as a resilient economic growth engine and job creator.

America’s outdoor recreation community continues to support the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA), which is the project compiling and releasing this data. As is the case for many other industries, the goal is to provide annual data on the economic importance of national and regional outdoor recreation economies that can be tracked for years to come.

PHOTO: ADOBE

Outdoor participation soared in 2020, especially close-to-home recreation.