Saltwater Fishing Report

SABINE LAKE: 80 degrees. Speckled trout are fair on chartreuse plastics. Redfish are fair on chartreuse plastics and mullet.

BOLIVAR: 81 degrees. Redfish are fair to good on squid and mullet. Flounder are fair on soft plastics and finger mullet.

WEST GALVESTON BAY: 81 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are fair at the jetties on live shrimp.

FREEPORT: 82 degrees. Redfish and speckled trout are fair on shrimp under a popping cork.

EAST MATAGORDA BAY: 82 degrees. Redfish are fair to good wade-fishing with shrimp and soft plastics.

WEST MATAGORDA BAY: 82 degrees. Redfish are fair to good on shrimp and wade-fishing with soft plastics and shrimp.

PORT O’CONNOR: 84 degrees. Speckled trout are fair on croaker and live shrimp. Redfish are fair to good on shrimp. Black drum are good on dead shrimp.

ROCKPORT: 82 degrees. Speckled trout are fair to good on along the jetties and in the surf on croaker and mullet.

PORT ARANSAS: 82 degrees. Redfish are good on mullet, croaker and soft plastics. Speckled trout are fair on croaker and mullet.

CORPUS CHRISTI: 83 degrees. Speck-

BAFFIN BAY: 82 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are fair on soft plastics and shrimp.

PORT MANSFIELD: 85 degrees. Redfish are fair to good on small topwaters and soft plastics. Speckled trout are slow. Black drum are good on shrimp.

SOUTH PADRE: 85 degrees. Redfish are fair to good on shrimp. Speckled trout are fair but small on soft plastics and shrimp.

PORT ISABEL: 86 degrees. Speckled trout and redfish are fair to good on shrimp and soft plastics.

—TPWD

James Hautman of Chaska, Minnesota, emerged as the winner of the 2021 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest with his painting of a pair of redheads floating in the water.

Hautman’s acrylic painting will be made into the 2022-2023 Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, which will go on sale in late June 2022. The Service produces the Federal Duck Stamp, which sells for $25 and raises approximately $40 million in sales each year.

In addition to James Hautman, Robert Hautman of Delano, Minnesota, placed second with his acrylic painting of snow geese, and Joshua Spies of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, took third place with his acrylic painting of a flying drake redhead.

Per the 2020 final rule requiring a theme of “celebrating our waterfowl hunting heritage,” this contest had a mandatory requirement that each entry had a waterfowl hunting scene and/or accessory. The rule has since been removed for next year by the Biden Administration.

—USFWS

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks are investigating the death of a grizzly bear found on Aug. 23. The year-old male bear was shot on Aug. 22 while in a chokecherry patch along Dupuyer Creek. There were no known or reported human-bear conflicts in the vicinity where the bear was found, and the event is being investigated as a poaching incident. The Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a reward of up to $1,500 for information contributing significantly to the investigation into the death of the bear.

—MFWP

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is seeking information about the poaching of a mature desert bighorn sheep ram in Game Management Unit 39 in the Buckeye Hills at Gillespie Dam, south of Buckeye.

The incident took place in the evening of July 10. AZGFD officials have reason to believe a group of five Asian males seen leaving the scene at approximately 8:30 p.m. in a gray sedan and a black sport utility vehicle may be involved in this incident.

—AZGFD

The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks has removed certain unsold antlerless deer licenses from some hunting units in western South Dakota due to a fatal deer disease.

Hemorrhagic disease, caused by epizootic hemorrhagic disease or blue tongue virus, is spread by a biting midge and causes extensive internal hemorrhaging in infected animals. Both EHD and BT viral caused mortalities have been detected this year in 10 South Dakota counties.

GFP removed 559 unsold antlerless whitetail deer licenses valid on private land only in Harding and Meade counties. All 559 licenses removed were double tag licenses, which is a total of 1,118 total tags.

An Idaho bowhunter found the remains of another hunter who had been missing for 53 years. The hunter called the central Idaho’s Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office to report the discovery.

Raymond Jones was 39 years old when he was last seen on Sept. 7, 1968, while bowhunting for mountain goats in central Idaho’s Lemhi County. Searches involving more than 70 people and aircraft support were unsuccessful. The hunter was in the same area where Jones had disappeared.

Sheriff’s deputies found part of Jones’ wallet, with his identification still inside.

—Staff report

The 15th annual Arkansas alligator season closed with hunters harvesting 161 alligators during the two-weekend season.

The harvest falls short of last year’s 174-alligator record, as this year’s quota on private land was reduced to continue managing the alligator population.

According to Mark Barbee, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s wildlife assistant regional supervisor in southeast Arkansas, the private land zones reached their quota by the end of the opening weekend.

Public land zones saw a few tags go unfilled, but Barbee said some people were holding out for a larger gator.

A total of 11,783 student athletes representing 651 high school and college teams in 34 states are participating in USA Clay Target League programs this fall. In addition, more than 7,800 local volunteers will serve as coaches, range safety officers, and team staff.

“We are pleased to have our largest fall registration numbers ever,” said John Nelson, President of the USACTL.

The League also is the safest sport in high school and college, with not one reported injury since the inception of the League in 2001. Each athlete must complete firearm safety certification before participation.

—USACTL

At the World Archery Championships held in Yankton, South Dakota, 17-year-old Casey Kaufhold, also an Olympian, won silver in the women’s recurve competition. She lost in the finals to Korea’s Olympic gold medalist Jang Minhee. Kaufhold’s medal was the first U.S. women’s archery medal in 33 years.

—USA Archery