Texas Fish & Game March 2020

March 2020 | $3.95

Grand Slam: A Turkey Revolution

Dead Zones in the Gulf

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Inside FISH & GAME 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.

by ROY and ARDIA NEVES TF&G Owners

ROY AND ARDIA NEVES

Texas is Calendar Friendly

PUBLISHERS

CHESTER MOORE EDITOR IN CHIEF

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ONTRARY TO YANKEE PROPAGANDA, THERE ARE SEASONS IN TEXAS. In fact, with our weather, we can actually see the full spectrum of seasons in a single 24 hour period—even if we are just sitting still, in the same spot—and especially if we spend just a few of those hours on the road. We’ve all seen weather maps showing single digit temperatures in Amarillo at the same time it is in the high nineties in the Rio Grande Valley.

Although our entire state may not enjoy the wonder of a months-long canvas of landscapes painted with glorious fall foliage, there are forested pockets from the Piney Woods to the Hill Country that could make a credible stand-in for New England.

Sure, our summers can be brutal. But we’re built for that—and have air conditioning.

At the same time, while there are occasions when we slide around on sheets of ice trying to get to work (or to a deer camp, or—the hard core among us—to a boat ramp), fortunately those are isolated weather events, and not the permanent ice curtain that falls on northern regions around Halloween and can’t be expected to lift again until well after April Fool’s Day. Real winter, for most of Texas, happens only when the cold gets bored with tormenting those poor souls who live on its home turf in the north, hijacks a passing front and breaks into Texas, to pester us only long enough for our prevailing Gulf weather to notice and chase it back to where it belongs.

There’s a reason the Texas economy benefits from an annual migration of Snow Birds, while there is no such thing as Sunburned Birds flocking to Michigan.

So yeah, we got seasons. We just don’t go overboard with them.

There are other kinds of seasons, of course—not associated with the weather. And here, too, we feel Texas clearly takes the advantage.

Fishing and hunting seasons in Texas are not the same as what most other states are accustomed to. Hunting has extremely generous seasons in Texas. Between youth, archery and late regional options, Texans can hunt whitetails from shortly after the last day of summer all the way to Valentine’s Day. With exotics and feral hogs, anyone who wants to hunt big game can hunt big game 365 days a year.

With a few minor exceptions, fishing here has no season. Up north, there are seasons for bass and other freshwater gamefish, such as in Wisconsin where more than a dozen different largemouth seasons exist in a state not much larger than East Texas. They do have ice fishing up there. Ice... Fishing. Pass.

On the saltwater side, yes, Texans are governed by the federal red snapper season. But remember, Texas state waters reach nine nautical miles into the Gulf, rather than the standard three miles that all the other coastal states are limited to.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t Natural Fishing Seasons. Coastal anglers know that the fall is prime fishing season for redfish and flounder (the latter of which do have a “restrictive” season, but that only governs bag limits and how flounder are taken, not access), and that speckled trout generally spawn in late spring. Meanwhile, fishing for these top tier saltwater species, thanks to the aforementioned weather conditions, tends to be excellent through most of the calendar.

Then, of course, this month sees the kickoff of fishing “season” for the most popular freshwater species. The big show, the largemouth bass spawn, is on now. At the same time, white bass are on their annual run, especially at lakes on prominent river systems. Crappie are also spawning. And Texoma and Possum Kingdom stripers are getting frisky right about now. While these “seasons” produce heavier weights and higher numbers, Texas freshwater action is virtually year-round.

We also have a rainbow trout season, thanks to annual put and take stockings that Texas Parks & Wildlife Department does in rivers, lakes and ponds all over the state. Colorado? Why bother?

So we do have fishing seasons, just not the kind of restrictive, officially enforced “blackouts” that residents of neighboring states have to put up with.

TEXAS FISH & GAME’S core mission is to celebrate the outdoor resources of Texas. The generous seasons here are just another example of how, at times, our job could not be easier.

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C O N T R I B U T O R S JOE DOGGETT DOUG PIKE TED NUGENT LOU MARULLO MATT WILLIAMS CALIXTO GONZALES LENNY RUDOW STEVE LAMASCUS DUSTIN ELLERMANN REAVIS WORTHAM KENDAL HEMPHILL TOM BEHRENS GREG BERLOCHER RAZOR DOBBS CAPT. MIKE HOLMES STAN SKINNER NICOLE BECKA CYNDI DELANA LISA MOORE

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SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR EDITOR AT LARGE HUNTING EDITOR FRESHWATER EDITOR SALTWATER EDITOR BOATING EDITOR FIREARMS EDITOR SHOOTING EDITOR HUMOR EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR DIGITAL CONTRIBUTOR DIGITAL CONTRIBUTOR CONTRIBUTING PHOTO EDITOR

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Contents March 2020 | Vol. 36 • No. 11

FEATURE ARTICLES

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AMAZING LAKE CONROE Known as “Houston’s Playground,” Lake Conroe has been a freshwater angler’s paradise for almost 50 years.

by TF&G Staff

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THINK SMALL FOR BIG BASS You don’t have to fish a huge lake to find big bass in Texas. There are a lot of great “mini-lakes” scattered around the state where you can count on catching real trophies.

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The TF&G Report • News of the Nation

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Texas HotShots Trophy Photos

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Fish & Game Forecast Center

by CHESTER MOORE

Doggett at Large

by JOE DOGGETT

Nugent in the Wild

by MATT WILLIAMS

Texas Saltwater

by CALIXTO GONZALES

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Texas Whitetails

by LARRY WEISHUHN

Open Season

by REAVIS WORTHAM

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CLASSROOM IN THE WILD Stephen F. Austin State University is training the next generation of career conservationists.

by TF&G Staff

TURKEY REVOLUTION A Grand Slam quest to photograph each of the subspecies of turkey: Rio Grande, Eastern, Merriam’s and Osceola.

by Chester Moore

TEXAS OUTDOOR NATION

Editor’s Notes

Texas Freshwater

by Chester Moore

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COLUMNS

by Ted Nugent

Gulf waters are under constant assault by climate, chemical and biological threats, reducing oxygen and creating “dead zones.”

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COVER STORY

story and cover photo by Matt Williams

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GULF DEAD ZONES

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Letters

by TFG Readers

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Fish & Game Hunting Center

DEPARTMENTS Fish & Game Photos

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by TFG Readers

Outdoor Directory

Guides, Outfitters & More

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LETTERS to the Editor Editor: This is very interesting. That’s a new one but just shows anything can happen in nature, especially with hogs.

Mexico Bighorns THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE article on Mexico’s bighorn sheep comeback story. I love what The Wild Sheep Foundation are doing, and it is nice to see something on Mexico in TF&G. I love the fact you cover things no one else does, and this is a great example. It is wonderful to see bighorn sheep coming back in so many places.

Anson Jones

ENTRY (A) in this month’s installment of “You Don’t See That Every Day” ...

Bass Eating Bass

Williams on December 26, 2019. I thought that this may be of interest to you.

I READ MATT WILLIAM’S ARTICLE issue of Texas Fish & Game Magazine. The title caught my eye. As you can see from the pictures attached, we have had the same experience. Neither of these fish were hooked; they were spotted at the surface of the water. My friend slowly trolled over to see what exactly was happening and found these two fish. He was able to capture and separate them. The larger fish was a sixpounder and the smaller was four pounds.

Both were successfully released back into the lake. These pictures are from 2015 in a private club lake near Athens Texas.

Dan Williams

Editor: It was a great pleasure to write that article. Sheep conservation is a big passion of mine, and our ecosystems are linked to Mexico so it was a natural fit as far as I am concerned.

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Email your comments to: editor@fishgame.com

... and here is ENTRY (B).

Mike Leamon

Club-Footed Hog ATTACHED ARE PICTURES OF A hog killed near Speaks, Texas, which is located north of El Campo, Texas. The hog seems to have three feet on one of the front legs. The hog was killed by my son, Jason 6

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PHOTOS: TOP, MIKE LEAMON; BOTTOM, DAN WILLIAMS

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EDITOR’S Notes

by CHESTER MOORE :: TF&G Editor-in-Chief

There is a New Cat in the Texas Wildlands “I think I saw an ocelot. It crossed the road in front of me-just outside of Oklahoma City.”

“What do you think of these game camera photos? Is this a serval or maybe an ocelot?”

“What kind of wild cat species is this? Has something escaped from the zoo?”

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HESE QUESTIONS, COMments and conversations have increased dramatically over the last 2-3 years.

People have always submitted photos of cats caught on game cameras or cell phones to ask for evaluation. They are usually to distinguish bobcats versus cougars or people thinking they might have the image of an elusive “black panther”.

I believe I have pretty much closed at least Chapter 1 of the panther issue, and you can read the blog on that topic at fishgame.com.

The phenomenon I mention now is different and I believe it involves a different kind of cat on the American landscape.

Hybrid and designer cat breeds are popular in America.

Everything from the relatively common Bengal cat (originates with Asian leopard cat/ domestic hybrid) to savannah cats (serval/ domestic hybrid) to designer cats like the ocicat. These cats all look wild, look exotic and, to a certain extent, are wild and exotic, and they are now entering the woods and wildlands and confusing the public.

At right is a photo sent to me by Amy Chambers of San Patricio, Texas. She thought she might have captured an ocelot on camera, but at closer examination this is without a doubt a domestic and most likely a Bengal or Bengal hybrid.

Bengal cats come in various colors, sizes and patterns. The basic look mimics the original stock of Asian leopard cat in terms of pattern.

Our Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center® Bengal “Purity” is what is called a “snow leopard” morph with the white/gray mix and blue eyes.

The pattern though is Asian leopard cat or even ocelot-like.

There are even breeders who specifically breed them for the spot pattern close to ocelots or Asian leopard cats and interestingly we discovered one about 20 miles from where this cat was captured on a game camera.

Even though our Bengal is sweet, she has a little wild in her and has incredible jumping abilities and predatory instincts. We never allow her near our birds or small mammals.

And she is probably four generations removed from original hybridization.

Savannahs are out there that are half serval and some of them are wild enough in fact that T E X A S

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they end up at sanctuaries due to them not being quite as cuddly as some domestic cats.

People allow their cats to go outside. Cats escape houses and pens and, as we know with standard-edition feral cats, they are everywhere.

I believe we will see more of these types of cats in the wild and they will contribute to many people thinking they have seen everything from a long-tailed bobcat to ocelots and leopards.

I will write more on this issue but wanted to get this out there to let people know some of the beautiful, spotted, long-tailed cats they are seeing in the woods may be exotic and even feral but not necessarily wild.

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The era of the exotic hybrid cat has begun in the wild areas of America, as I have personally received photos and videos to identify from Texas, Michigan and New York.

If you think you have a photos or videos of one of these cats or a spotted cat you cannot identify email cmoore@fishgame.com.

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DOGGETT at Large

by JOE DOGGETT :: TF&G Contributing Editor

Now, This is a Knife

Names that come to mind are Buck, KA-BAR, Marble’s, and Gerber. Oh, yes, and Case.

Early on, my first functional purchase was one of the original Buck knives—still have that one, too. It was the standard model, nine inches in length with a narrow five-inch blade and slightly upturned point. It just said Buck USA near the half-hilt, no model number or tricky name. It remains an excellent knife.

Old timers might recall the Buck ads in the national outdoor magazines. One early promotion showed a Buck being hit with a hammer to slice the blade through a steel bolt—which made about as much sense as throwing it at an unsympathetic oak tree.

During the ’70s and ’80s, the big Bowies and hunters fell out of favor and the drop-point design with a shorter four- to five-inch heavy blade was standard issue in most deer camps. Large folding knives also earned style points. Anybody toting a foot-long survival knife was immediately suspected of being a rookie.

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FINE KNIFE IS A wonderful thing. That was my opinion as an 11-year-old kid. More than 60 years later, I have no reason to change that initial impression.

The subject of my youthful adoration was a Christmas gift. It was shining and new, a terrible Bowie-type knife 14 inches in length with a classic “clip point” upturned blade. Frankly, I’m amazed that my parents put such a package under the tree.

I’m sure my mother was scandalized.

I had a pretty good grasp of Santa’s budget and figured that the knife and leather sheath couldn’t have cost more than $20 or $25. I still have the pitted, rusted, dinged Bowie; indeed, it now looks as if it could have been exhumed from the rubble of the Alamo.

But in 1957 it was a beauty. Big knives were popular back then, mainly because of TV and movie exposure. A surplus of mass-produced WW II and Korean combat knives also helped.

My Bowie blade was cut and tempered and beveled from a 1/4-inch thick slab of carbon steel.

The stag handle was secured to the tang by three brass rivets. A full brass hilt separated blade and handle. One side of the blade ahead of the hilt was presumptuously engraved ORIGINAL BOWIE KNIFE and the opposite side boasted JOWIKA SOLINGEN GERMANY. The big knife was utterly useless for practical work, but I carried it proudly along the banks of Houston’s Brays Bayou. Being a foolish and impetuous kid, I practiced throwing the heavy knife at the trunk of an unsympathetic oak tree and finally broke the brass hilt.

That first knife fueled a stoke for fine blades.

Fine quality knives are, if nothing else, a pleasure to hold and admire. The good ones properly taken care of can be (literally) solid investments.

I have owned numerous knives, mostly relatively inexpensive factory-made models.

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Classic Randall Model 1 Fighter

Of course, to serious knife collectors, it’s all about hand-made blades. W.D. “Bo” Randall of Orlando, Fla., generally is acknowledged as the most famous of the American custom knife makers. He was influenced during the late ’30s by an early craftsman, Bill Scagel, and started tempering and beveling and honing blades from carbon tool steel. He gained major reputation during the ’40s and ’50s.

The big “Randall Made” Model 1 Fighter was revered by combat soldiers through several wars and remains one of the most beautiful clip-point profiles ever created. The Model 3 Hunter, a more versatile knife, was favored by sportsmen.

Bo Randall passed away in ’89 but the family shop remains in operation, utilizing the same methods (built-to-order knives are available on the website, with an advertised wait of at least six months).

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across the country. Several dozen are in Texas. The modern craft might have originated in Florida, but nobody ever said Texas wasn’t knife country.

My first serious custom blade was made during the late ’70s by the late Chubby Hueske of Bellaire.

He didn’t make a lot of knives, but they were beauties. Naturally, I opted for a drop point with a proper 4 1/2-inch blade.

I toted that knife in its hard leather sheath on many South Texas deer hunts. I shot a 168-gross, 11-point typical on a low-fenced ranch near Tilden (back when a 160 was a really big buck) and whipped out the Hueske to field dress the deer.

Being a foolish and impetuous young man, I got so excited that l used a big rock to whack the top of the blade to break the pelvic bone. The bone cracked, but the top of the Hueske suffered several irreparable dings.

I purchased several more custom knives over the years, not as a major collector or investor but because I was drawn to them. About a decade ago, with more steel than I could ever use, I put the whole thing on hold.

Then, recently, Gordy & Sons, a high-end outdoor store in Houston, obtained an estate collection of several dozen sheathed Randall knives—real Randall knives!

An amazing trove was on display. They were expensive, but not as pricey as I expected. My intention, burning with the Randall Fever, was to select a smaller drop-point model—a correct hunting knife by today’s standards. But I kept eyeballing the imposing gleam of a big, bad Model 1 Fighter.

Screw it, I thought, I was right 60 years ago, and I’m tired of trendy blades no bigger than my thumb. I want to wrap my good right hand around a real knife.

So, I walked out with a gorgeous old Randall I may never use. Then, being a foolish and impetuous old man, I finally did a smart thing.

I double-dipped with the big blades. I hastened back and added a gleaming Model 3 Hunter to my collection.

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Email Joe Doggett at ContactUs@fishgame.com

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NUGENT in the Wild

by TED NUGENT :: TF&G Editor-at-Large

Good-bye My Dear Hunting Brother John

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WANT YOU TO KNOW MY younger brother John. He died recently at the age of 66, and the Nugent family is in a whirlwind of heartbreak. I’m not sure I can even get through this tribute to him.

If ever there was a glowing, positive force of nature, it was Johnny. The guy could light up a room and magnify a joyful spirit like no one I have ever known.

I don’t care what the mood may have been prior to John’s arrival, but immediately everybody had a smile on their face, laughter was in the air and everything turned positive.

His work ethic alone was a constant reminder of just how efficient and productive a human being can be, and as a brother, husband, father, uncle and full-on great American, he was a shining light for 66 years.

We are being flooded with support and good wishes from around the world from everyone who ever had even the slightest encounter with John.

Everybody loved Johnny Nugent, and we struggle to make sense of his early departure and a day without him.

The guy would get up every day of the year at 4am and make his way to his foreman duties at the Pepper Construction sites in downtown Chicago.

He was notorious for not only getting the job done, but getting it done ahead of schedule and under budget.

In Chicago mind you! Think of the entrenched corruption and obstacles he would face in that gangster run environment.

Which reminds me of the time the mafia tried to bootleg my concert tee shirts in New York City during one of my sold-out Madison Square Gardens concerts back in the 1970s.

John and I were told about gangs of punks with sacks of merchandise out on the streets ripping me off, so we did what a couple of Detroit born and raised brothers would do and took off to confront the thieves.

Well, suffice it to say the NYC thugs had never run into the Detroit Nugent brothers, and when the dust settled, we had possession of all the merchandise, which featured my name, image and likeness, and the mob was not real happy.

In fact there was a classic moment on a network TV report how the head honcho of the mob was actually impressed we had the gall to do what we did and declined to retaliate.

There are a million stories in the naked city, and Johnny and I were there for most of them.

My memory bank overflows with wonderful recollections of family hunting trips in Michigan and Alaska with John, and the guy was as natural a marksman, archer and predator as ever there was.

It didn’t matter whether he grabbed our dad’s old longbow, 1911 .45 pistol, or our sporterized ’03 Springfield 30-06 with iron sights, Johnny was a natural.

I so wish he had never started smoking, in fact I wish nobody ever started smoking or poisoning their sacred temple with such irresponsible substance abuse, but alas, mankind seems to have this inherent weakness and we all pay in heartbreak and tragedy.

His lung cancer was basically beat, but like mom and dad and so many others, the ongoing and abusive medical procedures slowly but surely took their toll.

Us brothers and sister keep in pretty good touch throughout the year, and I had just spoke with John last week when we excitedly planned shooting, hunting, fishing outdoor fun together soon. He sounded energetic and upbeat, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

I will share with you here a brilliant statement by a family friend that seems to sum up the emotional trauma we all experience when losing a loved one. It is the best I have ever read.

“All right, here goes. I’m old. What that means is that I’ve survived (so far) and a lot of people I’ve known and loved did not. I’ve lost friends, best T E X A S

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friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can’t imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here’s my two cents.

“I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I don’t want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don’t want it to “not matter”. I don’t want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love.

So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was.

Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can’t see.

“As for grief, you’ll find it comes in waves.

When the ship is first wrecked, you’re drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and the magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more.

And all you can do is float. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while.

Maybe it’s some physical thing. Maybe it’s a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it’s a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float.

Stay alive.

“In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don’t even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float. After a while, maybe weeks, maybe months, you’ll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what’s going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, a street intersection, the smell of a cup of coffee. It can be just about anything...and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there is life.

“Somewhere down the line, and it’s different for everybody, you find that the waves are only 80 feet tall. Or 50 feet tall. And while they still

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PHOTO: COURTESY SAN JACINTO RIVER AUTHORITY.

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AKE

AKE CONROE IS OFTEN CALLED “Houston’s Playground.”

Due to its proximity to the nation’s fourth largest city it is used by pleasure boaters, ski enthusiasts and people simply wanting to get out on the water.

Serious fishermen, however, know Lake Conroe as a truly amazing fishing lake for multiple species.

Impounded in 1973, Lake Conroe is a 20,118-acre reservoir on the West Fork of the San Jacinto River.

And it is legendary for its truly huge largemouth bass.

The Toyota Sharelunker Program has recognized bass weighing 13 pounds or more since 1986 and in fact out of more than

60 lakes that have produced Sharelunker bass, only five have produced more than Conroe.

Fork comes out on top at 261, followed by Sam Rayburn (27),

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Alan Henry (27) and Austin (20.) Conroe has produced 18 of

these massive bass.

“The lake probably doesn’t have as big of a bass population as some of the other top bass lakes due to Conroe not having much grass. But what Conroe does have is a good number of big fish which is why you have seen major tournaments where the big fish of the day was over 10 pounds,” said Bassmaster Elite Series pro Keith Combs, who has won multiple Toyota Texas Bass Classics on Conroe.

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Fish Attractors Boost Conroe Fishing TPWD’S INLAND FISHERIES DIVISION CONTINUALLY STRIVES to make fishing better and more accessible. One great way to do both is through the addition of fish habitat structures at selected areas within major reservoirs The map below shows coordinates of PVC cube fish attractors deployed by Seven Coves Bass Club (a Friends of Reservoirs Chapter), TPWD, and the River Authority. There are sev-

eral structures at each marked site. Other partners involved with the project include the US Army Corps of Engineers, Texas Black Bass Unlimited (a Friends of Reservoirs affiliate organization), SprayCo of Houston, and the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society.

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FISH ATTRACTOR GPS LOCATIONS Latitude

Longitude

Placed

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30 27.887

-95 35.875

2017

22

30 24.682

-95 34.606

2017

33

30 28.135

-95 34.48

2017

44

30 24.683

-95 36.797

2017

55

30 27.386

-95 33.872

2017

66

30 24.503

-95 37.046

2017

77

30 26.769

-95 35.186

2017

88

30 24.895

-95 37.958

2017

99

30 26.732

-95 36.427

2017

10 10

30 24.997

-95 38.227

2017

11 11

30 26.765

-95 36.487

2017

12 12

30 23.846

-95 36.022

2017

13 13

30 25.009

-95 34.78

2017

14 14

30 21.332

-95 34.17

2011*

15 15

30 21.372

-95 34.485

2011

16 16

30 22.106

-95 34.738

2011

17 17

30 23.317

-95 35.179

SOURCE: TPWD

that was caught on Jan. 30, 2009 by Ricky Bearden of Conroe.

In a story that appeared in Texas Fish & Game, writer Matt Williams wrote that Bearden caught the big fish at around noon while practicing for an Ignition Bass Club tournament to be held the following day.

“He was fishing in the back of Weir Creek when the monster bass gobbled up the Texas-rigged black Zoom Trick Worm he was fishing in about two feet of water.”

“Bearden’s fish was one of five Conroe

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ShareLunkers turned in between Jan. 2008 and Feb. 2009, and it eclipsed the former lake record of 14.91 pounds set in March 1997 by Bill Boyett. Conroe’s most recent ShareLunker, a 13.14 pounder, was caught in April 2015 by David Perciful of Conroe.

That fish was reportedly caught out of six feet of water on a Texas rigged lizard.”

Another interesting note about Conroe’s big bass legacy is a monster fish caught by a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) crew of fisheries biologist during

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Keith Combs, winner of multiple Toyota Bass Classics on Lake Conroe, says the lake is a consistent big bass producer.

an electroshock survey.

TPWD rarely catches bass weighing more than 10 pound in these surveys but in 1998 they caught the biggest we have ever heard of at 14.1-on Conroe. It would take a whole

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other set of stories to adequately cover the how and where to of Conroe’s bass so be on the lookout for those at fishgame.com.

Conroe is also a super crappie lake.

Angler Shannon E. Everitt broke the

Despite a lack of natural cover, Lake Conroe produces a healthy population of crappie.

white crappie record in 2019 with a huge 2.77-pounder and the black crappie is no slouch either with Dennis Digg’s 2.20-pound slab caught in 1999.

For a lake with little natural cover, anglers

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catch most of the crappie around bait docks and planted brush piles. Anglers regularly catch limits of crappie with the prime fishing in the spring and early summer.

Conroe is also loaded with catfish and they get big.

The current lake record blue cat was caught by Morris Taymon in 2019 and weighed 67 pounds. Jody Baughman caught the record channel cat in 2011 and it weighed 18.50 pounds which is huge for a channel cat.

The record flathead catfish goes all the way back to 1990 and was caught by Jimmie Lee Johnson. It weighed a whopping 86 pounds.

Conroe guide Richard Tatsch said anglers wanting to score on cats during spring and early summer should located stumps lining the river channel edge and tie off in 20 to 25 foot of water and fish stinkbait.

“Use a bag of cattle cubes to bring the fish to you. I will dump a half bag of cubes on two different locations and come back to the first, tie up and get my boat back in the same position,” he said.

“Using a spinning reel with a treble hook, an 1/8 ounce egg sinker and a piece of cut

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Lake Conroe is also loaded with catfish, and they grow big.

sponge wrapped around it; dip it in the bait and drop it to the bottom. Stay in contact with the bottom raising the bait up and down slowly until you feel some resistance. Then, set the hook. You can on most days catch limits of fish in just a few hours.”

Tatsch also said anglers should consider targeting hybrid stripers which love to take live shad and a variety of lures when these voracious predators begin to school on the surface around April.

“They will be all around the lake on main lake points that have shallow sandy bottoms.

Find the schools of shad and you will find the hybrids. This time of year, they will run shad up on these points early and late and during mid-day they will move deeper. Find the depth the bait are in and you will find the fish,” he said.

“There are times when they will stay on the surface for the biggest part of the morning. This usually happens when it is overcast and calm. Live shad will be the bait of choice in deeper water, but the swim shad will be the one to catch bigger fish in the shallower water.”

Lake Conroe is a great destination for the angler wanting to catch the bass of a lifetime or a limit of catfish for the frying pan.

Give it a try.

Lake Conroe will not disappoint.

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Texas FRESHWATER

by MATT WILLIAMS :: TF&G Freshwater Editor

Dancing the Jig for 40 years

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UNTINGTON-BASED STANley Jigs recently celebrated 40 years in the lure making business. To hear company founder Lonnie Stanley tell it, time flies when you’re having fun and helping others reel in the big ones.

“It doesn’t seem like it has been that long ago,” says Stanley, 74. “I feel like I’m living the dream. A lot of things have changed in the fishing industry since we started, that’s for sure. It’s been quite a ride.”

One thing that has held steady over the years is the affinity big fish have for a jig. The bait catches bass just as good today as it did decades ago.

Probably better thanks to improved head designs, better hooks and other materials used in the manufacturing process.

Credit the anatomy with the jig’s long-lived success. It has a lead head molded around a hook that’s usually protected by some sort of weed guard. This helps the bait get in and out of logs, limbs, grass and other big bass haunts without fouling or hanging up.

The hook is hidden beneath a living rubber or silicone skirt that undulates with the bait’s every move.

Most anglers like to outfit the jig with some sort of plastic trailer to enhance the action. Stanley thinks it simulates a tasty crawfish, salamander or sunfish.

“That’s what makes it so deadly — those are the bass’s favorite foods,” Stanley said. “You can dress up a jig with different colors to imitate whatever you want. Plus, you can swim it, hop it, flip it or crawl it.

It can be fished at water depths from a few feet in the middle of a submerged tree to brush piles or ledges 35 feet deep. It’s one of the most versatile baits.”

Bass junkies share differences of opinion on plenty, but most will agree that a jig will catch some of the fattest fish in the lake. Stanley didn’t invent the concept, but his jigs have produced some the heaviest bass ever reported in Texas. Among them

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far from the Frontier Park launch ramp. The spot was loaded with hungry bass.

Stanley doesn’t recall how much weight he had that day, but it was enough to win first place. He caught the fish on one of his 5/16-ounce jigs.

“It was definitely one of those Jesus things, but I just didn’t realize it at the time,” Stanley chuckled.

“Best I can remember I won $10,000.”

Stanley said he took the money home, consulted with his wife and quit his day job. He invested the dough in hooks, paint, rubber skirts and packaging material. He also bought a $200 portable building that served as a makeshift production facility, where his wife and three daughters worked to help get the business off the ground.

“I never could have done it without Patsy,” Stanley said. “At one time she was making 5,000 weed guards a day while my daughters handled the painting and packaging,” he said. “We did it as a family.”

Stanley relocated the company to Huntington in 1983 and eventually assembled a pro fishing staff comprised of some the sport’s most decorated names including Rick Clunn, Tommy Martin, Larry Nixon and a host of others.

He also made a name for himself in the pro ranks. Stanley competed full-time at the pro level for 15 years, qualifying for the Bassmaster Classic five times. He won two events, including a 1997 Texas Central Invitational on Sam Rayburn and a 1987 Bassmaster Megabucks tournament that paid $108,000.

Stanley claims his signature baits were instrumental in helping him amass nearly $306,000 in career earnings. He retired from the sport in 2002 to focus more on the company he still has a hand in running today.

“Nobody loves tournament fishing as much as I do, but I finally had to give it up because I couldn’t do both,” Stanley said. “I still fish some local stuff on Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend, though. At 74, I still get those goose bumps at takeoff. It’s in my blood.”

is Lake Fork guide Mark Stevenson’s 17.67 pounder caught in November 1986.

Stevenson’s former state record took a 1/2ounce model dressed with a black/brown/pink skirt and a plum crawworm trailer. It is the biggest Texas bass ever caught on an artificial lure. Close to 100 Toyota ShareLunkers have been caught on jigs over the years, many of them manufactured by Stanley.

Like most good success stories, there is an interesting twist behind Stanley’s venture in the bass lure business, which eventually expanded to include premium spinnerbaits and assorted plastics such as the popular Ribbit Frog.

He started the company while living in College Station, where he worked as a heavy equipment operator and fished a few bass club tournaments on the side. A friend introduced him to jig fishing in the early 1970s on Sam Rayburn. They used Arkie bucktail jigs, one of the earliest jigs manufactured.

Stanley didn’t have much money at the time, so he and his wife, Patsy, began building baits to help offset the cost of buying them and to make some extra bucks.

Some of Stanley’s first jigs were equipped with weed guards fashioned from tennis racket string or artificial Christmas tree needles he swept off the floor at a local Gipson’s department store.

“I started off just building them for myself and few friends in our bass club, the Bryan Bassmasters,” he said. “We would build maybe 20 to 30 at time.

That’s about it. We won several club championships back in the 1970s.”

Tackle shops started to take notice as word spread about the success anglers were having on Stanley’s rubber skirted jigs. In fall of 1979, a Dallas dealer placed an order for 50 dozen baits at $1 each.

The buyer agreed to meet Stanley at a December 9 Lone Star Bass Tournament on Toledo Bend and pay the $600 on delivery. Stanley was entered in the tournament, but he wound up not having enough money to put gas in his boat because the buyer didn’t show up.

“He had something happen with his family and couldn’t make it,” Stanley recalled. “I only had two gallons of gas in my boat and no money to buy any, so I didn’t get to practice at all. I couldn’t go anywhere.”

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Environmental Abuse is Playing Havoc with Gulf Fishing story by Chester Moore

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T WAS A PERFECT DAY FOR OFFSHORE FISHING. WITH TWOfoot swells, clear waters and no storms forecast, it seemed like the ideal time to score on snappers, ling and king mackerels. This was back when you could catch a limit of snappers every day in federal waters.

But we couldn’t get a fish to bite—not a single one.

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SOURCE: NOAA

This map shows how oxygen levels in the Gulf can produce a massive “Dead Zone” that kills marine life or forces it to leave the area.

In fact, we didn’t see any fish around the rigs. Not even spadefish, which typically congregate around platform legs.

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When I returned home, I did some research and learned the “dead zone” had moved off the Sabine Pass area at the time.

According to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), less oxygen dissolved in the water is often

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Dead zones are a common occurrance in the Gulf of Mexico.

referred to as a “dead zone” because most marine life either dies, or, if they are mobile, such as fish, leave the area. Habitats that would normally be teeming with life become, essentially, biological deserts.

Hypoxic zones can occur naturally, but scientists are concerned about the areas

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created or enhanced by human activity according to NOAA. “There are many physical, chemical, and biological factors that combine to create dead zones, but nutrient pollution is the primary cause of those zones created by humans.” NOAA officials reported. “Excess

nutrients that run off land or are piped as wastewater into rivers and coasts can stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which then sinks and decompose in the water. The decomposition process consumes oxygen and depletes the supply available to healthy marine life.

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Offshore fishing off the Texas Coast can be great, unless chemical, biological and climatic forces suck away the oxygen.

zone in the world is located in the U.S., in the northern Gulf of Mexico.”

The year I referred to was really for a dead zone, (2015) and the size can fluctuate.

“The measured size in 2015, an area about

“Dead zones occur in many areas of the country, particularly along the East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes, but there is no part of the country or the world that is immune. The second largest dead

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the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, is larger than the 5,052 square miles measured in 2014, indicating that nutrients from the Mississippi River watershed are continuing to affect the nation’s coastal resources and habitats in the Gulf,” NOAA officials said.

A “dead zone” doesn’t always mean there will be no fish in an area, but it certainly decreases the number and makes fishing extremely tough. I have experienced them, both in Texas and fishing out of Venice, Louisiana. The source of much of the dead zone is the Mississippi River.

It’s one of those things that we as individual anglers can do nothing about, but it’s something we should note.

Sometimes the tough offshore fishing isn’t because of anything we did wrong in terms of technique. Perhaps it’s something that our convenience-driven society has done with the pesticides and other things that impact the watershed. I never thought much about dead zones until I came across one.

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Texas SALTWATER

by CALIXTO GONZALES :: TF&G Saltwater Editor

Taking It Slowly

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OU’VE GOT TO LOVE springtime on the Texas Coast. It isn’t because the fishing is better in the spring; as you’ve seen in the pages of this magazine, fishing is always good on the coast for the fishermen in the know.

Spring is special more because of the sense of renewal that seems to permeate the air. Even after a mild winter such as we just experienced, the sun feels truly warm again, and blue skies are predominant. There may be a moderate to strong wind, but it is out of the southeast. Even the water seems better, with emerald green replacing the sandy, dun colors of winter. Fishing in the winter can be good, even great, but spring just feels better.

It should be no surprise, then, that fishing styles become more aggressive. I’ve shared many a boat with fishermen who wing out long casts and start working a lure—especially soft plastics—with an almost frantic, fast retrieve. The rod tip is up and whipping and the jig darts along. If they’re fishing topwaters, they snap them along in tight wiggles that make internal rattles sound off tick tick tick tick tick. As Micky told Rock in Rocky II, “what we need is speed!”

These fast, pedal to the metal strategy catches lots of fish. Trout and redfish are starting to work the winter kinks out of their bodies, and they are beginning to key in on young and emerging baits. They’re hungry, and very aggressive. Anglers box a lot of these fish.

The larger redfish, trout and flounder especially, usually pass this extended Chinese Fire Drill relatively unscathed. I remember a particular trip one April weekend in 2010 with Texas Sportsman host Fred Rodriguez and Dargel Boats and custom rod designer Roland Marroquin. We had dialed into some good numbers of speckled trout along the

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ounce. Heads weighing as little as 1/16th and even 1/32nd ounce aren’t uncommon. The smaller jigheads allow the baits to descend in the water column more slowly, thus allowing for slower presentations. This technique is especially lethal along color changes and potholes on grass flats.

I’ve also been experimenting with rigging my swimbaits with the un-weighted version of the LazerSharp L11118G Swimbait hook.

A swimbaits’ buoyancy is enough to allow the heavy wire hooks to create a slow sink.

This setup was very successful on snook and large speckled trout in South Bay and Mexequita Flats on Lower Laguna Madre.

The slow presentation even goaded a 3-foot tarpon into striking. The experience was brief and intense, but enough to convince me that a slow presentation could be very successful.

If you are a topwater aficionado, a slow, steady presentation is worth a try. Unlike a quick retrieve, which creates the familiar tight walk-the-dog wiggle and clackclackclack rattle, a working your Top Dog or a Poppa Dawg slowly creates a wider, gliding slide to slide action and a louder clack—clack—clack.

The slower dance also simulates a wounded baitfish, which stimulates a more aggressive strike.

Sometimes the best slow retrieve is no retrieve at all. Captain Larry Corbett once taught me a technique with jointed minnows called “The Houma Hustle” (or as I term it, “The Big Wiggle). After a cast, rather than starting a retrieve, point your rod directly at your bait and start shaking your rod tip. The vibrations telegraph down the line and into the bait begins a stationary vibration. Though the lure wiggles back and forth, it stays in one spot. I’ve had many a trout and snook blast a plug while it was doing the Hustle.

A slow presentation doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to have Job-like patience.

Big predators may not chase, but they still have to eat.

Color Change north of the Long Bar. They were good fat trout in the 16-inch range, and they were busting our quick-worked Gulp!

Jerk Shads. The wind was light, and the clarity along the transition zone of the change was good enough to sometimes see the fish strike.

I was passing my lure over a sand bar and a saw a larger trout—about 22 inches—come up and follow my bait.

In a moment of panic, I sped my bait up just a bit, and the three-pound fish turned off and disappeared. On spec, I shot another cast into the same pothole and worked bait back at a winter-slow pace. This time I felt a solid thump! After a brief struggle, I flipped the bigger trout into the boat, and after a brief discussion with Rodriguez for the sake of the camera, released the yellowmouth back to her spot.

How many comparable or better fish have I missed like that during spring trips? How many have we all miss. The bigger trout don’t like chasing down their food, they prefer to ambush slower moving wounded or dying baitfish. Even in spring and summer, the bigger trout don’t like moving too much.

So the key to maximizing the opportunities at larger trout is to slow down your presentations. In winter, the use of twitch baits such as the Mirrolure Catch 5, Catch 2000 and the B&L Corky call for ultraslow presentations. Ditto for some of the swimbaits such as the DOA Airhead. The slow presentation allows fish that have become sluggish due to cooler water temperatures to key in on the lures. The same principal, though not in such as dramatic example, applies year ’round.

I’ve also found great success with a titaniumwired popping cork such as the Paradise Popper. The float offers an added element of sound to the setup; more importantly, it forces an angler to slow down the presentation. The bait stays in a bigger fish’s strike zone much longer, and Ol’ Mustardmouth doesn’t have to go chasing dinner.

Another favored technique among guides and veteran trout hunters is to use lighter jigheads than the standard ¼ and 1/8th F I S H

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STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY’S ARTHUR TEMPLE College of Forestry and Agriculture is a cutting-edge institution for those seeking to make an impact in the fields of agriculture, environmental science, wildlife, and forestry, including forest wildlife management, as well as geospatial science.

The college offers more than $300,000 in scholarships annually, and 95% of SFA graduates have a job within six months of graduation.

Dr. Hans Williams, dean of the college, enjoys working with his colleagues to inspire undergraduate and graduate students to achieve their career aspirations.

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“I can’t wait to get to work each day because each day is unique. I take great satisfaction thinking that I may have contributed, even in a small way, to the professional and personal success of our alumni.”

That student success has translated to groundbreaking research and work in fields that impact everyone who loves the great outdoors.

Caitlin Glymph conducted her SFA graduate student project assisting the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) in locating potential habitat corridors in Texas and the surrounding states, which may help facilitate the natural return of a native Texas wildlife species.

Past research conducted by SFA graduate students Dan Kaminski and Timothy Siegmund identified six core-recovery units in East Texas with a habitat capable of supporting a viable black bear population.

The next step was identifying how they might naturally return to Texas.

“We wanted to be able to pull out the patches of suitable habitat that could be used for bears to disperse back into East Texas and recolonize it naturally,” Glymph said.

This project relied on spatial data sets detailing the hydrology, land cover, and other variables that comprise the area between currently occupied bear habitat in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, and the previously defined areas of suitable habitat in East Texas. The tools provided by the college’s geospatial science program enabled Glymph to pinpoint these key corridors.

Glymph explained that although black bears mostly prefer bottomland hardwood habitat, they are habitat generalists and are

SFA’s forestry program is accredited by the Society of American Foresters.

capable of adapting to several landscapes.

She also said that human development, including roads and highways, is the most significant barrier for bears as they continue to expand their range.

At the heart of the college is forestry, and after more than three decades, the East Texas Pine Plantation Research Project, initiated by the college, continues to make breakthroughs in the management of East Texas forestlands and the Western Gulf Coast region.

The long-term research program partners with private forest landowners to gather precise scientific data to develop modern tools to optimize the growth, health, and management of the region’s forests.

Conservation-Oriented Degrees Offered at SFA Stephen F. Austin State University offers Bachelor of Science degree plans in:

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est wildlife management.

• Geospatial science with degree concentrations/majors in natural resources, land surveying, and cultural resources.

SFA also currently offers a Master of Science in:

pre-veterinary medicine.

• Environmental science with two degree tracks: a land, air and water track and a discipline specialization track.

• Forestry (Accredited by the Society of American Foresters) with degree concentrations/major in agroforestry, fire ecology and management, human dimensions in natural resources, urban forestry, and for-

• Agriculture with degree concentrations/majors in agribusiness, agricultural development, agricultural engineering technology, animal science, equine science, horticulture, poultry science and

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While industry partners benefit from scientific insight, SFA forestry students profit from the ability to conduct hands-on research in the field.

After joining the college in 2016, Dr. Yuhui Weng, assistant professor of forest biometrics and project director, set a goal to expand partnerships and research projects beyond Texas’ pineywoods to serve timber producers across the Western Gulf Coastal Plain.

“Our research is highly focused on the needs of timber producers in the Western Gulf Coast region,” Weng said. “Because of our expertise in factors influencing forest productivity in the region, we can provide more region-specific, data-driven guidance than other universities who may be located on the southeastern U.S. coast.”

The college’s 726-acre Walter C. Todd Agricultural Research Center is yet another resource allowing students to engage in interdisciplinary research to improve environmental health, maximize agricultural production, and improve animal welfare. Some students are even taking to the air to conduct their research.

Courtney Biles monitored the university’s beef cattle herd using unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones.

“New technologies, like drone use, are being introduced to the agriculture industry, and their applications are great in number,” Biles said.

Closer to the ground, environmental science students regularly monitor air quality at the farm’s poultry and swine production centers and research mitigation practices, such as the planting of trees around the facilities.

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Agriculture Environmental Science Forestry Resource Communications

SFA also offers a doctorate in forestry.

« PHOTOS COURTESY STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

2/11/20 9:26 AM

Graduate level studies are offered in agriculture, environmental science, forestry, and resource communications.

Currently, the college is developing a silvopasture demonstration plot at the university farm to facilitate further teaching and research opportunities. Silvopasture integrates timber, forage, and livestock production as an integrated system that increases land productivity, sequesters carbon, and provides wildlife habitat.

And some of the college students are even going global.

In 2015, SFA graduate student Amy Brennan conducted the first large-scale survey of citizens regarding public perceptions and opinions of wildfires in the Netherlands.

Her results, which indicate citizens are aware of the growing threat of wildland fires in the country but are unprepared for such events, will provide Dutch agencies with valuable data to help guide public outreach and education.

Brennan, under the direction of Dr. Brian Oswald, professor of fire ecology, silviculture, and range management, distributed and

Land surveys use cutting-edge technology in the Geospatial Science program at Stephen F. Austin.

analyzed more than 500 public surveys in the forested Veluwe Region of the Netherlands to provide Dutch agencies with data quantifying public perceptions and opinions of wildfires.

“Social science research focused on wildfires shows it is important to engage local communities in anything regarding risk management,” Brennan said.

“This large-scale survey is the first of its kind to be distributed in the country, and we want to understand the base level of knowledge that the citizens have regarding wildland fires.”

With a Washington Post survey revealing that only 27% of college graduates work in a field closely related to their major, SFA forestry and agriculture students are breaking the mold, establishing careers in their chosen fields promptly upon graduation.

The advanced technology and proximity to natural resources make SFA the ideal university for students seeking hands-on field

research. The science-based programs and experienced-based learning prepares graduates for successful careers with top employers from across the country.

Visit sfasu.edu/atcofa to learn more.

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Quality of Living a Draw for Stephen F. Austin Located in Nacogdoches, the historic first town in Texas and the very heart of Texas Forest Country, the university offers incredible recreational opportunities and quality of living.

• The only forestry/natural resources program in Texas with easy access to the resources being studied.

70-acres of on-campus forest and recreational trails.

• Outdoor recreation activities such as hiking, biking, hunting and fishing abound.

• In addition to the numerous outdoor recreational opportunities available to SFA students, in 2018, SFA was named one of the safest campuses in America by that National Council for Home Safety and Security.

• Access to roughly 12 million acres of national, state, and private forestlands across the region.

• Short driving distance to Texas’ two largest reservoirs—Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend—in addition to the region’s numerous rivers and creeks.

• Lanana Creek runs through the SFA campus, and there are more than

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est: u Q ’s, m a m l S a i nd err a r M G , tern e s ey a d k r E n u d AT Gra a an l o e c Rio Os N MARCH 2019 I BEGAN A QUEST TO RAISE AWARENESS OF TURKEY conservation. I call this “Turkey Revolution!”

Phase One was to get photographs of the Grand Slam (Rio Grande, Eastern, Merriam’s, Osceola) all in one year.

Cruising down the back roads of Kerr County, Texas is an interesting experience.

The majority of wildlife spotted is exotic and much of it ranging beyond the confines of high fenced hunting ranches. Axis deer, blackbuck antelope and aoudads are more prevalent than even native whitetails.

I was looking for wild turkeys, the Rio Grande variety in particular, as I am on a quest to get the Grand Slam (Rio Grande, Merriam’s, Eastern and Osceola subspecies) by camera this year.

It started off super slow two weeks ago with a trip to the area surrounding Palmetto State Park near Luling, Texas. I saw a lone turkey at about 200 yards, but we could not get it to come any closer despite calling.

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The author photographed these two beautiful Rio Grand gobblers in Kerr County

hens continued.

It was so exciting to get these birds after so much hard work. Getting the Rio Grande photo above took the following effort.

• Two trips from Orange, Texas to the Hill Country • 28 hours total, driving • $450 in hotels and gas • 16 hours searching in the field

My rule for this project is the pictures must be magazine quality. In other words, up close and full of detail.

Just as the sun began to peek out of an early morning haze, I spotted three turkeys on a hill. Fellow wildlife photographer Gerald Burleigh stopped the truck, and my friend and fellow turkey fanatic Josh Slone jumped out and started calling.

I ran down below the bird’s line of sight, walked up to a bush and shot a few pics. Then down the fence came a loud gobble.

I spun around to see two large gobblers trying to figure out how to get over the fence to get to the hens that had just flown over.

Apparently, these guys were so lovestruck (after all it is breeding season) they forgot they can, you know,…fly.

This worked to my advantage as they paced up and down, and I slid down about 30 yards and waited. The birds eventually made the move and moved into range. I took dozens of shots before their pursuit of the

Merriam’s in the Trans Pecos and about 7,000 Easterns in the Piney Woods.

Turkeys are not nearly as adaptable as whitetails.

Getting what so far is the best turkey photo I have ever taken gave me an even greater respect for those conservation-minded turkey hunters who pursue the Grand Slam and wanting to learn much more about

The author photographed this eastern wild turkey at at Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and National Wild Turkey Federation release in East Texas. Turkey numbers are increasing in East Texas and we will learn more about that in an upcoming feature.

Since the quest began, I have studied historical maps of turkey range and found there should be Rio Grandes in good numbers much closer to home. The drive should be cut from six hours to about three, but urban sprawl and degraded habitat on top of poaching many years ago have isolated them more than people think.

Texas has around 500,000 birds with the vast majority being Rios with a few hundred 28

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these regal birds.

Step one was hard considering I am doing this in my “spare” time and totally on my coin to raise awareness to turkey conservation and the health of America’s forests.

Next month we’ll learn how the rest of the quest went and unveil much more of the story of America’s greatest game bird.

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TEXAS WHITETAILS

by LARRY WEISHUHN :: TF&G Contributing Editor

Winter Evaluations

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INTER MONTHS AND now closed whitetail seasons for several months across our Great State of Texas, is certainly reason for singing the blues, big time! But… soon bucks will be casting their existing antlers and essentially within hours start developing their 2020 racks.

In some areas of our expansive State they may have already cast their antlers in other areas they will do so shortly.

In the next few days I will be spending whatever time I can looking for sheds on the properties I hunt. Finding sheds is often a key to the undoing of mature bucks.

Over the years I have often taken older bucks, the following hunting season, within one hundred yards or less of where I found their sheds. Too, I simply like hunting for them, rather a bit like an adult Easter egg hunt.

I have often laughed at myself when hunting shed antlers. Spotting a shed several yards away, I have often run to where it lays, like I was having to compete with someone to get

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come, they come further apart. You can see them coming. An anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or landing at O’Hare. You can see it coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. And when it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you’ll come out.

Take it from an old guy. The waves

to it first, when there was no one else around!

Late winter/early spring is an excellent time to evaluate your past hunting season regarding your successes and failures, as well as your current and future personal deer management goals.

Winter and early spring gives me time to take a look at age, weight and antler development data taken from harvested deer during the past hunting season. I compare antler and weight measurements of various age classes, comparing the immediate past hunting season’s harvest data to that of past hunting seasons. Are weights increasing within respective cohorts (same ages)?

What about beam lengths, spreads and gross B&C scores? How do 3-year olds (or whatever age) from the past season compare to those same age bucks taken in the past. If there are increases or possibly the same as last year, depending upon rainfall, then the management program is headed in the right directions.

If weights and antlers are down in respective cohorts from previous years, maybe it is time to consider taking more total deer and especially does during the 2021 hunting season.

Decreases in weights and antlers in respective cohorts should tell you there is insufficient food on a daily basis. The way to correct this is increase forage availability or decreasing the overall number of deer in the

area, or a combination of the two.

Throughout the hunting season on places I regularly hunt, I maintain a daily log of the number of deer I see each hunt, as well as sex, fawns, and approximate age and antler size of bucks seen while hunting.

When winter months arrive I take this data (even if I have seen the same deer day after day) tally the total number of observed does, bucks and fawns. I then use this data to come up with our local buck to doe ratio (total bucks observed divided into the total number of does observed).

To determine fawn survival rate, I divide the total does into total fawns seen. This data maintained throughout the hunting season will give you a really good idea of the buck to doe ratio and fawn survival rate. I also take these incidental observations a couple of steps farther in that I categorize bucks according to young, medium age and mature along with notes on antler development. Regarding fawns, I try to determine the number of buck fawn as opposed to the doe fawns.

All good information as you head into the hunting season coming later this fall!

never stop coming, and somehow you don’t really want them to. But you learn that you’ll survive them. And other waves will come. And you’ll survive them too. If you’re lucky, you’ll have lots of scars from lots of loves. And lots of shipwrecks.”

And this from another friend.

“As much of a sucker gut punch death is, none of us have been promised a set number of days, weeks, months and years. This is the reason all of us should live passionately, love unconditionally, and laugh hysterically with the days we have. The bottom line is that your brother made a difference

in his loved ones’ lives, moved the ball forward, and left our wonderful country in better shape when he left it than when he arrived 66 years ago. That’s the real American Dream. For that, his loved ones should smile knowing that he made a difference and did his job as a husband, dad, brother, and uncle. His life should be celebrated, respected, admired, and emulated.”

Good-Bye my brother. Your spirit, goodness and energy will live in all of us forever. I know you will be at my side everyday. I so miss you dammit. I so love you.

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EXAS IS A HERALDED HOTSPOT FOR reeling in heavyweight bass, but you needn’t always look to big waters and fabled fisheries like Sam Rayburn, Fork, Amistad, Toledo Bend or Falcon to find the whoppers. Several Lone Star “mini lakes” have developed rich reputations for kicking out career bass, and some produce the big bite way more often than you might think.

Living in eastern Texas, I’m fortunate have some the state’s best little bass lakes within an hour’s drive of my home. It’s a big part of the reason I chose to put down roots here in the mid-1980s...and an equally good excuse never to leave.

There is plenty to love about fishing on small waters. For starters, you don’t need a $70,000 boat and all the goodies to get around safely. A flat-bottom, paddle boat even a belly boat will get you where big ones live with no problem on lakes spanning 1,000 acres or less, often with less trouble and way more stealth.

Another advantage is pressure, or a lack thereof. Alhough some mini lakes see their share of fishing traffic, others lie so far off the beaten path and fly far enough beneath the radar that it’s not uncommon to launch at daylight and encounter very little company over the course of a beautiful spring day.

Finally, many little lakes are governed by restrictive limits tailored to allow the fish to achieve maximum growth and boost angler odds of hooking up with a big one.

Here’s a random list of five good little bass lakes you might want to check out in the near future. Keep in mind, the month’s issue of Texas Fish and Game falls during the heart of a spawn. It’s a bewitching window of time when some of biggest fish in any lake nudge towards the shallows, where they are more vulnerable to being caught than at any other time of the year.

LAKE: Pinkston SIZE: 523 acres LAKE RECORD: 16.9 pounds ABOUT THE LAKE: Pinkston produced the former state record in February 1986, but was kicking out double-digit bass long before that, thanks to early stockings of Florida strain bass dating back to 1976. Amazingly, the mini lake continues to rank as the most productive bass fishery in much of the region at 44 years of age.

“Our electrofishing surveys at Pinkston always show higher catch rates per hour than any lake my district,” said Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fisheries biologist Todd Driscoll of Brookeland. “Some years the catch rates are even double some of my lakes, including Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend. It’s a pretty amazing little lake with a lot of fish upwards of eight pounds.”

It’s pretty, too. Flanked by rolling hills cluttered with tall pines and hardwoods, Pinkston is a clear water reservoir with excellent habitat comprised of hydrilla and a variety of native aquatic vegetation. There’s no shortage of wood cover, either. Both arms are full of large stumps that make high-speed navigation hazardous.

Two one-lane boat ramps are available. Both are remote and not very well-maintained. One is located off CR 1510, the other off CR

PHOTO: MATT WILLIAMS

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REPORT: NEWS 35 u TF&G OF THE NATION Reported by TF&G Staff

& GAME 35 u FISH HOTSHOTS Trophy Photos from TF&G Readers

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& GAME 36 u FISH FORECAST CENTER SALTWATER

Reported by Capt. Eddie Hernandez, Capt. Mike Holmes, Mike Price, Capt. Chris Martin, Capt. Mac Gable, Capt. Sally Black and Cal Gonzales

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& GAME 46 u FISH FORECAST CENTER FRESHWATER

Reported by TF&G Staff

54 u SPORTSMAN’S DAYBOOK Tides and SoLunar Data

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& GAME 58 u FISH HUNTING CENTER

by Chester Moore

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PHOTO: MATT WILLIAMS

A pair of anglers fish tiny Lake Naconiche from a tiny bass boat.

LAKE: Naconiche SIZE: 693 acres LAKE RECORD: 14.12 pounds ABOUT THE LAKE: Lake Naconiche opened for fishing in 2012. It’s Texas’s newest public reservoir, and has been quick to show its trophy bass potential. With a lake record of 14.12 pounds and a 13.06-pound Toyota ShareLunker already to its credit, some experts believe this little Nacogdoches County impoundment is the best bet for producing the next state record.

“We used every tool in toolbox to make it the best lake it can possibly be,” said Driscoll.

Naconiche has been heavily stocked since 2009 with Florida strain largemouths and ShareLunker offspring as well as hundreds of adult females retired from Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Florida bass program. It’s probable that the 14.12 lake record caught in July 2016 and the 2017 ShareLunker were among the retired brooders, some of which weighed close to seven pounds when they were released.

Naconiche also has Mother Nature working in its favor. The lake is spring-fed with outstanding habitat, extremely good water quality rich in nutrients, and a tremendous forage base.

Driscoll predicts a big bass explosion at Naconiche as more year classes of fish come of age and reach trophy size. “We’re at a point now where we should start seeing a big uptick of eight- to nine-pounders and eventually, good numbers of teeners from some of the first Florida fingerling stockings,” he said.

1211. Both roads intersect State Highway 7 near the small community of Aiken, between Nacogdoches and Center. Bass are protected by a five fish, 14- to 21-inch slot limit; only one fish greater than 21 inches may be retained per day.

LAKE: Davy Crockett SIZE: 355 acres LAKE RECORD: 12.59 pounds ABOUT THE LAKE: Here’s a little northeast Texas honey hole packing lots of big fish potential that a lot Texas bassers may not even know exists. Tucked away in the Caddo National Grasslands Wildlife Management Area in Fannin County, Davy Crockett is a well-kept secret among locals who reel in plenty of fish in the four- to tenpound range.

“It’s a fun little lake to fish, especially during the spring time,” says TPWD fisheries biologist Dan Bennett of Pottsboro. “It’s ringed with cut grass and cattails, plus it’s got quite a bit of pond weed and coontail. It has some of the best fish habitat of any lake in North Texas.”

Bennett says a couple of fish in the 12-pound range have been caught and mounted by anglers recent times, so he knows the potential is there to crack the 13-pound threshold. To help get them there, TPWD in 2018 changed the limit on Davy Crockett a five-fish, 16-inch maximum to protect big fish.

The lake has one ramp at the east end of the of dam off FM 409.

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PHOTO: MATT WILLIAMS

Lake Naconiche has been heavily stocked with Florida strain largemouth, including hundreds of adult females.

Water clarity is gin-clear and aquatic vegetation is abundant with reeds and other native plants lining the shores and lush hydrilla beds growing throughout much of the lake proper at depths beyond 20 feet. Kurth is regarded as one of the state’s top lakes for sight fishing, because of its extremely clear water that allows spotting beds in water as deep as 8-12 feet in good conditions.

Bass in the four- to eight-pound range are fairly common, but a 13.34-pound lake record caught there in March 2018 is solid evidence bigger ones are finning around out there.

“The lake has great trophy potential, but the downside is the fish are well educated due to high fishing pressure,” Driscoll said.

Kurth is located off of Rivercrest Road between Lufkin and Nacogdoches on U.S. 59. Access requires the purchase of a threeday or annual permit from the City of Lufkin, (936) 634-8881. Large numbers of alligators are present.

“It should continue to get better for the at least the next ten years, maybe 15. We’re expecting to see the same type of boom period at Naconiche that was seen at Fork during its heyday, just on a smaller scale.”

Naconiche lays out a lot like Pinkston with two timber-filled arms, very steep banks and not much flat water. The lake proper was cleared of timber during the construction process.

There is one public ramp at the Nacogdoches County Park off CR 137, about 14 miles northeast of Nacogoches. It costs $5 per day to launch or you can buy an annual permit for $120 through the county.

Bass are protected by a five-fish, 16 inch maximum length limit; all fish longer than 16 inches must be immediately released, unless it is a Toyota ShareLunker to be donated during the program’s spawning phase, January 1 to March 31.

LAKE: Kurth SIZE: 726 acres LAKE RECORD: 13.34 pounds ABOUT THE LAKE: Lake Kurth was built in the 1950s to supply water to a local paper mill before it was purchased by the City of Lufkin in Angelina County in 2009. It’s one of those hidden gems where the bass continue to grow fat and sassy despite its senior citizen status.

Tight-lipped locals managed to keep the great fishing mostly to themselves until the last five to ten years, when outdoor television crews helped create a wave of national publicity and increased fishing pressure.

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LAKE: Gilmer SIZE: 1,010 acres LAKE RECORD: 14 pounds ABOUT THE LAKE: Located four miles east of Gilmer, Lake Gilmer is a pretty little lake that was impounded in 2001. TPWD has salted the lake with close to one million Florida-strain bass over the years, including more than 30,000 ShareLunker progeny in 2011.

The fish have done well in this Uphur County reservoir. So well, in fact, that TPWD fisheries spokesman, Tim Bister of Marshall |

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ranks it as the best “little bass lake” in his district, which also includes Lake Lone Star in Morris County.

Bister says both are great bass lakes, but pointed to Gilmer when asked to choose one with the most potential for giving up big fish.

“During our last electrofishing survey for each lake (fall 2018) we caught more bass in Gilmer than we did at Lone Star,” he said.

“One of the reasons is an 18-inch minimum length limit on largemouth bass at Gilmer, while Lone Star is managed with a 14-inch minimum length limit. The potential for Gilmer to produce big bass is high. We stock Florida largemouth bass every other year to maintain the genetics necessary to continue this big bass potential.”

Lying east to west, Gilmer is a long, narrow reservoir fed by Kelsey Creek and a number of secondary feeders. The water quality is good and hydrilla can be found in as much as 30 percent of the lake, providing excellent habitat for bass and forage species such as bream, thread fin shad and gizzard shad.

Free launching is available at a two-lane ramp maintained by the city off FM 852. To learn more, call (903) 843-8209.

Other Lakes Worth a Look LAKE: Marine Creek SIZE: 250 acres LAKE RECORD: 14.57 pounds LOCATION: Tarrant County, northwest of Fort Worth LAKE: Hords Creek SIZE: 510 acres LAKE RECORD: 12.56 WHERE: West of Coleman, Coleman County LAKE: Bellwood SIZE: 170 acres LAKE RECORD: 12.14 pounds WHERE: Near Tyler, Smith County LAKE: Tyler State Park SIZE: 65 acres LAKE RECORD: 14.5 pounds WHERE: Near Tyler, Smith County LAKE: Raven SIZE: 230 acres LAKE RECORD: 13.48 pounds WHERE: Huntsville State Park, Walker County

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The NATIONAL

Program Seeks To Create Young Conservationists WILD WISHES® GRANTS WILDLIFE encounters to children and teens with a critical illness or loss of a parent or sibling.

Part of the outreach of Chester and Lisa Moore’s nonprofit Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center® outreach, the 100th child received a life-changing wildlife encounter in Sept.

2019.

Higher Calling Wild Wishes Expeditions goes to a new level by taking teens from the program on expeditions to teach wildlife conservation through mentorship in wildlife photography, social media awareness raising and fundraising skills.

“We noticed that many of the young people we work with who face these

News of TEXAS

Wild Wishes boys Amos and Jaxon got to take part in a special catch-and-release conservation mission for Guadalupe bass in west-central Texas. The trip was featured in Texas Fish & Game magazine and the boys learned how using the photos they took on the trip could raise awareness to problems facing stream fisheries.

Special challenges usually disqualify young people for experiences like this. We are creating special opportunities for them only.

In 2020 the group was doing its first expeditions into Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park as well as the second annual Guadalupe bass trip.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to help make these trips possible for some special young people go to kingdomzoo.com and click on the “Higher Calling Wild Wishes Expeditions” link.

great challenges are looking for a way to help and give back. We are creating these opportunities to give young people an avenue to not only understand conservation but a way to get involved,” said Chester Moore.

Two pilot projects initiated the program in 2019.

Wild Wishes girl Reannah changed her degree and school (now a Texas Tech student) to work with conservation after her wish encounter as a high school senior in 2018.

In December 2019 she got to participate in a desert bighorn sheep capture and translocation at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area courtesy of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

“It was an incredible experience!,” Reannah said.

“It gives me even more inspiration to pursue a career in working in wildlife conservation.”

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REDFISH

ALLIGATOR

Texas City

BA Steinhagen

Eleven-year-old Noah Sorola of Houston caught this slot red while fishing at the Texas City Dike last fall.

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Jacey Sayle Pargac poses with a gator taken on a TPWD alligator hunt at Dam B on BA Steinhagen Reservoir, where she had been selected as standby. The gator was bagged by her friend Kaylee Lindsay, who was hunting with her father, Dathan. &

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Fishing May Not be Hot, But is Getting Warmer can rest assured that along with some latewinter like conditions, there will be a few warm, sunny, fishable days thrown into the mix as well. We’re going to have to contend with the intense March winds which will be howling from one direction or another on most days, but that’s nothing we’re not accustomed to.

We are transitioning from a solid winter fishing season here on the upper coast, so expectations are high as we move into early spring.

If our neighbors to the north can catch a break this spring and not have to deal with record rainfall levels, we shouldn’t have to worry about runoff coming down the Sabine and Neches rivers and inundating an already mostly fresh Sabine Lake. The saltwater has been slowly making its way back into our bay since Harvey’s devastation, and if it is allowed to continue, March 2020 could be one of the best we’ve seen in a few years.

The entire eastern shoreline of Sabine Lake as well as the southern bank of East Bay have the potential to come alive this month, especially if we can string a few mild days together.

Water temperatures creeping toward 70 degrees coupled with big, strong March tides should bode well for those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

SABINE AREA Reported by CAPT. EDDIE HERNANDEZ

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HE MAGICAL MONTH OF March has found its way to the upper coast of Texas and has brought with it countless new angling opportunities.

Although there is no way to predict exactly what Mother Nature has planned for us CAPT. HERNANDEZ ContactUs@Fishgame.com this month, we

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Soft plastics, topwaters and slow sinkers should all get the job done on the protected shoreline with good strong tidal movement. If you find bait, you should be able to find fish. The bait shouldn’t be too hard to find as the big tides and warmer water temperatures tend to jump-start the entire food chain.

Trout and reds will aggressively feed on seemingly helpless shad, mullet and shrimp as they cruise the shoreline and they should be more than willing to accept any offering you have for them.

Bridge Bayou, which is a little farther north on Sabine’s Louisiana shoreline, should produce good results. Try to hit it on an outgoing tide and throw soft plastics, curl tails and Gulp! Shrimp. Glow, Morning Glory and Red Shad Assasings or Sand Eels are good choices. Gulp! Shrimp in Pearl and New Penny are also hard to beat.

Flounder also have no problem with these baits, but sometimes prefer the action of a curl tail like Gulp! Swimming Mullet.

Reefs like Hanna’s on East Bay or the big reef on Sabine’s south end are definitely worth a shot this month. The bull tides and increasing water temperatures bring baitfish. Sand eels, shrimp, and crabs invade the reefs and are closely followed by hungry trout, reds and flounder.

Have your drift sock handy and make long drifts over the shell. Use your sonar to mark bait and fish and throw long soft plastics for best results. If you pick up a few fish in an area, throw a buoy overboard so you can make the same drift again.

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GALVESTON Reported by CAPT. MIKE HOLMES

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ARCH IS NOT USUALLY remembered as a “Hot” fishing month on the upper Texas coast – and not just because the warm waters of spring have not arrived yet. Of course, cooler weather – and water – result in CAPT. HOLMES slower activity for ContactUs@Fishgame.com

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both fish and fishermen, but there will be some fish available for those who are willing to risk being a bit chilled while pursuing them.

Big black drum should still be found in some numbers in the usual places – form beachfront piers, around the Galveston jetties and the Texas City Dike, and in certain deeper portions of the bays. Although not normally sought as a food fish, nor noted as an exciting game species, hefty drum reach sizes that do make them formidable “fighters” that require stout tackle for an angler to be successful. Stout rods spooling 30 – 50 pound test line are usually up to doing the job. Long casts are not normally needed. Dacron line might be chosen for it’s lack of “stretch”, but good mono resists shell and other bottom obstructions better.

Wire leaders are used by some anglers for their resistance to the habitat more than the fish – drum don’t have rows of sharp teeth to cut line – but heavy mono is probably better.

Drum are bottom feeders, and at this time of year they usually are caught on crabs or carb portions, but some folks use large (dead) shrimp, or even squid. Because forage species are not as abundant as in warmer weather, scent is more important than bait movement. Many drum specialists use circle hooks for their ability to produce and maintain a hookset.

Of course, most Texas coastal winters do not see low temperatures so extreme that all resident species leave for warmer waters.

Redfish are not as common as later in the spring, but can be found; often in the same spots their black cousins will be found.

Croakers are also on the “menu”, as well as sheepshead and sand trout. Some flounder may show up as well. Speckled trout are not unheard of, but will be much more common in warmer weather. Inshore waters are definitely not as productive as in warmer weather, but fish can be found that will provide enough action – and some fresh fish dinners – to make venturing out in decent weather worth taking a chance.

Offshore conditions are generally not very comfortable in March, but on calm days with some sun, thy can be worth a try.

Cooler water actually encouraged some bottom feeding species into shallower spots than they inhabit in hot summer conditions. Both red and lane snapper may be

HOTSPOTLIGHT:

KEITH LAKE

KEITH LAKE IS A SALTWATER LAKE located of State Highway 87, just 9.8 miles from Port Arthur, in Jefferson County near Sabine Pass. The most popular species caught here are Red drum, Black drum, and Spotted seatrout.

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MATAGORDA

found on bottom structure in less than 100 feet of water out of Galveston and Freeport – including rocks and other spots of elevation and shallow water oil production structures. “Rigs” in deeper water can hold good numbers of snapper and a few nice grouper.

Deep-water species often don’t see as much climate change in their habitat as surface feeders do, but they also do not “mind” cool water as much.

Wahoo are often noted to be winter feeders, but a few will be found as the season turn towards warm periods also. Some spots close enough to shore for fairly easy runs even in cooler conditions are known to hold king mackerel year round, and tuna are one of the deep water species that will roam closer to shore in cooler weather.

For those in boats offering comfortable rides in cool water, trolling for billfish is worth a try on “good” days, but not something I would personally want to do in an open boat until things warm up a bit more!

Reported by MIKE PRICE

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OME OF THE REWARDS OF fishing the bays in March are pleasant weather and water temperatures that are warm enough to stimulate fish movement and feeding. On a nice day in late March, I was drifting out of a bayou in West Matagorda Bay in my kayak.

PRICE After enjoying pad- ContactUs@Fishgame.com dling and fishing the backwaters, it was time to put the kayak on the boat and head for home. But I thought, “One more cast”. My red Norton Sand Eel lure with a white tail was four feet from reaching my kayak when it got thumped. I got a good hookset, and in the next instant the trout jumped completely out of the water as high as my eye level and then plunged back into the water, taking drag, and looking like a silver torpedo.

We had that hefty-18-inch trout for dinner, capping off a fine spring day.

Trout are usually found in water that is a foot or more deeper than surrounding flats.

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Fishermen will also find flounder here.

A channel runs from Sabine Lake and Pass into the lake. There is a boat ramp on the north shoreline of the lake, just off SH 87.

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UPPER COAST I didn’t catch any trout in the shallow back lakes and bayous on that day. On the way back to my boat I recognized two fishermen that were wade fishing the sandbar in the bay 100 yards from the shoreline. When we got back to Matagorda Harbor, I asked them how they did fishing in deeper water near the sand bar. They said, “We saw you fishing the bayous in your kayak. We fished on the bayside of the sandbar where the depth is 4 to 6 feet and caught 6 trout that measured 20 to 25 inches and we missed a very, very big trout.”

Flounder go offshore to spawn in November and December and return to the bays between mid-February and midApril. A good place to find flounder is on a corner where water drains out of a bayou or lake into the bay on an outgoing tide.

Water moving out tends to create an eddy or swirling motion on the corner, and little menhaden that have recently entered the bay system from offshore to grow, get caught in the eddy. Flounder settle on the bottom on corners like this and wait for the opportunity to vertically launch and capture bait fish. If you are fishing with mud minnows or shrimp under a popping cork, cast into the bayou and allow your bait to drift out with the current six inches off the bot-

tom. If you are fishing with soft plastic baits, cast into the bayou and swim your bait past the corner. Sometimes a flounder will hit your lure so hard that the vibration travels up your arm and your automatic reaction is to set the hook. When that happened to me, I reeled in my lure without a flounder.

But I knew that a flounder was on that corner, and unlike trout and redfish they don’t move. So, I ran the lure back over that spot, and this time the flounder tentatively bumped the lure. I let it drop and waited.

Flounder will sometimes hit a bait to stun it, and then eat it. Soon I felt my lure move and set the hook and reeled in the flounder.

Redfish will be roaming in search of prey in March. If you are not finding redfish in the open bay, wade or kayak fish the back bayous and lakes. One of my favorite redfish spots is a lake accessible by kayaking into a bayou or wading across the marsh.

My lure of choice under these circumstanc-

es is a gold spoon with a piece of scented Fishbite. Redfish may be on the shoreline or anywhere in the lake. I drift the lake casting from one side to the other with my casts about 10 feet apart.

Air temperatures in March are comfortable, not too hot or cold, but March can be very windy, so be sure to check the direction and speed of the wind before venturing out. The weather prediction for this March calls for very little rain. Fog can disrupt a day of fishing in March. It is dangerous to be running a boat when you cannot see, so even though you are excited about going fishing, if it is foggy it is wise to wait until it lifts, which usually happens when the temperature warms up by 9 or 10 am.

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UPPER COAST HOTSPOTS LOCATION: East Galveston Bay HOTSPOT: Hanna’s Reef GPS: N 29 28.471, W 94 43.251 (29.4745, -94.7209)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: MirrOlure Lil John CONTACT: Capt. Mike Losoya 409-939-8311 captainmike@getbitgalveston.com getbitgalveson.com TIPS: Fish over shallow, darker mud near deeper shell pads and reefs. In windy conditions, go to the north shoreline. Watch for bait movement.

LOCATION: West Galveston Bay HOTSPOT: Snake Island Cove GPS: N 29 9.565, W 95 2.215 (29.1594, -95.0369)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout

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BEST BAITS: MirrOdine XL soft plastics CONTACT: Capt. Paul Marcaccio 281-788-4041 captainpaul@gofishgalveston.com www.gofishgalveston.com TIPS: This is prime time for wading for big trout. In a boat, drift over the fish instead of staying on them.

LOCATION: Galveston Trinity Bay HOTSPOT: Levee Flats GPS: N 29 26.0102, W 94 54.0052

(29.4335, -94.9001)

SPECIES: Black Drum BEST BAITS: Fresh frozen crab or dead or live shrimp CONTACT: Capt. Mike Williams 713-256-9260 fishing@pdq.net galvestonfishinguides.com TIPS: The black drum are running. Great fishing for kids on spring break.

LOCATION: East Matagorda Bay HOTSPOT: Bird Island GPS: N 28 43.86, W 95 45.6169

(28.7310, -95.7603)

LOCATION: East Matagorda Bay HOTSPOT: Half Moon Shoal GPS: N 28 43.345, W 95 46.392

(28.7224, -95.7732)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: topwaters CONTACT: Capt. Tommy Countz 281-450-4037 tcountz@sbcglobal.net www.matagordafishing.com TIPS: March is still a good time to look for that trout of a lifetime in East Bay. Most fishermen prefer Corkys but with water temperatures up I like pulling out my topwaters. My go to floater has been a Pink Skitterwalk for several years and I don’t anticipate that changing.

Key on bait fish and drains and don’t be surprised it a redfish decides to hammer your offerings.

SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: Soft plastics, live shrimp CONTACT: Capt. Tommy Countz 281-450-4037 tcountz@sbcglobal.net www.matagordafishing.com TIPS: March in Matagorda is a great time to fish.

Usually as we get deeper into the month we start to see water temperatures slowly rising, tides gradually increase, and overall more spring conditions and less winter conditions. If we’re boat fishing, we are normally in East Matagorda Bay making long drifts on the west end either tossing soft plastic on 1/4 to 3/8 ounce lead heads or throwing live shrimp rigged under

LOCATION: East Matagorda Bay HOTSPOT: Old Gulf Cut GPS: N 28 42.919, W 95 53.21

(28.7153, -95.8868)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout and Redfish BEST BAITS: Live shrimp or Gulp under a popping cork, or Down South soft plastics CONTACT: Capt. Stan Sloan 832-693-4292 sloan529@gmail.com fishfcc.com TIPS: A 1/16 oz. jig head works well over the shell pads here. Work it slowly.

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sloan529@gmail.com fishfcc.com

UPPER COAST

TIPS: If that happens, I will be fishing the south shoreline, drifting instead of wade fishing.

a popping cork with at least a 4 foot leader. For this method I can’t stress enough the importance of popping that cork and keeping the slack out of your line.

LOCATION: Sabine Lake HOTSPOT: East Pass 29 GPS: N 29 59.027, W 93 46.582 (29.9838, -93.7764)

LOCATION: West Matagorda Bay HOTSPOT: Twin Island Reef GPS: N 28 38.828, W 96 2.425 (28.6471, -96.0404) LOCATION: West Matagorda Bay HOTSPOT: Culver’s Cut GPS: N 28 39.349, W 96 0.509 (28.6558, -96.0085)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: Topwaters and soft plastics CONTACT: Capt. Bill Watkins 409-673-9211 9782018@sbcglobal.net www.fishsabinelake.net

SPECIES: Speckled Trout and Redfish BEST BAITS: Live shrimp or Gulp under a popping cork, or Down South soft plastics CONTACT: Capt. Stan Sloan 832-693-4292 sloan529@gmail.com fishfcc.com TIPS: During a big flooding rain it will push all the bait fish out of the river into West Matagorda Bay.

SPECIES: Speckled Trout and Redfish BEST BAITS: Live shrimp or Gulp under a popping cork, or Down South soft plastics CONTACT: Capt. Stan Sloan 832-693-4292

Spring Comes Early to the Middle Coast SAN ANTONIO BAY AREA Reported by CAPT. CHRIS MARTIN

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HIS MONTH WE’LL CELebrate the Spring Equinox on March 19, 2020. It’s officially the first day spring, which also marks a time of change and evolution. We’ll begin seeing a shift in air and water temperatures this month as the coastal climate begins a slow warming trend throughout the next few months. Warmer temperatures will invite new growth in area bay waters, bringing underwater grass beds back to life once more, as well as new CAPT. MARTIN hatchings of shrimp, bayflatslodge@gmail.com

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This won’t all happen in March, but the process certainly begins now and will typically last through the month of May, if not even longer. |

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TIPS: Capt. Watkins starts his day with a topwater bait and then switches off to soft plastics as the sun comes up. He says colors is that important on the soft plastics. More important is the action of the bait.

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As these changes evolve, speckled trout feeding patterns will begin making a slow transition also. The trout will begin shifting from chasing large, harder to catch, adult mullet to feeding upon the small, young shrimp and baitfish that will slowly become more and more abundant on area flats throughout the next few months. As a result, now is a great time for you to downsize the baits you’re using. Replace that large top water bait with something much smaller, and look for the trout in places where you would expect them to be – where the food is!

As we talked about earlier, the spring food source for the trout is going to slowly become the newly hatched shrimp, crabs, and small baitfish. Throughout the spring months, and even into early summer, the majority of these new hatchlings are going to be found in very close proximity to where they hatched.

For the shrimp, crab, and small baitfish, this means they are going to be located in the back lakes and marshy areas. When high tides push extra water into these areas, the trout (and redfish) will push into the flooded marsh and will gorge themselves on all they can find. Anglers should do the same by focusing their attention on the back lakes out

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ROCKPORT AREA Reported by CAPT. MAC GABLE

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ARCH IS A TIME WHICH can see small schools of bait making their way back into our bays. The angler who finds these small schools of bait can be rewarded with some CAPT. GABLE fun fishing. captmac@macattackguideservice.com

HOTSPOTLIGHT:

CARLOS BAY

CARLOS BAY IS LOCATED BETWEEN Mesquite Bay on the north and Aransas Bay to the south, approximately 45 miles northeast of Corpus Christi. The most popular species caught here are Red drum, Black drum, and Spotted seatrout.

A series of oyster reefs provide the separation between Aransas and Carlos bays. The reefs also provide excel-

on Matagorda Island, especially during periods of higher water conditions over the next few months.

Eventually, these juvenile crustaceans and pinfish are going to begin making their way into the open bay system, and when they do, they’ll be looking for the protection of some type of cover. Although shell reefs represent a hard structure that provides protection from the predator fish, grass beds will typically be the preferred natural cover chosen to hide from hungry predators. It’s for this reason that anglers should focus on emerging grass flats this time of year, paying close attention to the edge of the grass beds, as well as to any barren potholes, as these serve as great ambush points for the trout and redfish.

If you’re trying to decide what kind of lure to use this month, try sticking with a topwater bait, but use a smaller one. In that March marks the start of the spring spawning season for may marine animals, the trout are still going to be chasing mullet until they are presented with an alternative, so try tossing something like a Super Spook Junior or Skitter Walk Junior at them for at least the first-half of the month. The bay waters are going to begin slowly warming, and new bait

lent habitat for crab, shrimp and other bait, and consistently attract good numbers of gamefish.

A series of dugout cuts as deep as 16 feet that are good fish passes. The many reefs can be hidden during high tides, so exercise caution when boating in the Bay.

• is going to be hatching, all of which will often stimulate a trout bite that can prove to be quite good on top water baits. As usual, however, all coastal anglers will have to deal with some strong spring winds on occasion, which will require the use of your bigger top water baits, just so their movement can be seen and heard in the rougher water conditions. On calm days in March, however, downsize to the small top waters and hold on for what can often turn into being a very exciting day of fishing.

Later in March, try turning to a couple of the plastic alternatives like the Baby Vudu 2” shrimp, the DOA 3” shrimp in natural colors, or the scented Gulp 3” shrimp rigged beneath a popping cork on a 12-18” leader. Use less of a leader if fishing over grass in shallow water, and a longer leader if fishing over shell in a bit deeper water. Keep in mind that a lot of your regular baits will still draw strikes from March trout, but there will be times when the trout will be feeding strictly on a particular size of bait, so it will be a good idea to have an assortment on hand if needed.

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COPANO BAY: Mid-bay reefs like Lap Reef hold sheep head this time of year. Small kahle hooks baited with small pieces of squid is the ticket. Redfish Point is a good spot for reds using finger mullet or cut mullet; use a free line for the finger mullet and a light Carolina rig for the cut mullet.

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captmac@macattackguideservice.com macattackguideservice.com TIPS: Cedar Bayou provides a pretty good wade fishing spot. The redfish are starting to migrate back into the bays, and you can catch some good limits wading the surf at Cedar Bayou.

MIDDLE COAST ARANSAS BAY: Drifts down Traylor Island produce trout using a popping cork and live shrimp. Jerk shad in new penny and in camo and molting color works well. The mouth of Blind Pass is a good spot for trout using live shrimp or Gulp! in new penny and white colors; a yellow jighead is best.

LOCATION: San Antonio Bay HOTSPOT: Panther Reef GPS: N 29 13.0105, W 96 41.0139 (29.2168, -96.6836)

ST CHARLES BAY: East Pocket is a good spot for reds using free lined finger mullet. The key to this area is a stealth approach. The area at the mouth of Twin Creek is a good spot for black drum using peeled shrimp on a light Carolina rig.

SPECIES: Speckled trout BEST BAITS: Topwaters, soft plastics CONTACT: Capt. Chris Martin 888-677-4868 bayflatslodge@gmail.com bayflatslodge.com TIPS: The water here is three to five feet deep. Wade the shallow depths around the spoil areas, or drift the deeper water near the spoils. Topwater action is best dawn to mid-morning or late afternoon—evening.

CARLOS BAY: Carlos Dugout is still the go to spot. Deep running lures in bone and red colors work well. On warm days the shallow shell edges hold reds, black drum and trout. A silent cork using Berkley shrimp or live shrimp is best.

LOCATION: Port Aransas HOTSPOT: Upper Estes Flats GPS: N 27 57.058, W 97 5.331 (27.9510, -97.0889)

MESQUITE BAY: Mouth of Cedar Bayou is a good wade for trout using Jerk shad in morning glory and camo colors.

Move slowly and be far enough from the bank to cast 360 degrees. The east shoreline is riddled with many shell reefs; a trolling motor worked here is very productive. Live shrimp free lined or under a silent cork can produce reds and some flounder.

SPECIES: Redfish BEST BAITS: Live or dead cut bait CONTACT: Capt. Len Jones 361-779-9144 lenjonesguideservice.com TIPS: Some kind of dead bait, live or dead shrimp is usually pretty good in March.

AYERS BAY: Ayers reef mid-day is a good spot for reds using free lined finger mullet. When a fish is hooked keep the rod tip high as this a heavy shell area and your line can be easily cut. There is black drum on the easy shoreline, but they move constantly.

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LOCATION: Mesquite Bay HOTSPOT: Cedar Bayou Flats GPS: N 28 7.0052, W 96 49.0053 (28.1168, -96.8168)

MIDDLE COAST HOTSPOTS

SPECIES: Redfish BEST BAITS: Topwaters, soft plastics, croaker CONTACT: Capt. Mac Gable 409-354-3865 |

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LOCATION: Upper Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: King Ranch Shoreline GPS: N 27 29.0022, W 97 21.0018 (27.4834, -97.3500)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: Corky Fat Boys CONTACT: Capt. Brett Caron 361-290-8442 brettcaron@rocketmail.com TIPS: Wading 3 - 3 1/2 feet between sand and mud, waist to ankle deep water. After a cold front, they (fish) push up on a shoreline in shallow water.

LOCATION: Espiritu Santo Bay HOTSPOT: Farwell Island GPS: N 28 21.610, W 96 27.652 (28.360167, -96.460867)

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SPECIES: Redfish BEST BAITS: Cut menhaden and cut perch head, dead shrimp CONTACT: Capt. Chris Martin 888-677-4868 bayflatslodge@gmail.com bayflatslodge.com TIPS: March is big time redfish fishing around San Antonio Bay. If the wind picks up, move closer to Matagorda Island. The action is strong all the way from Panther to Cedar Bayou.

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Prime Time for Trout on Baffin and the Laguna Even if you have fished for trophy trout for 20 or 30 years, this same scenario repeats itself on almost every really big fish!

It should because catching a huge trout is a

very special feat.

Think about it. Big-time trout seekers invest about $70,000 in a boat, another $10,000 in gear, not to even mention the fancy truck to pull it all with! That’s quite an outlay for a 10-pound fish!

A 28-inch trout used to be a trophy on Baffin Bay but now that number has moved up to 30 inches. The size has risen as time has gone by as more and more giant fish are

BAFFIN BAY Reported by CAPT. SALLY BLACK

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PRING HAS SPRUNG AND so have the heaviest trout on Baffin Bay. Trophy trout seekers are slowly working artificial lures over the legendary waters of Baffin Bay looking for their personal best or in my case even a new state record trophy trout.

Finesse fisherman and even some lucky first timers will hook onto and hopefully land some of the biggest trout CAPT. BLACK Sally@CaptSally.com of their lives in the spring time on Baffin Bay which is known for big giant fish.

There’s no more of a nerve-wracking moment than when the fish you have hooked but you have yet to see shows itself in near proximity and you know it’s that fish you’ve been hunting for Net or Boga grip, it does not matter, because your hands are shaking and all you really want is a great picture but you’ve got to hold it first! Watching that fish swim around you with the lure barely hanging out of its mouth is heart stopping and I don’t know any fisherman who doesn’t lose their entire cool when this happens

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caught on a regular basis.

But honestly, any trout 8 pounds and up is something to brag about and almost ANY good-sized fish caught on a top water lure is just about the best!

Most big fish are caught in relatively shallow water from waist deep to knee deep. When it’s really cold outside, sometimes it might be best to stand in waist deep water casting a little further out and letting your lure sink close to the bottom.

The mantra on Baffin Bay when water temperatures are cool is “low and slow.”

When water temperatures rise, the really, really big fish go super shallow and start to spawn. This does not happen, however, until the water temperatures rise to 75 degrees and stay there, so that’s closer to the end of April and beginning of May. If beating your personal best or catching a double-digit speckled trout is something that you have always dreamed of doing, then now is the time to do it on Baffin Bay!

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LOWER LAGUNA MADRE Reported by CALIXTO GONZALES

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HE ANGLER WHO IS WILLing to live with a little wind and a mildly bumpy ride can really do well in March. Redfish and trout begin to return to springtime patterns as water warms up and southeasterly winds begin to prevail.

Coastal fishermen anxious to work out the kinks in their joints and fishing line should look to GONZALES do a little springtime ContactUs@FishGame.com island hopping along the spoil banks that dot the Lower Laguna Madre between Port Isabel and Arroyo City.

The stronger spring tides that begin in March push more water onto the flats, and you’ll find deeper water around Three Islands. Redfish cruise around the grass and algae clumps looking for emerging baitfish, small crustaceans, and larger finfish that sur-

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vived the long winter. They’re hungry, and they’re aggressive.

Redfish-minded anglers should set up a drift near the color change between the deeper sand and mud flats near the Intercoastal Waterway and the clearer water of the grass flats. Redfish cruise on the clear side of the change, but they will use the murkier water both as cover and as an ambush point. Baitfish also tend to hold near to the color change because it will provide cover (unless, of course, there is a hungry redfish lurking in the clouds, then it’s just another place to die).

Live shrimp increase in availability during March. This is the bait of choice for anglers who make the long run from Port Isabel or South Padre Island—or the shorter run from the Arroyo Colorado.

Most fishermen use a large 4 to 4 ½, brightly colored popping cork with a live shrimp pinned on a No. 4 treble hook suspended 24 to 30 inches below it. The treble hook tends to tear up smaller fish, so more conservation-minded anglers will trade the treble hook for a No. 1/0 Kahle or Octopus hook.

I’ve had some success with a smaller circle hook, which does, in fact, lodge in the corner of a fish’s mouth, but many fishermen would rather avoid the adjustment period it takes to train themselves from trying to set the hook, and the resultant missed hookups. If you are going to use a treble hook, roll or mash down the barbs to minimize the trauma to the fish. If you keep the line tight, you won’t lose a fish.

Use the brightest cork you can find, by the way. When the wind kicks up a chop, a tall cork in florescent orange or Kelly green is much easier to spot. If you can’t spot it, reel until your line comes tight and set the hook. A red has probably taken the bait and has swum towards you.

Lure aficionados will be shelving the top waters for the most part this month. The combination of deeper water and stronger chop makes a Top Dog’s effectiveness an iffy proposition unless you hit a spoil bank shoreline early enough that the wind hasn’t cranked up.

Most grinders will fling soft plastics such as the Down South Lures Shad in Limetreuse or Morning Glory. Kelly Wiggler Balltail Shad in Fire Tiger and LSU are also popular choices. The Berkley Gulp! 5-inch

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Jerk Shad is also an excellent choice. Use a 1/16th ounce jighead to slow their descent and keep them out of the slop.

Shrimp imitators are also quite popular.

The 3-inch Gulp! Shrimp in New Penny is the standard choice, but Glow has also gained quite a few fans. The ¼ DOA Shrimp in Glow or Glow/pink have started to show up in more and more tackle boxes.

The most common method is to fish these baits under a noisy float such as the aforementioned popping corks or a 3 ½-inch Alameda Rattle Float (which is produced by Comal Tackle). The latter float’s squat shape makes it a little harder to see on the water’s surface during a choppy day, but the internal rattles give off a louder, more constant sound as the cork bobs along. It makes the Alameda Float well worth the extra effort.

If the redfish aren’t in a cooperative mood, move your boat to deeper water near the ICW edge, rig up a fish-finder or split-shot rig, and plumb the depths for black drum. These bruisers cruise the ICW drop-offs through March, and their proletarian image shines through. Wind and chop doesn’t bother them, and a Big Ugly would have to be full to the gill to turn down a live shrimp.

No special tackle is required for black drum. The same medium outfit you use for redfish is more than adequate. Cast a shrimp-baited rig out just beyond the Waterway edge, and let your bait tumble along with the current. It won’t take very long before a pod of hungry grunters will come along. The pick-up isn’t a sudden event. Rather, the line slowly comes tight as the fish sucks in your bait and continues his merry way. Lower your rod tip, let the line come tight, then bring up your rod tip, and you’re on.

Contrary to popular belief, a drum is a tough fighter. A fish in the 22-30-inch range will offer a stout fight with hard runs. When he isn’t peeling drag, a good-sized drum will sit in the current and sulk, forcing you to try and drag him up and toward the boat.

That’s when he’ll make another run. You’d be surprised at the sophisticated fighting tactics that this piscine version of Brock Lesnar can offer.

Moreover, the broad, thick fillets fry beautifully and make for a good meal.

HOTSPOTLIGHT:

ARROYO COLORADO

ARROYO COLORADO IS LOCATED between Port Mansfield on the north and Port Isabel to the south, approximately 45 miles north of Port Isabel.

The most popular species caught here are Red drum, Black drum, and Spotted seatrout.

Drifting the Arroyo shoreline is a

good tactic for reds and trout using live mud minnows free-lined. Cedar Reef is a good spot to fish with live shrimp under a silent cork. Reds, drum and trout hang in this area on warmer days.

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LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: The Pasture GPS: N 26 5.857, W 97 10.897 (26.0976, -97.1816)

LOWER COAST

LOWER COAST HOTSPOTS LOCATION: Arroyo Colorado HOTSPOT: Green Island GPS: N 26 23.533, W 97 19.33 (26.3922, -97.3222)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: Live shrimp, soft plastics in New Penny, Chartreuse, Gold/glitter.

CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez 956-551-9581 TIPS: Fish dawn to midday. Wade the mouth on an outgoing tide.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Intracoastal Waterway GPS: N 26 13.8, W 97 16.3 (26.2300, -97.2717)

SPECIES: Redfish BEST BAITS: Live bait, cut bait, gold spoons.

CONTACT: LG Outfitters 956-371-0220 lgonzales@lgoutfitter.com lgoutfitters.com TIPS: This water seems to stay fairly clear, even with a strong southeast wind blowing. A gold spoon or spinnerbait with a red trailer can be deadly, especially when the sun is higher in the sky.

SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: Live shrimp, Gulp! Shrimp in New Penny, Rootbeer/Chartreuse.

CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez 956-551-9581 TIPS: Fish the deeper water near the ICW to locate speckled trout that are showing an appetite after winter dormancy. The same live shrimp/popping cork rigs that you are using for redfish on the flats will work for speckled trout.

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Unnecessary Island GPS: N 26 13.811, W 97 16.342 (26.2302, -97.2724)

LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Gaswell Flats GPS: N 26 10.713, W 97 11.107 (26.1786, -97.1851)

SPECIES: Redfish BEST BAITS: Live Shrimp, cut bait, topwaters, gold spoons.

CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez 956-551-9581 TIPS: The shallows are beginning to warm as Springtype weather starts to move in. Live Shrimp always is a good first choice.

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LOCATION: Lower Laguna Madre HOTSPOT: Airport Cove GPS: N 26 10.02, W 97 18.12 (26.1670, -97.3020)

SPECIES: Speckled Trout BEST BAITS: Live Shrimp, soft plastics in red/ white, Bone/Chartreuse.

CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez 956-551-9581 TIPS: Live Bait is tough to beat in early spring. If the water is still cool, fish soft plastics near the bottom with 1/8th ounce jigheads. Work slowly and keep a soft touch to detect light takes

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SPECIES: Redfish BEST BAITS: Live bait, cut bait, gold spoons, soft plastic in red/white, Bone/chartreuse CONTACT: Captain Jimmy Martinez 956-551-9581 TIPS: Drift the flats between the two bars for pods of redfish. Gold spoons work well on sunny days, but bait works best when fish are finicky.

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GPS: N 30 24.7379, W 95 34.9199 (30.4123, -95.5820)

March is the Month for Largemouth Fishing EAST TEXAS HOTSPOTS

LOCATION: Lake Fork HOTSPOT: Main Lake Creeks GPS: N 32 49.2959, W 95 32.88 (32.8216, -95.5480)

LOCATION: Caddo Lake HOTSPOT: Lake: Bird Island Flats GPS: N 32 40.62, W 94 5.0219 (32.6770, -94.0837)

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass BEST BAITS: V&M Thundershad Swimbaits and V&M Pacemaker flippin and swim jigs in colors of black/blue or watermelon/red.

Reported by TF&G STAFF

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F YOU’RE A BASS FISHERMAN, March is your month. Look for spawning bass in the shallows and any standing timber.

Hydrilla and grass flats are also proven producers. Swimbaits, jigs, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and soft plastics are the go-to artificials.

Hybrids on Lake Conroe will be running in the 15-to-40 foot depth range, and this is the time to catch a real trophy.

Meanwhile, white bass are on the run at Livingston and many other lakes.

CONTACT: Caddo Lake Guide Service/Paul Keith 318-455-3437 caddoguide1@att.net www.caddolakefishing.com TIPS: Work the shallows in this area and other similar areas like Big Green Break-Clinton Lake and Ames Spring Basin. Target the cypress trees for spawning bass and fish the surrounding hydrilla grass flats for staging bass. Most productive areas this time of the year are in 2-4 feet of water. March through May is when most of our largest trophies are caught.

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SPECIES: Hybrid Stripers BEST BAITS: Live shad and Storm Swim shad CONTACT: Richard Tatsch 936-291-1277 admin@fishdudetx.com www.fishdudetx.com TIPS: The hybrid stripers are doing great now. They will be all around the lake on main lake points and humps.Use electronics to find the schools of shad and you will find the Hybrids. Find the depth the bait are in and you will find the fish. One mistake a lot of people make is not watching the depth the fish are in. These fish move up and down in the water column hour to hour and if you don’t follow them you will stop catching fish. Live shad will be the bait of choice but the swim shad will work if you can control the depth.

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass BEST BAITS: Black/blue jig with a green pumpkin trailer-Carolina rig-red square bill crankbait-and a 3/4 oz. red rattletrap-baby brush hog in green pumpkin on Carolina rig CONTACT: Doug Shampine 940-902-3855 doug@lakeforktrophybass.com www.lakeforktrophybass.com TIPS: If you are into Texas bass fishing, March is the month you want to visit Lake Fork. The big female bass are now looking for a place to spawn—feeding on the way. This month I look at the first secondary point of a pocket, then work my way toward the back of the pocket as the month goes on. The bass will be in that 10-15 foot range early March and by the end of the month be in that 5 foot or less range. My favorite places to fish in March will be Burch-Little Caney-Big Mustang, Wolf-Running Creek and Bell.

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10 miles northwest of Crockett

HOTSPOTLIGHT:

HOUSTON COUNTY LAKE

LOCATION: On Little Elkhart Creek 10 miles northwest of Crockett SURFACE AREA: 1,330 acres MAXIMUM DEPTH: 40 feet IMPOUNDED: 1966 HOUSTON COUNTY LAKE HAS THE potential to produce large trophy

CURRENT LAKE LEVELS LAKE

EAST TEXAS

CAPACITY AC. FT. Addicks -n.a.B A Steinhagen 69,186 Barker -n.a.Bob Sandlin 192,417 Bonham 11,027 Caddo 29,898 Coleto Creek 31,040 Conroe 410,988 Crook 9,195 Cypress Springs 66,756 Fork 605,061 Houston 130,147 Houston County 17,113 Jacksonville 25,670 Jim Chapman 260,332 Lake O’ the Pines 241,363 Livingston 1,741,867 Monticello 34,740 Murvaul 38,285 Nacogdoches 39,522 Palestine 367,303 Pat Mayse 113,683 Sam Rayburn 2,857,077 Striker 16,934 Sulphur Springs 17,747 Toledo Bend 2,236,450 Wright Patman 553,344 As of 1/27/2020

CURRENT AC. FT. -n.a.66,858 -n.a.192,417 11,027 29,898 22,639 376,337 9,195 66,756 562,669 117,520 17,113 25,670 247,919 241,363 1,741,867 29,809 37,498 37,092 356,313 113,683 2,776,406 16,934 17,747 1,830,440 433,675

% FULL -n.a.97% -n.a.100% 100% 100% 73% 92% 100% 100% 93% 90% 100% 100% 95% 100% 100% 86% 98% 94% 97% 100% 97% 100% 100% 82% 78%

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largemouth bass as well as large redear sunfish. The lake also has a substantial population of spotted bass.

The lake has abundant standing timber in the upper end. Some native emergent and submergent vegetation is also present. In 2018, TPWD staff added fish attracting structures to this

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LOCATION: Lake Fork HOTSPOT: Caney Creek cove GPS: N 32 50.088, W 95 33.1499 (32.8348, -95.5525)

(30.8675, -95.4220)

SPECIES: White Bass BEST BAITS: and Rat-L-Traps in Chrome-Blue CONTACT: David S. Cox-Palmetto Guide Service 936-291-9602 dave@palmettoguideservice.com www.palmettoguideservice.com TIPS: Cast jigs and Rat-L-Traps in the deep holes off sandy points. Troll the deep holes with the same baits.

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass BEST BAITS: Texas Spinnerbait 430 Special in chartreuse/white-The Big Eye Jig-the Shimmy Shaker and the Mr. Twister Super Lizard black/blue tail CONTACT: Ricky Vandergriff 903-561-7299 or 903-530-2201 ricky@rickysguideservice.com www.rickysguideservice.com TIPS: Caney Creek has many pockets so you will need to fish all the way back in each of them. Fish the weeds-grass and the lay downs you find these areas will hold some big bass as well as the smaller ones.

Fish as slow as you can. When you move out of the back of the pockets you will have standing timber on the points. Fish your Big Eye Jigs around the timber.

LOCATION: Lake Sam Rayburn HOTSPOT: Boggy Creek GPS: N 31 21.558, W 94 19.7939 (31.3593, -94.3299)

LOCATION: Lake Livingston HOTSPOT: Harmon Creek GPS: N 30 52.05, W 95 25.3199 T E X A S

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reservoir. Man-made fish attractors, installed in 2018, provide additional structure.

Largemouth bass can be caught most readily in early spring and fall on a variety of baits.

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tubes-jigs-spinnerbaits-top water baits-stick baits and shallow diving crank baits.

CONTACT: Greg Crafts-Toledo Bend Guide Service and Lake Cottages 936-368-7151 gregcrafts@yahoo.com www.toledobendguide.com TIPS: March is probably the most fished month out of the year. The bass are in shallow water moving in to spawn-on the beds or moving off the beds. If a cold front moves in-the fish will stay in the same area but will back out to the closest drop into deep water.

Start off with a fast moving bait like a Rat-L-Trap or spinner bait to cover a lot of water to locate the fish. If you catch one-slow down because there will usually be more fish in that area. Please practice catch and release especially this time of year.

EAST TEXAS BEST BAITS: Rat-L-traps in red, spinnerbaits, soft plastics CONTACT: Mike Knight 936-635-2427 notechmike@hotmail.com www.easttxfishingguide.com TIPS: The bass spawn will be on fire all month long.

Lots of fish are shallow and this is the easiest month of all to catch a bunch of fish with some real big ones thrown in. Bed fishing will be great, but the bass will be way back in the flooded stuff. Throw Rat-L-Traps and spinnerbaits the 1st two weeks of this month and plastics the last half.

LOCATION: Toledo Bend North HOTSPOT: Bayou Seipe GPS: N 31 44.1119, W 93 51.474 (31.7352, -93.8579)

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass BEST BAITS: Rat-L-Traps-soft plastics-frogs-

As the Seasons Pivot, So Does the Fishing point anglers to active feeding fish. Passing cool fronts and storm fronts continue to dominate the weather pattern. White bass are spawning and many are moving back to the main lakes. Jigs with soft plastics and jigging slabs should still put white bass in the boat. Five-inch swimbaits and live shad will put striped bass in the boat.

Crappie are moving into their shallow spawning grounds. Look for them in creeks and submerged structure (rocks, timber).

Minnows and jigs are the go-to baits.

Catfish should respond favorably to cut shad and hotdogs fished under deeper docks and creek entrances. Largemouth bass should go for soft plastics worked near bedding grounds. Largemouth bass are starting to move to the shallows in a prespawn pattern.

Reported by TF&G STAFF

W

ATER TEMPERATURES should start climbing into the 60’s. Spring patterns are in full force. On lakes with striped bass, they are active and are moving back and forth from the river to deeper water on the main lakes and in the mouths of rivers and creeks.

Wintering birds should still be in place on many lakes, and can be expected to

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(32.8531, -96.8669)

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass and Crappie BEST BAITS: Bass: spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps | Crappie: minnows and jigs CONTACT: Carey Thorn 469-528-0210 thorn_alex@yahoo.com whitebassfishingtexas.com TIPS: For bass, throw spinnerbaits and Rat-L-Traps along the weed lines. Bass fishing is especially good at the dam, by the banks and near the timber under the bridge. Crappie are under the bridge at night this time of year. Minnows and jigs are your best bet now.

LOCATION: Cedar Creek Lake HOTSPOT: Mid to Upper Lake GPS: N 32 21.2442, W 96 11.616 (32.3541, -96.1936)

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CENTRAL TEXAS HOTSPOTS LOCATION: Bachman Lake HOTSPOT: Main Lake GPS: N 32 51.1859, W 96 52.014

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CURRENT LAKE LEVELS

CENTRAL TEXAS

LAKE

As of 1/27/2020

Aquilla Arlington Athens Austin Bardwell Belton Benbrook Buchanan Canyon Cedar Creek Choke Canyon Corpus Christi Eagle Mountain Georgetown Granbury Granger Grapevine Halbert Hubert H Moss Inks Joe Pool Lavon Lewisville Limestone Lyndon B Johnson Marble Falls Martin Medina Mountain Creek Nasworthy Navarro Mills New Terrell City Ray Hubbard Ray Roberts Richland-Chamb.

Somerville Stillhouse Hollow Tawakoni Texana Texoma Travis Tyler Waco Waxahachie Weatherford Whitney Worth

CAPACITY

(Acre Feet)

43,243 40,188 29,503 23,972 46,122 435,225 85,648 860,607 378,781 644,686 662,820 256,062 179,880 36,823 132,949 51,822 163,064 6,033 24,058 13,962 175,358 406,388 563,228 203,780 115,249 6,901 75,726 254,823 22,850 9,615 49,827 8,583 439,559 788,167 1,087,839 150,293 227,771 871,685 159,566 1,258,113 1,113,348 72,073 189,418 10,780 17,812 553,344 553,344

CURRENT

(Acre Feet)

34,982 40,188 29,503 22,497 39,425 399,901 66,384 784,324 354,669 578,943 297,030 189,409 179,880 25,827 132,949 51,822 163,064 5,063 24,058 7,719 157,271 366,453 563,228 165,710 86,858 6,814 62,568 196,197 22,850 8,257 38,416 8,583 397,276 788,167 943,011 148,496 205,683 839,920 116,724 1,258,113 927,083 66,886 149,127 10,278 17,812 433,675 433,675

% FULL 81% 100% 100% 94% 86% 92% 78% 91% 94% 90% 45% 74% 100% 70% 100% 100% 100% 84% 100% 55% 90% 90% 100% 81% 75% 99% 83% 77% 100% 86% 77% 100% 90% 100% 87% 99% 90% 96% 73% 100% 83% 93% 79% 95% 100% 78% 78%

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CONTACT: Jason Barber (903) 603-2047 kingscreekadventures@yahoo.com www.kingscreekadventures.com TIPS: Try fishing very shallow areas near points in the mid to upper end of the lake this time of year. Fish with a small Carolina rig and focus on wind-blown points and shorelines in 2-to-10 feet.

35 miles north of Waco

HOTSPOTLIGHT:

LAKE AQUILLA LOCATION: 35 miles north of Waco off Highway 310, just off Interstate 35 near Hillsboro SURFACE AREA: 3,020 acres MAXIMUM DEPTH: 59.5 feet IMPOUNDED: 1982

stained water, localized cover, and light fishing pressure means there are some big bass to catch but you have to work for them. Fish spinner baits, jig and pork combos, and plastic worms in and around cover. Tree lines, fencerows, and creek channels are good places to start. Crappie are usually found on submerged brush piles and large isolated trees. Live minnows seem to be the preferred bait. Channel and blue catfish are caught drift fishing flats or on trotlines set around shallow, brushy areas. Shad, cutbait, or bloodbait will all work. White bass are caught trolling small tailspinners, jigs, and spoons across windy flats.

BOTH THE HACKBERRY AND AQUILLA Creek arms are loaded with standing timber and brush, but they are shallow in most areas and provide little fish habitat. TPWD has installed fish attractors at strategic points around Aquilla Lake. Anglers may use GPS in conjunction with a fish finder to locate these structures.

Largemouth bass fishing can be good on Aquilla. The combination of

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LOCATION: Eagle Mountain Lake HOTSPOT: Mud Flats East of Church Point GPS: N 32 55.492, W 97 30.051 (32.9249, -97.5009)

BEST BAITS: Slab with a fly 12-in. above or spinner with a shiny blade CONTACT: Johnny Stevens 817-597-6598 johnlu1313@gmail.com johnnysguideservice.com TIPS: This area is composed of many slopes and humps. Water dept is normally 12-to 24 ft. deep.

When water approaches 60 degrees many sandbass spawn on these humps and slopes. Look on each slope and hump with your electronics until you see a group of small humps on the bottom. Throw a marker

SPECIES: White bass T E X A S

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CONTACT: Weldon Kirk 979-229-3103 weldon_edna@hotmail.com www.fishtales-guideservice.com TIPS: The crappie spawn is close. If the power plant is not running. Use a cork and cast around the rocks and work the cork slowly back to the boat. Stop the cork a minute at a time.

CENTRAL TEXAS and anchor over them and jig up and down with your slab rig. Many times you will catch two at a time.

LOCATION: Fayette County HOTSPOT: Joe’s Jigging Hole GPS: N 29 55.572, W 96 43.3739 (29.9262, -96.7229) straight down close to the buoy.

LOCATION: Gibbons Creek HOTSPOT: Crappie Hole GPS: N 30 36.7079, W 96 4.0019 (30.6118, -96.0667) SPECIES: Catfish BEST BAITS: CJ’s Punch Bait CONTACT: Weldon Kirk 979-229-3103 weldon_edna@hotmail.com www.fishtales-guideservice.com TIPS: Put out a marker buoy here. Water is 40’-50’ deep here and there is sunken timber and a sunken bridge. Chum around the buoy, then fish tight line

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SPECIES: Crappie BEST BAITS: Minnows, grey crappie jigs

LOCATION: Granger Lake HOTSPOT: San Gabriel River and Willis Creek GPS: N 30 39.2759, W 97 24.3119 (30.6546, -97.4052)

SPECIES: White Bass BEST BAITS: Road Runners, plastic grubs, Marabou jigs, Rooster Tails CONTACT: Tommy Tidwell (512) 365-7761

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crappie1@hotmail.com www.gotcrappie.com TIPS: Now is the time to catch the spawning white bass. They are up the creek and river in large numbers. Look for eddy areas where the current swirls as the fish are holding in these spots. Late evening, during the last hour of daylight, is a prime time for them to turn on. Just cast out and use a slow retrieve keeping the bait just off the bottom. This is the one time of year that you do not need a boat to fill the freezer.

LOCATION: Lake Granbury HOTSPOT: River Near Tin Top GPS: N 32 34.559, W 97 49.295

(32.5760, -97.8216)

SPECIES: Crappie BEST BAITS: Small jigs with soft plastics in Electric Chicken and Chartreuse colors worked near

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structure near banks/docks CONTACT: Michael W. Acosta 817-578-0023 TIPS: Swim or bounce your jigs across the bottom.

Work the bends in the river and look for fish either in the deeper holes and when active on top of flats adjacent to the deeper water. Crappie will be spawning in creeks and sloughs all over the lake and in the river.

LOCATION: Lake Lavon HOTSPOT: Main Lake GPS: N 33 2.124, W 96 29.0459

(33.0354, -96.4841)

SPECIES: Crappie BEST BAITS: Crappie jigs CONTACT: Carey Thorn 469-528-0210 thorn_alex@yahoo.com

whitebassfishingtexas.com TIPS: Crappie are spawning shallow in 1-10 feet of water this time of year. Look for them on wood, gravel, sand, and rocks. If the lake is up at full, look in the submerged willows and standing timber. You can also try fishing a jig and bobber the rocks.

LOCATION: Lake Palestine HOTSPOT: Kickapoo Creek and Cades Lake GPS: N 32 18.0119, W 95 26.9639

(32.3002, -95.4494)

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass BEST BAITS: Shimmy shakers, Big Eye Jigs trailed with Mister Twister Pocket Craws Black? Blue and on Texas Rig the Mister Twister Swim Station water melon Red Shimmy Shakers, Big Eye Jigs trailed with Mister Twister Pocket Craws in black/blue, Texas Rigged Mister Twister Swim Station in Watermelon

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Red, Mister Twister 5-inch Pocket Raiser black/blue CONTACT: Ricky Vandergriff 903-561-7299 or 903-530-2201 ricky@rickysguideservice.com www.rickysguideservice.com TIPS: Bass fishing is really good right now in both of these areas. The best depth 2-5 feet. Fish as slow as you can and use as little of weight on your worms as you are able to use and still fish effectively.

LOCATION: Lake Ray Roberts HOTSPOT: Elm Creek GPS: N 33 29.3451, W 97 5.8051 (33.4891, -97.0968)

SPECIES: White Bass and Hybrid Striper BEST BAITS: 1 oz. Silver Glitter RSR Shad Slabs (www.rsrlures.com) CONTACT: Royce Simmons 903-389-4117 simmonsroyce@hotmail.com www.gonefishin.biz TIPS: Watch for the gulls and pelicans dipping down to pick up shad off the surface. Concentrate on dropoffs and ridges in the 309 Flats Area in water depths ranging from 20’-30’. Bounce the slab off the bottom and when the strike occurs, HOLD ON!

SPECIES: Crappie BEST BAITS: Jigs CONTACT: Cliff Spindle 940-727-3493 cliffspindle@yahoo.com spindleguideservice.com TIPS: Fishing for crappie during the spawn can be a lot of fun. Target areas along the creek with any cover such as log jams, laydowns or weeds. Work the area slow from 1-to 5 feet. I use a Walley Marshall Signature Series 10’ rod to work the area over without having to get right on top of what I am fishing—not spooking the fish that are up shallow. Crappie relate to the water temps in spring, so the warmer the water, the better the action. At the beginning of the spawn the morning bite may not be as good as the evening bite. The water will often warm up 8 to 10 degrees throughout the day and then cool back down over night. Males should start pushing up as water reaches 60 degrees and the females should start moving up to the beds at 65 degrees. Navigating to the creeks can be tricky with a lot of shallow flats and wooded areas that are not visible. Take your time and be safe.

SPECIES: Striped Bass BEST BAITS: Road Runner jigs, Sassy Shad jigs CONTACT: Bill Carey 903-786-4477 bigfish@striperexpress.com www.striperexpress.com TIPS: In March the white bass have already spawned and the stripers are staging up the main tributaries.

Structure like main lake points, ditches and creeks will hold stripers. 1 oz. Road Runner and Sassy Shad jigs in white or chartreuse will work best. Fish the creeks in 12’ to 20’ of water with slow retrieve for the fish up to 20 lbs. Pay attention to the seagulls as they can be your best fish finder. When you are fishing under the birds keep your lure in the top 15’ of water. Most activity will be west of the Willis Bridge and north of the railroad bridge on the Washita arm of the lake.

LOCATION: Lake Whitney HOTSPOT: Whitney Creek GPS: N 31 55.2, W 97 20.6939 (31.9200, -97.3449)

LOCATION: Lake Somerville HOTSPOT: Apache Cove Island GPS: N 30 20.412, W 96 34.4399 (30.3402, -96.5740)

SPECIES: Catfish BEST BAITS: CJ’s Punch Bait/Crawdad CONTACT: Weldon Kirk 979-229-3103 weldon_edna@hotmail.com www.fishtales-guideservice.com TIPS: Deep water comes close to this island point.

Fish the windy side of this island. Use a slip cork and drift your bait in towards the island.

LOCATION: Richland Chambers Lake HOTSPOT: Highway 309 Flats GPS: N 31 59.106, W 96 7.944 (31.9851, -96.1324)

LOCATION: Lake Texoma HOTSPOT: Paw Paw Creek & Mill Creek Cut GPS: N 33 53.9879, W 96 53.796 (33.8998, -96.8966)

SPECIES: Striped Bass & White Bass BEST BAITS: Wild-eyed Shad, Flutter Jigs from RSR Lures.com, 1/2 oz. jigs and 7 Snake Trailers from Stripersniper.com, Stripaholic Jigs and sassy shads.

CONTACT: Randy Routh 817-822-5539 teamredneck01@hotmail.com www.teamredneck.net TIPS: Look for stripers in the mouths of creeks.

We’re using 3 baits to target these fish. The wild-eyed shad swim bait in Chartreuse, the 1 oz. Stripaholic lead head with swim baits the buck tail jigs with 7 snake trailers, throwing them up along the shoreline in the grass making a medium to fast retrieve. Back off later in the morning and troll these lures behind the boat. Make long cast behind the boat and use the trolling motor to drag baits through big schools of fish. You can also anchor up on these schools and use the 1oz Flutter Jigs. You can use live shad as well.

A good top water bait can also be handy this time of year up shallow. Good luck and may God bless you and I hope someday soon to see ya on the water!

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Spring is in the Air on West Texas Lakes

Reported by DEAN HEFFNER

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PRING IS PARTIALLY IN the air and everything is feeding up for the spring migration and spawn on West Texas venues.

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Largemouth will be starting to bed but a few pre-spawners will be plump and just out of sight beyond the beds. Live shad is best butyou should also try red shad Texas-rigged worms, ijgs with a craw tail, crankbaits and any other artificials you have confidence in. The spinnerbait in white and chartreuse is excellent and match the blades for water color but try to stay in stained water which is better than crystal clear. In clear water, have a topwater on and throw at any active feeding bass.

This and next month are the best for spawning Crappie so don’t miss out.

If you have shad, anchor and pinch heads and tails to make a chum line and fish with mid-sections. The longer you stay in one spot the more the sharks (catfish) will come to you.

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WEST TEXAS HOTSPOTS LOCATION: Amistad HOTSPOT: Main Lake Points GPS: N 29 30.32514, W 101 0.1446

(29.505419, -101.00241)

SPECIES: largemouth bass BEST BAITS: Jigs, Senkos, CONTACT: James Burkeen 830-734-9652 jjburkeen@gmail.com amistadbassin.com TIPS: Concentrate on the main lake points and the drains near bends in the creek channels. Drop shot rigs work well in these areas as well as jigs in the

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brush and Senkos along the banks.

same lures as on the steep banks. Fish fun - fish safe!

LOCATION: Lake Alan Henry HOTSPOT: Rocky Creek GPS: N 33 1.0619, W 101 6.888 (33.0177, -101.1148)

LOCATION: Ft. Phantom Hill Res. HOTSPOT: Main Lake GPS: N 32 35.690, W 99 41.217 (32.5949, -99.6869)

rocky structure or submersed woody debris.

SPECIES: Largemouth Bass BEST BAITS: Crankbaits, jigs, and jerk baits CONTACT: Norman Clayton’s Guide Services 806-792-9220 nclayton42@sbcglobal.net www.lakealanhenry.com/norman_clayton.htm TIPS: Look for the warmest water in the lake, usually be found way up the Brazos River, and up the creeks.

Look also up Ince, Big Grape, Gobbler, and Rocky Creeks. If you don’t find bass up the creeks, go to any steep bank that the direct sunlight is hitting, and try crankbaits, jigs, and jerkbaits. Up the creeks, try the

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SPECIES: Largemouth bass, white crappie BEST BAITS: Jigs, jerkbaits, live minnows CONTACT: Michael D. Homer Jr. 325-692-0921 Michael.Homer@tpwd.texas.gov TIPS: Largemouth Bass have been caught in high numbers by anglers as of late, with multiple fish reportedly over 8 pounds. Largemouth Bass can be landed by fishing swim jigs in darker colors, jerk baits, and darker soft plastics. White Crappie during this time of year can be caught in deeper water 12-18 ft with jigs and/or live minnows while fishing around

LOCATION: Lake Leon HOTSPOT: LaMancha Resort GPS: N 32 21.6857, W 98 41.1983 (32.3614, -98.6866)

SPECIES: Crappie

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CURRENT LAKE LEVELS LAKE

WEST TEXAS

As of 01/27/2020

Abilene Alan Henry Amistad Amon G Carter Arrowhead Brady Creek Bridgeport Brownwood Champion Creek Cherokee Cisco Coleman Colorado City E V Spence Elephant Butte Falcon Fort Phantom Hill Graham Greenbelt Hords Creek Hubbard Creek J B Thomas Kemp Kickapoo Leon Lost Creek Mackenzie Meredith Millers Creek Mineral Wells Natural Dam Nocona N. Fork Buffalo Cr. O C Fisher O H Ivie Oak Creek Palo Duro Palo Pinto Pat Cleburne Possum Kingdom Proctor Red Bluff Squaw Creek Stamford Sweetwater Twin Buttes White River

CAPACITY

(Acre Feet)

7,900 96,207 1,840,849 19,266 230,359 28,808 366,236 130,868 41,580 40,094 29,003 38,075 30,758 517,272 1,973,358 1,551,007 70,030 45,288 59,968 8,443 313,298 199,931 245,307 86,345 27,762 11,950 46,450 500,000 26,768 5,273 54,560 21,444 15,400 119,445 554,340 39,210 61,066 26,766 26,008 538,139 54,762 151,110 151,250 51,570 12,267 182,454 29,880

CURRENT

(Acre Feet)

5,216 89,716 1,371,497 17,777 204,000 24,653 314,093 107,864 27,551 40,094 25,280 32,905 13,758 137,987 583,956 492,267 62,861 38,696 12,012 6,714 273,594 48,632 208,618 71,604 23,649 11,694 5,322 209,342 23,281 5,175 26,421 19,797 11,925 12,891 386,554 34,618 3,063 20,026 22,263 530,302 39,984 97,983 149,266 46,075 12,088 118,010 5,507

% FULL 66% 93% 75% 92% 89% 86% 86% 82% 66% 100% 87% 86% 45% 27% 30% 32% 90% 85% 20% 80% 87% 24% 85% 83% 85% 98% 12% 42% 87% 98% 48% 92% 77% 11% 70% 88% 5% 75% 86% 99% 73% 65% 99% 89% 99% 65% 18%

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BEST BAITS: Jigs, curly tails, tubes CONTACT: Michael E. Homer, Jr., TPWD 325-692-0921 michael.homer@tpwd.texas.gov TIPS: During the cold months, many anglers can be successful by fishing the rocks and off the pier at LaMancha Resort on Lake Leon. The LaMancha Resort has a use-for-fee dock and pier that often yields successful catches in white crappie. Fishing along the rocks along the resort also may yield success-

15 Miles southwest of Wichita Falls

HOTSPOTLIGHT:

LAKE ARROWHEAD LOCATION: 15 miles southeast of Wichita Falls off US Highway 281 SURFACE AREA: 14,969 acres MAXIMUM DEPTH: 45 feet IMPOUNDED: 1966 LAKE ARROWHEAD IS A PREMIER white crappie lake. Be prepared to share the water with many other anglers in spring, when limits of nicesize crappie are caught in the lower

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ful catches. Using 1/16 to ¼ oz. jigs with curly tails or tubes work very well for catching keeper crappie.

Colors can be challenging to decide between, but chartreuse and red or white and blue combinations may work well. Other baits such as small spinner baits like rooster tails and beetle spins also work well.

BEST BAITS: Live shad, crankbaits, jigs CONTACT: Dean Heffner 940-329-0036 fav7734@aceweb.com TIPS: Look for stripers, hybrids and white bass to be on the flats feeding up. If the floods are here, they will be headed up the rivers, creeks and tributaries that flow into the lake. Live shad is always best, but you can troll RatLTraps and crankbaits this month and do well. We also do very well trolling, jigging and downrigging Bucktail Jigs with Mister Twister curly tails on them for stripers, bybrids, white bass and even largemouth, with an occasional blue catfish or big crappie hitting them. Fish jigs & minnows over and in the treetops and start looking for them to be staged up in 6 to 12 feet of water.

LOCATION: Possum Kingdom HOTSPOT: Peanut Patch GPS: N 32 53.627, W 98 30.998 (32.8938, -98.5166)

••

SPECIES: Striped bass, hybrids, white bass T E X A S

TexasOutdoorNation-2003-DIG.indd 57

half of the reservoir. Arrowhead also contains channel, blue, and flathead catfish. All three species can get big here.

Largemouth bass fishing can be very good at times, depending on water turbidity and lake elevation. Florida-strain largemouths were stocked in 1995, 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2010.

F I S H

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2/18/20 2:08 PM

Sportsman’s DAYBOOK MARCH 2020

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

T4

T11

T10 T9

TIDE PREDICTIONS are located in the upper white boxes on the Calendar Pages. Use the Correction Table below, which is keyed to 23 other tide stations, to adjust low and high tide times.

T8 T17

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

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 T6

T7

T3 T2 T1

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 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6

PLACE Sabine Bank Lighthouse Sabine Pass Jetty Sabine Pass Mesquite Pt, Sab. Pass Galveston Bay, S. Jetty Port Bolivar

HIGH -1:46 -1:26 -1:00 -0:04 -0:39 +0:14

LOW -1:31 -1:31 -1:15 -0:25 -1:05 -0:06

KEY PLACE HIGH Galveston Channel/Bays T7 Texas City Turning Basin +0:33 +3:54 T8 Eagle Point +6:05 T9 Clear Lake +10:21 T10 Morgans Point T11 Round Pt, Trinity Bay +10:39

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

KEY T12 T13 T14 T15 T16 T17

PLACE Pt Barrow, Trinity Bay Gilchrist, East Bay Jamaica Beach, W. Bay Alligator Point, W. Bay Christmas Pt Galveston Pleasure Pier

HIGH +5:48 +3:16 +2:38 +2:39 +2:32 -1:06

LOW +4:43 +4:18 +3:31 +2:33 +2:31 -1:06

KEY T18 T19 T20 T21 T22 T23

PLACE HIGH San Luis Pass -0.09 Freeport Harbor -0:44 Pass Cavallo 0:00 Aransas Pass -0:03 Padre Island (So. End) -0:24 Port Isabel +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

READING THE GRAPH

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

Moon Overhead

Fishing Score Graph

Moon Underfoot

Day’s Best Day’s 2nd Score Best Score

n

Best Day Overall

MOON PHASES

l = New Moon l = Full Moon = First Quarter º » = Last Quarter «= Good Day by Moon Phase 58

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T E X A S

F I S H

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2/18/20 2:08 PM

MARCH 2020

Tides and Prime Times MONDAY

24 « FEET

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

1:22a 9:37a 5:33p 9:57p

TUESDAY

25 «

1.11 ft.

-0.04 ft.

1.06 ft.

0.89 ft.

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

2:30a 10:10a 5:28p 10:21p

1.07 ft.

0.15 ft.

0.98 ft.

0.75 ft.

WEDNESDAY

26 « High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

3:37a 10:42a 5:16p 10:48p

1.02 ft.

0.34 ft.

0.90 ft.

0.58 ft.

THURSDAY

27

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

4:50a 11:15a 4:58p 11:20p

0.97 ft.

0.52 ft.

0.85 ft.

0.40 ft.

FRIDAY

28

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

6:17a 11:52a 4:34p 11:57p

SATURDAY

29

0.93 ft.

0.68 ft.

0.84 ft.

0.22 ft.

High Tide: 8:05a Low Tide: 12:48p High Tide: 3:55p

SUNDAY

Mar 1

0.95 ft.

0.84 ft.

0.87 ft.

Low Tide: 12:42a High Tide: 10:20a

0.05 ft.

1.03 ft.

FEET

+3.0

+3.0

+2.0

+2.0

+1.0

+1.0 0

0

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

6a

BEST TIME

12:30 — 2:30 PM Sunrise: 6:49a Sunset: 6:14p Moonrise: 7:42a Moon Set: 7:20p

AM Minor: 5:38a AM Major: 11:24a PM Minor: 6:00p PM Major: -----

12a

6a

12p

6p

1:00 — 3:00 PM

AM Minor: 6:23a AM Major: 12:13a PM Minor: 6:44p PM Major: 12:33p

-0.10 ft.

1.17 ft.

2:00 — 4:00 PM

AM Minor: 7:08a AM Major: 12:58a PM Minor: 7:28p PM Major: 1:18p

Low Tide: 2:37a High Tide: 1:10p

-0.25 ft.

1.32 ft.

Low Tide: 3:42a High Tide: 1:58p

6p

12a

6a

-0.38 ft.

1.45 ft.

12p

6p

12a

BEST TIME

2:30 — 4:30 PM

3:00 — 5:00 PM

12p

6p

12a

6a

10:00P — 12:00A

6p

12a

10:30P — 12:30A Sunrise: 6:43a Sunset: 6:18p Moonrise: 10:49a Moon Set: None

AM Minor: 9:26a AM Major: 3:15a PM Minor: 9:48p PM Major: 3:37p

Moon Overhead: 4:12p Moon Underfoot: 3:51a

12p

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 6:44a Sunset: 6:17p Moonrise: 10:14a Moon Set: 11:42p

AM Minor: 8:39a AM Major: 2:29a PM Minor: 9:00p PM Major: 2:49p

Moon Overhead: 3:31p Moon Underfoot: 3:10a

6a

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 6:45a Sunset: 6:17p Moonrise: 9:42a Moon Set: 10:48p

AM Minor: 7:53a AM Major: 1:43a PM Minor: 8:13p PM Major: 2:03p

AM Minor: 10:14a AM Major: 4:02a PM Minor: 10:37p PM Major: 4:26p

Moon Overhead: 4:55p Moon Underfoot: 4:33a

Moon Overhead: 5:41p Moon Underfoot: 5:18a

MOON PHASES

Day’s Best Score

WEDNESDAY

4

12p

Sunrise: 6:46a Sunset: 6:16p Moonrise: 9:12a Moon Set: 9:55p

Moon Overhead: 2:50p Moon Underfoot: 2:30a

TUESDAY

3

6a

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 6:47a Sunset: 6:15p Moonrise: 8:42a Moon Set: 9:04p

Moon Overhead: 2:10p Moon Underfoot: 1:50a

MONDAY

12a

BEST TIME

= FALLING TIDE = RISING TIDE = DAYLIGHT HOURS = NIGHTTIME HOURS Fishing Score Moon Moon Graph Overhead Underfoot

READING THE GRAPH

Low Tide: 1:35a High Tide: 12:08p

6p

Sunrise: 6:48a Sunset: 6:15p Moonrise: 8:13a Moon Set: 8:12p

Moon Overhead: 1:29p Moon Underfoot: 1:07a

2º

12p

BEST TIME

n

Day’s 2nd Best Score

Best Day Overall

THURSDAY

5

Low Tide: 4:46a High Tide: 2:41p

-0.49 ft.

1.53 ft.

l = New Moon l = Full Moon = First Quarter º » = Last Quarter « = Good Day by Moon Phase

FRIDAY

6

Low Tide: 5:48a High Tide: 3:18p

SATURDAY

7«

-0.55 ft.

1.55 ft.

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

FEET

6:46a 3:47p 9:08p 10:16p

SUNDAY

8 « Beg DST

-0.55 ft.

1.48 ft.

1.24 ft.

1.24 ft.

Low Tide: 8:42a High Tide: 5:05p Low Tide: 9:40p

-0.47 ft.

1.35 ft.

1.09 ft.

FEET

+3.0

+3.0

+2.0

+2.0

+1.0

+1.0 0

0

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

6a

BEST TIME

5:00 — 7:00 AM Sunrise: 6:42a Sunset: 6:19p Moonrise: 11:29a Moon Set: 12:38a

AM Minor: 11:03a AM Major: 4:51a PM Minor: 11:28p PM Major: 5:16p Moon Overhead: 6:31p Moon Underfoot: 6:05a

12p

6p

BEST TIME

11:30P — 1:30A Sunrise: 6:41a Sunset: 6:19p Moonrise: 12:15p Moon Set: 1:36a

AM Minor: 11:54a AM Major: 5:41a PM Minor: ----PM Major: 6:07p Moon Overhead: 7:24p Moon Underfoot: 6:57a

12a

6a

12p

6p

BEST TIME

12:30 — 2:30 AM Sunrise: 6:40a Sunset: 6:20p Moonrise: 1:08p Moon Set: 2:35a

AM Minor: 12:18a AM Major: 6:32a PM Minor: 12:46p PM Major: 7:00p Moon Overhead: 8:20p Moon Underfoot: 7:51a

T E X A S

TexasOutdoorNation-2003-DIG.indd 59

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

BEST TIME

1:30 — 3:30 AM

6p

12a

2:00 — 4:00 AM Sunrise: 6:38a Sunset: 6:21p Moonrise: 3:12p Moon Set: 4:28a

AM Minor: 1:10a AM Major: 7:24a PM Minor: 1:39p PM Major: 7:54p

AM Minor: 2:02a AM Major: 8:17a PM Minor: 2:32p PM Major: 8:47p

Moon Overhead: 9:19p Moon Underfoot: 8:49a

&

12p

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 6:39a Sunset: 6:21p Moonrise: 2:07p Moon Set: 3:32a

F I S H

6a

Moon Overhead: 10:18p Moon Underfoot: 9:48a

G A M E ®

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6a

12p

6p

12a

6a

BEST TIME

10:00P — 12:00A Sunrise: 6:37a Sunset: 6:22p Moonrise: 4:20p Moon Set: 5:19a

6p

12a

4:30 — 6:30 AM Sunrise: 7:36a Sunset: 7:23p Moonrise: 6:30p Moon Set: 7:06a

AM Minor: 2:56a AM Major: 9:10a PM Minor: 3:25p PM Major: 9:40p

AM Minor: 4:49a AM Major: 11:04a PM Minor: 5:18p PM Major: 11:32p

Moon Overhead: 11:17p Moon Underfoot: 10:48a M A R C H

12p

BEST TIME

Moon Overhead: 12:17a Moon Underfoot: 12:45p

2 0 2 0

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2/18/20 2:08 PM

Sportsman’s DAYBOOK MONDAY

9l

High Tide: 1:31a

TUESDAY

10 «

1.25 ft.

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

FEET

3:09a 10:32a 5:14p 10:29p

1.26 ft.

-0.03 ft.

0.98 ft.

0.50 ft.

WEDNESDAY

11 « High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

4:43a 11:29a 5:08p 11:10p

1.26 ft.

0.28 ft.

0.87 ft.

0.16 ft.

THURSDAY

12

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

6:18a 12:32p 4:54p 11:58p

FRIDAY

13

1.26 ft.

0.60 ft.

0.85 ft.

-0.15 ft.

High Tide: 8:01a Low Tide: 1:55p High Tide: 4:22p

SATURDAY

14

1.28 ft.

0.88 ft.

0.92 ft.

Low Tide: 12:52a High Tide: 9:55a

SUNDAY

15

-0.37 ft.

1.33 ft.

Low Tide: 1:51a High Tide: 11:50a

-0.49 ft.

1.41 ft.

FEET

+3.0

+3.0

+2.0

+2.0

+1.0

+1.0 0

0

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

6a

BEST TIME

12:00 — 2:00 AM Sunrise: 7:35a Sunset: 7:23p Moonrise: 7:40p Moon Set: 7:49a

12a

6a

12p

6p

AM Minor: 6:39a AM Major: 12:26a PM Minor: 7:06p PM Major: 12:52p

2:00 — 4:00 AM

AM Minor: 7:36a AM Major: 1:23a PM Minor: 8:02p PM Major: 1:49p

TUESDAY

17

-0.52 ft.

1.47 ft.

Low Tide: 4:09a High Tide: 2:23p

-0.47 ft.

1.50 ft.

6p

12a

6a

Mar 18

6p

12a

6a

3:30 — 5:30 AM

6p

12a

6a

4:30 — 6:30 AM

6p

12a

5:30 — 7:30 AM Sunrise: 7:28a Sunset: 7:27p Moonrise: 1:13a Moon Set: 11:57a

AM Minor: 10:35a AM Major: 4:21a PM Minor: 11:02p PM Major: 4:48p

Moon Overhead: 4:48a Moon Underfoot: 5:15p

12p

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 7:29a Sunset: 7:26p Moonrise: 12:08a Moon Set: 11:11a

AM Minor: 9:35a AM Major: 3:21a PM Minor: 10:02p PM Major: 3:48p

Moon Overhead: 3:54a Moon Underfoot: 4:21p

12p

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 7:30a Sunset: 7:26p Moonrise: None Moon Set: 10:27a

AM Minor: 8:35a AM Major: 2:22a PM Minor: 9:01p PM Major: 2:48p

AM Minor: 11:33a AM Major: 5:20a PM Minor: ----PM Major: 5:47p

Moon Overhead: 5:42a Moon Underfoot: 6:09p

Moon Overhead: 6:37a Moon Underfoot: 7:04p

MOON PHASES

Day’s Best Score

n

Day’s 2nd Best Score

THURSDAY

19 -0.38 ft.

1.49 ft.

12p

BEST TIME

2:30 — 4:30 AM

WEDNESDAY Low Tide: 5:21a High Tide: 3:10p

12p

Sunrise: 7:31a Sunset: 7:25p Moonrise: 11:02p Moon Set: 9:47a

Moon Overhead: 3:02a Moon Underfoot: 3:28p

= FALLING TIDE = RISING TIDE = DAYLIGHT HOURS = NIGHTTIME HOURS Fishing Score Moon Moon Graph Overhead Underfoot

MONDAY

6a

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 7:32a Sunset: 7:24p Moonrise: 9:55p Moon Set: 9:08a

Moon Overhead: 2:08a Moon Underfoot: 2:35p

READING THE GRAPH

12a

BEST TIME

1:00 — 3:00 AM

Moon Overhead: 1:14a Moon Underfoot: 1:41p

Low Tide: 2:58a High Tide: 1:20p

6p

Sunrise: 7:33a Sunset: 7:24p Moonrise: 8:48p Moon Set: 8:30a

AM Minor: 5:44a AM Major: 11:57a PM Minor: 6:11p PM Major: -----

16 »

12p

BEST TIME

Low Tide: 6:29a High Tide: 3:46p

l = New Moon l = Full Moon = First Quarter º » = Last Quarter « = Good Day by Moon Phase

Best Day Overall

FRIDAY

20

-0.25 ft.

1.45 ft.

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

FEET

7:29a 4:11p 9:14p 11:50p

SATURDAY

21

-0.11 ft.

1.39 ft.

1.18 ft.

1.21 ft.

Low Tide: 8:21a High Tide: 4:28p Low Tide: 9:10p

SUNDAY

22 «

0.05 ft.

1.31 ft.

1.09 ft.

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

1:22a 9:07a 4:36p 9:23p

1.25 ft.

0.22 ft.

1.21 ft.

0.96 ft.

FEET

+3.0

+3.0

+2.0

+2.0

+1.0

+1.0 0

0

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

6a

BEST TIME

12:00 — 2:00 AM Sunrise: 7:26a Sunset: 7:27p Moonrise: 2:15a Moon Set: 12:47p

AM Minor: 12:06a AM Major: 6:16a PM Minor: 12:30p PM Major: 6:43p Moon Overhead: 7:32a Moon Underfoot: 7:59p

60

|

12p

6p

BEST TIME

1:00 — 3:00 AM Sunrise: 7:25a Sunset: 7:28p Moonrise: 3:13a Moon Set: 1:40p

AM Minor: 12:56a AM Major: 7:09a PM Minor: 1:23p PM Major: 7:36p Moon Overhead: 8:27a Moon Underfoot: 8:53p

M A R C H

TexasOutdoorNation-2003-DIG.indd 60

2 0 2 0

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

BEST TIME

AM Minor: 1:46a AM Major: 7:59a PM Minor: 2:12p PM Major: 8:25p

6p

12a

11:30A — 1:30P

6p

12a

12:00 — 2:00 PM

AM Minor: 3:17a AM Major: 9:29a PM Minor: 3:41p PM Major: 9:52p

Moon Overhead: 10:10a Moon Underfoot: 10:34p

F I S H

12p

Sunrise: 7:22a Sunset: 7:30p Moonrise: 5:33a Moon Set: 4:27p

AM Minor: 2:33a AM Major: 8:45a PM Minor: 2:58p PM Major: 9:10p

T E X A S

6a

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 7:23a Sunset: 7:29p Moonrise: 4:52a Moon Set: 3:31p

Moon Overhead: 9:19a Moon Underfoot: 9:45p

|

12p

BEST TIME

2:00 — 4:00 AM Sunrise: 7:24a Sunset: 7:29p Moonrise: 4:05a Moon Set: 2:35p

6a

&

Moon Overhead: 10:58a Moon Underfoot: 11:21p

6a

12p

6p

12a

BEST TIME

5:00 — 7:00 AM Sunrise: 7:21a Sunset: 7:30p Moonrise: 6:11a Moon Set: 5:22p

AM Minor: 3:59a AM Major: 10:10a PM Minor: 4:21p PM Major: 10:33p Moon Overhead: 11:44a Moon Underfoot: None

6a

12p

6p

12a

BEST TIME

5:30 — 7:30 AM Sunrise: 7:19a Sunset: 7:31p Moonrise: 6:44a Moon Set: 6:15p

AM Minor: 4:39a AM Major: 10:50a PM Minor: 5:01p PM Major: 11:11p Moon Overhead: 12:27p Moon Underfoot: 12:06a

G A M E ®

2/18/20 2:08 PM

MARCH 2020

Tides and Prime Times MONDAY

23 « FEET

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

2:34a 9:49a 4:35p Beg CDT

TUESDAY

24 l

1.27 ft.

0.39 ft.

1.12 ft.

0.81 ft.

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

3:37a 10:28a 4:26p 10:01p

1.27 ft.

0.55 ft.

1.03 ft.

0.64 ft.

WEDNESDAY

25 « High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

4:37a 11:08a 4:10p 10:23p

1.26 ft.

0.69 ft.

0.97 ft.

0.46 ft.

THURSDAY

26 « High Tide: Low Tide: High Tide: Low Tide:

5:37a 11:52a 3:46p 10:48p

1.25 ft.

0.82 ft.

0.94 ft.

0.29 ft.

FRIDAY

27

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

6:41a 12:53p 3:07p 11:19p

SATURDAY

28

1.26 ft.

0.93 ft.

0.95 ft.

0.13 ft.

High Tide: 7:54a Low Tide: 11:55p

SUNDAY

29

1.28 ft.

0.00 ft.

High Tide: 9:20a

1.33 ft.

FEET

+3.0

+3.0

+2.0

+2.0

+1.0

+1.0 0

0

12a

6a

12p

6p

12a

6a

BEST TIME

12:00 — 2:00 PM Sunrise: 7:18a Sunset: 7:31p Moonrise: 7:16a Moon Set: 7:08p

12a

6a

12p

6p

AM Minor: 5:59a AM Major: ----PM Minor: 6:20p PM Major: 12:30p

1:30 — 3:30 PM Sunrise: 7:16a Sunset: 7:32p Moonrise: 8:14a Moon Set: 8:51p

AM Minor: 6:41a AM Major: 12:31a PM Minor: 7:01p PM Major: 12:51p

Moon Overhead: 1:50p Moon Underfoot: 1:29a

MONDAY -0.09 ft.

1.42 ft.

Low Tide: 1:38a High Tide: 12:17p

-0.15 ft.

1.54 ft.

Low Tide: 2:45a High Tide: 1:18p

6p

12a

6a

-0.19 ft.

1.64 ft.

12p

6p

12a

6a

BEST TIME

2:00 — 4:00 PM

3:00 — 5:00 PM

6p

12a

6a

9:00 — 11:00 PM

6p

12a

10:00P — 12:00A Sunrise: 7:11a Sunset: 7:35p Moonrise: 10:27a Moon Set: None

AM Minor: 9:00a AM Major: 2:48a PM Minor: 9:22p PM Major: 3:11p

Moon Overhead: 3:53p Moon Underfoot: 3:32a

12p

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 7:12a Sunset: 7:34p Moonrise: 9:49a Moon Set: 11:32p

AM Minor: 8:11a AM Major: 2:00a PM Minor: 8:32p PM Major: 2:21p

Moon Overhead: 3:11p Moon Underfoot: 2:50a

12p

BEST TIME

Sunrise: 7:13a Sunset: 7:34p Moonrise: 9:15a Moon Set: 10:37p

AM Minor: 7:25a AM Major: 1:14a PM Minor: 7:45p PM Major: 1:35p

AM Minor: 9:51a AM Major: 3:39a PM Minor: 10:15p PM Major: 4:03p

Moon Overhead: 4:38p Moon Underfoot: 4:15a

Moon Overhead: 5:25p Moon Underfoot: 5:01a

MOON PHASES

Day’s Best Score

WEDNESDAY

Apr 1

12p

Sunrise: 7:15a Sunset: 7:33p Moonrise: 8:44a Moon Set: 9:43p

Moon Overhead: 2:30p Moon Underfoot: 2:10a

TUESDAY

31 º

6a

BEST TIME

= FALLING TIDE = RISING TIDE = DAYLIGHT HOURS = NIGHTTIME HOURS Fishing Score Moon Moon Graph Overhead Underfoot

READING THE GRAPH

12a

BEST TIME

1:00 — 3:00 PM

Moon Overhead: 1:09p Moon Underfoot: 12:48a

Low Tide: 12:41a High Tide: 10:55a

6p

Sunrise: 7:17a Sunset: 7:32p Moonrise: 7:45a Moon Set: 7:59p

AM Minor: 5:19a AM Major: 11:29a PM Minor: 5:40p PM Major: 11:50p

30

12p

BEST TIME

n

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Low Tide: 3:59a High Tide: 2:04p

-0.20 ft.

1.70 ft.

l = New Moon l = Full Moon = First Quarter º » = Last Quarter « = Good Day by Moon Phase

FRIDAY

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Low Tide: 5:13a High Tide: 2:40p

SATURDAY

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-0.18 ft.

1.68 ft.

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

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6:23a 3:03p 8:48p 11:04p

SUNDAY

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-0.12 ft.

1.57 ft.

1.22 ft.

1.25 ft.

Low Tide: 7:29a High Tide: 3:16p Low Tide: 8:28p

0.01 ft.

1.40 ft.

1.01 ft.

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BEST TIME

11:00P — 1:00A Sunrise: 7:10a Sunset: 7:35p Moonrise: 11:10a Moon Set: 12:28a

AM Minor: 10:44a AM Major: 4:32a PM Minor: 11:09p PM Major: 4:57p Moon Overhead: 6:16p Moon Underfoot: 5:50a

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5:30 — 7:30 AM Sunrise: 7:09a Sunset: 7:36p Moonrise: 11:58a Moon Set: 1:25a

AM Minor: 11:39a AM Major: 5:26a PM Minor: ----PM Major: 5:53p Moon Overhead: 7:09p Moon Underfoot: 6:42a

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BEST TIME

12:00 — 2:00 AM Sunrise: 7:08a Sunset: 7:36p Moonrise: 12:53p Moon Set: 2:21a

AM Minor: 12:11a AM Major: 6:21a PM Minor: 12:35p PM Major: 6:49p Moon Overhead: 8:05p Moon Underfoot: 7:37a

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BEST TIME

1:00 — 3:00 AM

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2:00 — 4:00 AM Sunrise: 7:05a Sunset: 7:38p Moonrise: 2:58p Moon Set: 4:08a

AM Minor: 1:01a AM Major: 7:16a PM Minor: 1:30p PM Major: 7:44p

AM Minor: 1:55a AM Major: 8:09a PM Minor: 2:24p PM Major: 8:38p

Moon Overhead: 9:02p Moon Underfoot: 8:34a

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Sunrise: 7:06a Sunset: 7:37p Moonrise: 1:53p Moon Set: 3:16a

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Moon Overhead: 10:00p Moon Underfoot: 9:31a

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10:00P — 12:00A Sunrise: 7:04a Sunset: 7:38p Moonrise: 4:06p Moon Set: 4:56a

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11:00P — 1:00A Sunrise: 7:03a Sunset: 7:39p Moonrise: 5:15p Moon Set: 5:40a

AM Minor: 2:47a AM Major: 9:01a PM Minor: 3:15p PM Major: 9:29p

AM Minor: 3:37a AM Major: 9:51a PM Minor: 4:04p PM Major: 10:18p

Moon Overhead: 10:56p Moon Underfoot: 10:28a M A R C H

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Moon Overhead: 11:52p Moon Underfoot: 11:24a

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2/18/20 2:08 PM

Free Range Mule Deer Sets New State Record

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HE TALE OF THE TAPE IS official on an enormous Texas desert mule deer shot last fall by Greg Simons of San Angelo. Not surprisingly, the final Boone and Crockett score on the free ranging Culberson County buck is quite high.

TBGA is a hunter/landowner recognition program run jointly by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas Wildlife Association. Its main purpose is to recognize outstanding big game animals and shine a light on land managers and wildlife management programs that help them reach their potential.

Mule deer and other critters living in the harsh, Trans-Pecos environment need all the love they can get. Culberson County averages only about 12 inches of rain annually.

Simons and his friends have spent a wealth of time and money over the last seven

story by MATT WILLIAMS

High enough, in fact, to raise the bar and set a new standard by which monster Texas mulies will be judged until somebody gets really lucky and kills a bigger one.

My guess is it will be a while before “Hank” loses any of his thunder.

Hank is the good ol’ boy moniker Simons and his hunting buddies pinned on the old buck at a young age. Simons first saw the deer in 2016, roughly three years after he and some friends leased a sprawling 40,000-acre low fence ranch near Van Horn for hunting.

The brief encounter with the native West Texas buck made an everlasting impression.

A veteran hunter and wildlife biologist, Simons could tell by looking that Hank packed the potential to become something really special in time.

And the buck didn’t disappoint.

On Jan. 11, Hank was officially declared as the biggest open range mule deer taken by a hunter statewide since the Texas Big Game Awards program began maintaining a registry of Texas big game harvests in 1991.

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years managing the ranch and pampering the native mule deer herd that lives there.

Obviously, Hank responded especially well to all the attention. The 6 1/2-year-old buck grew a remarkable set of non-typical antlers last season grossing 295 4/8 B&C inches; 292 1/8 net.

The B&C panel of scorers included Alan Cain of Pleasanton, David Brimager of San Antonio and Craig Bowen of Bertram.

B&C scores on antlers are tallied using a special tape or cable to record a series of circumference, length and spread measurements on the beams and tines. The measurements are rounded off to the nearest 1/8 inch.

Net scores on non-typical deer take into account deductions for a lack of typical symmetry between the two antlers. All B&C record book entries must be allowed to dry at room temperature for at least 60 days to allow for shrinkage. TBGA also follows the 60-day drying rule on top tier bucks.

Simons’ buck, a 27 pointer, eclipses a 283 inch Reeves County whopper shot in 2003

by Damon Compton of Toyah as the TBGA state record non-typical desert mule deer.

Simons said it seems a little surreal knowing the state record is officially his.

“I’m still trying to reconcile in my mind the gravity of what it means,” he said. “I’m certainly thankful to have had an opportunity to hunting a property where such an extraordinary animal lived and very lucky that things came together that allowed me to take this animal.”

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Greg Simons approaches “Hank,” his state record muley.

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2/18/20 2:08 PM

Eastern Turkey Release

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HERE HE GOES!” My daughter Faith excitedly proclaimed those words as she cracked open a box and released an Eastern turkey into the wilds of Titus County, Texas.

story by CHESTER MOORE

We went to document the release for this blog and Texas Fish and Game and she got a chance to participate courtesy of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) and National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF).

To say she was pumped was an understatement.

This bird was one of 21 brought in from Missouri over a two-day span to kick-off what TPWD calls a “super stocking”.

A “super stocking” involves releasing a minimum of 80 turkeys at each site over time with the ideal ratio of three hens for each gobbler.

In the past, TPWD released smaller numbers in area but have over the last decade

I have been talking turkey with hunters in East Texas since these super stockings began and have many reports of increased turkey numbers in the counties where they have taken place.

Stockings attempts in the 1970s involved releasing Rio Grande birds as well as pen-raised Easterns but both failed to gain traction.

Now TPWD only releases wild-caught Eastern turkeys from states like Missouri, Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina.

They give a $500 donation to participating state wildlife programs for each bird that comes from upland game bird stamp sales.

Transportation and other fees are covered

by NWTF. Additionally, the Texas NWTF is involved in helping facilitate various aspects of these releases.

It’s an inspiring program that will hopefully see eastern turkeys eventually flourish in a much greater part of their East Texas range.

Faith Moore releases an Eastern turkey.

went to larger stockings and are seeing more success.

“It’s the same old story,” said TPWD turkey program director Jason Hardin.

“The birds were essentially wiped out by subsistence and market hunting along with extensive habitat loss in the later parts of the 19th century, but with the help of the NWTF, we have been able to bring the birds back all across the country. Although more than 50 counties in East Texas were stocked during the 1980s and 1990s only 28 counties are open for turkey hunting today. So we had to start looking at why we were not as successful in keeping the Eastern wild turkey population flourishing as other states in its historic range.”

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Where to See Wildlife: Valles Caldera

A

CCORDING TO visitlosalamos.org, among the newest additions to the National Park System, the 89,000acre Valles Caldera National Preserve encompasses a dormant volcano that possesses exceptional value in illustrating and interpreting massive explosive volcanic eruptions, caldera formation, and the functioning of active geothermal systems.

TF&G STAFF Staff Report

“Its distinct topographic mosaic of expansive valley meadows, or valles (va-yes) in Spanish, lush forested volcanic domes, meandering valley streams, and old growth

Ponderosa pine groves are in striking contrast to the arid New Mexico landscape at lower elevations.”

“Patient observers can spot numerous wildlife species such as elk, coyotes, prairie dogs, black bears, bald and golden eagles, wild turkeys, and other migratory birds.

History buffs can travel back in time and experience the pre-agricultural huntergatherer heritage and learn how the legacy of early Spanish and Mexican settlement in the region transformed the present-day American Southwest.”

TF&G Editor-In-Chief Chester Moore recently visited and saw three coyotes in three separate areas, lots of prairie dogs and T E X A S

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An elk in the Valles Caldera National Reserve.

what he described as “incredible views”.

“Just driving into the location is worth the trip but once you get there you will be blown away by its natural beauty,” Moore said.

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2/18/20 2:08 PM

Open SEASON

by REAVIS Z. WORTHAM :: TF&G Humor Editor

Collateral Damage

but at the moment the walk through the gate, up the hill through the pasture, and around behind the corncrib seemed insurmountable.

Cousin took a shot at an overhead power line. The BB struck it with a metallic zing. “I hit it!”

“Lucky shot.”

He did it again. In response, I shot the glass insulator on the cross arm.

Bored with such simple targets, we drifted around behind the smokehouse, shooting fence posts, the peach tree, and tall milkweeds growing in the pasture. White sap oozed from the thick stalks, adding some interest to the activity.

A gust of wind rustled the leaves of the peach tree and hackberries growing along the fencerow. The rustling bodarks sounded different, thicker maybe, or due to the tougher leaves. The breeze also flapped the clean clothes on the line.

That’s when we got in trouble. An upside down plaid shirt waved at me. Calculating the distance, I figured the BB wouldn’t do any damage.

I hit it right in the pocket with a soft thock.

Cousin’s sudden inhalation of shock nearly sucked up the next breeze. “You’re gonna get in trouble.”

Terror washed over me. What if the BB went through the material? We hurried to the clothesline to check the damage.

You couldn’t tell where the BB impacted.

From there it was no longer our fault.

With a line full potential targets, we backed off and cocked the air rifles. I drew a line in the grass. “You can’t get any closer than this?”

“Why?” “Because I said, and we need to make this a little hard. I’m gonna aim at the button on that shirt.”

The air was full of BBs for the next several minutes. We moved from the shirt, to socks, a much more challenging target.

From the socks, we aimed at washrags; towels, our jeans patched at the knees, ladies unmentionables, and finally came to the easiest target of them all.

There wasn’t much challenge in shooing

I

T HASN’T BEEN THAT LONG since the vast majority of folks who raised me dried their wash on a line, clothes that absorbed the sunshine and wind to come in smelling sweet and clean. I wonder if all that pollen that came inside when the ladies took in the wash was beneficial in building up our resistance to allergens.

Maybe that’s why we have so much trouble these days, because we don’t wear the outdoors in our clothes anymore.

My grandmother dried her sheets on the clothesline stretched across the north side of the yard. Windy days, we could hear them flapping through the screens. The arms on shirts hanging upside down waved as if someone’s arms were in them. They always reminded me of the kids at school hanging from the monkey bars by their knees.

Adults these days would shriek in horror to see how we tested the limits of our questionable abilities on those bars sometimes fifteen feet above the hard packed ground.

One such windy day well over fifty years ago offered Cousin and myself the opportunity to participate in a little target practice. Armed with two Daisy BB guns and possessing an abnormally large amount of ammo, we emerged into the bright spring sunshine to find something to shoot.

Cousin pointed. “Let’s get some cans out of the burn barrel. We can take them down to the old road.”

I cocked the Daisy and threw a BB at a passing bird. It continued, unmolested. “I don’t feel like going down there.”

The dirt road was part of Granddad’s land, and though it hadn’t been used since WWII, it was still recognizable. The high northern bank was full of slugs from years of target practice. It was within sight of the farmhouse, 64

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white flat sheets, not until a large fly-lit right in the middle of the nearest one. I hate flies.

No, I despise flies, and back then I hated them with even more passion and energy than I possess today.

Drawing a fine bead, I pulled the trigger and the fly vaporized. Another arrived, drawn by the warm white sheet. It also disappeared.

For the next five minutes, we killed flies left and right, proud that we were reducing their numbers and possibly preventing them from getting into the kitchen.

But then clarity arrived, and I realized you couldn’t kill flies like that without suffering the consequences. The words “fly spotted” came to mind.

“Look what you did.” Cousin pointed.

“And look, there are holes in these socks, and that sheet, and…”

The Old Man rounded the corner and stopped. “Boys, what are you up to?”

Speechless, we stood rooted to the ground as he took in the scene. “Well, looks like we have a problem here.”

“Yessir.” It was my only recourse.

“We need to get y’all gone. I’ll take care of the rest.”

I couldn’t believe our good luck. “Gone where?”

“I’d say down on the old road a piece.”

“But the sheets. The socks, and that busted button.”

“Washers sometimes have a way of eating socks, and buttons crack after a while.”

Cousin pointed. “But the sheets. We didn’t think shooting flies would…”

He studied the stains. “I ‘magine your Grandma’ll have to wash them again, but she knows boys. She raised me. This is your One, now, y’all get gone.”

We got, and I remember that lesson to this day, especially after the next day when he made us clean up two miles of highway litter.

« Email Reavis Wortham at ContactUs@fishgame.com

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2/11/20 11:21 AM

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2/11/20 11:23 AM

WHITETAIL Cuero Benito Garza IV shot his first buck—a nice 12-pointer— the day after his thirteenth birthday, while hunting near Cuero.

WHITETAIL Madison County Eight-year-old Leighton Newman killed her first deer last November in Madison County.

AXIS Real County Six-year-old Aiden Matey of Victora shot this free range axis buck in Real County. A single shot from his youth model 243 got the job done.

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REDFISH Matagorda Bay Dewayne Merriman caught this 39-inch redfish on a soft plastic while wadefishing at Matagorda.

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2/11/20 11:25 AM

SEND YOUR PHOTOS TO photos@FishGame.com For best results, send MED to HIGH quality JPEG digital files only, please.

Also Enter our PHOTO CONTEST: FishGame.com/hotshots No guarantee can be made as to when, or if, a submitted photo will be published.

WHITETAIL Jonesboro

SHEEPSHEAD

Sixteen-year-old Corbin Myers bagged his first deer while hunting at Jonesboro. With help from his family, Corbin processed and packaged the deer himself.

Baffin Bay Kevin Gomez caught this sheepshead at Kaufer Hubert Park on Baffin Bay. He also caught a 27-inch red at the same pier.

WHITETAIL Harrison County Eight-year-old Weston Keith took his second deer opening weekend while hunting with his dad, James Winters. Weston, who attends school at Hawkins ISD, shot this deer while hunting in Harrison County.

GAFFTOPSAIL CATFISH Port Bolivar Jackson Polk shows off one of many gafftops he caught while fishing with his family at Port Bolivar.

BASS Lake Sheldon Tommy Vinas caught these three bass in three casts—8.12, 7.7 and 7.1 pounds—on Lake Shel-don. Tommy released them to fight another day.

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