april 22, 2011 - lone star outdoor news - fishing & hunting

LSONews.com Lone✯Star Outdoor News April 22, 2011

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April 22, 2011 Texas’ Premier Outdoor Newspaper Volume 7, Issue 17

Best BudDog of the year.

Page 4

Inside

❘❚ LSONews.com

Season winding down.Page 4

Last call gobblers❘❚ HUNTING

Gigs and jigs used for spring fl ounder.Page 8

Flat fi sh fandango

A&M taking aim at hog myths.Page 4

Mythical beasts?

Lake levels affect spawning. Page 8

How low can it go?

❘❚ FISHING

Crappie anglers endure tough winds to reach ‘spring slabs’

By Nicholas ConklinLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

If you don’t mind battling wind right now, you’ll likely hit the spring crappie bite perfectly, Tex Bonin said.

Bonin, who guides on Lake Conroe in s o u t h e a s t Texas, has had mixed results thus far with spring crap-pie; high

winds and low water conditions have kept him from his favorite fi shing spots.

But below the bridge for Farm Road 1097 is where Bonin has caught fi sh. It's located near the northern part of the lake. Bonin said he has been successful fi sh-ing there between 24-26 feet deep.

“The wind has been killing time and again,” he said. “But, if you can get a day where it’s calm, you can do some good fi shing up near that bridge.

“The fi sh have been real deep down close to the bottom, and normally this time of year they

NICE SLAB: Whit Gentry admires a nice crappie caught at Lake Bob Sandlin

during a spring outing. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.

❘❚ CONTENTSClassifi eds . . . . . . . . . Page 25Crossword . . . . . . . . . Page 22Fishing Report . . . . . . . Page 10For the Table. . . . . . . . Page 22Game Warden Blotter . . . . Page 12Heroes. . . . . . . . . . . Page 17Outdoor Datebook . . . . . Page 23Outfi tters and Businesses . . Page 24Products . . . . . . . . . . Page 25Sun, Moon and Tide data . . Page 22

Trout daysin Port

Mansfi eld

By Conor HarrisonLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

The fi shing around Port Mansfi eld has been outstanding, according to area guides.

Capt. Clifford Smith of Hot Doggy Charters reported the sea-son has been “great” so far with his clients catching limits of trout and a few redfi sh.

“We were real concerned about the trout after the freeze, but there are a lot of trout out here right now,” Smith said. “I can’t give you an accurate water tem-perature at the moment, but it’s warm enough to wade.”

Smith said the topwater bite has been his ticket when he can catch a day that he isn’t getting blown off the water.

“Plastics, live bait, pretty much everything is working well,” he said. “It’s been so good lately, anything you want to use is catching fi sh.”

Smith also added that fl ounder have made an appearance in the bay, something he hopes continues.

Capt. Jack Klostermann of Capt. Jack’s Charters echoed Smith when he said the fi shing has been solid on the days free of strong winds.

“It’s been pretty good the past

See PORT MANSFIELD, Page 20

‘Cut-n-suck’ no way to treat snakebiteBy Bill MillerLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Don’t rely on Hollywood for the latest information about how to treat a snakebite.

With 41 years

between them, both fi lm versions of True Grit show craggy Rooster Cogburn cut-ting on the wounds of young, snake-bit Mattie Ross and suck-ing the venom.

Even in the years following the 1969 John Wayne version, Boy Scouts routinely carried snakebite kits, complete with tiny scalpels, suction cups and restriction bands.

These kits are still sold, and it’s no wonder.

Venomous snakes, according to the Texas Department of State

See SNAKEBITE, Page 20

INSIDE■ Crappie trolling: Page 11

See CRAPPIE ANGLERS, Page 18

Wildfi reswallophabitat

By Bill MillerLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Milestones, when they happen in West Texas, are proportionate to the vast landscape.

Tony Timmons recalls that Sept. 25, 2010 was the last day that rain fell on his family’s

See WILDFIRES, Page 19AFTERMATH: Wildlife all over Texas have been able to survive the wildfi res. About 1.5 million acres of habitat have been burned. Photo by Albert Cesare, Odessa American, for Lone Star Outdoor News.

INSIDE■ Stonewall Inferno: Page 6

April 22, 2011 Lone✯Star Outdoor News LSONews.com

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HUNTING

Chocolate lab wins ‘Dog of the Year’ contest

BEST ‘BUD’: The 2011 Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel-Ducks Unlimited “Dog of the Year” is Bud, a 7-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever owned by Roger Randall of Huffman. His likeness will be featured this fall on a gift tin package. Photo by Roger Randall.

By Craig Nyhus LONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Bud, a 7-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever owned by Roger Randall of Huffman, has made a name for himself assisting disabled hunters through TAA Sports, an organization that provides duck hunts and aquatic opportunities for disabled chil-dren, adults and wounded soldiers.

“Bud just took to hunting,” said Randall, the orga-nization’s founder. “He hasn’t had any formal train-ing — I trained him myself — but we’re together 24/7 so I think that helps us understand each other.”

TAA Sports provides facilities that can sleep up to 26 people.

“We have been taking hunters for fi ve or six years, since Bud was a pup,” Randall said. “Bud is just great with people; he’ll retrieve the duck and put it right in their lap.”

When Randall saw the chance to enter Bud for the 2011 Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel-Ducks Unlimited “Dog of the Year” contest, he sent in a short story about his dog — and won.

Now Bud will be featured in the Single Barrel gift tin package available this fall and Randall, a DU member, will receive an original painting of his dog by famed wildlife artist Jim Killen.

“Now that’s pretty amazing,” Randall said.Bud, though, just loves being around people, as

Randall wrote in his entry:“We also do a water sports program for the disabled

in the summer months. We do water skiing, sailing and kayaking; Bud is so smart he has a job in the win-ter duck hunting and a summer job water skiing…”

Actually, Bud just relaxes and greets the water skiers.“They all love him,” Randall said. “But in the win-

ter, he goes to work.”For more on TAA Sports, call Randall at 281-324-4653.

Texas A&M takes aim at busting

feral hog mythsUntil recently, if anyone tried to tell you how many feral hogs

there are in Texas, they were just blowing smoke, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service wildlife biologist.

“When it comes to feral hogs in Texas, separating fact from fi c-tion is becoming a little easier as research reveals more about the pesky porcines,” said Dr. Billy Higginbotham, AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist. “There remains much we don’t know about this exotic that has inhabited our state for the past 450 years.”

Highest ranking among the myths are estimates of the actual number of feral hogs in Texas, Higginbotham said. A common number that has been bantered about for years is 1 million to 4 million. But there was just no data to support this estimate.

That is, there wasn't until Dr. Roel Lopez, associate director of the Texas A&M University Institute for Renewable Natural Resources, recently used geographic infor-mation system pro-cedures to turn the guesstimates into reli-able estimates, said Higginbotham, who collaborated with Lopez on the study.

The term “geographic information systems,” or GIS, refers to a procedure that involves diverse data gathering means, from on-the-ground GPS referenced data to satellite imagery to historical records, and organizes it geographically.

“A simpler way to put it is that it’s just a electronic map,” Lopez said.

Using GIS techniques, Lopez was able to quantify fi rst the extent of the feral hog habitat in Texas.

He estimated that “approximately 134 million acres, or 79 per-cent of the state’s 170 million acres, represents feral hog habitat,” said Higginbotham.

By knowing the range of feral hog habitat and the species pop-ulation density in various types of Texas environments, Lopez also came up with a population estimate that has some meat to it,

See HOG MYTHS, Page 16

Late season turkeys proving diffi cult in the windy conditionsBy Conor HarrisonLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Wind, heat — and for some, smoke — challenged Texas tur-key hunters during the middle portion of the season, especially in the North Zone.

According to several hunters in Taylor County, south of Abilene, they not only battled the birds, but smoke from wildfi res and high winds.

“I only saw one big tom,” said Curtis Gutkowski of Tyler. “And jakes were tied up with the hens we saw.”

The group heard very little gobbling, and the birds weren’t respond-ing to calls.

“We saw several birds Friday evening and Sunday,” said Austin Smedly of Longview. “But on Saturday they all disappeared.”

In North Texas, National Wild Turkey

Federation represen-tative Shawn Roberts said he’d had sev-eral successful turkey hunts for Easterns in Fannin and Franklin counties.

“We called in sev-eral birds up in the Caddo National Grasslands,” Roberts said. “We shot a bird with 1.56-inch spurs and a 10-inch beard, so he was a nice bird. I also had a buddy that missed a bird.”

Roberts said they set up near a roost and had a gobbler fl y down right to them, but also had several birds stay quiet and sneak in behind the callers.

“I got busted by a tom,” Roberts said. “I had a bird gob-ble really close and I tried slowly turning

WINDY GOBBLES: Wind has hampered some turkey hunters in the late season, but there still are plenty of

toms out there for hunters to chase. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.

See TURKEYS, Page 5

HOG GENES: Today’s feral hogs have descended from domestic breeds, Eurasian wild boars and hybrids of the two, said Billy Higginbotham, AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist. Photo by AgriLife Extension Service.


OGT sporting clay event May 6 south of Austin

Operation Game Thief, the game and fi sh Crime Stoppers posse of Texas, will hold its next “Clay Stoppers” shoot May 6 near Austin.

The sporting clay event will be held at the Texas Disposal System’s Exotic Game Ranch and Pavilion, east of Interstate 35, south of the city.

Entry fee for a team of fi ve shooters is $1,000. Individual shooter’s fee is $200. Twelve- and 20-gauge shells will be provided.

The top three teams will have an opportu-nity to choose from three bird hunt prizes. And sponsorships are available from $1,500 to $7,500. This shoot is sponsored in part by McBride’s Guns in Austin.

To reach the event from I-35, take Exit 223 (Farm Road 1327) and go 3.3 miles to the east and turn left on Carl Road, past the main landfi ll entrance. The ranch entrance is .8 of a mile north on Carl Road and on the left imme-diately past an old cemetery.

OGT uses a toll-free hotline (1-800-792-GAME) to get information leading to convictions of poachers. It also pays reward money to tipsters.

More than $250,000 in rewards has been paid out and fi nes assessed totaling $1.2 mil-lion, according to an OGT news release.

—Staff report

Texas DU chapters honored

Ducks Unlimited volunteers are known for leading the charge for wetlands conservation, and this year 23 DU chapters in Texas rank among the most successful chapters in the nation.

Six Texas chapters achieved president’s elite status, a designation reserved for chapters that raise $100,000 or more annually for DU’s habitat conservation work.

They are Houston, Galveston, Dallas, Corpus Christi, Mexia and San Antonio.

Also, 17 Texas chapters made DU’s Top-100 list, for their fund-raising efforts.

Included were Big Thicket, Navasota, Matagorda County, Brazos Valley, Frisco, Rice Belt, El Paso, Ellis County, Pearland, Metro-Crest, McKinney, Tyler, Waco, Gregg County, Texoma, Denton and Rockport/Fulton.

“Our Texas volunteers continue to step up to the plate and deliver in a big way to help pre-serve our hunting heritage,” said DU National Director of Grassroots Fundraising David Schuessler. “To land 23 of the top spots in the nation is a feat that should make Texans extremely proud.”

The Texas chapters earned a spot on these lists out of more than 2,700 DU chapters nationwide.

—Staff report

*

around when I got busted by another tom that had snuck in. He started putting and the gig was up.”

Roberts also guided his 13-year-old daughter, Shelbi, to her fi rst bird.

“The fi rst couple of weeks are typically the hardest because the gobblers are henned up,” he said. “Later in the season, the birds usually are more sus-ceptible to calling.”

Reports from West Texas had birds gobbling very well in river bottoms that hold water when the wind died down.

Jefferson County Game Warden Chris Swift reported tough conditions on hunts in Refugio and Falfurrias the past week.

“There was very little gob-bling,” Swift said. “We’d hear two or three when they hit the ground and none the rest of the afternoon. We killed one bird and he did not have

any hens with him.”Swift said when he and

fellow Game Warden Derek Spitzer moved to Falfurrias, it was much the same.

“It was windy and the hunting was brutal,” he said. “It’s the toughest turkey hunting I’ve ever done, and it wasn’t because of a lack of birds. Every time we called we would get ambushed by jakes.

“And the birds weren’t feeder-oriented because there were too many pigs.”

TurkeysContinued From Page 4


ON A CHARRED LANDSCAPE LIFE REEMERGES:A hunting ranch in Stonewall County was in the

path of wildfi res that raced across Texas on April 15. All of the acres of this spread were scorched, except for the houses and barn that were saved by the volunteer fi re department.

Two of the owners doused hot spots. A plastic deer blind melted from the heat, while other fi berglass ones were unfazed. Only four deer were found per-ished in the fl ames. The young bucks had recently spouted their new antlers.

But there were signs of life. White-tailed does bolted from the surviving cover.Bobwhite quail coveys fl ushed. Toms continued to

gobble.And on the charred ground a hen deposited a

single turkey egg. The devastation to the owners was hard to look

at but knowing that the land will spring back soon and improve the range was another positive. The corn feeders went off on time and there had been a burn ban in place for a good while, so the owners celebrated the fi re’s destruction of their trash dump.

STONEWALL INFERNO

Photography by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News


DU Duck Jam April 29-30 at College StationThe city of College Station and Ducks Unlimited are teaming up to present the sixth annual

Duck Jam on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30, at Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheatre in College Station.

Performers at this year’s Duck Jam include the Bellamy Brothers Band, Dirty Heads, Cody Canada and The Departed, Rich O’Toole, Hotel California, The Rock-A-Fellas and more.

The Lil Quacks Kids Camp will feature “The Next Best Thing to the Real Thing!” starring tributes to Justin Bieber, Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift.

Ticket prices are $10 per day or $15 for a two-day pass. Proceeds from the show will go toward DU’s conservation mission.

For more information about the event, call (979)778-9101. —Staff report

Clarifi cationThe owner of the 5 P deer-breeding farm

near Jacksonville, where state wildlife offi cials euthanized deer on April 5, contacted Lone Star Outdoor News, stating there was an error in the April 8 article about the incident.

In a note on the newspaper’s Web site, owner Billy Powell wrote: “You have stated that I cannot prove that, ‘...the animals came from a state free of dangerous disease...’ In fact, all the deer came from certifi ed disease-free ranches. The deer were CWD monitored 5 years or better, which is information listed on

a paper I have previously provided you with.”Mr. Powell provided that information the

day after the article was written.State and federal wildlife offi cials have

declined to discuss the case until all investi-gations are completed.

Previously, however, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offi cials have said that they eutha-nize breeder deer when the owners can’t prove the animals came from states free of illnesses like chronic wasting disease and tuberculosis.

Mr. Powell said he broke the law by trans-porting the deer without proper permits.

—Bill Miller


FISHING

Water levels affect spawningBy Conor HarrisonLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Many reservoirs across Texas serve purposes other than just fi shing opportunities for the state’s anglers.

Many, like Lake Austin and Toledo Bend Reservoir, support the water needs of cities in their vicinity.

When these lakes are drawn down for water usage, it affects the spawning of largemouth bass, although Texas Parks and Wildlife Department works with local authorities to attempt to

time the drawdowns to minimize the affect.

“The timing of the drawdown

does affect spawning,” said Dave Terre, TPWD’s man-agement and resource chief. “A lot of time it’s not done intentionally — it’s usu-ally related to droughts. Depending on the time of year, it could be good or bad.

“If bass are spawning (at the time of the drawdown), it could be bad.”

According to Dan Ashe, TPWD assistant district biologist for East Texas, Sam Rayburn and Toledo

Bend reservoirs both are affected by drawdowns and drought.

And Toledo Bend, site of a recent Bassmaster Elite Series tournament, was drawn down for repairs to the dam, but drought has kept it from returning to its normal levels.

“It will affect the spawning to a degree,” Ashe said. “It also affects the vegetation, which affects the survival of the fry. That’s where we see the biggest impact.

“Time and again it has been shown that lakes that display dras-tic water fl uctuations — especially in the spring when bass are spawn-

See WATER LEVELS, Page 14

Catfi sh stocking ongoing in urban lakesBy Conor HarrisonLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Urban fi shermen hoping to catch catfi sh will have their chances soon as Texas Parks and Wildlife Department begins its catfi sh-stocking program this week in neigh-borhood ponds.

According to Randy Myers, district biologist for TPWD in San Antonio, the stockings will begin soon in Millers Pond and Southside Lions Park.

“There are 1,065 catfi sh going in the Southside Lions Park and 852 in Millers Pond,” he said. “The fi sh will all be 12 to 14 inches and the stockings will occur every two weeks — usually on a Thursday.”

Myers said the most popular baits for catfi sh are frozen shrimp, chicken livers and worms.

“They get caught out pretty quick, so that’s why they are stocked every two weeks,” he added.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the stockings were scheduled to begin the week of April 18 in several area lakes. Channel catfi sh will be the main species stocked.

DFW has fi ve Neighborhood Fishing sites: South Lakes Park in Denton, City Lake Park in Mesquite, Greenbriar Park in Fort Worth, Chisholm Park in Hurst and Lakeside Park in Duncanville. Stockings will take place every two weeks until the end of October, except during

the month of August.Meanwhile, Metroplex anglers

can also fi sh Lake Arlington, which, according to a recent TPWD survey, has a growing cat-fi sh population.

“Results from Lake Arlington reveal a very good channel cat-fi sh population,” said Raphael Brock, a TPWD Inland Fisheries biologist. “In fact, the catch rates observed this spring are the high-est recorded for the lake. The size range of channel cats captured

was also very good, with high catch rates of fi sh over 5 and 10 pounds.”

The highest catch rates were of fi sh 11 to 13 inches long, with the longest fi sh recorded being 30 inches. Catfi sh harvested from Lake Arlington must be at least 12 inches long, and there is a 25-fi sh-per-day bag limit.

“Lake Arlington has always had one of the best channel cat-fi sh populations of any lake in the DFW area, and it appears it is

only getting better,” Brock said. “Anglers should take advantage of this good fi sh population.”

Anyone 17 years or older needs a fi shing license to fi sh at the Neighborhood Fishing locations, and anglers can use no more than two poles while fi shing. The bag limit for channel catfi sh is fi ve fi sh per day with no mini-mum length limit.

For a complete list of all Neighborhood Fishing sites, go to www.lsonews.com.

Tilapia numbers growing in Texas


They are showing up more and more on Texas restaurant menus.

Aquarium owners keep them as pets.

But, depending on whom you talk to, tilapia are either a nuisance in many Texas waters or great food for bass — sometimes both at the same time.

“It’s a prohibited fi sh in the state but it is pretty widespread across Texas,” said Dave Terre, manage-

PEST, PET OR BAIT? Tilapia are diffi cult to catch but make great table fare. Photo by David J. Sams, LSON.

See TILAPIA, Page 14

Shrimp, jigs, gigs

effective onspring

fl ounderBy Bill MillerLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

You can guess there is a lot of fl ounder in the bays when they can be spotted stacked upon each other.

That was the case the night of April 16 when Capt. Bob “Red” Van went gigging out of Rockport.

“I’ve been doing this for 12 years,” Van said, “and this has never hap-pened before. But I had two fl oun-der on top of each other. There was a 3-pounder and a 2 1/2-pounder right on top of him.

“We got both of them on one stab. That’s what we do; we sneak around in the sand and grass, spot them, stab them, fl op them in the boat and keep going.”

Stacked fl ounder, being rare, may not be an indication of a large population of the fl at fi sh, but consistent sightings are.

From the upper to the lower coast, fl ounder have made it back to the shallow bay waters after com-

See FLOUNDER, Page 14

Knowing where to drop anchorcan prevent trouble, tragedies

By Bill MillerLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Anglers on the coast aren’t required by law to have a boat anchor, but Capt. Chuck West of Aransas Pass can’t imagine launching with-out one.

West, president of the Coastal Bend Guides Association, speaks from experience.

He recalled how he once ferried a scientist and a 4-wheeler onto a sandbar to conduct experiments. When the work was done they loaded the vehicle and headed to shore, but the motor was clogged with sand.

“I couldn’t get it to restart and the wind was pushing me right toward a rock wall,” he said. “I got the anchor ready and fi nally got it to hold me about 15 feet from the rocks.”

West called for the Coast Guard, which sent a boat out to him.“They pitched me a line,” he said. “But right about then my anchor

line broke.”Fortunately for him, the anchor held him long enough for the res-

cuers to reach him. Otherwise, he said, “I would have been dashed up on those rocks with a whole lot of explaining to do.”

West said he is surprised at the number of bay fi shing boats he sees without anchors.

“I know some older guys who’ve been fi shing for years, say ‘Aw, I don’t need an anchor,’” he said. “But that and (at least) 50 feet of line goes a long way keeping people out of trouble.”

And knowing how to properly use an anchor can prevent tragedies.

See DROP ANCHOR, Page 14

CAT ACTION: Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. has begun its catfi sh-stocking program in neighborhood ponds around the state. Photo by LSON.

BED MAKER: Males patrol an area and make the beds. If conditions remain the same, females will nest in the same area from year to year. Photo by LSON.


Sandies: the lesser-known Texas trout


They may be the lesser-known salt-water trout species along the Texas Gulf Coast, but sand trout — sometimes called white trout — are tasty fi sh that aren’t targeted by many anglers.

Dusty McDonald, life history biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, completed a study sev-eral years ago on the sand trout,

He said sand trout are popular with pier fi shermen.

“These fi shermen were using corks with about 6 inches of line underneath and then a hook baited with shrimp,” he said. “They caught them much better at night than they did during the day.”

Sand trout frequent waters with lower salinity levels, such as Sabine Lake, Galveston and Corpus Christi bays and the Lower Laguna Madre.

The average size of the sand trout is between 12 and 15 inches, although fi sh up to 20 inches are caught.

“We noticed their fl esh is very soft,” McDonald said. “If you keep these to eat, eat them fresh or freeze them immediately.”

The sand trout spawn offshore, and head out of the bays in the fall and winter, making spring and summer the prime time for coastal

anglers to catch them.“We also found a

strong relationship between sand trout and water depth,” McDonald added. “Sand seatrout pre-fer shallower waters as compared to silver seatrout which prefer deeper waters when both species are off-shore.”

Along the upper coast, TPWD biologist Bill Balboa said many fi shermen target the sand trout specifi cally.

“It looks just like the speckled trout with-out the spots,” Balboa said. “They are num-ber 11 on the preferred species list by anglers. Up here, there is a par-ticular type of angler that targets them in Galveston Bay — the ‘fi sh fry’ anglers.”

Josh Harper, a TPWD fi sheries biologist in Matagorda Bay, said the sand trout are in the bays at certain times of year before they head offshore to spawn.

Harper said anglers he talks with generally don’t target the sand trout specifi cally, but catch them while fi shing for speckled trout.

“They are from the same genus, so they are very similar,” he said.

TPWD does not have any regulations on sand trout, meaning unlimited bag lim-its and no minimum or maximum size for anglers to keep.

That spells opportunity for anglers looking to catch a lot of fi sh for dinner.

TIME FOR SAND TROUT: Sand trout spawn offshore, and head out of the bays in the fall and winter, making spring and summer the prime time for coastal anglers to catch them. Photo by David J. Sams, LSON.


ALAN HENRY: Water lightly stained; 59–67 degrees; 3.04’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Rat–L–Traps, Texas rigs, spinnerbaits and fi nesse jigs. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs. Catfi sh are fair to good on prepared and cut bait.

AMISTAD: Water clear; 65–69 degrees; 0.29’ high. Largemouth bass are good on chartreuse crankbaits, jerkbaits, soft plastics, spinnerbaits, swimbaits and jigs. Striped bass are good on sil-ver slabs, deep-running crankbaits and jigging spoons. White bass are good on slabs, deep-running crankbaits and jigging spoons.

ARROWHEAD: Water semi–turbid; 60 degrees; 3.94’ low. Largemouth bass are fair. Crappie are good off the dam, state park piers and at the Henrietta and Deer Creek bridges in 7–12 feet; White bass are improving and starting to school. Blue catfi sh are still good on cut shad while anchored in deeper water up to 30 feet deep.

BASTROP: Water clear. Largemouth bass are good on chartreuse/pink soft plastics and Rat–L–Traps. Crappie are good on minnows and blue tube jigs. Channel and blue catfi sh are good on stinkbait, shrimp and chicken livers.

BELTON: Water stained; 64–68 degrees; 3.51’ low. Largemouth bass are good on chartreuse Rat–L–Traps and crankbaits. White bass are fair on min-nows. Crappie are good on minnows in 20–30 feet. Channel and blue catfi sh are good on hot dogs, shrimp and stinkbait at night.

BRAUNIG: Water clear. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits and dark soft plastic worms near the jetty and dam. Striped bass are good on liver and shad at Dead Tree Point, and down-rigging silver and gold spoons and marble spinnerbaits near the jetty and dam. Redfi sh are fair on perch, shad, tilapia, crawfi sh, and shrimp near Dead Tree Point, and down-rigging silver spoons near the jetty and dam. Channel catfi sh are good on liver, shrimp, cheesebait and cut bait near the dam.

BRIDGEPORT: Water fairly clear; 67–72 degrees; 4.66’ low; Largemouth bass are fair on spinnerbaits, Texas rigs and Yellow Magics. Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows. White bass are fair to good on slabs and live shad. Hybrid striper are fair on live bait. Channel cat-fi sh are good on cut and prepared bait.

BROWNWOOD: Water clear; 10.42’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon and black/blue Per-suader crankbaits, Bass Hogg jigs and GrandeBass Trickster worms over brush piles. Crappie are fair on and minnows over brush piles in 10–20 feet. Channel catfi sh are fair on cut bait over baited holes.

BUCHANAN: Water clear; 64–67 degrees; 10.86’ low. Largemouth bass are good on pumpkin/chartreuse tail Whacky Sticks, white/chartreuse Ter-minator spinnerbaits, and albino/blue soft jerkbaits along drop–offs of points in 5–10 feet. Striped bass are fair to good vertically jigging silver Perk Min-nows and pearl 1/4 oz. Blade Runners. White bass are fair to good on Bleeding Shiner Tiny Traps, 2” Spoiler Shads, and live minnows in the upper end of the lake in 15–20 feet. Crappie are fair to good on live minnows. Channel catfi sh are good on live bait.

CALAVERAS: Water clear. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon soft plastic worms and crankbaits near the dam. Striped bass are fair on spoons and jigs near the dam and the crappie wall in 15–20 feet, and fair on cut perch. Channel and blue catfi sh are good on liver, shrimp, and cheesebait.

CEDAR CREEK: Water stained; 67–70 degrees; 2.87’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on fl ukes, Rat–L–Traps and Texas rigs. White bass are good on slabs and Humdingers. Hybrid striper are fair on live bait and slabs.

Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. Catfi sh are fair on cheese bait and nightcrawlers.

CHOKE CANYON: Water clear; 66–69 degrees; 6.49’ low. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits and Texas-rigged soft plastic worms and lizards. White bass are slow. Crappie are good on minnows and fair on white jigs at night under lights. Channel and blue catfi sh are good on punchbait.

COLEMAN: Water clear; 63–66 degrees; 11.56’ low. Largemouth bass

are fair on watermelon soft plastics and Rat–L–Traps. Hybrid striper are good on minnows and chartreuse striper jigs. Channel catfi sh are good on stinkbait and cut bait.

COLETO CREEK: Water fairly clear; 0.77’ low. Largemouth bass are good on pumpkinseed soft plastics and spinnerbaits in 5–15 feet. Striped bass are slow. White bass are slow. Crappie are fair on minnows and blue/white tube jigs in 10–20 feet. Channel and blue catfi sh are good on perch, liver and shrimp in 10–15 feet. Yellow cat-fi sh are fair to good on trotlines baited with perch and liver in 10–15 feet.

CONROE: Water fairly clear; 64–68 degrees; 1.67’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on pumpkinseed soft plastics, crankbaits and Rat–L–Traps. Striped bass are slow. Crappie are fair on minnows and chartreuse tube jigs. Catfi sh are good on stinkbait, liver, and shrimp.

FALCON: Water stained; 69–72 degrees. Largemouth bass are good on spinnerbaits and chartreuse soft plastic worms and lizards. Striped bass are slow. Crappie are good on min-nows and chartreuse jigs. Channel and blue catfi sh are very good on frozen shrimp, stinkbait and cut bait.

FORK: Water fairly clear; 67–72 de-grees; 3.28’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on square bill crankbaits, Texas rigs, chatterbaits and drop-shot rigs. Females are on beds or cruising in a post-spawn pattern, so target anywhere from 1–15 feet. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. Catfi sh are good on cut shad over shallow mud fl ats.

GRAPEVINE: Water stained; 67–73 de-grees; 1.07’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Texas rigs, jigs, drop-shot rigs and fl ukes. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. White bass are good on slabs and Little Georges. Catfi sh are fair to good on nightcrawlers and cut shad.

HOUSTON COUNTY: Water clear; 67–70

degrees; 0.01’ high. Largemouth bass to 6 pounds are good on green pumpkin-seed soft plastic worms in 4 feet. Crappie are good on live minnows near the dam around piers, especially under lights at night. Channel and blue catfi sh are good on trotlines baited with cut shad.

LAKE O’ THE PINES: Water stained; 68–73 degrees; 0.13’ high. Largemouth bass are good on Texas rigs, Lateral Perch and Rat–L–Traps. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. Catfi sh are good on nightcrawlers and cut shad. Bream are fair to good on red wigglers.

LAVON: Water stained; 68–73 degrees; 5.3’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on Texas rigs, spinnerbaits and shallow slow–running crankbaits. White bass are good on slabs. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs around bridge columns. Catfi sh are fair to good on cut shad and nightcrawlers.

LBJ: Water fairly clear; 64–67 degrees; 0.27’ low. Largemouth bass are good on green pumpkin Whacky Sticks, blue/chartreuse Terminator spinnerbaits, and soft plastic jerkbaits in 5–10 feet. Striped bass are fair on white bucktails and Spoiler Shads at night. White bass are fair on chrome/blue Tiny Traps and Spoiler Shads. Crappie are good on live minnows and pink tube jigs. Channel catfi sh are good on live bait. Yellow and blue catfi sh are good on trotlines.

LEWISVILLE: Water stained; 67–73 degrees; 1.33’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on spinnerbaits, Rat–L–Traps and Texas-rigged Ultra Vibe Speed Craws. Crappie are fair on minnows and jigs. White bass are fair to good on slabs. Hybrid striper are fair on slabs and Sassy Shad. Catfi sh are good on prepared bait and chartreuse nightcrawlers.

LIVINGSTON: Water fairly clear; 65–69 degrees; 0.16’ high. Largemouth bass are good on crankbaits, spinnerbaits, soft plastics and Rat–L–Traps. Striped bass are slow. White bass are fair on minnows. Crappie are good on min-nows. Blue catfi sh are good on shad. Yellow catfi sh are slow.

NAVARRO MILLS: Water stained; 62–66 degrees; 0.06’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on minnows off points in Liberty Hill Park. White bass are slow. Crappie are excellent on minnows and blue/chartreuse jigs at the marina. Blue catfi sh are good on juglines baited with perch and goldfi sh. Channel catfi sh are good on stinkbait. Blue catfi sh are good on trotlines and juglines baited with perch and goldfi sh. Yellow catfi sh are fair on trotlines baited with perch.

OAK CREEK: Water stained; 61–66 degrees; 9.14’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on Texas rigs, spinnerbaits and jigs. Crappie are good on live minnows in the shallows. Catfi sh are fair to good on nightcrawlers.

PALESTINE: Water lightly stained; 67–72 degrees; 1.59’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on Rat–L–Traps, Texas rigs and tubes. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. Hybrid striper are fair on slabs, Sassy Shad and live shad. White bass are fair to good on slabs and minnows. Catfi sh are fair on prepared bait and chartreuse nightcrawlers.

POSSUM KINGDOM: Water stained; 65–71 degrees; 2.27’ low. Largemouth bass are good on Senkos, Texas rigs and shallow- and medium-running shad pattern crankbaits. Crappie are good on live minnows in the creeks. White bass are fair to good on Little Georges and slabs. Striped bass are fair on live shad. Catfi sh are fair to good on cut shad and live bait.

RAY HUBBARD: Water fairly clear; 68–73 degrees; 2.65’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on Texas rigs, spinnerbaits, jigs and red Rat–L–Traps. Crappie are fair on minnows and Road Runners with movement towards the creeks. White bass are fair on slabs. Catfi sh are good under cormorant roosts on prepared baits.

RAY ROBERTS: Water clear; 66–71 degrees; 1.67’ low. Largemouth bass are excellent on white spinnerbaits and wacky-rigged Senkos around shallow cover in spawning coves. Crappie are good on minnows and jigs around timber in 2–5 feet. White bass are good on slabs under birds in the mouths of the northeast creeks. Catfi sh are good over baited holes.

RICHLAND CHAMBERS: Water off-color; 61–68 degrees; 2.51’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on Senkos, Texas rigs and Rat–L–Traps. White bass are fair on slabs and live shad. Hybrid striper are fair on slabs and live shad.

SAM RAYBURN: Water lightly stained; 65–67 degrees; 7.95’ low. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon red soft plastics and spinnerbaits. White bass are fair on live minnows and chartreuse spoons. Crappie are fair on minnows and blue/white tube jigs. Bream are fair on worms. Catfi sh are good on frozen shrimp, live minnows, and stinkbait.

SOMERVILLE: Water murky; 65–69 degrees; 2.39’ low. Largemouth bass are slow. Hybrid striper are slow. White bass are slow. Crappie are good on min-nows and chartreuse tube jigs. Channel and blue catfi sh are fair on shrimp and stinkbait. Yellow catfi sh are slow.

TAWAKONI: Water fairly clear; 67–72 degrees; 3.24’ low. Largemouth bass are excellent on shallow-running crankbaits and Texas rigs. Crappie are good on 1/16 oz. jigheads and Tiny As-sassins in and around docks. Striped bass and hybrid striper are good in 8–15 feet on slow-rolled 4” Sassy Shad on a 3/4 oz. jighead and Moe’s Shang-hai Shad. Catfi sh are excellent in 3–6 feet on cut bait and fresh shad.

TEXOMA: Water off-color; 68–73 degrees; 1.31’ low. Largemouth bass are fair to good on crankbaits, Rat–L–Traps and Texas rigs. Crappie are fair to good on minnows and jigs. Striped bass are good on live shad and large Road Runners.

TRAVIS: Water stained; 66–69 degrees; 19.23’ low. Largemouth bass are good on smoke grubs and Baby Brush Hogs in 10–20 feet. White bass are fair on chartreuse crankbaits and smoke grubs in 10–25 feet. Crappie are good on minnows and blue/white tube jigs.

WALTER E. LONG: Water stained. Largemouth bass are fair on watermelon soft plastics and spinnerbaits. Hybrid striper are fair on minnows. White bass are good on minnows and Li’l Fishies. Crappie are good on minnows.

NORTH SABINE: Trout are fair to good on the Louisiana shoreline on topwaters and Corkies and in the river on shad. Flounder are fair on jigs tipped with shrimp around marsh drains.

SOUTH SABINE: Sheepshead and black drum are good at the jetty on live shrimp. Trout are fair to good around Lighthouse Cove on topwaters. Redfi sh are good around pods of shad.

BOLIVAR: Trout are fair to good on the south shoreline on soft plastics and plugs. Black drum and redfi sh are good at Rollover Pass.

TRINITY BAY: Trout are fair for drifters working pods of shad and mullet on plastics. Waders have taken better trout on the shell along the east shoreline. Catfi sh are good in the marsh on shrimp. Redfi sh are fair to good on shad at the spillway.

EAST GALVESTON BAY: Trout are good on the south shoreline on topwaters. Whiting and sand trout are good on the edge of the Intracoastal on fresh shrimp. Black drum are fair to good in the Ship Channel on crabs.

WEST GALVESTON BAY: Trout are fair to good for drifters working shell on live shrimp. Sheepshead, redfi sh and black drum are good at the jetty on shrimp and crabs.

TEXAS CITY: Trout are fair on reefs on live bait. Redfi sh are good in Moses Lake on shrimp and crabs. Black drum are good in the channel on crabs.

FREEPORT: Sand trout and sheepshead are good on live shrimp on the reefs. Black drum are good at the jetties on cracked blue crabs.

EAST MATAGORDA BAY: Trout are fair for drift-ers on live shrimp over humps and scattered shell. Waders have found better water on leeward shorelines. Redfi sh are fair to good on the edge of the Intracoastal on crabs and mullet.

WEST MATAGORDA BAY: Redfi sh are fair to good on the edge of Oyster Lake on shrimp and crabs. Trout are fair on shell and grass on soft plastics and live shrimp. Black drum are fair to good at the jetty on crabs.

PORT O’CONNOR: Trout and redfi sh are good on topwaters over grass in waist–deep water in San Antonio Bay. Trout and redfi sh are fair for drifters working the back lakes with live shrimp.

ROCKPORT: Trout are fair to good in Morris–Cummings Cut on free–lined shrimp. Black drum are good in the Lydia Ann Channel on crabs. Trout are fair over grass while drifting with live shrimp.

PORT ARANSAS: Redfi sh are fair to good at East Flats on shrimp. Black drum are good in the Shrimpboat Channel on crabs and fi nger mullet. Redfi sh and sheepshead are fair to good at the jetty on shrimp.

CORPUS CHRISTI: Trout are fair to good on the edge of the spoils on live shrimp. Black drum are good in the Humble Channel at night on crabs and table shrimp.

BAFFIN BAY: Trout are good in grass and rocks on Corkies and topwaters. Black drum are good in the Land Cut on crabs. Trout are fair to good in the Land Cut on live shrimp.

PORT MANSFIELD: Trout are fair to good on topwaters around sand and grass. Redfi sh are fair to good while drifting pot holes.

SOUTH PADRE: Trout are good around the spoil islands, channel edges and color changes on DOA Shrimp under popping corks. Black drum, redfi sh and jack crevalle have been taken at the jetty.

PORT ISABEL: Trout are fair to good around bars from South Cullen’s to Holly Beach on live shrimp. Trout and redfi sh are fair to good at Gas Well Flats on live shrimp. Redfi sh are fair at Three Island on small topwaters and soft plastics under rattling corks.

TEXAS FISHING REPORT

HOT BITES SALTWATERSCENE

sand and grass. Redfish

p

h and black drum are

AY:AY:

LARGEMOUTH BASS

ALAN HENRY: Good on Rat–L–Traps, Texas rigs, spinnerbaits and jigs.

BASTROP: Good on chartreuse/pink soft plastics and Rat–L–Traps.

CANYON LAKE: Good on white 1/4 oz. Terminator spinnerbaits, pumpkin Whacky Sticks, jerkbaits and albino soft plastic jerkbaits in 5–12 feet.

HOUSTON COUNTY: Good on green pumpkinseed soft plastic worms in 4 feet.

LBJ: Good on green pumpkin Whacky Sticks, blue/chartreuse Terminator spinnerbaits, and soft plastic jerkbaits in 5–10 feet.

CRAPPIE

BELTON: Good on minnows in 20–30 feet.

FALCON: Good on minnows and char-treuse jigs.

WALTER E. LONG: Good on minnows.

Sponsored by

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CATFISH

BRAUNIG: Channel catfi sh are good on liver, shrimp, cheesebait and cut bait near the dam.

CALAVERAS: Channel and blue catfi sh are good on liver, shrimp, and cheesebait.

LAKE O’ THE PINES: Good on nightcrawlers and cut shad.

TAWAKONI: Excellent in 3–6 feet on cut bait and fresh shad.

rs working the back

WHITE, HYBRID, STRIPER

AMISTAD: Striped bass are good on silver slabs, deep-running crankbaits and jigging spoons. White bass are good on slabs, deep-running crankbaits and jigging spoons.

RAY ROBERTS: White bass are good on slabs under birds in the mouths of the northeast creeks.

TEXOMA: Striped bass are good on live shad and large Road Runners.

HOT SPOT

Canyon LakeWater is clear and the bass up to 8 pounds are biting on whacky-rigged

worms and green pumpkinseed worms. The bass are in a post-spawn pattern holding along river channels and main lake points in 15 to 30

feet of water. Smallmouth bass are also biting and white bass and strip-ers are being caught trolling white Bomber Fat Free Shad. Crappie are

excellent on minnows around brush piles in 5 to 20 feet of water.


Spider-rigging stretches its legs to Texas

By Nicholas ConklinLONE STAR OUTDOOR NEWS

Paul O’Bier has adopted a crappie trolling technique pop-ular in southeastern states and successfully applied it to his tournament fi shing in Texas.

The “spider-rigging” or the “tight-lining” technique is something that has begun to take hold across the state, as more anglers are realizing the advantages of running multi-ple rods, spread like a spider’s legs, across the bow of a boat.

“It’s a deadly way to fi sh, especially when the fi sh are con-gregated in the deeper water,” O’Bier said.

O’Bier, a tournament angler and fi shing guide from Dallas, fi rst started using the technique about eight years ago with fi shing partner Jerry Hancock.

Originally developed on a Tennessee lake to commercially target crappie, anglers found that the use of up to eight rods improved their chances to catch fi sh.

“They fi gured out if they could put multiple hooks in the water they had a better chance of catching these fi sh,” O’Bier said.

Rigging for slow trollingGuide and tournament angler Guy Skinner of Irving

recommends rods 10-12 feet long to cover a greater area.

Skinner also uses a different kind of reel when fi shing this technique.

“You will usually use a level wind reel in lieu of a spinning reel,” Skinner said. “In this application they are nothing more than a line holder, because you’re not casting and you’re not really reeling.”

Using a two-hook or jig setup allows boats to spread 16 different baits across the water column.

The Capps and Coleman rig is one of the major producers, according to O’Bier, who said the three-way swivel helps keep the double hooks set apart.

O’Bier runs a leader of 10-12 inches off of the swivel where he will attach a No. 2/0 hook. From the bottom loop of the swivel he will attach a 14-18 inch leader where he will place an egg/barrel sinker.

About 12 inches from that sinker, he will tie the fi nal hook

or jig. Weight is a major factor in determining a quality

presentation, according to both guides. Although O’Bier likes to stick to the half-ounce weight, Skinner said that anglers must adjust their weight according to wind speeds.

Skinner will vary his weights from 1/4 ounce up to 1 ounce.

“You want to put a sinker on there that depends on whether the wind is blowing or not,” Skinner said, adding that heavier weights are for high winds, and lighter weights work well in less wind.

Both guides said that traditional crappie jigs and live bait will be effective, but it’s best to run a variety of styles and colors to increase catch percentages.

Presentation The most popular presentation is to troll into the

wind, with the rods angled 1 foot from the water. The key here is to ensure that the line remains

absolutely vertical, which will depend on the speed of the wind, not the speed of the boat.

“Trolling is actually a misnomer, the speed which you troll at is almost imperceptible that you’re mov-

ing,” Skinner said. “You want to move forward enough that you are actually moving, but you always want your lines to hang absolutely vertical.”

O’Bier compared the line to a pendulum; if it swings too far either way then the boat is not moving at the ideal speed. Too far forward is too slow; too far back is too fast.

O’Bier said anglers should be open-minded about where they troll, but just about any lake or structure can be trolled.

“We like to fi sh the drop-offs, timber, grass lines and even around bridge pilings.” O’Bier said.

Graphic by Nicholas Conklin

TROLLING ALONG: Trolling with spider-rigs is becoming more popular in Texas. Photo by LSON.


CASTNETTER PLAYS HIDE AND SEEK WITH CRAPPIE, BASS

Webb County Game Warden Calvin Christian observed an individual who was retaining fi sh caught with a cast net. When checked, the man said he was only catching tilapia and proudly displayed nine that he had placed in a water cooler in the back of his truck. However, Christian found expired license plates, a fi ctitious registration sticker displayed on the window, three largemouth bass hidden under and behind the seats, an open container of beer under the passenger seat, six crappie hidden in a pair of rain boots and an 18-foot cast net that was used to catch the fi sh. The equipment was seized. Several cases are pending.

TROTLINER FORGOT TO LICENSE MULTIPLE BOATS

Titus County Game Warden Jerry Ash interviewed an angler in the mid-dle of Lake Welch checking unmarked jugs and trotlines. The boat was unreg-istered, the man had no fi shing license and also had an unregistered airboat and pontoon boat docked on the lake. Citations issued.

VIOLATOR CHANGES ADDRESSTO AVOID WARDEN

A fi sherman that Guadalupe County Game Warden Tracy Large checked had an outstanding “no fi shing license” war-rant from a previous encounter about two years ago with Large. The individual stated that he had changed apartments because the warden had been looking for him. He was still fi shing without a license and was transported to the Guadalupe County Jail.

CATCHING CATFISH WITH CATFISHDeWitt County Game Warden Mike

Hoffman and Lavaca County Game Warden Kerry Peterson discovered trotlines baited with small channel cat-fi sh on the Guadalupe River. The next day the culprits were found running their lines. The wardens pulled 23 baitfi sh off the lines. All of the bait was game

fi sh, including undersized channel and blue catfi sh and undersize largemouth bass. Cases pending on three subjects for using game fi sh for bait and taking undersized catfi sh and bass.

LOTS OF FISH BUT NO RODS OR REELSA caller contacted Harris County

Game Warden Bobby Apple regarding individuals catching and putting under-sized fi sh in their car at Clear Lake Park. The individuals were about to leave the park when Apple arrived. The vehicle contained undersized fl ounder and black drum, along with many other non-game fi sh. A 150-foot gill net, which was tucked away in the car, was used to catch all the fi sh by dragging it between the piers in the park. Several citations were issued. Cases pending.

TRACKING DEVICE LEADS TO BURGLARSHarris County Game Wardens

Kevin Creed and Susan Webb, along with Liberty County Game Warden Daniel Diaz and the Liberty County Sheriff's Department, recovered a Honda Rancher 4-wheeler and other items stolen in a burglary. The com-plainant had lost several 4-wheelers, trailers, copper wire and other items due to thefts on his property, where he conducts hunts for various groups of mobility-impaired people like the Wounded Warrior group. He fi nally had enough and placed a GPS track-

ing device on his equipment. When the tracking device alerted him to the theft, he called the game war-dens and they met him at the resort, where he showed the group where the 4-wheeler was located. The 4-wheeler was located and the people in posses-sion quickly gave up the names of the relatives from whom they obtained the stolen merchandise. The relatives implicated each other and another cousin. Several cases pending.

TRESPASSERS ON DEPUTY’SFAMILY PROPERTY

Gonzales County Game Warden Ben Bailey received a call from a deputy concerning a truck parked in front of his father’s property. The deputy said they could hear dogs barking and found two people hunting on their property. When Bailey arrived at the scene, he arrested the two men for hunting without landowner’s consent. Case is pending.

POSSESSION LIMIT VIOLATIONSAT AMISTAD

Val Verde County Game Wardens Roger Nicholas and Bradley Durst fi led on a group of four fi shermen on Lake Amistad for being over the possession limit on black bass. The out-of-state residents were in possession of 58 bass over the limit. Resources were seized and donated, and criminal charges and civil restitution are pending.

HALF OF SET NET CONFISCATEDON BORDER

While on the Rio Grande River, Hudspeth County Game Wardens Ricky May and Cody Pokorney were patrolling when they observed a bucket of gill net, a set net and sev-eral people upriver beating the water with sticks. After a brief conversa-tion with the folks from the Mexican side of the river, the two game war-dens, with assistance from two Border Patrol agents, pulled approximately half of the set net before cutting the net and letting the commercial fi sh-ermen from Mexico (pulling from the other side) keep the rest. They confi s-cated 250 feet of net.

HUNTER MISTAKEN FORTURKEY PELLETTED

Wise County Game Warden Penny Nixon investigated a hunting acci-dent on the LBJ Grasslands after a Missouri man accidentally shot a Carrollton man whom he mistook for a turkey. The Carrollton man was wear-ing a maroon hooded sweatshirt and a blue cap and was moving to a dif-ferent hunting location when he was shot. The victim suffered 13 imbed-ded # 5 pellets. He was treated at a Wise County hospital ER and released.

LICENSE AND ID DON’T MATCHGrayson County Game Warden

Michael Hummert, while checking

fi shermen on the Red River below the Lake Texoma Dam, asked to see the fi shing license of one subject who confi dently presented it. When asked for photo identifi cation, the subject appeared nervous. The subject ini-tially denied having any ID, but fi nally produced an ID card. The name, date of birth, and address on the ID card did not match the license. The subject admitted to using a friend's license and was cited for fi shing under the license of another. Case pending.

PILE OF BULL RED DRUM GETS EXPENSIVEA call reporting three individu-

als at the South Jetties in Galveston keeping numerous bull redfi sh was received by Galveston County Game Warden Bobby Kana. Kana requested assistance from Game Wardens Vu Nguyen and Mack Chambers. While en route, Kana learned that the three individuals had loaded up into a pickup truck and were leav-ing the area. Nguyen contacted the Galveston police and, shortly there-after, the vehicle was stopped. The wardens arrived and found 29 redfi sh, 28 of which were oversized and one black drum. The three indi-viduals were transported to the local JP where a total of $13,500 in fi nes was assessed. Cases pending.

WARDEN IN RIGHT PLACE, NABS BURGLARS

Numerous burglaries were reported during daylight hours in Medina County. Game Warden Jeff Benson was monitoring radio traffi c when a description of a vehicle came across and within fi ve minutes the vehicle crossed Benson's path. Benson fol-lowed until the vehicle ran a stop sign and was speeding. When he stopped the vehicle, Benson noticed four fl at-screen televisions in the back seat and a large fl at-screen propped up against the passenger’s knees. Benson held the two occu-pants for deputies, who were able to immediately solve two burglaries.

GAME WARDEN BLOTTER

A 911 call from O.H. Ivie Reservoir advised of a boat crash that was heard but not seen by the caller. Concho County Game Warden Brad Clark, Runnels County Game Warden Lane Pinckney and Coleman County Game Warden William Heath all responded to the lake.

When Clark arrived at the scene, he found a young man who was visibly shaken but not injured claiming that his friend was hurt bad but he couldn't fi nd him. Clark located the already deceased driver beside the wrecked bass boat. The pas-senger advised the pair had

been fi shing all day and were headed to the boat ramp and the driver was following the GPS on the boat at night, without any lights other than the red/green navigation and white anchor light. The passenger was not sure how fast they were going but did know

that the boat was on plane and traveling at a high rate of speed when they made contact with the shore. The boat went airborne and struck several trees and rocks before coming to rest on the bank. Both men were ejected from the boat, and neither wore life jackets.

NIGHTTIME BOAT ACCIDENT CLAIMS LIFE


ing — display high variability in recruitment. High water levels during the spring exposes more suitable area for spawning and increases cover and foraging habi-tat for both adult and juvenile fi sh.”

Ashe said bass move to deeper water to spawn when lake levels are down, but not all low-water years are bad years for bass recruitment.

“In 2009, the water level was really low and we just fi nished our electric shock survey and found it was a hell of a year for bass recruit-ment,” he said. “We found a great year class with lots of fi sh in the 12- to 14-inch range.”

Many guide reports from Toledo Bend said the bass had a great spawn this year, although low water levels made boating a hazard in many areas.

A TPWD biologist in Austin said they work with the city of Austin to decrease affects of the annual drawdown on Lake Austin to remove shoreline vegetation.

“It’s usually fi nished by the fi rst week of February,” he said. “(The

city) is aware of the potential impact to fry and eggs, but it’s not having any affect at all, in my opinion.”

Bass usually begin spawning

around Austin in March and the spawn can continue into July.

The drawdown certainly hasn’t affected the bigger female bass this

year. Lake Austin has produced three bass more than 13 pounds, includ-ing a 16-pound giant, and loads of fi sh in the 10- to 11-pound range.

GETTING LOWER: Biologists say bass spawning is affected by lake drawdowns, either manmade or from drought. But not all low-water years are bad for bass recruitment. Photos by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.

Water levelsContinued From Page 8

ment and resource chief at Texas Parks and Wildlife. “They were introduced in power plant reser-voirs as baitfi sh before it was illegal to trans-port them.”

Terre said that in the warmer lakes in Texas — Falcon and Amistad, and power plant lakes — the tilapia has natural annual recruitment.

“But in the lakes of North and Central Texas, we don’t see a bunch of them,” he said. “There isn’t a whole lot of win-ter survival and not many adults in the population.

“They can be a problem in the power plant reservoirs.”

Terre said tilapia make good forage for bass, but they can play havoc on some shorelines.

“They create cavi-ties to spawn,” he said. “It disrupts the bottom of the lake and can cause issues for wade fi shermen or people walking in the water. They can also impact reproduction of native species.”

Tilapias are fi lter feeders, eating plank-ton in the water. That makes them tough for anglers to catch.

Anglers are required to kill the fi sh after catching them because they are considered an invasive species.

In Central Texas, tilapias are attempt-ing to populate some of the lakes and rivers around Austin.

“They are good for-age for bass in Fayette Lake,” said Steve Magnelia, TPWD biologist for Austin. “The bass really eat them and we don’t have a problem with bass numbers.

“I don’t think they are having a negative impact on bass there.”

Magnelia said he has seen tilapia on beds in Lake Travis, although he’s not sure how they are sur-viving the winters.

“They do succumb to the cold, but I saw them spawning in places last year,” he said. “I don’t know where they came from, but they are there.”

The most common method of catching tilapia is using small hooks baited with bread balls or live worms — much like bream.

The fi sh makes excellent table fare because the meat is white and fl aky.

TilapiaContinued From Page 8

West’s knowledge extends beyond personal experience.

He is commander of Rockport Flotilla 79 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, which conducts boat safety checks for the Coast Guard.

He also teaches at a sea academy where fi shing guides study for their cap-tain’s licenses. Knowing where to put an anchor is part of the curriculum.

For example, he said it’s illegal to be anchored inside the buoys that mark the Intracoastal Waterway, or any major ship channel, yet it’s common to see people without anchors illegally tied to the markers.

State and federal laws pre-vent anchoring inside the channel so that commercial traffi c is not impeded.

“Any day you can go out and see people not anchored in the right way or place,” West said.

But boats legally anchored outside those areas also face a certain safety risk, West said.

“A commercial boat or large vessel coming through the channel, even at low speeds, can cause a wake to bang a guy up,” West said.

Capt. Randy Best, also out of Aransas Pass, agreed.

“You could die very eas-ily and at the very least get swamped,” he said.

Boaters can avoid the damaging wakes if they drop anchor in a spot shielded by some terrain, like a spoil island, West said.

But in picking terrain, it’s also important know what’s at the bottom.

West said that people fi sh-ing near jetties frequently drop onto rocks that help form the structure, but don’t properly hold anchors. He said a good swell can raise a boat and easily dislodge the anchor.

It’s also critical to know water depths so that enough anchor line is dropped.

Texas bays and sand fl ats are so shallow that 100 feet of anchor line can be enough, West said.

But for dropping in a dredged channel, West rec-ommended a length of about three times the depth of the water.

“That creates an angle of pull that will help them dig in and hold,” he said.

West recalled seeing a boater drifting past him and calling for help.

“He said he was dragging anchor, but he was about to drift into a Navy ship,” West said. “The channel was about 60 feet there, but his anchor line was probably swinging 20 feet off the bottom.

“When I see anchor lines hanging straight down from the boat, I know they don’t have enough line played out.”

Drop anchorContinued From Page 8

pleting their winter spawns in the deeper gulf waters.

“Populations are strong,” said Van, who operates NightStalker Guide Service out of Rockport and Port Aransas. “We’ve been getting our limits almost every time we go out, and quick too.”

Although Van special-izes in gigging, he said a lot of other anglers going for trout or redfi sh regularly hook a couple

fl ounder with their lures. Such was the case on the southern tip of the coast out of Port Mansfi eld. (See

Conor Harrison’s cover story in this issue.)

“Mostly they’re using soft plastics,” Van said, “but some guys are pitching shrimp under a popping cork.”

A similar technique was reported out of North Sabine where fl ounder were said to be decent on jigs tipped with shrimp in the marsh drains.

The strong sightings indi-cate good spawns recently — an improvement over a few years ago, Van said.

“Three years ago it was incred-ible,” he recalled. “We had never seen so many of them, and just everywhere. Then there was a freeze and a drought and a lot of young

ones died.“But now there are a lot of little

fi sh out there, and a lot of 20-21 inchers out there too.”

When fl ounder return to the bays they usually head for the back areas where the water is shallower and, thus, warmer.

But now, as the rest of the waters are warming up, the fl ounder are starting to fi lter all over the bays, Van said.

The action has Van already eager for October when the fl ounder start making the run back to the spawning areas in the Gulf.

“Fall fl ounder will be phenome-nal because of the size we’re seeing, and this early in the year,” Van said.

FlounderContinued From Page 8

ANCHOR AWAY: Maritime law pre-vents anglers from anchoring inside ship channels so that commercial traffi c can move freely. But it’s also dangerous because a wake from a commercial boat can easily swamp a smaller vessel. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.

SPRING FLOUNDER: Anglers have been using diverse methods and baits to catch fl ounder this spring along the coast. Photo by Scott Sommerlatte, for LSON.


MYTHICAL BEAST NO MORE: When it comes to feral hogs in Texas,

separating fact from fi ction is becoming easier with techno-logical advances, a

researcher said. Photo by Texas AgriLife Ex-

tension Service.

Hog mythsContinued From Page 4

Higginbotham said. Lopez estimated that the actual number could range from a low of 1.9 million to a high of

3.4 million.Exaggerated claims of feral hog population-growth rates are a related myth. Many of the population guesstimates are based on a purely arbitrary number of hogs in Texas

being set at 1 million in the 1970s. This number, which also had no research basis, is often extrapolated on using another bit of mis-

information: That because of feral hogs’ high birth rates, their population is doubling every year.So what are the facts?Based on a 2011 consolidation of past studies done by his graduate student, Janell Mellish,

the average litter size in Texas and the Southeast is 5.6 pigs, Lopez said.It is also known that, on average, a sow is about 13 months old when she has her fi rst litter,

and that also, on average, mature sows have 1.5 litters per year. This means there is a signifi -cant population growth rate, but a far cry from the doubling-yearly myth, Lopez said.

“We estimated the population growth of feral hogs in Texas averages between 18 percent to 20 percent annually,” Lopez said. “This means that it would take almost fi ve years for a population to double in size if left unchecked.”

Another common myth is that recreational hunting alone can control feral hog popula-tions, Higginbotham said.

“Of the dozen studies conducted across the nation, hunting removes between 8 percent and 50 percent of a population, with an average of 24 percent across all studies,” he said. “In order to hold a population stable with no growth, 60 to 70 percent of a feral hog population would have to be removed annually.”

— Robert Burns, Texas AgriLife Extension Service


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RAMON GOMEZ of Edinburg downed his fi rst elk last fall on a ranch near La Gloria in Jim Wells County. His rifl e was chambered in .30-06, with a 165-grain bullet.

NATHAN KORCZYNSKI, 13, of Victoria had tried for three seasons to get a shot at

a big 11-point buck on his family’s deer lease near Woodsboro in Refugio County.

Finally last November his persistence was rewarded. He used a Mathews bow and a

Rage broadhead to harvest the 160-class buck, which was aged at 7 1/2 years old.

BIANCA CARROCCIO, 7, of Plano caught this 4-pound largemouth at Lake Lavon.

BLAYNE CUPP of Keller recently took this hefty

boar at night on a ranch near Cisco. His .308-cali-ber AR dropped the hog

at 175 yards.

CRAIG SMITH of GameGuard Camo harvested this axis buck last fall on the Champion Ranch in Mitchell County. He said the West Texas ranch was one of the nicest places he has been.

Honey Grove resident CLINT BARENSPRUNG

caught this large-mouth on a small lake

in Fannin County. It was one of sev-

eral bass he caught ranging from 4 to 8

pounds.


may only be down about 15 feet. But this year they seem to be staging closer to the bottom for some reason.”

Bonin has switched between minnows and artifi cial baits. He said the quantity of slabs has tapered off, but good-size fi sh can still be caught.

Artifi cial crappie tubes, black and blue, have been effective, as well as dark green tubes with chartreuse tails.

Angler Lucas Loafman has had similar experiences fi ght-ing the winds while fi shing Lake Belton in Central Texas. Loafman said that most of the fi sh he marked were also scattered, and he has caught females in various depths.

Most of his success came at 2-12 feet, and the fi sh were moving in and out of the shal-low water. Minnows have been the most successful recently on Belton, and some anglers have reported crappie holding as deep as 30 feet.

Crappie have been biting well on Navarro Mills Lake, east of Hillsboro in North Central Texas, where a recent state record crappie (4.65 pounds) was caught. Anglers reported successes on blue and char-treuse jigs and live minnows.

High winds have also been an issue on Lake Fork. Guide J.W. Peterson of J&J Outfi tters said that fi shing will be a challenge, unless you’re tucked into a cove or sheltered area.

“The wind has been the No. 1 culprit,” he said, “but if you can get to them, you can catch them.”

The most effective presentation, according to Peterson, has been on 1/8-ounce feather jigs, in grey and root beer colors, with some variation of blue in the tail.

But, Peterson said that minnows fi shed shallow are landing some nice-sized crappie. And because of the low water levels most crappie anglers are also landing catfi sh.

Peterson said that on recent trips he has found fi sh holding near bridges and brushpiles in 20-25 feet of water. The best time to fi sh is as early as possible because the winds tend to pick up later in the day.

According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association, winds are expected to dip into the low teens by the end of April across Texas and should be at normal levels (5-10 mph) in May.

Crappie anglersContinued From Page 1

NICE STRINGER: Boat houses are good spots to catch crappie this time of year. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.


Wildfi resContinued From Page 1

historic H.E. Sproul Ranch in the Davis Mountains. They got a quarter inch.

April 10 of this year is when wildfi res began rac-ing across the Trans-Pecos region, destroying thousands of acres.

Fires still burned a week later across Texas, from Big Bend to Possum Kingdom Lake. But blazes also erupted near Austin and in three East Texas Counties. One fi re-fi ghter died, 244 homes were destroyed and an estimated 1.5 million acres burned.

Some animals perished.While scores of deer,

pronghorn and other spe-cies escaped the fl ames, state wildlife offi cials and landowners like Timmons were unsure what the future would hold for the survivors.

“I fl ew in a helicopter this week, and we saw very little wildlife (dead) in the burned areas,” Timmons said. “So the animals all had to go somewhere.

“I’m sure a lot of them got out of it, and they went to places in the Davis Mountains that can hold them.”

But Timmons said he was worried that those areas will become crowded with big game.

The Sproul Ranch was founded in 1886 by the great-great grandfather of Timmons’ wife, Kerith. Their current hunting operation offers trophy hunts for sev-eral species, including elk.

But the family lost three hunting cabins and food for big game on 10,000 acres. By April 17 they had supple-

mented with 30,000 pounds of hay.

“Nobody has ever seen a fi re of this magnitude,” Timmons said. “I know for a fact that nobody has the answers, so we’re all going to learn together.”

Offi cials for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department were glad to see herds of ani-mals after the fl ames passed some areas.

“I was driving east of Alpine,” said Ruben Cantu, regional director of West Texas fi eld biologists, “and I saw, in an area that was freshly burned — and I mean scorched earth — a small group of antelope, there in the black, looking for stuff to eat.”

Also surviving the fi re were pronghorns that were relocated last winter from the Panhandle to the Trans-Pecos region, said Shawn Gray, TPWD’s mule deer and pronghorn leader.

Offi cials received the news from signals transmitted by the animals’ radio collars. The devices, he explained, stop sending if the animals don’t move for eight hours.

“Then they go on a differ-ent beat sequence — what we call a mortality signal,” Gray said.

But, he added, the signals stayed strong and “a gradu-ate student went out and put eyes on the animals.”

Other pronghorn were not so fortunate. Flames at a fence corner trapped a half dozen of them, Gray said.

“Deer obviously can jump the fence, but a pronghorn

doesn’t get through that,” Gray said.

TPWD offi cials also worry that the fl ames destroyed the cover grasses deer and pronghorn use to conceal their newborns.

And certain grasses pro-vide critical nesting for tur-key and quail species. Their numbers were already throt-tled by the drought that helped cause the wildfi res.

But the prognosis is not com-pletely dismal, Cantu said, if Texas gets some good rainfall.

Before settlement, fi res routinely burned the land-scape, which removed worthless brush and stimu-lated new plant growth.

That’s what happened in March 2008 at the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area, southwest of San Antonio, where 95 percent of it burned.

The fl ames burned off exces-sive brush, which allowed the benefi cial plants to spring up and dominate the landscape, said David Synatzske, the WMA’s manager.

“The impact we have seen here on the Chaparral has been very positive,” Synatzske said.

He stressed, however, that the fast turnaround was linked to timely rainfall that followed soon after the fi re, and that’s what is needed in West Texas.

But, he added, that region needs the right kind of rain.

A “5-inch gully washer,” he explained, would wash away precious topsoil.

“What they need is a slow rain to penetrate and allow seedlings to come in,” he said.


Health Services, bite about 7,000 people each year in the U.S.

About one in 500 of those peo-ple die, including at least one, sometimes two Texans, the health agency reported.

These days, however, antivenom treatments in a hospital are recom-mended, not the “cut-and-suck” method from the Old West.

That remedy, according to one doctor, can be “worse than the snakebite itself.”

“You can wind up doing more damage to some areas where nerves are more superfi cial, like in the hand,” said Dr. Sam Campbell, professor of surgery at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock.

He noted that making the inci-sions might be a needless risk, because at least 30 percent of the bites from pit vipers — the cot-tonmouths, diamondbacks and copperheads — are dry, meaning there’s no venom in those strikes.

But in the majority of bites, the venomous ones, Campbell advised against sucking out the poison because it can enter the body through an open sore in the mouth.

He explained that the fangs on a snake are like syringes; they inject poison into the blood system where it spreads rapidly, so trying to extract it is futile.

That’s why applying ice or restriction bands to control the spread are also ineffective. And keeping venom concentrated in an area is also bad for tissue, Campbell said.

Antivenom is the best treat-ment, Campbell said, because it neutralizes the poison. But it is usually given only in hospitals where it is stored and reconsti-tuted as needed.

So instead of packing a snakebite kit, Campbell said, make sure your cell phone is well-charged so that you can call for help or call ahead to the nearest hospital so that emer-gency room personnel can begin preparing the antivenom.

Also, keep a bitten limb elevated at heart level. Raising it higher can speed the fl ow of venom; lowering it can boost swelling.

Remove jewelry, especially rings which can be painfully hard to take off once swelling is underway.

People react differently to venom, but common symptoms are blurred vision, convulsions, dizziness, nausea, rapid pulse rate and swelling around the bite area.

If swelling is intense, emergency room personnel can make inci-sions, but not to make portals for sucking the venom.

“When tissues swell, that’s when you should have incisions made to release pressures in mus-cle compartments,” Campbell said. “But, please, leave that to a professional.”

SnakebiteContinued From Page 1

Austin Canoe and Kayak launches Mobile App for iPhone

Austin Canoe and Kayak and Phunware have announced the launch of the ACK Kayak Launch Points App for iPhone and iPod Touch for imme-diate download in the iTunes App Store.

Conceived and developed by paddlers for paddlers, the App is a mobile experience for canoe and kayak enthusiasts globally. Pre-loaded with more than 14,000 marked kayak and canoe launch points, the App is for paddlers, enabling them to rate launch points, create a favorites list and add and share launch points

with friends, family and colleagues via Facebook, Twitter or e-mail.

With just a few taps of a fi nger, users will have access to the launch points nearest to their current location,

or they can enter a specifi c address or zip code to fi nd points. Users can also navi-gate around the map to see what points are available in the viewable area.

Once a launch point is chosen, App users can then map directions to the launch point and start their trek to the water. ACK Kayak Launch Points is a tool for paddlers either new to an area or interested in exploring new watery desti-nations.

Users can also share their favorite places to

kayak with other App users; just tap the map to mark and submit a new launch point for the rest of the world to see.

—Staff report

couple of weeks when the weather has cooperated,” Klostermann said. “The other day we had 30 or 40 mph winds from the south, and then it switched and we had 30 mph out of the north.

“But there are a lot fi sh in the bays right now.”Klostermann said the trout bite has been very good,

with clients catching their fi ve-fi sh limits pretty easily. He also said the redfi sh are not as consistent, but anglers can fi nd limits if they do a little searching.

“We normally do a lot of wading this time of year, but with it being so windy, we haven’t done it as much,” he said. “We haven’t had any trouble catching trout, though. We just haven’t had to wade very much.”

Klostermann said he’s been throwing soft plastics for trout.

According to online fi shing reports, the go-to baits for many anglers are bone chartreuse on clearer days and darker colors when the wind picks up and stains the water.

Fish are holding in many of the cuts, and when you catch one, work the area over thoroughly; there may be many more fi sh in the same spot.

To contact Capt. Clifford Smith, call (956) 642-7362.To contact Capt. Jack Klostermann, call (956) 245-5008.

Port Mansfi eldContinued From Page 1


New pliers by ForEverlast ‘cut braid like butter’

Like all entrepreneurs, Billy Gerke of Hallettsville had a vision.

He wanted a good pair of fi shing pliers, but it had to be able to cut the braided line that is becoming increasingly popular with saltwater anglers.

And they had to be tough enough to resist corrosion.Gerke saw affordable models on the market, but they

weren’t designed to cut braid. More expensive models came close, but they cost a

couple hundred dollars.“A $200 pair of pliers is not real doable for our fi sher-

men,” Gerke said, “especially with gas inching up the way it is.”

But Gerke isn’t your average armchair bellyacher who questions why someone else hasn’t already made the prod-uct he wants.

He operates ForEverlast, a sporting goods wholesaler that has designers and manufacturers standing by to fi ll product niches.

“I showed them what I liked and didn’t like, and we just prototyped it out,” he said.

The result is the ForEverlast Generation II Pro “Braid Cutter” Aluminum Pliers.

“I used them last spring and summer while I was fi shing and they actually went into production in October.”

Gerke brought them to the Houston Fishing Show in

March, about the same time they arrived in stores. He said the product has generated a lot of excitement in the brief time since.

Each set is individually CNC machined from aluminum-titanium alloy for strength and corrosion resistance. The slender-nosed pliers are long enough to pull a hook, but ergonomically designed for better gripping.

But if an angler should drop them, there’s a long lanyard for easy retrieval. A black nylon sheath is also made to resist salty environs.

And, as for cutting braid, the pliers are notched with tungsten-carbide blades that can bite through braided line as easily as a nail clipper snipping monofi lament.

The G2 Pro pliers were tested by staffers at Lone Star Outdoor News.

David J. Sams, the publica-tion’s founder and CEO, used them recently while fi shing with his

family at Rockport.“I dangled them in salt water during my

spring break wade fi shing trip,” he said. “I never rinsed them off, but I took them out of the case two weeks later and there was not one speck of corrosion on them.

“I’d say that gets my seal of approval.”LSON Operations Manager Mike Hughs

has used them on the bass fi shing tourna-ment circuit.

“They cut braid like butter,” he said.

Suggested retail price is about $35 at Academy stores and

many other retailers on the coast.

—Bill Miller

time they arrived oduct has ment in

ly CNC m-th

e.s are ook, ned

d g l.

e er

e ne

ublica-used ing with his

family at Rockport.“I dangled them in salt

spring break wade fi shingnever rinsed them off, buof the case two weeks latnot one speck of corrosio

“I’d say that gets my sLSON Operations ManN

has used them on the bment circuit.

“They cut braid lsaid.

Suggested r$35 at Acad

many othecoast.

Texas game warden arrests murder suspect

A Texas game warden assigned to the Panhandle arrested a 71-year-old man wanted in Colorado for fi rst-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife of 45 years.

Game Warden Lance May was on his way to a meeting with a group of Bailey County landowners to discuss deer hunting issues about 1:30 p.m. April 5.

That is when he saw a westbound late-model car swerving from lane to lane on U.S. 84 and Loop 430

about a mile east of Littlefi eld.

Suspecting an intoxicated driver, the warden briefl y followed the car and ordered the driver to stop.

May radioed in the plate number of

the vehicle to get registration infor-mation and soon learned the driver was wanted on an assault warrant issued in Mecklenburg County, N.C. Several hours later, the warden would learn that the man had a sec-ond warrant against him — this one for the murder in Colorado.

In the meantime, May arrested the man who was identifi ed as Richard

Paul Stewart of Independence, Mo.While talking with Stewart, who

seemed to be confused and having diffi culty remaining conscious, May became concerned for the man’s health and called for an ambulance.

The man was taken to Lamb County Health Care Center in Littlefi eld. About midnight, he was transferred in custody to the intensive care unit at University Medical Center in Lubbock.

About the same time, May received notifi cation that an arrest warrant for fi rst degree murder and domestic violence had been issued for Stewart in connection with the fatal shooting of Norma Stewart, 71, about 7 a.m. April 4 in Westminster, Colo.

May, originally from Lubbock, has been stationed in Lamb County since

his graduation from the TPWD game warden academy four years ago.

—Staff report

Man drowned near Port O'Connor

A 53-year-old man was found drowned near Port O’Connor after he reportedly fell out of his boat on Saturday, April 16.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offi cials, local police and the Coast Guard were investigating the death, which occurred in Espiritu Santo Bay.

The man was found Sunday morn-ing by another boater, and was pronounced dead by the Coast Guard

later in the morning. The man’s boat was found

approximately 50 feet from the shoreline on dry land.

“Informing others of where you are going, when you will be back, and how many people you take out on your boat will help the Coast Guard in providing assistance should a boating accident occur,” Cmdr. Ed Gaynor, told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. “We are still unclear as to how this accident happened and an investigation is currently being conducted.”

The man’s name had not been released as of press time, according to TPWD Capt. Rex Mayes of Victoria.

—Staff report

LANCE MAY


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Solunar | Sun times | Moon timesMoon Phases

FOR THE TABLEOUTDOOR PUZZLER | By Wilbur “Wib” Lundeen Solution on Page 26

ACROSS1. A plump short-tailed game bird

5. The older ones are classed as loners 9. The bow scope protector10. A species of moose11. The hunt and fi sh permit12. A valuable gauge for the angler13. A type of camp fi replace15. A fl ock of geese17. Gun's enlarged rear portion of the bore18. An aid to icefi shing22. A pronghorn24. A type of arrow26. Part of a stag's rack28. Indian name for deer29. Charge in a shot shell, _____ charge31. A top retriever34. Also called a bowfi n37. A weasel38. Mammal trapped for the fur39. A type of hunter's cover40. To propel the boat

DOWN 1. Act of carrying boat overland 2. The ____necked pheasant 3. Rear motion of a fi red gun 4. An angler's consideration 6. Food source of the bear 7. The fi sh pole 8. The material in a clay pigeon14. Ruffed or sage

16. Game found in mountainous regions17. Important kit item for hunters19. Common name for the strawberry bass20. Name for the Arizona whitetail21. A wild game23. Bow built up in layers, ______ bow25. A type of gundog

27. A type of bowhunter's weapon30. Movement of an arrow in fl ight32. Shells and arrows33. Wingshooter's grassland bird34. 28 across35. Of the mouth of the bass36. A type lure

Legend: Major=2 hours. Minor=1 hour. Times centered on the major-minor window. F=Full Moon, N=New Moon, Q=Quarter > = Peak Activity. For other locations, subtract 1 minute per 12 miles east of a location, and add 1 min-ute per 12 miles west of a location.

Sun Moon Tides| |

6 fi llets of fl ounder2 green onions, minced1 stalk celery, minced1 can crab meat1/2 stick butter + 2 tbsps. for garnish1/2 cup bread crumbs + 2 tbsps. for garnish1/2 tbsp. snipped parsley (dry parsley can be subbed)Salt, pepper, paprika

Slice the fi llets in two portions, cutting them lengthwise. Roll the fi llets into rounds and set over a

thoroughly buttered glass baking dish. Reserve for later.

Melt butter and sauté onion along with celery for about 2 minutes. Add the bread crumbs and parsley. Toss well until prop-erly mixed. Ladle the mixture at the center of the rolled fi llets. Use the bread crumbs and pars-ley as garnish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley according to taste. Dot with butter before set-ting it in the oven for half hour of baking at 350 degrees F.

— Fishrecipes.org

Baked fl ounder with crab meat stuffi ng

2 lbs. boneless wild turkey — cooked1 package (10-oz. size) frozen chopped spinach1/2 cup green onions2 cups sour cream1 cup plain yogurt2 tbsps. fl our1/2 tsp. cuminSalt to taste1/2 cup milk 2 cans (4-oz. size) diced green chili peppers (drained)12 to 24 fl our tortillas (7-inch size)8 oz. grated cheeseDiced tomatoes and/or black olives for garnish

Shred turkey to bite-size pieces — combine with spinach and green onions, set aside. In separate bowl, combine sour cream, yogurt, fl our, cumin and salt. Stir in milk and chili peppers. Divide sauce in half. Combine chicken mix and half of sauce. Divide fi lling among tortillas and roll them up. Place in Dutch oven in layers. Spoon remain-ing sauce over enchiladas. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and let stand for 5 minutes. Garnish and serve.

— Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife Conservation

Creamy wild turkey enchiladas (serves 6 or more)

NewApril 29Last

April 22First

May 6

FullMay 13

Texas Coast TidesSabine Pass, jettyDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightApr 22 12:16 a.m. -0.4 L 9:05 a.m. 3.0 H Apr 23 1:17 a.m. 0.0 L 10:19 a.m. 2.9 H Apr 24 2:26 a.m. 0.4 L 11:23 a.m. 2.7 H Apr 25 3:45 a.m. 0.7 L 12:04 p.m. 2.5 H 6:47 p.m. 1.8 L 9:36 p.m. 2.0 H Apr 26 5:06 a.m. 0.9 L 12:27 p.m. 2.3 H 6:59 p.m. 1.6 L 11:31 p.m. 2.1 H Apr 27 6:16 a.m. 1.3 L 12:41 p.m. 2.3 H 7:15 p.m. 1.4 L Apr 28 12:58 a.m. 2.1 H 7:14 a.m. 1.4 L 12:50 p.m. 2.1 H 7:31 p.m. 1.1 L Apr 29 2:05 a.m. 2.3 H 8:03 a.m. 1.6 L 12:59 p.m. 2.1 H 7:48 p.m. 0.7 L Apr 30 2:59 a.m. 2.5 H 8:45 a.m. 2.0 L 1:08 p.m. 2.3 H 8:08 p.m. 0.5 L May 01 3:45 a.m. 2.7 H 9:22 a.m. 2.1 L 1:17 p.m. 2.3 H 8:31 p.m. 0.2 L May 02 4:26 a.m. 2.9 H 9:55 a.m. 2.1 L 1:24 p.m. 2.3 H 8:57 p.m. 0.0 L May 03 5:06 a.m. 2.9 H 10:24 a.m. 2.1 L 1:28 p.m. 2.3 H 9:27 p.m. 0.0 L May 04 5:48 a.m. 2.9 H 10:51 a.m. 2.3 L 1:26 p.m. 2.5 H 10:01 p.m. -0.2 L May 05 6:33 a.m. 2.9 H 11:17 a.m. 2.3 L 1:27 p.m. 2.5 H 10:37 p.m. -0.2 L May 06 7:24 a.m. 2.9 H 11:19 p.m. -0.2 L

Galveston Bay entrance, south jettyDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightApr 22 12:42 a.m. -0.3 L 9:52 a.m. 2.4 H Apr 23 1:43 a.m. 0.0 L 11:06 a.m. 2.3 H Apr 24 2:52 a.m. 0.3 L 12:10 p.m. 2.1 H Apr 25 4:11 a.m. 0.6 L 12:51 p.m. 2.0 H 7:13 p.m. 1.4 L 10:23 p.m. 1.6 H Apr 26 5:32 a.m. 0.7 L 1:14 p.m. 1.9 H 7:25 p.m. 1.3 L Apr 27 12:18 a.m. 1.7 H 6:42 a.m. 1.0 L 1:28 p.m. 1.9 H 7:41 p.m. 1.1 L Apr 28 1:45 a.m. 1.7 H 7:40 a.m. 1.1 L 1:37 p.m. 1.7 H 7:57 p.m. 0.9 L Apr 29 2:52 a.m. 1.9 H 8:29 a.m. 1.3 L 1:46 p.m. 1.7 H 8:14 p.m. 0.6 L Apr 30 3:46 a.m. 2.0 H 9:11 a.m. 1.6 L 1:55 p.m. 1.9 H 8:34 p.m. 0.4 L May 01 4:32 a.m. 2.1 H 9:48 a.m. 1.7 L 2:04 p.m. 1.9 H 8:57 p.m. 0.1 L May 02 5:13 a.m. 2.3 H 10:21 a.m. 1.7 L 2:11 p.m. 1.9 H 9:23 p.m. 0.0 L May 03 5:53 a.m. 2.3 H 10:50 a.m. 1.7 L 2:15 p.m. 1.9 H 9:53 p.m. 0.0 L May 04 6:35 a.m. 2.3 H 11:17 a.m. 1.9 L 2:13 p.m. 2.0 H 10:27 p.m. -0.1 L May 05 7:20 a.m. 2.3 H 11:43 a.m. 1.9 L 2:14 p.m. 2.0 H 11:03 p.m. -0.1 L May 06 8:11 a.m. 2.3 H 11:45 p.m. -0.1 L

San Luis PassDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time Height Apr 22 1:38 a.m. -0.2 L 10:22 a.m. 1.5 H Apr 23 2:39 a.m. 0.0 L 11:36 a.m. 1.4 H Apr 24 3:48 a.m. 0.2 L 12:40 p.m. 1.3 H Apr 25 5:07 a.m. 0.3 L 1:21 p.m. 1.2 H 8:09 p.m. 0.9 L 10:53 p.m. 0.9 H Apr 26 6:28 a.m. 0.4 L 1:44 p.m. 1.1 H 8:21 p.m. 0.8 L Apr 27 12:48 a.m. 1.0 H 7:38 a.m. 0.6 L 1:58 p.m. 1.1 H 8:37 p.m. 0.7 L Apr 28 2:15 a.m. 1.0 H 8:36 a.m. 0.7 L 2:07 p.m. 1.0 H 8:53 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 29 3:22 a.m. 1.1 H 9:25 a.m. 0.8 L 2:16 p.m. 1.0 H 9:10 p.m. 0.3 L Apr 30 4:16 a.m. 1.2 H 10:07 a.m. 0.9 L 2:25 p.m. 1.1 H 9:30 p.m. 0.3 L May 01 5:02 a.m. 1.3 H 10:44 a.m. 1.0 L 2:34 p.m. 1.1 H 9:53 p.m. 0.1 L May 02 5:43 a.m. 1.4 H 11:17 a.m. 1.0 L 2:41 p.m. 1.1 H 10:19 p.m. 0.0 L May 03 6:23 a.m. 1.4 H 11:46 a.m. 1.0 L 2:45 p.m. 1.1 H 10:49 p.m. 0.0 L May 04 7:05 a.m. 1.4 H 12:13 p.m. 1.1 L 2:43 p.m. 1.2 H 11:23 p.m. -0.1 L May 05 7:50 a.m. 1.4 H 12:39 p.m. 1.1 L 2:44 p.m. 1.2 H 11:59 p.m. -0.1 L May 06 8:41 a.m. 1.4 H

Freeport HarborDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightApr 22 12:39 a.m. -0.2 L 9:14 a.m. 2.1 H Apr 23 1:40 a.m. 0.0 L 10:28 a.m. 2.0 H Apr 24 2:49 a.m. 0.2 L 11:32 a.m. 1.8 H Apr 25 4:08 a.m. 0.4 L 12:13 p.m. 1.7 H 7:10 p.m. 0.9 L 9:45 p.m. 1.4 H Apr 26 5:29 a.m. 0.5 L 12:36 p.m. 1.6 H 7:22 p.m. 0.8 L 11:40 p.m. 1.5 H Apr 27 6:39 a.m. 0.6 L 12:50 p.m. 1.6 H 7:38 p.m. 0.7 L Apr 28 1:07 a.m. 1.5 H 7:37 a.m. 0.7 L 12:59 p.m. 1.5 H 7:54 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 29 2:14 a.m. 1.6 H 8:26 a.m. 0.8 L 1:08 p.m. 1.5 H 8:11 p.m. 0.4 L Apr 30 3:08 a.m. 1.7 H 9:08 a.m. 1.0 L 1:17 p.m. 1.6 H 8:31 p.m. 0.3 L May 01 3:54 a.m. 1.8 H 9:45 a.m. 1.1 L 1:26 p.m. 1.6 H 8:54 p.m. 0.1 L May 02 4:35 a.m. 2.0 H 10:18 a.m. 1.1 L 1:33 p.m. 1.6 H 9:20 p.m. 0.0 L May 03 5:15 a.m. 2.0 H 10:47 a.m. 1.1 L 1:37 p.m. 1.6 H 9:50 p.m. 0.0 L May 04 5:57 a.m. 2.0 H 11:14 a.m. 1.2 L 1:35 p.m. 1.7 H 10:24 p.m. -0.1 L May 05 6:42 a.m. 2.0 H 11:40 a.m. 1.2 L 1:36 p.m. 1.7 H 11:00 p.m. -0.1 L May 06 7:33 a.m. 2.0 H 11:42 p.m. -0.1 L

South Padre IslandDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightApr 22 12:19 a.m. -0.6 L 10:23 a.m. 1.7 H Apr 23 1:18 a.m. -0.4 L 11:23 a.m. 1.6 H Apr 24 2:21 a.m. -0.1 L 12:03 p.m. 1.6 H Apr 25 3:28 a.m. 0.2 L 12:27 p.m. 1.5 H Apr 26 4:38 a.m. 0.5 L 12:40 p.m. 1.4 H 6:47 p.m. 1.0 L 11:07 p.m. 1.2 H Apr 27 5:50 a.m. 0.7 L 12:44 p.m. 1.3 H 7:00 p.m. 0.8 L Apr 28 1:05 a.m. 1.3 H 7:01 a.m. 0.9 L 12:41 p.m. 1.2 H 7:21 p.m. 0.6 L Apr 29 2:29 a.m. 1.3 H 8:13 a.m. 1.0 L 12:29 p.m. 1.2 H 7:45 p.m. 0.4 L Apr 30 3:35 a.m. 1.4 H 9:33 a.m. 1.0 L 12:01 p.m. 1.1 H 8:09 p.m. 0.2 L May 01 4:30 a.m. 1.5 H 8:34 p.m. 0.0 L May 02 5:19 a.m. 1.5 H 9:01 p.m. -0.1 L May 03 6:06 a.m. 1.5 H 9:31 p.m. -0.3 L May 04 6:55 a.m. 1.6 H 10:04 p.m. -0.3 L May 05 7:48 a.m. 1.6 H 10:42 p.m. -0.4 L May 06 8:43 a.m. 1.7 H 11:25 p.m. -0.4 L

Port O’ConnorDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightApr 22 3:27 a.m. -0.1 L 5:11 p.m. 1.1 H Apr 23 4:26 a.m. 0.0 L 5:50 p.m. .0 H Apr 24 5:29 a.m. 0.1 L 6:10 p.m. 1.0 H Apr 25 6:39 a.m. 0.2 L 6:01 p.m. 0.9 H Apr 26 7:56 a.m. 0.3 L 5:34 p.m. 0.8 H Apr 27 9:20 a.m. 0.4 L 5:08 p.m. 0.7 H 10:51 p.m. 0.6 L Apr 28 4:11 a.m. 0.7 H 10:48 a.m. 0.5 L 4:38 p.m. 0.6 H 10:50 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 29 6:09 a.m. 0.7 H 12:31 p.m. 0.5 L 3:45 p.m. 0.6 H 11:06 p.m. 0.3 L Apr 30 7:30 a.m. 0.8 H 11:28 p.m. 0.2 L May 01 8:38 a.m. 0.9 H 11:53 p.m. 0.1 L May 02 9:43 a.m. 1.0 H May 03 12:22 a.m. 0.1 L 10:53 a.m. 1.0 H May 04 12:54 a.m. 0.0 L 12:12 p.m. 1.0 H May 05 1:30 a.m. 0.0 L 1:36 p.m. 1.1 H May 06 2:08 a.m. -0.1 L 2:50 p.m. 1.1 H

RockportDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightApr 22 4:33 a.m. 0.15 L 7:03 p.m. 0.52 HApr 23 5:32 a.m. 0.18 L 8:22 p.m. 0.51 HApr 24 6:27 a.m. 0.21 L 9:38 p.m. 0.49 HApr 25 7:15 a.m. 0.24 L 10:56 p.m. 0.46 HApr 26 7:53 a.m. 0.28 LApr 27 12:25 a.m. 0.43 H 8:18 AM 0.32 L 2:35 p.m. 0.38 H 7:37 p.m. 0.35 LApr 28 2:19 a.m. 0.41 H 8:25 AM 0.36 L 2:04 p.m. 0.40 H 9:15 p.m. 0.32 LApr 29 5:08 a.m. 0.40 H 7:53 AM 0.40 L 1:53 p.m. 0.43 H 10:24 p.m. 0.28 LApr 30 1:53 p.m. 0.46 H 11:17 p.m. 0.25 LMay 01 2:01 p.m. 0.49 HMay 02 12:04 a.m. 0.23 L 2:16 p.m. 0.5 HMay 03 12:48 a.m. 0.21 L 2:39 p.m. 0.51 HMay 04 1:33 a.m. 0.20 L 3:13 p.m. 0.52 HMay 05 2:21 a.m. 0.20 L 3:58 p.m. 0.52 HMay 06 3:12 a.m. 0.20 L 4:53 p.m. 0.52 H

Houston2011 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONApr-May Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets22 Fri 10:11 3:57 10:40 4:25 06:47 07:51 12:08a 10:37a 23 Sat 11:11 4:58 11:37 5:24 06:46 07:52 12:59a 11:37a 24 Sun ----- 5:52 12:04 6:17 06:45 07:52 1:43a 12:36p 25 Mon Q 12:29 6:40 12:52 7:03 06:44 07:53 2:21a 1:33p 26 Tue 1:12 7:23 1:34 7:44 06:43 07:53 2:55a 2:27p27 Wed 1:51 8:02 2:12 8:22 06:42 07:54 3:26a 3:20p 28 Thu 2:28 8:38 2:48 8:58 06:41 07:55 3:55a 4:11p 29 Fri 3:03 9:13 3:23 9:33 06:41 07:55 4:24a 5:03p 30 Sat 3:38 9:49 3:59 10:09 06:40 07:56 4:54a 5:56p 01 Sun > 4:16 10:27 4:38 10:49 06:39 07:57 5:25a 6:50p 02 Mon N 4:58 11:09 5:20 11:32 06:38 07:57 5:59a 7:45p 03 Tue > 5:43 11:55 6:08 12:20 06:37 07:58 6:37a 8:42p 04 Wed > 6:34 12:21 6:59 12:46 06:36 07:59 7:20a 9:37p 05 Thu > 7:28 1:15 7:54 1:41 06:35 07:59 8:08a 10:31p 06 Fri 8:26 2:12 8:52 2:39 06:35 08:00 9:00a 11:23p 07 Sat 9:24 3:11 9:51 3:38 06:34 08:01 9:57a NoMoon 08 Sun 10:23 4:10 10:49 4:36 06:33 08:01 10:57a 12:11a 09 Mon 11:20 5:07 11:45 5:33 06:32 08:02 11:59a 12:55a 10 Tue Q ----- 6:00 12:13 6:26 06:32 08:03 1:02p 1:36a11 Wed 12:38 6:51 1:03 7:16 06:31 08:03 2:05p 2:14a

Port Aransas, H. Caldwell PierDate Time Height Time Height Time Height Time HeightApr 22 12:21 a.m. -0.2 L 9:45 a.m. 2.0 H Apr 23 1:22 a.m. 0.0 L 10:59 a.m. 1.8 H Apr 24 2:31 a.m. 0.2 L 12:03 p.m. 1.7 H Apr 25 3:50 a.m. 0.3 L 12:44 p.m. 1.6 H 6:52 p.m. 0.8 L 10:16 p.m. 1.3 H Apr 26 5:11 a.m. 0.4 L 1:07 p.m. 1.5 H 7:04 p.m. 0.7 L Apr 27 12:11 a.m. 1.4 H 6:21 a.m. 0.5 L 1:21 p.m. 1.5 H 7:20 p.m. 0.6 L Apr 28 1:38 a.m. 1.4 H 7:19 a.m. 0.6 L 1:30 p.m. 1.4 H 7:36 p.m. 0.5 L Apr 29 2:45 a.m. 1.5 H 8:08 a.m. 0.7 L 1:39 p.m. 1.4 H 7:53 p.m. 0.3 L Apr 30 3:39 a.m. 1.6 H 8:50 a.m. 0.8 L 1:48 p.m. 1.5 H 8:13 p.m. 0.2 L May 01 4:25 a.m. 1.7 H 9:27 a.m. 0.9 L 1:57 p.m. 1.5 H 8:36 p.m. 0.1 L May 02 5:06 a.m. 1.8 H 10:00 a.m. 0.9 L 2:04 p.m. 1.5 H 9:02 p.m. 0.0 L May 03 5:46 a.m. 1.8 H 10:29 a.m. 0.9 L 2:08 p.m. 1.5 H 9:32 p.m. 0.0 L May 04 6:28 a.m. 1.8 H 10:56 a.m. 1.0 L 2:06 p.m. 1.6 H 10:06 p.m. -0.1 L May 05 7:13 a.m. 1.8 H 11:22 a.m. 1.0 L 2:07 p.m. 1.6 H 10:42 p.m. -0.1 L May 06 8:04 a.m. 1.8 H 11:24 p.m. -0.1 L

San Antonio2011 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONApr-May Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets22 Fri 10:24 4:10 10:52 4:38 07:00 08:03 12:20a 10:51a 23 Sat 11:23 5:10 11:50 5:36 06:59 08:04 1:11a 11:51a 24 Sun ----- 6:05 12:17 6:29 06:58 08:04 1:55a 12:50p 25 Mon Q 12:41 6:53 1:04 7:16 06:57 08:05 2:33a 1:46p 26 Tue 1:25 7:36 1:46 7:57 06:56 08:06 3:07a 2:40p27 Wed 2:04 8:14 2:24 8:35 06:55 08:06 3:39a 3:33p 28 Thu 2:40 8:50 3:00 9:10 06:54 08:07 4:08a 4:24p 29 Fri 3:15 9:25 3:35 9:45 06:54 08:07 4:37a 5:16p 30 Sat 3:51 10:01 4:11 10:22 06:53 08:08 5:07a 6:08p 01 Sun > 4:29 10:39 4:50 11:01 06:52 08:09 5:38a 7:02p 02 Mon N 5:10 11:22 5:33 11:44 06:51 08:09 6:13a 7:58p 03 Tue > 5:56 ----- 6:20 12:32 06:50 08:10 6:51a 8:54p 04 Wed > 6:46 12:34 7:12 12:59 06:49 08:11 7:34a 9:50p 05 Thu > 7:41 1:28 8:07 1:54 06:48 08:11 8:21a 10:44p 06 Fri 8:38 2:25 9:05 2:51 06:48 08:12 9:14a 11:35p 07 Sat 9:37 3:23 10:03 3:50 06:47 08:13 10:11a NoMoon 08 Sun 10:35 4:22 11:02 4:49 06:46 08:13 11:10a 12:23a 09 Mon 11:32 5:19 11:58 5:45 06:45 08:14 12:12p 1:08a 10 Tue Q 12:02 6:13 12:26 6:38 06:45 08:14 1:15p 1:48a11 Wed 12:51 7:03 1:16 7:28 06:44 08:15 2:18p 2:26a

Amarillo2011 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONApr-May Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets22 Fri 10:37 4:23 11:05 4:51 07:07 08:23 12:49a 10:50a 23 Sat 11:37 5:23 ----- 5:50 07:05 08:24 1:38a 11:52a 24 Sun 12:06 6:18 12:30 6:42 07:04 08:25 2:21a 12:53p 25 Mon Q 12:55 7:06 1:18 7:29 07:03 08:26 2:56a 1:52p 26 Tue 1:38 7:49 2:00 8:10 07:02 08:27 3:28a 2:49p27 Wed 2:17 8:28 2:38 8:48 07:01 08:27 3:56a 3:44p 28 Thu 2:53 9:04 3:14 9:24 07:00 08:28 4:23a 4:38p 29 Fri 3:28 9:39 3:49 9:59 06:59 08:29 4:49a 5:33p 30 Sat 4:04 10:14 4:25 10:35 06:58 08:30 5:16a 6:28p 01 Sun > 4:42 10:53 5:04 11:15 06:56 08:31 5:45a 7:25p 02 Mon N 5:23 11:35 5:46 11:58 06:55 08:32 6:17a 8:23p 03 Tue > 6:09 ----- 6:33 12:46 06:54 08:32 6:53a 9:21p 04 Wed > 7:00 12:47 7:25 1:12 06:53 08:33 7:34a 10:18p 05 Thu > 7:54 1:41 8:20 2:07 06:52 08:34 8:20a 11:13p 06 Fri 8:51 2:38 9:18 3:05 06:51 08:35 9:13a NoMoon 07 Sat 9:50 3:37 10:17 4:04 06:50 08:36 10:10a 12:04a 08 Sun 10:49 4:36 11:15 5:02 06:50 08:37 11:12a 12:50a 09 Mon 11:45 5:32 ----- 5:58 06:49 08:37 12:16p 1:32a 10 Tue Q 12:15 6:26 12:39 6:52 06:48 08:38 1:22p 2:10a11 Wed 1:04 7:17 1:29 7:42 06:47 08:39 2:29p 2:45a

Dallas2011 A.M. P.M. SUN MOONApr-May Minor Major Minor Major Rises Sets Rises Sets22 Fri 10:17 4:03 10:45 4:31 06:49 08:00 12:21a 10:35a 23 Sat 11:16 5:03 11:43 5:29 06:48 08:01 1:12a 11:36a 24 Sun ----- 5:58 12:10 6:22 06:47 08:02 1:55a 12:36p 25 Mon Q 12:34 6:46 12:57 7:09 06:46 08:02 2:32a 1:34p 26 Tue 1:18 7:29 1:39 7:50 06:45 08:03 3:04a 2:30p27 Wed 1:57 8:07 2:17 8:28 06:44 08:04 3:34a 3:24p28 Thu 2:33 8:43 2:53 9:03 06:43 08:05 4:01a 4:17p 29 Fri 3:08 9:18 3:28 9:38 06:42 08:05 4:29a 5:10p 30 Sat 3:44 9:54 4:04 10:15 06:41 08:06 4:57a 6:05p01 Sun > 4:22 10:32 4:43 10:54 06:40 08:07 5:27a 7:00p 02 Mon N 5:03 11:15 5:26 11:37 06:39 08:08 6:00a 7:57p 03 Tue > 5:49 ----- 6:13 12:25 06:38 08:08 6:37a 8:54p 04 Wed > 6:39 12:27 7:05 12:52 06:37 08:09 7:18a 9:51p 05 Thu > 7:34 1:21 8:00 1:47 06:36 08:10 8:05a 10:45p 06 Fri 8:31 2:18 8:58 2:44 06:35 08:11 8:58a 11:37p 07 Sat 9:30 3:16 9:56 3:43 06:34 08:11 9:55a NoMoon 08 Sun 10:28 4:15 1 0:55 4:42 06:33 08:12 10:56a 12:24a 09 Mon 11:25 5:12 11:51 5:38 06:32 08:13 11:59a 1:07a 10 Tue Q ----- 6:06 12:19 6:31 06:32 08:14 1:04p 1:46a 11 Wed 12:44 6:56 1:09 7:21 06:31 08:14 2:09p 2:22a


DATEBOOKApril 22-23First International South Padre IslandTournament Trail 2011(956) 421-4590www.apescar.net

April 27Central Texas Safari Club Wild Game Gourmet DinnerAustin(512) 773-5674

April 28San Antonio Ducks UnlimitedSportsman’s Night OutMacArthur Park Pavilion(210) 396-6282www.ducks.org

Coastal Conservation Association — Dallas ChapterDinner BanquetFrontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas(214) 243-9435www.ccatexas.org

April 29-30Duck JamWolf Pen Creek, College Station(512) 944-3828www.duckjam.org

April 30Women’s Recreational Shooting AssociationAnnual Ladies Charity ShootAmerican Shooting Center, Houstonwww.webupamerica.com/ladyclayshooters

April 30 - May 1Texas Gun and Knife Association Show Hill Country Exhibition CenterKerrville(830) 285-0575www.texasgunandknifeshows.com

April 30 - May 22011 Quail MastersRoby(325) 653-4576

May 5Fort Worth CCA Banquet and AuctionJoe T. Garcia's Mexican RestaurantFort Worth(817) 437-8351

May 6Houston Safari ClubShoot for the TroopsSporting Clays TournamentGreater Houston Gun ClubHouston(713) 623-8844

Operation Game Thief“Clay Stoppers” sporting clays shoot, Buda(512) 389-4381www.ogttx.com

May 7Dallas Safari ClubYouth ‘SAFETY” EventGreystone Castle, Mingus(972) 980-9800www.biggame.org

May 7-8Red River Big Bass ExtravaganzaRed River South MarinaBossier City, LA (903) 383-7748www.bigbassextravaganza.com

May 13-15Great Outdoors ExpoThe Horseshoe CenterMidland(806) 253-1322www.goetx.com

May 14Dallas Safari ClubYPG Crawfi sh boil(972) 980-9800www.biggame.org

May 19Dallas Safari ClubMonthly Meeting(972) 980-9800www.biggame.org

Capital Bass ClubMonthly meetingVFW Post 8787Austinwww.capitalbassclub.com

May 21Texana Outdoor ExpoBreckenridge ParkEdna(361) 782-7272www.breckenridgepark.com

May 24Dallas Safari ClubFt. Worth Regional Meeting(972) 980-9800www.biggame.org

May 28Third Coast Fishing TournamentBluff’s Landing MarinaCorpus Christiwww.winthirdcoast.com

Lone Star Outdoor News, a publication of Lone Star Outdoor News, LLC, publishes twice a month. A mailed subscription is $30 for 24 issues. Newsstand copies are free, one per person. Copyright 2011 with all rights reserved. Reproduction and/or use of any photographic or written material with-out written permission by the publisher is prohibited. Subscribers may send address changes to: Lone Star Outdoor News, P.O. Box 551695, Dallas, TX 75355 or e-mail them to [email protected].

Advertising Call (214) 361-2276 or e-mail editor@lone staroutdoornews.com to request a media kit.

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Contributors Kyle CarterAlan ClemonsDavid DraperWilbur LundeenAaron ReedErich SchlegelDavid SikesScott SommerlatteChuck UzzleRalph Winingham


Texas big bites

GILMER RECORD: Thomas Milam of Pittsburg, Texas claimed a new lake record last month on Gilmer Reservoir with the catch of this 14-pound lunker. The bass, 25 inches long and 21.75 inches in girth, was caught on a pumpkin seed craw worm. Photo by Shane Carter, TPWD.

BIG CAT: Blake Terry, 12, of Odessa, boated this 52-pound catfi sh March 25 while practicing for the 2011 Junior Bassmaster Championship on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. He didn’t win the tournament, but the giant cat will be submitted for a youth lake record on rod and reel. The fi sh provided quite a workout for Blake’s Falcon Bucoo Micro Guide rod and jigging spoon on a 15-pound line. Photo by the Terry family.

BIG SMALLEY: Garrett Leh-rman, 14, of Fort Worth recently caught this 21.5-inch smallmouth bass on plastics during a fi ve-day guided kayak adventure on the Devils River. The fi sh is a pending Texas junior angler catch-and-release state record for a smallmouth bass. Shane Davies of River Run Guide Service guided Garrett and his dad. Photo by Rick Lehrman.

HUBBARD CREEK: Spike Stoker of

Stephenville threw a Jig X jig to catch this 12.93-pound

largemouth last month on Hubbard

Creek Reservoir. The fi sh is a water body

record for weight and a catch-and-release water body record.

Joining him were son Brayden and daugh-ter Macyn. Photo by

TPWD.

Fukae takes second at FLW tournament Shinichi Fukae of Palestine was the second-place fi nisher April 17 at

the Walmart FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga in Tennessee. The winner was Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz.,

who caught a fi ve-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 10 ounces on the last day to win $125,000 at the tournament presented by National Guard.

Fukae caught a total of 20 bass weighing 70-8, which earned him $35,000.

He topped the leader board on Day 1 of the event, but then slipped behind Pirch and stayed there until the fi nish.

Fukae said he fi shed close to banks and targeted brush piles and “junk stuff.” His baits were the shallow-running Lucky Craft RC 2, a Gary Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog and a couple of different soft-plastic creature baits.

Other Texans in the tournament were: Jason Reyes, Huffman, 22nd; Cody Bird, Granbury, 32nd; Sean Hoernke, The Woodlands, 54th; and Nicholas Albus, Trinity, 47th. Clemons, Cole take Bass Champs event

Chris Clemons of Lufkin and Dallas Cole of Leesville, La., combined their catches April 9 to win the Bass Champs East Texas Region tour-nament at Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

The teammates used numerous baits, but their best success came by casting Carolina-rigged fl ukes.

Their fi ve fi sh totaled 24.54 pounds and topped nearly 200 other teams to secure a prize of $20,000.

Also placing in the top fi ve, each with fi ve-fi sh bags, were the teams of: 2nd place, Chris Russell of Montgomery and Mike Power of Canyon Lake, 22.15, $4,000; 3rd place, Keith White of Grapevine and Brian Branum of Brokeland, 20.72, $2,000; 4th place, Nathan Stroup of Willis and Eric Adams of The Woodlands, 20.36, $1,500; and Rusty Harvey of Nederland and Chris Harvey of Vidor, 20.21, $1,100. Mabank angler wins Cowboy Division’ tournament

Mark Allen of Mabank caught fi ve bass totaling 16 pounds, 11 ounces to win $5,296 in the BFL Cowboy Division tournament April 2 on Lake Livingston.

Allen pitched soft plastics in Kickapoo Creek to get his limit.Other top anglers, each with fi ve fi sh, were: 2nd place, Eddie

Ellisor of Coldspring, 16-8, $1,648; 3rd place, Nathan Stroup, Willis, 15-13, $1,099; and 4th place, Matt Ogrodowicz, Cypress, 14-11, $769.

In the co-angler division, James Dunn of Lecompte, La., caught fi ve bass weighing 11 pounds, 12 ounces to win the 1st-place prize of $1,648. Dunn was on Palmetto Creek using watermelon-colored fl ukes. East Texas club wins Federation’s Top 6

The East Texas Bass Association took top honors with a three-day total of 188.13 pounds at the 2011 Texas B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Top 6 State Championship March 28-April 4 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Albert Collins of the Nacagdoches Bass Club won the title “State Champion” with a three-day total weight of 47.63 pounds.

Overall Big Bass honors went to Chris Collier of Tonkawa Bass Club after he brought 9.66 pounds of fi sh to the scales.

Anglers moving on to divisional competition are: Stephen White, Panhandle; Troy Montgomery, West Region; Bobby Gene Whiteside, South Region; and Albert Collins, Southeast Region.

Jarrett Robertson was the Youth State Champion. Texans lead Day 1 of college championship, but get 7th

A pair of anglers from The University of Texas at Tyler held the lead after the fi rst day of the National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championships April 7-9 at Murray, Ky.

But the duo of Matthew McClellan and Tyler Fisher could not hold the spot, which was won by the University of Florida — a repeat of last year.

McClellan and Fisher, both of Tyler, held the Day 1 lead with a total catch of 15 pounds, 4 ounces. They ended the tournament in 7th place, the highest of all competing Texans.

The other teams were: 13th place, Paul Manley of Orange and Andrew Shafer of Chadfi eld, Texas A&M University; 22nd place, Robert Platt of Kennedale and Ryan Watkins of Rockport, Stephen F. Austin University; 24th place, Matt Morrison of Montgomery and Danny Illes of Hemphill, Lamar University. Hemphill angler tops Texas State event

Jim Moroski of Hemphill reeled in 18.74 pounds April 9 and 10 to claim 1st place in the individual division of the 56th annual Texas State Bass Tournament on Toledo Bend Reservoir.

He was followed by Jeff LeBlanc of Magnolia, who won 2nd place with a two-day catch of 16.58 pounds.

The team of John Barns and William Barns, both of Dallas, won the Team Division with their total of 32.11 pounds. The 2nd place team was Dale Rabe of Arlington and Charlie McFarland of Burleson who, together, caught 28.38 pounds.

Earl Golding, a sports writer for the Waco Herald Tribune, founded the tournament in 1955. It has never offered prize money, but more than 200 anglers participated in this year’s event, which was hosted by Fin & Feather Resort. For more results, go to www.texasstatebass.com.

—Staff reports

Bass tournament roundup

nt, til

HELLO AGAIN: Faron McCain of Sweetwater caught this 14.9-pound largemouth, April 14 at O.H. Ivie Reservoir, but this fi sh already had some history. An electronic tag showed that It was also caught a year ago when it became Ivie’s lake record. Photo by Larry D. Hodge, TPWD.

SHINICHI FUKAE

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