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CURRENTSFebruary / March 2015

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On front cover: Chase Stanzelcaptures a superb tarponphoto. For more info, see GreatPhotos, page 22.

What a year!John Blaha looks back over 2014

CCA Texaswraps up a year

of habitatachievements

2014 marked a year of sig-nificant habitat creation and res-toration projects up and down theTexas coast.Several of these projectshave been in the works for manyyears and through the hard work ofpartners they have become realityand a positive affect on Texas’s coastalresources.

These projects include the restoration forCedar Bayou and Vinson Slough; the EastGalveston Bay Oyster Restoration; theNueces Bay Delta Water Management Sys-tems; Oyster Lake Shoreline Protection (WestGalveston Bay); Shoreline and Marsh Protec-tion (Cow Trap Lakes); Bird Island Cove (WestGalveston Bay) Marsh Restoration; MatagordaIsland Marsh Resto-ration; and PortO’ConnorNearshore ReefingSite.

The EastGalveston BayOyster Restorationproject is an effortthat has been on-going since the ar-rival of HurricaneIke on September13, 2008. Hurri-cane Ike damagedroughly 50% of theoyster reefs in theGalveston BaySystem and upwards of 80% in EastGalveston Bay alone.

In September of 2010, CCA Texas be-gan the process of trying to secure restora-tion dollars through the Coastal Impact As-sistance Program (CIAP) that would be usedto help in the restoration effort. After making itthrough the first round, CCA Texas partneredup with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department(TPWD) to move forward through the finalrounds eventually securing $3.2 million forthe effort.CCA Texas kicked in an additional

$500,000 to the project.After many delaysin the process, the project was finally bidand construction began in May of 2014.Some 180 acres of oyster reef have beenrestored in East Galveston Bay using 2" –3" river rock as cultch, and the set of oysterspat has been almost immediate. Areas ofrestoration include 85 acres at Hannah’s, 70acres at Pepper Grove, 15 acres at MiddleReef and 10 acres at CCA Middle Reef.

This project will continue throughmonitoring by TPWD, volunteer fishingsurveys on the reef sites, and outreach byboth TPWD and CCA Texas.

The Nueces Bay Delta Water ManagementSystem project was a joint effort with theCoastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program(CBBEP), Texas General Land Office andothers. The salinity profile in the NuecesDelta had become reversed from what wasnormal for a delta over a period of years,due to a lack of fresh water. Through agree-ments, “x” amount of fresh water is pumpedinto the delta from the Nueces River chan-nel through Rincon bayou, but over timethis water would often back up, back intothe river downstream.

This project installed a series of watercontrol gates into Rincon Bayou in order tokeep the water in the bayou and allow it tonaturally work its way downstream into thedelta. The delta has seen immediate benefitfrom this project and recent visits to the sitehave shown an increase in estuarine life.The return of grasses normally present withsalinity profiles are in line, and the reversal

of these salinity pro-files is ongoing.

Fresh water isa lifeline to coastal es-tuary systems andCCA Texas and otherswill continue in the effortsto secure this fresh waterinflow into these systems

and to make sure they have the opportunity formaximum benefit.

Cedar Bayou is perhaps the most significanthabitat project to date that CCA Texas has beena part of. Much has been written in the pastabout this historical effort, and on September25, 2014 the effort became reality. Through theefforts of many dating back to the early 80’s,this iconic fish pass is once again flowing toand from the Gulf of Mexico.

Since the last issue of Currents Magazine,the bayou has changed tremendously. It haswidened at its mouth, is no longer a straightchannel, continues to provide fresh flows toand from the Gulf and has shown the generalpublic how much mother nature can do in veryshort periods of time.

The project is expected to remain as afunctional pass for seven years, plus or minustwo years, before any maintenance dredging isnecessary.

A maintenance plan was key in securingCCA Texas’s support early on, and to dateAransas County is moving forward in securingthe necessary funds needed to make this reality.On October 15, 2014, this effort received a sig-nificant boost when the Sid Richardson Founda-tion committed $1,000,000 to the Cedar BayouMaintenance fund.

Aransas County had previously commit-ted at least $50,000 a year minimum in HotelOccupancy Taxes and with the Richardsonfoundation commitment and that of the county,the project should be in good hands.

On October 7, 2014, Dr. Greg Stunz and agroup of students visited the bayou for demon-strations in the use of different sampling gear.During this trip, redfish larvae were found in anarea where never once in the prior two yearsof monitoring they had been found.

The official monitoring began on October23, 2014 and there has been an abundance ofredfish larvae and other species found, drivinghome the fact that natural coastal passes are im-portant to the saltwater eco-systems of ourTexas coast.

CCA Texas is excited to continue follow-ing the results of this effort and looks toward a

—Continues on page 8

The moment wheninland waters ofVinson's Sloughand Cedar Bayourejoined the Gulf ofMexico.

A few dayslater, researcherswith the Center for Sportfish Science and Conser-vation found abundant, newly recruited red drumlarvae in the area. See related story on page two.

Oyster reef restora-tion begins.

Nueces Bay wa-ter control gates, apartnership withCoastal Bend Baysand Estuaries.

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Center forSportfishScience andConservation

The Center for Sportfish Scienceand Conservation

(CSSC) has surgicallyimplanted several redfishwith tracking technology aspart of the Cedar Bayoustudy. Each of these fish ismarked with a green external

dart tag. Please releasethese fish if caught and callthe phone number on the tagto let researchers knowwhere you caught the fishand to add valuable move-ment information to theirstudy! If you decide to keep atagged fish or if the fish diesin the process of beingcaught, please keep the blackcylindrical acoustic tag im-planted in the fish and call(361) 825-2028. This researchis heavily dependent on thecooperation of local anglers,and your support is greatlyappreciated!

$250,000 grantto fundground-breakingmarine researchprojects

The Coastal Conservation AssociationTexas deepened its commitment to

marine resource science with a $250,000grant to the Center for Sportfish Scienceand Conservation (CSSC) that will fundongoing research into many of the key sci-entific issues facing the ecosystems thatsupport Gulf of Mexico sportfishing. TheCSSC is housed within the Harte ResearchInstitute for Gulf of Mexico Studies atTexas A&M University-Corpus Christi andwas founded in 2012, in part with a $500,000commitment from CCA Texas.

“In the few short years that the Cen-ter has been operating, marine research-ers there have developed incredible in-sights into the needs and behaviors of keyspecies that anglers cherish,” said MarkRay, chairman of CCA Texas. “We are

learning things that can im-mediately be applied to bet-ter the management ofthose species. The work todate has been extremelyimpressive and we want toensure that the Center haseverything it needs to con-tinue to be a force forhealthy marine resources.”

Since 2012, CSSC has doneextensive work on the im-pact that passes like CedarBayou have on bay ecosys-tems and on the effect of di-minishing Gulf habitat. It isalso helping to pioneer de-velopment of an extensivearray of sensors and track-ing technology to gain criti-cal insight into the migra-tory patterns of fishthroughout the Gulf ofMexico. The latest $250,000grant from CCA Texas willbe applied over five yearsto continue these and otherresearch efforts.

“Recreational anglers areour natural partners in theconservation of marine re-sources, and the Center isuniquely positioned to developscience that supports the multi-billion dollar recreational fishingindustry on the Texas coast andthe Gulf of Mexico,” said Dr. GregStunz, director of CSSC and En-dowed Chair for Fisheries andOcean Health at the Harte Re-search Institute. “This is a uniquepartnership that is focused solelyon improving the marine envi-ronment, and we are excited toPhoto, Chase Stanzel

Chase Stanzel has provided a wealth of excellent photos forthis issue. The angler/photographer and friends Heath andHunter Spence (she caught the megalops atlanticus) CPR'dthe tarpon on the front cover. An even larger tarpon was re-leased that day off Port O'Connor with a satellite radio tag.

have additional resources to fulfill that mission.”“Both inshore and offshore sportfish face manychallenges – natural and man-made – and it iscritical that the science is available to properlymanage those fisheries,” said Robby Byers, CCATexas executive director. “Recreational anglershave already recognized that the work beingdone by CSSC is vital to the health and availabil-ity of those resources in the future. We are proudto be a partner in their efforts and look forward tobuilding this unique relationship.”

~4~2015 Ford F-150 “Texas Edition” XLT SuperCab with Haynie 23 Bigfoot, the Redfish Division prize.

26th Annual CCAState of TexasAnglers’ Rodeo

Register Now and Get Inthe Early Bird Drawings!Happy 2015 Saltwater Anglers! This cold, wintryweather might be gettin’ ya down, making you feela little stir-crazy, but not to worry… another funfishing season in just a few months away! Don’tforget to mark your calendars! This year’s eventbegins at sunrise May 23 and will run through 5p.m., Monday, Sept. 7 (Labor Day). Could this beyour year to claim one of over $1,000,000 in prizesand scholarships?! SPOOL UP AND GET READYfor the 26th Annual CCA Texas STAR Tournament!

YOU’VE GOT TO BE IN TO WIN! ATTENTIONALL ANGLERS PLANNING TO FISH THE TEXASCOAST THIS SUMMER! In order to win one of a$1,000,000 in prizes being offered in Texas’ largest,richest, summer-long saltwater fishing event, anangler must be a CURRENT member of CCA, inaddition to being registered as a 2015 TEXASSTAR entrant. Effective January 1st, the CCA mem-bership fee is $30 annually and the 2015 STARTournament fee is still $20 for a total of $50. In or-der to win at STAR, an angler must be registeredand be a current member of CCA.

YOUNG ANGLERS FISH FOR FREE! Young anglersages 6–17, the “New Tide” membership fee re-mains $10 annually and the STAR entry fee isFREE!!! Of course, we want all kids on the water.CCA “New Tide” members will continue to havethe opportunity to win giant scholarships to fundtheir college education for just the price of a $10CCA “New Tide” Membership. We thank our gen-erous sponsors for making it possible for us to of-fer young anglers this great opportunity. To be eli-gible to fish STAR, “New Tide” Members MUSTBE at least 6 years of age in 2015 and under age 18 toenter for FREE. It is the “New Tide” Member’s re-sponsibility to make sure their CCA membership iscurrent and that they are registered for the currentyear STAR tournament.

As you start making plans, be on the lookout inyour mailbox. Our great partner, Academy Sports+ Outdoors, will be sending all current CCA Texasmembers a very special bonus as a reminder andto help with some of your fishing expenses. Wealso want to remind you to take advantage of allthe other great Early Bird and Mem-

ber incentives available to CCA Texas STARparticipants. Be sure and register now to getinto the Early Bird Drawings. Several prizes willbe given away and they’re sure to be a reelcatch! Be sure and get everyone signed up forthe 2015 STAR! Please see below for more de-tails:

2015 EARLY BIRD DRAWINGS! Don’t forget, bysigning up now you’ll get your shot at landingone of the many great prize offerings just forregistering early! Check out the special “EarlyBird” prizes below available ONLY for those en-trants who sign up before the tournament kicksoff. The Coors Light “Early Bird” Promotion willagain offer another awesome “grand prize”boat package! The Dargel 210 Skout with a Mer-cury 150 ProXS Optimax motor and McClaintrailer – a prize package valued at around$35,000! Everyone ages 21 and over that signs upnow through May 22ndwill automatically be en-tered into this special drawing, along with the20 other great prizes being offered. Everyoneage 20 and under that signs up now throughMay 22nd will automatically be entered for the

20 other great“Early Bird”prizes.

Henry Ehlerof Pearlandwas lastyear's luckywinner of theCoors Light“Early Bird”Grand Prize - Dargel 210 Skout boat, Mercury150 Pro XS OptiMax motor and McClain trailer

You know you’ll go so might as well do it now!Remember, everyone entered in the STAR Tour-nament, who will be 6 years old in 2015 andolder, is eligible to win the prizes being offeredeven the TAGGED REDFISH DIVISION! You cansign up NOW online atwww.startournament.org!!! Don’t miss “theboat” or “the truck and boat”… register today!

CCA TEXAS MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS - Ourmost generous sponsor offerings still continueto add more value to your CCA Texas Member-ship. Be sure and remember to take advantage of

2015 STAR Early Bird DrawingDeadline to enter is May 22nd

GRAND PRIZEDargel 210 Skout, Mercury

150 Pro XPS Motor and McClain Trailer(must be at 21 years old

to win boat prize package)

20 MORE GREAT PRIZES9.9 hp Mercury Kicker Motor

Three (3) American Rodsmith Rod& Mettle H2O Express Reel Combos

Thermo-ElectricTravel Cooler & Warmer

the following wonderful benefits your CCAmembership affords you!

Ford X-Plan Pricing (see details below)

$10 gift card courtesy of Academy Sportsand Outdoors (see details below)

Texas Fish & Game Magazine subscription(see details below)

$1000 worth of free upgrades with yourpurchase of a new Tilson home (see ad on page23)

FORD X-PLAN PRICING - CCA Texas membershave been remarkably honored by the TexasFord Dealers. They approved X-Plan pricingfor us; that is, every current member can buy(or lease) any Ford product at the same priceFord employees must pay. This means we cansave up to $1,000 or much more, just by having avalid $25 CCA membership card!!! Our FordPartner Code # is CCA 61; go towww.fordpartner.com, if you are considering apurchase.

SIGN-UP EARLY ANDRECEIVE A SPECIAL BO-NUS FROM ACADEMYSPORTS & OUTDOORS -One more great reasonto sign up! Academy Sports + Outdoors will maila $10 gift coupon in May just in time for fishingseason! This is a limited time offer, so do it be-fore it’s too late!!! Special thanks to AcademySports + Outdoors for continuing to make yourCCA membership and STAR entry such an awe-some value!

NEW! TEXAS FISH & GAMEMAGAZINE “BONUS DIGITALSUBSCRIPTION!” - We all loveFREE stuff, and speaking of FREEstuff many STAR anglers have dis-covered the benefit and conve-nience of using digital technologyand have requested we do the same. TexasFish & Game Magazine is thrilled to announce2015 CCA Texas STAR participants are now eli-gible for a FREE one-year (12 issues) DIGITALsubscription. This subscription (normally $11.99/year) will allow you to access the latest andmost in-depth outdoors information anywhereand anytime on your smart phone, tablets anddesktops. Now STAR anglers have the chanceto embrace the latest in technology, plus con-serve our natural resources. We are grateful toTexas Fish & Game for providing this STAR-onlybenefit, while saving some trees and giving youmore options. Be sure and include your emailaddress when you register for this year’s tour-nament to automatically receive your FREE digi-tal subscription.

If you still wish to receive Texas Fish &Game in print magazine form, no problem… aspecial STAR angler price of $8 a year (vs.$17.99/year) is still available, including your ac-cess to the digital version at no extra cost! Ifyou wish to take advantage of this special STARangler discounted print subscription price, beon the lookout in your email or mailbox for de-tails on how to activate this special offer. If youhave questions regarding your past or currentsubscription, please call (800) 725-1134 or emailsubscriptions@fishgame.com.

TILSON HOMES $1,000 in FREE Upgrades – Ev-ery CCA Texas member who purchases aTilson Home is eligible for a value discount.Tilson will give you $1,000 off on any upgradesuch as ceramic tile, hardwood floors, kitchencabinetry and more. See ad in the CCA TexasCURRENTS newsletter for more details or call1 (888) 540-6705.

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Time Warner Cable StarTeens Inshore Division -This youth scholarship division is open to allNew Tide members ages 11-17 and awards a$20,000 college scholarship for each fisher-teenwith the largest flounder, gafftop and sheeps-head statewide.

But Wait, There’s More…

Runner-Up Prizes - The first through fourth run-ners-up in all divisions will receive various giftcertificates from Academy Sports & Outdoors.

“New Tide” Member Drawing - The “New Tide”Scholarship Drawing will be offered again in2015. “New Tide” STAR participants at least, 6 -17 years old in 2015, are eligible for a bonus draw-ing that will net one lucky youth a $20,000 collegescholarship even if the participant never wets aline or enters a single fish during the entire tour-nament.

Member Bonus Drawing - This unique drawingoffers STAR entrants a chance to win a fabulousboat prize package even if the participant neverwets a line. One lucky contestant’s name will bedrawn to win a model with a Dargel 210TVboat, Mercury150 Pro XS OptiMax outboard andMcClain trailer.

Major sponsors for the 26th Annual CCATexas STAR Tournament include: TexasFord Dealers, Tilson Home Corporation,Capital Farm Credit, Mercury Marine,Academy Sports + Outdoors,Whataburger, Ozarka, Rio Ammunition,KTRK-abc13, Houston Community News-

!!! ATTENTION !!!*** 2015 STAR Platinum Print Membership ***

NOW AVAILABLEWe are pleased to offer the new 2015 CCA Texas STAR Platinum package, Split Screen! Re-nowned artist David Drinkard has created another fine print exclusively for CCA Texasmembers! Only 1,750 will be available through this special membership level, which in-cludes your CCA membership (new or renewal) + STAR Tournament Entry… all for less thanthe value of this premium print alone! This 16" x 24" print is on acid-proof paper stock to en-sure many years of enjoyment. Package includes your CCA membership (new or renewal),your 2015 CCA Texas STAR entry, plus this special signed, limited-edition print created exclu-sively for STAR, all for $125!

Split Screen isa one-of-a-kind printworth thisprice alone. Ifyou wouldlike to con-sider one, orseveral, ofthese limited-edition pack-ages, go to:http://www.startournament.orgmore detailsor to placeyour orderwith the STARDept., call(713) 626-4222.Be one of theFIRST to ownthis collectors’piece! GETYOURS TO-DAY!!!

Offshore Division Prize- Polaris Ranger® Crew570 EPS

180 SV Southern Skiff boat, Mercury 115 OptiMaxmotor and McClain trailer.In the past twenty years, STAR has awarded$5,235,000 in college scholarships to 164 fisher-kids across the state, ranging from 6-17 years ofage and 2015 continues to offer plenty of reasonfor everyone to round up their kid(s), a rod andreel and head for the water.StarKid Flounder Division – This division givesentrants age 6-10 a chance to win a $50,000 col-lege scholarship for the largest flounder caughtthroughout the summer.

Fox Sports Southwest StarKid Gafftop Division –This division gives entrants age 6-10 a chance towin a $50,000 college scholarship for the largestgafftop caught throughout the summer.

Houston Community Newspapers StarKid Sheeps-head Division – This division gives entrants age6-10 a chance to win a $50,000 college scholar-ship for the largest sheepshead caught through-out the summer.

Academy Sports & Outdoors StarTeens Trout Di-vision - This youth scholarship division is opento all New Tide members ages 11-17 andawards a $20,000 college scholarship for each

fisher-teen with the largest trout inthe upper, middle and lowercoasts. FRIENDLY REMINDER…The minimum weight requirementfor the trout is six pounds. For allfish weighing less than six pounds,if no intentions of mounting youngangler’s prize catch, please take aquick picture and immediately re-lease back into the water.

Trout Division - Shoalwater 21’ Catwith a Mercury 150 Pro XS OptiMax

Inshore Division - Bluewater 180SV Southern Skiff with a Mer-cury 115 OptiMax

2015 PRIZE LINE-UP - One of our goals has al-ways been to keep the tournament fee as reason-able as possible and thanks to our wonderfulsponsors, we have been able to do so for the last25 years. In 2002, we were able to begin offeringNew Tide members (ages 6 - 17) the opportunity tofish the tournament FREE of charge. Over the lasttwo and a half decades, CCA Texas STAR hasbeen extremely fortunate to provide members ofall ages with some really outstanding prize pack-ages and college scholarships and 2015 will offeran equally amazing prize line-up! Contestantshave a chance at winning over 100 prizes includingtrucks, boats, motors, trailers and college scholar-ships in the following categories:

Texas Ford Dealers Redfish Division – Texas FordDealers continue to make this division the “Bestin Texas”! They will again give each of the firstfive registered STAR participants who catch taggedredfish a brand new truck to get to their fishingdestination in a tough, dependable and stylishride. The first five registered anglers to weigh-in atagged red will receive a 2015 Ford F-150 “TexasEdition” truck. Haynie Boats returns with theawesome Haynie 23 Bigfoot rigged with a motorand Coastline Trailer completing this amazingpackage. The next five weighed in will receive thesame boat, motor and trailer packages.

For young anglers not of legal driving age and whoreel in the famous tagged red, he or she will re-ceive the boat package plus a $20,000 collegescholarship, in lieu of the truck.

Trout Division - ATTENTION TROUT ANGLERS!After years of requesting a more versatile boatprize for this division, we hear you! This year win-ners in upper, middle, and lower coast regionswill each take home the awesome Shoalwater 21’catamaran boat with a Mercury 150 Pro XSOptiMax motor and McClain trailer. The 21’ Shoal-

water Cathull designprovides anexcellentride with an8" draft al-lowing youto get reallyshallow,plus runs

well in the heavy chop due to the tunnel hull de-sign. FRIENDLY REMINDER… If you’re unsure atrout is large enough to qualify, consider this “easyrule-of-thumb” - if length is less than 27 inches,chances are it won’t meet the eight pound mini-mum weight requirement for the Trout Division.Unless you intend to mount your fish as a per-sonal best, why not think about releasing anythingthat might not make the cut so shecan re-seed the bays.

Offshore Division – ATTENTIONBLUE WATER ANGLERS!Hoffpauir Auto & Out-door Store continues topartner with us to pro-vide the offshore anglersomething that will comein very handy after a longtrip on the high seas. An-glers who land the heaviest kingfish, dorado andling will each receive an awesome PolarisRanger® Crew 570 EPS UVsin Polaris Pursuit Camoeach with a Big Tex 35saTrailer!

Inshore Division – Each win-ner that reels in the largestflounder, gafftop and sheep-shead will be handsomelyrewarded with Blue Wave’s

Split Screen! By renowned artist David Drinkard

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Heroes ofConservationNational Sports Afield

awards include fourCCA-Texas members

Ronnie Luster / 2006The first recipient of

the Top Award

Capt. Billy Sandifer / 2009Finalist

Miller and Kathie Bassler / 2014Nationally broadcast video

Abandoned Crab TrapClosure will begin on

February 20 and run 10days, through March 1.

Art Morris, Fishery OutreachSpecialist: The big news this year is the si-multaneous closure in Sabine Lake. The Texasprogram began in 2002 and volunteers haveremoved 31,237 traps to date. CCA Texas,Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program andmany others are again supporting theprogram.Full details should be complete andposted on the website of www.tpwd.texas.us.You can also email crabtrap@tpwd.state.tx.us forany questions.

Thanks again for the CCA’s involvement.We look forward to working with you. Pleasefeel free to contact me if you have any ques-tions. —Art MorrisTexas Parks & Wildlife Dept.crabtrap@tpwd.texas.gov andart.morris@tpwd.texas.gov andwww.tpwd.state.tx.us

Norman Boyd, San Antoino BayEcosytem Leader: It’s that time again, timeto spend a beautiful Texas winter day on thebay collecting abandoned crab traps. If theweather cooperates, February 21 will be thetarget day for our consolidated effort. As in re-

Big Shell and Port Mansfield Beach Cleanups 2015Capt. Billy Sandifer20th annual Big Shell cleanup, Sat-urday, March 28Volunteers will meet at Malaquite Pa-vilion on PINS and the event will com-mence at 7 a.m. All volunteers will beback at the pavilionby 2 pm. Four wheeldrive vehicles, trail-ers for haulingtrash in and out ofthe work area, andworking volunteersare needed. Walk-ing volunteers(those arriving intwo wheel drive ve-hicles) are welcomeand will be affordedtransportation toand from the workarea. Those havingfour-wheel drive vehicles are welcometo aid in hauling volunteers and trash.The event will not be rescheduled andwill take place rain or shine.

Snacks, water, and soft drinks willbe available in the work area and re-freshments will be availableat Malaquite following theevent. Long pants andsturdy foot wear are recom-mended. Volunteers will re-ceive event t-shirts. Pleasecome and join us.—Friends of Padre

Miller andKathie Bassler7th Annual Port MansfieldEast Cut & Beach Cleanup, Saturday,March 21

Last year, CCA members cleaned ahuge area of the Mansfield East Cutand PINS beach.

Join us again for lots of fun anda collector T shirt. We'll start at 7am, the Port Mansfield CC Pavilionwhere breakfast will be served. Afree box lunch will also be pro-vided. Afterwards, enjoy drinks andTexas chili at PELICAN’S PUB.

Cash donations welcomed,and we could use some boat cap-tains willing to provide ferry ser-vice. Free housing will be pro-vided by our generous sponsorson an availability basis with pri-ority given to youth groups of anykind.—Miller and Kathy Bassler / 979-

535-4593, or cell phones 979-204-5185 or 979-324-5555.

For photos from recent events, go to theYouTube site below. Music included by CraigCarter! Just type this link into your browser: YouTube, CCA Beach & Cut Cleanup

Three national "Heroes of Conser-vation" met for the first time at the2014 Port Mansfield East CutBeach Cleanup. Kathy and MillerBassler enjoy a comment fromCapt. Billy Sandifer.

cent years Charlie’s and the POC TPWDdocks will be facilitated and have dumpsters.I will have gloves, tarps (donated by CoastalBend Bays & Estuaries Program), andbottled water (donated by CCA) available atthe site on Saturday, and at my office the Fri-day before. If anyone has any big plans forthose locations (food, dance, tractor pull,etc) let me know and I’ll alert everyone.

To date we have removed 9,942 aban-doned traps from the San Antonio Bay sys-tem, and 31,237 coastwide since the pro-gram began in 2002. The San Antonio Baysystem has accounted for 32% of the trapsremoved coastwide and the Galveston Baysystem 40%.

If I’ve missed anyone please forwardthis and cc me so I can add them to the distri-bution list. If you have questions hit me with

an email. I’ll be in touch more as we get closer. —Norman BoydSan Antonio Bay Ecosystem LeaderPhone 361-983-4425 ext223Mobile 361-553-9808Fax 361-983-4404

Louisiana to join Texasin Crab Trap CleanupThe Sabine Lake crab trap closure is scheduled tobegin at 6 a.m. February 20, 2015 through 6 a.m.March 1, 2015 and also includes portions of theSabine River and other parts of Cameron Parishimmediately east of Sabine Lake.—Martin Bourgeois Marine Fisheries Biologisthttp://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/news/38443

papers, Fox Sports Southwest, TimeWarner Cable, Haynie Boats, ShoalwaterBoats, Hoffpauir Auto & Outdoor Stores,Dargel Boats, Blue Wave Boats, TexasFish & Game Magazine, Texas Oilman’sCharity Fishing Tournament, CoastlineTrailers, McClain Trailers, Chris’s Marineand Mt. Houston Marine.For more information, go to http://www.startournament.org Thanks for supportingCCA Texas and the STAR Tournament!

TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR’S NOTES:Capital Farm Credit paid yet again an all-timerecord of $65 million in cash patronage to theircustomers last Spring! CCA members appreciateCapital Farm Credit financing their “piece ofheaven”… WOW!

Rio Texas game loads are $4 cheaper, per box,than other comparable brands. And, Rio sup-ports STAR Scholarships!!! The Rio Texas loads(dove, quail) and Rio Blue Steel loads (ducks,geese) are superior shells and the best value.Go Rio!

STAR has reached $5,235,000in scholarships awarded to

children6-17 years of age.

Many thanks to our sponsorsfor making this happen.

Without them, it would notbe possible.

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CURRENTS is a membership benefit of the CoastalConservation Association-Texas. It is published bi-monthly, alternate months from the Coastal ConservationAssociation (CCA) TIDE Magazine. Address, 6919Portwest, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77024. Phone: 713-626-4222. FAX: 713-961-3801. www.ccatexas.org

Editor, Sam Caldwell / sam@samcaldwell.comThis is the issue of February / March 2015

Vol. 33, Issue 2

Welcome to theCCA Texas

OnlineAuction

Sponsored by Costa Del MarWe have some great merchandise

up for grabs this month!

Available online 11 am,Feb. 9 till 11 am, Feb 13.

To bid and win, go to ccatexas.organd click on the link (left hand side)

online auction.Good luck!—Brian Weaver,Banquet Assistant, CCA Texas

Bogg Bag SetSummer will be here before we know it andwhat could be better than this awesome set ofBogg Bag beach bags with CCA logo tags.

These bags are great for holding all ofyour gear for a beach and or fishing boat trip.

CCATackleBoxShow yoursupport forCCA whilekeeping all ofyour essentialfishing gearstowed awayin this awe-some CCA de-luxe tackle box.

Sponsored by ourfriends at Costa.

GrGrGrGrGreat Feat Feat Feat Feat Foods / Editoods / Editoods / Editoods / Editoods / Editor Ellen Ohmsor Ellen Ohmsor Ellen Ohmsor Ellen Ohmsor Ellen Ohmstttttedeedeedeedeede

Ingredients:2 Flour Tortillas / 8 oz blackened Fish Fi-lets / Cajun Slaw / Chipotle Remoulade

Cajun Slaw:2 cups red cabbage / ½ cup cilantro½ cup shredded carrots / ½ cup greenonion / 1 T citrus vinegar

Chipotle Remoulade:1 cup chipotle Mayonnaise / 1/2chopped sweet pickle / ½ cup choppedcelery / ½ cup chopped onion1 T Ketchup / 1 T minced garlic / DashWorcestershire / Dash Cajun Seasoning

Black Bean Corn Relish:1 cup roasted fresh corn / 1 can blackbeans / 1 cup diced tomatoes / ½ cup

Blackened Fish Tacos

chopped cilantro / ½ to whole choppedjalapeño (depending on the level of heat de-sired / Juice of one lemon (to taste)

Blackened Fish:Brooks Bassler of BB's Cafe, says: "Useyour favorite blackened seasoning. Coatboth sides of the fish. Use a sautee pan filledwith ¼ inch oil at 350 degrees. Place filetinto oil and cook for 2-3 minutes on eachside. Fish should have a crispy 'black' exte-rior."

BB's is known as an award-winningNew Orleans-themed cafe with several loca-tions around Houston. www.bbscafe.com—Ellen Ohmstede

Thanks to Brooks Bassler of BB's Cafe

One of CCA’s all-timefavorite CCA workers retiresKim Vollentine started with GCCA in 1984 as anexecutive assistant and then was moved to an As-sistant Director position to help local chapterswith their fundraising efforts. She was a tremen-dous asset to the organization, especially in theearly years when the organization was gettingstarted.

CCA will always be indebted to herloyalty and all the effort she gave tomake this organization what it is to-day. —Robby Byers As one of many chapter presi-dents who were greatly benefittedby Kim's patience and expertise, Iknow I speak for all: we will miss herand wish her the best in her next en-deavors.—Sam CaldwellLeft: Kim receives an award from RobbyByers, but not the day off. Below, BenKocian memorialized a tarpon hookup byKim.

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long-lasting flow bringing freshlife into the surrounding eco-systems daily.

The Oyster Lake Shoreline Pro-tection Project continues to dowell. Sediments continue to fillin behind the breakwaters in-stalled, rebuilding the lost shore-line. In June of 2014 a grassplanting effort was held withpartner Galveston Bay Founda-tion (GBF), volunteers from theHouston Zoo, and others and thevegetation is doing well.

GBF continues to move for-ward with Phase II of the projectthat will install approximately5,000 feet of additional breakwa-ter and hopes to begin construc-tion of this phase in the spring of2015.

These projects and otherssuch as Bird Island Cove MarshRestoration, Matagorda IslandMarsh Restoration and the PortO’Connor Nearshore Reefingsite that are still ongoing are im-portant to the health of Texas’scoast.

CCA Texas is committedto ensuring that the TexasCoastal Habitat is healthy andlooks forward to continuingits work with partners such asTexas Parks and Wildlife,Galveston Bay Foundation,Coastal Bend Bays and Estuar-ies, Aransas County, HarteResearch Institute, Ducks Un-limited and others.

With the continued sup-port of CCA Texas members,volunteers and supporters,habitat projects will continueto be reality and a benefit tothe coast.

Grass rootsand conservationequal success

As you open the pages of this month’s Cur- rents Newsletter, CCA Texas will have al- ready held one banquet, been a part of theHouston and San Antonio boat shows and is pre-paring for the All Valley and Coastal Bend showsas well.

Hunters are putting away their hunting gearand prepping their fishing gear, while the trophytrout enthusiasts have been at it for a couple ofmonths now, chasing that once in a lifetime speck-led trout.

January and February also signal the kickofffor CCA Texas across the state, as the planning ac-

tivities for the year kick intoplace, and for some chapters,into high gear.

2014 was once again a recordsetting year for CCA Texasand chapters across the state.Attendance and money raisedwere both at all time highs.

None of this wouldbe possible withoutthe continued sup-port of volunteersand supporters at thegrass roots level ofall the local chap-ters.

The support ofvolunteers, mem-bers and sponsors isunparalleled by anyother like organiza-tion in the state andacross the nation,and CCA Texas isthankful for this sup-port as it continuesto move forward in

ensuring a healthy coastal resource for theentire state of Texas.

The belief in CCA continues to bestrong as evidenced by the continuedgrowth not only in Texas but in states alongthe Gulf, Atlantic and Pacific.

The organization established its first in-land state chapter when a group of passion-ate anglers in Nashville approached the or-ganization about establishing a NashvilleChapter. Several anglers in the area regu-larly fish the Florida Panhandle and other ar-eas, and wanted to be a part of the organiza-tion that made a difference for the coastal re-sources all along the United States coasts.

The event was held in November andwas a sellout and great success. The contin-ued success of CCA Texas and other statechapters across the nation point to a grow-

ing desire and belief that present day anglersmust step up to the plate and take a responsibleattitude to ensure that the present day genera-tion and those in the future will be able to enjoyhealthy and bountiful coastal resources. Manytimes the desire may be the same, but the ap-proach by different organizations may be differ-ent. In the end, the key to any conservation ef-fort is to put the resource first and everyonebenefits.

How can you help? There are many op-portunities to help in the coastal conserva-

tion efforts in Texas. Looking to volunteer?How about becoming an active member inyour local CCA Chapter, taking part in a clean-up activity such as the Annual Crab TrapCleanup or the Padre Island National SeashoreBig Shell Cleanup, participating in Marsh Maniaon the Upper Texas Coast, or simply carrying atrash bag with you every time you hit the waterand picking up trash as you go along; or edu-cating yourself about issues along the coast andbecoming an active participant in the publichearing process. Opportunities are every-where, and you do not have to look far to findthem. CCA Texas and the local chapters welcomenew faces to the area banquet planning commit-

tees and chapter boards. Visitwww.ccatexas.org or call the CCA offices at(713) 626-4222 and ask for your areachapter’s Assistant Director and they willget you in contact with the right person ormake suggestions on how you can get in-volved.

In closing, I recently found myself in a conversation with Capt. Jay Watkinsafter a recent trip on which one of his clientshad caught a life-time trout. As the conver-sation carried on, Jay reflected about howeverything just worked out perfectly: theplanning, the preparation, the approach dur-ing the day of fishing, and lastly how oncehooked, the fish was brought to hand just asit should be in a rewarding manner. High fives and hugs were shared, photostaken and then the fish was released and the

reflection began. We talked some more about it,and he closed with the fact that a lot of peoplenever get to experience that once in a lifetimefish and that some are luckier and get to experi-ence it more than once.

His last comment knocked me back in mychair and hit me hard. One of his very close andbest friends is currently in a battle for his lifewith cancer. His comment was that his bestfriend most likely would never get to experi-ence that opportunity again.This commentdrove home the fact that each and every tripout we should stop and spend just a few min-utes to enjoy what we are surrounded by, be-cause that could be our last time out. Enjoy theresource and take care of it for the future!—John Blaha

Shoreline grass protection added projects,nearshore reefing gained momentum, andthe Concert for Conservation broughtgreat music from Hank Williams Jr.,Wade Bowen and 38 Special.

Continued from page 2

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CaughtRedhanded!

Report from TP&WGame Wardens

Painting of Herb Booth, "Fish Hawks," and photo of HectorMendietta by Sam Caldwell

In the early morn-ing hours of No-vember 14th, 2014,Galveston CountyGame WardensRobert Kana andRay Canales werepatrolling the eastend of GalvestonIsland for illegalnetting violationswhen they ob-served a suspi-cious vehicle inthe area.

The vehiclecontinued to leaveand return to the area they werewatching. This part of Galveston Is-land is known for illegal nettingconcerns, especially during theflounder run. Using an unmarkedunit and with the aid of night-visionequipment donated by CCA, War-den Canales was able to move to aposition where he could observethe vehicle and its occupants.Canales watched as two suspectsexited the vehicle and entered thewaters near the south jetty. TheWarden continued to watch as thesuspects waded through the waterand began to place fish into a sackfrom a gill net.

Approximately one hour later,the two subjects exited the water,

loaded the fish into their vehicle and pro-ceeded to leave East Beach. Warden Canalesadvised Warden Kana that the vehicle wasleaving the area at which time Warden Kanainitiated a traffic stop.

In the vehicle Warden Kana found two oc-cupants still soaking wet from being in the wa-ter and 121 flounder. Both men were placedunder arrest for fishing with illegal fishing de-

vices (gill nets) and for ex-ceeding the legal posses-sion limit of flounder. Us-ing a patrol boat, WardensCanales and Kana returnedto the area of East Beach,Galveston Island, andwere able to retrieve twogill nets from the water.An additional 127 fishwere removed from the il-legal fishing devices.

CCA loses twodedicated conservationists

Herb Booth was one of the earliest sup-porters of the fledgling GCCA. Early on,he donated his wildlife paintings to raisefunds, and recruited other artists to dothe same. Booth was a passionate angler,bird hunter, andone of thenation's finestoutdoor artists.He helped es-tablish the Red-fish Bay chap-ter, and was asupporter ofCCA until hisdeath.

Hector Mendietta was a longtime presi-dent of the MidCoast CCA chapter, a finemusician and expert builder. He workedintensely for months to bring a fishingpier at the CCA's Flour Bluff hatchery tocompletion. His goal was to give childrenof all ages, including children with handi-caps, the opportu-nity to hook andland a fish. In re-turn, he hoped theywould gain a greaterappreciation for thearea's natural re-sources. It was fit-tingly dedicated asthe HectorMendietta Pier.

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Middle CoastUpper Coast Lower CoastCapt. Danny NeuBy Capt. Ralph Frazier By Capt. Gordon Taylor

Slow action, but maybe a trophyFebruary will be a great opportunity to catchthat personal best trout, but you will have to bepatient with your lure presentation. A Corkyworked really slow, as well as your favoritecolored Bass Assassin, on the outside of Dag-ger Island in 4 to 6 foot water could producesome really big trout. You won’t get as manyhits as you do in the springtime, so make sureto really concentrate on your hook set.

For the bait fisherman, use sea lice or deadshrimp free lined with a small split shot in theship channel across from the old Navy base inIngleside for the annual big drum run. You can’tkeep any of these big drum, but they will pro-vide a great experience for your beginner an-gler as well as the picture of a lifetime.

March will really start heating up for a va-riety of fish. You can catch trout, redfish, andflounder using your favorite soft plastics andtopwaters while either wading or drifting theflats of Hog Island, Ransom Island, or DaggerIsland when the sun has warmed the bays.

The bait fisherman can enjoy an even big-ger variety of fish working the jetties in PortAransas. You can either fish from the jetties oranchor your boat near the rocks for some red-hot sheepshead action using live shrimp. Theyare breeding this time of the month and will beaggressively feeding in big numbers. Therewill also be some big trout and reds feeding aswell. Make sure to dress according to theweather during these two months and be pre-pared to catch some really nice fish.—Capt. Gordon Taylor / 361-319-0099taylor99@cableone.net.

Doldrums, but a wall hanger?As we move from the doldrums of winter andhead into spring, fishing in the Upper Coast willstart to explode with action. Watch for thoseoccasional warming days, as fish will be feed-ing more often, giving us a better chance tocatch more and better numbers.

In early February and moving to mid-month, the back of Trinity Bay wade fishingwith Corky’s and Mirrolures can be extremelyproductive. Work the shell in Jack’s pocketwith the current moving either way, but re-member that as the fronts come through, theywill push the water out some of the prime ar-eas, making them too shallow to fish, so watchthe tides.

If you didn’t catch the fish of a lifetime togo on the wall in December or January, youstill have three months when the fish are still fatand not heading into the light weights causedby spawning.

February moving into March, one of myfavorite spots is San Luis Pass, but ALWAYSWEAR A LIFE JACKET WHEN WADINGANYWHERE CLOSE TO THE PASS.

In the back bays, clear shallow flats withguts running every whichway are a great placethis time of year to catch a wall hanger.

And, whether you challenge a light surf inwaders and life jacket, wade a shallow stretchof a bay or driftfish the deeper waters, remem-ber that courtesy on the water is catching. Knowthe weather before you go, and go comfortable.Tight Lines, and I hope everyone catches theirfish of a lifetime.–Capt. Ralph Frazier / 281-337-0321fraziersguideservice.com

Great Action/Humor: "Fisheye View" by Chase Stanzel. For other Stanzel photos, see the front cover of this Currents newsletter and page 3.

Patience, patience, big troutAs February brings even stronger winds to theLower coast, we’ll be looking for those less-bat-tered shorelines, with grass flats and clear wa-ter. They’re there, if you plan according to thewind direction.

But, there is good news: waist-deep mudbottoms will be holding slightly warmer water,and maybe the biggest trout of the year. Wher-ever, patience can pay off with slow retrievesand the right lure. On those sunshine times, es-pecially after a couple of days following a bittercold front, gamefish can get intense feedingurges, and you should be there.

As February wanes and March gets closer,bigger tides will move into the back bays, pullingherds of mullet along, and reds and big numbersof specks will move with them. There will be afew bad-boy fronts moving through, but onceagain, remember the good news of patience—aday or so after that blue Norther moves on, thegamefish will be hungry and looking for action.

The rains of late 2014 should mean a really,really good spring, with April conditions comingalong in the nick of time. My primary choice oflures begin with the Sand Eel Jr., in LSU purple.If you have the patience for using topwaters, myfavorites include the Super Spook Jr, bone and/orchrome and blue. Be sure you have a variety ofSkitterwalks.

Remember caution, conservation and toleave the bay better than you found it.—Capt. Danny Neu 979-942-0165dneucharters@yahoo.com

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CCA Texas SocialHappenings

Alvin-PearlandEmery Sadler 713-501-2778

Monthly General Meetings: 7PM - First Tuesdayof the month. Location: Spring Creek BBQ / 9005Broadway, Pearland Tx. 77584Feb 3 Anglers night out, SPEAKER: Shimano ProStaff / March 3 Anglers night out, SPEAKERApril 7 Anglers night out, SPEAKER / May 5 An-glers night out, SPEAKER / June 2 Anglers nightout, SPEAKER / Alvin/Pearland CCA ChapterBanquet June 18, 2015

We welcome new board members whowould like to get plugged in. Our monthly chap-ter meetings have a great speaker lineup andwe will have a raffle. Bring a friend, a kid andget plugged in! —Emery Sadler 713-501-2778

Aransas BayCarter Crigler 435-830-5984

jccrigler@hotmail.comHappy New Year to all from the Aransas BayChapter. May 2015 bring you much pleasure andlots of fond memories from your time on the wa-ter.

Reminder, it’s time to register for Babes onthe Bay “Sweet Sixteen.” As stated in the previ-ous issue online registration will be used exclu-sively to sign up for Babes on the Bay XVI. Don’tmiss out on your opportunity for some uniqueitems to celebrate the 16th Babes. Tournamentcolors will be neon blue and neon pink. Pleasevisit the site(www.babesonthebay.com) and re-view the registration process to determine if youhave any questions. The last day for regular reg-istration is 4/15/2015. All registrations received af-ter this date and prior to the 4/30/2015 cutoff datewill pay a late registration fee of $120.00. If youhave questions contact Karol Scardino, tourna-ment director, at 361-386-0028.Mark your calendars:May 15-16, 2015: Babes onthe Bay / August 8, 2015 Aransas Bay Chapter Ban-quet. Tight lines —Carter

AustinScott Sanderson 512-637-1750

scott@mbsquoteline.comMay 7, 2015. If you like great food, winning coolprizes, and having an unbelievably good time, allthe while supporting CCA, save the date because itmarks the 2015 CCA Austin Banquet. There’s sim-ply no event like it so plan on joining us again.Table and ticket information is available atwww.ccaaustin.org. We’ll no doubt sell out againthis year so get your tickets early and don’t missout.

Our 2015 banquet boat has arrived andraffle tickets are on sale! Shallow Sport hasdone it again and this beauty has about everyoption imaginable. Sitting on a Coastline Customtrailer it’s a stunningly beautiful rig and ready toexplore any waterof your choosing.Check her out atCabela’s in Buda,get an early lookat Anglers’ NightOut or take a peekat www.ccaaustin.org.

Tickets are$100 and only 700will be sold. Youhave four ways toget one. 1- Go to

Chapter Updates are edited forbrevity to allow everyone’s voice tobe heard. For the full version, go to

your chapter’s area in theCCA website. Drop by

www.ccatexas.org,click on Local Chapters.

www.ccaaustin.org, 2- pick up an order form atCabela’s, 3- contact Boat Captain Blake Masters atblakeatc@gmail.com, or just scan the QR code be-low. Every year tickets sell out well before thebanquet so get yours now. There’seven an early bird drawing for a La-guna Custom Rod and ShimanoCurado!

Be sure and join us for our An-glers’ Night Out March 18 and keep upwith everything going on ourFacebook page, Coastal Conservation Associa-tion-Austin Chapter or at www.ccaaustin.org.

Best wishes for an outstanding 2015 andsee you May 7! —Scott Sanderson 512-637-1750scott@mbsquoteline.com

Bay AreaCurtis Anderson 832-421-6377

Brazoria CountyWes Dingee 979-299-8245

Happy New Year! The Annual Banquet date is setfor March 19th this year. The venue will be theDow Academic Center located at Brazosport Col-lege. Act now to reserve event tables. Raffle tick-ets will be available for purchase soon. If inter-ested in helping with the event in any way don’thesitate to contact any of the board members.Stay tuned to E blasts and the CCA web page forupdates. Hope to see you there and thanks forsupporting CCA. —Wes Dingeewesdingee@gmail.com)

Brazos ValleyJohn Ben Strother 979-220-1738

jbsunlimited@yahoo.comHappy New Year CCA Members! The Brazos Val-ley Chapter is excited to get our 2015 AnnualBanquet underway. Those planning to attendcan expect another fantastic banquet with greatart pieces, trips and merchandise mixed in theLive and Silent Auction. We have SportsmanRaffle Tickets available as well with 10 items upfor grabs ranging from guns to Yeti’s to rod/reelcombos. We would like to extend our thanks toThe Great Texas Gun Company in Bryan for help-

ing us out with all of our firearmsagain this year. Mark your calendars forThursday, March 12, we wouldlove to see you at the banquet!Please contact me for more infor-mation regarding the event.

We had a great time at ourFall Club fishing trip toMatagorda. It was a perfectlytimed event with the weather andfish cooperating. We would liketo thank the Fish Jump Inn for thegreat accommodations again.Their house will sleep 10 people

Happy 2015! We are now diving right backinto banquet season and gearing up for anothergreat year. Be on the lookout for more excitingvideos of new projects CCA Texas is involvedin, which can be viewed here: www.ccatexas.org/project-videos.

As always, thank you for joining in on theCCA Texas online discussion through our vari-ous social media platforms. It is because of YOUthat we are able to spread the word about thepositive impact CCA Texas is making on theGulf!

In each issue of Currents, CCA Texas willfeature a recent Facebook photo, Twitter Tweet,and Instagram photo. Please “Like” ourFacebook page and follow us on Twitter andInstagram to get the latest updates from CCATexas and become a part of the conversation!

Facebook:Eric Mui sent us thisphoto of him withhis son Kaiden at the2014 Poco Rojo KidFish Event. It wasKaiden’s first timefishing, and this wasthe 2nd fish hecaught! Kaiden wasthe winner in his agedivision with a totalof 6 fish caught that day. Wow, way to goKaiden, and welcome to the salt life!

Twitter:@IslandCampus (TAMU-Corpus Christi):@CCA_Texas Extends Support of@SportfishCenter at Texas A&M University-Cor-pus Christi http://ow.ly/EGfI0 #TAMUCC

Instagram:Merry Christmas!We were gettinginto the Holidayspirit here at theCCA office. What’syour favorite orna-ment you’ll be hang-ing up this year?We’re a bit partial tothis homemade CCATexas one. :)

CCA Texas on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CCATexas

CCA Texas on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CCA_Texas

CCA Texas on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cca_texas

Sincere thanks to Denbow Company, ourboat sponsor, Wes at Shallow Sport Boatsand Marty at Coastline Trailers for mak-ing this special rig possible.

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and 2- big TV’s for the fishermen to watch foot-ball when they can’t catch fish.

It is not too early to start making plans forthe Brazos Valley CCA Banquet on March 12. The10 item raffle tickets are printed for the January13th meeting. We will be having a general meet-ing at C.J. Barbeque and will have a speaker. Allthe people in the Brazos Valley that are CCAmembers and receive this Currents need to beat the meeting. As always, there are food, bever-ages, and plenty of fish stories. Give me a call,text, or email if you need more information.Have a Great New Year. Hope to see ya there –John Ben Strother

BrenhamDennis Crowson 979-451-2472Dennis.crowson @hotmail.com

We will hold our first regular meeting of 2015 onThursday, January 22 at 6:30 pm at Mike HopkinsDistributing. We are planning to have stew anda speaker. Hope to see everyone out as we startoff the New Year. For more information contactDennis Crowson at (979) 451-2472 ordennis.crowson@hotmail.com Thanks —Dennis

Brush CountryHank Henry 361-215-6803

CentexWelcome new president Wayne Webb

254-405-1300 sheyhunt@aol.com

Central HoustonTodd Buster Mobil, 713-545-1897

After the successwith last year’s 22’Mowdy, for its 39th

Annual Banquetthe Central Hous-ton Chapter willbe raffling a new23’ Mowdy Cat(similar to the onein the photo with-out the T top). Theboat will be pow-ered by a 200 hpSuzuki four-strokeengine and will be sitting on an aluminum trailer.If you are interested in purchasing tickets,please contact Todd Buster at tbuster@busterandcogdellbuilders.com Put this on your must-do list: the39th Annual Banquet will be held on April 30, 2015at the Bayou City Event Center. Tight Lines! —Ian

Colorado ValleyJames Loehr 979-250-3958

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas Holi-days and a joyous New Year celebration. Can’twait to try out all the new fishing equipment giftswe acquired this year!

Our chapter is busy planning a GeneralMembership meeting for January and discussingour upcoming banquet which will be held onMarch 26, 2015 at the K of C Hall in LaGrange.We will again have our Sportsman’s raffle goingon so please feel free to contact any of our com-mittee members for raffle tickets.

Also, reserve your tables early becausethey went really fast last banquet. Hope you allare planning on joining us as it looks to be akeeper of a night. Wishing bent rods and tightlines to all! James Loehr (979-250-3958) EugeneUlrich (979-249-7425)

Corpus ChristiJay Gardner 361-658-7159

jaygardner@scientist.comGreetings from Corpus Christi! We are just a fewshort weeks away from our 37th annual

fundraising banquet on February 26th at theAmerican Bank Center. We have been workinghard to get this one up and running as our dateis early this year.

Banquet Chairman Cody Roesener has beengetting it together nicely, as well as CliffJohnstone with the facilities. Food and BeverageChairman Jake Herring says that the food venuethis year is going to be even better, and I can al-most taste the grilled quail and shrimp now. LiveAuction Co-chairs David Harris and CoreySurvant say that the Live this year will includesome new and exciting trips and items.

Boat Chairman Joseph Briones informs usthat ticket sales for our Majek are doing well,please drop by during the weekends at Acad-emy and get a ticket while you still can. Alsomake sure to contact Jake Herring, Mike Henry,or Barrett Fines to donate items for the Black-board Auction. Get ahold of Judy Arnold, our Si-lent Auction and Raffle Chairman, to donateitems, or if you’d like to sponsor a package foreither.

If you need to get ahold of someone in thechapter, give myself or Cody Roesener (916-531-0078) a call and we’ll direct you. Youcan also call the CCA-Corpus ChristiChapter phone (being handled thisyear by Rachel Schmitt) at 361-882-5199to donate, sign up for tables, or to be asponsor. Starting this year, you canalso sign up online at http://www.ccatexas.org/corpus-christi and youcan always call and bug John Blaha at979-709-1085. We would like to thank

Nyati Services, LLCfor being our hatsponsor again this year,thanks YT and Virginia. Seey’all at the Banquet February26th! —Jay Gardner Environ-mental Scientist, NaismithEngineering, Inc.jgardner@naismith-engineering.com

Dallas / North TexasHal Thomas 972-612-1684It’s time for the Annual CCA

Dallas Chapter Banquet at the Frontiers of FlightMuseum on Thursday, April 16th, 2015. Tickets,Tables and Sponsorship packages are still avail-able.

Please plan to join us for another greatevent. This year we will continue our traditionof honoring our selection for Sportsman Conser-vationist of the Year, Sam Caldwell, for his manycontributions to conservation and educationacross Texas and with CCA. Sam has been aconstant influence to us for many years and wewill recognize his efforts and talent at this year’sbanquet.

Also, we will have lots of great gear in thesilent auction and raffle; a new Big-Board auc-tion featuring trips and gear; and as usual, a fan-tastic array of live auction items including thenotorious “Fish Fry for 30”. Our goal is aggres-sive for both new members and impact for CCA.Please plan to attend and bring a friend.

Later, in May, CCA Dallas will be atTailwaters Fly Fishing Company, 2416 McKinneyAvenue, Dallas, TX 75201 to cook lunch for theiranniversary celebration. Our desire is to pro-mote new memberships in CCA, share storiesfrom the coast and enjoy food and fellowshipwith our friends as we celebrate another anni-versary of one of our continuing sponsors. Comejoin us in May. See you there—Henry A. (Hal)Thomas (972) 768-3521 mobile /hal.thomas@tx.rr.com

East Texas

Dr. Jim Norman 936-554-3165jnorman7@suddenlink.net

The East Texas CCA Chapter is having their 9thAnnual Chapter Banquet on Friday, March 6th,2015 at the Nacogdoches Civic Center. The doorsopen at 6:00 and tickets are $45/individuals and$75/couples.

This will be a great night that will include afried fish dinner from Clear Springs, drinks, alive and silent auction plus many great raffles.Multiple levles of table sponsorships are avail-able by contacting Brent Rogers at (936)554-4866or emailing brogers1969@suddenlink.net for moreinformation. By supporting the East Texas Chap-ter of CCA Texas, you are promoting and en-hancing yourself as a conservationist for thecoastal fisheries in Texas. We are looking for-ward to seeing everyone there! —Brent Rogers

Fort BendRobb Gaston 281-239-9755

Hear ye Hear ye! The 29th Annual Fort BendBanquet and Boat Raffle—April 23, 2015 at theFort Bend County Fairgrounds.

Good news: Fort Bend has the best andnewest boat around!We want you to win this 18.5’JH Performance 185x Outlaw with a 115 Yamahamotor and a Coastline Trailer for $50.

We are now selling tickets for this boat!Contact President Robb at 281-239-9755 or anyFort Bend member for a boat ticket. Don’t wanta boat? How about a table? Purchase a Bull Redtable for $500 and get a few books of bucket raffletickets for free! Contact Robb or Ren Davis at281-342-6828. Happy New Year and good luck!—Robb Gaston

Fort WorthHunter Baird 817-437-8351

Happy New Year from your Fort Worth ChapterBoard. With the holidays passing through like atailing redfish, we took a breather to spendsome time with families and friends but trust mewhen I tell you that our full attention is turned toour annual banquet at the World Famous Joe TGarcia’s in the historic Stockyards of Fort Worth.Mark your calendars for April 30th for the bignight.

The board has completely overhauled thesponsorship and table packages for this year sobe on the lookout for updates. Also if you are in-terested in being a sponsor please reach out toJohn Black at jonathan_black@ml.com with ques-tions or interest. There are some incrediblepackages being offered up this year with somebrand new trips and gifts that this chapter hasnever seen! In the meantime, be on the watchfor our Spring membership event which includesfood and beverages sponsored by your localboard. Thank you all for your continued supportand never hesitate to send us some pictures ofyour fishing adventures to share. We would behappy to publish on social media or includesome in our magazine! See you all soon. —JohnBlack

GalvestonDr. Ken Ellis 713-962-7731

Happy New Year to all of our members. We arelooking forward to an action-packed 2015. The

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Annual Crab trap removal program is coming up.If you’d like to participate, give us a call.

We’ll be hosting a Spring Membershipmeeting with a guest speaker so be on the look-out for emails with more information. We arealso in the preliminary planning stages of a kidsfishing tournament to be held in April. We’ll beposting more information regarding this event onour web page.

Our annual banquet will be held in Augustand as always we’ll be featuring a terrific boatpackage as well as many new and exciting auctionitems and raffles.

Good luck to all those chapters with springbanquets, we in Galveston wish you all the bestfor 2015. If you are on the water look for my or-ange boat in Galveston or Port Mansfield, if yousee her, wave me down and say Hello. TightLines — Dr. Ken Ellis

Golden TriangleTrey Browne

409-338-0803 tbrowne@ocbm-tx.comHope everyone had a Merry Christmas and aHappy New Year. We are pleased to announce wehave set a date for our Annual Banquet for May21st, 2015 at the Beaumont Civic Center. Pleasesave the date and make sure to come out. Lastyear was our best year ever and we are expect-ing even better things for 2015.

Our fishing report comes from our very ownBoard Member, Capt. Jason Kuchera on SabineLake. Following are Jason’s tips: “As the wintersets in the temperatures are dropping and thenorth winds are blowing but that doesn’t alwaysmean the fishing cools off. From now to the firstpart of Spring you have the highest percentagechance of landing that trophy speckled trout!The temps can be cold, but those sunny dayscan mean warming waters on the mud flats thatare close to deep water in the northern part ofthe lake.

The bite is not as fast and furious as fishingunder the birds but odds are in your favor for thelarger winter time trout. Don’t discount redfish;they will stay consistent in the protected watersof the bayous. Just remember big baits catch bigfish. Corky Fatboys, Devil Tails, Soft-Dines orany big suspending jerk baits are good this timeof year... and don’t forget the winter time saying“When you think you are fishing slow enough,SLOW DOWN.”

Good luck and good fishing! USCG CPT Ja-son Kuchera, www.sabineadventures.com, 903-780-8618.

We will announce our General Member-ship Meeting sometime in January through emailand regular mail. Until then, take care and seeyou on the water.—Joel Foxworth 409-466-2614

Greater Sugar LandWeems Turner 713-857-8897

wturner@ducommun.comOur big event is fast approaching. The 2015 ban-quet will be held at the Stafford Center again thisyear. If you missed last year’s banquet, then youmissed out on a great new facility with plenty ofroom and some great food and prizes.

We are currently selling pre-salesportsman’s raffle tickets w/ many great prizesincluding guns, Yeti Coolers, Go Pro camera, spaday, CCA Life Time membership and severalothers. The Banquet this year will be held onThursday April 9, 2015 at the Stafford Center andwe will be featuring our signature crawfish boilagain this year. Save the date so you don’t missout on this great opportunity. For ticket informa-tion, table sales or program sponsorships pleasecontact Weems Turner @ wdturner45@comcast.netor Brian Meuth @ bmeuth@ccatexas.org Thank you —Weems Turner

Greater WoodlandsJames Kay 281-363-4417

www.ccatexas.org/greater-woodlandsTo start off this February / March article I wouldlike to spotlight one of our board members whohas been active in conservation in the PortO’Connor area. Tom Hans has worked as a fish-ing guide for many years. Early in 2011, CaptainTom Hans spearheaded an operation involving agroup of local volunteers to catch brood stockspotted seatrout for Lake Jackson’s Sea CenterTexas where the TPWD has engineered a StockEnhancement Program to replenish bay waters.

At that time, Jennifer Butler with TPWDcame to POC, commandeered the operation andinstructed fishermen on the procedures involvedto safely guarantee the success of catching andtransporting the fish to be used. The result oftwo fishing excursions netted over 100 fish to beused as brood fish for our area. The numbersrepresent the total amount of fingerlings re-leased at an average size of 35 millimeters eachsince that time.

As the year 2014 comes to a close, it is en-couraging to find that almost all of the releaseshave taken place in our local bays compared tothe total fingerlings released statewide. TPWDis aware of the decimation of the trout popula-tion in our area and is involved in a concertedeffort to reverse this trend.

The present brood fish on hand have had abanner year of production. However, as theyage, the fish are not as prolific and need to bereplaced with younger trout. Upon being in-formed of this, Captain Hans lined up some vol-unteers and secured permission from the IneosPlant supervisor to allow the TPWD fish tanktruck access to a fishing area. Local CaptainsKirk Morgan and Doug McClung and Tom Hansjoined Corando Chapa of Ineos in catching fortymore brood fish to replenish the aging stock. Itwill be rewarding to find that some trout thathave been caught locally and more catches inthe future will be a result of this ongoing pro-gram to restock our bays. Way to go Tom.

We will be having a General MembershipMeeting (GMM) in February (or) March 2015.Please check our website for details. Look for-ward to a fantastic 2015. Keep Conserving…ToKeep Fishing! —James Kay

Guadalupe ValleyJon Eric Rodriguez 361-243-1017

As quick as the holiday season came and went,so did our chapter banquet. Not even the coldcrisp air could keep our local CCA membersfrom getting out to the local venue in Cuero.Russell Goebel and Joe Adams did a great job get-ting through the different games and live auction.I’d like to thank all of our sponsors and volun-teers. Without either one of them our eventcouldn’t be possible. Can’t wait to work with youthis year. In 2015 my New Years resolution is tofish more! —Jon Eric Rodriguez

Hays CountyTim Young 512-573-7939

hayscountycca@gmail.com

Heart of the HillsJim Simmons fishtxsurf@AOL.com

Hill CountryWelcome, new president

Miles Engelke 830-303-1827We welcome Miles Engelke as our new presi-dent. We will celebrate the New Year with anappreciation steak dinner at Freiheit County Storeand will elect a new President. I have enjoyedserving with a great group of people who share

the enthusiasm of CCA and all that it’s accom-plished. God Bless! —Darlene Cook

Houston HomebuildersWelcome new chapter, and new president

Mack Davis 832 381-6130Hope you had an amazing Christmas and aneven better 2015 to come! Our brand new Hous-ton Homebuilding Chapter is now up and run-ning with new board members pulling togetherand selling tables for our first annual fundraisingbanquet at the Houston Bayou City Event Center,held Thursday January 15th. We had Great foodfrom Goode Company Barbecue and lots of ter-rific silent and live auction items at this excitingevent!

For details on joining this chapter, pleasecontact Mack Davis at 832 381-6130. Thanks andhave a safe and happy New Year! —Mack

Houston Real EstateDale Couch 281-953-2510

Thanks to our longtime Directors, Bill Wilson ofTexas Capital Bank, Doug Goff of Johnson Devel-opment, Tim Drone of J Patrick Homes and MarkWelch of Weekley Homes for their contributionsto the success of our Chapter’s growth. Our nextdinner is on Tuesday Feb, 10th. Put it on your cal-endar. —Dale Couch

KatyClint Hilton 713-515-3991

After a short winter break shooting Boone andCrockett deer and catching trophy trout, the KatyChapter is back at it, and our Chapter supportwill make 2015 another banner year!

Our first cast of the year landed anothertrophy speaker. The Texas Gourmet, Chef BryanSlaven, came out to sharpen our cooking skills -a benefit for our neighbors and families!

Chef Slaven discussed proper care from thefield to the frying pan for the prime vittlesMother Nature provides us. He brought to atten-tion ways to improve flavor, and flat out gave ussome wisdom that’ll help us whip up some bet-ter grub. It’s pretty obvious, but if you don’t takecare of your critter when you kill it, it’s notgonna be great when you grill it.

The Texas Gourmet also talked aboutproper seasoning and pairings for our wild fod-der. Fortunately for us, we can look at hiswebsite, www.thetexasgourmet.com for prepa-ration ideas and seasoning procurement. Thiswas Bryan’s second visit with our chapter, andhe fits in as “one of the guys”!

The Katy Chapter will be plugging awaysoon with banquet plans, too. Last year we soldout our venue, raffle tickets, and pretty much ev-erything we offered (a good problem to have), soif you have any reservations about wiggling intothe next banquet please take comfort that weare gonna find a way to make it better! If you’dlike to be involved or have a great idea, we’dlove to hear from ya!

We will have planning meetings in Febru-ary, April, and May. If you want to plan yourschedule to make room for our speaker meet-ings, you can do that too. We have speakers inJanuary, March, May, July or August, and Octo-ber. We always meet the 3rd Wednesday of themonth, and gather at Red River BBQ on MasonRoad. The Katy Chapter continues to grow andhave more fun. If you like fun and camaraderie Ihope to see you at a meeting. Cheers! —ClintHilton

LaredoJesse Martinez jmartinez@bushlan.com

956-763-5555Lee County

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Jason Seale 979-412-0270jason@basslerenergyservices.com

Live OakBrad Kotrla 979-732-1669

Lower ColoradoTim Munos 979 332-2876

Lower Laguna MadreOscar Garcia III 956-491-8148

MainlandEric Minor

281-534-6242Matagorda Bays

Chad Hensley 979-543-2734Well, the New Year is here and is full of highhopes and resolutions. As of writing this letterwe have mailed out boat bid letters with hopesof ordering our chapter raffle boat by February 1.A big thanks goes out to the support our localMatagorda Bays fishing guides give us each year.These guys donate a trip for our Jim Ehman Me-morial Guides Cup which we auction at our ban-quet. If anybody is looking for a fishing triparound the Matagorda area try one of thesegreat guides: Capt Tommy Countz, Capt NickStillwell, Capt Dwayne Newbern, Capt RobCumming, Capt Leighton Keen, Capt JimmyRiddle, Capt Scott Reeh, Capt Kenneth Hauf III,Capt Stan Sloan, Capt Kenneth Hauf II, CaptOzzie Arnold, Capt Walt Schelle, Capt Troy Keen,Capt Walt Wendtland, Capt Charlie Paradoski,Capt Lee Warmke, Capt Mark Talasek, Capt BinkGrimes, Capt Jesse Arsola, Capt Ken Sabin, CaptFloyd Ciruti, Capt Kit Caston, Capt Kevin Kosick,Capt Nate Koenig and Capt Tommy Alexander.

Also please keep Capt Jessie Arsola in yourthoughts and prayers as he battles cancer. CaptJessie is a great guide and has been a greatfriend to the chapter for many years. We arelooking forward to a great 2015, and as men-tioned before a thanks to all our chapter mem-bers and our continued support from our spon-sors. For any information about the chapter feelfree to contact me. –Chad Hensley (979) 543-2734

MidCoastDavid Jenkins 361-578-5580

Today was a sad day. My friend, HectorMendietta did not wake and is now in the handsof our Lord and Savior with his loved ones andwaiting for us to come to meet him again. Hiswife, Nancy, needs all of your prayers in hertime of grief. Please pray for her comfort in hertime of mourning. Thanks —David Jenkins

Northeast HoustonJason Law 713-898-8594

Northwest HoustonAlan Massey 281-414-6341

We would like to invite all CCA members andfriends out to our next General Meeting on Feb-ruary the 3rd at 7:00 PM. It will be held as usualat Houston Distributing in the Stein Room. Weare excited to announce our speaker will beCaptain Zane Starr with Gulf Coast Fishing Trips.He has been a full time fishing and huntingguide for 10 years. Please check them out atwww.gulfcoastfishtrips.com. We will be raffling offa fishing trip with Captain Starr, so everyoneplease come and give a listen. You might justwin a guided fishing trip!

Our April 7 speaker will be Sam Caldwell.A longtime GCCA/CCA member, Sam plans topresent a video about the GCCA and early CCA,The Endangered Crescent. Made in 1981, the

video won a national award, and was shownextensively on TV, and at organizational meet-ings in Louisiana and Georgia. The video waslisted as a crucial reason Florida and East Coastchapters joined the movement.

The Northwest Houston Chapter has a lotplanned in the near future. Please save thedates of these events... our Fish Fry will be onApril the 7th and Kid Fish will be on May the 9th.We look forward to seeing y’all there! —Loretta

Orange CountyScott Bandy 409-988-3667

sabandy@ymail.comAs we head into 2015, I am pleased to say 2014was a great success for our chapter. Our 7th an-nual Banquet is set for August 20th so mark yourcalendars now and don’t miss out.

2015 has a lot of opportunities ahead for usas a chapter. The 2015 Crab Trap Clean-up willbe one of the biggest Sabine Lake has ever seensince we were able to get Louisiana on board toclose their season at the same time as Texas. Itwill take a Joint effort from Sabine-Neches,Golden Triangle, Orange County, and LakeCharles CCA chapters to make this a success. Ifyou want to get involved contact your local chap-ter.

Orange County CCA also has more opportu-nities to get involved in the community with theOrange Community Trash –Off set for February28th .Contact Scott Bandy if you would like to joinour team. Don’t forget that the 2015 BASS MAS-TERS ELITE Series will be making another stopin Orange on March 19th- 22nd.

Finally, in closing I would like to welcomeaboard our newest Vice President, Davis Dixonwho will help out greatly. Orange County CCAmeets the 2nd Monday of the month at RobertsMeat Market & Steakhouse.

For more information about Orange CountyCCA contact Scott Bandy scottbandy77@yahoo.com,Louis Moore Louis_moore@yahoo.com or DavisDixon dcdixon149@yahoo.com or check us out onFACEBOOK. —Scott Bandy

Port O'ConnorBill Moore 361-983-4690

As the holiday season has come and gone, weagain thank all who helped make the 2014 an-nual POC CCA Banquet another success. A spe-cial thanks to our table sponsors: Bull RedTables: Ann and Mitch Brownlee, Capital FarmCredit, Carl Ray, Central Drug – Victoria, Coast-line Trailers, Fishing Tackle Unlimited, Ted andWeslene Gaetjen, Kneipp Properties, LLC.,Liftwater Construction, Inc., Bill Moore, RJWConsulting, LLC., Paula and Chris Smisek,Sonny’s Marine, Texas Saltwater Fishing Maga-zine, Dain And Judy Whitworth and Wade Wilson.Trophy Trout Tables: Alligator Head Riffraff,Bernie’s Boats and Motors, Inc. Cindy Spears RealEstate, LLC, Coastal Bend Marine, Dublin Real Es-tate, Fish Dancers, McMahan Goodwin, Krause,Midcoast CCA, Salty Dogs, Siegler InsuranceAgency, Inc., Floyd Skipper, Tigrett Real Estateand Ulrich Ranches.

The Chapter is currently working on settingthe date for our 2015 general membership andbanquet appreciation meeting. All our membersand potential members are invited to come to-gether for a great time, as we continue to workto support the conservation of our bays and ma-rine resources. If you have any questions, giveus a call or better yet, come visit us in POC-“where it all began.”—Bill Moore 361-983-4690

PrairieSharon Goebel 979-877-4103

Hope everybody had a great Holiday. We are inthe planning stages for our 2015 fundraiser ban-quet that will be on Thursday, April 2 at the Cat

Spring Hall. We are hoping for a sellout crowdthis year. We will have our famous Card andCap Game raffle along with a Live and SilentAuction. There will be corporate tables avail-able for purchase. If interested, contact KirkHoppe at 979-885-8868.

We are also looking for Cap Sponsors. So, ifyou’re interested in donating a full, half or quar-ter-deck of cards, contact Lori Wietstruct at 713-992-7874.

In February, we will have our annual ChiliApperception/General Membership Dinner at theCat Spring Tin Building. Contact one of theBoard Members, or check the CCA website forthe exact date. And again, the chili will be pre-pared with the secret Kirk recipe.

On December 20, we had our annual Prai-rie chapter Christmas party that was held atRandy Goebel’s place. He had a huge 20-30 footcedar tree decorated with lights and ornaments.Randy prepared beef fajitas (delicious) andplenty of snacks and desserts. Of course, Santaand Mrs. Claus were there to give the kids pre-sents. After the kids opened their gifts, we hadour Chinese Christmas Gift Go Around. Youcould either pick a gift or steal from someone.There were many gifts that made it around theroom many times.Hope everybody has a great2015—Ron Chess 979-525-9254

Redfish BayNorman Oates 361-758-0266

We’re looking forward to 2015! With a greatboard, Redfish Bay chapter members, and spon-sors/donors, we expect great things for all of ourevents.

Our Annual Banquet is scheduled for April18, 2015. As always, it will be a family orientedevening with good food and items of interest foreveryone. Almost half of our attendees arespouses or friends. Our sponsors and donors en-sure great variety for the live auction, silent auc-tion, and raffles. Put it on your calendar now.Don’t miss this fun event!

Our Take a Kid Fishing event will be the firstweekend in June. It will be at Woody’s Sports Cen-ter in Port Aransas. There will be a signup andmeal on Friday evening, fishing is Saturdaymorning until noon, and the awards ceremony isright after fish weigh-ins and hot dogs. Youngfisherpersons really enjoy this event, and it isdesigned to make them happy. As Glenn Martinsays, “the rule is that there are no rules – this isfor the kids.”

OurBeeville FishFry will be theThursday nightbefore thestart of doveseason. Likeour banquet,there is some-thing for every-one in the live auction, silent auction, andraffles. We always need volunteers. Contact meon 361-758-0266 if you would like to be on theBoard. We volunteer for a great conservation or-ganization!

I am proud to announce that a group of ex-perienced and motivated volunteers in AransasPass are arranging a fishing tournament to honorour U. S. Veterans. The tournament is scheduled forMay 1 & 2, 2015, at the Redfish Bay Boathouse onConn Brown Harbor. The goal is 200 to 300 vetsthe first year. Not only does the tournament honorthe vets, but all proceeds will go to the FisherHouse – an organization that helps military fami-lies. For more information about the tournament,donations, and participation, visitwww.Vetsfishingwithvets.us. Please notice that the

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first “V” is capital-ized. —Norman C.Oates 361-758-0266H 361-790-2748 C

Rio Grande Val-ley

George McCaleb956-984-8688

gmccaleb@hotmail.comThe Rio GrandeValley is in fullplanning mode for its 36th Annual Banquet to beheld Thursday, April 23, 2015 at the Pharr EventsCenter. The chapter is working hard to put onanother great event that can be enjoyed by ev-eryone with lots of opportunities to buy great art-work, hunting and fishing trips, and those spe-cial couple and friend getaways.

This year’s banquet will once again haveour annual boat giveaway sponsored by L&FDistributors. Thank you L&F for your continuedsupport. This year’s boat is a 2015 200 DargelSkooter powered by a 2015 150 HP Evinrude mo-tor and sits on a custom aluminum trailer. Ticketsare $100 each and only 450 tickets will be sold.Don’t miss out on this opportunity to win a greatboat for the Laguna Madre, provided once againby L&F Distributors and Dargel Boats. For moreinformation about the boat and how to purchasetickets, contact Louis Zimmerer at 956-373-0799 orlmz01@yahoo.com.

The RGV Chapter has added another rafflefor the 2015 year. The chapter will be selling upto 1,000 2015 calendars for 100 each and this willput you in a drawing for 52 guns with the chanceto win as many times as your name is drawn.

The chapter will hold a social event onMay 20, 2015 at the Elk’s Lodge in Weslaco. Thedoors will open at 5:30 PM and all guns will bedrawn that evening. After each drawing the win-ning ticket will be placed back in the tumblergiving all buyers the chance to win multipletimes. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity.For more information and how to purchase tick-ets, contact Hayden Ellis at hellis@swkins.com orJohn Blaha at 713-626-4222 or jdblaha@ccatexas.org.

The RGV Chapter asks everyone to pleaseremember the Terry Gray family in your thoughtsand prayers. Terry passed away December 20,2015. Terry was a longtime member of the RGVChapter board, a past Chapter President, mem-ber of the CCA Texas Management Committeeand a past CCA Texas President. Terry was in-volved in the local community and the entire val-ley as well and will be missed throughout thevalley and the Texas fishing community.

The RGV Chapter board welcomes and en-courages new board members. If you are inter-ested in helping the chapter out, please contactChapter President George McCaleb at 956-984-8688 or gmccaleb@hotmail.com or John Blaha at713-626-4222 or jdblaha@ccatexas.org. –GeorgeMcCaleb

Sabine-NechesDarin Johnson 409-790-9855

Well it’s that time again! Time for the SabineNeches 2015 Banquet! You still have time to getyour tickets and be a part of a great evening ofconservation, food, prizes, cold drinks and greatcompany! It is sure to one of the hottest ticketsin SE Texas. Aside from the banquet the CrabTrap Cleanup this year on Sabine Lake will be ajoint effort with our friends from Louisiana! Weare going to be cleaning up our home lake withthe assistance of other chapters in SE Texasalong with the LA chapters.

Let’s recap, 1) 2015 Banquet and CrawfishBoil on Thursday March 5th at the Bob BowersCivic Center, 2) Crab Trap Cleanup on SabineFebruary 20th!

some fun working on our banquet committee,sporting clays shoot committee, be a part of thebeach cleanup weekend, crab trap pick up, orbe a part of our interchapter fishing team.

You will enjoy our group and get satisfac-tion knowing you contributed to our efforts to im-prove our coastal marine habitat. We have fun,enjoy putting events together, like fishing week-ends and would welcome you to our group.

Remember our first battle cry “ SAVE THEREDFISH “. Thank you for doing your part. Untilthe next Currents travel safely.

“If we concentrated on the more importantthings in life, there would be a shortage of fishingpoles.”—Jimmy Gibsonjimmy.gibson@CSTBrands.com

San BernardJayson Zahradnik 281-202-8438

Hello, all. Just a friendly reminder that our an-nual banquet is coming up fast. It will be Thurs-day, February 26, at Riverside Hall in East Bernard,Texas. Better consider a presale raffle ticket forour banquet. This year’s prizes are a little dif-ferent: Grand Prize: Polaris Ranger 570 CrewCab!

Also on the ticket will be a Bushmaster AROptic ready .223, Beretta A300 Outlander 12 Ga.,Weatherby VGD2 Bolt 7mm Mag, 65 quart Yeticooler, and a Sony GoPro Camera. Six greatprizes this year! Tickets are $100 each and therewill only be 300 tickets sold. For tickets you cancall Jayson Zahradnik at 281-202-8438 or KennethSchatz at 979-533-4385. Corporate tables willalso be available with details to follow.

I wish everyone a safe and happy holidayseason and hope Santa brings everyone the tro-phy trout we all wish for. Fish on! —JZ

San GabrielJohn Melnar 512- 497-8284

As the New Year arrived, our banquet commit-tee has been working on a new venue for ourbanquet. We are excited to announce that wehave selected the Cedar Park Center, home of theTexas Stars, to host our banquet. Unfortunatelywe are still waiting to confirmation from the CPCon our preferred date for the event. We still planon having the event in the late July/ mid-Augusttimeframe. More details to come as they de-velop. One the main reasons for this move is ca-pacity. We have been limited in space in thepast, allowing only around 300 guests. This yearwe are setting a goal of 500 guests. So I hope ev-eryone will attend. Along with the growth comesmore need for help, so if you would like to getmore involved please feel free to contact me.Another reason for this move was the continuedand increased support of Don Hewlett Chevrolet.Don Ross and his team have raised the bar onceagain and will continue to be our Title Sponsor!

Keep an eye on your inbox for more detailson the banquet. —John Melnar 512-497-8284

San JacintoJim Wilson 713-828-7639

SouthwesternRobert Hart 830-879-5541

TAMUCameron Blackwood 713-591-7097

Texas State UniversityRyan Wishnow 832-444-3598

rw1303@txstate.edu

Tomball/Magnolia

RGV's 200 Dargel Skooter powered by a 2015 150 HPEvinrude motor, sitting on a custom aluminum trailer.

To say we are go-ing to be busy is anunderstatement! Ifyou are interestedin participating inany of these eventsgive me a call, wealways have a seatat the table. Ohyeah, the fishing onSabine is prettygood right now.How could I forget

to mention that? Until then, tight lines to all! Seeyou on the water! —Darin M Johnson (409) 790-9855

Sam HoustonBrandon Kolaja 281-797-6908

I hope everyone is excited for what this yearwill bring. From looks of all the winter fish re-ports the fish have been very active, but I knowwe are still looking forward to some warmerweather. Until next time get out on the waterand enjoy the outdoors.— Happy fishing—Brandon Kolaja 281-797-6908

San AntonioJimmy Gibson 210-287-4378

Our chapter volunteers group is well into theplanning stages for 2015 so let me give you anupdate on what we have planned. First, let’stalk about the Boat Show January 29th thru Feb-ruary 1st. We will be in full force at our booth. Ifyou get this Currents in time, come by and re-new your membership, pick up a new CCA SanAntonio shirt, a CCA Cap, stickers or just bringus a new fish story and pictures. We just mightput you on our Web Page.

Next on my list is our second “CCA Hookedon Clays” Sporting Clays Shoot to be held at theNational Shooting Complex, 5931 Roft Road, SanAntonio, Friday April 3rd.. Registration will beginat 11:30am, shoot at 1 pm. Teams will be com-posed of 5 shooters. There will be great prizesfor the topteams, give-aways and BBQserved after theshoot.

If youmissed lastyear ’s event,we had a“Blast,” sodon’t miss itthis year. Thatsaid, organizeyour team andget signed up. Individual shooters are alwayswelcome and will be assigned a team. Cost is$125.00 per shooter and we expect a big turnout.Our web site will have all the details.

On to our 2015 BANQUET scheduled forThursday May 14th, doors open at 5:00 pm. It’s go-ing to be bigger and better than ever. We havesome great new sponsors, secured new auctionitems and new trips, and thanks to our generoussponsors we will again give you a great chanceto win from boats to 4 wheelers, and the listgoes on.

Mark your calendars and plan to enjoy anevening with friends, business partners, andCCA volunteers at an event that always createsmemories. More details, tables costs and indi-vidual ticket information is on our web site orcontact Joe Eaton at (210) 599-3690 or E-Mail Joeat jeaton@eatoncontracting.com.

Your San Antonio CCA Chapter is alwayslooking for individuals to volunteer their time,resources and thoughts as to how we can betterserve this organization. Come join us and have

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Matt Maddox 281-770-7858Tri-County

Jason Trial 830-570-2988Trinity Bay

Gerald Payne 281-385-2894Here it is… already February of 2015 and thecount-down is on as our chapter has until August21, 2015, to prepare for the annual banquet to beheld again in Baytown, Texas. In case you wereunable to make last year’s event, the new spa-cious facility was a hit, generating more atten-dance and funds raised! We are currently look-ing at several ideas for this year, to include refor-matting our raffle into a multi-item package.

If you are interested in participating in anyof our chapter functions please let us know. Wehave monthly meetings in Baytown, Texas on thefirst Wednesday of each month. We have a greatbunch of individuals that dedicate themselves to-wards the work of CCA and have a lot of fun do-ing so. —Gerald “Get er Done” Payne

Trinity ValleyJohn Hebert Jr 936-334-2528

With the new year upon us, we want to thankeveryone who made 2014 a great one. We had asuccessful fishing tournament and banquet. Wehope to make this year even better by increasingour activity and building our chapter.

If you would like to become more involved,please contact John Hebert at 936-334-2528 or Jen-nifer Creel at 936-334-2314. We have a generalmeeting every other month on the third Tuesday.Our next scheduled meeting is March 17, 2015 atNavrozsky’s in Liberty and we would love to seeyou there. —Jennifer Creelwww.youniquebyjenncreel.com

West HoustonMike Ayers 832-248-9352

After a brief break for the Holiday’s, 2015 is off toa fast start and we hope everyone is settling intothe New Year. Please circle Thursday, May 14thon your calendars and plan on joining us for the29th Annual West Houston CCA Crawfish Boil &Banquet!

This year’s event is shaping up to be an-other great one and the board is busy workingon several new items for the raffles and auction.We are also putting the final touches on theguest speakers for our General MembershipMeetings this year.

Please check our Facebook page (WestHouston CCA) and/or the West Houston Chapterpage on the CCA Texas website for dates as theyare announced. If you are interested in gettingmore involved with the chapter, we would loveto hear from you. Please contact one of theboard members and we would be happy to an-swer any questions you may have. Until nexttime, stay safe out there and happy fishing!—Mike Ayers

West TexasCraig McDonnold 432-682-3499

The West Texas Chapter will host its 12th annualbanquet on April 2 at Midland Country Club.Cocktails begin at 6:00 pm. For table inquiries orany other questions, please call: CraigMcDonnold……..432-6823499 / ReeceBoudreaux…….432-7703536.Thanks for your support —Craig

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samcaldwell.comTexas State Artist 2004

DU State Artist 2010-2011281-455-9390

Road to MarathonA small study for a large oil, available at the up-coming Houston Real Estate banquet, Feb. 10.

Drop by my Web Cave for re-cent and ancient paintings, anda visit to the D-Day beaches ofNormandy.

Great PhotosTips this time from just a few of thegreat photographers who have gracedour pages. Also—all photos sent toCurrents will be forwarded to KimOgonosky's social media. If you wantattribution, your name must be at thefront of the jpeg title, like the photo onthe right: Pauline Osburn, Crab Snacker.

A few tips from winners:Kim Ogonsky on her award-winning tech-niques: For still photography, I use the NikonD60 Digital SLR. Beginner photographersshould consider this camera because of its su-perb quality and straightforward design. Whenshooting videos for the CCA Texas Habitat pro-gram (www.ccatexas.org/project-videos), I use aCanon Vixia HF M500. The camera also has amicrophone output, a necessary componentwhen filming interviews out on the windy wa-ters. While complex in its features, this is also auser-friendly camera.

Pamela Parsons: I’m now using a Nikoncoolpix s9400. My best advice is to be out onthe water often and take lots of photos particu-larly when the sun is overhead.

Pauline Osburn has sent us many swell birdimages: I use a Canon D60. The lenses I usemost in my bird and landscapes pictures are an85 x 200 mm and a 70 x 300 mm. Looking intopurchasing a 100 x 400mm soon. A few tips:

Use the longest lenses you have or are themost comfortable with. Tripods are highly rec-ommended but I get some awesome shots justby hand holding the camera. Use a polarizedlens when shooting by the water. Finally, Pa-tience, Patience, Patience! To be able to capturethe perfect shot I will just sit, watch and wait.The reward is getting that one shot you’relooking for; the one that you and your fans willlove.

Chase Stanzel hasprovided Currentswith some excllentaction photos. Iuse a GoPRO 3Black but am onmy third camerathis season, eitherreplaced or lost tothe drink. I use acustom camerapole my father andI made. When on aboat I use the polewith the camera inburst mode to in-crease my chancesof a good shot.Also, knowing thefish and how theyfight helps you getin the right posi-tions. The only tipsI have are, go of-ten, be prepared, The Last Laugh

and take as many photos from various anglesas possible.

Norman Oates: Cedar Bayou cover shot; theCanon PowerShot G-15. It is a great smallcamera (they now have a G-16). It shoots RAW(or jpg), has a real viewfinder, has a 4x zoom,accepts larger flashes, and has manual or autoshooting capabilities (virtually the same op-tions that I have on the Canon 7D).

Caption and description example: Pauline Osburn, Crab Snacker.

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NON-PROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDHOUSTON, TEXAS

PERMIT 2532

U.S. Coast Guard Air & Sea RescueNational Response Center: 800-874-2143Port Isabel: 956-761-2668Corpus Christi / Marine Safety Office:boating emergencies, chemical andoil spills: 361-888-3162Port Aransas: 361-749-5217Port O’Connor: 361-983-2616Freeport: 979-233-3801Houston, Galveston: 409-766-5620Sabine: 409-971-2195

COASTAL CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION TEXASMEMBERSHIP APPLICATION (including STAR Entry)

Name Phone______ Date _________________________

Address City State Zip_______________

NEW MEMBER _______ RENEWAL ______ (Member ID for renewing members only)_______________________________________ EMAIL ____________________

MEMBER: $30 ___ Membership card, decal, bumper sticker, Texas CURRENTS newsletter & TIDE magazine. ASSOCIATE: $15 ___ Per each family member. All membership privileges except TIDE and CURRENTS.

PRINT MEMBER: $100 ___ All of the above plus CCA Texas print of your choice. LIFE MEMBER: $1000 ___ CCA Life Membership piece, print, plus member gifts. Payable in four $250 installments.

STAR ENTRY FEE: $20 ___ Tournament entry fee. Must be a current CCA member. NEW TIDE: $10 ___ Tide newsletter, decal.

Members 17 and under only Age: ______ Date of birth: ________ NEW TIDE / Star: $10 ___ Same as above, plus “FREE” STAR Tournament entry. Age: ______ Date of birth: ________

Credit card number ________________________________ Signature _____________________________________________________________________________________

Credit card expiration date _________________________ By entering this tournament, I agree to be bound by the STAR Tournament Rules, Release and Indemnity Agreement. I understand that thereare specific rules governing the conduct of the tournament and that upon request a copy will be mailed to me. 6919 Portwest, Suite 100 / Houston, TX 77024 / 713-626-4222 / Website: www.ccatexas.org

Method of payment___ Check/Money order Charge to my:___ MASTERCARD___ VISA___ AMEX___ DISCOVER

The Texas Parks & Wildlife website isyour starting point for almost any-thing you need to know about outdoorTexas, including links to many areas.Visit http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us To focus on fishing andboating, visit http://www.tpwd.-state.tx.us/fishboat/

Current size, bag and possession limitsare now available through the Texas Parks &Wildlife website: TPWD has a number toreport game violations. 1-800-792-4263. A partner with CCA in aiding Texasgame and Game Wardens is OperationGame Thief. Drop by and put this websiteon your favorites list:http://www.ogttx.com/

CoastalConservationAssociation

6919 Portwest Suite 100 / Houston, TX 77024

CURRENTS NEWSLETTERFebruary / March 2015

Looking back at areally great year.Great Fisheye Photo by Chase Stanzel