Fishing - Wildlife Management Pro

Texas Flounder

The southern flounder is the most abundant flatfish along the Gulf Coast of Texas. Flounder stay in mostly shallow water during warm months and then migrate through cuts and passes to the Gulf to spawn during the fall and winter. The flounder is an ambush feeder and will wait patiently for something to eat. They create an ambush spot by lying flat on the bottom and waiting for unsuspecting bait to swim by.

Tidal water moving through small cuts or rocky areas are excellent places to find feeding flounder. They sometimes bury themselves under sand or silt as they wait for food to enter their area. The prime fishing season is during the “flounder run” in the fall. This period takes place from roughly October through November. Gigging is a popular method for taking flounder.

Gigging is done by either wading with a spotlight or lantern and “gigging” or spearing the fish with a gig (multi pronged) as it lays waiting for its dinner. But instead, it’s your dinner! Flat bottom boats with an air motor or trolling motor are usually used for gigging flounder.

Flounder have a laterally compressed body (fish lies on its side rather than on the abdomen) and always looks up. The flounder is capable of changing its color pattern to match the bottom color, ranging from blackish-brown to light- gray or a mottled coloring. The down side is white. Young flounder feed on crustaceans, while older flounder eat mostly fish.

In Texas, flounder must be at least 14 inches long to keep, and each person may keep 5 fish per day, but check the current fishing regulations before you head out fishing.

Texas Battles Giant Salvinia at Caddo Lake

Photo of Giant Salvinia

During the first in week of June, in partnership with the Cypress Valley Navigation District and the Caddo Lake Institute, the Inland Fisheries Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) launched an offensive against giant salvinia on Caddo Lake. “We are at a tipping point with giant salvinia coverage on Caddo Lake,” said Craig Bonds, TPWD’s regional director for inland fisheries, in a department news release. “If we don’t get on it heavily, we could lose this battle and experience increased levels of giant salvinia, to the point where we won’t be able to control it. We will never eradicate it. This is going to be an on-going fight.” The battle against giant salvinia is being fought mainly by the herbicide boats and a mechanical harvester that gobbles up the plant from the surface of the water and carries it to shore for disposal.

Salvinia-eating weevils are also in use on several lakes, but results are slow. TPWD and Cypress Valley Navigation District crews will be on the lake applying Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved herbicides until about June 12. Each of the five spray boats operating can cover about 40 acres per day. While efforts to combat giant salvinia are expensive–$64,000 for herbicides alone for the current operation–experts say the cost of doing nothing would be greater. Continue reading Texas Battles Giant Salvinia at Caddo Lake

Hinton Added to Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame

On Saturday June 6, 2009, Paul Hinton of Hemphill was inducted into the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. Congratulations go out to Mr. Hinton for his selection! He was honored for his contributions as a communicator and educator due to 20 years of service as the Texas founder and director of East Texas Get Hooked on Fishing, Not Drugs. Following retirement from the insurance industry, Hinton began a new career as an outdoor writer and educator, concentrating his efforts on introducing kids to fishing as an alternative to drugs. Hinton introduced thousands of children to fishing while partnering with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to also teach boating and water safety and fish identification. A TPWD video documenting his work will become a permanent exhibit in the Texas Freshwater Fishing Center Hall of Fame area.

Texas Tarpon Observation Network

Collaboration between the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Coastal Fisheries Division and the GIS Lab’s Resource Information System (RIS) team has resulted in a new online Texas Tarpon Observation Network application. The new web resource is the first of its kind for the Gulf of Mexico. The intent is to use angler observations to help monitor tarpon occurrences along the Texas coast, augment past and current tarpon research along the coast, and help raise awareness of the popular gamefish. Research is needed because the species has been declining in recent years possibly due to reservoir construction on rivers, droughts, pesticides and/or overfishing. Continue reading Texas Tarpon Observation Network

Texas State Record Carp

Texas has a new state record carp — The biggest carp ever!

In an amazing turn of events, it has been determined that a Fort Worth angler in March established the new state record for common carp with the same fish that held the previous state record three years ago. K.C. Crawford hauled in the monstrous 43 lbs. 12 oz. common carp during the Carp Anglers Group’s 8th Annual Austin Team Championship at Lady Bird Lake in late March. TPWD has ratified the catch as the newest state record for common carp, knocking out Al St. Cyr’s 43 lbs. 2 oz. record from 2006. Experts were able to compare distinctive markings and scale patterns from archived photographs of St. Cyr’s former record catch and determined precise matches to confirm Crawford’s new record is the same fish.

The carp was re-released back to Lady Bird Lake. Thirty-four anglers–some from as far as South Africa and Mexico–participated in this year’s 26-hour Austin tournament. The membership-based Carp Anglers Group two years ago lobbied and supported TPWD designating Lady Bird Lake as a trophy lake for catch-and-release carp anglers.

Choke Canyon Fishing: A Big Bass Bonanza!

Choke Canyon produces another big bass

Choke Canyon Reservoir continued its big bass bonanza March 20 with another ShareLunker, a 13.12-pounder caught by Joseph B. Thoman, Jr., of Farmersville, Louisiana. The angler was fishing in the Texas Bass Club for the Deaf tournament when he caught the bass, which was 25.25 inches long and 21.25 inches in girth. At the same time, the Bass Champs South Region team tournament, also taking place on Choke Canyon on Saturday, weighed in two potential ShareLunkers at the Calliham Store. Store owner Brian W. Loy certified the weights as 14.47 and 15.27 pounds. Unfortunately, neither of those two fish survived.

No tournament has ever weighed in more than one 13-pound-plus fish, and the fact that two tournaments on the same lake produced three in two days is extremely good news for Texas fishing, especially Choke Canyon anglers. Big bass are there! However, the deaths of the two big fish has generated quite a bit of discussion both within Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the tournament industry about ways to avoid similar tragedies in the future. Continue reading Choke Canyon Fishing: A Big Bass Bonanza!

Lake Fork Anglers Stumble Into a 14.68 lb ShareLunker Bass!

A 14.68 Largemouth Bass found on Lake Fork

Guide James Caldemeyer was fishing with clients Brian Ketterer and Shannon Spear of Conroe on March 7, and they were looking forward to catching some big fish on Lake Fork. However, the anglers had no idea what they were about to get into when they pulled into a small cove with nearly a dozen other boats. Lake Fork is known for it’s lake management program that produces big largemouth, but what would the day bring? “With my polarized sunglasses I could see a fish swimming slowly near the surface, and it looked like she was struggling,” said Caldemeyer. “I caught her with my net. I could see she was a gigantic fish and that she was in trouble. My concern was for the welfare of the fish, so I netted her and put her into the livewell and told my clients that we needed to take her in so her air bladder could be punctured—I didn’t have a needle with me.”

Asking paying clients to give up hours of fishing time on Lake Fork during the peak lunker season in March might seem like a risky thing to do, but Ketterer and Spear shared Caldemeyer’s concern for the fish. “They couldn’t have been happier if they had caught her,” Caldemeyer said. “They were just thrilled to be part of the experience of helping this big fish.”

Caldemeyer immediately called Cameron Burnett at Lake Fork Marina, an official ShareLunker holding station, and told him they were on their way in with a fish that tipped his scale at 14.5 pounds. Burnett contacted David Campbell, and when the fish arrived, Burnett met Caldemeyer at the ramp with a bag to transport the fish to a holding tank. Burnett is experienced at “fizzing” bass, or puncturing the air bladder to release air so the fish is able to submerge and swim upright. Continue reading Lake Fork Anglers Stumble Into a 14.68 lb ShareLunker Bass!