Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

This long Independence Day weekend, many state parks are celebrating as only they can…and you’re invited to join them.

The LBJ State Park and Historic site in the picturesque Texas Hill Country town of Johnson City, dedicates its July Fourth festivities to its namesake in the 100th year of his birth. Come out to the park, Friday, from 10 to 3, and enjoy old-fashioned fun like horseshoe and washer pitching, stick-horse races, watermelon seed spitting and other games.

If you like fireworks, and you live in East Texas, the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, is the place to be on July Fourth. See one of the largest fireworks shows in East Texas. Fireworks begin at dark, and admission is free after 5 p.m.

Independence Day celebrations continue on Saturday, July 5th. Pack a picnic lunch and head over to Lake Texana State Park from 2 to 4 p.m. for horseshoes, washer toss, volleyball, sack races, water balloon toss, dunking booth and other activities. Bring your tackle, too, as it’s free to fish at state parks.

Also on July fifth, visitors to Possum Kingdom State Park, outside the Metroplex, may attend a fireworks display at Hell’s Gate, put o by the Possum Kingdom Chamber of Commerce. Hell’s Gate is a massive limestone in which the lake squeezes through, and is accessible by watercraft.

For additional information about these and other state park events, visit passporttotexas.org. That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 

 Independence Day Festivities: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

Parents sometimes look at summer with dread: How can we keep the kids busy and not go broke in the process. If that echoes your concerns, here is a suggestion: free fishing at state parks.

Free fishing means that you do not have to have a license to fish in a state park. You would still be paying the entry fees to the park.

Ann Miller is aquatic education coordinator. Now through July, many parks will provide angling instruction for novices as well as for anglers that are more experienced.

Some of the events are more children oriented. But, we also have some events that are geared for a more advanced angler. Eisenhower State Park is doing a fly-fishing program in June that folks might be interested in. We also have Galveston Island State Park that is focused on saltwater fishing.

If you’re just dipping your toe in the angling waters, you may not have the equipment you need to reel in a fish.

At many of these events that we’re sponsoring, you can come without equipment. There will be equipment there for families to borrow to participate in the program. Now, these programs do teach you the basics of fishing, but they also give you time to go fishing with an expert.

Find a link to these events at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… we receive support for our program from the Sport Fish restoration Program… reminding you that Saturday June 7 is Free Fishing Day in Texas….For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 

 Free Fishing in State Parks: Events: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

[School bell rings] As school bells ring out the last day of classes across the state, parents seek ways to keep their children occupied without breaking the bank. May we suggest free fishing at state parks?

Texas state parks are a great place to go fishing because you don’t have to have a license.

Ann miller, aquatic education coordinator, says taking the family fishing at a state park is not only economical, but can also help parents and children reconnect.

Fishing is wonderful because it gives time away from normal duties for the parents to enjoy the children. It puts all the family in a different atmosphere to focus on one another for a change, instead of all the other distractions of everyday living.

Beginning this month, leave everyday issues behind when you take the family to a state park for free fishing events.

These events are made to help beginners who are just getting started in fishing learn how to fish, And that will be beginners ages six on up, by the way, so you don’t have to be a child. Some of the events are more children oriented, but they’re really family oriented events.

Find a link to these events at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… we receive support for our program from the Sport Fish restoration Program… reminding you that Saturday June 7 is Free Fishing Day in Texas….For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 

 Free Fishing in State Parks: Fishing & Family: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Women can gain a lot from outdoors experiences.

I think women are strong and they’re smart. And I think we’re stronger and smarter than sometimes we give ourselves credit for being.

Krista Allen is a participant turned instructor of the Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshops.

And I think the outdoor experience help women realize their strengths because the skills we learn help you grow as a person and those skills have application in their everyday lives.

Allen believes that women finding passion outdoors will encourage them to share it with others. Your most effective doing things that your passionate it about and when you find an outdoor activity that you love and you’re passionate about, you’re going to pass that on to other people. Showing the outdoors to people, I think, is one of the coolest things that you can do.

Once women discover an outdoor activity they’re passionate about they’ll find new value in state parks.

If you’re a mountain biker or if you’re a cyclist you have a huge appreciation for the out of doors and the value of having those sort of spaces and preserving those sort of spaces.

To find out more information about Becoming an Outdoors Woman Workshops, visit passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 

 Women in the Outdoors: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

While most of the action at the second annual Toyota Texas Bass Classic at Lake Fork—April 18 through 20—takes place in the middle of the water, there is plenty on shore to keep attendees occupied.

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic was built around families.

Dave Terre is chief of Inland Fisheries research and management at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

We’re enticing families to come in—mom and dad—and all their kids to come in and see bass fishing, to see exhibits, to hear concerts, to have a picnic. We have a family fun zone, where kids have the opportunity to come in and explore things like we see at our Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo, things like how to fish, big bass displays, we have casting contests, archery contests, displays on our state parks, and just millions of different things for kids to do while they’re there.

Day passes and weekend passes are available, and children under seventeen are free with paid adult admissions.

I would really just like people to come out and see this tournament. It’s really a spectacle. It’s the biggest bass fishing tournament, of course, in Texas. It’ll teach people about what we do as an agency, and what we’re doing to make fishing better on Lake Fork. Come see an awesome partnership between industry, Texas Parks and Wildlife department, and the professional anglers to work together to help promote fishing everywhere.

Find details at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
______________________________________________________
A three-day Ticket Book valid for all the events at Lake Fork, April 18, 19 and 20 is $20 in advance and $25 on-site. One-day tickets are also available for $10. Kids 17 and under are admitted free with a ticketed adult. Tickets are now on sale at www.toyotatexasbassclassic.com or (866) 907-0143 and at participating Bass Pro Shops locations and Brookshire’s grocery stores.

 

 Toyota Texas Bass Classic, 3 of 3: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download