Passport to Texas

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

For an inexpensive, entry-level fishing experience the entire family can enjoy, it doesn’t get much easier than winter rainbow trout fishing in Texas.

In fact that’s one of the fish we use at the Expo each year to allow kids to catch their first fish.

Carl Kittle oversees the Texas Parks and Wildlife trout-stocking program. The agency will distribute up to 275-thousand fish to 120 sites—including additional urban locations—between December and March.

We’re excited about having a number of new ponds on line for our neighborhood fishing program. We actually stock slightly larger trout and we stock frequently—every other week—at specific sites that are set up near urban centers to provide opportunities for urban anglers.

If you prefer to get away from the city for your rainbow connection, then state parks provide the perfect escape.

A number of our state park ponds will get stocked with trout. For those ponds and lakes that are located completely within a state park, the license will not be required. The limits will still apply: five fish per day, and there is no size limit on trout.

Anglers fishing in locations other than state parks must have a valid license.

Find the trout-stocking schedule at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… helping to fund fish hatchery management and operations in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Winter Trout Stocking, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

The annual arrival of colorful, fun-to-catch rainbow trout gets underway this month and continues through March.

They’re a good fish to catch and a good fish to eat.

Carl Kittle oversees the Texas Parks and Wildlife trout-stocking program.

Each winter we try to create an opportunity for fishermen. Right now we’re doing over a hundred and twenty sites, with about two hundred seventy to two hundred and seventy five thousand rainbow trout being stocked almost all over the state.

It gets too hot in Texas to support a natural population of rainbow trout, so anglers have to get ’em while it’s cold.

You can catch them with live bait. You can catch them with corn or some other bait; and certainly, they’re great on spinners and even fly-fishing.

What about a cane pole?

A cane pole and a worm is one of the best ways to catch trout.

Kittle says although relatively easy to catch, rainbow trout can offer a challenge to anglers.

In that they are aware of people above the water, and they can see out of the water if the water is clear. So, sometimes you have to be a little bit cautious about letting the fish see you from above while you’re fishing.

Having to hide from prying fish eyes below the water’s surface is just plain creepy. [Water bubble sound]

They’re nice eyes. They’re nice little fish—no reason to worry about them.

Find the trout-stocking schedule at passporttotexas.org. That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… helping to fund fish hatchery management and operations in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Winter Trout Stocking, 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

The January 2009 issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine focuses on the multi-faceted issue of endangered species. Managing editor, Louie Bond.

And so, we’re taking it, kind of, almost as a theme through the magazine. Starting out with our “At Issue” by our Executive Director, Carter Smith, who quotes the famous American Conservationist, Aldo Leopold, who says: There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot. And, of course, here at Texas Parks and Wildlife, we fall into the latter category. We cannot live without any of these wild things. The main reason for a lot of the problems that these species are having is habitat loss. But there’s also some subtle things that go on, for example, wild fire control. I know that you and I grew up with Smokey the Bear—and tried to stamp out forest fires—which is a great cause. But, forest fires are a fact of life, and they’re Mother Nature’s way of getting rid of some undergrowth. And that does affect some of these species. And, I think that Carter Smith wraps it best. He says at the end of his at issue column this month, “I have no doubt that if we can collectively succeed in this worthwhile endeavor, our children, and their children, and their children after that, will be forever grateful. And if we don’t—they may never forgive us.”

The January issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

TPW Magazine January Preview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

There are a number of ways and reasons to get outdoors in 2009.

My name is Carlee Klatenhoff and my outdoor resolution for 2009 is to be a white water raft guide in West Virginia on the Gauley. My name is Dan Hayes and my outdoor resolution is to hike the Colorado Trail, which is 500 miles from Denver to Durango. My name is Chris Holmes, and I’m the Outdoor Program Coordinator and it’s my new year’s resolution to make sure every state park has a geocaching place. My name is Samantha Peek and I’d like to plant at least one new flower in 2009.

Big or small…personal or professional… the outdoors can help you achieve your aspirations. Outdoor columnist, Drew Schlussel, resolved to get out more in 2008 and looks to do the same in the upcoming year.

When you’re outside, you don’t have any interruptions, distractions like the computer and the television. And it just reminds you that there’s something more to do than what you have to do every day.

For recreation, spiritual renewal, or interests in wildlife and conservation: Texas offers a variety of ways to take part in nature. Explore the outdoor possibilities on our website: passporttotexas.org.

Make life better in 2009 by getting outside. From all of us at Passport to Texas: have a happy and healthy New Year!

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

_________________________________________________________

Drew Schlussel’s 2008 Outdoor Resolutions
http://www.gilpincountynews.com/20080103/drew_column.htm

New Year Resolutions Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Jake “Bud” Dearing, has worked tirelessly to produce quality white-tailed deer on his ranch through the Parks and Wildlife Managed Lands Deer Program.

We got plenty of good deer here. They need a little push, a little help.

The Dearing Ranch, in Northern Erath County, stretches across 1400 acres, and has a 15-acre bass lake. Walking along one of the property’s many trails, Dearing points to a healthy stand of waist-high vegetation.

Right here we have this skunk bush, and I’m, and I’m proud of it. We have, uh, lots of it, and it’s one of the better foods for deer in this country. It is very important in a deer’s diet.

And deer get their fill at this all-you-can-eat buffet. Steve Whisenant works alongside the 78-year-old rancher.

I’ve worked with him on it since day one. And it’s just part of us. We’ve put a lot of our life into it. A lot of work, and it’s beginning to pay off now. He’s got world class game here; bass, turkey, white-tail deer. It’s just a dream for a sportsman or wildlife person.

Dearing says he’s not ready to slow down, because he’s having too much fun managing his land.

I enjoy it more since y’all have pointed things out to me that…I’d never thought about.

The Dearing Ranch earned the Lone Star Land Steward award for the Cross-Timbers and Prairies Eco-Region.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
__________________________________________________________

The Dearing Ranch
http://www.dearingranchtrophywhitetails.com/

Lone Star Land Steward Cross Timbers & Prairies, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download