Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

You want to take the family fishing, but maybe time is tight—or funds are tight. No worries. Our state park guide Bryan Frazier says your family can fish for free at state parks.

No one needs a fishing license as long as you’re inside a state park. Our free fishing in state parks program is something that we’ve done and is one of the most popular decisions we’ve ever made. We also have events: everything from fishing derbies to kids’ fishing tournaments, to fishing with a ranger, to learn to fish classes. All over the state. Wherever you are. Chances are there’s a state park near you and chances are there’s a fishing event happening this summer for you and your whole family. If you’re inside a Texas state park, you don’t need a fishing license or stamp, or anything like that. Whether its freshwater or saltwater, if you’re on state park property, we want people to fish and enjoy that—we want you to take kids fishing, and share that, so that down the road—in the future—maybe they’ll take their kids and so on. And just flat out, we don’t want people to miss out on what fishing can be in the state of Texas. And that is: enjoyment, peaceful scenery, and time spent together that you really can’t find in other ways.

Thanks, Bryan.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet…building dependable, reliable trucks for more than 90 years.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Memorial Day weekend is the gateway to summer fun. And Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine editor Louie Bond says the June issue takes readers to the coast for a little fishing.

55—We sure are heading to the coast this month, Cecilia. You know, I guess people throughout our agency and throughout the state would argue about what the most exciting type of fishing is, whether it’s catching those big bass out in the lakes or fly fishing on the river…but for me, it’s being out there on the Gulf—what a tempestuous body of water, and what a challenge to fish out there. So, this month I have David Sykes from the Corpus Christi Caller Times and Larry Bozka; both well-known anglers and much to my delight both great writers. And so, we have dueling stories—both of conservation and sport fishing this month down on the lower Texas coast. And I’m excited to read about it. I still recall my favorite redfish experience: catching the biggest fish on the boat when I was eight months pregnant. Surprised a lot of the guys, I can tell you that. But, Larry will help us take a look at redfish, and David’s taking us for a look at that amazing sport fish—the tarpon. So, we hope that everybody will head down to the coast with us this month.

That’s our show…with funding from the Sport Fish restoration program, working to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Abundant water and huge old cypress trees makes Caddo Lake ideal wildlife habitat.

06—Caddo Lake is the mother load for several species of neo-tropical migrants.

Cliff Shackelford is a non-game ornithologist stationed in Nacogdoches. The prothonotary warbler, northern parula, and yellow-throated warbler flock to Caddo.

17—A dawn chorus of those warblers singing is quite a neat thing. It’s good to be out in a boat, a canoe, a kayak, something where you can get out in the middle of the swamp to hear these things—they’re just loud and explosive. It’s really refreshing to hear things like that singing in the morning.

But warblers aren’t the only creatures that make use of Caddo’s resources. Vanessa Adams is the area biologist at the Caddo Lake Wildlife Management Area. And says you’ll find white-tailed deer and…

14—We unfortunately do have feral hog, but that is a huntable population, of course. We see several species of ducks. You’ll see wood duck year round. We get mallards; we have other unusual ducks. In fact, we’ve had black-bellied whistling ducks nest here.

That’s our show… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for wetland conservation through the Private Lands Enhancement Program.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Texas Nature Trackers is a citizen science program whereby Texans monitor species that biologists don’t commonly scrutinize.

05—So, we don’t have a lot of information on these species and we need to know what’s going on.

Biologist, Marsha May, oversees the program, which includes monitoring amphibians and freshwater mussels.

13—Many of these species are indicators of the health of our environment. And if we have a healthy frog population [for example] in a body of water within our community, then that’s a clean body of water.

Sound interesting? Consider attending the training on May 19 & 20 at Lake Livingston State Park, in Livingston in East Texas.

17—We’re actually doing a combination. Where, on one evening, we will do amphibian watch, because the best time to hear frog calls are at night. And then the following day—during the daytime—we’ll do mussel watch. So, people can either do both workshops, or they can do one or the other.

Complete this training and earn a scientific permit to handle either amphibians or mussels.

15—After that, they pick a site where they want to monitor, and they monitor on a regular basis, and then send us the data. If they need information, or if they need support, we are always there for them.

Find workshop details on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series and helps to fund the operations and management of more than 50 wildlife management areas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is Passport to Texas

Some non-game animal species are rare, and require monitoring—which Parks and Wildlife accomplishes via the Texas Nature Trackers program.

08—Texas Nature Trackers is a citizen science monitoring program getting Texans involved in monitoring rare species throughout the state.

Biologist, Marsha May, oversees the program. She says for some species, volunteers just download forms and information from the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and get started.

22—But the others….we hold workshops. And so, with amphibian watch, we’ll hold a workshop and teach citizens how to identify frogs and toads by their calls. It’s a lot of fun. And then we also hold workshops for mussel watch, to get out there and learn about all the various mussel species that we have throughout the state, and how to monitor them and identify them.

Without the data collected by Nature Trackers volunteers, parks and Wildlife would know only a fraction of what it does about some of these creatures.

17—These are species that aren’t normally monitored by our biologists throughout the state. So, we don’t have a lot of information on these species. And so, citizens can help us so we’ll know whether or not their populations are decreasing or declining, or what’s going on with them.

Find information on Nature Trackers, and upcoming workshops on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series and helps to fund the operations and management of more than 50 wildlife management areas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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