Passport to Texas

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When you’re on the water this summer, or any time, and a Texas Game Warden approaches your boat – relax. They’re just looking out for your safety. [03 ambience]

07— How’re y’all doin’ today? Fine. How’re y’all doin? Pretty good. We’re doing a water safety check; if I could see one life jacket for each person on board, please. You betcha.

[03 ambience] Cynthia Guajardo is an East Texas Game Warden who lives in the community she serves. Keeping her neighbors safe on the water is part of her job.

08— Do you have your fire extinguisher? Yes ma’am. Have a seat for me. Here it is. Will you have a seat for me? I don’t want you fallin’.

In addition, Officer Guajardo works with philanthropic organizations in her community to raise money to take children from Cherokee County to an outdoor camp in Central Texas.

07— I enjoy it. There’s nothing like seeing a kid do something that they’ve never done before and seeing the look on their face is priceless; it’s worth all the months of preparation.

As a game warden she straddles the line between law officer and educator. And you can see more of her story on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series the week of June 1.

13— Being a game warden is a large part of who I am. Where else can you have the freedom that we have in law enforcement, which I love, and deal with the outdoors and have the freedom to educate kids. I mean, it’s a bunch of different jobs rolled into one. You can’t beat it.

Our show receives funding from Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Kids enjoying a day of fishing

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Why is fishing growing in popularity?

07— Access Is there. It’s not expensive. There’s a draw to water. And young kids are excited to get into fishing typically, [because] it’s weird. [laughs].

Caleb Harris, an aquatic education training specialist, says access may be the top reason why people fish.

06—There’s significant access to fishing in Texas. We have lots of lakes and lots of parks. Within ten minutes of most homes you can find a place to stick a hook in the water.

Find neighborhood fishing locations on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. And if you’re new to fishing, Harris suggests attending a Go Fish! Learn-to-Fish Events at Texas State Parks.

34— The Go Fish events are free events in the park, and they start in the morning – typically – and they’ll have education stations. And, they’re very specific for exactly those people who say I’m interested in fishing but I really don’t even know where to start. And after about an hour and a half to two hours of basic hands on activities to learn these things, then there’s an opportunity to borrow some fishing poles and go fishing right there in the park. And after that, most people would have an example of where they could fish, what type of bait to use, how to tie on lures and hooks, what different fish they could expect to catch with certain types of bait – they would get that information at these events. It really is a good starting point.

Find Go Fish events in the calendar section of the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The WSFR program supports our series and is funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel.

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

Teaching kids to fish.

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As more people show an interest in fishing, the need for trained angler education instructors also increases.

07— Our strategy is to equip people so that they can bring fishing activities and events and outdoor experiences to their own communities.

Caleb Harris is an aquatic education training specialist. He trains interested folks to put on fishing events.

12— What we offer is some training to equip people to bring that to their own communities – whether it be their city, their church, their scout group… And then we can train them how to put on those events and we can give them the resources to successfully do it.

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a volunteer angler education instructor, it’s easy to find a skills workshop.

14— There’s at least one or two happening each month somewhere in the state. And our workshops are free, too, to people who are interested in them. So, people can contact us directly and ask when the next workshop is, or they can follow the calendar of events on TPW website. They’ll all be posted there, too.

Harris says the people who reach out to the agency for training are enthusiastic, and believe in fishing as a way to engage the outdoors and bring families together.

06— Our volunteers are pretty incredible, actually, how motivated they are to help families get outside and have a good experience in fishing.

Find an angler education workshop near you on the TPW website. The WSFR program supports our series and is funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Justin Crawford shares his story.

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On November 29, 2008, as the sun began to set on Lake Ray Hubbard near Dallas, Justin Crawford, Taylor Savant and his cousin Brandon Fugate set off in Justin’s boat, which lacked both a kill switch and life jackets.

A strong front blew in, and the combination of a big wave and a 40 MPH wind gust knocked the 18-year-olds into the 42-degree water. Without a kill switch, the boat kept going.

Brandon decided to swim to shore while Taylor and Justin treaded water in place. Justin picks up the story.

40— Brandon started…kind of getting away from us. And, uh, I just remember Taylor and me looking at each other, and knowing we’d really messed up. We couldn’t…couldn’t find him. He was already gone. Then it was after that, it was, you know –fight for yourself, you know. It was, you know, no longer, where’s Brandon. It’s like, oh man, what am I going to do to save myself? And this boat with two gentlemen came over to me, and they threw me a rope. He pulled us both onto the boat, and uh, we sat there for a second, and then we said Brandon’s name. And they said: “There’s somebody else?” And we said: “Yes sir.” We looked for him for 29 days; we finally found him thanks to a lot of help. It was the worst day of my life by far, and I’ll never forget it.

It’s National Safe Boating Week. Learn how to stay safe on the water by logging onto Boating section of the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

Teaching children about PFDs.

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It’s National Safe Boating Week, and we want to share a cautionary tale. This is part one. Justin Crawford and his High School buddies, Taylor and Brandon set off on Lake Ray Hubbard near Dallas one November evening in 2008.

04— My dad was bringing me out here in diapers before I could walk – I know it like the back of my hand.

It was nearly dark when they left the dock. Because 18-year old Justin didn’t grow up using life jackets, he didn’t have them on his boat when they set out to check trot lines they’d strung earlier.

06— I didn’t think that I would ever be in the situation where I would necessarily need one to save my life. Or, to save somebody that I was with life.

A front blew in creating choppy waters; leaving the fish behind, they attempted a hasty retreat to shore when both a large wave and 40 mph wind gust hit the boat.

06— Mother Nature can just rock your world so fast; there’s nothing you can do. It’s like fighting a thousand people at one time – you know you don’t stand a chance.

Justin, Taylor and Brandon ended up in the icy 42-degree waters of Lake Ray Hubbard… without life jackets. And without a “kill switch” the boat kept going.

06— And the whole time we’re just screaming; screaming as loud as we can, hoping somebody will hear us. And nobody can hear us. No one’s around.

No one was nearby. It was dark, and the water was deathly cold. Find out what happened next on tomorrow’s show.

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