Archive for June 10th, 2014

Fishing: Help Improve Catfish Management

Tuesday, June 10th, 2014

Flathead catfish, courtesy Virtual Aquarium, Virginia Tech

Flathead catfish, courtesy Virtual Aquarium, Virginia Tech



This is Passport to Texas

Hand-fishing for catfish, also called noodling, is a new way to fish in Texas even though it’s been going on for years.

06— And it’s typically passed on from generation to generation. There isn’t a lot of new folks being added to the sport.

Hand-fishers use only their bare hands to bring a fish to shore. Kris Bodine is a fisheries research scientist. Hand-fishing became legal in Texas in 2011, and since then, TPW’s been trying to understand this user group and their needs.

15— What we’re finding is that a lot of these people fish with their family members — it’s just passed on down the chain. But a lot of these folks like this sport because it allows them an opportunity to catch really big fish that might be otherwise very difficult to catch.

Bodine and his cohorts are collecting data about them using a voluntary online survey.

29—In recent years we’ve been working on developing a statewide catfish management plan. And that catfish management plan requires us to have a suite of different kinds of information. One piece of information is we need to know about our anglers: what they want, who they are, what they’re catching, and how they want us to manage the fisheries. Because they are a new angling group to us, and we know nothing about them — virtually. We need to consider their needs in our future management practices.

The survey’s available through the end of this month. Find a link to it at passporttotexas.org [find link to survey below].

The Wildlife and Sport fish Restoration program supports our series and is funded by your purchase of hunting and fishing equipment and motorboat fuel.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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HAND FISHING SURVEY
The survey should take five to 10 minutes to complete online at https://survey.tpwd.state.tx.us/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=8803304. Anglers may complete the survey any time between now and June 30.