Passport to Texas

Fishing: Canyon Dam, the Guadalupe River and Trout Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It’s trout season in Texas. It’s when Texas Parks and Wildlife inland fisheries stocks hundreds of thousands of rainbow trout in lakes and neighborhood fishing ponds to provide a unique winter angling experience.

06—Trout are a cold water species and they like the cold water and they regularly bite at this time of the year.

Steve Magnelia is a fisheries biologist with inland fisheries. If you think Texans are the only ones enjoying this winter treat, Trout Unlimited named the Guadalupe River near Canyon Dam, one of the top 100 trout streams in North American.

10—One of the things I think that gets it into the top 100 is that you can come down here during the winter and enjoy trout fishing. And we get a lot of people from up north that come down to the Guadalupe during the winter months to fish.

And because the water in the river near the dam is cold—below 75 degrees —the fish often survive Texas summers; some of the rainbows can get big and feisty.

18—It’s one thing to catch the 8 to 10 inch fish that we stock every winter, but when you hook into a 4 or 5 pounder, it’s pretty exciting. It’s fun when you hook up with one and they jump out of the water like a tarpon, which they do. Those big ones like to jump and they’ll jump out of the water 4 or 5 times trying to throw your bait. It’s pretty neat.

Find other trout stocking locations on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… supports our series as well as conservation programs in
Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Fishing: Canyon Dam Trout Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We don’t have much in the way of native trout in Texas.

12—The only native trout that we’re aware of are maybe some Rio Grande cutthroat trout that were in the McKittrick Canyon area of the Guadalupe Mountains. Other than that, there are no native trout we know of in Texas.

Which is why, says Steve Magnelia, Parks and Wildlife stocks lakes and neighborhood ponds with rainbow trout every winter.

10—The winter trout program is to provide anglers with a different species to fish for during the winter months when our warm water fish like largemouth bass and other species aren’t readily biting.

Magnelia, an inland fisheries biologist, says because trout won’t survive in water warmer than 75-degrees, the rainbows anglers don’t reel in during winter perish as the water heats up—unless they are in the Guadalupe near Canyon Dam.

08—Because it’s a cold water discharge from Canyon Lake, the water stays cold enough during the summer to sustain trout all year round.

So, if they’ve habituated, does that mean they’ve become a self-sustaining population as well?

08—We don’t have any real evidence that the fish spawn and reproduce in the river, but we do know that they carry over from one winter to the next.

Find other trout stocking locations on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… supports our series as well as conservation programs in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Larry Hodge with his freshwater catch.

Fishing: Freshwater Fishing for 2015 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As the weather warms, seasoned and wannabe anglers yearn to get on the water in the New Year.

18— Overall, the prospects for fishing are good; they’re not going to be great because parts of the state are still in a drought. But, East Texas and North and Central Texas have fared fairly well in the current drought, and most of the lakes still have access and the fish are still there.

Larry Hodge is with Inland Fisheries. He says white bass are especially active this time of year.

19— Most of the reservoirs in East Texas, particularly Toledo Bend, will have a good white bass run up the Sabine River. Those fish are legendary for their size and numbers. Some of the lakes in East Texas also have good white bass fishing. The Neches River above lake Palestine is good for their size and numbers.

Catching largemouth bass might prove spotty due to low water levels. Yet, Hodge says traditional places like Falcon, Choke Canyon and Amistad will have fish as always, but anglers may have to work harder to find them.

08— So, you may have to find some new places [in those reservoirs] to fish; use your electronics, frequent the coffee shops, and talk to the locals and hunt ‘em down.

Find an article by Larry Hodge’s about the best lakes and rivers to fish in 2015 in the digital fishing issue of Texas parks and Wildlife magazine.

The wildlife and sport fish restoration program support our series.

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

Grilled boar chops.

Hunt | Fish | Cook: Getting Wild in the Kitchen Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you’re a regular listener of this series, you’ve heard me talk about cooking and eating wild game and fish. This native protein is natural, sustainable, and plentiful; if you shot it or reeled it in – or know who did – you don’t have to guess about quality or freshness.

One down side is that game can have a strong flavor some find off-putting. But it doesn’t have to when you follow proper handling protocols in the field and in the kitchen.

That’s why Texas Parks and Wildlife created a variety of online resources for new and seasoned hunters and anglers who want to eat what they harvest. Find videos on our website and YouTube channel that illustrate field dressing, proper storage, butchering and cooking your harvest.

We have a growing list of wild game and fish recipes on the website to help you discover new, inventive ways of enjoying this healthy, natural food source. And the digital hunting and fishing issues of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine often have game or fish recipes for your enjoyment.

In addition, Texas Parks and Wildlife partners with Central Market Cooking Schools statewide to offer demonstration and hands on wild game and fish cooking classes every other month. In fact, there’s one coming up February 10 at most of the schools that features oysters,
pheasant and venison. Just in time for Valentine’s Day! Find information about upcoming classes on the Central Market website.

And, make 2015 the year you get wild in the kitchen.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

History: Enduring Spirit of African Americans in 19th Century Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Enduring Spirit: African Americans in 19th Century Texas is a yearlong exhibit at the Texas Star of the Republic Museum in Washington-on-the-Brazos.

08—It actually started from a recent acquisition that we acquired. It was about 15-hundren documents from a gentleman names Asa Hoxey.

Houston McGaugh, director of the museum for Blinn College, says Hoxey moved to Washington County in the early 1830s, and brought black slaves with him.

14— And that prompted us to wonder if there are any descendants of those slaves still in Washington County. And we were able to identify some. So, that really made us start thinking about, more of – well, gosh, there’s an awful lot of African American history that you don’t hear about.

A question the museum wanted answered: when did Blacks first arrive in Texas?

10— And we were surprised to find out they started coming in the 1820s when this was still part of Mexico; and they were actually trying to get land grants like some of the Anglo settlers were in Austin’s Colony.

Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, so Blacks here before Texas Independence were free. That changed when Texas became a republic.

07— And, actually, the free blacks that were here, were given one year to either go back into servitude, or leave the Republic.

Many of these free Blacks went to Mexico where their ancestors live today. Learn more about the exhibit and special events and speakers at starmuseum.org.

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