Passport to Texas

Cooking fresh-caught crappie at the campsite.

Cooking up Crappie with Tim Spice Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Crappie offer anglers an enjoyable fishing opportunity any time of year. Bring home a cooler full, because fresh crappie are easy to prepare and are delicious.

We’re going to show you how to take your catch from the day and fry it up and have a great meal for you and your family.

Tim Spice works for Texas Parks and Wildlife, and is an avid outdoor cook. In his first preparation, Tim applies salt and pepper to the crappie fillets, and then coats them with cornmeal.

You can do it a little thicker if you like—with an egg wash or even a little bit of milk or buttermilk. But this is pretty simple; you’ll get a great fish flavor just this way.

He places the fillets in hot oil and cooks them for two minutes on each side. For a lighter version, Tim rubs the fillets with chopped tarragon and a squeeze of lemon. He uses a cast iron griddle to cook the fish.

First off, we’re going to add a little bit of olive oil to keep them from sticking, and it adds some great flavor. Then we’re going to take those fillets that we put the tarragon on and put them straight on the pan.

After about two minutes on each side they are done.

You want to know how your fish are done. Take a fork, and if you can break apart the flakes, that means your fish is done.

Find fish and game recipes on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Black drum ready to be filleted or frozen.

How to Humanely Dispatch a Fish Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Like to fish? Then you should know this Saturday, June fourth, is Free Fishing Day in Texas.

People don’t need a fishing license to fish on that first Saturday in June.

Great news, right? Texas Parks and Wildlife aquatic training specialist, Caleb Harris, says everyone can fish free in state parks with fishing opportunities any day, but Free Fishing Day opens all public waters for your angling pleasure. Harris says when you reel in a fish you intend to keep, there is a humane way to dispatch your catch before it becomes dinner.

Most people say that the kindest way to care for a fish that you want to keep [for dinner] is to put it on ice as fast as possible.

The cold temperature, says Harris, causes the fish’s bodily functions to slow down…way down.

The ice will anesthetize it; it’ll be virtually painless at that cold temperature; the fish will get cold and will slowly pass. So, yeah. If you have a boat, and you have the ability to bring an ice chest, you know—catch the fish—if you intend to keep it, make sure it’s a legal size, and put it right on ice.

When you get the fish home, you’ll want to immediately filet it and either cook it up right away, or freeze it. Find a video on how to filet fish, and a link to information on the best way to freeze fish at passporttotexas.org.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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TPWD technician Jeff Bowling holds a 42.5-inch, 39-pound blue catfish caught on a jugline at Richland Chambers Reservoir on December 10, 2009.

New Catfish Management Plan Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Catfish are more adaptable to changing environmental conditions than other game fish, are popular among anglers, and are good eating. For those and other reasons, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commissioners approved a new Catfish Management Plan earlier this year. Dave Terre.

The first step in this plan was to go to our anglers and ask them what they want for the future of catfish angling in Texas. And we took their opinions and their needs and desires for catfish fishing in the future, and we tried to look to see what we could do with our catfish populations to make fishing better for them.

Terre is chief of fisheries management and research at Texas Parks and Wildlife. Stocking, habitat management, and regulations, are among the tools they’ll use to implement the plan. In addition, he says, they’ll bring fish to the fishermen.

People want good, quality fishing opportunities close to home. So, what we strive to do is to use catfish to create good catfish fishing opportunities on smaller, public water bodies in major metropolitan areas close to where people live in cities. So, look for us [to be] doing more of that in the future.

Find the complete catfish management plan on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

All these strategies have been confirmed with our anglers as things tht they want us to do. So, for the next decade or so, this is the direction that we’ll be moving with our catfish program.

The Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

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

White bass

White Bass Run = Fishing Fun Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

In December and January, while we’re busy with the holidays and staying warm indoors, white bass begin to congregate where rivers and reservoirs meet.

And those fish are getting ready for those environmental cues to happen so they can actually all start migrating and running up river.

Environmental cues like changes in temperature and water flows. Marcos De Jesus is a fisheries biologist. When the time is right, white bass move up river to spawn.

Some of them go up pretty far – as far as they can swim to complete their spawning run. So, they become congregated and create excitement for the anglers, because once they’re congregated they’re really fun to catch.

East and Central Texas offer many white bass fishing opportunities. De Jesus says while they’re active year round, springtime runs practically set up anglers for success.

As we get into the springtime, they congregate towards the mouth of the river waiting for those cues. Right when they’re at the mouth of the river, they’re easy to catch. But, the easiest time to catch them is when they’re running up river spawning in those shallow waters, because you can actually catch them from the bank. Do these fish give you a good fight? Definitely. They’re very great fighters. They become aggressive, and they take on many types of lures and live bait. Once they hook on – they’ll fight pretty hard.

Find out when and where white bass are biting when you log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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

Cooking Crappie at Camp

TPW TV: Spice on Fish Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Next week, Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Tim Spice takes viewers from pole to platter, when he cooks up crappie filets outdoors on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series.

After cleaning, deboning, skinning and drying the fish…

11- We’re going to lightly prep it with a little bit of salt and a little bit of fresh pepper [grinding pepper]. Just a little bit of pepper, though, because crappies are really nice delicate fish, and you don’t want to overpower it.

Next, he dredges the fish in plain cornmeal.

05- I was raised with simple cornmeal; and you’ll get a great fish flavor just this way.

Buttermilk added to the cornmeal makes a thick batter, but if you want to taste the fish, Spice says: less is more. A camp stove supports a cast iron skillet with hot oil.

15- Alright. We’ve got that temperature right where we like it– about 275. Now, we’re just going to take our fish and put ’em right in the oil. Watch your fingers so you don’t splatter that hot grease. We want to cook the crappie for about two minutes on each side. Nice light brown; that keeps it nice, moist, and tender on the inside.

The filets are done and ready to serve in no time.

08– You want to know how your fish are done? Here’s a simple test: take a fork, and if you can break apart the flakes–that means your fish is done.

For an even lighter dish, Tim Spice demonstrates a pan seared, herb rubbed fish recipe the week of Aug. 17 on the TPW PBS TV series. Check your local listings.

That’s our show… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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