Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

[School bell rings] As school bells ring out the last day of classes across the state, parents seek ways to keep their children occupied without breaking the bank. May we suggest free fishing at state parks?

Texas state parks are a great place to go fishing because you don’t have to have a license.

Ann miller, aquatic education coordinator, says taking the family fishing at a state park is not only economical, but can also help parents and children reconnect.

Fishing is wonderful because it gives time away from normal duties for the parents to enjoy the children. It puts all the family in a different atmosphere to focus on one another for a change, instead of all the other distractions of everyday living.

Beginning this month, leave everyday issues behind when you take the family to a state park for free fishing events.

These events are made to help beginners who are just getting started in fishing learn how to fish, And that will be beginners ages six on up, by the way, so you don’t have to be a child. Some of the events are more children oriented, but they’re really family oriented events.

Find a link to these events at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… we receive support for our program from the Sport Fish restoration Program… reminding you that Saturday June 7 is Free Fishing Day in Texas….For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Free Fishing in State Parks: Fishing & Family Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

[School bell rings] As school bells ring out the last day of classes across the state, parents seek ways to keep their children occupied without breaking the bank. May we suggest free fishing at state parks?

Texas state parks are a great place to go fishing because you don’t have to have a license.

Ann miller, aquatic education coordinator, says taking the family fishing at a state park is not only economical, but can also help parents and children reconnect.

Fishing is wonderful because it gives time away from normal duties for the parents to enjoy the children. It puts all the family in a different atmosphere to focus on one another for a change, instead of all the other distractions of everyday living.

Beginning this month, leave everyday issues behind when you take the family to a state park for free fishing events.

These events are made to help beginners who are just getting started in fishing learn how to fish, And that will be beginners ages six on up, by the way, so you don’t have to be a child. Some of the events are more children oriented, but they’re really family oriented events.

Find a link to these events at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… we receive support for our program from the Sport Fish restoration Program… reminding you that Saturday June 7 is Free Fishing Day in Texas….For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Free Fishing in State Parks: Fishing & Family Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Women can gain a lot from outdoors experiences.

I think women are strong and they’re smart. And I think we’re stronger and smarter than sometimes we give ourselves credit for being.

Krista Allen is a participant turned instructor of the Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshops.

And I think the outdoor experience help women realize their strengths because the skills we learn help you grow as a person and those skills have application in their everyday lives.

Allen believes that women finding passion outdoors will encourage them to share it with others. Your most effective doing things that your passionate it about and when you find an outdoor activity that you love and you’re passionate about, you’re going to pass that on to other people. Showing the outdoors to people, I think, is one of the coolest things that you can do.

Once women discover an outdoor activity they’re passionate about they’ll find new value in state parks.

If you’re a mountain biker or if you’re a cyclist you have a huge appreciation for the out of doors and the value of having those sort of spaces and preserving those sort of spaces.

To find out more information about Becoming an Outdoors Woman Workshops, visit passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Women in the Outdoors Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

While most of the action at the second annual Toyota Texas Bass Classic at Lake Fork—April 18 through 20—takes place in the middle of the water, there is plenty on shore to keep attendees occupied.

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic was built around families.

Dave Terre is chief of Inland Fisheries research and management at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

We’re enticing families to come in—mom and dad—and all their kids to come in and see bass fishing, to see exhibits, to hear concerts, to have a picnic. We have a family fun zone, where kids have the opportunity to come in and explore things like we see at our Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo, things like how to fish, big bass displays, we have casting contests, archery contests, displays on our state parks, and just millions of different things for kids to do while they’re there.

Day passes and weekend passes are available, and children under seventeen are free with paid adult admissions.

I would really just like people to come out and see this tournament. It’s really a spectacle. It’s the biggest bass fishing tournament, of course, in Texas. It’ll teach people about what we do as an agency, and what we’re doing to make fishing better on Lake Fork. Come see an awesome partnership between industry, Texas Parks and Wildlife department, and the professional anglers to work together to help promote fishing everywhere.

Find details at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
______________________________________________________
A three-day Ticket Book valid for all the events at Lake Fork, April 18, 19 and 20 is $20 in advance and $25 on-site. One-day tickets are also available for $10. Kids 17 and under are admitted free with a ticketed adult. Tickets are now on sale at www.toyotatexasbassclassic.com or (866) 907-0143 and at participating Bass Pro Shops locations and Brookshire’s grocery stores.

Toyota Texas Bass Classic, 3 of 3 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic planned for Lake Fork this month demonstrates how conservation and competition need not be at odds.

It’s really a conservation type tournament being done to benefit Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Dave Terre is chief of Inland Fisheries research and management. He says once caught, the bass are weighed and returned to the lake. Nearly 100-percent of bass reeled in during the three-day tournament survive.

This gives the Texas Parks and Wildlife department a great opportunity to tell the world about fishing opportunities in Texas, and what we’ve done to manage fish populations in a wonderful lake…. It just brings a good sense about what Texas Parks and Wildlife department is doing to make fishing better, and to promote conservation.

The event, April 18 through 20, involves one hundred four professional bass anglers vying for prizes totaling $750-thousand dollars, provided by Toyota and its sponsors.

Of course, $250-thousand dollars of that comes right back to the department to allow us to enhance fishing in our neighborhood fishing program, which is kind of a unique way that we have gone now to help utilize this money to promote fishing in our urban areas.

Event details at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… with support from the Sport Fish restoration program…which provides funding for the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

Toyota Texas Bass Classic, 2 of 3 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download