Archive for the 'Freshwater' Category

Fishing: Big Fish with Big Fight — Alligator Gar

Friday, November 7th, 2014

Alligator Gar in the Trinity River

Alligator Gar in the Trinity River



This is Passport to Texas

Alligator gar, virtually unchanged from prehistoric times, is attracting an enthusiastic 21st Century following.

04—The species in recent years has become very popular amongst anglers and bow fishers.

David Buckmeier is a fisheries scientist for parks and wildlife. To fish for gar, you have to know where to find them.

21—Most alligator gar are found in coastal rivers along the eastern part of the state; rivers like the Trinity are very, very well-known for their alligator gar populations. They’re also found in our coastal bays. They’re an interesting species in that they can go back and forth—maybe not into full salt water like in the gulf—but definitely in the bay systems. And they can go back and forth into the river and into those upper parts of those bays.

The alligator gar is the largest freshwater fish in Texas and gives anglers a good fight.

16—Yes, they actually fight quite well. As you can imagine, any fish that weighs 150 or 200 pounds has a lot of power. So, they do fight; they actually jump quite a bit. They’ll completely clear the water. There’s some variations; some of them are more sluggish than others. But, they’re very entertaining and that’s the reason, I guess, for the popularity.

Anglers may keep one of these big fish per day. Learn more about freshwater fishing at the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

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

Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame Nominations

Thursday, August 21st, 2014

Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame inductee, Buddy Bradley, photo © Buddy Bradley

Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame inductee, Buddy Bradley, photo © Buddy Bradley



This is Passport to Texas

Induction into the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame doesn’t involve reeling in big fish.

07—Correct. It is a way to honor people who have given back to the sport of freshwater fishing.

Center spokesperson, Larry Hodge, says achievement in conservation, charity work and innovation makes judges take notice of worthy nominees.

15— Those folks don’t always get a lot of recognition. So, it was felt that establishing a freshwater fishing hall of fame would be a way to recognize deserving individuals who have made a contribution to freshwater fishing in Texas.

Any Texas-based individual or organization is eligible for nomination. Find criteria and forms on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website. Hodge adds the more detailed nominators are, the better their candidate’s chances.

19—The committee of 12 that goes through the nominations and actually selects the person or organization for induction, may not
know anything about that particular nominee. So, we encourage people to do some research, provide as much information as they can,
and tell us that person’s story.

Submit nominations through November 1, 2014. There’s additional information about the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, and what the inductee receives, on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series… and receives funds from your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel.

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

Fishing: Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame

Wednesday, August 20th, 2014
David Campbell,  Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame inductee with Angler Faron McCain bringing in ShareLunker 523.

David Campbell, Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame inductee with Angler Faron McCain bringing in ShareLunker 523.


This is Passport to Texas

The Texas Freshwater Fishing Center in Athens, Texas opened its doors in 1996; at the same time, it established the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.

07— And has inducted an individual or an organization almost every year since then.

Larry Hodge is the center’s spokesperson. He says they’ll accept nominations for new inductees through November 1, 2014.

22— The criteria basically are that it has to be a human being – and deceased individuals are eligible for nomination, or an organization. In both cases, they must be Texas based. Either a Texas resident if it’s a person, or a Texas based company or other organization if it’s an angling group or something like that.

Find nomination forms on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website. The hall of fame isn’t about honoring people who caught the biggest or most unusual fish.

07—Correct. It is a way to honor people who have given back to the sport of freshwater fishing.

Such as through conservation, or charitable work, or ways that making freshwater fishing better for all…

Learn more about the nomination process tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series… and receives funds from your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel.

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

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.

Fishing: Giving Fish a Hand

Monday, June 9th, 2014

Blue catfish - a fighter and biter for those who

Blue catfish – a fighter and biter for those who “noodle.”



This is Passport to Texas

Noodling or hand fishing is a preferred way to land big catfish, for some.

15— What they do is they find holes that are typically on the bank, or in structure timber, what have you. And, fishermen will search around in the water blindly, feeling in holes until they find these fish, and then they’ll pull them out with their hands.

Whether the anglers get the catfish, or the catfish get the anglers is up for debate.

07— Some of them will tell you they’ll be as gentle as a kitty cat, and some of them will meet you at the door, ready to snap on.

Kris Bodine is a research scientist at Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center.

09—They [hand fishers] tell me that actually blue catfish are a little more aggressive than the flat head catfish, and a lot of the hand fishers don’t want to catch blue catfish because they’re so aggressive.

Although hand fishing is not a new sport, it only became legal in Texas in 2011, which means researchers are in the beginning stages of studying this unique user group.

16—It seems at the outset right now, in terms of the data we’re collecting, that we don’t have a very big user group. There’s probably not a lot of folks going out there hand fishing. In fact, they don’t even have a very long window to do it. It’s typically during the spawning season, so they only have a couple months to hand fish.

A survey for hand-fishing enthusiasts. That’s tomorrow.

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.