Passport to Texas

Fishing at Cooper lake State Park

Cooper Lake State Park: Two Parks in One Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Midway between Dallas and Texarkana, Cooper Lake State Park is two parks in one.

We’ve got two different units. We’ve got the Doctor’s Creek unit on the north side of the Lake, and then we have the South Sulphur Unit on the south side of the lake.

Together, the units encompass just over 3,000 acres. Kody Waters, Complex Superintendent, says visitors enjoy hiking, biking and horseback riding on the trail systems found on both sides of the lake.

One of them is fairly flat at the Doctor’s Creek Unit, but then the other trail system—you have to have a little more experience on riding that. But, both trails are great during the fall. As we’re coming into this fall, it’s going to be great to be able to go on the trail and see the change in the colors on the trail.

Visitors can reserve camping sites, RV sites with water and electricity, shelters, and fully loaded cabins—some with lake views. Plus, there’s plenty of water recreation and fishing.

At Cooper Lake, a lot of folks will say—in the park system across the state—it’s one of the best kept little secrets. Cooper Lake is truly a great fishery. You’ve got the hybrid striped bass. You’ve got great catfishing, great crappie fishing. And largemouth bass as well. We do struggle with our lake elevation—we have over the years—but we’re at a great level now, and hope to be that way as we continue.

Find more information about Cooper Lake State Park as well as events at the park on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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

You could be saltwater fishing in Matagorda Bay.

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What if someone gave you a year’s worth of outdoor adventures? It could happen for one fishing or hunting license buyer when they enter the Win Your Dream Year Outdoors drawing, through November 30.

Go to a special web page that we’ve set up and enter your information: your email address, your name, and your customer number and you’re entered.

It’s free to enter the drawing. Guided fishing and hunting trips are just the start. Janis Johnson, with Texas Parks and Wildlife, says priceless outdoor experiences will provide a lifetime of memories for the winner.

We’re also giving these one of a kind experiences that money can’t buy. You can’t buy a trip to go out on a bay troll on a research vessel with a coastal biologist. Or to go longline sampling in the Gulf of Mexico to learn more about the bay systems and how we keep them healthy and thriving. And, you cannot at this point, buy a kayak fishing adventure with a team of TPW biologists on the Devil’s River, which is one of the most pristine and beautiful and untouched rivers in the whole Southwestern United States.

The license buyer who wins the Grand Prize also receives a premier dove hunting trip, a shotgun, a trophy catfish trip, and $2,000 in Cabela’s merchandise and gear, and more—and it’s all tax free.

And here’s another exciting point. Every trip is for at least two people with accommodations for the travelers.

Find details about the Win Your Dream Year Outdoors drawing on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website, search using the phrase “Dream Year”.

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

Win your dream year outdoors with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Your Dream Year Outdoors Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Most folks who work indoors all day long wish they had more time to be outdoors.

We can’t give them more time outdoors, but we can certainly make it a lot more fun when they’re out there.

That’s Janis Johnson with Texas Parks and Wildlife. She says anyone purchasing an annual, combo or lifetime license can enter a free drawing for a Dream Year Outdoors.

And the way you enter is to buy your license either online or at a local retailer—get your customer number off of your license, and simply go to a special web page that we’ve set up on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website and enter your information.

So what would this dream year outdoors look like?

It starts with a Cabela’s Celebrity Bass Trip, where you get to go fishing with two of their TV hosts. And this will be televised and shown nationally. There are five fishing trips; a saltwater trip—guided. There’s a freshwater trip. There’s a Devil’s River Kayak Fishing Adventure. There’s a Be a Coastal Biologist for a Day fishing trip. There’s a dove hunting trip from a premier outfitter. And all of these trips include hotel lodging.

The Win Your Dream Year Outdoors drawing runs through November 30. A winner will be drawn December 1.

Janis Johnson returns with additional details on the drawing for a Dream Year Outdoors tomorrow.

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

You can help support Hunters for the Hungry and Fund for Veterans at the time you buy a hunting or fishing license.

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Now, whenever Texas hunters and anglers buy a new license, they have an opportunity to voluntarily make a charitable donation to two different non-profits.

You can make the voluntary contribution of either one dollar, five dollars, ten dollars or twenty dollars to either the Fund for Veteran’s Assistance, or to help feed Texas families with a donation to Hunters for the Hungry.

Justin Halvorsen is revenue director at Texas Parks and Wildlife. This new giving opportunity came about through passage of SB 1978 and HB 1584 by the Texas Legislature.

It’s through any one of our sales channels. Either online, over the phone, at a retail agent, or any one of our parks and wildlife locations.

Halvorsen says if you make a donation, your bill at checkout will naturally go up by that amount.

And then, at the end of every month, it’ll go into a separate pot, and we’ll send it along to those respective entities [nonprofits].

If you’re feeling generous, you can donate to both. Of course you may wonder if your donation is tax deductible.

That is a great question. And there will be a receipt that gets printed as part of this that specifically says that this is a donation to the Veteran’s Fund or Hunters for the Hungry. And then, really, it’s up to the individual and their tax preparer to make that ultimate decision.

You may need to ask for an itemized receipt from retailers. Find additional details on the TPW website.

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

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

Here’s what river access can get you.

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Texas Parks and Wildlife has expanded angler access to some of the state’s 191-thousand miles of rivers through a lease program.

We’re trying to bring in private landowners to help be a solution to open up angler access to rivers.

Tim Birdsong is chief of habitat conservation for Texas Parks and wildlife. Landowners who participate in the program receive monthly lease payments and even funds for site improvements.

Such as trails, or parking areas. If there’s an interest, we support habitat improvements…addressing, sometimes, erosion issues, or maybe loss of vegetation along the stream bank that’s resulting in some kind of bank instability. So, there are a lot of things we can do at these sites to help benefit not just their general management of the site, but also provide for a better user experience.

Birdsong says users ought not to expect a family-friendly parklike setting.

This is more about showcasing a natural, functional, healthy river system. This is for folks that are experienced paddlers, and anglers that really know how to [navigate and] fish a river. Rivers are inherently dangerous and somewhat unforgiving. But we do want to provide an opportunity for people to experience what a natural, flowing river is.

Find more information about the program and river ecosystems on 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.