Passport to Texas

Rainbow trout. Photo credit: http://livingwatersflyfishing.com/

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Rainbow trout may not survive in all parts of Texas, but they flourish in the Guadalupe River below Canyon Dam. The water there is cold, which rainbows need to survive.

We’ve landed 27 and 28-inch rainbow trout out of this river, which is absolutely surreal. That’s a big fish for anywhere.

Chris Johnson is a River Guide. He talks about rainbows in a segment of the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS, which airs next week. Mark Dillow, Chapter President of Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited, is in the segment, too.

We encourage Catch-and-Release to return the fish to the river so that this resource can continue; so that the efforts Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited are putting into making this a world-class fishery can continue. And other people can have an opportunity catch the fish that you caught.

In January 2015, Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited held its first youth trout camp where kids experienced fly fishing and river recreation on the Guadalupe River. And, Dakus Geeslin, Aquatic Scientist, at Texas Parks and Wildlife, says events like that create conservationists.

If these kids enjoy the river, they start caring about the river, and the next thing you know they’ll want to conserve and protect the river. What we saw was a conservation legacy being developed firsthand over that weekend of our trout camp.

Catch the segment on rainbow trout and Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited next week on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV show on PBS. Check your local listings.

The Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

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

Angler Holding Up Trout on Stringer, Blanco State Park Photo Credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

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If you’re an angler who likes to eat what you catch, then now’s the time to reel in a rainbow trout.

We stock them at a catchable and eatable size. They are good fighting fish; they’re relatively easy to catch. We usually stock them in smaller bodies of water, so they’re a good fishing, catching opportunity and good eating opportunity as well.

Carl Kittle is a program director for Inland Fisheries, and oversees winter trout stocking in Texas, which began this month.

We’ve been stocking [rainbow] trout around Texas for almost 40 years. One interesting note about trout is that we often say there are no established populations of trout in Texas, but actually, way out west in the Davis Mountains there’s a small, tiny stream at high enough elevation that there is a reproducing population of rainbow trout.

That’s why we stock them in winter; most of Texas is too hot for the. Inland fisheries will distribute more than 290-thousand rainbows in 150 locations.

And we have a special program; we actually stock somewhat larger trout in urban areas in our Neighborhood Fishin’ Program. And that’s something that you can specifically look for on our web page.

With the winter holidays here, it’s is a great time go fishing with the kids. Find the stocking schedule on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish restoration program supports our series and funds rainbow trout stocking in Texas…

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

A happy angler shows off a rainbow trout caught in a Dallas-area community fishing lake stocked annually by TPWD.

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It’s the holiday season; and we recommend celebrating with rods, reels and rainbows. Rainbow trout, that is.

We do winter stockings when the water temperatures permit it, to provide an opportunity for anglers to catch trout in Texas. It’s a species of fish that anglers wouldn’t catch otherwise, so we stock them, and we intend them all to be caught out during the season.

Carl Kittle (kitl) is a biologist with Inland Fisheries. He says thanks to abundant rainfall throughout most of the state, there’s plenty of access to stock lakes and ponds.

This year, things are pretty well back to normal. Looks like our normal level of stocking will happen.

The agency will stock more than 290-thousand rainbow trout in about 150 sites statewide.

We publish a schedule on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department webpage. Look for the winter trout stocking link.

Carl Kittle says we stock rainbows in winter because these fish cannot survive our hot summers. So, when you reel one in this winter, take it home and eat it.

We have two trout recipes at passporttotexas.org.

The Sport fish restoration program supports our series and helps to fund rainbow trout stocking in Texas…

We record our series at The Block House in Austin, Texas and Joel Block engineers our program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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For convenience (or when you need to prepare something the kiddos will eat) fish sticks and canned tuna can save the day. However, when you can slow down and take a little extra time – and it really doesn’t take that much more time, but it tastes like it – excite the taste buds of family and friends with the savory goodness of well-prepared fresh fish. It’s sure to make a splash.

Whole Cooked Trout Italiana
Recipe by Cecilia Nasti
Prep & Cooking time: 30 minutes or less
Serves 2

Annual winter rainbow trout stocking runs December through early March statewide. They’re fun to catch and make great table fare.

Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1.5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt or Kosher salt
• Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 whole, one-pound rainbow trout, cleaned, heads on
• 1 large lemon cut into wedges
• 1/4 cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

Directions
1. Heat the broiler.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the oil, garlic and dried herbs; simmer over low heat, about 2-3 minutes. This will marry the flavors. Be mindful not to burn the garlic otherwise the oil may taste slightly bitter.
3. Remove the oil and herb mixture from the heat and stir in the vinegar, half the salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
4. Place the whole trout on the broiler pan and sprinkled each, inside and out, with the remaining salt.
5. With a pastry brush, apply the oil, herb and vinegar mixture onto the fish, both inside and out.
6. Broil the fish about 5-inches from the heat source for 4-5 minutes on one side, before gently turning it to other side and cooking an additional 2-3 minutes until just done; an instant read thermometer inserted into the fleshiest part of the fish should register 120-degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Brush the hot fish with some of the remaining oil, herb and vinegar mixture.

8. Plate and whole fish; sprinkle with chopped Italian flat leaf parsley, and serve with lemon wedges. Serve hot.
This dish would pair well with a winter salad of arugula, thin-sliced red onion, shaved fennel bulb, Texas Ruby Red grapefruit sections, Texas pecans, shaved parmesan cheese, and simple vinaigrette.

Trout with Mexican Mint Marigold. Photo by Beth Pav.

Casa Pav Rainbow Trout with Mexican Mint Marigold
Recipe by Mike and Beth Pav

Ingredients
• 1lb or 1 filet (side w/skin) of trout, de-boned
• 1-2 teaspoons of extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoons of kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoons of freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons of Mexican Mint Marigold leaves, rough chop
• Several Mexican Mint Marigold flowers for garnish

Directions
1. Preheat Oven 400
2. Place parchment paper on a 1/2 sheet pan.
3. Gently place the trout on top of the parchment paper, skin-side down.
4. Drizzle olive oil over entire trout.
5. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the entire trout.
6. With your fingers, softly rub olive oil, salt and pepper into the flesh of the fish.
7. Rinse & dry hands.
8. Sprinkle the rough chopped Mexican Mint Marigold leaves over the entire fish.
9. Gently place the Mexican Mint Marigold flowers in a line down the center of the filet, from tip to tail.
10. Place in over for up to 15 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Hints & Tips

• You may substitute tarragon for Mexican Mint Marigold.
• The yellow flowers do turn brown when roasted. So keep some aside to garnish the trout when done.

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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

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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