Passport to Texas

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

Boys and girl with an interest in hunting who don’t have a family member who hunts, can participate in Texas’ youth hunting program.

We offer a Texas youth hunting program through Parks and Wildlife and the Texas Wildlife Association.

Heidi Rao is a hunter education coordinator from Dickenson.

This is a program that offers youth hunting opportunities to those of the ages between nine and seventeen. They go through the hunter education course, and then they have opportunities to go on a variety of youth hunts that are guided by trained hunt masters.

With the proper training, even young hunters can become volunteer hunter education instructors.

We have an assistant hunter education instructor program for those who are between the ages fifteen and twenty. They have to go through the same requirements as a full instructor, such as the student course, the game warden interview, and the instructor course. The only other requirement that we have is that our assistant instructors has to team teach with a full instructor, who’s at least twenty-one years of age. When that assistant turns twenty-one, if they are still active, we will roll them over, and they will become a full instructor.
Learn more at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…supported by a grant from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase shooting, hunting, fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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

Teal, a migratory game bird, is gaining popularity among waterfowlers; the blue wing, green wing and cinnamon teal migrate through Texas.

Of those three the blue wing and green wing are probably the most predominant.

Dave Morrison is waterfowl program leader. Size generally differentiates teal from other waterfowl.

Blue wings are much smaller birds. They’re usually about a pound. Green wings are probably the smallest of all dabbling ducks – coming in about three quarters of a pound. They fly in real small compact flights.

Teal season starts September 15th and runs for sixteen consecutive days.

And basically this season is designed because they are early migrants. Blue wings are probably the second or third most abundant species there is. Birds get up there, they breed, go through the molt, then they head back south. Texas is kind of a stop-over before they go into Central and South America.

Some years, says Morrison, teal season is only nine days.

This is based on the breeding population. When the blue wing numbers are above 4.7 million on the breeding pair counts, we have a 16 day option. When they fall below that 4.7, we have a nine day option.

Find a link to the 2007-2008 Outdoor Annual at passporttotexas.org.

Our show is made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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

Texas anglers look forward to the annual running of the bulls — bull redfish, that is.

It’s large schools of mature red drum – male and female – aggregating near gulf passes to spawn.

Bill Balboa is ecosystem leader for the Matagorda Bay system. The bull red run begins in late August, crescendos about now, and continues through the fall. And these fish, most over 28-inches long, give anglers a good fight.

They call them bulls for a reason, and it’s because they’re very strong fish; they don’t give up easily. And, so generally most anglers are going to fish for bull reds in the surf using what I would consider typical surf tackle — which is a little bit heavier rod and reel, because what they can expect is a lot of long runs from this fish. They pull very hard. Much like a bull would pull if you had it on a rope.

Although anglers can reel in bull reds all along the gulf coast, their best opportunities lie north of Matagorda Bay.

A lot of bull red fishing occurs in Sergeant up off of Freeport; Crystal Beach and Bolivar, in that area, and off of Sabine Pass.

Learn more about the annual bull red run when you visit passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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

When it’s so hot outside that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk, a lot of us wish for the life of a fish. We’d love to spend all day in the wet stuff. But a fish’s life is no walk in the water park.

When the water’s warmer it holds less oxygen.

Cindy Contreras is in Resource Protection at Texas Parks and Wildlife. She says fish are between a rock and a wet place in summer through early fall because as water that’s been heated loses oxygen; and as fish warm up they need more oxygen.

So it kind of creates a bind, or a squeeze on them, as the water holds less and less, but they continue to need it. Also other organisms in the water, like bacteria and insects, anything that’s living in there is going to be using that same oxygen.

Texas Parks and Wildlife stocks sport fish in reservoirs across the state. And according to Contreras summer heat causes the water in those basins to stratify.

The top layer is warmer and lighter, and rests upon a cooler, heavier layer of water. And typically the lower levels will not have very much oxygen or any oxygen.

And so the fish flounder in the warmer water… which is as good a reason as any to go fishing.

Take them out. Get them before they succumb.

Our show is made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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

Texans love making the trek to Austin the first weekend in October for the annual Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo. This free annual event offers visitors a chance to experience a wide variety of outdoor activities, including fishing.

You know, fishing is one of those things that the whole family can enjoy. There are no winners; there are no losers. They call it fishin’, they don’t call it catchin’. And, it’s a lot of fun to do, and you can get the basics and also tips at Expo.

Expo Director, Ernie Gammage.

As far as learning more about how to fish, one of the highlights is the big bass tub, which is a “ginormous” aquarium full of real fish, with an expert angler on top, throwing his line and lure, and showing you how to work it.

Expo extends angling opportunities to children, too.

Well, the kids can actually catch a trout or a catfish, and if it’s their first fish, they’ll receive a “first fish certificate,” with a photograph of them holding their prize. Those are great, and my grandsons have got those on the wall.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo is from 9 to 5, Saturday and Sunday, October sixth and seventh on the grounds of Parks and Wildlife HQ in Austin….and its free. Find links to Expo at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Sport Fish Restoration program… providing funding for the operations and management of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

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

TPWD Expo: Family Fishing Play Now | Play in Popup | Download