Passport to Texas

Sheryl Smith-Rodgers topaz hunting. Photo courtesy

TPW Magazine: Hunting for Blue Topaz Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How about going hunting on your next long weekend–hunting for Texas blue topaz, that is.

05- Mason County is the only place where this particular gem is found.

Sheryl Smith-Rodgers, http://www.sherylsmithrodgers.com/, wrote about Texas Blue Topaz in the October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

22-Texas blue topaz is our state gem. It was designated as that in 1969; and I guess I’d read about it through the years. And just decided that it would be cool to experience topaz hunting. There are three ranches there in the county that charge a daily fee. But you can go in and hunt for it.

She set out one weekend to explore the town of Mason, and to hunt for the state gem. She thought she’d find one.

04-I was determined to, but never happened.

Texas Blue Topaz may have eluded her, but Smith-Rodgers says small town hospitality did not.

19-People are so nice in Mason County; they have a lot of nice restaurant and you still get the feel of a small town. We stayed at a B&B right on the square, across from the courthouse. We went to see a movie–they have an old time movie theater. It’s a great place just to get away for the weekend.

Sheryl Smith-Rodgers’ article on hunting for Texas blue topaz is in the October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

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

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

Fred Gipson, writer of “Old Yeller”. Memorabilia from Mason, TX Memorial Library.

TPW Magazine: Old Yeller Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Perhaps you read the book, or saw the Disney film. Either way, many people, including writer, Cynthia Pickens, found the story of Old Yeller by Fred Gipson moving.

04— It is a universal story: the love between a boy and his dog.

Pickens wrote about the book and its author for Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. She says she read it as a child and again as an adult. I asked what part of the story her younger self found most compelling.

09—The whole scenario of the terrible decision that Travis had to make as a kid, and carry out. I was just in awe that a boy could do that.

If you haven’t read the novel, we won’t reveal the “terrible decision” the book’s young protagonist, Travis, faced. Pickens says the book captures 1860s rural life in the Texas Hill Country, and created a strong sense of place, which she could appreciate better as an adult reader.

24— When I reread the book as an adult, I could certainly see the place and the time. Maybe, as a child, you don’t really focus on those kinds of details, but as an adult reading the book, I’m like, ‘oh, prickly pear flats, and cedar trees, and rocky gulches that they rode through…’ So, when you reread it as an adult, you definitely get that this is a Texas book and that it could have been written by no one but a Texan.

Cynthia Pickens says Old Yeller can inspire a sense of wonder about the natural world in young readers.

Find her article Looking back at Old Yeller and Texas author Fred Gipson in the August/September issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine.

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

Caddo Lake in Uncertain, Texas. July 13, 2012.

Battling Big Bass at Night Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When the sun goes down, angling for big bass in shallow water picks up–particularly on one lake.

05- Lake Fork. That’s the lake in Texas that has the most really big bass.

Larry Hodge, with the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center says in the 1980s and 90s, fishing guide John Hope put radio transmitters on big bass–including ShareLunkers–to track their whereabouts day and night.

21–And one of those fish, was a fish named Wanda. He followed her for three years on Houston County Lake, and found that during the day, she was in deep water and was not interested in any kind of lures that anybody showed her. But at night, she’d cruise around the shoreline in shallow water, and he and his don caught her–a total of six times.

Fish hear everything that goes on for hundreds of yards around them, which is why many fish go to quieter, deeper waters in the daytime; once things calm down,
they emerge to feed in the shallows. Hodge says if you’re going after big bass, bring the heavy duty gear.

18- [When] night fishing, most people are best advised to use braided line, perhaps even as heavy as 50 pounds. Dark lures. Big lures that move a lot of water, because bass can’t see it–but using the lateral line they can feel it move through the water. And be prepared to do battle with a really big bass.

The Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

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

AUSTIN, TX – APRIL 21, 2015 – Dan Campbell night bass fishing in his kayak on Lake Austin in Austin, Texas.

TPW Magazine: Bass Fishing at Night Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The stars at night are big and bright in Texas, and so are the bass. They’re big, anyway. It seems the biggest of the big come out when the sun goes down.

07- Talking with a number of people who practice fishing at night, I got a lot of tips on where and why and how.

Larry Hodge, with the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens compiled tips on bass fishing at night for an article in the July issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. According to the guides and anglers he interviewed, big fish come into the shallows at night, because that’s when the food arrives.

25- At night, the bait fish–shad, primarily–minnows, crayfish, and other things that know that daytime is the dangerous time to be out because you might get eaten, tend to move up into shallow water at night because it’s safer–until a big bass comes along. So, there’s more food at night available up in the shallow water, and the bass know that, so that’s when they go fishing.

Tomorrow, Larry Hodge returns to tell us the best place fish for bass at night, and the gear to have with you when going after the big one.

05– Use heavy line. Heavy equipment. And be prepared to do battle with a really big bass.

The Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

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

Bay fishing success.

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Fishing isn’t the passive activity people make it out to be.

09- You know, people picture this guy sitting on a bucket beside a lake or a river, watching a red and white bobber floating in the water. That is so far from the truth. Heh!

David Sikes is the outdoors writer for the Corpus Christi Caller Times, and says he and his coastal compadres prefer sight casting, which is active angling.

03-And we don’t cast until we see a fish, oftentimes.

Due to the skill level required, beginners may not catch fish, but then again, said Sikes, they may.

09-I’ve introduced several of my friends to sight casting. And during the very first trip, they saw–and caught–the fish that they saw. And, it’s pretty cool to watch.

When sight casting from a boat, you need at least two people–one to spot the fish and one to catch them. Anglers never sit when sight casting and they use lightweight flies as lures.

15- And I would really recommend that they at least, for the first time, get indoctrinated by going out with an actual, professional guide. I can recommend several down here who are really good. And, it might seem a little pricey at first, but the lessons are very valuable.

David Sikes wrote an article on Sight Casting for Redfish for the June issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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