Passport to Texas

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

The month of May brings fish stories and park stories to the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series. Writer/producer, Alan Fisher, gives us a rundown.

The first week of May, we’re featuring a recent inductee to the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame – Richard Hart.

About every other Monday I get a call from Dick, and I hear this voice say, ‘Wait until you hear what we caught this weekend.’ And it’s usually not so much what he caught, as it is what the other person caught.

Dick Hart, not only holds a couple of world fishing records for fly fishing, he’s done great things for the sport in terms of education and mentoring. And, he’s been a benefactor for the Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. And the week of May sixth, we have another inductee into the Fishing Hall of Fame – Buddy Bradley – who’s an excellent bass fisherman. And he’s actually done a lot in the science of bass fishing.

But I found out also, that you could work on the condition response of the fish and make the fish – trigger the fish – to strike when in reality he’s not hungry at all.

The week of May thirteenth, we take a visit to the Pineywoods, both at Tyler State Park and at a Lone Star Land Steward winner. The week of May twentieth, we visit Palmetto State Park in Central Texas, and the last week of may, we’ll pay a visit to Mother Neff State Park, which is often considered the first official state park in Texas.

Check your local listings.

That’s our show…the Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series, and provides funding for the Texas Freshwater Fisheries center…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

The Guadalupe Bass – our state fish — is only found in the Guadalupe River…and it’s in trouble. This month the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series highlights its plight, and efforts to keep this native pure and strong. Series producer Abe Moore.

The Guadalupe Bass is having a problem with the smallmouth bass, because they inhabit the same streams and they’re cross breeding.

Small mouth bass were brought into Texas by Texas Parks and Wildlife in the mid 70s to provide an additional sport fish for anglers. Having no idea that they might hybridize with our native Hill Country Guadalupe Bass.

So, our pure strain of Guadalupe Bass is disappearing. So Texas Parks and Wildlife with the folks at the Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center is working to save the fish species by basically raising thousands and thousands of baby Guadalupe Bass and then restocking them back into the Guadalupe River and Johnson Creek in the Hill Country. I was impressed with the hatchery guys at the Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center. I mean, this was a yearlong process of them capturing – actually going out and fishing and catching Guadalupe Bass.

I got him. He’s a Guadalupe Bass. He’s a nice fish.

And they would use those to spawn and to have the babies basically and do the whole process. It’s a yearlong thing that they’re working hard on trying to save the fish.

Check local listings to see when the show airs in your town.

That’s our show…supported by the Sport Fish Restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuels.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

If you’re wondering what people do in the great outdoors, consider spending a little time indoors watching the Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series and find out. Series producer Abe Moore…

The first week of April, one of the main stories we’re working on is Pedernales Volunteers. It’s a story on how important our volunteers are to the state park system.

The work they do is a tremendous benefit to the staff, because it saves them a lot of time. It allows us to actually provide a higher level of customer service.

The second week of April, we’re doing a story on the Guadalupe bass – our state fish – and folks at the Texas Heart of the Hills Fisheries Science Center are working to save our state fish from going extinct.

We began work to raise thousands and thousands of pure Guadalupe Bass, and put them back into the system, and simply overwhelm the hybrids.

The third week of April, we’re heading out with the game wardens of the Texas parks and Wildlife department. They’re heading out to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

Lots of chaos. But when we were given a mission, we brought order to that chaos. We had a command staff. We had game wardens that were organized, knew how to work the boats, and knew how to fit into a team effort.

And, finally, on the fourth week of April on our TV program, we’re doing a program called “Student Parking” – and it deals with all of our state parks and how great they are as outdoor classrooms.

Check local listings to see when the show airs in your town.

That’s our show…thank you for joining us…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

The Texas coast draws anglers from near and far. And Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series producer, Don Cash, says a segment this month addresses an issue caused by its popularity.

One of the problems with so many people going to the coast to fish is protecting the fragile seagrasses on the coast. The seagrasses are a very important nursery area for all the kind of things we like to eat and like to catch, and are necessary down on the coast. And over the years, more people have gone fishing in these shallow areas along the coast…they’ve taken their boats and have really done quite a bit of damage to the sea grasses.

Run deep. Fish shallow. That’s the way the people fished here fifty years ago. They would run in the deep sloughs and get out and wade the shallow flats. And everybody respected the shallow flats until flats boats came in…

Not only do we address the importance of the seagrasses, and the importance of the entire coastal ecosystem, there is some explanation on how to operate your boat properly in this water. And, one of the interviews is with a boat dealer, who talks about, “Well, everybody goes and buys the boat without really learning how to operate the boat in the most responsible manner.”

Check local listings to see when the show airs in your town.

That’s our show…supported by the Sport Fish and Wildlife restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels.

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

It’s time to enjoy our state parks; and Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series producer, Don Cash, says the show delivers an eyeful of parks all month long.

And a couple of them come to mind. Martin Dies, Junior SP in Jasper, which suffered quite a bit of hurricane damage from hurricane Rita, and was closed for awhile, has reopened part of their camping area, and they are again doing the float trip down the Angelina River.

The Angelina River down here is really…it’s very clean. The water’s pretty clear. It’s really nice. Makes the trip real enjoyable.

One of the other parks is Goose Island SP, which is on the coast across the Copano Bay across from Rockport and Fulton. Fishing is the big thing at Goose Island.

Ever since I been a little kid been coming out here. It’s relaxing. One of these days we might get lucky and catch a fish.

You can fish out of a boat. You can wade fish. You can take your kayak into the shallows. And they’ve got a sixteen hundred foot fishing pier at Goose Island SP that people are fishing on all day and all night.

Check local listings to see when the show airs in your town.

That’s our show…supported by the Sport Fish and Wildlife restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series Play Now | Play in Popup | Download