Passport to Texas

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.

Giving Back to the Land Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

One of Frank Gore’s earliest outdoor memories is of sleeping on the floor of a duck blind under his father’s coat when he was just 4 years old.

03- I come from a long family history of duck hunters.

The tradition continues with his kids and grand-kids on his Jackson County property, which he bought in 2007.

07- We wanted a place for the family to hunt. But, it became much more than that over time. It’s actually turned into a chance to give a bit back.

About 20 miles from Palacios, the Gore Family Farm is in the flyway; Mr. Gore converted it from rice and cattle production into wetlands and upland habitat; restoration work that earned him a Lone Star Land Steward Award.

16- In the cattle grazing days, they had planted Bermuda grass and it was pervasive; it was really detrimental to the native songbirds as well as the upland birds we were trying to foster on the place. So, we began the process of habitat restoration and rehabilitation.

In the end, landowners like Frank Gore preserve Texas– natural heritage for their descendants, and all Texans.

14- The main justification [of the restoration work] is so that my grand-kids will know what a covey of quail sound like calling each other in the morning. And, what it looks like to send up 300 ducks off of a pond, and watch ’em whirl around and come back in. And that’s something your money just can’t buy.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Herd of feral hogs.

Using Sodium Nitrite to Control Feral Swine Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When feral hogs ingest sodium nitrite, it reduces their blood’s ability to carry oxygen.

08- We are attempting to exploit that in order to use sodium nitrite as a possible control measure in feral swine.

Since 2010, Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist, Donnie Frels and colleagues have been developing and testing sodium nitrite baits to
control feral swine.

12- What we’re currently doing, is looking at several different bait formulations that are hiding the taste of sodium nitrite and see which one of those is most effective.

The bait delivery system is one only hogs can access. Ironically, sodium nitrite is a compound used to preserve sausage and bacon. Although humans and most other mammals have an enzyme that effectively reduces sodium nitrite toxicity, Frels says he and his colleagues are cautious.

14-There are still a lot of things we have to investigate when it comes to using this as a toxicant. And one is concerns about residuals in tissues, secondary consumers, and how long this will last in the environment.

Preliminary results indicate low residuals in hog meat, so if a hunter bagged a hog that consumed the toxicant, the meat would still be fine to eat.

06-Because sodium nitrite is a food preservative, it is safe for human consumption.

It will be several years before the bait is commercially available. The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Feral big mama sow.

Hunting Cannot Control Feral Swine Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hunting is not an ideal means of control for feral swine.

09- Although they’re very good to eat, and we have very liberal means and methods to take feral hogs, it’s just not proven effective as a control measure.

Approximately 2.5 million feral hogs roam Texas; wildlife biologist, Donnie Frels, researches controls for feral hogs at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area.

11- They have been documented in just about every county in Texas, although we see higher densities in eastern Texas, along the coast, and in South Texas.

Frels is among a group of researchers studying the use of sodium nitrite in a bait matrix as a control method. The compound is toxic to swine as it reduces their blood’s ability to carry oxygen.

13- We began investigating sodium nitrite as a potential toxicant back about 2010; since that time we’ve come a long way in bait development.

We need up to 70% control of the swine annually to hold the population stable from one year to the next. Frels says the ultimate goal of his study is to develop bait that is economical and environmentally safe.

10-We would like it in a pelleted form that a landowner or land manager could utilize themselves, within a specific feeder, so that it doesn’t provide access to non-targets.

Commercial availability is still several years away.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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