Passport to Texas

Getting kids outside.

Event: Children in Nature Conference Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ryan Spenser, manager of the Children and Nature Collaborative in Austin, says the outdoors is transformative.

12— Nature changes lives; I’ve seen it firsthand. And the outdoors provides a perfect opportunity to engage; it gets kids active – mentally and physically. It recharges them emotionally. It brings families together.

And April 7 through 9 the Children and Nature Network Conference takes place at the Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, Texas.

20— Teachers can take a lot of wonderful things away from this conference; great lessons for inside the classroom and outside the classroom. Parents can learn a lot about how to get their children outside. And folks who work in the conservation field – folks who try to get more people outside – can take a lot away from it as well. The latest trends and opportunities and tools to help reconnect people to nature.

Join leaders from around the world to hear what others are doing to create nature-rich communities. Richard Louv, father of the children and nature movement, will be there.

13— After writing both The last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle, he’s set the tone for the past 10 years as to how this movement is going forward. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great opportunity to see what the future holds for children and nature.

Registration is open and filling fast. Find registration information at passporttotexas.org.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Maybe you can fly fish for white bass

Fishing: Tackling White Bass Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Largemouth bass give fishermen a good fight, but the smaller white bass is just as capable of providing anglers with an adrenaline kick.

14— Ounce for ounce, they are a real strong fighter. But they’re not as big as largemouths. If they grew as large as largemouth bass, I think we’d have to fish for them with surf rods and heavy lines.

John Jefferson is an outdoor writer.

11— Most people that fish for whites will use lightweight tackle, a medium to lightweight spinning rod, and four to six pound test line – and then they’re fun!

Late winter and early spring white bass begin schooling in tributaries to spawn. Whether from a bank or a boat, fishing for whites in open and running water is your best bet for success.

21— Middle of the creek, and then draw the lure back to the shore. And you’ve covered water from the deeper water in the middle up to the shore. You’ll probably hang one. It’s not uncommon, and a neat thing to see [that sometimes] you’ll hook one fish and as you’re reeling it in and playing it, there will be two or three others schooling right along with it.

They’re probably offering moral support.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series and receives funding from your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel…

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

White Bass

Fishing: White Bass Run Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Outdoor writer John Jefferson has caught his share of white bass.

11— White bass is a great sport fish. Parks and Wildlife records show there are more white bass caught per hour of fishing than any other fish in Texas.

Usually a lake dweller, white bass school in tributaries to spawn in late winter and early spring.

21— The white bass are triggered to spawn when the water reaches 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. As far as the calendar, instead of the thermometer, it starts sometimes as early as warm days in January, but it really picks up in February and March. Those are the best two months.

Anglers may keep up to 25 fish caught with a pole and line that meet the 10-inch length requirement. Although white bass prefer shad and minors, they’ll take artificial lures, which is what John Jefferson says he uses.

13— With me, it was a matter of laziness. I didn’t want to lug a big minnow bucket up and down the creeks when I could take a few jigs with me and a lightweight spinning rod and spend more time actually fishing than changing bait.

We’ll talk more with John about white bass tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport fish Restoration Program supports our series and receives funding from your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel…

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

TPW TV: Sinking the Kinta Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The Gulf of Mexico has a lot going for it; but one thing it lacks is substrate. Substrate is hard material on which an organism can live and grow. That’s where this guy comes in.

05—[I’m] Dale Shivley; I’m the program leader for the artificial reef program for Texas Parks and Wildlife

Travel to the gulf with Shively and his crew this week on the TPW TV Series, as they “near shore” reef a 155 foot decommissioned freighter called the Kinta in 77 feet of water 8 miles off the coast of Corpus Christi.

13—Basically, what we have is a huge piece of metal that will benefit the local environment. Marine organisms will begin to grow on it; fish will be attracted to it immediately; it’s been cleaned of environmental hazards and is ready to go. [ambience]

On this TV segment, witness the hulking ship begin its new life on the gulf floor, where it will improve angling and diving opportunities. Brooke Shipley-Lozano, a marine biologist with Parks and Wildlife was at the reefing, and explains what will happen to the freighter.

19— So, the water will start coming in at the stern. And then gradually the water will fill up the ballast tanks one by one from the stern to the fore, and the rear of the ship should h it the bottom, and then eventually the bow will follow suit, and it will land perfectly upright and everyone will celebrate…

Will there be celebrating? Find when you watch the segment Sinking the Kinta S the week of December 28 on the TPW PBS TV Series. Check your local listings.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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

Whooping Cranes in Texas.

Wildlife: Whooping Cranes in Texas Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Former Parks and Wildlife biologist, Leeann Linam, has a long history with Whooping Cranes.

11— [chuckles] well, I may age myself here, but we moved to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge when I was 12. And so I guess that means about 40 years or so I’ve been involved with whooping cranes.

Whoopers winter at the refuge, where Leeann’s father worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. After a low of 15 birds, and more than 70 years of conservation, we only reached 300 members in the migrating flock in 2013.

24 – Part of it is the nature of the animal, itself. Whooping cranes are one of these birds designed to be around for a long time. They live 25 to 30 years and more (in captivity). They don’t reproduce until they’re four or five years old; they usually only raise one chick successfully per year. So it just takes a while. You just have to be patient and provide the right conditions for a long time and then the numbers start to add up.

As their population increases and becomes more widespread, maintaining an accurate tally of the birds becomes a challenge. Whoopers are moving farther up the coast away from their traditional wetland habitat.

07 – Some of the rice country in Horton County and most interestingly, in Central Texas, we’ve had some whooping cranes wintering in Williamson County.

The Wildlife and sport fish restoration program supports our series and funds rainbow trout stocking in Texas…

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