OUTDOOR STORIES - RAY HOESE: His favorite outdoor 
memories involve his dad and fishing poles ... go back to 
the past on Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories
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Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories from Texas Parks and 
Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration program ... 

Ray Hoese lives in San Antonio, but spent his formative 
years on the Texas coast. So it seemed inevitable he 
would grow up loving angling.
 
I spent a lot of time hanging out in the back of a boat, on the 
edge of a shore, with my Dad who's a marine biologist who 
specializes in the gulf coast, and the bays of Texas and 
Louisiana. It was a pretty special time for a kid. And I spent a lot 
of time in Rockport, and many summers in a row I spent every 
day at Fulton Beach, just hanging out and looking for redfish or 
speckled trout that might stray my way and that might actually 
get snagged on my line. It happened occasionally. It wasn't until 
I got older that I figured out how to be deliberate about it. 

Ray grew up, moved to Los Angeles, and eventually 
started a family; but he couldn't stay away from Texas 
forever, and moving back thrilled his kids.

For them, Texas was always a vacation destination, because 
that's where the grandmother and the grandfather were. And 
when I said, 'Hey, how about we move to Texas?' and they just 
thought that was incredible. Because to them it was just a place 
to have fun, and go to the beach, and fish, and see a lot of 
different animals out at their grandparents house. 

Have an outdoor story to share? Visit passporttotexas.org 
for contact information.

That's our show ... we had help today from Aaron Reed ... 
our series is 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.