We don’t have much in the way of native trout in Texas.
12—The only native trout that we’re aware of are maybe some Rio Grande cutthroat trout that were in the McKittrick Canyon area of the Guadalupe Mountains. Other than that, there are no native trout we know of in Texas.
Which is why, says Steve Magnelia, Parks and Wildlife stocks lakes and neighborhood ponds with rainbow trout every winter.
10—The winter trout program is to provide anglers with a different species to fish for during the winter months when our warm water fish like largemouth bass and other species aren’t readily biting.
Magnelia, an inland fisheries biologist, says because trout won’t survive in water warmer than 75-degrees, the rainbows anglers don’t reel in during winter perish as the water heats up—unless they are in the Guadalupe near Canyon Dam.
08—Because it’s a cold water discharge from Canyon Lake, the water stays cold enough during the summer to sustain trout all year round.
So, if they’ve habituated, does that mean they’ve become a self-sustaining population as well?
08—We don’t have any real evidence that the fish spawn and reproduce in the river, but we do know that they carry over from one winter to the next.
As the weather warms, seasoned and wannabe anglers yearn to get on the water in the New Year.
18— Overall, the prospects for fishing are good; they’re not going to be great because parts of the state are still in a drought. But, East Texas and North and Central Texas have fared fairly well in the current drought, and most of the lakes still have access and the fish are still there.
Larry Hodge is with Inland Fisheries. He says white bass are especially active this time of year.
19— Most of the reservoirs in East Texas, particularly Toledo Bend, will have a good white bass run up the Sabine River. Those fish are legendary for their size and numbers. Some of the lakes in East Texas also have good white bass fishing. The Neches River above lake Palestine is good for their size and numbers.
Catching largemouth bass might prove spotty due to low water levels. Yet, Hodge says traditional places like Falcon, Choke Canyon and Amistad will have fish as always, but anglers may have to work harder to find them.
08— So, you may have to find some new places [in those reservoirs] to fish; use your electronics, frequent the coffee shops, and talk to the locals and hunt ‘em down.
Find an article by Larry Hodge’s about the best lakes and rivers to fish in 2015 in the digital fishing issue of Texas parks and Wildlife magazine.
The wildlife and sport fish restoration program support our series.
If you’re a regular listener of this series, you’ve heard me talk about cooking and eating wild game and fish. This native protein is natural, sustainable, and plentiful; if you shot it or reeled it in – or know who did – you don’t have to guess about quality or freshness.
One down side is that game can have a strong flavor some find off-putting. But it doesn’t have to when you follow proper handling protocols in the field and in the kitchen.
That’s why Texas Parks and Wildlife created a variety of online resources for new and seasoned hunters and anglers who want to eat what they harvest. Find videos on our website and YouTube channel that illustrate field dressing, proper storage, butchering and cooking your harvest.
We have a growing list of wild game and fish recipes on the website to help you discover new, inventive ways of enjoying this healthy, natural food source. And the digital hunting and fishing issues of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazineoften have game or fish recipes for your enjoyment.
In addition, Texas Parks and Wildlife partners with Central Market Cooking Schools statewide to offer demonstration and hands on wild game and fish cooking classes every other month. In fact, there’s one coming up February 10 at most of the schools that features oysters,
pheasant and venison. Just in time for Valentine’s Day! Find information about upcoming classes on the Central Market website.
And, make 2015 the year you get wild in the kitchen.
For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti
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Enduring Spirit: African Americans in 19th Century Texas is a yearlong exhibit at the Texas Star of the Republic Museum in Washington-on-the-Brazos.
08—It actually started from a recent acquisition that we acquired. It was about 15-hundren documents from a gentleman names Asa Hoxey.
Houston McGaugh, director of the museum for Blinn College, says Hoxey moved to Washington County in the early 1830s, and brought black slaves with him.
14— And that prompted us to wonder if there are any descendants of those slaves still in Washington County. And we were able to identify some. So, that really made us start thinking about, more of – well, gosh, there’s an awful lot of African American history that you don’t hear about.
A question the museum wanted answered: when did Blacks first arrive in Texas?
10— And we were surprised to find out they started coming in the 1820s when this was still part of Mexico; and they were actually trying to get land grants like some of the Anglo settlers were in Austin’s Colony.
Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, so Blacks here before Texas Independence were free. That changed when Texas became a republic.
07— And, actually, the free blacks that were here, were given one year to either go back into servitude, or leave the Republic.
Many of these free Blacks went to Mexico where their ancestors live today. Learn more about the exhibit and special events and speakers at starmuseum.org.
For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
Posted in Events, Historic Sites | Comments Off on History: Enduring Spirit – African Americans in 19th Century Texas
As marine predators go, sharks swim at the top of the food chain.
08—Without having these top end Apex predators, you have the ecosystem that gets out of balance, These predators help control everything below them.
But they can’t control what’s below them if they’re gone.
07—Worldwide, sharks have been depleted by overfishing. Between 30 and 70 million sharks [are] killed by humans every year.
Dr. Greg Stunz is a marine biologist with the Harte Research Institute, and appears the week of February 1 on a For Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV segment called SOS: Save Our Sharks.
08—One of the things that has contributed to a decline in sharks is shark finning: fishermen actually catch the sharks, cut their fins off, and discard the body.
Illegal in American waters since 1993, finning remains active in foreign waters, as fishermen earn up to $900 a pound for the fins. Illegal fishing on gear called long lines occurs close to home, too; it’s the most immediate threat to sharks in the U.S. says Game Warden Sgt. Luis Sosa.
12—We’ve got Mexican commercial fishermen that come into US water – Texas waters – on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the most common type of species that is being caught on this illegal gear is sharks.
Save Our Sharks airs the Week of February 1 on PBS stations. Check Local listings. The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series, and receives funding through your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuel…
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