Author: Lake Havasu Guide

The First Annual Friends of Conroe Golf Tournament was held on September 13 at Wedgewood Golf Course on Highway 105 W. According to Jo Ann Carter, Secretary of the Friends of Conroe, the purpose of the tournament was to provide funds to bring top-name bands to the Fourth Annual Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival to be held in October.

The tournament had 88 entries at $70.00 per entry. Trophies were awarded to first, second and third place team winners. A $50.00 cash prize was awarded to Don Carter for coming closest to hole #17. Mr. Carter donated the his prize back to the Friends plus $50.00 and it was auctioned. Mark Peters won the $50.00 cash prize for coming closest to hole #10 and he also won a $50.00cash prize for the longest drive on hole #18. Hal Griffin won the $50.00 cash prize for the longest hole on hole #18.

Fourteen door prizes were given away including two 24K gold putters donated by Smith Honda, six rounds of golf for four at area country clubs, stereo headphones donated by Home Entertainment, Inc., and a $50.00 gift certificate to the Wedgewood Pro Shop.

Drinks were provided to the players on the course by Silver Eagle and Coca-Cola. An excellent catfish dinner was served by Vernon’s Kuntry Katfish and prizes were awarded following dinner.

This was the first golf tournament of the Friends of Conroe and Jo Ann Carter was pleased with the turnout. “For our first tournament, it was better than wonderful. Our hope is that everyone had fun and is looking forward to next year.”

The Fourth Annual Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival will be held October 15, 16 and 17th in downtown Conroe. The goal of the festival is to provide funds for the beautification of Conroe and community projects, and ultimately to build a civic center here. The festival began in 1990 with this goal in mind, and according to Carter, “everyone said it couldn’t be done”. But that first festival had an attendance of 25,000. Last year’s attendance was 35,000 and this year-the sky’s the limit!

The golf tournament was successful in bringing in the necessary funds for the bands, so here is a line-up of scheduled bands for the three days:
Friday-Will LeBlanc and the Bayou Boys, Roddy Romero, Bert Wills and the Crying Shame, Miss Molly and the Whips and the Jim Ponder Band and Frenchy Burke.

Saturday-Lionel Stew, the Sam Brothers, Chubby Karrie, Zachary Richard, Global Village, Sisters Morales, Johnny Clyde Copeland, Jimmy Thackery, Rodney Lake, Shake Russell and John Saunders, Rio Bravo and Hickory.

Sunday-Bayou Roux, Joe Douglas, the KILT Band, Highway 101, the Fab Five and Hot Cakes.

Three days of continuous music on three stages is planned. In addition, according to Wayne Vaughan, Treasurer of the Friends of Conroe, there will be 18 food booths set up, each with different kinds of food for a total of 75 food items. Saturday at 10:00 A.M. a parade with floats will begin circling the downtown square. Sunday at 3:00 the Friends will holda dance contest. There will also be a carnival, hunting and fishing exhibits with a live catfish tank, arts and crafts exhibits and a circus village for children with clowns and a petting zoo.

The whole festival sounds like a whole lot of fun for everyone. Hope to see you there!
– Lake Havasu

The Guadalupe Basin River Authority (G.B.R.A.) manages the Guadalupe Basin, which flows from the heart of the Texas Hill Country to Lavaca Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. It supplies water to all of the local water suppliers like the Spring Hill Water Plant, which gets its water directly from Lake Placid, a lake formed by the Guadalupe River. The G.B.R.A. endorses random chemical treatment of hydrilla and other nuisance aquatic plants in the river and does not guarantee its water quality. This leaves the local providers the responsibility of ensuring the quality of the water they provide to the public for drinking.

Robin Richardson is the director of the Spring Hill Water Board in Seguin. She is also a conservationist, President of Health Awareness and Water Knowledge (H.A.W.K.) and founder of Better Aquatics In Texas (B.A.I.T.).

According to Ms. Richardson, the Spring Hill Water Treatment plant and the Canyon Regional Water Authority are not equipped to get all the aquatic pesticides out of the water in their water treatment process. She feels the G.B.R.A. should be responsible for providing quality water resources for drinking and recreation.

On June 1st, Richardson went swimming near her home on Lake Placid and saw where the G.B.R.A. had chemically treated aquatic vegetation in the lake – less than 20 feet from where her community gets its drinking water!

“I feel like the coyotes are guarding the chicken house and this has got to stop. I want the G.B.R.A. to warrant their actions if they’re going to endorse aquatic pesticides, and that means bringing the community into the decision-making process of how our raw drinking water should be managed,” says Richardson.

The most popular pesticide used in Texas lakes seems to be Sonar, which is strongly suspected in the onset of cancer-related diseases among people using reservoirs in which Sonar has been applied. Restrictions on the amount of the pesticide to be used in a specific area have not been clearly established among users. A permitting process would make clear the dosage for a particular size reservoir, which would alleviate part of the problem.

No governing body is responsible for the treatment of drinking water, she says, and she suggests the establishment of a permitting process for the treatment of aquatic vegetation. “This would be the key to protecting our drinking water.”

According to Pat McCarty, who was in attendance at the recent meeting in Athens of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, H.A.W.K., the Lower Colorado River Authority (L.C.R.A.) and several other state water-governing bodies, Larry McKinney of the TP&WD discussed setting up a committee to study whether permitting should be required for the introduction of pesticides into Texas lakes. “Results from this committee could strongly affect legislation.”

Richardson blames the G.B.R.A. for killing the submersed vegetation in Lake McQueeney. The Friends of Lake McQueeney, a local conservation group, and the G.B.R.A. both have come out in favor of Gov. Bush’s proposed hydrilla harvesters as a non-chemical weapon against unwanted aquatic vegetation, but Richardson says, “it’s just lip service.”

Richardson is a strong proponent of the mechanical hydrilla harvester. She was present at the recent meeting of Gov. Bush, the TP&WD, the G.B.R.A., the L.C.R.A., and others on Lake Bastrop where the mechanical hydrilla harvester was taken for a test drive. “I was in the boat with Ray Scott, Terry Oldham, Harold Sharp, a local fishing talent and true conservationist, and David Stewart. As we were watching the harvester operate, back behind the harvester and rising up was a bald eagle – I had never seen one! Around the bend, he dove for a fish And when he flew off, I thought to myself, ‘he could not have read nor understood the chemical restrictions had the lake been treated, making that fish too contaminated for consumption.’”
– Lake Havasu

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department Dive Team is one of the best group of divers in the state. It is a unique organization made up of 32 members, all of whom have full-time jobs which they leave when a crisis develops. The head of the Dive Team, or the Team Dive Master, is Sergeant Robert Schuster. Schuster has led the team for the last nine years.

The Dive Team is strictly a volunteer group and all the members supply their own diving equipment and pay their own expenses. They are not county employees. They are also all from this area and were trained to dive on Lake Conroe.

“It’s important that the divers are experienced with Lake Conroe because it’s such a dark, murky lake,” says Schuster. “If you’re used to diving in the Caribbean, you won’t be able to dive Lake Conroe. We have to crawl along the bottom and feel out in front in the silt and mud for what we’re looking for in a body of water that has eight to ten inches visibility.”

When Schuster took on the job of Team Dive Master, there was no team. He was the only diver for three years until gradually he started taking on friends and neighbors who could dive Lake Conroe and had other jobs but could still be on call. Now, Schuster has five certified police officers, four paramedics and even six women as part of his team. Joy Ogden, the Directory of Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services, is one of Schuster’s divers.

The Montgomery County Dive Team has been called by every surrounding county to assist in drowning accidents or to look for evidence thrown into a body of water, such as guns, knives, stolen property, cars and boats. The Dive Team has even been called by Harris County, which has its own dive team, because of the skill of the Montgomery County Dive Team in finding what it’s looking for.

The Dive Team has pulled 17 bodies out of Lake Conroe, all of which were drowning victims. According to Schuster, when the Dive Team gets to the scene of a drowning accident, there is little hope that the victim will be found alive. “The body is brain dead in four to five minutes.”

When asked about the gruesome aspects of the job, Schuster replies “it’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it. What really gets you is when the victim is a child.” In addition to dealing with the limited visibility, you need a strong stomach to do this job. Schuster adds “it’s the same thing you have to deal with as an Emergency Medical Technician”.

In the winter of ’91, an inmate of the Texas Department of Corrections escaped from prison and shot a store clerk and a female customer in San Jacinto County. He then threw the gun in the Trinity River and flew to Florida where he was apprehended. Schuster was called to find the gun and his team got to work. They found the gun in the murky waters of the Trinity River in three hours.

On the day after Christmas in 1990, the Dive Team was called to Patton Village, on the east side of Montgomery County, to find seven empty safes in a private lake. The safes were needed by the City of Mont Belvieu and Montgomery County to make a case against the convenience store robbers who drove into the stores and dragged the safes out. All seven safes were recovered from the snake- and alligator-infested lake.

When Schuster is not diving for Montgomery County or any other county, he repairs ambulances at his specialty shop. It is the only ambulance repair shop in the state and he gets ambulances from Mont Belvieu, Cypress Creek, Montgomery County, Trinity County, Harris County Emergency Corps, and from as far away as Hall County near Amarillo. He gives up many an evening or weekend to repair the these trucks because, he says, when someone needs a truck repaired, it’s only a matter of time before there is a crisis.

Two of Schuster’s employees at the shop are also divers and Schuster says that these two divers are two that he can usually count on to dive when he gets the call because they are almost always available.

Schuster, who is a deputy sheriff, patrols the waters of Lake Conroe much like the Marine Division (see “The Boat Police”) in hopes of preventing a drowning. If you should spot him in a county boat on the lake, say a little prayer. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it. – Lake Havasu

Well, if you’re looking for some help to answer this question, I have two words for you: BILL CANNAN.

Bill Cannan has been a guide on Lake Conroe and Lake Livingston for over four years. He hails from Conroe and now resides on the north end of Lake Livingston. He drives a Nitro 2000 and, in addition to being this area’s #1 fishing guide, he has proven a worthy competitor in several national tournament circuits.

Last year he fished the Southern Bass and Angler’s Choice Super Team circuits and did quite well. This year, he entered the Central Invitational BASS Tournament Division and recently fished the Arkansas Invitational on Nov. 2-4. He will be fishing the next BASS tournament in February. Cannan is looking forward to the coming year when he’ll be fishing two other trails, Redman and Angler’s Choice Pro-Am. Cannan hopes to qualify for the BassMasters’s Top 100 through the BASS Central Division and he feels very good about his chances.

Cannan’s sponsors include the Family Boating Center, Tracker Marine, Nitro Boats, Fenwick and Mainstream Marketing, which includes Stanley, Top Brass, Sure Life, Bass Assassin and Bandit. He welcomes new sponsorship, both inside and outside the fishing industry.

Cannan is also a proficient hunter. He likes to hunt deer and duck. He has proven to be skilled at sal*****er fishing, too.

I asked Bill what he thought was the most important quality for a fisherman, and he replied, “I think staying in good physical condition is important for tournament fishermen. Being in good physical condition keeps your mind sharp and helps with your mental concentration. It also helps you endure adverse weather conditions, especially the heat.”

Cannan graduated from Sam Houston State University in May of this year with a degree in Agriculture Business. While he was in college, however, he was still guiding full-time. Now that he has completed his studies, he does have more time to fish.

Cannan knows where the fish are. For example, he says the white bass move upstream to spawn in the feeder creeks between January and April. If you have a small aluminum boat or a canoe and can make it up the creek, you’re in for some great fishing.

Between September and December (right now), he likes to take customers to the north end creeks of the lake for the best black bass fishing, he says.

But enough trade secrets. Cannan is available for guide trips on Lake Conroe, Lake Livingston and Lake Raven, which is located at Huntsville State Park, and he’s always got a good story. – Lake Havasu

Eisenhower State Park lies on the southernmost tip of Lake Texoma near Denison. The park was named for the former President of the United States who hailed from Denison. The park offers excellent boating, fishing and camping opportunities.

Lake Texoma ranks the third largest reservoir in the state of Texas with a total area of 100,000 square acres. The lake is so large that even the state of Texas can’t hold it all and must share some of its shoreline with the state of Oklahoma. Only one-third of the famous lake is within the Texas boundaries.

Facilities for boating at the park include two boat ramps, boat parking and a full service marina. Sailing and water skiing are popular activities on the lake.

The fishing on Lake Texoma is excellent. This lake is known for its BIG stripers and BIG catfish. It is also a popular bass fishing lake. Four fishing piers (one lighted) and a fish cleaning shelter with water and electricity can be found at the park. A fish cleaning table with water available is located at one of the boat ramps.

Campsites at the park can accommodate up to eight people and are furnished with a picnic table, a fire ring and a BBQ grill. Restrooms are available nearby, most with hot showers. Campsites range from primitive (with water only) to back-in sites with water and electricity to pull-through sites with water, electricity and sewage connections for RVs. Shelters are also available.

Other activities include swimming in a protected cove of the lake, where swimmers can find a sandy beach, and hiking along a total of 8.2 miles of trails through the beautiful rolling hills of North Texas.

Nature Adventures is a program the park conducts for youth aged 9 through 12. Topics explored between July 10-13 will be the world of insects, the Native American culture, the world of bats and fish identification.

Fishermen can fill their bait and tackle needs near the park at Dave’s Ski & Tackle, located two miles south of Denison Dam. Dave Parkey also has boat storage, archery supplies and groceries. Call Dave at (903) 465-6110.

Pappy’s Bait & Grocery is also located near the park. Lee Marriott serves home cooking at the deli and caters mostly to boat fishermen. Lee can be reached at (903) 465-6769.

The Tackle Box on FM 120 in Pottsboro comes highly recommended for all types of fishing tackle. Steve and Susan also do rod and reel repair and can help you with gas, shad tanks, electronics and propane. Call (903) 786-9010.

Fishermen may want to hire a fishing guide for this lake. The fishing on Lake Texoma is unlike any other lake in the country. Charlie Coder is a striper guide in Denison and can be reached at (903) 463-5035. Another guide in Denison is Dave Beeson of Diamond Dave’s Guide Service. Call (903) 465-5518 for Dave. D.R. “Don” Swink is a striper guide on the south end of Lake Texoma. He has a 28-foot Pontoon and can take up to 8 people. He can be reached at (214) 465-8678 or by the handle “Donald Duck” on CB Channel 13.

The park is located five miles northwest of Denison. Take Highway 75A to FM 1310 and travel 1.8 miles to Park Road 20.
– Lake Havasu

Hydrilla is an exotic plant that multiplies to a point where it can choke a lake, killing other native plants and whole fish populations. It also becomes a nuisance to boaters, water-skiers and swimmers. Developers despise it because it can make otherwise ideal lakefront property unappealing to potential buyers. Eventually, if allowed to grow unchecked, it can kill a lake.

Different measures have been taken to rid Texas lakes of this predator. Shortly after its impoundment, Lake Conroe was invaded by Hydrilla. The aggressive plant restricted boating activities when allowed to grow without restraint. It also reduced water quality and prevented the development of desirable native plant communities. In an effort to provide relief from the overabundance of Hydrilla, Texas A & M University conducted a research project that included the stocking of 270,000 plant-eating grass carp. The Texas Parks &Wildlife Department all too often seeks to solve this problem with total eradication of the nuisance plant with the use of grass carp, which eat the problem plant AND all the vegetation in the lake, or chemical methods, which have proven to cause MUCH more harm than good (causing birth defects, liver disease, cancerous tumors, etc.).

So what’s to be done? Grass carp have been described as “the least acceptable method of non-chemical control,” but there are other methods of non-chemical control, one of which is the use of a Hydrilla Harvester.

The Hydrilla Harvester
Recently, Governor George Bush, an angler of some repute, intervened to postpone the application of chemicals to kill Hydrilla in Lake Bastrop. Bush arranged for the Lower Colorado River Authority to borrow a Hydrilla Harvester from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Ray Scott, founder of Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, told the Texas B.A.S.S. Federation, “It’s a state-of-the-art machine and costs $150,000-but the TVA will loan it to us for the cost of transportation and the operator.”

Mark Rose general manager of the LCRA, is anxiously awaiting the test on Lake Bastrop, scheduled for June 10-11. If the harvester proves inefficient, Rose says he will have to use the herbicide Sonar to rid Lake Bastrop of the unwanted Hydrilla. Sonar is a pesticide that has received very negative attention when used on other lakes. It has been linked to birth defects, cancerous brain tumors, and various other ailments, in addition to massive fish kills.

This machine reportedly can cut one acre of Hydrilla per hour to a depth of five to six feet. It cuts the vegetation, squeezes the water from it, shreds it, then puts the shredded vegetation back in the water. The harvester does not hurt the fish population either, according to the Department of Natural Resources in Minnesota, where the harvester has been used for years.

The demonstration at Lake Bastrop is not scheduled until June 10 – 11, but Texas officials are already sold on the idea. Dr. Larry McKinney, the Senior Director for Aquatic Resources at the TP&WD, is already considering purchasing a harvester for testing as a partial control of noxious aquatic vegetation. He and Phil Durocher, the Director of TP&WD’s Inland Fisheries Division, plan to discuss purchase of the machine with the Guadalupe-Blanco and Lower Colorado River Authorities. Several Texas Conservation societies have pledged to help in the purchase also.

The harvesters have been around since about 1902, according to Pat McCarty of Texas Black Bass Unlimited. They were created from a need to knock down weeds so that clean ice could be cut from frozen lakes. These massive machines have evolved considerably in the last several decades. By efficiently cutting and removing Aquatic vegetation, harvesting offers an environmentally sound, cost effective and practical solution to the control of excessive plant growth.

Harvesters have been used extensively in the Great Lakes
region and in the northeast, with some very positive results. Mr. B Rendan of Woodbridge, Virginia, is very happy with the harvester his community purchased. “Harvesting is selective for fish management – it leaves habitat available for fish.”

Mr. D. Heise of LaPorte, Tennessee, says, “The quality of fishing has improved [on City Lake since we started using the harvester], and the fishing areas are more accessible now.”

Mr. J. Wardlaw of Dewey Lake in Dewagiac, Michigan, has been using the Hydrilla Harvester for years. He comments, “We have bigger fish of all types now because of reduced cover.”

These harvesters are presently sold by an organization called D & D Products, Inc., located in Wisconsin. John R. Dauffenbach, founder of D & D, began developing equipment to battle water quality problems in the 1950’s. D & D is the oldest manufacturer of aquatic plant harvesters in the world and boasts a customer list that includes the whole of the United States and 40 countries worldwide. A full range of sizes are available to suit every application. The machines have a cutting width of up to 10 feet and weigh up to 14,000 lbs.

The harvester that Dr. McKinney proposes to buy will be somewhat smaller than the machine borrowed from Tennessee for Lake Bastrop. “If we make a purchase, says McKinney, “we’ll need one that can handle bumping into stumps and … other situations….It’s likely the TP&WD will use some of its current vegetation crews as operators.”

Despite the support already in motion for the purchase, McKinney still wants to show some caution. “I want to try a harvester for a year or so at a few smaller state park lakes, and the river authorities can use it where they want. I want to try cutting some ‘lanes’ through grassy areas and study the results.”
McKinney plans to study the effects of the harvester for a year or two.
– Lake Havasu

Mike Hood has built quite a reputation in Houston as the man to see about a boat propeller. He is well known to both sal*****er and freshwater fishermen and boaters.

Mike has been repairing boat propellers for 30 years. He opened Mike Hood’s Marine Propeller Service, located in Houston near Hobby Airport, in 1971. Here he can service the sal*****er boaters from the Galveston area and the freshwater boaters from Lakes Clear Lake, Fayette County, Conroe and Livingston. In fact, through boat shows and word-of-mouth advertising he has attracted customers from all around the country.

In the late 1970’s, Mike tried to bring his famous boat service a little bit closer to the North Houston/Conroe area by opening a second shop in Spring. The timing couldn’t have been worse, he says, and the energy crisis and the general recession that followed forced him to close his doors. “People didn’t have time or the money to enjoy themselves then. It was a hard time for all of us.”

Nineteen-eighty found the Hoods, Mike, his wife Pat and their son, Michael, living on Lake Conroe. They lived near Highway 830 for 14 years until last year when they moved to the Hobby Airport area. All three would brave the Houston traffic every day to go to work at their Telephone Road store.

Mike and his staff of 12 mechanics, salespeople and service technicians provide complete propeller repair, sales and service. They sell and service outboard, inboard and outdrive props in aluminum, bronze and stainless steel. They are a factory authorized dealer and repair station for Volvo, Mercury Marine and OMC Corporation boat propellers. They also sell and service Alumacraft, Tracker and OMC Corporation’s Starcraft and Monarch boats under factory authorization.

The shop also does aluminum welding and repair of aluminum boats and lower units. They straighten shafts on inboard and outboard motors, rudders and struts.

Mike is a distributor of Michigan Wheel, Power Tech and Sierra engine parts. He formed his own distributing company three years ago called Marine Parts Unlimited. Sales Manager John Yager was very instrumental in directing the creation of this company. His wife, Pat, is the President of this company, which is located at the recently purchased property next door. This distributorship does wholesale business only.

Mike helped create the National Marine Propellers Association two years ago. This association was formed to try to improve the quality of boat propeller repair by providing repair certification. A boater in need of prop repair should always look for this certification before dealing with a prop repairperson. Mike currently serves on the Board of Directors of this group.

Mike is also President of the Boating Trades Association of Metropolitan Houston. This group was formed in 1950 and puts on three boat shows in the Houston area each year: the Summer Boat Show held at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Watergate Boat Show held in Galveston Bay and the January Boat Show held at the Astrohall/Astroarena, which is by far the largest. Representatives of the BTAMH can be found in Austin lobbying for boating issues.

Ken Lovell, the Executive Director of this organization, describes the group: “Our goal is to promote the boating industry in the Houston area. We’re always concerned with safe boating issues along with legislative and regulatory issues that affect our industry.”
I met Mike and Pat at Houston’s January Boat Show. They both were very busy and full of information. I think the show will prove to be a great success for them. According to Pat, “Boat shows are our best form of advertisement.”

Looking back on ‘94, Mike says it was a very good year. “In 1994, I really saw the economy take a turn for the better. And, unfortunately, it has been so bad for so long.”
As for 1995, Mike foresees a great year. “People are happier this year and want to start enjoying their lives. I can see only good things happening for the boating and fishing industries, and our shop in particular.”
– Lake Havasu

Mexico’s newest fishing lake is now open and reporting catches of 100 to 300 bass per day, bass ranging from two to eight pounds.

Located in the Mexican state of Sinaloa east of the city of Los Mochis and one a half hours drive east of El Fuerte, Lake Huites is a deep and fairly clear mountain lake spanning approximately 18 to 20 miles in length. The lake was formed by the conjunction of the Chinipas and Fuertes Rivers.

The lake was stocked with a fast-growing and aggressive strain of Florida hybrid black bass three years ago. The lake was protected to allow the 80,000 bass fingerlings to attain adult size.

Ron Speed, Jr., opened Lake Huites in March and will be managing it as a catch-and-release bass lake. He closed the lake in May for the rainy season and will reopen in October.

This is the “Mystery Lake” of Mexico you’ve been hearing about. Several of Speed’s clients have caught lunkers over eight pounds. He believes eight pounders will be a common catch in 1998 and ten pounders likely in 1999.

“The most important thing that has happened at Huites, and this is a first for the entire country of Mexico, is that commercial netting has been prohibited on the lake,” says Speed. “This is the first pure sport fishing lake in Mexico….They have seen what fishing tourism can do for them and they want to keep it.”

A fishing lodge is under construction for anglers in the village of Techobampo on the shores of Lake Huites. When it opens in the fall, it will accommodate 12 anglers and by 1998 it will be enlarged to house 24 persons. In addition to the best bass fishing on the planet, the area has to offer spectacular bird hunting and Copper Canyon expeditions.

Lake Huites covers about 15 thousand acres and is loaded with brush and cover. Rock shelves and visible brush in abundance hold the bait fish and provide hiding spots for bass.

Set deep in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, the lake is surrounded by beautiful steep canyons and the view of the Sierra Madres topping over 7,000 feet in elevation is breathtaking. The steep canyons open into quiet bays and coves that offer anglers a variety of fishing options.

Temperatures in this area are tolerable in the fall, winter, and spring, but the summers bring the rainy season. Speed closed for the summer this year and he may close in early May next year to avoid the rains.
Johnny Cotton, a Dallas-area angler, made three trips to Huites between March and May and has already booked two more for the fall. He queries, “What bass fisherman would not enjoy catching and releasing more than a hundred fish a day, most of them weighing three to five pounds?”

The nearby town of El Fuerte is only 90 kilometers from the international airport in Los Mochis. Villa Del Pescador is located in El Fuerte and offers accommodations for 12. This lodge has a fine reputation for providing guests with the best in bass fishing, bird hunting, and Copper Canyon tours. Copper Canyon is one of the more spectacular wonders Mexico has to offer and is located very near the lodge.

Villa Del Pescador offers good food in a relaxed atmosphere. Quaint cobblestone streets provide numerous photo opportunities such as the gardens of the town square, a 100-year old cathedral, and warm smiles of residents of El Fuerte.

This is the part of Mexico you’ve got to see. Book your reservations early for fall!

www.bassadventures.com – Lake Havasu

Kidfish events have had a great impact on urban youth in our state since it began holding its events in July of 1994. The program is designed to give all children the opportunity to participate in the sport of fishing. It is of vital importance to the program’s sponsors to gain a renewed interest in the outdoors among today’s youth.

Jody Jackson of Austin is the director of Kidfish, which has been in operation less than a year. It is a program sponsored by the Share-A-Lunker Foundation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation of Texas and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Kidfish is a children’s fishing program open to children 16 and younger. Participants are asked to collect sponsorships from friends, relatives and neighbors to win a variety of awards and prizes.

To date, eight Kidfish events have been held in Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park, San Marcos, Pearland, Lampasas, College Station and Corpus Christi. Since October 1994, Kidfish has stocked about 16,500 legal, catchable-size catfish and rainbow trout, says Jackson. Over 7,000 people have attended Kidfish events since its beginning, including 4,000 children. It is estimated that 30% of those children had never fished before and caught their first fish at the Kidfish event. Some of these kids are exposed to fishing only through Kidfish.

The Corpus Christi event, held on Jan. 28, drew a crowd of 2,500, including 1,000 children who attended the Kidfish seminar during the event.

Twenty-five Kidfish events will be held in the Houston area of Texas during a six week period from April 1 through May 15, 1995. The Chevy First Team Dealers are underwriting the events with a contribution of $130,000.

The weekend of April 1 and 2 will see Kidfish events at seven sites in Houston and surrounding counties. Kidfish will be held at one site on April 8 in the Galveston/Texas City area, three sites on April 15 in the Freeport/Bay City area and four sites on April 23 and 24 in the area west of Houston near Rosenberg and Sealy. Sunday, April 30, the events will move to the area northeast of Houston near Livingston and Cleveland where there are four sites. Moving a little further west to Huntsville and Conroe, the events will be held at two sites on Saturday, May 6, and two sites on Sunday, May 7, in the Brenham/Hempstead area. Saturday, May 13, Kidfish will hold events at two sites near Bellville and the Kidfish Classic is tentatively cheduled to be held June 3 at Sheldon Pond in east Houston.

Twenty thousand catfish ranging from one to seven pounds will be stocked in area ponds for these events. All the equipment needed, including rods, reels, bait and tackle, will be supplied by the sponsors and volunteers will be on hand to help the kids and their parents fish.

Over one million registration forms will be distributed for the events.

Five children from each of the 25 events will be invited to attend the Chevy First Team – Kidfish Classic on June 10. The five will include the top fund-raiser, the child who catches the largest fish and three specially drawn children from each event. At the Classic, the child who catches the largest fish will receive a $1000 savings bond and that child’s school will
receive $5000 worth of computer equipment courtesy of the Chevy First Team Dealers. All the parents of the Kidfish Classic participants will be invited to enter a drawing for a one-year lease of a Chevy truck.

Every participant of the events will receive a T-shirt and a participation ribbon. Additional prizes will be awarded to the top five fund-raisers and to the child who catches the largest fish by length. Contestants who raise $15 or more will receive a Kidfish bass trophy.

A three station 15-minute Kidfish educational course will be held at each event.

Net income from all Kidfish events will benefit the Community Fishing Program of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The goal of Kidfish is to reach more than 1 million Texas children with Kidfish information and introduce 30,000 new youngsters to the outdoors and the sport of fishing. Kidfish is designed to introduce youngsters to the outdoors and the sport of fishing while raising funds for a variety of programs, including youth outdoor education, conservation, stocking and community fishing, Jackson says. The long-range goal is to one day establish a community fishing program and Kidfish event in every interested Texas city.

One sponsor of Kidfish is the Share-A-Lunker Program. This Program is a subsidiary of the Parks and Wildlife Foundation of Texas and its purpose is to raise funds for the projects of the Foundation. Phil Durocher is the director of the TPWD inland fisheries unit and director of the Share-A-Lunker Program. “For the last ten years or so,” he says, “we have become increasingly concerned with where our constituency is coming from.” He told me of the growing apathy among the younger generations for the outdoors and cites as a reason for this lack of concern the growing cities and urban lifestyles of the state. “Some of these kids have no idea how it feels to reel in a fish.”

Kidfish has been designed to build an appeal for the outdoors among children who don’t have the opportunity to fish. It is a program that has really caught on in urban areas and, hopefully, will help build a love for the Great Outdoors among today’s youth. Durocher says, “if we want to build a new generation of anglers and conservationists, we’re going to have to go them. That’s what Kidfish is about….”

Durocher adds, “it is exciting because most of the effort is being funded by private sources. In these times of tight state budgets, it’s critical that these types of partnerships be formed. This is about people helping themselves, their communities and their state build a bright future for the outdoors.”

Volunteers are needed for all the Kidfish events. Contact Jody Jeackson with questions or for more information at: (512) 918-9497, or for information about the Houston events, contact your local Chevy dealer.

Another way you can help is to sponsor a young angler in these or any other Kidfish events. Let’s help fishing in Texas be as popular in generations to come as it is today!
– Lake Havasu

A multi-talented guy like Pat McCarty is the kind of guy you ‘d be lucky to meet in your lifetime. A tournament angler for 20 to 25 years, Pat is also one of the best fishing guides East Texas has to offer and the publisher of the best fishing and boating publication the state of Texas has to offer. Today, Pat is bringing Texas bass fishing to the World Wide Web in his resolve to keep up with the changing media.

The Texas Sportsguide has grown from a local publication to a statewide circulation of 20,000 in the five short years McCarty has owned it. In 1995, with the growing popularity of the Internet, the Texas Sportsguide began publication on the World Wide Web and expanded to worldwide circulation.

McCarty began his illustrious fishing career when he became involved with B.A.S.S. tournaments held on Toledo Bend Reservoir, Sam Rayburn Reservoir and Lake Livingston 25 years ago. He fished B.A.S.S. for five years and then dropped out of tournament fishing to pursue a successful career in construction in Houston. But the passion to fish brought him back to fishing local tournaments on Lake Conroe where he lives with his wife, Paulette, and daughter, Kelly, in Shadow Bay where he can fish off his back porch in Weir’s Creek every day.

The fishing bug had such a hold on McCarty that he pursued Angler’s Choice Team Circuit titles in the neighboring states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. “I love tournament fishing for the satisfaction I get from competing against other top tournament bass anglers,” he says. “In the Angler’s Choice Pro-Am Division, I get to compete against top national touring pros like David Wharton, Harold Allen, Lyndell Martin and Tommy Martin.” McCarty is a tough competitor, too. He had four top 10 finishes this year in the Angler’s Choice tournaments and was a 12th place qualifier for the Super Team Classic.

McCarty is sponsored by Boots Follmar Marine, Astro Boats, Mercury Motors, Quantum Tackle, Motorguide Trollmotors, Castaway Rods and Lowrance Electronics.

He has been a licensed guide on the East Texas lakes of Lake Conroe, Lake Livingston, Gibbons Creek, Lake Richland-Chambers and Lake Sam Rayburn for 11 years. He is most interested in guiding for black bass, but he also will guide for white bass, crappie and occasionally catfish. He owns Weir’s Creek Guide Service where he advertises “Tournament Tune-ups”. Indeed, thanks to his work as a tournament angler, he is able to read the lakes quite well. McCarty drives a ‘96 Astro Stealth 20DC with a 200HP fuel-injected Mercury outboard and Lowrance electronics.

When McCarty is not guiding or tournament fishing, he publishes the Texas Sportsguide which now has a circulation of over 20,000 in its print version and is, as of this year, on the Internet, giving it a worldwide circulation. The print version of The Texas Sportsguide is distributed to all of the lake areas it covers, which includes Lake Conroe, Lake Livingston, Lake Richland-Chambers, Lake Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend, Falcon Lake, Gibbons Creek and the Gulf Coast. It is also distributed to individual subscribers throughout the United States.

The Texas Sportsguide is the best publication to have along on a fishing trip, to help plan a fishing trip or to keep informed of environmental issues such
as aquatic vegetation or boating legislation. Some of the best names in East Texas fishing, such as Bill Cannan, Jim Binns and Captain Bill Pustejovsky contribute fishing stories and tips to the magazine monthly. McCarty himself is a professional photographer and the publication is renowned for its excellent photos.

It’s also a great place to advertise your boating accessories, restaurants, hotels or real estate, because East Texas anglers use all of the above.

The Internet version of the Texas Sportsguide also contains the well-written stories of the print version. You can find it on the web at www.texs.com . The advertising that this Internet magazine provides is first-rate, thanks to ImageBuilders Advertising, Inc., another business owned by Pat McCarty, a skilled computer grapjhics artist. (I told you he was multi-talented, didn’t I?)

McCarty became interested in on-line services in the construction industry where he regularly used them as research tools. From that beginning and from authoring his own software programs for his own accounting and estimating and from working with CAD software, he began to develop an interest in personal computers. This and his years of experience in desktop publishing led to his career in publishing the Texas Sportsguide. Today, he not only publishes the Texas Sportsguide in its print and on-line editions, but he designs and lays out advertising for print and on-line media through ImageBuilders Advertising, Inc. The URL of Image Builders on the net is www.ibweb.com .

McCarty also does charity work for an organization he believes in, Texas Black Bass Unlimited. TBBU is a freshwater fishing organization dedicated to the freshwater fisheries of Texas and the anglers who fish them. McCarty assisted TBBU in their last two fund-raisers. In 1993, TBBU raised funds for the Channel-Marking Project on Lake Livingston and in 1994, they raised funds for the Habitat Restoration Project of Houston area lakes. In 1996, TBBU plans to hold another fund-raiser for their Habitat Restoration Project, this time concentrating their efforts on Lake Livingston. For copies of the commemorative programs of the two galas or for membership or other TBBU information, please contact Leonard Ranne at 7880 Carr St. in Dallas, Texas 75227.

McCarty’s plans for the future include continuing his tournament fishing and guiding pursuits and expanding coverage of the Texas Sportsguide print edition in 1996. He plans to further develop the Texas Sportsguide on-line edition to include content from other states and countries around the world. He will continue his advertising endeavors with ImageBuilders Advertising in print, multi-media and on-line advertising.
– Lake Havasu

Texas Black Bass Unlimited is a non-profit organization that exists for the future of Texas lakes. For three of the past four years, the Houston chapter of TBBU has raised funds to aid the Houston area lake determined to be in the most need.

In October of 1993, a TBBU Houston Gala was held at the Woodlands Executive Conference Center to raise funds for the Lake Livingston Channel Marker Project. The Gala saw donations totaling almost $46,000 from generous members.

Once again, Lake Livingston, along with Lake Conroe, were deemed in need of TBBU’s assistance in 1994. The 1994 Houston Gala was held at the Greenspoint Wyndham to raise funds for the Lake Livingston and Lake Conroe Habitat Projects. The project’s goal was to bring the ideal fishing of past years back to the lakes by improving the fish habitat. Members of TBBU have been working with scientists of the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in the last three years to this end. The 1994 Gala saw proceeds in excess of $44,000.

The funds necessary for the habitat projects were still needed in 1996, so TBBU held a Houston Fishfest ’96 Gala at the Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. The goal of this project was to raise funds to complete the habitat projects begun in 1994.

This year, TBBU is raising funds for Lake Houston. They hope to raise funds to build a fishing pier on the lake for the physically challenged, elderly, and underprivileged youth of the Houston area. The pier will be constructed on Lake Houston at Deusen Park. The entire project is expected to cost approximately $60,000. The goal of TBBU is to raise $30,000 at the Gala. Matching funds have been promised for the project from the City of Houston, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and Operation Kidfish. These are just a few state organizations who want to see this pier on Lake Houston become a reality.

TBBU is pledging, along with the pier, their ongoing support to City of Houston youth with monthly instructional fishing seminars at the pier. Volunteers from Houston area bass clubs will conduct the seminars. TBBU believes the seminars and the fishing provided at the pier will give Houston’s young people a desirable alternate activity. Everyone is invited to the seminars and a sign will be posted stating the times they will be held.

The ’97 Houston Gala will be held at the Marriott Greenspoint in Houston on Saturday, November 8. There will be a banquet dinner and a live auction of boats, vacation trips, hunting and fishing equipment, and much more. Doors will open at 5:00 with *****tails served and auction items on display. Dinner will be served at about 7:00 PM. Activities are expected to conclude by 10:00 PM.

The ’97 Houston Gala is being sponsored by many fishing and boating merchants in the Houston area, including Platinum Sponsors Mercury Outboards, Astro Boats, Champion Boats, Fisher Boats, Nitro Boats, and ProCraft Boats.

Patrick D. McCarty is Chairman of the TBBU Steering Committee that is organizing the Gala. He is very excited about this year’s Gala. “We hope to exceed prior years’ attendance at this year’s exciting event. Everyone is personally invited.” So come out and show your support for this worthy cause. General admission tickets are $25.00. For reservations and information, please call Pat McCarty at 409/856-8537 or see the TBBU ad on their website: www.tbbu.com. – Lake Havasu

It’s almost here! The 1996 Texas Black Bass Unlimited Fishfest and Gala will take place at Sam Houston Race Park on May 4. This date will coincide with the annual Derby Day at the racepark. It promises to be a great time and a benefit for a worthwhile cause in the interests of both anglers and water conservationists alike.

Randy Nichols of Louis Delhomme Marine and Vicki Follmar of Boots Follmar Marine are serving as co-chairpersons for the event. Both Randy and Vicki have worked very hard to make this year’s Gala a success and they will be working even harder in the last month before the event takes place to insure a great night for all.

Serving on the Advisory Board for this event are Clay Mills of Family Boating Center, Glenn Kirk of Captain Kirk’s Marine, Keith Kocurek of Pier 45 Marine, Ed Parten and Leonard Ranne of TBBU, Don McPherson and Larry Bozka of Texas Fish and Game Magazine, John McCroskey of Louis DelHomme Marine, Pat McCarty of the Texas SportsGuide and Fred Lester of Redwing Boat Company. All of these people have gone through great lengths to provide a great evening of entertainment for the whole family.

Some new names have been added to the guest list that should be mentioned: Forest Wood, a fishing Hall of Famer and the founder of Ranger Boats, will be an honored guest along with Andy Sansom, Executive director of Texas Parks and Wildlife. John Hope will introduce his new ESPN outdoors program, “Tracking Trophies.” Two more familiar faces on ESPN, Billy and Bobby Murray of “Guides”, will be on hand at the event. Mike Dyes and Lonnie Stanley will also be attending the Gala. Mike and Lonnie host the popular “Sportsman’s Challenge”. Another big name in the fishing industry, Keith Warren of “Texas Angler”, will be hosting the event.

Sports celebrities such as Elvin Bethea and Dan Pastorini, both former Houston Oilers, will be in attendance at the Gala.

But none of these celebrities will be as heartily welcomed as fellow fisherman and country music recoding artist, Mark Chesnutt, who will perform at the event at 9:30 PM.
Boat dealers from the Houston area will be presenting their new lines of Astro, Champion, Ranger, ProCraft, Skeeter, Stratos and Tracker boats. Silent and live auctions will be held at the Gala and dinner will be served.

The Infield of the Sam Houston Race Park has been reserved for this event on May 4th. Steve Hofmann, Director of Retail Sales at the horse track, and Richard Linihan of Publicity and Marketing at the racetrack were kind enough to show me around the grounds of the massive Sam Houston Race Park. Steve told me he was “very excited about having the fishing industry represented at the race park.”

The Sam Houston Race Park is located on the south side of Beltway 8 in northwest Houston between Highway 249 and Highway 290. The park sits on 240 acres and has two horse tracks, a children’s playground and a 20-acre lake. More than 1000 television cameras throughout the park keep viewers abreast of the action on the horse tracks.

Texas Black Bass Unlimited hopes to raise funds through the ‘96 Houston Fishfest and Gala to improve the aquatic habitats of Lake Conroe and Lake Livingston. These lakes have been victimized for years with heavy pollution levels and the subsequent loss of aquatic vegetation necessary to maintain healthy fisheries.

Tickets for the event are $10.00 for general admission and concert, $50.00 for the dinner and photo session with the celebreties and may be purchased at the following locations:
Boots Follmar Marine 713-649-2709
Captain Kirk’s Marine 713-367-5630
Family Boating Center 713-441-4300
Louis DelHomme Marine 713-821-3300
Pier 45 Marine 713-999-5666
Red Wing Boat Company 713-921-0656
Texas Black Bass Unlimited 214-388-4724
Texas SportsGuide 409-856-8537

The Houston ‘96 Fishfest and Gala, according to Randy Nichols, is “designed to maximize the collective force of freshwater anglers while simultaneously bringing more people into the sport.” TBBU is a non-profit conservation organization that exists for the future of Texas lakes. Come on out to the races and show your support. See ya’ll at the races! – Lake Havasu

You may have heard rumors about the merger between the Texas Association of Bass Clubs (TABC) and Texas Black Bass Unlimited (TBBU) recently. The truth of the matter is that the two organizations have combined interests in producing one bimonthly publication, to be called “Texas Bass Magazine.”

Back in 1996, Leonard Ranne, who then held the post of President of TBBU, first considered to combine efforts with the popular bass tournament association in producing a publication. The idea was shot down at that time, but a year later the new officers of TBBU determined the merge was possible.

Both groups bring a great deal to the bargaining table: TABC has a larger subscriber base for the new magazine and TABC has the advertisers for the new magazine. Both organizations would benefit from combining their similar interests and dollars into one publication. The two groups both felt that the merger would increase the quality of the magazine by reflecting the interests of both organizations in one publication. They feel that this will appeal to each subscriber base, advertisers and sponsors. They actually hope to increase sponsorships now that both organizations are working together on the magazine.

After much discussion, both TABC and TBBU met in Austin at the Texas Parks & Wildlife Expo to finalize all the minor details. It was agreed that the first publication of the new magazine would be the January, 1998, issue.

Outside of the magazine, each organization is still very much distinct with each having their own Board of Directors. “Each organization still retains its own identity,” says Ed Parten, the new President of TBBU. The Vice President and Editor of the new magazine is Mr. Pat McCarty. Lindy Ellason holds the post of Treasurer of TBBU and Sandy Muegge is the organization’s Secretary.

The new President of TABC is Bill Bales. The Vice President is Bob Ryon and Mary Ann Debenport serves as Secretary/Treasurer.

Ed Parten served as an officer of both bass organizations in 1996. According to Ed, input from members has been very positive about the merger. “I have not heard one complaint.”

“With our new editor, Pat McCarty, at the helm,” says Parten, “ I see nothin’ but bigger and better things on the horizon for our magazine.”

McCarty says in the January/February issue of the new joint publication, “TABC will bring a wealth of bass tournament activities to our publication.” He further describes the magazine as bringing readers “enhanced magazine content that will include, not only TABC events and activities, but expanded content of Texas Black Bass Unlimited’s fund raising event schedules and status reports on ongoing projects.”

Texas Parks & Wildlife will continue to be represented in the new publication with regular updates from Austin.

The new magazine will continue to feature professional bass fishermen like David Wharton, Kathy Majors and Tommy Martin. Familiar names of article writers will continue to appear, too, like Bill Cannan and Jim Binns.
This new magazine is very exciting for the fishing industry in Texas. Don’t miss an issue!

For membership information call TBBU at 1-888-588-8228, visit their website at http://www.tbbu.com or email tbbu@tbbu.com. For TABC call 214-569-6124, visit their website at http://www.tabc-online.org or email tabc@netdot.com . – Lake Havasu

The Texas Black Bass Unlimited ’99 Houston Gala will be held October 23 at the Humble Civic Center in Humble. This year, TBBU will be raising funds for S.M.A.R.T., an organization derived to help all the fishing organizations work together to help with change of legislation and the purchase of a mechanical harvester. S.M.A.R.T. is an abbreviation for Sensible Management of Aquatic Resources Team.

S.M.A.R.T. is a non-profit organization formed by anglers, environmentalists and industry leaders to improve and protect our fisheries and the environment of this great country.

S.M.A.R.T. will do what is necessary to accomplish its goals. This includes educating and informing interested parties – particularly governmental agencies, corporate boards and the news media.

S.M.A.R.T.’s membership in Texas includes over 300,000 from 26 member organizations. Member organizations are Bass Clubs, Clean Water and Air Organizations and Conservation Organizations.

With its boards’ history and experience in protection of our resources, S.M.A.R.T. with its’ advocates, will defend and promote clean air, water, fisheries and fisheries habitat.

The fourth fund-raiser of TBBU will be hosted by S.M.A.R.T. and will be called “An Evening with Ray Scott.” Ray Scott is the founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society and the author of two bass fishing books, including “Bass Boss”, which will be available at the Gala.

Ray Scott has quite a history in the fishing industry. He was inducted into the International Fishing Hall of Fame in 1979.

In 1986, Scott voted on and presented the Living Legends Award to 102 outdoor writers, renowned anglers, lure manufacturers and other fishing legends.

Scott was inducted into the national Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 1988 he became the Sports Fisherman of the Year.

Nineteen-ninety saw Scott’s induction into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the International Game Fish Association awarded him their Conservationist of the Year title.

Field & Stream magazine named Scott as “one of the top 20 persons who have done the most to influence the outdoor sports in our country,” associating his name with notables like Teddy Roosevelt, Rachel Carson, Gifford Pinchot and Aldo Leopold.

Scott founded B.A.S.S. in 1967 because he wanted a fair-minded tournament association that would attract the right kind of fisherman. “It would have entry fees and a set of rules that would guarantee a fair and equitable contest so you wouldn’t be cheated by a jerk with a frozen fish.”

Today the rules of the BASSMASTER Tournament Trail are virtually unchanged since their inception in 1967. And they work. After a cheating scandal in a local bass competition in 1984, an NBC-TV correspondent quoted federal officials as saying, “with the big money that’s now being offered in fishing tournaments, organizers are going to have to adopt rules as strict as those of the B.A.S.S.”

Also on hand at the Houston Gala 1999 will be famous country recording artist, Larry Gatlin. Gatlin has earned himself many major musical awards and is the author of the autobiography entitled “All the Gold in California.”

In 1976, Gatlin received a Grammy Award for his hit single, “Broken Lady.”

Gatlin was named the most promising male artist/song writer of the year in 1977 by Music City New Awards and in 1978, he won the Music City News Award for male vocalist of the year and band of the year.
“Straight Ahead” was released in 1979 and won Gatlin the prestigious Academy of Country Music Album of the Year award, with the single, “All the Gold in California,” winning the Academy’s Single of the year award.

In 1984, Cash Box proclaimed Gatlin as the Composer/Performer of the year.

Several of Larry’s compositions have been recorded by such notable artists as Elvis Presley, Cher, Johnny Mathis, Dottie West and Johnny Cash. His most popular songs include Broken Lady, Houston (Means I’m One Day Closer to You), I Don’t Wanna Cry and She Used to be Somebody’s Baby. Gatlin has performed on live stage, on television and had a seven-month run on Broadway with the musical, “Will Rogers Follies.”

Larry is a family man who lives with his wife, Janis, and his son, Josh, in Austin.

A live auction will be held at the Houston Gala ’99. Available for bid will be two loaded 2000 boats, two 2000 outboard motors and a specially designed and custom-built desk and credenza made exclusively for Ray Scott.

Texas Parks and Wildlife officials will be on-hand as well as many other fishing celebrities.

All proceeds from the fund-raiser will be used toward S.M.A.R.T.’s purchase of a mechanical harvester. – Lake Havasu

A Texas Black Bass Unlimited Houston Gala is held whenever the conservation group sees the need to raise funds for the aid of Houston area lakes. For three of the past four years, the Houston chapter of TBBU has raised funds to aid the Houston area lake determined to be in the most need.

TBBU works with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other Texas organizations to determine the best way to help the Texas lake in question. After a plan of assistance is developed, TBBU determines the cost and tries to raise the funds to complete the process. In the past four years, TBBU has raised donations totaling approximately $113,000.

In October of 1993, a TBBU Houston Gala was held at the Woodlands Executive Conference Center to raise funds for the Lake Livingston Channel Marker Project. Lake Livingston, according to TBBU Board members, could benefit from markers that would guide boaters away from the shallow waters of the lake. With the funds donated at this Gala, TBBU purchased channel markers that were erected on Lake Livingston according to guidelines of the Trinity River Authority, the US Coast Guard, and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

In the summer of 1994, TBBU again came to Lake Livingston’s assistance to try to enhance the fish habitat of the lake. Working closely with the US Army Corps of Engineers, TBBU had determined a need for new aquatic vegetation in the lake because they were seeing problems of siltation and lack of fish due to the lack of food and shelter. They also were looking at the fish habitat of Lake Conroe and wanted to provide some assistance for this lake as well. The project’s goal was to bring the ideal fishing of past years back to the lakes by improving the fish habitat. Members of TBBU have been working with scientists of the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in the last three years to this end. Cages of experimental native plants have been assembled on the lakes to determine which plant species will benefit the lake best overall.

The 1994 TBBU Houston Gala was held at the Greenspoint Wyndham Hotel. Donations helped TBBU purchase 5,000 bald cypress trees that were planted in key areas of Lake Livingston by TBBU Volunteers.
TBBU saw further need to enhance the aquatic vegetation of Lake Livingston and Lake Conroe in 1996. The 1996 TBBU Houston Fishfest was held at Sam Houston Race Park in May of ’96. Mark Chesnutt along with other celebrities appeared at the event to promote the conservation organization’s cause. The goal of this project was to raise funds to complete the habitat projects begun in 1994. According to Ed Parten, TBBU Board member, “we are very proud to state that the habitat programs for both Lake Livingston and Lake Conroe are well under way. The grass is growing in cages in several different locations and we’re excited about native grasses taking hold and growing in both reservoirs.”

This year, TBBU is raising funds for Lake Houston. They hope to raise funds to build a fishing pier on the lake for the physically challenged, elderly, and underprivileged youth of the Houston area. The pier will be constructed on Lake Houston at Deusen Park. The entire project is expected to cost approximately $60,000. The goal of TBBU is to raise $30,000 at the Gala. Matching funds have been promised for the project from the City of Houston, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and Operation Kidfish. These are just a few state organizations who want to see this pier on Lake Houston become a reality.

TBBU is pledging, along with the pier, their ongoing support to City of Houston youth with monthly instructional fishing seminars at the pier. Volunteers from Houston area bass clubs will conduct the seminars. TBBU believes the seminars and the fishing provided at the pier will give Houston’s young people a desirable alternate activity. Everyone is invited to the seminars and a sign will be posted stating the times they will be held.

The ’97 Houston Gala is to be held at the Marriott Greenspoint in Houston on Saturday, November 8. There will be a banquet dinner and a live auction of boats, vacation trips, hunting and fishing equipment, and much more. Doors open at 5:00 with *****tails served and auction items on display. Dinner will be served at about 7:00 PM. Activities will conclude by 10:00 PM.

The ’97 Houston Gala is sponsored by many fishing and boating merchants in the Houston area, including Platinum Sponsors Mercury Outboards, Astro Boats, Champion Boats, Fisher Boats, Nitro Boats, and ProCraft Boats. – Lake Havasu

Stow-A-Way Marina is ready to provide another year of marina services for the fisherman, boater and other lake lover. Nancy Richardson, President and co-owner of Stow-A-Way, and her husband, Jerry, are eagerly awaiting the summer crowds with a season full of lake-related activities.

Jerry owned and operated Richardson Chevrolet in Houston until 1987. He then invested in a boat storage facility across Calvary Road from where the marina stands today. He purchased the 15 acres of the marina grounds in an auction in 1988, sold his interest in the boat storage business and got to work on his new marina.

Business has been great since the Richardsons opened their doors at Stow-A-Way. They cater to the fisherman in the spring and mostly boaters from May to September with July being their busiest month of the year. Jerry says he really doesn’t have a slow month all year.

Jerry and Nancy are recreational boaters themselves. They own a pontoon boat they like to run on Lake Conroe.

Jerry and Nancy live very close to the marina, which is located on Calvary Road just north of the 1097 bridge, but they’ve recently turned over management of the marina to Jim and Cat Peeler.

Among the many things Stow-A-Way has to offer, you will find 40 wet
slips, an RV park with 75 spots, concrete bulkheads, three boat ramps, a pavilion, Bar-B-Q building, restaurant, grocery store and hi-octane gasoline for both boats and automobiles. Boats are available for rental and a new stage for presentations and seminars has recently been erected on the marina grounds.

The RV park has concrete streets and concrete pads, water and sewage connections and electricity hook-ups. Only the best for the guests of Stow-A-Way! A bathhouse for men and women is also available in the RV area.

The grocery store has plenty of camping and water-skiing equipment for all customers of the marina and Jerry is especially proud of their wide selection of wines and beers they keep on hand. The store provides a full tackle shop with both live and frozen bait.

Fishing licenses are available at the store and the marina provides a professional fishing guide service through Butch Terpe, who lives on the premises. Butch has been with the marina since it opened and he says he considers himself “part of the Stow-A-Way team.”

The Richardsons are involved in several tournaments and other conservation-related activities on Lake Conroe. “On April 23rd,” Jerry says, “we’re hosting the San Jacinto River Clean-Up Project, which is co-sponsored by the National Forest Project and the San Jacinto River Authority.”
Probably the most famous tournaments of Stow-A-Way Marina are the Sunday Morning Tournaments. “These are amateur team tournaments with $40.00 entry fees and 100% payback,” says Richardson.

Jerry is President of the Lake Conroe Marine Association and also serves as the Tournament Director of LCMA. The LCMA Team Tournaments will be held at Stow-A-Way on May 21st and 22nd. This tournament has a $100.00 entry fee with an optional $20.00 Big Bass category. First place is an estimated prize of $5000.00! The tournament boasts a 95% payback with 5% going to the Lake Conroe Restocking Program.

Both the Richardsons and LCMA are active in the Lake Conroe Restocking Program, which goes to great lengths to be sure Lake Conroe is stocked with a good supply of bass and crappie. “The program owns six restocking ponds on Highway 1097 that the state stocks with 1-200,000 baby bass fingerlings each year,” Jerry explains. “The bass are fed minnows for 75 days from mid-April through June. Once the bass have reached adequate size, they are released into Lake Conroe.”

The Lake Conroe Restocking Program also released 42,000 crappie into Lake Conroe in January. “These crappie were commercially raised,” Jerry says, “and were three to five inches long at the time of release.”

The Houston F.I.S.H. bass club will hold their 13th Annual Take A Kid Fishing Tournament at Stow-A-Way on August 6th this year. This tournament benefits the Sunshine Kids, providing sports-related activities for children with cancer, and other conservation projects like the Lake Conroe Restocking Program.

This tournament is also a team tournament requiring one adult to pair off with one child and all the prizes are awarded to the child. The entry fee is $20.00 per team.

In addition to the fishing tournament, other activities offered include the casting contest, instructional seminars, a Texas-sized auction, awards presentations and door prizes.

It’s safe to say Stow-A-Way Marina has quite an exciting summer planned. I hope to see you there! – Lake Havasu

Rinker’s Boat World demonstrated its ‘95 line on February 25-26 at Del Lago Marina. The show was open to the public and boaters came from Houston, Dallas and New Orleans to see what the boat dealer is offering this year.

Twelve of Rinker’s boats were shown from the 14’ 7” Rinker Rocket to the 28’ Cruiser. J.C. Pontoons from 20’-30’ were demo’d as was the Rinker Bullet, the bass boat.

The Rinker Bullet is available in a 20’ boat and a 21’ 10” boat. The latter sells for $21,995 with a Bass 150 Suzuki and is the most popular size.

New to the line this year is the Rinker 212 Bow-Rider and the Rinker Rocket. Also shown was the Rinker Flotilla, the J.C. 203 Fishing Pontoon, the 22 Tri-Toon with a 150 fuel-injected Suzuki and the 20’ Bullet Bass Boat with a 150 fuel-injected Suzuki.

Expected at the show were 28-30 clients from the Gulf Coast area. Most were follow-ups from Houston’s January ‘95 Boat Show who wanted to see the boats perform.

Jerry Rinker of Rinker’s Boat World said he hoped “to show the quality and performance of the Rinker line” while the company celebrates its 50th year of building boats. The Rinker line of boats is built in Syracuse, Indiana, by Rinker Boat Company, a company started by Jerry’s father, Lossie Rinker, in 1945.

Bobby Schields, Jerry Rinker’s future son-in-law, was on hand to show the boats to clients. He said he wanted “to show the versatility of the J.C. Pontoons and the high performance J.C. Tri-Toons powered by up to 250 HP. I want to show everyone the great performance and handling of Rinker boats and that they are the best value on the market.”

This is apparently an opinion shared by Rinker’s clients as well. Rick Hague is a pilot for United Airlines and the owner of a Rinker 212 21’ Open-bow. He found working with Jerry Rinker in the purchase of his boat to be a very rewarding experience. “You are working with a gentleman who is personally involved with his product.” He has been so pleased with Rinker’s Boat World that he has purchased a total of four boats from Jerry.

“He didn’t try to gouge me,” Hague went on to say. “The reason I deal with Jerry is he’s as straight as an arrow. If he misquotes a price, he’ll stick with it. He’s got an awful lot of character. He wants repeat business – and he’ll get it, too.”

One Rinker boat you’re sure to see on the lake was purchased by Constable Don Chumley’s Office for its Lake Patrol on Feb. 17. Sgt. Greg Gibson operates a crane or davit from the vessel for lifting injured persons, boat parts or underwater debris from the water. – Lake Havasu

The Lake Conroe Restocking Association, the Lake Conroe Marina Association, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Texas Parks & Wildlife Department are continuing their efforts to improve fisheries habitat at Lake Conroe. Working together, these organizations hope to once again make Lake Conroe one of the best fishing lakes in the country.

In the early 1980’s, hydrilla (an exotic aquatic plant originally from South America) covered a large part of Lake Conroe restricting access for anglers and other boaters.

Under the direction of the Texas Legislature, Texas A&M University stocked grass carp to eradicate the hydrilla. Although the loss of vegetation certainly increased access, it also greatly decreased fish production by eliminating the main source of food and shelter for juvenile largemouth bass and sunfish. (Aquatic insects feed on vegetation. Small sunfish and bass eat the insects and use the vegetation for shelter from predators.) As the grass carp have gradually died out, vegetation has begun to return. To help prevent a re-infestation of the uncontrollable hydrilla, and to increase the coverage of certain types of native vegetation (those species that grow only in shallow water) the Lake Conroe Re-vegetation Project was begun.

In spring of 1995 over 75 test plots were planted at 15 sites around the upper end of the lake. Species planted included musk grass, water star grass, American pond weed, wild celery, American lotus, arrowhead, and spikerush. These test plots were planted in either black silt fence cages (in very shallow areas) or orange construction fence. The purpose of the fencing was to protect the vegetation from the remaining grass carp as well as turtles and other herbivores. On March 19th and 20th of this year, fences were placed across the mouths of six of the coves containing last years plots. Additional plants were added within the fenced areas, the goal being to keep predators out of the coves until the plants are well established and can expand even with some predation. Even if the vegetation cannot expand beyond the fenced coves, the areas behind the fences are large enough to allow some juvenile fish habitat. Additional plantings will be added to Lake Conroe as money permits with at least 4 more fenced coves planned for this year.

This project is only possible through the financial and physical support of the Lake Conroe Restocking Association, Texas Black Bass Unlimited and the Lake Conroe Marina Association. The majority of the financial support (over $40,000 so far) has come from the fund raising efforts of the KILT tournament. For more information on the project contact Everett Massey of the Lake Conroe Restocking Association at (409) 856-4222 or Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries at (409) 822-5067.
– Lake Havasu

Wesley Russell was born a fisherman. His father, Don, gave him a rod-and-reel when he was born and destiny was fulfilled when Wesley recently became the Texas State Champion of Bassmaster Casting Kids at the age of six.

The tournament trail began on Lake Conroe in August at the annual Lake Conroe Take-A-Kid-Fishing Tournament, held in conjunction with Bassmaster. Don says the family had participated, had fun, and then came home only to get a call from Bassmaster saying that Wesley had won first place in the Big Bass and Biggest Stringer competitions and Wesley’s sister, Angela, had won second place. Valuable prizes were awarded to both the children.

Wesley was then eligible to compete in Bassmasters Regional Finals in Tomball, held at an Academy store, where he won first place again and Angela again won second place. Both of the Russell children earned the opportunity to compete in the Texas State Champion Bassmasters Casting Kids Finals in Dallas, where Wesley again won first place.

Wesley competes in the same class as his sister, who is eight. He competes in the seven to ten year age group, against children with much better motor skills, but Wesley still shines brightly. Don attributes this to his upbringing. “Wesley always liked to fish, always liked to cast,” his father says. Don’s parenting methods are clear and simple. “If you spend more time with your kids and teach ‘em to fish,” he says, “they’re more likely to hold a fishing rod in their hands in their later years than a gun.”

The state competition for the best “Casting Kid” in Texas .was held in Dallas at the Dallas Convention Center and contestants were judged in three categories: flipping from 10 feet, pitching from 20 feet, and casting from 30 feet. Wesley placed #1 in all three categories.

The next stop for Wesley will be the semi-finals to be held in Shreveport, Louisiana, on
May 2-4. If Wesley again scores as he’s expected to, he will go to the national competition at the Bassmaster Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, August 7-9.

The same three categories of flipping, pitching, and casting will be judged in the semi-finals and the nationals and Wesley is ready for all three trials. He uses a paper mark to aim at when casting, and he is practicing, although he never saw the paper mark when he started his glory trail on Lake Conroe. The contestants get two practice throws in each category and two point throws. The best of the two point throws is taken as the child’s score. For never having laid eyes on the target before and not being able to practice, Wesley and Angela both did very well.

Don’t worry that all the fishing honors are going to Wesley’s head, either. Wesley is in the first grade at Mel Parmley Elementary and a straight “A” student, just as his sister, a 3rd-grader, is a straight “A” student.

We’ll be waiting to hear more from Wesley and we wish him all the best in Louisiana and Alabama in the coming months. – Lake Havasu

Going from Winter to Summer without having much of a Spring seems to be a common subject among fishermen. The intricate patterns of Springtime fishing were blurred by the prevailing twenty to thirty-five mile per hour winds that blew from the end of February through May. As of this writing(late May) I have counted only four days that the wind did not blow over fifteen or so.

Many portions of the lake have been totally unfishable because of the wind, areas that are in open water like some of the mainlake humps and ridges. Some of the mainlake brushpiles have been untouched due to the swells rolling over the top of them.

Water temperatures were on a quick rise through April, I was already recording temperatures in the eighties the first week of May. The fish have been responding to the warming water as if we were deep into the summer. I have been taking customers out to fourteen to eighteen foot brushpiles and dragging Carolina Rigs for black bass this month and pretending that its summer time. The early morning bite has been on, rocks and breakwaters have been giving up good fish on crankbaits and Texas rigged worms. Even the Caronlina rig has been producing early fish on the rocks and breakwaters. Later in the morning those deeper brushpiles are holding good numbers of bass in and around fifteen feet. Pumpkinseed, smoke/blue, chartreuse pepper, and watermelon colored french fries have been my number one Carolina rigged baits.

The crappie quickly recovered from their spawn and stacked up on the brushpiles. At times during the last few weeks I’ve graphed a brushpiles to mark and there will be so many crappie suspended over them that the depth will change from the bottom to the top of the school of fish. The crappie are so thick in numbers that they collectively have enough density that the sonar cannot penetrate. Unable to see the brushpile for the fish I’ll just throw a buoy upwind of the fish and start fishing. Crappie numbers are high again this year with alot of fish around the eleven inch mark. When measuring crappie or any other fish close the mouth and push it to the zero end of the measuring board and then sweep the tail for an accurate measurement. Also remember that if the fish is barely legal that it will loose a little bit of length when you throw it on ice or if it dies in the livewell.

Looks like we are in for a hot summer so be ready to fish those deeper structures in the lake.
For more information or a guide trip call (409) 594 7645.

Bill Cannan – Professional Fishing Guide – Lake Havasu