Author: Lake Havasu Guide

AUSTIN, Texas – With classes letting out for the summer, many young Texans will turn their attention to schools of a different sort: fish. Some will make the grade by adding their name to the state angling record books.

And, for young anglers hoping to score on two of the state’s most popular game fish species –largemouth bass and spotted seatrout – the bar just got raised. Both records were eclipsed in late April with impressive catches.

The new largemouth bass record for junior anglers is an 11.57-pound brute caught on Sam Rayburn Reservoir April 23 by 11-year-old Brandon Adams of Florence, Texas. The fish measured more than 28 inches in length. After a quick photo session, Brandon released his record catch back into the lake.

A week later, 10-year-old Matthew Claude Johnson of Caldwell, Texas, reeled in a prized 30-inch trout on Matagorda Bay that weighed 9 pounds.

Both fish have been certified in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Angler Recognition Awards program for state and water body fish records.

“Trophy fish like these new records would be a prize for any angler, and these recent catches demonstrate the level of skill possessed by our younger fishermen,” said Joedy Gray, Angler Recognition Awards program coordinator at TPWD. “There are still plenty of water bodies without records, so the opportunity to get your name in the books is out there. For example, each bay system represents a separate water body and when you consider how many coastal fish species there are, the record books are wide open.”

The Junior Angler Recognition Program is open to kids 16 and younger and the same rules for entry in the Angler Recognition Awards program apply for the juniors. Fish can be entered in the following categories.
State Records for Public Waters

* Rod & Reel – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas public waters by rod & reel fishing.
* Fly Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas public waters by fly fishing methods using artificial lures.
* Unrestricted – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas public waters by any legal method other than rod & reel.
* Bow Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas public waters by bow fishing.

State Records for Private Waters

* Rod & Reel – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas private waters by rod & reel.
* Fly Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas private waters by fly fishing methods using artificial lures.
* Bow Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from Texas private waters by bow fishing.
* Water Body Records –Records for individual locations (reservoirs, rivers, bays, etc.) are also maintained.
* All Tackle – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from a particular Texas public water body using any legal method.
* Rod & Reel – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from a particular Texas public water body by rod & reel.
* Fly Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from a particular Texas public water body by fly fishing methods using artificial lures.
* Bow Fishing – recognition for catching the largest fish of a species from a particular Texas public water body by bow fishing.
* Big Fish Award – for catching a trophy class fish of selected species.
* Catch and Release Award – for the catch and live release of a trophy class fish of selected species.

There are also categories for the first fish caught by an angler of any age and for a catch that does not meet the requirements of other award programs but still deserves recognition.

Consideration for all state and water body records, except first fish awards, must include the fish’s weight on certified scales. Certified scales are scales (either electronic or spring-based) that have been certified as accurate by the Texas Department of Agriculture, the International Game Fish Association (which certifies handheld scales) or a commercial scales calibration company. Feed stores, fertilizer plants, and scales calibration companies are good sources.

Record fish must be weighed on certified scales within three days of the catch, although weights on non-certified scales will be considered providing the scales are certified within 30 days. Applications must be received within 60 days of the catch date and a notary witness is required for State Record applications.

For more information contact: Junior Angler Recognition Awards Program, Attn: Joedy Gray-IF, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin TX 78744; e-mail: joedy.gray@tpwd.state.tx.us or phone (512) 389-8037. – Lake
Havasu

ZAPATA, Texas —Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists are excited over the prospects for Falcon Reservoir. A decade ago Falcon Reservoir offered some of the best bass fishing in Texas and was a very popular destination for bass tournament anglers. Then came a 10-year drought that pulled water levels down and led to a decline in bass fishing.

Beginning in fall 2003, heavy rains in the Rio Grande watershed brought drought conditions to an end. Falcon’s water level dramatically increased, from 45 feet low in June 2003 to nearly full in summer 2004. The reservoir size swelled to about 60,000 acres. When the lake level rose, water inundated thousands of acres of brush, providing ideal habitat for young fish.

Recent TPWD surveys and fishing success at the reservoir indicate that largemouth bass are making a speedy recovery.

Results of a March 2005 bass tournament showed that Falcon is well on its way to reclaiming its reputation as a top bass fishing lake. Of the 147 teams participating, 107 brought 5-fish limits to the weigh-in with the average weight of the fish being 2.9 pounds. It took a 5-fish limit of 28.96 pounds to take first place and a fish weighing 10.6 pounds to collect the big bass award.

A TPWD Inland Fisheries electrofishing survey of Falcon in April 2005 showed a very abundant population of 7 to 12 inch largemouth bass. These fish, spawned in 2004 and 2005, experienced exceptional survival because of all the cover in the reservoir. These young bass are also growing very rapidly and should make for plenty of quality size fish to catch in years to come. Fish hatched in 2004 already average 10 inches long and should reach the 14-inch minimum length limit by spring 2006.

TPWD biologists recognized that the improved habitat conditions in Falcon would yield high stocking success, so a record number of largemouth bass were stocked in 2004 to boost natural production and improve the genetics of the population. Both Florida and northern largemouth fish were stocked. Most of the 840,000 fish were about an inch long.

In December 2004, Falcon produced its first entry into TPWD’s Budweiser ShareLunker program in nine years. This fish, caught by San Antonio resident Jerry Campos, weighed 14.28 pounds and was the largest of 24 fish entered into the program during the 2004-05 season. Some 12,000 ShareLunker offspring produced at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens were stocked into Falcon in May 2005.

Falcon Reservoir is located about three hours south of San Antonio. Although it is a long drive from most metropolitan areas in the state, Falcon is worth the trip considering the world-class largemouth bass fishing it will offer in the next few years.

Hotels, restaurants, tackle shops and boat launching can be found in the city of Zapata, which is located adjacent to the reservoir. Falcon Lake State Park (956) 848-5327, located near the dam, has campsites with electricity and water and a three-lane concrete boat ramp. More information about Falcon Reservoir can be obtained by contacting the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce (800) 292-5253 or www.zapatausa.com or by calling TPWD’s San Antonio Inland Fisheries office (210) 348-6355. – Lake Havasu

AUSTIN, Texas — Lazy summer days and fishing just seem to go hand in hand, so it’s the perfect time to take advantage of the Family Fishing Celebration that allows fishing without a fishing license in Texas state parks.

The Family Fishing Celebration was launched to encourage families and others to fish at more than 70 state parks without having to purchase a fishing license and required stamps.

Houston postal workers B. E. Lewis and K. R. Colwell were found taking advantage of the Family Fishing Celebration on a recent spring morning by doing some bank fishing at Fort Boggy State Park near Centerville. They said they appreciate not having to have a fishing license and stamps to try their luck at reeling in some bluegills from the park’s 15-acre lake.

“We like having the lake all to ourselves this morning,” Lewis said. “On our days off, we come up here several times a year just to fish and relax.”

Academy Sports & Outdoors is the exclusive retail sponsor of this year’s promotion that runs through Labor Day. In addition to providing funding, Academy has provided state parks with bobbers and kids’ fishing starter kits that will be given away as prizes at Family Fishing Celebration events held this summer at several Texas state parks.

A number of state parks across Texas will be holding special FFC events on June 4. They are: Cooper Lake’s South Sulphur Unit (Sulphur Springs), Eisenhower (Denison), LakeArrowhead (Wichita Falls), Lake Whitney (Whitney), Martin Dies, Jr., (Jasper), McKinney Falls (Austin), Purtis Creek (Eustace), Sabine Pass Battleground (Sabine Pass) and Tyler (Tyler).

A complete list of state parks offering fishing opportunities and dates of upcoming FFC events and seminars can be found on the TPWD Web site or by calling (800) 792-1112.

The FFC’s license-free angling in Texas state parks applies only to bank and pier fishing, and to boat fishing in bodies of water totally contained within the boundaries of a state park, such as Lake Raven in Huntsville State Park and Park Lake in Buescher State Park. The fishing license waiver does not apply to anglers who launch boats from state park property to access an adjacent lake or other water body because it does not apply outside state park boundaries. – Lake Havasu

Memorial Day Weekend Game Wardens were patrolling in Devils Cove on
Lake Travis when they responded to an emergency medical call of a
female not breathing on board a vessel. The 18-year-old had been
overcome with carbon monoxide from the back of a vessel, according to
medical personnel. She had fallen off the back of the boat from the
deck without a life jacket on, unconscious. Fortunately, other boat
occupants pulled her out of the water. She responded to oxygen and was
taken to the hospital.

“People want to sit back there and drink and hang out,” said Game
Warden Capt. Robert Goodrich. “But those fumes are boiling up back
there and it’s unsafe to be back there with the engine idling.”

Carbon Monoxide is odorless but fuel is not. But by the time the
smell of fuel becomes strong, it may be too late as far as how much
carbon monoxide has been inhaled.

“Boat operators just don’t realize what’s doing on back there,” said
Goodrich, who’s responded to two other calls like this earlier in the
spring and one last year.

“This young lady was lucky, she ended up okay, but she did not have
a life jacket on. This very well could have been a fatality.”

A few years ago on a private ski lake in Ellis County, another
teenage girl was not so fortunate. She was lying on the back deck of a
ski boat and was over come with carbon monoxide and died.

Carbon monoxide can imperil boaters as well as people at home. Since
1990, carbon monoxide has killed at least 93 people while they were
boating and sickened nearly 400 others, according to federal safety
investigators quote in a Consumer Reports article. The
poisonings affected people inside and outside boats, when boats were
moored and even when under way. The poisonings can happen in the
following circumstances: when passengers hang onto the rear of the boat
and allow themselves to be pulled through the water until the boat’s
wake builds enough to allow body surfing. “Teak surfing,” as it’s
called, puts passengers close to the engine exhaust; when passengers
ride on or swim beneath a platform near the exhaust; when leaky seals
between decks, bulkheads, and the hull or a faulty or poorly maintained
exhaust system allows carbon monoxide to build up inside the cabin;
when boats are moored close together and one has an engine running; or
when the “station wagon effect” generates air currents that pull
exhaust gas into the cabin, much as auto exhaust enters through an open
rear hatch.

Preventative measures:

• Keep the boat’s exhaust system in good repair.
• Turn off engine anytime the boat is idling and there is no air to pull the fumes away.
• Have a marine-grade carbon monoxide detector on board.
• Don’t let passengers teak surf, and keep passengers off the swim platform when the engine or generator is running.

– Lake Havasu

DALLAS – Dick Davis, a veteran conservation journalist who spent the
last five years as Director of the Texas – Oklahoma Region for the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, has been named executive
director of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation, effective June 1.

Davis and a current staff of three based in Dallas, will lead
efforts to provide private support for the work of the Texas Parks
& Wildlife Department, for which the foundation is the official
non-profit partner.

“We’re delighted that Dick has come on board,” said Pat Oles,
Chairman of the TPWF board. “We’ve been very impressed with his record
over many years of conservation efforts and in non-profit work. “We
think that he’ll be a great fit for our foundation and will be a great
leader in helping us achieve our potential.”

Davis began his journalistic work on behalf of conservation when
still a high school student in Duncanville by writing articles for the
Dallas Morning News outdoor page. He later served as sports
writer-photographer for the Waco Tribune-Herald, where an article about
his personal tryout with the Dallas Cowboys was named “Best Feature
Story” by the Texas Sports Writers’ Association. In 1975 he began to
publish in such magazines as Outdoor Life, Gray’s Sporting Journal,
Southern Outdoors and Game & Fish Publications.

His award-winning series, “Outdoor Magazine,” first appeared on 150
public television stations, then later on cable. It was three times
named “Best Television Production” by the Outdoor Writers’ Association
of America. The series also won the Theodore Roosevelt Award for
Conservation from the National Outdoor-Travel Film Festival.

While living in Louisiana serving as Outdoor Editor for a major
daily newspaper, his articles won Best News Story, Feature and Column
by the Louisiana Press Association. He also helped found the Louisiana
Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation. And, he was
instrumental in the establishment of the Tensas River National Wildlife
Refuge.

“Everything I’ve done in my career, from writing about natural
resource management for newspapers and magazines to producing
television programs to working for other non-profit organizations, has
prepared me for this job,” Davis said. “The people who work for the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have always been among my heroes.
Now to be able to assist them and the department in accomplishing their
conservation goals on behalf of the people of Texas is both an honor
and dream come true.”

During his five years with the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation, he helped increase the number of grants to Texas
organizations from about 8 to about 30 annually and the average federal
and private investment rose from $300,000 to $1.5 million a year. He
also established the Texas Legends Award recognizing individuals for
life-long conservation accomplishments. Recipients have been Tobin
Armstrong, Karen & Tim Hixon and Dick Bartlett, all supporters of
the TPWF.

“The Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation has a rich history, from
the outstanding conservationists who have served on its board to the
hundreds of supporters who have contributed to its many efforts and
special projects,” said Davis. “One of my short-term goals will be to
visit with as many of those folks as soon as possible to enlist their
continuing support, engage them again in our work and to invite and
incorporate their suggestions on how to make the foundation stronger in
the future.

“At the same time, we will reach out to new people who may have
never supported ours or any other conservation organization, invite
them to join our team and help ensure the permanent protection and
management of Texas’ unique natural resources.”

– Lake Havasu

Friends and Fellow Anglers, Runoff
is winding down on most area streams and fishing this summer should be
better than the past few drought plagued seasons. The Stonefly Hatch is
in progress on the Cimarron and fishing has been excellent on the lower
reaches of the river as they haven’t been releasing a significant
amount of water from the dam. The Cimarroncita has been especially good
with # 12 Stimulators. We have been fishing on the Costilla also and it
looks like the fish are in good shape there also. We have a new piece
of private water on the lower river near Amalia. The Valle Vidal opens
on July 1st and there is plenty of water in the resevoir this year so
flows should be decent. The Red and the Embudo are still running high
but are clearing and should be great by late June. The Conejos probably
won’t be fishing till late June as they usually have a more intense,
long lasting runoff (Its running 1300cfs on the lower river now). We
have access thru Conejos River Anglers to a couple of private leases
including the Hamilton Lease on the upper river and a new one down by
Broyles Bridge. Culebra Creek is starting to clear and Rita had a good
day up there yesterday with a couple of guys from Amarillo.

– Lake Havasu

11-pound, 13-ounce fish starts VanDam on road to victory

ATHENS, Texas — Professional angler Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has a new love: Texas bass fishing.

Fishing Lake Lewisville on the first day of the Bassmaster Elite 50
tournament June 1, VanDam hauled in a new lake record largemouth bass
that was also the biggest fish he’s ever caught in competition.

“I love Texas!” VanDam said at the weigh-in. “The state absolutely
has the best fishing in the country, and I just love this fishery.”

VanDam went on to win the four-day event, vaulted to the top of the Elite 50 standings and pocketed a total of $106,000.

He also took home a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department lake record
largemouth bass certificate, which was presented at the Friday weigh-in
by Inland Fisheries district biologist Rafe Brock. “It’s good to see
that the best anglers in the world have enjoyed Lake Lewisville so much
this week, and the record bass just shows what an excellent fishery we
have here,” Brock said.

Further evidence of the quality of the fishery was the total catch
for each day. On Day One, 41 of the 50 anglers brought in five-fish
limits. The 233 fish weighed 528 pounds, 7 ounces. On Day Two there
were 38 limits totaling 219 fish and 457 pounds, 1 ounce. The field was
cut to 12 anglers on Day Three, and they produced two limits and 34
fish weighing 68 pounds, 13 ounces. On the final day of competition,
VanDam brought in the only limit among the six anglers left, who
brought in a total of 12 fish weighing 22 pounds, 10 ounces.

Lake Lewisville has been largely overlooked until now, said pro
angler Alton Jones of Waco, but it has much to offer. “We have a lot of
fisheries in North Central Texas that don’t get any publicity because
of lakes like Fork, Sam Rayburn and Ray Roberts,” he said. “This lake
has lots of rock piles, and along the shoreline you’ll find some
flooded willows. It’s got a lot of targets to throw at in the form of
stumps, boat docks and rock shorelines. There’s some good cover to
fish; you’ve just got to find it.”

And thanks to VanDam, anglers know there’s at least one 11-pound, 13-ounce monster to be found out there.

– Lake Havasu

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ATHENS, Texas — Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has just completed a successful striped bass spawning and stocking season.

TPWD Inland Fisheries Division personnel produced and stocked 4.6
million striped bass and hybrid striped bass fingerlings into 42 lakes.
An additional 2.6 million striped bass and hybrid striped bass fry were
stocked into three lakes.

– Lake Havasu

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Frequently Asked Questions About Boating Laws

– Lake Havasu

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– Lake Havasu

This is the real story of what a little support from home means to the
troops. I came to Iraq about 15 months ago and things were pretty hot,
mortars and rockets were pretty much a nightly thing and you didn’t get
much of a break from the war. The Camp I’m working out of is right on
the edge of Baghdad and surrounded by man made lakes on one of Saddam
Hussein’s many Palace complexes. Here in Middle East, water is precious
commodity and controlling it a sign of wealth and power. That’s the
reason all of his palaces were surrounded with lakes, especially right
in this area. When dignitaries or others would fly into Baghdad
International Airport he wanted the lakes and Palaces to be the first
thing they saw from the air, and being a fish lover (so I have been
told) he stocked them with Carp, all kinds of Carp. We have gold carp,
Silver carp, Black and Brown Carp. We have big Carp and little Carp.
The only variety of Carp we can specifically name is a Grass Carp.
Trying to look up fish on the internet isn’t as easy as you might
think. All we can find are scientific names with pencil sketches.

– Lake Havasu

– Lake Havasu

– Lake Havasu