Month: March 2008

Tyler State Park Lake Produces Budweiser Sharelunker

Tyler State Park

Tyler State Park Lake sent its second Budweiser ShareLunker and a new lake record to Athens Monday. The 14.5-pound largemouth bass took a rainbow-trout imitating swim bait being worked in 3 feet of water by Tyler angler Brett Harris. The fish was 27.75 inches long and 20.25 inches in girth.

Harris’ choice of baits seems odd until you realize that Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stocks rainbow trout into the lake during the winter to increase angling opportunity. Largemouth bass were stocked into the 64-acre lake in 1975, 1985 and 1990. The previous ShareLunker and old lake record weighed 13.28 pounds and was caught in 2000. Continue reading Tyler State Park Lake Produces Budweiser Sharelunker

CCC Veterans Honored at Bastrop State Park

Civilivan Conservation Corps

Bastrop State Park will host 100 or more former Civilian Conservation Corps members who helped build the foundation of the Texas State Park system back in the 1930s and 1940s. The March 28-29 event commemorates the 75th anniversary of the CCC, started by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration in 1933 to address joblessness during the Great Depression years.

Most of the young men whose skilled hands worked on soil conservation and forestry projects, and helped build the structures that form the backbone of such outstanding state parks as Caddo Lake, Garner and Indian Lodge have passed on as the 75th anniversary approaches. Those CCC workers who are still alive today are in their 80s and 90s. Continue reading CCC Veterans Honored at Bastrop State Park

The Hill Country’s Most Important Resource: Water

Hill Country River

By Bill Ward, Native Plant Society of Texas

What is the most precious natural resource in the Texas Hill Country? For most people the answer to that question is a no-brainer. Water, of course! Surface water or ground water? There you might get different answers, but those “in the know” would think this is a dumb question.

That’s because around here, most surface water and ground water are part of the same hydrologic system. They shouldn’t be considered separately, especially here in this expansive area of karst limestone terrain.

Groundwater issuing from springs is the source of most big creeks and rivers in the Hill Country. Stream beds are the main zones of recharge for our aquifers. Continue reading The Hill Country’s Most Important Resource: Water

Texas’ Spring Turkey Season Looks Good

Spring Turkey 2008

Turkey hunters should get plenty of calling action this spring, based on field reports of an abundance of Rio Grande gobblers observed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists. “I have been getting reports from many of our field biologist and they all agree that this is going to be a good season in Rio Grande turkey country due to the 2007 spring and summer rains and mild temperatures,” said Jason Hardin, TPWD turkey program coordinator.

“Some of the guys mentioned last year seeing new poults as late as August. That probably means these birds had ample opportunity to re-nest two to three times over the summer. So, there should be lots of jakes seen, making it a fun year to call in lots of birds. There will be plenty of mature gobblers, as well, so hunters should not hesitate to get in the field.”

Rio Grande spring turkey hunting season opens in the North Zone March 29 and runs through May 11. Special youth-only weekends are set for March 22-23 and May 17-28. The South Zone opens March 15 and runs through April 27, with youth-only weekends set for March 8-9 and May 3-4. Continue reading Texas’ Spring Turkey Season Looks Good

Wildfire Burns Chaparral WMA

Chaparral WMA fire 2008

A wildfire burned 95 percent of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s 15,200-acre Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in LaSalle and Dimmit Counties south of San Antonio. The fire started late Friday, March 14, and by Monday morning, March 17, was almost entirely burned out on the WMA, where it caused no injuries and spared most of the facilities but did destroy a research building.

Chaparral WMA fire 2008Chaparral WMA fire 2008Chaparral WMA fire 2008Chaparral WMA fire 2008

When the fire started, eight parties of public hunters were on Chaparral WMA, but the two staff members on duty were able to evacuate all of them safely. “The powers that be must have been watching over us,” said David Synatzske, Chaparral WMA manager.

“The most important thing is that all hunters were safely evacuated by staff, and there was no loss of life or injury to any of the hunters, staff, or the hundreds of folks who fought this fire.”

Synatzske said two of the hunters were found Friday after dark in a pasture without a vehicle, spotted by a WMA staffer who had gone up in a military helicopter to help find them. The Texas Forest Service said by early Monday the fire was 100 percent contained, and had burned a total of 67,500 acres in South Texas. The service said they believe the fire started on a ranch in Dimmitt County, although the exact cause is still under investigation. Continue reading Wildfire Burns Chaparral WMA

Budweiser Sharelunker Caught at Richland Chambers

Jeremy Bruton and his Richland-Chambers Monster

Jeremy Bruton of Blooming Grove, Texas, landed a Budweiser Sharelunker over the weekend at Lake Richland-Chambers. The bass just did meet the minimum 13-pound requirement for the program, but that was enough to get Mr. Bruton a mounted replica of the fish and his name in the paper! In addition, the fish will be used by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for spawning at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center and fish stocking. An addition Sharelunker bass was caught at Lake Waco over the weekend.

The Stats on Bruton’s Bass:

ShareLunker No. 446
Caught by Jeremy Bruton of Blooming Grove, TX
March 9, 2008 in Richland-Chambers
13.05 pounds, length 25.25 inches, girth 22 inches
Bait/Lure: Stanley Wedge spinner bait
Water Body Record? No
Day of Week: Sun
Moon Phase: N+2