Outdoors

Southeast Texas anglers bring big catches to CCA STAR tournament

The Coastal Conservation Association STAR tourney, which runs through Sept. 3, is getting a lot of attention from Southeast Texas fishermen. One of the most coveted spots on the leader board is held by Sour Lake angler Michael Fesco. He’s leading in the speckled trout category with an 8 pound, 10 ounce trout caught on Sabine Lake with live bait. That’s the heaviest trout to be entered into the STAR in the upper coast division.

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Texas dove and teal seasons set

And it looks all good for Southeast Texas hunters

 

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has just announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved the 2012-13 Texas early migratory game bird seasons. As of now, it’s all good news. Dove hunters across the state will have a 70-day season with a 15-bird daily bag limit. The icing on the cake is that we’ll have a 16-day early teal season.

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Despite recent rains, drought a hunter concern

With the saltwater fishing going full blast, there have also been many questions about deer range conditions. Certainly the rains that have been widespread have benefited all of the deer ranges. We all remember that by this time a year ago, we were well into a super drought. Many deer hunters are questioning the outlook for the upcoming hunting season.

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It’s never too late to keep a fishing log

Have you ever wondered why the professional fishing guides seem to be more consistently successful than most other anglers? The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that they are on the water more than lay anglers. However, there are some non-professional fishermen that are afloat regularly and they seem to have more lean days than successful ones. It is sort of like a hit or miss on each outing. In our local saltwater this time of year, it seems that the speckled trout especially will be stacked in an area one day and seem to disappear from the earth the very next day.

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Change tactics as the day wears on

During the early part of the summertime, outdoor situations are continually different from day to day. I’ve noticed that it’s tough trying to stay on fish such as speckled trout. They will be in one area one day and then seem to disappear. Some of the more experienced guides have so many productive areas in their repertoire that they do catch fish on most days. Weather conditions as well as water conditions are governing factors as to where a good place to begin might be. Knowing this, the rest of us can go to once productive areas and do the trial-and-error search.

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Summer flounder fishing is better than you think

What you might not know is that flounder fishing on Sabine Lake and East Galveston Bay is good pretty much year round. The only exception might be the cold-water months of January through March. Something else you might not know is that there is a passel of fishermen that target flounder throughout the summer months.

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Texans take Louisiana tournament

Lamer University students helped lead the way to Texas-sized bragging rights over Louisiana in the recent Bassmaster College Series Shootout on the Red River.

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Hunters, fishermen bristle at regulations

As we reach mid-June, there is some super fishing going on, but it is also time to finalize your hunting spots. It has always been a blessing to live in an area such as Southeast Texas where outdoors folks have access to both hunting and fishing that is first class. There are, of course, other areas that offer certain outdoor offerings, but few of them can offer such a large variety of outdoor recreation.

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Sabine Lake fishermen are on the trout BIG TIME

Sabine Lake trout have been on a run lately and can be caught just about anywhere on the lake — if you hit the right spot at the right time.

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Calm wind bring fish, sharks into shallows

 It appears that Southeast Texas has been plagued by many days of southeast or southwest winds. Whenever that happens, the entire surf from Cameron, La., all the way to the Bolivar north jetty becomes rough and sandy. On the other hand, a mild less than 10 mph south wind or anything from the north less than 15 mph will clear and color the surf. Whenever that happens, the speckled trout and other game fish will invade the shallows.

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