Outdoors

When hunting squirrel, keep an eye out for other critters

With the arrival of May, we traded wild turkey hunting for squirrel hunting. Squirrel season is open the entire month of May in East Texas. However, with the lack of rainfall, it can be tough. The few showers that have come through have been welcome, but the woods are still dry.

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Sneaky snakes out and about in Southeast Texas

With our warming weather, it’s guaranteed that snakes, and lots of them, are slithering around somewhere near you and me.

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Sabine Pass Walter Umphrey State Park fishing pier reopens

I’ve got good news and bad news from Sabine Pass. The good news is that the Walter Umphrey State Park pier has finally been rebuilt since it was completely destroyed when Hurricane Rita made landfall between Sabine Pass and Johnson Bayou on Sept. 23, 2005. But the bad news is that the wind has been blowing so much lately that fishing off the pier, and just about anywhere else on Sabine Lake, has been about as bad as it gets.

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Striped, hybrid striped bass both make good eatin’

Several of the lakes in our state of Texas have been introduced to both striped and hybrid striped bass. These fish do grow to large sizes and offer some really good action for anglers. Lake Livingston and Toledo Bend are great places for taking both species. Sam Rayburn has some hybrids remaining, but none have been introduced since a malfunction at the hatchery. Hybrids are not usually able to reproduce and are available through put-and-take efforts. According to Ronald G. Habron of Southern Region Aquaculture Center, striper can actually spawn.

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Have fun, stay legal targeting blue crab

As the local saltwater areas become warmer, some super fun outdoor activity picks up. We are fortunate to be in an area where the blue crabs are plentiful. Historically, the pursuit of these tasty crustaceans has been a family adventure. Cold weather means cold water, and the crabs don’t move around much. With the type of winter that has just passed the water was chilled for quite a time. That trend has been changing and with the warmer water comes some really fine times to head out to the areas where the crab action is.

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Where to find Toledo Bend, Rayburn crappie right now

The water temperature on Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend has finally topped the 70-degree mark, according to guide Bill Fondren, and with that warming water temperature, crappie are beginning their transition from shallow to deep water.

“They started moving out of the shallows last week,” said Fondren, who runs guided crappie fishing trips on both lakes. “On Sam Rayburn, we’re catching them on the upper end of the lake around brush in about 8 to 11 feet of water. But on Toledo Bend, the most consistent action is over grass in 8 to 10 feet of water.”

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Spring spawns increase chances for novice anglers

Outdoors folks seem to continually face natural obstacles that give them plenty of excuses for slow fishing days. Sometimes it is too cold, and at other times it is too hot. Then comes the too windy days and then the thunderstorms. All of these things do make conditions uncomfortable for the anglers. At least it does for most folks. There are others, however, who seem to score well no matter what nature seems to put in front of them. I’ve long believed in the old saying that 10 percent of the fishermen will catch 90 percent of the fish.

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Fork still the lake to fish for trophy bass

The great thing about April in Texas is that this is big bass time, as in double-digit bass, and there is no shortage of lakes that have and still can produce monster class largemouths when they are on the beds and spawning like right now.

But during the past few months, there are three lakes that stick out like a sore thumb when it comes to producing 13-pound-plus bass. They are O.H. Ivie, Austin and Falcon.

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Saltwater Fishing Heats Up

Since it’s springtime and there are so many super outdoor happenings available, I’ll offer a potpourri of choices. Any one or more of them would be a good choice.

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Crappie catch will continue year ‘round

There has long been a tradition of wintertime crappie fishing at the Chicken Coop on Toledo Bend reservoir. That area is north of Milam off Highway 87. There are, however, some really productive crappie fishing areas on not only Toledo Bend but also Sam Rayburn and Lake Livingston. Our local bayous were once very productive crappie fishing waters, but I have no reports since Hurricane Ike’s saltwater surge.

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