LSONews.com
LoneOStar Outdoor News
Page 1
January 10, 2014
Bassin’ time Big bass being caught north and south.
Texas’ Premier Outdoor Newspaper
January 10, 2014
Page 8
Volume 10, Issue 10
North Zone wraps
Inside
❘❚ FISHING
Some big ones
By Conor Harrison
Trout anglers hooking large fish.
Lone Star outdoor newS Page 8
New regulations? Trout, flounder could see additional restrictions. Page 11
❘❚ HUNTING
FADING FAST: Hunters share the memory of the harvest last week in South Texas. The season is ending fast for non-MLDP ranches, and it has been a success for many hunters. Photo by Lili Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.
Singing the blues (in a good way)
Second split duck hunters searching for birds in many areas
Warden shot Delta County game warden recovering after being shot. Page 4
Classifieds . . . . . . . . Crossword . . . . . . . . Freshwater Fishing Report For the Table. . . . . . . Game Warden Blotter . . . Heroes. . . . . . . . . . Outdoor Datebook . . . . Prime Time . . . . . . . Products . . . . . . . . . Saltwater Fishing Report . Sun, Moon and Tide data .
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BIG FISH TIME: Trophy stripers are being caught on Lake Texoma with big baits fished near structure. Nick Tedford holds one of the oversized fish. Photo by Striper Express Guide Service.
Trophy time Anglers catching big winter stripers
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PLANO, TX PERMIT 210
By Conor Harrison
Time Sensitive Material • Deliver ASAP
See DEER SEASON, Page 19
Tougher for most
Quail hunters finding success this season. Page 4
❘❚ CONTENTS
Texas deer hunters experienced a “good to above average” season that wrapped up on non-MLDP ranches Jan. 5 in the North Zone. The season concludes Jan. 19 in the South Zone. “Overall, I would summarize the deer season as a little bit better than average,” said Alan Cain, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s white-tailed deer leader. “Just from what I have been seeing and hearing at locker plants, from biologists and hunters,
Lone Star outdoor newS
Anglers willing to brave the cold January temperatures in Texas are being rewarded handsomely when it comes to striped bass. January is the time the biggest stripers are usually hooked, and Lake Texoma is already producing some big ones. “December was great with an active bite and a lot of big fish,” said Bill Carey of Striper Express. “This is our Blakemore Bucktail Road Runner time. That is our go-to lure for big fish. “Seventy-five percent of our 20-pounders will come in the next 90 days.” Carey said half of his guides were deadsticking
and half were casting on structure. “We are having 10-plus pound fish being caught pretty much daily,” Carey said. “We use a 7- to 9-inch plastic on the bait. This is the time for big baits — 1-ounce heads. The stripers are putting on a lot of weight and January is their heaviest time of year.” Carey said Texoma was full of shad, although he focuses on artificials. “The really big fish are not in the schools,” he said. “You’ll see schools of bait and a bunch of boats chasing them, but the really big rogue fish are not there. There are a lot of box fish in the schools under birds, though.” See STRIPERS, Page 21
After a successful first split to the Texas waterfowl season, Katy-area guide Matt Friedrichs was looking forward to a great last half of the season. He’s still waiting. “The second split has been very slow, to put it kindly,” he said. “Around Katy, we got a hard rain the first weekend that came through and messed some things up. We’ve had some real mixed results.” Friedrichs said he found some birds in an oxbow of the Brazos River, but when he returned to hunt it, the birds had pulled a disappearing act. “We ended up not having a very good hunt,” he said. “I don’t know where the birds went. I had a buddy hunt Garwood on Sunday, and they saw nine ducks the whole morning. This weather has been tough. It was decently warm during most of the first split and the hunting was great. Friedrichs has heard reports from friends of
TOUGH SLEDDING: James Griffis retrieves a pintail drake harvested near Rockport, where duck numbers have been lower than in year’s past. Other parts of the state are reporting better success. Photo by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News.
lots of birds around the Nacogdoches area — mostly mallards and gadwalls. See DUCK, Page 19