College anglers casting for cash in national championship
Nearly 400 college bass anglers representing 79 schools and universities from several states are registered to compete in the BoatUS Collegiate National Championship, slated for Thursday and Friday on Lake Lewisville near Dallas.
Texas will field 32 teams representing 15 colleges, including Stephen F. Austin State University, Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University, Texas A&M-Corpus-Christi, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas A&M- Galveston, Texas State University, Texas Tech University, University of North Texas, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas and University of Texas at Tyler.
Also competing will be a team representing the Canadian Collegiate Bass Anglers and and the defending high school champions from The Bass Federation.
The anglers will be fishing for a share of $100,000 in scholarships, prizes and product samples.
Tournament director Wade Middleton says the interest in this year's event has been especially brisk.
"The amount of registrations this year has simply been amazing because you've got the best collegiate anglers -- as determined by their schools -- competing for the national title," Middleton said. "It's never been more evident on how tough it is for the college teams to determine who competes in this prestigious field, as some of schools have up to a dozen events that help determine who will represent them at the national championship. This one will be a great one to watch on-site as well as on television."
Middleton said footage from the tournament will air on the Versus network next fall. You can follow the event online at collegiatebasschampionship.com.
Biologist says spring gobbler season was a grind
The final harvest numbers aren't crunched just yet, but the 2011 spring gobbler season will likely go down as one of the toughest in recent times. The season closed May 15 in Rio Grande country and ended April 30 in eastern Texas.
According to Jason Hardin, wild turkey program leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, extreme drought conditions resulted in limited breeding activity across much of the state this year. As a result, Hardin says gobblers, especially Rios, weren't very responsive to calling.
"I suspect there were quite a few Rios killed, but the hunters had to work," he said. "There was a lot of running and gunning going on, because the there wasn't much breeding activity and the birds didn't come to calls very well."
To illustrate the lack of breeding activity, Hardin pointed to research study hens bridled with equipped with radio telemetry gear. Biologists are able to monitor the birds' habits and whereabouts, which provides some solid clues about breeding cycles.
"Only about 10 percent of our study birds are nesting, and that's being optimistic," Hardin said. "Last year 100 percent the telemetry birds nested. I'm not holding out much for those birds that are nesting. Because of the drought, there is not much out there in way of insects and vegetation."
Biologists rely on check station data to monitor annual harvest rates in the 43 East Texas counties with a legal season on eastern gobblers. Hunters who take an eastern gobbler are required by law to take it to a designated check station for documentation within 24 hours of the kill.
According to TPWD wildlife biologist Gary Calkins of Jasper, Region 6 (Pineywoods) hunters shot two more birds (103) than last year in 24 counties.
Newton County was the leading producer with 22 gobblers, followed by Sabine (14) Jasper (12), Bowie (10) Nacogdoches (10), Polk (8), Cass (6), Marion (4), Angelina (3), Panola (3), San Augustine (3) and Harrison (3). Cherokee, Shelby, San Jacinto, Trinity and Upshur counties had one bird each.
Harvest rates were not as widespread in Region 5, but the overall numbers were slightly higher than the Pineywoods, according District 5 leader David Sierra of Tyler. Sierra said Grayson County was the leading producer with 41 birds, followed by Red River (32), Lamar (19), Fannin (15), Delta (3) Hopkins (1) and Franklin (1).
TPWD wildlife biologist David Forrester said Wharton County yielded the most birds (5) of Region 7 counties with huntable populations of easterns. No turkeys were reported to check-in stations in Fort Bend, Brazoria or Matagorda counties.
As a side note, TPWD is closing the spring gobbler season in 15 East Texas counties effective in 2012. Counties included on the list are Cherokee, Delta, Gregg, Hardin, Houston, Hunt, Liberty, Montgomery, Rains, Rusk, San Jacinto, Shelby, Smith, Tyler and Walker.
The season closures are taking place as the result low populations and historically low harvest numbers. Biologists plan to reassess available habitat in the aforementioned counties and possibly restock with eastern wild trapped birds to help jump start populations. TPWD hopes to reopen the counties for hunting at a later date.
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