Posted: Sun, 15 May 2011 06:50 PM - 13,725 Readers
By: Mike Leggett
photography by Mike Leggett
Memorial Day is synonymous with Indy racing, picnics and homemade ice cream.
Traditionally, it signals the end of school, the beginning of lazy summer days and, for some kids, fishing (and yes, I know, lots of kids still have some ice storm days to make up after the holiday).
Memorial Day was always the time when my grandfather and I could catch a sackful of big, blocky redears from a club lake where we had a membership.
This traditional first weekend of summer is the perfect time to get outdoors with your kids and catch a fish or two, whether you do it from a boat with a rod and reel or from a shoreline somewhere using just a cane pole and a tin can full of night crawlers.
The truth is, there are at least half a dozen ways to find fish, to catch fish and to have some family fun in the Hill Country.
Throw in Texas Parks and Wildlife's various record programs — first fish, catch and release and water body for every species — and you have the makings for a good day on the water.
"Those record fish are a big deal on my boat," says Hutto angler and guide Ray Austin. "Some lakes don't have any record for lots of fish and that's a big deal for a 10-year-old kid."
Austin says he makes sure to visit the TPWD website, www.tpwd.state.tx.us, for statewide fishing reports and to peruse the record listings for every species — especially sunfish, which tend to remain open many times. "More people should know about that program," Austin said. "Once you get that started on a lake, people will try to beat the record, and it just grows from there."
On a recent trip to Choke Canyon Reservoir, where blue catfish are biting like crazy in shallow water, Austin said he was able to take a party of anglers to catch water body and youth records at the confluence of the Frio River and San Miguel Creek. "By moving from the river into the creek, I was able to try for four records within a 50-yard area."
Michael Cox, who lives in Selma near San Antonio, knows the importance of keeping kids interested in fishing by letting them attempt to break records or set records in empty categories, and also by keeping them involved with outdoor activities with their parents.
"It gets them out of the house and away from the video games," says Cox, who recently set a Cibolo Creek state largemouth bass record. He caught a 1.76-pound largemouth bass on a cane pole.
The nice thing about a cane pole is that anyone can use one and the way Cox fishes requires little beyond the pole and some bait. "I usually fish along the bank. The creek is way down right now, but there are some nice holes to fish," he says. "When you're in a creek like that, you can drop it down through the trees to get to where the fish are."
Cox says he began fishing around Central Texas after he retired from the Marine Corps. A friend got him interested in TPWD's record fish program and that put a little extra zing into every trip. "I have several records but my oldest daughter, Rachel, has more than I do," Cox says.
In fact, the 11-year-old has put her name into the record books 14 times in the last couple of years, Cox says. "It's usually bluegills and other sunfish but she loves it," he says. "That keeps her interested."
Austin says if he were picking a fish to chase right now it would be catfish, but that's his specialty. "Most people don't know about any records," he says. "They just throw them into an ice chest."
Most lakes have big gaps in their record listings. Records are kept for freshwater and saltwater catches. Records are kept by age groups of anglers and types of fish. They are also categorized by method such as rod and reel, bow, and catch and release.
Take Lake Travis, for example. In the "All Ages" category under "fly fishing," there are three records: a redbreast sunfish, a channel catfish and a largemouth bass.
That means catching any other fish in Travis with a fly rig would be a record.
Lake Austin is heavily fished, but there are few fish entered for junior angler records and almost none in catch-and-release listings.
"I think McQueeney is one lake where most people never think about trying for a record," Austin says.
Granger Lake has a single listing for fly fishing, a white bass that weighed just 1.04 pounds. The rest of the fly fishing listings are wide-open. And the junior record there for largemouth bass is just 2.5 pounds. Some kid will catch a larger bass than that this weekend, even if they don't submit it for a record.
Of course, this isn't all about records. It's mostly about getting kids outside and getting them interested in fishing. If they get a certificate from the state acknowledging their record, that's just gravy.
