In a Word, It Should Be Good, Or As Biologists Tend To Say -- "Average."




Jason Hardin, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department biologist, provided the following notes on spring turkey season overall, including where to hunt and when:

“The Edwards Plateau has always been the hot spot for Rios,” Hardin said. “The Cross Timbers always has the second-highest number of birds harvested. The reasons we have so many Rios in the Edwards Plateau, the Cross Timbers and in the coastal sand plains of South Texas is due to the availability of roosting habitat. The most limiting factor for Rios in most cases is adequate roosting cover.

“Rios prefer to nest in the biggest and largest grove of trees around. These are typically associated with creeks and rivers. There is no lack of rivers, creeks and other waterways in the Edwards Plateau and Cross Timbers. The coastal sand plains is known for its distribution of large live oak mottes. These systems provide the Rios with adequate roosting habitat to better utilize the greater landscape. These areas typically provide rangelands dominated by native grasses and scattered shrubs, and these landscape features provide excellent nesting, brood-rearing and escape cover for adults and young alike.

“Our seasons are staggered (north zone and south zone) and they are also fairly long to better capture gobbling activity. Texas is a big and diverse state. This is true if you look east to west where we have a significant rainfall gradient, or if you look south to north where we experience a growing season gradient. A lot of hunters insist on hunting the opening weekend. However, this typically is only a good idea if we had a mild winter with adequate rainfall.

The condition of the hens will play a large role in when they begin to breed. Mild and wet winters lead to early green vegetation being available earlier in the year, which means hens are ready to breed earlier than in more droughty or colder winters.

“By allowing for a long season, we provide hunters with an opportunity to better capture breeding activity. It is really impossible in Texas to put a date on the calendar and know for certain year-in and year-out that gobbling activity will be where the hunter wants it.”

The general Rio Grande spring turkey season runs March 31-May 3, 2020, in South Texas and April 4-May 17, 2020, in northern counties. The north zone youth-only season is March 28-29 and May 23-24. The youth-only dates in the south zone are March 14-15 and May 9-10. For more information on this year’s season check the TPWD website.

 




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Lake Fork

Fishing Report from TPWD (Jul. 9)

GOOD. Water Stained; 82 degrees; 0.23 feet above pool. Fork : Top waters early around pond weed and grass with frogs and poppers still working . Mid morning chatter baits on the outside edge of grass in 3-5 ft is good as well as shaky heads . Best bite is Carolina rigs off shore on points , road beds and humps in 12-25 ft . Big worms and flukes are good . Deep Cranks are good over the same area when the fish are suspending 19-23 ft . Report by Marc Mitchell, Lake Fork Guide Service. Lily fields are filling in, hydrilla and milfoil are reaching for the surface. Fish this type of cover at mid day when bass are seeking cover. Frog patterns are working in the shallow vegetation early and late. Small fish patterns like a dock knocker are producing bass and crappie shallow near grass. Large bream have moved shallow, wooly buggers are producing good fish. Channel catfish are cruising 2-4 feet biting clousers. Report by Guide Alex Guthrie, Fly Fish Fork Guide Service. Lake Fork crappie fishing has been super up and down this past week. The fish are stacked up on brush piles, lay downs, tire reefs and some trees. The bite is the tricky part. Some days the bite is good and the bigger fish show up. Some days the bite is just off and the short fish show up. Seems like the bite may be better on days we have a little breeze. If the winds are calm the bite is very slow. Minnows will get some bites but small 1/32nd ounce hand tied jigs with small bodies and tails are working well on fish that don’t want to bite. Best depths have been 18-13ft with most fish suspended on trees and loaded in the brush. Report by Jacky Wiggins, Jacky Wiggins Guide Service.

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