Outdoors Digest

Calendar

Through May 1 – Texas South Zone Spring Turkey Season.

April 2-May 15 – Texas North Zone Spring Turkey Season.

April 2 – Bois D’arc Creek Ducks Unlimited Dinner at the Magnolia Grace Ranch in Leonard. For info, visit www.ducks.org .

April 2 - Future Bass Trails Team Tournament out of Alberta Creek. For information,

call Joe Copeland at (580) 504-7320 or visit the website at www.futurebasstrails.com.

April 5 – Monthly meeting of the Red River Fly Fishers in the Rec Hall at Eisenhower State Park. For information, including the night’s speaker and fly tying schedule info, visit www.rrff.org .

April 7-9 – Major League Fishing Toyota Series on Lake Texoma out of Catfish Bay Marina. For information, visit https://majorleaguefishing.com/events/2022-04-07-lake-texoma .

April 8-10 – Ducks Unlimited Expo (DUX) at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. For information, visit www.duckexpo.com .

April 9-14 – Bass Pro Tour Heavy Hitters Tournament out of Tyler, Texas at Lake Palestine. For information, visit www.majorleaguefishing.com .

April 16-May 16 – Oklahoma spring turkey season.

April 22-May 14 – East Texas spring turkey season (including Grayson, Fannin, and Lamar Counties).

April 23 - Texas Team Trail Tournament out of Catfish Bay Marina. Pre-registration closes at 5 p.m. on April 21. For information, visit www.texasteamtrail.com

April 30 - Madill High School Fishing Team Fundraiser Tournament. For information, call (918) 688-0453.

May 3 – Monthly meeting of the Red River Fly Fishers in the Rec Hall at Eisenhower State Park. For information, including the night’s speaker and fly tying schedule info, visit www.rrff.org.

Notes

Happy April Fool’s Day from the Herald Democrat Outdoors staff…In light of the above, Berkley announced the new PowerBait Noodling Glove yesterday, something that will undoubtedly make fishing easier this year on streams and rivers all across the land. Or make a good laugh a sure bet on this annual day of April 1st jokes and pranks. In other words, don't look for the PowerBait Noodling Glove anytime soon, despite any news releases or social media posts you may or may not have seen in the past 24-hours!...No joke here as North American Whitetail Magazine has announced on its Instagram social media page that the entry score for Dustin Huff's massive typical buck from Indiana this past fall has now been accepted at 211 4/8-inches net by the Boone and Crockett Club. While the final score on Huff's monster crossbow kill still awaits panel scoring in 2025 (it was killed too late last year to receive a 60-day B&C score prior to the organization's Dec. 31, 2021 awards period deadline), it will for now take it's place as the second largest typical whitetail of all-time, ranking only behind the world record Milo Hanson buck. That buck, a 1993 buck from Saskatchewan, Canada, scores 213 5/8-inches ...Johnny Morris and his Bass Pro Shops staff gather this week to celebrate the 50th birthday of BPS this weekend at the outdoor retailing giant’s flagship store in Springfield, Mo., it’s time for the “World’s Fishing Fair” event as scores of outdoor industry talent gathers for the big birthday party (Link: Bass Pro Shops World’s Fishing Fair – The Greatest Fishing Show & Sale on Earth!," (Link: https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/worlds-fishing-fair ). If your travel plans don’t take you to Missouri this weekend, however, there’s still a way to keep up with all of the “World’s Fishing Fair” festivities, even from Texomaland. Simply go to the BPS streaming link and watch from afar (Link: https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/worlds-fishing-fair-live-stream# )…Big news in the outdoors industry yesterday as Jim Ronquest, the 2006 World Duck Calling Champion, co-host of the RNT-V television show on Sportsman Channel, and the longtime PR guru for the Rich-n-Tone, Inc. (RNT) duck call making company in Stuttgart, Ark., announced that he was leaving RNT and taking a new position as the VP of Development for Drake Waterfowl Systems. “Jim, otherwise known as Jimbo or Partner, has certainly left his mark on the RNT brand and duck hunters from all over the country,” said RNT’s Instagram and Facebook accounts. “Although Jim will leave RNT Calls and join Drake Waterfowl Systems, he will still be involved in the Rocking R Duck Call line. All the years of dedication aside…Jim, you, Rosie, and Jenna (Peanut) are RNT Family and we wish you the best! From all of us at RNT Calls, we look forward to a continued relationship! We’ll be seeing ya Partner!”... At last weekend’s Bass Pro Tour REDCREST Championship on Grand Lake to the east of Tulsa, Okla., Florida bass angling legend Bobby Lane won the event in stunning last second fashion, catching a bass with second to go that needed to weigh more than 2-pounds to qualify and give him the win over Luke Clausen. The first weight recorded on the BPT digital scale was 1-pound, 15-ounces, one ounce shy of the two-pound minimum weight limit. With anglers allowed to have the fish reweighed a couple of times (with three weight recordings being the maximum allowed), Lane’s reweigh request showed the same 1-15 numbers on the scale as the TV cameras looked on. On the third and final weight, the numbers flickered 2-00 even, giving Lane a last gasp catch and victory in a major championship win that will be remembered for years to come …As severe weather rolled through the southeastern portion of the United States yesterday, high winds in the forecast forced the cancellation of the first round of the 2022 St. Croix Bassmaster Southern Open at Cherokee Lake in Tennessee. “The safety of our anglers, co-anglers and staff is our primary concern,” said Chris Bowes, B.A.S.S. vice president of tournaments, in a news release. “We have been monitoring the weather closely alongside the local National Weather Service, and the forecast is calling for sustained Southwest winds of 15-25 mph and gusts over 30 mph.” B.A.S.S. officials say that the competition will resume on Friday morning at 7 a.m. ET and the full field will compete both Friday and Saturday. Anglers will take off from Cherokee TVA Dam Boat Launch and return for weigh-in at 3 p.m.…

Hunting Reports

Spring turkey season opened up on March 19 in Texas’ South Rio Grande Zone and runs through May 1. While the hunting hasn’t been red hot everywhere, there has been some fair success if photos on Instagram and Facebook serve as any indication… Meanwhile, the spring turkey season opens up in the North Texas Rio Grande Zone tomorrow morning, running from April 2 through May 15… Last, but not least in Texas, the Eastern Turkey season in Texas—which includes Grayson, Fannin, and Lamar counties—will run from April 22 through May 14… There are also youth only turkey hunting weekends in Texas, where the March 12-13 (South Zone)and March 26-27 (North Zone) early youth weekends have already passed by in the. But there will be May 7-8 (South Zone) and May 21-22 (North Zone) late youth only weekends.. In Oklahoma, changes to the Sooner State’s spring turkey regulations will have the season moved back a few days to allow for more breeding opportunity and nesting success. This year, the Sooner State’s youth season will run from April 9-10 while the statewide season will run from April 16 through May 16…Other spring turkey hunting rule changes in Oklahoma this year include the state’s bag limit (ODWC says that the spring turkey season bag limit is one tom turkey per hunter and that a tom is defined as any bearded turkey) as well as the youth spring turkey bag limit (ODWC says that a turkey taken during youth spring turkey season counts toward the regular season limit of one turkey per hunter)...According to North Texas Outfitters head man Dakota Stowers, as the local spring turkey seasons get ready to begin, there’s a good number of birds out there this year, including some trophy sized longbeards. Despite the topsy turvy weather as of late, Stowers says that he’s already seeing birds strutting around and gobbling and that the opening action should be good barring some last minute cold and/or stormy weather as North Texas opens this weekend and southern Oklahoma opens on April 16…

Fishing Reports

At Lake Texoma, water is lightly stained; water temp is 55 degrees; and the lake is 1.36 feet low. John Blasingame of Adventure Texoma Outdoors tells TPWD that fishing is slow right now for stripers in the main lake, as the rivers are now holding most of the fish with the spring spawn run commencing. The longtime Texoma guide says that striped bass are still fair on Alabama-rigs and swimbaits, however, when you get on them. And as their own spawning run starts to wind down, the guide reports that Texoma sand bass are also mixed in with the stripers right now…At Lake Ray Roberts, water is lightly stained; water temp is 55 degrees; and the lake is 0.76 feet low. TPWD reports that as the water warms up at Ray Bob, the fish will slowly make their way towards shallow water in the next few weeks. Blue catfish and channel catfish are good right now in 3-10 feet of water for those anglers using cut shad. Crappie are good in the main creek channels, around bridges and near structure. And largemouth bass are good on structure in 15-18 feet of water for anglers using umbrella rigs according to the agency. But with water temps in the mid-50s and warming daily, expect Ray Bob’s lunker largemouths to quickly transition to shallower water for the spawn…

At Lake Fork, water is stained; water temp is 60 degrees; and the lake remains 6.42 feet low due to repair work on the dam. As the spawning season takes off, guides Marc Mitchell and Jason Hoffman tell TPWD that anglers should be looking for the warmest water they can find for best results. Bass are good right now on red spinnerbaits and squarebill crankbaits tossed in 3-4 feet of water, especially midway back in the pockets. As other fish transition out of deep winter haunts towards spawning flats, the guides say that ViperXP Jigs are still working on big wood near creeks and ditches, but also in the flats in 3-6 feet of water. Texas-rigs with watermelon red Flukes are also good in 2-4 feet of water…Meanwhile, as water temperatures rise, guide Jacky Wiggins tells TPWD that Fork’s crappie are starting to go shallow in big numbers now. “This past week crappie were still being caught in 20-25 feet (of water) on trees in the main lake when the winds would allow us to stay out there. (But) fish could (also) be found in 6-10 feet as well on trees, brush and lay downs. We did catch fish up as shallow as 3.5 feet on some days around stumps when water temps were above 60.” Wiggins also tells TPWD that he has been getting lots of reports of bank fishermen limiting out easily on crappie over the last few hours of the day in 1.5 feet of water using jigs or minnows under corks. The guide also notes that the jig bite is good right now and the minnow bite is great for this time of year as well…At the Blue River near Tishomingo, the river is running below normal, is slightly stained from rainfall this past week, and has a water temperature of 43 degrees. As the Blue River wintertime trout season winds down—the fishing is likely to stay good through much of April—ODWC says that rainbow trout fishing is still good with trout working along channel seams and near rocks. For conventional anglers, ODWC’s Ethan Lovelace says to try in-line spinnerbaits, PowerBait, small spoons, and worms. For fly anglers, try midges, nymphs, and worm patterns like a San Juan Worm...At McGee Creek Reservoir, longtime bass fishing guide Chuck Justice posted on social media the other day that he just landed another double-digit bass. The lunker largemouth is Justice’s 199th 10-pound or better bass landed in the state of Oklahoma, all of them since 1999. "I caught this 11-lb., 7-oz. bass in 20-ft of water on the bottom," wrote Justice, along with a Facebook picture showing off the big sowbelly bass. The longtime Sooner State guide says that he thinks the largemouth spawn will be later than usual in southeastern Oklahoma this spring, even at McGee Creek where he guides...Staying at McGee Creek, ODWC reports that the lake is normal level, has murky water clarity, and has a water temperature in the mid-50s. Largemouth and spotted bass are good on crankbaits, Flukes, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits fished in coves, over flats, over points, and near shallow shorelines...At Lake Murray, ODWC reports a lake elevation below normal, a water temp of 56 degrees, and clear water conditions. The agency says that largemouth and smallmouth bass are fair on crankbaits, jigs, and spinnerbaits fished near brushy structure, in coves, and around main lake points...

Moving on to the saltwater, down on the Upper Texas Gulf Coast at West Galveston Bay, Capt. David Dillman of Galveston Bay Charter Fishing tells TPWD that catches of black drum and sheepshead have dominated the action in recent days. A few speckled trout are also being caught, with the best bite being on live shrimp…On the Middle Texas Coast at West Matagorda Bay, Capt. Charlie Paradoski tells TPWD that fishing is improving as the spring season deepens. Wade fishing for redfish is good right now and black drum fishing is also good. However, speckled trout are slow due to fluctuating weather of late, but when an angler can find several days between fronts, the bite is good on live shrimp, Berkley Gulp! under a cork, topwater lures, and other saltwater artificial baits. The guide also notes that there are numerous small flounder in the bay as well, something that bodes well for the future…And finally, down on the Lower Texas Coast at Baffin Bay, Gilbert Barrera of Baffin Bay Hunting and Fishing tells TPWD that

with the water temperatures warming up, the bait fish have moved back into the bay, bringing some nice large game fish with them. Barrera says that clients are catching good numbers of fish using live shrimp under a popping cork. As for the best catches right now, speckled trout are good, flounder are showing up now (which helps the box look better), black drum and redfish are fishing well and running together a lot…

Tip of the Week

It’s one week and counting until the 2022 Ducks Unlimited Expo (DUX) at Texas Motor Speedway. The event—being held for the second year in a row in North Texas—runs next Friday, April 8 through Sunday, April 9. For times, ticket information, seminars, exhibitors, and event scheduling, please visit www.duckexpo.com . And look for a full report on DUX 2022 in next week’s Herald Democrat Outdoors.

This article originally appeared on Herald Democrat: April 1 Outdoors Digest Calendar Fishing Hunting reports tip