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The newsletter for CCA members in TexasDecember 2013 / January 2014

CURRENTS

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Flounder for dinner—and college?On the cover: a hungry flounder fell for aLefty's Deceiver. Coastal hatcheries, aidedby CCA funding are angling to place manymore flounder in Texas Bays. A few mayfinance $50,000 college educations for youngSTAR anglers. The angler and photographerwas Sam Caldwell, who performed CPR onthe Shoalwater Bay flatfish.

Can you find the$50,000 college

education flounderin these pictures?

In a few seasons, a Star Teen youngstermay well find a winning flounder,

due to a recent advance inflounder hatching technology.

Recent accomplishments insouthern flounder productionare a direct result of supportfrom the CCA. Broodstock col-

lections, monetary donations, equipmentpurchases, volunteers’ assistance, andpublic awareness are just a few of theways that CCA has amplified the hatch-eries’ efforts.

A simple thank you for your contin-ued effort seems so insignificant for ev-erything that CCA has done. Membersshould be proud of their organization andthe great work that they do. Your timeand donations make all the difference forthe programs and institutions that yousupport.

Invest a moment and take stock of allof the successes that CCA has been ableto achieve in just the past few years.

Whether it is creating artificialreefs, habitat restoration, or southernflounder enhancement, your supportmakes it possible. You have championedmany causes turning the ordinary into ex-traordinary, making the impossible pos-sible.

Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW)Coastal Fisheries is on pace to re-

lease a combined 24 million spottedseatrout and red drum fingerlings. Everyyear from about early May thru late De-cember, coastal hatcheries produces 35-40 millimeter fingerlings to release intoTexas bay systems.

For the past few years there hasbeen a shift from producing primarily reddrum to a more balanced approach ofboth red drum and spotted seatrout. Infact this year, the TPW coastal hatcherieswill release more than 8.3 million spotted

seatrout fingerlings, along with morethan 19 million red drum fingerlings andto date, 112,298 southern flounder finger-lings.

Over the past several years TPWcoastal hatcheries have ramped up

efforts to incorporate southern flounderinto the stocking program. To say thatthese efforts have been challenging and

difficult would be an understatement.Southern flounder are much differentfrom red drum and spotted seatrout.Flounder like it cold; red drum and spot-ted seatrout like it hot. Flounder have a30-day larvae cycle in which all environ-mental conditions have to be held con-stant; red drum and spotted seatrouthave a very flexible and short larvaecycle. Flounder release eggs in the mag-

Fertilized Southern flounder eggs; larvae at 15 days post hatch; larvae at 60 days posthatch; flounder fingerlings in tank.

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nitude of tens of thousands; reddrum and spotted seatrout re-lease eggs in the magnitude ofmillions. Flounder are difficult tospawn volitionally; red drum andspotted seatrout will releaseeggs even when you don’t wantthem.

Despite the challenges thatsouthern flounder fingerling

production pose there have beensome bright spots in the pastcouple of years. With the help ofUniversity of Texas Marine Sci-ence Institute, CCA, volunteers,and fishing guides, TPW coastalhatcheries have been able tomake some significant advances.The current broodstock inven-tory sits somewhere around 350fish and there are plans in theworks to increase our broodstockholdings.

Sea Center Texas hatchery isworking towards expanding

the flounder larvae culture space

Above, hatchlings near stocking size,and the Mamas and the Pappas—

broodstock in tank at Sea Center Texas.Hatchery technician Jonathan Daigle

nets a female southern flounder from thebroodstock tank. Below left, a brood

female awaits further duty.

A happy StarKid, NicholasGilstrap and father Sean,

with his $50,000 scholarship-winning2013 flounder.

and retrofitting existing rooms toachieve the environmental control thatis necessary. Coastal Fisheries’ biolo-gists are conducting research experi-ments to determine the appropriatesize fish for release under varying en-vironmental conditions. TPW coastalhatcheries have spawned fish this pastAugust, a first ever for the hatcheryprogram. Finally, TPW hatcheries re-leased more flounder in the winter of2013 then have been released in allprevious years combined! —ShaneBonnot, Sea Center Texas HatcheryManager.

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2013 Ford F-150 “Texas Edition” XLT SuperCab with Haynie 23 Bigfoot, the Redfish Division prize.

24th Annual CCA Stateof Texas Anglers’ RodeoChristmas came early for winners!

The 24th Annual CCA/Ford/Tilson Homes Corp/Capital Farm Credit State of Texas Angler’sRodeo wrapped up at 5PM on Labor Day,

Sept. 2. Over 44,000 registered for the 2013 STARwith over 11,000 NEW recruits into CCA! Thisyear’s tournament offered 123 fabulous prizes andfor 116 STAR participants, Christmas came early!Twenty-seven of those were top prize winners andeach was presented during the CCA State of TexasBBQ and STAR Awards Ceremony on Oct. 3 at theBayou City Event Center! See below for a list ofALL the 2013 STAR winners and to check out thetop winners with their awesome prize packages.

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christ-mas and Best Fishes for a Happy, Healthy andProsperous New Year!

StarKids $50,000 Scholarship Division - This year’sStarKids Scholarship Division provided these threeyoung anglers with college scholarships totaling$50,000 each:

Nicholas Gilstrap - Capital Farm CreditStarKid Scholarship Flounder winner andJosh Krupa of Capital Farm Credit.

Allison Schwartz -Houston Commu-nity NewspapersStarKid Scholar-ship Sheepsheadwinner with

Megan O’Sullivan Jason Joseph and Tommy Legg ofHouston Community Newspapers

Anthony Bellanger - Fox Sports SouthwestStarKid Scholarship Gafftop winner andDenise Janowski of Fox Sports Southwest.

Academy Sports + Outdoors StarTeensScholarship Trout Division - The Acad-emy Sports + Outdoors StarTeensScholarship Trout Division awarded a$20,000 college scholarship to theseyouths pictured below:

Nicholas Josey – StarTeen Upper CoastTrout winner and Jason Morris of Academy Sports+ Outdoors.

Sarah Otto – StarTeen MiddleCoast Trout winner and PattiKeoper of Academy Sports +Outdoors.

Cole McGrew – StarTeenLower Coast Trout winnerand Raymond Gonzales ofAcademy Sports + Outdoors.

StarTeens Inshore ScholarshipDivision - The StarTeensScholarship Inshore Division awarded theselucky teens each a $20,000 scholarship:

Grant Drabek, StarTeenFlounder winner and RichardWebb of Tilson Homes Corp.

Seth Jackson,StarTeenSheepshead

winner and Mark Brown ofWhataburger.

Kayleigh Ritchey, StarTeenGafftop winner and Ardia Nevesof Texas Fish & Game Magazine

STAR has reached $4,925,000 inscholarships awarded to 154 chil-dren, ranging from 6-17 years of

age. Many thanks to our sponsors for makingthis happen. Without them, it would not bepossible.

Texas Ford Dealers Tagged Redfish Division –Four out of the first five winners drove home afully-loaded 2013 Ford F-150 “Texas Edition”truck and Haynie 23 BigFoot, Mercury150OptiMax outboard motor and Coastline trailerand a 10-year old boy received a $20,000 schol-arship, in lieu of the truck, plus a Haynie 23BigFoot, Mercury150 OptiMax outboard motorand Coastline trailer. The sixth winner wasawarded a Haynie 23 BigFoot, Mercury150OptiMax outboard motor and Coastline trailer.

L.D. Whitehead, 1st Redfish – Truck & Boatwinner

Caleb Morales, 2nd

Redfish – $20,000Scholarship & Boatwinner with JohnSavickis of TexasFord Dealers.

Bret Coggins, 3rd Red-fish – Truck & Boatwinner

Jack Haire, 4th

Redfish – Truck &Boat winner

Vicki Preston, 5th

Redfish – Truck &Boat winner

Paul Swoyer, 6th Redfish –Boat winner

Speckled Trout Division – These winners tookhome a Shoalwater22’ Legend boat pack-age:

Jeremy Bane – UpperCoast Trout winner,

Joe Rizzo - MiddleCoast Trout winner

Dan Wyatt – LowerCoast Trout winner

Offshore Division –These lucky anglers won the Explorer byDargel 216 Blue Water Series boat package:

Joseph Messina III– Kingfish winner

Zachary Swanberg –Dorado winner

Alan Parker –Ling (Cobia) winner

Inshore Division – Thefollowing are the proudowners of Blue Wave 180V-Bay boat package:

Paul Gaylord – Flounderwinner

Jaime Ybarra –Sheepshead winner

Jill Yarbrough -Gafftop winner

Runner-Up Winners - A total of 69 runner-upprizes were awarded this year. First throughfourth runners-up in ALL divisions received aplaque, “special edition” STAR runner-up cap

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and gift certificates from Academy Sports +Outdoors. Gift certificate amounts for scholar-ship divisions: 1st - $250, 2nd - $150, 3rd - $125,4th - $75 and for regular divisions: 1st - $500, 2nd

- $250, 3rd - $150, 4th - $100:

StarKids Scholarship DivisionFlounder: 1st: Nathan Skrobarczyk (age 7) ofCorpus Christi, 4 lbs. 12ozs. / 2nd: AustinConner (age 10) of Harlingen, 4 lbs. 7 ozs. / 3rd:Hunter Werneckie (age 7) of Los Fresnos, 4lbs. 0 ozs. / 4th: Lilly Kaspar (age 9) of NewUlm, 3 lbs. 12 ozs.

Sheepshead: 1st: Nicholas Jackson (age 9) ofBrownsville, 6 lbs. 7 ozs. / 2nd: Nate Nelms(age 6) of Corpus Christi, 5 lbs. 8 ozs. / 3rd:Ryan Nelms (age 8) of Corpus Christi, 5 lbs. 4ozs. / 4th: Blake Duty (age 8) of Katy, 5 lbs. 4ozs.

Gafftop: 1st: Austin Bellanger (age 6) of Or-ange, 6 lbs. 1 oz. / 2nd: Connor Junot (age 9) ofNederland, 5 lbs. 15 ozs./ 3rd: Nathan Grimm(age 9) of Conroe, 5 lbs. 4 ozs. / 4th: JonathanWright (age 7) of Santa Fe, 5 lbs. 2 ozs.

Academy Sports + Out-doors StarTeensScholarship Trout Di-vision

Upper Coast: 1st:Dalton Douglas (age 14) of Dayton, 7 lbs. 1 oz./ 2nd: Garrett Nicholas (age 13) of Lake Jack-son, 6 lbs. 6 ozs. / 3rd: NONE / 4th: NONE

Middle Coast: 1st: Jaime Sifford (age 13) of Cor-pus Christi, 7 lbs. 6 ozs. / 2nd: Wyatt Williams(age 15) of Smithville, 7 lbs. 2 ozs. / 3rd: LaithenCrow of Victoria, 7 lbs. 0 ozs. / 4th: MicahMerritt (age 13) of Corpus Christi, 6 lbs. 10 ozs.

Lower Coast: 1st: Kristina Anderson (age 16) ofPort Mansfield, 7 lbs. 13 ozs. / 2nd: ConnerWilson (age 13) of Montgomery, 7 lbs. 8 ozs. /3rd: Jordan Jaafar (age 15) of San Antonio, 7lbs. 8 ozs. / 4th: Cami Goldman (age 12) ofMoulton, 6 lbs. 15 ozs.

StarTeens Inshore Scholarship DivisionFlounder: 1st: Justin Ruffeno (age 16) of Flynn,4 lbs. 12 ozs. / 2nd: Parker Joffrion (age 16) ofFriendswood, 4 lbs. 11 ozs. / 3rd: Coopes Sow-ers (age 14) of Port Aransas, 4 lbs. 10 ozs. / 4th:Hunter Thiem (age 14) of Hithcock, 4 lbs., 9ozs.

Sheepshead: 1st: Hunter Wagenschein (age 15)of Corpus Christi 6 lbs. 14 ozs. / 2nd:Jenasereth Ybarra (age 14) of Houston, 6 lbs.,11 ozs. / 3rd: Madison Newton (age 13) ofCleburne, 5 lbs. 10 ozs. / 4th: Jessica Badgett(age 12) of Danbury, 4 bs., 12 ozs.

Gafftop: 1st: Becca DeLord (age 17) of Beau-mont, 6 lbs. 3 ozs. / 2nd: Jarren Mahon (age 14)of Winnie, 6 lbs. 0 ozs. / 3rd: Sydney Pearson(age 11) of San Antonio, 6 lbs. 0 ozs. / 4th: JohnDarling (age 16) of Beaumont, 5 lbs. 11 ozs.

Speckled Trout DivisionUpper Coast: 1st: Mickey Gierspeck of LeagueCity, 8 lbs. 11 ozs. / 2nd: Frank Carner of SantaFe, 8 lbs. 10 ozs. / 3rd: Alle Borel of Clute, 8lbs. 6 ozs. / 4th: John Armstrong of Houston, 8lbs. 4 ozs.

Middle Coast: 1st: Ryan Guerra of CorpusChristi, 8 lbs. 6 ozs. / 2nd: Raymond Gann ofCorpus Christi, 8 lbs. 5 ozs. / 3rd: TiffanyMoore of Ingleside, 8 lbs. 4 ozs. / 4th: NONE.

Lower Coast: 1st: Jack Gibbs of San Antonio, 9lbs. 2 ozs. / 2nd: Mark Urbanczyk of Manchaca,8 lbs. 15 ozs. / 3rd: Noe Gonzalez Jr. of Alice, 8lbs. 15 ozs. / 4th: Dallas Munroe of Houston, 8lbs. 14 ozs.

Offshore Division

Kingfish: 1st: Amy Block of Kingwood, 50 lbs. 7 ozs./ 2nd: Colin Thomas of Dallas, 49 lbs. 10 ozs. / 3rd:Jaime Aparicio of Pearland, 48 lbs. 2 ozs. / 4th: Jef-frey Gilkes of Missouri City, 48 lbs. 1 oz.

Dorado: 1st: Marlin Johnson of Aransas Pass, 46lbs. 7 ozs. / 2nd: Michael Prasek Jr. of El Campo, 43lbs. 14 ozs. / 3rd: Bruce Daniecki of Conroe, 40 lbs.14 ozs. / 4th: Craig Reedy of San Antonio, 39 lbs. 0ozs.Ling: 1st: Leonard Grosz of Houston, 70 lbs. 4 ozs. /2nd: Rob Freyer of Conroe, 63 lbs. 9 ozs. / 3rd: OscarBuhay of Houston, 62 lbs. 9 ozs. / 4th: David Knesekof El Campo, 62 lbs. 7 ozs.

Inshore DivisionFlounder: 1st: Antonio Esparza Jr. of Channelview, 7lbs. 0 ozs. / 2nd: Jake Thompson of Corpus Christi, 6lbs. 15 ozs. / 3rd: Wayne Chadwick of Beaumont, 6lbs. 14 ozs. / 4th: Charles Smith of Nederland, 6 lbs.13 ozs.

Sheepshead: 1st: Marvin Crouthers of Seabrook, 7lbs. 13 ozs. / 2nd: Damon McGrew of Baytown, 6lbs. 13 ozs. / 3rd: Roger Holland of Cypress, 6 lbs. 10ozs. / 4th: Michael Green of Cleveland, 6 lbs. 9 ozs.

Gafftop: 1st: Lyden Voorhees of Hamshire, 6 lbs. 15ozs. / 2nd: Pam Wood of Hitchcock, 6 lbs. 11 ozs. /3rd: Dutch Kueteman of Tiki Island, 6 lbs. 11 ozs. /4th: Jessica Darder of Beaumont, 6 lbs. 11 ozs.

Special Bonus Drawings Winners - These uniquedrawings give participants a chance to win a prizeeven if they never wet a line or caught a single fishduring the entire tournament. The following arelucky winner’s of this year’s special bonus draw-ings:

Terry Ray of Orangewas the lucky winnerof the Coors Light“Early Bird” GrandPrize - 21’ ShoalwaterCat, Mercury 150OptiMax motor andMcClain Trailer

2013 Coors Light Early Bird Drawing Winners - Ev-ery 2013 STAR entrant who registered prior to May25th went into this special drawing. A total of 21names were drawn and the lucky “Early Bird” win-ners are: Dargel 210 Skout boat, Evinrude 150ETEC motor and McClain trailer: Terry Ray of Or-ange; Mercury 9.9 ELPT BF Pro Kicker motor: Eu-gene Ulrich Jr. of La Grange; Three (3) All Star Reel& Abu Garcia Rod combos: Cyndy Peacock of SanAntonio; Raymond Sepulveda of Harlingen, TX;Reese Henry of Georgetown, TX; Thermo-ElectricTravel Cooler: Bryan Lear of La Vernia, TX; Fifteen(15) CCA “Special Edition” Posters:1. Ari Montemayor of Laredo; 2. James Bowman ofCorpus Christi; 3. Mark Canales of Helotes; 4.Lloyd Eloi Jr. of Dickinson; 5. Michael Carrabine ofSugar Land; 6. John Webber of Fredericksburg; 7.Mike Manis of Austin; 8. Benajmin Murray of TheWoodlands; 9. Marc De La Garza III of CorpusChristi; 10. Silvia Keller of McAllen; 11. ZacharyBingham of Galveston; 12. Paul Thornton of SanAntonio; 13. Cy Jary of San Antonio; 14. Beth Martinof Ben Wheeler; 15. Randa Minzenmayer of Taylor.

New Tide Member Scholarship Drawing – All “NewTide” Members (ages 6 - 17) were eligible for a bo-nus drawing that netted one lucky youth a $20,000college scholarship. The lucky winner was Bran-don Gau, age 10, of Magnolia.

From leftto right: CurtisDenison andRon Hartman,Texas Oilman’swith New Tide$20K Scholar-ship winner,Brandon Gau.

Member Bonus Drawing “TOTALOUTDOORSMAN PACKAGE” - Every 2013STAR entrant’s name was put into a drawingfor a Kawasaki Mule, plus a Dargel 210TVwith a Mercury 150OptiMax outboardand McClain trailer.

Carol Wiltshireof Freeport was thelucky winner of theMember Bonus “TO-TAL OUTDOORSMANPACKAGE” -Kawasaki Mule, plusa Dargel 210TV with aMercury 150 OptiMaxoutboard and McClaintrailer.

2014 STAR NEWS!The STAR 2014 is set to begin at sunrise Satur-day, May 24 and will run through 5 p.m., Mon-day, Sept. 1 (Labor Day). In order to win atSTAR, an angler must be registered and be amember of CCA. You’re going to get in any-way, might as well do it now! Remember, ev-eryone entered in the STAR Tournament, whowill be 6 years old in 2014 and older, is eli-gible to win the prizes being offered (even theTAGGED REDFISH DIVISION)!!!

2014 EARLY BIRD DRAWINGS! Don’t forget,by signing up now you’ll get your shot at land-ing one of the many great prize offerings justfor registering early! Be on the lookout forspecial “Early Bird” prizes available ONLY forthose entrants who sign up before the tourna-ment kicks off. Everyone who signs up forSTAR by May 23, 2014 deadline will be auto-matically entered into the special Early BirdDrawings. Several prizes will be given away!They are sure to be a reel catch. The 2014STAR entry fee is $20 for ages 18 and up - anawesome bargain! Membership fee is $25 an-nually and an additional $20 to enter the 2014STAR Tournament for a total of $45. For kidsage 6–17, “New Tide” membership fee re-mains $10 annually and the STAR entry fee is“FREE”! Each “New Tide” member MUSTsign-up each year for the current year tourna-ment. You can sign up NOW online atwww.startournament.org!!!

GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEA! While yourenew your CCA Texas membership andSTAR entry, why not honor your family andfriends, of all ages, with this unique Christmasgift that offers hundreds of thousands inprizes. You might put ‘em in a new truck/boatcombo or pay for their college education! Geteveryone signed up for the 2014 STAR.

CCA Texas/STAR Platinum Print MembershipPackage, Series IV – We’re pleased to an-nounce the new print being offered for the2014 CCA Texas STAR Platinum package isWorking the Spoils. Renowned artist DavidDrinkard has again honored the CCA Texas

NOW AVAILABLE…2014 STAR PlatinumPrint Series: Working The Spoils.

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member by creatinga print depicting aclassic wade fishingscene… check outthe white heron!This special offer in-cludes your CCAmembership (new orrenewal), your 2013CCA Texas STAR en-try, plus a signed,limited-edition printcreated exclusivelyfor STAR, all for$125! Working theSpoils is a one-of-a-kind special printworth this pricealone. If you wouldlike to consider one,or several, of theselimited-edition pack-ages, go to:www.startournament.orgfor more details, or toplace your order withthe STAR Dept., call 713-626-4222.

STILL AVAILABLE… CCA Texas STAR PlatinumPrint, Series I, II & III – STAR Reds, STAR Sightings& School Is In Session are still available. If youhaven’t purchased yet and would like to beginyour CCA Texas STAR Platinum Collectible Series,please contact the STAR Dept. and we can get youfixed up. To own this first-ever commemorativepiece, purchase yours today before they’re allgone! The proceeds from the sales of PlatinumPackages will help us continue to fund the STARscholarships.

Please don’t forget to thank our wonderful spon-sors for their loyal support… return the favor byremembering them when making your purchasingdecisions this holiday season! Major sponsors forthe 24th Annual CCA Texas STAR Tournament in-clude:

Texas Ford Dealers, Tilson Home Corpora-tion, Capital Farm Credit, Academy Sports+ Outdoors, Whataburger, Shipley Do-Nuts, Ozarka, Berkley Gulp, HoustonCommunity Newspapers, Fox SportsSouthwest, Time Warner Cable, HaynieBoats, Shoalwater Boats, Dargel Boat,Explorer by Dargel Boats, Blue WaveBoats, Texas Fish & Game Magazine,Costa Sunglasses, Texas Oilman’s Char-ity Fishing Tournament, Coastline Trail-ers, McClain Trailers, Chris’s Marine andMt. Houston Marine.For more information, including a list of all the2013 winners, go to http://www.startournament.orgThanks for supporting CCA Texas and the STARTournament! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!!!

STAR has reached$4,925,000 in scholarshipsawarded to children 6-17

years of age.Many thanks to our sponsors

for making this happen.Without them, it would not

be possible.

We want you tofish for us!CCA Texas andthe Texas Parks& Wildlife De-partment(TPWD) are

looking for volunteers tohelp with fishing surveys for the EastGalveston Bay Reef Restorationproject. It's critical to have data be-fore and after. You can be that impor-tant Fishing Scientist.

The $3.7 million project will re-store approximately 140 acres of oys-ter reef in the East Galveston Bay sys-tem. Areas targeted for restoration in-clude one location on Hannah's Reef,two locations on Pepper Grove andtwo locations on Middle Reef

This effort is an important part ofthe project. As a Fishing Scientist,your efforts will be critical in under-standing the benefits of oyster reefrestoration all along the Texas coast.

The fishing periods will be sea-sonal times during the months of Juneto August, then September to Novem-

CCA Texas LaunchesNew Online Store!Visit the CCA Texas

Online Store atjoincca store.com

ber, December to February and Marchto May.

Pre-construction efforts throughthe end of 2013, and post-constructionefforts will take place beginning June2014 through 2015.

For more information regardinghow you can Fish for Science, contact:Bill Rodney, (TPWD), at 281-534-0127,Bill.Rodney@tpwd.texas.gov. Or,Bryan.Legare@tpwc.texas.gov. Or,John Blaha, CCA texas at 713-626-4222jdblaha@ccatexas.org.

A Fishing Scientist for the Galveston BayRestoration project? This is Emily, fromRedfish Bay's Fulton 4-5 annual WetlandsField Trip.

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CURRENTS is a membership benefit of the CoastalConservation Association - Texas. It is publishedbi-monthly, alternate months from the CoastalConservation Association (CCA) TIDE Magazine.Address, 6919 Portwest, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77024.Phone: 713-626-4222. FAX: 713-961-3801.www.ccatexas.org

Editor, Sam Caldwell / sam@samcaldwell.comThis is the issue of December 2013, January 2014

Vol. 32, Issue 1.

Great Foods / Food Editor Ellen OhmstedeBlue CraB BeignetsBlue CraB BeignetsBlue CraB BeignetsBlue CraB BeignetsBlue CraB Beignets

Welcome to theCCA Texas

Online AuctionSponsored By Costa Del Mar

We have some great merchandiseup for grabs this month!

Available online 11 am, December16, ends December 21 at 11 am.

To bid and win, go toccatexas.org and click on the link(left hand side) online auction. Goodluck!—Erich Schneider

Sponsored by ourfriends at Costa.

Batter1 cup all-purpose flour / 1/3 cupcornstarch / 1 tablespoon bakingpowder / 1 t of salt /1 t of pepper /1t of Cajun seasoning or Old Bay1 cup amber lager / vegetable oilfor frying as needed (roughly 4Cups)

Filling6- 8 oz crab meat (or more) / 1/3cup mascarpone cheese1/4 cup chives / 1 shallot, verysmall diced / 1 t salt / 1 t Cajunseasoning or Old Bay / pinch ofpepper.

This is an adaptation of a recipe found in both Bon Appétit and Loui-siana Seafood Magazines. It is originally from Chef Justin Deviller ofLa Petit Grocery in New Orleans. A bit messy, but worth it.

For the batter, mix all dry ingredients.Add beer slowly until batter is justthicker than pancake batter. Set aside,covered, at room temp for up to 2hours.

For the crab filling, mix all ingredientsin a medium sized bowl and form into1/2 ounce balls.

Heat oil in a Fry Daddy or cast iron skil-let to 375ºF. Gently drop crab fillingballs in the batter, roll to coat, lift outwith a fork or tablespoon letting excessdrip away. Gently slide them into the oiland fry for 2 to 3 minutes until goldenbrown and hot all the way through.

2013 Stamp SetThis is the iconic stamp set from CCA!This Stamp Set runs from 1983-2012 andis all the great stamps from CCA Pastand Present. With the year coming to aclose this will be one of the last timesyou will be able to purchase this greatpiece of art. As you know every dollarspent with CCA goes towards helping fu-ture generations enjoy the coast like weknow it today.

CCA Cedar Bayou 2014 PrintThis painting by Al Barnes depictsCedar Bayou as it would be if it wereopened. An important project forCCA’s Habitat Program, this is avery limited edition print that wasonly made for CCA Texas.There willbe only 60 ever made or sold. Makesure you get yours today.

A Blue Crab Guest in PortMansfield. The host/chef

is Miller Bassler.

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2013 HTFTYear in Review

It was a great year for CCA Texas andHabitat Today for Fish Tomorrow(HTFT). 2013 saw the total amount of

funds committed and expensed to habi-tat restoration and creation grow to$3,329,600 for 21 projects since HTFT’s in-ception in 2009. Several projects thathave been in process were completedand new projects begun.

East Galveston Bay OysterRestoration Project (TPWD) - $3,700,000CCA Texas has partnered with Texas Parksand Wildlife Department (TPWD) to secure$3,700,000 in funding to restore of 130-acres ofoyster reef in East Galveston Bay. CCA Texasoriginally funded $500,000 for the project andthen jointly secured an additional $3,200,000with TPWD through the Coastal Impact Assis-tance Program (CIAP). Currently CCA Texas isworking with TPWD and volunteers in a pre-construction study that will create a fishing suc-cess baseline in the areas to be restored.Once restoration is completed, the study willcontinue and judge thefishing success post con-struction. Construction isexpected to begin in thespring of 2014.

Restoration of CedarBayou and Vinson Slough(Aransas County) -$1,420,000CCA Texas has been ac-tive in the efforts to re-store Cedar Bayou andVinson Slough for manyyears, giving up to $25,000in the past for early stagefeasibility, engineeringand environmental stud-ies. In February of 2012,CCA Texas’ State Boardapproved $500,000 in fund-

ing to assist AransasCounty. An addi-tional $20,000 wascommitted to theproject through theefforts of the Babeson the Bay fishingtournament, spon-sored by the AransasBay Chapter, locatedin Rockport and CCANational’s BuildingConservation Fundhas committed$100,000 to theproject as well. At

the recent CCATexas ExecutiveBoard meetingheld in Novem-ber, CCA Texasapproved an-other $800,000commitment forfunds to theproject asneeded. Bidpackages are outand AransasCounty will openall sealed bidson December 17,

2013. Construction is expected to begin in April15, 2014.

Matagorda Nearshore ArtificialReef (TPWD) - $200,000In June of 2009, CCA Texas approved an initialfunding of $35,000 for the new 160-acrenearshore reefing site located between Sargentand Matagorda. After some delays, the projectwas finally fully permitted in December of 2010.Since the original $35,000 funding approval, CCANational’s Building Conservation Fund has con-tributed an additional $150,000 to the project andalso secured $15,000 from the Shimano Corpora-tion making the total commitment $200,000. The

goal of TPWD is to completely reef this projectat one time and TPWD is currently waiting onfunding status from the Deep Water Horizonsettlement dollars.

Oyster Lake Shoreline Stabilization Project andMarsh Restoration Project / West Galveston Bay(Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF) - $200,000This project was approved in August of 2012 andis a partnership with the Galveston Bay Founda-tion. The project will eventually create 5,200 lin-ear feet for shoreline protection for Oyster Lake,a valuable estuary adjacent to West GalvestonBay. Phase one of the project has been com-pleted and 1,000 feet of breakwater has beplaced in the most severally eroded areas.

Corpus Christi NearshoreArtificial Reef (TPWD) - $100,000In November of 2011, CCA Texas approved$100,000 in funding to the Corpus ChristiNearshore reefing project. This reefing site is a160-acre site located in Texas state waters be-tween Packery Channel and Port Aransas. Thisproject was completed in October 2013 and 470pre-fabricated reef pyramids have been de-ployed, making the site approximately 30%reefed.

Copano Bay Oyster Reef Restoration at Lap Reef(HRI)- $75,000CCA Texas is partnering with Harte Research In-

stitute (HRI) to create a1.5 acre oyster reef com-plex on Lap Reef, inCopano Bay, to enhancefish habitat. This projectis part of a large map-ping effort to identify andprioritize locations foroyster reef restorationbased on long-term wa-ter quality and oysterhealth. Recycled materi-als will be used as basematerial for the site andit will then be toppedwith reclaimed oystershells through a programinitiated by Dr. JenniferPollack at Texas A&M

Dropping off the reefing material for Aransas Bayoyster reef restoration.

Pyramid reefs await placement. The big triangles are lowered all the way totheir final resting places.

Barging material for the Aransas Bay oyster reef restoration.

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Corpus Christi and HRI. This project was com-pleted in September 2013.

Nueces Bay Delta WaterManagement System - $70,000CCA Texas has partnered with the Coastal BendBays and Estuaries Program (CBBEP) to install awater management system that will ensure wa-ter pumped into the delta stays in the delta anddoes not backflow into the Nueces River, thusbypassing this critical habitat. This project willinstall a water control gate type system in RinconBayou to keep water in the delta. CCA Texas ap-proved $70,000 funding to be used for matchingfunds in November of 2011. The project is readyfor construction and is currently waiting on finalsignatures in order to begin. The scheduledcompletion date is the 1st quarter of 2014.

Bird Island Cove Marsh Restoration / WestGalveston Bay (TPWD) - $50,000CCA Texas funded $50,000 to this project in May2011. This project will restore 52-acres within anexisting 115-acre marsh site. CCA Texas dollarshave been used as matching funds by TPWD tosecure dollars from USFW Coastal WetlandGrants Program. All funds have been received,final engineering completed and bids are set tobe awarded in late November or early Decem-ber 2013. The estimated completion is first quar-ter of 2014.

J. D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area Shore-line Stabilization (Texas Ducks Unlimited) - $50,000This project was originally funded in August of2010 in the amount of $50,000. This project is apartnership with Texas Ducks Unlimited to con-struct approximately 2,500 linear feet of break-water along sensitive salt and fresh water marshalong the Gulf Coast Intra Coastal Waterwaywithin the J. D. Murphree Wildlife Managementarea. Texas DU used the CCA commitment asleverage dollars to secure further funds from theNorth American Wetlands Conservation Act(NAWCA) that are being matched with CoastalImpact Assistance Program (CIAP) dollars. Thebids for the project have been awarded and con-struction is expected to begin in December 2014.

Dickinson Bayou MarshRestoration Project (TPWD) - $75,000CCA Texas funded $25,000 to this project in May2011 and another $50,000 in February 2013 for fur-ther matching funds. This project will provideprotection for over 30 acres of marsh and restorean additional 10 acres. Bottom topography willalso be restored to original flows to allow properwater flows through this portion of the bayouand provide increased estuary health to this por-tion of the Galveston Bay System.Engineering is completed and bids are expectedout in early 2014 and construction completed.

Aransas Bay Oyster ReefRestoration at Goose Island (HRI)- $75,000The project was approved in February 2013 andits objective is to create a 1.5 acre oyster reefcomplex in Aransas Bay, Texas, to enhance wa-ter filtration capacity and recreational fishing.This project will expand an existing 6.5 acre res-toration project funded by the Gulf of MexicoFoundation, Fish America Foundation, the Na-tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and NOAAto a total of 8 acres of reef complex. In addition,we are working with the Texas Department ofTransportation to restore an additional 1-2 acresat this location within the next two years to miti-gate for oyster reef losses related to constructionof the new Copano Causeway. Construction wascompleted in September 2013.

Establishment of Port O’ConnorNearshore Reefing Site (TPWD) - $100,000At the August 2013 Executive Board meeting,

The West Galveston Bay OysterLake Stabilization project is underthe direction of the Galveston BayFoundation and is partly fundedby CCA Texas Dollars. Phase 1 isthe creation of 500 feet of protec-tion. We have compiled footage ofa short video that can be viewedhere: http://youtu.be/PrzPvNfjaO8

Additionally, all of the HTFTCCA Texas Videos can be viewedhere: www.ccatexas.org/conserva-tion/habitat/project-videos/ —KimOgonosky

$100,000 was approved to fund the efforts ofTPWD to create a new 160 acre nearshore reef-ing site out of Port O’Connor. CCA funds will payfor this permitting process and give namingrights of the site to CCA Texas. The permittingprocess will be completed during 2014. Once thepermit is received, materials and onsite storagewill be sought by CCA Texas and TPWD.—John Blaha

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Middle CoastUpper Coast Lower CoastBy Capt. Ralph Frazier By Capt. Bill ShekaBy Capt. Jay Watkins

Put yourself in the fish’s placeAs temperatures fall and ducks and geese headsouth, whitetail buck’s necks swell, fishermenprepare for the most spectacular trophy troutfishing of the year.

As the water temperature falls below 60°,the fish get sluggish, migrate towards deeperwater and concentrate in guts and sloughs.During the colder nights the fish lay in a littledeeper water but always with shallow waternearby. As the sun rises in the morning theshallow water warms first, and baitfish becomemore active. Trout will ease into the shallowwater and pin a mullet against the bank wherethey don’t have to expend as much energy.

Some of the best winter fishing iswadefishing on Kemah, Seabrook and Sylvanbeach shorelines (always wear a lifejacket).The refuge shoreline in East Bay fromRobinson to Frozen Point can hold some gi-ants in the winter. The North shoreline of Trin-ity and the coves of West Bay are my favoritewading areas.

Look for any coves with a gut runningthrough. Slow your retrieve and always try toremember exactly how you were workingyour bait when you get a strike, as presentationis most important this time of the year.—Capt. Ralph Frazier 281-337-0321Ralph2fish@aol.com

Lowest tides of the year, change tacticsEarly cold fronts in November really dropped the watertemperatures and lots of changes started to happen. Decem-ber will show some shrimp movement and will bring ourtrout and reds over the mud and shell flats especially inBaffin Bay and the Laguna Madre.

Try live shrimp under Alameda rattlers, and whiteBerkley Gulps under the Alamedas. Late November, theclear water was gorgeous elsewhere, but once you got backinto the bay, the bloom was still there. This is good news forthose wanting to fish lures, Gulps and Corkies. I expect theland cut to hold good numbers of drum and redfish.

December and January, water temperatures are goingto be putting the fish in a slower, less aggressive strike.Look for deeper holes to hold fish on colder days. Once afew days of warming happens, fish will start to move upshallower and you can start covering more water away fromthe deepest holes.

Remember that every January, the Texas coast experi-ences the low tides of the year. Usually it is around the 10thto the 15th of January and lasts roughly five weeks. Therocks may be too shallow to work properly, but the dropoffswhere heavy grass meets sand can gang fish up. When wehave those days of “unseasonably” warm temperatures, itwill get trout and reds fired up. Plot your fishing to work inconjunction with the fronts, and be ready to change tacticsfor them.

Wishing everyone good fishing and a very MerryChristmas, God Bless, —Capt. Bill Sheka 361-991-7191,billsheka@msn.com www.billsheka.com

Old Salts on the coast know Capt. Bill as a guide con-cerned for the resource, and appreciate his militaryservice. -Sam Caldwell

It’s all about fishing the structure.December, we will still be having days air temps hit the up-per 70’s. Drifting Estes flats means big trout hunting time.With tides lower this time of year, redfish can stack upalong shoreline drop offs and in potholes along the deeperdrop offs. Both San Jose and Matagorda Island will providesomewhat protected waters for anglers. Working the scat-tered shell and mid-bay reefs in San Antonio Bay, Copanoand St. Charles Bay will also be good choices when windsare light between frontal passages. It’s all about fishing thestructure. Obtaining accurate and reliable weather informa-tion can be the difference between life and death.

My go-to lures in the winter for both trout and redswill be the 5" Shad Bass Assassins rigged with a 1/16th oz.Bass Assassin jig head and MirrOlure’s Paul Brown Corky.MirrOlure also has a line of soft plastic baits that haveproven to be very effective.

January to me is a terrific month. Cold has set in andresident trout and reds have acclimated. Slow down the AC-TION, and slow your RETRIEVE but the action still needsto send a message to the predator, “that must be something Iwould normally eat so here goes.”

Same general patterns and structure for January as inDecember, just colder water coupled with lower tides. Baitfish are really scarce by January, so if you see a mullet jump,get out and fish. Many are the days when a single mulletflipping along a prime section of shoreline has led to tre-mendous catches. As sunlight warms the shallows the fishwarm up hungry, and that is when you need to be there.Softer, darker bottom warms and stores heat. That is why Iopt for the back bays and deeper back lakes during January.It can be downright raw at times but it still has some of thebest big fish possibilities.You need your best Simm’s prod-ucts for this month, I promise. May Your Fishing Always BeCatching, —Capt. Jay Watkins 361-463-1074www.jaywatkins.com

Coastal volunteers honorWounded Warriors VIIFor the past seven years, Port O’Connor hashad the honor of saying thanks for Americansoldiers' service and sacrifice. Dozens ofguides and captains form the POC Navy tohost warriors for a day of fishing and fun.

As a visual element of the Warriorsweekend,a magnificent “sand castle” iscrafted for the event by a group of Texassculptors. Working long hours over a twoweek period, these master sculptors and theirhelpers form a patriotic tribute from 100 tonsof sand. At times, they must work into thewee hours repairing damage caused by windand rain, re-sculpting and re-engraving untilthe finished product is the work of art theWarriors will see.

In 2009, Gloria (Glo) Fric, also known as“The Dragon Lady,” got a group of sculptorstogether and they created the first sand sculp-ture for Warrior’s Weekend. Just a few of thisyear's artists are Dana Wright / Paul McGee /Wyatt Simmons / Kim Sonnier / Brad Goll / JonWoodworth / Dee McElroy.

A You Tube video of the Warrior's Week-end went viral. It is available by typing intoyour browser, "The Flag's Song, Craig Carter,"or by inputting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vkfy7kZpdM

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Chapter Updates are edited forbrevity to allow everyone’s voice tobe heard. For the full version, go to

your chapter’s area in theCCA website. Drop by

www.ccatexas.org,click on Local Chapters.

CCA TexasSocial

HappeningsCCA Texas has had another exciting couple ofmonths on the social media front! We are nowdocumenting the Habitat Today for Fish Tomor-row (HTFT) projects on film and featuring themfor our members to see. To view videos of ourcurrent projects, please visit www.ccatexas.org/conservation/habitat/project-videos.

In each issue of Currents, CCA Texas willfeature a Facebook photo, Twitter Tweet, andInstagram photo from the previous two months.Please “Like” our Facebook page and follow uson Twitter and Instagram to get the latest up-dates from CCA Texas and become a part of theconversation!

Facebook:Tammy Graves caught and released this big boyon the afternoon of August 18 in Lake Sabine.According to Tammy it was over 4 feet long andweighed around 40 lbs — WOW!!

Twitter:(On the OysterReef RestorationProject inAransas Bay)17 Sept:@TreadwayBryan:@CCA_Texas@CCANationalthis is amazingwork being done.The amount ofred tape is hugefor this kind ofproject, but thebenefits outweighthe problems.

InstagramThe barge at the Oyster Lake StabilizationProject site, West Galveston Bay

CCA Texas onFacebook:www.facebook.com/CCATexas

CCA Texas onTwitter:www.twitter.com/CCA_Texas

CCA Texas onInstagram:www.instagram.com/cca_texas

Wounded Warriors VII—Port O'Connor, Texas:This small Texas fishing village has be-come a center of America for a celebra-tion of America's heroes. Hundreds ofwounded veterans are hosted for a day offishing and later, an evening of appre-ciation for their service. Crews of thePort O'Connor Navy, many of themCCA members, make their vessels andexpertise available. Artists create a mag-nificent sand sculpture. As a visitor en-ters Port O'Connor each year, a vastfield flies an American flag for each lostAmerican warrior. An earlier YouTubevideo about Wounded Warriors went vi-ral: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vkfy7kZpdM

Alvin-PearlandRex Richards 281-923-3050

Aransas BayCarter Crigler 435-830-5984

jccrigler@hotmail.comWe had another great year with Babes on theBay, an all-woman fishing tournament, setting anew registration record, exceptional supportfrom sponsors and donors, an outstanding ban-quet with an enthusiastic audience making for asuper live auction and strong volunteer supportfor community activities. We are very optimisticin our outlook for the reopening of Cedar Bayou/Vinson Slough in 2014 and the positive effects itwill have on the fishing in the area bays in the

Wounded Warrior photos by PauletteBaribeau

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future.The Aransas Bay chapter pro-

vided volunteer support to Fulton 4-5 Learning Center in Rockport toconduct its annual ‘Wetlands fieldtrips’ during the week of October 21– 25. Two classes traveled on thisfield trip daily for a total of 10classes and 250 students. The tripwas organized by FLC Science Coor-dinator Martha McLeod. Volunteersfrom Texas Parks & Wildlife andthe CCA worked daily to help en-sure that EVERY student caught afish for appreciation of the out-doors. See Redfish Bay Chapterwrite-up for more details.

Can you believe it, registrationfor the Fifteenth Babes on the Bay isjust a month away. Registration forBabes on the Bay XV begins onJanuary 1, and as last year, online registrationwill be used exclusively to sign up for the tour-nament. Tournament colors are neon pink andchocolate. The contents of the swag bags havebeen selected to amaze. Please visit the website (www.babesonthebay.com) in early Januaryand review the registration process to determineif you have any questions. If you have questionscontact Karol Scardino, Tournament Director, at361-386-0028. Mark your calendars:May 16-17, 2014: Babes on the BayAugust 9, 2014: Aransas Bay Chapter Banquet

May you have a Merry Christmas and won-derful New Year with family and friends. By theway, fishing is a great way to enjoy the cool,sunny days of winter. Tight lines, —Carter

AustinScott Sanderson

512-637-1750scott@mbsquoteline.com

Greetings from Austin! One of the best parts ofmy role with CCA is the interaction I have withour chapter members. This is the time of yearthat trips purchased at the banquet are beingbooked and taken. I get to talk to people thatshot thousands of dove in Argentina, presentedflies to monster bonefish in the Bahamas andare planning a two-week big game safari in Af-rica.

It’s very rewarding to get reports of success-ful trips and experiences of a lifetime. It ener-gizes me, and our board, to keep working hardto bring you the best banquet in the land and op-portunities to experience things you might nototherwise. On the banquet topic, by the time youread this, tickets will be available for our 2014Banquet boat, a tricked out 21 Shallow Sport, our4x4, a UTV and more, all to be given away at the2014 banquet. Just check www.ccaaustin.org toget your winning ticket. You can rest assured, asthe Austin board is hard at work on the 2014banquet, that there will be many new and excit-ing opportunities and experiences awaiting youMay 8, so mark your calendar now and we’llsee you there.

Austin’s Anglers’ Night Out wrapped up an-other amazing year. We had a star-studdedspeaker lineup featuring Greg Stunz, JerryPatterson, Capt. Billy Trimble, CCA Executive Di-rector Robby Byers and Capt. Jay Watkins. Wegave away awesome trips, custom rods, count-less Yetis, and fine gear from Cabela’s andSportsman’s Finest. Smokey Denmark fed us greatfood, FREE, every time and a great time was hadby all. Make a note now to join us bi-monthly onthe third Wednesday of the month at Abel’s onthe Lake. You are missing out if you don’t experi-ence these great events first hand!

The Austin Board and Officer electionswere held in September. Congratulations and

thanks are in order to new board members BeauBaker, Troy Erb, Jeff Kyrish, Clifford Mankin,John Torrance, Shane Townsend and Jeff Walton.We also congratulate our newest officers, JeffBeck (Treasurer), Steven Benton (Table SalesChairman) and Tim Laine (Sponsorship Chair-man). And a big thanks to Neal Meinzer for ac-cepting the role of Banquet Chairman for 2014.And finally congratulations and thanks go toCharlie Morgan and Jake Neubauer for volunteer-ing to serve on the Action Committee. See theAustin website for a complete list of our officersfor 2013-14. We have an unbelievable group ofmen and women in Austin dedicated to the CCAmission. We welcome you to join us, just giveme a call to talk about how you can get in-volved.

Be sure to Like us on Facebook by search-ing CCA Austin Chapter. It’s a great way to keepup with everything going on and make sure youdon’t miss a thing. Best wishes for the happiestof holidays from the CCA Austin Chapter! —ScottSanderson scott@mbsquoteline.com

Bay AreaCurtis Anderson 832-421-6377

Brazoria CountyWes Dingee 979-299-8245

We will be holding our annual fundraising ban-quet on Thursday, March 20. It will be held at theDow Academic Center at Brazosport College to al-low additional attendees from previous loca-tions. For the banquet there are many sponsor-ship opportunities from underwriting to auctionitems to table sponsorships. Let one of theboard members know if you’d like to sponsor atthe banquet or to become more involved in thechapter. Call Dan Johnson at (979) 481-3907, WesDingee 979 299-8245, Kyle Harris at (979) 798-2429or Glenn Blount at (979) 236-1700. —Wes Dingee

Brazos ValleyWelcome new president, John Ben Strother

979-220-1738 jbsunlimited@yahoo.comA lot of water and too much wind met us atMatagorda on our October trip. Our relentlessgroup fought Mother Nature for three days andYou Know Who won. We did find some goodfish in the back lakes but the flats stalkers andkayaks were not a good match for the wind. Weare looking forward to a couple more trips be-fore the New Year.

We had our last meeting for this year onNovember 13. Our next meeting will be on Janu-ary 14 at Vor-Tex 2310 Cavitt St. in Bryan. We willbe gearing up for our 22nd banquet. It will beMarch 6th at the Brazos Center in Bryan. Wewould like to see some new faces at this meet-ing because there will be food, beverages, and alot of fish stories. If you need more information

give me a call. Have a won-derful Christmas and greatNew Year fishing. —JohnBen Strother 979-220-1738Jjbsunlimited@yahoo.com

BrenhamDennis Crowson

979-451-2472Dennis.crowson@hotmail.comWe had our last monthlymeeting of 2013 on October25th. Forrest Vollentine wasthe guest speaker and did afantastic job of sharing histips and experiences. Duringthe meeting, the chapter wasalso able to recognize andpresent one of our young an-glers with her award for

placing in this year’s STAR tournament. LillyKaspar placed 4th in the kids division with a 3lb12ounce flounder. Congratulations to Lilly andher parents on a great catch. Lilly is shown herereceiving her plaque from Dennis Crowson.—Dennis K. Crowson, Ph.D.

Brush CountryHank Henry 361-215-6803

CentexBrad Hensel 254-776-3411

Central HoustonTodd Buster

Mobil, 713-545-1897Colorado Valley

James Loehr 979-250-3958Corpus Christi

Randy Poelma 361-851-1129r_poelmacpa@sbcglobal.net

We welcome Jake Herring as the 2014 AnnualBanquet Chairman. With the 2014 Banquet set forMarch 20, 2014, plans are under way for anothergreat event. Andrews Distributing Company hasalready agreed to underwrite the raffle boat in2014 – thank you Scott Robinson and AndrewsDistributing Company for your support. Pleasemark your calendars now for this early springbanquet.

Babes on Baffin and Blue Ladies FishingTournament – October 11-12, 2013.We had almost 300 participants consisting of 79teams. We turned in 78 live fish to the hatcher-ies. Big thanks to Geoff Austin & Scott Thornhillfor their transitional tanks to ensure that the fishstayed alive during the weigh in process.

Sponsors: Majek boats, Premier Yamaha, To-tal Oilfield, Trophy Masters Taxidermy, Pink Mar-lin, Scuttlebutts, The Producers Guide Service,Hollon Safe Co., Laura & John Holmgreen, ReelTherapy, The Blossom Shop, Annette McphersonPhotography, Eagle Lock & Key

Volunteers: Lauren Hollon, Cody Roesener,Margo Jones, Jessica Murray, Scott & BonnieRoesener, Laura and John Holmgreen, SamanthaBurton, Margaret Ehman, Val Katherine, AngelaBains, Kaitlyn Leister, Scott Lederer, JosephBriones, Rodney Gamez, Bruce Laser, Kevin Hill,Jeff Smith, Jay Gardener, Paige McDonald, AlexTompkins, Mark Janneck, Edna Castro, CollinsElrod, Mike Mendoza, Cliff Johnstone, JesseTorres, Jeremy Torres, Tristina Lindsey, MollyHoenscheidt & Priscilla Torres. –Lauren Hollon

Upcoming events - Poco Rojo Kids Fish –Rescheduled - Spring, 2014

Again, the 2014 Corpus Christi Chapter Ban-quet is scheduled for Thursday, March 20, 2014 atthe American Bank Center.

Contact Randy Poelma 361-851-1129 or John

Redfish Shootout V: Good shooters can now go fishing. Jimmy Gibson'steam took the honors and fishing rods, at the Fifth Annual RedfishShootout. All the shooters enjoyed the beautiful Rio Brazos Hunting Pre-serve, and Jim Goode's burgers. Kevin Glass, Jimmy Gibson, HoustonRadclift, and Vence Petrenella.

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Blaha 979-709-1085 for early table and ticket pur-chasing. As always, if you have an interest injoining our board and being involved in conser-vation of our coastal resources, please contact aboard member or me atr_poelmacpa@sbcglobal.net —Randy Poelma

Dallas / North TexasWelcome new president,

Robert DiCicco 214-799-2369So, 2014 is right around the corner and thatmeans banquet season is fast approaching. Wehave had record fundraising as a chapter andwe want to keep the momentum going. I wouldlike to personally thank the Dallas Chapterboard and banquet supporters for your contin-ued commitment to CCA. From table buyers tothose cleaning up after banquet night (some-times both) your dedication is not taken forgranted.

I would also like to invite anybody wantingto get involved with our chapter to reach out tome. We need more human capital to have an-other record year. Make sure to follow DallasCCA on Facebook and check your email forchapter meetings and future updates. Thankyou—Rob DiCicco 214-799-2369

East TexasDr. Jim Norman 936-554-3165

jnorman7@suddenlink.netFort Bend

Clint Shepard 832-595-5375Fort Worth

Fearn Mastin 817-291-1302We held our annual Fall GM meeting at the RahrBrewery. In attendance were over 80 anglers anda good time was had by all. They were greetedwith some of Rahr’s finest cold brew as well asa fish fry donated and prepared by the FortWorth CCA board. Captain Robert Sloan withHigh Tail Angler Guide Service out of PortO’Connor came and gave a very informative andentertaining talk covering some of his fishing ad-ventures that included a beautiful slide show.Many thanks to Captain Sloan.

Brute Outdoors (www.bruteoutdoors.com)graciously donated a newly designed and rugged75 qt cooler for raffle that one lucky person wasable to take home. We would like to give recog-nition to Brute for their ongoing support of ourchapter! Keep checking your emails for upcom-ing events including our Spring GM meeting toget everyone excited for the big banquet aroundMay. Also keep an eye out for some exciting an-nouncements that you won’t want to miss.Thanks for your continued support and we look-ing forward to seeing you at the next GM meet-ing. —John Black

GalvestonDr. Ken Ellis 713-962-7731

Seasons Greetings from the Galveston Chapter.We had a hugely successful banquet and wouldagain like to thank all who made it possible.Thanks to all of the sponsors, donors, ticket andtable buyers for helping support our chapter. I’dalso like to thank our Galveston chapter boardfor all their efforts in making our event the suc-cess it was. We are looking forward to 2014 andbringing you another great event. Until then, getout enjoy the outdoors and take a kid fishing.Tight Lines, —Ken Ellis

Golden TriangleJosh Kaczynski 409-554-1325

Greater Sugar LandWeems Turner 713-857-8897

wtuner@ducommun.com

Report from Richard Lindley: 832-270-0398First of all I would like to wish President WeemsTurner a quick recovery and look forward toyour returning. Mark your calendars for our 2014Banquet, which will be held Thursday, April 3, atthe Stafford Centre, Stafford Texas. Informationon tables and tickets will be available onwww.ccatexas.org starting January 2014. We willstill serve crawfish. Hope to see you there.

The Chapter President’s Cup Fishing Tour-nament was held Nov. 16 in Sargent and resultswill posted in the next CURRENTS. We have amonthly meeting on the first Wednesday of everymonth at Spring Creek BBQ. 4895 HWY 6 Mis-souri City TX. 77459. Phone No. 281-499-8222.Come have some great BBQ and meet someawesome people. —David Kveton 281-808-4870

Greater WoodlandsJames Kay 281-363-4417

www.ccatexas.org/greater-woodlandsGreetings! We are seeing significant businessdevelopment in the north Houston area, bringingnew members to The Woodlands Chapter. Tothis we say, Welcome to The Greater WoodlandsChapter! We’re glad to have you! For both current and new members, we arein the midst of planning our 2014 Chapter events.Just a few of these include the annual kick offwith our General Membership Meeting (GMM) inJanuary or February 2014. During this meeting wewill host a local fishing guide. Since we are sureto hear buckets of fishing tales, we invite every-one to attend and enjoy the program. Familiesare welcome. Also on the 2014 agenda is a Tackle Sale. Ifyou haven’t been to a Tackle Sale, you are in fora real treat. Not only can you pick up fishingrods, reels, lures, and other accessories at greatprices but you can visit with CCA members ontips andtricks with tackle. We are looking at get-ting representatives from either tackle manufac-turing or sporting goods stores. We will openthis to any and all members to bring tackle thatthey may have and never use and donate to salefor CCA Texas. We are looking at auctioning offan “All Expense Guided Trip.” The tackle salewill be hosted by CCA Texas Greater WoodlandsChapter and open to any and all people who liketo fish. An event for our area kids will be our 2014Kid Fish. This is a can’t miss event – it’s a greatmemory maker for everyone. Kids will gethands-on fishing experiences as well as the op-portunity to learn about conservation and re-spect for the environment. Honestly, there is nobetter way to introduce kids to the great sport offishing. This event will be held locally in TheWoodlands area at one of our “fishing” holes. As for our 7th Annual Greater WoodlandsChapter Banquet, we are planning to schedule alocal event center for a mid- to late July 2014 date.If you’ve been to a CCA Banquet, you know thatthese events are jam-packed and fun filled, andtake many months to plan and execute. We arealready planning on a pretty impressive pre-ban-quet raffle package, to be sponsored by DYNA-THERM, which will consist of 20 different prices(Guns, Fishing Equipment, Ice Chest, Etc.). Thetickets will be available after November 1, 2013for purchase. Contact any CCA Texas GreaterWoodlands Chapter Member for you tickets. As always, we look forward to seeing eachand every local CCA member at one of our manyevents. Please join us. And don’t forget—KeepConserving, To Keep Fishing. —James Kay

Guadalupe ValleyJon Eric Rodriguez 361-243-1017

Hays CountyWelcome new president, Tim Young 512-

573-7939Heart of the Hills

Randy Plummer 830-377-0737Our 11th Annual Heart of the Hills Chapterfundraising banquet was held at the BoerneCommunity Center on September 12th. Thankyou to the following sponsors for your support:Bull Red Sponsors - Boerne Marine, AndersonFord, Concept Builders and Academy Sports andOutdoors. Trophy Trout Sponsors - KendallCounty Abstract, Mike Arthur C.P.A., Full ServiceAuto Parts, Richard and Debbie Chapman and JNRanch.

Attendees enjoyed an awesome shrimpboil by Cajun Country Cookers and then partici-pated in the silent auction, $5 raffles, and Yeticooler raffle. Boerne Marine and Full ServiceAuto Parts helped out to keep the live auctionspirited again this year and we appreciateeveryone’s participation. It was great to see allhaving a good time. Several participants to men-tion include Schwope Water Well Drilling, RE/MAX Boerne, Boehnert Lumber, Capital FarmCredit, Cheesy Jane’s, San Antonio CCA andSinclair Land Survey.

A special thanks to Keg I for donating theLone Star and Miller Light and a Lone Star/GameGuard gun case and jacket, Tractor Supply for thebeer tubs, Texas Kayaks, Michael Maytum (awe-some knife!), Bear Arms and to Pure Party Ice.Also, to a new participant this year - PedernalesBrewing Company - Lobo beers.

This banquet would not be possible with-out the dedicated efforts of the following people:Tom Wayland (Matco Tools), Darrell Steubing(Darrell Steubing Insurance), Rodeana Reynoldswith sons Justin and Jared, Bob Beckett, MikeSaur (Saur Automotive), Jim and Kathy Simmons(H&R Block Boerne), Rusty Mertink (Auctioneer)and the CCA crew from Houston. Thanks againto all for a great banquet. If you would like to getinvolved, give us a call and we’ll get you hookedup. —Jim Simmons 210-380-5709

Hill CountryDarlene Cook 800-594-2056 ext 217

darlenec@knbt.fmThe chapter directors are celebrating our ban-quet success with a Steak Dinner at FreiheitCountry Store. We get the steaks from one of ourbig supporters, The Rust Game Place…melt inyour mouth delicious!

That will finish up 2013 for us. Our next bigproject that will be a lot of fun is for our HillCountry Chapter membership, the 2014 CCA So-cial April 27th. The Social will be held at the BigRed Barn at the Texas Agriculture Education andHeritage Center in Seguin. Look it up at online attexagedu.org/attractions. It’s a great venue!There’s a lot to see and a lot of history there.

We will have activities for the kids andadults! We’ll also have great raffle items andHill Country CCA merchandise for sale. More in-formation will come at a later date via email.The cost of a ticket will be to cover the meal, afish fry cooked and served by a fabulous team ofCCA Directors! The rest is on us!

If you are an active member of CCA andwould like to help with one or all of ourprojects, the Spring/Summer Fishing Tourna-ment, the Banquet, Meetings or the Social pleasegive me a call at 830-214-3067, we’ll put you towork! If you have any suggestions for a speakeror topic for one of the General Meetings pleaselet us know. If you would like to show and sellproduct at our meetings please call us! The

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more we have to do at the meet-ings the better! Have a BlessedDay! Hug someone! Then go fish-ing!—Darlene Cookdarlenec@knbt.fm

Houston Real EstateDale Couch 281-953-2510

The 2014 Houston Real Estate eventis scheduled for Feb. 11, 2014 at theHouston Country Club.—Dale Couch

KatyClint Hilton 713-515-3991

We have just wrapped up anotherbanner year! We hosted a recordsetting banquet, had larger generalmeeting attendance, and had moredirect volunteer help than ever be-fore! Our chapter would not be thesuccess it is without support from banquet spon-sors, buyers, members, and volunteers - THANKYOU ALL!

In October, we hosted Shimano FactoryReps - Ed Hix and Phil Cambra. These guys forgotmore about fishing than most of us will everknow, and showed off some of Shimano’s new-est, high quality items.

In 2013 we hosted some top talent for ourSpeaker Series meetings. If you are looking for‘go to’ expertise, keep the following speakers inmind: Capt. Tommy Alexander in Matagorda,Capt. “Big Dog” Ralph Morales in Port O’Connor,Capt. Walt Kolinosky in Baffin/entire coast, Capt.Greg Brewer in Galveston, and the Shimano Fac-tory Reps, Phil Cambra and Ed Hix. Several chap-ter members have commented that they learneda lot from these speakers. I appreciate theseprofessionals taking time away from their fami-lies to come to Katy. Without them, I’m prettysure the Chapter would get tired of hearingme....

2013 taught the Katy Chapter some newtricks, and I’m sure 2014 will be a treat for every-one that comes to our Speaker Series meetingsand our banquet. I hope you’ll put our get-togethers on your schedule. We’ll have SpeakerSeries meeting in January, March, May, August,and October. In between, we continue to meet,but discuss banquet planning and other activitieswithin the chapter. Our meetings are always thethird Wednesday of the month, at Red River BBQon Mason Road.

I hope y’all have a safe holiday season,shoot lots of banded ducks, giant B&C deer, andcatch the fish of a lifetime. See ya next year!—Clint Hilton

LaredoJesse Martinez jmartinez@bushlan.com

956-763-5555Lee County

Byron Kalbas 979-540-0056We held our 3rd annual banquet in Giddings,Texas on October 17. With the amazing supportof our chapter members andthe hard work ofour committee members, we managed to raise arecord amount for CCA’s coastal projects. Thankyou to all of the people who helped make thisbanquet a smashing success.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the6th annual PINS & East Cut Beach clean up onSaturday, March 15, 2014.

We will have a General Membership meet-ing on Monday, January 27, 2014 at 6:30pm. Wewill have a guest speaker anda small meal withdrinks andrefreshments that night as well.Watch for an email flyer with all the details priorto the meeting. --Byron Kalbas979-540-0056 bkalbas@yahoo.com

Live OakBrad Kotrla 979-732-1669

Lower ColoradoWelcome new president Tim Munos

979 332-2876We held our 5th Annual Fundraiser/Banquet Fri-day evening, August 16 atthe Bay City Civic Center. Itwas a a wonderful turnout,and we want to say ThankYou to the people of BayCity and surroundingMatagorda County for com-ing out and supporting ourevent. This was our bestfundraiser yet.

We are all geared upplanning for next year’sbanquet. A big change istaking place. Next year, wewill also offer a boat pack-age for our CCA support-ers. The details are almost all worked out and itwill be a great looking rig that anyone will beproud to own.

This is a slack time of the year for us, withThanksgiving and Christmas coming soon. It is agood time to take in some cold weather fishing,locally, or make plans to check out some greatareas to the south, or maybe, Louisiana. What-ever we do, we want to have fun and stay safedoing it. So, from our chapter to you, have agreat time fishing, and enjoy the holidays. HappyThanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all. —JohnKubecka Secretary 979-332-2876

Lower Laguna MadreTravis Flanagan

956-207-6391Mainland

Eric Minor281-534-6242

Matagorda BaysLinc Lutrick 979-541-9901

On September 9 & 10 we held our annualMatagorda Bays Guides Cup in Matagorda. Wewould like to thank our sponsors, Duckett,Bouligny & Collins, L.L.P, El Campo Sheet Metal,and Harbor Bait & Tackle. We also want to say aspecial thank you to all of our Matagorda Guideswho donate their time, effort and equipment tomake the guides cup a remarkable success eachand every year. Winning again this year wasCaptain Tommy Alexander with the assistance ofGarrett Pool, Kevin Stehling, and Tyler Williams.Congrats to Captain Tommy and his team for

back to back wins! Secondplace was won by RobCummings and placing thirdwas Captain Kenny Hauff III.Thank you to Russell & BrandyHicks of Las Palmas Lodge andPrasek’s Hillje Smokehouse forhandling the great food for ourevent. We would also like tothank all of the buyers whopurchase these trips year inand year out. Thank you foryour continued support of ourchapter.

Please look to these greatguides the next time you’rebooking a trip. We are trulyblessed to have some of thebest guides in the state right inour own backyard. BinkGrimes, Jimmy Riddle, Kenny

Hauff, Tommy Alexander, Kit Caston, DewayneNewbern, Nick Stillwell, Lee Warmke, WaltWendtland, Scott Reeh, Charlie Paradoski, WaltSchelle, Stan Sloan, Kenny Hauff III, Ken Sabin,Mark Talasek, Jesse Arsola, Leighton Keen, RobCummings, Floyd Ciruti, Al Garrison, TommyCountz, Kevin Kosick, Nate Koenig, and TroyKeen. —Linc Lutrick

MidCoastDavid Jenkins 361-578-5580

jenkins12@sbcglobal.netHello to all! No more 100 degree days and thefishing along the Texas Coast is now getting bet-ter. Time to wet your lines and go! The past twomonths have been exciting for the MidCoastChapter. First of all, in September, I picked upour boat that will be given away at our next ban-quet which is May 9th, 2014. We want to thankEric Simmons greatly and the SCB family forbuilding this boat. Our boat this year is a 22.6SCB Stingray, fully loaded with, a 741 Garmin, ste-reo, custom made ice chest, 8 blade power pole,coastline trailer, bucket seats and powered with a250 Mercury racing sport XS motor. Tickets areon sale for this boat through myself or any otherboard member.

Our CCA MidCoast Face Book page hasbeen updated and I invite you to go take a lookand be a part of it. You can get to it in the FBSearch at CCA Mid Coast Chapter, Victoria,Texas.

In October, we held our Guides Cup Tour-nament in Port O'Connor Texas, which is one ofour yearly events. We had 21 Guides and Teamsin this tournament. I would like to thank eachGuide that took time out of their busy schedulesto participate in this tournament, also thankingthe Buyers and Team Members as well.

This year, Team Speedy Stop won this tour-nament for the second year in a row, and again,Congratulations! Winning Guides were CaptainDwayne Lowery, 1st, Captain Fernando Conchola,2nd, and bringing in 3rd was Captain Kelly Parks.

A BIG THANKS goes to our sponsors CliffThomas and the Speedy Stop Family, Jimmy Burns

Matagorda Bays Guides Cup: Winning again this year was CaptainTommy Alexander with the assistance of Garrett Pool, Kevin Stehling,and Tyler Williams.

Read all about the MidCoast's fully loaded banquet boat.

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and Waterloo Rod CO. USA, and fam-ily, Calhoun County, The Sanctuary,Hartman Distributing and Del PapaDistributing for providing refresh-ments, Sheriff Aleman for security,and most of all for our committed anddedicated board members who tookthe time out of their schedules to as-sist in every way to help make thisevent a huge success.

As always if anyone would liketo join a great group of CCA volun-teers who enjoy fun and the conser-vation of the fisheries along our coast-line, feel free to contact me or any ofour outstanding board members in-volved. —David Jenkins WITH BOATPICS!

Northeast HoustonJason Law 713-898-8594

CCA Texas has experienced an incrediblegrowth rate over the last 10 years, encompassing56 chapters to date. The projects and successeswe have celebrated could never have come torealization without many factors coming to-gether. Dedication from members is just onepart of the success equation and we are in greatdebt and gratitude for the many volunteers andsupporters.

Northeast Houston has shared those suc-cesses, seeing growth through membership andbanquet attendance over the past few years.

We need you. The NE chapter Board meetsa few times per year, coordinating banquetplans and more. We are looking for a fewfriends who would like to join us in makingthese decisions, as well as handling our books,planning other outings and general membershipmeetings. Please consider joining the Board andhelping us out a bit. Please let us hear from you,and help us plan the CCA Northeast Houstonchapter’s future events. Contact: —KimVollentine, Assistant Director: 713/626-4222

Northwest HoustonBlayne Eversole

832-444-4579Our next General Member meeting is December3rd. It will be held in the Stein Room at HoustonDistributing as it has in the past. Our Speaker isJason Catchings, fishing guide. The chapter willraffle a guided trip with Jason along with ourChristmas gift raffle with lots of prizes. Do planto attend. Additionally, we will propose a newslate of officers for the next two years. Your con-firmation of the new officers is appreciated.

Our October General Membership meetingrecap: Our speaker was Bill Rodney, OysterHabitat Restoration Ecologist, Texas Parks andWildlife Department, Dickinson Marine Labora-tory. He provided us with both an informativeprogram and a chance to help in a valuable sci-entific study where all we have to do is Fish.Our sincere thanks to both Houston Distributingand Academy. They are active sponsors of ourmeetings and many events. We are especiallyfortunate to have such great support.

As a reminder, we are using email formeeting announcements. If we don’t have youre-mail address and you would like to receiveour announcements, please send your e-mailaddress to js_declue@yahoo.com. –BlayneEversole

Orange CountyScott Bandy 409-988-3667

sabandy@ymail.comwith flounder picsOnce again it’s Holiday season, we all knowwith the colder weather coming in the flounderwill be make their yearly swims to the deep wa-

ter. This is thebest time of theyear to fish yourmain water-ways, so besure to addyour favoriteflounder luresto your shop-ping list and getout on the wa-ter.

The chapter is set-tling down from ourrecord setting banquetand fundraiser with aChristmas get togetherto take place sometimein December and tospend some time withour families. ComeJanuary 2014 we will beplanning our annualmembership drivenight to take place onthe second Monday ofFebruary. Be on thelookout for informa-tion on another funnight of speakers andraffle items from thechapter. Happy Holi-days and tight lines toall, —Scott Bandy &Louis Moore

Port O'ConnorBill Moore

361-983-4690The 14th Annual POCwas held on October19th, and with anothergreat run at the door,completed anothersold out year.

The banquetwas a success, butwithout the diligence and dedication of all boardmembers, chapter members, volunteers, and do-nors it would not have been successful. Specialthanks to banquet chairmen Carl Ray and JimBusby, VP’s Mike Sharp and Donnie Klesel, trea-surer Ann Brownlee, secretary Debbie Busbyand sergeant-at-arms Sonny Cook. Also, thanksto our outstanding board members Pam Ray,Candace Stryker, Chris Smisek, Julia Klesel, Jerryand Virginia Lichac, Jimmy and Barbara Crouch,Linnie and Steve Mashman, Lefty and JoanneWard, Maxine Sharp, Monique Morlan and SuzieOnishi.

Thanks to Candace Stryker for another out-standing job on the program and Virginia Lichacfor the program cover; to our CCA AD EllenOhmstede for her assistance and to SamCaldwell, for again making another visit to assist.

Again, our appreciation to a special groupwho help make our banquet a success, the do-nors that make possible all the gifts, and tripsyou will be notified individually to say thank you.Also, to all the table sponsors, who will be listedin the next issue. To all who attended andhelped with the success of our banquet.

We again want to thank the local busi-nesses who helped sell the tables/tickets:Sonny’s Marine, Coastal Boat Services, CoastalBend Marine, Tigrett Real Estate and PortO’Connor Rod & Gun. So, come spend some ofyour holidays with us, visit some of these busi-nesses and donors or just kick back and enterthe boat parade in POC “Where it all began.”—Bill Moore

PrairieSharon Goebel 979-877-4103

On September 11, we held ourannual meeting/dove hunt atBurttschell field in Sealy. Wehad a great turnout. Everyonegot their limit on birds. After thehunt, we had a short meetingfollowed by a fajita dinner thatwas hosted by the board mem-bers. Thanks to John Burttschellfor the use of his property.

On September 21, we had tocancel our Kids Fish, due to theheavy rains on Friday. We didnot want to damage Eberly’sfield with all the parked cars.Thanks to the Eberlys for lettingus use their lake every year.The next Kid’s Fish will beposted later in the year. Thatnight the board members andguests had a dove hunt andbeanbag tournament followedby steak and shrimp dinnerwith a silent auction. It turnedout to be a great day after all.Thanks to Gordon and Sharonfor the use of their place.

September 27, we held ourRockport madness at thePoffenbergers at City by the Seain Rock Port, Texas. GeraldHarwell won the fishing trip atour banquet in April. His teamconsisted of the following :Gerald Harwell, KennethNelson, Larry Hollman, MichealHollman, Micheal Berry andStanly Kollatschny. And thanksto the two guides that made itpossible, Anglers Guide Serviceand I Gotta Fish Guide Service.

That Friday night we hadbeef fajita, and Saturday night’s

meal consisted of rib-eye steaks and boiledshrimp with sides that were served by theboard members. Thanks to Gordon Goebel,Wesley Goebel, Travis and Amy Herbrig and RonChess for making this week end a great success.

This Rock Port Madness trip will be of-fered on the Live auction at our banquet inApril. Thanks to all, —Ron Chess, Sr. 979-992-3295

Redfish BayNorman Oates

361-758-0266We have had a full schedule for the last coupleof months. The annual Beeville Fish Fry on Sep-tember 19, as always, was a successful event.The Beeville CCA crew does a great job of put-ting it together, and we thank them for theirhard work. Also, a special thanks to Bob Mayfor making the facilities available at no cost,and the May Ranch employees for helping duringthe event.

On September 25, we had Jay Watkins as aspeaker at our General Membership meeting.Not only is Jay one of the most successful guidesin the area, but he is an excellent speaker. Afterthe presentation, all questions were answered

Redfish Bay Kid Fish: Kristina andMikey's fishing success. See page 6for Emily's big fish. Below: NormanOates assists a lady angler.

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in Jay’s special way – a realtreat for the audience.

October 21 – 25, DonWilkinson, local Game War-dens, Carter Crigler, and Ihelped 250 kids catch a fishduring the Fulton 4-5 LearningCenter’s (FLC) annual “Wet-lands field trips.” FLC ScienceCoordinator Martha Mcleodbrings two classes of kids aday go to the RockportAquarium, Bay Education Cen-ter, Wastewater treatment plant, and fishing anda boat ride in Little Bay in Rockport. Thanks toGlenn Martin of Woody’s Sports Center in PortAransas for providing bait for all of the kids.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming,Redfish Bay Chapter activities are winding downfor the year. Thanks to the board members forall of their hard work, and thanks to our mem-bers for supporting our events – nothing can be asuccess without our member support. We hopeyou enjoy the holidays with your family.

Our 2014 Banquet will be on April 26 at thePort Aransas Civic Center. The Beeville Fish Fryis always the Thursday before dove seasonopening weekend. See you next year! —NormanOates

Rio Grande ValleyPhil Teinert 956-367-4267

pteinert@fcbtx.comWe have now secured the 2014 Raffle Boat and itis on display and tickets are for sale! This year’sraffle boat is a 2014 210 Dargel Skout powered by150 HP Evinrude ETEC and sits on a Custom Alu-

minum Trailer. The boat is complete with Cus-tom Aluminum, Power Pole, Raised Platform,Deluxe Leaning Post, Two Tone Custom GelCoat Color and Much More. Tickets can be pur-chased by contacting Louis Zimmerer at (956) 373-0799 or John Blaha at (800) 626-4222. Specialthanks go out to L&F Distributors and DargelBoats for making this raffle possible once again.

Mark your calendars, the 2014 banquet hasbeen set for Thursday, April 24, 2014 at the PharrEvents Center. The chapter board is beginning isplanning for next year's event and looks forwardto having another great night. If you are inter-ested in helping the local chapter, contact Chap-ter President, Phil Teinert at (956) 367-4267 orJohn Blaha at (800) 626-4222. We hope you havetight lines and great hunting this fall. —PhilTeinert

Sabine-NechesDarin Johnson 409-790-9855

Happy Holidays! Hard to believe 2013 has cometo a close already, it seems we were just gettinggeared up for spring fishing, chasing the birds of

summer, and the fall flounder run. Kid Fish inbetween all of the mayhem, and oh yeah, aSOLD OUT BANQUET too! 2013 was a great yearfor all of it!

As we look forward to 2014, it is much thesame as our past year. We are well under wayplanning our banquet, Thursday March 6th, 2014at the Bob Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur. Aticket, or even better a table, would make agreat gift to your special angler and friends; did Imention the hot crawfish and cold drinks wehave at the banquet? Yep, once again we willhave our crawfish boil for everyone to enjoyalong with boats from Premiere Yamaha andTexas Marine along with some sweet lookingtrucks from Classic of Southeast Texas and whoknows what else we’ll have going on thisyear….Get a ticket and don’t miss out on the fun!

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas andHappy New Year to you and your families, welook forward to seeing everyone again in 2014!Until then, Tight lines to all. —Darin M Johnson

Sam HoustonBrandon Kolaja 281-797-6908

San AntonioJohnny Rayburg 210-837-5500

CCASanAntonio@yahoo.comWinter is upon us and that can mean only onething: CCA San Antonio is already gearing up forthe 35th Annual Banquet which is scheduled forThursday, May 1, 2014. Event details, includingtable and ticket order forms went out to previ-ous table buyers and all San Antonio chapter

RGV's 2014 210 Dargel Skout, powered by 150 HPEvinrude ETEC on a Custom Aluminum Trailer.

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members with an email address on file. If youdidn’t receive the notice please make sure youget your email address updated with CCA. Youcan do that by calling 1-800-201-FISH and askingfor membership or sending an email toccantl@joincca.org. The forms are available onour San Antonio chapter page of theCCATexas.org website.

Our banquet committee chairs have beenhard at work to ensure that the 2014 event is oneyou won’t want to miss. Also, new for 2014 is ateam sporting clay shoot that will occur in April atthe National Shooting Complex. Start getting yourteam together as this is sure to be a great event.More information will be available soon. OurFacebook page can be found by searching CCATexas, San Antonio Chapter. There you will findupdates on local chapter events and CCA news.It’s also a great place to share your fishing pic-tures. Take a kid fishing. It will put a smile ontheir face— and yours. —Johnny Rayburg

San BernardRoyce Macha 979-472-5211

San GabrielJohn Melnar 512- 497-8284

Well, we all took a sigh of relief after our 11thannual banquet. We filled the United HeritageCenter to capacity. It was standing room only!Congratulations are due to all of our board mem-bers for all their hard work and dedication, es-pecially our banquet chairman, Jeff Bible, He dida great job!

Of course, the banquet could not have beenso successful without our fine sponsors, a num-

ber of which have been contributingsince the start of our chapter 11

years ago. The distinguished list includes; DonHewlett Chevrolet, PMB Helin Donovan LLP,Babeco Fabrication and Machining, ChampionSite Prep , Piscavore Sportswear Co., Gibson Con-crete, Morris Glass, Chasco Constructors, GreaterAustin Development, Navcon, United HeritageCredit Union, Allied Electric, TXI Ready Mix, In-dependent Bank, Mercedes Benz of Georgetown,and Academy Sports and Outdoors. So if youneed a new vehicle or help with construction,taxes, sportswear, concrete, outdoor gear, bank-ing, or metal manufacturing don’t forget thesecompanies. All of them have been supportingour chapter for many years.

Welcome now to Allied Electric, Indepen-dent Bank, and TXI, who were new sponsors thisyear. We look forward to all of our generoussponsors returning next year. In addition to oursponsors, another round of thanks is due to ev-ery single person who attended the banquet.Whether you spent five dollars or five thousanddollars we thank you for being there and hopeyou will come back each and every year! Don’tforget to bring a friend.

Based on this year’s attendance, we arelooking for a larger venue to host the event. Ifwe move locations to a bigger facility, we are go-ing to need more help not only with organizingthe banquet but also increasing the overall at-tendance. So, if you or someone you knowwould like to get more involved by becoming aboard member, please feel free to contact me.—John Melnar jmelnar@piscavore.com

San JacintoPete Ruiz 832-496-4903

President Pete Ruiz Jr is throwing a final tourna-ment to close out the year. It will be a SunshineKids tournament, November the 16th at La Porte

Sylvan beach. We willhave 25 families,thanks to the CCA SanJacinto chapter. Wewill set up photos fornext issue. Hope you

had a happy Thanksgiving.—P. Ruiz Jr.

SouthwesternJody Jacobs 210-827-7180

TAMUWelcome new president, Cameron

Blackwood 713-591-7097Texas State University

Welcome new president, Ryan Wishnow832-444-3598

Tomball/MagnoliaMatt Maddox 832-590-1828

Tri-CountyJason Trial 830-570-2988

Trinity BayGerald Payne 281-385-2894

Wow, where did 2013 go? I guess as they say,“Time flies when you’re having fun.” The guyshere in the Trinity Bay Chapter had yet anotherjoyous time at the chapter’s annual ChristmasParty, enjoying plenty of eats, good fellowshipand gift exchange games.

We are currently firming up our work dayat the Houston Boat Show, CCA booth in January.In addition, we are looking at a few larger venuesfor our August 2014 Banquet since we are nearto capacity at our current banquet facility. Moredetails on this project to come in 2014.

If you are interested in participating in anyof our chapter functions please let us know. Wehave monthly meetings in Baytown on the firstWednesday of each month. We have a greatbunch of individuals that dedicate themselves tothe work of CCA and have a lot of fun doing so.

The Trinity Bay Chapter is composed ofBaytown, Winnie, Anahuac, Mont Belvieu,Channelview, Highlands, Beach City, Wallisville,Galena Park and their surrounding communi-ties. Have a safe Holiday Season and rememberto be thankful for the many blessings we haveas Americans. —Gerald “Get er Done” Payne

West HoustonJoe Perez 832-279-4794

West TexasCraig McDonnold 432-682-3499

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Enter Great Photos 2012Categories:

Best In Show / Action / Scenic / Humor / Kids / Wildlife / CPRImportant: for jpegs, be sure you include name of subject, title, your nameand address. On back of prints, write your name and address, as well as

the names of anyone in the photo. email jpegs to:sam@samcaldwell.com

Color prints to: CCA Great Photos Editor / 6919 Portwest Dr., Suite100 Houston, Texas 77024

Art prints for Best In Show, First, Second and Third Place winners.Give us your best shot, and keep Currents an

award winning newsletter.

Watch for this billboard in various locations.

Want to share even more of your Great photos?Currents had many fine images submitted again this issue. Lim-ited space means we can use only a few photos, but there is agood option for your Great Photo: send it to CCA via our newsocial media. See Page 7 for connections to Facebook andInstagram. Every entry there will also be an entry in the Cur-rents Great Photos Competition.

Dropping in for dinner? Great Wildlife/Action photo,brown pelicans, by Pauline Osborn

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www.samcaldwell.comTexas State Artist 2004

DU State Artist 2010-2011281-455-9390

When Kenny Chesney decided to get personal, hestripped away expectations, pulled out a bunch ofsongs he’d written just for himself and kickedback for a soul-search that turned into Life On ARock, available now on iTunes.

The Last Laugh

CCA's friend and supporter, Kenny Chesney, has releasedhis new album, LIFE ON A ROCK. Get your copy today.

Painting for a WWII article. You can watch thispainting and other paintings grow from sketches

to finish, in videos made as the art progressed.Drop by my website, where you'll

also find paintings from recent CCAevents. All are available as

20-edition Giclee prints.

One more of those magnificent sand sculptures from Port O'Connor'sWounded Warrior event. This one is titled, "Port O'Connor Food Chain."

Normandy, 70 Years Ago

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6919 Portwest Suite 100 / Houston, TX 77024

CURRENTS NEWSLETTERDecember 2013 / January 2014

NON-PROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDHOUSTON, TEXAS

PERMIT 2532

U.S. Coast Guard Air & Sea RescueNational Response Center: 800-874-2143Port Isabel: 956-761-2668Corpus Christi / Marine Safety Office:boating emergencies, chemical andoil spills: 361-888-3162Port Aransas: 361-749-5217Port O’Connor: 361-983-2616Freeport: 979-233-3801Houston, Galveston: 409-766-5620Sabine: 409-971-2195

COASTAL CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION TEXASMEMBERSHIP APPLICATION (including STAR Entry)

Name Phone______ Date _________________________

Address City State Zip_______________

NEW MEMBER _______ RENEWAL ______ (Member ID for renewing members only)_______________________________________ EMAIL ____________________

MEMBER: $25 ___ Membership card, decal, bumper sticker, Texas CURRENTS newsletter & TIDE magazine. ASSOCIATE: $15 ___ Per each family member. All membership privileges except TIDE and CURRENTS.

PRINT MEMBER: $100 ___ All of the above plus CCA Texas print of your choice. LIFE MEMBER: $1000 ___ CCA Life Membership piece, print, plus member gifts. Payable in four $250 installments.

STAR ENTRY FEE: $20 ___ Tournament entry fee. Must be a current CCA member. NEW TIDE: $10 ___ Tide newsletter, decal.

Members 17 and under only Age: ______ Date of birth: ________ NEW TIDE / Star: $10 ___ Same as above, plus “FREE” STAR Tournament entry. Age: ______ Date of birth: ________

Credit card number ________________________________ Signature _____________________________________________________________________________________

Credit card expiration date _________________________ By entering this tournament, I agree to be bound by the STAR Tournament Rules, Release and Indemnity Agreement. I understand that thereare specific rules governing the conduct of the tournament and that upon request a copy will be mailed to me. 6919 Portwest, Suite 100 / Houston, TX 77024 / 713-626-4222 / Website: www.ccatexas.org

Method of payment___ Check/Money order Charge to my:___ MASTERCARD___ VISA___ AMEX___ DISCOVER

The Texas Parks & Wildlife website isyour starting point for almost any-thing you need to know about outdoorTexas, including links to many areas.Visit http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us To focus on fishing andboating, visit http://www.tpwd.-state.tx.us/fishboat/

Current size, bag and possession limitsare now available through the Texas Parks &Wildlife website: TPWD has a number toreport game violations. 1-800-792-4263. A partner with CCA in aiding Texasgame and Game Wardens is OperationGame Thief. Dropby and put this website on your favoriteslist: http://www.ogttx.com/

CoastalConservation

Association

Best wishes for a fine HolidaySeason, and big fishes in the new year

from the staff of CCA.