NEWSTALK 860 » Outdoor Recreation

Keep Umbrella Handy – It's Gonna Rain

Jim Bell — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:13:03 +0000

It's official. It WILL rain in east Texas tonight and over the weekend. Plan on it. People who're planning to go to a football game today and tomorrow would be wise to take their rain gear.

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Budget Cuts May Force State Parks to Close

Jim Bell — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 16:19:00 +0000

Here we go again. The legislative session is coming in January, and we're hearing the usual predictions of budgetary doom and gloom. This year we are hearing that if the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department doesn't get the money it needs, nearly two dozen state parks may have to close.

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Anger Over Lake Naconiche Publicity Stunt

Jim Bell — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:51:35 +0000

The Lufkin News reports some Nacogdoches County landowners and fisher folk are upset, and say they felt betrayed when county commissioners allowed a popular Texas bass fishing TV show early access to Lake Naconiche several days before the official opening date.

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Seven People Charged With Fishing Fraud

Jim Bell — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:11:43 +0000

Yes there is such a thing as "fishing fraud", and people who're caught doing it are in a heap of trouble. The Brownsville Herald reports that's what seven people learned when fishing tournament judges caught them at it on South Padre island earlier this month.

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Red Tide Causes Big Fish Kill in the Gulf

Jim Bell — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:33:02 +0000

The "red tide" has returned. State officials say this naturally occurring toxic algal bloom is responsible for all the dead fish that washed up on Texas beaches over the weekend.

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No Rest for Texas Game Wardens

Jim Bell — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:01:10 +0000

The Houston Chronicle reports the 500 or so Game Wardens at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are always on the go in the warm weather months, especially on holiday weekends.

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Summer Boat Show Opens in Houston

Jim Bell — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:28:16 +0000

Summer is here, and what better way to kick it off than with a trip to the big Houston Summer Boat Show?

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Texas Blueberry Festival Set for Saturday in Nacogdoches

Jim Bell — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:20:42 +0000

The 23rd annual Texas Blueberry Festival presented by Brookshire Brothers will be held Saturday in downtown Nacogdoches. This popular annual event is a day long celebration of the annual blueberry harvest.

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You Get a Line and I'll Get a Pole…..

Jim Bell — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 14:20:04 +0000

And we'll go fishin' in a new fishin' hole. Now it's not as if we don't already have plenty of places to fish in these parts, but you may be interested to know that a brand new lake is almost ready to be opened for fishing. It's Lake Naconiche in northeastern Nacogdoches County, and Texas Parks and Wildlife fisheries experts have just finished stocking it with a huge supply of Florida bass.

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Galveston Opens Pleasure Pier Amusement Park

Jim Bell — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:33:56 +0000

Galveston has a new attraction that's definitely designed to draw tourists of all ages to the Island City. It's a $60 million dollar Pleasure Pier on Seawall Boulevard, built by developer and hospitality king Tilman Fertitta.

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Forest Service Urges Us To Report Arson Wildfires

Jim Bell — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:22:37 +0000

Heading into the long Memorial Day weekend -- the unofficial start of another hot and dry summer — the Texas Forest Service is begging us to be careful with cookouts, campfires and any outdoor burning.

TFS also wants people to be especially watchful for arsonists deliberately starting fires and report them to law enforcement.

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TPWD Urges Boaters to Be Safe This Weekend

Jim Bell — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:18:19 +0000

With the long Memorial Day weekend just days away, and with thousands of people heading for the great outdoors, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is busy promoting safe, responsible and sober boating on the state's rivers and lakes.

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Lots of Fun Things for Kids This Summer

Jim Bell — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:14:10 +0000

Summer vacation is coming up fast, and many parents are looking for ways to keep their kids busy and having summer fun at the same time. The good news is that there are plenty of fun things for kids to do and places for them to go in the summer time. The bad news? Rest easy. There's no bad news.

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Feds Close Hiking Trails in National Forests

Jim Bell — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:19:16 +0000

The drought may be over but the destruction it caused lingers on. The drought killed millions of trees across east Texas, and dead trees are dangerous to be around.

That's why the U.S. Forest Service has closed a number of popular hiking trails and recreation areas in two east Texas national forests as a temporary safety measure.

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Monster Size Catfish No Danger to Ecosystem

Jim Bell — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:10:21 +0000

Because of the wettest winter and spring in years, east Texas lakes are at last back to their normal levels in most areas. "Full Pond", as state hydrologists say. That means the fishing is better than it's been in years, and the State Parks and Wildlife Department is busy restocking the public lakes and waterways with all kinds of fish, including catfish. BIG catfish.

Officials recently released more than three dozen monster size blue catfish weighing 40 to 90 pounds into Lake Livingston, and they say there's no reason for concern about what the fish might to the fish populations or the ecosystems in the lake or downstream in the Trinity River.

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New ETex Fish Hatchery Plans Open House

Jim Bell — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:40:39 +0000

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will hold an open house at the new John D. Parker East Texas State Fish Hatchery near Jasper on Friday and Saturday, April 27th and 28th.

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Nacogdoches Has a Fishing Champ!

Jen Austin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:22:21 +0000

Josh Haddox of Nacogdoches is a champ! Josh goes to school at Texas A&M and is part of a fishing team there with Timothy Temple of Bryan, TX. The two just won the National Guard FLW College Fishing Southern Conference event on Lake Eufala in Oklahoma over the weekend.

Call it beginner’s luck, since this was their very first National Guard FLW College Fishing Event. How much cash did they earn for catching all those bass?

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Bracing for a Major Allergy Season

Jim Bell — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:06:54 +0000

Ah yes spring is in the air, and so are all those things a lot of people are allergic to. Spring in the Piney Woods is always tough on people with allergies, but there's an usual profusion of allergens in the air this year, and those who specialize in such things say we're all in for an especially "sneezy" and miserable allergy season.

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East Texas May Lose Historic Attraction

Jim Bell — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:16:27 +0000

A long time east Texas attraction may have to close down because of cash flow problems. If the popular Texas State Railroad can't get a cash infusion soon and find ways to make money 12 months a year, its managers say it will go out of business this week.

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Fort Worth Golfer Stabbed With Golf Club

Jim Bell — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:47:11 +0000

It's tempting to make this a funny story, but to the man who was critically injured in this bizarre golf course incident, there was nothing funny about it.

Tarrant County Sheriff's Deputies are still trying to unravel the story of the fight that led to a golfer getting stabbed with the shaft of a golf club two weeks ago at the Eagle Mountain Lake Golf Course north of Fort Worth.

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