There's an old saying that goes, "Nothing in life is free."
But on the first Saturday in June each year, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offers license-free fishing to anyone who wants to try their luck. So we've got that going for us.
And on Saturday morning at a little lake in a sleepy neighborhood in Waco, hundreds showed up to fish through the day at Buena Vista Lake, which included a kids' fishing competition.
The first fish of the day was caught by 10-year old Draylin Rice, who reeled in a catfish while fishing with his brother Bryson, 7, and grandfather Carrel Rice, Jr., whose age I didn't inquire about. Draylin was awarded a prize for the accomplishment and went back to his spot on the bank to catch some more.
As I made my way toward the headquarters tent, I ran into Emma Hawkins who had caught a freshwater mussel, and I tagged along with her and her mother to see what the official ruling would be in terms of that species qualifying as a legitimate catch.
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Before the girl could finish prying the shell open and cutting up the mussel into bait-sized pieces, a tournament official came by and presented her with a prize for her catch. I'm curious how the mussel chunks worked for catching catfish.
Taking kids fishing can be a fun time even if nobody catches anything, but a fishing trip is what you make it. Fishing is typically a lot of waiting around followed by some bursts of excitement — if you're lucky. Always have some food, drinks and other activities on standby to ensure that fishing trips don't equate to boredom.
Organizers were pleased with the turnout, and said that a number of kids and their families expressed interest in continuing to go fishing after today. No license is required for kids under the age of 17, but length and bag limits still apply.
Wild goose chase?
Some people have to pay a lot of money to go find National Geographic moments. For others, like Leon Davis, those moments come to him.
Davis, who lives on a Central Texas ranch with his wife Sonia, has been hosting a breeding and nesting pair of Canada geese for a few years now, and each fall when they return from their northward summer migration, they've produced more eggs, offspring and survivors than the year before.
Davis said that this year when they came back, they set up a nesting area on a small island on one of the ranch's lakes, and eventually, seven eggs hatched — and all survived.
If you've ever encountered a wild goose, you already know they're some of the most obnoxious and hysterical birds you can meet. They puff up, hiss, squawk and honk, wring their necks around in strange, snake-like contortions, and charge at their "enemies" with speed and plenty of nipping. If you've been on the receiving end of a goose attack, you know why getting "goosed" is called what it is.
I can only imagine how an adult goose that's protecting its brood would react to a person walking up, but reportedly, Davis' grandson, who loves playing with the geese, found out. I'm waiting for some video.
Fish like rain, too
Catfishing legend Danny King (Danny King's Catfish Punch Bait) took time out between performing at tackle shows to give an update on catching cats in Texas in June.
"With the rains, the streams are rising, and runoff in the lake necks is washing out worms, grasshoppers and other things, and the catfish are up there to stuff their bellies full," King said.
After a decent rain, King recommends targeting rivers and creeks where they feed into coves and arms of reservoirs. "As long as there's water there, they will go up shallow to feed and then head back to the channels," he said. "I've caught them out in bar ditches after a rain."
We haven't had as much rain as the Dallas area, but anglers at Lake Waco can still find plenty of fish feeding. Good bets are targeting main and secondary points, road beds, channels, and other structures when planning early summer trips. These areas will hold schools of white bass, hybrids, blue cats and more, and drift fishing cut bait or ghost minnows over submerged road beds are almost a guarantee that you'll be having fried catfish for dinner.
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