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The newsletter for CCA members in TexasAugust / September 2012

CURRENTS

Idle Iron, orRigs to Reefs?

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CCA calls formoratorium

on rigremovals

Conservation community unitesto defend marine habitat

In a misguided response to the2010 Gulf oil spill, the U.S. Depart-

ment of Interior issued the Idle Iron directive in October of 2010 order-

ing that all non-producing wells beplugged and any associated structuresremoved within five years of the issu-ance of that directive.

Since then, CCA has worked on andsupported a number of actions to derailthat policy, including the Rigs to ReefsHabitat Protection Act filed by U.S. Sen.David Vitter (R-La.) and Rep. StevenPalazzo (R-Miss.); language implement-ing strict review and reporting require-ments on removals in the Sportsmen’sAct of 2012; the Gulf of Mexico FisheryManagement Council’s decision to be-gin the process of classifying rigs andother vital artificial reefs as EssentialFish Habitat (EFH), and letters fromboth Texas Governor Rick Perry andU.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) toU.S. Department of Interior SecretaryKen Salazar urging him to reconsiderthe policy.

In June, a coalition of marineconservation, tackle and boating in-

dustry groups also called for a haltto Idle Iron policy in a letter to Secre-tary Salazar, citing the irreparabledamage it stands to inflict on an exten-sive range of marine fisheries and eco-systems.

Additionally, the Sportfishing andBoating Partnership Council, an 18-member committee established to pro-vide input to the Department of Inte-rior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice on recreational boating and fishingissues, and aquatic resource conserva-tion issues, sent a letter to Secretary

Salazar call-ing for a two-

year moratorium on rig removals.“These towers of metal covered incoral are inactive for years, sometimesdecades. They are a far cry from activerigs engaged in drilling operations inthousands of feet of water,” said Rep.Palazzo. “Rigs and platforms acrossthe Gulf have come and gone over theyears, but the Idle Iron Policy proposesto clear-cut that vast forest of struc-ture. The Idle Iron issue may seemcomplex, but at the end of the day wewould be wise to protect these habi-tats.”

Recently, at abreakfast briefinghosted by theCongressionalSportsmen’sFoundation, Rep.Palazzo pre-sented the concerns of the recreationalangling community over the Depart-ment of Interior’s controversial IdleIron directive and closed by invitingfellow congressmen to sign onto a let-ter requesting a moratorium on rig re-movals. “A temporary moratorium onrig removals related to the Idle IronPolicy is needed to evaluate thosestructures and keep as many as safelypossible in the water,” he said. “Thatiron wasn’t put there to become habi-tat, but that’s what it has become, andit certainly is not ‘idle.’ It is an irre-

“That iron... certainly is not‘idle.’ It is an irreplaceable,living asset that should beprotected."—Rep. Palazzo

placeable, living asset that should beprotected. And as a sportsman from aGulf state, I feel an obligation to pro-tect that habitat.”

The CCA hasworked with Rep.Palazzo on the call for a mora-

torium on the Idle Iron policy,and engaged CCA membership to en-courage their elected officials to addtheir signatures to the letter.

“Rep. Palazzo and others clearlyappreciate the value of those struc-tures as artificial habitat and under-

stand the concernsof the recreationalangling commu-nity,” said PatMurray, CCA presi-dent. “His call for amoratorium is the

latest in a growing chorus of concernsfrom other elected officials, marinescientists and other state and federalagencies. It is time for the Departmentof Interior to heed those concerns andtake a more precautionary approachto these structures.”

For more information, visit the CCAjccrigler@hotmail.com Rigs to Reefspage to learn more about the issue ofthese artificial reefs and their impact onthe marine environment.

"Deep Reds," by Sam Caldwell

On front cover: "idle" iron pro-vides critically needed habitat formany marine species. Photo by JoeRichards. His website isjoe@seafavorites.com

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Legacy of a Texasfisherman

Ben Kocian could see that redfish and speckledtrout were disappearing from the bays around hisPort O’Connor home, and he took it personally. The

burly artist-designer-illustrator recruited other artists, andwe donated paintings to the first Gulf Coast Conservation As-sociation fund-raising event in Houston. He also producedthat 1978 event’s program, replete with art and feature sto-ries. The program became the Gulf Tide, which became theaward-winning Tide magazine, illustrated and produced byBen and his wife, Cheri, for more than 30 years. Ben’s earlycontributions were acknowledged in 1980 when he wasnamed GCCA’s first Man Of The Year and in 2006, nominatedas Texas State Artist.

Along the way, Ben lent his time and talent to many im-portant conservation projects. He designed powerful imagesthat have become icons of coastal conservation, not only in Texas, but across the Gulfcoast, East coast and now, West Coast states. Ben Kocian joins CCA leaders like DustyRhodes, Jack Cowan, Perry Bass, Bob Brister and Walter Fondren III. Ben Kocian’s ef-forts finally ceased Tuesday, June 12, but he left a legacy of a healthier coast that Tex-ans will enjoy far into the future. –Sam Caldwell

Above: Ben's version of hooking a tarpon atPass Cavallo. Below, "Sail Away." Kocian'sdonated art brought many dollars for conser-vation efforts over the years.

The artist was a dedicated fisherman. Hesent many redfish and trout back for furtherduty. However, any ancient lure he foundwas considerd a keeper.

A number of Ben Kocian’s finest paint-ings are available from Cheri and Dineen asGclees. Drop by his website or email:www.BenKocian.com / info@BenKocian.com

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Hot & Crunchy DrumThis is an adaptation of Hot and Crunchy Trout from thecookbook, “Cooking Fearlessly,” by the folks at Hudson’son the Bend in Austin. They serve it with their MangoJalapeno Aioli.

Great Foods / Food Editor Ellen Ohmstede

Registration is continuing for the CorpusChristi Chapter’s Babes on Baffin and BlueLadies Fishing Tournament which will be heldColumbus Day Weekend, Saturday, Oct. 6th,at Roberts Point Park in Port Aransas. FridayNight’s Check-in and Social will be at Doc’sRestaurant in Corpus Christi.

Registrations must be postmarked by Septem-ber 21st. To ensure preferred shirt sizes, Reg-istrations should be mailed by September 1st.

The Tournament features a live weigh-in/dona-tion bonus with the fish donated to the CorpusChristi CCA/CPL Marine Development Cen-ter.

In addition to the Team Awards, Teams can en-ter a Best Team Outfit Contest and can partici-pate in optional cash pots. Entry is $80 per An-gler / $65 per Little Babe and includesSaturday’s Dinner, a T-shirt, Visor, Gift Bag,and an Annual CCA Membership.

Be sure to download the RegistrationPacket from Babes on Baffin and Blue andany questions about the Tournament can besubmitted through http://www.babesonbaffin.com/contactme.htm.

6-8 Fish Fillets 8 oz each / ¼ cup almonds toasted¼ cup sesame seeds toasted / 2 cups cornflakes¼ ??? granulated sugar / 1 ½ T red chili flakes / 1 T Salt 1 cup milk / 2 eggs / 1 cup all purpose seasoned flour6 T clarified butter

In food processor, combine almonds, sesame seeds, cornflakes,sugar, red chili flakes and salt until coarse and crunchy but wellblended. Place in Pyrex dish for dredging. In another dish, whiskegg and milk to make egg wash. Dredge fish in seasoned flour. Passfilet thru the wet mixture then in cornflake mixture, pressing mix-ture onto filet. In a large skillet, heat clarified butter until it shim-mers. Cook filets for approximately 3 minutes per side. Keep warmon cookie sheet until all are cooked.Serve with Aioli or your favorite fish sauce.

Mango Jalapeno AioliJuice of 2 lemons / 1 bunch cilantro leaves (roughly chopped)½ cup Hudson’s Mango Jalapeno sauce (available atHudsonsonthebend.com) 1 cup mayonnaise / 2 cloves minced garlic

Combine all ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Great Photo, San Antonio banquet. As one ofTexas' finest auctioneers, ???? ?????sells a Live Auction trip, the signpost points togreat fishing destinations.

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2012 Ford F-150 “Texas Edition” XLT SuperCab with Haynie 23 Bigfoot, the Redfish Division prize.

State ofTexasAngler’sRodeo

23rd Annual State of TexasAngler’s Rodeo (STAR)

Reel stories from Father’s DayPast… the ultimate gift!

Father’s Day morning; at 5:30am, DavidMatula accompanied by wife, Lisa and theirdogs, Scrapper and Macey headed out of

Sargent. Several spots did not pay off, until Lisasuggested the Swing Bridge. Matula immediatelygot a bite and told Lisa, “ Get the net and beready”! As Lisa nettedthe redfish, Matulasaw the tag andyelled out, “It has atag!” Off to CaneyCreek Marina theMatulas went to regis-ter the redfish. Sincethen Lisa hasn’tstopped remindingher husband that ifnot for her suggestionto go to the swingbridge and keep fish-ing, he would havemissed out on a newtruck and boat prizepackage. “I willnever forget this Father’s Day fishing trip as longas I live,” said Matula.

On the same morning down the coast, TonyGonzalez invited his two brothers to join him andthe trio arrived at Packery Channel about 6:30am. Gonzalez was fishing near the rocks whenhis line went tight. When Gonzalez got the fishclose, he shouted, “It has a tag!” They took thefish to the official STAR Weigh Station, Roy’s Bait& Tackle, just to check. The weigh station con-firmed it was 2012 CCA Tag #TA424. Everyone inthe store, including Gonzalez, was smiling ear toear, shaking hands and high fiving. “It was a greatfeeling and a very Happy Father’s Day,”saidGonzalez.

Fortunately for David Matula and TonyGonzalez, they were registered and willbe driving home a 2012 loaded Ford F-150

“Texas Edition” XLT SuperCab, pulling a brandnew 23’ Haynie BigFoot boat rigged with a Mer-cury 150L OptiMax motor and Coastline trailer thenight of the STAR Awards Ceremony in October.

That means there are still 56 tagged redfishout there swimming around. Here we have a realmystery, which of course benefits all STAR an-glers. Typically by 4th of July, all five truck andboat prize packages have been claimed leavingonly the five boat prizes in the Texas Ford

Dealers Redfish Division. This year, however,only four tagged reds have been caught so far,but only two of the four were certified win-ners. Puzzling, but who has the answers?Moon phases, consistent high June tides,heavy pressure, excess bait, higher watertemps and salinity are the culprits beingblamed for the lack of cooperation by the wilyredfish. Of course, this leaves three moretruck and boat prizes up for grabs, not count-ing the five boat prizes for the 6th through 10thred captured by current STAR anglers. Pleaseclaim your share, and make sure all of yourangling friends get their STAR insurance… itcould happen on the next cast!

YOU’VE GOT TO BE IN TO WIN! Are youspooled up and ready for this great season offishing fun? A friendly reminder to all anglerswho plan to fish the Texas Gulf Coast duringthis time… in order to win one of a $1,000,000in prizes being offered in Texas’ largest, rich-est, summer-long saltwater fishing event, anangler must be a CURRENT member of CCA,

in addition to being registered as a 2012TEXAS STAR entrant. The STAR tournamententry fee is still an awesome bargain at only$20 for ages 18 and up! Membership fee is $25annually, plus $20 STAR Tournament for a totalof $45. In order to win at STAR, an angler mustbe registered and be a current member ofCCA. You know you’ll go so might as well doit now! Remember, everyone entered in theSTAR Tournament, who will be 6 years old in2012 and older, is eligible to win the prizes be-ing offered (even the TAGGED REDFISH DIVI-SION)! Get everyone signed up for the 2012STAR. Be sure and enter now to take advan-tage of all the great incentives… see detailsbelow.

YOUNG ANGLERS FISH FOR FREE! Speakingof bargains, for young anglers ages 6–17, the“New Tide” membership fee remains $10 an-nually and the STAR entry fee is FREE!!! Ofcourse, we want all kids on the water. CCA“New Tide” members will continue to havethe opportunity to win giant scholarships tofund their college education for just the priceof a $10 CCA “New Tide” Membership. Wethank our generous sponsors for making itpossible for us to offer young

David Matula, 1st tagged redfish winner Tony Gonzalez, 2nd tagged redfish winner

anglers this great opportunity. Keep in mind, sign-ing up as a “New Tide” membership DOES NOTautomatically register member in STAR. “NewTide” Members MUST BE at least 6 years of age in2012 to be eligible to fish STAR and under age 18to enter for FREE. It is the “New Tide” Member’sresponsibility to register each year for STAR.

CCA Texas/STAR Platinum Print Membership Pack-age, Series II – STAR Sighting by renowned artistDavid Drinkard is the new print being offered forthe 2012 CCA Texas/STAR Platinum package. Thisspecial offer includes your CCA membership (new orrenewal), your 2012 CCA Texas STAR entry, plus asigned, limited-edition print created exclusively forSTAR, all for $125! STAR Sighting is a one-of-a-kindspecial painting, worth this price alone. If youwould like to consider one, or several, of theselimited-edition packages, go to:www.startournament.org for more details orplace your order with the STAR Dept. by calling(713) 626-4222. The proceeds from the sale of allPlatinum Packages will help us continue to fundthe STAR scholarships. Thanks for supporting

CCA Texas and the STAR Tourna-ment!

STILL AVAILABLE… CCA Texas/STAR Platinum Print, Series I –Some STAR Reds are still avail-able. If you haven’t purchasedSTAR Reds yet and would like tobegin your CCA Texas/STARPlatinum Collectible Series,please contact the STAR Dept.and we can get you fixed up. Toown this first-ever commemora-tive piece, purchase yours todaybefore they’re all gone! See page8 for the two Platinum prints.

Don’t miss “the boat” or “thetruck and boat”… register today!You can sign up NOW online atwww.ccatexas.org or

www.startournament.org!!! Don’t forget to takeadvantage of all the great Member incentivesavailable to CCA Texas/STAR participants. Pleasesee below for more details:CCA TEXAS MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS - Our mostgenerous sponsor offerings still continue to addmore value to your CCA Texas Membership. Besure and remember to take advantage of the follow-ing wonderful benefits your CCA membership af-fords you! Ford X-Plan Pricing (see details below)

10 gift card courtesy of Academy Sports +Outdoors (see details below)

Whataburger coupon for a free burger andbreakfast on a bun (see details below)

Texas Fish & Game Magazine subscription (seedetails on page 7)

$1000 worth of free upgrades with your pur-chase of a new Tilson home (see ad on page 23).

FORD X-PLAN PRICING - CCA Texas membershave been remarkably honored by the TexasFord Dealers. They approved X-Plan pricing forus; that is, every current member can buy (orlease) any Ford product at the same price Ford em-ployees must pay. This means we can save up to$1,000 or much more, just by having a valid $25CCA membership card!!! Our Ford Partner Code #is CCA61; go to www.fordpartner.com, if you areconsidering a purchase. And please share yourgratitude with the dealers for helping to makethis great offer possible for CCA Texas members.

SPECIAL BONUS FROM ACADEMY SPORTS +OUTDOORS - One more great reason to sign up!For those anglers who got on the ball and signed

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STAR has reached $4,345,000 in scholarships awarded tochildren 6-17 years of age. Many thanks to our sponsors formaking this happen. Without them, it would not be possible.

The Shoalwater 22’ Legend, TroutDivision prize.

Blue Wave 180 V-Bay, Inshore Division Prize

Explorer by Dargel 216 Blue Water Series,Offshore Division Prize

up early, Academy Sports + Outdoors re-warded you with a $10 gift coupon just intime for fishing season! For those of youwho didn’t get in on the first $10 gift cou-pon, we have good news!!! AcademySports + Outdoors will be sending another$10 gift coupon after the tournament ends!Just in time for hunting season! Specialthanks to Academy Sports + Outdoors forcontinuing to make your CCA membershipand STAR entry such an awesome value!

COUPONS FOR A FREE WHATABURGERAND BREAKFAST ON A BUN – In youhaven’t used your coupon from theJune/July issue of CURRENTS, don’t for-get to use it before it expires 8/31/12.This special coupon, com-pliments of our great part-ner, Whataburger, is goodfor a FREE burger andbreakfast on a bun withpurchase. YUMMY! Special thanks toWhataburger for making this special offerpossible.

TEXAS FISH & GAME “BONUS” SUB-SCRIPTION! Texas Fish & Game will againhonor this year’s STAR entrants witha ONE -YEAR (12 issues) subscrip-tion to Texas Fish & Game Maga-zine. Please be advised your sub-scription WILL NOT be sent auto-matically. If you wish to take ad-vantage of this special bonus youmust declare on your applicationform. If you have already signed upfor the 2012 STAR, but did not declarethat you would like this special offerand/or have questions regarding your pastor current subscription, please call (800)626-4222 or email star@startournament.org.

TILSON HOMES $1,000 in FREE Upgrades –Every CCA Texas member who purchasesa Tilson Home is eligible for a value dis-count. Tilson will give you $1,000 off onany upgrade such as ceramic tile, hard-wood floors, kitchen cabinetry and more.See ad in the CCA Texas CURRENTSnewsletter for more details or call 1 (888)540-6705.

2012 PRIZE LINE-UP - This year’s contes-tants have a chance at winning over 100prizes including trucks, boats, motors,trailers and college scholarships in the fol-lowing categories:Texas Ford Dealers Redfish Division –Texas Ford Dealers continue to make thisdivision the “Best in Texas”! They willagain give each of the first five registeredSTAR participants who catch tagged red-fish a brand new truck to get to their fish-ing destination in a tough, dependableand stylish ride. The first five registeredanglers to weigh-in a tagged red will re-ceive a 2012 Ford F-150 “Texas Edition”truck. Haynie Boats returns with the awe-some Haynie 23 Bigfoot rigged with a Mer-cury 150 L OptiMax! A Coastline Trailer

completes this amazing package. The next five weighed in willreceive the same boat, motor and trailer packages.For young anglers not of legal driving age and who reel in thefamous tagged red, he or she will receive the boat package plusa college scholarship, in lieu of the truck.Trout Division - With winners in the upper, middle and lowercoast regions, each winning angler will take home theShoalwater 22' Legend, “Truly a Texas Legend”, powered with aMercury 150 L OptiMax and McClain trailer. SPECIAL NOTE: Ifyou’re unsure a trout is large enough to qualify, consider this“easy rule-of-thumb” - if length is less than 27 inches, chances areit won’t meet the eight pound minimum weight requirement forthe Trout Division. Unless you intend to mount your fish as a

personal best, why not think about releasing any-thing that might not make the cut so she can re-seed the bays.O f f - shore Division – Blue water anglers who land

the heaviest kingfish, dorado and ling (co-bia) will each win the awesome Explorer byDargel 216 Blue Water Series boat prize tocruise the big waters along with a Mercury200 XL OptiMax outboard and McClain

trailer.

Inshore Division – Each winner that reels in the largest flounder,gafftop and sheepshead will be handsomely rewarded withBlue Wave’s 180 V Bay boat completely rigged with a Mercury

115 ELPT OptiMax outboard and McClain trailer. In thepast fifteen years, $4,345,000 in college scholarshipshas been awarded to fisher-kids across the state. And2012 continues to offer plenty of reason for everyoneto round up their kid(s), a rod and reel and head forthe water. Capital Farm Credit StarKid Flounder Divi-sion – This division gives entrants age 6-10 a chanceto win a $50,000 college scholarship for the largestflounder caught throughout the summer.

FS Houston/FS Southwest StarKid Gafftop Division –This division gives entrants age 6-10 a chance to

win a $50,000 college scholarship for the largest gafftop caughtthroughout the summer.

Houston Community Newspapers StarKid Sheepshead Division –This division gives entrants age 6-10 a chance to win a $50,000college scholarship for the largest sheepshead caught through-out the summer.

Academy Sports + Outdoors StarTeens Trout Division - This youthscholarship division is open to all New Tide members ages 11-17 and awards a $20,000 college scholarship for each fisher-teenwith the largest trout in the upper, middle and lower coasts.SPECIAL NOTE: The minimum weight requirement for the troutis six pounds. Trout measuring 25 inches or less probably won’tmeet the six pound minimum weight requirment for theStarTeens Trout Division. For all fish weighing less than sixpounds, if no intentions of mounting young angler’s prize catch,please take a quick picture and immediately release back intothe water.

Time Warner Cable StarTeens Inshore Division - This youth schol-arship division is open to all New Tide members ages 11-17 andawards a $20,000 college scholarship for each fisher-teen withthe largest flounder, gafftop and sheepshead statewide.But Wait, There’s More…

Runner-Up Prizes - The first through fourth runners-up in all divi-sions will receive various gift certificates from Academy Sports& Outdoors.

“New Tide” Member Drawing - The “New Tide” ScholarshipDrawing will be offered again in 2012. “NewTide”/STAR partici-pants at least, 6 - 17 years old in 2012, are eligible for a bonusdrawing that will net one lucky youth a $20,000 college scholar-

ship even if the participant never wetsa line or enters a single fish during theentire tournament.

Member Bonus Drawing - This uniquedrawing offers STAR entrants a chanceto win a fabulous boat prize packageeven if the participant never wets aline. One lucky contestant’s name willbe drawn to win a Shoalwater 22’ Leg-end model with a Mercury 150 LOptiMax outboard and McClain trailer.Please don’t forget to thank our won-derful sponsors for their loyal sup-port… return the favor by rememberingthem when making your purchasing de-cisions. They make this wonderfulfamily event possible. Major sponsorsfor the 23rd Annual CCA Texas/STARTournament include:

Texas Ford Dealers, Tilson HomeCorporation, Capital Farm Credit,Mercury Marine, Academy Sports +Outdoors, Whataburger, Shipley Do-Nuts, Ozarka, Coors Light, HoustonCommunity Newspapers, Fox SportsHouston, Fox Sports Southwest, TimeWarner Cable, Haynie Boats,Shoalwater Boats, Explorer by DargelBoats, Blue Wave Boats, Texas Fish& Game Magazine, Costa Sun-glasses, Texas Oilman’s Charity Fish-ing Tournament, Houston Astros,Coastline Trailers, McClain Trailers,Chris’s Marine, Mt. Houston Marineand Coastal Backwater Marine.

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CURRENTS is a membership benefit of the CoastalConservation Association - Texas. It is published bi-monthly, alternate months from the Coastal ConservationAssociation (CCA) TIDE Magazine. Address, 6919Portwest, 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 August / September 2012 Vol. 30, Issue 5

Welcome to theCCA Texas

Online AuctionSponsored By Costa Del Mar

Sponsored by ourfriends at Costa.

Costa Del Mar and KennyChesney aid CCA conservation

projectsMusic superstar Kenny Chesney and AmandaPerryman from Costa Sunglasses present a checkfor $50,000 to Pat Murray to benefit the CoastalConservation Association. These funds wereraised through sales of the Kenny Chesney LimitedEdition Costa Sunglasses throughout his “Goin’Coastal” concert tour last year.

We have some great mer-chandise up for grabs thismonth—a CCA LuggagePackage and a CCA LogoMetal Tacker.

These items will be fea-tured online for bidding pur-poses through eBay. We en-courage everyone to take

advantage of the art and merchandise that is up forsale. These items are coming directly from CCATexas’s inventory. There will be a variety of uniqueart packages, as well as new merchandise never seenbefore!

CCA Metal Tacker – This metal tacker would be agreat addition to any house!

Luggage Package – 1 CCA Tote Bag and 1 CCA Roll-ing Duffel. Auction runs August 14 to the 21st.To bid and win, go to ccatexas.org and click on thelink (left hand side) online auction. Good luck!—Drew Adams

Handsome CCA logos brandeach bag.

STAR Collector series art prints: STAR Sighting, 2012 Platinum Series II is shownabove. A few STAR Reds, 2011 series I art prints, on right, are still available.

Longtime CCA staffer SamCaldwell takes national art

awards from OWAA.The Outdoor Writer’s Association ofAmerica (OWAA) awarded its top two il-lustration prizes to Sam Caldwell, ofHouston Texas. The first place prize wasfor Caldwell’s painting,“Thirteen Years Old.” Com-missioned by Texas DucksUnlimited for the 2010-2011state art print, the paintingfeatures a 13-year oldhunter and his 13-year oldretriever. Caldwell took thesecond-place award for“Copano Bay Redfish Re-lease,” a Texas bay fishingscene. Caldwell is the edi-tor of Currents, the news-letter for Texas CCA mem-bers.

CCA's Warden of the Year is Clay Shock of Region 4.Presenting theplaque and aremarquedChange of TidesCCA book to Mr.and Mrs. Shockat the sold outMatagordaBays banquetare Ronnie Lus-ter and PhilipFitzgerald.

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Progress continueson Cedar Bayou

projectCounty approves engineeringwork, maintenance fund for

restoration of pass

Work continues on the restorationof Cedar Bayou as a series ofrecent significant steps

clears the way for sand to fly atthe earliest possible moment.

Aransas County has ap-proved funding to complete finalengineering and surveys for initialrestoration of the pass and hasalso announced that it will annu-ally allocate at least $50,000 to aCedar Bayou Maintenance Fund, a criticalcomponent to keeping the pass open inthe future.“The County is clearly committed to do-ing the project right and making sure thatit succeeds over the long term,” saidRobby Byers, executive director of CCATexas. “This has not been an easy road,but the pieces are really starting to fallinto place. It is a major undertaking, but

we have faith that the partnership be-tween the County, CCA Texas and therecreational angling community will get itdone.”

Aransas County has pledged$948,000 towards the cost of opening thepass, while CCA Texas has pledged anadditional $500,000. The County and CCATexas have partnered to hire a profes-sional fundraiser to secure the remaining

$5.5 million and applications to severalfederal grant programs have alreadybeen made. Addi-tionally, a websitededicated to theproject has beenlaunched to provideup-to-date informa-tion about theproject as well as an

Aransas County has pledged$948,000 towards the cost of opening

the pass, while CCA Texas haspledged an additional $500,000.

opportunity for individuals to make con-tributions online atwww.restorecedarbayou.org.

“We have been very pleased withthe pace of progress,” said AransasCounty Judge C.H. “Burt” Mills. “There isa considerable amount of momentumbuilding towards the successful conclu-sion of this project, and it is good to beable to say that after so many years offrustration with the permit applicationand approval process. The private/public

partnership has worked beautifully sofar and it has been the key to movingthis project to reality so quickly.”

Coastal Harbor Engineering hasbeen tasked with proceeding with finalengineering and surveys for theproject, which are expected to take fourto five months to complete. When

those plans are complete and full funding

YOU ARE INVITED TO THE CCA TEXAS30TH ANNUAL STATE BBQ

& STAR TOURNAMENT AWARDSTHURSDAY, OCT 4th / 5 P.M.

NEW LOCATION!BAYOU CITY EVENT CENTER

INCLUDES GOODE CO. BARBECUE PLATE, BEER,WINE & SOFT DRINKS

CONTACT: KIM AT CCA 713/626-4222

RESERVED TABLES AVAILABLE(SEATS 10 FOR $400)

SINGLE TICKETS- $30 by MONDAY,OCT. 1ST, 5:00 p.m., $35 at door

CHILDREN’S TICKETS -UNDER 16 - $10 (AT DOOR ONLY)

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Middle CoastUpper Coast Lower CoastBy Larry Bozka By Capt. Tommy Countz By Capt. Sally Black

Early morning topwaters,super action in the surf

August may well be the hottest month for fish-ing. Temperature-wise, yes, but the fishing aswell. Calmer winds, and the opportunity tospend time fishing the surf increases. AroundMatagorda, 20 miles of beach front isaccessable by 4x4 east of the mouth of theColorado River. West, 25 miles of beach frontis accessable only by boat. Any time that thesurf is flat and green you can find me there.

I'll start the morning with top waters, thenswitch to soft plastic or Mirrolures. I key onbait, slicks, and sometimes birds working overshrimp near the beach. The magic of fishing thesurf is the wide variety of fish that your nextcast might encounter. Spanish mackerel, pom-pano, trout and redfish roam the rich green wa-ters.

In East Matagorda Bay on calm days, wewade the mid-bay reefs. Top waters at daylight,then Corkys or Norton Sand Shads can resultin coolers of fat speckled trout. On the southshore of East Matagorda, fishing grass bedsand drains can afford you some super redfishaction. There's nothing more exciting thanwatching a well-placed topwater result in a mas-sive explosion.

In West Matagorda Bay, it's pretty muchthe same scenerio, with a real plus—tripletail!These fish can be found around almost anystructure. An encounter with a 10-20 pound“tail” is pure war on light tackle. Live shrimpfished 4-5 feet under a cork is the ticket for put-ting a tasty tripletail in your cooler. September brings the first hints of fall to themiddle coast. Throwing topwaters to schoolsof redfish while teal strafe the shorelines isabout as good as it gets. If you are a fly fisher-man, look for nervous bait, movement in thewater, and of course, an occasional flaggingtail. And then, here comes great fall fishing.—Capt. Tommy Countz

Tommy is an award-winning mid-coastguide. If you want more information aboutMatagorda fishing call him at 281-450-4037or check out his website:www.matagordafishing.com.

Bronze bulls and silver kings—surf andlate summer gold standards

Blue water all the way to the sand—but solar-heated, air-clear saltwater paints a challengingpicture for surf waders. Speckled trout and red-fish are sensitive to heat, so the dawn’s earlylight window of opportunity is fleeting. Goodthing, then, that the sweltering weeks beforeand after Labor Day herald the start of Big FishSeason in the tide-carved vicinity of bay-to-Gulf passes.

Tending 9-foot-long surf rods, beachfrontbullfighters catch and release 30-pound-classredfish with delightful regularity. Heavy mono,long shock leaders, wire-pronged surf spiderweights and circle hooks baited with live ordead mullet entice massive bronze bulls thatare invariably jaw-hooked … and, after an un-forgettable fight and a few quick photographs,released unharmed. No boat required.

Outside those same passes, it’s TarponTime. Port O’Connor’s Pass Cavallo, the Colo-rado River at Matagorda, San Luis Pass be-tween Freeport and Galveston... the shallowexpanse from the North Galveston Jetty on upto High Island, the Fish of a Lifetime waits.Hundred-pounders are commonplace. Circlehooks are essential to conservation. It’s a no-guarantees game of open-water hide-and-seek,played from the consoles of slowly-driftingboats by sunburned fishermen who incessantlyscour the horizon with the assist of polarizedshades. Their mission? An aquatic VisionQuest, focused on spotting the liquid-silverglint of a surfaced pod of tarpon “rolling”upcurrent in steady synchronicity.

Hookups are common. Landings are not.Granite-hard jaws are adapted to throwing fish-hooks, circular or otherwise. But the mercurialsilver kings of September are the undisputedgold standard. Be warned— a single, spectacu-lar jump from a trophy-caliber tarpon can hookan unsuspecting angler for life. —Larry Bozka

Larry has been one of the region's topwriters and photographers for 25 years. Hisbook, Saltwater Strategies, is the definitvetome for all coastal anglers. Visit his website-blog: http://larrybozka.com/bozblog/

Now's the prime time for shallow waterfishing on Baffin Bay

The summer is hot in Texas, that’s a fact. But,because shallow water cools off the fastest, it’sthe first place that cools down after a long, hotday and stays cool all night long. Predatorsrange there to find easy food throughout thenight and the early part of the next day, makingit perfect for the shallow water fisherman.

Because of the lack of tidal move-ment in the Baffin and Upper Laguna Madrearea, the secret to finding these perfect fishingplaces starts with water levels and wind-driventide. Keep track of water outflows and influxesand wind blown water by watching real-timereports from stations atwww.tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov. Tracking thewind direction, water level and movementtrends along with air pressures will help todetermine where to start fishing. Whenstarting early in the summer, go as shallow aspossible. Look for tailing redfish and blackdrum in grass mats and along the edges ofgrass and sand. As the sun gets up, stalksilently on the sand looking for the big shapesof redfish, black drum and even giant trout.Toss small soft plastics, like a SaltwaterAssassin paddle tail in natural colors on verylight jig heads (1/16th or 1/32nd oz). A 1/8th ozgold or copper weedless spoon is also deadlywhen sightcasting in a foot of water or less.The best lure presentation is quiet and natural.No prey ever swam up from behind apredator; neither does it swim right into apredator. Fly fishermen do all of the above,but toss small and large flies in natural colorsyou can see, such as seaducers, clousers anddeceivers. Fly fishing is really the bestpresentation in shallow water, but whateveryou throw, be quiet and deliberate.—Capt. Sally Black / Baffin Bay Rod and Gunwww.BaffinBayRodandGun.comSally@CaptainSally.comFacebook: Baffin Bay Rod and GunTwitter: @CaptainSallyCap'n Sal says: I like this picture because 1) my hus-band is in it, 2) my new boat looks sweet perchedabove that calm water, and 3) the wind’s not blowingfor a change!

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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.

(Chloe) -4.8 lbs. / Guided Artificial - Redden’sA-Luring Ladies - 14.3 lbs. / Guided Any Bait -Bettin’ on Brett - 20.24 lbs. / Junior DivisionGuided - Reel Sassy - 7.54 lbs.

For complete list of winners go towww.babesonthebay.com

Karol Scardino was presented an award bymembers of the Aransas Bay Chapter of CCAfor ten years of outstanding leadership anddedication to the Babes on the Bay tournamentwhose mission is to get women involved infishing. Mark your calendars for the 14thBabes on the Bay tournament to be held inRockport, Texas, May 17-18, 2013.

Saturday, August 11, 2012 - Check yourcalendars and make sure you have reservedthis date for the 13th Annual Aransas BayChapter Banquet to be held at the Paws andTaws Convention Center in Fulton, Texas. Asin the past there will be a live auction includingtrips, art, sculptures, etc.; silent auction withwide selection of goodies; raffle to test yourluck and door prizes. Dinner, drinks and a CCAMembership are included in your ticket priceand tickets will be on sale at Rockport TackleTown and Seaworthy Marine. You may contactMichelle Green, Banquet Chairperson, atfishin.fools2012@gmail.com for advanced ticketreservations, Sponsor opportunities, donationsor any questions you may have. We look for-ward to seeing you there for an evening offood and fun and thank you in advance for yoursupport of CCA. Tight lines, —Carter

AustinScott Sanderson 512-637-1750

scott@mbsquoteline.comI hope you were able to join us for our 2012banquet. Thanks to unprecedented supportfrom our sponsors, donors and members, thenight was a whole lot of fun and an incrediblesuccess. Roughly 1200 CCA friends convenedat the Palmer Events Center May 10th for agreat night of festivities, with beverages flow-

ing and food from some of Austin’s finest res-taurants.

It featured a spectacular live auction withhunting and fishing trips to four continents, ourShallow Sport banquet boat raffle, Austin’s infa-mous YETI Cooler game and the biggest andbest raffle and silent auction Austin’s ever of-fered. Fundraising records were set on everyfront. Banquet revenue was up over $200,000from 2011, and the final tally shows netfundraising for the night was over $300,000.The Austin board extends its sincere thanks toall our great sponsors, donors and members fortheir generous support of CCA and for makingour 33rd annual fundraiser the best in the his-tory of the Austin chapter.

Congratulations to Steven Cuellar, thewinner of Austin’s 2012 Boat Raffle! At our ban-quet we drew the winning ticket out of only500 sold and Steven was the proud owner ofticket #301. Well, now Steven is the proudowner of a 21’ Shallow Sport Bahia! Word isSteven was rigged and on the water, fishingthe STAR tournament by Memorial Day week-end. Thank you to our boat sponsors,Firestone Complete Auto Care and Burt Watts,and to Shallow Sport Boats and CoastlineTrailers for making it possible to give awaysuch an awesome rig. Watch for another spe-cial boat coming soon as we get set for our2013 giveaway. Remember, tickets were soldout before the banquet this year, so get yoursearly.

[ Cutline for pix: Michael Curlee congratu-lates Steven Cuellar and family, winners ofAustin’s 2012 Shallow Sport. ]

We have just had our July Anglers’ NightOut, with Captains Sally and Aubrey Blacksharing their legendary fishing knowledge withour chapter. If you haven’t made it to one ofour ANOs lately you really need to. Withguest speakers like Jay Watkins, KT Townsendand Captain Sally and Captain Black, we’re onquite a run. ANO is every other month on thethird Wednesday (next one will be September19 so mark your calendar) and are open to allto come and enjoy. Bring a guest and ask themto Join CCA! We meet at Abel’s on the Lake,there’s no charge to attend, you’ll get a freemeal courtesy of Smokey Denmark SmokedMeats, and we promise you’ll learn a lot aboutfishing the Texas coast! And of course, ladiesand children are always welcome.

Our chapter is growing by leaps andbounds and we can always use more help. If

you’d like to join a funand dedicated group ofmen and women as wetake Austin to evengreater heights, justcontact me about be-coming a board mem-ber. We will welcomeyou. And remember,our Junior board is do-ing great things too,and welcomes anyyoungster between theages of 13-18 to get in-volved.

Be sure to Friendus on Facebook bysearching Coastal Con-servation Association

Alvin-PearlandRex Richards 281-923-3050

The Alvin Pearland Chapter just finished up our2012 Fundraising Banquet and preliminary num-bers indicate that we will be setting anotherrecord year! This does not happen without atremendous amount of support. Special Thanksgo out to all of our Sponsors and Donors.

Our Title Sponsors this year were TheOak Financial Group – Rex Richards, SunbeltValve Services – John Richie and Academy. Sil-ver Sponsors were Diamond Hydraulics, TidalTank/Tarp Depot and Del Papa Distributing.Other Table Sponsors included Baumann Ma-rine Service, Friendswood Firewood, M-1Transport, Lone Star Construction, Mike’sGlass and Mirror, Ron Carter AutoDealerships, Dacon/Dashiell, Dorsett BrothersConcrete, Frost Bank, and Glazer’s Distribu-tors. The 2012 Hat Raffle was sponsored byWadefishing.com. The Card Raffles were spon-sored by Allied Fire Protection and Back BayRods. As a chapter tradition, Fishing TackleUnlimited sponsored the Stringer Game. OurSportsman’s Raffle was a great success thisyear thanks to the support of The ShootersCorner, Yeti Coolers, Capt. Bill Pustejovskyand Capt. Steve Hillman.

There are many others who donated toour event as well. Space does not allow us tolist everyone, but please know that your dona-tions are very valuable and most appreciatedby our chapter and CCA.

Many of these sponsors and donors sup-port the CCA and our chapter every year. Thisis an important component our success eachyear! Please try to support those who supportus whenever you can. Of course, our eventcould not happen if it were not for all of the tre-mendous work and support of our dedicatedboard members. Thanks to all of you for step-ping up to get everything done! You did agreat job!

In other chapter news, we would like tothank Capt. Anthony Pieper of Pieper’s GuideService for speaking at our June Meeting. Heshared a lot of tips and tactics we can all use onthe water! We are still finalizing all of the Gen-eral Meeting Speakers for the rest of the year,so stay tuned to your e-mail for the announce-ments. On that note, if you would like to be in-cluded on our Chapter E-mail Distribution List,send a request toAlvinPearlandCCA@yahoo.com. Please besafe on the water this summer!—Rex Richards

Aransas BayCarter Crigler 435-830-5984

jccrigler@hotmail.comThe 13th Annual Babes on theBay all women’s fishing tourna-ment sponsored by the AransasBay Chapter under the leadershipof Karol Scardino set a new par-ticipation record again this year.Thanks to the new and returningmembers of CCA and manythanks to vendors, sponsors andvolunteers. This year the tourna-ment held in Rockport had 1,301lady/babette entrants with cashpots exceeding $31,000. Firstplace winners in their respectivedivisions were: Non-guided Arti-ficial - New Water Curlew Chicks- 12.54 lbs. / Non-guided AnyBait - Gypsy Catch - 19.06 lbs. /Non-guided Juniors - Jail Bait

We were pleased to present a very special award to Karol Scardino, in recog-nition of her dedication for 10 years as Babes in the Bay Tournament Director.—Aransas Bay chapter President, Carter Crigler

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Austin Chapter. It’s a great way to keepup with everything going on in the Aus-tin Chapter and make sure you don’t missa thing. Join STAR, hit the water and havea safe and happy summer. —ScottSandersonscott@mbsquoteline.com

Bay AreaCurtis Anderson 832-421-6377

Well, the Mainland Chapter has pulled offanother successful banquet, which washeld in Texas City on Friday May 4. Wehave two other events coming up in thenext few months that I we would like totalk about real quick. As Currents goesto press, we will have had Captain Rob-ert Sloan with High Tail Anglers talk tous about summertime fishing on the up-per coast.

We have our 4th annual CCA MainlandChapter Kids Fishing Tournament coming up,but have not yet determined a date yet. Moreto come later.

Getting back to the banquet, I would per-sonally like to thank all of the Mainland ChapterBoard Members for making this happen. Not ina million years would we be able to pull this offwithout their help. On behalf of CCA MainlandChapter we would like to thank all of thosewho attended the banquet as well as all of oursponsors. As in prior years, Academy has do-nated many of our raffle items, Del Papa Dis-tributing and Kroger for our drinks, Cook Fordfor the koozies, American National InsuranceCompany printed our program, and Apollo Sign& Shirt with Chris Sapp Insurance providedthe hats.

BP America, C-Bar Contractors, Hilliard,Story, Long, GE-Betz, Shelmark Engineering,

Eastman, Texas First Bank, Walton Roofing,Randy’s Marine, Valero, Ron Carter, SeriousTackle, Crescent Electric, Stronghold,Dickinson Feed, Marine Max, Kyle Jackson,McRee Ford, Envantage, Wayne Faircloth, andAffiliated Power all purchased CorporateTables. Thanks to all of the other contributorsof time, advertising, and products that wereused for our raffles and auctions. JZ Rails, BayOil, Capt. Randall Groves, Capt. Scott Null,Capt. Lloyd Pepper, BAAD Marine,Chickenboylures, Creative Feathers, HAAK,Break Water Marine, Billy Styx, Sherwin-Will-iams, Castaway Rods, StickEmRods, Capt.Kurt Saures, Outcast Reels, Hackberry Rodand Gun, Snider Transmission, Mickey’s Ma-rine, Doreck & Sons, and Ron Hoover.

We have already booked the time and lo-cation for next year’s banquet. It will be held onFriday May 3, 2013 at the Nessler Center inTexas City. If you would like to get involved in

a great cause give me a call. —Eric281-534-6242

Brazoria CountyWes Dingee 979-299-8245

Brazos ValleyLarry Purifoy 979-229-4752

Everyone who attended theIntraCoastal Challenge in PortAransas had a fun time, and wonsome nice door prizes. Everyonenot able to attend were greatlymissed! We will try again next year tobest the competition from our fellowchapters. Everyone is busy fishingand enjoying the excellent weatherthis year!

We meet each second Tues-day of every month at the BrazosCenter, 3232 Briarcrest Dr., Bryan,

Texas under the pavilion in the back, or insideat a designated place during inclement weather.We welcome anyone who is interested in join-ing our chapter, so please plan to visit us. Any-one wishing to be on our e-mail list can e-mailchapter secretary Tammy Aaron atbcsgoldtx@gmail.com and ask to be added tothe list or Larry at lwpurifoy@yahoo.com.

Our chapter will be planning aninterchapter tournament for this fall, so plan toattend the upcoming meetings and let us knowwhat kind of tournament would be fun. Friendand follow us on Facebook, Brazos ValleyCCA. Happy Fishing, —Tammy Aaron Secre-tary

BrenhamDennis Crowson 979-451-2472Dennis.crowson@hotmail.com

San Antonio banquet: Guess who won the gun event— AustinCCA president Scott Sanderson? Wrong. The gun goes to SanAntone's Junior event chairman, Joseph Sanderson. JohnGraham, above left, was SA's gun chairman.

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Brush CountryHank Henry 361-215-6803

CentexBrad Hensel 254-776-3411

Central HoustonTodd Buster Mobil, 713-545-

1897

Colorado ValleyJonathan Brandt, (aka JK)

979-966-2679jkjb00@cmaaccess.com

Corpus ChristiWelcome new president, Andy

Poelma 361-851-1129r_poelmacpa@sbcglobal.net

What an honor to be yourpresident for this great chapter– thank you! Monthly meet-ings will resume after the sum-mer fun slows down and thekids are back in school.Upcoming events –Guides Cup - October 4-5,2012. Contact Cody Roesner,Chairman 916-531-0078.Captains dinner and Calcutta,Thursday evening at 6:00 pm.Babes on Baffin and Blue La-dies Fishing Tournament - Oc-tober 5-6, 2012.

Registration is now under-way for the 8th Annual Babeson Baffin and Blue Ladies Fish-ing Tournament. The tournament is our annualColumbus Day weekend event. This year itwill take place on Saturday, October 6 at Rob-erts Point Park in Port Aransas. Friday night’scheck-in and social will be at Doc’s Restaurantin Corpus Christi. To encourage conservation,the tournament features a live weigh-in and do-nation bonus with the live fish going to theCCA/CPL Marine Development Center in Cor-pus Christi to be placed in the kid fish pond.Tournament entry includes Saturday dinner ca-tered by Castaways, a long sleeve T-shirt, vi-sor, gift bag, and an annual CCA membership.Awards will range from a $500 Grand SlamTeam Award to one for Best Team Outfit. Therewill be raffles and optional cash pot opportuni-ties. So far, our wonderful sponsors are: FifteenCarat Diamond Sponsor: My Pink Marlin; TenCarat Diamond Sponsors: Total Oilfield Equip-ment & Supply, LLC, and, Jackie’s Brickhouselocated in Kemah; Five Carat Diamond Spon-sor: John and Laura Holmgreen. Read moreabout the tournament atwww.babesonbaffin.com. We heartily wel-come all lady anglers to the Coastal Bend for aweekend of fishing and fun. Contact CandaceTidmore, 713-444-4903.

Poco Rojo Kids Fish – October 20, 2012.Contact Mike Henry 361-816-0300.

As always, if you have an interest in join-ing our board and being involved in conserva-tion of our coastal resources, please contact aboard member or myself atr_poelmacpa@sbcglobal.net. It’s for the fish.–Randy Poelma

Dallas / North TexasWelcome new president, Craig Jones

817-239-6200As incoming President, I want to thank every-one for the success of our banquet in April.The vendors, donors, members, attendees andguests all came together for a great event! Spe-cial thanks to outgoing 2-year President John

Hansen, your enthusiasm and leadership are re-ally appreciated!

We are in search of a Corporate sponsorto help underwrite our next banquet in 2013, soanybody that has a connection or a businesswith a desire to help out and get a lot of greatpublicity, please let me know. I am honored tobe a part of this great organization and look for-ward to a memorable year.

In June we had a booth at Tailwaters fortheir anniversary celebration. It was a greattime and we signed up over 20 new members,including several Life Members! Thanks to allthe folks that joined or renewed and welcome.Thanks as well to the volunteers for staffingour booth and, as always, a big thanks toTailwaters for all of their support. If you are aFly fisherman and have not checked outTailwaters, please do so - http://www.tailwatersflyfishing.com

We will be planning some general mem-bership gatherings this fall, so please be on thelookout for information to follow. We are insearch of a ‘home’ to have regular meetings, soIf anybody has a great place to suggest pleasecontact me.

Walker Hairston is our newly appointedchief of Social Media, so please check out theFacebook page – dallascca for really great pic-tures, updates and general information. Makesure to “friend” us! We are trying to posteverybody’s fishing pictures, so please submitphotos – even the “old school” pictures.

I hope everybody is able to get sometime on the saltwater and the wind cooperatesas we settle into a summer pattern. Good Luck!—Craig Jones Craig_a_jones@yahoo.compresident@dallascca.org

East TexasDr. Jim Norman 936-554-3165

jnorman7@suddenlink.net

Fort BendWelcome new President,

Clint Shepard 832-595-5375Hello All. Summer recap so far:Your Fort Bend chaptertook 1st place in theCCA’s Inter ChapterChallenge Tournament(ICC Tournament). Ourteam was made of a good mix ofold salts and some young saltshakers and let me tell yousomething, these guys can fish.Way to go guys! Our “Lingerie On The Bay”all ladies fishing tournament wasanother huge success and as al-ways a fun event. This year wehad 291 ladies, and 67 in the sidepot. These ladies can fish andfrom what I could tell a goodtime was had by all. We hope tosee you all again next year. Our “Jimmy Guest MemorialKid’s Fishing Tournament” wasalso a great event with around150 young anglers fishing thisyear. Special thanks to all thosethat helped and also for all thosethat brought the kiddo’s and with-stood the heat. Despite the heat,get out of the A/C and enjoy thegreat outdoors! Till next time,

—Clint Shepard

Fort Worth Fearn Mastin 817-291-1302

GalvestonShane Justus 713-818-6940

Golden TriangleJoseph Ramey 409-338-1095

As of this writing on June 26, the recreationalfishing season is definitely “on,” as evidencedby the three times I have been down onBolivar and in Galveston for various fishingtournaments. Jerry Niekamp and Ed Gordonhosted their annual HAPL (Houston Associa-tion of Professional Landmen) tourney out ofSea Isle Marina on West Bay. It always amazesme to go to a weigh-in, and see the various fishthat are caught—both size and type. AndyRische won big fish, with a 50 lb. jackfishcaught in the Bay. Many redfish and trout werealso caught.

Two weeks later, Boogie’s Tournament onBolivar was held, and the wind was not realkind. However there were many fish caught—both inshore and offshore. Mandy Wilson wonthe speck division, Christine Grozkowsky wonredfish, Kirk Brenner won the flounder divi-sion, Rocky Chapman won red snapper, EarlFrost won first and second in King, and GregBiesindome won with a good ling.

Will Jenkins and I were able to go downto Sabine Lake not long ago, and again, thewind was a bit rough, so we eased on up in tothe Bessie Heights marsh. It had been a longtime since I had fished up there, but it is a pris-tine marsh, that looks much like Big Pastureand Yates Bayou on East Bay. Gorgeous redfisheverywhere—very peaceful place to fish ifyou get run off the lake.

As of 6/26, there have been 4 tagged redscaught in the STAR tourney, with 2 being veri-fied as legal entrants and winners of the boat,

The 2005 CCA Texas STAR New Tide $20K Scholarship Drawing Winner,Kaylea Erwin - Alice High School Scholarship Awards Banquet, May24. A note from Kaylea's mother, Jan Erwin: "The scholarship night went verywell. Hank Henry, The CCA Brush Country chapter president, did a great jobof presenting Kaylea with her scholarship. We were delighted to have the in-volvement of CCA for this opportunity."

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motor, trailer, and F-150, and the other twowere not entered. When will they ever learn?

In general, the fishing has been fabulousthe 1st part of this summer, all over the uppercoast. “Debby” made her entrance on to theFlorida coast and is soaking the panhandle ofFlorida pretty good right now. The temperatureof the Gulf is approaching 90 degrees, so weshall all be watching the Gulf with batedbreath….pun intended! So get out there, catchyou one, and GO FISH! —Rocky Chase

Greater Sugar LandDavid Kveton 281-808-4870

Hope everyone is having a great summer. Wehad our first kid fish with the City of SugarLand. The kid fish was held on June 2 at SugarLand Memorial Park. Thanks to Barry Walterwith the City of Sugar Land Parks Dept. and allthe members that worked the event. Turnoutwas great!

Our monthly meetings will start back upWednesday, August 1st at 7 pm at Spring CreekBAR B-Q on HWY 6 in Missouri City. Comeon out for some great BBQ and meet somegreat people. Check out our facebook page athttp//www.Facebook.com/ccasugarland.—David Kveton

Greater WoodlandsJimmy Pape / 832-326-6723

www.ccatexas.org/greater-woodlandsFirst off, we should all recognize our new in-coming chapter officers Bryant Bennett (presi-dent), Charlotte O’Dell (treasurer) and RussellDennis (historian). I’m sure we will all put for-ward our best effort to make this year is just assuccessful as our previous ones. Also thanksto our outgoing president (Jimmy Pape) and of-ficers who made last year one of our most suc-cessful years to date. We have a strong act tofollow and definitely will not let them down.

At our last meeting the topic of most im-portance was the upcoming annual banquet. Weare still firming up the exact date, but we areshooting for September. Last year’s banquetwas our best yet and there is no reason whythis year can’t be even better. Look forward toall chapter members contributing in some wayto the banquet. Our next meeting is scheduledfor July 25 at Rico’s Mexican restaurant onSawdust Rd, in The Woodlands. The meetingshould start around 6:30-7pm look forward toseeing everyone there! Until then, hope every-body is catching fish and doing their best tostay cool. —Russell Dennis, Historian

Guadalupe ValleyCliff Weber 361-275-6506

Hays CountySteve Schiber 512-524-2989

Hays County CCA started July out with aBANG! Getting ready for our banquet, August23rd in San Marcos Texas, we provided twoboats all decked out in red, white and blue forthe Wimberley Fourth of July parade, alongwith our over-sized golf cart that will soon bein one lucky raffle winners hands. Tickets aremoving at an amberjack’s pace.As president of the Hayscounty CCA, I would like tothank my board members forall their hard work. The suc-cess of ticket sales at the pa-rade and rodeo is truly the re-ward of their hard work.

Remember August 23 atThe San Marcos Activity Cen-ter Located at 501 E hopkins,

San Marcos Texas. Doors open at 6pm withdinner being served at 7pm. For tickets callme: 512-924-2989. —Steve Schiber

Heart of the HillsRandy Plummer 830-377-0737

Members of the Heart of the Hills Chapter par-ticipated in the CCA Inter-Chapter Challengefishing tournament in Aransas Pass in June. Wehad a great steak dinner on Friday evening anda lot of good fellowship. Several people in ourgroup even won door prizes - three Yeti cool-ers and a Shimano reel. On Saturday, we hadbeautiful weather and everyone caught fish.Our team’s three trout and one redfish stringertotaled over 20 pounds and was good enoughto take second place in the tournament. Con-gratulations to Kelly Parks for catching the 1stplace trout in the tournament and to ScottSchwake for the heaviest hardhead.

We are getting ready for the Heart of theHills Banquet at the Boerne Community Cen-ter in mid-September. For ticket information orto volunteer, give me a call at 210-380-5709.Look forward to seeing you there! —JimSimmons 210-380-5709

Hill CountryDarlene Cook 800-594-2056 ext 217

darlenec@knbt.fmThe Hill Country Tournament was June 16. Wehad over 100 entered and attended the awardsbanquet at Drifter’s Hall in Rockport. Josh andElizabeth Downey and Sterling Schulz did anamazing job! Thank you!

I look forward to the Fall Tournament, Oc-tober 13. Put that date on your calendar! Wehad a fun team for the ICC Tournament, and, wecame in 6th Place! Dawn Koehler was the Cap-tain of the ICC Team and did a great job gettingeveryone organized and at the weigh-in ontime. Our next general meeting is July 17 at theElk’s Lodge in New Braunfels. Jay Watkins isthe guest speaker. We will raffle off a trip withJay and there will be some great door prizes!

A special thanks to Keith Cook, RandyLenz, Quinn Koehler, Josh Downey, BillDaugherty and Jeff Coleman, our meetingscommittee. They’ve gotten great speakers andsome really good door prizes. If you havesomeone you would like to hear at a meetinglet one of them know. We have 36 Directorswho work to promote CCA through meetings,tournaments and the banquet.

The Hill Country Banquet is August 16 atthe New Braunfels Civic Center. We havesome great items this year! A 1985 ChevyBlazer with; Lift Kit with Over Sized MudTires, Bucket Seats, Both Doors and the CargoArea Top have been Removed. Heavy DutyReplacement Bumpers and a Grill Guard withreceiver hitches in both front and rear. CustomCargo basket for either front or rear hitch. Cus-tom Heavy Duty Rear Rack with a Over HeadStorage Basket and Boxes. Custom SnorkelPackage installed on Engine. All of the bodyhas been completely Rhino Lined in LightKhaki Color. All of the Bumpers, Baskets,

Racks, and Stor-age area in therear of theBlazer havebeen RhinoLined in Black.A tricked outjeep. Womenand men’s jew-elry. A customredfish bench.

Elk hunt. A $10 Raffle table that is all new! And!!For the first time, THE WATKINS WADE-OFF!Jay and Jay Ray will compete for the covetedHill Country CCA Watkin’s Wade Off Trophy.Father and son will take six people wade fishingand the winning boat will keep the Trophy forone year until the next Annual Watkins Wade-Off! This will be a hot item at the Banquet! Bringplenty of money, there are a lot of items thatyou will want to take home!

Do you have an item you would like todonate to the banquet? If you have a service ora product you would like to donate, please callme at 830-214-3067. If you would like to makea monetary donation to purchase guns or artwork that would be great. Have you purchasedyour table at the banquet? We have a coupleleft! Hope I saw you at the July 17 meeting atthe New Braunfels Elks Lodge.—Darlene Cook

Houston Real EstateDale Couch 281-953-2510

KatyJason Smith 281-924-7040

LaredoJesse Martinez jmartinez@bushlan.com

956-763-5555

Lee CountyClarence Wolfshohl

979-412-0916Cwolfshohl@claytonwilliams.com

Live OakBrad Kotrla 979-732-1669

Lower ColoradoJ.L. West 979-318-9007

It is with sadness that I start our article with thenews that a dedicated member of our chapterhas passed away. Mrs. Don “Marylyn” Bushadied on May 27, 2012. She was a highly moti-vated person whose efforts made all of our KidFish and fundraiser/banquet events happensmoothly and effectively. Marylyn loved herCCA chapter and she will be missed.

Our chapter hosted our 2nd Annual KidFish on May 19 at the Matagorda CountyBirding and Nature Center ponds. We had 86youngsters ready to go. After enjoying amorning of fishing, everyone was treated to ameal of hotdogs, chips, ice cream and drinks atthe Nature Center Pavilion area. Trophies weregiven by chapter president, Jerry West, to win-ners for the largest accumulative weight of fishcaught in four age categories. As a highlight ofthe awards ceremony, 10 rods and reels werealso given away free to lucky raffle ticket hold-ers.

We want to thank the individuals and busi-nesses who donated funds to make it possiblefor our chapter of CCA to present this event tothe young people of Bay City and surroundingareas. We also want to thank the many volun-teers who took time to help us make this eventa success, and to Drew McGinnes of “ServeOutdoors Inc.” for providing all the fishingequipment at the ponds.

Our 4th annual CCA Fundraiser/Banquetwill be held Friday, AUGUST 17th, at the BayCity Civic Center. MARK YOUR CALEN-DARS. We are already selling Banquet andRaffle tickets, and contacting our local busi-nesses for sponsorships. Last year, we had a lotof great sponsors who made the difference inmaking our banquet a success. Our big rafflethis year will be 10 assorted firearms and 10 as-sorted Yeti coolers for $20 a ticket. That’s 20opportunities to win something for a $20 in-

Hays County's oversized golf cart.

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vestment.For a $40 banquet ticket, you get a CCA

membership, a delicious BBQ meal, drinks, en-tertainment, and a world class auction, all thisfor the price of a tank of gas. It’s going to be agreat event, just like last year. We still have alot of planning to do. It takes a lot of effort froma lot of people to make this event a success. Ifyou can help with ticket sales for the banquet,or ticket sales for the gun/Yeti cooler raffle, ortalk to businesses about underwriting our auc-tion items, or just need information, call JerryWest at 979-318-9007, Ronnie Bose at 979-429-0457, Robbie Noster at 979-241-8598, or JohnKubecka at 979-245-9571.

REMEMBER! The Lower Colorado Chap-ter regularly meets every first Tuesday at 6:30pm. Check your email or the Bay City TribuneMemos column for location. Come early andshare a meal with us. Chapter members get in-volved with your chapter. Come to meetingsand bring a friend. In the meantime, keep thoselines wet. —John Kubecka Secretary, LowerColorado Chapter

Lower Laguna MadreTravis Flanagan 956-207-6391

MainlandEric Minor 281-534-6242

Well, the Mainland Chapter has pulled off an-other successful banquet, which was held inTexas City on Friday May 4. We have twoother events coming up in the next few monthsthat I we would like to talk about real quick. AsCurrents goes to press, we will have had Cap-tain Robert Sloan with High Tail Anglers talkto us about summertime fishing on the uppercoast.

We have our 4th annual CCA MainlandChapter Kids Fishing Tournament coming up,but have not yet determined a date yet. Moreto come later.

Getting back to the banquet, I would per-sonally like to thank all of the Mainland ChapterBoard Members for making this happen. Not ina million years would we be able to pull this offwithout their help. On behalf of CCA MainlandChapter we would like to thank all of thosewho attended the banquet as well as all of oursponsors. As in prior years, Academy has do-nated many of our raffle items, Del Papa Dis-tributing and Kroger for our drinks, Cook Fordfor the koozies, American National InsuranceCompany printed our program, and Apollo Sign& Shirt with Chris Sapp Insurance providedthe hats.

BP America, C-Bar Contractors, Hilliard,Story, Long, GE-Betz, Shelmark Engineering,Eastman, Texas First Bank, Walton Roofing,Randy’s Marine, Valero, Ron Carter, SeriousTackle, Crescent Electric, Stronghold,Dickinson Feed, Marine Max, Kyle Jackson,McRee Ford, Envantage, Wayne Faircloth, andAffiliated Power all purchased CorporateTables. Thanks to all of the other contributorsof time, advertising, and products that wereused for our raffles and auctions. JZ Rails, BayOil, Capt. Randall Groves, Capt. Scott Null,Capt. Lloyd Pepper, BAAD Marine,Chickenboylures, Creative Feathers, HAAK,Break Water Marine, Billy Styx, Sherwin-Will-iams, Castaway Rods, StickEmRods, Capt.Kurt Saures, Outcast Reels, Hackberry Rodand Gun, Snider Transmission, Mickey’s Ma-rine, Doreck & Sons, and Ron Hoover.

We have already booked the time and lo-cation for next year’s banquet. It will be held onFriday May 3, 2013 at the Nessler Center in

Texas City. If you would like to get involved ina great cause give me a call. —Eric

Matagorda BaysLinc Lutrick 979-541-9901

The recent banquet was again sold out. As al-ways, the food catered by Praseks was superb.A highlight was the annual presentation of theGame Warden of the Year, Region 4, whichwent to Warden Carl Shock. Next Currents,we'll have a complete wrapup of the event.—Linc Lutrick

MidCoastDanny Hurta 361-648-4914

Northeast HoustonJason Law 713-898-8594

The summer is flying by with vacations, familyreunions, and hopefully some great fishing. Westarted our monthly happy hour last June, andhad a nice turn out. We will be meeting everysecond Thursday of the month from 6-9pm atMojo’s Sports Grille. It’s located at 18323 WestLake Houston Parkway, Humble, Texas 77346.Come join us for some great brew, tasty food,and many fish tales.

We have been working hard helping puttogether the 2012 CCA Joint Chapter FishingTournament. The weigh-in will be at TopwaterGrill in San Leon on Saturday, October 13. Ifyou would like more info on this tournamentplease email: garybrown@daytonsuperior.com,or call Gary Brown at 281-870-8740. Enjoy therest of your summer, and don’t forget to checkout the latest chapter news on our NortheastHouston Facebook page. —Jason LawJlaw1899@yahoo.com

Northwest HoustonBlayne Eversole 832-444-4579

Our Annual Fund Raising Banquet is scheduledfor Thursday, August 16. This year the banquetwill be held at the Crowne Plaza – HoustonNorthwest located at 12801 Northwest Free-way. (Pinemont at Hwy 290). Get your ticketsearly by calling me or Alan Massey at 281-414-6341. This year we feature a $1 Keg beerHappy Hour starting at 6pm. Dinner is servedat 7 pm and the auction soon thereafter. Pleaseplan to attend and support the NW HoustonChapter of CCA. You can count on a greatvenue and evening program.

Our Speaker for the August 7 GeneralMembership meeting is Captain HollisForrester. He specializes in wade fishing withartificial lures and waterfowl hunting theMatagorda Bay complex. Not only a guide buta teacher for wade fishing, artificial lures andmore. It will be an entertaining evening so joinus.

Our speaker for the June 5th GeneralMembership meeting was Scott Jones,Galveston Bay Foundation’s Director of Advo-cacy. Scott guides the Foundation’s efforts toserve as the watchdog for Galveston Bay.Scott ensures that the Foundation is an activeparticipant in the public review of projects, ini-tiatives and issues that impact the estuary. Hepresented many of the current efforts for wet-land dredge, fill projects and protecting sea-food consumption safety. It was a well-re-ceived evening program.

Our sincere thanks to both Houston Dis-tributing and Academy. They are active spon-sors of our meetings and many events. We areespecially fortunate to have such great support.As a reminder, we are using email for meetingannouncements. If we don’t have your e-mailaddress and you would like to receive our an-

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Partners inconservation

initiativesAt Anheuser-Busch, focusing on envi-

ronmental sustainability is a keyissue. The company operates effi-

ciently to reduce water and energy use andincrease recycling in its facilities across thecountry. As part of this commitment to con-servation efforts, the company has supportedthe Coastal Conservation

Association in their mission to protect coastal re-sources.

In addition to supporting CCA, Anheuser-Busch promotes outdoor sports and wildlife con-servation in several ways, including a $10 mil-lion investment in on-the-ground conservationistinitiatives.

For the past 17 years, the company hadawarded the Conservationist of the Year,

along with the National Fish and Wildlife Founda-tion.

“Since 1995, the Budweiser Outdoors pro-gram has celebrated and supported the passion,dedication and leadership of conservationistsacross the country,” said Bob Fishbeck, senior

manager for the Budweiser brands. “We allhave a responsibility to help protect

our natural resources

and the work being done by CCA and otherwildlife advocates is an inspiration for all of usto follow.”

Throughout the years, the Budweiser Out-doors Program has supported numerous

conservation organizations.“Budweiser has become an important sup-

porter of CCA, and we’re proud to be amongtheir many conservationist partners,” saidRobby Byers, executive director of CCATexas. “Our programs aim to conserve, protectand enhance our coasts for everyone to en-joy.”

nouncements, please sendyour e-mail address tojs_declue@yahoo.com. —Blayne Eversole

Orange CountyScott Bandy 409-988-3667

sabandy@ymail.comWith summer now in fullswing, Orange County CCAis gearing up for anotherSOLD OUT banquet on Au-gust 30th. Banquet SponsorsGranger Chevrolet / OrangeAuto Mart has our five Yeticoolers on display on theirshow room floor. Thesecoolers along with fiveguns supplied by Lonestar Gun Range makeup our 2012 Sportsman Raffle. Raffle tickets areavailable through a banquet committee memberor contact Matt Still in the CCA office. —TightLines —Scott Bandy 409-988-3667Occ_cca@yahoo.com

Piney WoodsJess Mowery 903-736-3891

Port O’ConnorBill Moore 361-983-4690

Summer Greetings from POC and we hope ev-eryone is having a good one. There has been alot of activity on this end and the fishing hasbeen fairly consistent.

Without taking anything away from thesummer activities, we want to remind every-one to come join us on Saturday, October 20th,

for our 13th Annual CCABanquet, which will againbe held at the communitycenter. This year’s eventwill include some greattrips, silent auction, liveauction, door prizes andseveral games in the mix.The last three years havesold out and the chapter isworking to make this oneanother success.

We wish to ex-press our appreciation toseveral POC businesses forassisting in our table/ticketsales. Those listed again

will be Coastal Boat Services, Coastal BendMarine, Port O’Connor Rods, and Sonny’s Ma-rine. Tickets may also be purchased from CCAAssistant Director Ellen Ohmstede, 713-626-4222, ellen@ccatexas.org or from any POCCCA member. So, as we continue to work tosupport our coastal resources, come join us onSaturday, October 20th in POC. “Where it allbegan.” —Bill Moore

PrairieSharon Goebel 979-877-4103

On Saturday May 19, the chapter held our an-nual kid’s fish tournament at the Eberly Ranch inChappell Hill Texas. Many thanks to Georgeand Renee Eberly for the use of their facility.The event was successful despite other activi-

ties in the area. Next year’s tournament may bescheduled for the fall. Information will beposted later in the year.

WHAT AN AWESOME TOURNAMENT!On June 30, the chapter hosted our first annualCCA Prairie Chapter Bay blast fishing tourna-ment which was held at Matagorda Harbor.There were over 35 teams signed up for thetournament. Awards were given to the “heavi-est stringer,” the largest red fish, trout andflounder. Also, a side pot for the biggest hard-head. Thanks to Travis and Amy Herbrig forputting together a great tournament. Also,thanks to all the board members that helpedwith the all-day event. Thanks to Joann Herbrigfor finding the donors who sponsored the giftsfor the $1 and $5 raffles. Thanks to MikeKasprowicz of Cool Blue Fans for keeping thepavilion pleasant. Thanks also, to BellvilleMeat Market for donating the sausage and toLarry Wiestruck and family for preparing thefood. Sorry if I have left anyone out who madethis event a success. This tournament will be-come an annual event. Thanks, —Ron Chess,SR.

Redfish BayNorman Oates 361-758-0266

Put September 20 on your calendars! It is al-most time for the annual Beeville Fish-fry. Funfor all and a chance to help CCA Texas at thesame time. As usual, there will be fried fish andbeer. Live auction, silent auction, and raffleitems will be there for the taking. Plans are still

Louis Moore with Yeti coolersfor the Orange County Sports-man Raffle.

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being made, and wehope to see youthere! Call DanMoore, 361-813-6303, or John Blaha,800-626-4222, fordetails. —NormanOates

Rio Grande ValleyMatt Klosterman

956-642-7965

Sabine-NechesDarin Johnson 409-790-9855

darin.johnson@delpapabud.comHappy Birthday America! Greetings from theSabine Neches Chapter! On May 19th theSabine Neches Chapter hosted the 2nd AnnualKidfish. This year’s participants were greetedwith a bunch of goodies from many of our localbusinesses! While the fishing may not havebeen the best Sabine Lake could offer on thisday, it didn’t matter to our group of young an-glers because to them it was all about the fun!

I would like to thank our sponsors for thisevent, again you went above and beyond tohelp make this a day for the kids to remember;Daley’s Hunt and Fish, Causeway Bait andTackle, Texas Marine, Peavey Distributing (those Little Debbie snacks were addicting)Ancelet’s Cajun Market(awesome links) Sonic,Dairy Queen, Burger King, Classic Chevrolet ofSE Texas, Del Papa Distributing, and SALTClub(thanks for the scale). But, most impor-

tantly, thank you to the moms and dadswho brought out the kids! And Thank

You to all of the volunteers!This day was not

about who caught whatand how many but

more aboutmaking memo-ries and gettingthe young an-glers excitedabout the out-doors! We lookforward to see-ing everyoneand more nextyear. Speaking

of next year, put a big red circle aroundTHURSDAY MARCH 7, 2013! This is the datefor our 16th annual banquet to be held at theBob Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur. Lastyear’s banquet was sold out, it’s never tooearly to get your tickets! Until next time, TightLines to all! See you on the water, —Darin MJohnson

Sam HoustonMark Robinson 936-662-0841

mark6469@hotmail.comSam Houston Chapter Annual Banquet / Au-gust 02, 20126 pm, Walker County Storm Shel-ter TICKETS:Individual - $40 / TABLES: Cor-porate Table - $400 To purchase tickets or formore information, please contact: CampbellWeber, 713-626-4222 or email,cweber@ccatexas.org

San AntonioJohnny Rayburg 210-837-5500CCASanAntonio@yahoo.com

San BernardRoyce Macha 979-472-5211

San GabrielJohn Melnar

512- 497-8284As this newsletterreaches you on August1, (I hope) our 10th An-nual banquet is rightaround the corner on

Thursday, August

9. We still have tables and tickets available. In-dividual tickets are $90 each and will be avail-able at the door. Tickets include a BBQ dinnerand open bar. We will have live and silent auc-tions which will include fishing and huntingtrips, select artwork, and many other greatitems. We will also have our card games for apair of custom boots and an IPad. Another rafflewill be a custom AR-15, last year this gun wasa very hot item!

A new game we will have this year is a 10Gun/10 Yeti Cooler raffle. We have pistols,rifles, and shotguns. In addition to the guns, wehave 10 coolers ranging in size from 35 quartto 250 quart. Tickets are only $100 each. Only250 tickets will be sold. That’s a 1-in 12.5chance to win a prize ranging from $400-$800.Who doesn’t need a new gun or Yeti cooler?

We would also like to announce that wehave a new Title Sponsor for our banquet. DonHewlett Chevrolet has stepped up to the plateand drove one deep! They have been a spon-sor in the past but have now gone the extramile for us. So if you’re in the market for a newor used vehicle, please take the time to stop bytheir dealership or visit their website atwww.donhewlett.com.

Please come out and help us celebrate our10th annual banquet. We want to make this yearour best yet. If you can’t make the banquet butwould like to purchase a ticket for the Gun/Cooler raffle or you have any questions,please feel free to contact me atjmelnar@piscavore.com or 512-497-8284.Thanks for your response. Thanks, —JohnMelnar

San JacintoPete Ruiz 832-496-4903

HELLO, fishing buddies. By the time you readthis, we will have had a great banquet on July12. We’ll have barbecue, lots of raffle items andtrips with fine guides like Mickey Eastman andScott Null. I am working on an August meet-ing. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing or hunt-ing. It puts a smile on their faces, and yourfaces as well. See you all soon,—Pete Ruiz

TAMU Burr Thornton 559-901-9783

Texas StateRobin Benson 830-385-1081

Sabin Neches Kidfish was a fine day for all.

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Redfish sighting, spotted on Hwy 87.

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.

Double Hook Up! Cici Hart and Ronnie Luster found reds in The Lagoon. Great ActionPhoto by Tom Hart.

Tomball/MagnoliaMatt Maddox 832-590-1828

Tri-CountyJason Trial 830-570-2988

Trinity BayGerald Payne 281-385-2894

West HoustonWelcome new president, Joe Perez

832-279-4794

West TexasCraig McDonnold 432-682-3499

Roger Letz / Communications Director432-685-6026 rc1301@aol.com

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www.samcaldwell.comTexas State Artist 2004

281-455-9390

The Last Laugh

Hundreds of brilliant illustrations flowed from thepen of master artist Ben Kocian. This paintingbrought one of many top awards to Tide Magazineand CCA from the Texas Outdoor WritersAssociation.

"Thirteen Years Old" National awardfrom OWAA, First Place OutdoorPainting.

"Copano Bay Redfish Release"Second place national award.

Gclees available. Drop by my websitefor details,other fineart offerings.

~23~

~24~

6919 Portwest Suite 100 / Houston, TX 77024

CURRENTS NEWSLETTERAugust / September 2012

NON-PROFIT

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

HOUSTON, 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, patch, decal, iron-on T-shirt transfer, redfish sticker.

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 is yourstarting point for almost anything you needto know about outdoor Texas, includinglinks to many areas. Visit http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/ To focus on fishingand boating, visithttp://www.tpwd.-state.tx.us/fishboat/.

Current size, bag and possession limitsare now available through the Texas Parks &Wildlife website: TPWD has a number to reportgame violations. 1-800-792-4263.

A partner with CCA in aiding Texas gameand Game Wardens is Operation Game Thief.Drop by and put this website on your favoriteslist:http://www.ogttx.com/

CoastalConservation

Association

Idle Iron, or criticalfisheries habitat?