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The newsletter for CCA members in TexasDecember 2011 / January 2012

CURRENTS

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Austin CCA Laguna Madre Trip,hosted by Scott Sanderson:

A speckled trout went for this weirdOrvis fly, cast by Sam Caldwell on aHexagraph fly rod, in The Hole, near

the Land Cut. Great Photo ByStephen Boriskie.

WardenFrank

DickersonBy Jack King

Frank Dickerson was success-ful and happy as a TexasParks & Wildlife Regional Su-

pervisor in the Texas Hill Country.But in 1975, enforcement problemson the Texas coast were escalating,and Law Enforcement DirectorHenry Burkett wanted a strongleader for newly created Region 10.Frank and wife Faye were reluctantto move, but he accepted the chal-lenge, and was an enforcementleader on the coast until he retiredin 1993.

Frank Dickerson’s tenure sawexceptional changes, especially in coastal conser-vation. The illegal harvest of trout and redfishhad become a serious issue. Frank was among theleaders who began a three-sided solution. Theyrecognized the problem, devised a plan to defeatthe problemand success-fully imple-mented theplan to removevirtually all il-legal nettingfrom Texaswaters by1985.

The three sides were private fishermen (afterGCCA was formed in 1977); TPWD biologists (de-veloping management plans to restore fish popu-lations and reduce overfishing); and law enforce-ment (catching violators and picking up miles ofillegal monofilament nets and trotlines.)

The three sides worked together to writenew regulations and statutes, get them passed,and implemented stiffer penalties for illegal fish-ing and stricter bag limits. Illegal netting becamemostly a thing of the past by 1985.

During Frank’s tenure, he designed, wrote andimplemented the Coast Watchers Program

which provided training and information toGCCA members in chapters all along the Texascoast. The goal—be more effective in workingwith Texas Game Wardens on observing, recog-nizing and reporting illegal fishing activity. Thisprogram was so successful it was implemented inother Gulf states by GCCA. Frank also workedwith GCCA on innovative new enforcement tech-

niques. His goalssound like a littanyof coastal needs andfinally, all were suc-cessful.

Dickersen workedfor regulations andstatutes to ban netsfrom coastal waters,make monofilamentnets illegal, maketop-water trotlinesillegal, make artifi-cial bait on trotlinesillegal, to establishcivil restitution andstatutes to allow forthe seizure offisherman’s boats,motors and vehicleswhen caught taking

trout

and redfish illegally,and to prevent thepurchase and sale ofTexas-caught troutand redfish.

During his ten- ure, he wasrecognized andhonored by GCCAfor his leadership indealing with illegalnetting and harvestof redfish andspeckled trout onthe lower TexasCoast. Frank wasnamed Game Warden of the Year, Game Wardenof the Decade and then after he had retired,Game Warden of the Century.

Frank was also honored by Sportsmen Con-servationist of Texas (SCOT) as Law EnforcementOfficer of the year for his leadership in the fightagainst illegal commercial fishing and illegal har-vest of redfish and trout.

There are anecdotes about that crucialstretch of Texas coastal history, and Franktook part in many of them. One day, sev-

eral wardens had confiscated a large series ofmono nets. We were removing a huge pile oftrout from the nets in our coastal building, priorto donating the fillets to charitable organizations.A car pulled up outside, with netters yelling ob-scenities. One of my favorite memories of serviceon the coast was watching as Frank Dickersonreached into the back window of that car and

A champion of coastalenforcement passes

In the 1975-1985 period,GCCA, TPWD Law En-forcement and TPWD Bi-ologists worked togetherto solve illegal nettingproblems. A turning pointcame when “The Church”was burned, apparentlyby illegal netters. Paint-ing by Herb Booth.

Later, a large collec-tion of confiscatedmonofilament nets wasburned. Warden Jack King,now retired, is on right. Photoby Larry Bozka.

At Frank Dickerson’s re-tirement, Paul Wimberly pre-sented Dickerson with a whitecommercial fisherman’s boot,

...such an exceptional 10-year period forconservation, where you see all parties all

parties come together, work together,identify the problem, eliminate the

problem and see the resource recover.

Frank Dickerson leaves a legacy ofintegrity and service to the TexasOutdoors. He passed away September22, 2011. Painting by Sam Caldwell.

grabbed a netter. It was probably good for bothFrank and the netter that the car pulled away,the netter still inside.

On the cover of an early Tide magazine is aphoto by Larry Bozka of a huge pile of burningnets, Dickerson in the foreground. The photocaused problems, but Frank shrugged it off.

Frank succeeded in bringing a lot of tech-nical muscle to the program. Just a few notableitems: Two radar trucks in 1977 to observe ille-gal fisherman at night from the shores of the La-guna Madre. Use of Pumpkin Air helicopters topatrol the Texas lower coast. It was like pickingup Easter eggs when we saw bundles of netshidden in the water and on the King Ranchshoreline from the helicopter. Pumpkin Air heli-copters were painted bright orange and illegalfishermen started to call it the “Orange Crush.”We would leave an empty can of Orange Crushwhen we picked up stashed illegal net, so thenetters would know we had been there.

Frank managed to bring 65' patrol boats tothe lower Texas coast so that,

besides patrolling theGulf for illegalshrimping, they couldbe used as bases of op-eration in the bays toallow for long-term op-erations.

For a time, PaulWimberly’s Laguna

Madre cabin, “TheChurch” was usedas a base of opera-tions by wardens.The locale of thecabin was right inthe middle of ille-gal netting opera-tions. One night,the cabin wasmysteriouslyburned to the wa-terline.

Wimberly said it was a turning point, theworst mistake the illegal netters could havemade. After that, Wimberly said, the glovescame off. Dickerson worked with the GCCA torebuild “The Church,” which continued to pro-vide an important base of operations for coastalwardens.

It is the good fortune of coastal resources andTexas conservationists, as well as Texas Game

Wardens that Frank got the message from Mr.Burkett in 1975 and moved to Corpus Christi. Thiswas such an exceptional 10-year period for conserva-tion, where we saw all the parties come together,work together, identify the problem, eliminate theproblem and then, see the resource recover. —JackM. King Director of Operations, The Dia-mond Group

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A champion in our midstAustin flycaster earns

Gold at worldchampionships

Sixteen year-old NoahThompson, a CCA AustinJunior Board Member, re-cently returned fromSansepolcro, Italy, where hehelped guide the US JuniorFly Fishing Team to itsFIRST EVER Gold Medal atthe World Championships!All five members of theteam placed in the top 13 of

the competition, and Noah finished 8th overall inthe individual competition. And, don’t for aminute think Noah’s a “one shot wonder”—thisfollows his performance last year when heearned the Bronze medal in the individual com-petition in Slovakia!

This is a tremendous accomplishment forNoah and the US Team in a competition that hashistorically been dominated by internationalteams. Not only is it the US team’s first GOLDMEDAL finish, but it’s also only the second USteam medal in the history of the competition. Ifyou meet Noah, congratulate him. CCA Austincertainly does!

Live CatchTourney

benefits SeaCenter Texas,

Women’sResource Center

On October 6 and 7, Texas Lures &Leaders, a charity fishing tournamentbenefited The Women’s ResourceCenter of Houston, Camp for All andSea Center Texas. This annual charity event wasco-founded by Lisa Hankamer (CBRE) andLeigh Anne Ahr (Proximity Real Estate Advi-sors). The event is an invitational made up, forthe most part, from businesses and persons inthe commercial real estate arena. I had the dis-tinct honor to be a co-director and emcee. Fes-tivities began at Harborwalk Marina and YachtClub on the evening of October 6 with registra-tion, raffle, dinner and a live auction. On themorning of October 7, 24 teams, all with a guideon board, took to the waters of Galveston Bayfor a day of fishing and competing for braggingrights for the next 12 months.

Third AnnualRedfish Shootout

The CCA Texas Annual RedfishShootout sporting clay eventwas a loudsuccess. It was again held at the Ameri-can Shooting Center. There were 24teams, all of whom ejoyed the shooting,door prizes, beverages as well as greatfood from Goode Company.

The shoot was Lewis class scoring, soeveryone had a chance to win. There were24 teams. The winning team was LarryFeeland, Nathan Kroeker, Ricky Wrightand Joey Bolton. The individual highshooter was Joey Bolton who shot an 84.—Kathy Wheatleykathywheatley@sbcglobal.netwww.goelite.com.

Join us at Orvis/HoustonSaturday, December 10Refreshments, 5 to 8 pm

Benefitting CCA’s HTFT Get your Holiday shopping done early.Classic outdoor art on view, plus great Orvisgear. Win an Orvis Access 9 ft. 8wt Tip FlexRod with a matching Hydros Large ArborReel and 8 wt Redfish line with backing.Retail value, $700. Orvis will also have valu-able coupons for everyone.

Ben Kocian and Les McDonald will haveprints in the $5 raffle. While you heckle, SamCaldwell will complete an original Caldwellwatercolor painting, which you can win atthe end of the evening. All proceeds go toCCA’s Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrowprogram (HTFT). For more information:www.samcaldwell.com

Attention volunteers!The 17th annual Big Shell

Beach Cleanup is setfor February 25.

This event can’t happen without thehelp of our volunteers and your help isneeded again. Volunteers will meet atMalaquite Pavilion on PINS and theevent will commence at 7 a.m. Gloves,water provided, gourmet hot dogs af-terward from CCA Corpus Christi. Seeyou there! —Capt. Billy Sandifer

For complete details, drop by thewebsite: http://www.billysandifer.com/cleanup.htm

Teams were allowedto bring 5 fish to thescales, trout and red fish,with no more than 2 slotred fish and only 1 troutover 25". Teams also got a½ lb. bonus for all live fishthat were weighed in.When results were talliedand the dust had settled,Team Tight Lines (all la-dies) and Capt. NathanGray crossed the scaleswith a winning stringer of

21.95lbs, besting the rest of the field by almost 6.5lbs. In 2nd place was Team Fish n Chicks, onceagain all ladies, and Capt. Craig Lambert with arespectable 15.69 lbs. In third place was teamHayworth and Capt. Jimmy Trahan with a nicestringer of 14.85 lbs. All proceeds from this eventwent to The Women’s Resource of Houston,Camp for All, and Sea Center Texas. A specialthanks to Sam Caldwell for his artwork donationsand to Harborwalk Marina and Yacht Club forhosting the event. Also, would like to thank therest of the sponsors, for without them, this eventwould not be possible. Everyone had a great timeand we are already making plans for next year.Until then…Tightlines! —Capt. Lynn Waddell

Kocian, Caldwell,McDonald

Outdoor Art Show Indoors

Names to come

~4~ 2011 Ford F-150 “Texas Edition” XLT SuperCab with Haynie 23 Bigfoot, the Redfish Division prize.

State ofTexasAngler’sRodeo

Academy Sports and Outdoors StarTeens ScholarshipTrout Division - The Academy Sports and OutdoorsStarTeens Scholarship Trout Division awarded a$20,000 college scholarship to these youths pictured:

Sterling McIntosh – StarTeen UpperCoast Trout winner and Al Cortez ofAcademy Sports & Outdoors LakeJackson Store.

Benjamin Koehler –StarTeen Middle Coast Trout winnerand Manuel Ynfantes of AcademySports & Outdoors Webster Store.

Carter Goyen –StarTeen Lower CoastTrout winner and Al

Cortez of Academy Sports & OutdoorsLake Jackson Store.

StarTeens Inshore Scholarship Division - The StarTeensScholarship Inshore Division awarded these luckyteens each a $20,000 scholarship:

Christopher Ford,StarTeen Flounderwinner and MarkBrown ofWhataburger

Robbie Laskoskie,StarTeen Sheepshead winner with Ron Hartman, CurtisDenison and Joel Battle, Texas Oilman’s Board.

Brittany Leatherwood, StarTeenGafftop winner and Ardia & Roy Nevesof Texas Fish & Game Magazine

STAR has reached $4,345,000 in schol-arships awarded to 134 children, ranging from 6-17years of age. Many thanks to our sponsors for makingthis happen. Without them, it would not be possible.

Texas Ford Dealers Tagged Redfish Division – The firstfive winners drove home a fully-loaded 2011 Ford F-150 “Texas Edition” truck and Haynie 23 BigFoot, Mer-cury150 OptiMax outboard mo-tor and Coastline trailer.

David Holt, 1st Redfish – Truck& Boat winner

Paul Resendez, 2nd Redfish –Truck & Boat winner

Zach Crawford, 3rd

Redfish – Truck &Boat winner

Speckled Trout Division – These win-ners took home a Shoalwater 22’ Leg-end boat package:

Davie Elmore, Jr. – Upper Coast Troutwinner

Michael Leach -Middle CoastTrout winner

Nolan Casey(age 7) – LowerCoast Trout winner

Offshore Division – These lucky an-glers won the Explorer by Dargel 216Blue Water Series boat package:

Barry Shaneyfelt Jr. – Kingfish winner

DarrellRittiman –Dorado win-ner

RobertKirschner – Ling (Cobia) winner

Inshore Division – The following arethe proud owners of Blue Wave 180V-Bay boat package:

Robert Goode Sr. –Flounder winner

Ramon Zapata –Sheepshead winner

Jerome Ard -Gafftop winner

Runner-Up Winners - A total of 64 runner-up prizes wereawarded this year. First through fourth runners-up inALL divisions received a plaque, “special edition” STARrunner-up cap and gift certificates from Academy Sports& Outdoors. Gift certificate amounts for scholarship di-visions: 1st - $250, 2nd - $150, 3rd - $125, 4th - $75 and forregular divisions: 1st - $500, 2nd - $250, 3rd - $150, 4th -$100:

StarKids Scholarship Division-Flounder: 1st: Dylan Gill (age 9) of Corpus Christi, 3 lbs.11ozs. / 2nd: Titiana Ybarra (age 10) of Houston, 3 lbs. 9ozs. / 3rd: Connor West (age 6) of Kingsville, 3 lbs. 6 ozs. /4th: Mason Vrana (age 6) of Beasley, 3 lbs. 2 ozs.

Sheepshead: 1st: Todd Rolirad (age 10) of Dayton, 5 lbs. 6ozs. / 2nd: Travis Pulkinen (age 8) of Dickinson, 5 lbs. 6ozs. / 3rd: Landon Campos (age 8) of El Lago, 4 lbs. 13ozs. / 4th: Doyle Blume III (age 10) of La Porte, 4 lbs. 11ozs.

Gafftop: 1st: Colton Ritchey (age 6) of Houston, 6 lbs. 6ozs. / 2nd: Lauren Sulak (age 10) of Richmond, 5 lbs. 10ozs./ 3rd: Justin Barrow Jr. (age 10) of Winnie, 5 lbs. 6 ozs./ 4th: Sydney Pearson (age 9) of San Antonio, 5 lbs. 5 ozs.

Academy Sports and Outdoors StarTeens ScholarshipTrout Division-Upper Coast: 1st: Robert Miller (age 15) of Alvin, 6 lbs.10 ozs. / 2nd: Parker Mitchiner (age 17) of Alvin, 6 lbs. 2ozs. / 3rd: Ryan Grissett (age 16) of Sugar Land / 4th:NONE

Middle Coast: 1st: NONE / 2nd: NONE / 3rd: NONE / 4th:NONE

Lower Coast: 1st: Kristina Anderson (age 14) of PortMansfield, 7 lbs. 15 ozs. / 2nd: Chse Kinney (age 12) ofEdinburg, 7 lbs. 12 ozs. / 3rd: John Guerrero (age 14) ofSan Antonio, 7 lbs. 12 ozs. / 4th: Cole McGrew (age 15) ofStockdale, 7 lbs. 3 ozs.

StarTeens Inshore Scholarship Division-Flounder: 1st: Reilly Lawrence (age 13) of Houston, 4 lbs.1 oz. / 2nd:Sarah Otto (age 12) of Marion, 3 lbs. 14 ozs. /3rd: Terri Martin (age 13) of Manvel, 3 lbs. 12 ozs. / 4th:Cameron Curry (age 16) of Port Isabel, 3 lbs., 11 ozs.

Sheepshead: 1st: Blake Christopher (age 14) of Andover,KS 8 lbs. 6 ozs. / 2nd: Cameron Curry (age 16) of PortIsabel, 7 lbs., 9 ozs. / 3rd: Ben Ibarra (age 11) of Baytown,6 lbs. 9 ozs. / 4th: Rex Bustamante (age 15) of League City,6 bs., 1 oz.

Gafftop: 1st: Jarren Mahon (age 12) of Winnie, 6 lbs. 4ozs. / 2nd: Ryan Tijerina (age 16) of Bayview, 5 lbs. 13 ozs./ 3rd: Bryce Arrant (age 11) of Vidor, 5 lbs. 10 ozs. / 4th:Eastin Cripps (age 12) of Santa Fe, 5 lbs. 9 ozs.

Speckled Trout Division-Upper Coast: 1st: G. Todd Penick of LaMarque, 8 lbs. 8ozs. / 2nd: Danny Higgins of Galveston, 8 lbs. 5 ozs. / 3rd:Corey Frank of Danbury, 8 lbs. 1 oz. / 4th: NONE.

22nd Annual State of TexasAngler’s Rodeo

123 prizes offered…108 prizes awarded

The 22nd Annual CCA State of Texas Anglers’Rodeo (STAR) shined bright this year! Ap-proximately 42,000 anglers fished the sum-mer-long tournament, a five percent increasein participation over last year’s event, and re-cruited approximately 9,800 NEW membersinto the organization. The 2011 CCA Texas/STARevent offered a total of 123 fabulous prizes, worth over$1 million including trucks, boats, motors, trailers and$290,000 in college scholarships! A total of 108 lucky an-glers were rewarded with some amazing prizes! Thoseanglers brought in some amazing catches along withsome equally amazing stories. In the Offshore Division,the Ling category saw yet another record-breaking en-try for the third year in a row! Robert Kirchner ofGalveston won with an 84 lb. Ling, taking over the new“largest fish ever weighed in the history of the tourna-ment” record! The Trout Division also had an interest-ing new record broken… 7 year-old Nolan Casey ofSouth Padre Island weighed in the largest trout overallmaking him the youngest winner ever in to win in theTrout Division. In the Spirit of this Special Season ofThanks, and Giving, CCA continues to be blessed byour loyal and generous members who truly care aboutour work. We extend special thanks to each and everyone of you. Certainly, our world-class sponsors arewithout equal and we are extremely grateful for theirsupport. In these tough times, we take a moment to rec-ognize and appreciate these blessings and pray that wemight continue to be a blessing to our precious re-sources. Again, special thanks all of our fine sponsorsand volunteers who made this year yet another greatsuccess! STAR would not be possible without your gen-erosity.

This year’s tournament awarded a total of 108prizes. Here are lucky winners with their awesomeprize packages:StarKids $50,000 Scholarship Division - This year’sStarKids Scholarship Division provided these threeyoung anglers with college scholarships totaling$50,000 each:

Tabitha Rowland - StarKid ScholarshipFlounder winner and Eddie Martin ofTilson Home Corporation

Aven Campos -Houston Commu-nity NewspapersStarKid ScholarshipSheepshead winner and Carole Jodainof Houston Community Newspapers

Camden Ritchey - Fox Sports Hous-ton & Southwest StarKid ScholarshipGafftop winner and Steve McNair of FSHouston.

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STAR has reached $4,345,000 in scholarships awarded to children 6-17years of age. Many thanks to our sponsors for making this happen.

Without them, it would not be possible.

Middle Coast: 1st: Neil Appleby of Katy, 8 lbs. 10ozs. / 2nd: Harley Nicar of Lake Jackson, 8 lbs. 9 ozs./ 3rd: NONE / 4th: NONE.

Lower Coast: 1st: Jack Gibbs of Rockport, 9 lbs. 7ozs. / 2nd: Omar Rocha of Ediburg, 9 lbs. 3 ozs. / 3rd:Gerry Butts of Cedar Park, 8 lbs. 13 ozs. / 4th: TanselBasci of League City, 8 lbs. 11 ozs.

Offshore Division-Kingfish: 1st: Frank Carner of Santa Fe, 54 lbs. 9ozs. / 2nd: Shannon Tronicek of Shiner, 52 lbs. 7 ozs./ 3rd: Krystal Smith of Orchard, 50 lbs. 12 ozs. / 4th:John Benkenstein of Rosharon, 50 lbs. 10 ozs.

Dorado: 1st: Dan A. Hughes III of San Antonio, 43lbs. 11 ozs. / 2nd: Rob Richards of McAllen, 42 lbs.11 ozs. / 3rd: Kenneth Ogle of Corpus Christi, 42 lbs.5 ozs. / 4th: Dustin O’Connell of Bay City, 42 lbs. 1oz.

Ling: 1st: Chris Schubert of Portland, 69 lbs. 9 ozs. /2nd: Matthew McBee of Orange, 67 lbs. 13 ozs. / 3rd:Colt Cook of Port Aransas, 63 lbs. 10 ozs. / 4th: An-drew Dykes of League City, 60 lbs. 0 ozs.

Inshore Division-Flounder: 1st: Clint Auer of Richmond, 6 lbs. 10ozs. / 2nd: Susan Singleton of Houston, 6 lbs. 0 ozs. /3rd: Earl Manning of Cypress, 5 lbs. 10 ozs. / 4th:David Beaty of Danbury, 5 lbs. 0 ozs.

Sheepshead: 1st: Fabian Scarpetta of Tomball, 9 lbs.1 oz. / 2nd: Dung Anh Nguyen of Houston, 8 lbs. 6ozs. / 3rd: Donald Bennett of El Lago, 8 lbs. 0 ozs. /4th: Larry McDaniel of Brazoria, 7 lbs. 8 ozs.

Gafftop: 1st: Michael Roessler of High Island, 7 lbs.9 ozs. / 2nd: Mike Darder of Beaumont, 6 lbs. 10 ozs./ 3rd: Jessica Darder of Beaumont, 6 lbs. 6 ozs. / 4th:Debbie Mahon of Winnie, 6 lbs. 5 ozs.

Special Bonus Drawings Winners - These uniquedrawings give participants a chance to win a prizeeven if they never wet a line or caught a single fishduring the entire tournament. The following arelucky winner’s of this year’s special bonus draw-ings:NRG Energy “New Tide”Member ScholarshipDrawing – For the eighthyear in a row, all “NewTide” Members (ages 6 -17) were eligible for a bo-nus drawing that nettedone lucky youth a $20,000college scholarship. Thelucky winner was Christo-pher Holle, age 11, ofBrenham.

Center, Christopher Holle(age 13), New Tide Schol-arship winner, LauraParker and Ben Carmineof NRG Energy.

Member Bonus Drawing -Every 2011 STARentrant’s name was putinto a drawing for aShoalwater 22’ Legendwith a Mercury 150OptiMax outboard andMcClain trailer. Thelucky name drawn was Richard Kirscher of Hous-ton.

2011 Early Bird Drawing Winners – Every 2011STAR entrant who registered prior to May 28th wentinto this special drawing and 21 names were drawn.The following are the lucky “Early Bird” winners:

Coors Light “Early Bird”Grand Prize - 21’ ShoalwaterCat, Mercury 150 OptiMax mo-tor and McClain Trailer-George Hopper of Anahuac wasthe lucky winner.

Mercury 9.9 ELPT BF ProKicker motor: Grace Brunton,

age 7, left, ofSan Antonio.

Three (3)Shimanoreel &AmericanRodsmiths rod combos: Cookie

Long of Sugar Land; Chris Smith of Seguin, TX;David Cattan of Spring Branch, TXColeman Thermo-Electric Travel Cooler: GeorgeKrenek of Sealy, TX

Fifteen (15) CCA “Special Edition” Posters:Robert Taylor of Sugar Land / Heaven VonRosenberg of Lexington / Mackensi Muzik of EastBernard / Linda Hendry of Channelview / RuthGutowski of Bay City David Sadtler of Pearland /Kandace Carmichael of Dickinson / Michelle Bealeof Houston / Ted Grimes of Round Rock / StephanyGalicia of Corpus ChristiMarshall Matthes of Lumberton / Elise Martinez ofHarlingen / Carlos Garcia of Corpus Christi /Stephen Rehberg of Austin / Estela Martinez of Cor-pus Christi

2012 STAR News!CCA Texas/STAR Platinum Print MembershipPackage, Series II – STAR Sighting by renownedartist David Drinkard is the new print being offeredfor the 2012 CCA Texas/STAR Platinum package.This special offer includes your CCA membership (newor renewal), your 2012 CCA Texas STAR entry, plus asigned, limited-edition print created exclusively forSTAR, all for $125!STAR Sighting is aone-of-a-kind specialpainting, worth thisprice alone. If youwould like to con-sider one, or several,of these limited-edi-tion packages as aunique gift, pleaseplace your order theSTAR Dept. by call-ing (713) 626-4222 nolater than December5, 2011 to reserveyours in time for Christmas! For more details go to:www.startournament.org. The proceeds from thesale of all Platinum Packages will help us continueto fund the STAR scholarships. Thanks for support-ing CCA Texas and the STAR Tournament!

STILL AVAILABLE… CCA Texas/STAR PlatinumPrint, Series I – STAR Reds is still available. If yousigned up for CCA Texas and the 2011 STAR Tour-nament and would like to begin your CCA Texas/STAR Platinum Collectible Series by upgrading toreceive the 2011 Platinum Print, please contact the

STAR Dept.and we canget you fixedup. To ownthis first-evercommemora-tive piecedon’t delay…purchaseyours todaybefore they’reall gone!

The 2012 TourneyThe STAR 2012 is set to begin at sunrise Saturday, May 26and will run through 5 p.m., Monday, Sept. 3 (Labor Day). Inorder to win at STAR, an angler must be registered and be amember of CCA. You’re going to get in anyway, might aswell do it now! Remember, everyone entered in the STARTournament, who will be 6 years old in 2012 and older, is eli-gible to win the prizes being offered (even the TAGGEDREDFISH DIVISION)! While you renew your CCA Texasmembership and STAR entry, why not honor your familyand friends, of all ages, with this unique Christmas gift thatoffers hundreds of thousands in prizes. You might put ‘em ina new truck/boat combo or pay for their college education!Get everyone signed up for the 2012 STAR.

The 2012 STAR entry fee is $20 for ages 18 and up - an awe-some bargain! Membership fee is $25 annually and an addi-tional $20 to enter the 2012 STAR Tournament for a total of$45. For kids age 6–17, “New Tide” membership fee remains$10 annually and the STAR entry fee is “FREE”, but will notbe automatically included. Each “New Tide” memberMUST sign-up each year for the current year tournament.

2012 Early Bird Drawings - Don’t forget to sign up ahead oftime and get your shot at landing one of the many great prizeofferings just for registering early. Be on the lookout for spe-cial “Early Bird” prizes available ONLY for those entrantswho sign up before the tournament kicks off. Everyone whosigns up for STAR by the May 25, 2012 deadline will be auto-matically entered into the special Early Bird Drawings. Sev-eral prizes will be given away! They are sure to be a reelcatch. You can sign up NOW online atwww.startournament.org!!!

Please don’t forget to thank our wonder-ful sponsors for their loyal support… re-turn the favor by remembering themwhen making your purchasing deci-sions. They make this wonderful familyevent possible. Major sponsors for the23rd Annual CCA Texas/STAR Tourna-ment include:Texas Ford Dealers, Tilson HomeCorporation, Mercury Marine,Academy Sports & Outdoors,Whataburger, Houston CommunityNewspapers, Fox Sports Houston,Fox Sports Southwest, Time Warner

Cable Sports, Comcast, Haynie Boats, ShoalwaterBoats, Explorer by Dargel Boats, Blue Wave Boats,Texas Fish & Game Magazine, Costa Del Mar Sun-glasses, Texas Oilman’s Charity Fishing Tournament,Houston Astros, Coastline Trailers, McClain Trailers,Chris’s Marine, Mt. Houston Marine and CoastalBackwater Marine

For more information, including a list of weigh-in sta-tions, instant-entry registration locations in your area andweekly leader board updates, go to http://www.startournament.org

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CURRENTS is a membership benefit of theCoastal Conservation Association - Texas. It is

published bi-monthly, alternate months from theCoastal Conservation Association (CCA) TIDEMagazine. Address, 6919 Portwest, Suite 100,

Houston, TX 77024. Phone: 713-626-4222.FAX: 713-961-3801. www.ccatexas.org

Editor, Sam Caldwellsam@samcaldwell.com

This is the issue ofDecember 2011 / January 2012 Vol. 28, Issue 6

Welcome to the CCA TexasOnline Auction

Sponsored By Costa Del Mar

Sponsored by ourfriends at Costa.

Welcome to the CCA Texas Online Auction. Sponsoredby Costa Del Mar. Winter is finally here and the tem-peratures are dropping!

This month’s online auction consists of two printsby John Cowan. Both are limited editions with only 800prints made! Make these great paintings yours whilesupporting a great cause. These items will be featuredonline for bidding purposes through eBay. We encour-age everyone to take advantage of the art and merchan-dise that is up for sale. These items are coming directlyfrom CCA Texas’s inventory. There will be a variety ofunique art packages, as well as new merchandise neverseen before! To bid on the featured items below, followthe link to CCA Texas Online Auction:

Auction runs December 12 through December 19.To bid and win, go to ccatexas.org and click on the link(left hand side) online auction. Good luck! —DrewAdams

“Moving School” – John Cowan unframed, overall size:24.5” x 31.5” / “Up Near Vinson’s” – John Cowan un-framed, overall size: 24.5” x 31.5”

Wet WillyBy Blaine Wise

In 1991, I was lucky enough to win the kingfish category in the STAR Tournament. I suddenly became the owner of a 20’ SeaRay La-

guna offshore boat, a 175-hp Mercury motor, anda new Wilson trailer. I am happy to say that I amstill fishing out of that boat, having just com-pleted my 20th fishing season. I am grateful forthe way it changed my fishing, and in some re-spects, my life.

I picked up my newSTAR boat at a CorpusChristi CCA event. Turninginto my driveway, I ruinedthe stainless steel consolerailing on a large mesquitetree branch. It hadn’t evenseen water yet, and I was al-ready looking at expensiverepairs. My first trip was toPort Mansfield, for snapperfishing at an oilrig, 25-milesto the north of the jetties.We toughed it out andcaught good fish, but thatwas one of the longest andwettest, boat rides of mylife. A few days later, I camehome to find the name WetWilly (in very large letters) stuck on both sides ofthe boat. Those letters are still there after 20years.

While I’ve had my share of bad luck, I’vehad far more good luck. The worst thing I re-member was someone getting a hook impaled ina hand, along with some bad cases of seasick-ness. But, if it could happen, I’ve done it. I left theplug out twice while launching, but only oncedid it make for an exciting trip. We ran 18 milesfrom the jetties, anchored, and fished until I no-ticed my transom was getting close to the waterline. I picked up the stern hatch to find my bat-tery a foot under water. The motor started, how-ever, and we took off running as best we could tohelp run the water out.

My first motor problem occurred when Iwas 37 miles from the jetties. I lost both powerpacks, but Fred Hornsby pulled me all the way tothe harbor. That trip taught me the value of car-rying a good mechanic on board, as well as thevalue of fishing with friends who won’t leave

you. But, in the great scheme of things, I’mat least even on pulling boats in over theyears!

I still don’t know much about out-board motors, but I do know how to use aradio. I’ve had to call the Coast Guardwhen I locked up an engine, and learnedthat they can hear a pin drop when no oneelse can. I’m now on my third motor andsecond trailer. Maintenance was a learningexperience as well. I used a good compasswhen I first started fishing, followed by aLoran, and later by GPS. I still smile whenI punch in those waypoints and rememberthe ‘old days.’ Our fishing changed fromsurface targets to submerged targets. Thattaught me some skills in negotiating sub-merged rocks and wrecks, and how to an-chor on them. Sometimes, I even got myanchor back!

Over the years, we’ve caught ourshare of red snapper, kingfish, ling,dorado, mangrove snapper, and a fewgrouper. Farther out, we have caught wa-hoo, a sailfish, a tarpon, and blackfin tuna.Of course, there is also the category of‘hooked, but not caught’ fish, which stillgenerates the most interest. Those unseenfish are what keeps me going back. Besidesthe fish caught, there are so many other ex-periences. We’ve come across a whaleshark, manta rays, huge hammerheads,

bait-ball feeding frenzies, and all sort offloating debris. Other interesting tripswould have to include over-nighters onclear, full-moon nights.

Here’s the bottom line, as far as I’m con-cerned: If I had not won that boat back in1991, I am fairly sure that I would neverhave purchased an offshore boat of thatsize. Winning the STAR boat has given menew experiences, and the good ones faroutweigh the bad ones! I’ve enjoyed takingmy friends fishing over the years, and I’vemet new folks, and learned new things.

I’ve given back to the STAR Tourna-ment by donating trips at our banquet,and every trip was a positive experience.Through it all, I still have the company ofthose friends that were with me when itbegan, with the exception of my oldfriend, Jack Cunningham, who was with

Wet Willie,one of the first STAR boats on theway with Blaine Wise and crew.

me the day I hooked that winning kingfish in 1991. Wespent many good days on the water in Wet Willy.

Winning the STAR kingfish category gave me alifetime of memories… and I am still making them. Mythanks to CCA and the STAR Tournament team!

An early STAR winner from the BrushCountry chapter remembers 20 years

with a STAR Tournament boat

Enter Great Photos 2011Categories: Best In Show / Action /Scenic / Humor / Kids / Wildlife / CPRImportant: for jpegs, be sure you includename of subject, title, your name andaddress. On back of prints, write yourname and address, as well as the namesof anyone in the photo. email jpegs to:sam@samcaldwell.comColor prints to: CCA Great Photos Editor6919 Portwest Dr., Suite 100 Houston,Texas 77024

Art prints for Best In Show, First ,Second and Third Place winners. Giveus your best shot, and keep Currents anaward winning newsletter.If you don’t see your Great Photo here,it may be under consideration forupcoming issues.

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2011 a successfulyear for habitatrestoration and

creation in TexasBy John Blaha

CCA Texas enjoyed a successful year onceagain in 2011. The continued efforts of local chapter volunteers and the many grass

roots supporters and sponsors across the statecontinue to be the driving force behind the mostsuccessful marine conservation organization ofits kind. 2011 provided several success storiesfor the organization in terms of net fundraising,membership increases, habitat restoration andcreation, research, education and chapter devel-opment across the state.

CCA Texas’s habitat program, Habitat To-day for Fish Tomorrow (HTFT), continued toplay a major role in the restoration and creationof habitat that will benefit Texas’s coastal re-sources and recreational anglers across the state.Once again, these efforts are a direct result of lo-cal chapter efforts and a growing campaign tocreate partnerships with local communities, in-dustry, academia, like organizations, governmen-tal agencies and foundations with the same vi-sion to restore and create critical habitat alongthe entire Texas coast. A summary of completedand ongoing habitat restoration projects thatHTFT took part in during 2011 include:

Port Mansfield Nearshore Reefing Project –CCA Texas partnered with TPWD and AlamoConcrete products to deploy in excess of 4,000concrete culverts to the Port Mansfield nearshorereefing site. CCA Texas contributed $50,000 tothe project. This project was completed at the endof August by the contractor, Cajun Maritime, andaccording to local CCA members and board

members it is already yielding nice catches of snapper andother nearshore species.

Matagorda Nearshore Reefing Project – This will be thethird nearshore reefing project that HTFT has participatedin with TPWD. As of May 2011 all permits and sub sur-face leases are in hand and a late spring 2012 deploymentis currently being planned for the first set of reefing mate-rials to this site. CCA Texas currently has $115,000 com-mitted to this project and is actively seeking more fundsfor the project to assist Texas Parks and WildlifeDepartment’s (TPWD) Artificial Reefing Program.

JD Murphree WMA Shoreline Stabilization Project –CCA Texas partnered with Texas Ducks Unlimited by con-tributing $50,000 for matching funds. These funds in turnyielded in excess of $400,000 in matching funds that willbe used with Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP)dollars, bringing the total to approximately $1,000,000.

These funds will be used to restore and protect over3,000 acres of fresh and saltwater wetlands along ICWwithin the JD Murphree Wildlife Management area. Workshould begin in the first quarter of 2012.

Bird Island Cove Marsh Restoration – This project willrestore 52 acres of marsh in West Galveston Bay. CCATexas has committed $50,000 to this project to be used asmatching funds for a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Na-tional Coastal Wetland Grants Program. Work is expectedto begin in 2012 for this restoration effort led by TPWD.

Goose Island Marsh Restoration Phase III – This is the fi-nal stage of an ongoing marsh restoration project that oncecompleted will have restored 24 acres of lost marsh. Theproject continues to move forward, and HTFT has commit-ted $25,000 to the project. The continued drought has cur-rently placed the project on hold until sufficient rain andfresh water return for successful marsh grass plantings.

Dickinson Bayou Marsh Restoration – This project willrestore 10 acres of marsh and the subsequent protection ofover 40 acres of wetlands in the lower end of DickinsonBayou. CCA Texas has committed $25,000 to this projectto be used as matching funds for a U.S. Fish and WildlifeService National Coastal Wetland Grants Program. Workis expected to begin in 2012 for this restoration effort.

Sabine Lake Deep Reef Expansion and Research – HTFTcontributed $15,000 to a 10 acre reef expansion to the

Sabine Lake Deep reef that will also in-clude research and monitoring compo-nent for creating baseline data to thisunique reef system.

Aransas Pass Marine Debris Cleanup– HTFT partnered with Coastal BendBays and Estuaries Program (CBBEP)and Texas General Land Office (TXGLO) to facilitate a marine debriscleanup in along Airport Park inAransas Pass. This project cleaned upresidual debris from a larger cleanupproject and involved the hand picking amaterials from the area. CCA Texascontributed $5,600 to the $11,200project.

Nueces Bay Delta Water ManagementSystem – HTFT has partnered withCBBEP to install a water managementsystem that will keep important freshwater in the Nueces Bay delta. TheNueces River bypasses the historic deltaand currently water is required to bepumped into the delta to satisfy freshwater needs through out the year.Many times the water will back up in tothe river and this project will insure thatit stays and passes through the delta.

CCA Texas Executive Board re-cently approved $70,000 in matchingfunds that will help complete this$280,000 project.

CCA Texas looks forward to an-other successful year in 2012 and willcontinue its work to ensure the healthand abundance of Texas coastal re-sources. On behalf the staff and leader-ship at CCA Texas we would like tothank all of our volunteers, members,supporters and sponsors for anotheryear of success and many tight lines in2012. We wish you all a Merry Christ-mas and a Happy New Year.

The 4th Annual Port MansfieldCUT & Beach Cleanup is set for

??????Last year was a tremendous success, thanks in large part toall the CCA members who cleaned a huge area of the Cut,not available to Capt. Billy’s volunteers. Join us again. Startat 7 am, the CC Pavilion. Breakfast served. Afterwards, en-joy drinks and chili at PELICAN’S PUB. We could usesome boat captains willing to provide ferry service. —Miller and Kathy Bassler 979-535-4593 / For photos fromlast year’s event, go to the YouTube site below. Music in-cluded! Type this url into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX1321HA8vI

Join the Port Mansfield crew for clean fun. Here are just a few of the many vol-unteers who left the Cut and beachfront in pristine condition last year.

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Upper Coast Lower CoastBy Capt. Robert Sloan

& Capt. George KnightenThe Upper Coast is a diverse region,

deserving two winter forecasts.Timing, timing, timing both guides say.

Sloan: Timing is the name of the game during Decem-ber and January. Some of the best fishing will be justprior to a front’s arrival and a couple of days after itmoves offshore.

Starting at the Eastern tip of the Texas coast, onSabine Lake, look for good trout and redfish action, butlet the sun warm things up. Just prior to a front, fishSabine Pass in Lighthouse Cove for big reds. Rig upwith 5-inch Wedgetail Mullets on 7/0 hooks. Go to slowsinkers,over shallow shell reefs and in the guts betweenthe reefs.

East Matagorda Bay—guide Charlie Paradoskisays he’ll either be drift fishing on mid-bay reefs withsoft plastics or wading reefs in 3 to 5 feet of water. “Thebest lures for drift fishing the reefs will be soft plas-tics,” says Paradoski, with slow sinking mullet imita-tion lures for heavier trout while wading. He recom-mends a MirrOlure 52 series in orange/black/gold orchartreuse/gold.

For Sabine and surrounding waters during theday, stay at Casa de Pescador Lodge, the only full ser-vice lodge on the lake. —Capt. Robert Sloan / 409-782-6796 sloan288@aol.com , or www.hightailangler.com.

Knighten: Timing— between cold fronts and afterthings settle out winter fishing can be as good as anyother time of year. Fish instinctively move to deep-wa-ter dropoffs and areas that have a mixture of shell andmud. In Galveston Bay that will be areas like Scotts andBurnet Bays or the Greens Cut area close to the ICW inWest Bay. In really cold weather, they retreat to thedeepest water they can find, like the blue hole inOffatts Bayou or the hole in Moses Lake.

With most of the shrimp gone from the bays andvery little bird action, slicks are the biggest give awaythat there are fish feeding in the area. And, mud boilsmade by bottom-rooting redfish. Bait fish will be look-ing for the cover of the off-colored water and the gamefish will follow. Of course, bait is an essential piece ofthe puzzle, and even one jumping mullet will have mechecking out an area.

Go slowwww. If drifting, slow your retrieve andgo to a lighter weight. A slow-falling lure close to thebottom is often the ticket to success. If wading, I like tofish a slow-sinking mullet imitation lure like the Corkyor a Mirro-lure, but that being said, don’t overlook aslow-twitched top water for enticing a big trout into astrike. Sounds like a broken record for fishing for thistime of year but these patterns and techniques haveproven successful year after year and this year will beno different. —Capt. George Knightenwww.knightensgalvestonfishing.com 832-310-9146

Middle CoastBy Capt. Rene Hinojosa

Tough fishing, but quality fishfor quality fishers

December priority—big reds will still be inthe bay. There will be concentrations of fish,so watch for telltale ‘nervous baits’ and veesmade by bigger fish. I expect lower than nor-mal tides, so watch for deep guts and smallholes whether you’re looking and drifting, orwading.

My Old Reliable, Go To lure is theNorton sand eel. The Bull Minnow will alsopay off, but go slow on the retrieve with ei-ther one. As the temps go down, I guess thebigger fish tend to look for easy targets thatrequire less energy expenditure. Whetherreds or trout, deep or shallow, you’ll need togive that big one a chance to ease up on yourlure.

Depending on weather, be ready to tieon a topwater of the loud flavor, and again,work ‘em slowwww.

Mid-to Late January, stealth wading (ordrifting) for trophy trout, you will look forthe boggiest mud bottoms you can find. Thefish like the warmth, I guess. May not be easyto detect those regions, but you can gain anadvantage by concentrating on the shorelinesand areas you found in December wherethere are plenty of deep guts and small holes,which means working those long stretches ofspoil dumps and Intracoastal canal shallowshorelines. Wadefishing this time of the yearmay not be the most comfortable nor produc-tive, but here’s your chance to visit with thatspeckled trout of a lifetime.

If the big one is there—or not—you willstill enjoy one of the finest times of the yearin the Texas outdoors. Remember that Texasweather can change, so be prepared. Be con-siderate of your fellow fishermen—and thefish! I hope to see you at the Third AnnualPort Mansfield Cut & Cleanup, sponsoredby Miller and Kathie Bassler, on?????????????—Capt Rene Hinojosa Jr. / 956-347-3534 rhjcharters@aol.com

By Capt. Levi PriceTactical angling for the coastal bend

As this change from fall to winter bearsdown upon us, you will see many changes inboth weather and fishing patterns. Northerlywinds and low tides will find myself and myclients wading the soft mud and shell mixedbottom areas near deeper waters. Soft plas-tics in watermelon seed or strawberry char-treuse rigged on an 1/8th ounce screw-lockjighead will be my lure of choice for this typeof slow wading, where you need to probe ev-ery inch of the water column.

With water temperatures dropping,baitfish will be stacked thick in areas that areonly 1 to 2 degrees warmer than the rest ofyour fishing zone. This should be a dinnerbell for you as well as the fish, as redfish andtrout will be following those concentrated,slow-moving schools of bait. Keeping youreyes and ears open for feeding activity isvery important for success, as the angler whouses all his abilities will be the hero of theday back at the dock.

Between seasonal fronts, you will havebeautiful, sunny days with low tides thatwill offer excellent sight casting opportuni-ties on shallow grass flats. A calculated castplaced just beyond the fish and retrieved ina natural presentation, will bring a strikefrom a hungry predator.

A successful angler is also a creative an-gler, as he uses all of his senses to evaluateconditions on the specific day he is fishing.It’s ever changing. Fishing is not alwayscatching, but careful planning will optimizeyour success.

And, if you haven’t enjoyed the hardwork of helping Capt. Billy Sandifer andCrew clean the Padre Island Beach, here’syour chance to participate in one of the clas-sic Texas coastal events. It’ll be February 25.Tight lines. —Captain Levi Pricewww.thefishtx.com

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Chapter Updates are edited forbrevity to allow everyone’s voiceto be heard. For the full version,go to your chapter’s area in the

CCA website. Drop bywww.ccatexas.org,

click on Local Chapters.

Central Houston Todd BusterMobil, 713-545-1897

Colorado ValleyJonathan Brandt, (aka JK)

979-966-2679jkjb00@cmaaccess.com

Hope everyone had a great summer of fishingbut remember, even though it’s turning colderthe fish are still biting. Also be sure and markyour calendars for the Annual CCA ColoradoValley Chapter Banquet to be held March 22,2012. If you are interested in helping out pleasecontact myself of one of the chapter members.Any help is always greatly appreciated. HappyHolidays to everyone!

Corpus Christi????

Dallas / North TexasJohn Hansen 214-243-9435

We’ve kicked off the fall Dallas CCA Chaptermeetings with a good head of steam. We recentlymet at Tailwaters Fly Fishing Company inSeptember for our annual fall kick-off meeting.We met with a fair turnout but most importantly,new faces were present at the meeting.

Our next get together was at the Tailwaterssponsored, Drake Fly Fishing Film Tour at theMagnolia Theater. The folks at Tailwatersgraciously allowed our chapter to host a table atthe event to encourage our membership andprospective members to become more involvedwith our chapter. Great big thanks to DavidLeake, Brent Boone and all the staff at Tailwatersfor their generosity to our chapter!

With the help of our fantastic board, we willbegin the arduous process of planning our 2012Dallas CCA Banquet and benefit auction to beheld Thursday, April 26 2012 at the Frontiers ofFlight Museum at Dallas Love Field. We needyour help to make the banquet as successful asall the banquets in years past.

Thanks for your continued support and ifyou have yet to become involved with yourchapter, I encourage you to join in! We need allhands on deck for the upcoming auction! Ournext general membership meeting will bescheduled in late January. Stay tuned into ourweb page (www.dallascca.org) and follow us onFacebook (DallasCCA) to receive the latestupdates. Happy Holidays, —John Hansen 214-243-9435 mesalogistics@sbcglobal.net

East Texas Dr. Jim Norman 936-554-3165jnorman7@suddenlink.net

Fort BendTroy Burditt 281-239-8507

Hello All. While reflecting back on a great yearthat our Ft. Bend chapter had, I would like tothank everyone for a job well done. With the mixof Old Salts and Young Salt Shakers, I’ve neverbeen associated with a more hard working, funloving, B.S. talking, get the job done when neededgroup of guys than this one and I’m proud of it.Oh yes, and for those that have not heard or haveforgotten. The Ft. Bend chapter took first place inthe 2011 Inter Chapter Challenge. We had

another accomplishment to add to their resumeas they move forward towards college and intotheir careers. Contact Dan Appling, JuniorBoard Chairman,dappling@development2000.com, JosephSanderson, Junior Board President, atjoemac224@yahoo.com, or Sam Appling, JuniorBoard Vice-President, at smappling@gmail.comfor information.

Save the Date! Save the Date! The Austinbanquet will be May 10, 2012, once again at thePalmer Events Center. A bunch of dedicated vol-unteers are hard at work on it already andpromise you another event that has no peer inAustin! Also, as I write this, the Austin board isin the process of finalizing the selection of our2012 Banquet Boat. It is sure to be another eye-popper so look for your chance to buy a raffleticket to win the boat of your dreams soon.

Finally, WE WANT YOUR HELP! CCAAustin is always looking for volunteers that arewilling to help us carry out the CCA Mission. Ifyou have an hour a year, or an hour a week, thatyou can help-please let me know. No contribu-tion is too small. You’ll meet a lot of great, likeminded fishermen/women, and have a whole lotof fun-all the while helping raise money forCCA. Warmest wishes for a safe and HappyHoliday season! —Scott Sandersonscott@mbsquoteline.com

Bay AreaWelcome new president, Curtis Anderson

832-421-6377Brazoria County

Wes Dingee 979-299-8245Our annual banquet is scheduled for March,2012. This year’s banquet was a huge success forus. We hope all will join us again this year andwe are looking forward to raising the bar. TightLines and stay cool. —Wes Dingeewesdingee@gmail.com

Brazos ValleyLarry Purifoy

—Tammy Aaron Chapter Secretary

BrenhamRyan Aschenbeck

979-830-8336Brush Country

Hank Henry361-215-6803

CentexBrad Hensel 254-776-3411

Alvin-PearlandRex Richards 281-923-3050

Aransas BayKaren Wiatrek 210-867-2795

AustinWelcome new president,

Scott Sanderson 512-637-1750scott@mbsquoteline.com

The Austin chapter held its 2011 officer elec-tions September 27. Congratulations to the fol-lowing individuals and sincere thanks as well.We’re excited to go forward and continue togrow our chapter and fulfill the CCA Missionthat’s near and dear to all of us.

President : Scott Sanderson / Vice Presi-dent : Ryan Joyce / Treasurer : Neal Kieschnik /Secretary: Dennis Blaine / Membership Chair-man: Dan Appling / Communications Chair-man: Bill Strieber / Junior Board Chairman:Dan Appling / Banquet Chairman: Ryan Joyce /Banquet Co-Chairman: Josh Cook / Banquet Co-Chairman: Ryan Kasten / Banquet Co-Chair-man: Neal Meinzer / Sponsorship Chairman:Scott McGuire

As a very important footnote, on behalf ofthe entire Austin board, I’d like to extend a veryspecial thank you to Scott McGuire, who servedas our leader and President for the last six years.Scott’s dedication to CCA and tireless efforts,guided the Austin chapter to unprecedentedgrowth during his tenure and the Austin chap-ter will forever owe him a debt of gratitude.But, though his title may have changed, Scotthasn’t gone anywhere—he has accepted the po-sition of Sponsorship Chairman. Sponsorshipsare vital to Austin, and our banquet, and we’redelighted he has agreed to continue to serve inthat capacity.

By the time you read this, hopefully youjoined us for Anglers’ Night Out (general mem-bership meeting) November 16 at Abel’s on theLake. Ken Milam, of striper fishing and radiofame, was our guest speaker and was, I’m sure,enjoyed by all. Anglers’ Night Out is every othermonth on the third Wednesday (July, Septem-ber, November, January and March- we skipMay as that’s when we have our banquet) somark your calendars now.

We have a fantastic venue at Abel’s over-looking Lake Austin and always have a super-interesting guest speaker. These are FREE, youwill get a free meal courtesy of Smokey Den-mark, and we always have prizes and give-aways from Yeti, American Rodsmiths,Smokey Denmark just to name a few. They area whole lot of fun and we encourage you toBRING A FRIEND-the more the merrier! Ladiesand children are welcome and non-CCA mem-bers too. Bring them and ask them to join CCA.And come join us for a land-locked Anglers’Night Out!

Did you know that Austin has a JuniorBoard? We recognize that the generations be-hind us are the future of CCA, and our coastalresources, and welcome any youngster age 13-18 to get involved with this great group of kids.They hold their own meetings, work onprojects, and assist the Austin board in variousways. These young men and women gain valu-able experience working on a board and have

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“Lingerie On The Bay” in Matagorda and kidssmiling during the Jimmy Guest Memorial Kid’sFish.

I’d like to thank our local Game Warden,Barry Eversole for taking the time to come andspeak at one of our monthly meetings. It wasvery informative and I encourage all chapters todo the same.

Our Ft. Bend committee members have beenon the ball, making plans and coming up withsome great ideas for our 26th annual banquet.Next year’s banquet is scheduled for April 26th atthe Ft. Bend Co. Fair Grounds Bldg. C, inRosenberg, Tx. Grand Prize Raffle item is a 19’ JHw/115 HP E-TEC from Sport Marine inRichmond, Tx. What a great bunch to dobusiness with.

Special thanks to this years officers: VicePresident – Garren “Puggs” Schmidt; Secretary –Robb Gaston; Treasurer – Clint Shepard.

On behalf of the Fort Bend Chapter I wouldlike to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and aHappy, Safe and Prosperous New Year. Till nexttime … —Troy Burditt

Fort WorthFearn Mastin 817-291-1302

GalvestonShane Justus 409-908-0275

Golden TriangleJoseph Ramey 409-338-1095

Weather has definitely been the topic ofdiscussion on everyone’s mind this year. I thinkit is the strangest year I have ever seen in thewhole state..The drought is behind it all. One,the oyster season is “dead in the water,” as thered tide on the mid coast near Matagorda andPOC has wiped it out. Robert Sloan, who guidesout of POC, has packed up his gear and headedfor Sabine for the winter.

There are reports of people actually gettingsick from the airborne bacteria while they areout on boas: nausea, dizziness, sore throat, etc.There are many reports of dead fish everywhere.We need a steady bout of rain to wash out therivers and high salinity levels in the bays to getback to a healthy balance.

November is usually a wet month inSoutheast Texas, but there has been nothingnormal for the past year weather-wise. Amarillogot its biggest dumping of snow ever in October,yesterday (October 27th), 2 inches. We areactually experiencing our first good cold fronthere today (October 28th). Not much rainthough; the mosquitoes are huge and aggressiveright now.

The good news is that the fishing has beengreat on Sabine and Galveston Bay. Birds aredefinitely working, and there are reports of nicetrout being caught in both bay systems. If youwant to stay up to date with the red tide, go toTPWD website or CCA’s website, and there isgood info there.

If you are ever in the Houston Galleria area,stop by CCA’s office and check out the televisionin the lobby. There is a High Definition live feed

from an offshore well in Louisiana, with livevideo of the action below at a depth of 32 feet.Very cool; TV donated by the O’Donavanfamily. Website is www.save-the-blue.org.November is a great time to be out on the waterand GO FISH! —Rocky Chasegaylord.chase@sunbeltsecurities.com

Greater Sugar LandWelcome new president, David Kveton

281-808-4870Greetings from the GREATER SUGAR LANDCHAPTER. Our annual Banquet is scheduledfor April 12th, 2012. This year’s banquet was ahuge success for us and we would like to thankall of the donors, and table sponsors for theirsupport. Look for more information in thecoming months.

We welcome you to attend our monthlychapter meetings, held the first Wednesday ofeach month at SPRING CREEK BAR-B-Q onHWY 6 in Missouri City at 7 pm.

Welcome to our Assistant Director BRIANMEUTH. October 8, Bass Proshop in Pearlandsponsored our Kid Fish event. Thanks to JohnBeffano and all the members that came out andhelp with the kids.

October 15, we held our PRESIDENT’SCUP FISHING TOURNAMENT in Sargent. ThePresident’s cup went to Joel Calavan with astringer of 9.25 lbs. Joel Calavan also won firstplace trout - 3.60 lbs. Buford Jurick won secondplace trout - 3.25lbs. Chris Zwar won first placered - 7.40 lbs. Sean Meguire won second placered - 5.20 lbs. Keith Bauman won first placeflounder - 5.25 lbs. Sherman Phillips wonsecond place flounder - 3.15 lbs. Thanks to allthe members that helped with this event.

During our November 2nd meeting wehad Tommy Countz from Matagorda. Tommyis an extremely knowledgeable guide andspeaker. We had a packed meeting! Thank you,Tommy.

Our December 7TH guest speaker will beDavid Leach from David’s TACKLE BOX ofRosenberg and Dusty Rhodes, owner ofHOGIE’S LURES. On January 4th come join usto hear Bill Balboa, with Texas Parks andWildlife, who will share with us all the latestinfo on the red tide’s affects along the GulfCoast.

Thanks to the board members for makingthis a fun chapter to be involved with. Checkout our Face book site http://www.facebook.com/ccasugarland. If youwould like to receive updates on our chapterevents you can contactKeithjBauman@Comcast.net. David Kveton

Greater WoodlandsJimmy Pape / 832-326-6723

www.ccatexas.org/greater-woodlandsAs we wrap up 2011 with our last currentsarticle of the year, we reflect back to thecontinued growth CCA Texas and our chapterhas seen. We want to thank all our Sponsorshipfor 2011 and look forward to having you backin 2012.

GMM (General Membership Meeting) -October 26 with Capt. Jesse Arsola. Well, youcan say we finished off our year with a bang!We had the largest turnout we’ve ever had in2011 with 49 people in attendance, with a lot ofnew faces in the crowd. We held our meeting atour local Rico’s Mexican Grill and enjoyedsome great food and drinks with Capt. JesseArsola, our guest speaker of the night. He gaveus some good advice on where to fish, how tofish, and what lures to use.

Of course most guest speakers talk aboutthese things, but we had a lot of questions forJesse and could have stayed around all nightbeing captivated by his good advice and manyyears of fishing knowledge. We ended ourmeeting with some fabulous raffle prizes, whichincluded a two-night stay at a lodge inRockport, a full day of fishing with Jesse Arsola,and some fishing bags with insulated CCA cups.We’re looking forward to an even bigger crowdat our next General Membership meeting whichwill be held in January/February 2012. See y’allthere!

2012 - What will be on tap for the NewYear? First and foremost we need yourparticipation in our chapter. Please contact anyof the board members on our website http://www.ccatexas.org/greater-woodlands/ (or)contact Jimmy Pape at the number above to getinvolved. We will take any and all volunteerassistance available.

Here are the events planned, to bescheduled for 2012: (1) Kidfish, (2) Fishing Tripfor CCA Texas GWC members and Friends, (3)Annual Banquet (July 2012) (4) Fundraiser II inthe form of a Fish Fry (or) Crawfish Boil (April2012), (5) General Membership Meetings, (6)and more as they develop throughout the year.Keep Conserving ...To Keep Fishing!

Guadalupe ValleyCliff Weber 361-275-6506

Hays CountyWelcome new president, Steve Schiber

512-524-2989Heart of the HillsRandy Plummer

830-377-0737The Ninth Annual Heart of the Hills Chapterfundraising banquet was held in Boerne onSeptember 22. Thank You to the following “BullRed” sponsors for your support: AcademySports & Outdoors, Boerne Marine, JenningsAnderson Ford, Keg 1 - Miller Lite, and SEA.Attendees enjoyed an awesome shrimp boil byCajun Country Cookers and then participated

in the silent auction, $5 raffles, cooler raffle, andthe live auction.

It was great to see everyone having a goodtime. Several tables to mention include W.A.Automotive ; thanks, Richard and Debbie,Mercedes-Benz of Boerne, Bohnert Lumberand Mike Saur Automotive in Comfort, Ben E.Keith - Budweiser, and our friends fromBenson Body & Paint and Blanco Auto Parts.

This banquet would not have been possiblewithout the dedicated efforts of the following

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people: Tom Wayland (Matco Tools), DarrellSteubing (American National Insurance),Rodeana Reynolds (Mercedes-Benz Boerne),Wayne Nelson, Mike Saur (Saur Automotive),Bob Beckett, Jim and Kathy Simmons (H&RBlock - Boerne), Rusty Mertink (Auctioneer)and the CCA crew from Houston. Thanks againto all for a great banquet. If you would like toget involved, give us a call; 210-380-5709. —JimSimmons 210-380-5709

Hill CountryDarlene Cook

800-594-2056 ext 217darlenec@knbt.fm

The Hill Country Chapter set it’s ‘sites’ onhunting the October meeting. We had a TPWGame Warden speak and four vendors set upfor the meeting. It was very informative andeveryone had a good time.

One of the things the game wardenbrought up is that all kids that will be driving aboat will need to take a boating course. Anyoneborn after 9/1/93 that operates PWC over 15hpor over must take a boating safety course. Wealso raffled a trip for two to the Circle B Ranchin Rocksprings. A special thanks to ClaySultemeier for setting it up and guiding thetrip, and to the Blackman family for the trip!

We had a special guest, Ben Koehler whotook first place in the STAR teen mid coastdivision with a 7lb 5oz, 29.25" trout. Ben told hisstory of landing the big trout without a net inthe boat! Congratulations Ben! Good team work,Dad!

The Hill Country Chapter has a lot offamily participation and we always like hearinga good, or ‘first time’ story. If you have one,come to our meeting and share it with us! Ournext meeting will be in the spring of 1012. We’lllet you know as soon as we have a date. Thefeedback we’ve gotten from our members is thatthey would like a Fall tournament as well, so wewill work on that, too! Be safe! HappyHolidays! And God Bless till we meet again! —Darlene Cook

Houston Real EstateDale Couch 281-953-2510

KatyJason Smith 281-924-7040

We are closing another successful year for theKaty CCA, We had a great banquet and severalwonderful guest speakers this past year. I wantto take the time to thank all of you members formaking it such a good year. Our next meetingwill be January 18. We have moved locations toSpring Creek BBQ at Westgreen and I 10, still

at 7 pm. Remember, come early and get somegood food and drink before the meeting.

This meeting will be kicking off severalnew programs for the Katy Chapter, we willhave a project with The Katy kids about fishing,a Warrior Weekend is in the works, and numer-ous others, all it takes is your participation.

The January meeting will be a great one. Itwill feature “THE TEXAS GOURMET” BryanSlaven from Texas Fish and Game magazine as

our guest speaker. Come prepared to learnsome new ways to prepare your game after thishunting season. This is one, bring your spouse.Remember, getting Involved is how we pass thiswonderful country to our next generations.Please join us for our monthly meetings and getinvolved and find out more about your CCA. —Jason Smith

LaredoJesse Martinez jmartinez@bushlan.com

956-763-5555

Lee CountyWelcome to a new chapter and a new

president, Clarence Wolfshohl979-412-0916

Cwolfshohl@claytonwilliams.comThe Lee County Chapter had its 1st AnnualBanquet and Fund Raiser on October 20, 2011.The event was held at the American Legion Hallin Giddings. By 6:30 pm, the hall was full andyou would have had to use a shoehorn to getanyone else in. The food was great and theauction went really well. The final tally is notcomplete, but it will be better than we originallyexpected.

I want to thank the Banquet Committee,and especially Chairman Sharon Ferguson andco-Chairman Janis Wolfshohl. It was a job welldone. I also want to thank Ellen Ohmstede andall of the Houston staff that guided us in theplanning, preparation, and helping us thatnight. I also want to thank Sam Caldwell for hishelp and support.

A special thanks to the donors,contributors, underwriters, buyers, andattendees. It was a really great evening of fun. Iwant to remind everyone of the 4th AnnualPort Mansfield Cut and Beach Clean Up,sponsored by Kathy and Miller Bassler. It willbe March 17, 2012. Make your plans now; it willbe here before we know it. Thanks againeveryone, be safe and have fun on the water. —Quatie

Live OakBrad Kotrla 979-732-1669

Lower Colorado Valley J.L. West 979-318-9007

Lower Laguna MadreMark Helmke 956-299-0601

MainlandEric Minor 281-534-6242

Matagorda BaysLinc Lutrick 979-541-9901

On September12 and 13 we held our annualMatagorda Bays Guides Cup in Matagorda.Once again, Russell and Brandy Hicks atRussell’s Bait & Tackle did a great job ofcooking and making sure we were well takencare of. We would like to thank our sponsorsDuckett, Bouligny & Collins, L.L.P, H & H

Oilfield Consultants and Russell’s Bait &Tackle.

We also want to say a special thank you toall of our Matagorda Guides who donate theirtime, effort and equipment to make the guidescup a remarkable success each and every year.This year’s winner was Captain Troy Keen withthe assistance of Brian & Amy Walters andRobby Henske.

Their first place finish earned them each acustom Laguna rod donated by Laguna Rods.The gap between second and third place wasvery close with Captain Tom Perrilloux edgingout Captain Charlie Paradoski. We are trulyblessed to have some of the best guides in thestate right in our own backyard.

Please look these Guides up when youbook your next trip. Troy Keen, Tom Perrilloux,Charlie Paradoski, Kenny Hauff, Scott Reeh,Bink Grimes, Nate Koenig, Mark Talasek, LeeWarmke, Tommy Alexander, Tommy Countz,Terry Karstedt, Jimmy Riddle, Philip Leopold,Jesse Arsola, Dwayne Newbern, RobCummings, Stan Sloan, Floyd Ciruti, OzzyArnold, and Walt Schelle. Thank you again toall of our sponsors and guides. —Linc Lutrick

MidCoastDanny Hurta 361-648-4914

Northeast HoustonWelcome new president, Jason Law 713-

898-8594The Northeast Houston Chapter is excited towelcome Jason Law as their new chapter presi-dent! The chapter held it’s general membershipmeeting Wednesday, October 19 at Cedar Land-ing with Phil Ortiz, founder and designer ofFlounder Pounder Lures, as the speaker. Heshowed everyone some new techniques andshared some great flounder secrets! —JasonLaw 713-898-8594 jlaw1899@yahoo.com

Northwest HoustonJim DeClue713-826-3314

Orange CountyScott Bandy 409-988-3667

sabandy@ymail.com

Piney WoodsJess Mowery 903-736-3891

Port O’ConnorBill Moore 361-983-4690

Another great year! The 12th Annual POC CCABanquet was held on October 22 at the

Community Center and what a great run at thedoor to complete another sold out year. Thanksto all the board members and donors. Withoutyour dedication, the banquet would not havebeen such a great success. When you try tothank everyone involved, you leave someoneout- but we try.

Special thanks to banquet chairman CarlRay and co- chairman Jim Busby, VP’s Gib Foxand Mike Sharp, Treasurer Ann Brownlee,secretary Debbie Busby, and sergeant-at-arms

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Win the RGV 20’ Explorer Attackaflat with a 150 HPEvinrude ETEC and custom aluminum trailer.

Sonny Cook. Also, our outstandingboard members Carol Fox, Pam Ray,Chris Smisek, GB Robertson, Jerryand Virginia Lichac, Steve andLinnie Mashman, Jim and JessamyReed, Lefty and Joanne Ward, SusieOnishi, Harry and Carolyn Pond,Monique Morlan, and MaxineSharp, Candace Stryker for doing anoutstanding job on the programs.Also, to our CCA AD EllenOhmstede for assistance. And toFred Carr and Sam Caldwell for again makingour banquet a success with their unique ChangeOf Tides CCA book.

Again, our appreciation to a very specialgroup that has made our banquet a success, ourgreat supporters who donated all the items,gifts and trips. Again, thanks, come spend someof your holidays with us in POC “where it allbegan” – Bill Moore

PrairieSharon Goebel

979-877-4103Redfish Bay

Norman Oates 361-758-0266The Redfish Bay Chapter Board wishes allmembers and their families a Merry Christmasand a Happy New Year! We hope your holidayseason and the following year are filled withsuccess and happiness.

It is time to mark your new 2012 calendarsfor our upcoming events. The Annual Banquetis scheduled for April 28, 2012, and it will bein the Port Aransas Civic Center.

The annual “Take a Kid Fishing” eventwill be held the first weekend of June atWoody’s Sports Center in Port Aransas. TheBeeville Fish Fry will be held in September, theThursday evening before dove season starts -place is still to be determined. Thank you for a

great 2011, and we look forward to a great 2012.—Norman Oates

Rio Grande ValleyMatt Klosterman 956-642-7965

Here in the Rio Grande Valley we are starting tosee a change in our temperature along with achange in wind direction. For us fisherman theopening of deer season means a little less trafficon the bays. The summer fishing was excellentin the Lower Laguna Madre and shouldcontinue through the fall and into winter.

We did have a brief run in with red tidebut the past few cold fronts seem to have blownit back out into the Gulf and with the decreasein water temperature, there is also a decrease inthe algae bloom.

The RGV Chapter will begin to organizeour 32nd Annual Banquet in the next fewmonths. The chapter is always looking for freshfaces to help so if you are interested in helpingthe RGV Chapter feel free to give me a call at956-642-7965 to join. We meet at the BestWestern Palm Aire in Weslaco.

We are busy selling raffle tickets for our21ft Explorer Attacka Flats boat with motorand trailer. The RGV Chapter would like tothank L& F Distributers for sponsoring the boatagain this year. —Matt Klosterman

Sabine-NechesDarin Johnson 409-790-9855darin.johnson@delpapabud.com

What a difference a couple of fronts can make!Mother Nature has flipped the switch and thefishing on Sabine Lake is fantastic! While look-ing at the calendar I also noticed that we are 4months away from the 2012 Sabine NechesBanquet! If you are wanting to be a part of theaction on March 1st 2012 call or email me andwe will take care of you! We have also set up aGeneral Membership meeting to be held inJanuary 2012, 6pm at Dylan’s in Port Arthur,stay tuned for further details! This is all I havefor now, time to get outside and enjoy this greatweather! Happy Holidays Everyone! —DarinM. Johnson 409-790-9855darin.johnson@delpapabud.com

Sam HoustonMark Robinson 936-662-0841

mark6469@hotmail.comSan Antonio

Liz Hewitt 210-859-6924CCASanAntonio@yahoo.com

We had Bill Kinney, director of the STARtournament come out on October 12 at theQuarry Golf Club to talk about the STAR andwhat’s going on in CCA Texas. Bill has a wealthof knowledge that he graciously shared with us.The meeting was opened with a talk aboutRockport Rattlers by Charles Sablatura. If youhaven’t tried the Rockport Rattler, you owe it toyourself to do so. (And they make greatstocking stuffers!) Each talk was followed by aQ & A session.

Thank you Bill and Charles for awonderfully informative and entertainingevening! We ended the meeting with doorprizes for just about everyone. I would also liketo thank Lisa Bruce, David Barrera and Robert

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Lozano, our dedicated volunteers as well as theQuarry Golf Club for taking care of all of us.

It is hard to believe another Thanksgivinghas come and gone and we are looking at theend of the year again. Before you know it wewill be starting up our banquet committeemeetings in January. If you would like toparticipate we would love to have you. I will beposting the times and dates on the San Antoniopage of the CCA Texas website (ccatexas.org)and on our Facebook page, CCA Texas, SanAntonio Chapter. Check us out and “like” us!

It has been my pleasure and honor to serveas president of the San Antonio chapter for thepast two years. I would like to welcome ournew president, Johnny Rayburg! Happy NewYear and stay salty my friends! —Liz Hewitt casanantonio@yahoo.com

San BernardRoyce Macha979-472-5211

San GabrielJohn Melnar 512- 497-8284

San JacintoPete Ruiz 832-496-4903

On October 8, we hosted the Sunshine KidsTournament. We had a total of 18 children andtheir families present for this event. Our 18 boatcaptains and deck hands did a superb job assist-ing the children and their families. The childrencaught specs, reds, whities, drums, catfish and

flounder; they all received trophies. Thefamilies enjoyed eating hamburgers,hotdogs, chips, cookies and sodas. A bighuge thank you to all the parents, captainsand deckhands for a spectacular day!Thank you also to BJ and Jocelyn for al-lowing us to be a part of the SunshineKids. ––Pete Ruiz

TAMUBurr Thornton

Texas StateRobin Benson 830-385-1081

Tomball/MagnoliaMike Uhlig 832-566-6492

Tri-CountyJason Trial 830-570-2988

Trinity BayGerald Payne 281-385-2894

West HoustonMike Booher 281-772-0132

West TexasCraig McDonnold 432-682-3499 Roger Letz / Communications Director

432-685-6026 RCL301@aol.com

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www.samcaldwell.comTexas State Artist 2004

281-455-9390

Kocian / Caldwell / McDonaldAnnual Outdoor Art Expo

Orvis, Houston December 10 / 5-8 pmVisit with Ben, Sam and Les. Caldwell will again do anoriginal painting while you heckle. Win it, and proceeds

again go to CCA’s HTFT, along with proceeds fromKocian’s donation of a new Gclee print, and McDonald’s new framed pelican print. A fine Orvis flyrod and reel.

Refreshments, of course.

For more details and newCaldwell works on view,wander by the website:

Meet theartists,wintheir work

The Last Laugh

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6919 Portwest Suite 100 / Houston, TX 77024

CURRENTS NEWSLETTERDecember 2011 / January 2012

NON-PROFITU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDHOUSTON, TEXAS

PERMIT 2532

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

COASTAL CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION TEXASMEMBERSHIP APPLICATION (including STAR Entry)

Name Phone______ Date _________________________

Address City State Zip_______________

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

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

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

STAR ENTRY FEE: $20 ___ Tournament entry fee. Must be a current CCA member. NEW TIDE: $10 ___ Tide newsletter, 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 isyour starting point for almost anythingyou need to know about outdoor Texas,including links to many areas. Visithttp://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/ To focuson fishing and 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 toreport game violations. 1-800-792-4263.

A partner with CCA in aiding Texasgame and Game Wardens is OperationGame Thief. Drop by and put this websiteon your favorites list:http://www.ogttx.com/

CoastalConservation

Association