End of the year sees excellent hunting and fishing

The level and stability of Falcon Lake was going to headline the month's activity, but the tragic loss of our friend and Falcon defender Gaylen Gilbreath to a heart attack on December 28 will be the event that this December will be remembered for by all of his friends and the friends of Falcon. Gaylen ("Indio" or "Chief " as his friends called him) has been a fixture on Falcon for longer than most of us can remember. He will be sorely missed by all of us and Falcon/Zapata will be a little less bright and friendly as a result of his premature departure.
We started December at a five and a half year high lake level (268.26 ft.) and maintained that level fluctuating only a few inches, ending December at 268.27 ft. Not since June of 1997 has there been more water in Falcon (270.02 ft.). Falcon is sitting right at 33 ft. low and the early spawn has been the beneficial recipient of a stable water level for the month at a level eight feet higher than last year. With the increased lake levels, not only do spawned fry have cover, the netters that destroyed a large number, if not the vast majority, of our large fish during the last few years’ low levels have more difficulty spreading their nets and herding/catching the big spawners.
For the first time in a number of years, launching is not an immediate issue, but neither can it be removed from the radar screen. The Zapata County and Falcon State Park main concrete ramps are both operational. No more launching off the rocks and parking in the mud, at least for the present. Beacon Lodge's private ramp is also operational and small boats are now launching at Oso Blanco. The State Park ramp has a pier that can be used to tie off boats, unloading and loading, while you take the trailer and tow rigs up to the parking level. However, Zapata County Judge David Morales and Commissioners Court's promise to provide a movable pier at the Zapata ramp to simplify the loading and unloading process has still not materialized. The lack of interest of Zapata County Commissioners Court in applying for available TPW Grants to dredge access channels and provide all level launching facilities is becoming legendary.
There is already a $95,000 grant for Ramp Improvements sitting in Austin in Zapata County's name and needing only a moderate tweaking to become reality. The County is, however, too busy (or disinterested) to pursue the request for action we have submitted on a continuing basis through Commissioner's Court since March of 2002. They have even misplaced the new TPW Grant Package delivered to them at the June 2002 Commissioners Court meeting, which we requested be completed to develop low-level handicapped accessible launching ramps and provide funding to dredge an access channel to permit access and egress of boats from the Veleno. Meanwhile, millions of dollars in tourist revenue are going elsewhere and Zapata businesses must be content to harvest oil and gas revenues while they last. One of these days, Zapata businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, and sportsmen and women will figure it out and get serious about putting the word on the politicians. If the County administration refuses to help we need to consider other alternatives.
The heavy flights of geese we enjoyed last year at Falcon are now largely absent this year, and some of our northern neighbors report a low number of flights being seen heading south. The numerous embankments blanketed with bermuda grass on the shoreline of Falcon last year have been covered by the high water, and the resulting heavy brush and vegetation may not be exactly the cup of tea that geese prefer. Ducks, on the other hand, that were largly absent last year until the end of the season are here early this year and in good, if fluctuating, numbers.
Several different groups of hunters were telling stories of seeing several thousand ducks on any given morning before Christmas and of easy limits, including widgeons, teal, mallards, and some geese mixed in for good measure. The areas of the lake holding ducks ranged from the Big Tigers to School Bus and on up the lake to the coves several miles past Beacon Lodge. Many of these sightings are no longer in evidence so we will have to wait before giving a thumbs up to duck and goose hunters.
Ranchers are reporting excellent quail populations and hunting is being reported as "the best it has been for some years." The bucks started chasing does a day or two before Christmas and looked like the rut was going full force the last week in December. Rick Neel from Austin took this nice 10-point on the Gutierrez Ranch just North of the Zapata County Land Fill.
Bass Tournament activity in December was very light, with the only reports coming from the SWRI Bass Busters Championship and the Atascosa Championship Bass Club Tournaments.
On December 14th and 15th, 13 anglers from Atascosa caught 34 black bass, including a six pound big bass hauled in by Angie Leal. Frequent Falcon angler Ted Wayland won his club's 2002 Championship and the weekend tournament as well.
The SWRI Bass Busters from San Antonio contested their championship Tournament at Falcon December 7th and 8th. For once they ended up with a drop-dead beautiful weekend. Low winds, mild temperatures, and bass that were turned on big time gave the club a real Falcon welcome. Frankie West and his partner Ned Zamora weighed in a total of 54.20 lbs. for two-day heavy stringer team honors. Frankie also weighed in a 6.44 lb. sow for Big Bass of the Tournament. Larry Krebs took the individual-fisherman two-day heavy stringer money with 30.08 lbs.
The fishermen (and women) on Falcon were finding the patterns I outlined in our November report to be working well in December also (spinnerbaits and plastic lizards worked around hardwoods in four to six feet of water on ledges off main creek channels). Stripers were hitting the same baits being presented to the black bass and most of the striper action started out with a rod jarring strike capable of removing the rod from the hands (and the boat) of anyone lulled into a brief moment of inattention.
The bigger fish caught this month included seven-pound and eight-pound bass caught by Jimmy Johnson and his father (frequent Falcon tournament winners) on spinnerbaits plus a couple eight-pound fish caught below the Dam. Some locals who have broken the code on fishing below the Dam had multiple seven and eight-pound and eight-and-a-half-pound fish this month. However, if you are interested in trying out this fishery, it is advisable to hook up with someone experienced in negotiating the rock formations and finding the holes holding fish. Also, it would not hurt to have a jet boat at your disposal given the terrain. Props and rocks are not a good combination.
Catfishing has continued good-to-excellent, with 15 to 20-fish catches being reported as about average. Not as many big cats were being caught this month and most of the fish being caught were blue cats. Again, the illegal traps and netting on both sides of the lake have virtually wiped out channel cats and flatheads. The number one pattern for catfish has been livebait fished in the deep river holes. Stinkbait or shrimp dipped in stinkbait has been a close second, and then live worms. Catfish are coming from nearly all parts of the lake including Little Tiger, OPEC Creek, and the Veleno.
Texas Parks and Wildlife's biologists were at Falcon this month conducting their electroshock survey. They found bass all the way from the Dam to the Veleno and an abundance of bait fish (shad) in nearly every place they stopped. Pretty much the same scenario was noted this year as last year. The majority of the fish shocked or netted last year by TPW Biologists, i.e. 89%, were small fish (from the 2001 class). This year, the majority of the fish were from the same 2001 class, but they were characterized as footballs weighing two to two and a half pounds. Only a few large fish were taken (two over six pounds) again reflecting the decimation of our large bass by netters and some visiting fishermen who slaughter and eat the bass. A number of us sincerely feel we need regulatory changes to protect the bass during spawn and additional enforcement to back it up.
The TPW Inland Fisheries staff again recommended no change in size or limits at the December Hearing in Austin, choosing instead to address the substantive year-after-year declines with a "no change in policy solution." So what's new? This is the same action they followed during the white bass, crappie, and channel catfish declines over the years to the point that today, with no viable fishery existing for any of these species, the limits still sit at 25 per day and 10-inch lengths on two of the three species. I would be embarrassed to take a paycheck if I was responsible for such a widespread decimation of what was widely considered to be one of the best producing lakes in Texas.
You might recall that in 2001 we had a stable elevation during the spawn. In fact, the elevation remained in the 253 ft. to 254 ft. range through June 1. That is the nature of the request we have made through Senator Zaffirini's office and Congressman Ciro Rodriguez to the Watermaster Office as this year's spawn approaches. We requested they keep the elevation of the lake above 257 ft. so the shoreline will remain above the weed cover. This will give the fry the protection from predation during the early days of their existence. Also we have requested that the level drop will be controlled to no more than 6 inches during any two-week period so the water will be covering the eggs at the time they are ready to hatch. Unfortunately the ability to control this is not totally within the control of the Watermaster. If Mexico decides to release water, they can only do so using gravity feed by opening the gates wide open. If we can avoid this type of release (so far so good), this will significantly increase the viability of the spawn. Remember, one mature bass can lay 50,000 to 100,000 eggs. Please encourage anyone fishing during the spawn to release all the fish caught.
We received an encouraging report from the Falcon Lake Task Force's December 13 meeting, which was created by virtue of Senator Judith Zaffirini and Congressman Ciro Rodriguez's efforts in holding the hearing in October to review actions of agencies and officials charged with the maintenance of Falcon's fishery and stored water. I want to commend the TPW effort to help Falcon Lake achieve a natural spawn in 2003. The Texas Parks and Wildlife folks pledged their unused water rights for 2003 to be used to offset any additional evaporative losses associated with storing necessary amounts of water at Falcon (instead of at Amistad) in order to stabilize Falcon at an elevation of 257 ft. The US Fish and Wildlife Service made a similar pledge, but legal obstacles have been encountered in fulfilling that pledge and their offer is not a done deal as of this date.
Speaking of the Task Force, any of you who might be acquainted with Donato D. Ramos from Laredo, I would appreciate your encouragement of his efforts to lead the Task Force in a positive direction. We are off to a great start as far as the goal of storing enough water at Falcon to produce a natural spawn this year. However, when it comes to drilling down into the details of needed TPW improvements such as a restorative multi-species restocking program, creation of a low-level vegetation program, and improvement of Falcon State Park launching facilities to include construction of multiple low-level ramps and handicapped accessible facilities, there needs to be a much stronger effort/will and a clearly defined, detailed program. These items plus buoy marking or removal of low-level hazards in main channels and grants for creation of facilities in the Zapata County area, including dredging access channels and constructing low-level, handicapped accessible launching facilities, at this point are merely dim flickering lights on the horizon of the TPW hierarchy.
Last month the Executive Director of the TPW wrote one of our Representatives, the Honorable Ismael "Kino" Flores, in response to the request I sent to the Representative to support the Falcon Lake Restoration and Improvement program with funding for two additional lake warden positions. He informed the Representative that most of our concerns would be resolved by virtue of having additional water stored at Falcon. This is totally wrong. Not only do we need low level launching facilities that are handicapped accessible both in Zapata and at the State Park, we also need to increase our enforcement capability to provide stronger enforcement by increasing the number of patrols and controls over illegal netting in US waters. The items above, including low-level vegetation and safety issues, will never be resolved by temporary increases in stored water levels. Neither will the broader and most urgent priority, which involves thinking outside the box to find a long-term solution such as canals to bring in water from the north, diverting Colorado River water to Río Grande, or desalination. These items were not even on the agenda at the first Falcon Task Force meeting. Unless we can obtain a resolution over Mexico's unilateral withholding of Treaty Water, which will most likely require intervention of President Bush or the Secretary of State, other measures must be identified and pursued. A great deal of work remains if we are to ultimately achieve the necessary corrective action to save Falcon.
Along with an unspecified number of club tournaments, Falcon Lake will host the Media bass tournament on January 26th, which promises to attract over 100 teams. Registration for Media will be from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Falcon Lake Tackle on Jan 25th. Also, mark your calendars now for the Zapata Chamber of Commerce-sponsored Tommy Gray Memorial Bass Tournament that has been scheduled for the fourth weekend in March (22nd and 23rd). It is a fun-filled weekend that encourages family participation.
Remember, kill only what you are going to eat, practice catch and release on all black bass, and carefully handle the fish so as to minimize removal of the slime coating. If you do lift a big fish to take a picture, wet your hands first and take care to avoid damaging the lower jaw. The best and easiest release is to remove the hook while the fish is in the water.

(Larry E. Bridgeman is the owner of Falcon Lake Tackle in Zapata, TX. Visit the Falcon Lake Tackle website at www.tackleandrods.com.)