Conservation related posts and comments
As you can see the club trout tanks continue to do well. We have lined up a release date for the fish in the Guadalupe on April 28th. This was the only date that I could coordinate between 7 different high schools where most could attend – however we may end up having more than one release if needed. If any club members are able to attend the release then please let me know!
Cheers
Matt
As you can see our baby trout continue to do well and are now looking like miniature rainbows, complete with par marks and white tipped fins. We had a few loses over spring break but the majority came through without issue. Hard to believe we are already getting close to release time and are targeting the end of April or early May as potential dates. If any club members would like to attend the release (on the Guad) then please contact me directly and let me know!
Cheers
Matt
A quick video update – once again we had close to a 100% hatch rate from the eggs (there are always a few who don’t make it far at this stage) and so far all 13 tanks have healthy young trout, now feeding and ready for release from the eggs traps into the tank it’s self. Wont be long now before they color up and develop par marks!
Cheers
Matt
The 2018 Trout in the classroom project began last Thursday when I collected roughly 1300 trout eggs from TU and delivered them to this year’s schools. Thanks to the donations from TFF we are now up to 13 Houston area science classrooms running trout tanks. This year’s schools are as follows:
The classes will be hatching their trout over the next two weeks and growing them on until they reach 2-3in long. As in previous years we will be releasing them on the Guadalupe in early May. I will be posting regular updates on the progress and if anyclub members have questions or would like to get involved in helping out then please give me a call.
Matt (832 444 4206)
Hello everyone! Just a quick update to let you know that the 10 TFF sponsored trout in the classroom tanks are still going strong. Most of the trout are now free swimming and growing fast. If anyone has questions or would like to help out with the program then please give me a call.
Matt Blyth (832 444 4206)
As forwarded by Dave Hayward with Swan Point Landing
As you and most folks who fish the Port Aransas/ Aransas Pass/ Rockport area know, a private company was granted a lease by the Texas General Land Office (GLO), and later a “Letter of Permission” from the Corps of Engineers (USACE) to construct a mile-and-a-half long barge fleeting facility in Lydia Ann Channel, directly across from the Lighthouse.
The project has displaced recreational use of that shoreline, created a hazard to navigation and poses a very real threat of devastating environmental and economic impact on a sensitive area in the event of a spill. Those of us who have boated and fished this water our whole lives know that the Lydia Ann Channel is the main tidal connection between the Redfish and Aransas Bay Systems and the Gulf. An incredible amount of water funnels through the channel. It serves as an important migratory route for baitfish, gamefish, shrimp and other wildlife. A swift incoming tide and stiff wind will push any spill, along with the inevitable runoff, from the facility into these bays within minutes, without possibility of control. It would destroy fishing in the Lighthouse Lakes, Redfish Bay, Aransas Bay and St. Jo.
As a result, concerned citizens and fishermen formed a non-profit “Friends of Lydia Ann Channel”, and filed a lawsuit against USACE in December 2015 challenging the improper granting of a ‘Letter of Permission’, without any environmental studies or public comment. The issuance of a Letter of Permission for a project of this scale, located in an environmentally sensitive area, inside the Redfish Bay State Scientific Area, was wholly inappropriate. A Letter of Permission is an abbreviated permitting process which, by law, is reserved for situations where “the proposed work would be minor, would not have significant individual or cumulative impacts on environmental values, and should encounter no appreciable opposition”. The company and the government essentially took a short cut on the permitting process, and the result is the eyesore on one of our favorite pieces of water that threatens to ruin our fishery.
The Texas Observer recently published a pretty good piece on the issue: https://www.texasobserver.org/port-aransas-barge-lydia-ann-controversy/
Hi Folks,
PLEASE take a look at this important coastal workshop presented by FlatsWorthy next Saturday, Feb. 25th at the Bay Education Center 121 Seabreeze Dr., in Rockport; with teaching officials from the National Estuarine Research Reserve, the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, and Sea Grant Texas at Texas A&M University scheduled to appear. The workshop is Free to all but attending folks must register ahead of time at https://goo.gl/forms/oAEUxNPIqe5ZLSTk1
The TFF sponsored 2017 Trout in the Classroom project got off to a flying start last week. Thanks to the kind donations from TFF through the club fund raising and also with three new schools acquiring the necessary equipment themselves, we are now up to TEN tanks in high schools across Houston! This is a doubling in size of the project in one year and all the new teachers signed on after hearing about the success of tanks in our classrooms through their school system. We now have tanks in the following schools:
As usual the rainbow trout eggs were supplied by Trout Unlimited and came from a hatchery in Washington state. Each school received approximately 100 eggs and some have already started to hatch. Over the next few months I will keep everyone updated with their progress. Meanwhile if you have any questions then feel free to get in touch with me.
Matt Blyth (8324444206)
I participated in a fish sampling this past Tuesday and was amazed at the quality of the fishery that exists at the WILLOW WATERHOLE. 
We collected a variety of species including some large mouth bass, check out this nice specimen being displayed by Alice Best, fishery biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries Department. We also saw Sunfish, Shad, Tilapia, Carp and Armored Catfish.
The fish were in catchable numbers and size to justify a nice morning or afternoon’s effort.
Any one needing directions or tips on the fishing please feel free to call me . Mike Frankoff- 713-553-3003
