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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Tuesday, August 13, 2019:
Drawing for Trinity River alligator gar harvest authorization opens Aug. 15: Starting Sept. 1, anglers must have special authorization through a random draw to harvest a large alligator gar from a section of the Trinity River and follow new regulations when fishing for the state’s largest and long-lived freshwater fish in public waters statewide. From Aug. 15 through Sept. 30, anglers holding a license-year or year-from-purchase fishing license can enter a drawing for the opportunity to harvest one alligator gar over 48 inches from a section of the Trinity River using the My Texas Hunt Harvest mobile app or online. Anglers can choose to apply as an individual or as part of a small group. Winners of the random drawing will be notified by Oct. 15. Anglers can use any legal means or method to take an alligator gar over 48 inches day or night from a section of the Trinity River from the I-30 bridge in Dallas downstream to the I-10 bridge in Chambers County, including the East Fork of the Trinity River upstream to the dam at Lake Ray Hubbard, through Aug. 31, 2020.
Sprawling South Texas hunting ranch with 18,000 acres changes hands: A sprawling South Texas property southwest of San Antonio has sold. The 18,000-acre-plus La Bandera Ranch had been listed for sale at more than $54 million and hit the market in the spring. The Dimmit County hunting ranch has three lodge houses with a staggering 46 bedrooms, a resort-style swimming pool and its own private runway and airplane hanger. Illinois-based Whitetail Properties Real Estate marketed the historic property for sale and closed the deal in less than 30 days. The buyer was a San Antonio investor.
NOAA: Request for comments on red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico: The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council developed six amendments to the Fishery Management Plan for Reef Fish Resources in the Gulf of Mexico to allow the five Gulf of Mexico states some management authority for private angler red snapper recreational fishing. NOAA Fisheries requests comments regarding the changes these Amendments would make to Gulf of Mexico private recreational red snapper management in federal waters. Comments are due by October 7. Amendment 50A includes actions that affect all states and Amendments 50B-F analyze actions specific to each Gulf of Mexico state (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas, respectively).
Raleigh man almost falls out of fishing boat upon learning of lottery win: Danny Bizzell bought a Cash 5 lottery ticket on July 12, gave it to his wife and went fishing. He was in the middle of a lake when his wife, Sandra Dickinson, called to tell him he had won a $792,655 jackpot. “I almost fell overboard,” Bizzell said. “I told her, ‘Are you freaking kidding me?’ ” Bizzell bought the winning ticket at the Food Lion on North Rogers Lane in Raleigh, using the same numbers he’s played for almost 13 years.
The horrifying story of a woman who watched friends being eaten by sharks for 5 days after yacht capsized in Atlantic: ‘They were everywhere’ A routine boat trip off the East Coast turned into nightmare for a group of friends after their yacht capsized and they were hunted by sharks, leaving only two survivors to witness and recall the carnage. The yacht was sailing along the eastern seaboard to Florida in October 1982 when an unexpected storm hit the Trashman boat, causing it to capsize. The crew survived, but that was just the start of their ordeal. The harrowing story of the five crew members’ attempt to survive was recently told in The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week special Capsized: Blood in the Water, starring Josh Duhamel. For days, the party floated on a life raft in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Carolina, without food, water, or emergency equipment, The Sun reported. Sharks are abundant in this region, with species including the blacknose, dusky, great white, hammerheads, and tiger sharks inhabiting the waters. The latter is one of the biggest and most dangerous to lurk in North Carolina waters. Unluckily for the Trashman survivors, tigers were the sharks which preyed on them.
Freeburg 16-year-old is first female to win overall national trap shooting championship: Grace Marlen has been hunting and shooting clay targets since she was strong enough to hold a gun. It was her dad, Nate Marlen, a former national collegiate trap shooting placewinner while competing for the University of Illinois club team, who introduced his daughter to the sport. “I took Grace hunting with me when she was little, but she’s been shooting she was 9 or 10.”
Boy gets 16 stitches after fish bites him hard on Fox Lake: The Campiones’ weekend family trip to Fox Lake turned into a scary ordeal after the family said a fish bit their son. AJ Campione was just about to test out new water skies in ten feet deep water. As soon as he put on his skies, AJ said he felt something clamp down on his foot. “I ripped it out, and I knew I was bleeding so I screamed I’ve been bitten! It was a lot of pain,” AJ said. AJ’s mother, Wendy, didn’t believe her son at first until she saw the bite marks. “I pulled him on the boat, and we screamed. We saw his foot and all the blood coming from his foot,” Wendy said.
Manitowoc family urges hunting safety after dog killed: A new German shorthair puppy has helped the Dramm family heal, but the painful memory is still there. On November 10 last fall, just after dark, Paula Dramm took the family’s 5-month-old Windsor for a walk on nearby city property. “I could hear him rummaging around in the longer grass like he liked to do, whereas I stayed on the shorter city cut grass, and unfortunately then I heard what sounded somewhat like a gunshot, and I realize now that was the sound of a crossbow,” says Dramm. Dramm remembers her dog crying out in pain and then silence. “And then when I found him how I did, I was basically, just fell to my knees and was screaming ‘No, no,’ and ‘Windsor,’ ” recalls Dramm. Police were called and the hunter, who claimed he thought he was shooting a coyote, was cited for shooting after hours but no other charges were filed.
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