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Here’s what’s worth reading today, Wednesday, July 24, 2019:
Large numbers of juvenile bass indicate Llano River recovering from historic flood event: Less than a year after a major flood scoured much of the Llano River and left anglers worried about the future of the waterway’s renowned bass fishery, biologists with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department are finding evidence of a recovery. A fish sampling effort near Castell in late-June by TPWD aquatic biologists found large numbers of juvenile largemouth and Guadalupe bass are now present in the river. TPWD Aquatic Biologist Preston Bean, who is heading up a study looking at recovery of the river’s habitat and fish assemblage, reported Guadalupe bass made up 26% of the total catch and were at least 10% of the catch at each of 10 sampling sites.
At a high-stakes tournament, a lucky fisherman reels in $2.6 million in cold hard cash: If it’s hard to believe that one fish could be worth a mind-boggling $2.6 million, then you’re probably not familiar with the high-stakes world of tournament sports fishing. The White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Maryland, is a week-long competition held annually in August and in the fishing world, it’s basically the Super Bowl. This year’s competition takes place Aug. 5-9.
Texas anglers to see federal water red snapper fishing closure August 2
‘Never approach animals’: 9-year-old tossed in the air by charging bison at Yellowstone: Panicked screams pierced the air at Yellowstone National Park as visitors scattered. A large bison meandering around a grassy hillside nearby had abruptly changed course. It was now thundering toward the group of people, headed straight for a girl. Onlookers gasped. Wordless shrieks mixed with shouts of “Oh, my God!” In seconds, the powerful animal had reached the child, who was trying in vain to outrun it. With a swift toss of its head, the charging bison catapulted her high into the sky like a rag doll, flipping her head over heels before gravity sent her tumbling to the ground.
Heroic dog sacrifices life to save baby from deadly cobra: These dogs are the definition of heroes. Watch as two dachshunds from Kidapawan City, Philippines, protect their family’s sleeping baby from a deadly cobra. Unfortunately, one of the pooches, Miley, 4, did not survive being bitten by the venomous snake, while her sister, Moxie, 2, completely lost her eyesight. Jaime and Pauie Selim said that while they will miss Miley very much, they are extremely proud of both their pets and “can’t thank [our] dogs enough for protecting [our] baby Skye.”
There’s a new kind of tick, and it can lay 2,000 eggs at a time: For the first time in 50 years, a new species of tick has been identified in the United States, announced Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group. The Asian longhorned ticks — officially known as haemaphysalis longicornus — were discovered in New Jersey and now have spread into seven neighboring states. Poland said the longhorned tick is prolific and can lay as many as 2,000 eggs at a time. He said it is known to be an aggressive biter, causing great stress to its host.
Hunting season is coming, so get yourself prepared: With the recent heat and humidity, the thoughts of hunting and the upcoming seasons may be a hard sell, but hear me out. Hunting season is closer than you think — especially if you have a Western big hunt on the books this fall. Two-a-day practices in August can build a solid foundation for a football team’s entire season. The same can be true for your hunting season. A little practice now can go a long way toward a very successful season.
30 antique fishing lures and why they’re collectible: When it comes to collectible lures and other tackle, I’m more of an accumulator than a collector. If I see something cool for short money at a tag sale, then I’ll latch on to it. I don’t collect systematically, nor do I spend big bucks on antique tackle as some do. This old, wooden Huskie Pikie plug by Creek Chub is a good example of a nice tag-sale get from a few years back, complete with original box. While on this topic, I can also remind you that the archived articles on our website are just a huge trove of great information you can search electronically. Regarding old lures, for example, you can find an older article I wrote for our print edition on the value of old fishing tackle here. Fishing with various classic lures was another article you can find here.
Why isn’t publicly funded conservation on private land more accountable? A few years ago, an environmental lawyer named Jessica Owley set out to learn how well it works when the federal government allows development in the habitat of an endangered species. Under the terms of these deals, introduced in the 1980s to mollify opponents of the Endangered Species Act, the developers provide mitigation, typically with a conservation easement on some other parcel of private land. Owley focused on four California examples, out of the almost 700 so-called Habitat Conservation Plans that now exist nationwide. She had a long list of questions, from “Where are the protected parcels?” to “How do endangered species fare in the face of these deals?” “I ended up being stopped at the first question,” says Owley, now a professor at the University of Buffalo Law School. “It wasn’t just that I couldn’t find the HCP sites, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t know and couldn’t find them.”
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