C11D24F1.QXD 12/23/2006 4:37 PM Page 1 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK CALLER- TIMES . December 24, 2006 . Sunday . 11C OUTDOORS / CALENDAR VEKTOR TABLES The Vektor Fish and Game Activity Tables are computer-generated time tables that indicate feeding and migration patterns based on positions of the sun and moon. SOUTH TEXAS FISHING GUIDELINES ROCKPORT SALLY MOFFETT Cool weather fly fishing can be quite productive during sunny days on the flats. Find super shallow water with deepwater access. Cast white/chartreuse clousers or natural colored crab imitations. Lure throwers try weedless gold spoons, small crankbaits or soft plastics. Try Redfish Bay, Estes Flats, East Flats and the flats of Shamrock. Remember to use a slow presentation in cooler water. David Sikes/Caller-Times David David Green's lab, Sister, does what she's trained to do, flush quail. Green sends in Sister behind his pointers and after hunters are positioned — Contact Sally at 205-0624 or [email protected] to safely shoot a rising covey. LAGUNA MADRE/BAFFIN BAY JIM ONDERDONK SIKES From 10C strong. No fat and lazy birds here. We’ve been seeing scattered trout in Baffin Bay. So QUAIL OUTFITS Purists still might argue that we I’d recommend drifting deeper structure such as Center Reef while throwing plum, rootbeer, red-flake David Green’s InFlight Outfitters — shouldn’t chase quail unless nature pro- On the wingshooting scale, bobwhite vides them. But realistically, quail hunt- or chartreuse soft plastics on a sixteenth-ounce jighead. 960-3556 ([email protected]) Work these lures very slowly right up against drop-offs packages with David Green’s InFlight Out- Luther Young — 296-3331 ing ranches are costly to maintain and at and along the edges of submerged rocks. We’ve been fitters are a bit pricey compared with John Johnson — 729-9320 times cannot afford to gamble on nature. seeing good numbers of trout along the rocks of Black hunting doves or ducks. But these are not Woody Touchstone — 318-0993 Green has a staff of five at the ranch full- Bluff, too. fair comparisons. Hugo Ford — 949-2040 time. And I’m not just referring to the Behind the gate of Twin Oaks Ranch is Jim Atkins — 851-1962 money spent on posh lodges, but also the — Contact Jim at 774-7710 or [email protected] 6,800 square feet of shameless luxury. Tak- John Witte — 729-1051 extra effort to sustain habitat that’ll grow PORT ARANSAS/ARANSAS PASS ing up more than 200 square feet of the Scott Carter — 543-4039 healthy coveys. lodge is a sparkling kitchen, which should George Foulds — 729-3214 Because of natural and manmade hard- CURT THOMAS tell you something about the hospitality of Wild Horse Lodge — 584-3098 ships that are difficult or impossible to Start out in Copano Bay, searching the drop-offs and this resort. avoid, quail populations have diminished reefs for trout. Use live shrimp under and Alameda At the other end of the lodge, past the NEW QUAIL BOOK dramatically. And the folks who have quail Rattling Float or dark soft plastics with lightweight pool table and shuffleboard table, near the often charge high fees to pay for their jigheads. As the day warms, look for redfish feeding in Texas Quails, Ecology and Management seagrass and potholes. Drift or anchor up with live massive stone fireplace you’d expect to see Edited by Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Leonard A. operations. finger mullet, cut bait, mud minnows. We’ve been there, is an intimate eight-seat theater, Brennan, endowed chair for quail research at Without supplemental birds during catching better fish on Carolina-rigged mud minnows replete with a big wide screen and amply the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute droughts, these hunting businesses would with a slip sinker. padded captain’s chairs with inset cup hold- Available through Texas A&M University Press be forced to lay dormant until nature ers. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were (www.tamu.edu/upress) bestows a huntable quail crop. This is one — Contact Curt at 463-9163 buttons on the armrests to vibrate and of those ebb years for South Texas quail. recline each chair. We didn’t watch a movie. There are bright spots supporting healthy PORTLAND/INGLESIDE But yes, this is one of those destinations impressive. It’s about 2,000 acres of low- populations this year, but only a few. DON MILLER businessmen brag about. fenced and well-managed and diverse Because of poorly timed rainfall, Twin Start out drifting along the outside of Dagger Island, I felt privileged to visit the ranch with wildlife habitat. Green oversees about 200 Oaks did not enjoy one of its better wild targeting depths of four to five foot. We’ve been throw- Portland’s Charlie Hoge and Wes Hoskins, whitetail, give or take. He enhances the quail hatches this year. If Green doesn’t ing live shrimp under Alameda Rattling Floats or using along with the ever-cheerful Pat Roberts of property’s natural offerings with cotton- seed his fields with birds, we might lose soft plastics for trout and redfish. Try throwing a pump- kinseed/chartreuse soft plastic or even a topwater Corpus Christi. These gentlemen, who like- seed feeders for the deer. another wild quail ranch. plug. Also try the inside flat of Dagger Island if the tide ly are not easily impressed, were indeed Part of the ranch’s wildlife program Instead, when two English pointers isn’t too low. And also drift Estes Flats with shrimp, soft impressed. On the eve of our hunt, they includes supplementing several fields with locked in tightly on a dry patch of tangled plastics or a gold spoon. told me so while lounging around a stack bob white quail. I understand that this is brush early Tuesday and Green command- of mesquite logs smoldering in a sunken not for everyone. Some folks who wouldn’t ed his black lab Sister to “flush ‘em out,” — Contact Mark at 775-1124 or [email protected] fire pit out back. think to scoff at catching redfish or bass we watched at least a dozen quail thunder By this time, some of us had sufficient- added to a lake or bay by Texas Parks & skyward and fly high and fast in every FRESHWATER (COLETO CREEK) ly embarrassed ourselves at the com- Wildlife biologists might reject the similar- which way. Shots rang out as children’s JOHNNY HARRISON pound’s professional-grade skeet and trap ity in mixing pen-raised upland birds with hearts beat within adult chests. I’d get an early start and throw a weightless watermelon range, dined on a hearty meal and mel- native fowl. Did we wonder whether those birds seed Senko or Super Fluke-type lure. Concentrate on lowed for the evening. It was a relaxing To offset this, Green has created the were wild? depths of anywhere from one to three foot near the scene with good company in a comfort- best quail-raising facility possible, next to Nope. island on the main lake. Target submerged vegetation. able setting — again, the way you’d imag- nature. His pens are made of soft netting We simply reloaded and followed the This should produce bass into the morning with or without cloud cover. Later, try the outside edges of the ine such a place to be. stretched over a metal frame that mea- dogs to the next covey. same vegetation in depths of four to five foot. Use a The lodge has overnight accommodates sures nearly 100 yards long, 20 yards wide Texas-rigged junebug or redbug worm well into midday. for 12 guests, two in each room and a din- with a 20-foot webbed ceiling. Outdoors writer David Sikes’ column appears ing area has space for 24. And he feeds his birds supercharged Thursdays and Sundays. Contact him at 886- — Contact Johnny at [email protected] The surrounding ranch is just as protein chow to keep them lean and 3616 or [email protected] Local Sports Calendar BASEBALL begin second week of December. All games Aikido classes by the Corpus Christi SOFTBALL Swim lessons offered by the CC Park & Corpus Christi Baseball Umpires Asso- will be played at 2801 Mcardle. Info: Felix Parks & Recreation Department from 5:30-7 City of Corpus Christi Greenwood Recreation Department Aquatics Division ciation is looking for umpires interested in Cornejo at 563-0079 or [email protected] p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at Ben Garza Softball Complex fields available for prac- year-round at the CC Natatorium. Lessons calling high school baseball games for the or Marcus Williams at 658-0099. Gym for adults 17 and older. Fee is $28 per tice, tournaments and leagues. For informa- are offered on Tues./Thur. or Wed./Fri. for upcoming season. Contact Martin Navarro at Corpus Christi Youth Football League month. Call 884-2194. tion on renting the fields, call 826-3588. four weeks or on Sat. for eight weeks. Fee is 249-3028. is taking applications for coaches in Pee American Free-Style Karate classes for CC Senior Softball Association seeks $35/session per student. Info: 880-3158 (8 Kingsville High School is looking for var- Wee, Junior Varsity and Senior Varsity. Call teens and adults offered by the CC Park and players for 50+, 55+, and 60+ leagues. Games a.m.-5 p.m.) or 878-2337 (6-9 p.m.). sity baseball games March 14-17. Call Coach 851-8952. Recreation Department on Mon. and Thur., are played on Monday, Tuesday and Wednes- YMCA classes for six months-adult on Rick Soliz at 522-9223.