Bob Hood 
Fishing-trips raffle to help fight breast cancer
Four Texas fishing guides are raffling fishing trips to raise money for fellow angler Martin Pingree, who plans to participate in the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk Nov. 7-9 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Pingree, his wife, Kay, and youngest daughter, Amy, plan to walk 60 miles in the event to raise awareness and money to fight breast cancer. His oldest daughter, Michelle Pingree Rasberry, is in remission from breast cancer, said Lake Lewisville catfish fishing guide Bobby Kubin.
Proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
“This is the second year to raffle off the fishing trips,” Kubin said. “Last year was a huge success with over $2,000 raised.”
The four half-day trips being raffled (with raffle drawing date) are catfishing on Lewisville Lake with Bobby Kubin (April 18), sand bass and hybrid striped bass fishing on Cedar Creek Reservoir with Billy Seaman (May 18), coastal fishing with Doug Stanford (June 18) and largemouth bass fishing with Pat Wilshire (July 18).
Raffle tickets — $5 each, six for $25 or 13 for $50 — are good only for one drawing. To purchase tickets with PayPal, cash, check or money order, call Pingree at 940-224-7680 or send an e-mail to mkpingree@yahoo.com.
Big Game banquets
A record high of more than 2,250 hunters entered their trophy animals from last season in the Texas Big Game Awards Program, and many will receive awards at one of eight regional banquets.
Awards also are presented to land owners, and the banquets include raffles, auctions, seminars, exhibits and trophy animal displays. Additional information is available at www.texasbiggameawards.com or by calling 800-839-9453, ext. 114.
A statewide banquet is scheduled June 28 at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort in San Antonio.
The regional banquets:
April 26: Trans-Pecos, Alpine
May 3: South Texas, Robstown
May 17: Edwards Plateau, Burnet
July 12: Pineywoods, Nacogdoches
Aug 23: Panhandle, Childress
Sept. 6: Coastal Plains, Seguin
Sept. 13: Cross Timbers, Abilene
Sept. 20: Post Oak Savannah, Athens
76.35-pound winner
One catfish weighing 76.35 pounds caught by Russell DeVore of Dexter, Mo., and Jerry Whitehead of New Madrid, Mo., took first place in the Cabela’s King Kat Tournament on the Mississippi River at Crystal City, Mo., last weekend.
Roger Gerloff Jr. of Jefferson City, Mo., and Marty Gerloff of Chamois, Mo., were second with five catfish totaling 66.85 pounds.
Calling all duck callers
Delta Waterfowl's Texas State Duck Calling Championship and the Gulf Coast Regional contest are May 17 at the Jewett Community Center in Jewett.
Entry fee is $600 for one event or $1,000 for both. For more information, call Newell Cheatheam at 281-392-3034 or go to www.texasstateduckcallingcontest.com.
Two more ShareLunkers
The newest entries into the ShareLunker program include a fish caught by a professional angler in a Bassmaster tournament and a fish caught from a dock.
Scott Campbell of Springfield, Mo., was fishing in the Elite Series tournament Thursday on Falcon International Reservoir when he caught a 13.13-pound bass on a 10-inch worm in 25 feet of water.
On Saturday, Pamela Plummer of Fort Worth was fishing from a dock on Lake Fork with a Zoom watermelon-red plastic worm in about seven feet of water when she hooked into a 13.11-pound bass.
Earlier this month, a bass caught at Lake Casa Blanca near Laredo made its second trip to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens for the ShareLunker program, which uses bass over 13 pounds for genetic studies and spawning.
Cesar Gomez of Laredo caught the 13.33-pound bass April 1, and, when state biologists came to pick up the fish, they discovered it carried an identification tag they had placed on the fish after it had been caught Feb. 14, 2006, by Jay Stevens of Abilene.
When Stevens caught the bass, it weighed 13.2 pounds and was 26 inches long with a 20-inch girth. When Gomez caught it, the it was 28.25 inches long and had a 21.5-inch girth.
Birding Classic nears
Bird lovers from across the U.S. are expected to test their birding skills during the Great Texas Birding Classic on April 27-May 4 along the Texas Coast.
The annual event involves adult and youth teams who travel through 41 Texas counties along the coast to spot and record as many bird species as they can. The winning teams in numerous categories will decide which pre-approved conservation projects will receive grant money derived from the event.
Last year, more than 350 birders competed n the event and $73,000 was divided among seven projects for land acquisition, land restoration or enhancements for birdwatchers.
Registration for the Birding Classic is available at www.birdingclassic.org.
FISHING REPORT, THURSDAY, APRIL 10
HOT SPOTS
LARGEMOUTH BASS
Ray Roberts: Action has been very good on 63/47-ounce spinner baits, Texas-rigged plastic worms and soft plastic jerk baits in 2 to 4 feet in the creeks. The largest bass caught last week weighed slightly more than 9 pounds.
STRIPED BASS
Amistad: Action has been very good in the upper reaches of the Rio Grande and the Devil's River on chartreuse and chrome jigging spoons and large white and yellow jigs.
TEXAS COAST
South Sabine: Speckled trout action has been good on plum and fire-tiger Bass Assassins, Sand Eels and Red Killers, and live shrimp, at the Causeway Reef. The jetty has been producing a lot of catches of black drum and sheepshead on live shrimp and crabs.
Port Isabel: Redfish and speckled trout have been providing a lot of action at the Gas Well Flats on live shrimp rigged under popping corks. Anglers have been catching flounder and black drum in the main canal and sheepshead at the jetty on live shrimp.
RIVER ADVISORY
Estimated river flows in cubic feet per second and floatability levels (# below minimum; 1 minimum; 2 satisfactory; 3 ideal; 4 approaching hazardous conditions; 5 hazardous; F flood) based on rainfall as of 6 a.m. Wednesday:
| NORTHEAST | FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY |
| Neches at Alto | 1500-3 | 1480-2 | 1470-2 |
| Sabine at Gladewater | 7380-F | 7400-F | 6170-F |
| Brazos at Poss. Kingdom Dam | 100-# | 100-# | 100-# |
| at Dennis | 200-1 | 160-# | 160-# |
| at Granbury Dam | 570-2 | 570-2 | 570-2 |
| at Whitney Dam | 800-2 | 800-2 | 800-2 |
| Trinity at Benbrook Dam | 10-# | 10-# | 10-# |
| Denton Creek at Grapevine Dam | 1100-5 | 1100-5 | 1100-5 |
| at Lewisville Dam | 2800-5 | 2800-5 | 2800-5 |
| Angelina at Sam Rayburn Dam | 1700-2 | 1700-2 | 1700-2 |
| Neches at Town Bluff Dam | 5000-4 | 5000-4 | 5000-4 |
| Village Creek at Kountze | 290-1 | 270-1 | 240-1 |
| Sabine at Toledo Bend Dam | 38080-F | 38080-F | 38080-F |
| Trinity at Livingston Dam | 30600-F | 30600-F | 30600-F |
| SOUTH CENTRAL | FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY |
| Colorado at San Saba | 130-1 | 130-1 | 120-1 |
| at Austin | 1000-3 | 1000-3 | 1000-3 |
| Frio at Garner State Park | 30-# | 30-# | 30-# |
| Guadalupe at Spring Branch | 130-1 | 130-1 | 130-1 |
| at Canyon Dam | 150-1 | 150-1 | 150-1 |
| at Cuero | 940-2 | 940-2 | 920-2 |
| Lampasas at Stillhouse Dam | 0-# | 0-# | 0-# |
| Llano at Llano | 130-# | 130-# | 130-# |
| Pedernales at Johnson City | 40-# | 40-# | 40-# |
| San Antonio at Falls City | 410-1 | 410-1 | 400-1 |
| San Marcos (below Blanco) | 180-2 | 170-2 | 160-2 |
| at Luling | 210-2 | 210-2 | 210-2 |
| Rio Grande at Presidio | 80-# | 80-# | 80-# |
| at Boquillas | 210-# | 210-# | 210-# |
| Pecos at Farm Road 1865 | 80-# | 70-# | 70-# |
