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Grab your fishing poles, some ponds in San Antonio will be stocked with catfish soon

SAN ANTONIO – Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Inland Fisheries San Antonio District reported on Monday that some San Antonio fishing spots would start to get stocked with catfish in the coming weeks. According to a social media post, Miller’s Pond and Southside Lions Park will be stocked with channel catfish starting the week of April 23rd. We will be stocking Miller’s Pond and Southside Lions... Posted by Inland Fisheries San Antonio District - Texas Parks and Wildlife on Monday, March 22, 2021After the initial stocking, both locations will be stocked every two weeks with catfish. According to TPWD, every year the Inland and Coastal Fisheries divisions of TPWD stock approximately 40 million fish in public lakes, ponds and saltwater bays. Since Dec. 2, 2020, TPWD has released 10,336 Rainbow Trout in the San Antonio area as part of the Neighborhood Fishing program.

These fishing spots on the South Texas coast will be temporarily closed due to freezing weather

Bob Hall Pier is closed until further notice due to construction. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will temporarily close some saltwater fishing spots along the coast — including some on Padre Island and near Rockport, Fulton and Aransas Pass — due to freezing weather. The 21 fishing sites will close at midnight on Monday and stay closed until 11:59 p.m., TPWD said in a news release on Saturday. During that time, fishing will be off-limits in these areas in an effort to protect the wildlife and resources. You can get the very latest forecast anytime by bookmarking our weather page and downloading the KSAT Weather Authority App - available for both Apple and Android devices.

Fishing app helps reel in 6,223 catches for San Antonio, Bexar County users

The app can help users find new places to fish, record catches and share tips on what baits and techniques fish are biting at. The app released its 2020 Fishing Report and says 125,000 were recorded across the state this year. With over 8.5 million users, developers of the app says 6,223 of those catches came from Bexar County. John Attby, CEO of Fishbrain, called the 2020 report numbers “heartening” amid the coronavirus pandemic. Read Fishbrain’s Texas Fishing Report in full below:Related: 18 places to fish near San Antonio

Have a long weekend? Grab the fishing rods, it’s trout time in Texas!

SAN ANTONIO – Even though the holiday season has come and gone, Texas Parks and Wildlife officials are continuing to give the gift of stocked ponds and lakes. Since Dec. 2, local fishing hot spots, including four in San Antonio, have been getting stocked with rainbow trout as part of the department’s stocking program. Check out our trout stocking schedule at https://t.co/8UxAxRMEdo#TexasFishing pic.twitter.com/Am0uYh2aJf — TX Parks & Wildlife (@TPWDnews) January 16, 2021Tried your luck at some local ponds and lakes yet? Currently, four San Antonio waterways are stocked annually by TPWD officials:Earl Scott PondLive Oak CityMiller’s PondSouthside Lions Park (Hi-Lions)For directions, stocking dates and tips, click here. Related: 20,000+ rainbow trout to be stocked in New Braunfels

35th season of Toyota Sharelunker program underway

This month starts the 35th season of the Toyota Sharelunker Program, which is a coordination effort with Texas Parks and Wildlife to increase the production of trophy-sized fish in Texas reservoirs. The year-long program offers four levels of participation for catching bass over 8 pounds or 24 inches in Texas. During the first three months of the year, anglers who reel in a 13 pound bass or larger can loan it to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for the Sharelunker selective breeding and stocking program. Once a lunker is reeled in, anglers need to enter the catch data on the Toyota Sharelunker mobile app. For more information on this program or to report a fish, anglers can call the Sharelunker hotline at (903) 681-0550 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

20,000+ rainbow trout to be stocked in New Braunfels

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will stock 20,921 rainbow trout in the Canyon Tailrace over the course of eight weeks starting Dec. 4. The tentative dates for rainbow trout stocking along the tailrace are Dec. 4, 11, 18, 23 and 31, as well as Jan. 8, 15, 22, and 29. Rainbow trout are stocked as part of the Neighborhood Fishin’ program which encourages families to spend time together outdoors. “Rainbow trout stockings begin around Thanksgiving in Bexar County and will continue through February,” a TPWD spokesperson previously told KSAT. A total of 334,088 rainbow trout will be stocked in lakes and ponds across Texas for the 2020-2021 trout stocking season, TPWD reported.

San Antonio lake stocked with 50 trophy catfish

SAN ANTONIO – So you think you can fish? You can try your hand at catching one of the 50 trophy-sized catfish stocked at Elmendorf Lake Park. Mitchell Nisbet with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries Division told KSAT Tuesday that 50 “trophy catfish” weighing between four and five pounds were stocked in the San Antonio lake. “These particular fish are retired brood fish,” Nisbet said, “meaning these fish were responsible for producing the Channel Catfish that we stock around the state.”The trophy fish are “quite a bit larger” than the Channel Catfish that TWPD routinely stocks as part of the Neighborhood Fishin' program. Miller’s Pond and Southside Lions Park in San Antonio are stocked with catfish as part of the program.

12 crappie fishing ‘hot spots’ according to Texas Parks and Wildlife officials

Any weather is fishing weather in Texas but now that it’s starting to cool off a little bit there’s more reason to head outside. The Lone Star State is “renowned for world-class bass fishing," according to Texas Parks and Wildlife officials but there are also “excellent opportunities to reel in a sometimes-overlooked species: crappie.”Texas Parks and Wildlife Department staff recently compiled a list of 12 places that it considers some of the best hot spots for crappie fishing in the state. The 12 spots are:“We are excited to feature these 12 destination lakes for our anglers to check out on their next fishing excursion,” said TPWD Inland Fisheries Regional Director Brian Van Zee. “These lakes, which are located across the state, stood out as providing consistently strong crappie fishing right now. We hope anglers take advantage of all the excellent fisheries that the state has to offer," Zee said.

Over 1 million red drum fish stocked in two lakes near San Antonio

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – More than 1 million red drum, also known as redfish, have been stocked in two popular Bexar County lakes this week. Calaveras Lake and Braunig Lake were stocked with over 1 million fingerlings - approximately 650,372 fish were stocked in Calaveras Lake and for Braunig Lake approximately 363,503 fish were stocked, according to TWPD spokesperson Mitch Nisbet. Red Drum have arrived in San Antonio! This week we stocked 1,000,000 red drum fingerlings, creating a unique freshwater... Posted by Texas Parks and Wildlife on Wednesday, October 7, 2020Red drum are stocked in the lakes annually, officials said. “When coastal red drum are young they spend a portion of their life in brackish water, which is a mixture of salt and freshwater.

Man arrested for felony warrants after boating, fishing on Calaveras Lake

SAN ANTONIO – A man was arrested while fishing on Calaveras Lake Saturday after Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens discovered he was wanted on felony warrants by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. According to field notes from Texas Park and Wildlife, game wardens were patrolling Calaveras Lake and stopped an unregistered boat on the water. The man told Texas game wardens that he had been fishing on the lake and he had purchased a one-day fishing license. After a short investigation, officials said they discovered he had been wanted on felony warrants and was arrested and taken to the Bexar County Jail. Related: Child injured in accidental shooting near Calaveras Lake is in stable condition, deputies say

PSA: Texas fishing and hunting licenses expire in August

SAN ANTONIO Heads up - its time to renew licenses for Texas anglers and hunters. Licenses for the 2019-2020 season expire at the end of August, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. One hundred percent of the annual sale of around 2.4 million hunting and fishing licenses directly funds conservation efforts in Texas, including fish stocking, wildlife management, habitat restoration, public hunting leases, river fishing access as well as helping fund the Texas Game Wardens. Licenses can be purchased online at the TPWD website, by phone or in-person at more than 1,700 retailers across Texas. For frequently asked questions about Texas hunting and fishing licenses, visit the TPWD website.

19,500 Bluegill stocked along Mission Reach of San Antonio River and in Elmendorf Lake

SAN ANTONIO – Nearly 20,000 fish were stocked in two bodies of water in San Antonio Wednesday as part of an ongoing proactive ecological restoration by the San Antonio River Authority (SARA). The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Inland Fisheries Division stocked approximately 15,500 adult Bluegill in the Mission Reach section of the San Antonio River Walk and 4,000 Bluegill in Elmendorf Lake, according to Shaun Donovan, the environmental sciences department manager for SARA. More than 100,000 fish, including Guadalupe Bass, Channel catfish and Bluegill, have been stocked along the Mission Reach since the completion of an ecosystem restoration project in 2013, according to Donovan. He also noted that “Mission Reach has become a hotspot for birding; a three-year avian study resulted in the observation of more than 200 species.”Thousands of catfish to be stocked in two San Antonio neighborhood lakesDonovan pointed out that instream ecosystems are slower to recover despite the success with the reintroduction of plants and birds. “River Authority staff will continue with additional fish stockings and reintroductions and are exploring a reintroduction of freshwater mussels that could begin as early as 2021,” Donovan said.