Even in a drought, fish are biting. Be sure to explore the 2015 Fishing Forecast. You’ll find:

• Experts’ forecasts by region
• How to work with a fishing guide
• The joys of tying flies
• Recipes to take your catch from pole to platter

You can view this special issue as a Internet digital version or download the brand new app from Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine for your Apple iPad or iPhone (5 or 6) to get this free issue.

• Illegal shark fishing – Texas game wardens actively patrol the coast enforcing fishing regulations. Learn about the recent seizure of a shark boat by Texas Game Wardens.
• Shark research – Biologists are working to learn more about shark behavior. Watch a video about what’s being done along the Texas coast to help save sharks.
• Legal shark fishing – Read the regulations for shark fishing and learn how to identify legal and illegal shark species.

• Plan ahead.  Always expect to catch and release some fish on any given trip and come prepared. Keep release tools in your tackle box at all times.
• Develop skills as you learn how to fish to target the size and specific fish species you wish to catch.  If you are catching fish that you cannot, or do not want to keep, try changing the depth that you are fishing, moving to a different area, or using different bait to avoid unwanted catches.
• Use appropriate tackle.  Fighting a fish too long will exhaust and unduly stress the fish.  Using tackle that's matched to the species you're fishing allows you to land them quickly. The quicker you release a fish unharmed, the better.

Click to see ten more strategies.

Bonus Skill Builder: Learn about through-the-gill hook removal in this video with Craig Bonds.

Effective catch and release is yet another way that anglers help conservation.

Mark Stevenson, the angler who caught the first entry into Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s ground-breaking big bass angler recognition program will be inducted into the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in June. Also to be inducted is Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited (GRTU), the organization responsible for Texas having a year-around rainbow trout fishery (read more about both of these inductees).

Stevenson, a fishing guide from Alba, is best known for his 1986 catch of Ethel, a 17.67-pound largemouth bass from Lake Fork. Ethel is considered the founding mother of the Toyota ShareLunker program. Her international fame and subsequent residence at the Bass Pro Shops store in Springfield, Mo. fueled a growing nationwide interest in bass fishing, resulting in an economic impact of billions of dollars.

The Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame honors men and women whose efforts have helped conserve natural resources and improve Texas fishing.

Image: Ethel with Mark Stevenson in 1986

Calling all anglers! We need your help picking the best-looking bass for a redesigned Conservation License Plate. Vote for your favorite design in a brief 6-question survey by March 15.  We value your time and appreciate your participation.

The newly redesigned plate will benefit TPWD fisheries programs in Texas and will be released early this summer. 

Thank you for your interest, your participation and your vote.

Tim Birdsong, branch chief of habitat conservation for Inland Fisheries, has been recognized by the American Fisheries Society and the National Fish Habitat Partnership for his role in the conservation of fisheries and aquatic resources. Projects under his leadership have resulted in the successful reestablishment of Guadalupe Bass to the Blanco River and contributed to the preservation of genetically-secure, self-sustaining populations of Guadalupe Bass in the Pedernales, Llano and Colorado Rivers.

Birdsong played a major role in developing and implementing a 10-year, $30 million dollar business plan focused on reversing the declines of native black bass populations in the southern United States, resulting in improved land management practices on over 100,000 acres of public and private lands in focal watersheds, including nearly 9,000 acres of on-the-ground habitat restoration projects. Read more.

Encourage kids who love art and fish to enter the 2015 State Fish Art Contest. Any student in public, private or home schools in grades K-12 can enter. Students must draw or paint any recognized state fish and write an essay about it. Complete contest details and entry forms can be found at www.tpwd.texas.gov/fishart. The deadline for entries is March 31.

Educators can download the free “State-Fish Art Contest Lesson Plan”. The interdisciplinary curriculum includes lessons and activities, a species identification section profiling each state fish, a glossary and student worksheets.

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC) provides funds for prizes for first-, second- and third-place Texas winners in each of four grade-level divisions. The TTBC also provides a travel allowance for Texas first-place winners to attend the national awards ceremony, which will be held August 21-22 2015, in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

The Texas State-Fish Art Contest is part of Wildlife Forever’s State-Fish Art Contest.

Image: 2014 Texas winner 1st place, grades 7-9 – Kealey Yoakum © Wildlife Forever

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has named Craig Bonds as the new division director for Inland Fisheries. Bonds’ TPWD career spans 16 years within the Inland Fisheries research and management branch. He has worked in all three of TPWD’s Inland Fisheries management regions.

Craig has been involved in aquatic invasive species control, alligator gar research and management, reservoir fisheries habitat partnerships, expansion of the Neighborhood Fishin' program, cross-border fisheries management with Louisiana and Oklahoma, and the Toyota Texas Bass Classic.

“The anglers of this state will be well served by Craig and his team of 200 fisheries professionals as they take on the challenges of the 21st century in the Lone Star State,” said Ross Melinchuk, deputy executive director for natural resources

A sixth generation Texan, Bonds holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University and a Masters of Science in Fisheries Management from Virginia Tech. Read the full story.

Save the dates May 23 – 25 when the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC) returns to Lake Fork. The top 35 professional bass anglers will compete for the world championship in a tournament benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) fishing programs.

Concert headliners include Billy Currington on Saturday, May 23; Lee Brice on Sunday, May 24; and Rodney Atkins and Joe Nichols on Monday, May 25.

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, March 11, 2015, online at ToyotaTexasBassClassic.com or at your local Toyota dealership, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Brookshire’s Grocery Stores and Kim’s Convenience Stores throughout East Texas.

So far, the TTBC has raised more than $2 million for such programs as Neighborhood Fishin’ and the Texas State-Fish Art Contest.

This moment in nature is brought to you by the EMMY-winning Texas Parks & Wildlife TV Show. Now in its 29th season, the show airs on every Texas PBS station, as well as a number of other public television stations around the country and about 50 city government access channels across the state. Here’s where to watch.