Is there anyone on here who goes out collecting in Texas or keeps natives? I just moved here in July and would be interested in collecting.
Collecting In Texas
Started by
Guest_vmahaffe_*
, Oct 07 2007 10:16 AM
18 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_roscoe_*
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Posted 07 October 2007 - 10:40 AM
I go collecting in Texas all the time (I live here).
We've got a lot of state land you can access relatively easily and a whole bunch more private land that offers some neat stuff as well.
If you're over 17, you'll need a fishing license to go collecting. Just about all the species of fish we collect are considered non-game species by the state, but I'm pretty sure you still need in a fishing license to collect them. We aren't blessed with a diversity of darters like our northern neighbors, but you will be able to collect killies, Gambusia, sunfish, catfish, gar, and lots of other neat species. They are all pretty hardy and make interesting aquarium species.
Also, if you're not from the South, I want to warn you to be on the look out for poisonous snakes while collecting. We have an extraordinarily large number of Water Moccasins and Copperheads that live in and around the swamps, streams, and lakes you'll be collecting in and they're both aggressive and highly venomous.
Good luck! Holler if you have any more questions.
We've got a lot of state land you can access relatively easily and a whole bunch more private land that offers some neat stuff as well.
If you're over 17, you'll need a fishing license to go collecting. Just about all the species of fish we collect are considered non-game species by the state, but I'm pretty sure you still need in a fishing license to collect them. We aren't blessed with a diversity of darters like our northern neighbors, but you will be able to collect killies, Gambusia, sunfish, catfish, gar, and lots of other neat species. They are all pretty hardy and make interesting aquarium species.
Also, if you're not from the South, I want to warn you to be on the look out for poisonous snakes while collecting. We have an extraordinarily large number of Water Moccasins and Copperheads that live in and around the swamps, streams, and lakes you'll be collecting in and they're both aggressive and highly venomous.
Good luck! Holler if you have any more questions.
#3
Guest_vmahaffe_*
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Posted 07 October 2007 - 02:16 PM
I HATE SNAKES!! Do you know of any good places to go in the Houston area? Seems like most of the water is along the north end of the city, like the Woodlands, Conroe, etc.I go collecting in Texas all the time (I live here).
We've got a lot of state land you can access relatively easily and a whole bunch more private land that offers some neat stuff as well.
If you're over 17, you'll need a fishing license to go collecting. Just about all the species of fish we collect are considered non-game species by the state, but I'm pretty sure you still need in a fishing license to collect them. We aren't blessed with a diversity of darters like our northern neighbors, but you will be able to collect killies, Gambusia, sunfish, catfish, gar, and lots of other neat species. They are all pretty hardy and make interesting aquarium species.
Also, if you're not from the South, I want to warn you to be on the look out for poisonous snakes while collecting. We have an extraordinarily large number of Water Moccasins and Copperheads that live in and around the swamps, streams, and lakes you'll be collecting in and they're both aggressive and highly venomous.
Good luck! Holler if you have any more questions.
#4
Guest_roscoe_*
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Posted 07 October 2007 - 09:53 PM
I live about two hours North of you and go collecting in the Angelina/Nacogdoches/Shelby/Panola county areas and I do not know of any places in or around Houston to go. However, another enthusiast from Houston sent me the link below to Houston Fish Box and you might want to check it out. Last time I was on it, the members talking about organizing a collecting trip somewhere around Houston. You might want to check this out:
Houston Fish Box
Houston Fish Box
#5
Guest_BLChristie_*
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Posted 08 April 2008 - 01:35 AM
If you're in the Houston area one of my favorite spots was in and around the Anahuac wildlife reserve, its about an hour and a half south of Houston on the other side of Galveston Bay, lots of good stuff to be found there, but it is home to one of the largest alligator populations in the state so be careful!
oh, and it is legal to fish/collect there, not exactly sure what qualifies it as a wildlife reserve, as they also allow hunting in areas!
oh, and it is legal to fish/collect there, not exactly sure what qualifies it as a wildlife reserve, as they also allow hunting in areas!
#9
Guest_mnemenoi_*
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Posted 09 February 2010 - 09:34 PM
Is there anyone on here who goes out collecting in Texas or keeps natives? I just moved here in July and would be interested in collecting.
I collect locally (Buffalo Bayou area near downtown) and go out once every few weeks. I know areas in the Woodlands and North Houston area as well. Shoot me an email if your interested in coming along, its usually just me and the better half and she only enjoys it occasionally, lol. I have some great luck with the Fat Sleeper, Dormitator maculatus, and I can see downtown clearly. Here is a great site I found that might help and Mr. Johnson is very pleasant to respond with. http://www.dan-johns...uston_fish.html
#10
Guest_decal_*
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Posted 10 February 2010 - 12:47 AM
I collect locally (Buffalo Bayou area near downtown) and go out once every few weeks. I know areas in the Woodlands and North Houston area as well. Shoot me an email if your interested in coming along, its usually just me and the better half and she only enjoys it occasionally, lol. I have some great luck with the Fat Sleeper, Dormitator maculatus, and I can see downtown clearly. Here is a great site I found that might help and Mr. Johnson is very pleasant to respond with. http://www.dan-johns...uston_fish.html
Wow, you've found fat sleepers in Houston proper? Got a specific area you'd recommend looking? I've mostly collected in the Sugar Land area with a dip net, and it's all bland shiners & Gambusia with an occasional molly or sunfish down there. We do have some nice looking Cyprinodon variegatus that put Mr. Johnson's to shame, though.
#11
Guest_mnemenoi_*
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Posted 07 March 2010 - 01:42 PM
Wow, you've found fat sleepers in Houston proper? Got a specific area you'd recommend looking? I've mostly collected in the Sugar Land area with a dip net, and it's all bland shiners & Gambusia with an occasional molly or sunfish down there. We do have some nice looking Cyprinodon variegatus that put Mr. Johnson's to shame, though.
I found them in a ditch near the skatepark on Buffalo Bayou, along the disc golf course.
#12
Guest_mmyers1976_*
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Posted 14 August 2012 - 03:08 PM
I collect a lot in the Houston area, both fresh and saltwater. I use a cast net mostly, occasionally a dip net.
For freshwater, I fish on the west side of town, as I live at Memorial and Dairy Ashford. I collect for my garden pond, the only fish I put in it are natives I caught right around me. I keep bluegill sunfish and mosquitofish in it most of the time, though right now I also have a red shiner in there. I had a bunch of sailfin mollies last summer, but they disappeared over time. I think that birds may get the slower moving and eyecatching sailfin mollies, while my other fish are faster and/or stay deeper. I have also had green sunfish, which do well, and orangespotted sunfish, which tend to be prone to fungal infections which spread to the other fish, so I stay away from them now, even though they are the perfect size and so colorful.
I occasionally fish Buffalo Bayou, but I found the best places are the flood detention ponds that have had county parks created around them. The two I go to are Arthur Storey on the beltway at Bellaire, and a little one with a huge pond at Westpark and Eldridge Parkway. I caught the sailfin mollies at Arthur Storey, and all the orangespotted sunfish at the other park. Both parks have good bluegill fishing. Unfortunately, though, the tilapia are really getting bad in both parks - some days all you'll catch will be tilapia and plecostomus catfish, which are a chore because you have to kill them - tough to do with the armored plecos.
What I would really like is to find a place where I could reliably catch golden killifish - Fundulus chrysotus. I've read that their range extends into the eastern portion of the Greater Houston Area. Anyone know od a spot?
On the saltwater side, I collect in West Bay, where my family has had a house since 1983. Usually I'll just keep them for a weekend before letting them loose. Favorites are pinfish. Tripletails, spadefish, and pipefish used to be common in the summer, but don't see them much anymore. Occasionally I've caught a seahorse (like 3 times in nearly 30 years).
For freshwater, I fish on the west side of town, as I live at Memorial and Dairy Ashford. I collect for my garden pond, the only fish I put in it are natives I caught right around me. I keep bluegill sunfish and mosquitofish in it most of the time, though right now I also have a red shiner in there. I had a bunch of sailfin mollies last summer, but they disappeared over time. I think that birds may get the slower moving and eyecatching sailfin mollies, while my other fish are faster and/or stay deeper. I have also had green sunfish, which do well, and orangespotted sunfish, which tend to be prone to fungal infections which spread to the other fish, so I stay away from them now, even though they are the perfect size and so colorful.
I occasionally fish Buffalo Bayou, but I found the best places are the flood detention ponds that have had county parks created around them. The two I go to are Arthur Storey on the beltway at Bellaire, and a little one with a huge pond at Westpark and Eldridge Parkway. I caught the sailfin mollies at Arthur Storey, and all the orangespotted sunfish at the other park. Both parks have good bluegill fishing. Unfortunately, though, the tilapia are really getting bad in both parks - some days all you'll catch will be tilapia and plecostomus catfish, which are a chore because you have to kill them - tough to do with the armored plecos.
What I would really like is to find a place where I could reliably catch golden killifish - Fundulus chrysotus. I've read that their range extends into the eastern portion of the Greater Houston Area. Anyone know od a spot?
On the saltwater side, I collect in West Bay, where my family has had a house since 1983. Usually I'll just keep them for a weekend before letting them loose. Favorites are pinfish. Tripletails, spadefish, and pipefish used to be common in the summer, but don't see them much anymore. Occasionally I've caught a seahorse (like 3 times in nearly 30 years).
#14
Guest_fishmostly_*
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Posted 09 March 2013 - 11:46 PM
This thread is mostly dead, so I guess I'm sorry for posting? But I'm really getting into natives, and I'd like to resurrect it. I live in Central Texas (1 hour north of Austin) and I'd love to get tips on where to collect as well as what I can expect to catch. I just caught my first fish today in a river near Salado. I think it's a livebearer of some type, but it's a juvie so I'll be able to tell as it grows. So... if anyone wants to talk to me or lives close and wants to explore together that would be great!
#15
Guest_mnemenoi_*
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Posted 10 March 2013 - 06:47 AM
I don't mind, we have some great natives here in Texas. Not very familiar with the local Austin Fauna, but there is a great website that a local collector (Dan Johnson) that collects photos of his collected specimens. It is not very far from Austin, so it should help in ID'ing some of what you collect. Here is the site, hope it helps. I know its a long drive, but I will be leading a local collection group in North Houston next Saturday
#19
Guest_rjmtx_*
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Posted 12 March 2013 - 10:35 PM
Here are a few links showing what you can find where:
Fishes of TX book
https://www.google.c...chrome&ie=UTF-8
Fishes of TX website with lots of resources
http://www.fishesoftexas.org/about
My thesis on richness and endemism in TX (and a little bit of LA)
https://digital.libr...ndle/10877/4372
Fishes of TX book
https://www.google.c...chrome&ie=UTF-8
Fishes of TX website with lots of resources
http://www.fishesoftexas.org/about
My thesis on richness and endemism in TX (and a little bit of LA)
https://digital.libr...ndle/10877/4372
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