Houston — By Katrina Verweel on February 4, 2010 at 12:13 pm

Houston: A Fisherman’s Haven

Out of the nation’s 10 most populous cities in total parkland area, Houston ranks number one, and places second behind San Diego in park acreage per capita. With all of this parkland, comes an array of wildlife attracting many hunters. Deer, turkey, javelina, antelope, aoudad sheep and all small game are hunted here; the most popular being Duck, goose and dove. However, Houston is located only 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and has many shore and bank fishing sites in the area making fishing a popular sport in the area. Most lakes in the Houston area contain bass, catfish, sunfish and carp. If fishing in salt water, common fish caught are Atlantic croaker, sand trout, spotted seatrout, southern kingfish, red drum, and more.

February is not the best month to go fishing, which is why fishermen love that it is the shortest month. Weather in February is not the best and cold-blooded fish are usually less active in colder water. The best place to fish in the month of February is the 78,000-acre reservoir on the Rio Grande downstream from Laredo in Falcon Lake to hook a largemouth bass. This is actually the best time to fish this area. For anglers, this place is a diamond in the rough. Falcon Lake is one of the largest lakes in Texas and is also a great place for a cheaper vacation; the Mexican Border runs right through the middle of the lake so a quick day trip over to Mexico to enjoy some great food is in order. The only catch to this trip is it is a 6-hour drive from Houston.

An estimated 3 million Texas fisherman spend more than 9 million days fishing each year on the 1.5 million acres of lakes and 80,000 miles of rivers, streams and bayous of Texas. People come here to fish for sport and for food in search of the many various fish available in the area. Sport fishing in the Gulf of Mexico gives fishermen the chance to fish much more impressive fish like kingfish, red snapper, and yellow-finned tuna. To really get the big ones, head 80 miles offshore from Galveston for the country’s best bill fishing; blue and white marlin and sailfish can be caught here.

For more information on fishing in Houston and in the area, the Houston Big Game Fishing Club is a great place to get information and get started. It is a non-profit corporation and was formed to promote the pursuit of big game fishing, educate members of the club as well as the public, and create a social setting where fishermen can share their big game fishing passion. Click here to go to their website.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons