Off the top we are joined by longtime Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries District Supervisor Bruce Hysmith.Bruce oversees every water body in an 8 county region. One of the main reservoirs under his guidance is Lake Texoma. Texoma has long been the Southwest United State’s crown jewel as far as striper fishing goes but most Texans don’t realize that this unique fishery also has a viable population of smallmouth bass. Bruce explains why these fierce fighting cousins of the largemouth have been able to thrive in Lake Texoma since TPWD introduced them in the early 1980s. Meanwhile other smallmouth stocking efforts in Texas pretty much failed. I had the pleasure of targeting these aggressive and powerful fish on Texoma just a couple weeks ago. Bruce breaks down where to find ’em on one of Texas truly incredible fisheries.

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Then Pflugerville, Texas native Donnie O’Neal joins us to talk about his recent bass fishing trip of a lifetime. A tournament bass angler, Donnie and his partner were trying to catch a double digit Lake Austin monster on the morning of April 28th when Donnie felt a major thud on his Alabama rig umbrella style bait. He immediately thought he’d hooked a big striper or catfish. Once he got the fish to the surface he realized that it was actually two largemouth bass! The smaller of the pair weighed 7.8 lbs and the other tipped the scales at 11.8 lbs. That’s over 19 lbs of Texas largemouth caught on one cast! It’s truly an amazing feat and Donnie recalls all the details surrounding his fishing tale for the ages.

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Next on the lineup card, we check in with Lone Star Outdoor News Executive Editor Craig Nyhus. His recent article “Mixing Cattle and Deer: Grazing Tips For Landowners” highlights the delicate balance between running cattle and maintaining a healthy whitetail herd on our ranch or lease. Craig breaks down the ideal times of the year to keep cows off grazing pastures. We also discuss how overgrazing can lead to serious erosion problems for the landowner. Another interesting fact that most folks don’t realize is an 1,100 pound cow consumes 15-30 percent of it’s diet from browse and forbs that are whitetail’s primary food source. So they are directly competing. That being said you can have both cattle and a healthy deer herd if you pay attention to the delicate balance between the two. Craig breaks it all down for us.

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We finish things off by checking with our longtime friend and Army Bass Anglers Founder Major Promotable Cody Roberson. Army Bass Angler’s has big things on the horizon as their Support, Defend & Fish mission statement continues to raise awareness and gain traction on a national level. Army Bass Anglers even is preparing for season 3 of their hit WFN TV show ‘Force on Force’. We also discuss non profit that ABA is raising funds for: A Soldier’s Child. A San Antonio native and no stranger to winning bass tournaments on Texas lakes we also talk about Major Promotable Roberson’s favorite early summer bass baits. Be sure to set your DVR for ‘Force on Force’.

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