The duck season opener is Nov. 1, and that means it’s time to spruce up the decoys and brush up some blinds. The September teal season was excellent with lots of six bird limits taken on flooded fields within a few miles of Port O’Connor. Robert Sloan photo

Right about now wade fishing the flats is great for both reds and trout. And fishing trips for bull reds at the jetties is about as good as it gets. Something else you might want to keep in mind is that when the surf goes flat, directly after a cold front moves through, trout fishing along Matagorda Island can be world class. It’s also a time when you can wade the first gut in the surf and sight cast to shallow running reds.

One thing is certain – if duck season is anything like our recent September teal season we are in for some excellent hunting for ducks that include red heads, pintails, scaup and widgeon. The fast approaching duck season opener is on Nov. 1. While heading in from a fishing trip on Oct. 7, I saw my first group of red heads on West Matagorda Bay.

Capt. Dwayne Lowrey not only runs fishing trips out of Port O’Connor, but he’s one of the best duck hunting guides you’ll ever run across. He had guided hunts just about every day of the teal season and got limits on every one. I was on two of those hunts and he had us out of the field by 8 a.m. with easy limits. During the duck season he’ll be running airboat hunting trips on the bay. He’s also got 250 acres of freshwater ponds that provide some of the best duck hunts you’ll ever experience. For details give him a call at 713 – 410 – 1338.

Season hunting dates and bag limits for ducks and geese have been set, and there are two changes from last season. The first is the reduction to three scaup daily. The second is for the first time in a half century Texas waterfowlers can take two canvasbacks daily.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that duck numbers, with the exception of pintail and scaup, are above the long term goals identified in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.

“Overall, waterfowl are doing quite well,” says Kevin Kraai, Waterfowl Program Leader for TPWD. “We’re near record levels and in some instances in the glory days for ducks.”

The following are the season dates and limits for the 2014-15 duck season.

•South Zone: Nov. 1 — Nov. 30, and Dec. 13 — Jan. 25.

•North Zone: Nov. 1 — Dec. 7, and Dec. 20 — Jan. 25.

Bag Limit: 6 per day not to include no more than 3 wood ducks, 3 scaup, 5 mallards, of which only 2 may be hens, 2 redheads, 2 pintail, 2 canvasback, and 1 mottled duck after the first 5 days. Mergansers are 5 per day with no more than 2 hooded mergansers.

Coots are 15 per day.

Reminder to Take Hunter Education Before Heading to the Field

With hunting season under way, don’t forget hunter’s education if you’re not yet certified.

With the option to take a hunters education course online, now it’s easier than ever to get a hunter education certification.

To hunt legally in Texas, anyone born after Sept. 2, 1971, must complete a hunter education training course or purchase a one-time deferral, good for one license year. To make this process easier, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department now offers the option to complete training courses online for Texas residents 17 years and older.

TPWD also offers other convenient methods of getting certified. One is the basic hunter education course, which is designed for novice and young hunters and requires six hours of classroom instruction. Another is the enhanced hunter education course, a combination online and home study program that requires up to five hours in the field. A third option is the advanced hunter education course, which requires more than six hours of instruction and includes more content than the basic and enhanced courses.

Each of the courses costs $15, and the passing grade for all courses is 75 percent.

As dove season opened this year, one of the most frequent citations game wardens issued was for hunting without hunter education certification. Since mandatory hunter education first started in 1988, the number of hunting accidents and fatalities has declined to fewer than 3 per 100,000 hunters. Accidents involving those who had completed hunter education courses are only in the single digits each year.

To avoid such citations and help improve hunter safety, choose from one of the many flexible options to get your hunter education certification now. To learn more about and register for hunter education programs, visit http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/outdoor-learning/hunter-education.

The certification is valid for life and is honored in all other states and provinces.

Did you know that 100 percent of your hunting and fishing license fees go to conservation?

It’s true, 100 percent of your hunting and fishing license fees go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for on-the-ground conservation efforts that help make Texas one of the best places in the country to hunt and fish. Fish stocking, wildlife management, habitat restoration, land conservation, and Texas Game Wardens are just some of the initiatives funded in part by your license fees.

For details on hunting and fishing with Capt. Robert Sloan send an email to sloan288@aol.com or call 409-782-6796.