Anglers across Texas set fishing records through Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Angler Recognition Program (ARP) in 2024.
Joan Swartz of Austin enjoyed one of the most notable catches, setting multiple fly-rod records on Oct. 15.
Swartz, president of Texas Women Fly Fishers, reeled in a smallmouth buffalo on the Brazos River that weighed 27.95 pounds and measured 34.25 inches long. She earned a Big Fish Award, Water Body Record, State Catch and Release Record and a Water Body Catch and Release Record.
“Seeing Joan smiling and holding her amazing catch, wearing her Texas Women Fly Fishers hat, really made my day when her application came across my desk,” said Grace Simms, TPWD Angler Recognition Program coordinator. “There is such a poetry to fly fishing, and it inspires me to see her participating in the sport and helping other women to do the same.”
Participation in the ARP is growing as anglers received more than 957 official records or awards for their catch. Anglers set a combined 58 new state records and 500 waterbody records during the calendar year. State and waterbody records are awarded in overall and junior angler categories for public and private freshwater fisheries along with saltwater fisheries in the state. The program also officially recognized 286 Big Fish, 26 First Fish and 87 Outstanding Angler awards.
A few other notable catches entered into the program in 2024:
- Ernst update: Ernst Toepfer V of Corpus Christi, the program’s youngest Elite Angler, used a jug line to catch a record-breaking alligator gar out of the Nueces River Sept. 22. The gar weighed 90.06 pounds and measured 73 inches. Ernst picked up a Big Fish Award, Junior Water Body Record and Junior State Record for this catch.
- While fishing with her dad Feb. 23, Rayleigh Crews caught a 14.85-pound blue catfish out of Bob Sandlin on a rod and reel. She earned an Outstanding Angler Award and a Jr. Water Body Record for her catch. She received her certificates for her catch on her birthday.
- Antonio Montoya from Medanales, New Mexico caught a red drum Nov. 27 out of the Lower Laguna Madre using a mullet as bait. The fish weighed 27.7 pounds and measured 43.31 inches long. Montoya garnered a Big Fish Award and a Junior Water Body Record for his catch.
- Cassandra Tutt of Abilene caught a 8.4-pound freshwater drum out of Hubbard Creek reservoir on May 25 using shad as bait. Tutt received a Water Body Record and Outstanding Angler Award for her catch.
- Jamie Meaux from Brenham has participated in ARP for more than a decade and has more than 200 catches in the program. One of his catches, a 15.2-inch white bass from Jerdelle Creek, earned Meaux a Water Body Catch and Release Record and a Big Fish Award.
- Oliver Pope of Austin caught a common carp out of Lady Bird Lake March 9 using a rod and reell. The fish was weighed on the angler’s personal certified scale and checked in at a whopping 39.2 pounds with a measurement of 37.5 inches. Pope earned a Big Fish Award, Junior State Record, Junior Water Body Record and a Water Body Catch and Release Record for this massive catch.
- On Sept. 2, Kian Feizy of Plano caught a 5.48-pound bowfin out of Lake Athens using a rod and reel, earning the Junior Water Body Record. On Oct. 13, he caught a 6.76-pound bowfin out of the same waterbody, breaking his own Junior Water Body Record and also earning the overall Water Body Record.
- Jarrett Jenkins earned his Saltwater Elite Angler Award in record time in 2024. In just over a month, he earned a Big Fish Award for a southern flounder, gafftopsail catfish, black drum, sheepshead, and a red drum, all caught from Galveston Bay.
“I am always amazed by the number of records being broken and the endearing stories that go along with them,” said Tom Lang, Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center director. “These records speak volumes about the tremendous work of TPWD staff and partners to manage and conserve the fisheries resources of Texas and the importance of these resource to the people of our great state.”
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