Ducks Unlimited, NWTF banquets coming up

Drumming up money for habitat enhancement and other conservation projects is the main focus of several banquet/dinner fundraisers on tap in coming weeks across the East Texas area.

The Nacogdoches Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and the Gregg County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited will host their annual banquets during early August.

The 48th annual Nacogdoches DU event is set for August 1 at The Fredonia in downtown Nacogdoches. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for browsing raffle and auction items. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m., with auctions to follow. Forty guns including 20 by raffle will be presented throughout the evening.

Tickets cost $40 per person or $80 per couple. Sponsorships are available for $300; corporate tables, $1,000.

For tickets or other information, contact Robert Crow, 936-564-2437.

The Gregg County Chapter DU event is set for Aug. 5 at the Maude Cobb Center in Longview. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. For ticket information, contact Kim Winn at 903-759-3111.

The Pineywoods Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will host its 20th Year Celebration Heritage Super Fund banquet on Aug. 15 at the Lufkin Civic Center. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

In addition to 15 guns to be given away by raffle, there will be deer hunts, turkey hunts, fishing trips and special items for women on the live and silent auction tables.

Tickets are $70 for couples and $50 for singles. Standard sponsorship is $250; table sponsor, $400; silver table sponsor, $600; gold table sponsor, $800.

For more information, contact Dale Bounds, 936-637-4972.

Four days = $1 million

Some of the nation's top bass pros, including five from Texas, are getting their game faces on in preparation for bass fishing's richest event, the $2 million 2008 Forrest Wood Cup.

The 'Cup is the Wal-Mart FLW Tour's version of the Bassmaster Classic. Difference is, the field is somewhat larger and the stakes are twice as high.

A win at the 'Classic pays $500,000. The 'Cup champ takes home $1 million cash, provided Ranger Boat contingency guidelines are met.

Either way, there is a huge chunk of change on the line at the upcoming 'Cup set for Aug. 14-17 on Lake Murray in Columbia, S.C.

The full field of 77 pros and 77 co-anglers will compete for two days and the Top 10 will zero their weights and advance to Day 3. The co-angler title will be determined by the heaviest catch on Day 3. Pros will fish the final round alone.

The angler with the heaviest accumulative total over the final two days wins.

Houston bass pro Bud Pruitt is one of the five Texas pros who qualified for the 2008 'Cup. A two-time 'Cup qualfier, he finished the 2008 season ranked No. 21 in points.

I caught up with Pruitt last Thursday afternoon by cell phone as he plied the upper reaches of the 48,000-acre in hopes learning a little something before the lake went off limits. He is guessing the tournament will be won deep.

"The early morning topwater bite could be a factor, but I am betting that somebody will pull this deal off in deep water, say 15-30 feet," Pruitt said. "The blue back herring (a preferred forage on Murray) get super deep this time of year and bass love to eat them."

Pruitt runs a Skeeter bass boat, so he will leave $500,000 on the table if he happens to fish his way to the top in the four-day event. The other four Texas qualifiers in the pro division are Ranger guys: David Curtis of Trinity, Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Jerry Green of Del Rio and Shinichi Fukae of Mineola.

Texas will be represented in the co-angler division by Hector Delagarza of Garland and Keith Honeycutt of Temple.

Two other Texas anglers will compete in the 2008 National Guard Junior World Championship, which will be held Aug. 15-16 on South Carolina's Lake Monticello in conjuction with the Forrest Wood Cup.

Matthew Bowden of Spring will compete in the 11-14 age group, while Jordon Lane of N. Richland Hills fish in the 15-18 division.

The Texas youths will compete against other anglers representing 39 TBF state federations. They will fish for $30,000 in college scholarships and $12,000 youth program grants for their home states.

10 most influential in fishing tackle

Which products have had the biggest impact on the sport of fishing as we know it today?

The American Sportfishing Association and Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation launched an extensive angler survey to find out.

The results were released at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show held earlier this month in Las Vegas, Nev.

Here are the 10 products that have been the most instrumental in shaping sport of fishing over the last 75 years:

Rapala Original Floater Minnow (1936)

Spring-loaded bobber by Nibble Nabber(1947)

Mitchell 300 spinning reel (1949)

Creme Plastic Worm (1949)

Closed face spincast reel by Zero Hour Bomb Company (1949)

Lowrance Fish Lo-K-Tor (1957)

DuPont Stren Monofilament Line (1958)

Minn Kota Trolling Motor (1958)

Fenwick High Modulus Graphite Rod: (1972)

Shakespeare Ugly Stick Fishing Rod (1976)

Financing for state park renovation, repairs

The Texas Bond Review Board recently have the green light for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to let contracts for needed repairs at several state parks.

According to TPWD reports, the board approved $44.12 million for park repair bonds. The bonds will be sold as needed in coming months to fund various repair projects. The earliest work is expected to begin in Fall 2009, according to TPWD reports.