Making plans for your kids’ summer camp? Consider an outdoors camp that will offer youth an in-depth look at fish, wildlife and their habitats as well as opportunities to strengthen personal skills.

The Texas Brigades is seeking students age 13-17 with curiosity and enthusiasm about wildlife, habitat and conservation. Each Texas Brigade camp is a five-day program focusing on one of four educational areas: Bobwhite Brigade (quail), Buckskin Brigade (deer), Feathered Forces (quail and turkey), and Bass Brigade.  

Six camps take place this year at locations across Texas:

South Texas Buckskin Brigade, Carrizo Springs, June 14-18.

Rolling Plains Bobwhite Brigade, Coleman, June 20-24.  

South Texas Bobwhite Brigade, Pleasanton, June 28-July 2.

Bass Brigade, Mexia, July 13-17.

North Texas Buckskin Brigade, Albany, July 19-23.

East Texas Feathered Forces, Nacogdoches, July 26-30.

 Each camp consists of intensive, interactive, hands-on learning from some of the top wildlife and natural resource professionals in Texas. Subjects include biology, habitat management, watersheds, population dynamics, ecology, botany, photography, journalism, firearm safety, fishing, communication, critical-thinking, team building, and leadership.

Adult volunteers are also needed to serve. No experience is necessary, but a desire to learn and mentor youth is essential. 

The program is supported by Texas AgriLife Extension, Texas Wildlife Association, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Texas Chapters of Quail Unlimited, and the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Applications for the 2009 camp season are now available online at texasbrigades.org. 

Outdoors outlet expo

It’s time to gear up for your spring turkey hunts, family camping trips, and other outdoor activities, and Cabela’s concludes its Spring Great Outdoor Days today at its store in Fort Worth.

Pro-staff and vendors from over 20 outdoor brands will be on hand to conduct interactive seminars and events, including non-lethal self-protection, varmint hunting, bow fishing, GPS, trophy scoring, a fishing simulator and more.

Admission is free and attendees can register to win one of several prizes. Cabela’s is located at the junction of I-35 West and state highway 170. In addition to a wide selection of outdoor merchandise, the store also features animal displays in their natural habitats, aquariums and educational attractions.

For more information, call 817-337-2400.

Turkey-calling contest

Academy Sports & Outdoors will get a jump on spring turkey season March 14 with its 2nd Annual Turkey Calling Contest from 10 a.m. to noon at its Waco store, located at 210 N. New Road.

Participation is free and there will be three divisions of competition — Gobblers (ages 16 and older), Jakes (ages 6-15) and Poults (costume contest only for ages 5 and under).

For more information, call John Dickey at 399-2416.

Catfish hauls

Lake Waco catfisherman George Courtney says the catfish are strapping on the feed bags, as evidenced by a recent trip that netted him and Joe Johnson 25 fish.

The haul included some nice channel cats in the 5- to 6-pound range and blue cats up to 7 pounds, including a number of 4-pounders. The duo caught their fish using Big Marv’s Punch Bait, which can be bought from a growing number of area bait shops or by calling 714-0882.

John Pederson and Blake Byrd also caught a mess of Lake Waco catfish last week, with both quantity and quality marking the trip. Pederson had caught 14 before Byrd arrived, but Byrd made up for lost time by hauling in a 19.10 blue cat that he got weighed at Academy’s official scales.

Navarro Mills brimming

Navarro Mills is a flood control lake located about 35 miles northeast of Waco, near Dawson, and is roughly two-thirds the size of Lake Waco. And like its southern neighbor, Navarro Mills is an excellent crappie lake.

Brenda Wallen of Navarro Mills Lake Marina reports that the crappie bite is on and will continue to improve with rising water temperatures. She says that fish are already in the shallows, and anglers are striking it rich fishing minnows and jigs in the timbered upper end of the lake and around the marina.

Numerous reports of 1- to 2-pound crappie have been reported, and one local fisherman recently caught three that weighed over 3 pounds each, and a 36.5 pound yellow cat was caught below the dam on Saturday.

The state record crappie, a 4.56-pounder was caught from Navarro Mills in 1968.