There are a lot of good people in the world. Unfortunately, they don’t get a lot of press coverage.

While other kids their age were breaking curfews and breaking laws last weekend, Andy McNew and his brother Matt, along with family friend Timmy Urbanek, were breaking open the tackle boxes and settling in for a little winter-time kayak river fishing.

“We were fishing out of kayaks for largemouth bass,” Andy said. “I was throwing a crawfish-colored crankbait around some brush near the bridge pilings when I hung a monster bass.”

One of the advantages of fishing from a kayak is stealth, and it paid off big as a 7-pound largemouth slammed his lure right by the boat.

“As soon as it hit, I knew it was very big,” Andy said. “It was pulling me around and then started thrashing the surface. I got a little nervous, but I was finally able to get it in close, lip it, and bring it in.”

After he got it aboard, the boys paddled ashore, weighed and photographed the fish, then decided to release it back into the river. Then, of course, they continued fishing. In addition to their trophy, the anglers caught a good number of largemouth as well as white bass.

Many readers may remember Andy’s brother Matt, who made his first mark in the Central Texas outdoors last spring, when during a camping trip with his family and friends, he caught a 10-pound largemouth from the shoreline of Airport Park.

It’s hard to find a day that’s not suitable for this trio to fish. When they’re not sacking quarterbacks or tossing touchdown passes, rattling down 3-pointers, or cracking fastballs over the fence, they can be found fishing the lakes, rivers and stock tanks of Central Texas.

We owe a debt to kids like these. They make good grades. They treat people kindly. They knock quarterbacks on their butts. They catch big fish. They make newspaper headlines for all the right reasons.

White bass outlook murky

Springtime white bass fishing might seem a little premature with this weekend’s icy temperatures, but for the past two weeks, whites have been caught in fair numbers in the South Bosque.

Temperatures and rainfall can accelerate or delay the white bass upstream spawning migration, and it’s unclear how recent temps and flooding rains will factor in to this year’s spawning run.

Typically, cold weather pushes fish back toward the main body of the lake. On the other hand, stronger stream flows tend to lure them upstream.

I’m keeping a pole baited just in case warm weather prevails.

Waco youth deer hunt

A group of kids from Waco’s Methodist Children’s Home got a unique opportunity recently, as they were guests at a Lake Waco youth deer hunt courtesy of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Academy Sports & Outdoors, and a host of other sponsors and chaperones.

Academy’s Bryan Carter, who organized the hunt, said that sub-freezing temperatures and a late-season hunt combined to make hunting a lot tougher than the October hunting trips they usually host. But despite those factors, the kids and the adults who guided them had a great time.

I spoke with several of the young hunters who were already trying to sign up for the next hunt. One of the MCH hunters, Dylan, said the highlight of his trip was seeing a mountain lion and her cub walk within mere yards of his deer stand.

Brian Trussell, who served as a chaperone said he first saw the cub, which he estimated at 45 pounds. He told Dylan to keep a close eye out for the mother, which soon strolled by. Trussell said the big cat was a 100-pounder, and the two lions made their way up a hill and out of sight.

Carter said this year’s number of deer taken was down from the past three years, partly due to tighter hunting restrictions. “When we hunted in October, the bucks were still nocturnal and we didn’t see as many during hunting hours,” he said, “but on this hunt, every stand was texting back and forth about how many 8- to 10-point bucks were standing around within a stone’s throw.”

But does were on the itinerary this trip, and they tended to be on the outer edges of the woods instead of deeper in, where the blinds were set up.

Other activities included trying to stay warm, experimenting with night-vision goggles (courtesy of some volunteers from the U.S. Marine Corps), watching NFL football in a heated trailer, a lot of eating and a variety of skill-based games and activities.

Brookshires, Fulton’s Deer Processing, and Waco Yamaha were also generous supporters of the MCH youth hunt.

www.centexoutdoors.com

717-8907