Bill Kinney, Tournament Director, CCA Texas STAR
The 33rd annual CCA Texas STAR was a step back to normal and a huge success with more than 55,000 participants. We applaud not only our winners, but every single member who went out this summer to enjoy our coastal resources and did their part for conservation.
The 2022 STAR was a huge success from just about any perspective. Thankfully, the world didn’t experience a pandemic this year and there wasn’t a devastating freeze to overcome. We were all able to get back to simply fishing, and dealing just with the usual, unpredictable factors that impact angling that are out of our control.
As everyone in Texas noticed, the dog-days of August heat arrived in June, and never left. Fishing comfort and catch rates were on the low side for one of the hottest Junes in memory. On top of that, for the first seven weekends after the kickoff, at least four were borderline blowouts complete with rough water and small-craft advisories. From a fishing perspective, there were some good reasons to stay home in the beginning of the tournament, but no one ever caught a winner from their sofa!
Anglers finally got some relief from the wind after the Fourth of July and STAR action started heating up. On just July 13, 14, and 15 blue and red tags were captured and offshore categories started to pop up on the leaderboard.
While fishing shifted nicely back into familiar patterns, things still haven’t returned to normal as we continue working towards recovery of both flounder and speckled trout. On both fronts, there is good news. The new CCA-funded flounder hatchery building at SeaCenter is finding its groove and Paul Cason with TPWD reports that more than 60,000 juvenile flounder were released into Galveston Bay this last season. In response to the 2021 freeze, Texas imposed emergency trout regulations and hatchery efforts were ramped up, resulting in the release of almost 10 million juvenile trout in the last 12 months. Both steps will hopefully help to have trout populations back to pre-freeze levels in the very near future.
While trout and flounder overcome environmental headwinds, hardier species such as sheepshead and gafftop provided reliable STAR action from both pier and bank, especially appealing for Moms and Dads introducing kids to the sport we love. The CCA Texas STAR Tournament Committee cranked up the prizes for youth in these two divisions in 2022 by adding five times as many scholarships for the top five – $30,000/$20,000/$15,000/$7500/$2500. This year, all STARkids and STARteens won big if they made the final leaderboard.
Also new this year, STAR added a first-ever slot fish – Black Drum. Departing from the statewide slot of 14 to 30 inches, STAR’s conservation slot was 24 to 28 inches, and we had no idea the competition would be so fierce. According to TPWD, the average weight of a 28-inch black drum is 11 pounds, 2 ounces (11-2). The top five in STAR this year were 17-5, 17-1, 16-10, 15-8 and 13-15. Those are some exceptional slot black drum!
Finally, there were at least 17 red- and blue-tagged redfish caught in 2022 and, sadly, there were still those who thought “I’ll never catch one,” and yet they did. Registering in STAR is cheap insurance if you go fishing at all, and those CCA membership dollars help us fund the hatchery and habitat projects that help keep our fisheries healthy and sustainable.
The 33rd annual CCA Texas STAR was a step back to normal and a huge success with more than 55,000 participants. We applaud not only our winners, but every single member who went out this summer to enjoy our coastal resources and did their part for conservation. Thank you all for a great year, and we can’t wait to see you all again next year!
