A champion of coastalenforcement passesWardenFrankDickersonBy Jack KingFrank Dickerson was successfuland happy as a <strong>Texas</strong>Parks & Wildlife Regional Supervisorin the <strong>Texas</strong> Hill Country.But in 1975, enforcement problemson the <strong>Texas</strong> coast were escalating,and Law Enforcement DirectorHenry Burkett wanted a strongleader for newly created Region 10.Frank and wife Faye were reluctantto move, but he accepted the challenge,and was an enforcementleader on the coast until he retiredin 1993.Frank Dickerson’s tenure sawexceptional changes, especially in coastal conservation.The illegal harvest of trout and redfishhad become a serious issue. Frank was among theleaders who began a three-sided solution. Theyrecognized the problem, devised a plan to defeatthe problemand successfullyimplementedtheplan to removevirtually all illegalnettingfrom <strong>Texas</strong>waters by1985.The three sides were private fishermen (afterG<strong>CCA</strong> was formed in 1977); TPWD biologists (developingmanagement plans to restore fish populationsand reduce overfishing); and law enforcement(catching violators and picking up miles ofillegal monofilament nets and trotlines.)The three sides worked together to writenew regulations and statutes, get them passed,and implemented stiffer penalties for illegal fishingand stricter bag limits. Illegal netting becamemostly a thing of the past by 1985.Austin <strong>CCA</strong> Laguna Madre Trip,hosted by Scott Sanderson:A speckled trout went for this weirdOrvis fly, cast by Sam Caldwell on aHexagraph fly rod, in The Hole, nearthe Land Cut. Great Photo ByStephen Boriskie.~2~Frank Dickerson leaves a legacy ofintegrity and service to the <strong>Texas</strong>Outdoors. He passed away September22, <strong>2011</strong>. Painting by Sam Caldwell.and redfish illegally,and to prevent thepurchase and sale of<strong>Texas</strong>-caught troutand redfish....such an exceptional 10-year period forconservation, where you see all parties allparties come together, work together,identify the problem, eliminate theproblem and see the resource recover.During his tenure,he wasrecognized andhonored by G<strong>CCA</strong>for his leadership indealing with illegalnetting and harvestof redfish andspeckled trout onthe lower <strong>Texas</strong>Coast. Frank wasDuring Frank’s tenure, he designed, wrote andimplemented the Coast Watchers Programwhich provided training and information toG<strong>CCA</strong> members in chapters all along the <strong>Texas</strong>coast. The goal—be more effective in workingwith <strong>Texas</strong> Game Wardens on observing, recognizingand reporting illegal fishing activity. Thisprogram was so successful it was implemented inother Gulf states by G<strong>CCA</strong>. Frank also workedwith G<strong>CCA</strong> on innovative new enforcement techniques.His goalssound like a littanyof coastal needs andfinally, all were successful.Dickersen workedfor regulations andstatutes to ban netsfrom coastal waters,make monofilamentnets illegal, maketop-water trotlinesillegal, make artificialbait on trotlinesillegal, to establishcivil restitution andstatutes to allow forthe seizure offisherman’s boats,motors and vehicleswhen caught takingtroutIn the 1975-1985 period,G<strong>CCA</strong>, TPWD Law Enforcementand TPWD Biologistsworked togetherto solve illegal nettingproblems. A turning pointcame when “The Church”was burned, apparentlyby illegal netters. Paintingby Herb Booth.Later, a large collectionof confiscatedmonofilament nets wasburned. Warden Jack King,now retired, is on right. Photoby Larry Bozka.At Frank Dickerson’s retirement,Paul Wimberly presentedDickerson with a whitecommercial fisherman’s boot,named Game Warden of the Year, Game Wardenof the Decade and then after he had retired,Game Warden of the Century.Frank was also honored by Sportsmen Conservationistof <strong>Texas</strong> (SCOT) as Law EnforcementOfficer of the year for his leadership in the fightagainst illegal commercial fishing and illegal harvestof redfish and trout.There are anecdotes about that crucialstretch of <strong>Texas</strong> coastal history, and Franktook part in many of them. One day, severalwardens had confiscated a large series ofmono nets. We were removing a huge pile oftrout from the nets in our coastal building, priorto donating the fillets to charitable organizations.A car pulled up outside, with netters yelling obscenities.One of my favorite memories of serviceon the coast was watching as Frank Dickersonreached into the back window of that car andgrabbed a netter. It was probably good for bothFrank and the netter that the car pulled away,the netter still inside.On the cover of an early Tide magazine is aphoto by Larry Bozka of a huge pile of burningnets, Dickerson in the foreground. The photocaused problems, but Frank shrugged it off.Frank succeeded in bringing a lot of technicalmuscle to the program. Just a few notableitems: Two radar trucks in 1977 to observe illegalfisherman at night from the shores of the LagunaMadre. Use of Pumpkin Air helicopters topatrol the <strong>Texas</strong> lower coast. It was like pickingup Easter eggs when we saw bundles of netshidden in the water and on the King Ranchshoreline from the helicopter. Pumpkin Air helicopterswere painted bright orange and illegalfishermen started to call it the “Orange Crush.”We would leave an empty can of Orange Crushwhen we picked up stashed illegal net, so thenetters would know we had been there.Frank managed to bring 65' patrol boats tothe lower <strong>Texas</strong> coast so that,besides patrolling theGulf for illegalshrimping, they couldbe used as bases of operationin the bays toallow for long-term operations.For a time, PaulWimberly’s LagunaMadre cabin, “TheChurch” was usedas a base of operationsby wardens.The locale of thecabin was right inthe middle of illegalnetting operations.One night,the cabin wasmysteriouslyburned to the waterline.Wimberly said it was a turning point, theworst mistake the illegal netters could havemade. After that, Wimberly said, the glovescame off. Dickerson worked with the G<strong>CCA</strong> torebuild “The Church,” which continued to providean important base of operations for coastalwardens.It is the good fortune of coastal resources and<strong>Texas</strong> conservationists, as well as <strong>Texas</strong> GameWardens that Frank got the message from Mr.Burkett in 1975 and moved to Corpus Christi. Thiswas such an exceptional 10-year period for conservation,where we saw all the parties come together,work together, identify the problem, eliminate theproblem and then, see the resource recover. —JackM. King Director of Operations, The DiamondGroup
A champion in our midstAustin flycaster earnsGold at worldchampionshipsSixteen year-old NoahThompson, a <strong>CCA</strong> AustinJunior Board Member, recentlyreturned fromSansepolcro, Italy, where hehelped guide the US JuniorFly Fishing Team to itsFIRST EVER Gold Medal atthe World Championships!All five members of theteam placed in the top 13 ofthe competition, and Noah finished 8th overall inthe individual competition. And, don’t for aminute think Noah’s a “one shot wonder”—thisfollows his performance last year when heearned the Bronze medal in the individual competitionin Slovakia!This is a tremendous accomplishment forNoah and the US Team in a competition that hashistorically been dominated by internationalteams. Not only is it the US team’s first GOLDMEDAL finish, but it’s also only the second USteam medal in the history of the competition. Ifyou meet Noah, congratulate him. <strong>CCA</strong> Austincertainly does!Attention volunteers!The 17th annual Big ShellBeach Cleanup is setfor February 25.This event can’t happen without thehelp of our volunteers and your help isneeded again. Volunteers will meet atMalaquite Pavilion on PINS and theevent will commence at 7 a.m. Gloves,water provided, gourmet hot dogs afterwardfrom <strong>CCA</strong> Corpus Christi. Seeyou there! —Capt. Billy SandiferFor complete details, drop by thewebsite: http://www.billysandifer.com/cleanup.htmLive CatchTourneybenefits SeaCenter <strong>Texas</strong>,Women’sResource CenterOn October 6 and 7, <strong>Texas</strong> Lures &Leaders, a charity fishing tournamentbenefited The Women’s ResourceCenter of Houston, Camp for All andSea Center <strong>Texas</strong>. This annual charity event wasco-founded by Lisa Hankamer (CBRE) andLeigh Anne Ahr (Proximity Real Estate Advisors).The event is an invitational made up, forthe most part, from businesses and persons inthe commercial real estate arena. I had the distincthonor to be a co-director and emcee. Festivitiesbegan at Harborwalk Marina and YachtClub on the evening of October 6 with registration,raffle, dinner and a live auction. On themorning of October 7, 24 teams, all with a guideon board, took to the waters of Galveston Bayfor a day of fishing and competing for braggingrights for the next 12 months.Third AnnualRedfish ShootoutThe <strong>CCA</strong> <strong>Texas</strong> Annual RedfishShootout sporting clay eventwas a loudsuccess. It was again held at the AmericanShooting Center. There were 24teams, all of whom ejoyed the shooting,door prizes, beverages as well as greatfood from Goode Company.The shoot was Lewis class scoring, soeveryone had a chance to win. There were24 teams. The winning team was LarryFeeland, Nathan Kroeker, Ricky Wrightand Joey Bolton. The individual highshooter was Joey Bolton who shot an 84.—Kathy Wheatleykathywheatley@sbcglobal.netwww.goelite.com.Teams were allowedto bring 5 fish to thescales, trout and red fish,with no more than 2 slotred fish and only 1 troutover 25". Teams also got a½ lb. bonus for all live fishthat were weighed in.When results were talliedand the dust had settled,Team Tight Lines (all ladies)and Capt. NathanGray crossed the scaleswith a winning stringer of21.95lbs, besting the rest of the field by almost 6.5lbs. In 2 nd place was Team Fish n Chicks, onceagain all ladies, and Capt. Craig Lambert with arespectable 15.69 lbs. In third place was teamHayworth and Capt. Jimmy Trahan with a nicestringer of 14.85 lbs. All proceeds from this eventwent to The Women’s Resource of Houston,Camp for All, and Sea Center <strong>Texas</strong>. A specialthanks to Sam Caldwell for his artwork donationsand to Harborwalk Marina and Yacht Club forhosting the event. Also, would like to thank therest of the sponsors, for without them, this eventwould not be possible. Everyone had a great timeand we are already making plans for next year.Until then…Tightlines! —Capt. Lynn WaddellNames to comeKocian, Caldwell,McDonaldOutdoor Art Show IndoorsJoin us at Orvis/HoustonSaturday, December 10Refreshments, 5 to 8 pmBenefitting <strong>CCA</strong>’s HTFTGet your Holiday shopping done early.Classic outdoor art on view, plus great Orvisgear. Win an Orvis Access 9 ft. 8wt Tip FlexRod with a matching Hydros Large ArborReel and 8 wt Redfish line with backing.Retail value, $700. Orvis will also have valuablecoupons for everyone.Ben Kocian and Les McDonald will haveprints in the $5 raffle. While you heckle, SamCaldwell will complete an original Caldwellwatercolor painting, which you can win atthe end of the evening. All proceeds go to<strong>CCA</strong>’s Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrowprogram (HTFT). For more information:www.samcaldwell.com~3~
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