Dates for the highly-anticipated return of the Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC), the world championship of professional bass fishing and country music festival, were announced today with all of the action set to begin Friday, Sept. 28.

Central Market and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) have joined forces to bring wild game Cooking Specialist Chef Lisa Freeman into Central Market Cooking Schools to lead five February classes showcasing wild fish and game with award-winning olive oils. The classes will feature TPWD experts on hand to answer questions about game, conservation and the great outdoors.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department  (TPWD) will hold initial scoping meetings and take public comment on the potential  designation of a segment of the San Marcos River as a new State Scientific Area to protect federally endangered Texas wild-rice and its habitat.

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC), the world championship of professional bass fishing, had to go into overtime to crown a champion. Keith Combs of Huntington, Texas, outlasted Mike Iaconelli of Pittsgrove, New Jersey, in an unprecedented sudden death fish-off.

The slogan of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is “Life’s Better Outside,” and department staff will show visitors to the Toyota Texas Bass Classic in Conroe October 28—30 why that’s so.

Largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more are rare. Only 523 have been entered into the Toyota ShareLunker program in the last 25 years.

The Toyota Texas Bass Classic ShareLunker Club Tournament is set to get started on Lake Conroe on October 1. The amateur tournament will run October 1-21 and gives members the opportunity to fish for $100,000. There are still tournament memberships available for anyone interested in competing.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is reminding hunters the deadline to enter this year’s Big Time Texas Hunts is Oct. 15. Winners will be called before the end of October to give them time to make their hunting trip preparations.

The Federation of Student Anglers (FSA) wants to hear from students in Texas middle and high schools who want to form or be on a school fishing team and from school administrators who are interested in starting a club team at their school.

Chris Bird, a state game warden based in Wharton County, has been named Officer of the Year by the Association of Midwest Fish and Game Law Enforcement Officers.