Outdoor Notes

Published 3:54 pm Wednesday, January 22, 2025

FISH ART CONTEST: ATHENS – The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) has opened the Texas division of Wildlife Forever’s 2025 Fish Art Contest for entries.

The Fish Art Contest, accepting entries until Feb. 28, is part of an international conservation education program designed to foster youth interest in fish, fisheries and fishing.

Participants must submit a completed entry form and an original illustration of a wild fish found in Texas. Applicants in grades 4-12 are also required to submit a one-page creative writing piece. Once the entrance form is submitted, applicants must mail their artwork to TFFC, 5550 FM 2495, Athens, TX, 75752. The physical artwork must have a landscape orientation between 8X10 inches and 9X12 inches and be postmarked no later than Feb. 28.

The Texas Fish Art Contest’s new category this year is the Special Species Award, which will showcase a focused species or set of species each year. For the 2024-2025 contest year, the focus species is the Guadalupe Bass, the state fish of Texas.

Texas winners are recognized in the Texas Fish Art calendar, win scholarships, are featured in TPWD’s Fish Art Contest Flickr album and invited to a family fishing celebration to recognize their achievements.

Additionally, winners will earn automatic entry to Wildlife Forever’s national contest.

Educators who wish to have their students enter the 2025 contest can find entry forms, rules, guidelines and more online. A lesson plan offers interdisciplinary curriculum including lessons and activities, a species identification section profiling each state fish, a glossary and student worksheets.