Story by Lone Star Outdoor News
Each day, it seems another Texas county issues a shelter-in-place order, and fishermen and hunters are wondering if they can head out to the lake.
Probably, but maybe not in all situations, is the likely answer.
In the orders, essential activities are described specifically, and it appears all of them include “outdoor activities” some even specify fishing as an outdoor activity as long as you maintain social distancing requirements.
Also, “essential travel” includes travel to and from “essential activities.”
So, it would seem you could keep your plans to head out, assuming you can meet those criteria. But, what if your plan is to go from Houston or San Antonio to Lake Fork? Or from one of the counties with the shelter-in-place order to another part of the state to try to call in a turkey?
It gets a little gray here. According to angler Debra Hengst, in Bexar County officials are discouraging travel, so there may be a difference in walking or driving to the pond down the street and leaving the county pulling a boat to head to a reservoir.
City and county officials from other areas, including Dallas, Collin, Denton and Harris counties have said it’s fine to go fishing, just maintain proper social distancing, and vehicles pulling boats aren’t being stopped to see what they are doing — unless they are speeding or committing some other violation, of course.
Keep in mind, though, reports of several boat ramp closings have been reported most due to lake flooding, so officials advised to check to make sure you can get on the water.
Many state parks are still open. Check the Park Alert Map for the most recent updates on any park you plan to visit at https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/parks-map. As of the time of publication, TPWD is reporting a presumed positive case of COVID-19 at Cedar Hill State Park southwest of Dallas. Out of an abundance of caution, Cedar Hill State Park is closed until further notice.
