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Pier fishing Continued From Page 8
Frozen shrimp seemed to be getting the best results, McClure said. He noted, however, that weather fronts typically crimp the action. “It stirs the water,” he said. “It changes the whole complexion. But it takes a day or two to recover. “Usually it’s real good right before (a front). When the barometer is changing the fish are more active.” A similar report was made at the 61st Street Fishing Pier in Galveston, which reopened a year ago. A worker there said anglers were catching whiting, croaker and sheepshead on shrimp and squid. Occasional redfish and sand trout were also reported at the pier. Farther down the coast, successful pier anglers were catching the same species as the Galveston-area anglers, but mostly on frozen shrimp. “Live shrimp, if you can find it, you’re set,” said James Delgado, an employee at Pirate’s Landing Pier in Port Isabel. “But we haven’t had any for three months at our store.” Still, anglers were also catching speckled trout and some large black drum measuring 33 to 36 inches, Delgado said. He said artificial lures, especially glow-in-the-dark minnows, work well at night. The pier stays open 24 hours a day on weekends, he said. Galveston Fishing Pier, (409) 974-4383 61st Fishing Pier, (409) 744-8365 Pirate’s Landing Pier, (956) 943-3663
Grapevine Continued From Page 8
The strong updates outshined grim reports of fish kills last August, when warmer-than-average temperatures were robbing oxygen from the water and killing thousands of baitfish, bass, crappie and other species. TPWD continues to rate Grapevine’s spotted bass as “good,” but, according to Vidal, they’re very good. He’s also sure there are other spotted bass in Grapevine that can beat the lake’s record for that species. “I caught three spotted bass that day,” he said. “I lost one at the end of the day that was probably bigger than the lake record — 4 pounds easy.” Vidal said that, during the tournament, he and DuBose targeted water around riprap, giant boulders and other points — “anything that had rock.” Fishing from DuBose's BassCat, Vidal worked a 6-foot Boyd Duckett rod and Shimano Calcutta reel loaded with 10-pound-test fluorocarbon. The crankbait that hooked his big spotted bass was a 1.5-ounce square bill in fire tiger green. “When I caught her,” Vidal said, “her belly was about to explode because she was so full.”
Big cats Continued From Page 8
Tim McKneely and Mark Alexander. The big fish tipped the scales at 72 pounds and broke the previous record caught Dec. 23, 2001. On Lake Tawakoni, guide David Hanson of Little D’s Guide Service said the fishing has been good but not earth-shattering — yet. “We caught them today (Dec. 16) up to 50 pounds,” he said. “Days like today where the sun comes out and the water temperature warms up just a little bit really triggers the bite. I think they bite better than the really cold, nasty days.” Hanson said he uses any kind of legal cut bait he can find — shad, buffalo, carp or perch. “October through December is really good,” he said. “As we get into January, there isn’t as much action, but the average fish is bigger.” Hanson said he thinks Tawakoni should be designated by the state as a trophy lake, because he sees the big cats being taken from the lake in alarming numbers with no protection. “This is the best catfish lake in Texas and it didn’t get designated,” he said. “If the state doesn’t step up and protect these fish, the big ones will disappear. They think you can just restock them, but it takes a long time to grow these big ones.” Chris Edwards, (817) 271-5014 David Hanson, (903) 662-5668
December 23, 2011
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