December 2014

MONSTER SURF SHARKS Only $3.95 www.tsfmag.com December 2014

TIDE PREDICTIONS & SOLUNAR FEED TIMES INSIDE!

about the Cover Our cover photo is Scott Nelson, Mike Shindle and Eric Ozolins posing with an incredible greater hammerhead Scott landed from the North Padre Island sand. This is one of the largest sharks ever landed from the beach by a Texas rod and reel angler.

Story on page 10.

Contents

December 2014 VOL 24 NO 8

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

10 A Legendary Night 14 Debunking the Wizards 20 Sharkathon, Giant Hammerhead...

24 Tommy Has Some Trouble 28 Options and Flexibility 32 Car Bodies Reefs

39 Holiday Gift Guide TSFMag Staff 38 Let’s Ask The Pro Jay Watkins 50 Shallow Water Fishing Scott Null 54 TPWD Field Notes Holly Grand 58 Fly Fishing Scott Sommerlatte 60 Kayak Fishing Chronicles Cade Simpson 64 TSFMag Conservation News CCA Texas 66 Fishy Facts Stephanie Boyd 68 Inshore | Nearshore | Jetties | Passes Curtiss Cash 72 Extreme Kayak Fishing & Sharks...

Eric Ozolins 100 Science & the Sea UT Marine Science Institute Chris Mapp 102 Boat Maintenance Tips

Eric Ozolins Kevin Cochran Billy Sandifer Martin Strarup Chuck Uzzle Joe Richard

20

WHAT OUR GUIDES

HAVE TO SAy

78 80 82 84 86 88 90

Dickie Colburn’s Sabine Scene The Buzz on Galveston Bay The View from Matagorda Mid-Coast Bays with the Grays Hooked up with Rowsey Capt. Tricia’s Port Mansfield Report South Padre Fishing Scene

82 6 | December 2014

Dickie Colburn Steve Hillman Bink Grimes Gary Gray David Rowsey Capt. Tricia Ernest Cisneros

50

REGULARS 08 76 92 96 98

Editorial New Tackle & Gear Fishing Reports and Forecasts Catch of the Month Gulf Coast Kitchen

98

Editor and Publisher Everett Johnson Everett@tsfmag.com VICE PRESIDENT PRODUCTION & ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Pam Johnson Pam@tsfmag.com Office: 361-785-3420 Cell: 361-550-9918 National sales representative Bart Manganiello Bartalm@optonline.net regional sales representative Patti Elkins Patti@tsfmag.com Office: 361-785-3420 Cell: 361-649-2265 PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Donna Boyd Donna@tsfmag.com Circulation Subscription – product sales Linda Curry Cir@tsfmag.com ADDRESS CHANGED? Email Store@tsfmag.com Design & Layout Stephanie Boyd Stephanie@tsfmag.com Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine is published monthly.

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Email store@tsfmag.com for all address changes or please call 361-785-3420 from 8am - 4:30pm. The U.S. Postal Service does not guarantee magazines will be forwarded. how to contact tsfmag: Phone: 361-785-3420 fax: 361-785-2844 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, Texas 77983 Physical Address: 58 Fisherman’s Lane, Seadrift, TX 77983 Web: www.TSFMAG.com photo gallery: photos@tsfmag.com Printed in the USA. Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine (ISSN 1935-9586) is published monthly by Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine, Inc., 58 Fisherman’s Lane, Seadrift, Texas 77983 l P. O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983 © Copyright 1990 All rights reserved. Positively nothing in this publication may be reprinted or reproduced. *Views expressed by Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine contributors do not necessarily express the views of Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine.

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EDITORIAL So Christmas is only a few weeks away and you have been working up a list of special folks in your life and wracking your brain, trying to come up with a gift to express your love and/or depths of your friendship. Christmas shopping for people you really care about is never easy, that’s probably part of what makes it so easy to procrastinate. Trouble with waiting too long is that we are too often forced into hasty selections.

What we hoped would be greatly treasured ends up in the already have one, doesn’t fit, or some other less than appreciated category.

I have some thoughts on this dilemma. Since the sole purpose of holiday gift giving is to make an expression from the heart—do not fret over finding the right gift for a person who already has practically everything they need.

Think instead of planning a fishing or maybe a coastal cast and blast trip. All you need is a Christmas card, maybe enclose a photo of a memorable event or past trip, and pen a few lines of how much you want to spend some quality time with the loved one or friend.

With a bit of imagination you can cook up an outing that should prove memorable for eternity, either at your bay camp or perhaps if you can afford it, with an outfitter. You don’t have to go seriously overboard on a spendy trip, it could be as basic as motel lodging and fishing with a guide that works a part of the coast your friend or loved one does not normally have opportunity to fish, or perhaps

8 | December 2014

FishinG give the gift of

a weekend run to Louisiana. There is a ton of great fishing over there and a host of guides and outfitters who can put a jam-up trip together for a reasonable price.

On the waterfowl hunting-fishing combination side of things, Louisiana has perhaps some of the best in the world of these two worlds. I’ve several friends who do this around Lake Charles several times each season and they rave about it.

If by chance the gift will be for a friend who has never connected with a trophy trout or is obsessed with another chance to count coup, the Upper Laguna-Baffin area has plenty of guides who can make that dream come true. Ditto the Lower Laguna from Port Mansfield to Port Isabel. Heck – you need look no further than the pages of this magazine to connect with some of the best in the business.

Cast and blast is not confined to waterfowl, plenty of the Lower Laguna guides and lodges represented in this magazine offer firstclass combo trips for fall fishing and dove shooting. Pam and I spent two days with GetAway Adventures at Mansfield the first week of October and let me tell you; we had a ball. She caught a six-pound trout and followed with a limit of doves that afternoon.

So there you go, your holiday shopping dilemma is solved. Hook onto the boat and go fishing instead of the mall. Merry Christmas!

STORY BY ERIC OZOLINS

We were on a routine

sharking trip to North Padre Island; Scott

Nelson, Mike Shindle and yours truly. Peering out a calm gulf, Indian summer was in full bloom and a brilliant display of the Milky Way stretched from horizon to horizon. This is our favorite time of year, the crowds are gone and the fall migration of bait and predators is at its peak.

Our plan of fishing several days allowed plenty of time to take advantage of the calm weather. We set up late on the first afternoon

with several irresistibly large baits deployed a lengthy distance by sunset. Later that evening, while finally managing to cook up a late meal, Scott’s large shark rig went off. We ran the short distance to his truck and instantly he yelled, “MONSTER!” After observing Scott fighting the fish for a couple of minutes it was obvious that it was the Real McCoy—a most worthy sea beast.

Several minutes passed and the shark was dumping line with ease.

Fortunately, Scott was rigged with an older Shimano 80W stacked full of heavy braid. Line capacity was on our side, thus no one was

sweating, yet. Twenty minutes into the fight the shark had taken well over 300 yards without a hiccup. Shindle and I made busy getting Scott strapped in and harnessed up.

The stage was set perfectly as we began developing strategies for landing a very large fish. Little did we know we were far from that point. As we approached 45 minutes into Scott’s locked-down brawl he had yet to gain line. Continually bumping up the drag, the shark was slowing but not stopping.

Mike and I realized Scott was nearing the pain threshold, putting

everything into this fish, mentally and physically. For insurance, I stood in front to offer a shoulder prop for the rod while Mike braced his shoulders and upper back from behind.

Scott continued to lay back into the fish with everything he had and we could not help but glance occasionally at the reel as line continued to evaporate. We began guessing the species—split between “grander” tiger and massive hammerhead. In our collective sharking experience none of us had been tested by a shark of this size and strength and the fear that we might never get to see it began haunting us.

A confident Scott watching line evaporate on the first run.

Nearly an hour and a half had elapsed since this mammoth fish had picked up the large stingray bait.

Scott managed to stop the fish several times and gain microscopic inches, only to have it taken back within seconds. The drag tension was so tight that the line creaked an eerie song as it passed through the guides. The fighting belt Scott started with had been wrecked, and the replacement we struggled to get him into had already broken and been repaired as he continued the battle.

Despite the torturous strain Scott remained incredibly focused. With roughly a mile of 200-lb braided Spectra stretching into the Gulf of Mexico, the hub of the spool was in sight and line was still slowly creeping off. We gave Scott the old rockstar pep talk and told him this was his time; he needed to dig down to his reserves and turn the tide. This was HIS fish!

Pushing the reel to its limit, Scott continued the fight furiously. After a couple minutes of the most brutal tug-of-war, FINALLY, the fish turned for the That’s a Shimano 80W; nearly a mile of 200-lb braided line was stretched into the Gulf of Mexico.

12 | December 2014

first time. At its lowest point, there might have been fewer than 30 yards left on the reel. When it seemed he might have gained a hundred yards it would immediately dump back out. Twice this happened.

At the two hour mark Scott had a couple hundred yards on the reel but progress was still very slow.

He laid into the rod once again and suddenly slack appeared. Oh No! Scott was reeling slack frantically and though we hoped the fish was swimming in, we feared a cut-off.

One hundred, two hundred yards and, WHAM! The fish was still on and headed back out. The run was short and ended in stalemate, nothing happening, dead weight. We began to fear that the fish might have wrapped in the leader when it swam in.

At this point the fish was roughly 800-900 yards offshore and not fighting. Scott tried everything to winch it in, inches at a time. After 15-20 minutes, with a small amount of line gained—horror of horrors— the line broke. We were stunned.

Mike and I did everything we could to assist Scott in the epic battle.

Dejected and walking back to my camp I saw Scott taking off in the kayak. He had a glimmer of hope he could find his leader float. I knew exactly what he was doing and what he was feeling, and seeing his headlamp further and further offshore I knew I had to join him. I jumped in my kayak.

Nearly a half mile out we were searching for a virtual needle in a haystack.

Time passed and still nothing. My thoughts turned to waiting until the morning but Scott was determined to find it as soon as possible; believing he could somehow get the shark unwrapped and save its life. We paddled on in darkness without success. Ultimately we decided to head in. Paddling back I saw something in my headlight and sure enough it was a leader float.

rod up on the rack. The plan was to hopefully winch the fish in—a fish we had yet to see. We are able to gain maybe 30 yards of line before reaching another stalemate.

It was not until nearly sunrise when we could continue the battle. The plan was for me to go back out and clip in another float for greater line buoyancy. Scott and Shindle would remain on the beach and attempt to winch the fish to the beach—however long it took.

Being atop the truck lent the advantage that the line would not rub the sandbars. It took an hour but at last we had the fish within 50 yards.

I could tell it was indeed wrapped in the leader and in very bad shape. Glimpses of it began to tell of its incredible size.

Finally, after a horrendously tedious process, Scott landed the fish on the beach and it was massive!

We unraveled the leader and quickly assessed how to undertake reviving it while measurements were made. In the most My first thought was one of my own long baits that were out. Luck was grueling battle on rod and reel I have ever witnessed, the 13’-3” with us though and it was indeed Scott’s. I yelled for him. hammerhead had ultimately met its fate in an unfortunate situation.

Scott paddled up and we tried pulling the float line attached to the The reality of landing this fish and not being able to see it swim off leader to no avail, the weight was tremendous and the wind-chop was was a real downer for all of us. A successful release would have been wreaking havoc. At a loss for a better plan, I told Scott to hang on to an unrivaled accomplishment off our coast. This was, after all, one of the float while I paddled back to get his rod, thinking we could pull up the largest great hammerheads ever taken from the surf west of the the leader and clip back into it. The trip took 30 minutes and by then Mississippi. We quickly got into action contacting research institutes one of Scott’s two headlamps had died. We had to act fast. about the possible study value of Scott’s hammerhead.

Pulling up the end of the leader, I attached another float for safety, Despite a somewhat tragic ending, the silver lining is that this and then clipped in with Scott’s rod. Slight movement from below fish will provide valuable biological data for shark management. confirmed the fish was still alive. We were back in business.

The girth measurement of 70” put the estimated weight at well over We paddled straight toward my truck paying out line and threw the 800 pounds. Any “trophy” hunter would have taken it to town to be weighed for a possible state record.

Scott showing off the business end We all purely rejected the idea, of the incredible hammerhead. knowing it would be in far better hands with scientists, versus possible bad press over “yet another great fish killed for a record.”

Scott’s concern for the life of that shark bordered on lunacy. Jumping in a kayak, paddling into total darkness to search for a needle in a haystack, seconds after a bonebreaking battle on the beach—Scott demonstrated extreme character and dedication to shark conservation.

But that is who he is and that is what we do to save a majestic specimen of nature. Its demise was terribly unfortunate. Scott should be forever proud of this monumental angling feat. Shindle and I were blessed to be there and share in his amazing experience.

TSFMAG.com | 13

STORY BY KEVIN COCHRAN

Two integrated skill

sets affect the ability to catch fish consistently.

One involves locating fish, the other relates to the physical aspects of making fish bite. Using natural “bait” makes the connection between the two sets simpler, since anglers using bait can generally assume fish in the area will bite what’s offered. On the other hand, using artificial lures blurs the connection, making consistency of outcome more difficult to achieve.

Light-tackle angling with artificial lures shares many common attributes with other “sports”. For one thing, some people have more talent for it than others. Most of the time, the word talent describes

physical abilities, athletic skill. Here, I use it more broadly, to include cognitive abilities too. Angling talent might more accurately be described as an “acumen”, or keenness in depth of perception, discernment, or discrimination.

A person displaying superior angling acumen shows a consistent ability to correctly analyze numerous variables and locate fish.

Furthermore, they can also identify what strategies, methods, lures and presentations will likely work to catch those fish, and they possess the necessary skills to execute the strategies and presentations effectively. Some expert anglers display a higher acumen in one of these areas than in the other; the best display

freakishly strong abilities in both realms.

In other words, the most consistent anglers know how to add up the factors and figure out where to find fish, and they know how to target and catch those fish once they are found. That’s where the connection between the two skill sets comes in; catching the fish verifies their presence. A person who correctly identifies where to fish but who can’t make fish bite consistently will become confused or Glenn Stanford’s fat trout, caught just after Christmas, shows a shape typical for early-winter.

While fishing in early December last year, the author and Jason King found a bunch of hungry trout eager to attack sinking FatBoys.

18 | December 2014

frustrated, probably both.

Surely, some physical aspects of angling talent come into play in this equation. The ability to cast well, to control the movements of the rod and coordinate the efforts of both hands simultaneously all play a part in angling excellence, as do basic assets like adequate stamina, vision and hearing. Most anglers have relatively similar abilities in these areas, and many can function well enough with the equipment to catch fish once they are located and targeted with appropriate methods.

Helping people improve and/or master the skills associated with the physical aspects of lure fishing proves much simpler than teaching them the other skills which play a part in consistently finding and targeting fish. In essence, fishing guides who specialize in lure fishing play the role of fish-finder and strategist for the angler(s) who hire them; they make all the decisions leading up to the physical act of trying to catch the fish, then coach the angler(s) as they attempt to seal the deal.

In order to consistently succeed in the effort, a fishing guide or expert relies on three different thinking modes or abilities: instinct, intuition and intelligence. At least, this appears so superficially, though analysis of each of these modes indicates one supersedes the other two a vast majority of the time.

Instinct can be defined as natural or inherent aptitude, impulse or capacity. It drives behaviors mediated by reactions below the conscious level. Often, when describing an expert angler, one tends to declare “he has good instincts for fishing.” In essence, the term instinct relates quite closely to the term acumen, in that it either exists within a person or doesn’t. People can’t work to “increase the intensity or quality” of their instincts. By definition, this trait exists below the conscious level, so it can’t be actively developed.

How then, does instinct come into play in the sport of lure fishing?

In my estimation, it involves what I call “feel”. Sometimes, when assessing a situation, the angler either “feels it” or doesn’t, meaning Kev says, “My book never fills completely up in December, due to the holidays and deer season, but it’s one of the best months of all to fish.”

sweep, which direction to move and cast, what lure to throw and how to present it to the fish, an angler uses fishing intelligence. The powers of reason and memory most profoundly affect all these decisions; they are made consciously, through cognition, not by instinct and intuition.

In the end, consistency results from correctly identifying the variables and strategies which lead to positive results, so they can be relied upon and implemented again. Also, consistency comes from the ability to identify specific mistakes which hamper the effort to either locate or catch fish, so those negative components can be eliminated instead of repeated. Identifying and eliminating mistakes can prove difficult indeed.

Often, after a failed fishing endeavor, anglers wonder, “Why didn’t we catch more (bigger) fish?” They don’t know why, and they can’t even come up with a solid, educated guess. An important question arises: how can one reduce the risk of such events occurring?

The answer goes back to some basic concepts I’ve stated and written repeatedly. The truth, after all, does not change, simply to keep us amused. First, one should always develop a plan before embarking on an outing. One should attempt to “fish the plan”, but should also be open to adjusting plans according to specific perceived needs while on the water. In fact, any plan should include contingencies from the start.

If one fishes from a plan and to a plan, one has a better chance of identifying what worked and what didn’t. This brings the second truth into play. One should record data related to the fishing efforts, so the analysis of accurate data becomes possible over time. By recording data, I specifically mean maintaining a fishing log which includes as much information as possible. I have provided a template to use for a fishing log on my website at CaptainKevBlogs.com.

By doing these things--formulating a plan, fishing the plan, recording the outcome and analyzing data over time, anglers can improve their fishing intelligence. I have here stated, and will repeat-some people have more talent for fishing than others. Experts universally possess a high fishing acumen. More importantly, they continually use disciplined methods to improve their skill sets.

Beginning and novice anglers run the risk of assuming the experts they encounter possess some kind of wizardry, or magic, when they really don’t. Things which seem like sharp fishing instincts are actually highly developed skill sets. Fishing intelligence is more learned behavior than endowed gift.

Kevin Cochran Contact

they believe some area or spot either does or does not hold fish at the time, and/or that those fish can or cannot be caught with a particular strategy, method, lure or presentation. I know people who appear to have extremely acute, useful instincts when fishing. In some cases, I’ve learned to accept what they “feel”. If one of these experts tells me, “I’m not feeling it”, I just accept it and move on to some other location and/or plan.

I only rely on a person’s instincts if I have knowledge of them being accurate enough times. Until I have such knowledge, I place little value in what a given angler feels about a situation. I also don’t place much faith in the second thinking mode—intuition, though I can think of one way in which it comes into play on a regular basis in fishing. This mode, defined as the power or faculty of attaining to direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference can also be described as “quick and ready insight”.

I regularly experience what I would call intuitive insights when fishing. Most often, the experience involves “knowing” I am about to get a bite before it happens, when I can see no tangible evidence to indicate it. When this happens, it never proves false. I never truly “know” a bite is imminent and then turn out to be wrong. I simply become aware of what will soon happen, and then it happens.

Of course, these events cannot be manipulated consciously. One cannot predict when and where they will happen. So, they really have little or no use in the quest for consistency, except that the intuition of a coming bite accentuates focus in the short term. When the feeling comes on, it causes one to become hyper-focused on the task at hand, until the bite occurs. In that sense, intuition aids one in the act of catching. But, since it cannot be repeated consciously, it carries no lasting value.

The last thinking mode does, of course, have lasting value, and it is the most important element of angling consistency. Intelligence can be defined as the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new and trying situations....the skilled use of reason...the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment. Almost every angling decision emerges from “fishing intelligence”.

An angler adds up data constantly in an effort to determine when, where and how to attempt to catch fish. Every fishing situation has unique components, but all situations also bear some similarities and parallel structures. Locating saltwater fish consistently requires the correct identification of the relative levels of significance of many environmental variables, including the season, time of day, weather, tide level and/or movement. Additionally, locating fish consistently involves making accurate assessments related to the observations of signs which correctly indicate the presence of the targeted fish, including verification of prey species or food sources, indicators of fish movement, like swirls, mud boils or wakes, and the activities of other creatures like birds and porpoises.

Reading the signs related to bird activity, for instance, can resemble instinct. Sometimes, birds generally seem active, spurred by an underlying high level of activity in the animal kingdom. The ability to perceive some subtle forms of these signs can seem like a “feel” thing, but is actually learned behavior. In other words, the perception comes from data added up over time—through intelligence.

Intelligence comes into play in the last part of the equation leading up to the final act of making a cast and presentation. When deciding whether to drift, anchor or wade, where specifically to start the effort, whether to stand in place, move slowly and steadily, or make a quick

Kevin Cochran is a full-time fishing guide at Corpus Christi (Padre Island), TX. Kevin is a speckled trout fanatic and has created several books and dvds on the subject.

Kevin’s home waters stretch from Corpus Christi Bay to the Land Cut.

Trout Tracker Guide Service Phone Email Web

361-688-3714 kevxlr8@mygrande.net www.FishBaffinBay.com www.captainkevblogs.com TSFMAG.com | 19

STORY BY Billy Sandifer

We all know it’s a

crap shoot when we schedule outdoor

activities in advance but, such is the nature of fishing the coast. The Eleventh Annual Sharkathon fell squarely into bad weather with wonderful conditions both before and immediately following the event. This year they had an amazing 955 contestants registered.

The event was challenged with 40+ mph wind, driving sheets of rain, roaring 4-6 foot seas and water pushed up all the way to the sand dunes. I’m still curious as to why the feds didn’t close the beach as traditionally when the water goes to the dune line they have always closed it. While some contestants gave in to the conditions, others braved the formidable weather and surf to fish the entire event. Remarkably, a total of 27 sharks were landed.

Sean Curless won the shark division with a 74” blacktipped shark and also won the prize for the most inches of shark landed. Shawn walked away with over $20,000 in cash and some high-dollar prizes.

He has been a section leader in the Big Shell Beach Cleanup for the past two years so maybe some of that karma is working for him.

It had to be quite dangerous attempting to get baits offshore in the stormy conditions and it was a real test of skills to get a kayak through the surf. I know some that wore life jackets and swam their baits out. Must have been one heck of a show all the way around.

Curtis Mai and Todd Neahr ramrod this event and I don’t know how they do it. My hat’s definitely off to them. Sharkathon is a 100% Catch & Release event and their website is Sharkathon.com.

Speaking of the Big Shell Cleanup, the next event is on the books for 28 February, 2015—for all you karma seekers.

I have been associated with shark fishing for 55 years and I’ve watched changes in the culture of the sport as it continuously evolved as well as the tremendous upgrades in equipment and tactics that have come into play. Newcomers maybe don’t realize it but there are more sharks caught now than there ever were. The notable difference is that they’ve decreased in size.

Eight-foot and longer bull sharks were relatively common in my youth but are only rarely encountered now. There is however a very good number of 5-6 foot bulls. Problem is, we are told, bull sharks

reach sexual maturity and begin to reproduce at about 8-feet length and the first sign of a fishery in trouble is an absence of breeding sized adults.

In my youth we did not fish for 6-foot sharks—we fished for monsters. As such, most of our baits weren’t appropriate for the 5-6 footers so commonly caught today. In all probability they could have been there in the same high numbers all the time and we were missing them.

And of course there were never the numbers of shark fishermen that there are today.

The greatest part of the cultural change is that while we killed everything we caught back then; nowadays almost all fish are released. So—in light of the present shark fishing culture— while we may have lost the majority of fish that should be the backbone of the breeding fishery at present, I have to believe it is sure to improve very shortly. The day may come that I will again enjoy sight-casting to a 6-footer on medium tackle in the wade gut but for the most part I just love to watch them as they feed in the shallows as I travel the beach.

News for beach-fishers; 22 | December 2014

Kleberg County gave control of the 3,680 acres south of Bob Hall Pier to Nueces County. There are many deed restrictions that deal with what can and cannot be done with this piece of property, so we’ll just have to wait and see what develops. The goal is to keep this land in its natural state Friends of Padre funded and installed a water fountain at South Packery Park. We didn’t want the public at large to think we were only concerned about the National Seashore. In their infinite wisdom, and

without a reason, the U.S. Postal Service closed down our fully paid-up POB some two months ago. So anyone who attempted to send mail to Friends of Padre was likely unsuccessful. The situation has been corrected and feel free to mail correspondence or contributions to Friends of Padre - P.O. Box 18108 - Corpus Christi, TX. 78418.

My friend, Scott Nelson, recently landed a 13-foot 3-inch greater hammerhead shark from the beach of PINS. That breaks the record for the longest shark landed on PINS (13-feet 1-inch) caught years ago, although the old record fish was a tiger and likely weighed more than Scott’s hammerhead.

The hammerhead fought two and one half hours and Scott saw bare spool on his reel three times. Although every attempt was made to release the fish alive, it unfortunately died. Giant hammerheads are renowned for fighting to the death. After chasing a mammoth one in Cuba for two years I decided I no longer wanted to kill a big hammerhead. I guess I’m the only shark fishing guide who used to pray he did not hook a big hammerhead for I didn’t want it to die. In my youth we were knights and sharks were dragons and it was all about being a hero and slaying dragons. That’s an awful long way from the culture today although I’ll bet there is still a lot of that knight and dragon stuff going on. Thankfully, the greatest majority of modern day shark anglers are happy to count coup on them instead of killing them.

All my life people have asked my advice regarding the best time of year to go surf fishing. My reply never changes; it’s the opening day of dove season. Fall is the time of harvest on the sea as well as the land and if you put your fishing tackle away when the guns come out you are missing the best fishing of the year. Obviously you have to dodge cold fronts but late fall and early winter really is an exceptional season on the beach. The two largest tiger sharks I was ever around were caught in November. I always figured these apex predators were like lions following game across the African plains; craftily shadowing the herd and picking off the old, weak and sick.

Shoals of large Jack crevalle come to shore to pursue migrating finger mullet most mornings, the biggest Spanish mackerel of the year are likewise feeding on the mullet, and the pompano are at their peak abundance of the year. All good reasons to do some serious fishing along with your hunting this time of year.

Heading down the beach, you want to make sure you have all your emergency supplies with you as the summer crowds are gone and if you break down you could be there a while.

It’s a hoot! Get you some of it and have a good Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Northern Pintail -Ahas acuta- Body Length: Male 26”—Female 20” The male northern pintail is a strikingly handsome duck of the northern hemisphere. Chocolate brown head and long slender white neck. Its slender body and gull-shaped wings make it easy to identify in flight. Black central tail feathers extend beyond the rest of long wedge-shaped tail. The female exhibits drab mottled plumage. A ground nester in northern prairie pothole regions.

Favors both fresh and saltwater marsh habitat, often feeds in harvested grain fields. Present in Texas October through March.

Contact

Billy Sandifer Retired after 20+ years of guiding anglers in the Padre surf, Billy Sandifer (“Padre of Padre Island” to friends & admirers) is devoted to conserving the natural wonders of N. Padre Island & teaching all who will heed his lessons to enjoy the beauty of the Padre Island National Seashore responsibly.

Website www.FriendsofPadre.com

Photos by Jimmy Jackson.

TSFMAG.com | 23

STORY BY CHUCK UZZLE

Bodie was mumbling to himself as he lowered his Tran SVT

into the water; Tommy Meyers was late. Bodie had to drive out to the ranch early on to leave a tractor part for Monroe and Tommy was supposed to splash the boat and be ready to go when Bodie got there. The plan was supposed to save them some time so they wouldn’t have to contend with other boats in their spot. That was the plan but Tommy wasn’t there and didn’t answer his cell phone.

Bodie had everything ready and with the big outboard idling he tried calling Tommy one more time, and again he got no answer. Angrily he put the boat in reverse, backed out of his sling then headed down the channel to the ICW. “Gosh Almighty!” Bodie exclaimed loudly and turned the boat around. Tommy wouldn’t be late for this trip and he’d dang sure answer his phone if he was able; something has to be wrong, Bodie thought. He pulled the 24’ boat up into the slip and turned the switch to lift it out of the water, impatiently tapping his foot. “That’s high enough,” he said and jumped up onto the dock.

Bodie jumped into his truck and headed for Tommy’s house. The porch light was on and Tommy’s truck was there and the truck door was open. Bodie stepped out of his truck and checked the ignition of Tommy’s truck and the keys were in it. Bodie started banging on the screen door half grinning at the thought of all the ribbing he was going to give Tommy for oversleeping for a fishing trip. “Wait until I tell Red about this mess.”

Tommy didn’t come to the door but Bodie noticed the main door was ajar; pushing it open he yelled for Tommy but no answer came. He was about to close the door when he heard a loud crash from the kitchen so he flung open the

door and stepped inside.

Tommy reminded Bodie of a turtle on its back. He was blindfolded, gagged and his hands and legs were tied to a kitchen chair. Bodie quickly backed out of the kitchen ran to his truck for his .45 automatic. Checking the magazine and making sure it was cocked and locked with a round in the chamber he cautiously headed back inside.

He checked the house for intruders but all he found was a huge mess someone had made of Tommy’s house. He cut Tommy’s ropes and helped him into a chair. With his blindfold and gag removed Tommy looked pretty worse for wear. One eye was swollen completely shut and his other eye was heading that direction. His mouth was a bloody mess. Bodie quickly called for the EMS and Sheriff’s department and then started talking to his old friend.

“What the hell happened here buddy; who did this to you” Bodie asked? Tommy shook his head and tried to say something as he passed out and slid from the chair. Bodie caught him and carefully laid him on the floor. He grabbed a blanket and pillow from a bed and made Tommy as comfortable as he could, then waited with his friend for the ambulance and sheriff’s department to arrive.

The sun was coming up and Bodie was talking to the officers outside while the medics worked on Tommy inside the house.

“Nothing we can do until we can speak to Tommy and find out what he knows,” a deputy said.

“Someone sure tore his house up and if you look at the side of his face you’ll see the imprint of a pistol magazine; someone pistol whipped that man,” Bodie said in a controlled, quiet voice but inside he was anything but quiet. Someone did this to his friend, a man who would no more harm another person than he would himself, and that someone was going to answer to TSFMAG.com | 25

26 | December 2014

safe door and everything they could think of. Bodie walked around looking for anything unusual but everything was such a mess all that he could think to do was to tidy up a bit. “If y’all got all the pictures you need and wouldn’t mind, I’d like to straighten things up just a bit” Bodie said to the lawmen.

“Pretty sure I got everything we’ll need Bodie so you do what you need to do,” Dale said.

Bodie was picking up some framed pictures that had been knocked off a dresser and noticed that he was in most of them. There were pictures of him and Tommy holding fish, Tommy helping to hoist the Haddon Cup and pictures of him, Tommy and Red. Bodie got a little misty eyed and walked out into the yard a ways from the house. His foot hit something hard and when he looked down he saw a bloody Colt .38 Super laying in the grass. Bodie yelled to the Sheriff and Dale to come have a look.

“Looks to me like a vehicle was parked here and this was dropped when someone was getting into it,” the Sheriff said. Examining the weapon all three noticed that one of the grips was broken and they knew that whoever did this had pistol whipped Tommy with his own weapon.

“So someone knew that Tommy was going fishing this morning.

They waited on him to leave the house, grabbed him when he was getting into his truck, then took him back inside,” the Sheriff surmised aloud.

“Sounds about right but everyone that was in Haddon’s last night would have known that,” Bodie said.

“Did you notice anyone in Haddon’s that wasn’t familiar to you last night Bodie,” asked Dale.

“Heck Dale, there are more unfamiliar faces in town these days than folks I know,” Bodie replied.

Bodie signed the tag on the evidence bag that held Tommy’s pistol and said he would check in with the department later that day. He finished straightening up the house, locked it, and drove over to Red’s house. Red took one look at Bodie and said “Let’s go get some coffee and some lunch and then you can talk to me.” Bodie nodded his head in agreement. “But let’s find out how Tommy is doing on the way to the café” Bodie said.

Bodie had to call the EMS to learn which hospital Life Flight had taken Tommy to. He called the hospital and found out that Tommy was in ICU; no information concerning his condition could be given over the phone. Bodie thanked the lady, hung up and asked Red if he felt like getting some coffee to go and some lunch later in Victoria.

Here ends Part 1. Stay tuned for Part 2 next month!

Martin Strarup

Contact

him if it was the last thing Bodie did.

One of the medics came outside and told Bodie that Tommy was in pretty bad shape. “Appears that he has a concussion, he’s lost some teeth, has a broken nose and some ribs are broken or badly bruised; he’s having a really hard time breathing” he said. “We don’t want to transport him out in the ambulance because of the long rough driveway that we have to go down so Life Flight is going to transport him to Victoria.” Bodie nodded his head and pointed to an open area with no power lines or other obstructions just south of the house and said that the helicopter could land there.

The Sheriff and an investigator named Dale showed up then and spoke with Bodie for a bit. They checked on Tommy then started going through the house which at that moment was now an official crime scene. “I’ll need to get some toiletries and clothes for Tommy if it’s okay with you,” Bodie asked and was told to go ahead but to wear some gloves.

“What all did you touch when you went in Bodie” the investigator asked. “The handle on the screen door and the side of the main door since it was open; other than a blanket, pillow and kitchen chair that’s it.” Bodie replied.

The helicopter arrived faster than Bodie thought possible and he watched them stabilize his friend and fly away with him. Bodie got on his cell phone and called Red and a few more friends and told them what he knew then he remembered something. “Sheriff, Tommy has a safe in the back of the closet in one of the spare bedrooms” Bodie said.

“You have your deputy badge with you Bodie” the Sheriff asked?

“Sure do Sheriff it’s in my truck,” Bodie answered. “Then go get it and put it on so we can keep this official,” the Sheriff said. Bodie retrieved his badge and then slipped the case into the pocket of his fishing shirt as they went back into the house.

Bodie led the two lawmen to the bedroom closet and saw that the door was open and the light inside was on. Bodie glanced inside but knew what he would see. The false panel that hid the safe was down and the safe door was open. A quick inspection showed that only some personal papers and a few antique lures remained.

Did Tommy keep much cash in the safe Bodie,” the investigator asked?

“Tommy kept a lot of money in that safe Dale, but what the exact amount was I surely don’t know” Bodie said with a frown. “When Tommy’s mother passed away she left a pretty sizable fortune but you couldn’t tell that by the way Tommy lives. His mother’s family owned thousands of acres of land west of Refugio and when her husband, Tommy’s father, died she sold all of it and moved to Tilden to live with her sister. Tommy wasn’t her only child, he has a brother named Vince, but he was bad news and was left nothing in the will. Tommy inherited all of her estate.” Bodie explained.

Bodie paused for a second and then went on, “The bulk of the money is in banks and investments but it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that there was a hundred thousand dollars give or take in that safe.

Also, I noticed that Tommy’s pistol isn’t on the night stand next to his bed and that’s where he always kept it.”

“Well one thing is for certain,” said Dale. “What’s that,” asked the Sheriff. “That safe wasn’t broken into, it was opened with a combination and someone got that combination by damn near beating Tommy to death,” Dale said with a frown.

The three lawmen surveyed the crime scene that was Tommy’s home and took a lot of photos. They fingerprinted the truck doors, the

Martin Strarup is a lifelong saltwater enthusiast and outdoorsman.

Martin is also a collector and dealer of vintage fishing tackle and lures, especially those made in Texas.

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Trouthunter@swbell.net

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STORY BY CHUCK UZZLE

Everybody has heard

the old saying “jack of all trades and

master of none” — an obvious reference to knowing a small amount about a lot of things while never really mastering any of them. You may have also heard about someone being an “all around type” who excels at a wide variety of tasks or actions, like a decathlete in the Olympics. Watching an angler who is comfortable in any situation or body of water is nothing short of impressive. There have been some great tournament anglers who for one reason or another are always able to figure out a pattern and catch fish even when they are in unfamiliar water.

Being versed in multiple techniques enables us to be better anglers and at the same time allows greater opportunity to enjoy our time on the water. For many years before I settled down to guiding solely in saltwater I loved to fish Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn. The change of venue was a welcome diversion from the day after day monotony of staring at the same water. It was always like a shot in the arm when you stepped out of the truck, smelled the freshwater, and could hear wind in the big pine trees. On the other hand I felt the same way when it was time to leave the big lakes and get back in the salt. Little did I know the crossover fishing I was doing would only help me become a better overall fisherman later on.

In previous columns I have often mentioned how fond I am of baits that work well in both fresh and saltwater. The varied options allow you to cover basically any situation you may encounter but all the tackle in the world won’t do you any good if you are not willing to change your approach. As a guide I have had plenty of people come to fish with me and have a specific target fish to chase or a method they would like to use. On more occasions than I would like to remember we had to change our plans due to unforeseen factors like weather,

tide schedules, or water clarity. Fortunately for those of us here on Sabine and Calcasieu we have plenty of places that offer outstanding back up plans.

There are days when the alternative options are not exactly the style of fishing that some individuals would prefer but they certainly beat not fishing at all. Imagine the feeling you would have if you planned an outing months in advance only to wake up the day of the trip and the wind is howling 20-plus miles per hour and it appears there will be relief in sight. The options begin to get slim unless you are willing to adjust and be flexible.

The thought of calling it quits at the dock and making a long miserable drive home compared to the opportunity of catching fish, even though it may not be exactly how you want to fish, is a nobrainer in my book. I would much prefer to catch fish than be so proud or stubborn that I turned down the opportunity and wasted the day.

I have opened some eyes on some of my fellow anglers who were willing to try a

for Anglers searching like fish r ate shw fre often largemouth bass prise as sur nt asa ple a t ge prowl es eci saltwater sp er. riv e bin Sa the

different approach. I have seen fly fishermen turn into giggling children while soaking live shad and catching one trout or redfish after another. Same can be said for big trout hunters who gave in and used a different technique and adjusted their expectations. All of a sudden the thought of a fish fry outweighed their desire to fight the elements. It’s funny how that works sometimes.

The winter months are an exceptional time to employ this strategy of flexibility because the weather quite often becomes such a limiting factor. Even with the thought of not being able to get to the open bay, it’s mighty nice to know that you have a fantastic backup plan in your hip pocket. The confidence that comes with knowing you can catch fish regardless of the conditions is huge comfort to any angler, especially those with limited schedules.

The shelter of the Sabine River and surrounding marshes offer a security blanket of sorts from all the bad things the weatherman and Mother Nature can throw at angler. I truly enjoy fishing the protected water and do so often with various baits. The swimbait and crankbait have become mainstays for many anglers and they have more than proven their worth.

Texas Saltwater Fishing’s own Capt. Dickie Colburn, who is as knowledgeable as it gets on the Sabine, is one of the swimbait’s biggest fans because they shine in every environment from 2-feet to 20. The swimbait is incredibly versatile and user-friendly, capable of being fished using a variety of methods and retrieves.

Perhaps the ultimate in user-friendly methods that truly expands angler flexibility is willingness to use live bait. For plenty of anglers, the thought of using live bait is beneath them and in their minds a technique for folks who have not mastered artificial lures. As far as I’m concerned nothing could be farther from the truth.

Live bait does not guarantee fish, and it’s not magic. Fishermen must still be able to locate structure and relate it to current strength and depth. A favorite method we use when throwing live bait is anchoring parallel to the shoreline on the first discernible break, usually in about 5 feet of water. If I have several folks in my boat I like to have a few fishing shallow while the others probe deeper water. The fish tend to travel

along the breaks, either on top of the break or in the deeper water alongside, so it pays to cover all the bases. Once we figure out the most productive depth, we adjust boat position in order to give everyone equal access.

More often than not, anglers who never would have considered sitting on anchor and tossing live shad or mullet have the best time. The socializing that goes on along with the relaxing aspect is just what the doctor ordered from time to time. The numbers of fish and quality of fish don’t hurt either. Some of the best speckled trout and flounder I have ever put in my boat came from using live bait in the winter, so to say I am slightly partial to the technique would be an understatement.

If the conditions call for this approach I have no problem employing the technique and most of my customers generally enjoy having the option.

December will bring us an amazing array of possibilities— from jetties to marshes and

Hungry redfish will wreak havoc on marsh ponds in the winter.

Catching fish on a shallow flat while being serenaded by a flock of snow geese is a sensory overload.

all the spots in between. Most anglers will be fixated on chasing the gulls to take the easy pickings when speckled trout and redfish school tightly and gorge on the last waves of migrating shrimp. Still others will be taking advantage of the tail-end of the big flounder run at the passes and along the deeper channels.

The trophy trout chasers will undoubtedly take full advantage of warm afternoons and hungry fish in search of that fish for the wall. And there will still be others who never leave the seclusion of the protected water and they will have it all to themselves; until the weather turns nasty and the crowds begin to look for shelter.

It does my heart good to see that shiny bay boat anchored up just a cast away from an old john boat and each one with anglers enjoying the fight of a fish. At that moment there are no classes or divisions between anglers, only fishermen enjoying the sport in their own way.

Warm afternoons in the fall and winter can provide wade fishermen some of the best opportunities of the year.

Contact

Chuck Uzzle

30 | December 2014

Chuck fishes Sabine and Calcasieu Lakes from his home in Orange, TX. His specialties are light tackle and fly fishing for trout, reds, and flounder.

Phone Email

409-697-6111 cuzzle@gt.rr.com

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Okay dad, how many more? The Richard family started fishing early offshore, and this Gulf (white trout) was one of many taken this day at the car body reef.

STORY BY JOE RICHARD

I have sometimes

commented on fishing offshore this time of

year at the old “car body” reef off Galveston, the scene of many short but fun offshore trips. While anchored, fishermen there can easily see Galveston. We always caught a variety of bottom fish there, including snapper, along with slot and oversized bull redfish, big sand trout, hefty whiting and bull croaker. All are tasty items, except we don’t eat bull redfish. We always found consistent action out there from October through December, and I’m fairly sure that action continues through spring. A lot of bottomfish winter in the Gulf in 50 feet of water or so, protected from cold fronts. You can bet flounder are spawning out there this winter, too.

The car body reef was built in 1962, examined by divers a year later (for fish and subsidence), and then another big chunk was added on—fortunately after Hurricane Carla. Galveston’s ill-fated sister Map of Galveston showing car body reef in Freeport, built proximity and GPS numbers of both reefs. The Freeport reef a year too early with lighter disappeared back in the 1960s. material, vanished when Carla pounded the coast in 1961.

Freeport’s reef really was built of car bodies, about 500 of them, but became scattered or buried.

The Galveston reef is built of sturdy concrete pipe and should be fishable today, though I haven’t been out there in a good while. But we fished it heavily when it was 25 to 30 years old.

Those many concrete pipes had a long time to snuggle down into the silt before the next real

hurricane, if you discount smaller Alicia in 1983.

According to the old diagram, each concrete reef was built in an area of about 100 by 100 feet, which is just about what we experienced when circling a spot. However, we were never told there are four reefs, mostly running north and south, and stretching for 1,000 feet. So, it would appear we only fished 25 percent of this reef. I suspect the Galveston site was nicknamed “car body” by mistake, and it’s just a catchy name, though built of concrete. Otherwise, why was this reef still producing fish in the 1990s?

The two reefs were built in the infancy years of Texas artificial reefs, and it was later determined by the state they were underutilized, thus too expensive to build. A lit buoy was maintained at the center of each reef, but how anyone was supposed to accurately fish various parts of the reef is a mystery, given technology available back then. The reef

TSFMAG.com | 33

Old diagram showing how the car body reef was built, spaced 300 feet apart.

however was built in a straight line north and south, with the newest addition due east of the center. The two reefs were built for small craft that couldn’t safely fish further offshore at traditional snapper reefs. It was built on “natural bottom,” whatever that means.

How could boats from the early 1960s ever have fished these two reefs? The lighted buoy could be torn away by any storm. Did anyone have inaccurate Loran A in those days? And one can imagine what a depth finder looked like back then, probably a flasher. So, it’s a mystery how fishermen were expected to fish these reefs. Today, you can just cruise around with a depth finder marking only the bottom five feet of the water column, searching for pipe, and on the GPS hit the MOB button every time structure and fish are marked. Years ago we were more old-fashioned and still liked to throw a Styrofoam buoy, weighted with a sash weight. Circle our buoy and get the lay of the land, where each structure was in relation to the buoy. We’d anchor over a favorite piece, but often another pipe or two were within casting distance. Those bottom fish seemed to roam from one piece to the next. Our bait on bottom seemed to chum them, too. We always brought a cutting board and would fillet smaller sand trout for fresh cut bait. Drop an entire fillet down there, and something big would latch on. Once I dropped down half a bull croaker on a circle hook, and a huge tarpon spooled the big reel. In late November, late in the season for tarpon.

We used two techniques: the first was the old and reliable multiple circle hook rig, with eight ounce weight. Mark a pipe and fire that baited rig down, and it hit bottom in seconds. That many squid baits, sometime four on the rig, drew action pretty quick and the circle hooks could handle all species described earlier. Heck, just set a couple 34 | December 2014

of those stiff rods in gunnel mounts, and attend to other business in the boat. The fish hook themselves. For more sport, with trout tackle we’d cast ½ ounce bucktail jigs sweetened with a piece of squid. Cast it out there at other structures, or just fish straight down. With a little luck, sometimes a late-autumn big Spanish mackerel would intercept it. If we’d used live shrimp, we’d have had shots at sheepshead and flounder too, but we never tried it.

It gets really foggy out there in autumn and we sometimes drove right to the Galveston reef with GPS, after cruising along just fast enough to stay on plane. Peering hard dead ahead, for boat traffic. We were counting on the fog burning off at 10 a.m., which it always did, though there are no guarantees out there. Fishermen offshore back in the 60’s had to sprint for the jetties when they saw an afternoon fog bank sneaking back in from further offshore, often at 4 p.m. or so, if my adventures out there way back in high school years were typical from the 1960s. Get socked in with fog without GPS, and there’s no telling where you might wind up while searching for the jetty’s granite rocks in peasoup fog. That’s a bad combination.

Mostly we fished soon after a cold front, when seas were flat on the beachfront. We’d just round Galveston’s south jetty and head south.

From where we soon anchored, we could still see the lighthouse back at the jetty. If the south wind came up in the afternoon, we’d fish until we had seas of two feet or so, then ride them home. We were often in a 17-foot McKee Craft, but we also fished the spot on New Year’s Eve in a 56 Bertram, and everyone caught fish that day, too. Also aboard Buddy Shultz’s 42-foot Hatteras. We made quite a few November trips there with the McKee, catching and hauling live bull redfish back to

Best dress for a chilly boat ride offshore in December, even in calm weather.

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Galveston Yacht Basin, where a hatchery truck waited. (Hatchery trips aboard the Hatteras were noticeably easier). For a McKee Craft, that was a load for such a boat. We had a 320-quart SSI cooler full of water, with five bull redfish inside, parked forward of the center console. It was wet but honest work, sometimes on gray afternoons, slinging buckets of seawater, pulling a stringer aboard of flopping 42-inch female redfish, and then the ride back.

There must be lots of other spots to fish just off Galveston, where shrimpboats have been working, sunk either in storm or by mishap for almost a century. It would be great to get a shrimpboat captain’s book of hangs and obstructions from this area off Galveston, in state waters.

The big shrimpboats out there plowing bottom all the time, by now, have learned to avoid many spots where nets get snagged, including the car body reef.

While anchored there we could see lots of shrimpboats trawling during autumn, a mile or two to the northwest, which must have been

Contact

clean bottom. But caution is advised here for passing shrimpboat traffic, they often cruise along with nobody at the helm. This actually happened right on top of the car body reef. One moment a friend of mine was anchored there, unhooking snapper, the next he was fighting to get both outboards running. Too late, a big shrimpboat ran down his anchored 26 Mako, flipping it upside down on the last day of October. Everything loose in the boat—including dive gear from the previous summer—sank and contributed to the reef below.

It happened fast, and there was no time for life jackets. The Mako eventually floated away upside-down, the crew clinging to it for a while, finally rescued by the shrimpboat, whose crew seemed a little sheepish…The Mako was found drifting a mile away that night, and towed upside down by friends, including myself. Next morning it reached Galveston yacht basin for repairs. That Mako was a tough boat and it won future tournaments.

That area definitely shows promise, even today. Those old pipes need to be found, while each captain stays alert for adverse weather and passing boat traffic. The car bodies were Texas’ first concrete artificial reefs, as far as I know, and many hundreds more need to be built ASAP, as management of snapper in federal waters continues to deteriorate.

We need lots of “car body” reefs. In state waters of course, and built of the same sturdy pipe.

Joe Richard Joe Richard has fished the Gulf since 1967, starting out of Port Arthur, but his adventures have taken him up and down the entire coast. He was the editor of Tide magazine for eight years, and later Florida Sportsman’s book and assistant magazine editor. He began guiding out of Port O’Connor in 1994. His specialty is big kingfish, and his latest book is The Kingfish Bible, New Revelations.

Snapper cluster around bottom structure, and concrete pipes hold a special attraction.

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J AY WAT K I N S

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Value way beyond catching My fishing career began long ago on the Copano Causeway fishing pier. When the new causeway was built the state turned the old bridge into a fishing pier and installed about a dozen lights along the old north and south lanes. The north side had bigger trout due to the reefs there and north light #12 was money when conditions were right.

My dad was a Rockport teacher and athletics coach; his week-day afternoons and Saturday mornings were usually taken, so we relied on the Causeway pier for night fishing.

He would later tell stories about sending me to scout the lights with the most action, which by the way typically had the most anglers fishing around them. My job, unbeknownst to me, was to “talk” the light free of anglers.

Now talking A LOT is a characteristic inherited from my mother, my Dad was not nearly as talkative but, truth is he probably could not get a word in anyway. By age six I was already fairly handy with a rod and reel and conversing with people I did not know came natural. Eventually my talkative nature would clear the lights of other anglers and my dad and grandfather would move in. I was completely oblivious to the plan but they no doubt thought it was hilarious, as well as terribly effective.

The best trout would usually position themselves in the shadows just outside the light, and walking light to light gave my dad time to talk to me about things that had nothing to do with fishing. It was a time when he had my total attention and could suggest things that I might have normally not wanted to listen to. I remember the conversations as well as the fish we did or didn’t catch.

Today as I travel the Causeway to and from Goose Island, I glance at the old bridge and see us standing there under light #12. Fond memories for sure.

On a recent trip to the newly-opened Cedar Bayou with good friends Mike and Lisa Laskowski and John Blaha, another fond memory came to me. I’ll walk you through the morning’s events to set the tone. Trust me the reasoning behind this article is coming.

Reopening the fabled Cedar Bayou fish pass has been the talk of the middle coast for the past two years. The small winding gut that divides San Jose and Matagorda Islands has long been a favorite destination of saltwater anglers and in my teen years Dad and I would visit there whenever we had the chance. For whatever reason, until last Thursday, I honestly never really thought much about those long-ago days.

Continued on page 48...

38 | December 2014

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the breakers. When I looked south, there stood a man in the surf that looked like my dad. He wore an old baseball cap, tattoo on his forearm, facing the SE breeze in waist-deep water. The lure looked to be red and gold and the reel appeared to be red. Unseen below the surface had to be an old pair of Converse HighTop basketball shoes. Tears welled in my eyes and memories of days long past came flooding back to me. I am the emotional type anyway and anymore it seems I get mistyeyed at the slightest things. I guess the internal clock is telling me that memorable moments are going to be fewer and fewer so embrace them while you can.

I took off my glasses to clear my eyes and when I looked up the image was gone. Had I really seen it?

Truth is, there had not been anyone there, yet fond memories of my dad fishing there in my memory had prompted me to see it in my mind. It certainly felt real, and even though I know it was not, I felt fortunate to have had the experience.

They say our folks come back to visit at special times and I believe that if my dad was ever going to visit me it would be in a fishing setting. Dad, I am going to be back up there in a few days, just in case you feel like fishing with me again.

It has been 27 years since his passing but the memories are a pleasant reminder of how good a dad he was. Mom, you were great to allow me and Dad such quality time together, experiencing all we did together. I am more thankful for that than you will ever know.

So what does all this have to do with fishing? Everything!

Fishing is valuable because it allows us to spend quality time with our children— away from cell phones, computers, and video games. Time when we can actually get their ear and let them know how special they are to us. Everything a good parent does is aimed at making life better for their children. Take your children into the outdoors and make precious memories with them—memories afield will sustain them through life’s tough days ahead.

Special thanks to Mike, Lisa and John for sharing this moment with me; I love you guys.

May your fishing always be catching. -Guide Jay Watkins

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...continued from page 38.

As we entered the pass from Mesquite Bay I made comments about the reefs along the banks of the bayou, noting that limits should come easily there when the tide is moving. The remnants of the game warden’s shack came into view and I mentioned how the redfish would get shallow and tail in there. I should have just been quiet and enjoyed the ride but that is not my nature.

As we entered the boat parking zone Mike and I were busy preparing to wade while John and Lisa were taking photos, documenting changes in the bayou’s channel during the previous week. John works for CCA and has been monitoring and overseeing the progress of the dredging and Lisa has been the onsite photographer for the project. Mike and I grabbed our rods and immediately started walking towards the mouth where bay waters meet the Gulf.

It was then that I started sensing something that I could not quite wrap my mind around, not an uneasy premonition, but a sense of something special waiting to show itself. I wrote it off as the excitement of being in the presence of all the things I truly love but can’t always express.

Sea oats swayed in the breeze and the smell of the Gulf rejuvenated the spirit as we walked closer. The sound of the surf has always been soothing to me, even more so that morning. Mike had little to say, probably because I was talking enough for both of us. We stopped and looked at deer tracks and coyote tracks in the damp sand. The dunes were brilliant white and sparsely covered in new green growth due to recent rains. Bright yellow buttercups dotted the dunes, adding to the brilliance. Doves—Oh My Gosh—there were so many mourning doves flying that I couldn’t keep my eyes off them. Ghost and fiddler crab burrows could be seen everywhere. I am not sure whether Matagorda and San Jose Islands are home to the curious kangaroo rats that inhabit the dunes on Padre but some of the borrows certainly looked like they could belong to them. My dad had a student that did his doctoral thesis at Texas Tech on these small rodents and I was able to go and check his live traps with him often. We caught all kinds of creatures, lots of the kangaroo rats. Even caught rattlesnakes.

As we reached the mouth of the bayou the strong current against my legs brought it all back to me. The flow had baitfish pushed along the edges of the main gut as it ran along the San Jose side and then turned south as it entered the Gulf. Pelicans and gulls made it known that predators were lurking below the massive rafts of mullet that have already found their way to the pass. Redfish larvae have also already been recorded since the opening, so it’s working. Mike was the first to hook up and quickly released his catch. It was then that I had this funny sense come over me, one of the most incredible visuals I have experienced, including the birth of my granddaughter Raylee Jay. Mike had walked to the inside of the bayou and I had walked toward

Jay Watkins has been a full-time fishing guide at Rockport, TX, for more than 20 years. Jay specializes in wading yearround for trout and redfish with artificial lures. Jay covers the Texas coast from San Antonio Bay to Corpus Christi Bay. Telephone Email Website

361-729-9596 Jay@jaywatkins.com www.jaywatkins.com

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Drain day prize.

C A P T. S COT T N U L L

S H A LL O W W ATER F I S HING

Timing is everything!

The first “drain day” finally arrived and it was as good as advertised. Hordes of hungry reds exiting the marsh on the hard-falling tide, feasting on the shrimp that were being flushed from their backwater hideaways, is about as good as it gets. Those days are addictive and I’ll drop everything if there’s even the slightest chance the conditions will line up.

I’ve written often about these drain days and the circumstances that lead to them, but what about the day after? What should you expect to find in the days following such an epic feeding event? There really aren’t any hard and fast rules on this one. Mother Nature has far too many plays in her arsenal to know for sure what’s coming. Weather, bait, water level and time of year all play a part, whether individually or in some combination.

First a little refresher on the drain day—cold fronts 50 | December 2014

along the Texas coast are generally preceded by a strong onshore wind. That wind will usually push the water levels higher than normal and flood the marshes.

Along the upper coast anything with an easterly angle will start the process. The flooding tide scatters the bait into the salt grass before the front rolls through with a strong north wind. For my area it needs some west in it to really get the water flowing out. If I see a prediction of WNW or NW at 15 mph or higher coinciding with a falling tide, it makes for a sleepless night of anticipation. Under the right conditions the marsh can lose a couple feet of water in a matter of a few hours setting up a feeding frenzy.

Being there when it all comes together is awesome, but it doesn’t last long. I once had a father and son team out with me under the perfect drain conditions. A few hours into it the dad asked me how many fish they

It’s coming! Impressive frontal system approaching the Galveston area marsh country.

had caught. I had no clue and just replied, “A whole bunch.” While hooked up on yet another double, he says he’d lost count at forty for him and he knew his son had more than he did. Sounded about right to me. It was crazy good with a steady stream of feeding reds sliding down the drains, wreaking havoc.

The guys had to get back to the dock for some pre-Thanksgiving related family obligations so I dropped them off and grabbed a little lunch. An hour or so later I headed back out with my camera hoping to capture some images for this magazine. During that time the wind had died to a whimper and the tide had stopped moving.

Upon arriving back to the same area where hundreds of reds had

been feeding all morning I found nothing but eerie quiet. As I sat there pondering my next move, a good sized school of reds slowly swam by headed back towards the lakes. The water had only risen a few inches, but it was apparently enough for them to feel confident in getting skinny. I watched in amazement as they calmly fanned out onto the mud flat they had frantically fled only hours earlier.

I tossed a jig in front of the next school and it was totally ignored.

I tried a number of retrieves and various lures as well as flies; never caught a fish all afternoon. It was the most profound change in piscatorial attitude I’ve ever witnessed. Thankfully it didn’t last long. The next morning I headed out with my customers not really

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knowing what to expect. It wasn’t great, but at least a few fish were ready to eat again.

I’m no fisheries biologist, but I do spend a lot of time watching these critters. In general the early season fronts are blustery, but not all that cold. They’re also fairly short-lived. Following these fronts the water tends to come back to near normal within a day or so. The shrimp and other bait isn’t ready to migrate out of the marsh yet and they’ll move right back in with the returning water. The reds just follow the food. If they didn’t get too full during the drain event feast they’ll get back to normal feeding pretty quickly.

This pattern usually repeats several times throughout October and November, but eventually there will be a serious cold front that changes the game. Most years it rolls through some time between Thanksgiving and the middle of December. This front completely blows the water out exposing the marsh mud to the cold air for a couple days or more. When the water does return it gets chilled by the mud and the shrimp don’t come back. That’s the bad news.

The good news is most of the reds don’t leave with the shrimp. They simply change their feeding habits to a diet of more crabs, mullet and other baitfish. While the crazy feeding frenzies are a blast, some of my favorite days are when the water stays low as it slowly warms up. The dark mud flats absorb the heat on those sunny days following a front causing the shallower areas to heat up quicker than the deeper bayous. The baitfish are drawn to the warmth and the reds are ready to fill their bellies.

This is when you’ll get to see them doing something very few other predator fish do. Call it backing, crawling, crabbing or whatever you want; I just call it fun. I love watching a full grown redfish slither across a mud flat with his back fully exposed up to his eyeballs hunting for a meal.

I love it even more when my fly plops down a foot in front of him and he throws up a roostertail of mud to pounce all over it.

Once the water levels get back closer to normal the sight-casting game comes into play.

The colder temps kill off the algae and plankton allowing for the clearest water of the year in the marshes. Most folks think there aren’t any fish left in the shallows, but redfish are fairly temperature tolerant and will continue to prowl around on the warmer, sunny days providing great fly fishing opportunities throughout the dead of winter.

Now excuse me while I check the forecast; I think I heard the local weather-guesser mention something about a winter vortex. I liked it better when they were called blue northers.

Capt. Scott Null is a devout shallow water fisherman offering guided adventues via kayak, poled skiff, and wading.

Telephone Email Website

281-450-2206 scott@tsfmag.com www.captainscottnull.com

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The average annual salinity in the lower Laguna Madre (LLM) from 1976 through 2012. The LLM extends south from the end of the Land-Cut. On average, the salinity in the LLM is lower than that of the ULM.

The average annual salinity in the upper Laguna Madre (ULM) from 1976 through 2012. The ULM extends from south of Corpus Christi Bay through the Land-Cut.

B y H o l l y G r a n d | F i s h e r i e s Te c h n i c i a n Upper Laguna Madre Ecosystem Field Station, Corpus Christi

FIELD NOTES

Dynamics of a Salty Regime Formed about 2,500 years ago, the Laguna Madre is situated between the Texas mainland and Padre Island.

It is characterized by a high salt concentration which is caused by evaporation rates that exceed precipitation.

The saltiness of a body of water is defined as salinity measured in parts per thousand (ppt). Open ocean seawater ranges from 33 to 37 ppt, and salinities in the Gulf of Mexico average 35 ppt.

Despite (and possibly because of ) this fact, the Laguna 54 | December 2014

Madre is a highly productive system possessing valuable recreational and commercial fisheries. Economically important fish species that can be found in the Laguna Madre include red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), and black drum (Pogonias cromis). However, the Laguna Madre of the past is not the same as the Laguna Madre many people are familiar with today.

One thing that has remained constant is that the

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Laguna Madre goes through regular cycles of high and low salinities.

Laguna salinity cycles are generally related to prevailing weather conditions. Periods of heavy rainfall usually cause salinities to decrease while sustained droughts have caused salinities to increase. During the past 30 years, the average annual surface salinity in the upper Laguna Madre (ULM), which extends from south of Corpus Christi Bay through the Land-Cut, has ranged from 25 ppt to about 49 ppt. In comparison, average annual surface salinity in the lower Laguna Madre (LLM) has ranged from about 22 ppt to about 37 ppt.

Historically, hurricanes have imposed their will on whether natural Gulf passes (land openings) between the Gulf and Laguna Madre are open or closed. Passes that have been opened by storms tend to close in time. After fresh water influxes from storms, salinities in the Laguna tend to be low and fisheries production tends to be high. When these natural passes eventually fill with sediments from ongoing hydrological processes and ultimately close, salinities tend to be high.

The salinity increase for the most part is due to droughts and lack of fresh water river inflows. As a direct consequence, the productivity of many Laguna Madre fisheries have responded by declining.

This creates what is known as a “boom or bust” system as tied to environmental/weather cycles.

Realizing a change was needed to moderate salinity concentrations in the ULM, the Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission (predecessor to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department) constructed an opening (pass) south of Baffin Bay to the Gulf. Between 1941 and 1944, Yarborough Pass was dredged four times but quickly re-filled with sediment each time. However, while the pass was open, the salinity only decreased

56 | December 2014

slightly (0.5-1.0 ppt) in the immediate area. For this reason, the pass has not been maintained.

The upper Laguna Madre has a record of being a very salty body of water, and during the early 1900’s to mid-1940’s it has been reported to reach salinities exceeding 100 ppt. Large-scale fish kills caused by high salinities occurred in 1914, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1943, 1944, and 1945. To survive in such a harsh environment, fish must be able to tolerate both high and low salinities (euryhaline) and have tremendous ability to osmoregulate (keep body fluids from becoming too diluted or concentrated). However, even the hardiest of fish have their limits as high salinities can impair their ability to perform routine metabolic functions which leads to death. While small-scale fish kills are still reported in the ULM today, fish kills as a result of high salinities have become less common due to improvements in water circulation which occurred after the construction of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW).

Construction of the GIWW through the Laguna Madre began in 1944 and was completed in 1949. This waterway provides a channel from the ULM to the LLM south of Baffin Bay through the area called the Land-Cut (land-bridge between the mainland and central Padre Island). As a result, water circulation has increased which has decreased average salinities in the ULM. Major storms still play an important role in moderating salinity in the system; however, the boom and bust cycles of fishery productivity are no longer as prevalent since the completion of the GIWW. The Land-Cut not only facilitates seawater exchange between the LLM and ULM, but also for transfer of various organisms including

seagrasses. The reduction of salinities has increased the abundance of seagrasses. Although there is little documentation describing submerged vegetation in the ULM prior to construction of the GIWW, it is likely that it was mostly open bay bottom. Between 1967 and 1988, seagrass coverage (mainly shoalgrass, Halodule beaudettei) increased dramatically. Most recently, a transition or succession to manatee-grass (Cymodocea filiformis) and turtle-grass (Thalassia testudinum) communities have been noted. The change from one seagrass community to another may have effects on fish and other animals such as waterfowl (e.g., redhead ducks) that prefer one seagrass habitat over another, but more study is needed.

The author conducting salinity sampling in the Upper Laguna Madre.

The Laguna Madre of the past was a much harsher environment although cycles of high and low salinities still occur. The increase in water circulation from the GIWW construction has led to an increase in seagrass coverage in the ULM as well as decreases in large-scale fish kills. Seagrasses provide habitat for juvenile fish while the lack of salinity-related fish kills allow more fish to live longer and grow larger. Overall, it’s important to remember that the conditions in the Laguna Madre are extremely variable from decade to decade, or even year to year, and extreme swings in salinity are the norm for this unique ecosystem.

Check the TPWD Outdoor Annual, your local TPWD Law Enforcement office, or www.tpwd.state.tx.us for more information.

TSFMAG.com | 57

S C O T T S O M M E R L AT T E

F LY F I S H I N G

Dressing for Winter We have been blessed thus far with a very nice autumn weather pattern. Heck, at the time of this writing, November 1st, I went wet-wading last night to gig a couple flounder for the table. Conditions change quickly though, and I awoke to 20 mph north wind. I do not know if I am bummed or excited to have had to actually break out a jacket this morning for the first time this fall.

As fly-fishermen, we have it better than any other group of anglers. The companies that were started by fly 58 | December 2014

fishermen in support of fly fishermen, do not sacrifice quality when it comes to manufacturing the gear that we use. Surprisingly, the only other group whose needs are as extreme (and are as hard on the gear) are Texas wadefisherman and, guess what? Many of them choose gear (Simms) designed by and for fly-fishermen.

I think I am safe in speaking for everyone in saying—the more comfortable you are, the more you can enjoy an experience. If you are too hot, well, there is not much that

a nasty chop or if it decides to rain. I prefer the Simms Pro Dry jacket and bibs because of the Gore-Tex stretch material in the shoulders and elbows. I find this material to be very beneficial in regards to maintaining mobility. Should I chose to wade-fish, I guess it goes without saying- Simms Gore-Tex waders.

Last but not least—footwear for the skiff. Over the years, I have tried numerous brands, looking for the perfect shoe for winter fishing. For a while, Simms had a high-top Gore-Tex boat shoe that I really liked but it has been discontinued. Had I known, I would have bought five pairs.

However, there is a silver lining.

Chippewa Boots make a waterproof, high-top upland boot that is perfect for the skiff. It is marketed as the Upland Waterproof Boot and they are almost criminally comfortable. This boot has non-marking soles and can be purchased in wide sizes. This is great for winter when you might be wearing a heavy sock. In regards to me emphasizing the “high-top” aspect of the shoes that I choose—I find it essential to be able to pull your bibs or pants down over the high-tops so that no water can run into your shoe. I have tried low-top shoes and, I can tell you with great certainty—get you some high-tops for winter. Nothing sucks more than cold, wet feet.

And, one final piece of advice in regards to footwear, it is very important, whether talking about boat shoes or wading boots, do not wear shoes that are too tight. You want plenty of room so that the blood can flow. Good circulation is important when trying to stay warm. Whether you are talking your head, hands or feet…cold extremities will make for a miserable day. Which reminds me, it is a good practice to always carry extra socks as well as gloves and hat.

I assume that it goes without saying that the point of layering your clothing is so that you can remove or add items as conditions change. That being said, I find my system to be very comfortable and have yet to have a winter day in Texas beat it. Even while doing 60 mph into a 25 mph north wind while the thermometer was reading 40 to go wade fishing with a buddy in his SCB. Wow—the crazy crap we do to catch a fish.

Anyway, best of tides, Merry Christmas….and all kinds of stuff like that.

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can be done about it except to strip down to your skivvies, however, if you are too cold, you can always add clothing. Mind you, there is a point when it gets too cold to do anything in the outdoors. When you get to that point, I think we are starting to talk about survival instead of recreation. And, hopefully, it will never get that cold in Texas.

Anyway, the point of this piece is to talk about clothing that will get you through the months of winter fishing ahead.

The trick to dressing right for fly fishing in cold weather is clothing that not only keeps you dry and warm, does not restrict your mobility, and does not have too many snags. By snags I mean extra pockets, zippers or gizmos that grab your fly-line. This usually happens when you are making that critical cast to a monster fish. In short, try to avoid jackets and parkas with pocket flaps or exposed zipper tabs.

As for warm and dry, I will discuss how I choose to layer my clothing.

I start with a base layer that includes either the old River Tech or the newer Core tops and bottoms from Simms. This provides layering that will not absorb moisture. If it is a particularly cold day, I will trade them out for a Merino Zip T and bottom from Sitka Gear. As for my feet, I like to wear a silk sock liner under wool socks. I have several pairs of socks in different thicknesses to cover a range of temperatures. One tip that I will offer is to size your base layers with a loose fit. Most of these garments are designed for snug fit but I prefer some room to trap warm air and also to avoid restricting blood flow. Also, I prefer tops that zip down so that if I break a sweat, I can zip the tops down and let warm air and moisture escape.

My next layer will be Simms Cold Weather Pants or their newer version, the Exstream Pant. I then like the Traverse Hoody from Sitka Gear for my top. I prefer the Sitka top because when you zip it up, the zipper is off to the side and not on top of your nose. That can be aggravating, especially when a hard wind is pushing it down while running in the boat.

Next comes the Gore Windstopper. Sitka makes a light and a superlight vest called the Jet Stream and the Jet Stream Lite that include the Windstopper laminate. These things are awesome, and in my opinion, one of the most critical parts of my system. The reason for the vest is to help keep things from getting too tight and restricting the mobility of my shoulders/arms for casting or poling. And, while we are on the subject of Windstopper, I will jump ahead and mention gloves and a hat made with the same material. Also, if you are not expecting to get wet, Simms and Sitka makes some great jackets utilizing Windstopper technology. Folks, if you do not have at least a jacket, ask for one for Christmas. You will not regret it.

Next, you need to add an outer-layer to keep you dry while riding in

Scott Sommerlatte is a full time fly fishing and light tackle guide, freelance writer and photographer.

Telephone Email Website

979-415-4379 vssommerlatte@hotmail.com www.scottsommerlatte.com

TSFMAG.com | 59

CADE SIMPSON

K AYA K F I S H I N G C H R O N I C L E S

Hoping for a

big winter trout Well here we are, wrapping up another great year of coastal kayak fishing. Another chapter of memories for the photo album and a great list of fish tales to tell.

More specifically the fall sessions are coming to an end and we are about to shift gears into winter.

The fall run has been good. Shrimp evidently did well all across the marshes this spring and summer and the reds were all over the shrimp. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it here again, “There just aren’t many things as fun as witnessing a cruising pod of reds crashing along a shoreline.” I have some good footage of just such action

60 | December 2014

and when I am not fishing, I regularly just replay the video recordings from past trips. I am definitely up for the challenge of searching for roaming single reds, but again, the action of an active pod is just too much fun.

As a suggestion, just because the fish are seemingly reckless and not focused on anything but getting fed, you should still approach them with caution. I try to minimize noises by settling my paddle in my lap, among other things, before grabbing a rod. I also try to get in my first cast while I am still at some distance. Most of the time, when you hook a fish the rest will scatter but, I

want to maximize at least getting that first one.

I never push my luck, trying to approach them too closely for the first cast, I’ve had that backfire more than a few times. This statement does however segue handily into a similar topic of the need to pay careful attention every chance and learning as much as we can about the fish and their habits. Are you taking notes, at least mental, of fish patterns and habits when you are among the species?

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100% Carbon fiber Well, just for the heck of it, when plenty of opportunity exists for finding pods of feeding reds, you could test the waters so to speak and see just how the fish will react to your presence and your actions; i.e., how close you can get to them, how much noise you make, etc.

I will compare this to deer hunting. If you are a hunter, have you ever tested just how much movement and sound you could make before the deer noticed and became alarmed or spooked?

Same principle here. Nevertheless, like with deer hunting, I prefer to err to the safe side of keeping quiet and still as possible.

62 | December 2014

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So as the weather changes so will the tides and so will the habits of the fish. I will be adjusting my techniques to more open water fishing, when getting around in the marshes becomes nigh impossible. If you have followed me through any of the past few winters you know I will put in an open water drift or two. Mud/ shell bottom mix seems to always be the go-to structure for finding bites. The sight-fishing opportunities may not be as frequent but we make-do as we have to. You would also know, having read my past articles, that I mention my quest of finding a big winter trout.

Well, that feat has yet to be accomplished but here we go again for another wintery attempt. We will see what bumping my Egret soft plastics across that clump-shell will do for me.

Also, please keep your fellow outdoorsman in mind, I’m talking the duck hunters here. We all share the wild, so don’t go pitching a fit about them boating through “your” spot. Respect them and they shall respect you. There is plenty of space for all of us. And on that note, if any of you ‘yakkers also paddle for ducks I’d love to hear your tales of a kayak cast and blast. Please share.

As always, I appreciate you following my articles and please continue sending your questions, photos, and stories.

Telephone Email

936-776-7028 Cademan11@sbcglobal.net

Find me on Facebook to follow along in my outdoor adventures

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T S F M a g Conser v a tion N ews

CCA Texas Wraps up a Year of

Habitat Achievements

2014 marked a year of significant habitat creation and restoration projects up and down the Texas coast. Several of these projects have been in the works for many years and through the hard work of partners they have become reality and a positive affect on Texas’s coastal resources.

These projects include the restoration of Cedar Bayou and Vinson Slough; the East Galveston Bay Oyster Restoration; the Nueces Bay Delta Water Management Systems; Oyster Lake Shoreline Protection (West Galveston Bay); Shoreline and Marsh Protection (Cow Trap Lakes); Bird Island Cove (West Galveston Bay) Marsh Restoration; Matagorda Island Marsh Restoration; and Port O’Connor Nearshore Reefing Site.

The East Galveston Bay Oyster Restoration project is an effort that has been on going since the arrival of Hurricane Ike on September 13, 2008.

Hurricane Ike damaged roughly 50% of the oyster reefs in the Galveston Bay 64 | December 2014

System and upwards of 80% in East Galveston Bay alone.

In September of 2010, CCA Texas began the process of trying to secure restoration dollars through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) that would be used to help in the restoration effort. After making it through the first round, CCA Texas partnered up with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to move forward through the Control gate installation at Nueces Delta.

final rounds eventually securing $3.2 million for the effort. CCA Texas kicked in an additional $500,000 to the project. After many delays in the process, the project was finally bid and construction began in May of 2014. 180 acres of oyster reef have been restored in East Galveston Bay using 2” – 3” river rock as cultch, and the set of oyster spat followed almost immediately. Areas of restoration include 85 acres at Hannah’s, 70 acres at Pepper Grove, 15 acres at Middle Reef and 10 acres at CCA Middle Reef. This project will continue through monitoring by TPWD, volunteer fishing surveys on the reef sites, and outreach by both TPWD and CCA Texas.

The Nueces Bay Delta Water Management System project was a joint effort with the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program (CBBEP), Texas General Land Office and others. The salinity profile in the Nueces Delta had become the reverse of what is normal for a delta region over a period of years due to a lack of fresh water inflow.

Through agreements, “x” amount of fresh water is pumped into the delta from the Nueces River channel through Rincon Bayou, but over time this water would often back up, going back into the river. This project installed a series of water control gates into Rincon Bayou in order to keep the water in the bayou and allow it to naturally work its way downstream into the delta. The delta has seen immediate benefit from this project and recent visits to the site have shown an increase in estuarine life and the return of grasses normally present are coming in line and the reversal of these salinity profiles. Fresh water is a lifeline to coastal estuary systems and CCA Texas and others will continue in the effort to secure this fresh water inflow into these systems and to make sure they have the opportunity for maximum benefit.

Cedar Bayou is perhaps the most significant habitat project to date that CCA Texas has been a part of. Much has been written in the past about this historical effort, and on September 25, 2014, the effort finally became reality. Through the efforts of many dating back to the early 80’s, this iconic fish pass is once again flowing to and from the Gulf of Mexico. Since the last issue of TSF Magazine, the bayou has changed tremendously. It has widened at the mouth, is no longer a straight channel, continues to provide flows to and from the Gulf, and has shown the general public how much Mother Nature can do in very short period of time. The project is expected to remain as a functional

pass for 7 years, +/- 2 years, before maintenance dredging is necessary.

A maintenance plan was key in securing CCA Texas’s support early on, and to date Aransas County is moving forward in securing the necessary funds needed to make this reality. On October 15, 2014, this effort received a significant boost when the Sid Richardson Foundation committed $1,000,000 to the Cedar Bayou Maintenance Fund. Aransas County had previously committed at least $50,000 a year minimum in hotel occupancy taxes, and with the Richardson foundation commitment and that of the county, the project should be in good hands. On October 7, 2014, Dr. Greg Stunz and a group of students visited the bayou for demonstrations in the use of various sampling gear. During this trip, redfish larvae were found in an area where never once in the prior two years of monitoring had any been noted. The official monitoring began on October 23, 2014 and there has been an abundance of redfish larval and other species found, driving home the fact that natural coastal passes are important to the eco-systems of our Texas coast. CCA Texas is excited to continue following the results of this effort and look towards a long-lasting flow bringing fresh life into the surrounding bay and estuaries daily.

The Oyster Lake Shoreline Protection Project continues to do well. Sediments continue to fill in behind the breakwaters installed, rebuilding the lost shoreline. In June of 2014 a grass planting effort was held with partner, Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF), volunteers from the Houston Zoo and others, and the vegetation is doing well.

GBF continues to move forward with Phase II of the project that will install approximately 5,000 feet of additional breakwater and hopes to begin construction of this phase in the spring of 2015.

These projects and others such as Bird Island Cover Marsh Restoration, Matagorda Island Marsh Restoration and the Port O’Connor Nearshore Reefing site that are still ongoing are important to the health of our coast. CCA Texas is committed to ensuring that the Texas Coastal Habitat is healthy and looks forward to continuing its work with partners such as Texas Parks and Wildlife, Galveston Bay Foundation, Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries, Aransas County, Harte Research Institute, Ducks Unlimited and others. With the continued support of CCA Texas members, volunteers and supporters, habitat projects will continue to become reality.

Oyster Lake shoreline vegetation planting project.

TSFMAG.com | 65

Striped anchovy.

Photo by Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

STEPHANIE BOYD

F I S H Y F AC T S

Hold the Anchovies Anchovy pizza may be an acquired taste, but how about that Caesar salad you ordered? You may not notice a fishy flavor, but these little fish are used in a surprising range of foods. Because of their strong flavor, they are included in several sauces, including Worcestershire and Café de Paris.

In ancient Rome, anchovies were the base for a fermented sauce called garum, which was mass produced as a cure for dog bites, ulcers, and dysentery. Raw anchovies had a different value – as an aphrodisiac.

Over a hundred species of anchovy are scattered throughout the world’s oceans. Most live in shallow tropical or warm temperate waters and are adaptable to a wide range of salinity. Large schools can often be found in brackish areas with muddy bottoms, as in estuaries and bays. A few tropical species inhabit freshwater. They tend to move inshore during the spring and summer and offshore during the fall and winter. Anchovies belong to a sub-class of bony fishes, Actinopterygii, from the Greek aktis (meaning ray) and pterygion (meaning fin). They are then filtered down into the order Clupeiformes, from the Latin, clupea (meaning sardine) and forma (meaning shape); and the family Engraulidae, from the Greek, eggraulis (meaning anchovy). There are seventeen genera of anchovy, but the two in Texas waters are Anchoa, from 66 | December 2014

the Italian, ancioa (meaning anchovy), and Engraulis, from the Greek, eggraulis (meaning anchovy). There seems to be a pattern here…

Though its body is often translucent, the anchovy appears as a small green fish with blue reflections due to a silver stripe that runs along the bottom of the fish. It has a blunt snout with small, sharp teeth in both jaws and is distinguished by a large mouth, usually extending behind the eye. Because of their small size, generally five to eight inches in length, anchovies are often confused with sardines, herrings, and silversides; that large mouth is the key to telling them apart.

Like herring and other relatives, anchovies are streamlined for fast swimming and often form huge shoals in response to predation, which makes many species commercially important for the fishing industry (not so much around here). Within these shoals, individual anchovies are nearly indistinguishable from each other, and small predacious fish, such as skipjacks, seem incapable of snagging any. However, these compact schools take on the appearance of a single prey, attracting the attention of larger fish, such as sharks, which would have been uninterested in isolated anchovies.

This conundrum is perhaps why anchovies have been

observed showing a nocturnal behavior similar to herring, remaining at depth during the day and coming to the surface at night. Anchovies have a rather limited diet, almost exclusively plankton and fish larvae.

However, sometimes they eat small fishes, snails, slugs, and tiny crustaceans called isopods.

Spawning takes place during the evening/night hours and is temperature-dependent, requiring between 50-75 degrees F. Time of year varies between species and location. Anchovies are batch, or serial, spawners and may spawn more than fifty times in a a season.

A single female may release 25,000 eggs in a year. Fertilization is external, and the eggs are transparent and buoyant with sausageshaped yolks, rather than round. The eggs hatch after about 48 hours, producing larvae about three millimeters in length. Larvae attain their adult form and coloration in about three months. Most reach sexual maturity at the end of the second year, when they are about six inches in length, though some species were observed to be sexually mature by three months. The maximum life span is thought to be about seven years in non-exploited populations.

The anchovy is a food source for almost every predatory fish in its environment, but its popularity doesn’t stop at the water’s surface. The breeding success of some birds, such as the California brown pelicans and elegant terns, is strongly connected to anchovy abundance.

Additionally, the anchovy has a great deal of culinary value. In addition to traditional fishing methods, anchovies are now located by radar and sonic scopes. Fresh from the water, anchovies are deposited in large buckets of brine for the first cleaning stage. Skilled workers clean each fish, mostly by hand, a centuries-old technique. The fish are then arranged in layers in cylindrical barrels. Each layer is packed with salt.

Heavy stones atop the barrels press the anchovies, squeezing out water and fat. The weighted barrels are stored up to twelve months.

After their incarceration, the anchovies are thoroughly rinsed and pressed again, or placed in a centrifuge, to remove as much water as possible. Each anchovy is finally skinned, de-boned, divided into

two fillets, and packed by hand into cans, which are then filled with olive, soybean, or sunflower oil. The cans are sealed and kept cool, ready for shipment. Canned anchovies can last up to a year at room temperature, and once opened, can be refrigerated for up to two months if sealed airtight and covered with oil.

Picking out your canned anchovies is easy, but what if you want fresh (you know, for the aphrodisiac effect)? In this case, check out the eyes; they should be bright and protruding, with an iris that is black, not reddened. Fresh anchovies also have a milder flavor. The strong taste people associate with anchovies is due to the curing process. This small, oily fish is not only flavorful, but is also laced with nutrients. Anchovies are rich with vitamins, such as B-12, D, E, K, niacin, and riboflavin. B vitamins support brain, liver, and nervous system health; D helps with calcium absorption; E is an antioxidant; and K is important for blood clotting. A single serving provides more than three days’ worth of omega-3 fats, which lower your risk for heart disease. Plus, they are a good source of calcium, protein, iron, phosphorus, and selenium. Calcium and protein uses are a given, right? Iron carries oxygen throughout your body, and you need phosphorus and selenium for forming DNA. There are a couple of drawbacks to these little vitamin pods. First, they are extremely high in sodium content (in their canned form).

Second, anchovies can concentrate domoic acid. Domoic acid is produced by tiny algae in the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, and is a neurotoxin. It accumulates through the food chain, and if consumed, can cause amnesic shellfish poisoning, resulting in permanent memory loss, brain damage, or even death. It’s not just humans it affects either. On August 18, 1961, thousands of crazed seabirds were sighted on the shores of North Monterey Bay in California.

The birds, identified as sooty shearwaters, regurgitated anchovies, flew into objects, and died on the streets. This event inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s film, The Birds. Here’s a few more fun facts: some sailors claim that a salted anchovy cures sea sickness; anchovies are a natural source of the so-called fifth taste, umami (the original MSG); anchovy paste is a basic ingredient in pasta puttanesca, which owes its name to the dish prostitutes delighted their customers with in the 19th century; in Latin languages, such as Italian, the equivalent word for anchovy is sometimes used to describe a person who is all skin and bones; in the 80s film, Loverboy, the magic word for obtaining sexual favors from the very sexy pizza delivery boy was to order “pizza with extra anchovies” (I think they knew some Roman history).

In Texas waters, there are four species: the bay anchovy, Anchoa mitchilli; the dusky anchovy, Anchoa lyolepis; the striped anchovy, Anchoa hepsetus; and the silver anchovy, Engraulis eurystole. The bay anchovy Notice the large mouth. is used, to some extent, to make Photo by Texas Parks & anchovy paste. The other three Wildlife Department.

Continued on page 100...

TSFMAG.com | 67

Shoreline “pushup” formed from a tugboat making up or changing the tow. Many times there will be a large washout on the opposite shoreline from the tugboats prop wash.

CURTIS CASH

I N S H O R E | N E A R S H O R E | J E T T I E S | PA S S E S

Fishing the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway—ICW With over 400 miles of the ICW running through Texas, most coastal ports lie within close proximity. Many have literally grown along its banks. Often overlooked, but always nearby, the ICW is a major corridor for more than the maritime commerce it was built to accommodate. The fish we often aim to catch seek these waters while gaining access to other bay systems as well as to find seasonal stability. Tidal and wind-driven currents almost always exist and are exaggerated on the slopes of the deep channel. With water depths of 12-18 feet, for the most part, the ICW has a large volume of water.

The wintertime angler deals with many changing conditions such as tide level, wind direction and water temperature. When fishing the ICW the effects of these

variables are less restricting. With greater depth than nearly all surrounding bays, the water temperature is more consistent and water (tide) levels have less effect.

On the inland ICW sections the relatively narrow channel width offers some protection from the wind.

Most sections of the ICW have various types of structure to fish, either manmade or natural. The most pronounced and consistent throughout the entire water way is the channel drop-off. To illustrate I’ll share some of my experiences, techniques and describe structure in this area. The mid-coast has a 20 mile stretch of inland waterway located between San Antonio and West Matagorda Bays. I’ll admit we have it good here in the POC/Seadrift area with ease of access.

Any channel intersection should be investigated, bulkheads can be fish magnets.

Note the bottlenose dolphin in the channel entrance; they know good spots!

68 | December 2014

Docks or piers make great targets for casting live shrimp to predators.

Schools of black drum and redfish often linger nearby down-current waiting for food to be flushed by a towboat.

The ICW channel ledge The drop-off to the maintained depths of the 125’ wide channel is significant. The ledge’s depth and pitch of descent varies from area to area. Areas with a significant drop on the channel’s edge (rather than a gradual taper) usually hold warmer water because there is less mixing from the shallows. Areas with a gradual taper generally have better aeration due to the effects of tide, wind and large boat traffic. Fishing here can be as simple or complex as you make it. Working the edge with a trolling motor casting soft plastics or, anchoring and fishing live shrimp are both very effective.

Geotubes Geotubes are sediment filled sacks placed along banks and shorelines to control erosion caused by tugboat wakes and they make excellent fish-holding structure. Spaces between tubes allow boats and fish to pass through while tidal and tug wash current carves holes where fish congregate. Anchoring near the geotubes is a common tactic but caution is advised as anchors can hang in the fabric, potentially causing damage to the tube, and tug wakes can sometimes swing the boat against them. Anchoring on the channels edge and casting back into the passage is very effective and safer.

Revetment blocks These interlocking or alternatively spaced bricks are commonly used in areas that have a quick descent from shoreline to the channels depths. A good place to target in cold weather. Coincidently these are placed to control embankment erosion to hold the bank in place. The formation typically forms a washout directly parallel to the lower bricks.

This washout, several feet wide and 6-18 inches deeper than the closest water on the ledge makes a great pathway for traveling bait and feeding fish.

Intersecting channels Channel intersections are always worthy of

investigation. Target species use the mouths of these channels to ambush baitfish while moving through. Bulkheads and pilings that obstruct the water flow are excellent targets. Be sure to fish the deeper depression near the ICW channel drop, this can be a flounder hangout.

Pilings Piers and docks from residential development may hold multiple species. Sheepshead encircle the pilings and posts nipping on barnacles. Black drum pick up small crabs and shrimp burrowed on the lee side of the posts. Trout and redfish do the same, but also prowl the edges of sunken green lights near piers at night.

Tidal flats Natural tidal flats adjacent to the ICW hold bait and gamefish. On many flats a shallow ridge will form on the edge toward the channel drop-off. The barrier forms from the waters flooding and draining effects of tugboat traffic. This shallow barrier grows and holds sea grass and/or oysters often, this new structure acts as a filter for the tidal flat. Baitfish congregate near this filtering area for protection and to feed. Gamefish are certainly nearby waiting for the bait to be flushed out.

This Bomber Paradise Popper combined with a 4” Yum Mud Minnow makes for a deadly fish catching combination in the ICW.

TSFMAG.com | 69

Good example of a side by side tow. These guys need lots of room, especially when passing another barge tow. Note the birds working in the wake.

What to do and use Fishing here can be as complex or as simple as you desire. Working the channel drop with a trolling motor or waiting on anchor for the fish to find you can be equally effective. I like to use a Bomber Paradise Popper Xtreme float with soft plastics or live shrimp. This float is very effective with the bait suspended 24 inches below. The gurgling and popping sound of the Paradise Popper will attract fish from afar. It can be cast perpendicular to the channel as well as parallel presenting your offering on the drop-off. Soft plastics excel on a 1/4 ounce jigs, this weight gets the soft plastic into the strike zone near the bottom and keeps it there longer. Anchoring on the channel edge and fishing live shrimp will net the most variety. Try all three methods, under the float, free lined or cast onto the drop with a lightly weighted Carolina rig.

Dangers Being that the ICW was constructed for commercial maritime traffic, there are safety issues to consider. Wakes from cruising workboats or pleasure boats can push large waves of water when passing. These wakes travel at speed, compounding their energy when crashing upon the channel ledges. These wakes can swamp a boat quickly and possibly founder while putting passengers and equipment in the water.

Barges are another danger that all boaters need to be concerned with. Barges that are loaded heavy and are sitting low in the water displace a large volume of water. The tugboats pushing or pulling the barges have an enormous amount of thrust that pulls water from 70 | December 2014

ahead of the tow and then forces it aft propelling the load. Both factors of water displacement can pull water off edges of the channel rapidly ahead of the tow and push the same water back with increased force flooding the water’s edge.

Safety Boaters need to keep a vigilant watch for approaching boats or tugs. To manage the effects of the wakes an anchor may need to be released at a moment’s notice. Many times it is much quicker to untie the rope and toss the line with a anchor buoy attached while idling bow first into the oncoming swell. Many boats get tossed about, spun around and possibly pulled under while on anchor. The attached buoy makes anchor retrieval or returning to your exact fishing spot simpler.

BARGE FACTS • While a tugboat is attached to barges, the whole unit is known as a tow.

• Most common barges are 295’ long x 52’ wide • A light tow travels at 8-11 mph, while a heavy load moves at 4-7 mph.

• Heavily loaded barges may take two or more times the overall tow length to stop. Example; three loaded barges fastened end to end (900+ feet in length) can take 1/2 mile to come to a complete stop.

• Head to the ICW this winter for variety and a change of scenery.

Keep an eye on your surroundings, play it safe and box a few fish close to port.

C ontact

Washouts and pushups These formations happen often when a tugboat has to make up or change the tow. To move barges into a required sequence end to end or to double-up side by side for better steerage. The tow is unhooked and the lead barge will be pushed up onto the bank while the tugboat swings the other barges into position. The grounded barge regularly makes indentions into the embankment or revetment bricks. On the opposite side of the channel’s edge the wash from the tugboats thrusting can gouge out the shelf making a large hole. These washouts as they are known are excellent ambush and feeding areas for fish.

Capt. Curtiss Cash offers charters in the Port O’Connor area; specializing in fishing the bays, passes, jetties, surf and nearshore waters. Species targeted include speckled trout, redfish, flounder, tripletail, black drum, bull reds, sharks, snapper, kingfish, ling and tarpon, when seasonally available.

Phone Website

361-564-7032 www.captlowtide.com

WWW.SALTLIFE.COM TSFMAG.com | 71

The author poses with a nice hammer on a solo-trip.

E X T R E M E K AYA K F I S H I N G & S H A R K S F R O M T H E S A N D

ERIC OZOLINS

Oz’s Year in Review 2014 marked a rollercoaster of challenging conditions for surf anglers and also my first full year of guiding on Padre Island National Seashore. Naturally, I began the year with great expectation and I was blessed to present many successful days. Whether good old-fashioned American family outings or when taking anonymous high-profile clients, my trips have the same focus, and that is to present up-close encounters with the best of the gamefish our beloved PINS can offer. The work has been grueling at times but the belief that success is achieved through hard work keeps me eager for each charter.

During the early months of the year we were greeted with Mother Nature’s frigid wrath. South Texas coastal water temps hung in the 50s for nearly three months straight—something that has not happened since I’ve been living on the Coastal Bend. Inshore species normally available remained far offshore until the temps finally recovered.

Come late March, I had the honor of participating and co-hosting an episode 72 | December 2014

of a television fishing program, Breaking Boundaries.

Our initial goal was sharks in the surf. With still-cool water temps and the initial influx of a high volume of sargassum, Mother Nature was not kind. Even with great effort shark fishing was impossible. So the show changed directions. On the final day of shooting we got into some “dinosaurish” black drum. The story of our resilient effort in the catastrophic conditions would have been sufficient, but we overcame tremendous odds and

My beach rig had to plow through tons of sargassum this summer.

the episode, also the season finale, was labeled a success by the film crew and producers.

Getting into spring the sargassum was arriving at a degree perhaps never before seen on our sands. We have always had random bad years but it would thin out after a few weeks. This year’s crop blanketed the beaches over and over, seemingly without end, and driving became virtually impossible in places. Eventually though, the water temps warmed and so did the bite. We caught some amazing fish but they came at a price. With the hazardous weed covering the majority of the beach the driving was utterly disastrous and slow. On most trips we travelled 50 miles to find fishable waters—4-1/2 hours each way at times. An impossible situation for day charters, luckily I was able to book a lot of overnight trips. Despite the horror of sargassum we landed MANY quality fish.

Summer brought even greater uncertainty. Everyone was anxious to see a beach without weed, but we would have to wait even longer.

As with the past few years, we had cold-water upwellings hitting the

Efren Brito, large light-tackle jack.

Brian Richardson with a handsome “bull” red amid plentiful sargassum.

Sam Brown’s bull shark.

southern end of our seashore. This cooler water was usually void of bait, but at times fish were still caught.

The Big Shell area was a blessing and I conducted quite a few charters there during the summer. As the cool water vanished, bait began to show up in force and shark fishing began to improve. Sharks were being caught pretty consistently and the bite was also on around the Port Aransas jetties as several tigers and hammerheads were landed. The 2014 running of the Texas Shark Rodeo, a long-forgotten tournament rejuvenated with the current format of catch-photo-release via the founders of Sharkathon was well participated.

Come August things looked promising. The Saharan dust fanning off Africa all but blocked many potential hurricanes from forming. Our tropical outlook in the gulf was virtually dead the whole season, which was not a bad thing. There was some concern about a possible red tide, but fortunately we escaped devastation there as well. The calm summer meant fairly clear coastal waters which amplified the noticeable baitballs of anchovies and shad. This meant great news for the 2014 Corpus Christi Blue Water Kayak Classic in which I participated. This growing tournament put over 100 kayak fishermen to the test, battling for kings, cobia, and snapper.

In the end, I came out on top, scoring my second consecutive championship amid stiff competition.

TSFMAG.com | 73

74 | December 2014

received the boost it needed. Redfish and jack crevalle finally showed up in force. Sharks were fast and furious and kept my clients busy.

Already the winter of 2014 is forecast to be another brutal one along our coast with sub-normal temps. Hopefully we’ll get lucky and finish the year in strong fashion.

Despite the obstacles my clients and I had to face, it has been one heck of a year. I will be fishing hard for the entire month of December. Large sandbar sharks should be showing up anytime and I will be trying to put people on this awesome creature. Additionally, at the request of many, I will be offering pompano trips. Looking around the corner, if 2015 is anything like this past year, we will be in for a treat. We will likely have to deal with more sargassum for a few years to come, but with the weed comes a plentiful array of fish.

C ontact

Shortly after the tournament our hearts sank to see the infamous “rig-killer” pulling up to remove many of our favorite nearshore platforms. Those valuable structures that provided such incredible habitat are now gone forever.

Finally it was fall, but with still-blistering temperatures.

Expectations ran high for the annual Sharkathon, until about a week prior. Forecasts were gloomy with our first hard north wind of the season and conditions were a disaster at game time. Anglers intent on fishing down-island had to drive through high water, dangerous and expensive to say the least. Despite horrendous conditions a few sharks were caught; the winning fish taped a meager 6’-2” if that says anything. Nonetheless it earned $20,000. I had looked forward to this event with great anticipation but in the end opted to fish way north rather than risk my bread-and-butter surf truck to the ravages of the sea.

Post-Sharkathon surf conditions were nothing short of awesome, when the weather cooperated, and this sparked exceptional shark fishing. Blacktips were thick and on a solo-trip I was able to release an 8-1/2’ hammerhead on one lonely night. Things would continue to heat up as we were on a catching streak, sharks nearly every charter. I had a charter with one of my repeat clients (genuine characters from the UK) in which we landed nine. The season would hit an ultimate high on a trip with some long time shark buddies.

Scott Nelson fought a giant through the night and eventually landed a 13’-2” hammerhead; (see cover photo and story in feature section.)

With winter on the verge of barreling-in the mullet migration

For the past decade Eric ‘Oz’ Ozolins has been promoting shark catch and release and assisting various shark research programs. Eric offers guided shark fishing on Padre Island National Seashore. Also renowned for extreme kayak big game fishing, Eric runs Kayak Wars; one of the largest kayak fishing tournaments in the world.

Email Websites

oz@oceanepics.com extremecoast.com | oceanepics.com | kayakwars.com

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TSFMAG.com | 77

Dickie Colburn

DICKIE COLBURN’S Sabine Scene

Sabine

Dickie Colburn is a full time guide out of Orange, Texas. Dickie has 37 years experience guiding on Sabine and Calcasieu Lakes.

Telephone 409-883-0723 Website www.sabineconnection.com

78 | December 2014

Had I written my column only yesterday I would have probably noted the absence of cold weather and high water being the only things Sabine Lake anglers have to complain about. That changed last night as a stiff north wind ushered in 40⁰ and Nice slot red finally pushed some water out that buried of surrounding marshes.

Tim’s cork and Sea Shad rig.

Aside from stalking our largest trout during the coldest months, there is no time of the year I enjoy more than mid-October through most of December. I look forward to putting on Frogg Toggs to break the chill of that first boat ride of the day. The fact that they take up no more space than a sack lunch makes them a must item on my boat.

We basically have it all going on right now. The flounder bite is good enough that most folks are griping about the two fish limit while landing the improved size

at the same time. We are covered up with incredible numbers of small specks and sand trout and the bird bite is a daily thing, both early and late.

Couple all of that with the fact that larger trout are starting to show on the flats bordering the ICW and there is little left to do other than pick a program.

Depending on your fervor for catching redfish, that much anticipated bite is also good and will only get better as the northers pump water out of the back lakes.

By the time you read this, the “big” trout bite will be even more consistent.

We turned our back on the easier programs one day last week and waded a shallow flat just to see if we were missing anything. In a three hour period from four until dark, three of us caught and released 17 trout from four

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to seven pounds. All came out of two to three feet of water and every fish ate a day-glow Corky Fat Boy or a pink Catch 2000.

Too much wind on any given day can alter the best of plans but I think the only mistake you can make on Sabine this month is trying to do it all and doing none of it very well. Even a plan that involves splitting time between chasing gulls early and fishing another pattern once they slow down may rob you of enjoying the most productive hours of your second choice.

If you want non-stop action, then by all means fish the gulls. It doesn’t mean you won’t catch a big trout, but a three to five pounder is a coveted fish in that program. The bonus to this “run and gun” fishing is stumbling upon marauding redfish. The most user-friendly set-up for this bite is the cork with a two foot leader and a Vudu shrimp, four inch Assassin Sea Shad or MirrOlure Lil’ John.

Invariably, we catch the larger trout in these schools working a four inch Usual Suspect swimbait or Crazy Croaker beneath all the surface activity. Pink-pearl in the Crazy Croaker and cock of the walk and space guppy are hard to beat in the swimbait.

Whether drifting or wading the shallow flats, Fat Boys, Catch 2000s and Catch 5s are hard to beat. The new Soft Dine XL, as well as the Maniac Mullet, can be equally productive. We will also spend time swimming the Die Dapper rigged on a 1/8 heads. Clients that just cannot buy into the mullet imitations do nearly as well with the Die Dapper.

When the wind rakes the open lake we will fall back to the protection of the river and bayous and never miss a beat. If I am not “scraping the wall” of the deeper breaks I am usually crawling a three inch Usual Suspect or Gulp Swimming Mullet across the narrow flats bordering the deeper water. We also have our days with a 3- to 5 foot diving crankbait in Sexy Shad or Fire Tiger or the same Swimming Mullet rigged on a quarter ounce spinnerbait.

I personally catch very few trout with the spinnerbait but it can be deadly on both redfish and flounder. Because we can only keep two flounder we seldom target them, but we are still catching quite a few in the 4- to 5 pound class and the spinnerbait enables you to cover a lot of prime water with each cast.

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TSFMAG.com | 79

Capt. Steve Hillman

The Buzz on Galveston Bay

The past couple of months have been extraordinary.

I have to admit, there were times this year when I questioned just how many trout we had (or didn’t have) in the Galveston Bay Complex. In retrospect, there were many days when southwest winds persisted and fishing was slower than usual. In addition, habitat (mainly oyster reefs) has changed a fair amount Galveston in the last six years primarily because of Hurricane Ike. As a result, many trout now frequent different areas. Live oyster beds Steve Hillman is a full-time hold higher concentrations fishing guide on his home of forage species than barren waters of Galveston Bay. Steve flats and dead reefs. When the fishes the entire Galveston Bay food source relocates, so do the Complex, wading and drifting predator species. My family has for trout, redfish, and flounder a small ranch in South Texas. using artificial lures.

Every fall my dad plants about Telephone seven acres of oats. If we get 409-256-7937 timely rainfall, the oats flourish Email captsteve@hillmanguideservice.com and it’s not uncommon to see 30 deer grazing every morning.

Website www.hillmanguideservice.com Last year the oats didn’t do well

80 | December 2014

and most of the deer travelled elsewhere to find an easy meal. When a reef dies or becomes covered in silt, fish are going to relocate. It’s really that simple.

Speaking of food, we’ve had an exceptional white shrimp migration this fall. This coupled with an abundance of shad has resulted in some very healthy trout and reds. The overwhelming amount of food is making it pretty easy to locate schools of trout on most days.

With each passing cold front the trout become more gluttonous.

Their regurgitation causes slicks that are hard to miss. It honestly doesn’t matter which part of the bay you fish right now. We’ve been doing well in East, Lower, Upper and Trinity Bays, drifting and wading. The results have been the same pretty much everywhere. I’ve also been getting some good reports from West Bay already as well.

Most of the time we’re drifting

in 4 to 7 feet of water while keying on a variety of signs. Slicks are always number one but some days they are few. This is when we do weird stuff. One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to work big schools of black drum. Schooling drum stir up the bottom causing areas of muddy water that resemble underwater plumes of smoke.

Shrimp, crabs and other morsels are kicked up bringing in trout and reds in the process. Another back-up plan is to find an area over clam or oyster shell where a few mullet are flipping. I’m not necessarily talking about wandering around aimlessly across the wide-open bay until you see three mullet jump then start casting. Instead, go to a high percentage area where you’ve recently caught fish and peruse it until you narrow it down to the smallest patch of water with the most bait activity. Color streaks are another effective sign. Wind and current will streak up the water and create ambush points for trout.

Topwaters of the Spook One Knocker variety along with all of the smaller versions of MirrOlure and Rapala surface plugs have been doing very well both wading and drifting.

Saltwater Assassins, Tidal Surge SplitTails and K-Wigglers have all been productive on any given day as well.

The size of the trout bay-wide has been averaging two to three pounds with a fair number of 4- to 6-pounders.

It seems like we’ve been clinging to a summertime pattern forever, but that’s finally starting to change. December will be spent fishing over more mud bottom with scattered shell. Towheads, mud guts, marsh drains, scattered shell, Corkys, MirrOdines and Maniac Mullets are all key words to remember for December.

I’ve been getting quite a few calls from folks asking about the “flounder run.” I personally don’t fish for them much anymore, but I have some friends who do and they’re telling me that the migration is running late this year. This isn’t surprising as everything has been about a month behind schedule pretty much all year. At the time of this writing most of the flounder I’m hearing about are being caught in back lakes, coves and around marsh drains on small soft plastics and Berkley Gulps. Look for those flat fish to start stacking up in their more traditional haunts in the Galveston Channel and around Seawolf Park as water temperatures drop. It should be a fantastic month for flounder given this year’s pattern. Also, remember that the daily bag limit for flounder is only two from November 1st through December 14th. Good luck and I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

See you on the water, Capt. Steve Hillman

TSFMAG.com | 81

Bink Grimes

The View from Matagorda

M a ta g o r d a

Bink Grimes is a full-time fishing and hunting guide, freelance writer and photographer, and owner of Sunrise Lodge on Matagorda Bay.

Telephone 979-241-1705 Email binkgrimes@sbcglobal.net Website www.matagordasunriselodge.com

82 | December 2014

The whitetail rut will be in full swing in South Texas, snow geese will hit green fields and pintails will put on a show on coastal prairie ponds and shoalgrass flats.

It’s a good time to be a hunter in Texas; however, for those who continue to plug away on the bays, it’s a good time to be an angler, too.

The mild weather has extended the fabulous fall fishing the entire Texas coast has been experiencing.

Birds are not readily working over pods of shrimp, but speckled trout and redfish are staging in the same locales over deep shell and mud and readily eating soft plastics, slow-sinking plugs, and at times, topwaters.

Weather patterns the past five years have resembled early October instead of late December. Water temperatures might dip down to the 50s early in the month, but with afternoon highs in the 70s to low 80s, water temps rise into the 60s on some shallow flats.

The shell in Matagorda is full of fish. We normally work on solid 2-4 pounds trout on Bass Assassins while drifting, and there are usually redfish everywhere.

Blame it on the Christmas holidays and/or the popularity of deer season, but area boat ramps will have plenty of parking spaces available.

Our trout really start to eat lures a lot better in

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December. MirrOlures, topwaters and Bass Assassins are our go-to baits.

Prepare for winter solstice tides to pull fish from the shorelines and dump them in deeper water. Large schools of trout hang near drop-offs scattered with mud and shell.

When the tides are so low, redfish congregate in the holes and guts. We run shallow-draft boats and work the back lakes as they drain. The edges of the Intracoastal can be just as productive with a piece of mullet or crab.

We will be hunting most mornings and fishing the afternoons. Since many anglers double as waterfowlers, I wanted to add a few tips to help you shoot more ducks.

The greatest conservation tool ever created for ducks is the duck call.

Knowing when to call and when to play the quiet game distinguishes the pro from the rookie. Blown discretely and sweetly, a melodious tuned call seals the deal. Blown like a party horn at a five-year-old birthday party, you might as well wear a flashing neon sign with an arrow reading, “Look at me, I am duck hunting.”

Plenty of hunters shoot lots of ducks without ever uttering a note. When I call, it is normally to turn ducks. I never hail a quack when ducks are cupped and committed. Why would you?

You only increase your chances of making a mistake.

Instead, try whistling. Since most species co-habituate on the same ponds, the whistle of a wary pintail can be a confidence call to other pintails, wigeons, gadwalls and teal.

In my opinion, less is more in calling. Call-makers might disagree, but in all my years of guiding, I seldom have made longer than a five-note, “quack, waaaack, waaack, waack, wack…” Once I get their attention and turn them, I shut up and whistle. If the duck turns and becomes disinterested again, I hit them with a three-note call to try and get them back.

It is really about what the ducks want on that day. It changes every day, sometimes every hour.

The best hunters adapt to the attitude of the ducks.

Merry Christmas to everyone. Thank you Lord for blessing us with our bays and marshes and the opportunity to enjoy Your outdoors.

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TSFMAG.com | 83

Capt. Gary Gray

MID-COAST BAYS With the Grays

Port O'Connor Seadrift

Captain Gary Gray is a full time guide born and raised in Seadrift. He has been guiding in the Seadrift/ Port O’Connor area for 28 years. Gary specializes in wading for trout and redfish year round with artificial lures.

Telephone 361-785-6708 Email bayrats@tisd.net Website www.bayrat.com

I had planned on spending more days along the Gulf beach and nearshore waters out of Pass Cavallo during the fall months. Blame it on San Antonio Bay. I got into some trout action that reminded me of the good old days. I am not going to say it was the trout limit change or Cedar Bayou dredging, it’s way too soon for either of those, although both will no doubt help in the long run.

I give credit to one the finest runs of excellent weather and fishing conditions I have seen in quite a few years. The major feed occurred almost daily from early to mid-morning. We were in the fish on the shell and everything was in our favor at just the right time. Something about wading shell and catching quality trout on soft plastics kept me going back for more.

In late October Shellie and I had the pleasure of wade fishing the shell with a group of eight guys from Oklahoma. This was the third year these guys have been coming down and it is the first time the weather gods have shined on them. They always fish

for three days, wading with artificials, and they are very hardcore. The first two years were very miserable and cold and the guys figured out very quickly that you do not scrimp when it comes to buying waders.

During their first annual trip, which involved a cold front blowing through the middle coast and leaving the temps hanging around the mid-forties for the three days, we fished with gusty north wind and it made them think they drove north leaving Oklahoma instead of south to Texas.

During those first two years with all the bad weather, we always managed to catch a lot of fish

Ryan Overholt from Oklahoma nets a nice trout he dredged up on a San Antonio Bay reef, fellow Okies look on.

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and they were always of good quality. Mostly because the guys did whatever we asked them to do. If we told them we were going to wade a windblown cove and we all casted to this certain section of structure while trudging through calf deep mud, all we ever heard from them was, “Okay, let’s do it.” They never complained; they knew they had been dealt a dirty weather hand and they choked it down and kept plugging.

I have quite a few customers who will suck it up when the going gets tough but the majority of young anglers we run into nowadays are of the instant gratification type. They are willing to rough it for a wade or maybe half a wade, then turn to me and say, “I thought you

Shad from Oklahoma hooked up with a nice reef speck.

said there were fish here.” Okay, I got off track on that.

So we had some good anglers that only got to saltwater fish once a year and they only wade when they come here. But the weather gods really shined on them this year and we caught lots of fish. And, by the way, these guys only get to fish three days a year for speckled trout and they didn’t have a problem with the new five fish limit. They all agreed that is plenty.

The number one thing I look for during the fall into the winter months is no different than any other time of the year—bait! What I have been keying on mostly is rafts of finger mullet hanging right on top of the reefs. Every reef we fished that had these rafts of mullet also held schools of trout and a scattering of redfish. The past few weeks we have been doing better on the shallower reefs, meaning those with exposed shell. It helps when the reef has a hook or cove in it and the wind is pushing water into it. Of course we have our favorite reefs, and spots along them, but paying careful attention to where fish are caught will help tremendously in putting the pattern together.

Let’s talk lures. You can throw whatever you want when you go with me. But if you ask me what to throw this time of year I will tell you a 4” Bass Assassin Sea Shad—period. And when you ask which color, again I will say throw what you like; I stick to some basic colors. I will always have the Hot Chicken, Slammin’ Chicken and my personal go-to, the Copperhead.

I rig these on 1/16 ounce Bass Assassin jigheads. We have been doing the best working near bottom, practically dredging with them. We will more than likely fish the same baits and use the same dredging method throughout the winter.

Fish hard, fish smart!

TSFMAG.com | 85

david rowsey

HOOKED UP WITH Rowsey Merry Christmas! I hope this finds my friends in the spirit of the holidays, and anticipating boxes loaded with their favorite fishing toys. To help you guys out, I’m going to make you a list of “must have” fishing gear for trophy trout season. Careful placement of this list for Mrs. Santa to notice could make it a special Upper Christmas for you, indeed.

Laguna/ • Simms G3 Waders and G3 Wading Jacket • SIMMS Oceantek Wading Boots Baffin • Waterloo “Ultra Mag” fishing rod • Quantum “EXO” or “Smoke” fishing reels • Maui Jim polarized sunglasses in model “Surf Rider” or “Stingray” David Rowsey has 20 years experience in the Laguna/Baffin • Roy’s Tackle gift card to pick out favorite 5” Bass region; trophy trout with artificial Assassins and MirrOlures lures is his specialty. David has a • Haynie 24HO boat powered by a Mercury 250 PRO XS great passion for conservation (for the big spender) and encourages catch and I have babbled for years about how December is release of trophy fish. the kick-off to everything fishing here in south Texas.

By now the cold fronts have become steady, the Telephone water temperature has dropped, and trout patterns 361-960-0340 Website are starting to become a bit more predictable. With www.DavidRowsey.com many fishermen armed with rifles and bows during the Email south Texas whitetail rut, Baffin and the Upper Laguna david.rowsey@yahoo.com will have some quiet, low boat traffic days for those of

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86 | December 2014

us who appreciate solitude.

The water temperatures have not dropped so much that it has forced the trout to gang up in specific, small areas, but they will be hanging out loosely in the same ballpark waiting for the opportunity to fatten up before the water temperature takes a big drop. A trout’s anticipation of cooler days ahead is what can make December such a great month to be on the water for trophy fish. They are actively hunting and feeding to fatten up for the longer and colder days ahead. This makes for a perfect opportunity for us to take advantage of their gluttony.

As the water has cooled, my warm-water pattern, involving the fabled rocks of Baffin Bay, has chilled out also. At this stage of the game my concentration is on potholes and drop-offs or contour lines on the bay floor. This pattern really applies all year, but even more so now as the trout are doing their best to put on winter weight. They are using these two structures heavily during this time of year as their personal hunting grounds. Areas like the King Ranch shoreline, Hell’s Acres, Meadows, and much of the south shoreline of Baffin will have the right structure.

Exploring these areas and looking for the right sign will be key in finding the fish. Of course, the best sign

Trent “T-Bone” Childress with a big, early winter trout. Morning Glory Bass Assassin-Released!

is flipping baitfish, but it is not always visible. Take the time to shut down the engine and just look for 5 minutes or so. What looks dead while the big engine is running may look differently when things quiet down. An osprey or brown pelicans hanging out in an area are great indicators of where mullet are when there is not much to be seen on the surface. Paying attention to details above the water, can and will pay great dividends for those willing to take the time to notice them.

After mentioning potholes, I need to also mention water quality.

In many areas the water quality is such that we may not be able to see a pothole in 3’-4’ feet of water. We were blessed during latesummer and through the fall with some really good rain. As much as everything needs it, the runoff off has made for some brown water.

This has become the standard for us, unfortunately. The water has started to clear up nicely in the Upper Laguna due to north winds pushing green water in from Corpus Christi Bay. Eventually it will make its way into Baffin and things will look good for the winter and spring season. So, all is not lost, and it has been my observation that cooling water temperatures also seem to make brown algae blooms become somewhat dormant, allowing for a quicker transition to the ideal “trout green” we all desire.

Closing out 2014 I would just like to add how very blessed I am to have so many awesome clients that make it possible for me to support my family doing what I love to do. I have made so many close friends since I started guiding, and that alone has been worth the journey.

Many thanks to all of you for being, and continuing to be, a part of it.

Remember the buffalo! -Capt. David Rowsey

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TSFMAG.com | 87

Capt. Tricia

TRICIA’S Mansfield Report Fishing is fantastic! For several weeks our catches have consistently met or exceeded our expectations for this time of year. Numbers of reds and really nice trout have shown in most places that made sense for the conditions and a consistently strong topwater bite has been putting smiles on lots of client faces. Signs Port are pointing towards a strong Mansfield winter season.

Since the last issue of TSFM, we have enjoyed some excellent fishing on the flats. Right on cue Capt. Tricia’s Skinny Water our redfish started becoming Adventures operates out of more predictable and most Port Mansfield, specializing in recently some colossal trout wadefishing with artificial lures. have started to show themselves.

I cannot say there was always a strong bite, and on many days Telephone 956-642-7298 we just had to stick in there and Email wait for it to happen, but when it shell@granderiver.net did it happened big!

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88 | December 2014

that late-October trip, two over-sevens were also caught. Early November we had two fish at twentynine and almost thirty. For this area and this time of year, that is strong. This does not always happen in October and early- November, and that is why I am quite optimistic for the winter trophy season ahead.

The large mullet aggregations are still here and slowly but steadily making their way out to the beach front. We are always targeting bait but here lately a few less mullet milling about the flats might encourage the trout and reds to take a lure more readily on the slower days. The small trout I have cleaned lately for clients have lots of mullet and shrimp in their stomachs. We know the shrimp will be gone soon, and if the mullet migration might cause their numbers on the flats to dwindle a bit, we might see even better fishing.

When this happens I expect the

trout will relocate from hard sand to soft-bottom grassy areas, working harder for something to eat. I am looking forward to following them to the grass-rich flats and shorelines. Smaller topwaters will definitely get their attention.

To offer a prediction for December—Kickoff month for trophy trout used to be January, but if the indicators I’m seeing are accurate, I think we will get an early start this year. Long term weather predictions are calling for a cooler and wetter winter than normal. If this comes to pass, December should be filled with lots of career-best specks.

Big trout strategies will include working distinct drop-offs leading to deeper waters, especially so after a good hard norther. My standard jig weights are 1/16 and 1/8 ounce but when the drop is steep I sometimes switch to 1/4 ounce for a faster sink rate when exploring. Corkys and other slow sinkers will also get the call often.

There are many spoil banks along the ICW from Port all the way to the Land Cut. Utilize any good satellite app and you should be able to locate the type of structure I am describing.

Also remember that a couple of days post-norther, big trout will pull up much shallower than you would ever think. There are many

shallow, muddy pothole areas south of town and up north past the Oak Motts. We frequently see large trout sunning as the temperatures begin to rise on winter afternoons. A weedless-weightless plastic or softly twictched surface plug can pull some of these fish out of what I call mini-hot tubs.

Besides the sought after big trout of winter, some of the best redfishing occurs during these colder months. Large concentrations can invade warming back lakes and flats. When found, they can usually be caught on whatever lures your throw, and some of the best trout of the year are often with them. Winter can offer sore shoulders, elbows and wrists when the conditions are right.

Early winter the past few years has been complicated with large patches of brown tide and I’m certainly praying we do not have another algal bloom to deal with this year. So far the clarity is great with only a few very small patches of brown water here and there. We will know for sure as soon as the big fall tides move out. And even if it does come our way, we will still find a way to catch our fish. If December finds you on the Lower Laguna, put your trust in pelicans, gulls, ospreys and color changes.

Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

TSFMAG.com | 89

Capt. Ernest cisneros

SOUTH PADRE Fishing Scene

Arr oyo Colorado to Port Isabel

A Brownsville-area native, Capt. Ernest Cisneros fishes the Lower Laguna Madre from Port Mansfield to Port Isabel.

Ernest specializes in wading and poled skiff adventures for snook, trout, and redfish.

Cell 956-266-6454 Website www.tightlinescharters.com

90 | December 2014

It’s hard to believe December is already here and I couldn’t be happier. Looking back, I would say we have enjoyed a decent year overall, size and numbers of fish have been respectable, although not often easy.

If I were to be allowed only two words to describe the recent status of our fishery and fishing success, they would be nomadic and inconsistent. Nomadic because our fish are just not staying in any one place very long, and inconsistent because it has been like a game show contestant trying to solve a riddle—finding the right place at the right time, and then the bait that gets their attention.

Trout have been our most consistent species, even if we’ve had to do a lot of sorting. You can look at this two ways; I like to think the fishery is in good shape so long as we handle the small fish carefully. Shallow flats near the ICW continue to be very “fishy” for us. If you take notice, some of these flats have plentiful grass with potholes while others don’t. The harder sandy-bottom stretches can often be just as productive and here lately it’s a guessing game as to where the fish will be.

One thing is for sure, our better catching days

have always been on a moving tide. As the weather turns cooler, expect trout to move to softer bottoms and areas with quick deep-water access or simply remaining in deeper water during cold spells.

Paul Brown’s Fat Boys and Devils are go-to baits during colder periods. The KWiggler Ball Tail Shad in plum/chartreuse and FloMingo on 1/8 jigs are a musthave as well for me. Never rule out topwaters during the warmer days between fronts.

My top wintertime fishing recommendation: Simms waders!

Lower Laguna tides are back to normal and starting in December we will see a general drop in water levels—extremely low tides when powerful northers sweep through later in the month. Chances are if you find guts or other natural drains where the water empties from the flats you will probably find a good concentration of fish. A big plus will be not having to deal with lots of floating grass clogging our lures on a daily basis.

Starting this month and throughout winter, I highly suggest paying close attention to bird activity. They will give you signs as to where the bait is holding even if it’s in deeper water. We will get periods of cold weather where nothing rises to the upper part of the water column; this makes locating bait concentrations pretty tricky.

Birds have to eat too, so keep an eye on the pelicans and ospreys.

Redfish continue to be a daily puzzle for me.

The best thing I can say about the reds right now is that when you find them they have been taking topwaters very aggressively. Even when you have to search long and hard for a school, experiencing a few of their signature surface crashes when they inhale the plug makes it more than worth the time invested. I wish I could say it Rene was in for a surprise when he has been easier but that would not be truthful. hooked this 42-inch When pursuing redfish, I find that tidal monster red. movement and targeting solunar feeding

periods is a great help in getting on a decent bite. Over the last couple of months it has been my observation that we have actually done better in late-afternoon and the evenings when specifically targeting them. This month, I expect the late afternoon and evening hours will likely be very productive as the water warms up better later in the day. The bright side of this is that the redfish we are catching have really packed on the weight and their fighting attitude has been phenomenal. Redfish will also begin their trek to softer bottoms, and their noticeable mud puffs will become more common and also show their whereabouts. I’m hoping this colder weather will bring some better redfish action.

In closing, I would like to mention that a quality pair of waders this time of the year play a big part in staying comfortable and will definitely maximize your time on the water. I would go as far as saying if you have never tried a pair of Simms waders, you have not taken full advantage of today’s technology in cold weather fishing gear. I’m betting that once you try Simms you will never consider any other brand.

Pay close attention to the weather, tides and solunar. Fish patiently and watch the birds. When water temps are chilly remember to slow down your retrieves. May the fish of a lifetime come your way this winter.

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FISHING REPORTS

ORECASTS F from Big Lake to Boca Chica

AND

Lake Calcasieu Louisiana Jeff and Mary Poe - Big Lake Guide Service - 337.598.3268 December is usually a great month for us. With stronger cold fronts, most of the big trout action is on the north end of Calcasieu. Shallow sand flats produce lots of fish from mid-day into the afternoon. This gives water temperatures plenty of time to rise. When you’re fishing for trophy trout in our estuary, look for a strong presence of baitfish. I wouldn’t necessarily stop on a flat if I see a mullet jump. I like to take 10-15 minutes in the boat to study the surface activity before I decide to take the plunge. Loons are also a tell-tale sign that baitfish are present.

If I see five or six loons on a flat, I immediately fish in their direction at a fast pace. Once I get amongst, them I will slow down and fish methodically in that area. If they move, I move with them. We mainly stick to Paul Brown’s Original FatBoys, Storm Jointed Thundersticks, and Redfins. These three lures usually produce the majority of our good trout in December. If big trout aren’t your thing, look to Turner’s Bay on outgoing tides. This area is our number one producer in December.

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242 James said the fishing had been really consistent in the days before we talked. “I fished every day for almost three weeks and limited out on all but a couple of those days. It was kind of funny, really. We have still been fishing what I’d call a “summer” pattern. Fish have been in water

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about seven feet deep, over a hard bottom. We’re doing all our fishing out of the boat for that reason, and were catching best on soft plastics until a couple days ago. Now, we’re seeing the fish move shallower, into water that is possible for wading, and they’re eating MirrOlures and topwaters more consistently. Average size of the trout has been good; we’ve had a couple seven pounders and lots of fours and fives.

I think we’re supposed to get a pretty strong front the middle part of next week. That will probably change things around somewhat. In December, we’ll probably lose more days to the strong fronts, but the fishing on the days we’re able to go should just get better, especially our ability to catch better numbers of big trout.”

Jimmy West - Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054 Jim mentioned the plentiful and productive activities in the great outdoors when giving this report. “It’s a great time of year to be outside.

We have excellent duck hunting right now, and of course deer season has started. And, the fishing’s good too. You can pretty much catch ‘em however you want to. We’ve got birds working out in the middle.

People who don’t want to get out of the boat and wade can catch all they want most days by following the flocks. You will catch a lot of small fish, but some of the schools are decent sized. We’ve also got good wadefishing in the shallows in the back of the bay and around marsh drains. Best bite has been around dusk on some days. Some of the boys are catching some big trout, and that action typically continues

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right through the end of the year. Lately, it’s been easiest to catch on topwaters and tails, and we have had some success with slow-sinking twitch baits like Paul Brown Lures, Catch 5s and Catch 2000s too. Those lures and the tails should be the most productive in December as well.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays Randall Groves - Groves Guide Service 979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323 Randall says the fishing has been really good on some occasions leading up to the time of this report, but it hasn’t been really consistent. “These fronts push water out of the bays and get the shrimp moving. When that happens, the birds start working and the fishing is easy for a while.

But lately, the warm weather comes back and the shrimp bury up in the mud again, and the catching becomes tougher. That action will all play out with more intensity later this month and into December.

Normally, we’ll continue to fish patterns related to the shrimp and gulls well into the month. Toward the latter part of the month, once water temperatures get into the low 50s or even lower and stay there, the true winter pattern will kick in. Then, things get simplified somewhat. The cold temperatures will drive the fish deep, and we’ll only have to look for them in about four places. They’ll usually be stacked up in one or two of those places. Catching them then is normally a matter of fishing soft plastics low and slow.”

Matagorda | Tommy Countz Bay Guide Service - 979.863.7553 cell 281.450.4037 Tommy always looks forward to fishing the Matagorda area in December, because the productive options are so numerous. “Right now, we’ve got plenty of birds working, and we’re catching both redfish and trout under them in both bays. That action normally stays steady well into December, unless it gets colder than normal early. Once we

start getting really strong fronts blowing the water out of the bays and dropping the water temperatures significantly, fishing in the Colorado River is likely to have potential, especially during the frontal passages. After the winds subside following a front, we like to fish the low tides over in West Bay for redfish, keying on the guts and drains along the south shoreline. The same conditions can also be favorable for drifting reefs in both bays. On the new reef in West Bay, lighter jigheads work better, to prevent snagging up a lot, but in the west end of East Bay, we like to use heavier heads, so we can maintain contact with the scattered shell on the bottom.”

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204 This continues to be one of the best autumn runs we’ve had in quite some time. Redfish are all over flats and out in front of drains and bayous, and trout have been thick under the birds. Chicken-on-a-chain paddletails and quarter ounce gold spoons have accounted for most of our redfish bite. They have been running in pods, chasing shrimp and pogies in less than two feet of water, and most of the fishing has been sight-casting. Trout from fifteen to eighteen inches have been working bait under birds in East Bay pretty regularly, when the tide’s falling.

Quarter ounce jigheads rigged with pearl/chartreuse or pumpkinseed/ chartreuse paddletails have been best lures. December should be awesome. When all the shrimp leaves, we’ll focus on the mullet to find trout and redfish. Paul Brown’s FatBoys in pearl/chartreuse and glow are two of my favorite lures for winter fishing. First St. Pier and East Bay Pier should continue to hold keeper trout and eating-sized sand trout as the water temps start to cool.

TSFMAG.com | 93

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith Back Bay Guide Service - 361.983.4434 Lynn predicts he’ll be fishing areas with a muddy bottom and including some scattered shell during the month of December. “I do like to key on the mud this time of year. I don’t normally leave the dock early, usually not until about ten o’clock or so, to let the sun get up and start heating the water on the flats. I favor flats with the right kind of bottom which lie adjacent to some deep water; areas like that seem to produce some of the best trout of the year for us this time of year. Mostly, we’ll try to catch ‘em on soft plastics, but I will spend quite a bit of time throwing the slow-sinking lures like Paul Brown Lures and MirrOdines and Catch 2000s. All of those lures work well at times in the cold water. We’ll still have some topwater action on the warmer days, but the floating lures become more of a specialty thing than an every day thing. Action on better than average trout has already started picking up in the Port O’Connor area, and it should only get better as the water temperatures fall some more heading into the holidays.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894 Blake will be doing a variety of things in the outdoors during the Holiday months, as always. “Duck hunting has been slow. We really just don’t have the ducks we’d expect for this time of year. That might change with this next big front. I’ll be running my cast and blast trips during December, hunting the back lakes and marshes early, then fishing my way out. I generally focus on the deeper parts of the back lakes and the shorelines around the entrances into them when fishing this time of year, hitting grassy shorelines with some shell around. We have had a lot of solid trout hanging around mid-bay reefs too lately, so I might wind up sticking with that pattern quite a bit. I’ll be throwing topwaters

94 | December 2014

whenever I can, since the bite on them has been good lately. But in December, Sand Eels and the chartreuse split tail Gulp! generally work better. About a week before Christmas, dove season will reopen and give us another option.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut Robert Zapata – rz1528@grandecom.net - 361.563.1160 The boat traffic is down, and it’s quiet on the water during deer season in South Texas. With the water temperature cooling down, the trout will begin to slow down, but not as much as they will during January and February. Baffin Bay is continuing to produce fair numbers of fish, despite the fact that most of Baffin is covered with brown tide. There is clearer water both south and north of Baffin Bay, and that is where I’ll be using natural-colored Bass Assassin Die Dappers and Texas Assassins like salt and pepper, silver phantom/chartreuse, sand trout and morning glory/chartreuse. I will be looking for trout and reds in two to four feet of water with good concentrations of bait. When fishing the brown tide, I will be using Bass Assassin Kwik Corks rigged with fluorocarbon leaders and Bass Assassin Slurps or Berkley Gulp! on eighth ounce jigheads. I will also rig live shrimp under the corks to avoid getting snagged on the rocks. On sunny days, sight-casting with Fish Bites in clear, shallow water will provide much excitement.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez – www.sightcast1.com - 361.937.5961 Joe will most likely be fishing along the edges of channels come December, he predicts. “Usually, some time around Thanksgiving, we start seeing birds working up and down the ICW, hovering over migrating shrimp and the trout pushing them toward the surface. The action is normally centered on the area a few miles south of the JFK Causeway, while the shrimp are making their way north through the Laguna Madre on their way to Packery Channel and the Gulf of Mexico.

When fishing the birds in the main channel and in the secondary

channels intersecting it, I like to use a trolling motor and/or drift anchor to maintain control of the boat. The key is to keep the boat within casting range of the drop off at the edge of the ditch. If wind speeds and currents are running light, jigheads in the eighth ounce to slightly heavier range will allow us to keep our lures in contact with the edges, but when wind speeds and current strengths amp up, we will need to use heavier heads to probe the edges productively.”

Padre Island National Seashore Billy Sandifer - Padre Island Safaris - 361.937.8446 Opportunity for high-quality fishing in the surf of Padre Island National Seashore during the month of December remains very good— however—it is absolutely imperative that beach-traveling anglers monitor weather forecasts very closely. The recovery periods between cold fronts are the best times; the second day following frontal passage is usually very good. Days with strong wind from northeast and east direction should be avoided as these winds are capable of stacking water high on the beach making driving difficult, possibly dangerous. Jack crevalle will be abundant and feeding on finger mullet in shallow water. Watch for brown pelicans wheeling and diving— the jacks should be there. Spanish mackerel and redfish will be in good supply and will readily take finger mullet and a variety of lures.

Pompano will be in peak numbers for the year and whiting should be generally abundant—recommended baits for bottom fishing are peeled, fresh-dead shrimp and Fishbites.

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza Snookdudecharters.com – 832.385.1431 Getaway Adventures Lodge – 956.944.4000 Oh man, November is off to a rainy start. Fishing has been really good, and I expect it will get even better as we get into December, it usually does down here. Good numbers of trout and sand trout are being

caught along the drop into the ICW and the East Cut. I have been starting my mornings wading with small to medium tops; bone has been the color. K-Wiggler ball-tails and paddletails are my backup lures; try the Moon Beam color. Redfish are steady on flats in vicinity of East Cut. Mid-morning when trout move deeper I switch to drifting deeper spoils; K-Wiggler Mansfield Margarita on eighth ounce heads have been good. This pattern should hold for quite a while and will repeat during warmups between fronts. As December progresses, the fronts become more frequent and stronger. Use caution crossing open water to reach protected spots but never shy away from north wind; it can provide outstanding action along oilfield cuts and drains. Break out the Paul Brown Lures and have a ball with the trout and reds. Tight lines!

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel Janie and Fred Petty – www.fishingwithpettys.com – 956.943.2747 One of the things we love to see is a Cajun Thunder cork disappearing!

Even when it’s just an annoying perch pulling the Berkley Gulp down, that is a sign of abundant bait in the area. We have finally begun to see some of the sea grasses that were destroyed during the floods of 2010 growing back. We still have a long way to go, and with the burden of open bay dredge disposal clouding the water and preventing sunlight reaching the bottom, regrowth is still a major problem, especially for areas like Gas Well Flats. Freddy says, “Now that hunting season is in full swing, traffic in the Lower Laguna Madre has begun to ease a little.

This is also the best time of the year to fish the surf and passes, making the flats more appealing for sight-fishing.” We’re limiting on redfish when there’s wind and making do with some great catches of black drum when it’s calm. The trout have been constant, with some over twenty five, along with the occasional flounder, all on the cork rigs. We’re hoping the new year will see the end of open bay dredge disposal.

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Kendall & Kahlen Castro with Dad Aransas Bay - 29.5” redfish

Flynn Mauthe POC - 26.5” trout

George Garza Peer Port - 45lb black drum

Jordan Gilchrist Lake Calcasieu - 27.5” 7lb trout

Brian Remmel POC - 50+lb black drum 96 | December 2014

Jana Mitchell Baffin Bay - 29” 10lb trout

Emery Jones Port Aransas - redfish

Bob Franklin & family SPI - shark

Scott Gilchrist Lake Calcasieu - 35” redfish

Linda Ballard POC - 22” sheepshead

Joe Herndon POC - 31” redfish

Rene & Veronica Mejia Robert’s Point - 45lb black drum

Max Jacoby Land Cut - 28” 7lb trout

Hannah Sendejas West Bay - trout

Jonathan Murillo Jones Bay - 24” first fish!

Robert Traylor Freeport - 30lb black drum

Nigel Perry Aransas Pass - 28” first big red!

Holden Garcia Packer Channel - 22” flounder

Braxton Stuckly San Antonio Bay - 25” redfish

Colin Wise POC - black drum

Elena Sauceda South Padre

Lupita Garza Arroyo City - 25” first fish!

Windom Etheridge Sargent - 12” first fish! CPR

Anson Stuckly San Antonio Bay - 25” redfish

Tyler Gray Padre Island - 27” 5lb personal best!

Please do not write on the back of photos.

Email photos with a description of your Catch of the Month to: Photos@tsfmag.com

Brandon Randle Baytown Nature Center - 40” drum

Kaiden Bruce Matagorda Harbor - first saltwater fish!

Mail photos to: TSFMag P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983 TSFMAG.com | 97

Pam Johnson

Gulf Coast Kitchen

Got ideas, hints or recipes you’d like to share?

Email them to pam@tsfmag.com or send by fax: 361-785-2844

StuffedwithButternut Squash shrimp stuffing with shrimp stuffing

1 butternut squash 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, cut in half-inch pieces ¼ cup olive oil 1 ¼ cup Stove Top Stuffing Mix (savory herbs) ½ cup chicken broth 1 Tbsp dry white wine 1 tsp hot sauce 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided ½ tsp salt ½ tsp pepper

Place squash in 9x13 baking dish, skin side up. Add 2 cups water to dish.

Remove baked squash from oven. Remove excess liquid and flip squash over. Stuff squash with shrimp-stuffing mixture and top with remaining shredded Parmesan.

Place in oven and bake 1 hour.

Pre-heat oven to 350⁰F Cut squash length wise, remove seeds.

While squash is baking, add olive oil to frying pan and cook shrimp until pink. Add stuffing mix, chicken broth, dry white wine, hot sauce, salt and pepper. When liquids are absorbed add 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan, mix together.

Place back in over for 10 minutes.

Remove and serve.

98 | December 2014

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...continued from page 67. species are mainly used as bait. As for identification, the striped and dusky anchovies have longer snouts and wider lateral stripes than the bay anchovy. All have different placement of anal and dorsal fins. The bay anchovy is typically the shortest in length, averaging about 2.5 inches; the striped anchovy is typically the longest at about 4.5 inches.

Happily, probably because there’s not really a commercial fishery for these guys in the Gulf, our anchovy populations are doin’ good!

Which means, for now, there’s plenty of little two-inch sex stimulants swimming around in our bays.

Where I learned about anchovies, and you can too!

Texas Marine Species txmarspecies.tamug.edu/fish%20names%20table.cfm Fish Base Bay anchovy: www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary. php?ID=545&AT=anchovy Silver anchovy: www.fishbase.org/summary/Engraulis-eurystole.html Shortfinger (dusky) anchovy: www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary. php?ID=1132&AT=anchovy Striped anchvoy: www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary. php?ID=1133&AT=anchovy

Science and the Sea

TM

Surviving Under Pressure A rapid ascent from deep water to the surface means a rapid drop in pressure. That can expand a fish’s swim bladder – the organ that helps a fish control its buoyancy – so much that it pushes other organs aside or even out a fish’s mouth. Scientists have worried that this “barotrauma” might permanently harm a fish, making it harder for deep water fish to survive if they are released. Fortunately, at least one popular sport fish can overcome this trauma.

Encyclopedia Britannica www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/23254/anchovy New World Encyclopedia www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Anchovy BBC Nature www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Clupeiformes Springer: Reef Sites download.springer.com/static/pdf/459/art%253A10.1007%252Fs00338-0131116-z.pdf?auth66=1406407481_edd2d59760d2d8638c25ef9e4da701e4&e xt=.pdf Animal Life Resource animals.jrank.org/pages/2008/Herrings-Clupeiformes-BAY-ANCHOVY-Anchoamitchilli-SPECIES-ACCOUNT.html Deep Sea Waters www.deepseawaters.com/deep_sea_anchovy.htm Fun Trivia www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/The-Humble-Anchovy-289855.html Fine Dining Lovers www.finedininglovers.com/stories/anchovies-facts-figures/ Tropical Foods from Everyday to Gourmet www.tropicalfoods.com/healthy-living/fun-facts/specialty-fun-facts/ Self Nutrition Data nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4028/2 LiveStrong www.livestrong.com/article/526038-nutrition-facts-for-anchovy-fillets-in-oil/

100 | December 2014

This black sea bass is exhibiting barotrauma. Note the stomach extruding from the mouth. Credit: Jeff Buckel.

Black sea bass are frequently released after being caught by recreational anglers. Researchers wanted to find out how many of these fish survived after release. On the same day, a group of divers tagged black sea bass on the ocean floor while another group of researchers on the surface caught, tagged and tossed back the same number of black sea bass.

As they released the caught fish, the researchers categorized them as having no visible injury, having visible barotrauma, having internal injury from the hook or being unable to swim - “floaters.”

For the next year, the researchers collected the tags turned in from the black sea bass caught by fisherman or by the researchers themselves.

Only about one in six floaters survived, and just over a third of the fish injured by hooks survived. But a whopping 90 percent of the fish that had visible barotrauma were healthy when they were caught again, about the same number as those that had been tagged on the ocean floor and never experienced barotrauma. So, being hauled up to the surface and released may not be a black sea bass’s idea of a relaxing day, but chances are, it will survive.

The University of Texas

Marine Science Institute www.ScienceAndTheSea.org © The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

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CHRIS MAPP

B O AT MA I N T E N A N C E T I P S

Harmful Effects of Ethanol in Gasoline Chris Mapp, owner Coastal Bend Marine.

Yamaha, Evinrude, Suzuki, Mercury, Honda, BlueWave, SilverWave, Haynie, El Pescador Service, Parts and Sales.

Besides fuel tanks, fuel lines and fuel filters, ethanol also wreaks havoc with filter housings — aluminum and plastic.

102 | December 2014

I do not believe a day goes by when I do not see ethanol-related problems coming into the shop.

Ethanol in gasoline is costing recreational boat owners approximately 40% more in parts and service, dealing with its harmful effects, compared to the preethanol days.

Ethanol is highly corrosive, separates from the fuel, draws in moisture like a sponge, can kill an engine, carburetors, fuel injectors, fuel pumps, fuel tanks, plastic and aluminum filter housings—basically anything it comes into contact with over extended periods of time.

When a boat is brought in for service it is standard procedure to change all filters and we are seeing plastic filter housings swell after removal and if an hour in the freezer does not shrink the housing back to normal we have to discard it and install a new one.

These housings range from $45.00 to $145.00 and I’m not talking solely filter systems located under the engine cowling. We see every component in the fuel

system being affected in one way or another.

Fuel line cracking, splitting and degrading internally is one of the most common ethanol-related failures and we have tried every brand at our disposal to combat it. One brand of fuel line withstands ethanol better than any we have tried and it is marketed by BRP/Evinrude; part number: 0772565 is 3/8” size and 5/16” is 0772564.

The line is not inexpensive but it will last, it is very user-friendly, and has thus far produced remarkable results.

Fuel additives are our best defense in the fight against ethanol-related failures and for the past year we have experienced great success with BIOBOR-EB. Learn more at http://www.biobor.com/fuel-additives/ gasoline-fuel-additives/. Fuel additives are a must today and the phrase we like to use when teaching folks is: “Every tank…every time!”

We are paying more for fuel blended with ethanol; we are paying more for parts and service to our boats, motorcycles, four-wheelers, weed-eaters, lawnmowers and chainsaws. Did you know that a boat today costs $1000 more because of the EPA laws regarding fuel systems and how the manufacturers must comply? This sounds like it is great topic for Texas Legislators.

The best medicine to slow down ethanol effects, in addition to a great fuel treatment like BIOBOR, is to run the boat and run it often.

Have a great winter fishing and hunting season!

Chris Mapp Coastal Bend Marine | Port O’Connor, TX 361-983-4841 | coastalbendmarine.com

texas saltwater fishing holes

• Bay Fishing, Offshore, Floundering, Waterfowl, Dove • Night Fishing off Lighted Pier • Right On The Water • Lodging with/without Meals www.matagordasunriselodge.com 979-241-1705

Galveston

fishing retreats

Capt. Billy Penick III

USCG & TP&W Licensed • Galveston Bay System • Full and Half Day Trips • Trout, Redfish, Flounder

281-415-6586 www.gypsyguideservice.com penickbilly@yahoo.com

corpus to port isabel

classifieds BENTLEY’S INTERCOASTALS HOUSE RENTALS Port O’Connor, Texas: 3 Bedrooms, Sleeps 6, Fully Furnished. Great Location between the little Jetties & Clark’s Restaurant. Boat Slip upon availability. Guide service available with Capt Keith Gregory. Call Steve or Lydia at 361-983-4660 or 361-482-9095. Special winter rates available.

Your Ad Could Be Here! for rates call 361.785.3420 or email ads@tsfmag.com

TSFMAG.com | 103

GET THE CUTTING EDGE Bubba Blade Fillet Knife

Make incredibly accurate cuts with the Bubba Blade Fillet Knife, which features a straight-edge blade made of high-carbon stainless steel for strength and durability and is Teflon速 coated to prevent rusting and pitting. The textured non-slip handle is wrapped in synthetic rubber that stays sticky when wet.

Custom black sheath included.

RIGHT GIFTS. LOW PRICES. EVERYDAY!

M

www.sportsmanboats.com San Benito, TX 800.503.4044

www.coastlinemarine.net Seabrook, TX 281.291.0101

www.gcmboats.com Corpus Christi, TX 800.622.2449

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www.southaustinmarine.com Austin, TX 512.892.2432

The BEST Choice… Any Place, Anytime!

Introducing Shimano’s latest in comfortable and light weight footwear - the Shimano Evair Marine/Fishing shoes. The Evair are an ‘open’ style shoe, meaning they’re quick drying and allow your feet to breathe even in the hottest day time conditions. A non slip sole gives the wearer added confidence when navigating slippery decks.

361-992-2960

Shimano gives you more with the new Curado I series reels.

Now featuring the latest in Shimano fishing reel technology and offered in multiple gear ratios, Curado builds on its legacy as the ‘go to’ baitcasting reel for both fresh and saltwater action.

7613 SPID Corpus Christi, TX 78412 www.roysbait-tackle.com

Strength to withstand any situation, toughness to endure intense fight, durability to withstand the harshest conditions. Models for inshore use up to big-game size for Bluefin tuna.

The professional’s choice!

HEG Gearing developing incredible power and torque.

Available in multiple gear ratios to cover entire applications.

New modern compact design and appearance that ties in perfectly with new Cumara rods.

ROY’S Bait and Tackle Outfitters

To find a location near you, please visit us at www.speedystop.com

Tidal Corrections Location Calcasieu Pass, La. Sabine Bank Lighthouse Sabine Pass (jetty) Sabine Pass Mesquite Point Galveston Bay (S. jetty) Port Bolivar Texas City, Turning Basin Eagle Point Clear Lake Morgans Point Round Point, Trinity Bay Point Barrow, Trinity Bay Gilchrist, East Bay Jamaica Beach, Trinity Bay Christmas Point Galveston Pleasure Pier San Luis Pass Freeport Harbor

High -2:14 -1:46 -1:26 -1:00 -0:04 -0:39 +0:14 +0:33 +3:54 +6:05 +10:21 +10:39 +5:48 +3:16 +2:38 +2:39 +2:32 -0:09 -0:44

Low -1:24 -1:31 -1:31 -1:15 -0:25 -1:05 -0:06 +0:41 +4:15 +6:40 +5:19 +5:15 +4:43 +4:18 +3:31 +2:38 +2:33 +2:31 -0:09

For other locations, i.e. Port O’Connor, Port Aransas, Corpus Christi and Port Isabel please refer to the charts displayed below.

Please note that the tides listed in this table are for the Galveston Channel. The Tidal Corrections can be applied to the areas affected by the Galveston tide.

Minor Feeding Periods coincide with the moon on the horizon, and the last from 1.0 to 1.5 hrs after the moon rise or before moon set.

Major Feeding Periods are about 1.0 to 1.5 hrs either side of the moon directly overhead or underfoot.

Many variables encourage active feeding current flow (whether wind or tidal driven), changes in water temp & weather, moon phases, etc. Combine as many as possible for a better chance at an exceptional day. Find concentrations of bait set up during a good time frame, and enjoy the results.

Te x a s S a l t w a t e r F i s h i n g M a g a z i n e l

w w w. t e x a s s a l t w a t e r f i s h i n g m a g a z i n e . c o m