April 11, 2013
Island Moon
Angler’s Alley
Waypoint Marine
On the Rocks
The thing with the cool fronts however, is that it will bring north winds, which will cause the birds to fly to the ground and settle in trees, waiting for the southeast winds to come back and carry them north. This phenomenon is called a “fall-out”. Now, the birds don’t literally “fall” from the sky, but in some places it can seem like they do. They will amass in areas and voraciously forage around for food, as they just had a long flight, and have a long flight to go yet. This is one of the hardest times for these migrants.
will be lots of great birds to see. Dust off those binoculars and get out there.
Attracting Birds You can also entice these migrants to your yard for your own viewing pleasure from the comfort of your home. Most small warblers are attracted to large, old oak and mesquite trees, which abound in this area. Keep your eyes peeled if you have one of these trees. In addition, you can put out mealworms, bird seed, and oranges sliced in half to attract some of the most colorful of these birds. Most importantly, don’t forget to put those humming bird feeders out, and I mean PRONTO!
Water Temps The water temperature at Packery Channel shows to be in the mid 70’s on the incoming tide. Unfortunately, it looks like TCOON either removed the Bob Hall Pier monitoring station, or they have it down for maintenance. Water temp is 72 degrees at the Port Aransas station, and the Sargassum is starting to come in.
It’s really hard to be a migrant if you took off too late across the Gulf to get to the shore before the north winds hit. There will be lots of birds that won’t make it, and literally will collapse into the water within sight of land. It’s kind of morbid, but after this happens, you can typically find a lot of birds that will wash up at the beach over the next 4-5 days. Chupacabras have to eat too, though.
Jeff Wolda (new guide down the beach) reported that there were schools of menhaden with jacks and sharks following them around on the lower section of the beach. Spring time is really a great time to be down the beach, although you have to deal with the Sargassum, which makes throwing the long rods or shark fishing almost unbearable. The jetties are another option, as Jacob and Lauren “Paz” found out recently, as there are still some Spanish mackerel around. (picture by yours truly)
A Rigged Flight
Ranger Buzz
There will be a lot of birds that will become enticed by structure and land on some of the rigs offshore. This will likely be a death sentence, because there is no food or water on the rigs that can sustain these birds. Some make it away however, and the short break will give them enough strength to continue and complete their journey.
Speaking of the Seashore, I would like to give a shout out to our buddy Ranger Buzz, who sent us a link to the new VC (Visitors Center) webcam there at Malaquite. Now you don’t have to go down to the beach to see the conditions, you can just get online. Check it out at the bottom of the Parks’ homepage found at http://www. nps.gov/pais/index.htm
In any case, this is a great time of the year to see many species of birds. Places like Blucher Park downtown and Paradise Pond out in Port Aransas will be visited by almost more birders than birds at times it seems, LOL. But there
I’m still in the middle of trying to sell my skiff and get a bunch of other rats killed and things cleaned up. Another few weeks and I should be out in the sun, enjoying life On the Rocks again. We’ll see you out there.
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A 11
Island Fishing Adventures with Joey Farah
By Jay Gardner Literally as I sit here writing this, a cool front is moving through the area. These late season cool fronts are a cause for excitement for most birders. Migration is occurring right now, with many species and numbers of birds heading up from Mexico and South America on their way to various places in North America and Canada. The humming birds are on their way back from various Caribbean islands, South America, and the Yucatan peninsula flying directly across the Gulf of Mexico. Many fly at night, and during the day they will be a little higher up than you can see in order to take advantage of the southeast winds (flying down-wind).
By Joey Farah
Farah’s Fishing Adventures Out of Winter and Spring creeps up on you like a symphony of life on the water. Notes ring out from different directions calling us to areas close and far, and lead us to hunt fish with an orchestra of instrumental techniques and tackle. Being able to ring the tones to different fishing methods and matching them to the varied conditions will make your drag sing out with some songs of the happy fishermen. We have been switching gears mid-day and enjoying both fishing with live bait and lures as well as targeting different species of game fish during their peak feeding times. Using live bait on bottom rigs in “fish funnels” and along deep channels as well as drifting with popping corks over live shrimp have built some big boxes, limits, and good times. We strike string and bow to play the sounds of using artificial lures from the boat and on foot. Starting from the lower notes soft plastics precisely thrown into each sand pocket while stalking the shallows. When Trophy Trout look towards the surface your fishing adventures explode with frothing head shakes and tail slaps. Putting all of this together can lead you to some awesome Island Adventures.
Windy Days On the wind Windy WINDY days we start with live shrimp in deeper gravel areas putting the SMACK down on some big powerful drum, sheep head, and redfish. Everything eats shrimp so right now we are anchoring up in these 4 to 8ft deep areas where current funnels through the Intracoastal Canal or whipping around contours in the bottom out in the deep flats. The current wipes the bottom away and makes trenches like the deepest parts of Emmort’s Hole, the mouth of Baffin, the Land Cut, and the Intracoastal Canal from the JFK to Bird Island. The trout and redfish will be flowing along beside the hordes of shrimp migrating in the current. Covering more ground across the fast flats we have been drifting with the radio and finding pockets of fish along the steps of elevation running north and south in the Intracoastal and Baffin. Southeast winds have pushed us up to the rocks, sand bars, and shorelines where reds have been hanging out in 3ft of water. Shrimp and popping corks are so effective for all types of fish species you end up with a great mixed box. Live shrimp is always better than dead and is worth the extra effort to keep an air system. I’ve been adding some flash and smell to our popping cork set ups. Fish Bites are small colored natural pieces of “fish cloth” that you put on the hook. They will catch fish alone but will really light the bite on fire when combined with a live shrimp. Orange works well with reds and drum as it looks like the orange ends of a crab claw. Trout attack the green and white well.
Mama Trout Every time I’ve gotten away and picked along with soft plastics I’ve stuck a great trout in the last few weeks. With waders I coach my guys to attack the area in slow motion. Sneaking in like a sniper to “OFF” a BIG SMART MAMA TROUT. Slowly enter the area with a cross wind, not giving her a chance to hear or sence your foot steps or the mud from your path. Present your lures across her face as she looks ahead with the sun to her back. Watch the waves for skittish bait and single fish slicks that will pull you into her bedding area. She will be sitting in the spot that favors her most, and looking to eliminate perch and eels that will feed on the eggs she released. My Lime Norton
Sand Eel and those little LOGIC LURES have been plucked from many sand pockets by some territorial fat girl trout lately. The top water bite is best with at least a ten MPH wind on the water. Even drifting from the boat has yielded a good surface bite with long casts and the ability to cover lots of ground. Let the fish come to the lure when using big plugs.
Eva slammed the sheephead from Bob Hall pier this week. I think they liked the stripes on her shirt!
Land Cut Migrations of fish are at its peak right now as well as the spawning and birth of great numbers of every species in the bay. We ran down to the Land Cut this week with a 40mph wind pushing a flood of water from the south. We were there on the hunt for some Giant Trout entering the Baffin Bay area. With our first stop we stretched the lines with a few keeper specks and a drum or five. Our second spot was an old gas well pocket along the side of the Intracoastal. Shallow grass beds and sand spots littered the beach and glowed in the mid-morning sun. We slipped the anchor in from the bow and eased up along the side of the ditch. The first few drum were out deep but as things got settled we picked up a trout or two along the grass. My guest today cocked his head and peered into the mirrored surface like a heron. His eyes drew into the pockets between the grassy humps, a small group of baitfish flickered from the deeper open water and scattered into the shallows away from a slashing trout. The next cast landed high on the shallow shelf and with it a large fish bolted and boiled as she spooked in a circle and retreated over the edge. She came back from below and plucked the shrimp from the edge of the grass as Dale let his line drift just off the bank. The rod doubled back and she shot into the shallow water with white water splashing and frothy water came out from her gills. Her silver sides caught the sun and we could see her large spots as her tail slapped the water when she dove down towards the bottom. We scrambled to get the net and other lines out of the way. DALE’S HANDS WERE WHITE WITH GRIP AS SHE DOVE DEEP AND TRIED TO RIP THE HOOK FROM HER FLESH. Dale’s eyes blackened over like a Great White Shark just before the crimson tide fills the sea. As his back drew like an archer’s bow the rod bent and the hook flew out at him like a middle finger from a teenager’s hand. My heart sank as I reached for another bait. “Well, she is still out there!” Dale screams. A few casts later my Big Trout specialist rolled another bait just off the bank and again the rod rocked tip over and we watched as Dale kicked his heels up on the rail of the boat and reeled as the drag sang out. As the fish surfaced to our surprise it was not a drum but another big trout. I dove the net under her and swooped her into the boat. She looked into the man at the end of the line and I could see the odd connection between them. The Hunter and the Hunted, the dance of fate that brought them together would end on the dinner table. The Old Trophy Trout met her match that day along the water, sand, and dunes of the Great Wild Horse Desert. (private joke)
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