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Vance Zahorski is our cover angler. In his own words the jack crevalle he’s holding was, “A fish to remember, the most exciting I have ever caught from a kayak.” It all began with the fish nearly wrenching the rod from the holder when it grabbed his Gator spoon. Nearly spooled twice, Vance had to peddle the kayak furiously to retrieve line. He also remarked, “If you’ve never fished for big jack crevalle, you need to add it to your bucket list!”
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August Issue Highlights
DON’T LET AUGUST’S HEAT GET YOU DOWN!
Our sympathies go out to all who suffered the wrath of Hurricane Beryl. We thought we were in the crosshairs here between Seadrift and Port O’Connor, but that last minute jog took the worst of Beryl’s fury to our friends over at Sargent and Matagorda, and then toward Houston, with widespread flooding and power outages. The storm was very reminiscent of Claudette back in 2003, not only that it came in July, but also that it strengthened right before landfall. They’re still calling it a Category 1 storm, but you wouldn’t know it based on the aftermath. We love our coast, I guess the storms are just part of the price we must pay in order to live here. May God bless all who suffered.
August is an interesting if not somewhat challenging month for inshore fishing. Searing heat and little to no wind are the source of most all that’s good, and bad, this month. The good is that fish tend to be more concentrated in deeper bay waters. The bad is roasting in the boat while trying to take advantage. Personally, I much prefer to be in the water with
the fish, even if I have to wade up to my armpits. One of August’s greatest offerings is the mostly calm winds, which will hopefully provide lots of days when we can fish the gulf surf. There’s really nothing quite like it if you’re lucky to catch a flat day with favorable tides and solunar periods. Trolling for kingfish within sight of the beach can be a hoot, as is jigging for bull redfish at the jetties. Whichever program suits your fancy, get the family involved, be safe, and have fun.
We have a piece this month from our friends down at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute that I hope our readers will find interesting and informative. By now I’m sure everyone is aware of TPWD’s Stock Enhancement Programs; raising trout, redfish, and southern flounder in hatcheries for stocking in Texas bays. Well, the hatchery teams have had the trout and redfish figured out for several decades now, but the flounder present a unique set of challenges. One of these has been producing fingerlings with the greatest chance of surviving in the wild. The problem is called mal-pigmentation; a disappointing percentage end up with white spots on their dark sides instead of their full natural camouflage, which makes them vulnerable to predation. I will let you learn the rest of the story by reading it.
Yes, August can be a scorcher, but we have some excellent fishing opportunity this month. Get the family involved and get out there!
Is it Worth
When I was very young I would go fishing with my dad and his friend, Gary Heckendorn, in their 1976 model 16’ Ouachita Spirit 90. They had gone in together to buy it because neither one of them could afford the monthly payments on their own. Dad said that my mom and Gary’s wife, Loa, were pissed when they found out! I can remember drifting the back edge of the deep hole in Moses Lake while chunking 3/4-ounce gold Kastmaster spoons and Johnson Sprites at small redfish slicks that would pop up along a deep drop-off that was littered with clams and small black mussels. To be completely honest, dad and Gary had me rigged up with a popping cork and live shrimp while they chunked hardware. I was probably five or six years old at the time. I’ll never forget when my cork disappeared. “Daddy! I’ve got a fish! I’ve got a really big fish!” I begged him to help me reel it in but with some coaching, he made me do it myself. That big black drum gave my Zebco 202 a workout that morning. Two local fishing legends, my great Uncle BB Hillman and Gut Gutierrez had perfected the art of locating and catching those redfish. They were just as good at
the Cost?
STORY BY STEVE HILLMAN
catching trout. My dad is a phenomenal fisherman in his own right but I think he learned a great deal from those guys, too. I know I certainly did. As I got older I learned to listen more closely to how they did what they did as well as their incredible big trout stories. I remember when Uncle BB was no longer with us how much I regretted not asking him more questions about “the good ole days.” At the time I guess I figured everything would stay the same and the great fishing would last forever.
There was another morning when me, dad, and my pawpaw were in pawpaw’s old Renken drifting a mud flat along the ship channel at first light, throwing Kelly Wiggler shrimp tails (tout tails back then) and Bingos. I still have visions in my mind of that four pound trout going airborne as the sun barely broke the horizon and the distinct smell of watermelon in the air. I also remember almost crying because I lost that trout. As a youngster my emotions ran high when it came to fishing. There was so much satisfaction in landing a fish; but there was also unbelievable heartache when I didn’t. I don’t know how many solid specks we caught that morning and I had no clue what the limit was at the time. The numbers were irrelevant but the memories I made with my dad and my pawpaw are burned into my brain forever.
“Hey Captain, how many do you think we’ll catch today?” Me…”Hey! How about this sunrise? It’s majestic isn’t it?”
Around the beginning of my guiding career a young man from Idaho booked a two-day fly fishing trip with me for him and his dad. It was extremely windy the first day and success using fly rods proved to be challenging. I used my conventional rod and reel and had no problem catching trout and reds, however. I all but begged Kurt and his dad to come stand beside me so they could get in on the action but they seemed to be content keeping their distance despite their lackluster results. The wind gave us a break on the second day and the fishing was much better. Once again, however, they wouldn’t wade over when I was on fish. They caught some, but I was a bit perplexed and maybe even a little disappointed that they pretty much hung out away from me in their own little world.
At the end of our trip I pulled up to the marina and Kurt’s father was a little tired so he headed straight for the truck. Kurt handed me my check and said, “Captain Steve, I know that me and my dad could’ve caught more fish had we spent more time by your side or used conventional gear, but you need to know something. My dad has brain cancer and the doctors only give him a couple of more months to live. He started taking me fly fishing when I was a little boy and those memories are the ones I cherish the most. We got to relive some of those memories the past two days and I sincerely thank you for that. This may be the last time I get to fish with my dad.” I cried the entire way home that day.
Years ago, in a satirical video, comedian Jeff Foxworthy broke down the cost per pound of venison after calculating all of the expenses
Me with my 8 lb. black drum in July 1976. The smile says it all.
Daniel Lane had never fished before until our recent trip. He’s hooked for good after his stellar morning of catching!
Jonathan Fogle with a solid red on a recent trip.
Ryan Kiefer had the hot hand for solid trout on a recent catch and release trip.
Jonathan, Collin and Danny Fogle (dad) hadn’t fished together in five years. The fishing was awesome and the laughs we had and memories we made were priceless!
involved. It was absolutely hilarious when he arrived at his total cost of $162.00 per pound and said, “See honey! I’m providing the most expensive meat on the planet for you and the kids!” As humorous as this is, it’s true. I think he did that video around 20 years ago. Using today’s prices for hunting leases, deer feed, travel, processing, etc., it would probably be closer to $200.00 per pound. Anyone who claims that they’re hunting to provide meat for the family is either lying or just flat out lousy at math. Our ancestors from 12,000 years ago were huntergatherers. Let’s be honest. We just hunt for fun.
When our speckled trout limits for the entire Texas Coast were reduced (on March 26, 2024) from five fish to three per person I heard some folks talk about how it just wasn’t worth the cost to book a professional guide anymore. “It’s just not worth the money if we can only keep three trout.” I’ve said it many times, “If you’re hungry go to H-E-B!” I’ve never claimed to be a math wizard but if you’re booking a fishing trip for food then I’m pretty sure that math isn’t going to work. It doesn’t work at the current limits. It didn’t work when the limit was five or even when it was ten trout per angler. We don’t even have to consider the cost of booking a guide when proving that the math doesn’t work. Just look at what bay boats cost these days, then figure in insurance, storage, maintenance, etc. Most
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August Patterns
of us love to eat fresh trout (even at $60.00 per pound) but at the end of the day that’s not why we go fishing.
For those who are measuring the cost of a fishing trip in pounds of fillets you may want to rethink things. Throughout all of my years fishing and hunting I can honestly say that I’ve never needed venison, ducks or speckled trout to feed my family. Do I love to eat them? Absolutely! But what I really needed was to watch my little girl (who’s now twenty-two) catch her first trout and the beautiful smile that came across her face when she did. I needed that time spent in a deer blind with my dad when I was four years old and the day he taught me how to work a tout tail. I needed all of those days on the water helping others become better anglers. I needed their friendship and some of them needed mine. I needed to be humbled by a son and his father who chose to fish with me so they could relive their fondest memories together one last time. The math may not work but it’s worth the cost when you can see the true value.
STEVE HILLMAN
CONTACT
Steve Hillman is a full-time fishing guide on his home waters of Galveston Bay. Steve fishes the entire Galveston Bay Complex, wading and drifting for trout, redfish, and flounder using artificial lures.
Phone 4 09-256-7937
Email captsteve@hillmanguideservice.com
Web w ww.hillmanguideservice.com
Exploit
the Spoils
STORY BY KEVIN COCHRAN
Ecosystems generally exist in a somewhat tenuous state, so even subtle changes to aspects of their designs can carry consequences. Wildlife populations usually suffer when human beings alter natural landscapes. In the marine world, human alteration of ecosystems often involves people digging channels or erecting structures like jetties and dikes.
On the Texas coast, the development of residential neighborhoods along the edges of our bay systems has certainly created problems for marine organisms. For instance, digging canals on the inland sides of barrier islands has changed the designs of some of our bays, eventually by diminishing the amount of seagrass and sandbars which “protect” the interior of coves from the destructive effects of strong north winds. Over time, this can nearly eliminate coves and back-lakes as features, to the detriment of the creatures who thrive in these kinds of places.
Currently, state authorities implement plans intended to reverse the negative effects of developing canal-based sub-divisions on our barrier islands. This type of cycle has repeated itself many times over recent decades, because people regularly make changes to ecosystems without fully understanding the consequences of their actions. However, these truths don’t always apply. Sometimes, human alteration of a natural system provides benefits to local wildlife populations.
As a case in point, we might consider the benefits provided by two major man-made features of our inland waterways. In order for modern industries to flourish, boats and barges need to move around in our marine waters as freely and safely as possible. This necessitates the dredging and maintenance of deep ditches in the bays. Various kinds of corporate entities use two main types of ditches to efficiently transport goods by boat from place to place.
Deep channels connecting the Gulf to facilities lying alongshore in the uppermost parts of our bays allow ships to bring gigantic loads of goods into our ports from all over the globe. The intracoastal waterway generally facilitates moving materials on barges from state to state and across the border into Mexico. In addition to serving different industrial purposes, ship channels and the ICW vary in another significant way–ship channels are significantly deeper than the intracoastal waterway.
In order to create and maintain both these types of channels, the Corps of Engineers regularly completes dredging operations. During these events, machinery digs material out of the bottom of the ditch and pipes it away from the depths, where it’s dumped back into the water, or onto an existing island. Over time, this process generates what we know as spoil islands, or spoil banks. Some spoils always have parts protruding from the water, while others always have some water covering their entire expanse.
The material comprising spoil banks varies from place to place.
On the Upper Coast of Texas, where our bays generally have lower salinity levels than on the Lower Coast, spoils often start off as muddy humps, but they can become covered with live oysters over time. In the Coastal Bend and in both Laguna Madres, spoil
banks often start off as sand bars, sometimes a mix of rocks and sand, and they generally become adorned with grass beds as time passes after their creation.
These evolving structural features provide at least two things which can prove beneficial to birds, fish and other creatures. Structural elements with shallow water and cover elements on the bottom in close proximity to water of greater depths offer feeding stations near places where fish can seek safety and comfort during extremely hot or cold weather. The grass beds and reefs associated with spoil banks attract all kinds of marine life, including numerous species of small critters, on which predators like speckled trout, redfish, flounder and other gamefish feed. Spoil banks protruding from the water attract birds, some of which use them as roosting sites, when they’re breeding. Conservation groups currently construct platforms which wading birds can use as nesting sites on some spoil islands. Aided by the absence of predators, other species of birds, including the threatened Black Skimmers, successfully nest right on the ground on these little oases. Some of these breeding birds won’t return to their nesting sites if spooked off them by intruders. In deference to the birds who depend on spoils for their survival, people should avoid beaching boats and walking around on the islands to throw cast nets for bait or to access wading spots. Many of the spoils recognized as most important to avian wildlife have signs surrounding them warning anglers to stay away.
Most of the time, walking around on the exposed parts of spoil banks proves counterproductive for anglers anyway. Spoils, like all other structural elements, generate sweet spots, or micro-spots, where fish often show up to feed and where anglers can expect to catch fish at a higher rate than in other places. In order to optimally target fish using these micro-spots, wading anglers usually benefit from staying off the shallowest portions of the spoils and casting toward them from the depths. This same truth obviously applies to boating anglers; the best plan for targeting fish on spoils from a boat involves using an anchor or trolling motor to keep the boat well away from the structure and casting toward it.
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Different types of spoils dictate different types of strategies, for those attempting to maximize their catch-rates. On the Upper Coast, spoils crusted with oysters often have subtle trenches in them, which funnel tidal currents and create enticing ripples in which predators actively feed. Anglers throwing lures upcurrent toward the cracks in the reefs and retrieving them down-current or at least cross-current normally succeed in getting more bites than folks who fish with less precise methods. Predatory fish often prowl around directly over the shell on spoils like these when tides reach high levels, while they retreat to the muddy edges of crunchy spoils when the tide drops out.
This same kind of scenario plays out on spoils in deep South Texas, ones comprised of a mix of sand, rocks and grass. On these kinds of spoils, especially in summer, trout and reds often pressure mullet into rafts over the shallowest crowns of the structures late at night, feasting on them actively soon after the sun rises. Later in the day, with the sun straight overhead, those same fish will move toward the edges of the spoils, where they loaf and feed less actively. Spoils in areas with minimal tidal movements, such as in the Upper Laguna Madre, still have micro-spots on them, usually related to the details of their design features and the way grass beds grow to adorn them. Many of these micro-spots lie on the side of the spoil most often exposed to the effects of the prevailing winds during the warm period, meaning on their eastern and southern sides.
This generalization relates to a broader one related to wind direction and structural elements. Most of the time, the windward side of a structure has better potential than the leeward side. Winds above about twenty knots can render this truth obsolete, but it holds true more often than not. On spoils with wide, grassy crowns, working the upwind side by walking in deeper water and making long casts toward the shallows often produces the best results. This pattern regularly plays out in spring and fall, with water temperatures at moderate levels and lots of trout and redfish feeding in depths of two feet or less.
Of course, anglers have no way to fish some of the spoil banks in the Lone Star State by wading. The spoil banks lying adjacent to the Galveston Ship Channel, for instance, vary in depths on their shallowest parts from about four feet to about nine or ten feet. In these places, anglers fishing out of boats do well targeting trout either with live croakers, or less often, by throwing soft plastics on heavy jigheads and working the lower parts of the water column. On some occasions, the trout in these locations pressure mullet to the surface in herds and become available to anglers tossing topwaters.
As a general rule, spoil banks lying close to ship channels produce better results in the summer, while those lying next to the ICW produce best in spring and fall. Spoils made of sand, rocks and grass tend to produce better in warmer weather, while those comprised of mud and shell produce better in cooler conditions. Across the board, the biggest trout caught around spoil banks often come from portions of them covered by the shallowest water, regardless of the type of material comprising them or the depths of the water in the ditch close to them, and assuming the prevailing conditions favor the trout using shallow water to feed.
Most accomplished trophy trout anglers target fish in shallower water than others, whether they’re fishing spoils or not. Many of the state’s top trout hunters do recognize spoil banks as structural elements with tremendous potential to attract and hold big trout, from the LLM all the way to Sabine Lake. Undoubtedly, these man-made features prove advantageous not only to the people of Texas, but also to our fish, birds and other forms of wildlife.
KEVIN COCHRAN
Kevin Cochran is a long-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.
T ROUT TRACKER GUIDE SERVICE
Phone 361-688-3714
Email kevincochran404@yahoo.com Web www.captainkevblogs.com
This fat trout bit Jerome Bump’s soft plastic in water less than a foot deep atop a spoil bank in April.
Jason King caught this supremely colorful 30-inch trout on a spoil in the Upper Laguna Madre.
The surprisingly solid flounder bite is putting smiles on angler’s faces…just ask Tab Haley.
Mixed Emotions
STORY BY CHUCK UZZLE
Okay, so here’s your fair warning. If you are not in the mood for a soapbox sermon you may want to turn the page; I’ve got something I need to get off my chest. One of the best things that ever happened to both this magazine and me personally was when Everett and Pam Johnson took over and began to be such a great voice for Texas saltwater fishermen. I am proud to say that I am the longest tenured writer in TSFMag and that I consider Everett and Pam great friends. In the early days it was really difficult for Everett to wrap his head around some of the things that went on in my part of the world, specifically the “meat haul mentality” that seems to be more prevalent the closer you get to the Texas-Louisiana state line. I would do my best to explain how things worked over here, and Everett was just blown away by some of it. We have had some great conversations on a variety of those topics and I honestly can say we have never had a cross word or even a heated discussion when we didn’t quite agree. Several weeks ago we had one of those conversations concerning the new speckled trout regulations and I expressed both my displeasure and fears about the upcoming changes and I’m sad to say that everything I thought might happen has become reality.
When Texas decided to enact a coastwide three fish daily bag limit for speckled trout earlier this year, based on declining populations in middle and lower coast bay systems, I knew we were destined for problems here on Sabine. I hate to say this but we are not the middle and lower coast. I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that when the limits changed in Texas there would be exponentially more people willing to take the necessary steps to begin fishing from the Louisiana side of Sabine and keeping the more liberal Louisiana limits. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or even somebody who slept in a Holiday Inn Express to see what’s going on now. All one has to do is make a pass by the boat launches on both sides of the border and count boat trailers with Texas plates to see the extent of it. Changing the limit from five to three fish was the tipping point. Instead of Texas anglers launching from our side and keeping five trout as they have been doing for several years, they are now buying Louisiana licenses and putting in over there… and likely keeping fifteen trout every chance they can. All I can say is God help our fishery!
Now, I’ll take a deep breath and move along to happier subjects, such as how Sabine is beginning to shape up for the summer months.
At the present time Sabine is really coming along nicely and the trout bite has been steady. Some of our most tried and true patterns from the past have been resurrected and are paying dividends. The ship channel, jetties, and beachfront have all been great choices for those willing to get there early. The early risers have long been the beneficiaries of the pre-dawn bite that takes place on the south end of Sabine, especially at the jetties. The folks in the Dawn Patrol have been taking advantage of a great bite and cooler temperatures, as well as calmer conditions, which is a fantastic trifecta. The topwater
and swimbait bite along the jetties before sunrise can be magical at times, especially on incoming tides. For whatever reason the trout down there seem to be wired differently, they are just wild. The strikes seem to be more aggressive when you probe the rocks, and that adds to the mystique of that area because you never know what’s going to show up down there.
The upper end of Sabine has shown increasing signs of life, in particular from the redfish. There was a fantastic bite when the brown shrimp made their way out of the marsh but that has slowed somewhat. There are still good numbers of redfish patrolling the east side of the lake and they are more than willing to eat. Soft plastics under a rattling cork along with 4-inch soft plastics on lighter jig heads have been doing the majority of the work lately. A few folks are also doing well on shallow running crankbaits and spinnerbaits. The trout bite has been slowly improving on the north end and looks to be getting stronger as the deluge of freshwater from early spring rains has finally subsided. Hopefully as the salinity continues to improve we will see more and better trout on this end of the lake.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the summer so far has been the steady flounder bite. The folks running the marsh drains have been really doing a number on the flatfish and that’s nothing but a bonus during this time of year. I have yet to see any really big flounder but the number of Texas-legal keepers has been impressive. If these fish get a chance to make one more year without falling to a Louisiana limit or some other force of nature it would be a bright spot going forward. As we head into the brunt of the summer months look for the pattern on the south end of Sabine to continue to be the bell cow and
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everything else will follow. If the water conditions improve you can bet the fish will follow as far as the salinity will let them. At some point the big pogies will emerge and you be assured that the big schools of redfish will be shadowing them. Very few things are as impressive as rolling up on a big school of redfish on a feeding rampage, it’s like nothing you have ever seen. There will be some honest 40-inchers and larger redfish running around so be prepared.
As for the trout, it’s a toss up as to what happens this year. Sabine has been on a comeback trail and all signs point toward the positive, so I’ll cross my fingers and hope for that trend to continue. Look for the big schools of shad and stay with them because the trout won’t be far behind. Slicks and bird activity will be the name of the game and the angler who can decipher the good from the bad under these conditions will most certainly prosper. Be prepared to run through your fair share of gafftop if you chase the big rafts of shad, it’s the cost of doing business during the summer, but its 100% worth it when the more desirable species decide to show up.
As always, be prepared for the heat, and if you get an opportunity please take a kid fishing. Share the outdoors with others and be a good steward of the resources because nobody understands how important this ecosystem is like those of us who routinely enjoy it.
CHUCK UZZLE
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 409-697-6111
Email wakesndrakes@yahoo.com
Website wakesndrakes.com
Boat launch parking lots on the Louisiana side of Sabine are now packed with rigs bearing Texas license plates while our side is a ghost town.
Slow-rolled spinnerbaits and shallowrunning crankbaits have been producing plenty of redfish strikes along marsh drains.
Solid trout, like this one landed by Jane Haley, should continue to be consistent along the jetties and beachfront as we head deeper into summer.
Bad Luck Bananas
Approaching a cargo/ passenger vessel headed downriver in Honduras.
Bananas
STORY BY JOE RICHARD
For years, we heard the old wives tale about bananas being bad luck on boats, and I decided to research why. The myth goes back at least two centuries, when these tasty fruits were shipped up from Central America to a hungry market in America. Back then, bad things sometimes happened to ships and crews hauling this produce, which I will detail below. How this bad luck translates to today’s fishing trips is a mystery, however. I’ve read that people can impose the “bad luck” symbol on just about anything, like black cats or walking under ladders. Just as they create good luck items like the rabbit’s foot. (Which was bad luck for rabbits.)
Fliers in World War II lived on the edge and carried all manner of good luck charms, which gave peace of mind and helped most of them get through dangerous times. In contrast with those guys, fishing the bays or offshore today is pure fun and gravy, although the occasional boat can still run out of luck. I write this after fishing offshore since 1968, knowing not everyone is comfortable venturing out beyond sight of land. Maybe newcomers really can use a good luck charm out there. Or at least avoid bananas that fishermen still consider bad luck juju.
I first head about this banana thing when I started fishing out of B-dock at Galveston Yacht Basin, during the big kingfish tournaments in the early 1980s. Where successful business owners with big boats kept a wary eye out for bananas. Charterboat captains, too. Meanwhile back in Port Arthur during my first 15 years of fishing, bananas were never even mentioned and people snapper-fished in small boats in those days. The biggest boat in the county was a 23-foot Formula owned by a doctor.
In Galveston it was a different story. One captain cautioned that on one trip, he’d allowed bananas on the boat and lightning struck, knocking out their electronics. (No injuries, though.) A Hatteras owner admitted that the night before a billfish tournament, he’d carried a box of bananas up and down the dock, tossing one in every boat except his. Just to mess with people. We do know you need a winning attitude to catch big fish in tournaments, and playing psychological tricks on the competition may lend an advantage.
My family never worried about bananas. There’s this old picture of my dad in 1954 buying bananas in Honduras for the research vessel he worked on, right there in what has long been called a Banana Republic. His crew wasn’t fishing much, but often spent a month at sea.
Many years later, again in Honduras, eldest son Ian and I bought a 25-pound bunch of bananas in mid-river straight onto our boat. That surely could have brought us bad luck in those environs, but nothing happened. The banana boat’s crew looked none too friendly; it was one of those “Sampan off the port bow!” moments. Our guide, half Scot and half Honduran, demanded a bunch of bananas for our fish camp and paid the other boat
some paltry amount. I always wondered what might have been hidden beneath that cargo of bananas. One glance at their faces, and it must have been interesting.
Later that same day, loaded with more bananas than any Galveston boat could dream of, or have nightmares about, we had steady action on fish. That trip yielded us an estimated 75 snook, assorted jacks and one jumping tarpon. Casting or trolling Rattletrap lures along the shorelines was the favorite lure in those waters. We were 40 miles from the nearest (Indian) village, in flooded jungle country with numerous backwaters offering cover for those hauling cargo not…entirely legal. (You can’t be too careful around those sorts.) On the flight home, two guys who were trying to start a protective biosphere for jaguars said they’d motored up the wrong jungle creek, stumbling into a go-fast boat parked under the trees. There were scowling faces aboard. The biosphere guys turned their boat around in record time and left, spurred on by a burst of automatic fire that soared harmlessly overhead. Not sure if they carried bananas that day; it would have been impertinent to ask.
Our big bunch of bananas had no negative effect on the trip. They might have brought us good luck, because there were plenty of chances for things to go south, so to speak. Like rainwater leaking into the old Czech-built 20-passenger plane with Russian Cyrillic writing, the captain flying with one hand while wiping his windshield with a red rag from a gas station. The plane leaked. Ian, napping behind me, woke up with his back soaking wet. Flying across 200 miles of trees and marsh, then landing at an Indian village on a muddy airstrip with palm frond shacks lining the runway. Just before noon, when more serious, high-
Time to buy fresh bananas.
Catching saltwater fish with a load of bananas on the boat.
My dad in 1954, buying bananas in Honduras for his research vessel.
altitude thunderstorms typically arrive. Quite a test for bananas. You see the locals there eat bananas every day, and they probably don’t blame freak accidents on their favorite fruit. Like the 20-year old woman who had a big tarpon free-jump into her panga, breaking her neck. Which is seriously bad luck. That boat wasn’t hauling bananas that I know of, only people and luggage out to a ship waiting in the Caribbean.
With that said, when fishing the Gulf of Mexico, I still play it safe by avoiding bananas in the boat. They’re okay inside you, since they’re the perfect snack full of potassium for regulating body heat during hot weather. If I find a banana on the boat, I urge someone to eat it now. And throw the peeling overboard.
Historical Reasons for Avoiding Bananas on a Boat:
>Banana boats had a shallow draft for collecting bananas upriver. They would then speed to market before their cargo could spoil. This sometimes produced shipwrecks. Often, the only wreckage found was floating bananas. No survivors, no ship, only bananas. Easy to blame and accuse.
>Banana bunches house jungle critters like spiders and snakes. If a crewman was bitten by a viper or worse, a dreaded fer-de-lance, proper treatment was impossible and the afflicted often had a short lease on life. This helped give banana boats a bad name.
>Banana boats traveled faster than many ships, too fast to troll for fresh fish. In the old days it was common to keep a hand line behind the boat, often baited with a white rag coated with lard. This provided fresh fish on a long voyage, but not so if the boat was
cruising at 12-15 knots. Except for an occasional wahoo.
>Bananas give off ethylene gas, which causes other nearby fruits to age quickly and spoil. That was impossible to detect in the old days, and the sailors were left with a spoiled cargo and bananas to blame.
>Sailors slipping on a banana peel carelessly left on a hard, wooden deck could be injured, which was more bad luck.
>Bananas are sticky and give off a scent that might have scared off fish from biting, though that sounds pretty sketchy. Hungry fish will surely overlook banana scent, and that can easily be proven by rubbing a banana all over cut bait, next time you go snapper fishing.
Banana companies also have a sketchy history manipulating foreign governments in Central America, which was bad luck for some people, but that’s another story.
JOE RICHARD
CONTACT
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. Available at Seafavorites.com
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Molecular Pathways Leading to Malpigmentation in Flounder: Part One of Three
STORY BY AMANDA JACOBY PHOTOS COURTESY OF UT MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
It’s no longer unexpected to hear about the decline of the Southern Flounder populations, as the imposition of bag limits and size restrictions conspicuously illustrates the severity of the fisheries’ downturn.
The University of Texas Marine Science Institute’s Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory (FAML) has been at the forefront of Southern Flounder research since the first-ever captive Southern Flounder spawn in 1978. Protocols introduced by FAML and other research institutions for mass rearing of larvae of this species have been implemented by hatchery facilities in various states. The Stock Enhancement Program led by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is one of them, working to recover wild Southern Flounder populations across the Texas coast. Stock enhancement programs support the natural supply of flounder to rebuild the declining flounder populations. TPWD fish hatcheries are actively involved in helping jumpstart the recovery process by supplementing hatchery fish with wild populations. Despite the program’s diligent endeavors, the success of a stock enhancement program is dependent on not only the number of fish reared and released, but also the survival of the stocked fish.
TPWD is continually looking to improve their methods to provide the stocked fish with the best chance for survival. One of the problems that have plagued flatfish produced by hatcheries is malpigmentation. Flatfish species, from flounder to halibut, sole, and tongue sole possess pigmentation that matches their surroundings to avoid predators and increase their survival. Flounder produced in hatcheries can have a notably high rate of malpigmentation, the most common form is pseudo-albinism, where the upper or eyed side of the flounder lacks most pigmentation so that it is white. Pseudo-albinism does not show up until around metamorphosis, which can be a month after hatching and after a substantial amount of resources are used for producing the fish. TPWD is activity working with the University of Texas Marine Science Institute to not only figure out the causes of pseudo-albinism, but also a mechanism for earlier detection. This collaboration should prove valuable because TPWD has seen malpigmentation rates up to 30% in hatchery-reared Southern Flounder. Intriguingly, only about 10% of FAML-raised flounder have pseudo-albino characteristics. In the wild, instances of malpigmentation remain undocumented, largely because predators quickly pick off prey that visibly stand out. Hatchery-reared flounder with malpigmentation experience lower survival rates compared to those with normal pigmentation. For this reason, corrective actions to reduce the incidence of malpigmentation within stock enhancement programs are imperative for the fate of Southern Flounder.
New preliminary data suggested that broodstock diet may play an important role in determining adult pigmentation. In collaboration with TPWD, Dr. Lee Fuiman, the Director of FAML, conducted a study through a grant provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine if the high malpigmentation rates are caused by maternal diet. To test this, researchers divided Southern Flounder broodstock into two groups, with each group being fed a maturation diet consisting of either sardines or shrimp. A combination of both diets is a common practice for marine fish culture; however, researchers tested the two diet extremes to observe if malpigmentation is influenced by broodstock diet.
Researchers selected six key genes in pigment cell development to study. This was undertaken to identify the physiological pathway that might be affected and to pinpoint precisely when during development malpigmentation genes are expressed. Understanding which genes are involved in pigmentation and when should help researchers develop an earlier detection method and possibly develop corrective measures. Broodstock spawns were collected and measured at three developmental stages: premetamorphosis (27 days posthatching [dph]), mid-metamorphosis (34 dph), and post-metamorphosis (55 dph). At these stages, the little fish are between one-quarter and one-half an inch long. The expression of the genes was compared to the malpigmentation rates for the batches of fish produced.
As it turns out, the experiments produced low malpigmentation rates, between 1 and 15%, in the juvenile fish for both broodstock diets. While the diet did not provide a silver bullet answer, the genetic testing did provide valuable insight. Results from the pre-metamorphosis stage provided little information about which genes were involved. However, upon testing the midmetamorphosis stage, three of the six indicator genes were lower
Image of pseudo-albino Southern Flounder that is lacking in pigment. Credit: Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory at UTMSI.
Larval flounder assessment conducted by Dr. Lee Fuiman to capture images and size measurements. Credit: Amanda Jacoby, UTMSI.
Images of juvenile southern flounder exhibiting normal pigmentation and malpigmentation. Credit: Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory at UTMSI.
when the malpigmentation rate was higher. Two of these genes showed the same differences between normally pigmented and pseudo-albino postmetamorphosis fish, confirming the results seen in the earlier midmetamorphosis stage.
Even though the malpigmentation rates were low, the results suggest that the two genes may serve as useful indicators of malpigmentation in Southern Flounder, and that those indicators can be applied as early as 34 dph. To confirm the utility of these genes as true indicators, the researchers at FAML need to look to other hatcheries that produce fish with high malpigmentation rates. Collaborating with Hubbs-SeaWorld
Research Institute (HSWRI) provided just the partnership needed. HSWRI rears California Halibut, a species very closely related to the Southern Flounder. At HSWRI, hatcheryproduced halibut exhibit rates of 40% to almost 100% malpigmentation! With such high rates, researchers aim to crossreference the expression levels with the same genes in the flounder to determine if the genes are useful early indicators of malpigmentation. With the spotlight now on genetic screening as a possible tool in flounder conservation, the research opens new avenues for mitigating malpigmentation in commercial and stock enhancement culture of flatfish.
Image of larval southern flounder 34 days after hatching. The point at which researcher were able to pinpoint when pigment genes started the pigmentation process. Credit: Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory at UTMSI.
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A red snapper floating on the surface from barotrauma.
Return ‘Em Right A Collective Drive to Tackle Barotrauma
STORY & PHOTOS BY NICK HADDAD
APush for Better Releases
Most avid offshore anglers have heard a lot of chatter about venting tools, descending devices and maybe even Return ‘Em Right over the last couple of years. Return ‘Em Right is a program that launched in May of 2022 to provide anglers with free training and release gear to improve survival of reef fish, such as snapper and grouper, that are suffering from barotrauma. Barotrauma is a pressure-related injury that fish experience when reeled from depth. As a fish is pulled to the surface, gasses expand internally and displace organs often leaving them bloated and unable to return to depth on their own.
But why is there a continued push for offshore anglers to adopt best release practices, such as the use of descending devices? Simply put, there are a lot of anglers fishing offshore and a lot of fish being released due to stricter regulations. This means a small improvement in survival rates can lead to great benefits for the resource. Additionally, there is a need for it. In 2021, only one-third of offshore reef fish anglers in the Gulf of Mexico were aware of descending devices, and less than half of those had ever used one. A huge gap exists in the knowledge and awareness of a practice that significantly benefits both anglers and the resource.
The Role of Return ‘Em Right
Getting fish back to the bottom that are impacted from barotrauma can be difficult at times for both novice and experienced anglers. Return ‘Em Right serves as a resource to improve anglers’ experiences with release gear, leading to higher survival of released fish. The program provides anglers with both the knowledge and gear, for free, to return fish back to depth. After all, none of us enjoy seeing a bunch of fish float off after release.
Return ‘Em Right offers a short 15-minute online training on barotrauma and best release practices, then ships eligible anglers a $100 package of release gear, particularly descending devices, for free. Yes, you heard that right; it’s completely free! The program provides descending devices to help overcome the knowledge and awareness gap of the utility of such devices, and to promote a practice that works more reliably than venting. Venting, or inserting a hollow needle into the body cavity of a fish, has been the primary method of release for the last couple of decades. Despite best efforts to return fish to depth, every avid offshore angler has had venting fail. If even the most experienced anglers struggle with venting at times, imagine the success rate of novice anglers. Descending devices take the error out of the venting process and are easier to use for many anglers who aren’t confident in their venting skills.
In addition to providing free gear, Return ‘Em Right aims to build a community of anglers that support better releases offshore. Gone are the days of hanging tarpon from the dock, taking billfish out of the water, and even holding trout out of the water too long prior to release. The conservation ethic of anglers has taken hold in most fisheries, but offshore bottom fishing is lagging behind. It takes a collective drive to ensure a future where a string of fish floating off behind the boat is no longer the norm or accepted in the angling community.
Return ‘Em Right - Response from the Community
The Return ‘Em Right program has been supporting Gulf fishermen for just over 2 years. Let’s dive into an update from the program and hear from the community that supports it. The n-value indicates the number of anglers that responded to each question on a follow up-survey delivered to program participants.
• Over 35,000 offshore anglers, including 1,200 for-hire captains, that fish for reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico have completed the online education module and received free release gear. Of those completions, approximately 3,000 fish in Texas.
Tom Rowland and Nick Haddad discussing barotrauma on Saltwater Experience television show.
Frequency map showing anglers who completed the Return ‘Em Right education module. Each dot indicates the zip code packages of gear were shipped to.
A package of release gear from Return ‘Em Right. Pictured is a standard SeaQualizer pre-rigged to a 3-pound weight.
• 93% of participating anglers are extremely satisfied with the package of gear they received (n=3191). This package includes a standard SeaQualizer descending device pre-rigged to a 3-pound weight and a 3-way swivel, and an inverted hook descending device. The package does not include a venting tool as they are more readily available to anglers at local tackle shops.
• Anglers’ release preference is beginning to shift away from venting towards using descending devices. After trying the devices included in the package, 83% of anglers prefer to use descending devices (71% SeaQualizer, 12% SeaYaLater), while only 14% still prefer a venting tool (n=2348).
• 94% of anglers reported having no issues using the release gear. Of the 6% that had issues, the most common was having either too much or too little weight. (n=2709). Anglers can easily add or remove weight to accommodate the size fish they are releasing. In general, 1-pound
of weight will return up to 5-pounds of fish back to depth.
• 51% of anglers were extremely likely to buy fishing descending devices on their own, while only 1% were extremely unlikely to. A quarter of anglers reported already purchasing descending devices (n=1179). There are many commercially available descending devices on the market or you can even make them at home yourself. Prices range from $10-60 depending on style.
Be a Leader in Conservation
Despite initial success, a tremendous positive response from the fishing community, and requests for expansion of Return ‘Em Right, there is a lot more work to do in the Gulf of Mexico. With hundreds of thousands of recreational anglers fishing offshore in the Gulf, the program has barely scratched the surface in reaching a significant proportion of the fishing community. Return ‘Em Right plans to continue to be a resource to anglers Gulf-wide and further promote better releases offshore.
If you fish offshore and haven’t yet taken the quick training to receive free gear, check it out at returnemright.org. If you don’t fish offshore, share the program with your fishing network to continue to promote conservation and prevent waste in our fisheries. If any marine businesses, podcasts, fishing shows, tackle shops or others want to promote conservation offshore, reach out to Return ‘Em Right at info@returnemright.org. As anglers, we’re all in this together to keep our resources healthy so our kids and grandkids can enjoy the fishing we are lucky enough to experience. Don’t let today be the good old days!
A red snapper attached to a SeaQualizer descending device.
Commercially available descending devices include the SeaQualizer, SeaYaLater, Roy’s Fish Saver, Shelton Fish Descender, FishSaverPro and more.
Alexandra Spring releasing a red snapper on a SeaQualizer descending device with 2-pounds of weight attached. Smaller fish require less weight to release and will be less work to reel back up.
ASK THE PRO
TOUGH CONDITIONS MAKE US BETTER FISHERMEN
The summer pattern has truly set in. Afternoon water temperatures have reached 90° on multiple occasions recently. If you’re not already aware, I have a love-hate relationship with summertime trout fishing as it is the most difficult time of year for me to stay on quality trout.
I often mention working deeper waters that lie adjacent to early morning and nighttime feeding areas. It stands to reason that once bay waters reach the upper-80s to 90s, speckled trout would start seeking cooler water temperatures for feeding as well as just staying alive. In extremely hot water, the effort to simply keep enough water moving through their gills would seem laborsome, so no surprise that they just lie low with everything in neutral as they wait out the heat.
As I write this month’s article, Tropical Storm Alberto is churning in the southern gulf and headed toward Mexico. Our weather experts are calling for a 3-to-4foot storm surge and as much as 8 inches of rain. We definitely need the rain and the tides, whichever way they end up being. Rain and a good tidal flush is always welcome this time of year.
I look for shoreline coves or large pockets of water with heavy to broken grass bottoms that lie in close proximity to deeper water. Deep might only be 3- to
5-feet, depending where we are in the bay system. It is important to understand that in my experience trout will not stray too far from a stable food source and preferred bottom structure. It is just not cost effective to have to travel very far to feed.
The drop-offs that border such shallow coves and pockets typically have little to no bottom structure. Even the smallest amount of bottom grass or scattered shell can therefore concentrate numbers of trout in the area. The way I see it, the more eyes and mouths looking at the lure the better our odds of having one of them pick it up.
I preach constantly that we must be of the mindset that we can make them eat when they don’t really want or perhaps need to eat. I wholeheartedly believe I can make that happen if I can get the right lure in front of them. That “right lure” thing can be a problem at times, but over my years of guiding I have come up with a select group of lures that I feel provide anglers the best opportunity of getting bit under these circumstances. I’ll touch on this later.
Confidence coupled with patience rules the success equation this time of year. A single bite, one that might not even result in a hook-up, tells us plenty
Tropical Storm Alberto in the early stages.
Alberto’s storm tide raging in Aransas Bay.
$1,000
$750 Trout Table
$500 Flounder
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and reinforces one’s confidence. The bite tells us of the depth the fish are holding in and also their aggression level. It also identifies that invisible line that you hear experienced trout anglers talk about so often. All of this intel allows the angler to basically fine tune the cast and the presentation.
Just today around noon, we found water temperatures of 88° on a shallow flat. The wind was blowing from the southeast at about 15 mph. Due to the lower tide, the wind had created sandy to near-dirty water color in the 3- to 5-foot depths. We had a steady bite on some decent trout while slowly dusting a MirrOlure Lil John XL along the bottom. I had to explain to my group how I wanted them to line up and crab along the line along which we were receiving bites.
Any type of bite should stop you in your tracks. You want to make multiple casts to the area where the bite was received. I often find that the fish will be holding along a very specific line. Remember that if it’s the water depth that is holding them, those depths can vary along shoreline drop-offs, something we must be continuously be aware of. Many times depth changes can be noted by the color of the water. Darker green means deeper in most cases. Quality polarized glasses makes the job easier and Jay Ray and I are now wearing the new Water Land brand of sunglasses. The frames are light, and the lenses are ultra-clear, with both polycarbonate and glass lenses available. Believe me when I say you are handicapping yourself with cheap eyewear.
Once I establish a line that I believe in, I get my guys arranged at a slight angle to that line. The lead angler must concentrate and bend his cast a little more crosswind than the guys that are staggered behind him. Imagine the stagger sequence on a running track and the staggered positioning of the runners. I like my anglers in a similar set up. Depending on the distance of shoreline and the flat area available will determine the number of waders you can arrange properly in this situation. If the setup is not right, there will be someone that is not able to cast
to the proper line. If you do it right, though, everyone is able to place their casts in the proper area, resulting in a more productive wade and the ability of the group to stay with the bite.
In a previous paragraph I used the term “dusting” when referring to the action that we were imparting to the lure. In the accompanying video I demonstrated this as best I could. Dusting is literally dusting, meaning that I am just barely tickling the bottom with my lure, adding a quick and sharp twitch occasionally. I add the sharp upward twitch to aid in making the lure react as it would if a predator was in pursuit.
In my mind, I imagine that the trout is slowing following the lure, and then when I give it a sharp twitch, the trout perceives this as a reaction to her presence and she picks it up. This is a technique I use throughout the year and is put into play during non-feeding periods, especially with extreme hot and cold water temperatures.
Right now I am throwing mostly MirrOlure Lil John and Lil John XL plastics and the Texas Customs Double D lures. These two lures provide not only feeding strikes, but also reaction strikes during periods when the trout are not actively feeding. You don’t always have to catch them, just the fact that they react and show themselves by something as slight as just bumping the lure can be enough to get the ball rolling on finding out what they will eat.
Our water is clear more often than not, so I am staying with basic clear-water bait colors, which to me are Bone Diamond, Pistachio, Cajun Croaker, Opening Night, Watermelon Red Glitter, Golden Bream, and Clear Gold and Red Glitter. With the Double D, I still like Pearl Harbor, Plum Nasty, Truth, and Sea Grass in the cleaner waters. When we have stained or dirty water, I will go to soft plastic colors like June Bug, Purple Demon, Chicken, Morning Glory or Root Beer. White Pearl is also a good color in dirty water. I seldom throw anything but a 1/16 ounce jighead but in deeper water, where we need the lure to fall quicker,
Michael Kafka enjoying an early morning bite.
The calm that followed after the storm.
an 1/8 or even a 1/4 ounce jig works better. I remember my very first batch of screw-lock jigs made by Terry Oldham were 1/4 ounce on 3/0 hooks. Caught tons of fish on the plastics of the day with that set up. My Double D colors for the dirty stuff are Gringo, Black Copper Dog, Crown Royal, Double Bubble and Pearl Harbor.
I am seeing a slight increase in the quality of the trout I am catching. We are still a very long way from being back to where we were prior to the ’21 freeze, but I am seeing some decent numbers of what I call recruitment age trout. I try and not target these fish as I believe the mortality rate is higher on the smaller fish.
Dolphins remain a problem and dealing with them is frustrating. The best remedy is to just leave the area when they start showing signs of aggression. Aggression is not towards us but the trout or redfish you have on your line or stringer.
I had a dolphin follow me around the fingers of Carlos a few days ago while I was carrying a redfish on a stringer back to the boat for a client. She or he literally followed me from finger to finger. I’d walk across the finger and it would swim around the point and meet me on the other side. Brilliant they are, and I believe becoming a bit
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lazy. Zero answer to this growing problem so we just must learn to deal with it. A floating basket or bait-saver bag works in preventing them from eating your released fish, but remember that you can legally only have three trout 15- to 20-inches in your possession.
I can’t wait for cooler weather, and we are just now getting started with the hotter weather patterns. It seems it is hotter every year, but I know that it’s just my age showing and I cannot handle summer heat the way I once could. I am a believer that periods of tough catching ultimately make us better trout fishermen. When we are forced to the point where every cast must be a cast with purpose, and every twitch of the rod tip must produce the proper action on the lure, and we reach a level where we can repeat this action with each cast, we simply get better. Getting better produces more strikes, which in turn furthers our fishing education on the where, when, how, and why of fishing.
May Your Fishing Always Be Catching -Guide, Jay Watkins
Jay Watkins has been a full-time fishing guide at Rockport, TX, for more than 45 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 361-729-9596
Email Jay@jaywatkins.com
Website www.jaywatkins.com
TRULY LEARNING AN AREA
Not long ago I was asked to be a guest speaker for a new chapter of Salt Strong in our area. I quickly agreed because I knew that the club was formed to share fishing information and help people that are getting into the sport. Urging and wanting others to get involved in the fishing world can be nothing but a good thing. That and a little bit of general knowledge of a water body can go a long ways.
When preparing for my talk I compiled a list of all the things that comprise my normal day of fishing. Some of these things were what lures to use, areas I target, and what to look for when I stop to fish. All of these are important aspects but I feel that my closing remarks were the most important. I told the group that if you want to be a better fisherman, you should pick a spot or two and fish them repeatedly for the rest of the year. You should make special efforts to fish these areas during the spring, summer, fall, and winter. On days with high tide, low tide, windy days, overcast and sunny days. Also, along with fishing in pretty much every possible weather and water condition, you should try to fish every square inch to fully understand every structural feature. By doing this you can learn where every oyster patch, hump, deep
hole, and drain lies and how fish are attracted to each individual feature.
Perhaps the single most important thing I have learned over the years is that not every spot in a body of water will hold fish on a consistent basis; there is a lot more dead or unproductive water that one would think. Sure you might catch a fish or two in a certain area but that does not mean that it is an area that fish tend to seek out. For example, in our area we have Texas Bayou which is a large bayou that runs through the marsh. It’s course is carved through the land with a few different paths an angler can take. This area is a great place because no matter what, I can go there and manage to salvage an otherwise slow day of fishing. No matter the time of the year, there are always fish to be caught there. There are, however, many of what I term “fishless” areas within the bayou.
There is a secret though to finding fish in the bayou and that is to know where the oyster reefs are located. I had brought this up in my talk and the question then came up of where or how do you find these reefs. I tried my best to answer without sounding like a jerk but my reply is to tie on a 1/2-ounce jighead and throw it until
DAVE ROBERTS SHALLOW WATER FISHING
you get hung up. That might not be the answer they were looking for but that is exactly how I found every reef in that area. I guess you could say I practically found them by mistake. Once figuring out where the reefs are, I knew to work my lure a little faster and this is when I began to catch fish. When it comes to fishing the bayou and the dozens of days spent on it, I have fished nearly every stretch of it. By now, I go straight to the oyster clumps and bypass every other stretch of bayou along the way. I know the areas that tend to be dead and do not waste time on them. It took me a long time to figure that out but knowing the area helped me get to this point.
Another place that I have come to learn was a stretch of shoreline on the main lakes in our area. I would paddle down and of course beat up the bank until I hit a smaller pond. My routine was to spend all morning fishing my way there and then making a beeline straight back to the truck, which was about a one mile paddle. The straightest and quickest way back was a hundred yards or so off the bank in what seemed to be a no man’s land. Since I always just paddled straight back, I decided to cast back and troll a Gulp shrimp behind me, just to see what might happen. Along the way there was about a 500 yard stretch where I began to get hung up on oyster clumps. However, in between hang ups, I began to catch redfish. I must have caught a
dozen within this stretch. I found this because it was the only place I haven’t fished in that area.
A few winters back, my buddy and I decided to go out and fish something new. We knew the area fairly well but have never fished it during winter. Upon arrival, we noticed the water was low but it was still enough to be fishable. We began down a shoreline and then noticed that out towards the main body of water there was a hump. We worked our way toward it on the trolling motor and it looked to be a large sand hump that was the size of a large pickup truck. Now knowing that it is there, I always stop by that area and it is good for a few fish. We would have never found that spot if we didn’t go out on that low tide day.
These are a few of the reasons that it is important to truly know an area when fishing it. There are certain aspects to our lake and bayous that fish tend to hang around. The only way to find these places is basically time on the water and a lot of casting. Once you figure out an area properly though, pick somewhere else the next year and then repeat in another unknown location during the various seasons and water conditions. Within a few short years you will have an arsenal of go-to spots that you know where and how to fish in any condition.
CONTACT
Website: www.TexasKayakChronicles.com View The Video Open Camera and hover over QR Code. When link appears at top of screen tap to open in YouTube. BOATING SAFETY—Watch for Debris after Hurricane Beryl
Dave Roberts is an avid kayak-fishing enthusiast fishing primarily the inshore Upper Coast region with occasional adventures to surf and nearshore Gulf of Mexico.
Email: TexasKayakChronicles@yahoo.com
By CCA Staff
DEPLOYMENTS BEGIN IN NEW SABINE NEARSHORE SITE
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Artificial Reef Program, Friends of Sabine Reefs, and CCA Texas are excited to announce that the first material deployments into the new HI-54 Shallow site took place on June 27-28, 2024. This recently permitted 20-acre site is located approximately nine miles from the Sabine Pass jetty and 1.9 miles from the coastline in front of Sea Rim State Park. This reef will be a haven for speckled trout, red drum, mackerel, jackfish and sharks. This deployment consisted of concrete culverts, granite blocks, and old oil rig structure pieces. This new site provides an easily accessible area for recreational fishermen in the Upper Coast area.
“Since 2018 when Friends of the Sabine Pass Reefs was created using the Friends of the Rio Grande Valley Reef as our model, we have been able to create two artificial reefs, HI-20 and HI-54 Shallow,” commented Friends of Sabine Pass Reefs representative Mic Cowart. Cowart continued, “Our first experience with HI-20 was no doubt one with a lot of growing pains but, with the collaboration of groups including Friends of Sabine Pass Reefs, CCA Texas, TPWD Artificial Reef Program, Laredo Construction and others that came together for the HI-54 Shallow deployment, I think we have
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assembled a team that has the expertise, assets, and most importantly a passion for creating and sustaining marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico. With this team, the future of artificial reef development is unlimited!”
With the first deployment into HI-54 Shallow complete, plans are in the works for the next deployment in late summer of this year. Tentative plans are being discussed to deploy an additional 5,000 tons of rip-rap rock to the reef site. Additionally, another new site, HI-54 Deep, is currently in the planning stages with hopes of being permitted some time in 2025. This new site will be in approximately 45’ of water and will be 24 miles from the Sabine Pass jetty and 9 miles offshore.
A major part of the success enjoyed by Friends of Sabine Pass Reefs and Friends of RGV Reef has been their ability to gather support in their local communities. Friends of Sabine Pass Reefs and CCA Texas are extremely thankful for the support of local industry which includes Cheniere Energy, Port Arthur LNG (Sempra), Valero, Motiva, and Golden Pass LNG. Other partners and supporting organizations from the past and present include Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Artificial Reef Program, CCA Texas, Building Conservation Trust, Sabine Pass Port Authority and Eldridge Construction. The Sabine Pass Reefs initiative has exemplified success based on strong grassroots efforts and community support.
When CCA Texas became involved in Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Artificial Reefing Program, the vision was to be a part of an effort to ensure that recreational anglers had the opportunity to fish nearshore habitat out of every port in Texas. To date, CCA Texas has committed more than $3,990,000 to nearshore reefing efforts through the support of local chapter banquets, community industries, and private donors since 2009, and has been a part of nearshore reefing efforts out of every port in Texas from South Padre Island to Sabine Pass.
For more information about the Texas Parks and Wildlife Artificial Reef Program, please be sure to visit https://tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/water/habitats/artificial_reef/ and click on the Nearshore Reefing tab.
You don’t have to be an angler to know that worms and fishing go together like brisket and BBQs. Many-aTexan’s first encounter with fishing involves threading an earthworm on a hook for bait. Lesser known is the relationship anglers have with a special species of worm found in the salty waters of south Texas. These worms serve as a foundation for biodiversity and provide key habitat rather than being a fish sacrifice. The area where these worms reside has drawn anglers from all over the world for over a century and is now gaining attention from researchers.
Baffin Bay, anecdotally referred to as Jurassic Park by local fishermen, holds a special place in the heart of many anglers. Located roughly 20 nautical miles south of Corpus Christi, Texas, Baffin gives anglers the opportunity to catch trophy speckled trout, black drum, and massive redfish (locally referred to as the ghosts of Baffin). Now before you race down to Baffin to wet a line, know that no good treasure goes unguarded. Many parts of Baffin are lined with rock reef structures that are unique to the area and make navigation a challenge.
The reefs are the accrual of millions of small calcareous tubes. The creature responsible for these tubes is Hydroides dianthus, a species of serpulid polychaete, which is scientific speak for marine worm. Baffin is the only place on the Texas coast with active serpulid reefs and one of the few places in the world. Each reef is a magnet for marine life and the epicenter of food webs. H. dianthus feeds by filtering the surrounding water with a colorful bouquet of feathery appendages. Many species of crabs and other crustaceans take shelter on the reefs. Barnacles, algae, and other encrusting organisms attach themselves to the hard tubes. Baitfish take shelter around the structures and larger gamefish use the reefs as cover for ambushing prey. Most of the reefs in Baffin are relic,
meaning they no longer have live worms. However, despite being inactive many organisms still live on and around the reefs. To learn more about the history of these reefs check out a previous TPWD Field Note written in 2009 titled “The Rocks of Baffin Bay”.
Boat collisions and heavy-footed wade fishermen have caused a lot of damage to the reefs. In recent decades, water quality issues have plagued Baffin Bay threatening the worms and their architecture. Polluted runoff and freshwater inflow with higher nutrient loads are causing harmful algal blooms. The aftermath of the blooms suffocates the worms and other slow moving or sensitive critters.
In 2012, local stakeholders gathered with experts from the Harte Research Institute (HRI) at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi and Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program (CBBEP) to address the health of the bay system. By 2013, a water quality monitoring program was formed utilizing a team of citizen scientists led by researchers at HRI. With the help of generous donations from multiple partners to fund the efforts, sources of nutrient pollution have been identified. The success of this program led to the formation of the Baffin Bay Stakeholder Group (BBSG) in 2018, the Bringing Baffin Back Initiative in 2022, and the creation of a Watershed Protection Plan which was reviewed and accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in March of 2023. The Bringing Back Baffin project is applying a three-phase approach: Phase 1, continued monitoring; Phase 2, reducing the nutrient pollution; Phase 3, restoring habitat.
While the BBSG seeks to secure funding ($300M+) to address the sources of pollution, other researchers have taken interest in the rare serpulid reefs. The Coastal Conservation and Restoration Ecology Lab (CCREL) at HRI is studying recruitment dynamics of the serpulid
Preliminary Sidescan imagery of the serpulid reefs in Baffin Bay.
worms in Baffin to gain insight into best practices for restoration efforts. In a recently published study by CCREL, recruitment tiles were deployed next to three different serpulid reefs. The tiles were retrieved quarterly, and a small section of the adjacent reef was collected as reference. The study found new settlement on the tiles year-round with seasonal variability. Peak recruitment for H. dianthus occurred between September and December. Seasonal variability appeared to have a greater effect on settlement than changes in salinity. Although lower recruitment occurred on the higher and lower ends of the salinity range experienced during the study period. Recruitment on the tiles did not correlate with growth on the natural reefs indicating that new growth on existing reefs is not limited by H. dianthus larvae Interestingly, the worms preferred the lower surfaces of the tiles while Ivory barnacles dominated the upper surfaces.
Another worm-curious team, the Habitat Assessment Team (HAT) at Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – Coastal Fisheries (TPWD), specializes in sonar surveys and producing map products. As a pilot study to test the efficiency of a bow mounted sidescan transducer, HAT will use the bow mounted sonar to map the serpulid reefs. This preliminary mapping effort could provide a baseline understanding of the reefs to compare changes over time and steer restoration efforts.
There is hope for a better Baffin. Fresh worm tubes coating trays and other materials used for sampling by the CCREL give researchers encouragement for future restoration projects. Long thought to be not worthy of study, let us recognize the importance of this humble worm, not as bait but as architect. For those that hold Baffin Bay near and dear, let the good fight continue to be fought. Collaborations such as the Baffin Bay Stakeholder Group and the Bringing Baffin Back Initiative are leading the charge towards reduced pollution and a healthier bay system. CBBEP, HRI, TPWD, and many other groups and individuals have heeded the call to coordinate monitoring, mapping, research, restoration, education, and outreach efforts of this beloved Baffin Bay to ensure that future generations will have clean water, active reefs, and dinosaur-sized fish to catch. Those interested in getting involved or donating to the cause should visit the Bringing Baffin Back website or attend the next Baffin Bay Stakeholder Group meeting.
Check the TPWD Outdoor Annual, your local TPWD Law Enforcement office, or tpwd.texas.gov for more info.
Close-up of serpulid worm tubes.
Kelley Savage, Ph.D. candidate in CCREL, holding a tray full of fresh serpulid worm tubes.
ERIC OZOLINS
EXTREME KAYAK FISHING & SHARKS FROM THE SAND
SUMMER FULL OF BULLS
Recent weather patterns have been unpredictable. This year, we had pristine conditions as spring ended and summer began, and our waters looked like something on a postcard from the Bahamas. During that timeframe, many big predatory species came close to shore and started feeding with vigor. The primo window of opportunity produced several great hammers and tigers, which made their eagerly anticipated first appearances of the year.
Then, just as quickly as the window opened, it snapped shut. Our waters changed for the worse, and while the more glorious big sharks moved back offshore, one species continued to bite consistently. This toothy critter, the iconic bull shark, invaded our South Texas waters in great numbers, dominating all other sharks.
While all this unfolded, a unique tropical system built strength in the Gulf. Alberto ran its course at a moderate pace and wreaked havoc. The storm earned its name in the southern part of the Bay of Campeche, an unorganized, large cyclone with an impressively wide wind-field. Despite the fact this was a minimal tropical system, winds blowing at tropical storm levels reached far from its center as it pushed its way north, toward the coast of the Lone Star State.
Since it moved somewhat slowly, the low pressure and
persistent winds piled water high over the edge of land in our section of the coast, generating a storm surge more often expected with a full-blown hurricane. The duration of the surge soaked parts of our state well inland, while heavy rains added to the flood. A persistent northeast wind pushed a brown blob of freshwater south along the coast. With the tremendous flooding and poor conditions up north, a large concentration of bulls migrated south.
Many bulls ranging from 5 to 7 feet attacked baits soaking just beyond the breakers in the Coastal Bend at the start of June. These are typically the early-spring and late-fall specimens we encounter, mainly during bait migrations. In a normal year, bulls of that size would be much more numerous on the Upper Coast than down south in June. On average, in South Texas, after the 4th of July, when the summer heat wave settles in, the bulls present are some of the largest of the year. When temperatures peak, hooking an 8-foot bull is usually more likely than hooking a 6-footer. This year, things appeared much different as we approached the birthday of our nation.
On the positive side, the abundance of medium-sized bulls has generated consistent action for beachgoing sharkers, helping us avoid the lulls typical in hot weather. On my charters, clients bringing plenty of sharks to hand
Dylon Garcia and Jenna Watkins enjoyed landing bull sharks on a recent charter.
is a positive thing. But, when so many smaller bulls invade the waters, it’s tough to keep a big bait on long enough for one of the true brutes to find it. So far, we’ve had a hard time finding the really big bulls, but I predict when shrimp season gets underway, and the Gulf settles between tropical systems, we ‘ll likely see the monsters return in full force.
Targeting bull sharks is relatively straightforward, requiring little more than soaking big baits in the right places. These are incredibly effective scavengers, not the fastest sharks, but what they lack in speed, they replace with ravenous appetites. A 6-foot bull shark will devour a 20-pound jackfish in just a few bites. Basically, no bait is too big for these guys, especially when they’re present in great numbers, competing for food. Bulls often feed in groups, and sometimes the small ones will be the first to start biting at a giant bait like a whole stingray.
When bulls are most abundant, anglers succeed in catching a few on smaller baits cast out from shore. Aside from blacktips, bulls are really the most common large sharks in our waters. This summer, catching a legitimate beast might well require weeding through quite a few small and medium-sized bulls. As I type these words, we’ve landed a copious amount of bulls on recent trips, mostly not giants, with about 4 or 5 of them reaching over 8 feet in length.
landed utilizing a two-hook, dropped bait. I’ve also had the eerie experience of kayaking over swarms of bulls in clear August water, a most unsettling scenario. Much of the time, when we see one bull , many others are present. If Texas had a state shark, it would more than likely be the bull shark. These magnificent creatures look bulky, with bulging bellies and broad, iconic dorsal fins. We have bulls of all sizes in Texas waters; they can be caught offshore, inshore, in the bays, even in the rivers. There is no wet place this shark will not explore.
With the summer of the bulls ongoing, this is a great time to target one of these spectacular fish from the beach. Taking younger anglers along to experience the thrill will pay dividends for the future of the fishery. Even with the invasion of the bullies, all sharkers hitting the beach in the summer heat stand a chance of tangling with a regal tiger or a thunderous hammerhead. All these fish provide thrills to me; I’m just happy to encounter a behemoth beast.
Here in Texas, in years past, I’ve been blessed to personally catch or help clients catch bulls surpassing the magical 9-foot mark. If a healthy female, a 9-foot bull shark should weigh somewhere around 500 pounds. At that size, these are true man-eaters. While you should be able to land any bull shark on a 9/0 or 50W class reel, it’s possible to land giant bulls on even smaller gear. They’re slow, but they use their size to their advantage, and they’re vicious at times.
I’ve had mega bull sharks eat all but the head of other sharks after I’d hooked them and started a fight. One of the strangest things I’ve seen, on more than one occasion, is two bull sharks hooked and
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 is the owner of Catch Sharks Tackle Company.
Richard Sowers with an impressive bull shark on a recent charter.
Water level view of Oz preparing to release a bull shark in the PINS surf.
2-SPEED LEVER DRAG REELS
INSPIRED BY STRENGTH
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NATHAN BEABOUT MOSTLY SIGHT-FISHING
PRIME TIME FOR SIGHT-FISHING
August is one of the best months for sightcasting redfish. There can be many variables to this month, from tropical weather to the first very weak fronts of the year. One thing is for sure, though, August has potential to bring us the most days of light wind and sunny skies. During late spring and early summer, there are days here and there, but now we are getting into a month where I have seen highly-favorable conditions for as many as five and six days in a row.
We also start to see a lot of redfish schooling activity becoming a prominent pattern this time of year. During early summer we are typically chasing smaller pods. These can be as few as three or four and sometimes as many ten to fifteen; on rare occasions we might encounter a school of fifty or more. Now, in August, these schools often include as many as two hundred or more reds. Some of these larger schools can be a lot of fun with beginner anglers because depending on the attitude of the school you can keep easing up on them for multiple hookups. One of my most memorable sight-casting trips
occurred in late August when we came upon a school of maybe three to four hundred fish, and there was not another boat in sight all day. We were able to sit on a shoreline with the Power Pole down for a stretch that lasted more than five hours. The school would move within casting range, we would manage a double or triple hookup, and then they would move away about a hundred yards or so. Then, after the commotion of landing them quieted down, within a few minutes; here they came again. We caught fish from 22-34 inches long that day, and it was my client’s first ever sight-casting trip.
I know the bay systems along the coast are aligned differently as regards wind, but, here on the middle coast I absolutely love the August days with light northerly breezes. The main reason is it allows us to fish different areas of our bay that we couldn’t successfully fish the last couple months, or didn’t get to spend much time on before the water began to lose clarity. I think about it like this...these areas that we can only fish under certain conditions hold some of the best numbers of the biggest fish.
But you know, these areas probably wouldn’t hold this caliber of fish if you could fish them every day. It’s kind of like that big whitetail ranch, every ranch has that one pasture or corner that doesn’t get hunted often, or maybe even never. But, you know what? That is where some of the biggest bucks live, and you can catch them traveling in or out of that area every now and then. If our bays didn’t have similar areas I believe our bay system wouldn’t be as strong as it is, when it comes to fish populations.
I have said for a long time now there are no more “secret spots.” The one thing we have left for those who do our homework before each outing is the timing of when to focus on certain areas. Knowing when to go and what makes these areas turn on – whether it’s a wind shift, tide level, water temperatures, or migration patterns – these are the prime indicators that tell us when to focus on specific areas. Even if most of the year we must drive by it day after day, we understand and look forward to the time we can get out there fish it because experience or the knowledge of our bay tells us that it is going to be good.
Captain Nathan Beabout
USCG/TPWD Licensed - Full time guide since 2007
Seadrift, Port O’Connor, & Port Mansfield, TX. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn (N&M Sportsman’s Adventures) Cell (210)452-9680
Seadrift, Port O’Connor, & Port Mansfield, TX Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
Phone 210.452.9680
Email www.nmsportsmansadventures.com
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Matagorda
Bink Grimes is a full-time fishing and hunting guide, freelance writer and photographer, and owner of Sunrise Lodge on Matagorda Bay.
I would like to begin by saying I have enjoyed some of the best wading action for quality trout this summer since the big freeze back in February 2021. That’s a pat on the back to all who have bought into catching and releasing their trout, TPWD’s efforts to enact more conservative bag limits, and just a general “release more than you take” attitude from so many anglers. Here’s a hearty thanks to all for a job well done!
Our bays are improving and our catches are improving. On a recent successful outing a client and I landed and released I don’t know how many five-pound trout on MirrOlure Soft Dines. I tried to forcefeed them topwaters, but on this day they wanted the slow-sinker, so I didn’t argue with them. Please keep doing what’s best for our bays.
Here’s our approach for August:
By now you are accustomed to hundred-degree heat. Sure, it’s hot, but if you leave the dock a little earlier and head back to the dock before it blisters, August can be just as profitable as any other month. August normally brings with it weak cool fronts that knock the humidity down, flatten the Gulf of Mexico, and deliver the first batch of blue-winged teal to our coastal region. We will work the surf and jetty on these days, concentrating in the first gut on the incoming tide and tossing topwaters on the outer bars on the falling tide.
East Matagorda Bay is always a player with light winds. The mid-bay reefs consistently hold good trout in August. We start out in waistdeep water on the shell drop and then end up in chest-deep water on the end of the reef as the water warms.
Know your tides. There have been many mornings I have arrived to find nothing, but patience prevails knowing the incoming tide will bring fish to the reef. Slicks popping in deeper water adjacent to the reef are good signs.
Reefs along the north shoreline are a boon for waders tossing topwaters on the incoming tide. Never underestimate the cuts leading to the bay on the incoming tide as well. Those fish enter and exit the ditch daily through the cuts.
Again, it’s an early bite with the heat. We find those trout over the grass early, then they fall along the ledge into about 4-5 feet of water later in the day. Don’t be surprised to find birds working along the north shoreline with calm conditions. Since the ICW runs along the northern boundary of East Bay, those shrimp running “the ditch” often enter the bay on the incoming tide.
Offshore anglers have been enjoying excellent red snapper action in 40-80 feet of water. Lots of 15-20 pound snapper have been caught over wrecks and reefs. Guide Michael Kubecka has been targeting swordfish 80-90 miles out over hilltops. If you ever run in to Kubecka, ask him about my smoked swordfish dip.
Expect kingfish, cobia and dorado to remain consistent over structure. If the past five August’s are barometers, expect tarpon to show along the beach. Legitimate 200-plus pounders were caught and released last summer.
Follow Matagorda Sunrise Lodge reports on Instagram and Facebook. Feel free to call, text or email for fishing, rentals and real estate information.
Port O'Connor Seadrift
MID-COAST BAYS With the Grays
Captain Gary Gray is a full time guide, born and raised in Seadrift. He has been guiding the Seadrift/Port O’Connor region since 1986. Gary specializes in year ‘round wade fishing for speckled trout and redfish with artificial lures.
I have always thought that fishing in August is very much a carbon copy of July, not many changes as far as fish patterns or where we typically target reds and trout. Perhaps the greatest common denominator is to fish areas that have good current flow, whether from wind or tide, the water needs to be moving. I say this because if the water is moving there can be a cooling effect as water from a deeper area is delivered to shallower areas.
Areas I typically look for during the hotter months are shallow ambush points with deep water nearby. Areas such as the spoils off the Ship Channel in West Matagorda, or the many newlyformed sand bars near Pass Cavallo. This also includes the mid-bay reefs in San Antonio Bay. Last but not least is my favorite, the surf along Matagorda Island. These all have great potential during the hotter months.
Granted, the weather will play a role in when and where you can fish some of these areas as most are in open water, meaning there is not much wind protection. Luckily in August there generally isn’t a lot of strong wind; it’s normally calm through the night and builds to a nice breeze in the afternoon. The only thing that brings substantial wind this time of year is tropical storms.
Besides wind there are other things you need to watch for in each area. Along the Ship Channel you must be constantly aware of ship traffic. I mention this because the ships may not appear to be creating a wake but they are displacing a lot of water. It’s more of the tsunami affect, as the wake reaches the shallower spoil areas it will bulge up. I have seen guys that were wading get washed off the spoils, and have also witnessed boats nearly being capsized. It sounds like a dangerous way to fish but it’s really not if you keep a
lookout for ships passing through, and there is typically not so much traffic that you cannot enjoy a day on the spoils.
The sand bars around Pass Cavallo are another area where you must exercise caution when wading. There are many bars that have abrupt drop-offs on one side, usually nearer the pass itself. You will want to stay plenty far away from these as the sand is continually shifting under your feet. Recently I have seen more and more anglers fishing close to these edges and that to me is a big no-no. Another thing to pay attention to is the tide when fishing near the pass. If you feel the tide trying to push you around then by all means leave. You can be swept into deep water in a matter of seconds. I recommend wearing an inflatable PFD when fishing near the pass.
The surf has its own set of dangers. Anchoring in the surf can be a challenge, unless it’s one of those rare glassy-calm days we dream about. I normally try to set my anchor in the second gut and then let out enough line so that I’m stepping out onto the second bar. If the gulf is calm enough and the first gut is wide enough, I will anchor in the first gut. When fishing the surf from the boat I usually anchor in the second gut and cast back toward the first gut.
Another concern in the surf is sharks. I’ve had more shark encounters in the surf already this year than all my previous years combined. Use a 25’ stringer and make sure it is not wrapped around you while wading. The sharks do not stop and make sure your leg isn’t in the way of their next meal.
Now let’s head out to the mid-bay reefs in San Antonio Bay. Probably the greatest hazard out there right now are the jellyfish. I tell all my groups to wear long wading pants and 99.9% of them listen. The other 0.1% end up in the boat watching us fish. I’m not sure if we have more of what I call “hot jelly” or what has happened in our bays, but I can remember when I only waded in shorts. Sadly, those days are long gone. There are some reefs with steep drop-offs so, if you’re unfamiliar, wear an inflatable PFD.
I know that I could have covered a great many other topics and tactics, but my purpose here was to introduce inexperienced or anglers new to the area to some of the many August options available here in the POC-Seadrift region.
Fish hard, fish smart!
Chris Pete with a large fish on mid-bay reef in San Antonio Bay.
Wyatt Denbow with a beautiful redfish on a fine summer day – CPR!
Science Sea and the
Advantages of Staying in Schools
During bicycling races, cyclists often ride close together to take advantage of drafting, where a low-pressure area created behind a cyclist gives a boost to the one following them so the whole group can expend less energy. While the dynamics of ocean currents underwater are a bit different from air currents, it turns out that a similar strategy can help fish in turbulent water. New research has revealed that fish can swim far more easily, and use much less energy, swimming together in a school than battling the currents on their own.
Scientists conducted experiments with giant danios, a popular species for tropical aquariums whose natural habitat is streams and rivers in India. The scientists used high-speed cameras to observe the fish’s movements as they swam. They saw that the fish pressed more closely together in their school when the water was more turbulent, and fish swimming by themselves had to swim more vigorously just to keep up with the school.
The biologists also used devices called respirometers to measure the breathing rates and energy expenditure of the fish. They discovered that fish in turbulent water used up to 79% less energy when they swam in schools compared to swimming on their own. That’s even more impressive than the 40% less energy that cyclists use when drafting in road cycling. The findings suggest that traveling in schools offers more than just protection from predators. It’s also a more efficient way to travel through the water, particularly when currents pick up. And, more surprisingly, other research has found it’s also a quieter way to travel. When schooling fish synchronize their swimming, even a group of them sounds like no more than a single fish.
Schools of fish expend less energy swimming as a group than as individuals. Credit: Dr. Dwayne Meadows, NOAA/NMFS/OPR
Upper Laguna/ Baffin
David Rowsey has 30 years in Baffin and Upper Laguna Madre; trophy trout with artificial lures is his specialty. David has a great passion for conservation and encourages catch and release of trophy fish.
I hope this August article finds you high and dry…with only the amount of rain needed to keep the garden up. The tropics have made for an interesting summer, and some crazy fish patterns. Tropical storm Alberto gave us a much needed surge of gulf water into the Laguna and Baffin. This push of water diluted the brown algae bloom in both bay systems, but especially the Upper Laguna. Baffin also benefitted although there is still a hint of brown in many parts but structure is now more visible, allowing for smart casts versus just flogging the water for a lucky bite.
At this time, Beryl is tracking toward the southern tip of Texas and should give us another flushing on top of our already improved water clarity. The whole scene down here is looking up. Shortly after Alberto we fell into a very solid, and almost predictable big trout bite. Believe me, it was and continues to be most welcome. If history has taught us anything, these storm surges will prove beneficial in the long run. If you are blessed to fish 25% of the days I do, you know how hard it is to get that “perfect day” where everything falls into place from the tide, barometric pressure, feed periods, actual bite, etc. Conditions have been really solid for us and I’m filing no formal complaints. Saying that, the same tropical weather events that are flushing our bays of the manmade brown algae are making it a bit more challenging on traditional wading areas we are accustomed to fishing. If you find yourself down here and get out of the boat in what should be knee-deep water under typical conditions, it may now be waist-deep or higher due to storm tides. Check before you bail out!
So the million dollar question is: What does this do to the fish? Well, the short answer is it scatters the hell out of them. Saying that, there will always be those sweet spots that they group up in and still provide for tremendous fishing opportunities. As a wade fisherman, some of these sweet spots may be too deep to access, so you may have to do it out of the boat or do more scouting than normal until you find them piled up on a shoreline. These areas do exist but, again, it takes more time to locate the trout you thought you had pinpointed. Be patient and enjoy the adventure of fishing new grounds.
Common sense and deductive reasoning would make you think that everything would want to be
along the newly flooded shorelines, including the baitfish, and some certainly will be. In other bay systems with back-lakes and deep drains, that may be the case, however, I do not find it here as much as you might think. I do not pretend to know the answer but our baitfish seem to routinely get out in the deepest parts of the bays during these events. Miles of gorgeous sand-grass mixed shoreline will be just void of mullet. Of course, if there is nothing for trout to eat in all that gorgeous water, so you can bet your last nickel that what you are pursuing is not there either. So many days we have tried to force the bite where we wanted it to happen, only to come up emptyhanded. You get in the boat to find another location and 500 yards offshore you will run through the motherlode of mullet. I see this all the time and have been making this observation for longer than I can remember. Inevitability, we will shut down in what seems the middle of nothing and be catching trout of all sizes within minutes, proving the oldest theory in bay fishing: Find the food supply and the predators will be close at hand.
This high water will lift much of our live and dead grass off the bay floor, so expect to see plenty of it suspended and floating. Bringing your line in with a ball of salad on the end can be frustrating, but consider this; most of the grass you are picking off your lure is mostly what has gathered on your line during the retrieve, and has only gathered on the lure at the very end. Point being is that most of your retrieve is well under the floating stuff and working as it should. Don’t let it get in your head as it only fouls your lure at the very end of the retrieve.
Remember the buffalo! -Capt David Rowsey
Chris Piacun came down from Louisiana to catch a personal best in Baffin on an Alewife Bass Assassin. Released! We are seeing good numbers of this class fish. Conservation by many is paying off since the ‘21 freeze.
Port Mansfield
Captain Wayne Davis has been fishing the Lower Laguna-Port Mansfield for over 20 years. He specializes in wade fishing with lures.
Telephone 210-287-3877
Email captwayne@kwigglers.com
WAYNE’S Mansfield Report
Greetings from Port Mansfield! This year is flying by; hard to believe we are already into August with fall just around the corner. July felt like a blur, simply because between fishing trips, three days at ICAST, a fishing expo and tournaments, I managed only four days off. Not complaining, though, this is what I signed up for.
Like police work, every day is different being a fishing guide. Sure, some things remain the same, such as driving the boat and getting anglers set up at a productive spot, but what unfolds under the surface can change in an instant. From moonrise minors to moon underfoot majors, changeable wind and rising/falling tides, you had better stay sharp if you want to be successful. Dealing with nature and figuring out what makes fish do what they do is challenging, rewarding, and sometimes disappointing. The takeaway is simple, use all the tools in your toolbox each day and always try to add an additional gadget when you can. Tools do not just come by way of mental notes, in addition to keeping your skills honed you also need to have the “right” tools. The basics are simple and most of the time it is best to strive to keep it simple. The best tools I’ve run across after many years of fishing is a Fishing Tackle Unlimited G2 Classic (or Finesse) Green Rod, a Shimano reel (bait or spinning – many to choose from), quality braided line such as American Fishing Wire Quatro 20lb, a KWigglers plastic and jighead, and a topwater such as a Mansfield Knocker. Simply put, this is what I use day in and day out. Remember, keeping it simple works.
Despite elevated water temperatures we are still catching nice fish in shallow water, and they are in great shape. We have managed several trout in the 7-pound range and many 3- to 5-pounders. I am so pleased to be able to see fish of this caliber. There are also reliable reports of nice fish (2- to 3-pounders) being caught in water as deep as four and five feet.
obviously not an everyday occurrence but we had played our cards correctly and the fish were still eating despite high water temps. Water temps this high usually discourage afternoon feeding.
With that said, keep in mind it is not just gangbusters all day every day. We are capitalizing on the major and minor solunar periods and we are having to be very patient while constantly keying on bait, potholes, etc. Combining all this with being on the water often helps me put anglers in the best spots to catch fish.
I would like to point out another interesting observation. We are seeing redfish in the same areas, sometimes three or four in a pod, but they have been striking at our lures only once. Miss that explosive topwater or soft plastic strike and it’s over; they move on and all you get credit for is a swing and a miss. They rarely come back for seconds and when they do it is a half-hearted attempt at best. This is more than a little puzzling to me. I suspect this will change for the better as soon as they begin schooling and feeding more competitively.
During the month of August I will be heading out very early and will continue to zero in on zones I have described as long as they remain productive. I will also be checking daily along some of the shallow shorelines that have ledges and quick drops into deeper water. Shorelines will typically yield pods of reds up to about twenty fish or so, unlike the open areas of the bay where reds will usually be found in larger schools. Shorelines are more interesting to me because here you will also have a shot at a big trout and possibly a flounder, which have also been quite consistent this year.
Until next time, remember that fresh is better than frozen!
Not all shallow areas have been holding fish of the quality described. The fish I mentioned have been on flats with quick access to deep water. Also, the flats are thick with grass and have an abundance of mullet. Mansfield Knockers (if grass isn’t a problem) have been an excellent choice and, quite frankly, have been working most all day. I recently had two late-teen anglers onboard and they both caught PB trout on topwaters at 2:00pm with water temperatures at 90°. This is
Mike McDaniel with a solid summertime trout – CPR.
Bill Woosley matched his personal best with this 26.5-incher that we tagged for Harte Institute and released after quick photos.
Arroyo
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
SOUTH PADRE Fishing Scene
In mid-June we experienced a taste of what August may bring to the Lower Laguna Madre in the form of tropical weather events. Tropical Storm Alberto gave us a three-foot tidal surge that I expected would scatter our fish, but surprisingly, fishing actually got better. The cloud cover and cooler air temperatures produced a considerable drop in water temperatures. Thus, the fish became more active, and they ate well. This event occurred during the two-tide days of the full moon phase, and another thing I noticed was that on outgoing tides, drains and deeper guts functioned as fish highways as they took advantage of bait being flushed out.
Some of the gamefish were predictable as to where they could be found along the mouths of these drains. What surprised me the most was that the fish didn’t relocate very far. The gamefish were where hordes of mullet were found. The water we waded before the arrival of the storm was thigh-deep, but the exact areas afterward were almost chest-deep. And as I mentioned, to my surprise, the fish remained there.
Understanding and identifying fish highways during strong tide movements is crucial to fishing success. Every area within a body of water has tidal movement, but particular spots will have greater current strength, and these are what I call fish highways. Believe me when I say catching can be superb under these conditions.
I will point out that August has historically been a tough month for me to target redfish successfully because of traditionally higher-than-normal tides. However, if August’s high waters cause the fish to react like they did in June’s high tides, our fishing will be good and the redfish will be easy to locate. If not, look for redfish to be located way east on sand bottoms with plentiful grass, against spoil banks along the ICW, or way west in the back bays. Gold spoons are a perfect lure to attract redfish from afar with their wobbling vibration this time of the year. As always, ZMan’s PaddlerZ in Sexy Penny has also been a top-producing bait for us.
been field-testing the Big Ballerz for the past five months with great success. I am convinced this bait will be a game-changer and I can’t wait for anglers to try it.
I would have to say that the latest trout regulations appear to have provided a significant boost to the fishery, which we hope will help return it to its former glory. The undersized trout population is currently very healthy, as indicated by the number of catches on every trip. The bigger trout this time of the year will continue to seek deeper water, especially along the ICW. Heavier jigheads on the drop-off of that channel has been yielding plenty of action. Slicks this time of the year are common and a sign that fish are actively feeding.
Mullet and pinfish are their primary forage during summer, which means that anglers should target trout in areas where these baitfish are most abundant and active. Spoil banks with sand pockets and sandy potholes on deeper, grassy flats will continue to be excellent areas to target bigger trout. This time of the year, we do very well on low tides during evening hours, provided that the tides are not excessively high. We also target trout in areas with sand and shell bottoms. Finding hard sand bars and casting to nearby deeper water can often yield some nice trout this time of the year.
Other August highlights include targeting the tarpon migration along the gulf beaches, and snook fishing will be at its best during the full and new moon periods in back bays. Flounder can be targeted successfully in larger drains.
Feeling the bite, even when very light, is always one of the primary keys to fishing success. A lightweight rod you can cast all day without fatigue, yet with enough backbone to muscle strong fish is a definite bonus. My favorite is the Fishing Tackle Unlimited G2 Finesse Green Rod. Put one in your hands and fish it all day; I’m certain you will be satisfied with its quality and sensitivity. Best fishing!
I’m excited about Z Man’s new bait that was unveiled in mid-July at ICAST. It’s called the Big Ballerz for its ball tail shape and comes in four and five-inch sizes. The segmented body gives it life-like action and you can add up to two rattles to the five-inch body for extra attraction. Unlike a paddle tail, the ball tail shape provides the bait with a more subtle action for a slight vibration and an up-and-down motion. I have
View The Video
Open Camera and hover over QR Code. When link appears at top of screen tap to open in YouTube.
My top choice of fishing rods is the Fishing Tackle Unlimited G2 Finesse.
Eddie Garcia fooled this beautiful snook with a Z Man Paddlerz in Sexy Penny color.
FISHING REPORTS AND FORECASTS from Big Lake to Boca Chica
Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242
James finds the fishing best in Galveston in pretty deep water during August, especially when he’s targeting trout. “We do okay catching reds in shallow water this time of year, especially when we find birds working in some of the satellite bays, but the action for both trout and reds is usually better in deep water in August. We fish around some old structures on the bottom a lot this time of year, setting the boat up with the anchor, so we can cast and retrieve our lures close to the structures. People wanting to take advantage of this pattern have to learn how to use long anchor ropes and position the boat just right, then work on the depth and speed of their retrieves. And, of course, making the pattern work means knowing where the structures are. For other folks, fishing around big mud stirs in places like East Bay is easier. But, we’ve had so much rain this year, it may be difficult to see the mud boils in the murky water. If it keeps raining and the rivers stay swollen, the fishing in the open basin of West Bay might be better than anything else, especially for trout.”
Jimmy West | Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054
Jim acknowledges how the heavy rains have made things difficult for anglers in the area around Bolivar. “When we get so much rain and freshwater flowing down the rivers, the fishing gets tough in some areas. We don’t have many fish in the bayous and back-lakes, so it’s tough to hide from the wind. But, on the calmer days, the options are better. Normally, the fishing out on the major reefs in East Bay is good when the bay gets really fresh. We will have a shallow layer of water right close to the bottom which has more salt than the water closer to the surface. Soft plastics on jigheads which keep them in close contact with the bottom work best when this is the case. Other places allow for better fishing with different methods. The fishing in the surf can be great, even when winds are pretty strong, as long as there’s no east in the wind. Then, the Bolivar Pocket can light up. On calmer days, with normal southeast breezes, fishing around the jetties is better. In either place, playing the tide is critical. An incoming tide favors the gulf side of the jetties; outgoing tide favors the channel side.”
West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays
Randall Groves | Groves Guide Service
979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323
Randall expects excellent fishing in and around San Luis Pass in August, as long as the storm season doesn’t wreak too much havoc. “In a normal year, we have tons of food in the water for the predatory species, and August is a great month to fish for trout and reds around the pass. Of course, when the weather allows, we like to hit the surf early in the mornings. Out there, we throw chrome topwaters mostly. On the best days, we sometimes jet offshore and target king mackerel with the same lures. On the flats behind the pass, the fishing is best on incoming tides. We catch best by wading in places close to deep guts and throwing our lures on shallow sand bars. The reds are concentrated in the back-lakes this time of year, biting best around small reefs and towheads, especially where we see numbers of different kinds of egrets and herons working together in the shallows. We also have excellent trout fishing out of the boat this time of year in some of the deeper, open areas of West Bay. Out
there, we generally fish where we find giant rafts of jumping mullet with slicks popping regularly in the area.”
Matagorda Bays | Capt. Glenn Ging Glenn’s Guide Service - 979.479.1460 www.glennsguideservice.com
In August, with the summer heat still in play, drifting the mid-bay reefs in East Matagorda Bay will continue to be a solid game plan for people looking to catch both trout and redfish. Drifting with live shrimp or Vudu Rattlin’ Shrimp under Coastal Corks or soft plastics like Bass Assassin 5” shad or Coastal Brew Darts will be good options for catching both species. Wading the grass beds in West Matagorda Bay should continue to be good as well, especially early in the mornings. Look for redfish numbers on the shorelines to grow as we get closer to September. It’s hard to beat lures like gold weedless spoons, roach-colored paddletails on light jigheads and small bone or gold topwaters like Spook Juniors when targeting the reds in the shallows around the grass beds. Hopefully, the surf will be kind to us as well. We always expect to make good catches in the surf and at the jetties in both August and even more so in September, on both live bait and lures. As we head toward September the tarpon action should pick up on Coon Pops and live mullet, in stretches of the beach not far from the jetties.
Fishing has been great in the Tres Palacios area lately. Redfish action has been good in a variety of places; we’ve been catching them good on small topwaters over bottoms with a mix of sand and grass in about two feet of water, using bone Spook Juniors and chartreuse Baby Skitter Walks. Cut skipjack and live shrimp fished around shell points and humps have also been good baits for reds not wanting lures. Black drum continue to bite steadily around shell bars and cuts leading to the bay, mostly preferring fresh peeled dead shrimp and pink Fish-Bites. Trout fishing has picked up from last month, as we have had some good surf days with trout eating She Dogs in green and chrome early and chicken of the sea Down South Lures later in mornings. Well pads and deep shell continue to produce when we can get out into West Matagorda Bay with live shrimp rigged about five feet deep under corks. Flounder gigging is getting better as it seems tropical storm tides pushed some fish out of the backcountry to the shorelines, with lots of 18-20” fish coming to hand. This action should continue to improve as we head into September.
Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith
Back Bay Guide Service - 361.935.6833
In August, Lynn likes to stay close to the pass most of the time, either in West Matagorda Bay or in the surf. “We fish the surf as much as we can in August. Historically, it’s the month with the most days with fishable green water close to the beach. When we’re able to get out there, we run a familiar drill, starting off close to the sand throwing topwaters around the first sand bar. Sometimes, the best bite is inside the first bar, in the shallow gut close to the beach. As the day warms, we normally move away from the beach and switch over to slow-sinking twitch baits or soft plastics, but not always. On the best days, the trout continue biting topwaters all morning. Inside the bays, the patterns we
prefer are similar. We usually start off throwing around rafts of bait milling and flipping over grass beds in the shallows, then target the fish in a little deeper water in some of the guts adjacent to the sand bars after the sun rises higher in the sky in the middle of the morning, starting with topwaters and switching to sub-surface lures as we move into deeper water.”
Rockport | Blake Muirhead
Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894
Blake has been experiencing excellent action on his charters in the Rockport area lately, and he expects the hot fishing to continue right into August. “We’re always ready to hit the surf this time of year. When conditions allow, we do well catching both trout and reds on live bait and on topwaters and soft plastics along the beach, sometimes closer to the Port Aransas jetties, other times close to Cedar Bayou. In the bays, we do best on live croakers this time of year, but we do have some days with fast and furious action for trout on small, shiny topwaters. Best concentrations of fish are usually found in relatively deep water, with shell reefs nearby. The reds start schooling up in earnest this time of year. We often find big numbers of slot fish with some oversized fish making huge mud stirs on flats close to the channels, in places like Super Flats and East Flats. On the best days, with tide movement and decent water clarity, we’re able to catch plenty of them on topwaters, but more of the time, we do better throwing Norton Sand Eels in dark colors with bright tails or Gulp! split-tails.”
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut Robert Zapata | rz1528@grandecom.net - 361.563.1160 In August, we find good fishing for trout and redfish in the waters of the ULM and Baffin Bay. Since the weather is hot, the fish don’t stay in the shallows as long as they do at other times of the year, but we find them in shallow water on a daily basis early in the mornings. Typically, I like to start off throwing around rocks and grass and sand in about two or three feet of water as the sun comes up, then move out into deeper water as the sun heats the shallow water. I normally have good luck throwing She Dogs when winds are light, and on Catch 5s in color patterns which include some chartreuse on them, as long as floating and suspended grass don’t create too much of a problem. If the grass does become a problem, we usually try switching over to soft plastics like Bass Assassin Die Dappers on light jigheads. If those lures become fouled too regularly, we’ll just wind up heading for another area to fish. If we can find a stretch of water with wind blowing into a shallow structural element across a broad expanse of deep water, we usually don’t have much of a grass problem.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez - www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230
Fishing in the Corpus Christi area can be excellent in August, with several productive options and areas available to anglers. The area around the JFK Causeway produces good catches of both trout and redfish for people who understand how to play the tides, meaning they work spots in the Boat Hole and the Crash Channels with consideration of when the tide will be moving, and in which direction it’s moving. The fishing is usually best early in the mornings on incoming tides, but can also be great in the afternoons on either type of tide. Making efforts in places with shallow feeding stations lying close to deeper channels and holes works best, and working lures with or at least cross-ways with the current is critical. Down South, areas around the front of Baffin and south produce well too, meaning mostly the Badlands, Penascal Point, the spoils in those areas, the spoils between Baffin and the Land Cut, and the outside edge of the line of rocks along the shore from Penascal to Summer House. In all these places, soft plastics produce most consistently, but topwaters and slow-sinking twitch baits work well during prime feeding windows, especially when winds are light.
P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins 361.877.3583 - Oceanepics.com As we reach our annual summer doldrums the surf action will tend to slow down mid-day. If water conditions are ideal and clear between our tropical weather events, then it is a great time for surf trout action. While the bite can vary in regards to the tides, it is a no-brainer to hit any surf structure such as holes and pinches, both early in the morning or late in afternoon. Trout are aggressive towards topwater lures, suspended baits and soft plastics, in addition to smaller live baits. While fishing these same locations targeting trout, people occasionally land snook or redfish as well. As we progress closer toward the fall, the bait-balls and general migrations will come closer to the beach. In this chaos, which usually starts mid-August, it’s not uncommon to see hundreds if not thousands of birds feeding on a single bait-ball. In the midst of these large frenzies surf anglers can expect everything from Spanish mackerel and skipjacks to sharks and tarpon. Folks lucky enough to find these mass concentrations of bait and predators in the surf should definitely throw spoons, as they are often attacked by several different species. Casting live mullet into the frays often results in fast hook ups, too.
Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza Snookdudecharters.com - 832.385.1431
Getaway Adventures Lodge - 956.944.4000
Historically, early-morning topwater action is an August highlight. The west shoreline up north is an ideal location to put this pattern in play, most anywhere from Port Mansfield to Gladys Hole. Since that’s a long stretch of water, it’s important to key on flipping bait and herons stalking the shoreline in order to find a productive stretch. Another thing to look for are the flocks of gulls working above schools of reds in shallow water. Lots of anglers pass them up this time of year, but others realize it’s always fun sight-casting at tailing fish. And as the day gets hotter, fish will move to deeper water. The stretch from the Saucer to the Pipeline is ideal during this time of day. Other areas with deeper water include the Weather Station, Butchers Island, Wagner’s Bar and Dubb’s Island. Topwaters will produce in deeper water at times, but a better bet is KWiggler plastics on eighth-ounce jigheads. Bone diamond, Mansfield Margarita, Plum-Chart and Lagunaflauge are great colors. If the seas allow, making a run to the jetties and the surf can be productive. Tarpon sightings have been numerous, and birds have been working the bait balls on a regular basis lately.
Summer has attained its full stride and the weather and water temperatures certainly show it. Trout fishing has remained very steady and they seem to be congregated in fairly large schools; catching one or two often leads to many in the same area. The best action of late has been in sandy bottomed potholes lying in depths of four feet and more, and also along the ICW drop-offs. ZMan StreakZ in Sexy Mullet rigged on 1/4-ounce Eye Strike Trout Eye jigs have been very reliable producers. It seems the elevated water temps have caught up with the redfish too, as they are also now staging in 3- to 4-foot depths. The most consistent key to locating redfish lately has been focusing efforts along edges of color changes on open flats. With both trout and redfish holding steadily in deeper water, we have found heavier jigs fished slower near bottom to be most effective. Fish are on the move this time of the year as tides and air temperature play a big factor. The fish feel the heat the same as we do, be sure to cover up and stay hydrated.
Jackie Peña Port Mansfield- 18” flounder
Joey Rodriguez Port Mansfield- 30” trout
Robbie Kettrick Lower Laguna Madre- redfish
Jesse Gonzales, Sr. Texas City Dike- redfish
Jesse Gonzales, Jr. Texas City Dike- redfish
John T Hernandez Matagorda- redfish
Jordan Moody Upper Laguna Madre- 25” trout
Tanner Moore Upper Laguna Madre- 24” trout
First come – first published! Photos are judged on artistic merit and sporting ethic displayed. No stringer, cleaning table, or hanging board images allowed. Digital images only. Adjust camera to high or best quality. All images become property of TSFMag. Email to: Photos@TSFMag.com Include short description of your catch with name, date, bay system, etc.
Photo
Ethan Rhoades Laguna Madre- speckled trout
Scoute Kalina POC - 27.5” first keeper red!
Garry McAninch redfish
Jason Guajardo Port Mansfield- 28” trout
Isabella Buzzel Dewberry Island- 26.5” redfish
Blake Buzzel Dewberry Island- 28” redfish
Flaco Lerma Galveston West Bay - 30” 11lb redfish
Elijah Ancira Lower Laguna Madre- 25” trout
Got ideas, hints or recipes you’d like to share?
Email them to pam@tsfmag.com or send by fax: 361 792-4530
Gulf Coast
Hashbrown Crusted Crab-Spinach-Egg Casserole
Created by Mary Anne Gunn – Many thanks to my dear friend for sharing this wonderful breakfast casserole. Perfect to serve before heading out for a day of fishing; it is easy to prepare and highly adaptable. While I have chosen to include traditional breakfast elements, it can easily be made with a variety of meats, any vegetables you choose for any occasion and can even be prepared ahead of time. For a better quiche-like presentation and preserve the crunchiness of the crust, you can prepare the crust ahead and then add the casserole portion just before final baking.
Hashbrown Crust
1 16-oz bag frozen shredded hashbrowns
3 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
Casserole
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half cream
3 cans (4-ounces each) Bumble Bee Lump Crabmeat, drained, or can use fresh crab
1 package (10-ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
Hashbrown Crust
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter to an iron skillet. Heat until warm and butter is melted.
Add the hashbrowns and make the “crust” by spreading them evenly throughout the iron skillet and make sure to include the sides.
Drizzle the hashbrowns evenly with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy at the edges
Casserole
In a large bowl, beat together eggs and cream. Stir in spinach, breadcrumbs, cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg; set aside. In a skillet, sauté the celery, onion, red pepper and mushrooms in butter until tender. Slowly add to the spinach mixture, gently fold in the lump crab.
Transfer to the skillet with hash brown crust. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving
Yields – 16 Servings
Hashbrown-Crusted Breakfast Casserole
Hashbrown
1 16-oz bag frozen shredded hashbrowns
3 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
Breakfast Casserole
1 16-oz package turkey sausage
1 dozen eggs
¼ cup Half and Half or milk
1 medium white onion
1-2 jalapeños seeded and diced (optional)
2 Tbsp of butter or olive oil
3 Roma tomatoes
1 5-oz bag fresh spinach
1 8-oz package baby bella mushrooms
1 16-oz bag shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter to an iron skillet. Heat until warm and butter is melted.
Add the hashbrowns and make the “crust” by spreading them evenly throughout the iron skillet and make sure to include the sides.
Drizzle the hashbrowns evenly with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until lightly browned and crispy at the edges.
Breakfast Casserole
Brown the turkey sausage in a cast iron skillet (set aside).
Chop the vegetables (set aside).
Chop the onion and jalapeños (optional) and sauté in butter or olive oil until they start to soften.
Add the tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms and continue to sauté until the spinach begins to wilt and the tomatoes release some of their juice.
Whisk together the eggs, milk or half and half, and salt and pepper (to taste), then add the vegetable mix.
Add the egg mixture to the hash brown skillet, layering in the cheese and sausage. Add one layer of sausage, 1 layer of cheese, add the egg mixture, then top with another layer of sausage topped by a final layer of cheese.
Back at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.
After removing skillet from oven, use a butter knife and score between skillet and casserole to loosen. Flip on a cutting board and then re-flip to serving piece. Be careful when flipping; the skillet is hot.
