January 2015

Only $3.95 www.tsfmag.com January 2015

TIDE PREDICTIONS & SOLUNAR FEED TIMES INSIDE!

about the Cover David Knight fished with Capt.

Kevin Cochran recently and found that She Dogs can be effective in shallow water.

Contents

January 2015 VOL 24 NO 9

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

10 Parismina’s Tarpon Paradise 18 The Effects of Entropy 26 The Indian Flutes 30 Tommy Has Some Trouble 34 The Invisible Intoxicant 38 Crossing the Gulf

44 48 52 54 56 60 62 64 68 95 98

Joe Doggett Kevin Cochran Billy Sandifer Martin Strarup Chuck Uzzle Joe Richard

Let’s Ask The Pro Jay Watkins Shallow Water Fishing Scott Null TPWD Field Notes Ashley Roesner Fly Fishing Scott Sommerlatte Kayak Fishing Chronicles Cade Simpson TSFMag Conservation News CCA Texas Fishy Facts Stephanie Boyd Inshore | Nearshore | Jetties | Passes Curtiss Cash Extreme Kayak Fishing & Sharks...

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

10

WHAT OUR GUIDES

HAVE TO SAy

74 76 78 80 82 84 86

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

6 | January 2015

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

62

REGULARS 08 72 88 92 94

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

80 94

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EDITORIAL

A New Year of

Great Fishing Opportunity

My take on the state of coastal fishing here in the great state of Texas is very optimistic.

Reports from all regions of our coast indicate fall fishing success ranging from good to excellent and hopefully this will prove a harbinger of more good things in 2015.

Though parts of Texas are still troubled with ongoing drought, a review of rainfall statistics from across the state indicates that even where precipitation was not received in normal amounts throughout 2014, enough came at the right time to lessen the effect of the drought cycle. Middle-coast bays in particular seemed to get a significant boost in fresh-inflows and this certainly bodes well for our estuaries.

Shrimp and oysters are regarded as indicator species in terms of estuarine productivity and, while oyster season is currently underway and the jury is still out on that fishery, commercial shrimpers I spoke with reported improved catches of both brownies and whites in 2014 and I see plenty oyster boats working locally. It would be my guess that recruitment of speckled trout, redfish and flounder also boomed in 2014.

Upper coast anglers enjoyed exceptional fishing in the Sabine and Galveston systems nearly all 2014 and our team of guide-writers who ply their skills in those waters continue to send glowing reports. On the middle-coast, where trout fishing took a nosedive over the past decade, reports this fall are encouraging and our correspondents are

8 | January 2015

currently more optimistic that I can remember.

Not everybody fell instantly in love with TPW’s expansion of the five trout bag limit but the folks I know who have made their living as fishing guides for twenty-plus years on the middle-coast seem unanimous in the opinion that something had to be done. Personally I believe TPW hit the nail on the head. If by chance they missed, the regulation has a built-in sunset and can easily be reversed, although I do not understand how taking fewer could not possibly result in ultimately having more.

Our Lower Coast just keeps rocking along. No matter how wickedly Mother Nature backhands that region on occasion, the Mother Lagoon continues to provide. Just try to book a guide or reserve a rent-house down at Port Mansfield, Port Isabel or South Padre— recreational fishing is truly thriving in those communities.

So—my prediction for 2015 is continued great fishing from Sabine Pass to Boca Chica. Our job now is to get out there and enjoy it. As stewards of Texas’ coastal resources we have contributed much to improve and conserve our fisheries for the future. Make plans early, while you’re in resolution mode, to pack up the family and get a bunch of friends together. You never know, we may just bump into each other on a long wade somewhere. Happy New Year!

STORY BY JOE DOGGETT

Guide kenneth prendas idled the 21-foot

center console into shallow water near the mouth of Costa Rica’s Rio Parismina.

Weak surf broke across the inside sandbar as outgoing brown current meshed with the green of the open Caribbean.

He cut the 150-horse Evinrude and the boat drifted. “Give this a quick try,” he said. “When it’s calm like this, schools of tarpon maybe move close to the beach.”

Inside the river, about one mile back in the jungled canopy of roaring howler monkeys and flapping toucans and honking cane toads, waited the dock of Rio Parismina Lodge. We had 15 minutes before the midday return to camp.

I was thinking about a dip in the pool when we saw the lazy boil of a flashing side and a turning fin. Tarpon!

I grabbed a heavy Falcon plug rod fitted with a Shimano 400 casting reel spooled with 60-pound braid. Knotted to the mono shock leader was a Model 72 MirrOlure. As I scurried forward and prepared to cast, an astounding thing happened: The water around the bow erupted in tarpon.

Five or six big fish launched and twisted and flashed as tiny minnows showered and sprayed and scattered. One broadside freejumper almost hit the boat. We had managed to drift in the murky water on top of a shallow school rampaging after the frantic bait.

The school disappeared amid splashes and boils and shouts. Oh, yeah—I had the rod in my hand. The MirrOlure winged toward the feeble breakers. I cranked and pumped several times and the line came tight against a long chromium flash.

The six-foot tarpon jumped twice, framed against the wild beach, one of those images that etch into your mind. Then the plug sailed free. Pendras made a vigorous reel-up motion with his hands. “We go in now.”

I stowed the rod and shrugged. Tarpon are difficult to “stay stuck” on plugs. Probably just as well. That fish would have been a beast under the high, hot October sun. Besides, we already had four catch-andreleases for the morning.

Rio Parismina Lodge runs a well-oiled and civilized drill; you leave at first light, fish until 11 a.m., then kick back at camp for about three hours before launching for the afternoon session. The break is a great supercharger during the peak of the tropical heat.

Several other boats were running back. We bounced through the cut and raced up the river, the cooling breeze aided and abetted by an icy Imperial beer hoisted from the cooler.

Pendras nosed into his slip at the covered dock. Lodge owner Judy Heidt and manager Fernando Gonzales sat in wood-and-leather Costa Rican rockers and greeted the incoming fleet. Most of the 24 anglers were gesturing in superlatives. Several didn’t have much to say—but, hey, that’s fishing.

Houstonians Link Smith and Ronnie Sellers had tales of eight or ten jumped fish. Smith had most of his action on Strike Pro Tuna Hunter topwater plugs.

“Ah, Escritor Famoso,” Gonzales said, smiling. “And how was your morning?”

“Great,” I said. “Wore me out. We had tarpon trying to jump in the boat when Kenneth made us quit fishing.”

Gonzales and I go back several decades to when I made my first forays to the fabulous tarpon fishery of the rain forest rivers draining Costa Rica’s northeastern coast. He calls me “Famous Writer,” as if I’m a balding J.K. Rowling.

The fact that I’ve been fishing the region off-and-on since 1982 gives me a reasonably valid perspective. And my opinion is this: The tarpon fishery was better back then, but the tarpon fishing is better now.

Say, what?

Double hookups are common when boaters drifting sardina baitfish hit tarpon schools.

A “skying” six-foot tarpon on the descent from an improbable leap off Rio Parismina.

Tarpon numbers surely were greater 30 years ago, and reliable fishing for mature fish was available in the rivers and lagoons—but (at least on my trips) overall hookup/catch numbers were not as good.

In short, you can bend the rod more today. And that’s a rare circumstance at any reasonably accessible fishing venue. I base this conclusion on several factors.

First, the ocean tarpon population is still spectacular. No commercial pressure is put on the big schools moving up and down the beachfront and, oddly, sport fishing pressure remains about the same.

Which is to say, very little.

The Parismina area has experienced minimal development. The village near the river mouth is off Costa Rica’s tourism radar and the jungle continues to press close. No roads cut past the veins of channels and lagoons of the low country. You either arrive by small prop plane, landing on a paved runway near the village, or you run upriver by boat for 30 minutes to a roadside landing.

Rio Parismina Lodge is the only major camp on that drainage. The With smoldering volcano in background, Rio Parismina Lodge boats prowl the Caribbean coastline for schools of tarpon.

12 | January 2015

situation is much the same for Rio Colorado to the north and Rio Matina to the south. Rio Tortuguero is protected as a turtle sanctuary but rumors persist that tarpon running the surf are uncommonly fond of baby green turtles returning to the ocean.

The camp uses the V-hulled center consoles built heavy with plenty of glass to punch through potentially rough surf at the outlet.

Once off the beachfront, the 150-horse motors allow the boats to run laterally along the unpopulated coast to search for schools. The captains use cell phones or radios to communicate, and electronics to help locate deep fish.

In contrast, back in “the day” we used 16-foot flat-bottomed aluminum skiffs at John Kollman’s old Parismina Tarpon Rancho and Archie Fields’ Rio Colorado Lodge. Or maybe they were 14 footers.

Either way, you weren’t looking at much—especially when a hooked tarpon jumped aboard.

The skiffs were sketchy in rough water and severely limited in range.

You basically fished the home river mouth and perhaps one or two of the closest lagoon passes.

The small boats were superior in the rivers and lagoons but, to repeat, the “inside” tarpon fishing simply has not been reliable in recent years.

Nobody seems to know why.

Finally, fishing methods have improved. The skiff fishing consisted mainly of casting lures— plugs and jigs on 20-pound casting tackle, or streamers on fast-sinking 11- and 12-weight fly lines. The fact that great numbers of tarpon were hooked by this simple program supports my claim that the overall fishery was better.

Lures, of course, still draw strikes but most fish now are caught while drifting “sardina” minnows on circle hooks on 30-pound-class tackle (or 60- to 80-pound braid). The fresh six- to eightinch baitfish are caught on sabiki rigs along water-change lines at the start of each morning/ afternoon session.

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Circle hooks are excellent for solid hookups and clean catch-and-release on tarpon.

Natural bait wasn’t used 30 years ago, mainly because it wasn’t necessary.

The circle hook drill was a major catapult. First, the drifted baits draw strikes from random or indifferent tarpon that might snub lures. And when a hot school is located, double and triple hookups are common.

Second, the technique is extremely effective for catch-and-release.

Assuming you allow time for the circle hook to rotate against the pulling fish, the barb almost always sticks cleanly in the jaw. On this note, the best immediate reaction when a rod “goes off” is no immediate reaction. The frantic yank used with a conventional “J” hook is a rookie mistake.

Watch the rod bend as line from moderate drag peels from the reel,

Guide Kenneth Pendras prepares to release beachfront tarpon caught by Doggett on heavy plug tackle and 72M MirrOlure.

14 | January 2015

then pull back slowly—about this time a well-hooked tarpon should be flailing through the air.

This hands-off method plays well for beginners. The beauty of the program is that you can either sit back and just enjoy being there, or allow the stern baits to drift while chunking plugs from the bow. Either way, tarpon are the Plan of the Day. Rio Parismina Lodge offers an excellent full-service tarpon package.

This opinion is based on using conventional tackle (opposed to flyonly) and adding up the number of high-octane jumps during the typical four- to seven-day trip.

On the subject of jumps, now and then a hooked tarpon zooming straight up through 40 or 50 feet of water will “sky,” leaping so high you are looking up, not out—pretty damned impressive. You don’t get those ballistics on a flat.

But now I must offer a disclaimer to this glowing review: A siege of rough surf or a raging flood can significantly downgrade a trip. But, once again, that’s fishing. No venue this side of a hatchery tank is bulletproof to Señor Weatherman.

The camp is open January through October, and the most consistent calm conditions occur during late summer/early fall. But any week can provide awesome fishing. The schools are there year-round.

And, of course, during any outing you might zig rather than zag. On a really bad day a boat might get skunked and on a really good day you might jump 10 or 12. The average is somewhere in between. And, with tarpon in the 50- to 150-pound class, that’s plenty of full contact.

We booked our trip through Ward Michaels of Michaels’ Hunting & Fishing, Inc., of Orlando, Fla. Smith, Sellers and I have known Michaels at least 15 years, and he has Costa Rica wired as well as any tico (local).

In fact, Michaels caught a 58-pound, 8-ounce Pacific snook near Quepos that recently was certified as the all-tackle IGFA world record.

We flew non-stop last October from Houston to San Jose, the capital. The flight takes about four hours. Groups overnight at the Cariari Hotel, one of the best facilities in the city, then depart at first light for a 40-minute charter flight to the Parismina strip, there to be met by the ever-smiling and never-aging Gonzales. You are fishing by 9 a.m.—maybe 8 a.m., if you don’t screw around too much fiddling with tackle.

Boat dock at Rio Parismina Lodge is about five minutes from the river mouth.

The double-occupancy rooms are clean and comfortable and bugs are minimal. Heidt runs a tight operation; the meals are well-prepared, the bar is always open, and everything works.

And, a mere five minutes from the dock waits the potential for an extraordinary angling adventure.

STORY BY KEVIN COCHRAN

As i get older,

one thing becomes ever more clear. Everything around us exists in a state of entropy. The concept can best be understood through a simple, yet profound statement: a system in order tends toward disorder. The heavy hands of Father Time ruin everything eventually.

Watch the news and the veracity of these concepts becomes clear.

Cultures clash, empires fall, bridges collapse, storms, fires and other natural disasters reduce shiny cities to dust and rubble. A compelling argument can be made for the fact that this human culture in which we play a part, this technologically advanced civilization continually tends toward greater and greater levels of disorder. I

can’t really accept the notion that our civilization started out “in order”, but I do believe it perpetually tends toward greater disorder.

Certainly, the effects of entropy can be felt individually, by all human beings with brains capable of reason and discernment. For instance, I could dunk a basketball with both hands well into my thirties, but now, I can barely leap over a pair of stacked phone books.

Physical skills and stamina fade as we age; any idiot can perceive the slippage. For many of us, our personal relationships also show a tendency to fall apart over time. Note the high divorce rate in our nation, for example. Also, think of the way people move apart and lose track of each other as time scours us with ever-shifting sands.

The motivation for this piece came to me slowly, as a cumulative effect of many observations related to the things I possess and use. As I type, my truck needs a new set of tires, and the cloth on the driver’s

side seat has a tear in it, which allows foam rubber bits to continually crumble off and litter the floorboard.

The trailer underneath my boat bears scars from sitting covered in salty brine day after day in the bright sunshine. Corrosion inevitably occurs in these environments. My Haynie could use some gel coat work and other cosmetic enhancements; it serves me well, as a loyal workhorse, but it does show its age clearly.

Two of my fishing rods have eyes which need replacing, and all my reels include replacement parts.

In fact, I have a closet full of worn out reels, which I keep around to use like a private junkyard, for parts.

Speaking of a junkyard, I now see my wading gear and equipment.

My rusty pliers prove stiff to manipulate; the blanched Simms jacket I use to brace myself against the wind and rain bears permanent stains. My wading Though the fish boots have holes in them, and the soles need to be aggressively bit soft replaced. Better yet, I need to throw them away and plastics on the cold day on which the get a new pair. I’ve already turned my waders inside author caught this 28 out and repaired pinhole leaks numerous times. This inch trout, they could is one of the prices we pay for living; things must not be coaxed into continually be repaired or replaced. taking other lures at all.

In his famous, poignant novel Brave New World, Significantly, both Huxley’s civilization and our own actively Aldous Huxley created a fictitious, profoundly recognizable society acknowledge the state of entropy as a governing force, though the which abandoned Protestant work ethics and values, replacing them by celebrating greed and the need for instant gratification. The people reactions to the acknowledgment and corresponding philosophies of the two contradict each other. For the purposes of this discussion, the in his fantasy culture lived by crazy creeds, including ideas such as significance of the reality of the condition of the world supersedes the “ending is better than mending” and “the more stitches, the less response to it. riches”. Both these concepts starkly contrast conventional Christian By now, the following question has likely arisen in the heads proverbs such as “a stitch in time saves nine” and “a penny saved is a of many readers: what does all of this have to do with saltwater penny earned”. fishing? I will thank you here and now for indulging me to this point, Huxley’s perverse, imaginary world essentially embraced entropy and will reveal exactly how these tenets relate to the sport by which and tried to ride it like a never-ending wave toward an ever-distant I make a living. beachfront, whereas the Protestant Christian model attempts to I could dilly dally some more and go into further detail about fight against it at all times, to continually plug holes in the dike. Who how saltwater corrodes equipment and compromises our abilities among us has not witnessed road crews slathering hot asphalt over over time. But I will get straight into another, more important point. rough roads? As a culture, we tend to believe in Band-Aid cures, in Systems tend to fall apart, but they don’t do so in a linear fashion. The borrowing more time in the perpetual battle with the impending momentum of entropy exhibits ebb and flow. decay of everything we see and know and love.

The specific changes aren’t permanent, but change is. We live in a world constantly in flux. Weather systems and climates alter over time.

Winds shift, rise and subside; tides roll in and out. Populations of fish grow, then decline; algal blooms occur, rafts of sargassum weed arrive on the beach, as multiple, mighty forces collide.

These changes occur within two related dimensions, which actually become one—space and time. In other words, things move around as time passes, and their qualities evolve as they travel. The fishing Bible possesses its own set of proverbs; old salts quote them frequently.

One famous epitaph says, “fish have fins and tails, they don’t stay in the same place all the time.”

Warm conditions in fall and winter prove conducive to Several related sayings emerge from the recognition that change catching fish on floating dominates our reality. If fish feed aggressively for a while, they plugs in shallow water. will eventually become full and won’t open their mouths for some David Knight pulled this period of time. Conversely, if they sit dormant for long enough seven-pound trout from knee-deep water atop a without eating, they will become hungry and will start champing at sand bar with a SheDog. whatever swims by.

20 | January 2015

bullet. Naturally, changing lures and/or locations enhances consistency at times, but doing so in panic mode rarely achieves any positive outcome.

The most important structural element underlying all intelligent, productive fishing decisions is an awareness of the location of the target fish on what I call the “feeding circle”. Fish, like all creatures, feed at predictable times, within a repeating cycle.

Understanding where targeted fish lie within that cycle at a given time affects decisions anglers make about how to cope when the catching slows.

Before one can make an educated guess as to how actively the fish are likely to be feeding, one has to acknowledge the existence of the feeding circle. For many anglers, this acknowledgment never occurs, because resistance to change ironically causes them to deny the cycle that governs the process. Such anglers seem always to expect things to come easier than they will, or if things do come easy, they expect them to stay that way longer than they possibly can.

Weaker anglers tend to talk about the glory days, when they always caught more and bigger fish. They also tend to rely far too heavily on a short list of favored honey holes, or sweet spots. Stronger anglers embrace change and continually fight to correctly assess how the dynamic forces which govern nature and life affect fishing situations season to season, day to day, hour to hour, moment to moment. The best acknowledge entropy, but constantly strive to put things back in order as best they can.

In its purest form, angling excellence involves creeds related to both the Protestant ethical codes and those held dear in Huxley’s Brave New World. At times, the only way to truly “fix” an unproductive fishing situation is to recognize the need to scrap a plan and make a major adjustment; in other words, to throw something which once worked out and get something entirely new.

At other times, the fix involves making subtle repairs to a damaged plan. These decisions can only be made correctly by those who not only accept the realities imposed by entropy, but who also recognize multiple ways to react to constant change.

Rudy Keilman showed persistence and a patient mindset on the day he caught this 7.25 pounder. Such an attitude is generally necessary when cold temperatures first stun the fish in late autumn.

22 | January 2015

Kevin Cochran Contact

Likewise, if the fishing in an area holds steadily good for long enough, the law of diminishing returns will eventually dictate a downturn. Also, if a proven area stops producing because fish temporarily leave, one thing proves reliably true; fish will return again and the catching will improve.

Of greatest importance, these facts, when acknowledged and accepted, require astute anglers to constantly re-evaluate aspects of fishing situations, in the quest to maximize consistency. The evolved angler understands the strong need to fight against what I perceive as the most prominent shared trait among all human beings—the tendency to resist change.

At its core, resistance to change results from our will to stay alive.

While we have our health, while we live, we want things to remain the same. Change becomes a sentinel for our impending doom.

Resistance to change potentially hampers our ability to adjust to changes quickly enough or intelligently enough to maximize productivity when fishing.

While things go well, and we catch plenty of fish, we tend to become lazy, and stop planning out what move(s) we will make when things inevitably become tougher. These “moves” might involve changing presentations, lures, strategies or locations.

Assuming a good situation has permanence potentially turns stubborn into stupid. All good things will end; expert anglers anticipate those endings and react appropriately, knowing the only way to ride a wave is by staying ahead of its crest.

While things go poorly, and we don’t catch fish, we tend to panic and want to accelerate the pace of change. Understanding the causes underlying tough fishing can help avoid a couple of common tendencies—running around looking for some magic spot and throwing every lure in the box, in the search for a magic

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

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

Trout Tracker Guide Service Phone Email Web

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

STORY BY Billy Sandifer

I was living in an old camper shell

located next to a bar called “The Intracoastal” underneath the JFK Causeway high bridge when I first met Dick.

There was a regular crowd of “no counts” who hung out there and Dick had been living alone with his dogs in a small travel trailer at Bird Island Basin and on the Kleberg County beach for several years.

I guess he needed to spend a bit of time around other humans and we suited him. We lived on the fringes of society, not as a part of it, and we were as close to it as he cared to come.

At the time I was a hard drinker and so was Dick and everyone else there. The whole scene was straight out of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. He was obviously a well-educated man but it was his habit to be very polite and he talked little among strangers. As time went on he opened up and piece by piece we got his story.

Dick was a retired engineer born on an Indian reservation near Green Bay, Wisconsin and had spent most of his life overseeing the building of various factories in England and Ireland. His British wife lived in his nice house in Corpus but he simply could no longer tolerate urban life and he only went to see her on Sundays now and then. He had wild, deepwater-blue eyes that burned through you and immediately I knew he was insane. He had lived “down island” butt naked for two and one half years with nothing, no possessions whatever, just living like any other animal on the interior of the island.

The feds received numerous reports of him and I think he was probably sneaking into fishermen’s camps at night and stealing necessities. He ran them a merry chase when they tried to apprehend him but they finally succeeded with the aid of a helicopter. He always swore they threw a big cast net over him as they were afraid of him. I doubt that as I’ve never seen a fed that could throw a big cast net. He was in bad shape and spent some time in the hospital recovering from intestinal flukes he had acquired from drinking the water from the lakes scattered along the island.

He said that when mosquitoes were bad he would coat his body with the gray clay found in the hurricane pass lakes. One day he followed me out of the bar and said, “I hear you’ve spent some time down the island.”

I replied, “Apparently not as much as you have but I lived down

island by myself for a year and a half without ever coming out until I got pneumonia.” He was impressed with that and said, “Well, if you’ve spent that long down there by yourself then you’re for real and if you’ve spent that long down the island you’ve heard them, haven’t you? You gotta spend some time down there afore you can hear them you know.”

For a moment I was confused and then it hit me and I laughed and said, “Oh, you’re talking about the flute. The Indian flute music down in the 40s.”

Dick’s already large, burning eyes grew to twice their size and he said, “My God, you’re real. There’s two of us. I’d always thought I was the only one who knew about that.”

And then he asked me to describe what I heard and how often, and I told him the full story: “I’ve never heard them but down between the 40 and the 49 mile, (referring to the distance from the end of the pavement on PINS) most often between 10:00 pm and about midnight. There would usually be two complete and totally different tunes, both lengthy. And then a third that would stop abruptly in the middle of a note. I never heard the third tune completed. Some nights they would be repeated over and over with varying time intervals in between for hours and at times the flute would start the first song and stop in the middle. Other times I would wake at 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning to the beautiful yet mournful music.”

Dick asked if I thought he and I heard them because we were part Indian, that maybe only Indians could hear them. I laughed and told him I thought we were the only ones who had been down there in the right areas and circumstances.

Most folks have radios blaring and lots of other noise in their camps and we didn’t and we were down there more than other people could genuinely imagine in this day and age. And we were totally alone. I never once heard them when anyone else was around and I’ve never heard them except during that extended period when I lived down there.

“Did you ever try to find the flute player?” he wanted to know.

“Sure, lots of times,” I replied. “Sometimes I never seemed to get any closer and other times it seemed I would get very close and when I did it always stopped instantly.”

He related that his experiences mirrored mine. He had chased the TSFMAG.com | 25

Blue-winged Teal - Anas discorsLength: 15.5-inches Wingspan: 23-inches Weight: 1-pound In full plumage, male has violet-gray head with distinctive white crescent on each side. Female is smaller and generally drab, distinguished from the even smaller female Greenwinged Teal by larger bill and yellowish legs. Common in marshes, flooded fields and ponds in open country. Nests in northern Prairie Pothole Region. Present in Texas as early as mid-August, sometimes stays until early-June.

sound for miles and hours many nights and whenever he got too close it would instantly stop for the night. We talked about every possible explanation and agreed nothing we could think of could possibly account for the music. Not wind blowing through rusted pipes or wreckage, or sounds carrying across the Laguna or anything else. It often came when the wind was perfectly still without even a whisper of a breeze. And it was coming from too nearby to be from the Laguna or inland and always there were no other people for miles.

The Karankawas revered this island; it was as holy to them as anything could be in their minds. The last record of them on Padre Island was in 1846, by Samuel Reid of the Texas Rangers. Reid maintained that some of the warriors, driven to desperation by their sufferings at the hands of the Anglo settlers, murdered their women and children and chose Padre Island as a suitable place to live out the remnants of their lives.

The final Karankawan account was in 1858 where one last group living in Tamaulipas were forced to flee back across the Rio Grande into Texas where they were “exterminated” by ranchers.

To the Native Americans, the flute player is the tribal peacemaker.

The sound of his flute soothed and comforted. Being a breed Choctaw, I find it easy to accept the fact that the spirit of one of them could remain. This spirit offers its tunes on windless nights to honor the island and to sooth the hardships of the children of Creation who live there now. The spirit seeks to share the legacy and memories of a time and a people who are no more and mourns their passing.

Dick died eight years ago and sometimes when I’m sitting alone by my small campfire down there at night many miles from another human being, I see in my mind’s eye the flute player sitting on the sloping side of a bare mid-island dune. Dick is there, covered with mud from head to toe sitting next to him and smiling. They nod when I walk up and quietly sit cross-legged alongside them. The flute player silently raises his instrument to his lips and begins to play. I am totally at peace and content as the beautiful sound echoes among the dunes. I know I am where I belong and was intended to be and all is right with the world. At least the real world; the important world, the world where the sea meets the sand. None of the rest really ever mattered anyway.

“If we don’t leave any, there won’t be any.”

Editor’s Note: This story is reprinted from our 2009 archives. Our longtime writer and dear friend, Billy Sandifer, is suffering badly at present from the debilitating effects of exposure to Agent Orange during his military service in Viet Nam. Billy has many fans and this story always meant a lot to me, explaining to a certain degree his personality and devotion to preserving the natural wonders of Padre Island National Seashore. Please join me in prayer that Billy will weather his present storm and regain strength to continue his writings soon.

Photos by Jimmy Jackson.

26 | January 2015

Contact

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

Website www.FriendsofPadre.com

Part II

“So Bodie…

STORY BY MARTIN STRARUP

any idea who would have known that Tommy had a safe in his house and kept a sizeable sum of money in it?” Red asked as they drove down the highway toward Victoria.

“Your guess would be good as mine, Red. But—I believe you’re on the right track,” Bodie said.

The two friends drove on in silence, each going over things in their mind and trying to come up with a name or a face of someone who would do something like this to Tommy.

They both pretty much ruled out anybody local but, who from out-of-town?

Tommy had so little contact with the outside world, rarely went anywhere and almost never mentioned friends or family from out of the area since his mother had passed. Tommy led such a plain life who could have known he was wealthy?

“Hell, Red; you, me and Mr. Connors are the only ones in town who know of Tommy’s inheritance—as far as I’m aware,” Bodie offered, thinking aloud.

The pair arrived at the hospital and inquired at the information desk about their friend. “Are you family” the attendant asked?

“No we’re close friends; my name is Bodie Allen” Bodie told the woman.

“Oh you’re Mr. Meyers emergency contact person, Mr. Allen, so I can tell you that Mr. Meyers is still in ICU,” she replied “If you will take the elevator to the second floor you can go to the nurses’ station there and they can give you more information but, only you can go up, Mr. Allen” she said almost too cheerfully.

Red told Bodie to go on up, and he’d find the cafeteria.

Stepping from the elevator Bodie looked down the hall and saw a desk with people milling about. He stepped up and inquired about Tommy Meyers.

“Are you family, sir,” a nurse asked?

“No but I’m his emergency contact, my name is Bodie Allen.”

A middle-aged man in surgical scrubs stepped from behind the desk and introduced himself as Dr. Hanson, Tommy’s primary care physician and invited Bodie to step into the lounge so they might speak privately. Bodie accepted and followed him into a room with vending machines, microwave ovens, tables and chairs. Bodie slid a chair out, sat down, and waited for Dr. Hanson to fill him in.

28 | January 2015

“Mr. Meyers has a severe concussion with some swelling on his brain, several broken ribs, an orbital fracture or fracture of the eye socket, and some broken teeth,” the doctor told Bodie.

“An ophthalmologist has looked at his eye and a dental surgeon checked his teeth but neither can offer much help until the swelling has gone down.

In my opinion he’ll need dental surgery and quite

possibly surgery to repair the damage to the orbital rim and floor around his eye but the most important thing at the moment is the swelling on his brain.”

Bodie was taking it all in as the doctor continued, “At the moment we have seen an improvement with the swelling, there is no bleeding on the brain, and the neurologist doesn’t think that any surgery will be necessary as long as that improvement continues.”

Bodie sighed audibly; he suddenly felt very tired. “So how long of

a recovery are we looking at here Doc?” he asked.

“If the swelling continues to go down and his overall condition doesn’t deteriorate for some reason, he should be out of ICU in less than a week and into a room. From there it will be a long road to recovery due to the damage around his eye and his dental problems. I really can’t say how long that might take,” Dr. Hanson added in conclusion.

Bodie nodded his head and asked if he could look in on Tommy.

TSFMAG.com | 29

30 | January 2015

“Betty, I need some information on one Vincent Meyers who last I knew was living somewhere in North Texas” Bodie said. “I don’t have a town but if you run into a lot of the same names just print them all out and I’ll stop by and pick through the list,” Bodie said.

Bodie’s next call was to Dale, the sheriff department’s investigator who was working the case.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before but, Tommy has a deadbeat, borderline criminal brother named Vince who lives or lived somewhere up in North Texas” Bodie told the investigator.

“You mentioned he had a brother when we were at the scene, Bodie, but I haven’t gotten around to checking family leads yet; it’s next on my list,” Dale informed him.

Bodie drove to the sheriff’s office, parked his truck, stuck his pistol into the waist band of his jeans, put his badge holder in his pocket and walked inside.

“Sugar Plum, is that you?” asked the lady at the dispatcher’s desk.

“Betty I wish you wouldn’t call me that, it’s embarrassing,” Bodie said with the best smile he could manage.

Betty winked and handed him a stack papers.

“That’s everybody I can find referencing Vincent Meyers in the state of Texas,” she told Bodie.

Well this is going to take a while, Bodie said to himself.

“I sure do appreciate it, Betty, and I’ll buy you lunch soon,” Bodie said.

“I’d much rather you buy me breakfast but I’ll settle on lunch,” Betty said sweetly with a nod and a wink.

Sheriff Reynolds and Bodie were longtime friends and Bodie carried his commission as a full time non-paid deputy. It was a good thing for Bodie and a good thing for the county since Bodie watched over his part of the county as well as he could. As luck would have it, Dale and the Sheriff Reynolds were in the sheriff’s office when Bodie knocked and was waved inside.

“Howdy Sheriff, Dale; I wanted to let you get some copies of some information that Betty pulled up for me on all of the Vincent Meyers that are located in Texas.”

“I appreciate it Bodie,” Dale said. “But strange enough, it seems that one Vincent Meyers just bought a new pickup in Corpus Christi, and paid for it in cash,” Dale added. “The Sheriff and I were just talking it over, and were wondering; How’d you’d like to take a ride down to Corpus with me first thing in the morning?”

“Is daylight here in the parking lot too early?” Bodie asked.

(For Part 1, see the December 2014 issue.

Stay tuned next month for Part 3!)

Martin Strarup

Contact

Tommy was lying motionless with hoses and wires attached every which way. His face was swollen to a frightful state and Bodie had a hard time recognizing his friend with all the gauze and bandages that were in place. A heart monitor next to Tommy’s bed made beeping noises and there was a breathing tube in his mouth. IV tubes ran from Tommy’s hands up to bags of fluid that hung above the bed and Bodie felt tears running down his weathered cheeks.

Bodie walked to the bed and took Tommy’s hand, gently squeezed it and thought that he felt Tommy squeeze back. The nurses hovering so closely and their looks of concern told him he really should leave.

“So what’s the word on Tommy?” asked Red when Bodie found him in the hospital cafeteria. Bodie explained everything that the doctor had told him and about how terrible Tommy looked with all the tubes and wires running in and around him. Red could see that Bodie was really shaken up by the visit to ICU and suggested that they go grab something to eat.

“I’m starving. Let’s go find something to eat and clear our heads a little,” Red suggested.

“I’m not really hungry, Red, but I do need to eat,” was all Bodie said.

Bodie and Red got a table in a small Mexican restaurant, ordered two beers and food, and then started going over what they knew.

Tommy had to have known the person or people who robbed and beat him. And whoever it was must also have known of the safe built into the closet wall, and the large sum Tommy kept in it. Most importantly, the person or persons were absolutely ruthless.

“I’ll add one more thing,” said Bodie. “What’s that” asked Red? “When we find them, and we will eventually, they’re going to have to spend some private time with me,” Bodie said, while looking Red straight dead in the eyes.

Bodie headed to the Connor ranch after Red dropped him off. He filled Monroe in on what he knew about Tommy’s condition then called Mr. Connor and asked if he could drop by the house to speak with him.

“I guess you’ve heard about Tommy Meyers, Mr. Connor” Bodie said to his boss. “I heard about it, Bodie, and you do whatever you need to do to make things right for that boy,” Mr. Connor told Bodie sincerely.

“I need to line Monroe out on some things and we need to talk about replacing the chute and head gate on pasture #6 but other than that we’re okay,” said Bodie. “I’ll never be very far off and will earn my keep as best that I can until we can get Tommy back home, and I sure do appreciate you’re understanding my situation,” Bodie said.

“Whatever you need Bodie you just let me know and if that boy needs anything, help with medical bills or what have you, just let me know,” said Mr. Connor.

Bodie drove down to pasture #6 and looked at the ancient Powder River head gate. He did some measuring, wrote down some numbers then made a call to a feed store that got most of the ranch business.

“Art’s Feed Store, this is Vince, how can I help you?” came the voice on the other end of the line. Bodie sat staring through the windshield of his truck with his mouth open and cell phone to his ear and then stuttered that he would call back. Bodie disconnected from the feed store and called the Sheriff’s office.

“Betty, this is Bodie, I wonder if you can help me out please,” Bodie asked of the dispatcher when she answered the phone.

“What do you need, Sugar Plum?” Betty asked.

Bodie grimaced at the Sugar Plum reference but had to hand it to Betty, who at 60 still had plenty fire left in her.

Martin Strarup is a lifelong saltwater enthusiast and outdoorsman.

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

Email

Trouthunter@swbell.net

STORY BY CHUCK UZZLE

Pardon me for just one moment

while I steal a line from Texas country music singer, Roger Creager. “It’s the invisible intoxicant…called Everclear.”

Clear liquid doesn’t have to come in a bottle, be a zillion proof, or cost $10 at the bar to do a number on your senses. The water in your nearest bay during the winter months can easily have the same effect.

Catch clear water in your favorite fishing spot and you may be subjected to withdrawals, hangovers, and other maladies that plague those who indulge to the point of excess. I can only speak from personal experience and tell you that once you get the chance to watch your fish before, during, and after the strike you will never feel the same again.

Upper coast bays that so rarely exhibit the clarity of famous lower coast venues will occasionally get so ridiculously clear that catching fish on lures becomes next to impossible. Super clear water that happens during the winter months magnifies the need for a stealthy approach, pinpoint casts, and subtle lure presentations. One cannot go barging across a gin clear flat like a water buffalo on a unicycle and hope to achieve the desired result. Quiet and slow is the name of the game when chasing fish in this kind of water where even the most subtle movement could spook a fish that may change your fishing life. The clear stuff demands a different tactic but it also pays out big rewards when done properly.

I can remember the first time I fished ultra-clear wintertime water on Sabine Lake. Many years ago during a mid-week January trip I had my eyes opened to just exactly how clear the water could get and I was truly amazed. My clients and I had worked our way south down the lake chasing flocks of unmolested gulls—no other boats in sight. About 10 o’clock the tide had just about stopped and the fish turned off for the time being so we decided to make a little run to an area that held some structure and hopefully some fish.

The big bay boat settled off plane and I marveled at how the prop wash seemed to be so clear. We

settled in to a stretch of water that was anywhere from 6 to 8 feet deep and began probing with soft plastics. One of my clients had a small backlash that required my attention so I put my rod on the deck and took care of the problem before making another cast. As I worked on the backlash I happened to catch a glimpse of some color in the water and initially paid it no mind. While handing the rod back to the owner I noticed the color again and this time decided to investigate. What I had been seeing were small patches of shell on the bottom in 7 feet of water, I couldn’t believe it.

I took my rod and dropped the jig beside the boat and watched as the soft plastic came to rest on the bottom as clear as it could be. After winding up the slack I picked up the jig to judge the depth by how much line was still out and sure enough it was a good 7 feet. That type of clarity is almost unheard of in Sabine Lake and only happens a few times a year, so I was more than shocked.

The knowledge I gained on that trip, being able to see firsthand what the shell looked like and where it was located, was invaluable, especially when the normal clarity returned. My clients and I spent the rest of the trip casting jigs to the previously unknown structure and had a marvelous afternoon picking up trout and redfish that we may never had found otherwise.

Fast forward several years, same time of year, same type of water and nearly identical results. My good friend Johnny Cormier and I were prowling around on Calcasieu on a January day in search of a big fish and the species didn’t really matter. We stopped a couple hundred yards from an area where we knew some fish had been holding and were preparing to make a wade when we started seeing fish laying right next to these scattered shell piles. From our vantage point of the front deck we could see so much better in the water that we decided to forego the wade in favor of a little sight-fishing.

The majority of the fish we were seeing were upper-slot reds and seemed undisturbed at our presence as they continued their rooting for food. It was absolute chaos for quite sometime as we just made long

drifts and picked off these fish on a variety of baits.

The opportunity to watch these fish and how they reacted to our presentations was eye opening and something very few anglers get the opportunity to witness. One thing we saw was how important the little things were in the clear water. For instance we compared using fluorocarbon leader to not using any at all and it was hands down better fishing with the clear leader material. Another thing that seemed to fit in line with conventional thinking was using a smaller bait. We continuously changed plugs to see how they would work under those conditions and the smaller offerings won the battle. This is very similar to how we attack the same clear water in the summer, a Junior-size Spook or Spit’n Image will often out produce a full-size Spook or similarly large plug in that environment. The biggest difference here was being able to actually see the fish and how they reacted. It was incredible.

Nowadays, I actually spend most of my time in that same “intoxicating” clear stuff, searching out shallow

swam away. From that point on we changed our whole approach, and were rewarded with some really good fish for the effort, but nothing like the two we watched swim away.

To properly take advantage of the opportunity to see your fish you absolutely must have high-quality polarized sunglasses. A host of manufacturers have been offering some great products for years now, and a relatively new one I have added to my list is Bimini Bay’s Salt Life line. Several features appealed immediately—the first being the quality of the lenses, made by none other than Zeiss.

Another great feature is minimal soft rubber or plastic components that tend to degrade from sweat and sunscreen all too soon with other brands. I found my Salt Life glasses extraordinarily light and really comfortable to wear.

I’ve been using them for several months and I am truly impressed with the performance. These glasses are definitely worth a look, and priced competitively. You won’t take a big hit in the wallet with Salt Life.

The winter months are not exactly what you would think of when the subject of clear water comes to mind but trust me when I tell you it’s a mighty good time to check it out. For some reason the water seems to settle out quicker in the winter and the big fronts that empty the bay will help wash away most muddy runoff and usher in clean clear water in its place.

The potential to see things you never Dr. David Drez pulled this saw and catch fish in a way that was solid slot redfish off a shell pad that we discovered in previously unthinkable is all you need Bimini Bay’s new Salt Life Polarized Sport Optics are 6 feet of clear water. to know to get yourself out there and top-end fishing glasses that feature Zeiss lenses. see it for yourself. Wintertime clearwater redfish. The constant battle of trying to locate and see these fish water sight-fishing is one the coolest things you’ll ever experience before they see you is a daily challenge that will humble even the best on the water. anglers. I truly enjoy the shallow water environment but when I get the chance to fish that clear water in the open lake I jump at the chance.

When the water in the lake gets winter-clear is probably the best chance any upper coast angler will ever get to sight-cast to a big Chuck fishes Sabine and Calcasieu speckled trout. Lower coast anglers get that opportunity far more Lakes from his home in Orange, TX. often than we do, so it’s kind of old hat to them. One of the best His specialties are light tackle and fly shallow water guys I know is Ron Begnaud of Lafayette. Begnaud fishing for trout, reds, and flounder. and I have had many adventures over the years but one encounter still causes us to shake our heads. On a perfect late-winter day with Phone 409-697-6111 warming water temps, we were working a shoreline and happened Email cuzzle@gt.rr.com upon two absolute giant speckled trout. They never spooked but likewise showed no interest in our offerings before they leisurely Johnny Cormier hoists another clear-water Calcasieu brute.

Contact

Chuck Uzzle

34 | January 2015

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what it’s like, crossing the wide Gulf of Mexico? There’s a lot of water out there, out beyond the “tuna rigs,” the deepwater floater platforms some 100-130 miles out. Which is about one fifth of the way to Mexico. Five hundred miles straight across, if you start from New Orleans, and seven hundred if you leave Texas, round the Yucatan peninsula and head west for the popular fishing ports of Isla Mujeres, Cozumel or Playa Del Carmen.

Even in winter, it’s shorts and sandals weather in the Gulf, if you head far enough offshore. Fish perceived as summer species, like mahi-mahi (dolphin), marlin, tuna and wahoo are all hungry out there in winter. Sometimes the year’s first marlin off Texas is caught on New Year’s Day only 50 to 80 miles out, an honor to the first boat that rightfully claims it.

My own Gulf crossing was a great trip with flat calm water, even though it was the first few days of July. Many of the Texas billfish boats cross in February, following cold fronts offshore as they peter out, and before the next weather system arrives. Once in Mexican waters, they’re ready for the spring sailfish season, peaking in April. It’s a system that’s worked many times, but with the Gulf there are no guarantees and the going can get tough. We have friends in POC who tried to sail across during spring and it took something like 12 days in rough water; they had engine trouble, head-on seas, while the Gulf was smoky from fires in Mexico—a real ordeal. Another friend on his first crossing crashed his Bertram onto Alacran Reef at 5 a.m., hitting the only island (atoll) out there, totaling his boat. The Mexican Navy stationed on the island hosted them for several days before turning them over to the federales in Progresso about 100 miles away on the mainland, and it wasn’t as much fun as it sounds. They got home with only the clothes they were wearing…

ARD H C I R JOE Y B RY STO

Angry, lit-up blue marlin thrashes besides the boat. Unhooking these guys and releasing them can get exciting.

The 55-foot Bertram Bout Time in Playa Del Carmen, ready for a 900-mile trip across the Gulf back to Port Aransas.

Very small boats have crossed the Gulf. One crossing was accomplished by Capt. Billy Wright, who by himself drove a 23-foot SeaCraft the 700 miles. I think it was in June: His friends in the bigger billfish boats were headed back to Galveston at a slow, economical speed, leaving a day ahead of him, carrying extra fuel. Billy caught up with them in mid-Gulf and they had a fuel transfer. That would have been dicey in rough weather, but Billy said the Gulf was so glassy calm, he could look overboard and see his face reflected on the mile-deep water. The Customs officer in Galveston was skeptical, that his last port of call was (if memory serves) Isla Mujeres, which isn’t even on the Gulf, it’s on the Caribbean side of Mexico.

But on to my own Gulf crossing, something that had been on my bucket list for many years. I was aboard a Port Nechesregistered 55-foot Bertram named Bout Time that docks in Port Aransas. It’s skippered by Capt. Pete Hebert, and we go back to our Port Arthur days of making five-day trips beyond the Flower Gardens in 1982.

*

*

*

Brian Knutzen and I are assigned the 2 to 4 a.m. “dog shift” during our four-day Gulf crossing, and each night we liven it up with fourspeaker music, such as the best of Marty Robbins and other tunes.

With no lights around for more than a hundred miles, the Milky Way stretches wide. It’s unreal. None of the crew members below decks hear our music; all lay comatose. We’re content to keep driving through our shift until daylight, scanning the horizon with light-gathering binocs. We’re heading for Louisiana’s oil rigs way up north, parked in mile-deep water, before we turn west for Port Aransas.

Dawn finally arrives. Too fired up to sleep after sipping cowboy coffee, I clamber down the ladder and set

Crew members from Port Neches hoist a mahimahi caught in mid-Gulf.

Yet another deepwater rig way offshore off Louisiana.

We’re headed west for Texas. A little thunderstorm with very little wind looms just behind the platform.

38 | January 2015

out two rods. There is, after all, no use cruising in daylight at eight knots (the fuel-sipping speed) without dragging hooks behind the boat. For Gulf crossings, our vessel’s bread and butter lures are softhead medium-range plastics, and so I feed an Australian Pakula and then a Custom Charley Fisher back into our wake. As I set out the second rod and slap the reel in gear, the rod abruptly doubles over. Slack-jawed, I watch a blue marlin jump repeatedly astern, and soon enough the sun also rises.

Any good captain, no matter how tired, will lurch awake when the engines change their tune: When the boat slows, Capt. Pete sticks his head out of the salon within seconds, expecting to hear bad news of a floating rope in the prop or some such trouble. Instead he is pleasantly surprised to find a screeching reel and a jumping marlin. We sound the boat’s siren and crew members tumble from their bunks. All hands!

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Yet another yellowfin tuna caught in daylight, as we’re leaving a platform and heading further west.

No time to stop…

rigs as possible. We won’t see a single fishing vessel during our entire journey until the Aransas jetty on the morning of July 4. Although boat ramps may be zoos on the weekends, there are vast stretches offshore devoid of fishing pressure, nothing but ink blue water.

In mid-Gulf I spot a few acres of thick sargassum weed, the boat turns and we soon have a couple of 30-pound mahi in the box. After that, a white marlin released in open water. It is the deepwater platforms that are known for attracting fish, and there you never know if a wahoo, yellowfin tuna or marlin---either blue or white---or even a big dolphin (mahi-mahi) will attack one of those plastic baits rippling in our wake.

40 | January 2015

Usually one will see all of these species and this trip is no different. Yellowfin tuna, for instance—we caught them day and night around the platforms, our only company an occasional crewboat tied up nearby. As we trolled past one, its captain inquired on the radio how we had the range to fish so far offshore. Perhaps he’d noted our homeport of Port Neches. “Oh,” sez Pete, “you can cruise a long ways at eight knots.” When we told them we were out of Mexico, they Here’s your typical were silent. A Mexican flag still flew from summer wahoo our tower, after all, and our lucky pineapple in deep water, the certainly looked tropical. Our boat’s engines small but tasty size. loved that thick diesel fuel from Mexico, too.

In winter, they tend to run much bigger.

So it went as we picked our way west from one platform to the next. Catching a tuna here, a marlin there, sometimes a wahoo. Day-trolling for tuna meant using Hawaiian jethead plastics, which pull deeper. Sometimes we ran 30 miles to the next rig, only to have it shrouded by a rain squall. Three circles in the rain, and it was on to the next spot.

A full day of running and gunning the rigs, and then darkness fell across the Gulf. At night these big platforms are swathed in flood lights, attracting many pelagic fish. Bursts of whitewater here and there meant yellowfin tuna were busting baitfish. Flyingfish are drawn haplessly to lights, as are squid, and a big working oil rig offers the most artificial lights these small critters will ever see.

These structures become a feeding ground for night marauders, especially tuna.

Were any of those splashes blackfin tuna? “No freaking way,” says Pete, watching the big splashes. “We’re way beyond the range of coastal blackfins; the water here is too deep.”

The action went on and on, too much to post here, and our voyage must have covered closer to 900 miles, since we didn’t take the shortest route. Our total bag on the return trip was two blue and one white marlin, a dozen yellowfin tuna, a wahoo and five big dolphin. One marlin hit at the peaks north of the Yucatan, one in mid-Gulf and the third at a Louisiana platform. Not too bad a trip, because Bout Time’s best crossing for marlin is seven hooked and three landed. And our trip was so calm, it was like fishing on a bayou.

Contact

These guys (including Sean Scott, the owner) earned their sea legs years ago while fishing out of Port Arthur.

“Man, that fish must have been following us half the night, to hit so quickly. This might be the earliest marlin [in the day] we’ve ever caught,” says Pete.

Soon enough the crew are at their stations. Pete climbs to the bridge while demanding coffee, and we’re after the marlin, which jumps several times in a splendid fight. Near the boat, it lights up off our stern, thrashing whitewater, a fish 180 pounds, maybe more. The sun climbs higher. The marlin is well hooked and we can’t readily pop the hook out for a minute or so, even as two guys hang over the side and struggle with it.

This fish is patient but finally whacks its bill, tapping Brian on one frame of his sunglasses, which saves his eye but still earns him a bruised cheek. You can’t be too careful with these fish in mid-Gulf, with the nearest Doc-in-the-Box several days away. Our lucky pineapple from Mexico swings at the cabin door and so far, it’s working like a charm. Sort of.

Directly north are the deepwater drilling rigs off Louisiana where few boats visit; we’ll fish the Auger, Magnolia and Gunnison rigs among others, on the route back to Texas. The plan is to troll around the deepest of all, before turning west for Port Aransas, stopping at as many

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

Redfish “belly-crawling” sandbar to reach back lake drain.

J AY WAT K I N S

A S K THE P R O

Cold Water - Windward Shorelines - Marsh Lake Drains Water temperatures last week in Aransas Bay dropped into the mid-40s for a few nights before a warming trend arrested the downward trend. What do you do when the water temp drops 20⁰ in 48 hours? The first thing I did was break out my best Simms gear and suit up for some long, cold days of wade fishing.

Severe drops in water levels and temperatures followed the first real Arctic front of the 2014 winter. Low water levels, high winds and drastic drop in air temperature equate to a rapid bay water cool down. This leads to what we call shocking—a great shock to the ecosystem, as well as our personal systems.

For only the second time in my 35 years of guiding I saw mature white shrimp stacked amid scattered shoreline oyster clumps. A white shrimp’s whiskers are as long as his body, which offers an easy handle for lifting them. Some were dead, many were stunned but still trying to escape, it would have taken but a few minutes to snatch up enough 10-count shrimp for several dinners.

Redfish and trout alike had them just packed in their stomachs, making catching fish on lures a little tougher for a few days. I caught several trout that had shrimp whiskers hanging from the side of their mouth when I landed them.

42 | January 2015

On Thursday I ran back into a back-bay region, looking to see if the larger trout known to reside there would pull up on the mud and eat for us. The water was 46⁰ at the mouth of the first drain we worked. On my way back to the boat I saw redfish with their backs completely out of the water, slowly pushing themselves across the shallow sand bar out in front of the drain. There were probably 20-plus very large fish slowly trying to cross the bar and enter the deeper portion of the drain. I got on my knees and took photos, some less than 5- to 6 feet from me. I caught a 27-incher that weighed right at 8 pounds simply by dropping the lure from the rod tip. The fish never took any drag and eventually ran aground and I went up and lifted it from the wet sand. Really!

My clients joined me and we followed the fish up the drain all the way to the lake, now a dry lake bed. We never got another one to eat, and when they reached the dry lake they simply turned around and swam right back out of the drain and belly-rolled across the bar, disappearing along the drop-off. Too cold to eat but not too cold to do what Mother Nature had programmed them to do—feed into current. Oh, and just so you know, this all went down during the moonset minor.

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Steve Chamness, 6 pounder, CPR!

Chris Chamnes, nice winter trout.

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Their instinct had them wanting to eat but they were just too cold, having not yet acclimated to the change. My point is that they still went through the motions, which I believe is pure instinctive behavior.

The past two weeks have brought two more strong fronts, each dropping the tides along with water temperatures for a few days. Post-frontal conditions can provide some of the best days on the water but can also create catching problems for those that are not able to be on the water on a regular basis. It seems to me that the stronger the fronts the more important it is to concentrate your efforts on shoreline or spoils that were windward during NE or NW wind.

My reasoning is simple, strong winds produce turbulence that stacks bait (still active) along points and pockets in the shoreline. If it is brutally cold, stunned baitfish are likely to be pushed to these areas as well. Stunned or fresh dead in water 50⁰ or less means the bait is still fresh and likely to be picked up by lethargic but still hungry gamefish. I caught a 9-pound 27-inch redfish this week that had 8 large white shrimp, 3 pinfish, a mullet and I think a squid in its stomach!

It usually occurs that the winds will be light about 24 hours after a frontal passage. Calm wind, clear water and high atmospheric pressure are typical wintertime patterns after a major front and not the best conditions for finding fish that are willing to eat. Two things in my opinion that work in my favor are working windward shorelines where I know bait has been pushed and paying very close attention to the solunar tables. Predators will not leave a viable food source, I promise, and this magazine has the slickest tear-out you should be referencing for the solunar feeding information. Use your solunar and a local tide report, and you’re ready to go. The past 10 years have made a devout believer in the charts and to be honest, minor feeds are often the best the day will offer.

Right now I am concentrating the majority of my efforts on WINDWARD areas along our barrier islands where I have either scattered submerged grassbeds or scattered clump shell. On the scattered shell I like to position my anglers were a long cast can be worked to an edge where shell stops and sand starts. The underwater edge of this type of structure seems to always hold some really good fish this time of year. I know you get tired of hearing me say this but you have to force yourself and your buddies to NOT get too close to

these edges. The best fish that reside here know you’re coming and it often takes 30 to 45 minutes for the best fish to settle back in and become comfortable with our presence. If your buddy hangs up or wants to continue to wade up, break his leg. Fishing should never be a track meet and this is especially true in the winter months.

Shallow windward areas of structure will warm quickly and this becomes a daily ritual with the fish that live here. I do believe that once acclimated to the cold, trout and redfish alike become as aggressive as they are any other time of the year. Truth is, warming is still needed for their bodies to function, so again, planning and timing are essential.

Find a spoil or shoreline with proper bottom structure being warmed by midday sun, add some bait and the knowledge that a solunar feeding period is underway during late afternoon and you might just have the recipe for a lifetime best day. Today we experienced all our big trout bites on windward shorelines with 20-plus NE wind during the midday major feeding period. We had fish to 6 pounds but still no monsters. We were not in this location by chance, I promise. In fact, we waited all day to go there while all the elements played in concert. A little knowledge, some planning, and a little luck can go a long way.

I am off to Port Mansfield in midDecember for my two month stay with my fishing club members. I look forward to the long days, good food and fellowship, and chance at a true monster trout. I am blessed to have the best group of guys any guide could ask for. Again this year we will leave 99% of the fish where we find them. Is that awesome or what?

May your fishing always be catching.

–Guide Jay Watkins

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

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

The next generation of anglers should be reason enough to find solutions to user conflict on the water

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

S H A LL O W W ATER F I S HIN G

A little respect…please!

I’m a little past deadline, according to Mr. EJ, but with good reason. I’ve been struggling over how to write this, such that it might create the most positive response. I’ve messed around with the words in my head, and then as deadline approached each month I’d take a path of less resistance.

We have a real and growing problem along our coast.

A few months back I wrote an article after experiencing some particularly frustrating days on the water, 46 | January 2015

highlighting the general lack of courtesy and respect for others and the resource I had been observing. It apparently struck a chord as I’ve been writing for this magazine every month for ten years and nothing previously written ever drew as many emails or phone calls. So I’m thinking the problem is real and not just one in my mind.

Enter Chuck Naiser, a much respected veteran guide and waterman from Rockport. Chuck has been in this

game a long time and helped pioneer saltwater fly-fishing in Texas. He is one of my heroes and I have tried to model my guiding style after his.

Chuck contacted me with an idea to gather some people from different disciplines of coastal fishing to just talk. No finger pointing, no puffed chests, no arguing…just talk. Talk about what bothers each group; how the other groups go about their day. It wasn’t going to be about seagrass or regulations. He just wanted everyone to hear the other guy’s story and possibly gain a better understanding of each other.

Eventually Chuck assembled a group of guides and non-guides who fish from a variety of crafts, in all different manners. There were kayakers, air-boaters, waders, bay-boaters and skiff polers. Bait fishermen, lure chunkers, and fly guys. An eclectic crowd for sure and Chuck asked me to come to the first meeting as an observer and report on what I saw, hoping to get the ball rolling in a positive direction.

The basic issue as I’ve previously pointed out is an overall lack of courtesy and respect for others who use the water differently than the next guy—real or otherwise. If you have never fished from a kayak you may not fully understand what you are doing that irritates them.

Same goes for poling skiffs, waders, drift fishermen, etc. If you don’t know the methods employed by each group then the chances are good you could step on someone’s toes and never realize that your actions ruined their chances.

As an example, most times I’ll pull into a shoreline at least a couple hundred yards from the area I intend to target and then ease in, poling quietly. Quite often another boat will pull in, cutting me off, as a swarm of waders pile into the water. I’d like to think they just didn’t understand what I was trying to do and meant no harm. It still is irritating though

48 | January 2015

and something that could possibly be avoided if those waders better understood how someone in a poling skiff operates. I honestly believe that most people on the water have no intention of bothering others, they just don’t know how other folks fish.

Then there are those who don’t get it and don’t seem to care. One in particular stands out because we fish in the same manner in the same areas. I was poling along with a fly-fishing customer, no other boats in sight, middle of the week and miles of open shoreline. Along came another skiff on a beeline and angles in about 100 yards downwind and down-sun, obviously the direction I was heading. I know this cat and I’m instantly hot. But not as hot as when my phone buzzed with a text, “Sorry man, I didn’t realize that was you until I was already in.” What the hell difference would it make who he pulled in on?

Sorry, got a little carried away for a moment—back to Chuck’s meeting. Everything went off without a hitch. Chuck kept things orderly and everybody had their say. It was unanimous that the fishing areas most negatively impacted by poor user etiquette are flats, shallow shorelines, marshes and back lakes. Most of what I heard revolved around a few simple things that if adhered to, would cut out a large majority of the irritants.

Don’t shortcut flats. Simple enough. Use channels and deeper water. Just because you have no intentions of fishing that area doesn’t mean others won’t. Go around.

Don’t needlessly traverse fishing grounds. You see it every day, somebody running back and forth through areas that are well-known favorites. Even though a place that is “too common” or “too crowded” for you does not make it right to run through it. Most places along the

50 | January 2015

the resources nor ability to make people act respectful towards others on the water. We don’t need more laws and regulation, we need more education. People on the water such as guides and more experienced fishermen who take those newbies out need to lead by example. Make it a point to not only take the right action, but explain to those you have with you what you are doing and why. Explain to them that you were going to fish that area, but those waders are headed that way so you are going to Plan B. Explain to them that the ride might be a little rougher for a few minutes because you need to swing out further off the bank to avoid those kayakers. I’m sure you do these things all the time, take the time to tell your passengers why.

Jay Watkins couldn’t make the meeting, but he passed on his thoughts through Chuck regarding this group and I couldn’t agree more. “We need to reach out to those who believe as we do, that we can all act more responsibly. From that we can build a base. Coming out fighting hard against something is futile. We need to stand for something that is positive.”

I am willing to try, are you?

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coast have a way around them. Even though it might mean going a few hundred yards or maybe even a mile out of your way, do it.

Slow down and check out the area before entering. Look at who is there, how they are fishing and where they might be headed. Are they drifting downwind? Which way are they poling? Are those waders working shallower or deeper? It doesn’t take but a few moments to figure out most of their game plans. And if the area just seems too crowded, go elsewhere instead of trying to shoehorn in between others.

Number one by far—stop the “burning.” I know it is an effective way of locating fish concentrations for a tournament or whatever, but it is about as big an “I, me, mine” move as you can make. Screwing up miles of water for everyone else so that you can “locate” fish that you might want to come back and fish later. Give us all a break (fish as well as fishermen) and just stop it already.

One well-known young guide in attendance made a statement that stuck with me and summed things up pretty well. “As guides, we set the bar and educate our customers on what is right and proper on the water. I’d rather zero than harm my reputation by being discourteous to others.”

Another noted, “The bad behavior has been done so much it has gotten to the point it is accepted, the old “everybody’s doing it” mentality.

My takeaway from all of this is that most everyone in attendance wants things to be better. They want to enjoy days on the water without getting irritated. It’s supposed to be fun and relaxing. TPWD does as much as they can with what they have, but they don’t have

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

Telephone Email Website

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

By Ashley Roesner | Summer Intern | TPWD Dickinson Marine Laboratory | Dickinson, TX

FIELD NOTES

Shark Tagging Longline offshore fishing trips with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Coastal Fisheries employees are some of the most thrilling things I have ever done. There is nothing as exciting as trying to catch and tag sharks.

TPWD longline surveys follow the procedures set out by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). TPWD sets twenty-six longlines in state offshore waters from Galveston Bay area to Corpus Christi Bay area, during the months of June through September.

TPWD’s longlines are made up of several essential pieces.

The mainline is 1.0 nautical mile long and is made out of 1,000 pound test monofilament. The lines attached to the mainline are called gangions and each consists of 7 ½ feet of 700-pound test monofilament with a 15/0 circle hook on one end and a clip on the other.

Trips begin early in the morning while the sun is rising, allowing for breathtaking views of the Gulf of Mexico. While heading toward the first sampling site, we bait the hooks. A piece of Atlantic mackerel is double hooked onto the circle hook of each gangion, which are then stored in large barrels to make deployment easier.

When the sampling site is reached, several sets of

Baited gangions ready for deployment on mainline.

52 | January 2015

seawater data are collected using hydrological instruments.

These include salinity, dissolved oxygen, and temperature from the bottom, middle and surface depths. A water sample is also collected near the bottom and then bottled to take back to the lab to determine turbidity; and a Secchi disk is lowered into the water until it is no longer seen, which provides a visibility value (in meters) of the water clarity. Lastly, the color of the water is determined by using a Forel-Ule scale for comparison. Once all the hydrological data are collected, the mainline is ready to be set.

The fishing mainline is reeled off of a heavy longline winch. The high-flyer buoy is deployed first, followed by a fluke anchor. As the boat moves, the mainline pays out, and the gangions are clipped onto the mainline at 50 ft. intervals. Two mushroom anchors are separately deployed throughout the middle of the mainline to keep the line near the sea floor. At the end of the mainline and after all 100 hooks are set, one last fluke anchor is attached and the final high-flyer buoy is deployed. The setting of the last high-flyer signals the beginning of a one-hour soak time, which seems to take forever due to the significant amount of anticipation.

After the long awaited hour passes, it is finally time to pull in the main line and hopefully tag some sharks. Once the high-flyer buoy is retrieved, and the line gets reconnected to the longline wench, the gangions begin to appear. The excitement truly begins for me when I am looking outward off the stern watching the mainline come up.

The first shark coming over the rail is thrashing wildly.

After anxiously waiting for the shark to calm down, I straddle its back behind its dorsal fin and hold down its head with my hands right behind the jawline, away from its razor sharp teeth, trying to avoid damaging its gills. Once the shark is secure, the total, fork, and standard lengths are recorded in millimeters with the use of a flexible measuring tape for the large sharks and a measuring board for the smaller ones. Sharks are carefully identified and weighed in kilograms using a hanging scale. During the collection of the biological data, a yellow Roto tag labeled REWARD is attached to the lower back section of the dorsal fin. Each tag also has a unique number for identification purposes. Once all necessary data are collected the shark is quickly released.

During my trips, I noticed that there were more Atlantic sharpnose (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) caught compared to other shark species. I decided to do some research and generate a visual representation of the percentage of Atlantic sharpnose caught in our longlines compared to the other most commonly caught species: blacktip, bull, and spinner sharks. I reviewed TPWD longline data collected off

Author preparing to release tagged Atlantic sharpnose.

the coast of Galveston from the months of June to August from 2010 to 2014. Over the past five years, Atlantic sharpnose made up 62% of the shark species caught during the longline trips. (See Figure below) Could this be because Atlantic sharpnose may be more abundant than the other shark species in the area or are they just more susceptible to being caught by this gear? I didn’t compare this data to that collected off other areas of the Texas coast, but it would be interesting to see if this same pattern occurs elsewhere.

The Coastal Conservation Association Texas is the non-profit organization that funded my internship with TPWD and provided me the opportunity to work side by side with Coastal Fisheries staff during their daily routines. Along with longline trips, I had the opportunity to participate in many other activities such as bag seines, shrimp trawls in the gulf and bay, oyster dredges, gill nets, creel surveys at local boat ramps, snapper surveys during the nine day federal season, trailering and operating small water crafts, data sonde retrieval and calibration, and an Anahuac salt marsh plant survey. These sampling techniques are utilized for the collection and identification of vegetation and vertebrate and invertebrate species that inhabit Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

The opportunity to spend my 2014 summer with the technicians, biologists and other personnel at the Dickinson Lab was truly an unforgettable experience that will forever be appreciated.

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

TSFMAG.com | 53

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

F LY F I S H I N G

Here to There and Back Again

54 | January 2015

Circa the late 80s, adolescence nearly over (some may argue that); I had already been blessed to catch more fish than a man should be allowed in a lifetime. However, despite my good fortune, I still was not satisfied. It seemed too easy, getting limits, especially trout, and so I began to crave a greater challenge and this is what led me to fly-fishing.

Fly-fishing did not come easy, though, and for several reasons. First off, there were not many redfish around my home waters for honing my skills—the ’89 killer pretty much took care of that. They made a quick rebound though, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Gulf Coast Conservation Association and TPWD, and by the end of 1992 there were redfish everywhere. The tallest hurdle then betwixt me and fishing bliss was my casting skill—or serious lack of.

I knew no instructors who might share the art back then, but I persevered in my self-teaching. By the mid-90s I had developed into a decent fly-fisherman and I was, to say the least, damn proud of it. And, with my newfound skills came an attitude.

Oh what an attitude it was—fashioned of 100% pure “holier-than-thou” with a healthy dose of “fish-hugger” drizzled over the top. When people spoke of keeping fish for dinner I fantasized their demise. Mind you now, I was young and gullible, and everything I’d been reading was fly-fishing in virgin streams and the tropics—where anglers fished solely for sport and probably dined solely on organic tofu.

And so I became an ass (some say I still am) toward anyone that did not fish the way I did and, even more so, to anglers who killed fish. The point being, I was wrong to feel that way then and I would be wrong to feel that way now. Fishing is supposed to be fun, not pretentious.

I confess that I have come a long way to even be able to talk about this, and even yet I wrestle to overcome my “attitude” about what is right or wrong on the water. For example—I still find great fault with anyone who runs shorelines or purposely “bumps” fish in the shallows with their tunnel-hulls, and those who think success is measured by the number of dead fish on a dock. But, I digress…

The point is, and I see it in a lot of my customers, this attitude of “I am too good to use anything but a fly-rod” needs to go away. The question is though, how does one get from here to there and back to here again?

In my case, photography brought me full circle. During the mid-90s, when my attitude was worst out of control, I picked up a camera. Not too long after that I was selling images to magazines. Then one day an editor called me for some images of anglers trout fishing. I told him that I had many and would get them off in the mail (no email back then) as soon as possible.

He then said, “Don’t send me any fly-fishing shots. I need shots of people fishing with spinning gear.” I had none. The next day I was out buying a couple of spinning rigs.

A few months later, after having conned a few friends

for a meal. I have merely chosen to over-promote the concept of catch and release to compensate for what I see as gross-overkill by so many others. And, where before I had a catch and release only policy on my boat, now, if the fishing is really good and you are willing to wait until after lunch (I don’t want fish slime on my lunch), I will allow an angler to keep a fish—providing he/she is willing to clean it. Fortunately for me, very few want to keep a fish.

Folks, the simple fact is that yes, fly-fishing is a more sophisticated and challenging way to fish. However, we are not better people than the individual who chooses to sit along a channel with a bucket of bait. We get out of fishing what we choose to put into it.

For some, who do not have the time to dedicate themselves to taking it to the next level, it is the enjoyment of simply being there. Remember, we all need each-other because, with each fishing license sold and for each CCA membership comes a voice. It is this collective voice that conserves and protects the resource.

With that being said… I know very few fishermen that started with a fly rod in their hands. Most, like the rest of us, started on the banks of a lake or pond with a can-o-worms or, like me, with a stinky box of half-rotted shrimp. The point being, it was fun then and it is supposed to be fun now.

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to go catch some trout and reds on spinning and casting gear, my photography was becoming more diverse and more marketable. Then one day I was fishing on my own and I saw one of the spinning rigs in the rack from the day before and I said to myself, “What the hell.”

I tied on a Mansfield Mauler and a bucktail. A few casts later a bulge of water surged behind the clicker-cork and all of a sudden the line stretched as the bright orange cork shot off to the side. All I could think was- Wow, this is fun.

Several days later, the spinning rod was still in the boat and a customer and I were finishing up a little early. While heading back across the bay I spotted some birds working and I asked him if he wanted to try and catch of few trout. He said sure and broke out the fly rod. We fished for 20 minutes or so and had caught only two smallish fish. I then pulled out the spinner and asked him if he wanted to fish something a little heavier (jig) that would get down to the bigger fish. He scoffed at me but finally conceded and began to have a ball as he caught and released a dozen or so decent trout. He even asked if he could keep two trout to take home for his family. I told him that I did not own a fillet knife and had no way to clean the fish.

Yep folks, I may have been getting over my “fly or die” attitude but I was far from over my “how dare you kill a fish” affliction. It took me another ten or twelve years.

In fact, I got the first fillet knife that I have owned in over 15 years last Christmas as a gift. Now, what is really funny is that I received it from two people who, probably more than anyone, know how much I hate cleaning a fish. BTW- thanks for the Bubba Blade, Pam and Everett. I have used it to clean five or so redfish over the last year. LOL! 2015-TX-sd-sdxl-trout.pdf Truth is, I have never had a problem with keeping the occasional fish

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

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TSFMAG.com | 55

CADE SIMPSON

KAYAK F I S H I N G CHR O N I C L E S

It’s All About Our Readers!

This past month has been great for reader feedback. In fact, I am going to construct this article around a reader’s own fishing story as well as answer a couple of questions from other reader submissions.

To start things off, I was contacted by a Mr. B. Colburn about some of his Beyond The Breakers (BTB) outings. I have written about BTB before, but it is certainly not my forte, so I thought I would share what Mr. Colburn shared with me and how he approaches kayak fishing trips, specifically BTB efforts.

He writes: “One of the trips I like to make is shark and bull red fishing from the beach at McFadden Wildlife Refuge near High Island, Texas. The great thing about this trip is that you don’t have to paddle very far off the beach to find these fish. Usually I will go out around 400 yards, give or take, and anchor there. One of my trips I made this summer, a group of us got into a lot of bull reds and sharks. The trip was about three to four weeks ago. When our group arrived at McFadden 56 | January 2015

the conditions were what we call ‘ice cream.’ The morning began with a mild threat of rain but improved as the day wore on. The surf and nearshore waters were calm, barely any swells rolling in. Shortly after arriving and meeting up with a few others, we launched and all spread out to find the depth that would offer the most action. As the day progressed, conditions picked up a little but only slightly. Bait was jumping everywhere most of the day so that gave everyone confidence there were fish present to be caught. The bull reds averaged around 40 inches topping out at 45 inches and the largest shark I caught that day was a 5.5 foot blacktip shark. The tackle I used on this trip included a Penn Spinfisher V rod with a PENN 6500 LL reel that I bought at Bass Pro Shop and one more PENN 6500 LL reel on a Tiger Stik rod. By the end of the day, I managed to reel in 20 bull reds and 4 sharks. It was a great trip and I was surrounded by great company while on the water.

I always recommend fishing with a group when

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going BTB. I post on www.texaskayakfisherman. com and go into the BTB part of the forum. Once on there, I post up my plans for the trip so that others can get on board if they would like to join. Once the date comes, there is always people that will come out to enjoy some of the great fishing that McFadden has to offer. I like to go in a group because the more people on the water makes for a safer trip. Safety is in numbers.”

Mr. Colburn, thank you so much for the write up and the photos. The information you shared will be useful to other readers, myself included.

Another reader emailed asking about where to find more info on kayak fishing, including launch spots, marshes, etc. Well, Mr. Leslie, our above reader actually answered part of that question for you. The website texaskayakfisherman.com is really a one stop shop to find anything you want to know about fishing the Texas coast in your ‘yak. The threads are endless and the information is great, it never gets old. I will let you find out for yourself just how useful it is. Furthermore, you should pick up a few HookN-Line kayak fishing maps. These maps are made of water resistant paper, therefore can withstand a kayaking trip with you. These maps are very detailed in showcasing launch points, reefs, baits to use, you name it. To answer your third question about a guide, I would recommend two who I consider very capable, Rick Spillman (rickskayakadventures.com) out of Galveston/Freeport area and Dean Thomas (Slowride Guide Service) out of Aransas Pass. Both of these men are true Yodas of kayak fishing.

And finally—Mr. M. Hamm emailed me requesting some information about selecting a first kayak. He wants something comfortable (good seat), easy 58 | January 2015

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to use (not too large), that he can also use for duck hunting (I am thinking camo).

Mr. Hamm, three options come to mind. One way to go would be with a Hobie Outback, the biggest benefit to the Hobie would be the Mirage-Drive system which would allow you to peddle the kayak while holding your shotgun or fishing. These peddles don’t work too well in water shallower than a foot or so, so be aware of that, but they can be removed for super skinny areas. My second choice would be

a Jackson Kayak. They are becoming a very popular brand and have quality rigs. They come in a camo pattern which would aide in being inconspicuous and also have very comfortable seats. My third recommendation would be an Ocean Kayak, my favorite in their line being the Prowler 13. It is viewed by many experienced paddlers as the best all-around kayak out there. Time tested and proven; not too big, not too small. You would just need to purchase an aftermarket seat for it to be super comfy and you are on your way.

Whatever you choose, I would have the boat equipped with a rudder. You should also invest in a light-weight (high end) paddle, and a comfy seat that offers good back support. Hopefully this helps some.

You might also want to look into renting a kayak for a day or a weekend as you explore the various sizes and models. Most of the larger dealers offer rentals and some will deduct the rental price from the purchase price. Another plan that could prove helpful would be to attend a dealer’s kayak demo-day event.

I want to thank everyone who wrote in this month. It is great hearing from fellow fisherman and outdoorsman. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year.

Until next month, stay warm and catch a lot of fish.

Telephone Email

936-776-7028 Cademan11@sbcglobal.net

Find me on Facebook to follow along in my outdoor adventures

TSFMAG.com | 59

Checking out one of the flounder tanks at UTMSI.

Story by Kim Ogonosky | Photos by Lisa Laskowski

T S F M a g Conse r v a tion N ews CCA Texas Deepens Commitment to Center for Sportfish Science & Conservation and Ground Breaking Marine Research Projects Coastal Conservation Association Texas deepened its commitment to marine resource science with a $250,000 grant to the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation (CSSC) that will fund ongoing research into many of the key scientific issues facing the ecosystems that support Gulf of Mexico sportfishing. The CSSC is housed within the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and was founded in 2012, in part with a $500,000 commitment from CCA Texas.

“In the few short years that the Center has been operating, marine researchers there have developed incredible insights into the needs and behaviors of key species that anglers cherish,” said Mark Ray, chairman of CCA Texas. “We are learning things that can immediately be applied to better the management of those species. The work to date has been extremely impressive and we want to ensure that the Center has everything it needs to continue to be a force for healthy marine resources.”

Since 2012, CSSC has done extensive work on the impact that passes like Cedar Bayou have on bay ecosystems and on the effect of diminishing Gulf habitat. It is also helping to pioneer development of an extensive array of 60 | January 2015

sensors and tracking technology to gain critical insight into the migratory patterns of fish throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The latest $250,000 grant from CCA Texas will be applied over five years to continue these and other research efforts.

“Recreational anglers are our natural partners in the conservation of marine resources, and the Center is uniquely positioned to develop science that supports the multi-billion dollar recreational fishing industry on the Texas coast and the Gulf of Mexico,” said Dr. Greg Stunz, director of CSSC and Endowed Chair for

Flounder tank at UTMSI.

Fisheries and Ocean Health at the Harte Research Institute. “This is a unique partnership that is focused solely on improving the marine environment, and we are excited to have additional resources to fulfill that mission.”

“Both inshore and offshore sportfish face many challenges – natural and man-made – and it is critical that the science is available to properly manage those fisheries,” said Robby Byers, CCA Texas executive director. “Recreational anglers have already recognized that the work being done by CSSC is vital to the health and availability of those resources in the future. We are proud to be a partner in their efforts and look forward to building this unique relationship.”

At the November 2014 Executive Board meeting, $78,000 in funding for twelve interns was approved for 2015. CCA Texas’s continued commitment supports the success of the intern program and CCA Texas’s commitment to help ensure that the best available future marine biologists have the opportunity to receive the hands on training in the field where they hope to eventually gain employment.

This is not only a bonus to these students, but also TPWD as the local field offices have the opportunity to work closely with future potential employees. The intern program has proven to be a great success with enthusiastic students that want to learn and make a difference in the health and sustainability of the Texas’s coastal resources for future generations. This enthusiasm is shared every year through written and spoken testimony from the UTMSI’s Jeff students back to CCA Texas. This program along with Kaiser discussing phytoplankton. the CCA Texas graduate scholarship program is a vital link between the general public, TPWD and different academic institutions across the state.

During the recent Thanksgiving break, I was privileged to tour University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas and the CCA Marine Development Center (MDC) in Flour Bluff with family friend and future marine biologist Lindsey Laskowski, and her mother Lisa. Lindsey has always exhibited a keen interest in the coastal ecosystems since I first meet her over six years ago. This was a great opportunity to show a graduating high school senior two great marine science facilities and to gather great input from our hosts at UTMSI and CCA MDC. This short tour not only provided a great insight into the marine biology field for a future student, but it also offered a great opportunity for me to revisit these facilities and once again see close up all of the great work that institutions such as these do in our great state and why it is important for CCA Texas to continue supporting them. The Coastal Bend is an epicenter for coastal fisheries studies and science with facilities such as UTMSI, Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and the CCA MDC. Lindsey’s inquisitive nature and interest in this field only drives home the point that the future of Texas’s coastal resources depends heavily on young students like her.

It also reminds those of us that love to fish and enjoy these resources that we have to continue exposing the younger generations to the great opportunities that Texas has to offer in these fields. The future of Texas Trout in spawning tanks at CCA coastal resources lies within these younger generations Marine Development Center. and how we prepare them for the future. The CCA Summer intern program is one of the final steps in preparing for the future and students near their college graduation.

If you have the opportunity, please take your kids and friends and visit the CCA Marine Development Center in Flour Bluff or Sea Center Texas in Lake Jackson. Set up a tour at the facility and engage your hosts with questions and thought. Both of these facilities are run by

By John Blaha TPWD and supported by CCA Texas and recreational fishermen across CCA Texas has supported Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) Law the state and it just might be a CCA Summer Intern that is giving you Enforcement, Coastal Fisheries and the internships of students a tour around one of the facilities. Visit TPWD’s website for tour times and potential future employees of TPWD since the organization’s and facility contacts at both. existence. For the past several years, CCA Texas has funded eight

cca texas continues support for texas parks and wildlife coastal fisheries interns

interns a year for Coastal Fisheries at stations up and down the coast.

TSFMAG.com | 61

A red knot struts his stuff.

Photo by Beth Starr.

STEPHANIE BOYD

F I S H Y F AC T S

Red Knots Across the lonely beach we flit, One little sandpiper and I; And fast I gather, bit by bit, The scattered driftwood, bleached and dry.

The wild waves reach their hands for it; The wild wind raves, the tide runs high, As up and down the beach we flit, One little sandpiper and I. ~ Celia Thaxter There are at least twenty-two species of sandpipers that have been identified in North America, ranging from the 6-inch least sandpiper to the 26-inch long-billed curlew. Red knots are a medium-sized, bulky sandpiper, averaging just under 10 inches in length, and are the largest sandpiper in the genus Calidris in North America.

The red knot was first described by Linnaeus in 1758 as Tringa canutus, possibly referring to the story of King Canute and the tide, wherein the king – exasperated by his flattering courtiers who claimed he was so great, he could command the tides of the sea – had his throne carried to the seashore and sat on it as the tide came in, commanding the waves to advance no further. When it was obvious his demands were futile, he declared, 62 | January 2015

“Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name save Him, whom heaven, earth, and sea obey.” Why the little red knot was bestowed with so royal a name is a mystery.

Later, it was reclassified into Calidris, possibly attributed to a reference Aristotle makes in his zoological text, The History of Animals: “Then there is the scalidris, with plumage ashen-grey, but specked.” Seems to describe many of the birds in Calidris.

The red knot, in non-breeding plumage, is quite a drab shorebird. The bill is long, thick, straight, and black; the legs are black or dull green. The upper parts are pale grey with blackish primaries and a white stripe across the wing. The head is grey, with white areas above the eye and on the throat. The breast and tail are pale grey, but the flanks, belly and undertail feathers are white.

This basic plumage is similar between sexes and among subspecies. Juveniles are similar to adults in winter plumage, but gray back feathers outlined in white and black give a scaly appearance. Essentially, the red knot is a little gray bird in the winter. Yet in breeding plumage, with its russet head and breast, it is one of North America’s most colorful sandpipers.

There are six subspecies of red knots, which are

distinguished by differences in geographical range, morphological traits, and annual cycles. Two of these subspecies can be found in North America; both differ from other subspecies in their overall lighter plumage and longer bills. Differences between these two similar subspecies can be seen through genetic analysis. The subspecies found wintering on the Texas coast is the rufa red knot, Calidris canutus rufa.

Red knot diets depend on their environment. During the winter, when they shelter in warmer regions such as the Gulf Coast and South America, they feed primarily on marine invertebrates, such as snails, crustaceans, and especially small mollusks, which they swallow whole and crush in their muscular gizzard. Because of the hard work this shell processing requires, knots have the largest gizzard, relative to body mass, of all the shorebirds. Instead of regurgitating indigestible parts of prey, as do many bird species, the red knot excretes these parts in the feces. Researchers have used fecal content to examine food consumption habits. During the breeding season, when they nest on the arctic tundra, red knots subsist on the seeds of sedges, horsetails, and grass shoots until insects, spiders, and small crustaceans are available for the taking. On marine coastlines, the birds feed using three strategies: pecking, plowing, and probing. Pecking is for surface prey that is detectable by sight. Plowing involves poking the bill about an inch or so down into a sandy, wet tidal flat, with the tip of the bill pointed slightly forward. Then, with rapid up-and-down motions of the head, the knot moves forward slowly, seeming to plow a small furrow in the sand; direction appears aimless. Probing involves repeated deep penetration of the sand (or mud, or other pliable substrate), often to the full length of the bill. This method is not aimless. Specialized sensory organs on their bill tips, called the Herbst’ corpuscles, enable the knots to detect buried prey by discerning water pressure differences that build up in the sediment when a spot is probed repeatedly.

Plowing for horseshoe crab eggs.

Photo by Beth Starr.

One prominent departure from the knots’ predilection for mollusks occurs on the shoreline of Delaware Bay, one of the few staging sites on the knots northward migration to the breeding grounds in the Arctic. During migration, knots do not have the ability to process large amounts of hard-shelled prey because their gizzard has diminished for more energy-efficient flight. However, they still need to refuel, substantially. This means they need high-energy, easily processed prey. For this reason, long-distance migrants arriving in Delaware Bay with small gizzards rely on one very specific menu item: horseshoe crab eggs. Tens of thousands of horseshoe crabs come ashore to spawn in May, and the knots gorge themselves. This is one of the

conditions they must encounter to reach the breeding grounds.

The rufa red knot is one of the longest-distance migrants in the animal kingdom. On wingspans of 20 inches, these birds fly more than 9,300 miles from south to north every spring, and repeat the journey in reverse every autumn. Knots are a classic “jump” migrant, undertaking flights up to 5,000 miles at a time between staging areas.

To reach the breeding grounds in the Arctic, they need to encounter favorable habitat, food, and weather conditions at each of their stops, and instinct has evolved to tell them just the right time to leave in order to take advantage of these narrow seasonal windows. They tend to concentrate in huge flocks at the same staging areas every year, the same locales they’ve used for hundreds of years. It is estimated that nearly 90 percent of the entire population of rufa red knots can be present on the Delaware Bay shoreline in a single day. Though the subspecies of red knots have only slightly different physical features to distinguish them, their migration strategies are strikingly different.

This makes them an apt species for studying the development of avian migration. Consequently, they have become a focal research species for integrating research and conservation strategies for long-distance migrants across all the major flyways in the world.

Together with songbirds, shorebirds have higher Basal Metabolic Rates (BMR) than other birds. (BMR is the cost in calories your body uses just to keep you alive, not including playing, thinking, reproducing, etc.) Their high BMR is likely due to the large organs they need for endurance flights. Red knots spend part of the year in the Arctic, where it costs a plethora of calories just to stay warm. However, they live the other part of the year in temperate and tropical areas, where if they spent the same amount of calories on warmth as the do in the Arctic, they would overheat and die. Knots solve this problem by lowering or increasing their BMR to accommodate their environment, and they do this by changing the size of their internal organs. It’s a useful sort of physical sub-routine, running in the background so the birds can focus on more important affairs, such as what happens when they do finally reach the breeding grounds.

Males arrive first in early May and tidy up the nest space; they are highly faithful to their breeding territories from year to year.

Red knots are seasonally monogamous, and pair bonds form soon after the females arrive. Males display with aerobatic displays and songs. They rise from the ground in a steep, rapid ascent and, upon reaching the desired altitude, their flight changes to an essentially broad figure eight pattern. There is much gliding and wing quivering as the flight song commences, and the whole display sometimes lasts over an hour. The song-flight display of one bird often stimulates neighboring birds to display, until at times, three or four knots display simultaneously.

Despite their close-knit winter flocking behavior, breeding pairs maintain territories and nests about three quarters of a mile apart from each other. This territorial behavior is rarely seen outside the breeding season and is only enacted by the males. In general, nests are located on sparsely vegetated, dry, sunny, slightly elevated tundra locations, often on windswept ridges or slopes with low cover. The nest is a cup-shaped depression in the ground lined with dried leaves, grasses, and lichens. The female lays three to four buff- or olivecolored eggs with brown markings. A mated pair will have one brood per season. If the clutch is lost, the pair will not replace it. Both mom and pop incubate the eggs equally. During early incubation, neither Continued on page 96...

TSFMAG.com | 63

CURTIS CASH

I N S H O R E | N E AR S H O R E | J E T T I E S | P A S S E S

“Two minutes— twenty two seconds” Your mileage may vary according to latitude and time of year, but approximately 2:22 is how long it takes for the sun to appear or disappear completely once it touches the horizon. Good things happen to those who prepare to be in the right place for this right time.

One June evening, Joe Richard, Greg McCann, and I, were anchored in Pass Cavallo, fishing for tarpon. We had much going for us with a light breeze, a modest green tide, a moon-under about to go off, and a live well filled with mullet and menhaden. Rods were bending and reel clickers were sounding off constantly on many nontargeted species.

During all of this Joe and I were discussing the fact that tarpon get very active as the sun gets low. Greg had been taking it all in and interjected, “Two minutes and twenty two seconds, that’s how long sunset lasts.” At the time I did not realize the importance of this information and, not to doubt him but, I was curious as to how long it would actually take.

My cell phone’s stopwatch was showing about 1:33 when Joe yelled, “Tarpon Balloon!” I looked over just in time to see the live menhaden disappear in froth as a large tail slapped the surface.

Round and round we went with Greg keeping maximum pressure on the fish while gaining line. It was getting dark quickly and shadows on the horizon were all we could see. Joe manhandled the fish boat-side and removed the hook and a souvenir scale for Greg.

64 | January 2015

At this point we were well into nautical twilight when we turned the boat toward the lights of POC. Funny thing, while stowing gear for the run back my phone timer showed a little over 39 minutes, so much for the sunset timing. Since that fishing trip I have had many opportunities to prove Greg’s factoid correct.

What does this mean?

The “official” definition of sunrise/sunset is when the center of the sun is 50 minutes of arc below the horizon.

To a fisherman this means the time when the first part of sun peeks above horizon at sunrise, or the last of it dips down below at sunset.

This is a fact—the sun rises and sets daily at a guaranteed mathematically predictable timetable—the one and only influence on the natural world that never changes. It is no coincidence that many times I’ve heard someone at the dock proclaim, “We hammered them thirty minutes before sunset and thirty minutes after.”

Why should this matter?

An average fisherman can plan their fishing activity daily around this occurrence and produce moderate results. An accomplished angler will combine their fishing savvy and experiences, along with the effects of other influences, to maximize their catches.

My experiences have shown forage fish typically begin to shoal starting an hour before sunset. Moving about is

nothing new for them as they are constantly pushed or pulled by currents. They may not realize it but they now have a time schedule and somewhere to go.

Thirty minutes into the movement it becomes crunch time as the refraction of light changes.

Long shadows reach across and through the water decreasing the natural ability for forage species to detect imminent danger. Panic kicks in at this time if a safe spot hasn’t been reached or the forage is not feeling cozy with the safety in numbers theory.

Predators seek out the forage that is stressed, nervous or hastily moving. With the setting sun posed behind them they conveniently use the shadow to their advantage.

In these last thirty minutes of sunlight you may notice that all of nature is on a mission. The shorebirds are flying faster to roost, mullet start jumping randomly, deer and hogs are on the move and forage fish flicker on the water’s surface. This is when it starts getting real good, you sense it, the forage senses it and, the predators know exactly where to be and when.

What about post sunset?

Once the sun disappears below the horizon there will be a gradual loss of light, but still enough to distinguish objects for the next 29 minutes. This window of light is known as Civil Twilight and occurs TSFMAG.com | 65

How to use this information?

For the best catches one must evaluate and put into action the benefits of both the predictable factors and the inconsistent variables presented to them. When combined these forces of nature contribute collectively toward the magnitude of each fish feeding period and your success.

The predetermined factors include the time of sunset, tidal level, tide movement, current flow and solunar influence. These factors are given and readily available, you need to look no further for accurate predictions than the solunar table included monthly in this publication. Knowledge is power, this information allows us the 66 | January 2015

C ontact

until the sun is six degrees below horizon. Once the sun passes this point its natural illumination lessens considerably and begins the period known as Nautical Twilight. It takes the sun 31 minutes to travel to twelve degrees below horizon. During this time only vague outlines of objects are visible. The horizon becomes difficult to distinguish from the sky and complete darkness takes over.

The bite continues often through Civil Twilight but then falls flat around the beginning of the next stage. There are always exceptions, especially if tidal flow is at its peak and/or a solunar influence kicks off.

Generally it is safe to operate your boat without spotlight during the first period of twilight and moving into the next period a spotlight may be necessary.

opportunity to formulate a game plan and put it in motion. When these factors are combined the direct effects will be compounded favorably, therefore increasing your odds of success.

The variables to take into consideration are ever-changing and less predictable. Water temperature, wind velocity and direction, wind current, atmospheric pressure and human interaction must be taken at face value and worked into the formula for success on a day to day basis.

For an example and to help with an explanation of what has been written here, I’ll formulate a synopsis of a day in the near future.

Using the Solunar Table pull out in this month’s issue I will use this information outlined for Saturday January 3rd.

Sunrise will occur at 7:14, straddling a nice ebbing tide through mid-morning. The tide chart shows the mean low tide to be at 10:39. Slack tide happens about the same time as the major (10:09am- 12:09pm). As the major is winding down the tide will have turned and starting to flood back in. The incoming tide picks up tempo and really starts moving in the afternoon. The moon is on the rise nearing horizon bringing with it a minor (4:38- 6:08pm). Around the time forage fish start to congregate, the tide is really pumping and nears peak flow around sunset (5:34 pm). As luck would have it, the minor influence will be felt through the end of civil twilight. This minor, when combined with sunset, makes for an excellent reason to fish until a spotlight would be needed for navigation.

As mentioned earlier the sun takes the same 2:22 to rise as is does to set. This article was written using sunset as the targeted timeframe.

Twilight times run in reverse before the sun rises and forage fish act accordingly. Any or all explanations and examples could be used for sunrise planning also.

January normally lends itself to tougher fishing due to the cold water temperature and the elements we are subjected to. If the wind calms and a weather window presents itself, nearshore structure holds good bottom fish. Red snapper, gulf trout, triggerfish, gag grouper, sheepshead, black drum and redfish can all be caught. The ship channel jetties harbor many of these same fish also, but the emphasis is put on the great tasting sheepshead this month more than others.

Make good use of the Solunar Table as often as possible, this information can turn a mediocre bite into an epic one. Stay safe and don’t be afraid to fish until dark or later, the boat dock is going nowhere fast.

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

Phone Website

361-564-7032 www.captlowtide.com

TSFMAG.com | 67

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

ERIC OZOLINS

Into the Cold It has been quite crazy year. Just a few weeks ago, in November, we were greeted with the earliest arctic blast I can personally remember. We jumped from late-summer to serious wintertime weather almost overnight. Water temps dropped nearly 20 degrees and the traditional surf jackfish run never materialized. The bull redfish run was weak at best and our late-fall Spanish mackerel and bluefish bite was about nil.

Of interest, a rare 12-foot thresher shark mysteriously washed up on the beach during the middle of that frigid blast.

Back in the bays, an opposite scene emerged. Large sow trout began showing in impressive numbers and redfish were schooling over stunned mullet that hadn’t migrated—hung up in the cold. Bay anglers were doing quite well and even I took to the kayak and hammered countless reds, trout, and drum. Ironic that no matter how harsh the weather or water conditions appear on one hand, there’s always a silver lining somewhere on the other.

Several days into that cold spell the question loomed whether the wind would ever turn back south or perhaps we were headed into another ice age. Fortunately, the jet stream balanced out and the much 68 | January 2015

needed warming trend came our way. Around Thanksgiving the coastal water temps were warming, and while the surf was quite turbulent the entire month, fish were starting to cooperate. Reports of pompano were coming in and redfish action improved. I had two overnighter weekends booked back to back. The first one yielded treacherous surf conditions resulting in having to fish the Port Mansfield jetties. At that time the water was still cooler than normal and the shark bite was minimal. Fortunately, we had the rocks to ourselves for two full days and managed to land some very impressive oversized redfish.

Things continued to warm during the following weekend.

While the surf was still large and unorganized we were able to fish the beach for sharks. Driving conditions were phenomenal and we ventured nearly 50 miles to warmer waters. Despite being excited, I tried to guard my expectations. Initially I was thinking the questionable conditions may allow us to fish only casted baits— careful not to expect much more than reds.

I had a regular client and his family with me and joining them were a couple of friends who had never fished the surf before. As a charter fishing guide, I try to do all that I possibly can to get clients on fish— big fish at that. I’ve had a fairly great success rate though there are times when no matter what you do, the fish just won’t be present or biting. The warming trend held promise and I was praying that what might be my last major shark charter of the year would end favorably.

As we hit the beach on Friday afternoon it appeared that we might have missed the window by a day. The past 24 hours had flattened the surf completely. The south winds were picking back up and while the water would warm even more, it would also complicate things. The forecast called for 15-25 knots the whole weekend with seas picking up. In regards to kayaking baits, there are times when even I have a hard time finding motivation to press on during the cold. Nonetheless, we continued on as the sun was going down and darkness blanketed

the coast. After a couple hours of careful driving we arrived at the spot I had chosen; the wind was howling but the surf remained relatively small for the moment. We got set up and unpacked and I made an executive decision to run some baits while the conditions still allowed.

I turned on the lights and begin kayaking into the cold darkness.

After about another hour we had three decent baits out, all stingray.

I quickly got dry and satisfied that were off to a quick start. Sometimes just knowing you were able to get baits out is a great feeling within itself. No sooner than I was able to sit down for the first time; a rod went off. We got Lance up on the platform to do battle. Being a professional athlete he made short work of a 5-1/2’ blacktip despite being his first-ever shark. We tagged and released and things were looking up. About an hour later another bait was picked up and took drag. We got young Reid into battle, the 9 year old fishing warrior, who has caught sharks on a few other trips with me. He has yet to break the 6-foot mark but is eager to do what he can this trip to make that a reality. Instantly we knew the fish was fairly decent. After a smart and consistent battle by the youth we have a 6’8” bull shark on the beach—awesome! We make the release and we have one final bait out, the closest of all, roughly 150yds.

As the wind continued to blow we sat around the fire sharing stories. Having been a long day for everyone we all eventually crashed.

Come 5:00 AM the last bait got hammered—Fish On! Reid got the nod again and hopped up on the truck to do battle as everyone else was still half asleep. This appeared to be a larger fish and after 15 minutes we had it near the first bar when it became stubborn.

This may actually be a decent fish!

Reid battled like a champ, keeping up with it and managed to turn it and pull it over the bar. I walked out and leader it and we had our first sandbar shark of the season! This beautiful specimen measured out at 7’2” and is by far the largest by any kid I have taken down. I tagged and released the fish as the pre-dawn light was starting to fill the horizon. At that moment I decided to run out three more baits. About an hour later one got picked up but missed. Then soon after another bait was picked up by a solid fish and we hooked this one.

Shelly, Lance’s wife and another first-timer, was up on the rack. Young Reid coached her and she performed quite well on her first shark. This fish was quite stubborn but when landed resulted in a most impressive 6’8” blacktip shark - the largest I have personally seen! This awesome fish, like the others, is tagged and released.

Throughout the day the winds were building the seas and I could no longer get over the last sandbar. I would have to put baits closer in. By sundown, we would land another bull TSFMAG.com | 69

and blacktip. I would once again get a couple baits kayaked out for overnight. Right on cue a bait was picked up as we were having dinner.

Reid banged out another blacktip and we were left with one solid bait out. Everyone crashed after another long day of adventure. Around midnight the last bait was picked up, Reid’s father, John, jumped up on the truck for the battle with everyone else still snoozing. John fought an awkward battle from a strong fish. After a while John brought our

70 | January 2015

C ontact

second sandbar shark to the beach—way to go guys!

The following morning proved nearly impossible to fish.

We had used up all our shark bait and the wind was cranking harder still. We duked it out a while on cast baits for red drum with little success. All the same, we had completed an incredible shark trip for that late in the year. After the harshly cold conditions that plagued us for much of the month, I would not have imagined we would have landed eight quality sharks.

So this basically leaves us with questions for the remainder of winter. Will we be experiencing more paralyzing arctic blasts or will we be blessed with a warm start to the New Year? Warm or average temps could lead to great red drum, pompano, and more shark action.

Only time will tell and I for one am very excited about the prospects for 2015!

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

Email Websites

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

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TSFMAG.com | 73

Dickie Colburn

DICKIE COLBURN’S Sabine Scene

Sabine

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

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

74 | January 2015

Without exception, every trout related pattern ran at least a month late in 2014 but December unexpectedly proved to be more textbook on Sabine.

We welcomed strong enough north winds to purge the marshes and the bait and redfish stacked up in the nearest deep water. That bite is currently as good as it can possibly get!

Even in the worst of Frogg Toggs and years past, including two slot redfish help record freezes and a pair of beat the cold. devastating hurricanes, the trout still did what they were supposed to do, pretty much on schedule. Last year though, the trout that typically hold up in Coffee Ground Cove four to six weeks prior to piling up on the shallow flats in early spring arrived in December, and were still there in March. From that point on, every single pattern ran a month or two late and we basically did a very poor job of adjusting our tactics.

We are already finding a few

big trout where they are supposed to be, but there is no guarantee that the weather will not once again alter time-tested game plans. We have to live through the whims of Mother Nature, but we can and will do a better job of safely dealing with the wind this year. We conceded a staggering number of days to a whitecapping lake in 2014!

The easiest solution to countering white-caps, provided the trout elect to hold on the shallow flats, is to spend more time in waders than casting from the deck of the boat. Boat control is a nightmare at best when surfing a flat, slowed only by a pair of drift socks. Removing the boat from the equation enables you to better pick semi-protected areas apart, even in the wind.

As of this writing, we are still wearing the redfish out on everything from swimbaits to live shad. Outgoing tides only

escalate the action as the most dependable areas are the mouths of drains or the points of bayous emptying into the lake and river. The gull activity is slowing down, but when you find them in the open lake they, too, are usually working over redfish.

Natalie Matthews won her tug of war with this nice red! C&R

As far as I am concerned there is no “best” bait or color for catching these powerful bullies. It is simply a matter of getting it front of them.

They cannot resist anything in the GULP line-up and a Usual Suspect or four inch Sea Shad doctored with a little dab of Pro Cure will keep your drag screaming.

What has been an excellent flounder run is slowly drawing to a close but we are still catching random flatfish to five pounds while targeting reds The most reliable flounder bite took place in the shadows of the Chenier LNG terminal below the Causeway, but Keith Lake and the lower ship channel held their own. As usual, GULP shrimp and swimming mullets did the most damage, but twin-tail grubs sweetened with a piece of shrimp finished a close second.

Tomorrow morning, it is all but a sure bet that we will quickly limit on reds before spending the remainder of the day probing eight to fifteen foot breaks for our better trout. The water is in great shape and while we haven’t been catching big numbers exploiting this bite as of yet, we have been catching enough big trout to declare that bite pretty much on schedule.

Depending on strength of tide, a Die Dapper or Tidal Surge split tail mullet rigged on a quarter to half ounce jig head are great tools for locating these fish. Once I find them I will also offer them a Corky Devil or Maniac Mullet as they invariably entice the best of these trout. This bite is all about vertically jigging rather than casting regardless of your choice of baits!

If the trout indeed return to a more normal schedule this year, by the time you read this we will be wading and drifting the shallow flats bordering the Intracoastal and the Louisiana shoreline. The bottom isn’t nearly as forgiving on the east side but that mud and scattered shell is a trout magnet on a warm afternoon.

Corkys, especially day glow and pink, MirrOdine XLs, and five inch tails rigged on 1/16 ounce heads will keep you in the hunt. Even on the coldest of days, do not be afraid to offer them a topwater. Per Mike McBride, I am now convinced single hooks work as well as trebles on Spooks and She Dogs and feel much safer unhooking a powerful fish with numb fingers.

Bundle the kids up and take them fishing this weekend!

TSFMAG.com | 75

Capt. Steve Hillman

The Buzz on Galveston Bay

It’s hard to top this time of year—fishing is good and hunting is good. Holidays spent with family and friends is the icing on the cake. If none of these things puts a smile on your face then you’re probably not reading this magazine right now and I’m sure there’s a hotline you can call for help.

Mother Nature kind of Galveston broke us in all at once with a late November bone-chilling Artic blast causing surface water temperatures to drop Steve Hillman is a full-time into the mid-forties for a few fishing guide on his home days. Trout and reds dropped waters of Galveston Bay. Steve into deeper pockets of water fishes the entire Galveston Bay and stayed there for a few Complex, wading and drifting days until milder temperatures for trout, redfish, and flounder returned. Since then, we’ve using artificial lures. experienced about one cold Telephone front per week and water 409-256-7937 temperatures seem to be Email captsteve@hillmanguideservice.com holding in the low to midfifties. As a result, the trout Website www.hillmanguideservice.com pattern has been consistent

76 | January 2015

and catching has been above average. The quality of trout has been impressive as well with quite a few in the 22 to 25 inch range and an occasional 26-plus. All of our larger trout have been released in great shape.

Trout will continue to stage near deep water until brief warm-up periods cause them to spread out across shallower flats. These flats almost always consist of some type of mud and shell mix with subtle depth changes. Such areas are prevalent throughout the entire Galveston Bay Complex from San Jacinto Bay all the way to Christmas Bay. There are good numbers of trout being caught in every corner of the bay right now. Soft plastics, hard baits and slow sinking plugs have all worked great. The best colors have been just about any variation of purple, chartreuse and pink.

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I like to use a little different retrieve during these colder months compared to fall and summer. Overall, a slower retrieve seems to be more effective, but I really think it’s more about a longer pause in between twitches. A statuesque pause at the top of your retrieve will allow the bait to settle slowly and hover in the strike zone longer. This is just what I’ve personally found to be effective. Sometimes a slow and steady straight retrieve with the tip of your rod low to the water will yield strikes when nothing else will also.

Often the bites are very subtle during the colder months and having the proper set-up is paramount. I use a 6’ 6” Waterloo Ultra Mag rod equipped with a Shimano Chronarch 50E spooled with 12 pound Trilene Sensation. For those who prefer braided line, I recommend Fins Windtamer 8 pound test / 30 pound diameter. I also use a 20 pound fluorocarbon leader on everything. A light-weight and sensitive rod will greatly increase your chances of catching more fish. And, last time I checked, catching is kind of fun!

Many of my trips this time of year will be from noon until dark.

There are times when our best bite will be in the final hour of daylight and even after dark. Everything seems to stabilize in the afternoon/evening hours this time of year. In addition, some of the larger trout tend to feed late. Wading and drifting will both be effective throughout the month. Which approach we choose is often predicated on wind speed and direction.

It’s hard to believe that yet another year has come to a close. I truly hope that all of my fellow fishermen had a wonderful year and that 2015 brings even more joy and prosperity to all.

Happy New Year! -Capt. Steve Hillman

3925 FM 359

Location is obviously important but, as the old cliché goes, timing is everything. Prior to an approaching front, tides are generally higher and water temperatures warmer. This is when you’ll probably want to fish flats in 3- to 5 feet of water while keying on mullet and color streaks. Salt Water Assassins rigged on 1/16 or 1/8 jig heads will stay in the strike zone longer than heavier jigs and result in more bites. Post-front conditions can cause fish to move to the edges and sometimes even into the deeper guts due to lower tides and water temperatures. MirrOdines, 51 Series MirrOlures and Corkys come into play in such conditions. Fishing during a tide change can greatly increase your chances as well. Major and minor feeding periods are worth mentioning too. If you’re wondering where to find this type of useful information just flip a few pages back toward the center of the magazine.

TSFMAG.com | 77

Bink Grimes

The View from Matagorda

Matagorda

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

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

78 | January 2015

Nippy, wet weather is normally the forecast this time of year. Gray skies and low tides provide a dreary backdrop, but the sun does shine in January.

It may take you leaving your fishing comfort zone, but winter fishing can be productive.

By now you have read it countless times how dark, soggy bay floors hold the warmest winter waters. It’s true. One degree of difference is often the only variable in an area holding schools of fish.

Look for bait. It probably is scarce, as frigid waters turn baitfish lethargic; however, if you see one mullet flip, give the area a chance.

Sometimes all you see are a handful of mullet all day. That’s okay. Trout don’t need a whole lot of mullet this time of year – they may only eat a few times a week.

We normally don’t worry about getting an early start. We make long drifts and catch most of our fish around late-morning. When the sun comes out it seems like the fish bite better.

One day specks will want Chicken on a Chain Bass Assassins and the next day they want

plum. One day they want pumpkinseed/chartreuse and the next they want Morning Glory or Opening Night.

Trout and redfish are readily available in guts and bayous up and down the coast. Some of the lowest tides of the year occur during the next 30 days, so you can eliminate lots of water. Concentrate on the areas that fall from waist to chest deep during the summer – those same areas are probably shin to waist deep now.

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Sand trout are another winter option that requires minimal skills.

Channels and bayous with ardent tidal flow to and from the Gulf holds plenty of sandies. Carolina-rigged fresh shrimp and/squid gets plenty of pulls.

A great winter fish that rarely gets rave reviews is the sheepshead.

Most sheepies hang just below the surface and dine on crustaceans and organisms clinging against rocks and pilings. Live shrimp under a popping cork is the most effective bait; and, once you get past its motley mug, the sheepshead’s white meat pleases the palate.

Winter low tides reveal reefs, flats and other structures you never knew were there. Take advantage of the free look and mark all of these fish magnets, then hit ‘em again when tides return this spring.

Those oyster boats dredging in the middle of the bay have a story to tell. Their captains are not dragging blind, they are using years and years of established coordinates.

To many charter captains’ chagrin, we often see boats pulling next to ours on drifts with heads down marking points on their GPS. Use that same pattern with oyster boats and mark their spots and come back and fish that valuable structure when the boats are gone.

We will still be duck hunting on January mornings and fishing the afternoons. Don’t let the cold wind keep you by the fire—there are always a few trout and redfish eating somewhere.

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TSFMAG.com | 79

Capt. Shellie Gray

MID-COAST BAYS With the Grays

Port O'Connor Seadrift

Captain Shellie Gray was born in Port Lavaca and has been guiding in the Seadrift/Port O’Connor area full time for the past 12 years. Shellie specializes in wading for trout and redfish year round with artificial lures.

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

80 | January 2015

Well folks, believe it or not, here we are bringing in another new year. 2014 passed way too quickly but has left me with great memories of some pretty awesome trips with good people. The fishing this past year was good for the most part but, I believe the reduced trout limit and our continuation of solid numbers of redfish the next few years will make it better than we’ve seen in a long time.

As of late, on days of favorable weather, the reefs in San Antonio Bay have been yielding good numbers of trout. I won’t lie to you, most days we have had to go through quite a few undersized fish to get keepers. However, given the huge numbers of “just shy of 15-inchers” I believe we are going to have a rewarding spring season.

One thing to keep in mind if you decide to venture out into San Antonio Bay; reef hopping is usually necessary when attempting to locate a school of trout. It’s not uncommon to have to fish five or more reefs before finding a solid bite. It’s easy to get discouraged and dismiss the reefs as being void of fish but hang with it and hopefully you’ll see what I mean.

What makes one reef look fishier than the next? I always look for bait and the more active the better.

The best scenario you could hope for is to witness one or more mullet fleeing for their life. That’s a great indication that feeding fish are in the area. But let’s face it; it’s not always as easy as that. During these colder months baitfish tend to be more subsurface and some days you’ll need to stop the boat and study the water closely to determine if there is actually any bait in the area.

Like the baitfish this time of year, trout tend to linger near the deeper waters during cold periods and reefs with an abrupt drop-off usually produce best. I prefer a 1/16 ounce jighead rigged with a soft plastic, working slowly towards the bottom of the reef. If you are not hanging up occasionally you are working too fast. This is a good time to dust off some of those Corkys!

If the wind is too much for the open water of San Antonio Bay I shift focus to back lakes and Shoalwater Bay. The grass is greatly reduced in winter so the use of a weedless setup is not usually necessary. Redfish can be found in back lakes year ‘round but larger trout favor these shallower, muddier bottoms during this season as well. If you’re not a mud wader, long drifts will pay off better than a bunch of running and gunning.

Probably like most of you, I have a handful of favorite lures. One that has its way to top billing lately is the Bass Assassin 4.5 inch Lit’l Tapper. Salt and Pepper Silver Phantom and Chicken on a Chain have been great producers. It is easy to jig over shell, and the fish seem to be convinced that it’s something they need to eat.

On another note, as most of you know Cedar Bayou was reopened this past September. Gary and I have had many optimistic discussions on what that will do for San Antonio Bay and surrounding waters but the one difference we have already noticed is improved tide movement. Before the reopening of Cedar Bayou and because other passes to the Gulf were a good distance from San Antonio Bay, we hardly noticed any tide fluctuations. But since the reopening of Cedar Started out a client many years ago and ended up becoming a great friend—RIP Robert Mauro!

You’ll surely be missed.

Bayou we can actually see the water moving in and out with the tide schedules. What does that mean? Well, that means San Antonio Bay is finally getting a good flow (flushing- so to speak) of moving water and moving water is healthy water for all the creatures that live in it. I could go on and on but you get the idea I’m sure.

In closing, if you are a person who likes duck hunting or maybe you’ve always wanted to give it a go, you will have until January 25 to get your shoot on. We schedule many Cast and Blast trips in January so be sure to give us a call if you want to get in on a great outdoor adventure. Come to think of it, what would be a better way to bring in the New Year than shooting and fishing with friends and family?

Happy New Year everyone!

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david rowsey

HOOKED UP WITH Rowsey

Well 2014 just kind of blew right past us. I hope the closing of the year has found all of you to be enjoying great health, happy family and prosperity. Getting over the food hangover from the holidays is about Upper my biggest worry of late. But nothing that a few long wades back to the boat won’t fix, I’m sure.

Laguna/ Mother Nature has graced us with some colder Baffin than average weather toward the end of 2014. By all accounts it looks like the 2015 winter fishing season will be another cold one. There were a couple of days in 2014 that I begged my clients not to show up due David Rowsey has 20 years to ridiculously cold air and water temperatures. Most experience in the Laguna/Baffin region; trophy trout with artificial heeded the advice while others refused to not get out lures is his specialty. David has a there and give it a try. As much as I respect their desire to try for a big trout, regardless of conditions, there are great passion for conservation and encourages catch and just some days that are not worth the effort. release of trophy fish.

Those diehards would usually last one or two wades at best before they threw in the towel, the Telephone wrath of the icy north wind being too much to bear, 361-960-0340 even with the best of gear.

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82 | January 2015

turning blue. Maybe we should head back?” I agreed and made the run back to Bluff’s Landing to warm up with some coffee.

Clients should understand that every guide likes to fish and make a living doing it. Losing a day’s pay is certainly not in the business plan. So when a guide tells you to save your money for another day, you should listen to that advice, and know that he is sacrificing income for the betterment of the client experience. Whether it seems good or bad.

As of this writing the water quality in Baffin remains well below average. The good news is that the Laguna looks awesome, and that water is headed south into Baffin with each passing front. This year being so similar in weather pattern as compared to last, I suspect the waters will clear up in Baffin as far west as East Kleberg Point in the near future. The mouth of the bay, and further south in the Land Cut area, should clear up as well. I’ve heard numerous reports that there is some good water in the back of the bay although I have not seen it for myself.

With winter starting early again the trout are already settling in their cold-water ways. In fact, we have had

some great days through November and into December on trout that would not normally be found where we are catching them—some exceptionally fat and strong fish.

A few of the larger trout have had smaller trout’s tails protruding from their gullets on the Boga. This is not uncommon, by any means,

Author with 10.5 pound January pig on red shad Bass Assassin. Released!

large trout cannibalize their own species regularly during the colder months. With less bait (mullet) available, a twelve inch trout provides much more nutrition than six or eight little pinfish, and they expend less energy obtaining it. Makes sense to me!

As Baffin regulars know, winter trout fishing has become hugely popular. There were days in 2014 that I was just overwhelmed by how many boats would set up and wade in one small area. I avoid such places at all costs. Saying that, there are many days that I will be the first in an area to start the morning. A second boat will show up, and set up a respectful distance away. Then comes the third boat who gets in between because they think the other two groups must know something they don’t. After that the scene develops like a bunch of seagulls behind a shrimp trawler with boats falling in from every direction. It can get ridiculous at times.

The point I’m trying to make here is that there is a bunch of productive water out there. Be respectful of waders that have already established themselves. If you feel that you MUST fish near them, enter and exit using a trolling motor. Better yet, go explore new areas and add something to your arsenal. Some of the best discoveries and catches I have ever made have been on days when I left an area due to getting “boxed in.”

Remember the buffalo! -Capt. David Rowsey

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TSFMAG.com | 83

Capt. Tricia

TRICIA’S Mansfield Report Everything has turned on down here in the Lower Laguna. As of this writing we are beginning to see everything we had hoped would develop for January.

It has been cold enough for fish to stack in traditional wintertime areas and we are seeing some really nice ones. Boat traffic has been relatively light. What else Port could you want?

Mansfield In late November and early December, both the tides and water temperatures dropped as predicted. Fish that Capt. Tricia’s Skinny Water had been secretly staying Adventures operates out of in deeper zones during Port Mansfield, specializing in the hotter months wadefishing with artificial lures. started to come closer to the shorelines, and we encountered a few gang-up Telephone 956-642-7298 trips the past month, before Email and after frontal passages. shell@granderiver.net Prime examples of winter’s Website www.SkinnyWaterAdventures.com potential in Port Mansfield can be seen in every archive of my article for the last ten years. I can still say I am as

84 | January 2015

excited now as I was then, possibly even more so.

The past few cold fronts have changed much for the positive. The water temp has already dipped into the upper-40s a couple of times, believe it or not, and this is what sets the stage for excellent winter angling.

The early staging we’ve seen thus far has provided predictable patterns, something we’d have traded a birthright for a couple of months ago. Some days more trout, and some more reds, and others a nice mix of both.

January should bring us some of the coldest days and possibly water temps also. Standard pre- and post-front approaches will be in play. When pre-front conditions prevail you can expect southerly wind to 20-plus, a great time to fish the East Flats. Shallow grassy shelves dotted with sandy potholes that rim deeper water can hold some impressive trout and redfish.

Larger baits can come into play in pre-norther conditions and one has to assume it is gorging before the front. Fat Boys and large surface baits can often times work better than tails, and much of the time few surface signs other than a stray gull or mullet flip will alert you of gamefish presence.

Looking at the post-norther side of things; I generally say the colder the better, but this is predicated on how long it has been cold. Many times fishing is best when the water is warmer than the air. Let’s also not forget fish in less than calf-deep water being very likely during norther recovery as shallow waters will usually warm quicker in afternoon sun.

So far we have not had a trout in the double digits, but I am thinking we may crack it soon. Redfish have also been thick and so have the

black drum. I have a new appreciation for the latter species and have had some challenging sight-casting sessions recently.

Another topic I would like to bring up is a shout to all my loyal business friends over the years. I am very grateful to have such reliable partners in the saltwater fishing field. Thank you, Everett and Pam Johnson, for allowing me the privilege to write in this magazine since 2004. Wayne Davis, for keeping me stocked at all times with K-Wigglers soft plastics and jig heads. Simms Fishing Gear and my liaison Eric Kraimer. MirrOlure, Hogie’s Lures, Salt Life, and so many more I cannot list due to space requirements. My sincerest thanks to each and every one of you! With that I am very excited to announce my old and new friend Jimmy Burns and Waterloo Rods. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be back with the best Texas rod-builder in the business. It is great to be dancing again with the one that brung me!

Another old friend has some very exciting new lures and jig heads that I am also thankful to have in my arsenal. Norton Lures has a brand new Sand Shad Jr., made in America by the way. These little babies with the patented Norton paddle-tail have so much action in a tiny package that makes them fit into just about any fishing situation. Norton is introducing an exciting new color they’re calling VooDoo and also a new model jighead based on the Gamakatsu 3/0 EL Flat-Eye Hook.

This jig will sport 3D Eyes and Double Flared Gills and should on dealer’s shelves by early-2015.

The New Year is looking great on the Laguna. Happy New Year my friends!

TSFMAG.com | 85

Capt. Ernest cisneros

SOUTH PADRE Fishing Scene

A rr oyo C olorado t o Port I sabel

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

I believe it goes without saying that unusual weather patterns can bring equally unusual fishing patterns.

I recall that our trout fishing was very good for numbers in general with an encouraging number of large fishing during November and most of December 2013. Then came January’s fronts, one right after the other, and our trout fishing suffered greatly for several months. The cold dragged on into spring and we were still wearing waders in May—a genuine first in my experience.

January and February have traditionally been our best months for trophy trout in the Lower Laguna but not last year. It wasn’t until the water temperatures eventually warmed to normal due to May’s stable weather that we were finally able locate reliable concentrations of trout that we could pattern predictably.

Some forecasters say we are in for another cold and wet winter—I just hope the trout fishing in 2015 is not a repeat of last year.

Currently, we are catching solid numbers of trout but size-wise our catches are running below par. The good thing, and the part I’m banking on, is that it is still early in the season

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and the traditionally better months are yet to come.

January is definitely going to be cooler than last month so we will see our water temperatures take a dive and remain cooler for longer periods of time.

This time of the year, it is not critical to get a sunrise start; concentrating fishing effort into midday and afternoon, right up till dark, is often a better plan.

Success will depend on various things and choosing to be on the water during the warmer hours of the

Diana’s first wade produced this nice 4-pounder.

day is an important element. Tidal movement is another big one.

Winter is all about being observant and even if you’re not a year ‘round birdwatcher you need to become one in winter as gulls, pelicans and ospreys can all point the way to bait concentrations and also tell you the depth the fish are holding. Unlike in warmer months, trout and redfish spend a lot of time nestled into soft mud in winter. When they get spooked they make a significant mud boil taking off—another important clue that can increase your success.

Currently, redfish continue to be scattered throughout our bay system. Our catch numbers have been lower than expected, but if you patiently work an area where a few are found there’s a good chance you’ll find more. Topwaters remain effective; the Super Spook Jr and the One Knocker are working well for us in an array of colors. Key on those mud boils and wakes at the edge of the flats next to the ICW!

Don’t rule out clear, shallow water on warmer days; this 7-pounder sure liked it!

Our trout catches have been excellent but I said earlier we haven’t seen as many heavy fish as we expected. There have been a few days that deep mud was the place to be but for the most part our trout have come off sand and shell bottoms. Working the edges of spoils during good water movement has also been very productive.

We have caught them during incoming and outgoing flows, the fact that the water is moving seems far more important than the direction it is running.

Bait-wise for trout; K-Wigglers in plum/chart and flo-mingo on 1/8 jigs have done the trick many days. Paul Brown’s original Corky and the Fat Boy have also been producing lots of strikes when they are feeding closer to bottom. Ninety percent of the time they have been hitting it on the drop. On a couple of warm, sunny days we have caught trout in the 4- to 7 pound range throwing topwaters right on top of spoil banks. I soon expect our bigger trout to follow this pattern, moving up shallow a day or two after the passing of a cold front. They know to follow the bait up shallow and at the same time take advantage of the warmer, shallower water. As we chase the bigger class trout, we will be thinking mud most of the time. On warmer days our efforts will turn to grass flats that contain potholes.

This is the time of year to layer up. It’s always better to be prepared than to suffer in the cold and have to cut your trip short. I know that with Simms Wear I am always prepared for whatever the elements dish out. Checkout their outerwear and layering products at www. simmsfishing.com. As the New Year commences, whatever your chase will be, I hope your passion will bring plenty of tight lines.

Happy New Year!

TSFMAG.com | 87

FISHING REPORTS

ORECASTS F from Big Lake to Boca Chica

AND

Lake Calcasieu Louisiana Jeff and Mary Poe - Big Lake Guide Service - 337.598.3268 January is one of the best months of all in which to catch the trout of a lifetime. The problem is the fish are cold, so sometimes bites are hard to come by. Don’t get me wrong, we will have 40-50 fish days, but a typical day fishing for big trout produces maybe 8-15 fish. We will fish shallow, on sand flats and around oyster reefs on the north end of the lake. Turners Bay is THE spot. Mullet are key. When we are fishing mid-winter we have a Paul Brown Lure tied on most of the time. MirrOdines, Redfins, Jointed Thundersticks, and Catch 2000’s are great baits as well. If the water is crystal clear, natural/translucent colors work wonders. If it’s stained, brighter/solid colors work great.

The key to catching in January is the rate of retrieve. If you think about it, the fish are just trying to survive the winter. So they won’t move around really fast to chase something down. Therefore, low and slow is an effective retrieve style.

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242 James had been fishing with old friend Mickey Eastman a couple days before he gave this report. “Mickey and I had a lot of fun, and caught plenty of fish. Had limits of trout up to about five pounds. The bite on hard baits is good right now. We’ve been catchin’ ‘em on 51 MirrOlures in colors like gold/chartreuse and pink/yellow. The Catch 5 bite is on

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too, especially when the fish move up shallow during warm spells.

We still have a decent bite in deep water, over shell. In fact, most of the bigger fish we’ve seen lately have come off that pattern, but that will change in the near future. Once we get some more cold weather, the wading will improve as a way to catch the big trout. They’ll move shallower between fronts, as it warms up, and go back deep after the cold weather hits. Topwaters and slow-sinking twitch baits will work best to catch them when they are shallow. Overall, it’s looking really good. We’ve got plenty of trout and redfish in all the bays, and it should be a great winter for catchin’.”

Jimmy West - Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054 Jim mentions he’s been experiencing great fun in the outdoors recently.

“It’s a great time to be alive, and to be outdoors. Duck hunting, deer hunting and fishing have all been excellent. I’ll continue hunting ducks throughout January. The key to good shooting is to have some wind. On windy days, we’re having plenty of action in area marshes. Fishing has been outstanding too lately. We’re catching fish in a variety of places, in marsh drains, up in the bayous, wading along areas shorelines and out of the boat too. Best way to target the bigger trout is by wading, of course. Right now, the fish are spread out, and it’s possible to catch them different ways. Mostly because it hasn’t been cold much. We did have that one stout front, but it has warmed back up again. Normally, around Christmas, we start seeing cold weather on a regular basis. When that

happens, we usually shift gears and start fishing later in the day. We’ll leave the dock late in the morning and fish until dark. That works best in January, for the most part.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays Randall Groves - Groves Guide Service 979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323 Randall says the fishing has finally returned to normal after a stretch of slower times caused by lots of muddy water due to heavy rains.

“In January, during the warmer spells, I’ll be concentrating on areas with water about four or five feet deep, throwing mostly Norton Sand Eel Juniors in colors like chicken on a chain and black magic. I’ll try to stay in areas which are holding good amounts of bait, mostly mullet.

If the water gets more clear, I’ll change over to the red magic Sand Eels and Bull Minnows. When the weather takes a turn for the colder, I will use the same soft plastics, but will switch to heavier jigheads like three eighth ounce and will focus my efforts on the deeper drains and sloughs, where fish tend to pile up to ride out the cold weather. I’ll be spending some time at the Houston Boat Show talking to people and booking trips for the spring and summer, and my new JH Performance boat will be ready and on display there too. I look forward to trying out my new Generation 2 E-Tech motor.”

Matagorda | Charlie Paradoski Bay Guide Service - 713.725.2401 Charlie mentions that “January is one of our best big trout months of all, not only for those who like to wade, but also for people who like to fish out of the boat. We catch fish on soft plastics, sinking twitch baits like Paul Brown Lures, MirrOlures and even topwaters at times. In inclement weather, we have several options to deal with the weather, including the Diversion Channel and the Colorado River. I have several

customers who have caught trout weighing nine pounds or more fishing in those deep water havens. Basically, we are at the mercy of the weather in the middle of winter, but the potential for catching is really good, so it pays to just take a mind set which involves bundling up and going. When the weather allows, we’ll be wading or drifting in East Bay, but when it doesn’t, we’ll hide from the wind, pull out some lures which help target fish in the deeper waters. Those who like to catch primarily redfish can sometimes find the catching to be supremely good on the south shoreline of West Bay, especially on extremely low tides.”

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204 Fishing has been fantastic around the Palacios Area. The colder temperatures sent the fish to deep holes in the local rivers and turning basins and made for some fun catching. Cajun-pepper VuDu shrimp, and salt/pepper paddletails jigged off the bottom brought in easy limits of trout and reds during the cold snap. The recent warming trend has our trout holding over shell pads in four to six feet of water. The best rig for catching them has been popping corks and Berkley Gulp! pearl shrimp dangled about twenty inches under the float. Night fishing continues to be good. Tandem rigs with glow and clear seem to be the best colors, with most fish just over the fifteen inch minimum. January fishing should depend on locating bait and on water temperatures. The area rivers—Colorado, Tres Palacios, and Lavaca hold good numbers of fish when temperatures drop into the fifties. The flats adjacent to these rivers will hold fish during warm spells after fronts. As always, finding some mullet during cold months is key.

TSFMAG.com | 89

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith Back Bay Guide Service - 361.983.4434 Lynn expects to be trying to dodge the harshest weather between fronts and fishing flats adjacent to deep water, focusing on areas with a muddy bottom mixed with scattered shell.

Mostly, redfish will be the targeted species on the shallow areas. Best lures for catching them will be slow-sinking lures like Paul Brown lures and MirrOlures. He says he won’t generally leave the dock until some time in the middle of the day, preferring to allow the daylight to warm the flats first, and fish in the afternoon. When targeting trout, he says he generally sticks with deeper water this time of year. “When we’re trying to catch the trout, we go to the deeper water in the mouths of the rivers and in the canals. We’ll work areas with dead ends and also throw lures along the edges of the drop offs. Soft plastics will be the lures of choice when we’re working this pattern, and we like to leave the dock later when we’re fishing this way too. Most days, we’ll do some of both, fishing flats for reds and a few big trout, and deeper for numbers of trout.”

Rockport | Blake Muirhead Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894 Blake will be continuing the cast and blast season in January, fishing and hunting from San Antonio Bay to Corpus Christi Bay. “Fishing has been really good lately. We’re catching best by wading along area shorelines, focusing on the drop offs into deeper water. Best lures have been the limetreuse Gulp! jerk shads and pumpkinseed/chartreuse and plum/chartreuse Norton Sand Eels. Have also been catching some on topwaters on the warm days. These things will continue to be the norms in January. Soft plastics work best when it’s colder, and topwaters and slow-sinking twitch baits come into play when it warms up. If it gets really cold, we often see the fish stack up in the deeper parts of the

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drains leading into the backwater areas. I’ll target trout and redfish there if that happens. Duck hunting has been good most of the time, and that should remain the same through the end of the season. We’ll start off the mornings in the blinds, shoot until the birds stop flying, then fish our way out of the marshes and into the bays.”

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut Robert Zapata – rz1528@grandecom.net - 361.563.1160 It is still very quiet on the waters of the Upper Laguna Madre, as many deer hunters are still going after their whitetail buck of a lifetime. Others are going after the speckled trout of a lifetime in the Upper Laguna.

According to some of the Parks and Wildlife Department biologists, there are plenty of them still out there. As the water temperatures go down in January, the fish will also go down into deeper water with muddy bottoms during the passage of the cold fronts. But after a couple of sunny, warmer days after a frontal passage, the trout and reds will come up into shallower water, as it will warm up faster. Wadefishing will be the best way to get on the fish during January, along shorelines with a mix of shell and mud bottoms, along with patches of grass in about three to four feet of water. I will still favor Bass Assassin Die Dappers in colors like sand trout on sunny days and morning glory/chartreuse on cloudy days, rigged on 5/0, sixteenth ounce Spring Lok jigheads. Don’t forget your breathable waders and ForEverLast Ray Guards.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez – www.sightcast1.com - 361.937.5961 In January, Joe expects to be fishing two different types of areas, depending on the weather. “We usually have plenty of fish hanging in the canals during the middle of winter. Fishing for them in areas around the JFK Causeway and all the way south to the Land Cut can be good at times. When we see lots of birds hanging around the ICW, it’s usually a good sign that this pattern will work well. Normally, this corresponds with the colder type of weather. Whether fishing the main ditches or

the ones that intersect them, we’ll keep the boat out in the middle of the channel and toss soft plastic lures toward the edge, tailoring the size of our jigheads to match the conditions, using heavier ones if it’s windy and currents are strong, lighter ones if the weather is calmer.

If conditions warm up enough, the fish sometimes move out of the canals and into the shallows. Then, we’re able to find sight-casting opportunities more often. Especially in the northern parts of the area, where the water is air-clear this time of year on most days.”

Padre Island National Seashore Billy Sandifer - Padre Island Safaris - 361.937.8446 Successful surf fishing during January on the Padre Island National Seashore requires timing trips to occur between cold fronts.

Attempting beach travel during times of strong north and northeast winds can prove treacherous as tides will stack high on the beach and I have always regarded the second day following the front, when tides return to normal and water clears, to be a prime opportunity.

Pompano are usually present in good numbers during winter and will readily take fresh, peeled shrimp and Fishbites. Redfish and black drum can also be found in good supply. Sandbar sharks can be targeted with baits kayaked offshore and other shark species may be occasionally present. Surf-run speckled trout are a possibility for diehard grinders.

The 51-52M MirrOlures have always been my favorite lures but be prepared for a grind if this your primary target. Beach drivers are advised to check all emergency supplies and spares lists carefully as there are few visitors to PINS this time of year and finding help if you break down or get stuck can be difficult.

Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza Snookdudecharters.com – 832.385.1431 Getaway Adventures Lodge – 956.944.4000 Alright now, we are getting the type of weather I like to fish. I realize

it is cold but that is when I find chasing trophy trout most productive.

Fishing has been good, limits of trout with some reds mixed in. Both wade and drift methods are working. Of course there are still lots of small trout around but if you stick with it you can easily pick up a limit of nice dinner fish. The reds have been in deeper water on the color change. Look for diving pelicans to point the way to these deeper dwelling schools. K-Wiggler Paddle Tails have been the ticket for reds and my best colors have been pumpkinseed/chartreuse and moonbeam/white. For the trout I have still been using K-Wiggler Ball Tail Shads in the Mansfield Margarita and Lagunaflauge colors. When I am targeting the bigger trout I am using a Paul Brown Fat Boy in pearl-chart and pink-pearl. The bigger trout are starting to get in the soft muddy areas along the shoreline. Good luck and hope you catch your personal best this winter. Tight lines and calm seas.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel Janie and Fred Petty – www.fishingwithpettys.com – 956.943.2747 Fishing’s been pretty decent, except when the wind is dead calm, which makes it difficult to get distance when casting. Trout fishing picked up a couple days after the last big front, and we’re catching good numbers and seeing some huge fish cruising around in super shallow water. Next month, we expect to start catching more of those big trout and also plenty of redfish,using Cajun Thunder corks trailing Berkley Gulp! three inch shrimp in light colors rigged on quarter ounce Norton screw-on jigheads. Freddy says, “If the wind dies, grab a topwater in bone or pink, something you can chunk a long distance, to get as far from the boat as possible.” The best thing about fishing on the windless days is the water quality. The water clears up well, reminding us of the old days. We’re still struggling somewhat to deal with turbid water caused by the continued practice of dredging and dumping the spoil into open water. Let’s do everything we can to stop the practice of open-water dredge disposal, for the sake of good fishing and a healthy estuary.”

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Lance Landcut - 27” redfish

Dave & Anne Surfside - jack crevalle

Robert Franklin Matagorda - 45” bull red

Adam Carrigan Seabrook - 42” jack

Joel Hayden Packery Channel - 38” 12lb jack CPR

Amber Jamison Oyster Creek - 40” black drum 92 | January 2015

Craig Jones Aransas Bay - 27.5” red CPR

Julian Lopez & Mariso DeLaGarza 27” 6lb flounder & 23” speck CPR

John Garza Arroyo City - 26” trout

Jack Watson POC - black drum

Kelsey Landcut - 28” trout

Facundo Ferman Rollover Pass - 45” black drum

Tymberlyne & Mackenzie Port O’Connor - CPR

Steve Watson Copano Bay - 28” redfish

Richard Moore Copano Bay - black drum

Luis Ortiz personal best trout! CPR

Frank Pardo Laguna Vista - 25.5” personal best trout!

Mauri Rodriguez LLM - 27” 6lb speck CPR

Rhett Murray Port Aransas - redfish

Abel Henderson San Leon - 24” first redfish!

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1/2 cup butter 3 cloves garlic, minced 12 peeled and deveined large shrimp (21 to 25 count) 12 mushrooms, stems removed 4 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 325°F 2. Heat the butter and garlic in a skillet over medium heat until the butter begins to bubble. Stir in the shrimp, and cook until they just turn pink, about 3 minutes. Place one shrimp into each mushroom cap, and place into a small baking dish. Spoon the garlic butter into the mushroom caps, and sprinkle each with mozzarella cheese.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until the mushrooms are tender and the cheese is golden and bubbly, 10 to 15 minutes.

Serve with bread to mop up the yummy garlic butter.

with Chorizo and Bacon

Here’s a treat that blends the flavor of shrimp, jalapeño peppers, bacon and chorizo. Great with margaritas!

Ingredients: 12 extra-large jalapeños, grilled or roasted 1 cup Mexican chorizo 1 small sweet onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup shrimp peeled and deveined, chopped 1 cup Monterey pepper jack cheese ½ cup real bacon crumbles

Directions: 1. Cut jalapeno in half lengthwise, remove seeds. Place on a cookie sheet skin side up.

Turn oven on to broil, place jalapenos under broiler until roasted. Set aside to cool.

2. Place chorizo in frying pan and fry, crumble the chorizo as it cooks – about 6 to 7 minutes, add onions, garlic and shrimp, continue cooking for 2 minutes. Remove from pan and drain well on paper towels.

3. Place in refrigerator until cool. Combine the chorizo mixture, bacon and shredded cheese. Fill the jalapeños halves, gently pressing mixture into cavities with fingers.

4. Preheat oven to 400ºF and bake the poppers for 10 to 12 minutes, then for 1 to 2 minutes under the broiler.

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This female octopus spent four and one half years brooding her eggs on a ledge near the bottom of Monterey Canyon. Image credit: © 2007 MBARI During a dive with a remotely operated vehicle off the coast of central California in April 2007, researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute discovered a female octopus swimming toward a rocky outcrop. They noted her unique scars for identification and then checked on her every few months as she brooded her eggs until September 2011, the last time they saw her. By then, her purple skin had faded, she had shrunk some, and her eyes had clouded over. A month later, only about 160 empty egg capsules were left.

Not only did this female octopus guard her eggs longer than any other creature on earth, but, like other octopus, she paid the ultimate price: octopus mothers die just as their offspring hatch. It’s not clear how the mother survived so long since she was never seen eating. But scientists suspect the embryos needed such a long incubation because the cold water, about 37 degrees Fahrenheit, means they develop more slowly.

Further, the marathon incubation gives them time to develop further than most newly hatched young, increasing their likelihood of surviving in the harsh depths of the ocean.

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...continued from page 63. put much effort into nest defense; they simply fly away when flushed, sometimes taking several hours to return. During late incubation, they remain immobile when approached by potential predators, unless perilously close. Incubating individuals have been lifted by hand from the nest. If flushed from the nest, the on-duty parent performs distraction displays, running around crouched with wings drooped to sides or weakly flapping and producing a high-pitched squealing noise. *Fun Fact: Knots use waxes secreted from the preen gland for feather maintenance. Before the northward migration to the breeding grounds, the wax changes in its chemical composition. This shift appears to reduce the birds’ scent, making them less easily detected by predators. Ideal for incubating parents employing the “No bird here!” strategy.

Eggs hatch in early to late June, after 21-22 days of incubation.

The downy, precocious chicks leave the nest almost immediately, but not before mom high-tails it back south, leaving dad to raise the youngsters until they fledge, about 20 more days. After hatching, dad and the kids move away from the higher nesting terrain to lower, wetland habitats. The chicks forage for themselves, eating mostly insects. Long-tailed jaegers (a seabird in the skua family) and arctic foxes are common egg and chick predators in the Arctic, especially in years with low lemming populations. However, even newly hatched chicks recognize and respond to parental alarm calls.

Most juveniles will make their first migration south just a few short weeks after they hatch. They won’t return for two years, taking that long to sexually mature. Away from the breeding grounds, they must learn to avoid large falcons (such as the peregrine falcon), harriers, accipiters, smaller falcons (such as merlin), short-eared owls, and great black-backed gulls. Flock aerobatics reduce the likelihood of becoming dinner. When approached by raptors, red knot flocks develop tight formations and exhibit amazingly synchronous, aerobatic maneuvers in much denser flocks than other shorebirds. Other than their affinity for compact flocks during migration and roosting, there is very little known about the social structure of red knots. There is no indication of a social hierarchy. Coastal activities are dictated largely by the tides.

When roosting, knots sleep with eyes closed for brief periods, so that someone is vigilant at all times. If undisturbed, flocks may roost throughout the high water period, with bouts of preening erupting here and there.

In 1999, 1,400 to 2,800 rufa red knots were identified at several sites in Texas, including Mustang Island Beach Airport and Padre Island National Seashore. The status of this population is uncertain, but actual numbers are believed to have dropped substantially since the 1980s. The populations wintering in South America decreased by more than 50 percent from the mid-1980s to 2003. Calidris canutus is currently listed by the IUCN as Least Concern. However, Calidris canutus rufa is currently a candidate for the Endangered Species Act, and as North American migratory birds, they are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Red knots were heavily hunted for both market and sport during the late 1800s and early 1900s. An 1893 account, by George H. Mackay, observed that a single shipment of knots from Cape Cod to Boston (the results of a single night’s harvest) averaged over 4,000 knots. Bent Life History of the Red Knot, published by the Smithsonian Institution in1929, noted that excessive shooting and market hunting had reduced the species to “a pitiful remnant of its former numbers.” It is 96 | January 2015

unclear today if the population has regained its historical numbers.

The red knots’ tendency to concentrate at traditional coastal staging sites during migration makes them vulnerable to the loss of key resources. Delaware Bay, where they rely on an abundance of horseshoe crab eggs, is one such area. Increased fisheries for horseshoe crabs in this particular area led to a population decline in red knots in the 2000s. Crab harvests are now regulated explicitly to stabilize and recover red knot populations, and it does seem to be working, though knot numbers remain at low levels relative to earlier decades. Global warming may also impact this species, as it is expected to have the greatest effect at polar latitudes, possibly causing a contraction of Arctic breeding habitat.

The key to conservation of this species is the identification and regulation of important migration staging and wintering areas, possibly by including these habitats in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. In southernmost Brazil, a major migration staging area of knots at Lagoa do Peixe has been made a national park by the Brazilian government. There are some benefits to having the birds around, besides how unexpectedly interesting they are; shorebird migration brings many birders to the coast, which in Delaware Bay alone, generated nearly $36 million in one season. *Fun fact: a group of knots is called a tangle.

“To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides...to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years...is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.” ~ Rachel Carson

Where I learned about red knots, and you can too!

Audubon Society birds.audubon.org/species/redkno Cornell Lab of Ornithology www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red_knot/id The Birds of North America Online bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/563/articles/introduction ARKive www.arkive.org/red-knot/calidris-canutus/image-G94336.html U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service www.fws.gov/northeast/redknot/ ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=B0DM Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Calidris_canutus_rufa/ Classic Collection of North American Birds www.birds-of-north-america.net/sandpipers.html Birdzilla www.birdzilla.com/birds/red-knot/bent-life-history.html Classics Archive classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/history_anim.mb.txt BBC www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13524677 The Viking Network viking.no/e/people/e-knud.htm

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ON THE WATER

Saltwater Fishing Clinics WITH

Capt. Robert Zapata

If you are having difficulty catching fish on a consistent basis, the clinic is designed for you. Learn Capt.Robert Zapata’s secrets to finding and catching more fish from his 25 years of experience as a professional fishing guide.

For Information Call 361-563-1160

matagorda M ATA G O R D A B AY Speckled Trout / Redfish

USCG Licensed Captain Stan Sloan

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CHRIS MAPP

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

The Importance of Annual Maintenance Chris Mapp, owner Coastal Bend Marine.

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

98 | January 2015

Regular maintenance is the key to longevity and performance of all equipment and machinery— especially so on boats and outboard engines used in the saltwater environment. The customer that comes in requesting a water pump replacement only because, “it might be time for one,” is of special concern to a boat service technician.

All too often this customer fails to understand the importance of the comprehensive annual service procedures. Sure, a water pump impeller might last for years depending how much the boat is used, but neglecting thorough, periodic servicing of the outboard and the rest of the boat can prove very costly in the long run.

In general, the annual service interval is based on 100 hours of operation in recreational use. The

annual service visit at our shop includes (but is not limited to) spark and compression tests, referencing the engine history report, replacing spark plugs, and also all fuel and engine oil filters—both in-line and those in the oil tank itself. The high speed fuel filter and certain spark plugs are usually replaced after 200 hours.

Especially important are removing the oil tank for cleaning and inspection and also the fuel vapor separator tank for inspection and cleaning the filter.

We also recommend servicing the water pump, changing lower unit lube, lubing the upper drive shaft, pulling prop to check for fish line wrapped on the shaft, cleaning and lubing all components. Any sign of moisture or milky lower unit lube indicates that a pressure test to verify seal integrity is in order.

Visual inspections include all mounting hardware, lubrication of all fittings, flip every switch on boat to test circuits, clean battery terminals, and inspecting age of batteries and condition. The final steps are testrunning, flushing the engine and washing the boat.

Sounds like a lot, and it is, but neglecting any of these steps can prove terribly expensive. Check the photos and note the things that happen over time that you never see and could have been avoided.

This incident ended in gear case replacement because the owner said, “It always ran fine, so why should I bring it in?”

Happy New Year!

Chris Mapp Coastal Bend Marine – Port O’Connor, TX 361.983.4841 – coastalbendmarine.com

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

Galveston

fishing retreats

Capt. Billy Penick III

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

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

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

Attention Fly Fishermen!

House for sale in a fly fisherman’s paradise. Located in Punta Allen Mexico. Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon and Snook. Google Punta Allen for info.

Pictures available upon request via email at alvinlorie@att.net.

TSFMAG.com | 99

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PULL

Designed for catching flounder, trout, and redfish the Big Bite Baits Saltwater Series 4� Shrimp are available in the most effective fish-catching colors.

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The BEST Choice… Any Place, Anytime!

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

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

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

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

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ROY’S Bait and Tackle Outfitters

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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