January 2019
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ABOUT THE COVER Joe Richard is our cover angler, showing off a great specimen of a Spanish mackerel. Joe is wearing an inflatable PFD and has a feature piece in this issue wherein he discusses the sensible and practical use of such devices. Make a New Year’s resolution to follow Joe’s example.
JANUARY 2019 VOL 28 NO 9
CONTENTS FEATURES
DEPARTMENTS
8 2018 in Review 14 Fireflies in the Night 20 Bodie’s Big Buck 24 Hit the Road, Jack! 30 Consider the PFD 34 If You’re Thinking of a New Boat Trailer...
36 40 44 48 50 54 58 62 66 95
Steve Hillman Kevin Cochran Martin Strarup Chuck Uzzle Joe Richard Everett Johnson
Boat Show Preview Let’s Ask The Pro Shallow Water Fishing TPWD Field Notes Kayak Fishing Chronicles TSFMag Conservation News Fishy Facts Extreme Kayak Fishing & Sharks... Plastic & Water Don’t Mix Science & the Sea
8
Jay Watkins Scott Null Mike Stahl Dave Roberts CCA Texas Stephanie Boyd Eric Ozolins Everett Johnson UT Marine Science Institute
40
WHAT OUR GUIDES
HAVE TO SAY
72 74 76 78 80 82 84
Dickie Colburn’s Sabine Scene The Buzz on Galveston Bay The View from Matagorda Mid-Coast Bays with the Grays Hooked up with Rowsey Wayne’s Port Mansfield Report South Padre Fishing Scene
Dickie Colburn Caleb Harp Bink Grimes Shellie Gray David Rowsey Wayne Davis Ernest Cisneros
REGULARS 8 Editorial 70 New Tackle & Gear 86 Fishing Reports and Forecasts 90 Catch of the Month 92 Gulf Coast Kitchen
92
84 4 | January 2019
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Everett Johnson Everett@tsfmag.com VICE PRESIDENT PRODUCTION & ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Pam Johnson Pam@tsfmag.com Office: 361-785-3420 Cell: 361-550-9918 NATIONAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE Bart Manganiello Bartalm@optonline.net REGIONAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE Patti Elkins Patti@tsfmag.com Office: 361-785-3420 Cell: 361-649-2265 PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Donna Boyd Donna@tsfmag.com CIRCULATION SUBSCRIPTION – PRODUCT SALES Vicky Morgenroth Store@tsfmag.com
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DESIGN & LAYOUT Stephanie Boyd Artwork@tsfmag.com Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine is published monthly. Subscription Rates: One Year (Free Emag with Hard Copy) Subscription $25.00 E-MAG (electronic version) is available for $12.00 per year. Order on-line: WWW.TSFMAG.COM MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine Attn: Subscriptions P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, Texas 77983 * Subscribers are responsible for submitting all address changes and renewals by the 10th of the prior month’s issue. Email store@tsfmag.com for all address changes or please call 361-785-3420 from 8am - 4:30pm. The U.S. Postal Service does not guarantee magazines will be forwarded. HOW TO CONTACT TSFMAG: PHONE: 361-785-3420 FAX: 361 792-4530 MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, Texas 77983 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 58 Fisherman’s Lane, Seadrift, TX 77983 WEB: www.TSFMAG.com PHOTO GALLERY: photos@tsfmag.com PRINTED IN THE USA. Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine (ISSN 1935-9586) is published monthly by Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine, Inc., 58 Fisherman’s Lane, Seadrift, Texas 77983 l P. O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983 © Copyright 1990 All rights reserved. Positively nothing in this publication may be reprinted or reproduced. *Views expressed by Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine contributors do not necessarily express the views of Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine. Periodical class permit (USPS# 024353) paid at Victoria, TX 77901 and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine, Inc., P. O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983.
PART# 41001
EDITORIAL
BETTER WATER SAFETY FOR 2019 So the day has come when I no longer look forward to my birthday. That old guy carrying the scythe has taken all the fun out of it. Seems he may have also stolen most of my superhuman powers. You know; bulletproof, invisible, unsinkable, tireless. Yeah, I had all of them. Funny how the realization of such loss registers in your brain. Bulletproof and invisible leaked away so slowly that I kind of became accustomed to not having them. Tireless was replaced with afternoon naps, which I always enjoyed anyway. Unsinkable, though, that one hit like a ton of bricks. We were wading Mesquite Bay where Hurricane Harvey got up to some particular mischief. There are a series of guts, well they used to be guts, that run up into the Brundrett Lake region. Unbeknownst to me, Ol’ Harv turned them into pretty serious sloughs. It was windy and the water was murky. I was wading toward one of the familiar green stripes that exit the marsh. A nice red intercepted my Skitter Walk – totally normal. What followed was very unexpected. My next step carried me into a watery abyss. The clay bank was so steep that my best effort to backpeddle turned into a backstroke and my hat floated away. Finally regaining my footing in shallower water, I skirted the slough to grab my hat. I was lucky. Wringing the water from my hat was easy but the sudden realization that I was no longer unsinkable was just horrible.
Joe Richard and I are the same age. Seems Joe has better sense than to tempt fate the way I did. Joe appears on this month’s cover holding a beautiful Spanish mackerel, and wisely, is wearing an inflatable PFD. I never seriously considered wearing an inflatable while wade fishing, I always had enough sense to avoid known drop-offs, or so I thought. The incident in Mesquite last May drilled it into my brain! Situations come to mind, not the least of which are three drowning incidents in my home waters last year. Three fishermen attempted to swim after a drifting boat. Somehow we’ve been tricked into placing too much trust in getting out to wade, leaving the boat anchored on only the Power Pole. Now the Power Pole is a wonderful device. It will stop a boat in a wink when you drift into a school of fish, and it will hold a boat in a veritable gale when deployed sufficiently into soft bottom. Solid oyster shell – not so much. All three sad drownings occurred when the Power Pole failed to hold the boat on a reef. So, to start this New Year, let’s all resolve to adopt better habits. Wear the inflatable PFD. There’s no good excuse not to. It’s comfortable and the auto-inflate models will save your life even if you’re unconscious. As for the exiting the boat to wade, slip that old-fashioned Danforth anchor over the side AND stick the Power Pole! Happy New Year!
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STORY BY STEVE HILLMAN
F
or the January 2018 issue of this magazine I wrote an article I titled Reflections of 2017. The positive feedback was overwhelming so I’ve decided to make it an annual thing. It’s kind of fun to look back at events that took place over the course of the year. Furthermore, I believe in many cases it helps us better understand where we’re going by knowing where we’ve been. 2018 blew by faster than anyone could have ever imagined. There were moments when I wanted time to stand still so I could soak up everything, and then there were other times when I wanted to fast-forward through a week straight of tumultuous weather. Overall though, I can’t really complain about what 2018 provided for me, my family and my clients. The first couple of months of the year gave us true winter-like conditions with hard freezes in early and mid-January. On January 2nd and 3rd the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department enforced temporary fishing closures in selected areas along the Texas Coast. We dodged a bullet here in Galveston Bay as very few fish were killed other than large numbers of mullet. I heard rumors of some trout mortality in areas along the Coastal Bend but I’m not sure if it was ever confirmed. Trout fishing was steady for us in and near deep water muddy areas during the cold periods. The trout were solid ranging from 2- to 4-pounds with an occasional 5-pounder in the mix. Most were caught on various soft plastics and a variety of MirrOlure mullet imitation plugs. There were five or six open water schools of reds that we fooled with when we wanted to on the calm days. The smallest red we caught from these schools was 31 inches. The largest was 44. This seems to be a common year-round occurrence these days. Winter seemed to only last for a little more than a month then it warmed up really fast by February. There were many days in the upper 70s. We caught trout wading in areas that typically produce in late March and April. Overall, most were just keeper-sized fish ranging from 15- to 17-inches with quite a few undersized ones in the mix. As is usually the case, better quality fish started showing themselves in March and April. We caught lots of 2- and 3-pound trout but only a few managed to hit the 5- and 6-pound mark with the heaviest weighing 6.5-pounds. Five and six pounders are certainly nothing to scoff at but compared to years past the sheer numbers of five-plus pound specimens seemed to be down in this bay system. These are not only my own observations. The same sentiment is shared with every fisherman with whom I’ve had this discussion.
Another rainy winter day. Even the pelicans are bored!
May uncharacteristically provided us with many moderate wind days which enabled us to run most of our trips. Drifting and wading over shell produced decent numbers of solid trout and reds. Our incredible shad hatch caused the trout to suspend high in the water column for most of the month. As a result, May 2018 is when I officially fell in love with floating and suspending twitch baits. Borboleta’s family of baits (Lele, Tan-Tan and Perversa) and Texas Custom’s Double Ds literally changed the way we fished…in a good way. Much of June was plagued by stiff southwest winds. My clients and I were only able to fish about half of the month. Shad concentrations were still prevalent and more visible slicks made
locating schools over reefs and unmarked structure pretty easy. Tails, twitchbaits and topwaters would remain our baits of choice for the next few months. The only things that really changed from June to August were shad concentrations and the depth of water in which we targeted trout. Tiny shad suspended by the millions throughout the water column for months until they grew larger and moved on. In addition, water temperatures obviously rose as summer progressed forcing our fish over deeper shell. We actually worked schools in deep water over mud bottom for several weeks late in the summer while following breadcrumb trail slicks. The majority of the trout ranged from 16- to 18-inches and most were tide-runners which had come in from the gulf.
Bubba Pyle with his monster 10-pound 3-ounce flounder!
Jason Baisden with a monster redfish caught near a bayou in late fall.
10 | January 2019
Paige Taylor (15 years old) bowhunting in South Texas while admiring a buck most grown men would love to shoot. Raising them right! (Photo by Steve Taylor [dad])
Dustin Young with a very nice 24-inch trout caught beneath the fresh water layer!
PEACE OF MIND. Everybody knows having a Power-Pole anchor on your boat gives you the kind of boat control you need to catch more fish. But did you know that dual Power-Pole anchors lock your boat into position, allowing you and your fellow anglers to have the best angle to cast to the fish – regardless of wind and current? That’s a peace of mind no other boat control can offer. For complete details go to power-pole.com.
TSFMAG.com | 11
Lots of bird action with all of the white shrimp on the move!
12 | January 2019
pretty good stuff. Birds, slicks and bait concentrations showed us the way as trout and reds were gorging, sensing the onset of winter and a diminishing food supply. Large soft plastics such as MirrOlure Provokers and Down South’s Super Models in dark colors kicked butt in the dirty water in which we were forced to fish. We caught a few fish in the 4.5-pound range but nothing big by November standards. I witnessed some giant flounder being caught towards the end of November. My dear friend, Bubba Pyle, caught the new Galveston Bay water body record weighing 10 pounds 3 ounces. Bubba did mention that he felt overall catch numbers were down (despite the quality) in 2018 compared to 2017 but he also said that a lot of it is timing. I tend to agree with his assessment. Much of the end of 2018 was spent down at the ranch in South Texas with my family and close friends. Spending more time with the kiddos hunting and fishing has been a major priority for me in recent years. As we get older everything becomes more about our kids than ourselves, as well it should. My daughter and I have hunted and fished together since she was four years old. She’s now sixteen and has only one more year before she’s off to college. My brother-in-law watched his daughter (my niece) bow hunt by herself for the first time recently on one of our ranch trips. Paige is only fifteen but has become an avid hunter. Much like my daughter, Brooke, she has an immense appreciation for the outdoors and spending time with loved ones. God, I pray that this year is a great one…. if nothing else, then for our kids’ sake. Happy New Year!
STEVE HILLMAN
CONTACT
I was on a hell of a roll catching good numbers of trout and redfish just about every day through the end of August then bam! Here came the storms. We’re not just talking about a little rain here and there. Galveston saw the wettest September in 133 years and second wettest on record with almost 25 inches! Just to put it into perspective, the average rainfall for Galveston in September is 4- to 5-inches. It was reminiscent of late August of 2017 when Harvey caused massive flooding in our area. The difference this go-round was that it continued to soak us over a span of several weeks as opposed to a few days. Needless to say, this drastically changed our fishing patterns. Water temperatures cooled and salinities in areas that had previously been seventeen parts per thousand dropped to less than two. We relocated to locales towards the southern end of the bay and fished dark colored soft plastics near the bottom (underneath the freshwater blanket). There were gulls and terns working in many areas feeding on tiny white shrimp that had been flushed out prematurely by the excessive run-off. Most of the trout beneath them were tiny as well. As usual, we managed to make it work all the while looking forward to October. The first six days of October started out pretty well. Water was clearing up in a few areas and we were able to find a few patches of good quality trout to play with. Just when I thought we were in for a decent stretch of fishing the storms and winds came again. We only got to fish five days from October 7th to October 24th. East and Central Texas also got pummeled with rain during the same time frame. Most of the runoff from East Texas would eventually find its way here. The Lake Livingston dam would eventually see releases of 89,000 cubic feet per second. Trinity Bay was just beginning to show promising signs before it turned into a giant catfish pond once again. Even with all of this, we still found pockets of salty water that produced for us. Some were in very unlikely areas while others not so much. Soft plastics near the bottom remained king. Our first legitimate cold front hit around mid-November bringing air temperatures in the low 30s. Surface water temperatures dropped into the upper 40s for a brief period forcing our fish into a winter-like pattern basically overnight. The first calm day after the front was
Steve Hillman is a full-time fishing guide on his home waters of Galveston Bay. Steve fishes the entire Galveston Bay Complex, wading and drifting for trout, redfish, and flounder using artificial lures. Phone 409-256-7937 Email captsteve@hillmanguideservice.com Web www.hillmanguideservice.com
TSFMAG.com | 13
A
s faint orange embers on the western horizon pay final tribute to a short January day, a solitary captain steers his boat through shallow water atop a sand bar lying close to the north shoreline of Baffin Bay. After anchoring the skiff, the gray-haired angler begins wading slowly toward the southern edge of the bar, casting around serpulid rocks lying in water slightly too deep to reach on foot. A light, brisk north wind tickles the back of his neck, whispering reminders of a recent cold front. A short distance away, a younger angler stands on the edge of the same sand bar, probing the drop-off and depths immersing rocks lying to his west. He recognizes the weathered hull, faded jacket and tattered hat of the fellow to the east; the old salt holds a lofty reputation in the local fishing community. On the mostly-deserted early-winter waters, each gives the other ample room, content to chunk and wind in silence. A blanket of darkness finishes its descent on the bay, and the younger angler hears the telltale splashes made by the old gent trudging back to his craft. Then a motor roars to life and purrs smoothly for a moment, before dying abruptly. When the captain turns the key again, the motor cycles repeatedly, but refuses to crank. Projecting his voice into the inky sky, the youth inquires, “You need some help?” Sounds indicate a search through the boat’s hatches before the old man answers, flicking his hat-light on and off to signal his exact location, “Looks that way.” After tying the two boats side by side, the two make introductions and shake hands. The stranded one reports, “It’s a blown coil. I normally carry a spare, but I used it the other day, and haven’t gotten another. Used up all the spare fuses too. So, I’m stuck.” “No problem. I’m on an overnighter with a friend. He’s already back at the cabin in the Badlands. If you want, I can tow you over there. We have an extra bunk. We’ll tow you back to the dock behind us tomorrow, if that’s okay,” the helper reports.
STORY BY KEVIN COCHRAN
The unfortunate one shrugs, “My momma taught me not to look a gift horse in the mouth.” When the door of the cabin opens, warm air whooshes out to greet the rescuer and the rescued. Looking up from his task of tending pots and pans on the gas range, a third angler grins. “Look what the cat dragged in,” the man at the door says to his friend. Out of the shadows into the lamplight steps the familiar fisherman. Shaking his head to show disdain for all the unsolicited attention, the guest sheds his jacket and hat, sitting down at a table next to the stove. “How the hell did you convince a fishing legend like him to come have a drink with two weekend warriors like us?” the spoonwielding chef asks. “Poor fella’s broke down. I offered to tow him in tomorrow. Meanwhile, we can pick his brain for payment.” Both cabinowners laugh. “Serve yourself,” the cooking one directs the guest, indicating several bottles of liquor sitting in the center of the table. “Unless you want beer. That’s in the cooler on the porch.” The venerable angler pours himself a neat glass of whiskey and begins sipping. He mostly shrugs and grunts at the first few questions posed by his fishing fans, grudgingly verifying his training as a biologist, that he worked for Parks and Wildlife and the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program, acknowledging his career as a writer and teacher. Over time, the liquor warms his belly and loosens his lips, and the reticent one begins to elaborate more fully while giving his answers. Eventually, the cook finishes his work and the three share a robust conversation over steaks, beans and salads. “We have a theory about why people don’t catch as many big trout in familiar places as they did in the past,” the rescuing youngster says. “We think the fish have adapted by moving to other locations. Over the last couple years or so, we started fishing a bunch of new spots, and we’ve caught some pretty good ones in places we never heard of producing big fish.” “How would y’all know what the fishing was like in those places in the past?” the scientist asks. “Maybe the fishing in them isn’t as good as it was back in the day either. Since you didn’t fish ‘em, you have no way of knowing. I think you’re relying too much on what I call the ‘smart fish mantra’ and jumping to conclusions without solid evidence.” The chef grunts and stabs a bite of his steak with a fork, “Then how do you explain why people today aren’t catching as many big fish in famous places as they once did?” “I’d say the most obvious factor is increased fishing pressure,” the old salt answers. “That’s what we’re saying. Too many people in well-known places make the fish uncomfortable, so they move elsewhere,” the rescuer agrees. Shaking his head, the famous one pushes back, “That’s not what I mean. I don’t think the fish change their habits; I’d say most of ‘em can’t, because they wind up on ice. Over the last two decades, people got faster, more dependable boats, GPS and Google Earth. Years ago, places like Alazan and The Cayo seemed like they were way out at the edge of the world. We used to carry tents and provisions with us all the time, in case we broke down. They call it Starvation Point for a reason.” 16 | January 2019
Jennifer Moorhead caught her personal best trout fishing with the captain in November.
High tides and warm water temps lingered well into the fall in the Baffin/ULM system, but quality fish still bit on a regular basis for the captain and his clients.
TSFMAG.com | 17
18 | January 2019
In January, fishing in the dark sometimes ups the odds for catching big trout, especially in areas with exceptionally clear water, as this throw-back photo of the captain with an 8.5 pound specimen shows.
all the memories are in play, but at a sub-conscious level. More like a painter intuitively knowing which way to twirl the brush on the canvas than an engineer employing a compass to execute a perfect circle.” The chef pours himself a glass of whiskey from the bottle and sighs, “That’s deep.” “Must be the bourbon talkin’”, the old salt chuckles, raising his glass for a toast. Three glasses clink, and he continues, “All aspects of fishing can be simple or complicated, depending on perspective and priorities. Easy catching conditions can make it impossible to recognize elite anglers, but when the elements conspire to wreck the efforts of everyone else, they flash like fireflies in the night.” The animated conversation continues, but a couple hours later, lamplight fades, voices fall silent, and three anglers dream of glory days and fish to be caught, pillowed by the promise of the coming day.
KEVIN COCHRAN CONTACT
He sighs, sips, then continues, “One day, on Sunken Island, a buddy and I sight-casted and caught 25 trout over 28 inches. Never even heard the hum of an outboard. Those days are long gone; the world has effectively shrunk, and more people catch more fish in more places than ever before. When biologists across the globe share information, one thing becomes abundantly clear. The first sign indicating excessive harvest in a fishery is a decrease in the average size of the fish. But, pressure probably isn’t the only factor. Truth be told, the fishing for big trout wasn’t equally good from year to year back then either. Natural cycles do come into play.” “Yeah. We talked about that. 2014 was really good. We caught a bunch of picture-fish and saw plenty of others on the internet. We decided it was just one of those years with more big fish, for whatever reason,” the host responds, filling the guest’s glass again. The studied one swirls the amber liquid in his glass and replies, “Some people seem to think it has to be one factor or the other. But both things can be true simultaneously. We could have diminished overall numbers of big fish due to pressure, and cycles causing variations in populations of big fish in parts of the bay system from year to year, too. I’d be shocked to learn otherwise.” The rescuer changes the subject. “Why did you walk back to the boat right when it got dark tonight. Doesn’t the bite sometimes go from zero to a hundred then?” Nodding, the other confirms the assertion, and adds, “I was heading in from the back. Wanted to stop and fish those rocks during the light change. I’ve caught ‘em there many, many times in similar situations. But once I fished all the way through the sunset without a bite, I just wasn’t feeling it, and the next stimulator wasn’t due for a while.” He cranes his neck, looking out the window of the cabin, points toward the horizon. “I see it now. The moon’s just starting to rise.” “You put a lot of stock in rising and setting moons?” the youth asks. “I do. Over time, it’s possible to document the effects of stimulators like those. In the old days, I kept notebooks and recorded details after every fishing trip. Truths emerge eventually,” says the guest. Predictably, the other one inquires, “You think that’s the most important thing, keeping a log, I mean for somebody who’s trying to become an elite angler?” “It helps. But really, data in a file can only do so much. Makes me think of a documentary I saw recently about basketball. The concept of a basketball genius came up, first in relation to Magic Johnson. Others were mentioned. In the end, Bill Russell summed up the idea of a sporting genius best. He pointed out how well he could remember details about games, about moves other players made, about specific plays, and strategies and outcomes. I’d say he has it right. I bet Tiger Woods could recall exactly what kind of lie he had on a shot on a random hole in the 2000 U.S. Open if asked today. It’s well documented that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady can recall situations with copious amounts of detail, after many years elapse. I’d say the best anglers have minds capable of doing much the same. Memory of specific details allows one to add up variables and make decisions which increase the odds of reliving past successes and decrease the likelihood of repeating mistakes.” “Kind of like analytics in baseball,” muses the rescuer. “I guess so. Analytics are a clinical, scientific approach to the game, but fishing is more about the heart and soul than the mind. These days, I base my decisions on what feels right. The cumulative effects of
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 361-688-3714 Email kevxlr8@mygrande.net Web www.FishBaffinBay.com www.captainkevblogs.com
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STORY BY MARTIN STRARUP
B
odie and Jake were enjoying the cabrito they had grilled over a bank of mesquite embers. Seasoned with only a blend of course ground salt and pepper and a dash of cumin, the meat was tender, juicy and very flavorful. Jake had made some fiery salsa to go with the meal. Bodie had mixed a batch of masa dough and made tortillas. Refried beans that Jake had been simmering all day completed the menu. “Jake, that’s some mighty fine eating,” Bodie said with a satisfied smile as he wiped his plate clean with a buttered tortilla. “Well, it’s one of my favorites and I’m sure happy you enjoyed it,” Jake replied, rubbing his full belly. “I’m going to want your salsa recipe; I believe that’s the best I’ve ever eaten,” Bodie complimented his friend. “Chili pequins are the secret, Bodie. A few of those with all the usual fresh ingredients, some lime juice and salt is all it takes,” Jake assured him. “I’ll scribble out something before you have to leave tomorrow.” Bodie was down in South Texas doing some deer hunting on property that Mr. Connor leased from Elpidio Alvarez for winter pasture and the hunting rights came with the grazing. So far he hadn’t seen a buck that was any bigger than the one he had shot the season before and tomorrow morning would be the last hunt for him until the peak of the rut, later in January. “I’ve been down here long enough and I sure am missing the saltwater and the winter trout bite,” Bodie thought aloud. Bodie was up before the alarm and turned it off to avoid waking Jake. Bodie liked Jake. A hard worker and knowledgeable about both cattle and deer. He kept up with the place and there wasn’t a lazy bone in his body. Bodie grabbed his rifle and hunting bag and quietly slipped from the cabin and into the ranch’s four wheel drive truck. He smiled as he glanced at the electric winch mounted on the sturdy
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22 | January 2019
approaching the other deer at the feeder. “Nope, not today old-timer,” Bodie uttered under his breath. The buck sniffed the air curiously, ignoring the scattered corn the others crunched, and vanished into the mesquite as silently as he had appeared. Bodie placed the rifle back in the corner and picked up his binoculars. He waited and watched until just the head of the big buck peaked out from the brush, watching the other deer at the feeder. A few seconds later the buck again stepped into the clearing, took a nibble of corn, and quickly raised its head, staring straight at the blind where Bodie sat. The buck fed nervously for several minutes, always with its head erect, staring toward the blind as it chewed. When the deer had all left, Bodie gathered his gear, walked down the stairs without making a single sound and made his way back to the truck. On the drive back to the house he saw an older eight-point, probably a five or six-year-old that needed culling. Bodie made a clean one-shot kill with the big lever gun and proceeded to winch it into the bed of the truck. God, he loved that winch! Back at the house, Jake and Bodie dragged the buck to the cleaning rack. “Well, it sure is a big fat old eight-pointer,” Jake exclaimed. “Sure is,” Bodie agreed. “And he’ll eat just fine, too.” Bodie told Jake about the big buck, described it perfectly, and let Jake know it was off-limits to everyone that might come down to hunt the ranch. “I want that one to breed until it dies of old age,” Bodie explained. “I don’t think I could have let one like that walk away, Bodie.” “Well Jake, the way I see it, big old bucks like that are just like big old speckled trout. They are the most valuable breeders and they don’t eat nearly as good as the smaller ones. I figure it’s best to let them go if you can to make more fish and, in this case, make more big bucks. The two made short work of the buck. Bodie gave Jake both backstraps and tenderloins. “I’ll take the rest of this meat and drop it by Prasek’s over towards El Campo. They make some of the best sausage,” Bodie told his friend. “I’ll bring you some links when I come back.” “You gonna have him add some jalapeno and cheese to that sausage, Bodie?” “Absolutely, Jake, wouldn’t have it any other way.” Bodie thought about the trophy buck during the long drive to Prasek’s but never second guessed the decision for letting him walk. Gazing in the rearview mirror, Bodie winked at himself and said, “Like a big ol’ trophy nine-pound trout…let em swim to make a bunch more babies!” Happy New Year and Be Safe! -Martin
MARTIN STRARUP
CONTACT
headache rack. The year before he had killed a huge bodied buck and loaded it by himself. His back complained for several days and so did he to Mr. Connor. Mr. Connor told Bodie to find a good hunting truck and add a winch along with a high rack for hunting out of. “I hope that helps load those deer,” the old gentleman quipped to his top hand. It was a cold morning and Bodie thought maybe he should have worn his insulated coveralls as he walked the quarter mile to his stand situated on crossroad senderos. He climbed the stairs to the blind, unlatched the door and ducking his head, stepped inside. He flipped on a battery operated light mounted on the wall next to the door and began readying his gear. He chambered a round into the venerable Winchester Model 71 lever gun that had become his favorite hunting rifle, stood it in a corner, turned out the light and leaned back in the comfortable chair. Not really sleeping but resting, Bodie would open his eyes every four or five minutes then close them again. When it finally got to where he was just able to see his surroundings he picked up his binoculars and began glassing the brushy countryside. On his left was a prickly pear flat he knew to be a well-used deer pathway and had seen some nice bucks there during past hunts. The light was still a bit too weak to judge a trophy. Several doe and their yearlings were milling around, waiting on the nearby corn feeder to go off. A bobcat sneaked across the sendero less than fifty yards away. The feeder went off and, like ants to a piece of candy on the ground, deer emerged from all around the clearing. “That’s a really nice two-and-a-half-year ten pointer,” Bodie mused silently. “He’ll be a dandy in a few more years.” Turning to the left window and glassing the pear flat, Bodie caught a momentary glint of sunlight. Concentrating on the spot, he sucked in a breath made a barely audible whistling sound. “I’ve seen a lot of big bucks in my lifetime but I ain’t ever seen one that big,” he muttered under his breath. The buck was out of range for the old lever gun but Bodie kept checking on the buck as he glassed the surrounding brush. “Daddy always said not to stare too long at a big old buck because they can feel it, just like people can,” he reminded himself. The big buck continued picking his way across the pear flat and the closer he came the more magnificent he appeared. Double drop tines on what Bodie figured was the most perfect 6x6 rack he’d ever seen. The big twelve or fourteen point, counting the drops, was a monarch for sure. “He’s probably seven or eight years old by the looks of him,” Bodie surmised as he carefully lowered the binoculars. Reaching for his rifle, Bodie slid the window open as quietly as he could and rested it on the windowsill. Now less than 100 yards, even without the glasses, he noticed a white slash that ran from behind the buck’s right ear and down along his neck. That and the enormous rack would make good identifying features. At seventy-five yards Bodie eased the hammer back on the old Winchester and peered through the Williams peep sight, centering the front post just behind the buck’s shoulder. Bodie slid his finger onto the trigger just as the old buck stopped abruptly and looked up at the stand Bodie was sitting in. Evidently satisfied that no danger was present, the buck turned his head toward the feeder and took a step with his right front leg extended. Perfect. Bodie had him dead to rights. Bodie thumbed the hammer and eased the trigger back to let it rest in the safety position as he continued to watch the buck cautiously
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
Corpus Christi
N I W O N
Rockport
T R O CKP
RO
361-651-BOAT 361-727-BOAT (2628)
3033 S. Padre Island Drive
Corpus Christi, TX
(2628)
971 S.H. 35 Bypass
Rockport, TX
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Official Sponsor of FOX Sports Outdoors with Barry Stokes TSFMAG.com | 23
Two years worth of rainfall in 15 months has greatly contributed to the scarcity of speckled trout in Sabine Lake.
STORY BY CHUCK UZZLE
O
kay, here we are at the end of another year and predictably there will be several “2018 in review” stories in which the highlights of another great season of fishing will be retold and highlighted. As in all my years with Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine I will not be following the conventional trend where I tell you how fantastic everything was on Sabine and Calcasieu. In fact I’m going the completely opposite direction because I want to forget 2018 as soon as I can. I have no reservations in describing 2018 as the worst overall fishing year that I can ever remember, especially on Sabine. So, so long to 2018 and good riddance. Beyond any shadow of doubt the two greatest factors that have influenced the recent fate of Sabine and Calcasieu lakes have been the unprecedented amount of fresh water runoff and inflow combined with a much colder than normal winter from 2017 to 2018. Without question the only bay system in the state that could have possibly handled the sheer amount of fresh water inundation experienced on Sabine Lake was Sabine Lake. The Galveston Bay system would have probably handled the volume of fresh water due to its size and enormous communication with the Gulf of Mexico but that’s the only reason. My home county of Orange is steadily approaching 90 inches of rain for 2018, that’s 30 inches above normal in just one county. The Sabine River water shed encompasses dozens of counties and it’s a safe bet most of those will also be above normal on rainfall this year. Taking a look back to the disaster that was Hurricane Harvey, you can document where the downward spiral began. Harvey hit during what most consider the beginning of the fall run, late August and early September, and that was the first big blow to the fishery. Once the rains stopped, the next round of disaster came from Toledo Bend Reservoir as they opened all the flood gates in an emergency effort to drop the lake level to a safer level. Again a massive freshwater influx comes in and wreaks havoc on the entire system. The massive amount of water released from Toledo Bend was perhaps worse than the local rainfall from Harvey because of the fact that it spanned such a long period of time. In years past we have learned that Sabine clears up much faster after local rainfall versus heavy runoff from the lakes, Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn. TSFMAG.com | 25
1
2
3 4
5 (1) Poling skiffs used for hustling redfish spilt time as rescue boats during all the flooding. (2) I pray to never see this again in my lifetime. (3) A much colder than normal winter coupled with extraordinary rainfall really hurt Sabine Lake in 2018. (4) Local bass fishermen are the only ones happy about all the freshwater that plagued Sabine in 2018. (5) Cold winter days will still produce redfish for those brave enough to brave the elements.
26 | January 2019
Flip the calendar page and get into 2018, high hopes for the rebound on Sabine take an early hit as rains in late January continue through March to put the local rainfall above average for the first quarter. The above average rainfall continues and really gets cranked up in June and goes off the chart in September and October, leaving local fishermen wondering if it will ever stop. Locally the fishing never got going to any degree where you could truly feel like you were going to catch fish on consecutive days. The huge amount of fresh water would concentrate fish, specifically speckled trout, in small areas and they would seemingly disappear overnight. That pattern would continue and in fact get worse before it got marginally better. Now I know that thus far I have painted a bleak picture and not many folks like to think about how bad the fishing has become but it’s just a simple and undeniable fact of life right now. Perhaps the scariest bit of information surrounding the saga of “where did the trout go?” is the fact that even Texas Parks and Wildlife net surveys struggled to catch speckled trout this year. Most folks, including myself, had hoped everything would get back to some sort of “normalcy” during the fall when everyone expects the birds to work, specks to school, and shrimp to be everywhere. Unfortunately none of the normal things associated with fall fishing happened. The absence of trout has caused quite a bit of concern throughout the fishing community and that sentiment will continue to grow until things change. A great barometer of the state of Sabine is historic tournament results and that were way off the pace this year. I saw several high profile events that normally have winning trout weights of at least seven pounds won by fish that weighed barely three pounds. Hopefully something in the near future will change and change in a hurry. Just like the old saying that every dark cloud has a silver lining, this year’s bright spot had to be the
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numbers of redfish that just absolutely saved the day for many anglers. The redfish bite was far and away the most consistent program that we had on Sabine. Classic patterns worked on the redfish day in and day out, once you located one fish you could usually expect to find more. Early in the year when wade fishermen were stalking big trout on shallow flats they found more oversized redfish willing to crumple a Corky than they found big trout. As summer rolled around the big schools of redfish provided plenty of opportunities for anglers willing to cover water. On more than one occasion I ran into schools of redfish all by myself in the middle of the lake and, truth be told, I was incredibly thankful to find them. Had the redfish not been so prevalent I’m sure there would have been plenty of bay boats for sale in our area. For all those guys that talk bad about catching redfish it’s time to be thankful because without them the past year would have been a complete disaster. For as long as I have been writing for TSFMag I have always stressed the fact that the Sabine area is incredibly hard to pattern and always changing. This period that we are in right now is unprecedented and is certainly cause for concern. The long term remedy for the situation is some help from Mother Nature in the form of weather that resembles normal. Will we get some cooperation from the weathermen…who knows? All we can hope for is a return to normal salinity in this bay system for an extended period of time, and hopefully the fish that fled the floods will return from the gulf. Where else could they have gone? I cannot recall the level of concern from so many in the fishing community over the fate of our home waters. Here’s praying for a “normal” 2019. I personally want to wish all of our readers a happy and prosperous New Year – and better fishing! Sent from my iPhone Thank the Lord
Solid trout were hard to pin down this year but occasionally folks like Chance Hobbs figures them out.
our redfish thrived throughout 2018.
CONTACT
CHUCK UZZLE
28 | January 2019
Chuck fishes Sabine and Calcasieu Lakes from his home in Orange, TX. His specialties are light tackle and fly fishing for trout, reds, and flounder. Phone 409-697-6111 Email wakesndrakes@yahoo.com Website wakesndrakes.com
TSFMAG.com | 29
Miss Amy wearing her PFD vest, with a keeper trout on a breezy Thanksgiving weekend. Amy’s vest is the Onyx A/M 24 – capable of both auto and manual inflation.
STORY BY JOE RICHARD
A
s baby boomers grow older but continue fishing, the popularity of self-inflating PFD vests keeps growing. The little vests are unobtrusive and nothing like old-style orange life jackets that become soggy and limp with age. Or the “bass boat” vests that are hot to wear. The smaller, self-inflating PFDs pack a wallop of CO2 inflation when they hit the water, or they can be inflated manually with just a few puffs of air. We’ve learned to wear them all day while fishing and have become quite used to them, even wearing them around the marina at day’s end. Our current favorite is the Onyx A/M 24 – very comfortable for all day wear and features both auto and manual inflation options. While out on the boat, inflatable PFD’s are great for emergencies when life jackets can’t be reached in time, and we all know bad things can happen fast while boating. Who wants to stroke out or pass out from heat exhaustion and fall overboard, hitting the water without flotation? One can easily fall overboard for different reasons. Readers may recall I had a passenger go overboard while offshore, who was difficult to spot in five-foot whitecaps, by the time I turned the boat around. She was treading water with nothing more floatable than a pair of Croc shoes...which didn’t help much. Even in summer’s warm water it would have been a sketchy swim back to the beach without flotation. I’ve also had two guys tell me their lives were saved because they
Grim Statistics A recent study of 10 years of boating fatalities in Canada revealed that of hundreds of fishing-related drownings, only 10 percent were wearing a life jacket. In a quarter of the incidents there were no life jackets on board. (Canada doesn’t require boaters wear life jackets, but they’re supposed to be stored on the boat). In the remaining fatality cases, there were PFDs aboard but not used. The report states that more fishermen drowned than swimmers. More fishermen died than from powerboats, canoeists, scuba divers, sailors and kayakers combined. Very often they were within 50 yards of shore.
Chuck Layman from Charleston, S.C. has been wearing a PFD vest for years, after he fell off a dock at night and the vest saved him. Chuck is 73 years old.
Author jumped in the pool with his new PFD, to try it out. The trim blue vest ballooned into a highly-visible neon green. Red mouth tube was inches away.
Author with PFD vest and a fine Spanish mackerel in early November.
There are of course differences between Canada and Texas fishing. They have very cold water to deal with, so hypothermia is a big factor there, while we often get 90 degree water during summer, warm enough to float around for two days. And Canadians are fond of small, high-sided aluminum boats, so there’s that. Another grim statistic: on average, 225 Canadians fell overboard and perished each year while urinating. Stand up and topple out of a boat, and few if any of us near retirement age have the upper body strength to climb back aboard while wearing wet soggy clothes. Unless the boat has low sides or a stern mount for climbing aboard. For swimmers too big to be hauled aboard by fishing buddies, the only recourse is towing them to shallow water, or calling the Coast Guard. Regardless, it makes sense to wear a PFD vest. And while you’re at it, bring a small bucket so anglers can sit and keep a low center of gravity, while communing with nature. 32 | January 2019
wore the small PFD vests. They’re small until they inflate, that is. On Matagorda Bay alone, there are sad stories from recent years. One young guy was wadefishing a shoreline and his boat drifted away. He swam after it with tragic results. Wade fishermen, especially in the surf, have drowned without flotation. In the surf, one would use the self-inflator, rather than the auto-inflate that carries a water sensor. In past years, the same Port O’Connor area has had a number of fatalities, either from duck hunters or anglers trying to fish the Army Hole on Matagorda Island, a place completely exposed to fast-hitting cold fronts and their cruel north wind. During winter, these PFD vests will keep you afloat when legs and arms become lethargic from cold water. I prefer the auto-inflator model because we fish in open boats. There is little chance of being trapped under a flipped hull, getting auto-inflated and pinned underneath. There is a chance the vest can inflate in heavy rain or spray on a rough day, but the vest can be shucked or much better yet, manually deflated by pushing the hose’s air release button. Sail boaters have different
PFD
MAINTENANCE
Long-time Beaumont offshore anglers Pete Churton and Dale Fontenot have been wearing PFD vests while offshore for years now.
concerns and often prefer manually-inflated PFDs because their boats can roll over, trapping them inside if the vest inflates. The manual model is great, unless they’re knocked unconscious and overboard by a swinging mast, which is double jeopardy. We fishermen drive faster but simpler craft. While taking out charters, I’ve carried around quite a few “old guys” in the boat in recent years. Many won’t eat during a long day on the water (for other reasons), but they also barely drink water, either too modest or too ungainly to stand up and relieve themselves over the side, which can be hazardous. (See the stats below). Most of the big, older guys have bad knees and poor balance, so they simply don’t drink fluids. If they’re in pain, they can always use one of my buckets, however. I carry different size buckets for various tasks, like holding a few live baits, or plugs that have been dunked in salt that need to be later washed. It’s the little things that can save lives, and a one-gallon bucket can ease someone’s pain without them toppling overboard. Other small life-saving items can be attached to these PFD vests, starting with a plastic whistle and small pen light. It’s been said that fishing is an endless string of misadventures, with the occasional perfect day. But the possibilities for trouble out there are endless, and every year there are sad consequences. We fishing guides are not supposed to have misadventures, so I keep a close eye on my clients. I don’t mind pulling over to shore in certain places for a break, and to stretch those legs. Sometimes I’ll wade and throw the castnet while clients walk the beach. Or run for the bushes, for that matter. And they can do so without removing their PFD vests.
JOE RICHARD
CONTACT
Joe Richard has fished the Gulf since 1967, starting out of Port Arthur, but his adventures have taken him up and down the entire coast. He was the editor of Tide magazine for eight years, and later Florida Sportsman’s book and assistant magazine editor. He began guiding out of Port O’Connor in 1994. His specialty is big kingfish, and his latest book is The Kingfish Bible, New Revelations. Available at Seafavorites.com
One can’t just wear these PFD vests in a harsh climate and expect them to always work when needed; they have to be maintained. The outer coating is canvastough, but the inner air bladder is plastic and must be checked for leaks, which can be done by holding it underwater in the bathtub. The auto-inflate device, called a bobbin, is sensitive to water and should be inspected for corrosion. Manually inflated PFDs aren’t as complicated, since a small hose inflates them. The self-inflators carry a small green tab, which means the PFD is armed with CO2 and ready to inflate. A red tab means the vest can only be manually inflated and needs service for auto inflation. In that case, you’ll need a re-arming kit. The small CO2 canister should be inspected for corrosion or leaks. You don’t want to wear that PFD for several years, then hit the water and not have it work, which could be just as fatal as a parachute that doesn’t open. The PFD should be inspected every two to three months if the vest is worn on a regular basis, especially when boating in a hot and humid environment where corrosion is a factor. (Like Texas). These vests have cloth “care instructions” tabs sewn inside the fabric cover that pop out and also provide the part number for the re-arming kit containing the cylinder, bobbin and other replacement parts.
TSFMAG.com | 33
STORY BY EVERETT JOHNSON
Main assembly bay; several trailers under construction.
Alignment of axles is critical to on-highway performance.
Critical components are welded for greatest reliability.
Replacing torsion axles is a regular service offering. The robust frames will sometimes outlast two and even three sets.
34 | January 2019
PHOTOS BY PAM JOHNSON
A
part from having driven past the shop in Seadrift at least a thousand times, and having owned a couple over the years, I never really knew all that much about Coastline Trailer Manufacturing until interviewing founder and president, Marty Strakos, for this article. Marty showed up to our lunch appointment at Bubba’s Cajun Seafood in a Carhartt jacket that had seen better days, and a faded ballcap. He has Popeye forearms and workingman’s hands. He did not appear to have stood too near a razor in a while. I was OK with all that, having spent thirty years in the rough and tumble steel forging industry. Marty’s a hardworking man and I have great respect for a muscular, calloused handshake. Marty founded Coastline in 2004 for a very good reason. “Growing up,” he said, “with my dad being a fulltime hunting and fishing guide, most of the maintenance work to keep his outfit rolling fell to me and Paw-Paw; Dad was always busy on the water and in the field. I learned a lot from Paw-Paw. He could fix anything. If he couldn’t fix it he’d build something better. “I can’t tell you how many broken boat trailers I worked on,” he said. “Finally,” I said, ‘”What we need is better trailer.’” And that’s how it all started.” Coastline’s beginnings were meager, as many small manufacturing enterprises are, “But we grew pretty fast. People recognized a better trailer,” Marty said. Today, Coastline is the most prolific builder of boat trailers in Texas. I asked what he meant by “better” and Marty said that a better trailer begins with better materials. Beefier gauge aluminum in frame rails and crossmembers. Heavy-duty 304SS fasteners to reduce dissimilar metals corrosion between fasteners and frame members. The best galvanizing process available on hubs and other steel components. Soldered and shrink-wrapped electrical connections. Optronics submersible grade LED lights. American-made couplers, winches, and jacks come out of Nebraska. Kodiak 5-year warrantied stainless steel disc brake rotors and calipers. “Material cost is a huge part of the selling price, so building a boat trailer is a low-added value business. Lots of builders fall victim to excessive cost-cutting to enrich the profit margin; but we don’t,” Marty quipped proudly. “That’s what a better trailer is all about. That, and careful attention to detail at every step of the building process.” Marty went on to explain the importance of custom, hand-fitted, welded bunk brackets and bow stop assemblies. “We weld everything we can rather than bolt things together. Bolting is quicker and easier but welding is more reliable in the long run.”
Black anodized frame rails and wheels lend an eye-catching custom touch.
Continuing with bunks, he said they use #1 Grade above-ground treated lumber exclusively, and higher grade bunk carpeting than other builders. Bunk boards are attached with stainless lag screws, and stainless staples secure the carpet to the boards. “Safety on the highway is always our greatest concern. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration lays down guidelines but we build above the basic specifications in many ways. The last thing you want to have happen is your boat getting loose and careening down the highway,” he explained. More on the towing safety aspect, Marty says that too often the boating public puts unwarranted faith in the winch strap. “That strap is really only there to help getting the boat on the trailer. You also need a chain and turnbuckle to the bow stop, and properly-sized transom tiedowns to keep the boat on the trailer during an emergency.” Coastline is dedicated to using American-made products. “Rockwell American makes the best torsion axles available to the industry…and they’re made here in Texas. That’s the only axle we use,” Marty explained. “Of course the axle tubes are galvanized steel, per NHTSA specs, and you can’t get around that, but we also use the best grade of galvanizing on the torsion arms. Little things like that make a big difference. Trailers for popular boat models are custom-built and assembled per blueprints from Coastline’s extensive files, but they also build custom one-off trailers. One-off projects include lifting the boat with their 30,000 pound gantry-style crane and making careful measurements of the hull to insure the bunks are fitted correctly to support the boat properly on the trailer. Other custom packages include black anodized frame rails and crossmembers, and Coastline’s signature Big Man Fender Steps. “Add black aluminum wheels to that frame anodizing and you have a really sweet-looking rig,” Marty stated proudly. “Not every builder goes to that extent to accommodate the buyer.” If the proof of a pudding was ever in the eating, consider the list of Texas boat builders that trust the Coastline brand: Majek, Haynie, Mosca, Tran Sport, El Pescador, Mowdy, Freedom, Dargel, Shallow Stalker, Simmons, Shoalwater, Catalyst, JH Performance, Flats Cat, American Airboats, Turner, Desperado, Panga, and many more. Boat dealers, too numerous to mention, have also learned to include Coastline Trailers in their rigged boat packages. All these boat builders and dealers just might be onto something. Take the clue…If you’re thinking of a new boat trailer…think Coastline!
Note the beefy bow stop assembly. Overbuilt? Definitely! Will it help keep the boat on the trailer in an emergency? Absolutely!
Coastline’s Big Man Step package makes climbing into the boat a snap!
Marty inspects a finished bow stop assembly.
Coastline’s office staff, Tracey Johnson (left) and Emily Miller (right) coordinate material ordering and build schedules.
Coastline Trailer Mfg. | 306 N. Main, Seadrift, TX 361-785-4073 | www.coastlinetrailermfg.net TSFMAG.com | 35
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Excel Bay Pro An Excelleration™ Pad Hull virtually eliminates hydrodynamic drag for increased speed and handling. An extremely tough .160 gauge hull is standard on all models. The sleek lines of the Bay Pro provide maximum interior space and design strength. A large casting deck provides plenty of elbow room for fighting trophy fish. Lockable rod boxes keep gear safely stowed. Other features include flip-up jump seats, deluxe center console with rod holders, leaning post with storage, two livewells, integrated trolling motor bracket, 45° transom splash-well and more than 31 cubic feet of storage. The Bay Pro represents an exceptional combination of performance, functionality, fishability and craftsmanship. Offered in 18’, 20’, 22’ and 23’ models.
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V I EW SHOW
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Freedom boats are built to be the finest shallow water boats in the Gulf Coast area, crafted with quality and durability in mind. Freedom boats will get you to the hot spots quickly and easily before anyone else. If you want to experience Freedom, come by and talk to us. We can customize your boat to your specifications to make sure your future fishing trips are the best you will ever have. At Freedom Boats we are moving into the 21st Century with the way we are designing and manufacturing boats. Building boats from a computer control router gives us a boat that is completely symmetrical. No longer does the starboard side of the hull differ from the port. Using composite materials and computer controlled cutting delivers a superior lightweight hull. In addition to new construction, we also perform fiberglass repair work on just about anything. If you have something that needs fiberglass repair, bring it by and let us take a look at it.
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NewWater Boatworks
NewWater boats feature the most innovative shallow water designs available. Five current models include; Avocet, Curlew, Ibis, Stilt, and the all-carbon Willet. We are currently tooling a new 24-footer that will debut in 2019. Each model is an original design, developed on the water as a one-off project before production tooling is generated. All models feature mono-hull design with shallow-vee forward and low-deadrise astern. It is not enough to run shallow – you must be able to shut down and get back up shallow. For that reason, all NewWater hulls include our Lamiflow tunnels and are available with our patented, Lamivent technology, a feature that provides tunnel or nonÂtunnel performance. Performance, materials, processes, and yacht-quality fit and finish make NewWater a great value with high resale.
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Tran Sport Boats Tran Sport Boats Inc. has been building commercial fiberglass fishing boats since 1981, and now brings that reputation of quality and durability to the Tran Sport line of fishing boats. We pride ourselves on the construction of fine shallow water fishing boats, paying special attention to ensure each craft delivers a soft, dry ride. Tran Sport Boats are 100% hand-laid all-composite construction and designed to handle Texas bays and surf. Order your custom Tran Sport Boat now, and you will start the spring fishing season in the boat of your dreams!
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Shallow Sport X3 The 25-foot X3 by Shallow Sport continues to exceed all expectations throughout the boating industry. Owners enjoy smooth rides in heavy chop and unmatched versatility with access to both shallow and offshore waters. The 2019 X3 features an updated deck layout, newly designed hatches, cleaner modern lines, and in-deck lockable rod stowage for eight rod set-ups. Configured with the integrated raised console option, you will have tons of storage as well as three insulated live wells that double as fish boxes. The new deck also features three insulated fish boxes up to five feet long for all your inshore/offshore needs.
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Houston Boat Show Jan 4-13
38 | January 2019
2019 Texas Boat Show Austin Boat Show Jan 4-6
All Valley Boat Show McAllen | Feb 8-10
V I EW SHOW
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Shallow Stalker Boats
Shallow Stalker Boats has a rich history of thinking outside the traditional box. Never accepting the status quo, they continually innovate in areas ignored by others for more secure handling, safety, and comfort. Does your bay boat leave you feeling like you’ve spent the day on the back of a bucking bronco? You owe it to yourself to experience the natural ergonomics and cloud-like ride of Shallow Stalker’s patent-pending EZ-Cruze and Air-Ride system.
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SCB – 24’ Recon The SCB Recon is a go-anywhere premium fishing platform that delivers dry speed in rough chop, accelerates on rails in the backwaters, and truly shines carrying heavier loads. A broad shouldered cat that refuses to sacrifice draft – inlayed with triple stepped chines for maximum speed and performance. Built tough and unsinkable by a company with decades of experience, the 2019 SCB Recon sports a foam injected “rib-cage” stringer system and one of the best warranties in the business. The expansive deck fishes several anglers comfortably and has ample in-deck storage. This sleek performance boat will exceed your expectations!
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Turner Boatworks 2410 VS Handcrafted in Palacios, Texas with meticulous attention to every detail, using only the finest building materials and components, Turner Boatworks, model 2410 VS delivers excellence to the most serious, performance-driven fishermen. The boat’s fully finished cap design offers huge casting platforms fore and aft that open to access enormous fully-lined below deck storage. Its hull incorporates a stepped, modified pad-V design with a sharp entry for a smooth dry ride. A large transom setback, built-in trim tabs, and large planing surfaces provide for a very quick and flat holeshot that also enhances shallow water capabilities.
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Calendar
Rock the Dock Southwest International In-Water Boat Show San Antonio Boat Show In-Water Boat Show League City | Apr 12-14 Aransas Pass Mar 21-24 May 3-5
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Clear water–clear bait–two at a time!
J AY WAT K I N S
ASK THE PRO
WHEN AND WHY TO CHANGE LURES, AND BUCKET LISTS A gentleman on the boat asked two really good questions. I get lots of these daily from my anglers as well as via my website www.jaywatkins.com, and also my Instagram account; jaywatkinsfishing. Questions inspire me to continue my fishing education and keep me dialed into what I see every day on the water. The gentleman asked – How do you know when to change from one style of lure to another? And – What is currently on my bucket list? I honestly never thought much about the bucket list thing, so I will save that for later in this article. I do however think constantly about what lures I should be using. I honestly don’t think so much about WHEN to change lures nearly as much as the WHY aspect. In other words, you can’t do one without understanding the other, or vice versa. For me, lure selection is all about seasonal patterns combined with weather and water conditions. Gulf coast weather can be highly unpredictable at the best of times, which means we might have to adapt daily, sometimes hourly. It’s January so we’ll delve mostly into my wintertime 40 | January 2019
lure ideas and strategies. But first a little background on the lures I used in the past and those I trust to do the job now. Just for grins, here’s a question for you, and we’ll get to this one later as well; “What color lure do you think I have never ordered or used?” I am a diehard soft plastic angler and have primarily used Bass Assassins the majority of my career but, like others, I started with the old Kelly Wigglers, Hogie’s, and H&H Cocahoe Minnows, all of which were extremely popular back in the day. When the Bass Assassin rattails came along it did not take me long to become a big fan. I have honestly never been a huge fan of topwaters as a go-to lure but love them as a fish locating tool. One or two misses from the “right fish” and I am going subsurface. As I have become a better angler I find myself using suspending lures more and more. Years ago I threw the MirrOlure 52M series and on some occasions the 7M. Today, my topwater and suspending baits are all MirrOlure products; the Paul Brown Corky Series, Custom Corkys, and Texas Customs. Why I switch lures depends on the conditions and results I am obtaining. I do get hardheaded at times,
trying to make them eat what I want them to eat, and more times than not this costs me in the end. Yeah, I still catch fish, but I always wonder how many more I might have caught had I switched. In my business I need to know what lure will provide my clients the best chance for success; being hardheaded is not always the best way to discover this. Since it’s wintertime, let’s start with the Corky Fat Boy. This is my confidence lure out of the whole MirrOlure/Paul Brown family, especially over shallow grass and scattered oyster shell. I use a quick twitch of the rod to create a short erratic action. I follow this with a dead stick pause for a few seconds, and then a few quick turns of the reel handle, and then another pause. Sometimes I slow the bait way down and simply bounce the rod tip, lifting the bait in the water column, and then letting it slowly sink. Strikes that come in the upper part of the water column suggest a more active feeding period, while lower-column strikes suggest less aggressive feeding. When repeatedly missing bites I will switch to a 5-inch Bass Assassin or MirrOlure Provoker. Sharp, quick hits that fail to produce hook-ups on the larger profile Corky always get me to thinking. I know it sounds like know-itall fish-speak but I can actually distinguish the bite of a larger fish from those of smaller fish. This ability comes with water time and nothing else. I also believe that short, sharp strikes can be a sign that trout and redfish are targeting smaller finfish. We see this after extremely cold spells while small bait fish are still present in deeper portions of our back lakes and drains. I take it as a clue to downsize from 5-inch plastics to 3- to 4-inch lures like MirrOlure’s Lil John. This is a tough bait that has very erratic action when twitched along bottom. Never discount the fact that big fish will readily eat very small baits. We saw this a week ago when water temperatures dropped suddenly below 50 degrees… light but deliberate Corky strikes but few takes. A quick switch to the Lil John resulted in numerous trout of 4- to 5 pounds coming to hand. The opposite can also be true. Trying to locate fish during tough full moon periods, finding only small trout on small baits where I suspect larger fish should be present, I jump up to 5-inch plastics, a Fat Boy, or maybe even a topwater. Once wintertime fish acclimate to cold water we often see normally aggressive feeding becoming the norm again with strikes in the upper portion of the water column. I have had tremendous success in shallow water on Corkys and the new swimming-floating Texas Customs Double D baits when water temperatures were above 50 degrees. This is especially true during warming trends after long, cold and dark days. When the sun starts warming the shallows, bait and game fish respond by moving up to warm up. As regards soft plastic colors, you could say I’m boring.
Troy Bolton with solid Custom Corky fed red.
Checking out what they are eating. (Look close)
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C O N TA C T
I like dark baits on dark days and in dark water, clear baits on clear days with clear water. I do like a little chartreuse on the tail or the jig at times but tend to try putting something in front of them that provides only a quick glimpse. Confused? I believe fish react mostly to the flash of a lure to draw an instinctive reaction. In soft plastic baits it’s the glitter that catches the light that draws the strike. On a dark day, the darker silhouette blends with the water but the glitter picks up what little light there might be. In clear water the clear body seems to disappear, leaving only the flash of the glitter or shiny hologram. Again, I believe it’s all about the glitter and flash. One of the biggest assets to the new Custom Corkys is the basically clear body with either gold or silver hologram. It’s the glint of light off the hologram that seals the deal. I have always been very basic in soft plastic color selection when pushed to produce on really tough winter days. Plum, black, white, pink and any hints of chartreuse are really effective. For jigheads, I find the 2/0 Bass Assassin Spring Locks most effective in gaining hookups. Oh, and by the way, the only color I have never ordered or used is red and white. I know it sounds impossible but it’s true. So, to sum it up, change your lures when the fish tell you to change and then try to discover why the change worked. Learn this and your fishing game is forever changed. Bucket list? I will give you the short version. I’d like to fish the Amazon with my boys. Honestly, I like fishing everywhere with my boys. Mountain streams and another trip to Alaska is on our mustdo list. Snook in Florida during the spawn with Jay Ray’s topdrive is also way up there. I have been fortunate to fish with most all the best guides and anglers in Texas but a few still remain. I would love to spend some time with John Gill; John is one of the best big trout anglers of our time. Brett Sweeny is on this list as well as Chad Peterek. I would love to fish with Chuck Naiser and let him show me how a real fly fisherman gets it done. Eddie Curry out of South Padre would be a fun day for me and maybe Eddie could get Skipper Mock to come along. I have never fished much in their area. I hope I can fish with Mike McBride, Trisha and J.D Whitely a few days this winter. I would like to hunt a true South Texas trophy whitetail deer once again with Lowell Odom and Norm Charlton; Norm’s a ton of fun and Lowell can score deer on the hoof with the best of them. Maybe we could get Dale Combs to join us. At 60 I feel great and still have the drive to go every day the weather allows. Hopefully I still have plenty of time to get a few of these things checked off the bucket list. May your fishing always be catching! -Guide Jay Watkins
42 | January 2019
Jay Watkins has been a full-time fishing guide at Rockport, TX, for more than 20 years. Jay specializes in wading yearround for trout and redfish with artificial lures. Jay covers the Texas coast from San Antonio Bay to Corpus Christi Bay. Telephone Email Website
361-729-9596 Jay@jaywatkins.com www.jaywatkins.com
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A really strong norther can blow all the water out of marsh lakes.
C A P T. S COT T N U L L
S H A L L O W W AT E R F I S H I N G
LOW TIDE SCOUTING
PAYS OFF
Peering out the office window, it appears true winter has finally arrived. Dreary mist coupled with a steady cold north wind is not exactly what sight-fishing enthusiasts look forward to. I have been forced to reschedule more than a few trips lately. It isn’t a matter of the fish refusing to eat. As I’ve always said, “fish gotta eat.” Rather, it is a product of my typical customer who is more interested in seeing their targeted fish than spending the day blind casting. For the guys throwing conventional gear, a day of endless casting isn’t too much of a problem, but my fly guys tend to balk at the workout. Typical of winter, the cooler water temperatures have significantly cleared the water making it much easier to spot cruising reds in the marsh. However, even in the Note the tracks I made walking in for a closer look. Those birds in the distance are there for a reason.
44 | January 2019
clearest of water, you still need some sunshine and light winds to get dialed in. The good news is that the brief periods between the passing fronts often set up perfectly this time of year. If you can ditch work when it gets right there is some awesome fishing to be had. And as an added bonus, you’ll often have the whole bay to yourself. So what does a sight-fishing addict do during the stretches of poor conditions, besides stay home and catch up on those chores that got ignored during the non-stop fall fishing? For me it depends on which set of poor conditions are at hand. In the pre-frontal periods with the typical southeast winds, overcast and higher tides, I’ll just suck it up and go trout fishing with everybody else. Hey, I like sticking a big ol momma trout as much as the next guy even if it does involve mind-numbing hours of blind casting. This year I’m thinking about bringing along the fly rod for a few sessions of blind-casting. Tossing a big Deceiver into the right water is just as effective as slinging a Corky, and at least I can use the time to stay sharp and maybe add a few feet to my cast. Once the front passes and the north winds are howling, the water levels will drop to their lowest points of the year. These are the days I love to get out there and go exploring. Low water scouting is one of my favorite winter activities. Over the years I’ve learned a lot of vital information about the bays and marshes during January and February. Take away a couple feet of water and a whole new world is exposed.
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46 | January 2019
there’s a place deep enough to paddle on the other side. Sometimes I’ll pack a lunch and spend the better part of a day learning new things about a place I’ve fished for years. That knowledge can come in pretty handy when the winds blow and muddies things up. If you don’t have a poling skiff or kayak, the only other option is to slip into your waders and go mud-slogging. It’s not for everybody, certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you’re in decent shape it can be an interesting way to check out some of those places others seldom venture. And it sure beats the heck out of sitting here watching it rain. When the marsh drains to this extent you can bet redfish will be in the adjacent channels and sloughs…talk about easy pickins!
Bring a rod… just in case!
You just never know what you might find.
C O N TA C T
Add in the extra water clarity of winter and you’ll see all sorts of things that could help you better understand your area. If you’re new to venturing out in extreme low water conditions you’ll want to be sure to launch at a ramp that allows you to get where you want to go. There were a few ramps I used in the Galveston area that were fine under normal conditions, but nearly impossible to use when the water went low. A couple others were fine for launching, but the route would get pretty sketchy. Fortunately in Port O’Connor I don’t face such problems now. Wherever you are, it’s not a bad idea to play it conservative and run very familiar routes. In addition to the good structure you locate on a low tide, you’ll likely have a few “Oh Crap” moments when you run across something in one of your normal running lanes that you never knew was there. I had one of those when I came across a large hulk of heavy metal in an otherwise wide open mud flat that I run across all the time. It was a lower unit killer lurking just below normal running depth. Mental note made. The fun starts once you successfully navigate the gauntlet of shallow hazards and arrive in your favored fishing area. Reefs, drains, flats, humps, depressions; they’re all important pieces to the fishing puzzle for a variety of reasons and now you get to analyze them. We all know oyster reefs hold fish. You’ve probably got several that produce on a regular basis and in all likelihood there are certain places on these reefs that seem to hold more fish than others. With the reef exposed you can take a closer look at the shape of the structure. Look for cuts through the reef, odd points that jut out, and humps that rise up. Look at the edges. Do they drop off abruptly or slowly taper off? Also, make note of which way the tides flow over and around reefs. The next time you start catching fish on a particular spot on that reef you’ll know why and possibly come up with a pattern that you can repeat on other nearby reefs. Shoreline flats and open lakes of the marshes will often go completely dry on these winter lows, revealing the full topography of the bottom. Stop on the outer edges of the flats or at the mouth of a bayou leading into a marsh lake and take note of the various humps, depressions and drains. I’ll often take photos to aid my aging memory. Google Earth is an awesome tool that greatly aids the search for travel lanes and other features in new areas, but it has no capability to show the subtle depth changes that can be so important to your fishing success. When you’re poling a boat that floats in six inches but not four, this knowledge can save a lot of frustration and backbreaking work. Low water scouting can also lead you to those disappearing fish. How many times have you stalked up to a school of tailing reds, only to have them vanish before you got within casting range. Chances are they’ve sensed your approach and are using a slightly deeper area to ease out and make their escape. They’re usually not overly spooked at this point. Knowing the layout of the area can give you an idea of where to cast and intercept them. Poking around the marsh in the poling skiff is great for checking out the lakes and drains adjacent to the deeper bayous, but there are areas further into the back lakes that are not accessible due to the low water level. If you really want to learn these places it’s going to require some effort. My favorite way to go about it is to throw the kayak on the skiff. Not only will the kayak float skinnier than the skiff, it’s a whole lot easier to deal with when it gets stuck. And you will get stuck. When I’m feeling really energetic I’ll drag it short distances if I know
Capt. Scott Null is a devout shallow water fisherman offering guided adventues via kayak, poled skiff, and wading. Telephone Email Website
281-450-2206 captscottnull@gmail.com www.captainscottnull.com
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TSFMAG.com | 47
By Mike Stahl | Biologist, Dickinson Marine Lab
FIELD NOTES
SHEEPSHEAD BIOLOGY & MANAGEMENT IN TEXAS Sheepshead, also known as convict fish because of the dark stripes on their sides, are a moderately sought after or supplemental fish species harvested by anglers fishing in Texas bays and estuaries. During the early springtime, anglers will target them around jetties and fishing piers when they are on their way to shallow offshore spawning grounds. For the remainder of the year, anglers catch
Figure 1. Annual gill net catch rates for sheepshead.
48 | January 2019
sheepshead in estuarine waters on oyster reefs, seagrass, and structures like oil rigs or boat docks/piers. This member of the Sparidae family, commonly referred to as porgies, ranges from the coasts of Nova Scotia south to Brazil but do not occupy areas around the Caribbean Islands. They are a very sporting species to target with rod and reel, and make excellent table fare. Texas
sheepshead populations have fared well over the last 25 years with catch rates increasing in Texas Parks and Wildlife Figure 2. Total recreational Department (TPWD) gill net surveys. sheepshead landings (1990-91 Unlike southern flounder, a relatively to 2015-16) by major bay system. short-lived species typically surviving only about 3-6 years in Texas, sheepshead have the ability to live 15-20 years in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Males and females have very similar growth rates with maximum sizes around 25 inches and over 5 pounds. Sexual maturity occurs at 2-4 years of age for both sexes. When warm fronts reach the Texas coast during early spring, these mature sheepshead start migrating toward Gulf of Mexico passes for spawning around offshore reefs and artificial structures. The months of March and April are when the majority of sheepshead migrate out the passes in groups. They are known to spawn in the nearshore Gulf but may also spawn in or near the passes as well. Spawning may occur multiple times Figure 3. Annual (May during the spring season with thousands 15-May 14) recreational of eggs released per event; with the sheepshead landings. average batch of eggs released being greater than 45,000 eggs. Some of the adults return to inshore waters while others stay offshore for the remainder of their lives. Tides, currents, and wind carry juveniles through Gulf passes into the various Texas estuarine systems and habitats. Soon after arriving in the estuary they settle into marsh and seagrass nursery habitats. To monitor the success of this reproduction, and the survival to larger sizes, the TPWD developed an extensive monitoring program using gill nets, seines, other gears, and recreational landings. Since the banning of commercial netting in 1988, the adult sheepshead population has increased in TPWD gill net surveys with peaks in 2003 and 2012, and dips in the early 90s and 2000s (Figure 1). TPWD bag seine catch rates distinctive characteristics of goat like teeth and black vertical stripes for sheepshead were steady for many years, but in the last seven years are engrained into the minds of anglers that catch them for the first it has been exceptionally good. From years 2009-2015, there were time. Anglers should add them to their list of targets next time the three years that had historically high reproductive success especially big three are hard to come by. 2010 (Figure 1). Sheepshead are harvested all along the coast of Texas with Galveston and Corpus Christi bays accounting for the majority of landings since 1990 (Figure 2). According to the total estimated recreational landings of sheepshead, there has been an overall decrease in landings from the late 90s to recently (Figure 3). Sheepshead are not a highly sought after estuarine fish species like the big three (spotted sea trout, redfish, flounder), but they are ecologically important, fun to catch, and taste great. Their
Check the TPWD Outdoor Annual, your local TPWD Law Enforcement office, or tpwd.texas.gov for more info.
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A beautiful coastal marsh at sunset. Note the crab trap…the water is shallow!
DAV E R O B E R T S
K AYA K F I S H I N G C H R O N I C L E S
VISIT A COASTAL MARSH
THIS WINTER
Another year has come and gone, leaving me to wonder where the days all disappeared to. And, as always, the New Year has arrived in the dead of winter. Funny how some years summer and fall seem to linger forever, and then this year winter arrived before fall even got off to a good start. Lucky for us, the fish didn’t seem to mind and settled right into their winter haunts and wintertime patterns. Typically this time of the year, I spend a majority of my fishing days scouring the flats in hopes to land a trophy trout. Even though the cold weather can test the will of an angler it can be very rewarding and makes it worthwhile to grind out the bitter long days on the water. However, if you are not into wintertime trout fishing, or any type of fishing in the cold, there is one thing an angler should do before the warm weather arrives again. I strongly urge every kayaker to visit their favorite marsh during winter. There are various reasons for encouraging that you visit your favorite marsh fishing area during winter. First off, it’s easier to make a long paddle without baking sun and exhaustive heat and humidity. It’s actually quite pleasant, assuming you have picked a favorable wind 50 | January 2019
day. Another great reason to make a wintertime paddle is the opportunity to learn the lay of the land. Lower than average tides and generally clear water provide the chance to observe fish-attracting structure that you cannot see in other seasons. Take notes. The final reason would be that fishing can be nothing short of awesome the second or third day after a front pushes through. First and foremost though, remember that duck season is open until January 27th, so please give them space if you happen to run across a group hunting. We have the marsh for nine months of the year and the least we could do is show them courtesy during waterfowl season. Most hunts are typically concluded by 10:00 AM, so you can always sleep in and let it warm up before hitting the water. I always anxiously await the right winter day to head to the marsh. I prefer to wait for a strong cold front to blow through and then wait two days for everything to settle. One of the reasons is because it will usually be a blue bird sky – perfect for paddling during cooler air temps. Another reason is because the north wind will have blown a great deal of water off the flats, leaving “the lay of the land” exposed. When the water is low in these situations, it
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will reveal the patches of oyster shell that are scattered across the flats, sunken logs and other debris, and also the guts and depressions where water will flow at normal tide levels. Getting to observe these characteristics will give you a better understanding of where fish stage during normal conditions. I am sure that we all have randomly caught fish out in the middle of nowhere with seemingly no rhyme or reason but odds are there was something out there for them to be hanging around. It is also good to get a mental picture of everything so that when you come back, you know the proper places to focus on instead of fishing the area blindly. Along with the water getting pushed out by the north wind, I have heard people say that redfish also leave the marsh during the winter. In my experience, though, that’s just not the case. From what I have seen, redfish will stay in the marsh as long as there is enough water for them to get around and forage to sustain them, and it’s not freezing cold. That being said, once they are forced to leave, the bayous and channels feeding the marsh flats
should be full of fish. My favorite way to approach this scenario is to throw a 1/4 oz jighead with a Norton Sand Eel Jr. or a Chickenboy Bubba Clucker. I like to slow it down and fish an area thoroughly before moving forward. I particularly like to focus on the bends of the channels and sloughs because this is where the deeper water is. When fish are forced out of the shallows and the temperature drops, they will seek the warmer temperatures of deeper water. I also like to focus on fishing during a falling tide and, the later in the day the better. With the water being shallower than normal, water remaining on the flats will tend to warm up quicker. Thus, when the tide falls, it will pull the warm water off the flats and into the channel. This warmer water will tend to get bait and fish moving a little and they will be more prone to bite. Also with the warmer water being pulled out, redfish are not the only fish that want to take advantage of this. I have caught several nice flounder fishing these areas and some really big trout can be caught as well. These are just a few reasons of why I always try to make a trip out to my favorite marsh areas during winter. Not only can you catch a few fish, but it will also provide opportunity to see and understand the bottom structure of the marsh ponds and flats that fish will relate to in warmer seasons. In closing I want to wish everyone a safe and happy New Year. If you are not already doing this, make a New Year’s resolution to wear a PFD all the time, every time you venture out to fish from your kayak!
C O N TA C T
Trophy trout can be a wintertime bonus.
Patches of oyster shell exposed on low wintertime tide. Take note!
52 | January 2019
Dave Roberts is an avid kayak-fishing enthusiast fishing primarily the inshore Upper Coast region with occasional adventures to surf and nearshore Gulf of Mexico. Email: TexasKayakChronicles@yahoo.com Website: www.TexasKayakChronicles.com
TSFMAG.com | 53
CCA staff member Amie Hoy and TPWD employee Jan Culbertson planting grasses in the Dickinson Bayou project. Community efforts are often a big part of restoration efforts along the Texas coast.
Story by John Blaha | Photos by Lisa Laskowski
T S F M A G C O N S E R VAT I O N N E W S
RECORD YEAR
AND RENEWED COMMITMENTS For CCA Texas, 2018 proved to be its most successful year on many levels. This success would not be possible without the continued support of many volunteers at the local, state and national levels. Volunteers are the heart and soul of CCA, and the continued success of the organization will be the continued commitment of these volunteers and an energized staff. In 2018, CCA Texas’s support of coastal fisheries
54 | January 2019
remained strong in all corners of conservation. Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) is the most important force to ensure the health of coastal fisheries. Whether it’s research, habitat restoration and creation, education or enforcement, CCA Texas is there to assist TPWD. CCA Texas continued to provide funding for the summer intern programs in both the Coastal Fisheries and Law Enforcement divisions of TPWD. Internships were funded for Coastal Fisheries along the entire Texas coast and within the hatchery system. TPWD Game wardens were also the recipients of internship funding. The internships in both the coastal fisheries and law enforcement divisions provide excellent opportunities for both students and the agencies. The students are given the opportunity to work in the field they are studying and the agencies have an excellent Pyramid deployment in opportunity to see prospective the Freeport Vancouver site on May 17, 2018. employees in hands-on work situations. Internships function as
TSFMAG.com | 55
Deployment into the Sabine HI20 site on November 16, 2018.
a very effective recruitment tool for TPWD. CCA Texas also continues to provide critical funds to coastal fisheries for research equipment, studies, and habitat restoration and creation efforts. TPWD Game Wardens are the last stop in ensuring that the laws governing the use and protection of coastal resources are respected and followed. CCA Texas has a longstanding Partnerships are important to all projects and this sign displays a combined effort of many in the Dickinson Bayou Marsh Restoration Effort.
56 | January 2019
commitment to helping Game Wardens in their efforts by providing needed equipment such as night vision optics, GPS units, and cameras. In addition, CCA Texas has provided the necessary funds for repairs to vessels and outpost cabins, and other enforcement tools. CCA Texas has a longstanding relationship with TPWD and is committed to continuing the support and partnership. In addition to great support from membership, CCA Texas also has many great partners. These partners include organizations such as Galveston Bay Foundation, Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program, San Antonio Bay Foundation, Friends of RGV Reef, Friends of Sabine Reefs, and other like NGOs. Academic institutions also play a vital role in the conservation of our coastal resources. CCA Texas has longstanding and successful partnerships with the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems. CCA has funded and continues to fund many great efforts in these systems, including Texas A&M campuses in College Station, Galveston, and Corpus Christi, while also providing critical support to the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. These academic institutions are some of the finest and most advanced in the world, and often hold the keys and open the doors to important scientific advances in marine conservation, worldwide. Along with the organizational, governmental, and academic partnerships, other major supporters and partners to CCA Texas include Academy Sports + Outdoors, Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, Dripping Springs Vodka, Karbach Brewing Company, Engel Coolers and Upstream Advocacy. Partnerships are key to the continued
success of CCA Texas. Education of graduate students and youth continue to be an important part of the conservation effort. CCA Texas funds seven $5,000 graduate student scholarships to Texas A&M and University of Texas systems annually. These students apply and their applications are reviewed by professors and the CCA Texas scholarship committee in the selection process. The State of Texas Anglers Rodeo (STAR) provides $325,000 in scholarships annually to youth and teens. These scholarships include three $50,000 scholarships in the STAR Kids Divisions, ages 6 to 10, six $25,000 scholarships in the STAR Teens Divisions, ages 11 to 17, and one $25,000 scholarship in a general drawing for all youth ages 6 to 17 that are entered into the tournament. STAR celebrated its twentyninth year in 2018 and thus far scholarships awards to Texas youths have reached a whopping $6.5 million. CCA Texas approved the creation of Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow, the CCA Texas habitat initiative in December 2009. This move added another important leg to the CCA Texas platform, and the effort to insure healthy coastal resources for future generations of Texans. Since the creation of HTFT, CCA Texas along with Building Conservation Trust (BCT), CCA National’s habitat program, has funded over $6.5 million to habitat restoration and creation efforts along the Texas coast. These efforts have included marsh and oyster restoration, nearshore reefing efforts, restoration of the historic Cedar Bayou, and science-based initiatives that determine the best possible means for restoration and creation efforts. CCA Texas and BCT are extremely proud of these efforts and in 2018 provided over $985,000 to projects spanning the entire Texas coast. CCA Texas and BCT look forward to the future and working closely with partners in like organizations, governmental agencies and academia. The cornerstone and the beginning of CCA Texas’s efforts is a strong advocacy effort. CCA Texas advocacy is driven by the CCA Texas Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) under the guidance and leadership of CCA Texas Advocacy Director, Shane Bonnot. As a part of the CCA Texas Advocacy Team, CCA Texas also employees two lobbyists in Austin to keep a constant vigil for bills of coastal resource importance, and to work closely with the CCA Texas GAC. In active session years, the team is busy and works continuously with TPWD and others to fight for the benefit our Texas’s coastal resources. As stated early on in this writing, the success of CCA Texas is the product of continued support of dedicated volunteers and members. The advocacy effort of CCA Texas is also a very important role for volunteers and members to be a part of. Often times, volunteers and members are called upon to publicly testify on behalf of the efforts of CCA Texas and TPWD. This participation is key to conservation efforts, and it is perhaps at times the most important way a member can become involved. Once CCA Texas issues a call to action, it is important to take part in these efforts and make the organizations members’ voices collectively heard. CCA Texas’s volunteer leadership and staff are indebted to the efforts of volunteers and members alike. CCA Texas will be entering its forty-second year in 2019 and the leadership and staff look forward to another successful and record breaking year filled with even more accomplishments.
Relax, we’ll take care of the details!
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STEPHANIE BOYD
F I S H Y FA C T S
COLOR PENETRATION
& FISH SIGHT
Light and darkness, brightness and obscurity, or if a more general expression is preferred, light and its absence, are necessary to the production of color… Color itself is a degree of darkness. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Penetration of Light through Water The ocean is divided into three layers, as far as light is concerned: the euphotic zone, the disphotic zone, and the aphotic zone. The euphotic, or sunlight, zone is the uppermost layer that receives most of the sunlight. All photosynthesis that occurs in the ocean takes place in this zone, and most of the truly abundant animal life resides here. In clear equatorial waters, the euphotic can extend to a depth of 655 feet. (Near the equator, the sun’s rays strike the ocean almost perpendicular to the ocean’s surface, meaning that more energy penetrates the surface of the water at the equator than at the poles, where sunlight hits the ocean at an angle.) The amount of light that penetrates also depends on surface conditions, the weather, and the time of day – choppy waters reflect more light than calm waters, sunlight at dawn/dusk is reflected more than light from the noonday sun, etc. Turbid, muddy waters may have a significantly shallower euphotic zone due to attenuation. When light hits a substance, it can do one of three things: it can be scattered, it can pass through, or it can be absorbed. Attenuation is the result of two of these processes: scattering and absorption. The scattering of light is caused by particles – or other small objects suspended in the water – and is somewhat similar to the effect of smoke or fog in the atmosphere. Coastal waters generally have more suspended material due to river input, sediment stirred up from the bottom, and higher plankton counts. Because of this, light usually penetrates to a lesser depth. In relatively clear offshore water, light penetrates to a greater depth. Below the euphotic zone, down to about 3,280 feet, is the disphotic, or twilight, zone. Some animals survive here, but no plants. Although the amount of light is measurable at this range of depths, it is not sufficient for photosynthesis to take place. The layer of ocean where darkness reigns is called the aphotic, or midnight, zone. Over 90 percent of Earth’s ocean area is accounted for in this layer. Fun Fact: in calm weather, a diver can look upward to see the entire hemisphere of the sky compressed into a circle – a phenomenon called Snell’s window, caused by the bending of light as it enters water. To study light in the sea, scientists use a wide range of instruments. The simplest method involves the use of a 58 | January 2019
Secchi disk, a white plate about 12 inches in diameter. It is fastened horizontally to a rope marked in meters, then lowered into the water. The depth at which the disk is lost to sight is noted on the rope markings, providing a rough estimate of the extent of light penetration. There are several more sophisticated measures in use, such as nephelometers, optical backscatter and light scattering meters, transmissometers, a-c meters, etc. They measure scattered light and attenuation. Radiometers numerically describe the shape of the light field in the ocean. They can be lowered from ships, placed on submersible vehicles, carried by scuba divers, or even attached to Earth-orbiting satellites. The ones on satellites measure light reflected from the surface layer of the ocean and allow scientists to measure changing color over wide swaths of ocean. However, satellites view only the upper few meters of the water, and underwater instruments sample only specific places and times in the ocean. To visualize the entire ocean, computer models were developed in conjunction with available observations to simulate how light behaves and propagates through the ocean. Color Underwater Water absorbs different wavelengths of light to different degrees. The longest wavelengths, with the lowest energy, are absorbed first. As light wavelength decreases from red to blue light, the ability of light to penetrate water increases. The colors disappear underwater in the same order as they appear in the color spectrum. Blue light penetrates best, followed by green, yellow, orange, and finally, red light. All objects that are not transparent/ translucent either absorb or reflect nearly all of the light that strikes them. White objects appear white because they reflect all colors of light in the visible spectrum. Black objects appear black because they absorb all colors of light. A redfish appears red when swimming at the surface because, when struck by white light, its scales reflect the red wavelengths and absorb all the others. However, the deeper the fish goes, the less red it will appear because there is less and less red light to reflect. Even at a depth of just five feet, the fish can be noticeably grayer. Past the point at which red light can penetrate (50 feet, give or take, depending on water conditions), that redfish becomes a black fish because there is no red light to reflect, and the fish absorbs all the other color wavelengths. Blue wavelengths penetrate best, giving the deep ocean waters and some tropical waters their characteristic coloration. This loss or alteration of visible colors occurs not only
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in the vertical plane, but also in the horizontal and diagonal. Vertical depth has roughly the same impact on color perception as horizontal or diagonal separation between object and observer. So the redfish that appears black 50 feet down would also appear black when viewed from the side at 50 feet away, even if it’s swimming right up near the surface. Fun Fact: your brain can compensate for the loss of color underwater. This is why sometimes you think you can see reds and oranges in deeper water – but if you take an ambient light shot with your camera, those colors aren’t there! Fish Sight Fish eyes are largely similar to those of other vertebrates. Light enters the eye at the cornea and passes through the pupil to reach the lens. Most fish species seem to have a fixed pupil size, but elasmobranches (sharks, skates, and rays) have a muscular iris which allows pupil dilation. Pupil shape varies between circular or slit-like. Lenses are normally spherical but can be slightly elliptical in some species. Compared to terrestrial vertebrates, fish lenses are generally more dense and spherical. In the aquatic environment there is not a major difference in the refractive index of the cornea and the surrounding water so the lens has to do the majority of the refraction. (Refraction is the bending of a lightwave when it enters a medium where its speed is different – air to water, water to fish eye, etc.) Visual focus in birds and mammals is normally adjusted by lens shape, but fish eyes adjust focus by moving the lens closer to or further from the retina. Fish retinas generally have both rod cells and cone cells. Rod cells control scotopic vision, or vision for low-light conditions. Cone cells control photopic vision, for well-lit conditions and allow for the possibility of color vision. The ratio of rods to cones depends on ecology. Most fish can see color, but not all can distinguish the full color spectrum. Inshore fish have good color vision, whereas offshore pelagic fish have limited color vision and detect only a few if any colors other than black and white – not surprising from an evolutionary point of view, because nearshore waters are lit with many colors; offshore waters, on the other hand, are mainly blue or green. Physical studies of the eyes show that the majority of fish can at least obtain a clearly focused image, detect motion, and have good contrast-detection ability, even if color perception is limited. The light that humans see is just a small part of the total electromagnetic radiation that is received from the sun. We call what we see the visible spectrum. Many fish, however, can see colors that we do not, including ultraviolet (UV), which advantageously extends their range of vision. Lots of animals contain compounds in their tissues that protect them against UV radiation by scattering, reflecting, or absorbing UV light. To a fish with UV vision, this makes those animals appear dark and silhouetted against an otherwise bright background of UV light. On the flip side, fish that use UV coloration as an alarm signal are a step ahead if their predators lack UV vision. The leading theory regarding the evolution of UV vision is due to its strong role in mate selection. However, it may also be related to foraging and other communication behaviors (such as the alarm signal, used by the two-stripe damselfish). UV vision is sometimes used during only part of the life cycle of a fish. For example, juvenile brown trout live in shallow water where they use ultraviolet vision to detect zooplankton more easily. As they get older and move to deeper waters where there is little ultraviolet light, UV vision becomes less useful. Recent research shows that many fish can also sense polarized light. 60 | January 2019
Regular light vibrates in all directions perpendicular to its direction of travel. Polarized light vibrates only in one plane. When light is reflected off many nonmetallic surfaces, including the ocean surface, it is polarized to some degree. Light reflected off baitfish scales, for instance, is polarized, and polarizing vision enhances the contrast between almost transparent animals and their background – meaning fish that can detect polarized light have an advantage in finding food. Another possibility is that having polarizing vision can let fish see objects that are farther away, perhaps three times the distance. If this speculation is correct, it may explain why some fish seem to feed more aggressively under very low-light conditions, such as dawn or dusk. What Does All This Mean for Fishing? Due to Snell’s window, a fish can see through an area of the surface which has a diameter of about twice that of its depth. So a fish at 5 feet of depth will be able to see through a circular window of about 10 feet in diameter above her. Additionally, the fish can see objects above the water far to the side of the window, due to refraction. Outside of the window, the fish will see a mirror of the bottom structure. Potentially useful information when stalking fish in clear water. Some anglers maintain that the choice of color is critical, while others say it’s irrelevant. There is evidence to suggest that both points of view may be correct. Picking the appropriate color(s) will, under certain conditions, improve your chances of attracting fish, but in other situations, the color of your lure is of limited value or no importance whatsoever. The first thing to realize is that the color of your lure in the water is almost always different from what it is in the air. Different colored lures may be equally effective or ineffective simply because they are similar in color at the depth the fish see them. Try to consider what the colors in your lure will look like at the depth you are fishing, and choose appropriately. Also remember that what our human eyes see may be different than what a particular species of fish will see. Fun Fact: sharks are color blind. As colors disappear in the depth of the water column, contrast and flash will become more important, especially for fish that feed by looking up toward the surface. If you are fishing in deep water, the motion, noise, or disturbance your lure makes might be much more important than its color. If the ability to sense polarized light helps fish hunt, then lures with irregular surfaces that reflect more polarized light should be more attractive to such fish. Under the right conditions, fluorescent colors can be seen for considerable distances. An object that is fluorescent emits light of a longer wavelength after absorbing light of a shorter wavelength, such as blue, green, or ultraviolet (so cloudy days are optimal since the visible spectrum is diminished but UV light is still strong). For example, fluorescent yellow appears as bright yellow when exposed to blue or ultraviolet wavelengths. Because of this unique characteristic of fluorescent colors, their color does not fade as quickly when they are fished deeper. While most fish have an adequate sense of vision, it’s usually not as impressive as their sense of hearing, smell, or ability to detect vibrations through their lateral lines. A fair bit of surface noise (talking, music, etc.) mostly bounces off the surface of the water, but noise from banging on the bottom of the boat or stomping on the shoreline conducts extremely well. Sound, especially lower-frequency sound, can travel quite far with very little loss of signal, and fish hear exceptionally well. Some fish can detect scents with extreme sensitivity, at concentrations
of as little as a teaspoon of liquid in a lake 13 feet deep, half a mile wide, and a mile long. Fish often use these super senses to initially perceive their prey, and then use their vision only in the final attack. In order to change a color, it is enough to change the color of its background. ~Michel Eugene Chevreul
Where I learned about color, light, and sight, and you can too! NOAA oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/red-color.html oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/light_travel.html Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/shedding-light-on-light-in-the-ocean Water Encyclopedia www.waterencyclopedia.com/La-Mi/Light-Transmission-in-the-Ocean.html American Museum of Natural History www.amnh.org/explore/curriculum-collections/deep-sea-vents/light-and-darkin-the-sea/ PNAS www.pnas.org/content/100/14/8308.full Oxford Academic academic.oup.com/icb/article/32/4/544/2056448
Georgia State University - Dept of Physics & Astronomy hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geoopt/refr.html University of Hawaii at Manoa manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/physical/ocean-depths/light-ocean Underwater Photography Guide www.uwphotographyguide.com/underwater-photography-lightingfundamentals The Scientific Fisherman thescientificfisherman.com/fish-senses-1-fish-sight/ MidCurrent midcurrent.com/science/fish-eyesight-does-color-matter/ FIX www.fix.com/blog/view-from-below-lures-underwater/ BBC Earth News news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9365000/9365750.stm Polarized Light in Animal Vision: Polarization Patterns in Nature by Gabor Horvath, Gábor Horváth, Dezsö Varju, G. Horváth books.google.com/books?id=jkwvub-1zy8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Po larized+light+in+animal+vision%22&hl=en&ei=SHSCTvXpEYa5iQeh2fznDg&s a=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage &q&f=false Evolution’s Witness: How Eyes Evolved by Ivan R. Schwab, Richard R. Dubielzig, Charles Schobert Animal Eyes by Michael F. Land, Dan-Eric Nilsson
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The Ozolins family – Oz, Alexis and Aurora – anxiously await adventure in the New Year.
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
EVOLVING Roughly eight years ago I released an online fishing video that thrilled many. The compilation was an hourlong montage of scattered footage I had captured from an array of outings over about a three year period. The various scenes featured catching big sharks from the beach, chaotic offshore kayak action, and heroic tuna and marlin battles amongst friends. This was all filmed (albeit with passion and amateur video gear) here in the great state of Texas. During the intro portion there is a personal quote from me displayed that conveys a very empowering message. “The most epic adventure of all is the one that is shared countless times over by some of the greatest and most adventurous friends in the world.” I feel that this single sentence defines the essence and lifestyle of continually seeking the best in human adventures. Notably, I titled the video Evolution. The concept of the video was to share and relive the thrills that we were all enjoying as friends. A big group of us had all met on online fishing forums in the early days of social media. One of the fishing websites/forums (Extreme Coast) we communicated through was one I created and proudly ran for several years. Anglers would 62 | January 2019
post reports and opine on certain topics. Over time, some of the users became very good friends. Eventually there would be strong bonds forged amongst certain individuals. I thought the title Evolution highly relevant as our new brotherhood was experimenting with creative fishing methods and pushing traditional limits. We were constantly embarking on adventure in search of the next great fish. From our roots of simplistic fishing in a simplistic lifestyle, we had succumbed to a true evolution as we adopted an upgraded lifestyle. Jump to the present. We evolved as fishermen and rode an amazing wave of adventure that spanned more than a decade. Even now, while we still all remain friends, Father Time has intervened. Some of the “boys of summer” as we called ourselves branched away due to work and growing family responsibilities. However, a good number of us remain active and continue to pursue the never-ending addiction. I have obviously stayed the course, my path little changed as my lifestyle and career remains rooted in the water. My guiding keeps me fresh, providing an antidote to soothe my saltwater addiction, and it gives me a chance to share
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new experiences with a constant stream of new friends. Another quote appeared in the closing segment of the Evolution video; “The most epic adventure is yet to come.” How true and how fitting. Into my continuing saga comes now the addition of another key player – Aurora Jade Ozolins was born into this world on November 6, 2018. A fresh, healthy hatchling who has changed the lives of her parents for the better in a very short time. Aurora is the most rewarding prize anybody could ever hope to obtain. No monster mako, giant tiger, or epic hammerhead can compare. I have lived my adult life on the foundation of producing angling achievements. Some were incredible, some unique, and some that may never be topped by anyone. But this little game changer is bringing a new kind of excitement. My great love, Alexis, and I were the quintessential outdoors couple and suddenly we have evolved to become an outdoors family. We love what we do, and we love to share our experiences. In my mind, little “Rory” not only has really cool parents, but also parents dedicated to assisting her pursue her own dreams and lifestyle in the outdoors. So where does evolution take us from here? My life and career are glued to the magical aquatic wonderland. Fishing adventures will surely continue - some with friends, some without. In a scary way, that is the exciting part of it. Obviously you can’t (or shouldn’t) predetermine what or who your child should be. As a parent, you want them live a happily life. I love the thought that she would possibly fall in love with the hobbies and adventures her parents enjoy so thoroughly. If she doesn’t, that will be fine as well, so long as she is happy. But let’s get real people, we all know she is going to love the water! And just the thought of that alone makes me extraordinarily happy. Watching her grow up and living her own adventures will be the most epic adventure of all. Despite Aurora being my firstborn, I have had a great deal of experience with kids. Some of my best charter clients are kids who take trips with me year after year. I have families who have joined me for the first time with their youngest in diapers, and now a few years later, these seasoned youngsters are all-out fishing machines. I love helping create lasting memories for kids (and people of all ages). In a way, this is a part of my own evolution, my continual quest. I get great pleasure in educating and molding future anglers and conservationists. In the end I truly feel like a kid on the water myself and perhaps that is why I enjoy what I do. All I know is that if I can have just a fraction of a positive impact as I have had on other kids, 64 | January 2019
Ryan Taylor landed this wintertime blacktip on a PINS charter.
Reid Nicolau also got in on the action.
then mine should turn out just fine. With 2019 comes a new beginning in my life and a new beginning in fishing along the Texas coast. Coming off a year worthy of the record books, expectations are naturally very high. Our shark fishery was quite healthy this past year. More anglers than ever took to land-based shark fishing. More mature sharks of the larger apex species were encountered. This may very well be the telltale sign that our shark fishery is slowly beginning to rebound after decades of overfishing. This will be a make or break year for the sport. We are due the return of menacing sargassum. We are due for more tropical activity in the gulf. And, unfortunately, we are also due a severe outbreak of red tide. But then again, we thought all this about 2018. Only time will tell and remaining optimistic is all we can do. If the conditions do prove optimal, do what you can to get out there and take advantage while the window is open. This will undoubtedly be a busy year for me. I will busy conducting
Renner Nicolau hoists an oversized red drum for photo prior to release on PINS beach charter with author.
C O N TA C T
surf charters, and when not on the beach I will be busy building my Catch Sharks tackle and gear company. Finally, I will be busy with my new little mermaid, Aurora. Any way you shake it, this will be a very exciting time for me. Lucky for my loyal readers and followers, you will be able to live vicariously through the Ozolins family and keep up with Aurora’s developments and antics. I’ve already begun booking charters and June is filling up. I have some availability remaining March through August, so get in touch with me soon if you wish to get in on an adventure of your own. While I love chartering families and kids, I also accommodate to the entire spectrum of clients. Whether putting your eight-year-old on bull shark or your eighty-year-old grandfather on an oversized redfish, I will do my best to help create a memory that will not soon be forgotten. Have fun and live life to the fullest!
For the past decade Eric ‘Oz’ Ozolins has been promoting shark catch and release and assisting various shark research programs. Eric offers guided shark fishing on Padre Island National Seashore. Also renowned for extreme kayak big game fishing, Eric is the owner of Catch Sharks Tackle Company. Email Websites
oz@oceanepics.com oceanepics.com | catchsharks.com
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P L A S T I C & WAT E R D O N ' T M I X
Everett Johnson
RECAP OF THE PLASTICENE ERA Introduction by Everett Johnson with highlights from Stephanie Boyd’s The Plasticene Era: Parts 1 and 2 – TSFMag Jan and Feb 2018. Editor’s Note - It’s been a year now that we began encouraging readers to practice better plastic management in everyday live and especially on the water. We are probably all guilty (unknowingly perhaps) to some degree, of contributing to microplastic pollution in the marine environment. To get everybody’s attention as we head into a new year of conservation effort and greater stewardship, we thought it might be useful to reprint some of Stephanie’s original work that helped launch this whole plastic management campaign. It’s complex in some ways, the same as the ecology of our estuaries is complex in many ways. So, as my college professors often warned; “Pay attention…this will be on the test.” The test will be how well we as recreational anglers can modify our own actions and influence those of others. Several broad classes of plastics are used in packaging: polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyvinyl chloride. They are highvolume usage plastics and consequently, these in particular have high likelihoods of ending up in the ocean environment. However, only about half of these plastics float; the rest sink. So estimating the amount of plastics in the oceans through surface debris collection seriously underestimates the total extent. Even though plastic is the primary ingredient of marine debris, microplastics are under-researched due to difficulties in assessing their distribution and abundance. In general, microplastics fall into one of two categories. Primary microplastics are produced intentionally, like microbeads or plastic production pellets. Secondary microplastics are small pieces degraded from larger plastics. Globally, primary microplastics have been added to a variety of personal care products – including 66 | January 2019
toothpastes, shampoos, facial cleansers and moisturizers, cosmetics, and shaving products – for reasons such as emulsion stabilization (preventing oil and water from separating), viscosity regulation (adjusting a fluid’s resistance to flow), and skin conditioning. Microplastics are also added to industrial cleaning products, such as scrubbers for removal of rust or paint, and pellets are used in production of plastic consumer goods. Some surprising yet common sources of microplastics include synthetic textiles, tires, road markings, and marine coatings. Another large source of microplastics is the degradation of plastics on beaches, resulting in microcracking and creating microparticles that are carried into water by wind or wave action. Knowing that microparticles are commonly generated on beaches highlights the importance of beach cleaning as an effective mitigation strategy. The removal of larger pieces of plastic debris from beaches before they degrade much can considerably reduce the microplastics that end up in the ocean. Beach cleanup, therefore, can have an ecological benefit far beyond improving beach aesthetics. Deep-sea sediments have only been sampled a few times, so data is fairly preliminary at this point. In 2012, sediments and coral were collected from deep-sea locations at depths up to two miles in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Southwest Indian Ocean. Microplastics were identified in all samples, at an average abundance of 13.4 pieces per 1.7 ounces of sediment. Given the extent of deep-sea regions and how little we’ve explored them thus far, these sediments might hold one piece of the puzzle of the “missing plastics,” unaccounted for tons of microplastic waste that we haven’t found but that should be in the world’s oceans. Microplastics’ small size makes them appealing to a wide range of organisms in benthic and pelagic ecosystems. In some cases, a creature’s feeding mechanisms can’t discriminate between prey and plastic, especially if there is a predominance of microplastic
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particles mixed with planktonic prey items. And when you’re filtering 20 to 50 gallons of water a day, who’s to say whether that onemillimeter speck is a copepod or a pellet? Clean plastic microbeads have been commonly used in zooplankton feeding research, so there is no doubt they are ingested, and that they can affect the habits of zooplankton. However, no one knows if any warning signals exist that might discourage the ingestion of ‘dirty’ beads by at least some of the species likely to ingest them. Fibers of monofilament plastics (sourced to fibers of trawls and fragments of plastic bags) have been found in the intestines of the commercially valuable Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus). Normal digestive processes apparently can’t eliminate all of the filaments. Field-caught brown shrimps and farmed bivalves had microplastics in their digestive system as well. The identification of microplastics in commercially harvested organisms that are consumed whole (guts and all) highlights the potential human health issues. Based on estimates of the average consumption of mollusks by European consumers, the average person could ingest between 1,800 and 11,000 microplastic particles per year. Some of the earliest studies noting ingestion of microplastics by wildcaught fish include coastal species from the USA and the UK. Estuarine fish affected include catfish (Ariidae, 23% of individuals examined) and drums (Scianenidae, 7.9% of individuals examined). Slightly lower amounts of ingestion were found in freshwater and marine fish collected from watersheds of the Gulf of Mexico. A total of 51 fish species from 17 families were examined. Ingestion of microplastics was widespread, with individuals from 65% of species (herbivores,
invertivores, and omnivores) showing ingested microplastics. In general, the public and private sector awareness of the potential negative ecological, social, and economic impacts of microplastics is much less developed than for more visible litter. However, in response to growing concerns from the scientific community, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Sweden, and the Netherlands issued a joint statement to the European Union Environment Ministers, calling for a ban on microplastics in personal care products. Bans on microplastics in cosmetic products were also enacted in Illinois, California, and New York, and the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 was finally signed into US federal law in January 2016. Engagement and education at all levels of society (public, government, and private sector) is necessary to effect positive change. With our current resources, it is virtually impossible to remove microplastics from the sea without simultaneously removing similarly sized organisms, like plankton, and subsequently disrupting the ecosystem further. Wastewater treatment systems fail at filtering out microplastics because of their small size. The best plan, for now, is tackling the multitude of microplastic origins, and that requires addressing the problem at its source – newly engineered materials and smart design, for example, such as clothes that shed fewer fibers or washing machines equipped with filters. And to be successful, these efforts must be supported by legislation and actionable policies that force real change. As pro-plastic consumers, we are responsible for adapting our behaviors and increasing our waste management efficiency. Turning our plastic soup back into the bountiful sea is a challenge we must accept.
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TSFMAG.com | 71
DICKIE COLBURN
DICKIE COLBURN’S Sabine Scene
S ab i n e
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
72 | January 2019
I still cannot wrap my head around the thought that the pits on our lake! I am in anyway happy that another year of fishing The good news is that the trout bite continues to has come and gone. At my age, not a single day on slowly improve and there are new patterns that will the water is taken for granted, but for the most part now work two days in a row. The gulls never ratted 2018 was a year of far more out school trout assaulting fishing than catching on shrimp that were blown out Sabine Lake for me. of the marsh and a six-pound With each passing year, trout is a show stopper, but strictly fishing for the the bite in general has gotten enjoyment of fishing and better by the day. being on the water has been Since there was no obvious diminished by the selffish kill following Harvey, inflicted pressure associated there is no doubt that the with putting folks on fish that vast majority of our trout they can catch. I have yet were forced to ride the last to figure out how to market of the saltwater out of town hunting fish while constantly rather than simply holding reminding the client that eight up in deeper water and hours of wasted casts still waiting for conditions to beats a day at work. improve. The water was fresh So much for 2018‌if from top to bottom. you were a trout fisherman The most consistent bite Trout rebound on Sabine looking for even a little action belongs to the waders rather Lake depends a lot on C&R! on a consistent basis it was than those that choose to drift
shallow flats. Because most of the scattered shell is now covered with a few inches of silt and loose mud, even the smallest patch of exposed shell is like a magnet. Those small areas are best exploited by quietly homesteading them and waiting on the next group of trout to arrive. The problem with drifting is that all too often you continue to drift while fighting a fish or scatter the fish before burying the Talon. If wading is not your bag, you are far better off quietly drifting away and returning to plant the anchor in a more Ryon gave his big red advantageous position. a second chance. We have located more of these premium patches of shell on the flats between the north tip of Pleasure Island and East Pass than anywhere else. Do not give up on them should a brief bite slow down or even stop. As long as the tide is in your favor, more trout will soon find your patch of shell. Beyond all else, plan to be on your favorite spot during a solunar major! This is the one time of the year that my first choice of lures is invariably a Corky. Smaller bait fish are no longer available and larger trout undoubtedly target unsuspecting mullet. Everyone I fish with has a superior retrieve when fishing the Fat Boy or Softdine XL than I do, but thus far I have done much better fishing both lures on a faster retrieve than I usually incorporate. That
will undoubtedly change as the water continues to cool down. It is also a mistake to pin your hopes exclusively on the Corky. If a bite stops I will switch to a five-inch Assassin rigged on an 1/8-ounce head before calling in the dogs. I have also found them eating tails when they wouldn’t touch a Corky. Downsizing can make a difference as well and both the Lil’ John and four-inch Sea Shad have worked well. Another pattern that is slowly rebounding is drifting the north revetment wall. The most common mistake made when fishing this area is sitting on top of the fish while casting toward the rocks. Most of those guys walking the rocks are casting towards you! The Fat Boy is a winner for this type fishing, but so are a slew of other choices. Plastics are always a viable choice as are Catch Fives, Swimming Images and even topwaters on the warmer days. Redfish greatly improved their status this year as they were undoubtedly the saving grace for fishermen that hoped to end the day with a fish fry. They are where you find them and that ranges from the depths of the ICW to marsh drains on the Louisiana shoreline. The future of fishing is all about sharing it with kids. They make every trip more enjoyable!
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CAPT. CALEB HARP
THE BUZZ on Galveston Bay
Galve s t o n
Capt. Caleb Harp has fished the Galveston Bay System since childhood and, now a charter captain and fishing guide, he uses his knowledge to enable clients to enjoy the excellent fishing the area offers. His specialty is the yeararound pursuit for trophy trout and redfish with artificial lures
Telephone 281-753-3378 Website harpsguideservice.com
74 | January 2019
I like January fishing best when we’re experiencing a true old-fashioned winter. The general temperature trends of November and December begin to stage fish onto their wintering grounds but I do not believe they adopt a true winter pattern until it gets cold and remains cold for a prolonged period. Fronts in January become more consistent and this is what allows the ability to consistently predict where they will be holding. Some fronts arrive with vicious northwest winds, pushing most of the water out of the bays, followed by a few days of high barometric pressure. Many longtime guides and professional anglers have battled these conditions and tried to find a way to catch big trout during that period with little to no success. Sure, prior to the front can be phenomenal, but during and after can be brutally slow. First of all, when the front is barreling through it is simply too dangerous to be out and about. And after the front, you may think the weather is beautiful, but a cloudless sky is generally the signal that barometric pressure is too high for serious feeding to occur. The rule of thumb is to wait two days and they’ll be snappin’.
I have seen people get discouraged from fishing this time of year because of the cold or the frustration that fronts add to the equation. The best advice I can give you for high pressure days when fish aren’t biting is to use that opportunity for scouting. Days of extreme low tides provide exceptional opportunity to locate reefs, guts and ledges you may not even know existed. Take off walking the guts that are normally too deep to wade and find shell with your feet. I have found some of my most productive areas exploring without the distraction of being in the middle of a good bite. Fishing has been pretty decent across much of the Galveston Bay Complex whenever the weather allows. Trinity is still pretty fresh and as I write this the weatherman is predicting that we could receive an additional 2- to 6-inches of rainfall tomorrow. Let’s keep our fingers crossed – Trinity was only beginning to recover from the last big deluge in the Trinity watershed. East Bay has been fairly productive but nothing too big trout-wise just yet. West Bay has probably been our most consistent region. Along with more stable salinity levels, West Bay offers many areas with excellent deepwater getaway for trout to slide
into when water temperatures dip too low for comfort. The Upper Galveston Bay system, up along the ship channel, has been producing steadily as it normally does this time of year – vast expanses of deep channels that provide cover and warmth when the northers come screaming through. West Bay West has produced great catches behind cold snaps. South shoreline coves have been especially productive. On colder and windier days when the water turns offcolor, wade fishermen have been catching trout of 4-to 6-pounds, but on prettier days the average seems to shrink to two pounds on average. This pattern should remain through January. Fat Boys and SoftDines will be excellent baits. Deep holes adjacent to waterfront neighborhoods and bayous will hold lots of fish when the water temperatures plummet. East Bay East has been good for numbers of “keeper” trout. Occasionally a few really solid stringers will come from wading the back of the bay by Oyster Bayou and around the Anahuac Wildlife Refuge. Typical for this
time of year. Keying on water level is always important in East Bay. You really need to have some decent tides for the larger trout to pull up along banks and feed regularly. You might want to experiment with topwaters on warmer days but the Corky family and 51M and 52M MirrOlures will produce steadier action on average.
Happy client with a healthy December redfish. Capt. Thomas Francis has really been on the reds lately.
Upper Galveston Bay The Upper Galveston Bay region is the area with the most deepwater getaways due to the Houston Ship Channel running straight through the middle of it. Areas like Tabbs, Scott, Crystal and Burnett bays can be some of the best and most consistent this time of year. But – these areas are also going to have the most boat traffic for that same reason. Soft plastics are often your best bait choice here, given that fish are usually tightly schooled and the bite can be fast and furious when the conditions get right and they really turn on. Vary your jighead weights to match the depth they’re holding in and the current strengths. Bottom conditions are almost entirely soft mud but if you know that country well enough there are a few places you can wade. Stay Safe!
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BINK GRIMES
THE VIEW FROM Matagorda
M ata go r d a
Bink Grimes is a full-time fishing and hunting guide, freelance writer and photographer, and owner of Sunrise Lodge on Matagorda Bay.
Telephone 979-241-1705 Email binkgrimes@sbcglobal.net Website matagordasunriselodge.com
76 | January 2019
The month of January is not in the fishing photos circulated by the Bay City or Matagorda chambers of commerce. Few make plans months in advance to pick a date in January, but those few who do know there could be one bite on a shoreline that changes their fishing life forever. That’s not really big news for those in the know, though – hardcore anglers from all up and down the coast know how many big trout live in East Bay. Pictures on social media confirm it; and, it doesn’t have to be January to do it, but the back side of a cold front can be great for a solitary wader. What else are you going to do in January if you don’t fish or hunt ducks? Deer season ends the first weekend unless you’re on an MLD managed property, and after that the long and dreary January/February winter begins. It is depressing sometimes just sitting at home on windblown, gray days. But I’m an optimist. There are actually more good days than bad; and, January in Matagorda can be just like November and December if the weather cooperates. Of course, the waders love January. Hard to beat a slow-sinking Corky, MirrOdine or the
new Lele. Choose your color – all the new shades are making waves. I like to work near deep water, and our deep water is in the ditch or, properly termed, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Reefs adjacent to deep channels give you the best chance for gator trout. When the cold blows across the region, fish ease into the warmer, deep channel. When the sun warms a day or two later, those big fish gingerly loaf up onto the shell and mud flats looking for one big meal. Not everyone is a big trout hunter. It’s exhausting at times and can be frustrating even in the best of times. Some just want a good bite and stern pull on the rod. For that guy, we like to drift over the same shell we drift all year long. The cool thing is that same guy has a pretty good chance of catching the biggest trout of his lifetime on a Bass Assassin, Down South Lure, Hogie Super Shad or Norton Bull Minnow. Mind you, they don’t bite everyday – cold water temps and high atmospheric pressure cure that – however, there is always a chance of a
solid winter Matagorda bite. Tides are normally at least a foot to two feet below normal this time of year so redfish are targeted in deeper sloughs and bayous. When the water really gets blown out there are some spots that hold redfish at the mouths of draining lakes. I won’t divulge names of these locales for fear of the wrath of many of my guides, but there are multiple spots that save a day with temperatures in the 30s and winds gusting at 25 knots from the north. Since many of my fishing clients hunt ducks with me as well, I like to use the weather to my advantage and hunt the bad weather days and fish the chilly, calm days after a passing front. That doesn’t always work out, but we always try to be honest with hunters/anglers and stack the best odds in our favor. Lest we forget we are in search of wild animals, and wild animals don’t always follow your winter plan. Follow our charters and hunts on Instagram and Facebook daily.
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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 16 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 Facebook @captsgaryandshelliegray
Thinking back on this past year and how quickly it has passed, I remembered a quote I read somewhere years ago. Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back. How true those words are. This is the time of year so many of us will look back to the things we are thankful for. As I come into my seventeenth year of guiding I feel very blessed and thankful to have gotten to know so many wonderful people through fishing; people I likely would have never had the opportunity to meet otherwise. In talking with most of the individuals I meet, it is a common agreement that fishing is therapy and any time spent fishing is in no way wasted, no matter the outcome. With the past years flying by so quickly, I often wonder how most anglers want to spend their time on the water. I am certain for the majority of people, catching lots of fish without too much effort is the way most would prefer it. You know, catching is where all the fun is at, right? Well maybe for most. But then there are the type of anglers who read as much material as they can, watch all the TV fishing
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78 | January 2019
Keaton Rogers came all the way from Oklahoma to land this nice flounder.
Ryan Unger decided he wanted to go fishing for his birthday. It was a redfish smackdown!
The owner of Diamond J, James Rosalis, was a partner in Circle J Enterprises at the time our office and son’s home were built by Circle J. Workmanship and attention to detail were both excellent! – Everett Johnson, Editor/Publisher, Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine
shows, and hit up social media sites hoping to soak in as much info as possible and then apply it on their next fishing trip. Some of these anglers will “overthink” the whys and hows of fishing and never really get a grasp on it, and then there are those that just seem to get it naturally. I have fished with thousands of anglers over the years and the ones that really excel in angling abilities are quite often the inquisitive. I don’t mean the anglers that ask a hundred questions, or the same ones over and over. I am talking about the type of angler that asks a few questions, takes advice and applies it, but also learns to study an area to find out why fish would prefer to hold up in any one particular spot. This is type of angler who will look around to see if they can spot active bait and, if so, instead of ignoring it, will wade towards it and begin casting. It’s possible that one jumping mullet was being harassed by a 30-inch trout. The only way to know is to go, right? A good angler also chooses to find fish on his own rather than relying on others to tell him where to go. A good angler also chooses to learn the underwater terrain through wading and feeling with his feet rather than staying in the boat. A GPS is a good tool to help find deeper holes but when it comes to shallow water fishing, wading is really the only way to figure out the bottom composition and contour. Learning which shorelines have the most defined guts, which reefs have a rapid drop-off or a gradual taper, or which lakes might have scattered shell or a deeper pocket, are essential bits of information when it comes to choosing any area to fish. A good angler doesn’t carry a suitcase of twenty different colors, smelly jellies or the latest and best gimmick lure advertised in a TV commercial while wading. Instead, he chooses a few lures, paddletails, rattails, a spoon, and maybe a topwater or two. When he flips the lid of his small wading box you won’t be dazzled by a rainbow of neon shining from a dozen types of lures. The time spent tying that many knots alone could have been better spent fishing the one he already has tied on…and he knows it. A good angler will take his time to fish all the water around him thoroughly and quietly. He’s not in a race and he doesn’t tromp noisily through the water. A good angler will search everything from ankle deep to waist deep water in attempt to locate the best bite. And, most importantly, a good angler is patient and methodical. Sometimes working through any given area twice, even though he may have only caught a few fish, but knows the potential is there. A good angler will make mistakes, too. But that’s okay. I hope that you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes it means you are trying new things, learning, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing things that will hopefully help you become a better angler. Happy New Year everyone! TSFMAG.com | 79
DAVID ROWSEY
HOOKED UP WITH Rowsey
Upper Laguna/ Ba f f i n
David Rowsey has over 25 years in Baffin and Upper Laguna Madre; trophy trout with artificial lures is his specialty. David has a great passion for conservation and encourages catch and release of trophy fish.
Telephone 361-960-0340 Website www.DavidRowsey.com Email david.rowsey@yahoo.com @captdavidrowsey
80 | January 2019
Happy New Year to all my grinder friends! I sincerely hope your New Year’s resolutions lean more toward the passion of catching big trout versus sitting behind Facebook and daydreaming about it. My salty bones have been right in the middle of it, with great success I might add. From the bottom of my heart, I just want to say thank you to all the old and new customers who have booked trips with me from December into May. Y’all are my heroes and I promise to always continue to work my butt off for you in the pursuit of lifetime best trout. If you have been thinking about booking a charter in Baffin and been a little lazy about it, I still have some great days available. Contact me! January is just an awesome month to be on the water if you are a big trout enthusiast, and from what I know from other hardcore types, it’s pretty much the same all along the Texas coast. Saying that, I truly believe that Baffin and the Upper Laguna Madre offer up a better chance for big trout than anywhere along the coast during January. I have kept extensive records of my fishing trips since the late 80s. I’ll admit that it is sometimes fun to flip back twenty years or so and read up on a random week. The memories and details of a great trip just
flood your mind to the point of almost remembering what you were wearing that day. January has always had a special place in my heart and has continued to produce some of the biggest trout of my career, including my personal best of 11.5# many moons ago. Since then, I started guiding and have had the pleasure to put clients on trout over ten pounds during the same month. Catching big trout is what I live for, but guiding someone to the area, coaching them on lures and presentation, and watching them pull off the giant catch is now my biggest rush in fishing. God has blessed me with so many big fish over the years and I thank him for each and every one, but I give special thanks to him for giving me the compassion to find greater joy in watching others do it with my guidance. Anticipating colder weather and water temperatures in January, techniques will vary a little for myself and clients. Cold mornings are going to have us fishing slower and closer to the bottom, regardless of whatever water depth we are wading in. I think trout spend 80% of their time sulking and 20% actively feeding when it gets winter-cold. Saying that, in that sulking mode, they will absolutely still eat if you can
Let these swim! Things are different now. Too many of us are utilizing the resource to make dinner out of this type of trout.
get the proper presentation in front of them, close, and they do not have to expend a huge amount of energy to eat it. The 5� Bass Assassin is far and away my go-to lure for making trout eat when they are not really in the mood. In this grassy area I fish in, I rig the lure on a 1/16 Pro Elite jighead and work the structure methodically from all angles. Varying speeds of hops, pauses, and slow straight pulls until I find what they like. This is something I relearn every day on the water (Seeing the same old food does not make you want to eat it every single day does it? Change it up!). Now that the prep work of finding and grinding out the sulkers is done, this is when I will get onto the Corky (Paul Brown Original by MirrOlure) and try to get even bigger bites. The Corky is such a wonderful big trout lure, and so effective when you have good water to work it in. (By good I mean free of floating grass, etc.). Without doubt, the Corky Fat Boy is the lure I want tied on in January during that 20% window. I have also become a huge believer in the MirrOdine XL series during that same window of opportunity, especially in off-colored water (rattle and flash). In closing, please hear me out on taking care in handling and releasing big trout. There will be many who will be blessed to be in the presence of a large trout, maybe even a personal best this year. Do your best to handle with as little touching as possible. Land them on a Boga Grip or similar device, take a great photo, and get them back in the water ASAP. Dragging them around in nets and on stringers is almost a guaranteed death sentence. If you want a fresh meal, keep some small ones for the table. Filleting four pounders is only shooting the future in the foot if you seriously want to have a trophy fishery to enjoy. Remember the buffalo! -Capt David Rowsey TSFMAG.com | 81
WAYNE DAVIS
WAYNE’S Mansfield Report
Port Mansfield
Captain Wayne Davis has been fishing the Lower Laguna-Port Mansfield for over 20 years. He specializes in wade fishing with lures.
Telephone 210-287-3877 Email captwayne@kwigglers.com
Greetings from Port Mansfield! Lots to discuss this month and first I would like to update everyone on the big dredging project scheduled to begin lateDecember. The project is multifaceted, totaling 12.9 miles, beginning at the Port Mansfield harbor and continuing eastward to the ICW. There is a half-moon granite catch basin on the north side of the East Cut at the ICW, soon to be enlarged with riprap, that will become a depository for dredge material for that portion of the project, to create bird habitat and enhance birdwatching opportunity. The depth of this “pilot channel” will be 10- to 12-feet. The second phase will extend from the ICW to the Gulf of Mexico and slightly beyond. This phase will not start until fall 2019, mainly for wildlife habitat reasons, continuing into the spring of 2020. The dredging material will be used to restore the eroding beach. The depth of this channel is expected to be 14 to 17 feet; the first time since 1962 that the entire East Cut will be restored to its original project depth. So, what will this project do for our fishery? I personally expect it will help dramatically. Currently we have little tidal movement in Port. The East Cut is
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Bobby Walker nailed this brute of a redfish while targeting trophy trout.
shallow and when tidal movement occurs it lacks volume to substantially impact water levels. Compare this with South Padre Island. Brazos Santiago pass is deep and wide and tide influence is prevalent in the adjacent region of the Lower Laguna – clearly evident around docks, and shorelines. Not so much here in Port. Our bay relies on wind-driven current more than tidal flow. The substantial tidal flow through East Cut will bring in more nutrients, bait, and gamefish alike. Let’s stay tuned to this… We have had some exceptional fronts since early-November and we dipped nearly to 30° on 14 November. As I fish more and connect the dots (or at least try) I am recognizing the distinct difference in fish following each cold snap. About two to three days after a good cold snap the fish we catch are super fat and heavy, then we have a warming trend and they start to lean out just a bit. Then, another cold front – same thing a few days later, we catch the heaviest of fish. Another thing worth noting is the fish are not losing all the weight they gained during the time they ate on the previous front. So, as days go on in the winter months, fish become just a little bit heavier following each event. This does however beg the million-dollar question – when is the best time to catch the heaviest trout? I’ll be sure to let you know when it happens, but I would say sometime between late-February and mid-April – when they’re full of eggs but not yet begun to spawn. Our fish are still coming out of isolated potholes surrounded by heavy grass. There are a few good ones up shallow on the sand, but they are super spooky, and our water levels are not quite high enough to reasonably justify going after them. And they’re widely scattered, which further complicates the mission. But (big but) if you have patience and move stealthily you might get a shot. Here lately I have been concentrating most of my effort where I know big trout live. We haven’t landed many yet, but enough to keep me bouncing around a two square mile area. We are fishing variations in water depth, structure, bottom consistency, water color, etc. This strategy and fishing this tight grid, we can usually walk away with a better understanding of their patterns and what might have triggered them to eat – wind velocity and direction shifts, cloud cover, and solunar feed periods. Our go-to baits continue to be KWigglers Willow Tail Shad, Ball Tail Shad, and the Long Tall Sally, which incidentally has proven itself super effective in shallow water. Best colors are Lagunaflauge, Turtle Grass, Chartreuse Metal Flake and, of course, Mansfield Margarita. If the water is 65° or warmer I’ll give the ol’ One Knocker a few casts, but remember to work it very slowly, giving long drawn out swags to a basic dog-walk presentation. Writing this in mid-December I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will be working the Fishing Tackle Unlimited booth at the Houston Boat Show, January 10 thru 13. If you don’t find me there check the Shallow Sport Boat display. Please stop by and say hello! TSFMAG.com | 83
CAPT. ERNEST CISNEROS
SOUTH PADRE Fishing Scene Arr o y o C ol o ra d o t o Po rt I sa bel
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.
Happy New Year! Fishing has improved significantly since my last article and I credit cooler weather and declining water temperatures. We are seeing more fish on the flats and increased daily landings. Warm fall weather lingered forever last year and the early onset of winter patterns has been a godsend here in early December. Bigger trout that usually appear in Simms and AFTCO waders and clothing will keep you comfortable during long days of wintertime wade fishing.
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84 | January 2019
PHOTO: TYLER WOOLCOTT
late January and throughout February have already begun to show in modest but encouraging numbers. I am excited to see what will develop as fronts become more frequent and the water temperatures continue to decline. Your approach to January fishing can go two ways – quantity or quality – you decide; both ends of the spectrum are in reach on any given day. I think of January as the first of the famed “trophy trout” months, so you’re in luck if attaining a personal-best speck is on your 2019 wish list. Perhaps I can share a few ideas and suggestions to help you reach that goal. First and foremost you must realize that trophy fishing can be a grind more often than we’d like to see. Plan on making hundreds of empty casts. These fish reach trophy size because of keener-thanaverage survival instincts. Yes, they can be fooled, but it will take your A-Game and perseverance to land a specimen average anglers only dream of catching.
THE
SOURCE ULTIMATE FOR THE
CUSTOM ROD
Many casts, long waits, but well worth it. Winter is the time.
Weather plays a huge role. The optimum conditions for me have included heavy cloud cover, low to steady barometric pressure, water temps in the low to mid-60s, with steady wind up to about 10-15 mph. You must be versatile and anticipate what these big fish are wanting/willing to eat. Topwater or subsurface? Noisy or subtle? Large or small? Answers to these questions can only be decided by the angler on the playing field. One certainty though would be any fish’s tendency to feed more readily in the presence of current, whether it be tide movement or wind-generated. Of course bait presence and ready access to deeper water are always considerations. Birds can be your greatest allies in winter – brown pelicans, ospreys, and even cormorants will show you where the bait is holding when it’s not visible on the surface. Focus your angling efforts to coincide with solunar feeding periods and stay put. One or two bites in an area is enough reason to keep your feet planted until they’re ready to feed. Running and gunning to a dozen spots is rarely as productive as methodically working a piece of good structure holding bait. Most anglers would love catching a trophy trout, but many prefer simply getting into a steady bite of nice fish. January on the Lower Laguna offers this too. Reduced boat traffic allows you to set up just about any place you choose. If the catching is good, stay on them. If not, move. Here lately there has been a steady bite in waist-deep potholes all across the Laguna Madre. Tie on a KWiggler Ball Tail Shad and have at it. Tides often fluctuate significantly with the passage of fronts. Look for trout to move in and out of the flats with changes in water depth and temperature. Continuing strings of cold days will move them to deeper water with muddy bottom, and you can also expect them to pull up shallow to feed during warm afternoons. This describes muddy flats along the ICW perfectly. Redfish action continues to improve. I look for mud boils when running the flats. Boat noise spooks them and that broad tail kicks up sediments. One mud boil does not describe a place to try but 10 or 15 boils in a small area gets my attention. It’s very common this time of the year to find redfish concentrated in small pockets of water but getting them to bite can be tricky. Try a KWiggler Long Tall Sally or Willow Tail on a slow retrieve. Eight or ten hours of wade fishing poses unique clothing requirements during winter. You simply cannot enjoy your outing if you’re wet and shivering. Over the years I have learned to trust brands such as Simms and AFTCO, and layering is the key. You can always shed a layer but you cannot wear what you didn’t bring. Fishing comfortably is one thing but what if your boat breaks down and you have to spend a night out there? Simms waders are the best in the business. They also offer great headwear like the ExStream Windbloc Beanie. Their Downstream insulated jacket and various underlayers are must-haves for me. AFTCO’s Hydronaut waterproof jacket worn over the Downstream insulation layer will keep you dry in the worst of conditions, and their Sumo sweaters are a great layering option. Look for all these products at Fishing Tackle Unlimited.
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FISHING REPORTS
Lake Calcasieu Louisiana Jeff and Mary Poe - Big Lake Guide Service - 337.598.3268 January is one of the best months to catch the trout of a lifetime. The weather conditions can be frustrating at times, but on warmer days trout usually eat well. Most of these fish will be found in water over sandy bottoms or oyster reefs. Look for them in four feet of water or less. On chillier days, try water over a mucky bottom with scattered oysters. For whatever reason, trout are usually drawn to this type of bottom on colder days. Wading is often the method of choice to fish for big trout, simply because it is stealthier and allows fishermen to fish an area more thoroughly no matter the weather conditions. Catching big trout while drifting is more difficult, but it can be done effectively. Using mother nature to your advantage when drift fishing is imperative. Use the wind and tide to fish an area. Only use the trolling motor when necessary and never run it on high speed. Picking your days to fish in February is often crucial. If that is not an option, redfish will still be thick at the weirs and along the banks adjacent to marsh drains. Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242 James reports excellent fishing lately, and he expects it to continue, especially for people targeting bigger than average trout in January. “We have had such a wet fall and early-winter, so some areas are inundated with freshwater, while others have salty water and plenty of fish. As usual, when the rivers run high, fishing in Lower Galveston and West Galveston Bays gets good. In the middle of winter, West Galveston can be a great place to target big trout. If the weather's cold and tides are low, we do best throwing 51 and 52M MirrOlures and soft plastics out of the boat in places around Green's and Mecom's Cuts. Wading will work better when tides are higher and the wind is blowing over the island. We also catch some really good trout wading around the sand bars and reefs along the shoreline. When we're wading, we like to throw slowsinking twitch baits like Catch 2000s and Catch 5s, or the Paul Brown Lures. SheDogs and ShePups works great on some days too, when we see lots of bait at the surface and the weather is warm.” Jimmy West - Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054 Jim has had good fishing on some recent trips, and excellent duck hunting too. “We've got a good variety of ducks, and the shooting has been fast and furious on lots of hunts. The hunting should remain excellent through January. Fishing has had its ups and downs, but it's been good lately. We're catching both trout and redfish in the marsh when tides are up. We've been trolling around and catching best on soft plastics. When winds are fairly light, the fishing around deep reefs in the middle of East Bay has been productive as well. We're keying on areas adjacent to some of the main reefs and working long drifts. This time of year, we aren't able to key on slicks and bait as much. On the shorelines, on days when the fish want to be shallow and customers want to wade, finding lots of jumping mullet is the key to finding trout. In January, wading is usually best when warm onshore winds push the tide up some and the weather's warm. We like to fish incoming tides in the afternoon hours, right up to dusk at times. On the best days, topwaters work well, but the MirrOlure twitch baits and soft plastics produce better most days.” West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays Randall Groves - Groves Guide Service 979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323 86 | January 2019
ORECASTS F from Big Lake to Boca Chica
AND
Randall reports he recently established a good working relationship with the folks who started the Salty Texan brand, and that he appreciates their support. “Those are some good people. They encourage the coastal fishing lifestyle,” he says. In spinning his own fishing tales about recent outings, Randall relates some details about fishing shallow and some about fishing deep. “We had a hot bite on day glo Paul Brown Lures the other day, wading a flat with scattered shell over a mud bottom. Caught quite a few really solid trout working that plan. On other days, we're finding the bite better in water running from about eight to fifteen feet deep. Again, the bottom in the best areas is muddy, with some shell scattered around. We've been catching well on a Norton Sand Eel in a new color, called sand shad. We're using fairly heavy jigheads, at least three-eighths ounce, sometimes heavier if the wind and current are strong. January fishing should be much the same, with some warm days favoring wading and a steady bite in deeper water when it's colder.” Matagorda | Charlie Paradoski Bay Guide Service - 713.725.2401 January is a great time to target monster trout in the Matagorda area, Charlie says. This year shapes up to be a great one for that. “We've had some cold weather already, so the trout are well on their way into a steady winter pattern. On the colder days, fishing for them around the spoil islands and reefs on the north side of the bay close to the ICW is best. At times, we find them right on the edges of the ditch itself. With low tides, after a frontal passage, fishing for big trout can be really good out of the boat in the middle, in places around Raymond's Shoal and Half Moon Reef, where a mix of mud and shell covers the bottom. Soft plastics on fairly heavy jigheads work best out there. The worm needs to maintain some contact with the bottom. On the warmer days, or right after a front hits, wading the flooded coves on the south shoreline works better. In there, topwaters and slow-sinking twitch baits work well at times, especially when lots of mullet are jumping. But soft plastics on light jigheads can trigger strikes from giants too.” Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204 We've had a great start to our cold-weather fishing. Trout have been pretty easy to find in several locations. We've been catching good numbers of small keepers over deep shell on shrimp and DSL lures rigged under a cork. We've also been targeting the local rivers on colder days, hammering trout on the ledges, using three-eighths ounce jigheads rigged with DSL lures in the chicken of the sea color pattern. Our night fishing has been the best it has been in a long time. The whole seawall has produced, from the point all the way around past the new pavilion. Double speck rigs have accounted for best bite. Redfish have been loaded up in bayous and creeks, and when you find the first one, you can work on 'em for a while. Gulp! shrimp rigged about a foot under a cork has worked best. January fishing should remain steady, with colder days favoring rivers and deep shell, and warmers days favoring flats close to deep water. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith Back Bay Guide Service - 361.983.4434 Since January is the coldest month of the year, Lynn likes to leave the dock later in the morning and fish the afternoon hours. “I won't leave the dock most days until nine or ten o'clock. I like to let the sun get up in
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the sky and start heating up the flats. This time of year, I target the big trout most of the time, and the warmth of the sun helps pull them out of the deep water onto the flats where we're wading. I tend to pick flats with a mix of mud and shell on the bottom, in close proximity to a deep channel, hole or open basin. We look for flats holding decent concentrations of bait. Don't have to see a big raft or anything, but there does need to be recognizable signs of life. We target the trout with soft, slow-sinking twitch baits much of the time in January, meaning SoftDines and of course, the old standby Paul Brown Lures. Working these lures slowly, with subtle twitches and pauses, usually proves best for urging strikes from the big trout in cold water. Of course, the redfish sometimes get in the way, since they prefer some of the same places.” Rockport | Blake Muirhead Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894 Blake will still be working his cast and blast outings in January. “Duck hunting has been really good this year so far. It should continue hot, as we've got ducks all over the place. Excellent variety too. We start off most days hunkered down in a blind in a back lake somewhere, after a ride in the air boat. The shooting is normally good in the first couple hours of daylight. After we finish the hunt, we like to fish our way out of the marsh and into the bay. We spend some time targeting redfish in the lakes on some days, if we've been seeing plenty while boat riding on recent trips. Sometimes, we fish for them in the holes in the deeper parts of the back lakes, or in the drains connecting them to the bay. Trout fishing is generally better in the main bays along shorelines adjacent to the marsh drains, where grass covers a muddy bottom. This time of year, Norton Sand Eels work best on most days, since the water's usually cold. We sometimes find the need to throw the Gulp! split-tails, when the bite is slower. I like the chartreuse one best. When the stars align, and the fish are really hungry, we have some great topwater days too.” Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut Robert Zapata – rz1528@grandecom.net - 361.563.1160 The air temperatures have been down, the boat traffic is down and the water temperature is down, but fishing is good. The trick is making the correct adjustments. During cold nights, the fish go into deeper water, five feet or more, with muddy bottoms. As the sun rises and warms up the shallow water, the fish will move into water depths of three feet or less. I will start fishing in the early morning hours along the edges of deep channels, using dark Bass Assassin Die Dappers rigged on a quarter-ounce Assassin Spring Lock jigheads and working them along the drop-offs of the channels. As the sun warms up the shallow water, I will switch to lighter-colored Assassin Die Dappers like sand trout and salt & pepper/chartreuse rigged on eighth-ounce heads in three feet of water or less. On sunny days, I will look for flats with one foot of water and sight-cast for reds and black drum with shrimp-flavored Fish-Bites or Assassin Elite Shiners on sixteenth-ounce jigheads. Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez – www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230 Fishing for trout and redfish in January can be easy or extremely difficult, depending on the day and the type of weather, Joe says. “When the weather is cold, we generally have days when it's difficult to function in January, because strong winds make controlling the boat difficult, and fish tend to become inactive and sit on the bottom, so they're hard to catch. When conditions improve after a cold snap, though, the catching can turn epic in a hurry. For the most part, trout and reds tend to stay in areas without much grass on the bottom, either in the channels themselves, or in holes like Emmord's and Beacroft's this month. Targeting them there means throwing soft plastics rigged on jigheads of the correct size. If winds and currents are light, using the
88 | January 2019
lightest heads possible works best. In stronger winds and currents, and in deeper water, using heavier jigheads will become necessary. The whole key is to find the jighead with the slowest fall rate which will allow for keeping the soft plastic in close proximity to the bottom or drop-off.” P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins 361-877-3583 | Oceanepics.com It will be hard to top the spectacular surf fishing we enjoyed in 2018. January and February bring the coolest water temps of the year, and the surf zone can appear dormant on the coldest days. The best opportunity usually comes on the nicest bluebird days. Pompano action is already off to a strong start; a warm day with green surf gives good numbers of these tasty fish. Peeled shrimp and Fishbites on small circle hooks are effective. Calm days with decent water clarity will also produce speckled trout. Slow-sinking twitch baits on slow retrieves will attract bites. Redfish of all sizes will be available. Mullet is definitely the best bait, but cut whiting also gets the job done. Remember that mullet must not exceed 12 inches this month. Anglers can also expect black drum to take pompano and redfish baits. Sandbar, Atlantic sharpnose and bonnethead sharks can be available when the surf water is 60° and warmer. January can be a very peaceful and relaxing month on the beach. Catch the weather right and the bite can be surprisingly hot! Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza Snookdudecharters.com – 832.385.1431 Getaway Adventures Lodge – 956.944.4000 Fishing in January can be hit or miss; keep a sharp eye on the fronts as they come through. Generally speaking, the day before a front and the day the front arrives can be killer, assuming the winds allow fishing. The second and third days after the front goes through can also be reliable producers. Bait activity can be tough to spot when the water temps take a dive. Key on a single mullet or two jumping. Pelicans and gulls hovering and occasionally diving, herons and egrets running up and down a shoreline can indicate bait presence. Pay attention to all the birds, even ospreys and grebes. Topwaters get sidelined for Brown Lures and MirrOdines or the KWiggler Willow Tails on their new weedless hooks, especially when targeting bigger trout. I have confidence in colors like Mansfield Margarita and bone diamond. Good post-front spots are The Saucer and The Pipeline areas, Northeast Pocket, and pretty much the whole west shoreline. The ICW spoil humps, both north and south of port, also produce well at times, with bait present. Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel Aaron Cisneros | tightlinescharters.com – 956-639-1941 Fishing has made an exceptional turn for the better with cooler weather and water temperatures. KWiggler Ball Tail Shads in plum chartreuse on 1/8-ounce jigheads continues to be our go-to trout bait. Best success for keeper-size fish has been working potholes just off the ICW. Don’t let the numbers of small fish discourage you; there’s plenty of good ones with them. Redfish are still hanging on shallow grass flats with incoming tides, and then falling off into deeper pockets as the tide recedes. Reds are loving topwaters but be advised that single hooks on your plugs are still necessary due to floating grass. Hopefully this nuisance will be gone soon. I expect that as fronts become more frequent and colder we will see patterns shifting toward regions that include deeper mud and shell bottoms. But don’t not rule out the possibility of trout and reds alike returning to shallow grass flats during prolonged warming periods. The winter fishing season here in the Port Isabel/SPI area has really only just begun and from what we are seeing thus far it promises to be a good one. Come on out and see for yourself!
y r a u Jan
Weekly Specials Week 1 | Dec 31-Jan 6 | Fish N’Tote
The X•Pak Fish N’ Tote gives you the ability to organize and transport your fishing gear in the stern tank well of your kayak. This portable organizer has a wide range of features making your day on the water safe and enjoyable. Item No. 35406 – reg. $59.99 – SALE $39.99 • www.fishingtackleunlimited.com/fish-n-tote
Week 2 | Jan 7-13 | Tempress Crate Cover
The new X•Pak Crate Cover fits over your standard 13”x13” crate to maximize storage and organization of your tackle and gear. Made of marine grade polyester fabric, the Crate Cover also features a removable, padded shoulder strap, two molded resin rod holders, front and rear tool and gear organizer pockets and acetal attachment hardware. Item no. 35307 – reg. $39.99 – SALE $29.99 • www.fishingtackleunlimited.com/crate-cover?___SID=U
Week 3 | Jan 14-20 | Tempress Double Rod Holder
Our Fish-On!® Double Rod Holder and storage rack holds two rods plus storage space for lures, knife, pliers and leaders. 8 5/8”L x 2 1/2”W x 7 7/8”H Item no. 73100 – reg. $16.99 – SALE $12.99 • www.fishingtackleunlimited.com/fish-on-double-rodholder-wht?___SID=U • www.fishingtackleunlimited.com/fish-on-double-rod-holder-blk?___SID=U
Week 4 | Jan 21-27 | Tempress Triple Rod Holder
Our Fish-On!® Triple Rod Holder and storage rack holds three rods plus storage space for lures, knife, pliers and leaders. Item No. 73200 (wht) & 73201 (blk) – reg. $17.99 – SALE $13.99 • www.fishingtackleunlimited.com/fish-on-triplerod-holder-wht?___SID=U • www.fishingtackleunlimited.com/fish-on-triple-rod-holder-blk?___SID=U
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Cori Brewer East Matagorda Bay - 22.5” redfish
Calley Castilla Copano Bay - 27” trout
Ethan Miller & Carly Austin Baytown - 21” redfish & 23” redfish
Elliott Reese South Padre - 13” first fish! 90 | January 2019
April Domel Port Aransas - first black drum!
Paula Hill Baffin Bay - 49” redfish
Kevin Kozowyk 20 miles north of Port Aransas - 63” 58 lb 4 oz cobia
Cayden Vallejos Crystal Beach - shark
Wyatt James King Ranch Shoreline - 19.75” trout
Haley Jones Sargent Beach - 17” & 19” first trout!
Ayden Johnson (left) Bolivar - 36.5” first redfish!
Pete Vallejos Crystal Beach - smooth hammerhead
Jacob Casillas Estes Flats - 7” trout CPR
Luke Korzekwa ICW - 20” trout
Landon Bartley San Luis Pass - 29” trout
Rhiannon Lynch San Luis Pass - 34” first blacktip shark!
Keith Morgan 15 miles offshore from POC - kingfish
Richard Ridgeway dorado
Anderson Pitchford South Padre Island - first fish!
Emily Blanco 21.5" 4.5 lb first flounder!
Logan Hanse Baffin Bay - 48” redfish CPR Blake Bundrick Surfside - 26.5” first keeper red
Analeigh Turner Crystal Beach - smooth hammerhead
Please do not write on the back of photos.
Email photos with a description of your Catch of the Month to: Photos@tsfmag.com
Chris Casillas Estes Flats - 21” redfish
Blayson Vallejos Crystal Beach - shark
Mail photos to: TSFMag P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983 TSFMAG.com | 91
PAM JOHNSON
Gulf Coast
Got ideas, hints or recipes you’d like to share? Email them to pam@tsfmag.com or send by fax: 361-785-2844
Creamy Crawfish Spaghetti INGREDIENTS
PREPARATION
1 pound precooked crawfish tails 2 Tbs. olive oil 1 bell pepper, yellow or orange, chopped 1/2 cup onion, chopped 1/2 cup celery, chopped 3 cloves garlic, diced 1 can RoTel tomatoes, drained 1 small box Mexican Velveeta cheese, one-inch cubes 1 pound spaghetti or linguine
In large non-stick fry pan, heat 2 Tbs. olive oil and add veggies. Sauté until soft and translucent. Add RoTel tomatoes. These come in original, medium and hot. Try the hot version if your tastes run toward spicy. Stir and simmer several minutes, but not boiling. Add Velveeta chunks and stir until evenly melted and combined. Carefully fold in crawfish tails and continue simmering several minutes. Prepare pasta per package instructions to achieve al dente texture. Drain and place in large mixing bowl while still hot. (Note – pasta can be cooked while preparing the sauce.) Pour sauce over cooked pasta and stir gently to combine. Serve with garlic bread and green salad.
We recently visited Home Run Charters Lodge in Venice, Louisiana and everyone raved about this dish. Thanks to Evie Shaw of Metairie, Louisiana for sharing!
92 | January 2019
A ROD & REEL COMBO THAT’S WORTH ITS SALT The 13 Fate Green Origin TX Combo is built to withstand the elements, and you can get it for the guaranteed best price at Academy Sports + Outdoors.
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Visit academy.com TSFMAG.com | 93
TEXAS SALTWATER FISHING HOLES GUIDE SERVICES M ATA G O R D A B AY Speckled Trout / Redfish
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Call 361.983.4434 (cell 361.935.6833) Email lynn@tisd.net (tswf.com/lynnsmith)
94 | January 2019
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Designer & Manufacturer of Specialized High Performance Fishing Rods Office: 361.573.0300 805 B. South Bridge Victoria, TX 77901
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Science and the
Sea
TM
Christmas Tree Worms Stay Spirited All Year Families that celebrate Christmas will likely have a colorful tree lighting up their living room right now. But under the sea, millions of Christmas tree worms remain festive all year. Christmas tree worms, whose scientific name is Spirobranchus giganteus, have two spiraled crowns on their back that each resemble a tiny colorful Christmas tree.
Kyle Nethery
Christmas tree worms come in a wide variety of colors. Credit: Nick Hobgood, GNU Free These “trees” can be a single solid color but are also often multi-toned, with a second color gracing the outer tips of their spirals like garland. And these worms don’t restrict themselves to red and green. Some are a brilliant blue or bright yellow, while others might be white with orange tips, ruby with white tips, gold with maroon and white tips or any number of other combinations. These colorful spirals help the worm breathe and catch food. The worms anchor themselves to coral and use the feather-like tentacles protruding from their spirals to catch tiny prey from the surrounding water and move it to the worm’s mouth. If the worm is startled, it retreats into burrows in the coral to hide from possible predators. Over time, these burrows in the coral can reach 10 inches in length, providing a roomy hiding place for a critter that lives up to 30 years. These worms also help coral recover more quickly from bleaching events and protect it from predators. In fact, in perhaps a bit of an ironic twist, scientists have seen Christmas tree worms literally push away the feet of predatory crown of thorns starfish.
www.ScienceAndTheSea.org © The University of Texas Marine Science Institute
TSFMAG.com | 95
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