Do you keep a fishing
LOGBOOK? Capt. Kevin says you should.
GIANT Hammerhead
Billy Sandifer shares an awesome tale.
Only $3.95 www.tsfmag.com June 2012
SO LONG TO A TEXAS
FISHING ICON Remembering Capt. Bob “Red Bandana” Fuston.
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ABOUT THE COVER Shark angler Eric “Oz” Ozolins wrestles a female bull shark in the Padre Island National Seashore surf that taped 8.5 feet in length. This apex predator of the sea was tagged and released immediately following photos. Oz says she swam away in great shape.
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
CONTENTS
REGIONAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE
JUNE 2012 VOL 22 NO 2
FEATURES
Mike McBride Kevin Cochran Billy Sandifer Martin Strarup Chuck uzzle Everett Johnson Joe Richard
Donna Boyd Donna@tsfmag.com BuSINESS / ACCOuNTING MANAGER
34
DEPARTMENTS 25 46 48 50 54 56 58 62 64 66 70 76
Coastal Birding Let’s Ask The Pro Boat Maintenance Tips Fly Fishing TPWD Field Notes Conservation Kayak Fishing According to Scott Youth Fishing Texas Nearshore & Offshore Cade’s Coastal Chronicles Fishy Facts
WHAT OUR GUIDES HAVE TO SAY
82 84 86 88 90 92 94
Dickie Colburn’s Sabine Scene Mickey on Galveston Capt. Bill’s Fish Talk Mid-Coast Bays with the Grays Hooked up with Rowsey Capt. Tricia’s Port Mansfield Report South Padre Fishing Scene
102 4 | June 2012
Office: 361-785-3420 Cell: 361-649-2265 PRODuCTION COORDINATOR
08 The Process 16 Creating and Maintaining... 22 Midnight Express 26 Planning A Fishing Trip 30 How to Get Ahead of the Game 34 Adios, Mr. Red Bandana 36 Get Sporty with Red Snapper
58
Patti Elkins Patti@tsfmag.com
Dickie Colburn Mickey Eastman Bill Pustejovsky Gary Gray David Rowsey Capt. Tricia Ernest Cisneros
88
REGULARS 06 Editorial 80 New Tackle & Gear 96 Fishing Reports and Forecasts 100 Catch of the Month 102 Gulf Coast Kitchen
Billy Sandifer Jay Watkins Chris Mapp Casey Smartt Dr. Robert Vega CCA Texas Scott Null Scott Sommerlatte Marcos Garza Mike Jennings Cade Simpson Stephanie Boyd
Shirley Elliott Shirley@tsfmag.com CIRCuLATION SuBSCRIPTION – PRODuCT SALES Linda Curry Cir@tsfmag.com ADDRESS CHANGED? Email Store@tsfmag.com DESIGN & LAYOuT Stephanie Boyd stephanie@tsfmag.com Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine is published monthly. Subscription Rates: One Year (Free Emag with Hard Copy Subscription) $25.00, Two Year $45.00 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: 361-785-2844 MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, Texas 77983 PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 58 Fisherman’s Lane, Seadrift, TX 77983 WEB: www.TSFMAG.com PHOTO GALLERY: photos@tsfmag.com PRINTED IN THE USA. Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine (ISSN 1935-9586) is published monthly by Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine, Inc., 58 Fisherman’s Lane, Seadrift, Texas 77983 l P. O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983 © Copyright 1990 All rights reserved. Positively nothing in this publication may be reprinted or reproduced. *Views expressed by Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine contributors do not necessarily express the views of Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine. 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.
EDITORIAL A LITTLE RESPECT
PLEASE!
June marks the beginning of the busiest season on the Texas coast and I want to talk a bit about on-the-water etiquette. I see boating and fishing etiquette discussed on internet fishing sites. The discussion usually begins with a rant from some guy relating a tale of an inconsiderate boat operator “burning” his fishing spot, running through his drift or cutting off his wade. I believe the anonymity of cyber-space, much the way people used to act up on their CB radios, encourages bravado. The strongest rants include descriptions or even photos of offending watercraft along with latent terroristic desire to discharge flare guns or “chunk Super Spooks” at offenders. Nice! A notable recent account related the unsavory details of cranking up and running circles around waders that began fishing where other boats were drifting. I bet that little tirade solved a lot of problems. Time on the water is precious and nobody wants their opportunity to enjoy a fun and productive outing interrupted or diminished in any way by the inconsiderate actions of others. Now this is not to say that every time another boat comes too close or cuts your wade or drift the other guy was dead wrong or inconsiderate. We have a ton of new fishermen joining our ranks every season – and some just don’t yet have a clue. So before losing your temper, pretend that guy is your friend and guilty only of an honest mistake. Simply pick up and move to another spot if you feel that one is ruined. A few kind words will go a lot farther and may be exactly what the doctor ordered if indeed they are newbies. Fist shaking and other rude gestures have no place in fishing. Whether you know it or not, there’s a fight brewing. There is currently an organized effort underway to petition TPWD and lawmakers to regulate how we can use coastal waters by restricting boating and fishing activities in certain areas. LIFA is the acronym for Low Impact Fishing Area – see also No Motor Zone. Basically, fishermen who do not use shallow draft boats to access their wade and drift waters are tired of being run over on the flats. I am by no means a LIFA supporter but I too hate being burned and I doubt you’d dig it if it happened to you. Go around! Give the other guy a wide berth, as wide as you would like to be given. Try not to crowd. If the other guy gets there first, keep a polite distance or find another spot. Setting up to fish in a channel or slough that is the only access to other water is a bad idea unless you don’t mind boat traffic in your fishing hole. If you see a paddler or poler working a shoreline, get off of it, he was there first. And kayakers, please do not paddle three abreast down the middle of a channel, stay single file and hug the bank. If we cannot find better ways to use the water and respect our fellow users, we will invite more regulations than we probably want to live with.
6 | June 2012
Every sunrise is unique; what does nature have to offer today?
8 | June 2012
STORY BY MIKE MCBRIDE
the condItIons looKed absolutely perfect,
or at least you would have thought. A coveted southeast wind whispered just enough to tickle your hair and swarms of bite-size mullet flashed just below a troutgreen surface with each little peek of the sun. It was one of those days when any outdoorsman wanted to call in sick but we didn’t have to. We were already there, standing in cool knee-deep water with eager rods in hand. What could be better? unfortunately the fishing part could have been a lot better. We might as well have been in a stuffy cubicle if the “catching” part of this is what it’s all about. It didn’t matter who you were or who you thought you were, “it” was just not going to happen for the moment. Nature has her own peculiar schedule, and it’s not always in sync with our precious allotted time on the water. This particular scene is not uncommon. Many times the outdoors is just flat-out quiet. Little or no activity to either be seen or heard; and nothing is going to happen for hours or perhaps even the entire day. This time, even though we were looking right at fish so close we could almost poke them with a rod tip (and big fish at that), there was nothing we could do about it except salivate, cuss, and cast again. The little dinks weren’t even going to respond much less those lazy giants cruising past slowly under our noses. It happens, and it happens a lot, but then like some sort of magic switch gets flipped, the world changes and you can’t take a lure away from them. All of a sudden the birds get up, get loud, and baitfish come to the surface while topwaters start vanishing below it. Nature becomes fully charged, and if we’re lucky, we are there to be a part of it. For me, the most fascinating part of being a guide and on the water most days, under every condition imaginable, is watching how nature works on a daily basis. Each morning’s jump out of the harbor propels us into any one of her many fickle personalities. Every sunrise is unique, each point of the TSFMAG.com | 9
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compass offers a different wind scenario, and fractal cloud formations paint the sky with various colors of light and intensity. The ultimate and compelling drive, for me personally, is trying to answer the big unknown question for the day: “What does nature have to offer?” “Where are we going, Captain?” is a common question. Heck I don’t know but let’s get out there and find out! It’s all about working the entire “process” - which is in itself the ultimate challenge - and goes way beyond seeing how many Zip-Locks we can fill at the end of the day. The “process” I’m referring to means learning the formulas of nature and putting together as many elements as we can for a better chance at success. Many hopefuls just go to their favorite spot without much of a defined purpose, and if they bite - OK, and if they don’t - Oh well, at least it was fun trying. Anybody can have a good day, but few anglers experience enough of them to begin to understand the “why” of it all to the level of making it happen consistently. Let’s face it; being able to indentify and repeat patterns is what makes a good angler. It’s not only about finding
Finding fish when and where they will eat is what matters.
If the deer are prancing around, chances are good the fish are active as well.
fish, but finding fish when and where they will eat is what matters! There are, and always will be many things we will never know, so all we can do is take our best shot at what we think we have already figured out. What I think I know is that fish are usually in one of three basic modes - aggressive, neutral, or negative. When they are aggressive everybody is a hero. When they are neutral a good angler can still catch them but, nobody is catching anything when they truly go negative. We don’t know what causes these different attitudes, but we can certainly see them happen, especially at the extremes.
John Jeffrey was rewarded recently with a pair of 28-inchers and this 29 when the magic kicked in. All C&R – Way to go John!
12 | June 2012
14 | June 2012
starts up. It’s about working our highest potential guess at the highest potential time. There are many other elements we can put together, but it’s the very mindset of trying to find answers that will turn a trip into a true adventure. We have it fixed in our mind that nature is a woman, and a strange one I might add, but if we ever totally understand her we might as well go bowling, yet that perfect 300 probably ain’t happening very often either. In fishing, some days are gold and some days are coal, but there’s far more to this whole deal than whetting a fillet knife at the end of the day. It’s about “the process” - learning to learn, and success is far and away better measured in moments than in meat. I guess where I was trying to go with all this, as it might pertain to human behavior and fishing, might be best explained in a quote from Ayn Rand -- “A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” Here’s to understanding the process!
MIKE MCBRIDE
CONTACT
It’s interesting that all of nature seems to be part of a giant orchestra, and just like Grandpa said, “If the cows are laying down so are the fish.” Proof of Grandpa’s wisdom is seen daily here in Port Mansfield. If the deer are moving out of the tree line at sunrise, sparring and prancing around, chances are good that the fish are active out on the flats as well. If they are hunkered down in the brush chewing their cud, the fish are probably hunkered down too. So what triggers these aggressive spells or prolonged sulking periods? And what interests me most are those electrified times when the magic switch gets flipped and the entire orchestra rises in a giant crescendo. How can we know? We know the barometer plays a role, as when we see it abruptly rise or fall we generally see increased activity, but that really doesn’t make any sense when you consider that a fish can move up or down a mere six inches in the water column and overcome the wildest of atmospheric swings. We know the moon plays a role but, I have yet to meet the man who can explain why and I doubt seriously whether you have. Why do animals, fish in particular but other critters as well, become more active on moonrises, sets and transits? Why does life in general ramp up more aggressively during both full and new moon periods? All you have to do is ask the EMS paramedics or law enforcement folks, that word “lunatic” came from somewhere. I wonder if it might have been a fisherman trying to figure all of this out. How can we discover when to be where? Those times when the coyotes are yipping, the ospreys and pelicans are diving, and gamefish are energized and frothing up the water? All we can do is pull together as many “multipliers” as possible and hope for the best - such as being in front of a backwater drain right as the tide starts out and the moon
Mike McBride is a full time fishing guide based in Port Mansfield, TX, specializing in wadefishing with artificial lures.
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Note the bent tail on this original, sinking Corky. This modification often results in more bites in mucky water and/ or high winds. The 9 1/2 pound trout pictured here definitely liked the erratic movements caused by the bend!
16 | June 2012
STORY BY KEVIN COCHRAN
I recorded details
related to all my fishing excursions from late 1990 through early 2002. Keeping track of all these bits of information helped me become a better angler in a variety of ways. Consistency in the sport of lure fishing, as in all sports, is best achieved by those who learn to identify and eliminate mistakes, also to build on strengths and repeat successes. Identifying and eliminating weakness is not an easy task for fishermen. When an outing turns out to be less productive than desired, it’s often hard to elaborate on the reasons or factors which led to the outcome. Anglers who can’t clearly recognize flawed choices in location, strategy, lure choice and/or presentation, are likely to repeat the mistake(s) again. Likewise, anglers who fail to acknowledge key positive decisions will be less likely to build upon those strengths and repeat the success resulting from them. Recording and tracking relevant information over time helps studious anglers more quickly learn where to go (and not to go) and what to do (and not to do) in various fishing situations. For most, a more thorough fishing log is better than a sketchy, cryptic one. Journals are personal, though, and some people have the ability to remember and analyze greater amounts of data than others. Regardless of the learning style, preferences and needs of the angler, a good fishing log will include all or most of the information listed below. Any good log entry should include the date and time of the outing, and a list of all locations tried during the excursion. Ideally, some time frame for each stop will also be given. It’s important to include reference to locations where an effort was made without positive results, as this can be the most useful information of all in the end. The number of anglers making the excursion should be recorded too, perhaps even the names of those in the group. This type of
data can help one retrieve specific details from memory years later. It also clarifies results in a specific way; for instance, one angler catching twelve fish is a different outcome from four anglers catching the same number. A useful record definitely includes reference to all fish caught during an outing, including small fish that aren’t keepers according to state law. Anglers intent on becoming more versatile and targeting a variety of species should keep track of all types of fish in their logs. Those intent on focusing on one species might prefer to record details related only to those particular fish. Other references to size should also be made. For instance, I maintained a running count of keeper trout, reds and flounder caught on all trips for nearly thirteen years. I also monitored the number of trout caught exceeding twenty, twenty five and twenty seven inches. Additionally, I’d describe the exact dimensions of any exceptional fish caught, writing down the length, girth and/or weight of all “trophy“ specimens. Eventually, keeping track of these details helps one refine expectations and to better understand what “good fishing” is in a given season and situation. Failing to record these details will require one to fall back on fuzzy memory, which tends to exaggerate successes and failures and is in all ways inferior to accurate data recorded soon after a trip. Of course, other things should be included in a useful log entry too. The lures used on an excursion should be mentioned, at least in a general sense, even those that failed to produce strikes and/or caught fish. Knowing that “topwaters were tried unsuccessfully by everyone in the group” can be helpful, for instance. Though it is in many cases impossible to do so, recording the duration of use and success rate of every lure deployed is the information with the greatest potential for use. Certainly, recording specific lures used by name, including colors, TSFMAG.com | 17
jighead sizes and any other relevant information is better than just mentioning lure types generally. Taking this area of information further, recording specific presentations that did and did not work can be helpful in learning to maximize results. Certainly, if one style or method of presentation shined above all others, making note of the fact is important. Similarly, if one angler in the group doggedly stayed with one method without success, recording the fact is relevant. Incidentally, making reference to presentations means naming those presentations and using the names over time. Learning to describe environmental conditions in consistent terms is also helpful. Certainly, weather conditions should be mentioned in any daily fishing log. These conditions should include temperature, wind speed and cloud coverage. If significant changes occurred during the outing, such changes should be noted in as much detail as possible. Another thing to note is the moon phase and position in the sky, especially if a hot bite or drop-off in action obviously coincided with a particular part of the moon’s daily travels around the globe. understanding how the moon phase and position in the sky potentially affect the bite in an area can be critical in formulating plans for the timing of outings. For instance, strong moons create stronger than normal tides in some areas, and learning how these strong tides affect the bite potential is of huge importance in identifying the optimal times to fish and also the times when it’s basically impossible to catch fish. Strong tides will normally have a good “bite window” associated with them, but they can also muck up the water in places and create long lulls in the action too. In areas where strong tide movement occurs on a regular
Tim Duff y coaxed a violent strike from this 29 1/2 inch trout by deploying sharp side to side movements with a floating Corky Fat Boy. In the moderate water temperatures of spring, such presentations often work best.
18 | June 2012
basis, water must be moving in order to create the best opportunity for catching fish. Consequently, accurate tide movement data should be included in all fishing logs documenting efforts made in these types of areas. It might even be helpful to include both predicted tidal activity and observed activity, particularly if some discrepancy is noted between the two. Conversely, in areas lacking significant tide movement, like the hypersaline lagoon of Baffin Bay and areas of the Laguna Madre far removed from tide sources, the level of the tide is more important than the predicted movements. using a source like the TCOON Buoy system, which records tide levels (and other relevant information) at various sites along the coast, is the best way I’ve found to track the slowly rising and falling water in and around Baffin. Over time, cross-referencing the tide level with rates of success in areas will create a clearer picture of which spots work best with high tides and which work better when tides are low. Conclusions like those aid in the never-ending quest to go to the right places and do the right things at the right times. Keeping track of water conditions in a log helps clarify these choices too. One aspect of the water to be logged is the temperature, if possible. Doing so will require one to have a device for measuring the temperature during the day. This data is most important when temperatures are at their extremes. The same may be said for the other detail related to water conditions which should be
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Pink seemed to be the color of the constantly monitored: water clarity. day on 3/29/12. Noting such facts in Describing the water in consistent a log aids in the longstanding quest terms like ultra-clear, clear, trout green, for consistency. Glenn Winningham sandy and murky would be one effective used a pink Skitterwalk to trick this long, handsome trout. way; ranking the clarity on a scale of one to five or one to ten is another. In a numbering system, one might equate with ultra-clear while five would equal murky. Taking the scale out to ten would obviously give greater specificity than a five point system. Specificity is a key to all good fishing logs. Consistently catching fish on artificial lures requires skill in fish location, fishing strategies, lure choices and presentations. People who have the most information with which to work have the greatest chance of making the right choices more of the time. Recording as much specific data as possible aids in this endeavor. In addition to recording data in the specific areas, it’s also useful to include a paragraph or two of “thoughts and observations” at the bottom of each entry page. These comments are especially helpful in recording poignant events in a way which makes them easier to remember. Taking pictures of caught fish also aids in the long-term ability to remember details from an outing. Keeping pictures in the hard drive of a computer and numbering or naming them, then making reference to the files in the log is a good way to keep things organized. Keeping track of details is the ultimate goal of anyone who’s disciplined enough to create and maintain a useful fishing log. One way to generate a log is to use a paper notebook and record data with a pencil or pen. Perhaps a better I’ll be making regular changes to the new website, adding way for most is to set up a spreadsheet and enter the data by computer. blog entries and reports on an approximately weekly basis. I’ll A template can be created and saved in a folder, then copied and turned also continually update the pictures, videos and other files. The into a new page soon after a fishing trip is made. information and downloads available on captainkevblogs.com are I’ve created a sample spreadsheet to be used as a template for available free to all who visit the site. fishing logs. Anyone interested in downloading and using the template can access it on the internet by visiting my new website, www.captainkevblogs.com. From the home page, click on the Blogs Kevin Cochran is a full-time fishing guide text link in the photo banner. When on the blogs page, click on either at Corpus Christi (Padre Island), TX. Kevin is a speckled trout fanatic and has created the fishinglogtemplate.xlr or fishinglogtemplate.xls link, then save the several books and dvds on the subject. spreadsheet to a convenient location. Kevin’s home waters stretch from Corpus The template can then be customized and used to create fishing Christi Bay to the Land Cut. log pages. Simply copy the blank template each time before making Trout Tracker Guide Service an entry, fill in all the data in the categories, then save and name. Phone 361-688-3714 Creating a folder to house the template and all named entries will in Email kevxlr8@mygrande.net essence complete the creation of a fishing log, which can, of course, Web www.FishBaffinBay.com www.captainkevblogs.com be printed and turned into a hard copy if desired.
Contact
Kevin Cochran
20 | June 2012
STORY BY BILLY SANDIFER
I spent three tours of duty (total 4.5 years)
in our military stationed down at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – the place known to military personnel as “Gitmo.” I re-enlisted for two years on a guarantee that I would spend that entire enlistment specifically at Gitmo. The reason for this was that I was desperately in need of an adrenalin fix and there was no war to go to at the time. I needed a mission. You see, during my second tour down there, I had learned there was a genuine resident sea monster at Gitmo that would prove a more than formidable adversary for any man or beast – that being a twenty-five foot long 22 | June 2012
Greater Hammerhead that was officially known as Midnight Express. That shark seemed to come into the bay system there at the base on a regular basis at night and had a really nasty habit of attacking Cuban refugees attempting to swim the bay at night seeking political asylum at Gitmo. They assigned me to the Base Police Department and put me in charge of the Harbor Police Division. Doing regular day and night patrols of the bay in a Boston Whaler for 24 hours and then 48 hours off was about as good as it gets. Now there are lots of coral and reefs in Cuban waters and I had to pick a spot that was relatively coral free to have a chance at such a giant fish on a rod and reel. I chose the Coast Guard Pier near
TSFMAG.com | 23
the mouth of the bay. Penn Senator 16/0 and 14/0 reels were used and I kept the baits rather small as I actually had to lay out loops of line on the pier and then “hammer throw” the leaders and baits away from the pier. I caught many species of fish including Atlantic goliath grouper, medium-sized tiger and hammerhead sharks, tarpon and large cubera snapper. I had snaps on ropes that secured the rod and reel outfits to the pier to keep them from getting jerked overboard and fished with the reels in gear with a medium-light drag engaged. Long about 10:00 p.m. one evening, that 14/0 took off so fast that a halo of moisture rose from the spool of the reel. I had never seen line disappear off a reel that fast before and I never have since. Quick as I could I got into the harness and belly plate and tightened down the drag and tried to set the hook. For all my effort I could not raise the bent rod and honestly I got the feeling that fish never even knew I was there. It was everything I could do to keep my footing and then it was gone. Hammerheads are famous for doing this very thing and the trick is shortly they come back and pick the same bait up again. That Penn Senator 14/0 reel contained 1450 yards of 130 pound test Dacron line but as I looked down at it I was amazed to see at least 500 yards had been taken out during that brief run. I began cranking line back onto the reel as fast as I could and when my two friends asked why I replied, “Because she’ll be back any second and we need every foot of line we can get before she does.” I might have cranked 200 yards back on the reel when I was jerked forward as the fish hit the bait again as I was cranking it in. I was still snapped into the reel with the harness and belly plate and
24 | June 2012
the hard jerk knocked me off my feet and my left knee hit hard on a large, metal mooring cleat on the edge of the pier in front of me. My friends were keeping me from getting pulled off the pier by holding onto the back of my shoulder harness as I was badly off balance and on my knees. She took off strong but didn’t run as far this second time before spitting the bait. I never got up but had one of my friends take the belly plate off me and sit it on the pier in front of me. I kept the harness on and put the rod butt in the belly plate and braced both of my feet on the large, metal cleat and cranked line while a friend ran for my hammer and REALLY tightened down the drag. My arm was getting tired of the extended, high speed cranking but I kept it up till the bait was only about 150 yards from the pier and then I stayed in that position and waited. I had just lit a cigarette when she hit the bait hard twice in succession and then took off at that unbelievable speed again - in spite of the maximum drag setting on the reel. The pressure of her run raised my backside up off the deck and I kept rocking back while pushing hard against the cleat with my braced legs in an attempt to slow her and get a good hook set. I was using every fiber of my body; straining every muscle as hard as I could, while my two friends each kept one hand on the back of my shoulder harness for fear I would get pulled in. None of it had any effect on the fish whatsoever. When about 1,000 yards of line was off the spool my shoulders and forearms began to burn like fire and as the distance increased they became numb. Then just to add insult to injury when the spool was down to maybe 40 or 50 yards remaining she spit the bait again. She had just for all practical purposes stripped the second
largest reel in the world simply by holding the bait in her teeth - just because she could – and never got hooked. I cranked a few hundred yards back on the reel just to be on the safe side although I was sure she was through for the night and unsnapped my harness from the reel and secured it to the pier with the safety rope once again. Then I just lay back on the deck for a long time as pain worked its way up and down my body. When I could focus I lay there looking at the stars and marveling at the fact that 130 pound test line had not broken under such pressure. Then I dozed off a bit in place without ever moving. When I woke I cranked in the rest of my line, gathered my gear and threw the rod and reel over my shoulder to go get some sleep. The two fishermen who had shared the experience with me laughed and asked, “Well, what do you do now Billy?” I chuckled and said, “That fish can’t be stopped on a rod and reel from a pier so I’m going to get a boat.” But then that is the beginning of another story.
Contact
Billy Sandifer Retired after 20+ years of guiding anglers in the Padre surf, Billy Sandifer (“Padre of Padre Island” to friends & admirers) is devoted to conserving the natural wonders of N. Padre Island & teaching all who will heed his lessons to enjoy the beauty of the Padre Island National Seashore responsibly. Phone 361-937-8446 Website www.billysandifer.com
Franklin’s Gull -Larus pipixcanI’m receiving e-mails from people living inland reporting concentrations of thousands of gulls moving north over their area and asking why. The sightings are normal for this time of year and are groups of up to 100,000 Franklin’s Gulls migrating from wintering grounds in South and Central American to their breeding grounds on freshwater marshes and ponds of Canada and the northern U.S. plains. Slightly smaller than Laughing Gulls, Franklin’s has a white bar separating the gray of the wing from the black wing tip. There may be a pale rosy blush to their white breasts.
The white at the wingtip is the characteristic that most distinguishes the Franklin’s Gull from its close cousin the Laughing Gull. Length: 14.5 inches Wingspan: 26 inches
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26 | June 2012
STORY BY MARTIN STRARUP
When you are going on a fishing trip,
how much thought and planning do you give it before actually hitting the road? Even if it’s a day trip, and not overnight, what all is involved? For me, planning even a day trip includes what would seem to be a lot of trouble but is actually just a checklist of preventative maintenance and other things that will save you grief later on. The more times that you check these things the faster you will learn to get them done. So the day before our trip we do the following. We gather our tackle and that includes checking hooks on lures, making sure our reels are working smoothly and properly lubricated, testing the drag to insure it is smooth and not jerky, making sure the zippers on our wading boots work and that our belts are good to go. We check our rods and make sure those pliers and stringers that go with our wading gear are in good workable condition. We also check our first aid box and make sure everything is there and that nothing has expired. We check the boat trailer tires, winch strap and lights to make sure all is well and I always make sure the license plate is still where it is supposed to be. We also check to make sure that the safety chain is attached to the bow hook of the boat where the winch strap connects. We grease the hubs and note the condition of the lug nuts. Check to make sure that the safety chains are crossed when you hookup to the tow vehicle and while you’re down double-check that the hitch is properly connected to the ball on your trailer hitch. I
always put a lock on my hitch to prevent it from coming open; either by accident or from someone at the ramp doing it for me. We make sure the boat is fueled and that all electronics are working properly. Power trim and tilt and jack plate working okay? Yup - we check that too as well as making sure the outboard will start and that the batteries are fully charged. We check the running lights and we make sure that all hatch and hull plugs are accounted for. We also check to be sure the kill-switch lanyard is on board; sure is hard to start the outboard without one but then I won’t run a boat if that lanyard isn’t connected to my wrist. We make sure that the throttle is pushed forward out of neutral so the prop doesn’t spin in the wind all the way to the launch ramp. I check the bow rope and the anchor rope for any abrasions or cuts and make sure the chain and clevis are in good condition. We grease the fittings on the outboard, make sure that the hydraulic steering is free and easy, check the prop nut and then store the grease gun in the truck tool box for giving the hubs another shot of grease before we head home after the trip. We make sure that we have the correct number of life jackets onboard, a throw cushion, and we check the fire extinguisher to be sure it is still charged. The whistle, flares and other safety items are checked and don’t forget that those flares have an expiration date on them. We top off the oil reservoir and check the bilge pump before closing the last hatch. The next thing that we do is check the fluids in the truck and the air pressure in the tires and we’re ready to pack things up. How many people are going on this fishing trip? What and how TSFMAG.com | 27
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much will they drink and what about food? We usually take a case of bottled water with us; that’s 32 16-ounce bottles which is more than enough and there is usually some cold beer in the cooler for the boat ride back. If we’re going to eat lunch when we get back to the dock we don’t take much in the way of food but if I’ve had the time to go by and pick some up we’ll have a bag of Prasek’s jerky in the cooler to tide us over until we hit a cafe. “You do this every time you go on a fishing trip?” You betcha we do buckaroo, if we’re trailering the boat to go fishing. Too many times I’ve seen boats at the ramp that wouldn’t start due to a dead battery or the jack plate won’t work or the power trim and tilt isn’t working or…the outboard won’t start for whatever reason. On more than one occasion I’ve seen winches locked up tight and the owner had to cut the strap to unload the boat. (I don’t know how he secured it later when he pulled the boat out of the water.) How many people get a ticket every year from the Game Warden or from the uSCG because they don’t have the correct safety equipment onboard? “Well it was there two weeks ago when I last used my boat.” That won’t really help you, trust me, I’ve been there. Oh and how many of you keep a pair of jumper cables in the boat? The day will come when you will come across someone who will need them. That someone might even be you. Sure beats towing or being towed and jumper cables are not that expensive. I used to leave the kill-switch lanyard on the kill-switch when trailering. No problem right? Well after arriving in Port O’Connor one morning before daylight imagine my dismay when it wasn’t there. It was simply gone and either someone took it or it blew out of the boat. In any case I was loaned one by a friend who happened along at the right time or I would have had to wait until well after daylight to buy a replacement. Now we remove our lanyard before we trailer and stow it in a dry box where there are a couple of spares to keep it company. There is also a spare key for the outboard in that box. I got to Bird Island Basin on PINS one morning to discover I had left the boat key at home in El Campo. We didn’t get to do any fishing that morning but breakfast at Denny’s was pretty good although the company at the table was a little on the grouchy side. I see trailers on the side of the highway quite often because a bearing has gone out. I have pulled in a lot of boats because of various problems, one of which is a lack of gasoline to keep the motor running and I’ve seen boats unloaded into the harbor that are missing a plug or two. I remember one morning two men unloaded their boat, one handling the truck and the other in the boat. He started the motor, backed the boat off of the trailer, pushed the throttle forward and ran into the dock because the steering rod was frozen due to it having not been greased in
Be Safe.
Martin Strarup
Contact
quite some time. All of which could have been avoided if the captain would have checked the boat before the trip. What we do before a trip to the bay may seem to be overkill but as I said, it’s just not that hard to do. With the cost of gasoline these days, a little preventative maintenance, common sense and knowing your equipment can keep you fishing all day instead of sitting on the side of the road or ICW, at the ramp or at a boat shop. What’s your time worth? Oh and that before trip preparation might also save someone’s life.
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
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30 | June 2012
STORY BY CHUCK UZZLE
One of the biggest and most intriguing factors that keep fishermen coming back day after day is the process of discovery; figuring out the puzzle so to speak. The task of sifting through all the variables and making sense out of all the factors in order to establish a pattern is what drives many anglers. Unknowingly we all go through the same process every time we fish but without the fanfare. Most of us don’t realize we are even doing it, establishing a pattern, but just as sure as water is wet we are doing exactly that. Now there are way more folks who fall into the category of “routine” fishermen than those who actually take the time to go about defining and unraveling a solid pattern. The guy who hooks his boat up, launches at the same ramp, fishes the same spots and throws the same bait trip after trip is what I call a “routine” fisherman. The law of averages eventually rewards this guy with a good trip, just enough hope and success to keep him coming back. Now I’m not going to tell you that what the “routine” fisherman does is wrong because different folks have different goals and expectations – and if “routine” fisherman has a good time on the water and enjoys his trip then more power to him. But, there is much more out there to see and a whole lot more fish to be caught. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the technique of establishing a pattern I ever heard of was demonstrated by a very accomplished guide on Sam Rayburn by the name of Will Kirkpatrick. Will actually taught classes on fishing and showed anglers how to apply the techniques he taught. One of Will’s best lessons was How to Establish a Pattern. Anglers in the class were given a stack of 3x5 note cards before they went out to fish. On the cards the
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anglers were to write down a variety of information every time they got a bite or caught a fish. Water depth, surrounding structure, water temp, lure, retrieve speed, and so on were all noted by each angler. At lunch or dinner that evening the anglers were to bring their stack of cards and start sorting through them. Little by little each card was placed into categories until they were all done. It was amazing at the end of the sorting process how each angler could now physically put their hand on one stack, that was usually the largest, and see exactly what the common denominators were in their pattern. This process is what we as anglers need to be able to do mentally in order to narrow down the options and realize just exactly what the pattern is for that specific day. Okay so now you understand the method of how to decipher the pattern, the only question is, “How do I get started?” A few basic qualifiers come to mind that should shed some light on the subject before we get started. The first one has to be about things you cannot control, meaning weather conditions. Weather obviously plays a huge factor in determining your strategy for that day’s trip on the water. For arguments sake we are going to make weather a non-factor, it’s drop-dead perfect conditions and no water is off-limits due to bad wind or other limiting factors. The next uncontrollable factor has to be tides, either you have them or you don’t - no in between. Tidal movement will certainly influence your approach and should determine where and how you 32 | June 2012
start your day. Now we have determined that we have tidal movement and good weather so the next piece of the puzzle to fill in is, “What type of lure do I start off with?” In a situation like this I personally like to find a lure that enables me to cover a lot of water and possibly take advantage of an aggressive bite. For years this was the standard game plan for some of the best big trout hunters in the business. Show up on a picture perfect flat and start the session throwing a Jumpin’ Minnow. The first big surface eruption let them know there were fish in the area and then it was time to get down to business. If the fish didn’t eat off the surface the switch was made to a Corky or possibly a Broken Back and that was all she wrote. No there weren’t any sexy “blow ups” or anything like that but the strike to hook up ratio was often off the chart and that’s what really mattered. The topwater plug helped find the fish and the more subtle approach from the subsurface offerings caught the fish. Now speaking of subsurface offerings, it’s always a good idea to start your fishing trip with each angler throwing a different bait in order to cover the most area and different depths of water. The folks starting with soft plastics can also take advantage of different bait profiles to help them cover the water more efficiently and that’s important. A soft plastic with a paddle tail will emit more vibration than a straight-tailed bait and that makes it easier for fish to find.
buddy or a guide and they tell you something is going to happen and as soon as you stop the boat it does exactly as they said, suddenly it seems as though everything in the world is right. The more skilled you become at putting these pieces together and being able to decipher the puzzle, as Will Kirkpatrick taught, the more enjoyable your trips on the water will become. Don’t become a creature of habit, take the clues you are given and put them in order in a very simple and basic fashion and watch what happens. The results become much more predictable and your time on the water becomes much more pleasant as your results get better with each trip. I remember hearing a long time ago, “Knowledge is power and, the more you know the better off you are.” This could not be more true than in fishing.
Chuck Uzzle
Contact
The quicker a fish can find your offering the sooner you can start to refine your pattern and possibly get on better quality fish. Now as a guide it’s always fun to start experimenting with other colors, sizes, and presentations once you get a pattern figured out and start catching fish. I can’t tell you how many times while fishing with customers that someone on the boat started trying a new color or retrieve only to find out that it worked even better than what we were doing originally. A small variation can sometimes make all the difference between a good day and great one. The variations are great to play around with once you begin catching fish but I personally don’t get too caught up with ultra-specific colors in the beginning. My thoughts are you have to start somewhere and that’s usually pretty simple - dark or light. Decide from the start who will throw a dark bait and who will throw a lighter colored bait. Let the results point you in a direction and then get more specific with colors or shades. Don’t get so hung up on a color or combination that it causes you to not have confidence in the bait you are using, though. If your soft plastic doesn’t have the exact number of sparkles in it I’m sure you can still catch fish. I think the basic color concept of light or dark is more important than whether a bait comes from the exact slice of the color spectrum as another. Now I have been proven wrong on a few occasions by some super spooky redfish but that is more the exception than the rule. I say, “Don’t get too hung up on the little things.” A truly dialed-in pattern is a thing of beauty and helps to promote confidence in any angler. When you step on a boat to go fish with your
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 cuzzle@gt.rr.com Website www.chucksguideservice.net
Capt. Bob with grandkids on one of his last fishing trips.
STORY BY EVERETT JOHNSON The Texas saltwater fishing community lost an icon on April 23, 2012 when Capt. Bob Fuston went to eternal rest following extended illness at the age of 78 years. Capt. Bob was born August 11, 1933 to Earl and Pricie Dugger Fuston in the north-central Texas community of Brownwood. Bob died in his old hometown of Glen Rose where he resided before and following his illustrious and colorful twenty-three year career as a fishing guide at Port Mansfield. Bob served in the uS Navy and then worked as an electrician, raising a family at Glen Rose. He worked a number of years for Brown and Root’s Nuclear Division on the construction of two power plants in North Carolina. Bob then worked as a superintendant over electrical instrumentation during construction of the Comanche Peak power plant near Glen Rose. Bob married Fran Riddle in April 1980, the same year he followed doctor’s advice and retired from the high-stress world of construction management. Seeking an easier lifestyle, he and Fran packed up and moved to Port Mansfield. 34 | June 2012
His association with Port Mansfield began in the 1970s as a guest on corporate fishing trips. Lured by great offshore fishing Bob began making trips of his own and soon bought a boat that he kept in Port. His entry into the charter business was in offshore fishing but he soon learned the weather and seas simply wouldn’t allow a small boat operator enough days to make a living. That’s when he sold the big boat and began working the bays. Bob said the red bandana trademark was never planned. “Back when Fran and I first moved to Port we had a little rent house that was always hot as heck in the room I used as a shop. I was a hobby rod builder and trying to wrap a few to sell as I got started in the charter business. The sweat would just pour off me so I’d tie a red handkerchief around my forehead; that was the only color I owned. I would take a break and go to the post office and such…we pretty much stayed to ourselves, nobody knew my name, they just called me ‘that red bandana guy.’” Red was definitely Bob’s color. After becoming established in the guiding business he ran a red Shallow Sport and often dressed in red
Capt. Bob about 1990.
Bruce Shuler with some memorabilia.
tee shirt and shorts. Of course he wore the bandana all the time. the fish. Grissom was not. Pretty soon he says ‘that contraption is just During an interview Bob granted me in 2002 when I was running mauling them.’ I rigged one on his line and by the end of the day he was a series of articles on coastal legends he related tales of his start in the calling it the marvelous Mansfield mauler.” Bob went on to explain that guiding business, attributing much of his early success to Bob Brister at like Brister’s piece in the Chronicle; Ken’s story in the Post lent not only the Houston Chronicle and Ken Grissom at the Houston Post. a name for his invention but an even busier guiding schedule. “I was “Sportswriters had a huge following back then. Brister was a friend booked solid,” he added, “and everybody wanted a Mauler.” and great sportsman who loved fishing the Laguna Madre. I started Through relations with tackle salesmen and reps, Bob’s Mansfield guiding in 1981 and he came down in 1982 and I took him fishing. Mauler business grew with incredible speed. Fran was running a tackle We had a great day and he wrote a very nice story in factory of sometimes a dozen employees in their home the Chronicle. That right there really got my and Bob was fishing every day. Bright yellow The man in red. phone to ringing,” he said pointing at a packages emblazoned with a caricature yellowed news clipping. of the Red Bandana himself were Bob then went into the story soon available in tackle shops of the Mansfield Mauler. “I had across Texas. an elderly client that fished Bob will long be with me often and he had remembered as a fun guide trouble keeping his lures to fish with, the man who out of the grass, so I began gave us the Mansfield Mauler, tinkering with floats on his and most importantly, a man line. Each improvement led of standup character - a true to the next and soon we had a gentlemen. stiff piece of monofilament rigged Capt. Terry Neal, a legend in with a crappie float and beads for more his own right around Port Mansfield, noise that was working pretty good but describing Bob’s contribution to Texas fishing prone to tangling. Jim Cooper, owner of the Tackle says, “Everybody remembers him as the inventor of Box in San Antonio, suggested I try a piece of wire instead and that the Mansfield Mauler and that’s true. But Bob made other contributions was my light bulb moment.” as well. Capt. Bob was the grandfather of wade fishing in the Lower The infamous freeze of 1983 made for very tough fishing. Rigging Laguna Madre, back when everybody else stayed in the boat.” clients with his so-far un-named contraption as he called it, Bob’s Capt. Bruce Shuler of Getaway Adventures Lodge for whom Capt. charters during the 1984 season were gaining notoriety for the Bob ran charters in the latter part of his guiding career says, “Capt. Bob numbers of fish landed. was a legend, mentor and always a special friend. Never an alarm clock “That’s when Ken Grissom came down to fish with me,” he said. “Ken guide, always thinking of the client’s satisfaction, never coming in until was friends with NFL player Gerald Wilson and they put a trip together the clients had enough. Bob had a deep respect for the resource and with his wife Marty, who had never caught a fish. Ken wanted to do a always displayed solid conservation ethic.” story for the newspaper.” Adios Red Bandana! Thanks for the memories and all that you gave “It turned out that Marty got a big redfish on her third or fourth cast the fishermen of the Texas coast. using my float rig. I was using one, as was Gerald, and we really got into TSFMAG.com | 35
: Keep it sporty by drifting past the platforms up to 100 yards away, safely beyond the triggerfish zone. Jigs tipped with cigar minnows will take these baits down fast enough, and if something steals a bait, a variety of gamefish may still hit the jig, including another red snapper.
36 | June 2012
A big boat from Beaumont racking up a limit of “sow” snapper for a crew of lady anglers. It didn’t take long.
r t y o p w S i th t e G STORY BY JOE RICHARD
Snapper season starts June 1st
and as everyone knows, it’s now easier to catch big red snapper than at any time in our lives. Even the graybeards know this is true. Today, saddled with the shortest snapper season in history, at 40 days, and with the average size of Gulf snapper now exceeding six pounds, the entire issue of bag limits and season has turned thorny indeed. While some boat crews openly mutter about hiding extra snapper in their boats, in defiance of federal law, others are pondering how to make their meager catch more sporting.
Even a short bus full of kids can catch limits of 10-pounders these days, but somehow that plentitude is never enough to satisfy federal fish managers. Anyway, some pointers below on instilling sport into the current two-fish snapper limit held mostly during the windy month of June. Everyone knows you should aim for bigger fish; keeping a couple of 17-inchers, after banging your way out past nine miles into federal waters, doesn’t make much sense. Unlike redfish, “sow” snapper (as we called them many years ago) are almost as good to eat as the smaller ones. That’s why every angler today prefers a couple of bigger snapper, say a minimum 12 pounds or so. Angler preference for big TSFMAG.com | 37
Even kids are catching 12-pounders these days, so its best to keep it sporty. POC’s Miss Lilly with a 15-pounder, the boat tied up in the shade.
snapper somehow mystified fishery biologists, whose early calculations about population recovery never took this into account when allowing annual catch quotas. Permitted annual landings are calculated in pounds, not fish. Whoops! Back to the drawing board. Try Jigging We had lots of fun with snapper last summer, using methods from decades ago, when we jigged up big fish, even from the stern of partyboats. Over the years since then, a favorite trick has been to drift-fish 50 to 100 yards past the platforms, beyond the (bait-stealing) triggerfish zone, after marking fish at mid-depth. up-current of a platform is also good, where only stronger fish prowl unless the current is very weak. Pin a cigar minnow or something similar (even a mullet) to a 2-ounce bucktail jig, and drop it deep. In the 1990s this was fine for catching five-fish limits of 12-pounders, and may not necessarily be sporting today, with shorter bag limits. Perhaps we should now use no bait at all? Big snapper, after all, will attack a plain white jig if you give it a little action. And sometimes no action at all, on some of today’s prime rocks offshore—where the big ones bite while the jig still sinks, and your reel suddenly speeds up under a panicky thumb. That’s when you slap that reel in gear and hang on…
Marilyn Giessel out of POC with another keeper snapper. You don’t have to travel far offshore for these fish.
38 | June 2012
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Double header of snapper for a crew off Sabine Pass, while drifting over a deep rock.
Use Trout Tackle With jigs, there’s no use in using heavy boat tackle. Back in the day we had many a desperate fight with 15-pound snappers while using 7-foot trout/bass rods and Ambassadeur 5500 reels, today what we would call jetty tackle in Port O’Connor. This lighter tackle, while the boat was tied to a Gulf platform, was often useless when a big sow headed for cover. Try drifting 100 yards from platforms, and you’re free to fight them even without tightening the reel’s drag. A 15-pounder puts up a considerable fight on this tackle, similar to or exceeding a redfish of equal size. Spin Gear For even more sport, go with spin tackle. Spin is somewhat rare along the Texas coast, except in the lower Laguna Madre (where wind is always a factor, but it somehow gets more fight out of every fish. Last summer with Alan Reynolds’ crew, way offshore in blue water off Port Arthur, we made drifts over his favorite snapper rock, where I used spin for the first time. I was hoping we’d anchor and turn the water red with fish behind the boat, but it was just too easy in calm conditions to slowly drift for hundreds of yards, fighting snapper. (As in, we don’t need no stinkin’ anchor). Even over offshore rocks, however, protective cover might only be a short run for a big fish. With spin gear that day, I waylaid 27 nice snapper. Granted, it was 65-pound braid line on a sailfish rod, but the fight was sporty while using one of my home-made two-ounce banana bucktail jigs, fashioned from a Barlow mold. This jig was mostly white, but with a tuft of green deer hair I’d wrapped on the 40 | June 2012
side. After landing many snapper, something ponderous grabbed the lucky jig and finally took it to the bottom, though I was pulling back hard…The line broke or was cut on bottom. Maybe it was a Warsaw grouper, because Alan landed a 20-pounder a few minutes later on heavier gear with his bigger Snapper Slapper jig. I tied on another jig and on the next cast was “bowed up” again. That day I was using large five-inch pilchards I’d castnetted in the surf at the Alabama State Pier, during a road trip. Iced them down and headed for Port Arthur. Offshore the next day, you simply hooked one through the lips or eyes, and dropped it down. The other guys were using stinky menhaden (called shad), which works great, of course. But for the first time, my hands and clothes weren’t smelly from baitfishing snapper—those pilchards were covered with large scales and were not messy. Not that I’m shy of using pogies, the staple bait we were raised on when offshore of Port Arthur. I suspect six-inch mullet would have worked just as well, though not many people catch their own bait these days. Other crew members that day stuck with their bigger Slapper jigs, those big, hairy creations that big snapper love to grab, but my two-ounce jig with a pilchard was a hot ticket. It isn’t every day you toss back 25 snapper weighing from three to 12 pounds on jigs. We could often see 20 red shapes under the boat, so we hooked them shallow and all released fish dove back down. In deeper water that isn’t so easy. I still haven’t tried my modest collection of “heavy metal” jigs up to a foot long, like those made by Williamson, but those would be sporty too. I’ll try them this June; might as well keep it sporty this
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year, and stop sweetening jigs with baitfish. Catching big snapper without bait is a kick, and perhaps they’ll taste even better on the grill. (We favor the big, mesquite-grilled fillets covered with butter and Tony’s spice).
Alan Reynolds with a hefty snapper caught with a big jig off Sabine Pass.
Flycast I haven’t tried it yet, but we have friends like Ben Maroquin of Austin who have caught sow snappers on fly tackle. They were in only 50 feet of water on the right day with a light current, using a sinking line, and after chumming snapper close to the surface. Of course, you would need to be in open away from the platform. A bushy fly works fine here, because these fish aren’t exactly persnickety about fly patterns. Chum Snapper to the Surface You hear tales of anglers offshore dumping five-gallon buckets of chum, and watching red snapper feed on the surface. I’ve chummed up a few on occasion, usually while targeting kingfish, though without dumping an entire bucket. On one notable occasion at sunset, at a partyboat rock 45 miles down the Galveston fairway, we had big snapper on the surface itself, gulping down small menhaden. One of the snappers was literally right on the surface, and the sunset shone even redder through his upraised dorsal fin. I thought to myself: Okay, that’s impossible, but I just saw it anyway. Depth of water was 75 feet or so and these “bottom-dwelling” snapper were right on top. I should have switched to a topwater popper and kept it sporty. Maybe walked the dog. Thirty or forty years ago, a friend might see or hear of snapper that “turned the water red” at some spot off the Texas coast, though maybe once a year, and it was something to ponder and dream of. Today, you can see something like that on most any summer weekend offshore, if you try just a little. Carry chum and dish it out, and watch what happens. Texas red snappers are no longer furtive or shy. Maybe we can take the tackle down to six-pound crappie gear, or a light handline. Catching a sow snapper on six-pound line would be a challenge, much better than the pool cue snapper rods we started with on partyboats in the 60’s. Because let’s face it, catching a two-fish snapper limit with sturdy 4/0 tackle is now about the easiest thing in the world. Once you arrive well offshore, of course. In June, catching a calm weekend is far more tricky. 42 | June 2012
Ben Maroquin subdues a big red snapper on fly tackle
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Science and the Sea
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Growing Larger than Life What is the greatest size and age a living thing can achieve? Seagrass meadows may hold the answer. Seagrasses are flowering plants that have adapted to live submerged in the ocean. Although there are only about 60 species, they cover a vast amount of the world’s temperate and tropical coastal areas. Seagrasses can reproduce sexually with flowers and seeds, but it is thought they spread more quickly by asexual reproduction, where new shoots form along the plant’s underground runner, or rhizome. Each shoot has the same genetic makeup, or genotype, as the parent plant. Spreading this way, seagrasses can form huge clones – meadows of shoots that all share the same genotype. Posidinia oceanica, a long-lived, slow-growing seagrass species found in the Mediterranean Sea, takes this strategy of growth to the extreme. To find out just how much a single clone could spread, scientists sampled seagrass patches in different parts of the Mediterranean. What they found was astonishing: individual clones covered distances of more than a mile, with the largest clone they found spanning a whopping 9 miles. This puts Posidonia in contention as one of the largest clonal organisms on Earth! Even more impressive than the seagrass clone’s size was its age. Individual shoots only live a few years. But using computer models and prior knowledge about the rate at which Posidonia spreads, scientists were able to estimate that, to reach a miles-wide size, the seagrass clones had been growing for tens of thousands of years! With future seagrass research, scientists hope to learn more about the potential for clonal organisms to live longer – and larger – than ever thought possible.
The University of Texas
Marine Science Institute www.ScienceAndTheSea.org © The University of Texas Marine Science Institute
44 | June 2012
Beautiful calm conditions, great for fishing but tough for catching.
J AY WAT K I N S
ASK THE PRO
I am enjoying a good shallow water bite here in Rockport so far this spring. I owe my confidence in fishing shallow for trout to the amount of time and experience I have gained farther south where larger numbers of big trout prove to us time and time again just how much time upper-class trout spend shallow. I am almost convinced that they would live their life out shallow if excessive cold did not run them deeper from time to time. Our numbers are generally decent working the shallow flats and we have landed a few very nice fish. I have personally landed a 7-plus fishing with my clients and Jennifer Ray caught an 8-pound trout just yesterday, both from water that was less than knee deep. All our shallow water fish are coming from areas of hard sand bottom with sparsely scattered grassbeds and shallow sand humps. The grass beds plus the sand humps create contour and help disguise the oversized residents. While it is true that the current spawning activity is the reason for some of these trout inhabiting the shallow zones; I’m thinking that the more time we spend shallow the more big fish we might encounter. Mike McBride touched on this in his last article and his thoughts about why these fish go shallow and stay shallow is not always understood but possible reasons are many. Bottom line, they are where we find them and if we look shallow long enough we’re bound to discover more of them in more of those out of the way places - and we might just have 46 | June 2012
them all to ourselves. Fishing shallow has numerous advantages and I’d like to touch on a few to help you catch more of them. I have said a million times that the wind is our friend and never is this truer than when fishing shallow. Dead calm allows us to see more fish but it also usually equates to super-clear water and that can be the kiss of death. What we want is 15 to 20 mph wind, enough sun to see the structure, and a midday or early afternoon feed period (check your solunar chart.) That’s a lot of want but we actually see a number of such days during May and early June. While in the want mode, I also prefer the midday feed because I can see fish better with the sun directly overhead. I believe that well-placed casts and a developed sixth sense of where the bite will come are crucial to success. Winds 15 to 20 in my area of the coast will create a slight sanding of the water. This cloak of cover often dulls the wariness of big trout enough to allow us an opportunity to catch that truly special fish. Wind velocities in this range also allow for optimal casting distances which again I believe is a critical key to success. Areas within a flat where bait activity appears most concentrated are often the best but, not always. Recently I have noticed that many of the bigger trout seem to be staged on the outer perimeter of the actual location of the bait. I certainly believe that big trout mingle with larger bait fish waiting for that perfect sized one mullet
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meal but, they also hang on the fringes because moving among them makes them spooky. We discover these things by being observant and diligent in our pursuit. Over the years I have noticed that many of my best fishermen are also hunters with strong predator intuition of their own. One of the greatest advantages of fishing shallow is the lack of fishing pressure and this brings many positives to the fishing success equation. Here in the Rockport area we have many airboats that run the shorelines but most all of them are courteous and give us a wide berth. Maybe they recognize that the one short silhouette among three or four taller ones is me and that encourages good manners, but mostly I believe it is the demonstration of generally growing respect for fellow anglers and the desire to treat people right that treat them right. We certainly reap what we sow in this life. Another thing you will notice is that once you are positioned on a flat most all of Lifetime best for Jennifer Ray, 29-plus and 8 pounds your fishing pressure will be from offshore caught on Bass Assassin in knee deep water with NE winds traffic which can actually drive fish to the at 25 mph. Fish was photographed and released. What an shallow water your already occupying. Just awesome display of respect for such a great fish. yesterday as a boat buzzed by closer than I like, I said to one of my guys, “Watch this – somebody is going to hookup,” and sure enough we did. The traffic pushes them off one grass bed to another. In their line of flight we stand and reap the rewards. I have applied this tactical approach further down the coast as well with just as much success. Too many times we do not pay attention to just how far away from boat traffic fish actually react. The best story ever to illustrate this happened early in my guiding career. I was walking back to the boat via land one day many years ago in St. Charles Bay. I saw a nice redfish, back out of the water, grubbing its way towards me. I stopped so that the vibration from my footsteps walking on the bank would not spook it. About a half mile in the distance and at least 150 yards offshore, a small john boat was running in my direction. That fish turned and headed straight toward the drop-off. It did not bolt but moved at a steady pace until it disappeared. That fish reacted to boat noise at a greater distance than I would have imagined would disturb it. That experience was etched into my memory and remains to this day. I know that boat traffic moves fish, maybe not totally spooking them, but definitely affecting them. I bet you don’t know how this translates to fishing shallow huh? Well had there been a shallow retreat available instead of the mosquito infested salt grass prairie; that fish would have probably coasted in that direction and I might have caught it. So I think Mike and Tricia are right when they suggest looking to shallow out-of-the-way places for fish that many only dream of catching. Its fun to seek out and discover new things – even when you’re an old dog. I have always believed that the biggest trout come from shallow water but now I am coming to believe that maybe they never leave the skinny brine if they don’t have to. I would like to congratulate Capt. Tricia on being named to the Chris’s Marine Haynie Boats/ Mercury Pro Staff. Well deserved, and I know Chris and Julie are excited about having her on the team. Jay Watkins has been a full-time fishing guide at Rockport, TX, for more than 20 years. Jay specializes in wading year-round 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
May your fishing always be catching. -Guide Jay Watkins
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Found at these fine dealers: Jenson Fishing Tackle - Austin, TX EZ Mart - Bayou Vista, TX Gordon’s Bait and Tackle - Brownsville, TX Fisherman’s Corner - Canyon Lake, TX Rossco’s Outdoors - Clute, TX ACE Hardware - SPID - Corpus Christi, TX Roy‘s Bait & Tackle - Corpus Christi, TX Fishin’ World - Dallas, TX Johnny’s Sport Shop - Eagle Lake, TX Bastrop Marina - Freeport, TX Seaworthy Marine - Fulton, TX Bayou Bait & Tackle - Galveston, TX Tally’s Tackle - Groves, TX Fishing Tackle Unlimited - Houston, TX Serious Tackle - La Marque, TX Stanley’s Food Mart - Matagorda, TX Porter’s ACE Hardware - Palacios, TX ACE Hardware - Port Aransas, TX Billmore and Son - Port Aransas, TX The Saltwater Line - Port Aransas, TX Angler’s Marine Center - Port Isabel, TX Pirates Landing Fishing Pier - Port Isabel, TX ACE Hardware - Port Lavaca, TX Port O’Connor Rods - Port O’Connor, TX ACE Hardware - Rockport, TX Rockport Tackle Town - Rockport, TX Marburger’s Sporting Goods - Seabrook, TX Boyd’s One Stop - Texas City, TX The Tackle Box - Victoria, TX Victoria’s All Sports Center - Victoria, TX
Chicky Tackle Company, LLC 877-514-8252 www.rockportrattler.com
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Boat Chris Mapp’s Tips Maintenance What is the difference between a cavitation plate and a whale tail and when do you know if you need one or the other? Outboard engines are equipped with an anti-ventilation fin, an integral part of the mid-section casting, located directly above the propeller. The cavitation plate, or more correctly anticavitation plate, is a full-wrap device that is secured completely around the anti-ventilation fin, extending both forward and trailing behind the outboard’s midsection. The whale tail is not a full-wrap, designed to be installed on the antiventilation plate, extending only behind the midsection. There are many manufacturers that build these great products and each one has a variance that caters to specific desirable results. The cavitation plate is very desirable on most tunnel hull designs. We prefer to use this on the boats that have a full tunnel. There are three types of tunnel hull boats. Full tunnel - The area starting from approximately under the boat’s center console, center of the keel, designed into the hull going all the way to the transom. (used to feed water to the prop while on plane and to achieve maximum shallow water ability while using a jack plate). Half tunnel – Same as above but the tunnel starts further astern between the center console and transom, approximately mid-way. (Function is similar but not as aggressive as the full tunnel). Pocket tunnel or no tunnel – This would be described as more of
48 | June 2012
caVItatatIon plate or Whale taIl? an indentation or pan-shaped depression at the keel going toward the bow approximately 8 to 15 inches. (This is usually very moderate and is intended to provide greater stability for the hull while increasing shallow planing performance.) The cavitation plate would be used on full tunnel hull applications where the desire to get up shallow would be enhanced by forcing the bow down and creating lift on the furthest most point rearward on the boat. (The theory of hydraulics – you can’t compress a fluid). This also keeps water around the propeller while getting up on plane, maintaining plane in shallow water, and allowing less cavitation while turning. (Anti-Cavitation in this case - would be described as improving the propellers ability to maintain a solid bite - minimizing slippage due to air being introduced into the stream of water feeding the prop while running.) The whale tail also helps reduce cavitation on boats with partial or no tunnels and really enhances the same abilities but in a less aggressive way. These also are great tools for boats that have stabilization issues or have to compensate for bow porpoising while on plane. Think of the cavitation plate or whale tail as a water suppressor and great performance enhancer. Have a great boating season, Chris Mapp Coastal Bend Marine - coastalbendmarine.com Port O’Connor, Texas – 361 983 4841
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CASEY SMARTT
F LY F I S H I N G
CASTING CHALLENGES Fly fishing has many rewards. The challenge of casting a fly to a fish, hooking it, and landing it on fly tackle is one of angling’s great pleasures. But getting there can sometimes be a rocky road. If you have ever tried to drop a fly in front of a moving redfish from the seat of a kayak, struggled to manage your fly line in the wind-blown surf, or lost your composure on the front of a poling skiff, you know how difficult casting can be. This month we’ll take a look at a few common casting challenges and some ways to manage them. Poled Skiffs Standing on the bow of a skiff while a guide (or a buddy) poles the boat and spots fish is a terrific way to work shallow water. It’s clean, quiet, and effective. When fishing with a dedicated shallow water guide, poling a skiff through the shallows will likely be the arrangement. Making this style of fishing a success often depends on how well the caster on the front deck responds to directions from the guide on the elevated rear deck. When a guide spots a fish, he’ll bark out its location and direction, often something like, “Redfish… two o’clock, 40 ft., headed to the left.” The angler on the bow must digest these instructions and respond quickly with an accurate cast, sometimes without actually seeing the target. It can be tricky.
video 50 | June 2012
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There are two keys to making this work smoothly - preparation and quick thinking. First, the angler on the bow should have his tackle ready and organized, and be prepared to fire a cast at all times. This means that he should frequently check to be sure loose line is cleanly coiled on the deck, free of tangles, and ready to go at a moment’s notice. This is why many anglers pitch off their shoes in warm weather. Bare feet can feel the fly line on the deck and help avoid unknowingly stepping on it. Also important is for the caster to strip off an adequate length of fly line. Too little line means the cast could come up short and too much line increases the chance of tangles and snags within the boat that foil casts. A second important factor is for the caster to continually visualize the different angles and distances the guide might call out. under quick notice it can be difficult to respond to a guide’s directions. Everyone is excited, the wind is blowing, and the fish and boat are both moving. One way to remedy this is to get the guide to call out some imaginary locations and practice casts while the fishing is slow. This exercise will help build a better feel for distance, angles, and the style of the guide. It also gives the guide a better feel for the ability of the angler up front. If all else fails, the angler on the bow can simply point the fly rod in the direction of a called target and move it right or left until the aim is in the correct direction. Kayaks Kayaks are wonderful craft for slipping quietly up on fish. But making a cast from one can be challenging. When seated in either a forward or side-saddle position, a fly caster has two things going against him. First, the waterline is essentially at waist level. This limits the room for error on the back cast because the fly line has less available distance to fall before it strikes the surface of the water. Second, making a cast from a seated position substantially limits body motion – like trying to throw a fastball while sitting on the ground. There are several solutions to these problems. To improve the backcast, it is important to aim it high… way higher than what you would normally expect. A high backcast will provide a bit more room for the line to fall and decrease the risk of it striking the surface of the water before the forward cast is made. Along with a high backcast, it
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also helps to keep the stroke short, strong, and efficient. Don’t get too ambitious with distance. It is better to make short clean casts than to struggle with long awkward ones. The problem of cramped quarters is a bit more robust. When I am forced to cast a fly rod from the confines of a kayak, I have always preferred to flip side-saddle with my legs hanging over the side, rather than facing forward. A side-saddle position eliminates frontal obstructions, allows more freedom of movement, and also makes it possible to hold the boat in position or make minor adjustments to the boat’s position by crab-walking over the sand. A third solution which addresses the problems of the tight backcasts and the cramped quarters is to simply get out of the kayak and stand up. When it’s possible, this is my preference. I generally use the kayak as a tool to get within a reasonable striking distance of fish. Then, I quietly anchor and exit the boat to close the gap on foot. To me, this method is always favorable to sitting in a kayak and struggling to make a cast.
52 | June 2012
The Surf There is nothing quite as good, or as bad, as fly fishing the surf. When the conditions are favorable, the hard sand, clear water, gentle waves and ferocity of the fish in the surf are unmatched. But when it’s bad, the wind, crushing waves, piles of sargassum weed, and blowing sand make it flat out miserable. If you can, save yourself misery and plan around the weather. While the bays and backwaters can absorb a punch from Mother Nature, the surf won’t. But regardless of weather, the surf will almost always present casting challenges that will test your resolve. The two most common are wind and currents. In the spring and summer months, a steady SE wind prevails in the Texas surf. It’s a bad angle for a right-handed caster because it pushes the fly line into the body of a caster where it can strike the face, neck, and back. If you have ever experienced it, you know the pain of having a windblown lead-eye Clouser pop your head or shoulder blade on a strong forward cast. Feels about like a pellet gun! There are a variety of casting techniques that will keep the fly line off your body in the surf. You can use a backhand cast, a Belgian cast, or switch-hit and cast with your left hand instead of your right hand.
and try different options until you find one that works. Adapting to the conditions is the key. I know of no fly fishermen who have not struggled with their casting skills at one time or another. It’s normal. Casting a fly rod is not easy. None of us are born knowing how to do it, and no one gets better without practice. Strive to improve your skills by practicing as much as possible on the water, while fishing. Practicing on a lawn or parking lot is OK, but it is no substitute for what you can learn by spending time on the water.
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Perhaps the easiest solution, and the one I use, is the backhand cast. To do this, turn your body 90-degrees from the waves and cast toward the beach. Try to make a powerful haul backwards and release your fly on the backcast instead of the forward cast. You have made virtually no change to your casting stroke other than releasing the fly on the backcast rather than the forward cast. Making a good solid backhand cast takes a little practice but it employs a motion your body is already familiar with, so it is easy to learn. Another solution is to position yourself at a better wind-angle relative to your target. For instance, if you are aiming at the wade gut, simply walk to the first bar, turn, and cast back into the wade gut with the wind at your back. It’s easy and it works. You can also make casts parallel to the beach with the wind coming over your left shoulder instead of your right which will keep the line off of you. Be creative
Casey Smartt has been fly fishing and tying flies for 30 years. When he cannot make it to the coast he is happy chasing fish on Texas inland lakes and rivers. Telephone Email Website
830-237-6886 caseysmartt@att.net www.caseysmartt.com
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Some of our Honored speakers (Gene McCarty, Scott Murray, Chuck Weil, and Ben Vaughan, III)
B y D r. R o b e r t Ve g a Coastal Fisheries Hatcheries Director | Corpus Christi
FIELD NOTES
30 YEARS OF COASTAL FISH HATCHERIES Coastal Fisheries hatcheries staff and 60 honored guests celebrated 30 Years of Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) saltwater fish production and fish stockings at the CCA Marine Development Center (MDC) in Corpus Christi on April 11, 2012. Staff and guests enjoyed listening to stories about the inception of the saltwater hatcheries told by individuals who played critical roles to get the program off the ground in the early 1980’s. Featured speakers at the event were TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith and Deputy Director Gene McCarty, Ben Vaughan, III (Gulf Coast Conservation Association), Scott Murray (Central Power & Light Company), Harvey “Chuck” Weil (Gulf Coast Conservation Association), Barbara Clemenhagen (Topaz Power Group), and Mark Ray (Coastal Conservation Association). During the late 1970’s the Texas red drum population was on a steep decline as a result of overfishing. An ambitious fisheries management plan that included development of the Texas marine fisheries hatchery system was initiated. In 1980, the Gulf Coast Conservation Association (now CCA Texas) announced plans to partner with Central Power and Light Company (CPL) and TPWD to build the world’s largest red drum hatchery at the Barney Davis Power Plant in Corpus Christi. 54 | June 2012
The CCA provided funding for the construction of the original hatchery as well as the expansion phase in the late 1980’s. Much of this money was used as state match toward a $10 million dollar U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration grant. The hatchery facility became operational in 1982. Based on the success of the MDC hatchery, TPWD, Dow Chemical USA and GCCA announced plans to partner in construction of a state-of-the-art hatchery near Lake Jackson, Texas in 1990. The CCA provided funding ($1 million) for the construction of the hatchery facility. Just as before, this money was used as the state’s part in funds matched by federal monies to construct the $13 million facility. The hatchery facility became operational in 1996.The Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Station located near Palacios, Texas was designated to become part of the hatchery system in 1993. The state of the world fisheries (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2010) confirms that 50% of the 411 major fish stocks in the world are fully exploited and are producing catches at or near their maximum limit. About 32% are overexploited and have no room for expansion, and only 18% are underexploited or moderately exploited. This trend of declining fish
winter freezes, and various toxins introduced into aquatic environments. During the last 40 years, significant worldwide advancements have been achieved in developing large-scale hatchery methods to culture fishes for purposes of supplementing wild fish populations. Texas’ Coastal Hatcheries program has incorporated many of these advancements into hatchery protocols, and is considered a leader in the field. Since 1983, the coastal hatcheries have produced 624 million red drum fingerlings, 65 million Gene McCarty speaking at spotted seatrout fingerlings, and 19,000 Coastal Fisheries Hatcheries southern flounder fingerlings for release into 30th Year Celebration. Texas waters. The need to manage our precious coastal resources for present and future generations has never been more evident. Texas has grown dramatically, more than any other state in the last decade (21%). Human population projections are that the state will add another 10 million people in 25 years. In addition, increased fishing pressures, degraded coastal habitats, and reduced freshwater inflows into the bays have made it a tough challenge to manage our fish resources. Coastal recreational fishing in Texas is now better than at any time in many years. By using fish hatcheries in combination with traditional fisheries management practices (fisheries independent monitoring program, fishing regulations, law enforcement, habitat protection, and advocating for freshwater inflows into the bays) Texas fisheries managers have succeeded in restoring the red drum population in Texas waters. As users and stewards of our fisheries resources we need to find the balance between protecting our fisheries and freedom of use, so that the legacy we pass on to present and future generations is one of responsible fisheries conservation. Ben Vaughan, III Aerial view of Marine eloquently remarked at the MDC expansion Development Center dedication in 1988 that those gathered from Goggle Earth envisioned that “perhaps the hatchery program would contribute to a lasting solution to satisfy stocks worldwide gives cause for concern. A similar situation exists competing demands for a (fisheries) resource.” in the United States, where many of our traditionally harvested We believe that the Fish Hatcheries Program has been a significant species are at record low levels. In recent years, declining growth in contributor to Texas’ fisheries management success during the past capture fishery landings has precipitated a new interest in marine 30 years and we hope that early fish hatchery conservation-minded stock enhancement worldwide. Texas fisheries managers have been visionaries, such as Ben Vaughan, III, Scott Murray, and Chuck Weil, far ahead of conventional thinking and recognized the potential of hatchery partners, and all Texas anglers are of the same opinion. marine fish hatcheries years ago. Fish hatcheries have the potential when used as a fisheries Check the TPWD Outdoor Annual, your local management tool: 1) to rapidly replenish depleted fisheries; 2) TPWD Law Enforcement office, or www.tpwd. supplement weak year classes; and 3) provide disaster relief from a state.tx.us for more information. host of environmental calamities such as fish kills from red tide, hard TSFMAG.com | 55
C O N S E R V AT I O N
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C A P T. S COT T N U L L
K AYA K F I S H I N G
WHAT’LL IT BE –
BIRDING, FISHING, OR BOTH? Bird watching is one of the fastest growing outdoors activities in the country, out-pacing hunting and fishing. In a recent survey over 51 million Americans reported “birding” as a regular activity. I’ve taken several guided trips over the past year where my anglers turned out to be more into bird watching than fishing. When presented with these clients I often joke that I wish everyone was so inclined because I can always find birds, but fish can be a bit difficult. On a recent trip I met up with my customers who arrived with fly rods in hand and some very expensive binoculars slung around their necks. Turns out these two gentlemen are world renowned birding experts who have written books on the subject and make a living leading bird watching trips all over the world. While they were here to pursue redfish on the fly, it became obvious that fishing was secondary to viewing the myriad bird species of the marsh. Needless to say, I got quite an education on some of the finer points in 58 | June 2012
identifying the subtle differences between similar species. What surprised me during that trip wasn’t so much what I didn’t know; it was how much base knowledge I had tucked away in this ol’ brain. I guess when you prowl around in the marsh for the majority of your life you
learn things whether you intend to or not. Kayaking puts us quietly into their world and allows us to observe without disturbing them too much. I’ve never thought of myself as a bird watcher, but by the end of day two these gentlemen pronounced me a “birder”. Merriam-Webster defines “birder” simply as “a person who watches and identifies birds.” So if the shoe fits… While I seriously doubt I’ll ever travel the world in search of a particular bird to mark off my life-list, I can accept that I am indeed a watcher of birds. However, my interest in our feathered friends tends to be geared towards observing their behavior and how it can help me accomplish my main goal of locating feeding fish. Every angler with a salty tide under his belt knows to watch for a tight flock of gulls wheeling and diving to the water. That one is easy, as evidenced by the weekend boat races. What interest me are the less obvious clues, the things that most folks overlook or never consider. Terns, egrets, herons and even the bright pink roseate can provide you information if you’ll watch them with an open mind. As mentioned above, we all know to look for the flock of excited gulls. I’ll certainly fish those if the opportunity presents itself and I
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don’t have to deal with other anglers elbowing their way to the table. What I prefer to do when the birds are working is to look for the smaller flocks that aren’t getting all of the attention. Being in a kayak we often end up getting beat out in the race to the party. The next time you find yourself in this situation start looking outside the main activity. I’ve found that there are usually at least a few satellite schools nearby. Many times just two or three gulls sitting on the water can lead to a nice school that hasn’t pushed the bait to the surface. The gulls know they are there and are just waiting to be first in line. Read the clue correctly and you can have a bite all to yourself. Gulls in the marsh or over shallow water will often shadow redfish as they feed. These birds won’t be in a tight flock wheeling and diving constantly, rather they will mostly just hover low facing into the wind while occasionally making a quick dive. A single “hanging” gull has put me into fantastic schooling redfish activity more times than I can count. Finding a group of half a dozen gulls acting in this manner is akin to coming upon the end of the rainbow…a pot of bronze surely awaits. Terns get a bad rap among anglers as “liar birds.” While it is true that the smaller terns will gather to feed on bait that is too small to
interest most gamefish, there are times when they’ll lead you to a good bite. The majority of anglers I deal with will totally ignore all tern activity. My experience has been that the larger flocks that are scattered over a fairly large area can be safely bypassed. Smaller flocks of a dozen or so in a tighter area are worth a look. Pull up and see if there are any larger swirls under them that would indicate feeding gamefish. A few casts should tell you if they’re there. The exception here would be if you see obvious splashes and can’t draw a strike. I ran into this for years before I finally put the pieces together. It usually occurs
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OffshOre, inland (marsh Or bay) and fly fishing…all available with experienced guides 60 | June 2012
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off the beachfront or in the open bays. The terns are going crazy and the fish are obviously feeding, but you can’t see the bait and they won’t even give your lure a second look. Try throwing a clear soft plastic with sparkles and buzz it along just under the surface. The result will often be a Spanish mackerel. And when you get him into the yak he’ll toss up a pile of tiny silver or clear minnows. I think what happens is that the smacks are slashing into tight wads of the little bait eating dozens at a time. Your typical lure is simply too big of a profile to match the hatch while the clear bait with sparkles looks more like a bunch of little minnows. Try it, I promise it works. Back to the marsh, a loose flight of Forster’s terns over a back lake deserve some attention too. Watch them as they cruise around over a shallow lake or flat and you’ll sometimes see them pause and hang in one spot while looking down into the water. The term “bird’s eye view” came about for a reason. These birds are looking for an easy meal and they know that a big redfish can provide it for them. If they see a school of reds, or even a single fish, they’ll at least pause to take a look. I figure they’ve got a better vantage point than I do so why not listen to them. And if two or three of these scattered terns suddenly gather tight and go low it’s nearly a sure thing. The variety of shore birds in the marshes ringing our bays is incredibly diverse. Herons, egrets, plovers, pipers, curlews, etc. are all present. Some of these can put you on fish if you’ll slow down and pay attention. They’re all looking for a meal. A little snowy egret quickly walking down a shoreline franticly pecking at the water will almost always lead you to a school of reds feeding against the grass. Nothing pleases me more than to pull up into the marsh at daylight to find all of the birds up and about doing their thing. Active birds usually mean active fish. The major and minor feeds we all watch for apply to the birds just as they do the fish. When the wading birds are patrolling the edges of the ponds and hunting I tend to find the fish are aggressive. If I see the herons and egrets sulking way back in the grass the reds are generally less active. I suppose in reality I’m less of a bird watcher than I am an observer of bird behavior. Pay attention to our feathered friends and they’ll become partners in your quest for a tight line and heavy stringer. Capt. Scott Null is a devout shallow water fisherman offering guided adventues via kayak, poled skiff, and wading. Telephone Email Website
281-450-2206 scott@tsfmag.com www.captainscottnull.com
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S C O T T S O M M E R L AT T E
ACCORDING TO SCOT T
THE NEXT GENERATION It has been said a many a time that there are a million different ways to say it. And, it is a simple concept to grasp and that is- the children are the future. They are the future voters, leaders, lawyers, doctors, teachers, parents, and ‌ yes, even fishermen, of this great nation. That is why it is imperative to not only to teach them to love fishing but also to teach them to be stewards of our precious natural resources. Not too long ago I was poling some sports on the flats and, as so often happens these days, along came a boat with an elevated console running ten feet off of the bank we were fishing. The driver was standing on the console steering with his toes. The boat was following the contour of the bank very closely as he dipped in and out of every cove. As usual, my blood boiled, so I 62 | June 2012
turned my skiff away from the bank and started poling for deeper water so I could jump up and go in search of greener pastures. The operator saw me leaving so he continued on doing his thing. It was nothing new‌ it was just some inconsiderate boater with no regard for others or for the potential habitat destruction that he was doing but then I noticed, this guy had a little boy standing on the console with him and was pointing at all of the fish that they were spooking from the bank. Now I really was fuming! Not only was this guy being rude and showing no respect whatsoever for the resource- he was teaching his son to do it. Even worse, he was operating his vessel in an unsafe manner with a child on board. What would have happened if he had hit an underwater obstruction
rewarding experience for someone like me. Now before I go on to conclude this piece, I think it is important to mention my opinion in regards to keeping and killing fish in regards to taking children fishing. As so many know- I am a hard-nosed S.O.B. when it comes to catch and release. I have no objection to keeping a fish or two for a meal that night or the next but I take a firm stand against meat hauls. When it comes to taking the youngsters fishing, I think it is important to teach and instill the conservation ethic first and foremost, however, I do also believe it is important for children to also appreciate the fine bounty that bays provide us so… I feel it would be wrong to deny them the experience of providing the occasional meal for their family. Surprisingly, after spending the time writing this piece, I have come to the realization that I need to do more to introduce children to the sport. And, I am going to make it a priority to do so, if for no other reason than it is a very rewarding experience to watch the smile on a child’s face when they feel the tug on the line. But, at the same time, I will bring this full circle and remind you all… if we do not teach the future “adults” of this State to appreciate and love the sport, there will not be anything left for us to enjoy as we grow older.
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or run aground? Well it is quite possible that the child, who was considerably shorter than the “burn bar” and probably unable to hold on during a sudden stop, would have gone flying and who knows what after that. I shudder to even think of it. Consider this folks. There are already too many people on the bay who have no regard whatsoever for others and could give a rat’s ass about the resource. As long as they get their picture snapped with a pile of dead fish, they are content. Is this really what we want to teach our future anglers? People, it is imperative that when we introduce children to this sport we do it responsibly. We should first teach them to love the sport of catching a fish and stewardship of the resource. They should be taught to appreciate not only the catch, but the fight and the fair chase of one of God’s wild creatures. Just as important, we need to teach them to be safe and courteous on the water. If we fail to do so the future of the sport of fishing is very grim. I have been a guide now for much longer than I care to admit, and I am ashamed to admit that I have not taken nearly enough kiddos fishing over the years. For one, I have none of my own and secondly, the way I choose to fish is not very conducive to taking kids fishing although I have, on occasion had the opportunity to introduce a couple of youngsters to the sport as I know, practice and love it. I have had the pleasure of watching those young individuals go from having dad cast to and hook the fish for them and then hand them the rod to fight the fish all the way to standing up on a bow platform and casting to single redfish crawling the bank with backs out of the water, hooking it and landing it all by themselves. Talk about a
Scott Sommerlatte is a full time fly fishing and light tackle guide, freelance writer and photographer. Telephone Email Website
979-415-4379 vssommerlatte@hotmail.com www.scottsommerlatte.com
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Three TSFMag youth writers; that’s me on the left with Aaron in the middle and Jake on the right.
MARCOS GARZA
YO U T H F I S H I N G
THE PASSING OF THE TORCH My dad and I woke up at 5:00 AM to meet Aaron Cisneros, his father, Capt. Ernest Cisneros, and Jake Haddock. Aaron launched his boat and we were ready to go fishing. Aaron and Jake are former youth writers for this magazine. This trip was set up so that Aaron, Jake, and I would have the experience of fishing together and to establish a mentor relationship between the three of us. Advice from seasoned professionals can be very useful to an amateur, like me, who is just starting. Hello fellow anglers, my name is Marcos Garza and I am the new youth writer for Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine. I live in Port Mansfield, Texas which has been my family’s new home for the past two years. I am 16 years old and I am a sophomore in high school. We moved to Port Mansfield from Pearland, Texas in 2010 and I really am loving my new home. My dad is Capt. Ruben Garza Jr., otherwise known as “Snookdude.” My mom is Sandra Garza, and my younger brother is Daniel Garza. You may 64 | June 2012
recognize me and my family from an article in the August 2006 issue of TSFM written by our editor Everett Johnson Just Carryin’ on an Old Family Tradition. My first year in Port Mansfield, my dad helped me get a summer job at Getaway Adventures Lodge working with Capt. Bruce Shuler. This summer will be my third year working for him and hopefully the best year yet. My job at the lodge is to accompany Capt. Bruce on his charters in the bay and offshore, and help with the other chores at the lodge. Being exposed to all this fishing action and talking to and receiving advice from seasoned guides and anglers is an experience like no other. Now back to the story at hand; we were wading a sand bar trying to get a good bite going before the wind picked up. Jake had a nice five pound trout that was photographed and released short after reviving it. The bite died soon after the release of the fish so we talked for a little bit before moving to the next spot. I took advantage
Capt. Ernest with his long, skinny trophy. Too bad she was all spawned out.
of this down time by getting to know Jake, his father, and his brother a little better. After about ten minutes of talking, we loaded up on the boats and took off to our next destination. Power-Poles down, we hopped off of the side of the boat into about mid-thigh water. Right off the bat, Capt. Ernest Cisneros hooked a red on a topwater. On this wade, my dad saw the perfect opportunity to get a picture of Aaron, Jake, and I lined up wading together. The redfish that Capt. Ernest caught was the only solid fish
on this wade, but this trip really wasn’t about catching a lot of fish; this trip was about the relationship that Aaron, Jake, and I would establish, because they went though the same obstacles I’m going to face while writing. The trip was really so that they could help me understand the responsibility that I was now taking onto myself. The next wade was in a small, cove-like flat, which was about knee deep. Before we got to fishing, Capt. Ernest wanted to make some photos Aaron, Jake, and me. After our photo op, we started fishing this shallow and protected flat. Again, Capt. Ernest set the bar high for the wade by catching another big fish. This time though, it was a 30.5 inch trout that weighed about 6.25 pounds. This trout had laid its eggs most likely the night before with the full moon being as bright as it was. Our day ended with wading another sand bar trying to catch a few, last minute trout before heading in after a half day of fishing. Capt. Ernest, Jake, Jake’s dad and brother had headed in because the needed to be on their way back to Houston. Aaron, my dad, and I stayed behind for one last wade. At around 11:30 the wind really picked up and on the last wade we didn’t catch but a few dink trout. Thus began our short, but wet, ride back to the boat ramp on the island. This trip was worth the few fish that we caught because it was a great experience for all of us. Getting to meet everybody and learning some tips to help me write was fun and cool. The tips I learned will be greatly beneficial in my writing and in my fishing.
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MIKE JENNINGS
TEXAS NEARSHORE & OFFSHORE
Things to know about booking
an offshore charter At this time of year I speak daily with potential and repeat customers alike. Many call me after reading an article in this magazine. I have found over the years that the conversations and questions all have a similar theme. Their concerns and questions are as wideranging as their level of experience at booking a fishing trip. I recently had a call from a gentleman who didn’t care about anything other than if I had one of those “big screens” on the dash so that I could find the fish. So I thought I would put together a few thoughts on what to look for as well as what to look out for, and what to ask when looking to book a guide service for a day of offshore fishing.
66 | June 2012
Being thorough in your conversation with the guide will go a long way in determining the safety, success and overall enjoyment of your offshore fishing charter.
In my opinion, one of the first and greatest concerns should be how often the captain fishes. There are many in the industry that book charters on weekends only as nothing more than a tax write-off, to support a fishing habit, or cover a boat note. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, it makes for a great part time job and many are great fishermen. On the other hand, with that being said, there is absolutely no substitute for time on the water and having a fulltime professional fisherman at your disposal. This daily time on the water allows them to keep up with the constantly changing patterns and normal migrations of any number of species. This allows them to spend less time hunting fish and more time putting you on them for a successful fishing trip. A prime example would be stiff currents that make fishing extremely difficult at times. I will often try to discourage customers from fishing for deepwater species such as amberjack if I know from the last couple days of fishing that the current is just too strong to make us as successful as I would like. Had I only fished a day or two a week, I might not have known about the ripping currents that constantly come and go. This one piece of info has many times prevented me wasting hours of someone’s time and led us to target something else that kept them busy catching fish. Ask specific questions to learn what is provided or allowed on the trip and what is not. Many provide all you may need for a day and others do not. Even the cleaning of your catch will vary between companies. Obviously a concern that will be aat the fore of everyone’s thinking when looking for a charter is always the price. This one thing will often determine the company that many will decide to book with. While it has to be affordable it also needs to be successful. When booking a fishing guide, the old adage “you get what you pay for” is true more often than not. In the offshore industry, boat fuel is a major factor in determining how a guide will set his pricing and here is where things can get confusing. It is also where you need to ask pointed questions to make TSFMAG.com | 67
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sure you’re getting what you pay for. There are two basic ways of pricing a fishing charter. Either a flat-rate trip, where a single charge covers the price of the boat with fuel included – the other is a plus-fuel rate. While the flat-rate trip seems the most straight forward and could be a good option for you, there can be some hidden drawbacks. With a flatrate charter, on some occasions, the captains first and foremost priority is to burn as little fuel as possible, therefore increasing the company’s profit margin, but many times to the detriment of the fisherman’s success. On many occasions the owner of the company will set limits on how far the captain can run in search of fish, sometimes going as far as telling the captain where to fish regardless of the outcome. The captain is essentially leaving the dock with his hands tied. So while that flat-rate trip looks good on the surface it is not always the most successful option given the prevailing conditions of any given day on the water. The plus-fuel trip on the other hand will have a set price for the charter and then address the fuel that was used at the end of the day. Fuel burn rates will vary between boats and fishing styles as well as the obvious factor of how far you travel. There are advantages to this method of running a charter boat. It allows the captain and the customers to make mutual decisions on customizing the trip for the group, either before the boat leaves the dock or on the fly as the day progresses. Every day is different and some unforeseen conditions can make anyone have to pick up and change zip codes to change the rate of success. When these situations arise it can be a group decision as to either move on to better conditions or change targeted species, etc. It gives the captain the ability to explain the options at hand and include the customers in these fishing and monetary decisions. The dirty secret though of plus-fuel charters is how they determine the fuel burn and how it’s charged. The only proper and consistent way to do it is to leave the dock with the tanks full and pull up to the pumps upon return and top off again. Another way is to figure it off of their fuel management gauge and then charge accordingly. Only problem with this one is it lends to charging a higher rate than is actually being paid for the fuel after the customers are long gone. So make sure to ask a lot of questions when planning a trip to make sure you are clear on any additional charges. Last and equally important is the ever-present question – “Will we catch fish?” There is an old saying, “it’s called fishing not catching,” and unfortunately some operators use this as a crutch. And with that said, on a full offshore trip you should not come home empty handed. Not ever. The cheapest offshore fishing trip out there is still an awful expensive boat ride. So as I tell people when they are shopping for a trip, checkout lots of websites, study carefully, and make a list of questions. Lastly, take a look at recent catches in the photo gallery. It will speak volumes about what you’ll be getting for your money, more than all the other web pages combined.
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Captain Mike Jennings is a professional charter captain with more than 25 years offshore experience. Mike is the owner/operator of Cowboy Charters in Freeport TX and is known locally for running further and fishing harder for his clients.
Telephone Email website
979-864-9439 texassportfishing@gmail.com www.cowboycharters.com
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C A D E ’ S C O A S TA L C H R O N I C L E S
CADE SIMPSON
Hi, I’m Cade. Like lots of folks that read this magazine, I’m one of your everyday do-it-yourself fishermen with a great passion for the outdoors and I love the adventure of learning new areas along the Texas coast. Like many of you, I have often found myself a little lost when planning a fishing trip to a new area. So – if you’re ready to go fishing, break out your Hook-N-Line Fishing map and follow me as I explore and enjoy the great fishing each area has to offer. Where We have been ranging down into the middle coast for the past several articles and this month I am bringing CCC back up to the Galveston Bays region for this month’s report. About thirty minutes south of Houston is Texas City. Texas City is my “base camp” this month and the western shores of Galveston Bay proper are my focus waters. HookNLine map F103 is the best reference for the Texas City area and Galveston Bay in general.
70 | June 2012
When and Weather My trip to Texas City was in mid April, still in the middle of the spring transition. However, favorable weather made the day pleasant. Temps at launch time in the AM were near the mid 70s and as the sun peaked in the afternoon the air warmed to the mid 80s. Winds stayed calm in the 5-10mph range, gusts occasionally reaching to around 15mph. Tackle and Gear My primary setup was my 7’Castaway Skeleton mated with my Citica 200 loaded with 30lb Power Pro braid and a 6’ Suffix 15lb clear monofilament leader. My most productive lure on this adventure was the 4” Berkley Gulp Black Shad on a 1/16oz jighead. Several bait shops have you covered for ice, drinks, snacks, and of course they also have an assortment of live and dead baits. Boyd’s One Stop, TC’s Bait Camp, and Lee’s Bait Shop are all located in the same vicinity along Texas City Dike Drive.
The Texas City area offers kayak anglers tons of fishing options.
Hitting the water Texas City’s hot spot for fishing is the Texas City Dike. It is a fivemile-long levee of granite blocks with a paved road stretching into
Galveston Bay. The dike was originally constructed in the 1930 for control of bay sediments into the Texas City harbor and as protection from storm surges during tropical storms. Today, TCD is billed as the world’s longest fishing pier. Access to the Dike is a measly five dollars for the day. Paved launches, cleaning tables with running water, and piers line the levee, setting you up for a good day of fishing. I feel safe to say that just about any day the weather is nice there will be hundreds of people along the Dike, rods in hand, waiting for the next bite. Don’t let that deter you though; there is plenty of room for everybody. Launching a kayak into the open water felt somewhat strange as
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Bay. On the Galveston Bay side of the levee you will find some shell reefs and deep channels to fish along.
Two more and we’ll have fish tacos!
most of my adventures are weaving through or around some type of marsh. However, with the right wind, you could actually put in a very effective drift effort along the Dike. Better for paddle boating is launching at Tide Gate Bank (launch spot K5 on your map) off Skyline drive and fishing Moses Lake/Dollar
Tournament: July 26th-29th Awards: July 29th
where to eat and where to sleep A few months ago when I visited Matagorda I mentioned the welcomed feeling I received from the locals I met at Stanley’s. My first impression of the Texas City area was over dinner, being that we drove in the night before our day of fishing. When Amanda and I made plans for dinner, the dice landed on Gringo’s Mexican Restaurant. From the very first second the waitress opened her mouth to take our drink order; I had that same welcomed feeling. The optimal service continued throughout the meal; I even called the manager over to compliment the food, drinks, and especially the great service. I benchmark Mexican restaurants on their fajitas. Gringo’s is definitely topping my current list. Other restaurants in the area are The Reef Seafood House (a very
Tournament: July 26th-29th Awards: July 29th Registration begins July 26th @ the Chamber of Commerce Pavilion. Bay and offshore divisions for men, women, & juniors. Piggy perch division for the kids. Live Band Fri & Sat night: Lone Star Vaqueros SPONSORS: V.T.C.I. Kinney Bonded Warehouse Vaughn Construction Co. Budweiser WCND Bassler Energy Services Y-Knot Bayhouse Rentals Shepard Walton King Ins. Southern Marine Safe Floor
for more info, call 956.944.2354 or visit www.portmansfieldchamber.org
We invite you to come participate in the 38th Annual Port Mansfield Fishing Tournament! 72 | June 2012
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The Other Angles From a kayaker’s perspective, fishing from the Dike is not ideal in my opinion. However, a boat (large or small) is better suited to cover more of the open water off the Texas City Dike. As mentioned earlier, bank fishing is by far the public’s first choice along the Texas City Dike. Wrap up From a general point of view, Texas City provides a great opportunity to bring the family out for a fishing adventure. Some of my best times
74 | June 2012
in the woods or on the water are helping people new to the outdoors, and sharing in adventures with loved ones. Coincidentally, around the time I began typing this report, a friend of mine mentioned he was taking his father out to the Texas City Dike to spend a day fishing together. I feel that is a perfect example of Texas City’s niche. One could line up the kids along the Dike’s banks or on one of the piers and make memories to last a lifetime. You will pass Rainbow Park on your left as you take Texas City Dike Rd onto the Dike itself, a perfect spot for everyone to relax and enjoy themselves if the bite is a little slow. For shopaholics, the Mall of the Mainland could serve a similar purpose. Given the close proximity to Houston, fishing around Texas City can be accessed fairly quickly and easily, making it quite convenient for a day trip to the water. The Contacts: If you would like more information on the Texas City area, visit texas-city-tx.org Gringo’s – 409-986-6864, gringotexmex.com The Reef Seafood House – 409-945-6151, thereefseafoodhouse.com Holiday Inn Express – 409-986-6700
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attractive location), Rosario’s Pizza and Italian, Olive Garden, and Fortune Chinese to name a few. After dinner it was time for bed to get rested for an early start on the water. A half mile from Gringo’s is a nice selection of moderately priced hotels. Holiday Inn Express made a cozy stay for Amanda and I and much like the Gringo’s staff, they were very pleasant to deal with. Looking at a map you will notice Gringo’s and the Holliday Inn are on the far western edge of the Texas City area, near the Mall of the Mainland, off Interstate 45. I chose this area partly due to the convenience factor, given we got into town a tad late in the evening. Deeper into the heart of Texas City are other lodging facilities. Crystal Suites, Comfort Inn, Candlewood Suites, and La Quinta are a few other choices along Hwy 146 in Texas City. You will find virtually no RV access in the immediate Texas City area. If an RV spot is a must, you can opt to go north on Hwy 146 to San Leon and stay at Galveston Bay RV Resort or, head southwest to Hitchcock and get a spot at Sunset RV Park.
Telephone Email
936-776-7028 Cademan11@sbcglobal.net
Find me on Facebook to follow along in my outdoor adventures
Texas
WOMEN Anglers
Au g . 24th - 26 th
Tournament Port Aransas, TX
Proceeds benefit the Women’s Shelter of Corpus Christi
www.gofishtx.com
! n u f e th n i o j Come TSFMAG.com | 75
Photo credit: Mark Hesketh www.discoverscuba.gr
Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris)
STEPHANIE BOYD
F I S H Y FA C T S
PRIMATE OF THE SEA In the Bahamas, legends tell of a giant half octopus, half shark creature known as the Lusca, that drags unsuspecting seafarers to the ocean bottom. Along the ancient Mediterranean Sea, many mythologies speak of Yamm, a malevolent sea god of many heads and legs.1 Na Kita, a god of Kiribati (an island nation in the Pacific Ocean), is said to have used his many arms to push up the earth from the sea bottom to form the islands.2 Kanaloa, the Hawaiian god of the ocean and underworld (who teaches magic and has the power to heal) also appears in the form of an octopus.3 The Hawaiian creation myth, which tells that the present situation of life is only the most recent in a series, isolates the octopus as the lone survivor from an earlier universe.4 Clearly, the octopus has been a creature of dread and awe through the ages. Though it’s fun to view the octopus through a lens of myth and magic, it’s really a fascinating creature all on its own. Octopuses are mollusks, distantly related to clams and oysters, belonging to the class Cephalopoda. (Fun Fact: since it is derived from Greek, the correct plural form of octopus is octopuses or octopods; octopi is a popular version, though technically inaccurate as it uses a Latin 76 | June 2012
plural suffix on a Greek word.) Cephalopds, which also include squid, cuttlefish, and the chambered nautilus, are characterized by having large heads, extremely well-developed eyes, and varying numbers of arms or tentacles (which, depending on the species, can be as few as eight or as many as one hundred). Cephalopod is derived from the Greek words kephalo and pod, literally “head foot.” It’s a pretty accurate description of the class.5 An octopus has two eyes, a bilaterally symmetrical body, eight arms, and no tentacles. Yes, arms and tentacles are, in fact, two distinct pieces of anatomy. A tentacle has a small group of suckers or hooks at the end (or it can be sucker-less) and functions like one of those poles you use to grab things way up high that you can’t reach (imagine a flexible version). Arms, however, are suckered or hooked entirely from base to tip and can work independently from one another.5 It’s thought that cephalopods originated more than 600 million years ago, and octopuses specifically started evolving more than 400 million years ago. Their ancestor had a shell, like any proper cephalopod, and looked snail-like. All the other modern cephalopods have some sort of inner or outer shell (even the squid, which
Squid shells (called "pens").
has one inside its body). Octopuses are the only ones that evicted theirs completely somewhere in their evolution.6 For this reason, fossil finds of octopuses are very rare. However, five complete fossils were published in 2009, and though they are 95 million years old, the specimens are almost identical to living species. This body plan evidently works really well.7 And that basic body plan is… mantle, head, arms. Inside the mantle, that squishy-looking but actually very muscular thing on the top of the octopus, are all the octopus’s organs: two gills, digestive system, reproductive glands, siphon, and hearts, three in fact.6 Why does it need three hearts? No, not because it’s overflowing with
compassion. The octopus’s blood has the copper-containing protein, hemocyanin, for binding oxygen, which results in blue blood. (Human blood is red because its oxygen-binding protein, hemoglobin, contains iron.) Hemocyanin is inherently a poor carrier of oxygen (poorer than hemoglobin anyway), so the octopus’s body copes by having those three hearts, two to pump oxygen-rich blood through the gills and one to pump it through the rest of the body.6 The head and arms are headquarters for a well-developed nervous system and complex sensory organs. Octopuses have wonderful eyesight and depth perception; their eyes are similar to ours, possessing an iris, pupil, lens, and retina. They also have a good sense of taste and excellent sense of touch (not to mention strength and flexibility in those arms). They are, however, deaf. In addition to these most excellent physical characteristics, there’s the octopus brain, which is proportionally as large as some mammals’ brains. It’s a unique flexible design with a complex visual cortex (useful since the octopus apparently coordinates the movements of its eight arms by sight). Octopuses are also beyond average invertebrate intelligence. On an EEG (a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain), almost all invertebrates tested register as static. But an octopus produces the kind of slow looping patterns generated by dogs and sometimes primates.4 They can learn new tasks and recall later what they learned. I don’t know about you, but that’s something even I sometimes find challenging! Due to this high intelligence, the octopus (specifically the common octopus) is the only non-vertebrate animal protected by the Animals (Scientific-Procedures) Act, passed
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by the UK in 1986. Octopuses are homebodies and loners. They spend much of their time holed up in dens (which could be under a rock, in a crevice, or even in an old bottle on the sea floor) or foraging for food. They only intentionally get together for mating. For reasons unknown, they tend to find new dens every couple weeks or so. Though octopuses can swim, they mostly get around by “walking.” Their suckered arms make moving along the sea bottom an easy task. Plus, since each sucker has about 10,000 neurons, the octopus can learn a lot about its landscape, and it might even find lunch.6 Octopuses eat primarily crustaceans, gastropods, and bivalves, but they are opportunistic carnivores and won’t pass by an easy meal. They typically spend 65% of their day foraging. Instead of teeth, an octopus has three main tools in its mouth: a hard beak (similar to a parrot’s or squid’s), a radula (a barbed tongue useful for scraping meat out of shells), and a salivary papilla (basically, a tooth-covered drill, though the radula can also have some drilling functions). Soft prey only require the beak. Clams and whatnot require the drill; once the drill penetrates the shell, it secretes a saliva that weakens the prey, allowing the shell to be pried open by the suckered arms. To catch prey in mid-swim, the octopus simply envelopes the prey in its net-like web of skin between its arms.8 Octopuses are also a good meal for other animals. Humans are top of the list, of course. In some areas of the world, octopus is an every day food. Seals find them fairly easy prey because they are fast swimmers and easily tire the octopus who can only swim fast for short distances. Large predatory fish, such as barracudas, and eels, which are thought to use a developed sense of smell to find hiding
78 | June 2012
octopuses, also hunt them.8 So how does the tasty octopus keep from becoming a barracuda’s breakfast? In general, the octopus has three main defenses. First is camouflage. The octopus is the master of chromatophore control; it is unparalleled in mimicking the surface it is on to disappear. The brown octopus takes shape and color shifting to the extreme, even mimicking the predators of its predators (such as taking the form of a sea snake when approached by a predatory damselfish). Second is speed. By sucking water into its mantle and shooting it out the siphon, an octopus can jet along pretty quick. Of course, as previously mentioned, this only works with other sprinters and not so well with long distance swimmers. Third is ink. An octopus can eject ink and water simultaneously to create a black cloud. It can either shoot out several little clouds as distractions or one big mass for a quick escape. Plus, the ink contains an enzyme, tyrosinase, that impairs smell and taste, further confusing the predator.6 In addition to these three main defenses, some octopuses have developed specialized techniques. Octopuses living near the shore have been observed using their siphons as squirt guns to scare away birds.2 The male pillow octopus sometimes rips off the stinging tentacles of the Portuguese man-of-war and uses them as defensive whips. He can do this because he’s immune to the venom (and really, what else are you going to do when you’re less than an inch long?).6 As with most creatures, the octopus has a strong drive to further its species’s population. Though a few species have showy mating rituals, for most octopuses, mating is a lackluster affair. The male octopus has a modified arm that holds rows of sperm. Depending on the species, he either deposits the sperm straight into the female’s oviduct or simply tears off the entire arm and hands it over, wholesale. The latter
is especially convenient for the male pillow octopus (remember that tiny guy?) because the female might be over six feet and one-hundred pounds. Just think if you had to date someone four times the size of the Statue of Liberty!6 Most octopuses die soon after their civic duty. It’s thought that, like salmon, the octopus releases an endocrine secretion that triggers a genetically pre-programmed death. However, octopuses have a very short lifespan (most one or two years, the longest being about five years), so it’s also possible that they simply die soon after reaching maturity, and therefore soon after mating, making it seem like mating is the culprit. There’s much debate, and research is ongoing. Whatever the reason, males usually die a few months after transferring sperm. Females live long enough to protect their eggs until hatching, which depending on species and water temperature, can be anywhere from two to ten months. Once the baby octopuses hatch, they’re on their own. Many start out plankton-sized, drifting at the surface and eventually settling to the sea floor. Some hatch larger, skip the drifting phase, and start out on the sea floor. Not much is known about their early lives except that they grow very rapidly. A young octopus can increase its weight by five percent every day.6 Males reach sexual maturity before females, but that doesn’t necessarily delay the tango. A female can store sperm in her oviduct until she is sexually mature. She can even keep the sperm of multiple partners and then choose which is best. It’s the ultimate sexual selection.8 The only species found in Texas water is Octopus vulgaris, the common octopus. They live a year to a year and a half, can reach up to four feet in length, and are often some shade of brown. O. vulgaris is very abundant and the most studied species of octopus. It lives in
tropical and temperate waters around the world, typically in nearshore areas. You might see it along jetties or shallow reefs, but despite their abundance, they’re very elusive. Looking for a den is easier. They don’t clean up after meals and often have piles of shells and debris, called middens, outside the den. Find the den; find the octopus… sometimes.(8) I wouldn’t recommend a close approach, though. Like all wild animals, they can be unpredictable, and you might find out first hand just how Lusca legends began. Footnotes
1
“The Octopus Show,” PBS | Texas, 23 April 2012 <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/ episodes/the-octopus-show/introduction/2013/>.
2
“Octopuses,” GloBio, 23 April 2012 <www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_ id=65>.
3
Serge Kahili King, “The Eye of Kanaloa,” Aloha International, 24 April 2012 <http://www. huna.org/html/ekanaloa.html>.
4
“Research: The Octopus God,” Rusty Idols, 23 April 2012 <http://rustyidols.blogspot. com/2008/08/research-octopus-god.html>.
5
Nadia Meyers, Wildlife Biologist, “Tales from the Cryptic: The Common Atlantic Octopus,” (Southeastern Regional Taxonomic Center, SC Dept of Natural Resources)
6
Jennifer Horton, “How Octopuses Work,” How Stuff Works, 23 April 2012 <http://science. howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/marine-life/octopus.htm>.
7
“Rare Fossil Octopuses Found,” Science at MSNBC.com, 23 April 2012 <http://www. msnbc.msn.com/id/29757659/#.T5a8Po7pgXx>.
8
Melissa Pierce & James Wood, “The Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris),” The Cephalopod Page, 23 April 2012 <http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/ MarineInvertebrateZoology/Octopusvulgaris.html>.
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DICKIE ColBuRn
DICKIE ColBuRn’s Sabine Scene Bull tides and daily winds in excess of 20 mph forced Sabine Lake anglers to go to Plan B when we should have been enjoying the best trout bite of the year this past month. Runoff, compliments of the big rains of March and April, concentrated the trout on the south end of the lake and catching involved simply being in the area on a decent tide change. Because the badly silted water all over the lake is the product of wind rather than any runoff now, clearer water is usually only a day or two of light winds away. The wind is really the only culprit as we can catch fish in dirty water if we can just get there! Prior to the daily poundings, we were catching not only great numbers, but big trout as well fishing She Dogs, MirrOdine XL’s and Maniac Mullets under small flocks of gulls chasing shrimp and ribbon fish in 5 to 8 feet of water. Incoming tides brought clearer, saltier water as well as a buffet of baitfish and the bite drifting the shell is still lights out when you can get there. That stretch of real estate extending from the Causeway to the end of the jetties will continue to be ridiculously productive over the next two months. Tails and swim baits bounced off the jetty walls and the submerged debris lining the ship channel will produce limits of trout and reds while the largest trout usually
Sabine
Dickie Colburn is a full time guide out of Orange, Texas. Dickie has 37 years experience guiding on Sabine and Calcasieu Lakes.
Telephone 409-883-0723 website www.sabineconnection.com
give it up to a topwater or crankbait. The biggest decision for most regulars is whether to start on the Gulf or channel side of the jetties each morning and that is usually determined by wind direction or the number of boats that beat them there. When you catch that first fish, hold your ground rather than continuing to drift with the wind or tide as it is not unusual to limit out fishing a single spot! While I know how user-friendly that bite can be, it is no secret that I am not a big fan of fishing the south end and occasionally struggle up north when it isn’t necessary. That is not the case right now, however, as we have any number of dependable choices working on the north end. Wind permitting, the revetment walls, Louisiana shoreline, Neches flats and ICW will all produce good catches of both trout and reds from now through December. Depending on the wishes of my clients, we start most mornings wading shallow flats bordering the ICW. Topwaters and 5-inch tails like the Assassin Die Dapper, TTF Trout Killer or Tidal Surge split tail mullet rigged on a 1/8 ounce heads are hard to beat when fishing over the shallow mud and scattered shell. Key on mullet activity and any slick that you can reach with a long cast. When that bite slows, we either drift in 4 to 6 feet
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of water or fish the deep breaks along the ICW. Every lure in arsenal has potential when drifting the deeper water, but at least one fisherman in my boat is usually fishing a 4-inch Sea Shad or Flats Minnow under a popping cork. That setup will keep even the most inexperienced fisherman in the game all of the time. Every year I vow that I will take the time to develop confidence in a 51MRMirrOlure, but I am rapidly running out of years to do so. I can’t tell you how many times I have drifted these same flats with visiting Galveston based guides only to have them wear me out with that one lure. The wildcard right now is deciding what time of the day to check out the revetment walls and at what depth to fish. One day the fish are crushing topwaters and Catch 2000’s up against the rocks and the next they are eating topwaters and tails thirty yards off the wall. That bite can start early,
This solid trout was hustling shrimp and ribbon fish under the gulls.
late or even right in the middle of the hottest of days. While it initially gained its notoriety getting bounced off the rocks on the jetties, a 3 to 5 foot diving crankbait like the Heddon Swimming Image or River 2 Sea Cranky M65 will account for most of the big trout I take off the revetment walls this month. A crankbait keeps you working, but the results merit the effort required to fish these shallow divers. If you just can’t resist chasing gulls you might as well forego the aforementioned patterns and techniques as that program is now a daily occurrence. It is easier to target fish chasing shrimp as they hold a little longer, but few bites can compare with finding big trout or schools of redfish blowing holes in pods of shad on the surface. Look for the shad to start bodying up towards the end of the month. Please take those extra few seconds to carefully release undersized fish as they represent the future of the sport. Take the kids fishing!
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mICKEY Eastman
mICKEY On Galveston
Galveston
Mickey Eastman is a full-time fishing guide out of Baytown, TX. Mickey has 26 years guiding experience on the Galveston area bays and is the founder of Gulf Coast Troutmasters, the largest speckled trout tournament series of all time
Telephone 281-383-2032
Hello fellow fishermen; Capt. Mickey here. I know it’s hard to believe but another month has flown by and it is time for another Galveston Bays fishing report. You know, we talked about it on the radio the other day; Galveston Bay is just pretty darned resilient. I mean we have all kinds of dredging going on and freshwater coming in and all the little crises that affect water quality going on in so many places and this old bay just keeps on producing. Most of the bay system is pretty messed up from either wind and freshwater or dredge mud flowing everywhere but you get a calm day and the fishing bounces right back. Anybody that’s been fishing knows it has been kind of tough. It hasn’t been a consistent thing we can rely on day in and day out. Boat fishing has been about the most productive method when the winds are down and you can get on the major open water reefs. We have a lot of fish, and I believe we are beginning to see a lot of tide/surf runners moving in through the passes early this year and when you congregate all of those with the local resident fish
we have, man it makes for some really good fishing. The only thing lacking is stable conditions so we can get on them. The overall average size of our trout this year, not only on my boat but many anglers you talk to, it seems 20 to 22 inch fish are real common with a decent number in the 24 to 26 class and a few 27s and 28s here and there. I heard of a 30 incher the other day that weighed a little over 9lb. Just some good fish showing up all over the bay system. Redfish are a little spotty still. They are not schooling up yet over the major reefs in the bay or along the shorelines. You know we get pods of fish here and there but most of the redfish are at the jetties or the ICW and they are kind of hanging in that pattern right now. When it gets hotter, things will start changing. Lower Galveston, Campbell Bay and East Bay are probably the three best areas to fish right now. We have had a lot of southerly flow but last week it was calmer, water was at least marginal in most places.
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I made a couple of big wades and caught three trout so I said boys we are going to get out deep and get over the reefs. The northeast was running at about 3mph, first pass over a reef and, all I really keyed on was some flipping mullet, no slicks, and bingo. We picked up 25 fish on the first pass and 15 on the second pass. We used soft plastics, MirrOlure’s Lil John and the Tidal Surge split tail mullet. That Lil John has turned out to be pretty good bait for me. My best color is purple with chartreuse tail. The plum and morning glory have also produced and I have been sticking with the darker colors. You can go to your lights, pearl and all that, and you can catch some fish, but it seems the bigger ones like the darks. So that is what I have confidence in and I am sticking to it. Whatever works - if it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it. Looking ahead through summer I still think we are going to have a banner year. I am hearing this from Sabine Lake all the way to Matagorda. Basically all you have to do is find some marginal clarity over good structure. I use my trolling motor as a gauge. If I can see the lower unit and the prop when I drop it, I have a least one foot visibility. Next thing you know you start getting bites. You need at least one foot, a foot and a half is better when you can find it. East Bay trout are biting better toward the end of an incoming tide. All the reefs along the south shore line like Pepper Grove, Elm Grove, Frenchy’s and places like that are holding good fish. Some of the shallower towheads are good for a few fish early in the morning but you can pick it clean pretty quickly. There are a lot more fish holding in six feet over shell, that’s the magic number at the moment. I know it will eventually recover but Trinity Bay is in as bad shape as I have seen in years. The river flow has been down for weeks now and strong tides mixing all that fresh will be the key but it’s not going to happen overnight. I am sure there are still lots of fish here but with the water all messed up and continued strong wind I’m telling everybody to head down to East Bay. Lower Galveston Bay, Todd’s Dump, Dollar Reef and Mosquito Island, all those areas of shell are holding nice trout. They are catching some big ones over there too. The wade fishermen over along Skyline Drive are having some limit mornings on plastics and topwaters when they hit it right. Out on the beachfront, this is the time of year you can usually catch a really big one. What you need is for the wind to lay and that green water to move in, and bingo! You can really nuke ‘em. I talked to a guy this morning on my radio show who fished the beachfront yesterday with croakers in that dirty water and caught the most trout he has found in years around San Luis Pass and Freeport. Bill Watkins over in Sabine is giving me strong reports and word from Matagorda is also good. When we get the right conditions, and we will, everything is going to bust open. Too bad they couldn’t open the CCA STAR a month early. With spawning under way, I think someone will bust a big fish on the next new moon. I am real excited, as I have been for months. There are a lot of fish everywhere, and when the conditions come around everybody will be catching. If these strong winds continue it will remain tough, but that is part of the game this time of year. Hopefully things will settle out before the dog days arrive. Good fishing to everybody and remember to call into my radio show and let us know how you are doing out there.
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TSFMAG.com | 85
BIll PustEJoVsKY
CaPt. BIll’s Fish Talk
Matagorda
Bill Pustejovsky is a full-time guide at Matagorda, TX. Bill fishes year-round for trout and redfish in all the Matagorda Bays. Wading and drifting for trophy trout and reds are his specialty.
Telephone 979-863-7353 Email CaptBill@GoldTipGuideService.com website www.goldtipguideservice.com
86 | June 2012
June can be a great month for fishing in the Matagorda bays. The weather is not extremely hot but the steady rise in air and water temperatures brings significant changes to bait activity and gamefish feeding patterns. Occasional days when the surf will flatten out and all across the bays we will see some of the best topwater action of the year. What can beat that? I personally prefer wade fishing to drifting but whichever way you roll the action on deeper grassbeds, mid-bay reefs, and under occasional flocks of birds can be as hot as you’ll ever see on surface plugs. Let’s talk about how we go about our wade fishing for a minute. Being a guide, I witness quite
a bit on the water regarding attire and wading gear - reflecting the various personalities of my clients. I’ve seen some clients dressed like an advertisement for Academy or Bass Pro, one rod in hand, another Skye Martin, 24 sticking out of their back, inch redfish on live shrimp, drifting West wading belt with a big Matagorda Bay. tackle box full of baits, landing net, another tackle box slung over their shoulder, etc. It’s no wonder why some have such a hard time wading mud and shell. I really prefer to keep things simple and straight forward when wade fishing. When I get out of the boat, I will have one rod, wading belt, stringer or shark bucket, one small box with 4-5 favorite topwaters, an Eddie Douglas Broken Back Special, and maybe
a Corky or two, slung over my shoulder. Over in West Matagorda, June is prime Having this box over my shoulder allows me time for finding trout and redfish holding to get to it faster if I need to change baits over grassbeds in various depths along the rather than having it connected to my belt. south shoreline. The best time is during I wear Columbia fishing shirts with two periods with strong incoming tide and of large breast pockets. These two pockets course you need to take the time to locate essentially hold for me 4-6 packages of lots of bait activity before committing to a different flavored Bass Assassins. Here wade. Glass minnows, shad and mullet are again, it is a lot faster getting a bait out all on the menu this time of year. of your shirt pocket than it is from your Another solid option that begins to wading belt, especially once you get into enter the picture during June is the surf. fish and they start ripping your baits apart. Starting about Memorial Day, any day with Saving just a little bit of time may help you very light or no wind is a great time to take a catch more fish or perhaps even your limit. look and I’ll likely head that direction when Just keep it simple. the time gets right. While fishing in East Matagorda Bay June is one of the best months to catch during June, there has been times when tripletail in West Matagorda Bay. In fact, a wading did not produce the best results few tripletail began showing up in mid-toLarry Wilson waded West because the fish have moved out deeper late April. These fish live most of the time Matagorda Bay with wind gusting to 30 mph. Still managed a nice than we can wade. This typically occurs offshore and enter the bay only as the water bunch of trout on Bass Assassins. most frequently on slack tide days. What I’ll warms and will leave in early autumn as do then to locate fish is to start drifting over soon it begins to cool again. Be advised deeper scattered shell and mud. I’ll drift over all my different way though, just like the surf, the best tripletail days occur when the wind points, making long drifts to avoid spooking fish. This has paid off at is very light or dead calm. So that’s another option for you. June looks times. Don’t forget to use louder topwaters such as She Dogs when like it could be a great month, just so many options to choose from. working deeper water as you sometimes have to call them up from the deeper, cooler water they are holding in. Until next time; God Bless! -Capt. Bill
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CaPt. GaRY GRaY
mID-Coast BaYs With the Grays
Port O'Connor Seadrift
Captain Gary and Captain Shellie Gray fish year-round for trout and redfish in the Port O’Connor/ Seadrift area. Gary started his Bay Rat Guide Service 20 years ago. The Grays specialize in wade and drift fishing with artificial lures. Gary and Shellie also team up to fish many tournaments.
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88 | June 2012
A recent trip reminded me of the old saying, “Just when you think you have them figured out they will make a fool out of you.” The day before I could do no wrong. Then I awoke to wildly clanging wind chimes. I began to wonder what it must be like to have a job where weather doesn’t matter, and then I took my first sip of coffee and snapped out of it. I started going over what my tentative game plan would be for the day. I say tentative as it is not unusual for the wind out at Charlie’s Bait Camp to be much stronger than in town. The weatherman said the wind was going to be 10 to 15 southeast; well it was already blowing 15 a full hour before sunup. The south shoreline of San Antonio Bay holds up well on southeast so I decided I would start on a reef that hugs the shoreline with a ridge that almost breaks the surface and slopes quickly down to four to six feet on the west side, the east side is a slower taper that drops about one foot every twenty yards or so. There were finger mullet rafted on the ridge and I guessed that something had them bunched up. We made our way down the west side alternating casts toward the rafts
of mullet with the next towards the deeper water. I hooked up first on a solid twenty-six inch red and directed my clients to cast there. One guy hung another red but his buddy was wandering off out of range, so I took another shot. Boom – twenty-two inch trout! I backed out of there as I fought her and the guy next to me threw back up to the reef and stuck a twenty-four inch speck. I motioned wildly but my other guy was way too far. The action eventually slowed but not until my customer landed two reds, three solid specks and a black drum on his Bass
David Stauber lands a nice San Antonio redfish on a recent trip with Bay Rat Guide Service.
Wayne O’Bayne works a shallow color streak looking for big trout.
Assassin Vapor Shad. To our delight the wind had slowed so we loaded up and headed to the middle of San Antonio Bay. With the same type of scenario we began fishing the west side dropoff of another reef. To make a long story short they limited on specs from eighteen to twenty-four inches. Very nice for a half-day trip, two good ones in a row. Fast forward to the third day, four customers, all day trip. Same type of morning wind so I headed back to the mid bay reef that had given us limits the day before. The water was a little choppy but not so bad we couldn’t fish it thoroughly. We threw our Assassins in every location on that reef and landed a total of three huge gafftop, a fifteen pound black drum and a single twenty-two inch trout. By now
it was whitecapping and the water was going off-color. So much for me being a weatherman and thinking the wind would lay again later in the morning. Back on the south shore we ran across an area that was mudded by a large school of mullet. A few slicks made me decide to try. Finally, a slick popped and one of the guys made a perfect cast right into the middle and hooked a five pound trout. That was our only fish at that spot before a boat ran through the mullet, parked a short distance away, and got out to wade. Danged discourteous! Evidently that bent rod really got their attention. Back in the boat, we hit several more spots that showed promise but didn’t produce. It was high noon and we had two trout. Wading to the boat I noticed the wind had finally slowed and wondered if the north shore of Espiritu Santo might be clearing - so we headed across for a look. The water was still a little murky but mullet were stacked inside the first bar. We started a wade with two guys fishing between the first and second trough and two guys up shallow – no luck. An hour later I made a lucky cast outside the second bar and hooked a solid speck. I motioned for the guy closest to me to fish in between the bars and he starts hooking up. By now the other guys had given up and were already in the boat while he finished his limit. My fault for wearing them out earlier and not keeping them in the game. So we ended the day with a dozen trout and the guys apologizing for giving up. Given the early conditions I don’t know what I could have done different. Momma said there’d be days like this. Fish hard, fish smart!
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DaVID RoWsEY
hooKED uP WIth Rowsey
I cannot believe that June is rolling in so soon. The warm winter and spring has just melted into the Upper summer as has my wanting to get out of waders. It is plenty warm enough to wade wet, but lucky me, Laguna/ I walked over a propeller and cut my calf muscle Baffin nearly to the bone. In avoidance of a bad infection, my good friends at SIMMS will get some extra play time out of my G3 waders this month. As soon as Dr. Tom gives me the nod, I’ll be back in my Flats David Rowsey has 20 years experience in the Laguna/Baffin Sneakers and enjoying the early morning splash out region; trophy trout with artificial of the boat that sometimes makes you forget that lures is his specialty. David has a you are a man. great passion for conservation May 5th was the largest full moon of the year, and encourages catch and known as the Super Moon. As expected the tides release of trophy fish. came rolling in and clean water from down south has Telephone made some positive impact on the brown tide that we 361-960-0340 have been experiencing since March of this year. As website of now I’m not sure what long term affects it will have www.DavidRowsey.com on the brown tide, but I’m excited about what I am Email david.rowsey@yahoo.com seeing so far. The east side of the ICW looks awesome
90 | June 2012
with green water that is spreading into many areas of Baffin. The north shore of Baffin has great clarity and visibility that stretches as far west as East Kleberg Point. On Baffin’s south shoreline the water is good as far in as Los Corallos but still has some patches of brown mixed in with the good water. Rocky Slough and the Land Cut have been gorgeous. Along with largest moon and high tides comes a migratory push of new life in the form of baitfish and predators entering our part of the bay system. This is really a special time of year when it takes place and one that will produce as much action as any other time in the twelve month calendar. For me, coming into Bluff ’s Landing Marina, I am usually greeted with big loads of harvested fish from the croaker crowd. I will admit that I have to cringe every time I see it as it greatly disturbs my conservative mindset; however, it is still valuable information and helps me understand how that migration is progressing and which areas are producing.
When I am targeting trout this time of year, my first instinct is to look to the major corridors of fish travel, and then find the structure along those routes. The visible part of the equation is to locate bait and slicks. During this time, I will be heavily focused on structure along the ICW and the shallow flats that are located within close proximity to these travel routes. The structure could be a deep dropoff along a spoil island shore, scattered rock piles, and also natural potholes in two to four feet of water. Add good structure to bait and slicks, and you will be catching good trout, reds and flounder this time of the year. Lure choices have not changed much, but I am having much more success with topwaters very recently than I have had in all 2012. The She Dog by MirrOlure has been a heavy favorite for me, and has produced some big trout of late. As always, my go to lure is the 5” Bass Assassin in a variety of colors. Last month I was
Bill Rabb finally pulls down his first over-30 at a whopping 9.5 pounds.
big on Morning Glory and solid white. As the water has cleared in the bay, I am reverting back to the more natural colors like Chicken on a Chain, Houdini, and Panhandle Moon. A 1/16 ounce jig head is standard fare for me but I always have an 1/8 ounce head handy for deeper situations or if dealing with high winds. If hunting redfish, I am all about the paddletail line of Bass Assassin lures. I typically rig these with a 1/8 ounce head as I like to swim the lure more than jigging it. In closing I would like to give a big thanks to a new sponsor of mine, MAUI JIM sunglasses. I have been wearing them for a few years now and have long believed that they have the best glass in the business. I am very excited to get to work with them on a professional level and know that I am keeping my eyes in shape for spotting fish for years to come. Y’all remember what happened to the buffalo...be conservative. It is not an unlimited supply. “Set ‘em loose.” -Capt. David Rowsey
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tRICIa’s Mansfield Report CaPt. tRICIa
Another month of fishing fun has flown by and life continues to be good in Port Mansfield. We’d like the fishing to become a little more consistent, though. It will be very soon I’m sure, but in the meantime the best catches of late have come from the most dedicated and patient anglers. Overall, fishing has been weak these past several Port weeks, bordering on a great big suck at times for Mansfield most who have braved the wind. Many have been disappointed as old-school patterns just haven’t been producing. High-high water levels and savage winds have made each adventure exactly that Capt. Tricia’s Skinny Water - an adventure to find a bite. Yes, we are still Adventures operates out of catching them and there have been some great Port Mansfield, specializing in catches, but it has taken getting down and dirty wadefishing with artificial lures. to accomplish it most days. Despite having a very healthy fishery, it is all about the prevailing Telephone conditions, and always will be. 956-642-7298 Consistent SSE winds in the 20 to upper 30 Email mph range have kept all but the hardest sand or shell@granderiver.net grassiest of bottoms looking like a grass-choked website www.SkinnyWaterAdventures.com mocha frappé. Somebody said yesterday that the view from the causeway going into South Padre looked like you could plant corn in the waters below. Not normal. And it appears our seagrass
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meadows still have quite a ways to go in recovery following the great freshwater inundation during the summer of 2010. Extreme freshwater inflow diverted from the Rio Grande after tropical storm floods put a large hurt on vegetation that requires higher salinity to thrive. Many areas have changed, and while waiting for a vibrant re-growth, several “spots” are just not what they used to be. It’s not all bad though, and all the more reason to fish with your eyes instead of your pre-programmed GPS. “Fishing with your eyes” means reading (and
We do not normally wear breathable waders this time of year but they offer good protection from jellyfish.
taking advantage of ) the signs nature forward to seeing schools of big reds and is suggesting for the moment. It’s not lots of keeper trout on the flats, along exactly rocket science to see bait and with a few big mamas. current lines along color changes with It took some getting used to, but I perhaps a few birds working the area. am really beginning to like FTU’s new By all means, stop and fish! It amazes split-grip Green Rod they call the me how many boats scream past “McFast.” Paired with a 50 or 100 size obvious “Stop Here” indicators. I think reel the balance point is so precise I mentioned before that a GPS can be that you actually have to back off your either a good tool or a bad “suggester.” A presentation - very pleasant relief for good fisherman is always on the hunt so tired, sore arms on long days. With use that GPS to mark hazards instead of its super fast action, the sensitivity is fishing spots. ridiculous with braded line. We are riding the crest of a real bull Thanks to Chris’s Marine in Aransas Pass, tide and with it came tons of hot jellyfish. I am now enjoying the most pleasant Long pants offer protection while wading ride I have ever experienced in choppy as do breathable waders, if you can bay water. My new twenty-three foot Fishing has been slower on average than we like stand them in the heat. Fighting our way Haynie Cat is one sweet ride and my to see but we are still finding some good ones. through the jellies has given us some new Mercury Pro XS 225 makes it fly! No great fish lately so be careful and learn to deal with it. longer does a rough bay dictate where I can run in comfort and the We have been catching most of our better fish deeper than shallow water takeoff and planing capability is equally awesome. My normal for the time of year. Jay Watkins is right. When the water back and knees are thanking me as are all my clients. Hopefully they levels go up many fish go deep as opposed to what we would think. will be able to wade longer and harder now that we aren’t getting so Deeper spoils along the ICW have been some of our better spots over beat up during rough bay crossings. the past weeks. Life is good down here and it will remain that way as long as we Summer always brings calmer weather patterns. We will probably keep fishing responsibly. Keep what you need and release the rest. still have occasional nuisance wind into late June, and as the bull tide We want to enjoy this for generations to come…agree? recedes we should see the fish returning to the shallows. We look
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CaPt. ERnEst CIsnERos
south PaDRE Fishing Scene
A rr oyo C olorado t o Port I sabel
A Brownsville-area native, Capt. Ernest Cisneros fishes the Lower Laguna Madre from Port Mansfield to Port Isabel. Ernest specializes in wading and poled skiff adventures for snook, trout, and redfish.
Cell 956-266-6454 website www.tightlinescharters.com
It has been a busy spring with all sorts of events, I try to make every trip a success and the first and travels and fishing adventures. Currently, I can biggest mistake when we cannot find a good early bite describe our fishing with two words - disappointingly is buzzing around like a hummingbird visiting every inconsistent. I remember last year I was reporting spot that looks inviting. When the going gets tough, excellent catches, a generous share of big trout, and the smart thing to do is focus on a few places where finding schooling redfish was fairly easy as long as you have been catching fish and be patient. Fish each your efforts were up near the Arroyo Colorado. This location thoroughly, and if your first attempt comes up year though has been quite different and we find empty, it sometimes pays off to revisit the same area ourselves struggling more often than I like to report. a few hours later. Also, expand your efforts at different Despite lots of windy days much of the water on the depths near the area where you have been catching east side and some of the west has remained relatively clear and very fishable. Unfortunately, Pat always comes we are not finding large concentrations of fish through with the in most of these waters. For the most part, fish biggest fish – 7.25 lbs. are not in places I expect to find them this time of the year. Sometimes I wonder if they have changed their zip code or just being finicky. A few months back I was mentioning the banner winter and early spring we were enjoying. I figured it was just going to get better and better, but in straightforward terms, it has been a grind lately. I can’t help but wonder if the nagging wind isn’t the major culprit. Daylight wind at 15-20 with forecasts calling for 30 by midday can leave a guide scratching his head.
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fish. Very important - waiting for the tide to move can make all the difference in the world. I recently got schooled that patience can pay big dividends. My clients and I were working an area along with another good friend and fellow guide Capt. Eddie Arenas and his clients. The bite just wasn’t happening; everything was down. Dead water was my thought. I became impatient and made a move of several miles to try another good spot, or so I thought. Eddie, on the other hand, made a move of only a few hundred yards to a slightly different depth. Long story short, we went for a boat ride while Eddie’s group got on some good fish under extremely windy conditions. It goes to say that sometimes the smallest change can make the biggest difference.
On stage at Simms “Ice Out” in Bozeman Montana.
I am praying the wind will back down as we enter the summer season. But if it doesn’t, and the fish remain scattered in the shallow flats where you expect to find them, try moving to the deeper edges of those flats. If the present pattern holds, do not overlook the areas that taper from the flats towards the deeper ICW. Quite often this is where you will find the bait and the gamefish you are looking for. June usually means the beginning of extremely hot temperatures so think “cool” fishing. This means early morning and perhaps a late afternoon into the evening trip can become very productive this time of the year. Fish will be heading deep rather quickly as the days get longer and hotter. Another productive technique is to forget all the places you would normally fish and head to out-of-the-way spots nobody is working. Trying something new can be fun, and let me tell you, I have found solid action lately in places I haven’t fished in years and some I never tried before. In closing I would like to congratulate Fishing Tackle Unlimited on the grand opening of its new and bigger store on Katy Freeway in Houston. Their Simms section is second to none. Now that I mention Simms, I was asked to make a presentation in Bozeman, Montana during their recent annual “Ice Out” event - a gathering of guides from all over the world. Over 500 guides attended the three day festivities. We were given a tour of the factory where the waders are made. I was very impressed and I must say they run a smooth operation up there in Big Sky country. Check out their new stuff on-line or better yet visit the new Fishing Tackle Unlimited store. Summer is here, remember to protect your skin, drink plenty of water, and catch lots of fish.
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FISHING REPORTS
Lake Calcasieu Louisiana Jeff and Mary Poe - Big Lake Guide Service - 337.598.3268 June is one of our favorite months because the weather is generally calm. All areas of the lake will be holding fish, in addition to the Cameron jetties, the beachfront and the close rigs in the Gulf. Salinities are good now, but we will still be concentrating most of our efforts south of the intracoastal due to the very low salinities this spring. Topwater action will be on! She Dogs, Super Spooks and Skitterwalks all work well for the larger trout. MirrOlure Little Johns, Norton Sand Eels and H & H Salty Grubs will also draw plenty of bites. Little Johns and Sand Eels work great under birds if ribbon fish are flashing, but when shrimp are jumping, the Salty Grubs work better. Glow, opening night and avocado are great choices for any of the plastics. Redfish will be plentiful. Large schools roam the middle of the lake, and show up at the Cameron jetties and behind the weirs on the south shoreline. Reds can be caught on all the same baits listed for the trout. Adding a Rockport Rattler to plastics for the reds often makes for better catching. Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242 James mentions good, steady fishing in the Galveston bays around the time of this report. “We’re catching fish. It’s not lock and load, but I’d call it good. Most days we’re getting our limit, especially when we’re wading. And we’re catching some big trout too, up to just over seven pounds. Best way to catch the big ones lately is with topwaters up shallow on sandy flats. We’ve had the best luck with the old Woody Top Dog, the white one with the red head. You’ll catch more fish out deeper, using pumpkinseed or red shad Bass Assassins on sixteenth ounce regular jigheads or Flutter jigheads.
96 | June 2012
ORECASTS F from Big Lake to Boca Chica
AND
Boat fishing is pretty good too when winds are light. Out there, we’re using more soft plastics on heavier jigheads. I’m focusing on Lower Galveston and West Bay right now, a little bit in East Bay. The water in Trinity is fresh and messed up, and East Bay gets blown out really easy. I expect things to stay much the same in June. We’ll start fishing out of the boat a little more as it gets hotter. But on the windy days, wading will be much better.” Jimmy West - Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054 Fishing has picked up nicely in the Galveston area lately, Jim reports. “As always in the spring, heading into summer, the weather is a big key. We do better on days with lighter winds. We’re still fighting a good deal of fresh water, and the clarity of the water just doesn’t hold up as well under strong winds as it does when it’s saltier. We’ve been catching lots of solid trout up to over six pounds wading, and also some good ones out of the boat. It’s been a good topwater bite on most days. The wading and boat fishing will both still be good in June. East Bay has plenty of fish, but Galveston Bay is really loaded up right now, all the way from the base of the Texas City Dike up to Atkinson Island, that whole side. Seems the fresh water has the fish pretty well stacked up over that way. I look for excellent fishing in June, especially if the wind doesn’t blow too much. We’ll start up the slick hopping strategy out in the middle on most of the calmer days, and we‘ll wade the leeward shorelines more when it‘s blowing.” West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays Randall Groves - Groves Guide Service - 979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323 Randall expects excellent fishing in June, with lots of options. “Right now, we’ve got more button shad than I’ve ever seen. The redfish in particular
are gorging on them, so it can be tough to make them bite lures at times. They are starting to make mud stirs out in the middle of the bay, and that can make them easier to catch. The trout are keying more on the baby ribbon fish, and when you find plenty of those, throwing a white topwater is more or less money in the bank. Another good lure to throw around the ribbon fish is the large Norton Sand Eel, particularly in light colors. Those same soft plastics work great when the glass minnows are around too. We’ll be looking to get in the surf in June. Normally, there are plenty of large menhaden around, and finding them usually leads to some solid trout fishing. By the way, I’ll be wearing my Piscavoure shirts, trying to beat the heat. Like most fishing shirts, they have a vented flap on the back, but on this one, the flap is removable. They are well designed fishing shirts for hot weather.” Matagorda | Tommy Countz bay Guide Service -979.863.7553 cell 281.450.4037 The Matagorda area has many options for great fishing in June. “Mostly, I like wading in West Bay when it‘s windy, working shallow grass beds early with topwaters, then switching over to dark soft plastics on light jigheads and being really thorough later. Calmer conditions mean more plentiful options. First thought is drifting the west end of East Bay and keying on slicks, using soft plastics on a little heavier jigheads. Wading the reefs in that same area can be good too, using top waters early in the morning, the switching over to Corkies and soft plastics later in the day. Light winds also create excellent potential for tripletail. When targeting those, we’ll be using live shrimp and fishing structure in West Bay. Normally, on those outings, I like to give some deep reefs over there a try too. We usually catch some nice trout working those. We’ll also look to head to the beachfront whenever winds allow. We’ll start off with topwaters there too, and also try some broken backs and Corkies. We’ll stay either in the first gut or just outside the first bar.” Palacios | Capt. Aaron wollam www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204 Fishing in our local waters has been pretty decent as of late. Fish are
definitely in summer-like, patterns with the unusually high water temps. Trout and redfish are holding over grass and sand and have moved off the mud. Tripletail have showed up in good numbers about a month earlier than last year. Trout have been active at the wells and structures out in West Matagorda and have been eating freelined shrimp like crazy. Redfish are starting to run in small pods on area shorelines chasing hatching shrimp, and have been pretty easy to target. Small topwaters like Super Spook Juniors, She Pups and Baby Skitterwalks have been working best; natural colors and bone seem to be best bet. The surf should be on the top of everyone’s list next month with the right winds. The keys to look for when fishing the surf are diving gulls and/or pelicans and big rafts of mullet. Those who are able to find these two things relatively close together should be able to catch plenty of solid trout. Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith - back bay Guide Service - 361.983.4434 “We will be watching the weather in June, hoping for a few light fronts and northerly winds so the surf will get right. Most years, we start having some opportunity to head to the beachfront and it’s one of my favorite things to do. Out there, we’ll throw topwaters mostly and stay pretty close to the beach. Some of the biggest surf trout we catch come at the beginning of the summer season. Other than that, I’ll be targeting areas with a hard sandy bottom and some grass beds. We’ll throw a lot of Super Spook Juniors, especially the ones with chrome on them. We’ll switch over to Corkies when the blow ups are harder to get. I particularly like the silver/chartreuse tail one if the water is pretty clear. Of course, soft plastics are a mainstay lure this time of year too. Chicken on a chain is a great color. Gambler is now making their Flappin’ Shad in that color pattern. It’s beautiful. I expect an excellent month of fishing ahead. We’ve got pretty water and plenty of fish right now, so it should be really good.”
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Rockport | Blake Muirhead Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894 “The trout fishing has been really good recently and the redfish action isn’t bad either,” Blake says. “I’ll be fishing Aransas, Mesquite and Corpus Christi Bays mostly in June, targeting shorelines with a lot of sand and grass. We’ve been having a good topwater bite and that should continue. I’ll be using Super Spooks with chrome on them as much as I can. Of course, I’ll be throwing my Sand Eels too. And croaker season is starting to kick in pretty hard. Lots of people are catching on those. One of the main things I look to do starting in June is fish the surf. I’m hoping it will be a good year out there. The winds haven’t been too bad this spring, so if it lets up a little, it cold go off big time. Lots of years, when the winds are light in the month of June, we catch lots of trout out there, and the average size is really good. Some of the best fishing of the year around here happens in June when the weather cooperates. With all the bays producing fish right now, we should be set up for a great run.”
98 | June 2012
Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut Robert Zapata – rz1528@grandecom.net - 361.563.1160 The month of June is one of my favorite months because the weather becomes more consistently favorable for fishing. The water temperature is also favorable for both fish and fishermen, making the fishing and catching consistently better. The brown tide is still affecting most of Baffin Bay and the Upper Laguna Madre, but the needed structures are still visible in shallow water, which is where I am finding most of the fish. In June, I’ll be fishing in less than three feet of water around grass lines, pot holes, drop offs and shallow rocks. Finding good concentrations of bait or fish slicks around these types of structure will be the keys to finding fish. One of my favorite lures this time of year is the MirrOlure Catch 5 in color CHBL, sardine. It sinks slowly and stays well in the strike zone for the big trout. The Bass Assassin Die Dapper in colors like morning glory/ chartreuse and chartreuse dog rigged on sixteenth ounce Spring Lock jigheads will be my go-to soft plastics. Live croakers on #5 Mustad croaker hooks will also be successful.
Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez – www.sightcast1.com - 361.937.5961 The water in the Land Cut area is beautiful and clear, Joe states. “I’ll keep running south quite a bit as long as the pretty water is over there. Recently, we’ve seen something of a changeover in the patterns. In April and early May, there were a lot of trout up shallow, and it was possible to catch them throughout the day on the skinny parts of the flats. Recently, some of the fish seem to have moved out a little deeper. In June, I like to key on drop offs and edges adjacent to deep water. In the area down south, that basically means the edge of the Land Cut, the deep side of the rocks in Rocky Slough, the drop offs in Summer House and Yarbrough and the fringes of the grass bars on the spoil banks. Like always, locating a lot of bait fish is a key this time of year. When targeting fish on the edges and drop offs, it’s wise to match the jighead size to the conditions. If winds are light, smaller jigheads work best, but when the wind gets up, going to heavier heads is critical, because it allows for keeping the lure in the strike zone better.’
Port Mansfield | Terry Neal www.terrynealcharters.com – 956.944.2559 Wind continues to stir up most of the Laguna Madre. The pattern has been 10 to 12 mph first thing in the morning for a couple of hours and then it picks up. If you find a spot that produces, fish it till the bite stops; that might be it for the day. Normally the bait in the area will dictate what happens the rest of the day but not a reliable indicator lately. Water clarity will determine what baits will produce as the wind picks up throughout the morning and continues till a couple of hours before dark. Repeat successful drifts and once you get some action throw out a marker so that you can come back to the same area. Fishing is going to take a lot more patience during this windy period. It has been tough for the most part; that is why it is called fishing. Enjoy your time on the water and remember that catching is a bonus. Hopefully the patterns will change soon. Be patient. Keep what you will eat; release the rest.
Padre Island National Seashore billy Sandifer - Padre Island Safaris - 361.937.8446 June is long-awaited by PINS anglers as it genuinely marks the beginning of prime conditions that typically last throughout summer and fall. Almost every species ever encountered in the surf is present in at least fair numbers during June. Speckled trout will become available to lure and bait fishermen. Most often a brightly colored topwater or silver spoon will be the top choice for lure chunkers. These lures may also produce ladyfish, redfish, Spanish mackerel, Atlantic bluefish and there is always a chance at tarpon and king mackerel. Whiting will be very plentiful for bottom fishers but will run a bit on the small side. As always it’s fresh, dead shrimp and “Fishbites” for them. You’d be surprised how many trout and reds are caught while fishing for whiting in this manner. If the sargassum allows, June, September, and October are the prime shark months with all species that inhabit the nearshore Gulf present on PINS. Turtle nesting will be in full swing and the beach is crowded with families in June so be considerate and keep your eyes open and speed down.
Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel Janie and Fred Petty – www.fishingwithpettys.com – 956.943.2747 The beginning of May started on a quieter note, wind-wise than April, with better fishing. We’re starting to limit on reds again, and continuing to catch good numbers of trout, including some over 25 inches. The flounder are still around, just not as plentiful as they were during the winter months. Freddy says, “If it’s trout you want to attract, try the new Cajun Thunder popping cork. It really adds splash to the traditional CJ rattle and pop. We’ve been upping our averages with the same fifteen inch leader and a Berkley Gulp! three inch shrimp under the new Back Bay Thunder. Precision Tackle has also added a larger hook to the eighth ounce copper or gold spoon, with dramatically improved results for redfish.” Look for much clearer water, now that the rolling silt cloud has settled a little from the open bay dredge dumping. Hopefully we can get the Corps of Engineers to change this disposal practice before the west side becomes too barren. Ecologically and economically speaking, the middle of the bay can’t be the best site to dispose of silt.
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Ryan Bagwell Port Mansfield - 29” 8.5lbs redfish
Rebecca Wingate 4’ 2” black drum CPR
Reece Frank Rattlesnake Island - 31” redfish
Danny Garcia Laguna Madre - 23” trout
Marissa Garza Port Mansfield - 25” trout
100 | June 2012
Jerrod Poffenberger Port O’Connor - redfish on fly
Jade SPI - 28” black drum Izabella Martinez Matagorda - first flounder!
Keegan Callahan Port Aransas - 27” redfish
Emma Doria with dad, David Nueces Backbay - 26.5” red
Jessie Jennings Surfside - 27.5” first redfish
Will Hunt Port O’Connor - 21.5” trout
Cody Dowden Corpus Christi - 24.5” trout
Mike Dubray 7.9 & 8.59 lbs personal bests!
Zack Matthews Fort Bend CCA Jimmy Guest Memorial Kid’s Fishing Tournament “Most Fish Caught” Elvira Vaughan Arroyo City - first red on topwater!
Macie Gardner Sargent - first fish!
Jake Koenig Redfish Bayou - first unassisted keeper reds!
Jake Morrison King Ranch shoreline - trout Dani Powers Matthew Potts East Matagorda - 16.5” first keeper trout! Laguna Madre - 9lb red
Ben Mendoza Landcut - 37” redfish Cherie Landry Galveston - 33" 16lb redfish
Taylor Moreno Tiki Island - 20” first trout!
Samantha Martinez Aransas Pass - 27” first redfish!
Please do not write on the back of photos.
Email photos with a description of your Catch of the Month to: Photos@tsfmag.com
Brandon Romero Seawolf Park - 30lb black drum
Austin Stecher Port Ingelside - 44” black drum
Mail photos to: TSFMag P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983 TSFMAG.com | 101
Pam Johnson
Gulf Coast Kitchen Green Olive Ceviche Thanks to Barbara Skalak for this recipe!
Got ideas, hints or recipes youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to share? Email them to pam@tsfmag.com or send by fax: 361-785-2844
*1 pound fresh seatrout filets cut into small pieces *1 jalapeùo pepper, seeded and chopped fine *20 small green olives with pimiento filling, chopped fine *1/2 large green bell pepper *Tabasco sauce (to taste) *1/2 small onion chopped *1 stalk celery chopped fine *1/2 tsp black pepper *1/2 tsp salt *1/4 tsp garlic power *1½ cups fresh lime juice
Place all ingredients in bowl and stir gently, pressing with back of spoon to make sure all ingredients are covered with lime juice. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours. Stir about every 5 hours.
Cayman Ceviche
From the kitchen of Tracy Davis, co-owner Sirena Water Wear Fishing Shorts, sirenawaterwear.com *1 pound skinless fresh fish fillets (drum, redfish, snapper, wahoo, seatrout, flounder are all good) *Vinegar to coat lightly (I use half white vinegar and half rice wine vinegar) *1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice *1 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, & chopped *1 serrano chili (small), stemmed, seeded, & minced *1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (to taste) and black pepper to taste *1/4 cup purple onions (to taste) *2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves *1 cup diced strawberries
Orange -Pineapple Ceviche Thanks to Patti Elkins for this recipe!
Note: If you like avocado and tomatoes, add these to ceviche when done.
Check fillets for any small bones and dice into 3/4inch squares, set aside. In a medium bowl, coat fish chunks with vinegar and let sit for 8-10 minutes, then drain vinegar. Add lime juice, bell pepper, serrano, salt and pepper and stir gently to mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours. Stir occasionally (very gently) during marinating time. Place mixture in a fine-mesh strainer to drain, leaving it a little wet, and return to bowl. Gently stir in purple onions, cilantro and strawberries. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving. Great on Ritz whole wheat crackers! Yield: 8 servings
Place fresh fish cubes in glass bowl and cover with lime, orange & pineapple juice. Refrigerate and marinate 6-8 hours or overnight, stirring at least once.
*1 fresh pineapple diced into small chunks or Fish should be white and flake easily when fully marinated. large can of tidbits, juice reserved. Drain juice completely. *2 oranges, peeled, with segments cut into pieces (can substitute canned mandarin oranges) *1 medium red onion, diced. *1 serrano pepper, seeded & diced Add all other ingredients *3 tablespoons minced cilantro and mix gently. *1 red bell pepper, diced *1 green bell pepper, diced *1 pound fresh fish filets cut into small chunks *1 cup fresh lime juice *1/2 cup orange juice *1/2 cup pineapple juice 102 | June 2012
Add kosher salt to taste. Goes well with tortilla chips or crackers. Yield: 8-10 servings
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GALVESTON TIDES & SOLUNAR TABLE Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine JUNE 2012
The BEST Choice… Any Place, Anytime!
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TIDAL CORRECTIONS Location Calcasieu Pass, La. Sabine Bank Lighthouse Sabine Pass (jetty) Sabine Pass Mesquite Point Galveston Bay (S. jetty) Port Bolivar Texas City, Turning Basin Eagle Point Clear Lake Morgans Point Round Point, Trinity Bay Point Barrow, Trinity Bay Gilchrist, East Bay Jamaica Beach, Trinity Bay Christmas Point Galveston Pleasure Pier San Luis Pass Freeport Harbor
High -2:14 -1:46 -1:26 -1:00 -0:04 -0:39 +0:14 +0:33 +3:54 +6:05 +10:21 +10:39 +5:48 +3:16 +2:38 +2:39 +2:32 -0:09 -0:44
Low -1:24 -1:31 -1:31 -1:15 -0:25 -1:05 -0:06 +0:41 +4:15 +6:40 +5:19 +5:15 +4:43 +4:18 +3:31 +2:38 +2:33 +2:31 -0:09
For other locations, i.e. Port O’Connor, Port Aransas, Corpus Christi and Port Isabel please refer to the charts displayed below.
Please note that the tides listed in this table are for the Galveston Channel. The Tidal Corrections can be applied to the areas affected by the Galveston tide.
Minor Feeding Periods are in green, coinciding with the moon on the horizon, and the last from 1.0 to 1.5 hrs after the moon rise or before moon set. Major Feeding Periods are in orange, about 1.0 to 1.5 hrs either side of the moon directly overhead or underfoot. Many variables encourage active feeding current flow (whether wind or tidal driven), changes in water temp & weather, moon phases, etc. Combine as many as possible for a better chance at an exceptional day. Find concentrations of bait set up during a good time frame, and enjoy the results.
Te x a s S a l t w a t e r F i s h i n g M a g a z i n e l
w w w. t e x a s s a l t w a t e r f i s h i n g m a g a z i n e . c o m