May 2012

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FOR SPECKS TSFMag guide staff see solid action ahead.

May 2012

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ABOUT THE COVER TSFMag youth writer Jake haddock is this month’s cover angler, posing with a husky Port O’Connor redfish.

Jake’s dream has long been to appear on our cover hoisting a trophy trout.

Well, we got him a cover for the last issue he will be our youth writer – so we’ll just have to do it again when he gets that big speck.

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

MAY 2012 VOL 22 NO 1

FEATURES

Mike McBride Kevin Cochran Billy Sandifer Martin Strarup Chuck uzzle Joe Doggett Joe richard

Donna Boyd Donna@tsfmag.com BuSINeSS / ACCOuNTING MANAGer

30

DEPARTMENTS 25 48 52 56 58 60 64 66 68 72 78

Coastal Birding Let’s Ask The Pro Fly Fishing TPWD Field Notes Conservation Kayak Fishing According to Scott Youth Fishing Texas Nearshore & Offshore Cade’s Coastal Chronicles Fishy Facts

Dickie Colburn Mickey eastman Bill Pustejovsky Shellie Gray David rowsey Capt. Tricia ernest Cisneros

REGULARS

4 | May 2012

104

06 editorial 82 New Tackle & Gear 98 Fishing reports and Forecasts 102 Catch of the Month 104 Gulf Coast Kitchen

CIrCuLATION SuBSCrIPTION – PrODuCT SALeS Linda Curry ADDreSS ChANGeD? email Store@tsfmag.com

Billy Sandifer Jay Watkins Casey Smartt Lee Schoech CCA Texas Scott Null Scott Sommerlatte Jake haddock Mike Jennings Cade Simpson Stephanie Boyd

HAVE TO SAY

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

Shirley elliott Shirley@tsfmag.com

Cir@tsfmag.com

WHAT OUR GUIDES 84 86 88 90 92 94 96

Office: 361-785-3420 Cell: 361-649-2265 PrODuCTION COOrDINATOr

08 Talking Topwaters 16 When the Going Gets Tough 22 This One is for Joy, and the Men...

26 Favorites 30 Surviving a Good Case of the hardhead 34 The Salty Saga of Fishing Tackle...

38 Burning Less Fuel for Kingfish

52

Patti elkins Patti@tsfmag.com

86

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

NO SUCH THING

AS STATUS QUO angler’s dream comes true…almost!

every winter since 1997, Charles “Skip” Prucha and his wife have traveled from their Presque Isle, Michigan home to enjoy the mild climate of the Texas coast at Port Aransas. Charles is a diehard wade angler.

Two years ago Charles visited the TSFMag booth at the houston Fishing Show to renew his subscription to the magazine and asked Pam, “What do I have to do to make the cover of you magazine?”

Charles says that Pam replied with a big smile, “All you need to do is catch a thirty inch trout and send us a great photo.”

So to get to the point; on February 10 2012, in the wind and rain while wading in Corpus Christi Bay, Charles caught a 30 inch trout and had his buddy snap a photo before he revived and released his trophy. (Kudos on the conservation ethic.)

And as much as we would have loved to make Charles’ dream of being on our cover come true, the photo just wouldn’t work – not because it wasn’t a great image – but it was shot in landscape (horizontal) rather than the required portrait (vertical) orientation.

What a disappointment!

This is the best we could do for you Skip, we thought the story and the photo were both too good to let them pass unnoticed and you deserved something special. here’s hoping you can trick another great trout real soon and will send us another photo that will work on the cover.

Good fishing to you and thanks for being a loyal reader, Everett and Pam Johnson Owners and Publishers

6 | May 2012

I used to hope, even believed for a time, that if I preached to enough people and created enough passion, encouraged enough “thinking beyond the box” – my little play on words with reference to the ice chest full of fish brought to the dock for bragging more than needed food – a new and better conservation ethic would emerge and anglers would petition TPWD for more conservative seatrout management.

One obvious benefit of reducing the speck harvest could have been a steadily increasing number of “exciting” fish landed as the fishery improved – “exciting” being five-plus-pounders up to double digits and maybe even a new state record or two.

Also highly beneficial could have been increased spawning biomass in each of our bay systems which biologists say is the quickest ticket to a speedy recovery following widespread natural mortality – freezes and toxic algal blooms.

Apart from the fact that I am a big trout fanatic (selfish motivation showing), if you consider our responsibility as consumptive-user stewards, it shouldn’t take long to understand there can be no long term reward in managing for status quo. Like free lunch, there is no true status quo. So, if that’s true, why not manage for a higher quality outcome?

There will never be status quo as regards fisheries management, simply because nothing in the management equation stays the same.

The Texas population is growing like a bad weed, which means more new anglers come to the coast each year and, the vibrant energy-based Texas economy enables them to fish lots of days.

Another major variable in the management equation is steadily shrinking habitat. Simply put, our bays and estuaries cannot produce as much marine life as they once did and the burgeoning population is the biggest culprit. A growing population has growing water needs and therefore inflow to estuaries will decline steadily over time. Pollution in various forms – some that we understand and attempt to control and some that we do not – will also limit productivity. Development of coastal real estate gobbling up wetlands and altering local watersheds will also exact a toll on productivity.

So when you add all these things together, there should be no doubt as to the future status of our inshore fisheries, unless of course we learn to be better stewards and conserve the resources still within our grasp – and even this will require tweaks and adjustments going forward.

TPWD asked Texas anglers what they wanted from their spotted seatrout fishery in scoping meetings back in December 2010 and the result was roughly a 50-50 split for quality more than quantity – which I found pretty remarkable given the volatility of the topic. however, the 50% who opposed were very loud in their opposition. Lacking a clear majority of public support, no action was taken at that time, only a promise to keep an eye on things and make changes later if necessary.

I haven’t given up on my dream of a much improved fishery for the middle Texas coast, it might still happen some day. Meanwhile I spend as time as I can in the Lower Laguna where the five fish limit has wrought wonderful results.

8 | May 2012

STOrY BY MIKe MCBrIDe

It Was one of those specIal tImes

where you could feel the magic in the air, a reminder that you were standing in a world far more complex than we might ever imagine. Nature was very busy for the moment, both living and dying…with electrified baitfish showering the surface and whirling pelicans framed by a setting red sun. Powerful swirls and loud flushes confirmed the presence of what we were looking for, however none of these larger trout were buying the topwaters we tried to sell. “Man, something has just got to work here!”, I thought, nervously knowing that opportunity was soon to slip below the horizon.

I remembered a little game we used to play in similar settings, where we would pretend to try and “sneak” a topwater back to the rod. When fish got finicky, sometimes playing that you wanted to pull the plug thru the killing zone without it being detected by the prowling fish below would work. Painful work - taking what seemed forever to complete a retrieve, and making as little commotion with the lure as possible, but the results were often explosive. It was worth a try.

The first “sneaker” trick I played that recent afternoon got hammered within ten feet by an aggressive six-pounder. Then, just as the sun kissed the horizon, beautiful twenty-eight and a half also bought the ruse. That’s how they wanted to be talked to, and to me, was effective salesmanship in the true sense.

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bomb going off doesn’t spike your adrenaline then probably not much else will. however, based on what I’ve been seeing lately, it might be time for another basic review for many beginners.

I don’t pretend to be an expert and can only offer comment about a few things that have worked for me in the past, spending literally thousands of hours working lures to catch trout.

One of the first questions I get in the water is, “Which topwater should I tie on, Captain?” Most all of them will work at the right times and places, but the better question would be, “What kind of topwater bite do we have at the moment?” The correct answer will suggest the correct lure choice, and for me, matching the presentation to their attitude is the entire lure game apart from finding them in the first place. Let’s look at a few basic basics.

“What kind of topwater bite do we have?” means figuring out whether the fish are in an aggressive, neutral or negative mood. When they are aggressive, most any lure and retrieve can often work and everybody is a hero. unfortunately, finding them in that aggressive eating situation is more rare than we would have it. More often they are just lying up and doing a bunch of nothing.

The classic retrieve I see most folks using borders on the Big Bang theory, where if you bang a plug around long enough something might eventually hit it. I see most fishermen simply jacking the fire out of it like a rough running one cylinder Briggs and Stratton. Yes, the object of a surface lure is to force a strike reaction, but we can do better than that jackhammer deal. Let’s remember that a retrieve that is too aggressive can just as easily run a fish off as call one up.

Based on what we are able to observe, is it a full meal deal event or perhaps more of a little snack time? If the fish are obviously blowing up big mullet, yes, a full-sized presentation like a Super Spook or he Dog can be a good call. Other times it can all be about a junior-sized plug - but either way the bottom line is still about matching the aggression of a presentation to the aggression level of the fish. That simply means that there are many ways to work a topwater besides trying to jerk the knot off of it, and being a truly effective surface fishermen is one of the most artful art forms of fishing there is. Many guys I see never try to dial their presentations in and don’t take advantage of what a surface lure can offer in terms of variation. There are many different types of opportunities to address but it takes getting into their zone to be consistent.

For example; there is what I call an “Oh why not bite.” This is the one where if you gently pester a fish long enough, it will finally kill it to make it stop. If you think (or know) a fish is lying on a little point, pothole or grass tip, keeping the lure poised there with long pauses and little enticing twitches might force that explosion you are looking for. however, spanking a big plug across that same zone fast and furious, as so many do without thinking, might be the worst

John Kafka called it by throwing a full-sized topwater on the bank.

thing we could do.

There are times they might want it tumbled end over end with long pauses, or perhaps snapped 90° right then 90° left making big splashes but with little forward motion. Other times it might take ripping one straight forward across rafts of mullet, yet other situations call for almost dead sticking it in rocking waves. What I’m trying to say is that being a good fisherman means being a good salesman, and that having only one sales pitch just ain’t gonna bring home the bacon on a consistent basis.

In my box I might carry a variety of topwaters, but in reality we can get most of our work done with just a few. A big one, a little one, a loud one and definitely one a little more on the quiet side. For me, that usually means a Super Spook, a She Dog, and a Skitter Walk, each style plug in regular and junior sizes. After that it’s all about the rod tip. Colors can certainly be important at times but this aspect of fishing lure selection can start a lot of unnecessary arguments in my book. I tend to think it’s really more about “associations.” Does your offering represent what they are wanting to eat in terms of size? Is it loud enough (color can be loud) for the conditions or perhaps way too much?

The lure doesn’t have to be super realistic looking, but finding that balance point to correctly address them is what will set the bomb off. Many lures can qualify for the job… so basically just pick what you have confidence in and go to work.

One thing for sure, no matter what we are throwing, I think most will find better success by 12 | May 2012

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casting at angles across the wind or waves instead Matt Pletcher used a gentler approach with of that automatic touristy a floating Corky. “cast it straight downwind” presentation. Not only do the baits walk better, but fish are often facing into the current and the worst angle of attack is bringing a lure across them from the rear. A baitfish doesn’t normally attack a predator.

Also, and if I dare say so myself, that “consistent rhythmic action” so many adhere to might be the worst possible retrieve we can try. To me, that is the anti-thesis of what a wounded baitfish might do.

I remember an article about “lessons from the lizard” that made sense to me, and watching how one runs then stops in short spurts is mimicked in nature quite often. We routinely see baitfish doing something similar.1-2p Ad 3/5/12 3:32 PM Page 1 Legend Salt

Yes, we can talk about specific lures, colors, sounds and such ad nauseam, but the reality with topwater fishing goes well beyond the simple tool. It’s more about our brains overcoming the fish’s, which should be quite embarrassing when we compare the two. In being a guide, it’s comically entertaining to watch all the different groups work a topwater according to their “raising.” An engineer for example, is usually too busy over analyzing things and tying on different lures. The politically conservative often won’t vary enough, and an over-thetop liberal thinks the fish just flat owe it to them to strike.

During those “special” moments, let’s think more about talking to the fish in a way they will listen rather than just forcing ourselves on them. Topwaters are a magical way to communicate…agree? Y’all have fun, it looks like another explosive spring season is upon us.

Contact

Mike McBride

Mike McBride is a full time fishing guide based in Port Mansfield, TX, specializing in wadefishing with artificial lures.

Skinny Water Adventures Phone Email Web

956-746-6041 McTrout@Granderiver.net Skinnywateradventures.com/ Three_MudSkateers.wmv

TSFMAG.com | 15

16 | May 2012

STOrY BY KevIN COChrAN

When bItes are comIng regularly, fIshIng WIth focus

is relatively easy. In fact, when the action is fast, a heightened state of intensity sometimes allows anglers to believe they are actively willing their way to catching more and bigger fish. Such occasions provide poignant learning experiences and lasting memories. Much of the time, though, catching fish is not so simple, especially on artificial lures, and performing productively in those situations requires discipline, patience and perseverance.

When the bite becomes difficult, consistently successful anglers make conscious decisions to fight off negative tendencies which tend to stifle productivity. Less-adept anglers typically become distracted and impatient, eventually falling back on bad habits and frivolous practices. Avoiding common pitfalls and catching fish consistently means making good decisions and executing sound strategies, always considering the feeding mood of the fish.

The feeding mood dictates choices in location, lure and presentation. An angler with greater recent experience has a better chance of correctly predicting the activity level of fish at a given moment. Those who fish less frequently will be forced to allow reliable principles to shape their predictions. regardless of how many recent excursions one has made, any serious angler should embark on a trip with an idea in mind of how aggressively the fish are likely to be feeding. While on the water, astute anglers will then cross-reference their predictions with observations which help verify or dispute the original expectations, all with the idea of making correct decisions about where and how to fish.

No amount of creativity and persistence will pay off if no fish are present in a chosen spot. Anglers should focus on areas strongly suspected to be holding fish, based on visual observations like bait activity, suspicious-looking swirls, the presence of tide rips, mud stirs or color lines, or because fish have been caught in the place recently and/or regularly over a longer period of time.

If the targeted fish can be seen in the water, all guesswork will, of course, be eliminated, but for most anglers most of the time, seeing the fish before catching them isn’t possible.

Locating fish is the first step in catching them. Accurately predicting the feeding mood helps in locating fish.

Aggressively feeding fish are more likely to be found on top of shell reefs or right next to rocks. They might be lying in wait in a sweet ripple or along the edge of a pothole, roaming tight to a shoreline grass mat or prowling along a main-bay drop off. All will be actively looking to seize upon any opportunity to make a meal out of one of their aquatic brethren.

On the other hand, negative fish often move away from structural elements and sit on the bottom with their heads down, nodding and napping. Some slowly meander along, suspended a distance from the surface, oblivious to all potential feeding opportunities. Most of the time, fish are found somewhere between these two extremes.

The choices of place, strategy, lure(s) and presentation(s) should be based on various criteria which affect feeding mood, including the season, time of day, moon phase and position in the sky, tide movement,

Trout generally feed aggressively while the sun is close to the horizon, either setting or rising. They also tend to bite well on a moonset or moonrise.

TSFMAG.com | 17

David ramirez focused on active mullet to locate and catch this solid trout during a relatively tough bite.

water temperature and weather conditions. Adding up all these factors accurately is not easy, but some attempt should be made, so potentially productive strategies can be executed with planned focus.

Ideally, the fish are aggressively feeding, allowing favorite lures and techniques to be deployed effectively in familiar places. More often, adjustments and allowances to plans must be made to account for a more subdued feeding mood among the desired target species.

When fish are difficult to catch, anglers often become frustrated and/ or bored, and their responses then decrease the likelihood they’ll find and catch fish. Depending on the personality, preferences and style of the angler, these negative responses vary.

Someone who has difficulty standing still or staying in one place often reacts to a slow bite by moving too much. For a wading angler, this generally means walking too fast through the area without making enough casts at each likely looking spot; for a boating angler, it means running around frantically without spending enough time in one place.

On the other hand, anglers who are reluctant to move around much tend to slow down even more when they aren‘t getting many bites; eventually, some stop moving or casting at all. Ideally, one should react to a tough bite by narrowing the focus to the “fishiest” 18 | May 2012

part of an area, then intensely working through it, either by wading slowly or controlling the movement of the boat, and working to make every cast count.

The fishiest part might be the most prominent structural element within an area, like a cut in a reef or jetty, a set of rocks next to a sand bar, or a drop off next to a deep, open basin. It might also be something more subtle, like the edge of a reef system, where shells thin out onto a muddy bottom, a pretty set of potholes in a grassy meadow, or a large grass mat with wind blowing against its front side.

It might also be a specific depth of water or a transition line from one color of water to another. Making a concentrated effort in some kind of small-scale, specific place is a first step in locating and catching fish during a tough bite.

When making the concentrated effort, anglers should be aware of how a slow bite tends to negatively alter lure choice(s). versatile anglers who are skilled at using various kinds of lures can become scatter-brained and overly experimental, changing lures every five or six casts. In the worst-case scenario, they seem bent on throwing everything in the box at the fish, in a desperate search for a magic bullet which doesn’t likely exist.

Anglers who are more committed to one type of lure sometimes

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When a good bite dies down in an area known to be holding fish, smart anglers often deploy soft plastics in the sweetest part of the spot. Jason King made lots of casts into small potholes with a MirrOlure Provoker before hooking and landing this fat fish.

The author switched to a sinking FatBoy after a steady topwater bite began to slow down and was rewarded with this 30 inch specimen.

20 | May 2012

downright stupid.

Anglers most adept at catching fish on tough days do not allow a slow bite to steal their focus and intensity; they anticipate difficulty and react gracefully. Resisting auto-pilot mode, they fight to maintain conscious control over the fishing effort, by making an intelligent choice of where to fish, then making a limited number of calculated changes to both lure and presentation, without experimenting in a random fashion. Often, they are able to coax a few rewarding bites on difficult days.

In large part, this ability to react appropriately to difficulty begins with an acceptance of the frequency with which a relatively tough bite is encountered.

The best wading anglers don’t allow frustration to transform them into track stars, nor do boating anglers run around like race car drivers.

Certainly, they don’t give up and become channel-surfing couch potatoes either. When the going gets tough, the toughest anglers don’t necessarily “get going”; they fish with narrowly focused intensity, discipline and determination.

Kevin Cochran

Contact

abandon changing altogether, becoming mindlessly married to one darling plug. Changing lures too frequently rarely achieves desired results, sticking with one lure and/or presentation too long is likewise almost universally ineffective.

When trying to catch finicky fish, smart anglers tend to experiment more with presentation than lure choice. Conversely, less-successful ones generally fall into what I call “auto-pilot mode” with regard to presentation, making too many casts without significantly altering the way they work a given lure. In essence, they are operating insanely. If some presentation is not eliciting strikes after twenty or so casts into an area expected to be holding fish, it should be changed somehow.

Repeating something unproductive and expecting different results is just plain crazy!

Smarter anglers remain cognizant of the need for systematic experimentation and implement changes to presentation methodically. They are also willing to rethink their plans and generate new ones. Doggedly refusing to scrap the basic pattern can also be the reason a skunk comes aboard for the boat ride home.

Sometimes, the best way to turn a slow outing into a productive one is to reconsider the original plans related to pattern and do something radically different. Once a bite has been determined to be tough and a narrowing of focus has been made, including the selection of a sweet spot followed by a thorough, patient and creative effort within that spot, a change in pattern might be necessary.

The modification normally involves focusing on a different depth of water and/or type of structure. It can mean choosing to wade instead of fishing out of the boat, or vice versa. While commitment to a seemingly sound plan is critical to establishing and maintaining confidence, stubbornly sticking with a plan for too long becomes

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

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

Trout Tracker Guide Service Phone Email Web

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

.

L E E R W NE It’s not just a

It’s a

Photo courtesy of Panama Sport Fishing Lodge

t o Y A NEW W

FISH.

22 | May 2012

A caricature of me

by Ben Beaty at the Beach Cleanup.

STORY BY BILLY SANDIFER

I rarely sleep at night anymore so some weeks back I pretty much

quit trying. For the most part I sit quietly and think and relive old memories or study various subjects concerning the natural world in my small library of reference books and most nights at some point I just sit and listen to the howling of the wind.

I am very grateful that I no longer have to pick up a charter at 0630 and try to make the trip a success in high winds, heavy seas, three feet of sargassum stacked from one end of the beach to the other, and the absolutely miserable spring driving conditions. There has been little in the way of quality fishing conditions in the surf so far this year and I’d have been able to complete very few charters – and with extremely high overhead and mechanical issues that come with such conditions we’d be absolutely dead broke right now if the V. A. had not come through with the disability rating.

Being a realist, I realize that if my wife had not worked like a dog all these years to help support us, at times our only steady income during extended red tide events, etc., I would never have been able to live the wondrous life I have experienced as the guide on PINS. Yes, it was brutal at times, often dangerous and required constantly pushing the limits of body and mind, but it was a wondrous adventure and was made to order for me. How blessed I have been that my wife cared enough not only to tolerate it but to support it, me and my efforts. Can you imagine living with the likes of me for thirty-one years? Why I wouldn’t put up with me for more than a few hours, much less thirty-one years. If living all these years with PTSD has been tough for me just imagine what it must have been like for her living with a certified nutcase all these years. She often tells me Vietnam veterans should be like cigarette packs and come with warning labels that say, “Beware, living with Vietnam veterans could be hazardous to your health.”

Fishing guides tend to sit around calling each other captain and talking about all their personal successes, but most fail to mention

their wife is working as a maid at a local motel or condo to help make ends meet, even though this is a common situation and necessary income supplement in the guide business.

And I know my wife has spent many a day in quiet desperation and fear worrying about my safety as I battle my way in a kayak through a surf that I know is too rough and roll around on the backs of 350 pound bull sharks removing hooks from their mouths so I can tag and release them.

Getting up with me at 0500, packing my lunch and getting my coffee ready, as I load all the equipment into the truck for the day’s charter. Then working a full day at her own job and coming home to wait and worry till I return; at which time she cleans the truck while I clean up all the gear and get it ready for tomorrow.

She then warms supper as I stagger to the shower so tired that I’m in a daze. I eat; too exhausted for small talk, and stumble off to fill out my log book and then fall into bed. Next day; same thing all over again. So much for the lifestyle of a legend and the poor woman who married him.

See the problem with being a legend is that it doesn’t pay near as well as being rich and famous. I am very pleased with what few good deeds I may have done for conservation and for the overall good of Padre Island as well as whatever influence I may have had as a positive role model, but the harsh reality is that doing good deeds darn sure doesn’t pay any bills. And while a high profile guide may bask in notoriety (whether he wants to or not) his wife most often lives an unacknowledged, anonymous life although he couldn’t do the good things he does without her support. God knows you have very rarely heard it in all of these years but - Joy, I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Had the strangest and most wonderful turn of events since writing my last article on the recent Big Shell Beach Cleanup which I titled - Retreat Hell, We Just Got Here. Incidentally I picked up that title TSFMAG.com | 23

French officer suggested retreating to Capt. Williams, who was later killed in the battle. upon reading this it really struck a chord with me and I was puzzled as to why. I was inexplicably drawn to look over my right shoulder at the wall behind my desk and instantly my focus was drawn to my papa’s WW-1 helmet I’ve treasured all these years, and then I remembered that the only battle he ever specifically mentioned having participated in by name was the Battle of the Belleau Woods and that it had been a really tough one. Papa was a gunner on a water cooled machine gun in France in WW-1 and my heart stopped as I realized that 94 years ago he and Capt. Williams were eating the same French dirt and fighting in the same battle where Capt. Williams made this statement and later died - and when they did Papa was wearing this very same helmet that now hangs on the wall in my house. Now buddy, if that don’t prickle the skin on the back of your neck there’s something wrong with you. What an absolute hoot.

I’m really getting teased for my new state-of-the-art custom aluminum, high-dollar shark rack I had the fellas over at South Texas Trolling Motor fabricate for me. hey, I never said I was going to quit shark fishing. I said I was going to quit doing shark fishing charters.

I don’t think I know how to quit shark fishing. Its high dollar but I’ll tell you a true story. Two years ago I ended up paying about $800 for My new lightweight custom shark rack.

from a line in a Sci-Fi movie currently showing on Tv called “Battle Los Angeles.”

All I knew of the history of this saying was what it said in the movie; that it had been first used by a uSMC commander in the First World War. When I wrote my internet closure article on the cleanup for internet message boards I started getting responses to the post that enlightened me to more of the history of the saying. It took place in WWI at the Battle of Belleau Woods near the town of Lucy-le-Bocage in 1918. The statement was made by uSMC Capt. Lloyd Williams when a

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The helmet Papa wore during the Battle of Belleau Wood.

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an over-weight iron rack which ended up causing $2,000 worth of broken leaf springs over a period of only eight months. This one probably weighs in at less than 50 pounds, is functional to the max and sharp looking to boot. That’s a better deal any day.

It looks as if PINS dodged the bullet on the wind farms for now but they are still planning on building them offshore of South Padre. I seriously doubt whether a bird knows if it got killed on North or South Padre.

Everyone remember Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle nesting is now in full swing and the speed limits on PINS beaches is reduced to 15 mph. Look forward to seeing you down island. Tell your wife THANK YOU. My bet is she’s earned it.

“If we don’t leave any there won’t be any.” -Capt. Billy

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.

Photo credit: Jimmy Jackson

Length - 21 inches Wingspan - 44 inches Weight - about 2.0 pounds

Phone 361-937-8446 Website www.billysandifer.com

TSFMAG.com | 25

STORY BY MARTIN STRARUP

26 | May 2012

“Throttle back & ease up

just past that old post straight ahead” was the order from my fishing partner. “There’s a really nice reef here that I rarely see anybody fishing and it can hold some really nice trout.”

I put the boat into a good position as Sam slipped the anchor out and then handed me my wade belt. Sliding over the gunwale he commented that he couldn’t believe that I had never fished this spot. My reply to him was that I didn’t know it was a reef there.

There was a lot of “nervous” water in front of us and the heavy swirls that caught my eye looked very promising. As we separated and began moving along the reef, I wondered how I ever escaped learning it.

I couldn’t begin to count the number of times that I’d passed this spot and failing to notice the shell bar about 20 feet wide and 100 or so feet long. The water dropped off of the north side to about five feet and the incoming tide came up from the deeper water and just rolled

across the shell. It was perfect.

The trout slammed into the Skitterwalk and peeled off as much line as the drag setting would let her have. She danced, shook her head and pulled deep several times before she had enough and came to hand. Sam was working an Assassin rigged light and the fish seemed to like the slow retrieve that he offered them and he looked over and smiled as he strung his third fish of the morning. He was ahead of me numbers-wise but as long as the trout were hungry for my topwater bait I was obliged to keep throwing it.

Too often we get into a habit of concentrating on just a few spots, limiting ourselves to particular areas because they frequently hold fish.

Now that’s not entirely a bad thing, but in fishing, as in life itself, diversity can be wonderful. When we continue to hit one place trip after trip, we get to know the lay of the land, so to speak. We learn which way the guts run and how deep they are, and we learn the bottom texture and all

TSFMAG.com | 27

trout hit it with a vengeance just as I was locking my reel. Sam held up his stringer and made a slicing motion across his throat and when I had my fish on my stringer I met him back at the boat. “We have what we need for the fish fry, what say we call it a day?” That was fine with me, but I hated to leave that new place so soon. Then again, I knew that I’d be back there again when the conditions were right.

As we made our way back to the boat ramp I thought about some of my favorite places to fish and wondered how we would have done at one of those spots. It would have been very hard to have done better than what we did. We were in the water, we were on fish, the fish cooperated and we strung what we wanted to keep. It would be very hard to improve on that.

Besides, I have a brand new spot to add to the list of my favorites.

Be Safe

MArTIN STrAruP

CONTACT

the structure. We can usually figure out where the fish will be if they are indeed there to begin with and we learn all of this through familiarizing ourselves with the area. So getting familiar with a particular piece of ocean front property isn’t a bad thing at all. But limiting ourselves to a few spots, time and time again, and not exploring and learning other areas that can be used as back-up locations can lead to empty stringers and frustrating days.

I set the hooks on a decent fish and she too pulled deep on me into that hole on the north end. She took plenty of line as she worked her way down and didn’t act like a trout at all. I began to think maybe a solid red had worked its way into the bait that was crowding the reef and the sudden surge and the loss of several more yards of line confirmed that thought. The fish dove around the corner of the shell dropoff and my line went slack – a victim of sharp oyster shell. I mumbled a few choice words to no one in particular and was reaching for a new plug when Sam held up his Assassin, pointing at it emphatically with that damned know-it-all grin I’ve seen too many times. “Yeah I see it,” I muttered under my breath with an exaggerated shrug of the shoulders and then dug around until I came up with one that nearly matched. I giggled quietly as I threaded it onto a sixteenth ounce jig thinking I’d soon whip him at his own game.

If there is one thing I’m guilty of, even though I know better, I tend to fish places that I know hold fish. If someone tells me that I should try this spot or that and it is some place where I’ve never fished, I accept their recommendation with a grain of salt and usually head instead to a place that I know. But on that reef with my friend, I came to the conclusion that the places that are known to me may not always be the best places for me to fish.

The Assassin landed in the middle of a pod of finger mullet and the

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

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OffshOre, inland (marsh Or bay) and fly fishing…all available with experienced guides 28 | May 2012

STORY BY CHUCK UZZLE

It is amazing how quickly the marshes respond to a drenching of freshwater.

30 | May 2012

Sometimes it’s

difficult to just get out of your

own way. For some unknown reason things continue to clutter our path and keep us from achieving a particular goal. Some clutter cannot be helped but a whole bunch of it can be.

The biggest obstacle is often us and our own aversion to change - I am a perfect example. “I’ve been doing it this way forever,” is a favorite excuse and one that many anglers use. The thought of changing the routine or altering the status quo is just too foreign a concept. Which brings me to the point that resisting change is one thing, resisting to the point that it causes you to suffer in any way is just dumb.

I personally have no problem telling off on myself as I’ve never been so vain that I couldn’t poke a little fun at my own expense. Perfect example; two clients in the boat with me and we are working a grassy shoreline looking for redfish. All of us are throwing topwater plugs and waiting for the bomb to go off as redfish are prone to do. I am doing my best to pick apart the area and help establish a pattern while my Super Spook Jr is crawling across the surface like a champ. The textbook retrieve looks enticing to the eye and is finally met with a thunderous strike. Redfish number one makes its way into the boat and all is good, at least that’s what I thought.

For roughly three hours the two rookies in my boat, who aren’t even close to working a topwater with any hint of side-to-side motion, begin to just absolutely school me. I’m talking these guys can do no wrong. I just watch in amazement, refusing to change my retrieve to match their ridiculously spastic cadence because I can’t make myself look that silly. My refusal to adapt to their style and pace contributed to the massive tail kicking that I took that day and I only have myself and my ego to blame.

Another great example that actually worked out well for me happened several years ago as Mike McBride, Art Wright, and I were drifting over some deep shell along the Louisiana shoreline of Sabine Lake. At the time MirrOlure had just sent out their newest prototype topwater plug, the She Dog, and I was an instant convert. Those trout that were out in the middle of nowhere in six feet of water were just absolutely mashing the new plug much to McBride’s dismay.

“I refuse to throw anything that sounds like a handful of hex nuts rolling around in an empty coffee can,” he quipped as his Super Spook took flight. After Art and I landed another half dozen trout apiece I offered Mike one of the “magic” She Dogs. His response was the same but his lure was different.

For the better part of an hour Mike continued to

Capable of loud and obnoxious behavior, the She Dog and She Pup can call ‘em up when other lures cannot draw the first strike.

TSFMAG.com | 31

rummage through his bag looking for another plug to combat the She The Sabine marshes are absolutely full of juvenile Dog as we howled with glee at each reds; a sure sign that trout that blasted our offering. The the Sabine ecosystem is constant cackling finally wore Mike healthy and thriving. down and forced him to do what he’d so adamantly resisted and that was to ask for the She Dog - because a man can only stand so much.

Those two examples paint a vivid picture of what can happen when you just get a good case of the hardhead and refuse to give in, even when the obvious answer is right in front of you. Some folks are just wired different, genetically set up to do things the hard way, and to enjoy the trials and tribulations that come with them. Others are quicker to jump ship and latch onto the methods that are producing. No problems either way until one decides the other is wrong. Gun hunters versus bow hunters, artificial versus live, blondes versus brunettes, and so on, the arguments and opinions fly.

Choosing sides only escalates the conflict and widens the gap. On the rare occasion that compromises are made it’s almost a certainty that success isn’t too far in the future.

Speaking of the future - it looks awfully bright for Sabine Lake thanks in large part to some much needed rain. The surrounding marshes are in as good a shape as I have seen them in quite some time.

Not only does the vegetation look good the fishery is certainly on the increase as well. The amount of small redfish that are running around in the estuary is amazing and there is no better evidence that the ecosystem is healthy. The back-to-normal state we see developing on Sabine and surrounding waterways is a welcome change from the ultra-drought conditions of last year. The high salinity levels that were so prevalent brought with it both good and bad scenarios, the worst of them being the damage that was done to the fragile vegetation in the marshes and rivers. On my duck lease we had tons of hand-planted grasses that were designed to help prevent erosion just absolutely wither away under the super saline conditions. Cattails, widgeon grass, and all others sorts of vegetation were almost completely gone for months. It’s amazing how the marshes have seemingly bloomed overnight as the freshwater has displaced the salt and returned everything back to a normal state.

I know there are plenty of folks who are anticipating a really good spring on the south end of the lake and jetties as the northern half of Sabine takes the big hit from the freshwater runoff. The big reef at the Causeway and the deeper water in the channel will be loaded up until the big runoff subsides.

The bite at the jetties during the month of April and May will be worth the trip and those early risers will surely love what happens as they probe the rocks with topwaters before dawn. Jetty trout just seem to be a little wilder than most and it wont take you long to figure that out Chuck fishes Sabine and Calcasieu when you get the first bite.

Lakes from his home in Orange, TX. In the meantime as the his specialties are light tackle and fly rest of the area drinks in fishing for trout, reds, and flounder. some sweet fresh water all the signs point to a really Phone 409-697-6111 impressive year. email cuzzle@gt.rr.com

CONTACT

ChuCK uZZLe

32 | May 2012

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Cut Rate on Telephone – circa 1980.

Fishing Tackle Unlimited – Gulf Freeway location.

34 | May 2012

STORY BY JOE DOGGETT Houston has been a major retail market for fishing tackle for more than 50 years.

This is because the upper Texas coast offers year-round access to a remarkable diversity of outstanding saltwater and freshwater fishing.

Put simply, it’s a sorry day when you can’t catch fish somewhere within oneday reach of Loop 610.

Many tackle shelves filled with gleaming rods, reels, and accessories have been available in and around Houston since the post World War II era.

Even before - but few anglers can recall the days of split bamboo and directdrive reels.

I can recall approximately two dozen significant sporting goods stores, all locally owned and operated, during the past half-century in the Houston area.

A similar number of national sporting goods stores and department stores offered tackle aisles. Some of these enterprises failed, but all helped supply upper coastal anglers.

Then, of course, we have Fishing Tackle Unlimited.

Well, early-on it was Cut Rate Sporting Goods. But, by whatever name, the Houston-based fishing tackle/marine accessory retailer is one of the great success stories in our sport.

Brothers Joe Meyer and Danny Meyer, founders of FTU, are Houston natives.

Their father, Johnnie Meyer, was an avid fisherman, salt and fresh, and pushed his sons in the right direction - to the nearby lakes and bays.

Both boys were fixtures at the old Heights Tackle House during the early 1960’s, then took different paths. Joe

FTU on Gulf Freeway at Fuqua has worn the distinction of “world’s largest tackle store” since opening in 2003.

Cut Rate Tackle on Telephone Road shortly after the store was opened in 1979

TSFMAG.com | 35

studied business at University of Houston then served as regional sporting goods manager for K-Mart; Danny joined the Air Force then became a sales representative for various tackle manufacturers.

“We finally decided to open our own retail store,” Joe said. “In 1979, we got a 2,500-square-foot store on Telephone Road, stocked some quality inventory that was a good fit for local fishing, put up a ‘Cut Rate’ sign and were in business.”

The store was a growing success but for the first few years not a major force on the regional radar screen. Then, as the market grew (no doubt aided by the turnaround of saltwater fishing during the early and mid 1980s), they opened the second store in a strip center at 8933 Katy Freeway (near Campbell exit).

The tackle/marine accessory store shared the same strip center with a hugely successful Carter’s County Store, a great one-two punch for fishing and hunting in a serious market on the west side of Houston. The addition of Goode Company Bar-B-Q didn’t hurt the prime lunch-hour crowd.

“The Katy Freeway store was going strong and we decided to move the Telephone Road operation to our big store at 12800 Gulf Freeway,” Meyer said. “That was a major commitment but saltwater fishing was really growing and it is a great location on the main artery from Houston to Galveston.”

“Most people heading for the beach do their tackle shopping on the way down, not on the way back, and we’re on the southbound side at the Fuqua exit. It’s also near the Sam Houston Toll Road.”

The Gulf Freeway FTU store covers 32,000 square feet - a major venue devoted entirely to fishing and marine accessories and is fast becoming one of the largest “fishing kayak” dealers on the Gulf

36 | May 2012

Coast. It’s been acknowledged as the largest fishing-only retail outlet in the country. It says so right on the Gulf Freeway sign: “Fishing Tackle Unlimited, World’s Largest Tackle Store.”

Well, until now. Now, the Gulf Freeway FTU store looks to be a worthy second place.

The largest fishing store in the country promises to be FTU’s new location, 8723 Katy Freeway, just a long cast east of the old Katy Freeway location. The two-level, free-standing building is a monster emporium providing 44,000 square feet of retail space. That’s room for a lot of rods, reels, lures, lines - and virtually anything else you can think of in the realm of angling.

Mike Barbee, longtime manager of the old Katy store, will manage the new location. “The new store will have its ‘soft opening’ Tuesday, May 1,” Barbee said. “We’ll be moving inventory from the old store and adding new items all that previous week.”

The official grand opening with factory reps on hand will run Thursday, May 3, through Saturday, May 5. The store will be open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, closed on Sundays.

“What we’re really excited about is the concept of the new location,” Meyer added. “It will be a store-within-a-store for a lot of major manufacturers. By that, I mean each one will have their own designated area on the floor, and each one will provide their own fixtures and displays.”

A partial list of the store-within-a-store lineup includes big tackle names such as Shimano, Daiwa, Pure Fishing (Abu Garcia, Penn, Berkley, Shakespeare, All Star), and Simms. Fishing clothing “stores” include Guy Harvey, Tommy Bahama, Columbia, and AFTCO. “We’ll have a separate fly fishing center,” Meyer said. “Most of the

big manufacturers of rods and reels will be stocked and the fly fishing area will cover about 2,500 square feet - about the size of our entire Cut Rate store back on Telephone Road.

“We’ll also have our fishing travel service on hand - Travelin’ Angler, managed by Andy Packmore. It’s moving over from the Gulf Freeway store.” Andy’s years of experience guiding for several Alaskan Lodges will continue to benefit our traveling customers who want to most out of their distant fishing excursion.

Other specialized areas will be a well-staffed tackle repair shop, kayak displays, fishing-oriented book/map/ magazine shelves, and seminar spaces.

According to Barbee, the plan is to conduct at least one major how-to seminar every two months.

But tackle, in virtually all types and sizes, will be the main event. The open floor will be devoted to aisles Interior of new FTU Katy of lures and terminal accessories. store during remodeling.

Worth note, most of the gear will be suitable for applications on local lakes and bays - not to mention offshore gear for the Gulf.

If you intend to travel to a far-flung angling destination the store should have proper tackle backed by qualified experts, but the primary focus is on Texas fishing. From bluegills to blue marlin, from Christmas Bay to Christmas Island, FTU has got you covered.

This is not by coincidence. Joe and Danny are dedicated anglers. I’ve known them for more than 30 years, dating back to the original Cut Rate store and my early days as an outdoor writer for the Houston Chronicle.

The Brothers Meyer are much more than tackle retailers - they are salty players with decades of handson experience. They still fish often, all across the Gulf Coast, as well as various remote venues. I suppose you could call these trips, “product research.”

They know all about the right stuff, striving to stock new “killer baits” while maintaining the myriad of traditional favorites. Seldom, if ever, will you see fluff or el-cheapo junk on the FTU shelves.

Danny is more of a behind-the-scenes guy while Joe often is actively involved in promotional events, fishing tournaments, and conservation causes.

On that note, it should be understood that both men are longtime supporters of the Coastal Conservation Association (dating

Coming Soon - The newest-largest fishing tackle store in the world!

to the old Houston-based Gulf Coast Conservation Association) and Dave Holder’s Houston Fishing Show. Incidentally, the annual Houston exhibition is claimed to be the largest fishing-specific consumer show in the country, making the two XXXL enterprises a good fit.

The May 1 opening of the new Katy Freeway location presumably will give FTU the largest and second-largest “tackle stores” in the country - a tribute to the Houston fishing market, and a remarkable success story for two brothers who years ago learned to fish the right way with their father.

TSFMAG.com | 37

STORY BY JOE RICHARD 38 | May 2012

Kingfish in blue water. Later in summer, clear water pushes in closer to the beach.

With $4 dollar fuel reaching permanency, kingfish anglers

now face the dilemma of how to catch these fine fish without breaking the bank. Blasting way offshore all day and trolling, without shutting off the engines, is expensive. There are alternatives, of course. Besides the obvious advantage of 4-stroke outboards, here are a few ideas for saving fuel out there, while also catching some hefty kings.

Partyboats In the early years our offshore experience was relegated to stick-steering bassboats with a limited, shall we say, endurance in whitecaps. In those small vessels off Sabine, where kings stay further offshore, we returned kingless after many hard days. But plunking down $40 or $60 for a 12- or 18-hour bluewater tour-of-duty on a sturdy partyboat offered new horizons.

That’s how many of us caught our first king, amidst a crowd of unshaven snapper fishermen who were difficult to work around. Their many lines offered a formidable obstacle for landing hooked, circling kings. But stationed on the bow with elbowroom for casting, or at each corner of the stern, we could (with an Ambassadeur 7000 reel) toss a live grunt or frozen menhaden away from the crowd for some screaming hookups. The snapper fishermen all had short, poolcue rods with no chance of casting near-weightless baits for kings. Our eight-foot, stout Hurricane rods let us sling baits 25 yards and more where the big kings bite. Bowed up with a smoking thumb, we ran down the deck, hooked fast to supercharged kings weighing up to 40 pounds and bigger.

Once, a friend borrowed my rod and on his first cast, fought a 51-pound king from stern up to the bow, the silvery five-footer even briefly wrapping the anchor rope. But a deckhand finally gaffed and dragged it aboard. It was a kingfish that half the SKA tournament crews back east, when the chips are down, would gladly sell their own grandmothers down the river for. Hyperbole aside, the winning Texas STAR tournament kingfish, a couple of summers ago, was caught from a Galveston partyboat by a young angler starting out much like we did. Without a partyboat, try fishing 50 miles offshore on $60 bucks a day, with today’s gas prices.

Tie up to the rigs Okay, you’re headed offshore anyway with friends on a private boat. But you don’t have the fuel capacity or dinero to constantly troll. Instead, tie up to a platform and shut the engines off. Bring an eight-foot aluminum rig hook. You know, those old-fashioned hooks we used before trolling rigs became so popular. With these aluminum, candycane-shaped tools, you can hook up to sketchy rig corners without lasso tricks and banging the boat into steel structure. Safely moored, toss out chum and set out a couple of unweighted baits. If the current isn’t running squirrely into the wind, the chum settles astern. If the water is clean, you should see action. This is oldfashioned “Coon-ass fishing” perfected back in the 1960s off Louisiana. On a crowded weekend this can get tricky, unless you arrive early. But it saves gas.

TSFMAG.com | 39

Anchor up Since the feds are cutting down hundreds of Gulf platforms in blue water, consider anchoring over natural rock formations offshore. Some of these we call “bubbling rocks,” because they release ribbons of natural gas bubbles. At any rate, they attract kingfish that feed on small bottomfish living on the reef. Get a good chum slick going, and you may have all the kingfish action you can handle. Anchored up out there, we’ve even enjoyed topwater action, pulling out baitcasting tackle with 15-pound line, and “walking the dog” for many airborne strikes. On a good day this technique has produced more savage topwater action than a year in Baffin Bay. higher jumps too, like 12 feet.

And with the engines shut off for up to six hours.

Kingfish with high-vis rapala lure, designed to dive perhaps 20 feet. Caught off Port O’Connor within sight of land.

Spend the Night heading offshore for any distance means burning fuel. however, when the weather is fine, consider spending the night out there. It’s two days of fishing, for the price of one—plus one night. That’s something like a five-fold increase in fishing time, mostly no other boats around.

You’re fighting kings at dawn, while the other guys are waiting in line at the boat ramp. Most of these extra hours are spent tied up or anchored with engines shut down. After trial and error, we much prefer tying up to a lit platform at night, refraining from running around in poor visibility.

At a platform, you won’t be run over by a passing commercial vessel. You’ll have lights overhead,

Pete Churton off Sabine Pass with a kingfish about to be released.

40 | May 2012

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to operate. With solid, storm-proof structure only feet away, and maybe even a platform crew close by if things get a little dicey.

The main hazard is keeping the boat out of steel structure, if wind or current changes. As it usually does, in the middle of the night. Make a three-day trip out there, and it feels like an entire summer of fishing. We made a number of those during the early tournament years, but you need a good reason these days to stay out that long. It also helps if someone, usually the boat owner, is a light sleeper and checks the bilge periodically for water. Multiple automatic bilge pumps are nice here when, late at night, the crew lies completely senseless after a hard day of action.

Alan reynolds off Sabine Pass with a schoolie king.

Kites Dale Fontenot fighting a kingfish off Sabine Pass, while quietly driftfishing past a platform.

Anglers in South Florida are keen on flying kites for kingfish and other species— a technique virtually unknown off the Texas coast. Setting out up to six live baits under two kites can get pretty exciting, with all strikes right on the surface, with kings jumping repeatedly after frantic baits. It requires a little experience, a couple of kites and a couple of old Penn reels with short, stubby three-foot rods to retrieve them from the sky, along with release clips. This is driftfishing with the engines shut down.

Troll Jetties and Buoys upper coast anglers are at a disadvantage for kingfish, gas-wise, since kings lurk further

neW kIngfIsh book Dedicated kingfish anglers will be glad to hear my new book The Kingfish Bible, New revelations is headed for the printer soon. Subjects mentioned above are explored in much more detail. There are 18 chapters and about 170 pages—including campfirestyle stories of winning some of those big, three-day kingfish tournaments out of Galveston, back when they were popular, gas was cheap, and fishing overnight in small boats was more the norm. This New revelations is in color and has eight new chapters. Older, favorite chapters have been clarified with new details. The tackle section has been updated, of course. Texans Joe Doggett and Shannon Tompkins have written commentary on the back cover. If you’d like an email notice when the book comes out (hopefully by Memorial Day), send an email to: joe@seafavorites.com

42 | May 2012

Organization meets conservation in a single tackle bag

CCA Deluxe Tackle Bag

Heddon Super Spooks or Super Spook Jr. Lures

Gamefish busting mullet off Matagorda Island. They might be kingfish. Get em!

offshore. However, jetties from Port O’Connor south see kingfish action every summer when clear water pushes inshore. The same can happen at Galveston and Freeport, but less frequently. (Sabine, forget it). From mid-coast south, it’s easy to shake out a couple of lipped, diving plugs out behind the boat and cruise up and down the water change, keeping to the clear side, for schoolie kings of 12 to 14 pounds. And you might get slammed with a real bruiser. I’ve caught kings within 100 yards of dry granite rocks at POC, and that makes for an easy fuel bill.

If clear, green or blue water beckons beyond the jetties a mile or so, consider trolling buoys in the ship channels leading offshore.

Sometimes the big kings are out there, busting Spanish mackerel.

Alan Reynold’s crew off Sabine Pass, stopping for five seconds before this king was released.

A diving Russelure or Rapala may look like a crippled mackerel, to a monster kingfish. Meanwhile, one engine is enough to troll lures.

Kayak Paddling for kings may sound absurd, but the guys down south at North Padre Island have honed their skills on kingfish and now have their own kayak tourney each August. (Winds in June proved sketchy for small plastic boats, so they moved the event to August).

Padre Island has a few platforms sitting safely in state waters, where Department of Interior can’t remove them, and these very structures are a kayaker’s friend. Even lifeline, if a storm arrives. There are also natural rock structures a mile or so off Padre, where kingfish congregate. Yakkers use small GPS units to find these hidden structures and often report big kings in the area. Their favorite bait is frozen ribbonfish, since kayaks are slow and ribbonfish ease along in their wake without spinning. These guys get very good mileage when kingfishing, as in no fuel at all. I mean, like nothin!

As Ray Charles would say.

Kevin Kieschnick’s Bluewater Kayak Classic tournament is based out of Packery Channel.

An event that, last August, saw many kingfish caught. Some of the kayakers, hoping to get beyond murky water (knowing kings prefer cleaner), are now rigging with small sails to boogy at least six miles offshore, during brief westerly breezes each morning, before the wind shifts back.

A new forum dedicated to these Texas kayakers who launch in the surf, is now online at: http://www.adventureislanders.com/forums/ Sailing and paddling for kingfish—now that’s a low-fuel day.

44 | May 2012

TSFMAG.com | 45

Science and the Sea

TM

A “Sting” Operation Watch a stingray glide over the sandy sea floor and you can tell it’s in hunting mode – but the tricks the ray is using to search for prey may not be so obvious.

A stingray’s eyes are located on top of its wide, flat body, while its mouth is on the underside. This may not seem like the best design for a fish that has to scan the murky bottom for hidden clams and crustaceans. Luckily, rays are endowed with remarkable sensory abilities that make them ace hunters.

One of these senses is the lateral line system, a “sixth sense” that all other fishes also have. Arranged in lines along the ray’s body are canals containing sensory organs that detect the movement of water.

These canals run on the top and underside of the ray’s body, around its mouth and out to the edges of its wing-like flaps.

Small bottom-dwelling organisms, such as clams, produce small jets of water when breathing and feeding. When rays get in close range, these miniscule water movements tip off the lateral line system, allowing the hunter to zero in on a potential meal.

As if this weren’t enough, rays have another secret weapon: an electrosensory system. Along with their relatives, the sharks, rays possess a network of visible pores on their undersides that open to structures called the ampullae of Lorenzini. The ampullae pick up on tiny electrical impulses produced by the muscle contractions of bivalves, crustaceans, and even fishes buried in the sand. When a ray’s on the hunt, there truly is nowhere to hide!

The University of Texas

Marine Science Institute www.ScienceAndTheSea.org © The University of Texas Marine Science Institute

46 | May 2012

TSFMAG.com | 47

Gentleman and allaround great person Will Omstede with beautiful trophy trout.

Great student and friend John Massengale with lifetime best trout.

J AY WAT K I N S

ASK THE PRO

“You have to have the best fishermen in the entire world.”

I hear this often from clients as well as other guides.

What prompts such statements is the way most of my people show up at the dock. Most have their rod and all wading gear in hand, already suited up and ready to get in the water. This sends the message that they have paid attention to my e-mail request and are well prepared and excited about the day ahead.

Ignore my request and show up unprepared and you can find yourself heading back home. Sure it will cost me $600 to lose the day’s charter and maybe a future client but, I want to weed out the anglers that don’t respect me or my way of thinking. I actually had a group show up totally unprepared after numerous emails and calls, and then they told me some guy at the restaurant said they didn’t need all that gear and drifting was better than wading anyway.

C’mon man!

All of this leads me to tell you how fortunate I have been to acquire such a high level of angling clientele. It is a tribute to the fishermen that have supported me and my lure chunking quest all these years with the attitude 48 | May 2012

that they wanted me to teach them everything I knew and for me to do well in the process! My regular clients know they’re a part of the Watkins fishing family and how much they are appreciated. This is so totally off the charts in today’s self-entitlement world…and don’t get me started on folks that want everything NOW! I refrain from using words or phrases that would make you believe I am something more than I am when it comes to reasons behind my good fortune. To say I am blessed is an understatement. I acknowledge that The Man Upstairs has provided the physical stamina to survive coastal elements for thirty-four plus seasons. He has also provided the absolute best clients of any guide in the business today.

Of course I am a bit bias when it comes to my diehard wading, lure chunking, go anytime and anywhere clients.

With this said let me relate to you what I think have been a few simple keys to the success of the relationships I have built with this small but loyal group.

First, there are those in the fishing world that totally do not like nor agree with my simplistic approach to fishing nor the confident attitude with which I approach each day.

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In my younger years I was quick to dispel all other approaches but my own, thinking honestly that it was “my way or the highway.” Luckily for me I have matured and now realize that there are at least a few other methods that work as effectively as the way I believe it should be done. For those that visited my boat and hated the little guy with the big mouth I apologize for the attitude and appreciate not being jerked out of my wading shoes and thrown overboard.

My beliefs, visualizations and the confidence I so freely display are part of my game. It’s not the way one walks back to the huddle but the way one breaks out that sends the message and sets the tone for the next play. I want my clients to be competitive in every way and this starts with me.

Competing makes you better, it’s not the winning or losing, it’s the competition that drives us to become better. Winning or losing is the result of hard work or a lack of it! I honestly believe that confidence and visualizing success, is truly the key to success in everything we do. Show me someone that imitates instead of initiates and I’ll show you someone second in the thinking part of the game.

I have been so lucky over my career to cultivate a clientele of competitive anglers that believe in me and my approach. It is such a huge advantage to the start of each day having clients on board that truly believe in you.

We obviously kid about my fellow guides and often laugh about all of our little habits. I can hear and visualize McBride as I sit here and write this article. It brings a good smile to my face and a longing to return to Port Mansfield. To be able to disagree but still respect is a difficult trait to fine tune; I’m still working on it. The best client to me is the guy or gal that wants me to teach them my way of fishing.

They want the knowledge that I have acquired over the past 40 years along the middle and lower Texas Coast and I love giving it to them. They buy the brand of boats and motors I use many times, purchase the rods I suggest, equip them with a reel of my liking, fill the reel with my favorite brand of braid, gear up from head to toe in the clothing and protective wear I recommend and then purchase the lures I say work best for the areas we are to be fishing in. These clients continue to be the driving force behind me each and every day. They are also a dream come true for the local economy.

I believe my records would reflect that less than 15% of the angling community is truly driven to reach the level of the 10% that catch the 90% of the fish. Wanting to become a member of this elite group and actually doing whatever is necessary to achieve the goal are two totally different mindsets.

Without dedication to learn the skills, angling success is very low.

Now I realize that this attitude and dedication are not required to love fishing. My grandfather loved to fish as much as any man and did not care what percentage bracket he was in. Armed with a cane pole, line and quill cork he would head out into the lake. The catalpa worm was our favorite bait and I liked picking them off the trees around the garden. Watching him lift the long pole over his head as the quill cork disappeared into the depths of Lake O’ The Pines is still a favorite memory. No way he cared about when, why, where, or how. He also did not care how many fish he caught or what Ol’ Man Finley caught, as long as it was enough for supper. The numbers did not equate to how successful the day was for him nor me as I could not give you a single number of fish that we ever caught in all my years of fishing with him. My point is if you want to learn and become the best you can be, that’s great.

If not, enjoy the challenge and serenity that fishing provides.

I have always wanted to know more. The late Tom Nix labeled me the teaching guide and it stuck. I also go back to something my dad suggested to me a few days prior to his death. We both needed to say some unsaid things. He needed me to know he loved me and wanted me to do well. He knew I felt like a disappointment to him as a college student and athlete. I needed him to believe that I could be the best at something. This attitude has driven me to continue to want to be the best that I can be.

Let me close with two thoughts. Do I have the best job in the world? You bet I do and I have my clients to thank for that. They are one of the reasons I continue to want to be on the water as much as I do. Finally - I have to include this as it is classic - A show of confidence is not cockiness.

There’s a difference.

I had a guy tell me at a fishing tournament years ago that I had better bring my A-Game in the morning. Before I could answer, Jay Ray looked over his shoulder and said it’s the only game he has! You gotta love it Jay Watkins has been a full-time fishing guide at Rockport, TX, for when your son, without more than 20 years. Jay specializes in wading year-round for trout hesitation, echoes your and redfish with artificial lures. Jay covers the Texas coast from San Antonio Bay to Corpus Christi Bay. precise thoughts.

May your fishing always Telephone 361-729-9596 be catching.

Email Jay@jaywatkins.com - Guide Jay Watkins Website www.jaywatkins.com

TSFMAG.com | 49

Boat Chris Mapp’s Tips Maintenance have you ever thought about the care required to maintain your boat’s hydraulic jack plate? There are several manufacturers of hydraulic jack plates and each brand and model has its own maintenance needs. I will discuss the ones I am most familiar with.

The widely-popular unit from Bob’s Machine Shop is equipped with remote electric pump and a hydraulic reservoir. I am told they will also soon have a new model with integral hydraulics but I haven’t seen it yet. The well-known models with remote or external hydraulic pump and oil reservoir are equipped with grease fittings for lubricating the Teflon slides with waterproof grease. The hydraulic fluid is 20W20 non-detergent and fluid level should be checked regularly. A white tint in the fluid indicates water contamination and a signal that the system should be flushed and refilled for best pump life. Dielectric compound should be used on all electrical connections.

We recommend an application of grease at each slide fitting and light spray of Corrosion X red on the slides themselves about once a month. Spray the pump housing and electrical solenoid connections regularly as well. Many boat riggers install the pump unit in a transom hatch and on some boats this is a very wet environment. This location should be avoided if at all possible as the hydraulic power unit

What about your boat’s

JACK PLATE?

deserves the driest environment available.

Th Marine builds the hydro-Jacker, ATLAS and the CMC hydrolift.

These units have self-contained, (integral) electric/hydraulic motor assemblies and can be replaced independently. The Th hydrojacker uses grease to lubricate the slide mechanism. The CMC hydrolift and Atlas use no grease but a light application of spray lubricant on a regular basis keeps the rollers and slides running smoothly. All of these units use standard tilt-and-trim oil in the reservoir. I am not a fan of packing grease on this style of jack plate as sand and salt encourage dirt build-up which causes friction and premature wear of moving parts and reduced life of electric brushes in the motor assembly. Spraying Corrosion X red regularly is best way to prevent future failures. The only place I recommend using waterproof grease on these models is on the fill and oil level plug that could have issue with the aluminum oxidizing over a long period of time.

No matter which brand or style - wash the jack plate like the rest of the boat and apply Corrosion X red before storing. Note: Corrosion X red will wash off during normal use so applying regularly is a good idea. have a great boating and fishing season, Chris Mapp Coastal Bend Marine – Port O’Connor TX – 361 983 4841 www.coastalbendmarine.com – chrismapp@coastalbendmarine.com

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TSFMAG.com | 51

CASeY SMArTT

F LY F I S H I N G

FISH OF INFLUENCE www.froghairfishing.com every fish is different. And the longer you fish, the more you learn about what it takes to catch a certain kind of fish on a certain day. They are each unique and perhaps that’s why fish are so fascinating. Looking through some old photographs recently, I was reminded of the lessons different fish have taught me about angling (and my addiction to it). Although I have never believed “fishing is life,” I have grown keenly aware that the pleasure fishing brings us often relies on many of the same things that help us live fulfilling livespatience, problem-solving, compassion, enthusiasm, tolerance, planning, selfreliance, endurance... In that respect, fish and the simple act of fishing are compelling. Looking back over all the time I have spent fishing, these are a few fish that I have found to be strangely influential.

Black Drum For years black drum were a puzzling enigma to me. early on, I confused their wiggling tails at twilight with those of redfish. That always led to disappointment.

And, black drum had a habit of luring me farther from

video 52 | May 2012

Check out Casey’s Fly Fishing Video Library at www.caseysmartt.com

the boat on sunset wades with their bold antics, only to ultimately deny me the satisfaction of catching one. It was a game that inevitably left me frustrated, confused, and really not liking black drum very much. But then on a sultry afternoon I encountered a large school of drum in very clear shallow water, where I could actually see what they were doing and watch how they reacted to my flies. It was a real eye opener. For years I thought the key to catching black drum had to be some sort of special fly which I clearly did not have. But that afternoon I learned black drum will eat almost any fly so

long as you stick it under their nose and give them a chance to eat it. Black drum almost comically illustrate the point that presentation of the fly is often far more important than the fly itself.

Striped Bass For more than 20 years I have been afflicted with striped bass fever. Still, there appears to be no cure in sight. These powerful fish are nothing short of wonderful to catch on fly tackle… when you can catch them. I have diligently fished for striped bass on Canyon Lake near my home in New Braunfels for over a decade, and only recently began to consistently catch them.

Stripers are fish that will make you check your watch and your graph often. They will show up early, late, and sometimes not at all. Stripers will call you out in the fog, and sleet, and rawest of weather with a promise often left unfulfilled. You can cover miles of water and then learn back at the dock the stripers were feeding all afternoon… right in front of the ramp! BuT… you accept all those things because when a big striper does finally blast your fly, he’ll rip the line right through your clenched hands and struggle against you until you finally set him free. No doubt, you’ll be back the next day to chance it again. Like few other fish, striped bass test your patience, endurance, and will to succeed.

Ladyfish The first saltwater fish I ever caught on fly tackle was a ladyfish. We stumbled onto a large school of them surfacing at the Port O’Connor jetties. I had brought along my fly rod and it was “game on.” At that point in time, the biggest fish I had caught on fly tackle were stock-tank largemouth bass. Bass were fun, but these new slender, chrome, saltwater rockets were different… wilder…faster…stronger. I’ll never forget the feeling of pure elation as I cast to those hungry silver bullets and watched them whack fly after fly. It was nothing but excitement and, standing on the bow of that boat with a fly rod and a big smile on my face, I didn’t care if I ever caught anything else. To this day, catching ladyfish still represents the pure reckless joy of fishing. They’ll slap your fly and jump and run and usually throw the hook before you get your hands on them. And it’s best that way, because the ladyfish’s real gift is the

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smile it puts on your face. Most of us move on from ladyfish to bigger and badder quarry. But every now and then, especially when things are slow, catching a feisty ladyfish will make you feel like a kid again and remind you why you started fishing in the first place.

Jack Crevalle Few fish leave an impression like jack crevalle. Watching a school of jacks ravage baitfish is like watching a pit bull in a chicken coop, and when you make the decision to toss a fly at one there is no turning back. When I think of fly fishing for jack crevalle I think, “10 wt…30

minutes…pounding heart…sore arms.” They have overwhelming strength and offer no apologies for shredded flies and busted rods.

I would wager that jacks have destroyed more tackle and whipped more fishermen than any other fish on the Texas Coast. Jacks are the kind of fish that you take on because no one else in the boat wants to. In some ways they are almost a rite of passage. I know plenty of adrenaline junkies that lust after catching jack crevalle on fly tackle, and a few others who have hooked one just to say they did it. Kudos to the jack crevalle for reminding us that we really aren’t as young or as tough as we’d like to think.

Gar Regardless of what you think about gar, you have to admit they are pretty cool fish. Tough, armored, prehistoric, giant, and racked with a mouth full of nasty teeth - gar are unique. Most of us can recall our first angling encounter with a gar, and some of us continue to fish for them. So why would anyone deliberately try to catch a gar on fly tackle? Well, the big ones are strong, really strong. And, they are actually pretty challenging to hook and land with standard flies. If you do it from a kayak things really get interesting. And I suppose folks fish for gar for the same reasons people catch snakes and spiders or other strange creatures that can inflict a nasty wound - they’re kind of creepy and we like that.

54 | May 2012

Speckled Trout I never quite understood the cult of fishing for trophy speckled trout until I saw one. We were fishing in the Padre Island surf when a friend waved frantically for me to come over. As I approached he lifted a nearly 30-inch-long speck out of the froth in the wade gut. A small gold fly dangled from its mouth like a piece of jewelry. I nearly fell over. At that moment I understood how a trout could drive economies, shape fisheries policy, and make heroes out of a handful

C O N TA C T

of guides. A second experience a few years after the surf trout also left its mark on me. I was casually walking back to my boat after a morning wade. The weather was pleasant and the winds were light as I sauntered along. up ahead I could see a black post drifting around in the shallow water near the bank. As I approached, I suddenly realized the post was not a post at all, it was a massive trout. Like no other fish I have ever seen, that trout made my knees shake and almost made me forget how to cast. My fly landed about a foot ahead of her and she casually swam up and took a swipe at it. I jerked the fly away in haste and she blazed off the flat.

I was speechless, shaken, and will never forget the feeling.

To this day I have only caught a few trout I would consider trophies, and I will always remember each of them clearly.

They are magnificent creatures.

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

TSFMAG.com | 55

By Lee Schoech | Former Coastal Fisheries Summer Intern | G r a d u a t e S t u d e n t , TA M U - C C | C o r p u s C h r i s t i

FIELD NOTES

HOW TO MEASURE FISH Throughout the summer, as an intern for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Coastal Fisheries Division, I learned many biological as well as practical facts about fisheries management in the upper Laguna Madre. For instance, it is often perceived through the eyes of anglers that size and bag limits are meant to be restrictive attempts aimed at anglers. However, the factors used to determine size and bag limits are meant to help preserve and maintain current and future sport fish populations.

For example - the minimum size limit for spotted seatrout (trout) is 15 inches; the reasoning behind this size limit is to ensure that all members of the population spawn at least once before they become part of the harvestable portion of the population. Trout maturation is a size/age relationship so this limit is very important for the preservation of the fishery. If the minimum size limit was lower a portion of the trout population would not have a chance to reproduce and replace itself before being eligible to be harvested.

The “official” measurement of fish is very particular and takes the right gear and technique in order to ensure accuracy. Throughout the summer while conducting surveys for the TPWD Coastal Fisheries harvest-monitoring program I observed a number of discrepancies between measurements obtained by anglers and the TPWD staff. Most of these discrepancies could have been avoided if the proper equipment and measuring technique were used. Most anglers typically have some sort of measuring device, such as cooler lids or horizontal measuring tapes. These devices may be to the 56 | May 2012

correct scale, but lack a ninety-degree backing making it hard to obtain precise measurements.

The measuring board used by TPWD is one that is constructed with an upturned end that is perpendicular to the measuring board. The end ensures consistent accurate measurement of fish. Local sporting goods stores carry similar boards made of aluminum that are lightweight and easy to mount on the deck of a boat.

Measuring boards used by game wardens are similar to ones that are used by TPWD Coastal Fisheries employees while conducting a harvest monitoring survey. The pictures provided are examples of the TPWD board versus an igloo cooler lid. The official measurement of the fish in the photos is 414mm, or about 16.3 inches; however, when measured using the igloo lid the fish appears to be near 17 inches.

Having the right equipment does not ensure accurate measuring. The technique, though simple, is often conducted incorrectly which results in loss of accuracy. There are three main things to remember when measuring fish: closing the mouth, place the fish’s head firmly against the upturned end of the measuring board, and pinching the tail. First it is important to ensure that the tip of the head or mouth, depending on the species, is flush with the upturned end of the board.

While positioning the fish’s head, ensure that the mouth of the fish in closed. Then pinch the tail and measure the longest part of the tail. By standardizing the equipment and technique there will be far fewer improper measurements.

A question I was often asked when measuring fish was, “how much do fish shrink when put on ice?” The short answer is not very much.

According to a published study conducted by Coastal Fisheries staff in 1989 an average of three millimeters, which equates to about 3/25 inches, in length was lost due to shrinkage. Over half of the estimated shrinkage occurred in the first hour of the fish being on ice, and no fish experienced a decrease in size greater than 1/5 of an inch. Even if the worst-case scenario was met, the shrinkage should not create a potential law enforcement altercation.

By using a board with a ninety-degree backing, closing the mouth, and pinching the tail, recreational anglers can measure fish with the same amount of accuracy as TPWD game wardens and biologists.

However, a number of dedicated anglers have advocated their own methodology to, without a doubt, alleviate most discrepancies in regard to fish length. By keeping trout that measure 15.5-16 inches they ensure, even with human/equipment error, their fish will be legal. This “half-inch extra” in minimum length can be applied to other fish species size limits. Not only is this a conservative action, it is also inadvertently a conservational action, which may allow more mature members of the fish population to spawn more than once before being harvested.

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

TSFMAG.com | 57

C O N S E R V AT I O N

CCA TEXAS CONCERT

FOR CONSERVATION ???

TSFMAG.com | 59

Long hours of harsh sunlight can be very harmful to your eyesight. Large lenses and tight-fitting frames help prevent reflected light from entering your eyes.

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

K AYA K F I S H I N G

EYE PROTECTION, ESSENTIAL FISHING TOOL,

OR BOTH? – PART II Last month we discussed the scientific side of lens technology and how it all works to benefit the wearer.

So at this point we know we need sunglasses that prevent harmful ultraviolet rays from reaching our eyes. Now let’s take a look at the options available in the marketplace.

Perhaps the most debated option on fishing eyewear is lens color. Myriad tints and hues greatly affect the way you see the world. Grey is likely the most popular tint for all-purpose glasses across the United States. Being a neutral color, grey provides for nearly natural color perception throughout the light 60 | May 2012

spectrum. Depending on the degree of tint, it can also provide the greatest overall darkening effect in very bright conditions. This is generally the preferred color for offshore anglers and for driving. Green and blue tints also fall into this same category, though to a lesser extent.

While offshore guys are mostly concerned with dimming the overall light intensity, inshore anglers are generally more concerned with seeing through the surface of the water to locate underwater structure and fish. For this you need a lens that increases your perception of contrast between objects. Every

Standing in the kayak to enhance your sight-fishing calls for quality eyewear to make the fish “pop” from the generally drab bay bottom.

manufacturer has a different name for the various colors covering this spectrum. Rose, amber, brown, copper, and vermillion are but a few. All of these filter varying amounts of different light waves.

The increased contrast provided by these lenses really can improve your perceived visual acuity. They literally make a redfish appear to pop from its surroundings. If you enjoy sight-fishing in shallow water, these are the colors you need to check out. From my nonscientific research over the years I’ve found that what works best for one angler isn’t necessarily the optimum color for the next guy.

Some studies indicate that it relates to individual eye color and that seems to make sense when you think about it. People with light blue eyes see best with the darker hues while those with dark brown eyes prefer the lighter tints. Folks in the middle with hazel eyes are generally split evenly on the topic.

Another point of debate is mirrored lenses. Some folks say mirrors make no difference while others swear by them. Data on the subject shows that the mirrors do make a small difference in the amount of light transmission through the lens. The vast majority of light is already being filtered by the polarization and tint, so it stands to reason that it might be difficult for some people to realize that the mirror is making a difference. I feel that mirrors are generally a matter of personal preference regarding style more so than function. However, if your goal is to eliminate as much light TSFMAG.com | 61

as possible then you might want to go this route. For instance, the ultimate glass for an offshore guy might be dark grey lenses with a mirror finish. Most of the higher-end manufacturers will provide a light transmission value that will help you in determining their effectiveness. This number represents the percentage of light allowed through the lens and generally falls between 8 and 20. When shopping for your sunglasses, remember that the light outdoors will be much different than inside the store. Ask to take a couple pair outside for comparison.

Another thing to consider is the style of frame and size of the lens. I know it’s cool to have those aviator style sunglasses, but you might want to rethink that choice. Small diameter lenses and thin wire frames will allow a huge amount of light to reach your eyes all around the edges. Not only will they let in stray light, they will also allow harmful UV to reach your eyes. What you want is the most complete coverage you can get. Larger lenses and close-fitting wrap-around frames are the go-to choice for maximum protection.

Glass or polycarbonate plastic? This is a matter of personal preference. Glass lenses are generally superior on an optical level and cost a little more. Most agree they are clearer and provide the greatest visual acuity. They are also more scratch resistant. The

62 | May 2012

downside is the weight. Polycarbonate lenses are your other solid choice. They offer lighter weight, but are not quite as clear as glass.

But they’ll also scratch easier. One big advantage of polycarbonate is that they are shatter resistant and will stand up to an errant backcast from your fishing buddy possibly saving you a trip to the ER. Different companies have various proprietary names for their formulations of polycarbonate. It can be a bit confusing to sort through the marketing terms, but it all pretty much boils down to glass or poly. Much further down the list are plastic lenses. These have much lower optical integrity and they are easily scratched.

And that leads to perhaps the most contentious aspect of sunglasses…price. There is a huge difference in price points with some selling for as little as $15 while the upper end can put you over three bills. Then again, most of the equipment we buy to pursue our favorite pastimes fall into this trap as well. And generally speaking you get what you pay for. I tend to gravitate towards buying quality equipment. Days in the field or on the water are too special for me to go bargain and risk disappointment.

But with sunglasses it stands out as even more important. We’re talking about the health of our eyes.

On the lowest end of the scale are the all plastic sunglasses.

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Most of the ones I’ve seen are tagged as “polarized”, but I don’t recall seeing much on them about their UV blocking qualities. I’d be suspect of these models and thoroughly check them out before trusting my eyes to them. Generally speaking their coatings are applied to the outer surface of the lens. And being plastic, these lenses are very easily scratched. Those surface scratches are not only irritating, they can leave you open to increased UV penetration as the UV filter is on that outer layer. Some studies theorize that this could be worse than going without sunglasses since your eyes are dilated from the dark lenses thus allowing more UV to reach your retina.

Quality sunglasses will have multi-layered optical grade lenses with various coatings to improve their performance. Most will sandwich their polarizing films and UV filters between the outer layers of the lens. This keeps these components free of scratches and maintains the integrity of the protection for your eyes. Depending on the manufacturer there can also be scratch-resistant coatings as well as anti-fogging and waterproofing. Waterproof lenses are a really cool option when a big sow speck soaks you at the end of a fight. The water just beads up and slides off like a newly waxed car. And perhaps one of the most useful coatings to look for is an anti-reflective film applied to the inside of the lens. With this option any light that slips in through the sides is not reflected back into your eyes.

I’ve mentioned optical grade quality lenses and there is a simple method to determine if your lenses meet the standard. Hold the sunglasses away from your face and look at a straight line. Use a door frame or the grout line in your tile floor. Now move the lens along that line and see what happens. If the line distorts or becomes wavy at all then your lenses not optically correct. This will affect your vision and also means your lenses are varying in thickness possibly offering you less protection at the thinner points.

In addition to quality lenses you’ll also want to look at the construction of the frames. Corrosion resistant stainless steel screws, hinges and springs are a must in our coastal environment. Padded nose pieces and comfortable ear legs are also nice features to consider. Remember that you’ll be wearing these all day so get a pair that fit properly. Different models are designed for different facial shapes and sizes so try on as many as you need to find the right style.

Good quality sunglasses can make or break your day on the water.

I’ve had many anglers on the front of my poling skiff wearing the wrong sunglasses. I’ll be up on the platform calling out fish locations while they stare at the water getting frustrated because they can’t see the fish. I carry a spare pair for just such occasions. Once these guys put the good stuff on they are simply amazed at how much easier the game becomes and I guarantee they’ll be willing to fork over a few extra bucks for the upgrade. For the health of your sight, I hope you will too.

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

TPWD: A FLAWED AGENCY So before I go into my rant, let me say that I am grateful for our TPWD game wardens but that is where most of my respect for the department ends. As I see it, TPWD is running about neck-and-neck with most government agencies, which is not very good, and failing miserably in the resource management department.

Now please remember what I’m about to say here is my opinion based on observation so, with that being said….

I guess one of my biggest complaints is that TPWD is strongly reactive rather than proactive and too quick to acquiesce to public opinion. The way I understand it, the department is responsible for managing our public resources to their fullest potential. Exactly where does public opinion fit into that process?

I can give a list of examples here but I will stick to just a few. The first has nothing to do with fishing but is a perfect example. For years our state’s quail population has been in a downward spiral. Recently, I heard that there are rumors of talks within the department to close quail season. True are not, this rumor is beginning to spread and if it happens, would be quite a shocker considering that there has been no change to daily bag limits or length of season in many years. This would be a prime example of hasty reaction that might have been avoided if 64 | May 2012

TPWD had taken a proactive stance by reducing bag limits or shortening the season years ago when the decline first became noticeable. Now mind you, nobody really knows the role Mother Nature is playing in this or if hunting pressure is taking a toll, however, even if it is a natural phenomenom it certainly would not hurt to leave a few more of them around to help repopulate should the trend reverse itself. My thoughts are (right or wrong), that the reason changes have never been considered is because some wealthy rancher with political allies or maybe one of the TPW commissioners has never been willing to give up a few birds in the bag or lop off a week or two of their precious season.

Now, let us look at the spotted seatrout situation. Back in 2006-07, armed with what they said was “good science” and generally favorable public opinion, TPWD reduced the daily bag limit from ten trout to five in the Lower Laguna Madre. Lo and behold, with no natural forces decimating the fishery, anglers are experiencing some of the best fishing that they have seen in decades (at least from all the reports that I have heard). Kind of like the old saying – “Build it and they will come – with reference to great products needing no marketing because they sell themselves, increasing numbers of anglers, including

name a single person who does not have a cell phone except maybe my five year old niece (she’ll probably get one on her next birthday) but still, the law enforcement division of TPWD should be the one that gets funded first and foremost.

I recently ran into a friend that is a game warden down at the ramp, the first time I had seen him in months, and asked why I had not seen him in a while. His reply, “Man the budget is tight these days and we’re getting stretched pretty thin.” But hey, I bet if one of the commissioners called a game warden because someone suspicious was walking the fence-line of their ranch, the money would be found to fund a routine patrol. Sadly, it is the same old story with all government agencies.

Think about it, most of us hate what has become of our government however, we forget that originally our government was created with the absolute best of intentions and that was to serve and protect us.

The politics and bureaucracy of government destroy the noblest of intentions and it is no different in regards to the TPWD. Fact is folks, we need the TPWD, but for it to truly live up to it’s full potential, the commissioners and higher-ups need to forget about public opinion, politics and personal gain, and do what is right for the resource by working to become a proactive body.

Be good and stuff like that.

C ontact

guides, are leaving home waters and heading to the LLM to experience a quality fishery while those along the upper and middle coast continue to watch the fishery decline. Why? Because TPWD conducted public scoping and the people (mostly outspoken guides) shouted and disrupted the meetings in protest. Come on! Really?

Okay, I really do not understand all of the science, and I do not pretend to understand the mysterious processes at TPWD HQ, but I can tell you that trout fishing on the middle coast is not what it used to be.

At what point will the department realize that common sense should trump the ranting of a bunch of upper coast fishing guides? The simple fact is that mirroring the LLM bag limit all the way to Louisiana would do nothing but enhance the fishery. Sadly, that would be a proactive move and not TPWD’s forte.

Moving on, let us look at the modern day game warden situation.

The problem does not revolve around the wardens themselves but rather than the TPWD’s inability to fund their operations. Again, really? The state’s greatest tool in protecting and managing our resources are stuck in the office and at the dock because the fuel allotment to keep the equipment rolling is woefully inadequate. Let us face it folks, what the hell good are game laws if there is nobody out there to enforce them.

I remember when I was heavily involved in my local chapter of the CCA when we would often hold auctions at our board meeting to pay for our local game wardens to have cellular telephones and on several occasions raised money to buy them things like night-vision goggles.

Now mind you, back in the days that I am talking about, cell service was considerably more expensive than it is now and I do not think I can

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

TSFMAG.com | 65

Author's friend Newsome with a large red.

JAKE HADDOCK

YO U T H F I S H I N G

THE END OF THE TRAIL It seems like just the other day when I was flipping through this magazine and something caught my eye. It advertised that the position for a youth writer was open. I thought to myself, this could be my shot into the professional world of fishing. One essay and two years later, here I am. I’ve written many articles during this time. I’ve written everything from tall tales to informative pieces. All in all, this has been a great experience and a phenomenal opportunity. I mean, how many people can say that during high school they were youth writers for TSF magazine. I believe the answer is three so far, including me. I feel very honored to be one of those people. My run is coming to an end and it is my turn to pass the torch.

There are many people I need to thank for all the help and support they have given me over my youth writing career. First, I need to thank some family members that have helped me edit my articles over 66 | May 2012

these couple of years; my Mom, my sister Katy, and my brother Chad. I would also like to thank my sister’s good friend Marina, who helped me so much in the beginning with editing. It has definitely been a joint effort to produce an article each month. I want to thank the following companies that believed in me enough to let me advertise their awesome products; Bad Bull Fish Sticks, Flats Cat Boats, Fish Slick Stringers, and Hogie Fishing Lures. You guys are great and I really appreciate all the support. I also want to thank anyone that has approached me on the water, out in public, or on Facebook just to compliment my articles. You guys are awesome and thanks for reading. The feedback I got from readers gave me the confidence and drive to keep writing each month. Last, but not least, I also want to thank my father for teaching me how to fish when I was just a young lad. He’s always supported me in everything that I’ve wanted to do.

Author with his final fish for his youth fishing articles.

One of my goals growing up is to appear on the front cover of TSF magazine with a big boss trout. I thought for sure that I would get that opportunity while being the youth writer. As my luck would have it, I haven’t caught a “cover trout” since I started writing, so go figure. Hopefully, you will see my bright smile on the cover before too long.

Now, I can’t leave my readers without one last fishing story. Over this past spring break, I had the chance to take my cousin, Dylan,

and our friend, Tyler Newsome, out on my boat in Port O’ Connor.

We set out in hopes of getting some good pictures for this article and to do a little scouting. You see, we challenged a re-match to my uncles that had beaten us in a friendly competition last Spring Break, so that we did. It didn’t take but a few hours and we were already on big fish (trout and reds), so we pulled off to leave them for the tournament the next day. We headed back towards the boat ramp making a few stops along the way, but nothing compared to the other spot. Just like any good fisherman would do, we started the smack talk as soon as we got back to both of my uncles, Max and Mitchell, describing how we found the winning fishing hole.

The next day, we went back to our fish to earn our bragging rights. Thankfully, the trout were still there and we caught our three quickly. That was the trout limit we set in the beginning of our competition. The redfish, however, were nowhere to be found.

I knew this was bad since, I didn’t see reds anywhere else the day before. To make matters worse, our only competition just happened to pull up in the same lake we were in. We both ended up leaving because the fish had simply vanished. We parted ways with our competition, and wouldn’t see them again ‘till we met at the dock.

We strived to pull out a few big redfish, but we just couldn’t find a single one. When we got to the dock, Mitchell and Max both had grins on their face. We were done. I just knew it. Sure enough, they pulled out numerous big reds and trout. The old and wise beat the young bucks again. Tough loss, but I couldn’t help but crack a smile.

Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed it. It has been a pleasure to write for ‘yall these past two years. It is the end of the trail for me as your youth writer. See you on the water!

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Cobia have a great affinity for floating structure and anchor shrimp boats are some of the best.

MIKE JENNINGS

TEXAS NEARSHORE & OFFSHORE

YOU CAN LEAD A FISH

TO DINNER‌ Every year we await the migration of the cobia. This curious fish is also affectionately known as the ling, lemonfish , crabeater or sergeant fish. By whatever name you may call it the cobia is not only a popular gamefish, it is also highly-prized as table fare.

Most Texas anglers find it difficult to pattern cobia on a daily basis and therefore view this species as an opportunistic fishery to be enjoyed when and where they are found – which more or less adds to the mystery and allure of angling for them.

Cobia are pelagic spawners, that is, they release many tiny buoyant eggs into the water which become part of the plankton. The eggs float with the currents until hatching. The larvae are also planktonic, being 68 | May 2012

more or less helpless during their first week until the eyes and mouths develop. Males mature at two years and females at three years. Both sexes lead moderately long lives of 15 years or more. Best I can find is that spawning takes from April to September in large offshore congregations where females are capable of spawning twenty or more times during the season at intervals of one to two weeks.

They grow fairly quickly and can reach upwards of 20 inches in their first year and some even breaking 40 inches by age two. Statistics show that although cobia may live as long as eleven to twelve years, most fish caught by anglers are between two and five years of age.

Extensive research on cobia in the Gulf of Mexico

Big cobia are very strong and usually a real chore to land.

has shown that they are marathon swimmers showing a migration of over 1300 nautical miles by one fish that was tagged off of the Louisiana coast and recaptured off the Northern Coast of South Carolina. Another set a cross country record being recaptured over 700 miles from where he was tagged near Port Canaveral Florida, only 46 days later.

Cobia are found worldwide in subtropical and warm-temperate waters. In our part of the Western Atlantic Ocean they are found as far north as Nova Scotia, south to Argentina and throughout the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Cobia winter in the Gulf but almost exclusively in the Eastern and Southern portions avoiding the colder waters off of Texas.

Cobia are not bashful and are at times fairly aggressive feeders while at other times may seem to just have a severe case of lockjaw.

You just never know how one is going to react to a sight-casted bait.

Sampling stomach contents reveals that cobia are fond of crabs, hence the nickname crabeater. Finfish and eels are also staples in the cobia diet.

Researchers are beginning to unravel the migratory behavior of the cobia and how they make their way from the eastern to the western Gulf of Mexico. It has long been known that certain portions of the northern coastline see little in the way of a cobia migration, yet we know that they get here somehow. It has recently been discovered that they ride the Loop Currents and don’t always follow the coastline as previously thought. This Loop Current idea may well explain not only the lack of fish in some areas, but also the reason that we can have really good years and then some not so good. It basically all depends on where the currents deposit the fish on any given year. This can even explain their rapid return to the eastern Gulf in the fall - riding those same currents.

May is the month cobia begin to show up in Texas waters and I would like to discuss briefly some of my tactics for finding and catching them.

Cobia seem to prefer floating structure such as weedlines and marker buoys and are also attracted to oil and gas platforms. Believe it or not we have even caught cobia from under and around whale TSFMAG.com | 69

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sharks that are feeding near the surface. Actually, nearly every whale shark that I have ever seen has had at least a few Cobia in tow. Another hot spot is behind anchored shrimp boats. These boats probably account for more cobia landings than any other structure out there. Simply pitching chum as you drift alongside is usually all it takes to get him out in the open. Keep the chum going as you drift away and if he is there he will follow.

One of my favorite and most successful approaches to locating cobia on structure is to use a bucktail or curly-tail jig anywhere from 2 to 6 ounces. Pull in next to a likely piece of structure, drop the jig straight down about three-quarters of the way to the bottom, and then jig back up rapidly. If a cobia is present he will often chase the jig to the surface on the first drop. He may not take it on the rise, but he will reveal himself and often give you time to work him into a bite.

Getting a finicky cobia to take a bait can be one of the most frustrating experiences as there is no surefire way. At times I just throw everything in the boat at them. And I mean everything; I have caught them on things as strange as Vienna sausage to a piece of chicken wing. Once I find something that piques his interest I will cast over him and play a game of keep away for three or four throws, taking the bait away as he approaches. The goal here is to get him worked up to the point he will pounce and swallow your offering without a second thought.

May brings a new fish to our waters every year and although he is known by many names, regardless of what you call him, the cobia is as exciting as he is frustrating and tops my list as one of my all-time favorite fish to attempt to outwit. If you cannot get him to take a bait readily, do not give up. Take this from a guy who resorted to baiting up with leftover breakfast donuts – ling can definitely be picky eaters.

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979-864-9439 texassportfishing@gmail.com www.cowboycharters.com

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TSFMAG.com | 71

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 fishing areas all along the Texas coast. 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 In recent issues you may have noticed I have been venturing farther and farther south. This month I want to tell about a recent trip I made to Aransas Pass, a popular fishing destination about a half hour or so north of Corpus Christi. With a few of my good comrades along for the trip, this outing was a special one. We budgeted 72 | May 2012

Walk-in fishermen in front of Lighthouse Lakes Park.

two days to fish and with a lifetime’s worth of fishing spots available in and around Aransas Pass, we decided to narrow our focus to the Lighthouse Lakes (HookN-Line locations 22-32) for the first day and the Estes Flats/Talley Island (fishing location 39) for our shorter, second day. Hook-N-Line map F130 will help you zero in on the areas we fished.

When and Weather This trip took place in late March. The daytime temps were in the upper 70s to low 80s. Skies were mostly cloudy in the morning and sunny by the afternoon. Winds blew mostly from the southeast at a moderate 10-15mph. Fishing in the Aransas Pass/Port Aransas area really takes off in early spring and remains very good through November. Fishing the flats is all about tide level and water temperature and we were definitely a little early to enjoy the best the area has to offer. However, we put in a good effort and found a few fish and we definitely want to return to learn more.

Tackle and Gear My primary tackle setup for this trip was a Castaway Skeleton 7’ M paired with a Shimano Citica 200g6, spooled with 30lb Power Pro braid with a six foot section of Suffix 15lb clear monofilament leader.

In the lure department I was throwing the Super Spook Jr. with black back and white belly. I highly recommend making a visit to

My buddy Rick with a nice redfish.

Redfish Willie’s is a great place.

Slowride Guide Service. Dean Thomas is the owner/operator and can give you some friendly tips before you hit the water. He also rents kayaks and sells assorted lures and fishing accessories.

For bait, there are a handful of options. Those familiar with the area might know of the old Crab Man Marina.

It was recently purchased by the “Baitshack” family and reopened as Tarpon Shores. The original Baitshack is in Conn Brown Harbor. Tarpon Shores and the Baitshack sell live and dead bait, have a launch spot/boat ramp, and a cleaning station on site. Both locations also sell tackle and snacks. Fin and Feather RV Park and Marina, Redfish Bay Marina, South Bay Bait, and Hampton’s Landing are other bait/launch spots to access different fishing locations.

Hitting the water We paddled out from the Light House Lakes Park located along the Aransas Channel and began to weave in and out of the cuts and lakes comprising this beautiful area. The average depth encountered in the portions of the LHL we

TSFMAG.com | 73

lakes. Slowride Guide Service also sells area specific satellite photo maps, lining out different routes through the lakes.

Day two we drove out of town a few miles towards Rockport. Palm Harbor Marina and RV Park is a perfect launch spot for accessing the eastern flats and marshes of Redfish Bay. Pay a minimal launch fee and you are ready to go. Paddle straight across the ICW into Estes Cove. As my buddies and I did just that, we were greeted by active bait in the flats. Chasing the bait were some nice speckled trout which we managed to catch a few of with our topwater lures.

This flat is a perfect area for wading as well. Palm Harbor has a cleaning station right near the launch spot when you are done and ready to clean your catch.

A visit to Slowride Guide Service in Aransas Pass should definitely be included.

fished was about one foot and gin clear - great for sight-fishing - I’m certain this varies seasonally. By the end of the day all in my group were quite comfortable standing in the kayaks and “poling” around looking for hungry fish.

An important note: bring your map! The LHL area is an intricately woven system of waterways and it would not be hard to get lost without your map to reference the markers scattered through the

Where to eat and where to sleep Redfish Willie’s was our restaurant of choice to wind down a long first day of fishing. The restaurant is part of a new development in Conn Brown Harbor located on Huff Street. Redfish Willie’s has a tasty seafood menu at very reasonable prices. My

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for a minimal fee. They have showers and bathrooms that would give Buccee’s a run for their money.

As is the norm in Texas coastal towns, RV Parks are not in short supply. Aransas Bay RV Park, Hooked Up RV Park, Ransom Road RV Park, and Mobile Village RV Park are just a sample of what Aransas Pass has to offer.

Fred practicing his standup routine.

The Other Angles Most of the bay system between Aransas Pass and Port Aransas are fairly shallow, perfect for skinny water boats, kayaks, and wade fishermen.

Lighthouse Lakes Park has a long stretch of water access with picnic seating areas and small piers. Launching your kayak or

fish and chips were fresh and well cooked. You can even bring in your catch and have them cook it fresh for you. Two thumbs up for Redfish Willie’s.

Other restaurants I took note of that looked attractive are the Butter Churn Restaurant (packed for lunch on Sunday, so something must be good), Pepitos and Taqueria Guadalajara Mexican restaurants also seemed attractive and had full parking lots.

It stood out to me that Stripes Valero station was the only, at least as I saw, convenience store open early in the morning. Definitely helpful for those of us getting to the water before sunup and needing a quick fix on ice, snacks, breakfast or a morning cup of joe.

Motels in the area include the Neptune Motel, which is where I stayed, Holiday Inn, Super 8, and Seabreeze Motel and Cottages.

I learned that Tarpon Shores allows tent camping on the property

Neptune Motel – good rates, clean, comfortable.

Port Mansfield

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Registration: 26th at the pavilion. Awards: 29th

Please visit website for info.

Website: Phone Number: Fax Number: E-mail Address: Mailing Address: Event Center:

portmansfieldchamber.org 956-944-2354 956-944-2515 pmft@granderiver.net P.O. Box 75 Port Mansfield, TX 78598 101 E. Port Drive Port Mansfield, TX 78598

TSFMAG.com | 75

Lighted fishing pier at Conn Brown Harbor.

Wrap up Lighthouse Lakes has been on my “coastal bucket list” for some time now. It came through with flying colors to meet my expectations as a paddle anglers dream spot. Navigating through the mangroves over the clear water, I almost forgot I was still in Texas, it is a stunning area.

Fishing opportunity around Aransas Pass is plentiful.

With back bays, channels, cuts, guts, islands, marshes, lakes, flats, all comprising the bay systems, just take your pick and go for it.

Contacts: If you would like more information on the Aransas Pass area, visit www.aransaspass.org Slowride Guide Service (361) 758-0463 www.slowrideguide.com

76 | May 2012

Tarpon Shores (361)758-3454 www.tarponshoresmarina.com Redfish Willie’s (361) 758-9000 www.redfishbayboathouse.com

C O N TA C T

wading out a little from here is very convenient. I took note of many people just fishing from the bank.

Back in Conn Brown Harbor there is a larger lit fishing pier. The harbor also has a suitable cleaning table.

A stone’s throw north along the Aransas Channel from Lighthouse Lakes Park is Tarpon Shores. They too have a cleaning station and are quite close to one of the overpasses connecting Aransas Pass and Port Aransas. Several weekend warriors were fishing under these bridges.

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936-776-7028 Cademan11@sbcglobal.net

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TSFMAG.com | 77

Photo by Chuck Palmer: flickr.com/photos/chuckpalmer/

STEPHANIE BOYD

F I S H Y FA C T S

MANATEES Manatees are infrequent visitors to the Texas coast, but you might see one lingering on occasion. Some even show up regularly on an annual basis. The species that sometimes visits is the Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee. Manatees have large streamlined bodies that taper to a flat, paddle-shaped tail. Their two front flippers each sport three to four nails, hinting at their closest relatives: elephants, aardvarks, and hyraxes (small, gophersized mammals). In ancient times, sailors might have mistaken manatees for mermaids or sirens, on account of their long tails. Coincidentally, their Order name, Sirenia, is derived from the sirens of Greek mythology. Though the fossil records are incomplete and the relationship between manatees and their ancestors is relatively unknown, manatees and their present-day cousins are usually classified as subungulates, meaning they may be evolutionary offshoots of ungulate (hoof) animals.1 All sirenians prefer the shallow waters of saltwater bays, slow-moving rivers, canals, estuaries, etc. They can inhabit fresh, brackish, and saline waters, moving freely between extremes. Any warm waterway over about three and a half feet deep is fair game, though they prefer areas with high concentrations of vegetation. The Florida manatee’s range is primarily Florida’s coast but can extend as far north as Rhode Island and as far west as Texas. Typically, they winter in Florida’s waters and range out during warmer months.

78 | May 2012

In the past, manatees would congregate at natural warmwater springs along the Gulf coast during winter. Now, power plant outfalls and other warm-water discharges serve as winter destinations and have extended the northern wintering range of manatees.1 Adult Florida manatees average about ten feet long and weight 800-1,220 pounds. Their true color is gray, though they may appear more green or brown if they have algae or similar organisms hitching a ride. They have no outwardly discernible neck, and indeed, cannot turn their head since they have fewer vertebrae than required for this action. To look around, a manatee must turn its entire body.2 Manatees have a large flexible upper lip covered in sensitive whiskers and 24 to 32 molars in the back of the mouth. New molars grow in the back and move forward to replace the front molars as they wear down. This particular dental adaptation is found only in modern manatees, suggesting that earlier manatees had a very abrasive diet.

Today, they eat over sixty species of plants, including turtle grass, manatee grass, shoal grass, mangrove leaves, algae, water hyacinth, acorns, and hydrilla.1 They also occasionally ingest snails and other small organisms attached to plants.

While they typically only eat vegetation in the water, they occasionally haul themselves partially onto land to eat waterside plants or to crop low-hanging branches. They consume anywhere from four to ten percent of their body weight a day. To accommodate the large volume of high-

fiber food, they have intestines up to 150 feet long (compared to the average 25 feet in humans).2 Manatees are adapted for hearing low frequency sounds and may actually have a greater sensitivity to low frequencies than any marine mammal studied. They communicate in a series of chirps, whistles, and squeaks. Most vocalizations occur between mother and calf or when water is murky.3 They have well-developed eyes and can detect objects in the water over thirty feet away, probably in both dim and bright light. They also, most likely, have some degree of taste and smell, but not much has been studied on those subjects. Touch seems to be very important to manatees. Body contact between mom and calf is common. Occasionally, manatees will initiate body contact with divers along with inanimate objects such as ropes, buoys, logs, and rocks.1 Manatees are excellent swimmers, able to swim vertically and upside down and perform rolls and somersaults, but the deepest any has been recorded to dive is thirty-three feet. Like all marine mammals, they have special physiological adaptations for diving. To conserve oxygen, they have a slower heart rate while diving, and they renew about 90% of the air in theirs lungs in a single breath (humans renew only about 17%).

However, unlike whales and dolphins, manatees’ muscles don’t contain the high concentrations of oxygen-binding proteins their deep-diving cousins’ do.1 They’ve evolved with their own adaptations for shallowwater living. Most mammal long bones have pockets for red blood cells, but manatee bones don’t. They are solid and heavy which helps manatees sink to the bottom to eat plants.3 The less energy they have to use staying down, the longer they can graze. Typically, they need to surface for air every three to five minutes, but when resting, they can stay down for twenty.1

Though manatees are not necessarily loners, they are not gregarious by nature. The basic social unit is mom and calf. Not that manatees avoid each other. Casual groups varying in age and sex form and disperse readily. Many congregate in warm wintering spots, and some groups have even been observed in loosely organized play.1 While they can travel up to twenty miles per hour in spurts (useful for playing), they usually only cruise along at two to six mph (more useful for grazing).2 Manatees can live up to sixty years, if undisturbed. Typically, males (bulls) are sexually mature at nine or ten years of age, though a smaller number mature as early as two or three. Females (cows) mature around three. Though cows are usually larger than bulls, the species is not sexually dimorphic except for the position of the genital openings.

While in estrous, a cow will mate with several bulls but does not form any lasting attachments. After a 12-13 month gestation, a calf is born, three to four feet long and weighing 60-70 pounds. Twins are extremely rare. Mothers nurse their young for a year, but calves stay with their moms for two years, learning about feeding and resting areas, travel routes, and warm water refuges. Cows give birth only once every two to five years.1 Although there’s no documented predation, scientists suspect that manatees are occasionally attacked by sharks, alligators, or crocodiles.

A certain percentage of deaths within a population are attributed to natural causes such as cold stress, gastrointestinal disease, pneumonia, parasites, etc. A much higher percentage is caused by humans. Habitat destruction, watercraft collisions, litter ingestion, entanglement in crab trap lines and fishing nets, and poaching all take their toll. Entrapment in flood control gates and navigation locks, resulting in drowning and crushing, is the second leading human factor for manatee deaths, the

TSFMAG.com | 79

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first being collisions with boats and barges. Watercraft are often just too fast for manatees to avoid. However, habitat destruction is fast becoming the most serious threat to manatee populations today.

All species of sirenians are endangered or threatened and are protected to some extent by national or local laws in every country they inhabit. Florida manatees are protected under federal law by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 which make it illegal to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal.

All sirenians are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international treaty developed in 1973 to regulate trade of wildlife items.1 The manatee’s role in the ecosystem is in cycling nutrients. Through defecation, manatees release nitrogen and other chemicals released into the water. The nitrogen is a necessary nutrient for plants and the chemicals, in part, balance the pH of the water. Of course, they provide only a very small part of the nitrogen and chemicals needed, but they are part of the collective whole that keep the nutrients cycling. Manatees also do humans a service by partially clearing plant-clogged river channels used for irrigation and transportation. So there’s reason enough to keep these guys around. Plus, they’re a special treat to see in our bays!

Footnotes 1

“Manatees,” Animals: Explore, Discover, Connect, 19 March 2012 <http://www.seaworld.org/ animal-info/info-books/manatee/index.htm>.

2 3

“Manatees,” Manatees.Net, 19 March 2012 <http://www.manatees.net/>.

“Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostrus),” E. Dale Joyner Nature Preserve at Pelotes Island, 19 March 2012 <http://pelotes.jea.com/Manatee.htm>.

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TSFMAG.com | 83

DICKIE COLBURN

DICKIE COLBURN’S Sabine Scene

Sabine

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

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

84 | May 2012

The longer I fish, the less I understand about the very fish I chase. After suffering through a year long drought it started raining the last week of February and didn’t slow down until the fourth week of March.

Over that five week span, Toledo Bend rose ten feet and was once again above the 170 mark and discharging water.

On top of that, a storm cell parked just north of Sabine Lake the 20th of March and dumped 12-inches of rain in less than five hours. The lower river is still above flood stage at this time and the bayous continue to drain low lying marshes. The initial assumption was that after a very productive late winter trout bite, thanks to manageable winds, the fresh muddy water would back us up once more.

Never assume anything. The boat launches were still covered in mud and debris when we discovered the trout had only moved a little further down the lake and the bite never slowed down a lick. If anything…it has only gotten better.

As you would expect, the action on the north end of the lake isn’t as good as it will get once the rivers and the bayous clear up, but the redfish and flounder are still holding their own. The combination of bull tides and runoff is keeping them closer to the

shoreline and drains as they prey on newly hatched shad exiting the marshes. Gulp, spinnerbaits, shallow diving crankbaits, and 3-inch Swimbaits are hard to beat when working this pattern.

The mid-lake flats on the Louisiana shoreline and the revetment walls have yet to give up great numbers for me, but the majority of our trout over six-pounds have been taken in those two areas. The key has been figuring out how deep the fish are holding on any given day. One morning the fish are on the rocks and the next day they are two casts out.

When they are holding tight we have done A pair of solid trout caught drifting Causeway reef.

Eric Sanders beat the wind for this nice trout.

extremely well with Swimming Images, Catch 2000 and MirrOdine XL. When they are further off the rocks we have done better with 5-inch Sea Shads, Die Dappers, and Trout Killers in opening night, limetreuse ghost and pumpkin chartreuse. When they are really doing their thing, however, you cannot beat a topwater for duping the best of the trout.

Basically the same lure choices are working when drifting or wading the flats on the Louisiana shoreline. The only drawback to wading has been that we are still catching a lot of our trout in five to six feet of water. A drift sock and a Talon are more effective tools for exploiting that bite than a pair of waders. If it’s big fish you are targeting, the number one mistake you can make is not throwing a

topwater lure in the deeper water.

Find the mullet, there only has to be a few, and the larger trout are right behind them. I usually start with the larger Gundog Flush or a Spook, but invariably most of our fish fall victim to a She Dog. The black-white ribbed Geaux Daley model or black with a chartreuse head has been good in low light conditions with bone or chrome patterns more effective later in the day.

Once again, depth is the key on these flats. The shallow water is the easiest to cover and possibly eliminate so we start each morning in 2 to 3 feet of water. The five-inch plastics rigged on 1/8 ounce heads and the swimbaits are more effective as you drift into the deeper water.

As a result of all of the runoff, the Causeway reef has drawn a crowd for legitimate reasons. There haven’t been a lot of five-pound plus trout caught thus far, but the 16 to 20-inch trout are stacked up on the shell along with some drag burning redfish. Strong tide changes will usually ignite a bite under the gulls as well.

Tails fished on a large enough head to compensate for the strength of tide always get the first shot, but topwaters and suspending lures can be equally good fished around the docks and back in the pocket over shallow shell. Look for bait on the surface or slicks as there is a lot of ground to cover.

I have been drifting the Carolina rigged Maniac Mullets I was using in the river over the deeper shell and caught much better trout on average. The slow sinker fished with a 3/16 worm weight has been the best combination most days. I have deposited my fair share in the shell thus far, but the potential for catching substantially larger trout is worth the gamble.

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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 Galveston Bay anglers, Capt. Mickey here to bring you a quick recap of area fishing and a look at what May should have in store for us. Before I go any further let me say that with all the changes that occur in April we often find fishing to be tough and I am really looking forward to May. Since March turned out to be the warmest and calmest I can remember we kind of jumped into the spring transitions and patterns earlier than normal.

And it rained! Hallelujah it rained. Right now on Trinity Bay we are doing as much scouting as actual fishing, staying ahead of that push of freshwater. I finally got around to submitting photos with this month’s article and you will see the results of a little scouting effort that James Plaag and I ran several days ago. Those trout were in freshwater but it was clean, not the nasty looking stuff we see coming out of the San Jacinto, Trinity and local creeks and bayous. I think in two major rain events we had almost ten inches locally and that is a lot of water, not counting what is coming down the rivers. This is something we have not had to deal with in a couple of years so people may be unfamiliar with how we fished back when we used to get lots of rain on a regular basis.

Initially, large amounts of water coming into the bay causes fish to move and confuses the fisherman.

Once things begin to stabilize, even though the salinity might be low or completely fresh at the surface, the fish will find a place they like and this is when the big stack-ups occur, right now though there are definitely no stack-ups that I know of. Like I said earlier April has so much going on that the bite can be tough to track and we don’t have a real consistent bite on trout or redfish at this time. You will have a great day and then you will struggle for three or four, that’s just the way it is this time of year. To catch those fish we moved away from the shorelines to the six foot depth on average. Retreating to saltier depths is part of the fish’s reaction to the freshwater layering in on top of the saltier water already in the bay.

Most of the bottoms that we have been catching these fish on have been generally hard. We have been seeing a sporadic topwater bite. Most consistent bite has been on soft plastic and for several months my best producer is that Lil John from MirrOlure, believe it or not. There is nothing in the water that looks like that bait so I don’t know what it is about it. It is slightly scented which might explain why the fish will come back on it if you miss

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Here’s a couple good ones James Plaag and I found on a scouting mission the other day. The plum colored Lil John from MirrOlure did the trick on both.

them. I prefer the 1/16 ounce jighead for this lure to give it a slow, darting fall.

Right now the northern half of Trinity is pretty trashed.

There are some fish in the fairly good water down the east side but they are very fickle right now with no set pattern I can detect. Like I said earlier they’re in there, we go back and find them over and over, but we just cannot get them to stay lit up. On calm days the Ship Channel can be your best bet as the incoming tide seems to overpower the fresh inflow and the area remains fairly salty.

The north shore of East Bay back toward the Refuge and Oyster Bayou is holding some real fish for now, so long as the freshwater inflow back there doesn’t run them off. Water quality along East Bay’s south shore is pretty good and I expect

a good trout run to kick off any time in that area.

Dickinson Bay, Dollar Bay and the Texas City area has been holding some pretty good trout. Not a lot of big numbers but that is just this time of year. Solid trout are being caught by wade fisherman around Mosquito Island and in Campbell Bay. We are kind of turned upside-down right now but it will get better. It is a good time to catch a big fish if you are willing to put in the time and stick with an area. If you know the fish are there you have got to stick with them. Use ALL your fishing skills and keep your eyes open.

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TSFMAG.com | 87

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

May should be an excellent month to be on the water, with fishing patterns similar to April, hopefully with maybe more angler-friendly wind and definitely warmer water and primo tides. One noteworthy tidbit is that we were blessed to get rain at the right time, which I am sure you will recall did not happen last year.

All of our fish should be energized at this time along with a vicious appetite.

I normally get into a lot of topwater action in May by using the smaller lures such as MirrOlure Pups, Super Spook Jrs, and the smaller Skitter Walk. Most of our baitfish is small this time of year and it is important to “match the hatch” if you want to better your catching chances.

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imitator that looks like the real thing swimming in the water.

With the degree of wind and rain the last couple of months, most fishermen did well using live shrimp and plastics under Rattlin’ Corks while drifting scattered shell in East Matagorda Bay. In fact, drift fishermen caught more fish and better quality than the wade fishermen. There were a few big girls hooked wading the shorelines but not like we’ve enjoyed in previous years.

Even when wading the reefs, the numbers of fish we caught were off. I’m expecting May to be more favorable. I know East Matagorda Bay is full of quality fish but for some Chad Everitt – nice reason they just did not redfish caught while wading East move to the shorelines or Matagorda Bay – reefs like they have in past plum Bass Assassin. years. For whatever reason

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Jerry Beighey – solid East Matagorda redfish – drifting with live shrimp.

Joe Wardell – twenty-five inch trout – drifting East Matagorda Bay - Bass Assassin Rattlin' Cork and limetreuse jerkbait.

they seemed to stay put out in the middle of the bay.

I personally will try to wade fish the shorelines and reefs during May because I know when that light switch turns on, it will be awesome. Another thing to remember when drifting in East Matagorda Bay is that if you start catching a few fish; don’t be afraid to throw a topwater. I have caught trout up to thirty inches drifting over scattered shell and throwing tops. When

Bink Grimes is drifting this time of year his go-to is usually a topwater bait and that ought to tell you something. When that first twenty-five to thirty inch trout hits the boat it looks like a Chinese fire drill because everyone is scrambling for whatever topwater is working. I’ve done it myself many times so don’t overlook this opportunity. I will be using more tops in May than any other month.

The glass minnow run is in full swing and the trout should be on them like tigers over in West Matagorda Bay. Try to fish the incoming tide as much as possible focusing on the sand bars and grass beds along the south shoreline. Be on the lookout for pelicans diving. The redfish should be on the shorelines and back lakes. Oyster Lake is another prime area to check out.

Jimmy Burns of Waterloo Rods built me a six foot custom rod that I have nicknamed the Waterloo SLAMMER. This rod is light and strong, has a fast tip, and can be used all day throwing top waters. You can actually launch a Super Spook into outer space with this stick and it is dynamite on plastics as well. I own three of them and they all work the same. Thanks Jimmy for a great product!

Until next time, God Bless. -Capt. Bill

TSFMAG.com | 89

CAPT. SHELLIE 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.

Telephone 361-785-6708 Email Gary@BayRat.com Website www.bayratguideservice.com

90 | May 2012

Well our prayers for rain have finally been answered.

Our bay salinities have been returning to normal ranges over the last couple of months and I’m sure this will be good for the health of our estuary in the long run.

Trout fishing has been good lately. You probably have already noticed spring came early this year.

The hopper shrimp (actually their real name is pink shrimp) showed up almost a month earlier this year than last. So what does this mean for anglers? Well, I personally have been working the sandy shorelines earlier this year than in years past. Huge rafts of mullet moved from the marsh and back lakes and have been pretty thick on these shorelines since early March. We all know that where the bait goes – so follows the reds and trout.

May is prime time to catch the trout of a lifetime but I have to admit I have few customers that are willing to put in the work required. However, since so many folks seek advice on what one can do to help improve their odds, I thought I would go over some very important basics.

Wading is almost always the best approach as it is usually difficult to fish an area thoroughly and quietly from a boat. Fishing for bigger trout is definitely not

a numbers game; where these mature specimens hang out is generally not where you find schools of younger fish. One big trout may be the only fish you catch all day if any at all. Trophy trout tend to hang in less-populated areas – which means less predation (fewer dolphins and sharks) – and fewer fishermen too. They become wary and spooky by nature and feed very cautiously.

So if you have read this far and are still interested in chasing the “big one” let me give you a few more tips: ● I would normally look for these heavier fish to inhabit warmer muddier bottoms but with our early warming trend I will look for them to be near semi muddy/sandy openings of back lakes to bay shorelines.

With the baitfish we have been seeing on the outside sandy shorelines you can bet these bigger trout are making the transitions as well. I will start my wade working an outside sandy shoreline that connects to an opening of a soft bottom back lake. Once you have found such an area, make sure that you fish it thoroughly casting to all points and coves and other obvious structure. Cast repeatedly in all directions before taking your next step forward. I can’t tell you the importance of what I call “saturation casting.” Too often I see individuals rush through potential big trout

have been caught on soft baits whether they were slow sinking jerkbaits or swimming Here’s to encouraging CPR – Catch-Photo-Release! A couple of good pics and some measurements are all a taxidermist shads. Over the years I have come to needs to create a replica mount that will last forever! believe that scented baits help seal the deal when trying to convince a big trout to bite during periods when they are not feeding aggressively. ● Be careful with your drag setting.

Trout have flimsy lips and hooks can tear loose easily if your drag is too tight. I prefer to risk a longer fight to wear them down rather than ripping the hook free.

Remember you will usually only get one shot at hooking up with a trophy.

I hope these basic tips help out anyone wanting and willing to target a big trout. If you are lucky enough to catch one of these beauties I encourage that you practice catch and release after a quick photo-shoot. Pictures with measurements are all a good taxidermist areas because they get impatient! needs to turn your “Trout of a Lifetime” into a beautiful fiberglass ● The backbone of lure fishing is a good rod/reel combination. mount to be admired for years to come.

Invest in quality, lightweight and sensitive fishing rods and equally light I hope all you fishing mothers out there have a happy Mother’s reels such as the Abu Garcia Revo Inshore because you will be making Day because you deserve it, especially mine. Thanks Mom for always ALOT of casts and your rod and reel shouldn’t make your arm feel like helping me remember what is important in life and for being my best it’s gonna fall off. friend at all times. You are the best! ● While I personally love to chunk topwaters, all of my big trout

TSFMAG.com | 91

DAVID ROWSEY

HOOKED UP WITH Rowsey

Wow! Crazy things going in the Upper Laguna and Baffin. TPWD confirmed there has been a brown tide bloom in the Laguna and Baffin. A few salts were denying it, and I was not sure myself as we had an Upper open water dredge disposal going on, and six inches Laguna/ of rain all coinciding with each other. Taking the Baffin dredge out of the equation, in my opinion, runoff from farming has long been the culprit. The mixture of agricultural fertilizer and other nutrients washing into the bay seems to go hand-in-hand with the brown David Rowsey has 20 years bloom. That is the bad news that affects Baffin and experience in the Laguna/Baffin most of the lagoon. The good news is that, as of this region; trophy trout with artificial writing, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bahama greenâ&#x20AC;? water is moving north from lures is his specialty. David has a the Land Cut and is currently up to Penascal Point. great passion for conservation It is my great hope that it will be strong enough to and encourages catch and overtake the brown algae as it has in years past. My release of trophy fish. fingers are crossed.

Telephone To this point, brown tide has not affected fishing 361-960-0340 and catching of larger trout. Although the water has a Website tea-colored tint it is not so bad that you cannot make www.DavidRowsey.com Email out the structure in front of you. This is the key to david.rowsey@yahoo.com catching versus fishing. No doubt, techniques have to change during these outbreaks, but success does

92 | May 2012

not. I have dealt with bouts of this bloom recurring for many years, and the bottom line is that trout still need to eat and will modify their behavior as we will have to when we hunt them down.

Robin Shivers, the owner of Bass Assassin, will attest to the fact that I put in orders for certain lure colors and for different times of year. Within the last week I have ordered many bags of two colors, Alewife (pearl) and Morning Glory (almost solid black).

There are a ton of good colors for an array of water conditions, but these two will reign supreme for me as long as this tea-stained water hangs around. Morning Glory (rigged on 1/8 Pro Elite head) is my bread and butter for early morning, late evening, and on overcast days. Alwife Bass Assassin (regardless of jighead color) jumps up to bat when the sun is high and prominent.

I have lived by this train of thought for years, and have clients that have witnessed it come to fruition time and time again. In fact, most of them know not to show up without these two colors, as well as Albino Shad, and solid plum. For now, and while in brown water, black and white is as complicated as I make it.

Fishing has been pretty darn good, (as of April

06), if you are looking for fat trout or reds. Overall numbers seem to be down, but that has much to do with my parties searching for larger fish and sacrificing steady action for big bites. Brown tide or not I have been concentrating my efforts in Baffin, and will continue to do so as the green water rolls in from down south.

Although the Bass Assassin has been the dominant lure, this week finally gave us some great topwater action.

Bone/silver MirrOlure She Dogs have been the best color for us in the brown water, while chartreuse/silver has been a close second.

As the days come winding down at the end of the charter, we always check out a few spots in the Laguna on the way back to Bluff’s Landing. The Upper Laguna is definitely where the redfish action is located and I do not foresee that changing throughout the summer.

Regardless of your take on reds, to me, they are still a hoot to catch. One thing to remember is that reds and trout are eating the same thing, and it is very common to pull a big trout out of the mix. I have had three lucky clients pull this off in the past ten days of fishing. The surprise on their face always brings a big smile to mine when they realize what is attached to the other end of the line.

On a final note, the trout are full of eggs, and in the process of dropping them to be fertilized by pesky, grunting males. If there is ever a time to practice some catch and release, it is now to encourage the future of the trout fishery. Eat the skinny males, and let the fat girls go.

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TRICIA’S Mansfield Report CAPT. TRICIA

Wow, how fast does our fishing life fly? I just realized the tenth anniversary of my guiding career is only a few months away. Maybe it’s just me but it seems that the seasons are running together too. One day we are decked out in waders and jackets working over big trout and the next trip we are shedding to the legal minimum while sight-casting reds under a cruel sun.

Port A quick look at fishing results of the past Mansfield several weeks reminds us that is has been either very good or very bad. Despite how many fish may reside in our zip code, there are factors we just don’t understand that ultimately dictate Capt. Tricia’s Skinny Water bragging rights. One day is near epic and Adventures operates out of the next is a water haul with the exact same Port Mansfield, specializing in conditions. Mother Nature, fickle gal that she wadefishing with artificial lures. is, proves herself a worthy opponent, so I guess that’s why we keep going back.

Telephone An example of what we’ll probably never 956-642-7298 understand occurred last week when my party Email and Mike’s were wading side-by-side and five shell@granderiver.net friends joined on the far end, fourteen in all.

Website www.SkinnyWaterAdventures.com Everybody enjoyed steady, knee-deep topwater action from aggressive reds and occasional fat, explosive trout from three to six pounds.

Every time I looked down the line I saw at least

one bent rod, quite often two or three. However, the next few outings were a far cry, literally, as we struggled through a lean bite. Then, as if somebody threw a light switch, we had another awesome day right out of nowhere. All I can tell you is we just have to be there, be ready, and appreciate those precious chances we are given.

All decked out in foul weather gear working big trout at the beginning of the week.

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94 | May 2012

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Down here in the Lower Laguna we do Wading wet and enjoying warm not “spot fish” per se, as we have very little sunshine only a defined structure compared with the bays few days after on the middle and upper coast. A great but a wicked lateseason norther. challenging aspect of this region is that fish often move daily, so the hunt turns out to be a bigger game than the actual catching. If we learn to pattern fish here we can probably find gamefish anywhere on the planet.

What we will normally do is pick a “quadrant” based on wind, i.e., north-southeast or west depending on direction and velocity. After that, we will usually try to start eliminating water from shallow to deep, running until we hopefully see some solid signs of life. A lot of visuals can qualify, from the occasional flipping of bait to full on pelican crashes, rip lines and abrupt color deviations. Each day is different! Once we find promising water, we, like everyone else, just have to be confident that fish are there and that we can figure out how to catch them. Probing the entire water column is a good approach, perhaps starting with a topwater, then dropping down in small increments with plastics or slow sinkers until it happens. When it happens, stay with the pattern until things change.

A successful box can be packed with many different lures, but for me a few proven standards are all I need or want. Lately for surface work it’s been a Skitter Walk, or perhaps a She Dog if the wind has

the surface chopped up. I don’t know if it’s me or the lure, but that woodpecker Skitter Walk has also been a producer.

When it’s time to go subsurface, a Kelly Wiggler paddle tail in either pumpkinseed/ chartreuse, or plum/chartreuse (when the water is dirtier), works just fine. Bass Assassin’s Die Dapper is another good one. Usually an 1/8 ounce jig covers most situations, but there are times when the fish seem to want more hang time and that’s when we switch to the 1/16 size.

May will probably be windy, crowds will be increasing, and there will be lots of tournaments. There will also be a bunch of mean fish to be caught, so we’ll just have to wiggle our way through the growing crowds and do our best to stay out of each other’s way. I’m curious over the number of new folks coming down these days, so I make a point to speak with as many as I can. Overwhelming response points to the quality of fishing we have in the Lower Laguna since the five trout limit took effect back in 2007. Not only is the catching easier, it is the quality they are coming for. With all the publicity this fishery is receiving it baffles me that fishermen of the middle and upper coast are not hounding TPWD to enact similar regulations in those bays.

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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

96 | May 2012

I just peaked outside and the tree branches are bending almost to the ground. Even though we have been fairly lucky wind-wise this spring, wind is always a factor we have to deal with. I think most will agree, though, wind usually affects fishermen more than it does fish.

Wind that blows constantly for several days and nights can turn water that has been productive for weeks into chocolate soup and this will send us to the Lower Laguna Madre’s east shoreline. Fishing the expansive grassbeds in the lee of South Padre Island is sometimes our best and/or only option, and even if the bite is tough, we can still get out there and catch a few.

Our water levels are currently very high allowing the fish a much broader playing field. Coupled with the rise in water temperatures, our concentrations of large trout have scattered. We are still finding a few big ones tight to shorelines and on spoil humps and a few on the East Side sand, but they are nowhere near as predictable as they were in previous months. We are still lucky, though, to be able to find steady action on three and four pounders. The best bite has been

on ICW spoils during strong tides – incoming as well as falling – and Kelley Wigglers soft plastics have been our best baits by far. I would call the topwater bite inconsistent but improving. Bone, redhead and Okie Shad Super Spook Jr have been good bets when they’ll feed on the surface.

Ever since the water level rose the redfish have been hanging extremely skinny and any time they are in a foot or less of clear water they can be spooky

Tony and her sons had an awesome day on the water.

Here’s George with a nice trout on a recent wade. (Notice his ForEverlast Ray Guard Shields.)

and tough to feed. Even the slightest noise will send them scooting.

We have slowed our wading speed to a crawl and I have been telling everybody to be as quiet as possible. Our patience and hard work has paid off with excellent numbers of redfish being taken from potholes surrounded by solid grass bottom.

Stingrays of every size are thick right now on the flats. I highly suggest wearing protectors like the ForEverlast G2 Ray Guard Shields or the Ray Guard wading boots. Even when wearing protection it’s smart to shuffle your feet and occasionally glance down as you wade.

I feel the best reward of being a fishing guide is establishing friendships and witnessing the growth in your clients fishing skills. I

recently took the Jimenez brothers; Filiberto, Joey, and George got together and decided to give their mom, Tony, a fishing trip for her birthday. It was a well-kept secret till the morning she came onboard my boat. From the excitement she displayed at that early and dark morning hour you would have sworn she had won the lottery with all her yelling and ear-to-ear smiles. They made it a point that neither one of them had much prior fishing experience.

Our first spot was very kind to us and those novice anglers were yelling with joy as they had never caught so many fish in their lives.

An hour and a half into the trip, Tony (mom) was already letting her son’s know what she wanted for Mother’s Day. During the entire trip I kept barking instructions and giving bits of advice for which they were very appreciative. I must say they were quick to learn and absorbed every word. Tony took my instructions to heart even when she lost her balance and fell over - but still managed to keep her reel above the water as I had instructed to do. When she latched on to that first 26” red on artificial she really let out a yell. Everybody on the water that day and even in the nearby counties knew she was excited about a great day of fishing!

The joy of being part of their first-time experience, sharing precious moments and making memories that will last their whole life and that they will cherish for years to come made it all worthwhile as I took a step back and enjoyed what was taking place. On that trip everyone learned, caught fish, and had a great time, including me.

These words kept ringing in my head, “Man, it’s great to enjoy the great outdoors while you can.” Here’s wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there - fishing and non-fishing – I hope you enjoy your special day.

TSFMAG.com | 97

FISHING REPORTS

Lake Calcasieu Louisiana Jeff and Mary Poe - Big Lake Guide Service - 337.598.3268 May is going to be a great month for us. We should start to see green water all the way up to Turners Bay on the north end of Calcasieu. Once salty water starts to make its way north, we will begin to catch fish along the east bank, up to Commissary Point and up to Long Point on the west bank.

With the conditions we've had lately, most of our fishing is taking place on the south end of Calcasieu in West Cove, and Joe's Cove. West Cove and Joe's Cove have been producing big numbers of fish and some big fish as well. This trend will continue straight through May. If for some reason fresh water sticks around, as it is now, concentrate your efforts down south.

Don't even bother with anything north of Long Point and Commissary Point. Trout will seek the highest salinities they can in the month of May in order to make their spawning more successful. Those fishing in freshwater in May won't find and catch many trout. Redfish may be around, but trout will be found in water with higher salinities.

Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242 James reports sporadically good fishing but an overall tough bite in the Galveston area on days leading up to this report. “We did catch limits of trout today on small topwaters like ShePups and Spook Juniors and also some on H&H Flutter jigheads rigged with pumpkinseed/chartreuse Bass Assassins, but that’s been the exception, not the norm. We do have some water quality issues right now, but there are good signs of fish around, meaning some slicks and lots of balled up bait and things like

98 | May 2012

ORECASTS F from Big Lake to Boca Chica

AND

that, so I expect a good turnaround in May. We’ll be drifting open-water areas around shell when winds are lighter, wading when it’s windier. The wading has been and will likely continue to produce the bigger fish. We’ve seen some trout up into the mid-seven pound class lately, with quite a few others in the five and six pound class. Most of those will be caught on topwaters and twitch baits. With all the freshwater coming down the rivers now, we may see a good run in the lower parts of the bay closer to the salty water in the Gulf.”

Jimmy West - Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054 Jim reports a variety of issues are making the fishing tough in the Galveston area in recent weeks. “We just had a massive inflow of freshwater down the Trinity River, so that has Trinity Bay and much of the middle of Galveston Bay pretty messed up. On top of that, we’ve got a bunch of seismic testing going on. There are boats everywhere blowing holes in the bottom with dynamite. Some fish are definitely dying in the process. Then, we’ve got a big dredging operation going on along the shoreline close to Bolivar. They are making a new spoil island off The Pens. When the tide is coming in, it’s sending black, mucky water right into East Bay. Fishing is, predictably, tough much of the time with all the activity. I did manage to bring in seventeen trout yesterday, fishing out of the boat in East Bay. We had a little flurry of bites right at the end of the tide movement, when water clarity improved from three or four inches to maybe ten inches of visibility. A few good fish are being caught, but nothing is consistent. That won’t change until things settle down some.”

West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays Randall Groves - Groves Guide Service - 979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323 Randall was coming off the water after an excellent trip when we talked.

“We caught our twentieth trout before nine o’clock this morning. They were peeling the paint off our chrome Super Spooks today. We were fishing in the surf and it was really easy with the topwaters while we had a gentle breeze. Then it went slick calm and we had to switch over to the Sand Eels to catch some more. Our fishing has been great lately. We’ve had a good influx of bait coming out of the Gulf, mostly glass minnows, small shrimp and ribbon fish. The trout are mixed right in with their food sources. I expect the fishing to remain steady throughout the next month or so. We’ll stay in areas close to the surf when it’s calmer, and hide from the winds in the back bays on other days, always keying on the presence of plenty of bait.” He also mentions discovering a new tackle store in Port Lavaca. “I talked to a young couple at Bowed Up Outdoors the other day. They really have a lot of cool stuff in their store and they seem like good people.”

Matagorda | Charlie Paradoski Bay Guide Service -713.725.2401 Fishing has been good lately in both Matagorda bays, Charlie says. “We’re catching plenty of trout and reds drifting in East Bay. Most of the guys are using live bait, but the lure fishing is steady too. We’ve got a lot of freshwater in the Colorado River, so the bays have more fish in them than they did when the river was running salty. The fishing on the shorelines has been best in West Bay lately. The trout we’re catching are averaging a good size, and they’re full of eggs. We may have a little lull when they start dropping the eggs, but the action should pick right back up in early May. We’ll be wading in both bays when we can, targeting the bigger trout with topwaters and twitch baits mostly, switching to soft plastics when the bite slows. The whole key is water quality and weather. Right now, the water in the east end of West Bay is pretty muddy with the freshwater influence, but it should be clearing up in the near future, which will make fishing easier. We’ll be heading to the surf on the calmest days; it can be fantastic when it’s right.”

Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204 Fishing in our area bays has exploded as I am writing this report. We have been having a great bite at the wells and along area shorelines.

Lots of good sized trout from eighteen to twenty two inches have been coming from the wells and rigs in West Matagorda Bay. Freelining live shrimp around the structure and shell has produced best. The glass minnows have arrived in full force, and the trout and redfish are following them. The key to finding the minnows is to look for diving brown pelicans; when you find them, you find the fish. Pearl/chartreuse and salt & pepper paddletails have accounted for most hook-ups. Redfish are feeding heavily on shorelines, chasing shrimp. We’ve boxed lots of slot fish, and almost all fish have had bellies full of grass shrimp. May is one of my favorite months to fish because of all the options--rigs, shorelines, reefs, back lakes, trout, reds, tripletail, etc.. With all the rain we‘ve had over the last month or two, I expect this year to be awesome!

Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith - Back Bay Guide Service - 361.983.4434 “I expect to spend most of my time close to Pass Cavallo in May,” Lynn says.

“We’ll be targeting some of the bigger trout as they come in out of the surf and show up on the flats and spoils close by. I like to wade in shallow water on the flats and humps, but stay pretty close to the deep water.

We’ll be throwing lots of top waters like Super Spook Juniors early and sticking with them for as long as the fish will cooperate. We’ll also try the Paul Brown Lures and Maniac Mullet too. Of course, if those lures aren’t producing, we won’t hesitate to go after the fish with soft plastics either.

The key is to find plenty of bait like mullet, glass minnows, shad and ballyhoo in areas with a good mix of sand and grass. Making lots of casts at the sand pockets in the thicker grass beds and at the scattered grass in the areas with more of a sandy bottom is a key. As long as the winds don’t blow too hard, we’re set up for a good run this month. I’m reading for the * big trout to get here in good numbers!”

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Rockport | Blake Muirhead Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894 Blake plans on operating with a proven productive spring plan throughout the next month or so. “Fishing has been good this year. There seem to be fish in all the area bays, so I’ll move around quite a bit. San Antonio Bay has been productive. I like to fish up there in the spring, working the shallow grass beds and sand bars on the shorelines. Aransas and Mesquite Bays are good too. There, I like to fish the grassy, sandy shorelines and out on the reefs too when the winds are light. St. Charles Bay and Corpus Bay have good potential this time of year too. We’ve been catching pretty good lately on blue/chrome and black/chrome top waters, and the action on those should remain steady throughout May. Of course, I won’t hesitate to pull out the old plum and pumpkinseed/chartreuse Sand Eels if the blow ups slow down a bit. One other option we’ll consider this month is heading out to the surf. If winds stay light for a few days, the action out there often cranks right up. Some of the biggest surf trout of the year are caught in May.”

100 | May 2012

Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut Robert Zapata – rz1528@grandecom.net - 361.563.1160 There are a number of changes with the fishing in the Upper Laguna Madre as we get into the month of May. The fishing is still very good, and we’ve been catching a good number of trout close to the 30 inch mark. Because much of the Laguna Madre, including Baffin Bay, has lost its water clarity due to brown tide, I’ve been fishing with smelly lures like Bass Assassin Die Dappers in morning glory/limetreuse and chartreuse dog, also Berkley Gulp! Ripple Mullet in similar colors. I am rigging these plastic baits on sixteenth ounce Assassin Spring Lock jigheads with the 5/0 hooks. The brown tide does not hurt the fish, but they really have to use their senses of smell and sound detection to find their meals. Another tactic I’ll be using will involve the two and a half inch Assassin Oval Kwik Corks rigged with 25 lb. leaders and the smelly lures hanging eight to ten inches from the bottom. The sightcasting game is still very good on the shallow flats for reds, black drum and even trout, using the same plastic lures, including shrimp flavored Fish Bites.

Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez – www.sightcast1.com - 361.937.5961 Joe says he’ll likely spend most of his time way down south in May. “The water in and around the Land Cut is crystal clear right now. This is a great time of year for the area, especially with this kind of water quality.

Sightcasting giant reds and trout in Nine Mile Hole is a real possibility.

Working the edge of the Land Cut itself with soft plastics is another proven productive drill in the spring. I like to flutter my soft plastics along the drop off. Matching the jighead size to the wind speed is critical. More wind calls for heavier jigheads, less wind for lighter ones. Another fun thing to do in the clear water in that area is target the deeper rocks along the Kenedy Shoreline. It’s possible to make pr ecise casts close to the structure since you can see everything so well. All of the flats in Yarbrough have great potential as well. There are usually some big trout and schools of reds in knee deep potholes in that area this time of year. The spoils between Baffin and the Land Cut are also known to hold plenty of fish in spring.”

Padre Island National Seashore Billy Sandifer - Padre Island Safaris - 361.937.8446 There is potential for wonderful fishing in May but it all depends on the wind and presence of sargassum. Avoid the high tides! Speckled trout make a good showing in the May surf and tend to prefer silver spoons and Rat-L-Traps over topwater baits. Spanish mackerel arrived in March and should be available in May. Use light wire leaders for the mackerel with speck rigs and small silver spoons. Look for surface activity and working birds for mackerel as well as jack crevalle. Whiting, Atlantic bluefish, redfish, sheepshead, black drum, and stray pompano should all be available. Fresh-dead shrimp and “Fishbites” will provide the most bang for your buck. Numerous shark species should be available on both cast and kayaked baits. Check the regs to make sure you’re not keeping restricted species. Turtle nesting season will be in full swing so keep an eye out for both turtles and turtle patrollers. Do not interfere with nesting turtles.

Mark the location and call 361-949-8173 ext. 226 to report the nest and also report it to the first turtle patroller you encounter.

Port Mansfield | Terry Neal www.terrynealcharters.com – 956.944.2559 Looks like May is going to be a real scorcher temperature-wise. The bay water temperatures are already pushing 80 degrees. We always look forward to the arrival of spring but this year it seems we jumped from basically no serious or prolonged winter right into the frying pan. We are thankful to have some wind as it would be nearly unbearable otherwise.

Fish have fallen off the flats since the big push up in the water levels and hopefully are stacked up in deeper areas; we’ll just have to go looking for them and then figure out the feed pattern. There are huge schools of mullet everywhere. The normal pattern is for trout and reds to follow them in from the Gulf as the Laguna Madre warms up but, with all the mild winter weather we didn’t see the normal bait migrations taking place – if the did I did not notice. The offshore fishing is starting to come around with lots of snapper coming off the shallow rocks. Keep fishing and enjoy nature; we should have excellent fishing ahead.

Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel Janie and Fred Petty – www.fishingwithpettys.com – 956.943.2747 Calm mornings and windy afternoons have established our spring patterns. Sight fishing is the ultimate shallow water experience, but the right conditions have to combine to create the perfect environment to spot tailing reds and trout. Often, specks are right there mixed with the redfish, following sting rays or bunched-up cruising the flats, churning up clouds of silt. There are several ways to approach these predators without spooking the whole group. One option is to throw a plastic worm or Gulp! three inch shrimp past the group and bring it in front of the mud line, trying not to touch their backs in the process. Freddy says, “When fish are tailing, they concentrate on their immediate surroundings, and will attack the first thing that moves. Retrieve quickly, so the lure will stay on top of the water, then drop it; this works better than a disrupting plop on the head of the target.” When not sightcasting, we move to deeper holes and throw Cajun Thunder round corks with Gulp!s for the trout that continue to make a huge comeback in the LLM.

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Hayden Barker with Dad and Grandad Estes Flats - 24” & 21” first keeper reds!

Lance Brodbeck Baffin Bay - 30.25” 9.3lb trout

Matt & Cody Fish Galveston - 22” red & 18” trout

Bonnie Allen first jack!

Brittany Freeman Arroyo City - 22” redfish Douglas Fockelmann Gulf - red snapper

Alberto Gaspar Freeport - 18” sheepshead 102 | May 2012

Ralph Jendrzey San Antonio Bay - 30” red

Jamie Koch Chris’ Cut - 40” black drum

Jeffrey Jendrzey Port Mansfield - 28” 7lb trout

Evan Finney Rockport - first redfish!

Gabe Cortez Matagorda - 27.5” personal best trout!

Michael Laguna Madre - 30.5” red CPR

Jacie Walla Port Aransas - 8.1lb red snapper

Nicole Cotter Matagorda - 2 red snappers caught on the same line!

Rusty Kubena Matagorda - big grouper

Tommy Robertson South Pass - 26” red CPR

Jayden Martinez West Bay - first drum!

Oscar Montemayor Galveston Bay - trout

Benjamin Ramirez Webster - 15” flounder

Julian Quintero Galveston Bay - 20” trout

Denise Taylor Halls Bayou - 21” first legal red

Jake Trevino Port Mansfield 24” trout

Jonathan Reyna Corpus Christi - first red!

Allison Schwartz Galveston Bay - 24.5” red CPR

Clare Sutherland Freeport - 32lb first cobia!

Avery Walla Port Aransas - first red snapper

Please do not write on the back of photos.

Email photos with a description of your Catch of the Month to: Photos@tsfmag.com

Trey German Sylvan Beach - 29" 8.5 lb trout

Darlene Wigton Port O’Connor - first fish ever!

Mail photos to: TSFMag P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983 TSFMAG.com | 103

PAM JOHNSON

GULF COAST Kitchen

Got ideas, hints or recipes you’d like to share?

Email them to pam@tsfmag.com or send by fax: 361-785-2844

REDFISH SUPREME 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup sour cream 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice 1/4 cup diced onion 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper 2 pounds fresh redfish fillets salt and pepper

FRIED CAULIFLOWER 1 head of cauliflower grated on a cheese grater ¼ cup purple onion diced 3 Tbsp butter 1 Tbsp chicken bouillon powder

104 | May 2012

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Lightly grease a medium baking dish.

2. In a bowl, mix the cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, flour, lemon juice, onion, and cayenne pepper.

3. Season fillets to taste with salt and black pepper, arrange in the prepared baking dish, and cover with the cheddar cheese mixture.

4. Bake uncovered 10 minutes at 425° then reduce heat to 350° and continue baking 15 additional minutes. Finish by browning under broiler for 5 minutes.

We served ours over fried cauliflower and sautéed broccoli.

Melt butter in large frying pan on medium to high heat. Place cauliflower and onion in frying pan and sprinkle with chicken bouillon powder. Sauté until cauliflower is brown, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan (and in same pan), recoat with cooking spray and sauté the broccoli.

Note: This recipe works very well with thicker fillets as the coating and baking method seals in natural juices.

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TEXAS SALTWATER FISHING HOLES GALVESTON

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GALVESTON TIDES & SOLUNAR TABLE Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine MAY 2012

The BEST Choice… Any Place, Anytime!

To find a location near you, please visit us at www.speedystop.com

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

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