September 2018
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ABOUT THE COVER Fly angler Eddie Murray landed this tarpon at the Matagorda Ship Channel Jetty recently amid rain showers while fishing with TSFMag contributor, Capt. Scott Null. Anxious to accomplish a healthy release, they took no time to weigh or measure Eddie’s trophy. According to Capt. Null, “He was so thrilled, all he wanted was a quick photo and a clean release. We got both!”
SEPTEMBER 2018 VOL 28 NO 5
CONTENTS FEATURES
DEPARTMENTS
8 Looking Back At the Summer of 2018 14 Fundamental Flaws (Part 1) 18 There’s a New Fishing Lure in Town 22 Bare Minimum Lure List 26 Dixie Jet Spoons Return 30 Plan a Getaway
34 40 44 48 50 54 58 62 64 68 95
Steve Hillman Kevin Cochran Martin Strarup Chuck Uzzle Joe Richard Everett Johnson
Let’s Ask The Pro Shallow Water Fishing TPWD Field Notes Fly Fishing Kayak Fishing Chronicles TSFMag Conservation News Fishy Facts Inshore | Nearshore | Jetties | Passes Extreme Kayak Fishing & Sharks... Plastic & Water Don’t Mix Science & the Sea
Jay Watkins Scott Null Jason Ferguson Scott Sommerlatte Dave Roberts CCA Texas Stephanie Boyd Curtiss Cash Eric Ozolins Everett Johnson UT Marine Science Institute
40
22
WHAT OUR GUIDES
HAVE TO SAY
72 74 76 78 80 82 84
Dickie Colburn’s Sabine Scene The Buzz on Galveston Bay The View from Matagorda Mid-Coast Bays with the Grays Hooked up with Rowsey Wayne’s Port Mansfield Report South Padre Fishing Scene
84
Dickie Colburn Caleb Harp Bink Grimes Shellie Gray David Rowsey Wayne Davis Ernest Cisneros
REGULARS 8 Editorial 70 New Tackle & Gear 86 Fishing Reports and Forecasts 90 Catch of the Month 92 Gulf Coast Kitchen
92
4 | September 2018
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
VINYL CARE
REGIONAL SALES REPRESENTATIVE Patti Elkins Patti@tsfmag.com Office: 361-785-3420 Cell: 361-649-2265 PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Donna Boyd Donna@tsfmag.com CIRCULATION SUBSCRIPTION – PRODUCT SALES Vicky Morgenroth Store@tsfmag.com DESIGN & LAYOUT Stephanie Boyd Artwork@tsfmag.com Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine is published monthly. Subscription Rates: One Year (Free Emag with Hard Copy) Subscription $25.00 E-MAG (electronic version) is available for $12.00 per year. Order on-line: WWW.TSFMAG.COM MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine Attn: Subscriptions P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, Texas 77983 * Subscribers are responsible for submitting all address changes and renewals by the 10th of the prior month’s issue. Email store@tsfmag.com for all address changes or please call 361-785-3420 from 8am - 4:30pm. The U.S. Postal Service does not guarantee magazines will be forwarded. HOW TO CONTACT TSFMAG: PHONE: 361-785-3420 FAX: 361-785-2844 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.
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EDITORIAL
LOOKING FORWARD TO FALL FISHING
The autumnal equinox will occur September 22, the day when hours of daylight and darkness become equal, and the official beginning of the fall season. Don’t get too excited just yet for an immediate temperature drop but at least there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Schedules get very busy with school back in session, football games, doves, teal, and archery whitetails; but September can also be a spectacular month for fishing – offshore, nearshore and bays! Labor Day weekend is the final hurrah of summer for some angling families and they head to the coast in droves. Some readers may not receive their magazine until later in the month but, if you see this early enough and are planning a big holiday on the water and haven’t already registered for the CCA Texas STAR Tournament, you might want to fix that. As of this writing there are still four boat-motor-trailer packages available in the Tagged Redfish Division and at least 50 of the 60 tagged reds that were released back in May are still swimming. As redfish have already begun to school near passes to the gulf, enhancing angler’s ability to bag more redfish, the odds of landing a tagged fish are actually better right now than all summer. STAR ends at 5:00 PM on September 3, 2018. It’s not over ‘til it’s over, so do not discount your chances to win one of these great prizes. There have been final weekend winners in past years…but you have to be entered to win! Writing this on August 13, there are eight days remaining to fish
for red snapper in federally-managed waters off Texas. I was informed last week that landings thus far in the projected 82-day recreational fed-water season that began June 1 has not yet reached 50% of the allocation granted to Texas anglers. Couple of key points here… First – It would appear that Texas anglers have been right and the feds have been wrong all along as regards recreational harvest of red snapper, and the ridiculously short seasons of recent years have served no purpose except to deny the recreational fleet angling opportunity. June seas off Texas are generally too rough to allow participation in the amount the feds have traditionally built into their models. Hopefully we have put that behind us. Second point is data collection. While dockside creel surveys will always be very useful in tabulating actual landings, voluntary reporting via electronic apps may be even more valuable. TPWD and USFWS survey teams cannot be at every dock every day. Hence, the allocation has historically included generous buffers to preclude underestimating the harvest. Enter iSnapper. Reporting snapper landings electronically is the best tool recreational anglers can employ toward gaining longer seasons in the future, and possibly even more generous bag limits in federal waters. Take a kid fishing, practice safe boating, and remember The Golden Rule everyday on the water. Fishing is a great pastime – even greater when we can all enjoy it equally.
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It’s our responsibility to make every effort to ensure that young anglers like 5-yearold Clay Dolch get to experience what we did at his age.
A
STORY BY STEVE HILLMAN
s summer draws to a close I look back and try to process all of the ups and downs that took place over the past several months. I always tend to make comparisons to years past. Was this summer better or worse? What made this summer different from others? What do we have to look forward to? There are many observations to help me attempt to answer such questions. In my opinion, this summer was not as consistent compared to most years. There were fewer trout and the overall numbers of 5 to 7 plus pound fish appeared to be down. Patterns also seemed to run about a month behind schedule. I truly believe this was greatly influenced by the floods from Hurricane Harvey late last summer. The majority of our bay system experienced salinity declines to nearly zero parts per thousand during the floods. Spotted seatrout require at least 4 ppt salinity to survive. I believe many of the trout in the Galveston Bay Complex exited through the passes instinctively searching for higher salinities. I understand that there have been studies conducted that have indicated that speckled trout are restricted mostly to their home estuary over the course of their lives (Biology of the Spotted Seatrout, Stephen A. Bortone, Ph.D.). All things remaining equal I’m quite sure this is true. However, exceptions are made under extreme circumstances such as severe freshwater inundation. It is my opinion that the trout that were pushed out of the bays took quite some time to return. Furthermore, I believe that not all of them actually did return. I can’t say exactly where they reached their final destination. Nor can I say how many became prey when they found themselves at the bottom of the food chain in the Gulf as opposed to their usual apex predator status in the bay. Not that we had a ton of trout before the floods, but we darn sure had less after everything returned to “normal.” The pattern lag time can also be attributed to the massive (and continuous) menhaden hatch we’ve experienced. As frustrated as Harvey made us with regards to trout fishing, the massive amounts of freshwater actually rejuvenated our estuaries from a forage standpoint. We’ve also experienced additional timely rainfall since then and that has further contributed to the boost in the shad population. As I’ve mentioned before, trout can become difficult to catch when they’re feeding on tiny shad. As shad and other forage species grow to a larger size the catching becomes much easier. I witnessed more shad bay wide this summer than I ever have in my life. Hatch after hatch prolonged a transitional-like behavior as small shad were available for longer than usual periods. TSFMAG.com | 9
We also witnessed exceptional shrimp crops. Again, I think this can increasing number of anglers (recreational anglers and fishing guides). be largely attributed to fresh water. Normally, when the bays are full Additionally, there is less habitat in the form of oyster and clam reefs, of shrimp we will find gulls and terns hovering over frenzied schools better technology and more networking than ever. Trout will gravitate of trout. This was not necessarily the case this summer. Oh, there to areas with suitable habitat. Those areas have basically been were birds working. But only 9 to 14 inch specks, lady fish, sand trout reduced by half in the last ten years or so. Therefore, most of the trout and gafftop could be found under them for the most part. To me, will concentrate in half of the areas. When they do groups of boats will this was one of the tell-tale signs that the number of legal sized trout find them and within a matter of weeks large numbers of trout will be were down from years past. I don’t care what was reported by local removed from those schools. It seems like there’s just not enough to newspaper writers or anyone else. I’m telling you what myself and go around sometimes. every single person I’ve spoken with that fished Galveston Bay this I can sit here and talk about how much more fishing pressure we summer has witnessed. have now compared to ten, twenty or thirty years ago. I can preach There were definitely fewer areas holding trout than in years past. about habitat loss, more fishermen and better technology. The Many traditional reefs struggled to produce as in years past. During problem is this is what we’ve been saying for a while. It’s time for the later portion of summer we found schools away from reefs and changes to be made. Here are a few places to start – structure. They were following shad out over mud in 8 to 10 feet of water. I’ve always talked about how trout prefer deeper water with cool mud bottoms during the heat of the summer. One would think that you should fish near the bottom in these scenarios but the majority of our fish were actually suspended just beneath the surface. Floating twitchbaits and soft plastics rigged on 1/16 ounce jig heads produced the best bites most of the time. I think this somewhat odd behavior can be attributed to the billions of shad buzzing near the surface. This abundant food source also resulted in very healthy Haley Matthews couldn’t fish. Some of our trout Mike Hanson with believe how fat this late Lots of open water schools of resembled springtime fish in a chunky late A 24-inch trout like this July trout was that ate his giants like these this summer! summer trout. their appearance, even in late one was something to get MirrOlure Soft Shad. Rich Hutchison and his son excited about this summer! summer. In addition to the Josh didn’t seem to mind. increased girth caused by high lipid content diets, roe sacks stayed nearly full all summer. Trout will continue to have numerous spawns all summer and into fall when there is an uncommon abundance of food. It reminds me of the deer on our ranch. In lean drought years, does will birth one fawn. In wet and healthy years, when there’s an abundance of high protein forage, does will drop twins and sometimes even triplets. This is good news for our fishery. However, moving forward I foresee somewhat of a tug of war between a trout fishery trying it’s best to recover and an ever10 | September 2018
TSFMAG.com | 11
Buzzy Knapp has caught some really big trout with me over the years. I guess 3-½ pounders will have to tide him over for now.
• Reduce speckled trout limit to five per person per day • Impose stricter slot limits on trout (maybe 15 – 22 inches) • Keep one trout per year 28 inches or over (tagging system similar to red drum) • Establish limited entry and buyback programs on inshore saltwater captain’s licenses similar to what was done with inshore commercial shrimping licenses in 1995 • Increase saltwater license fees by $5.00 and dedicate those funds to reef restoration • Impose 10 inch minimum on golden croaker in an effort to restore our croaker fishery Our standards have been lowered. A big trout for Galveston Bay is now five pounds. “Solid” keepers are 17 inchers. A “good” day is catching 15 keepers. Over time, we’ve continuously lowered the bar and then brainwashed ourselves into thinking that everything is fine and that next year will be better. We keep telling each other that we just have to hang in there. Well, we’ve been hanging in there for a while.
CONTACT
STEVE HILLMAN
12 | September 2018
Steve Hillman is a full-time fishing guide on his home waters of Galveston Bay. Steve fishes the entire Galveston Bay Complex, wading and drifting for trout, redfish, and flounder using artificial lures. Phone 409-256-7937 Email captsteve@hillmanguideservice.com Web www.hillmanguideservice.com
FILL IT UP AND THE DAY WILL FOLLOW. INTRODUCING THE CAMINO CARRYALL When your go-to day bag is made of a rugged ThickSkin™ shell and a molded waterproof bottom, your day can basically go anywhere. Whether it’s a day trip or the day’s many short trips, the Camino™ Carryall is designed to stand up, hold weight, and clean easy. It’s your here - to - there hero for muddy waders, fishing tackle and more. Because it might spend most of its time between truck bed and boat but it’s made to be open to anything.
TSFMAG.com | 13
Like many other coastal anglers, Captain Kev threw rat-tailed Bass Assassins in plum and red shad for many years, though he now prefers the similarly shaped MirrOlure Provokers, because of their superior scent and durability.
STORY BY KEVIN COCHRAN
W
hile working on the water, running charters targeting spotted seatrout with artificial lures, I’ve critically observed hundreds of novice anglers. Over the years, I’ve noticed several mistakes commonly made by these folks, related to their choices of equipment and tackle. These fundamental flaws place people squarely behind the eight ball, hindering their potential for productivity. At the top of the list of basic problems, unnecessarily heavy rods and reels hamper results. This phenomenon lingers like a shadow cast by the past, when most people considered ridiculously proportioned rigs appropriate for fishing the coast. We’ve all seen these unfortunate souls lined up on piers, bay shorelines and at the beach, sporting long, thick fiberglass rods and hefty reels, better suited for dueling bull drum and king mackerel than speckled trout. Who among us can say they’ve never considered the irony associated with using such mighty tools to sling a dead, 60-count shrimp tethered to a pyramid sinker into knee-deep water? Fish likely to bite such a bait generally weigh a pound or less; their heft barely bends those formidable sticks. The silly scenario represents a caricature of the activity, a kind of unintentional satire. Way back in the day, educated, thoughtful coastal anglers targeting trout carried and used reels like the AbuGarcia 5500, mounted on seven-foot popping rods with cork handles measuring over a foot in length. In the lessdistant past, the rods and their handles shrunk somewhat, and reels like the “old green” Shimano Curado became popular, bringing the overall weight of the gear down under a pound. Today’s feather-light rigs render all the vintage stuff appropriately obsolete. In a more evolved world, smart anglers consciously match the dimensions of targeted fish with those of the tackle implemented to catch them, regardless of their preference for lures or natural baits. Individuals who use live bait will find slightly heavier rods and reels useful, as will those trying to catch multiple species, including oversized redfish and black drum. Undoubtedly, trout-seeking lure-chunkers who naively burden themselves with jumbo tackle negatively impact the number of fish they catch. As we approach the third decade of the 21st Century, a serious trout angler can (and should, if possible) wield a rod a reel combo weighing barely more than half a pound. The best reels on the market today (some of which cost as little as $60) weigh less than six ounces, and the lightest rods add merely three to four more. Admittedly, most super-light rods fetch a high price, but any discerning angler can find adequately light, affordable ones. Still, most novices I encounter use reels weighing over eight ounces and burdensome, seven foot rods with handles extending too far behind the reels. When I discuss the issue with my customers in the field, the most common explanation offered reveals a misconception related to the need for “plenty of backbone” when fighting fish. People give trout, even big ones, far too much credit as adversaries in a tug of war. Super-light rods measuring between 72 and 78 inches long and reels weighing less than six ounces TSFMAG.com | 15
prove perfectly adequate for conquering even the largest trout. I know reels. This makes it possible to fish with feather-light reels without because I’ve used them to subdue jacks and drum weighing well losing too much line capacity, further enhancing the anglers’ stamina over thirty pounds. Truth be told, my rod and reel does not perform for chunking and winding. gracefully in a wrestling match with ugly brutes like those, but it does Stated bluntly, anglers using braid will catch more fish than those allow me to wear them down over time, though most of the line might using mono. This statement rings true whether the angler deploys disappear off the spool during the rounds. More importantly, my a spinning or level-wind reel. Braided line enhances the efforts of equipment easily tames all trout, even monsters, without undue stress; anglers using spinning tackle in the same ways it does for those using over the last decade, I’ve conquered all my picture-worthy specks with the more popular level-wind reels, without creating any difficulties. a combo weighing less than ten ounces, partly because I load the reel “Wind knots” in the lines of anglers using spinning tackle result from with braided line. user error, not from any aspect of the type of line passing through the Sadly, I still encounter many weekend warriors gearing up for their rod’s guides. But that’s a topic for another piece. forays with monofilament line riding on the spools of their reels. The This article describes fundamental flaws commonly made by novice difference between mono and braid closely resembles the difference anglers with regard to their choices of equipment and tackle. A third between a golf cart and a Mercedes Benz. No amount of skill on the one I regularly observe involves the reliance on one type of soft plastic part of a driver can elevate the performance of an electric buggy to all the time. These days, when I advise my customers to put on a worm, the level of a luxury automobile, and no clever actions by an angler usually out of necessity, and because I’m catching fish on mine, my can eliminate the weaknesses inherent to a monofilament thread. customers almost always produce one with a paddle-tail. When I ask novice anglers why they’re still using mono as a main This relatively recent phenomenon developed slowly, as a result of line, I typically hear a misinformed explanation related to ease of a common tendency among people to “throw the baby out with the use. Most believe braided lines create more problems and risks than bath water.” In the early 1990s, when companies like Bass Assassin mono. I know where this idea originated, but it simply bears no truth introduced rat-tailed soft plastics, guides and experts quickly realized these days. they caught more fish when they used them in place of the shrimpWhen coastal anglers first tried using braided lines a couple tails they’d previously preferred. Most believe the better catch rate decades ago, they did so at their own peril. Those lines had angular results from the erratic movement patterns generated by the design of facets, causing them to tangle easily, sometimes hopelessly, the slender, gradually tapering tails. when a backlash occurred with a level-wind reel. I knew guys For years thereafter, most top-notch trout anglers I knew deployed who carried sharp instruments Paddle-tails like the ones specifically for picking out their A rod and reel used by Rudy Keilman troublesome backlashes in those capable of handling to catch this fat trout in this adult redfish days. Manufacturers of today’s cold weather, work well in is adequate for braided lines have eliminated this murky water and in low use in fighting any light conditions. problem; I now find backlashes speckled trout. made with braid every bit as easy to pick as those made with mono. More importantly, braid doesn’t stretch, so it provides greater sensitivity to the angler, who will feel far more bites than they could with the other stretchy string. Taking things to another level, braid’s lack of stretch facilitates Bright skies and clear water facilitate the use greater control over lures during of rat-tailed soft plastics bearing natural hues. presentations, empowering anglers’ creativity, and reducing stress on their arms and wrists. This benefit of braid becomes readily apparent when anglers employ bulky topwaters and twitch-baits in medium to strong winds. In addition to these positive attributes, braid of an appropriate strength takes up much less space on the spool of a reel than mono; the diameter of thirty-pound test braid roughly equals that of eight-pound mono. Consequently, anglers can fit more line on their 16 | September 2018
more strikes from fish which can’t easily see them, throwing ones with strongly contrasting colors makes more sense. The average angler should pick rat-tails in one or two natural hues (I prefer MirrOlure Provokers in white and clear/glitter) and throw them exclusively when conditions merit their use. They should also commit to paddle-tails in a couple of color patterns including strong contrasts, like red/white and plum/chartreuse. By choosing the optimal type of soft plastic for the situation, in a color which makes good sense, anglers can eliminate a basic flaw and catch more fish. If they attach the worm properly to the end of a braided main line, they’ll similarly enhance their potential for productivity, particularly if the line rides on a feather-light reel attached to a relatively short, light rod which doesn’t tire them out quickly without providing any tangible benefits. In these simple ways, modern trout anglers can establish a solid foundation for success.
KEVIN COCHRAN CONTACT
a rat-tailed Bass Assassin (normally red shad or plum) when they decided the best catching could be done with a worm. In a way, those old-school guys made the same mistake today’s anglers make, by relying on just one type of soft plastic all the time. At some point, people began to see the fanatical reliance on rat-tails as a hindrance to productivity. Many began to praise the productivity of paddle-tails. Slowly but surely, paddle-tails rose to dominate the market, and a large percentage of folks forgot the poignant lesson related to the rat-tails. I’d contend the anglers who first proved the superiority of rattails over shrimp-tails had one thing right. Much of the time, the spastic movement patterns of rat-tails generate more bites than the more straight-line movements of shrimp-tails and paddle-tails. I’d say this truth carries maximum weight when fish can see the lures clearly. On the other hand, when strong winds, excessive freshwater runoff or brown algae limits visibility, paddle-tails make more sense, specifically because they move in straighter lines, generating vibrations as they go. As a rule, anglers should deploy paddle-tails in murky water and/ or in the dark, and rat-tails in clear water, when the sun shines. Of course, sometimes all types of soft plastics perform about equally well, when the issue of depth of presentation trumps all other aspects of the situation, but anglers should still use the type best suited to the moment to maximize results. Along with their discerning choice related to type of soft plastic, anglers should consider color, sticking to a simple, basic plan. Since rat-tails perform better in clear water and bright skies, ones bearing natural colors work best. Conversely, since paddle-tails garner
Kevin Cochran is a full-time fishing guide at Corpus Christi (Padre Island), TX. Kevin is a speckled trout fanatic and has created several books and dvds on the subject. Kevin’s home waters stretch from Corpus Christi Bay to the Land Cut.
TROUT TRACKER GUIDE SERVICE Phone 361-688-3714 kevxlr8@mygrande.net Email Web www.FishBaffinBay.com www.captainkevblogs.com
ONE IS GOOD. TWO IS WAY BETTER. Everybody knows having a Power-Pole anchor on your boat gives you the kind of boat control you need to catch more fish. But did you know that dual Power-Pole anchors lock your boat into position, allowing you and your fellow anglers to have the best angle to cast to the fish - regardless of wind and current? For complete details go to power-pole.com.
TSFMAG.com | 17
STORY BY MARTIN STRARUP
M
y selfish side has me wishing this lure would have never been made available to the public. I swear I would have done my best to keep the secret amongst only my family and a few trusted fishing buddies. The inventor obviously had other ideas, imagine that, and his creation is now selling like hotcakes via his website. Most folks know it by its official name, Trout Support Lure, invented and marketed by Tobin Strickland. Tobin is the man who gave us the highly-popular Trout Support instructional DVDs for trout and redfish. My fishing group has unofficially dubbed it the “Grasswalker” for its unique ability to run “weedlessly” through loose seagrass suspended in the water column and floating on the surface. It also runs through bottom grass and oyster shell with nary a hang up where other lures dare not tread. I was fortunate enough to get a few of these lures right after the current version came out of the molds and when I first saw the bait I thought it to be just another gimmick designed to catch anglers. And oh, it’s ugly, too. Absolutely nothing fishy about it at first glance. Boy, was I wrong! Not only is this a weedless bait, I will quote the inventor describing some of its other attributes. “The lure is designed
Beautiful sunrise over the Lower Laguna Madre; Port Mansfield in the background.
to be a slow-sink, walk the dog, soft plastic…not a topwater. On a non-weighted worm hook it likes to run just below the surface. Which, in a shallow water presentation, makes it easier for a fish to eat. There is basically no wrong way to fish it; walk the dog, fish it as you would a worm, or even slow reel it on a straight retrieve.” So far I have to agree with his description – fish it any way you like until you discover a presentation the fish will accept. The Grasswalker comes in 5-packs, sans hooks; that choice is left up to the individual angler. Tobin recommends the Eagle Claw Trokar TK140-5/0 Swimbait Hook and advises bending the point upward just slightly to align with the top of the eye for improved hookup ratio. For what it’s worth, I prefer the Eagle Claw Trokar Magnum Swimbait Hook in the 3/0 size. They just seem to work better for me and my fishing partners with no bend modification needed. However, on the Trout Support website, you will find a lot of information regarding hook selection and modification advice. Now, the hook style and size we have come to prefer, and also our preferred rigging method, are the result of having fished the Grasswalker with a variety of presentation styles and various water conditions – depths, structure types, etc. Having said that, what works for us may not work for you. You may find that rigging as per Tobin’s instruction on his website works best for you. Experimenting with hooks and
rigging, even to include weighted swimbait hooks, is part of the fun of learning to fish a new creation. Think back to the days when suspending soft-baits first hit the market – almost everybody came up with their own best idea and most of them produced fish. The Grasswalker is molded with what most anglers term a “belly slot” to facilitate weedless rigging. The accompanying photos show the lure rigged and not rigged so you get the idea. Another photo highlights the belly slot. We rig so that the point of the hook comes up through the body and lies flat against the top surface, or back of the bait. A tiny bit of grass might hang on the slightly exposed point the way we do it but this arrangement greatly facilitates the point finding purchase inside the fish’s mouth where it eventually lodges in the tough jaw tissue. Even with this method, a more vigorous hookset is recommended than is commonly used with greatly exposed hook points we see on leadhead jigs and soft plastics. By contrast, if the hook point is skin-hooked (very lightly tucked under the skin) in the top surface of the lure as is often recommended for greater weedless capability, much greater force in achieving a solid hookset would be necessary. Again though, ample instruction from the maker is available at https://troutsupport.com/product/ trout-support-lure/.
As of this writing, the Grasswalker is available in the following colors: Bone Diamond, Chicken on a Chain, Coastal Gold, Golden Roach, PlumTreuse, Stinky Pink and WhoDini. We have caught fish on all these colors but my favorites are PlumTreuse, Bone Diamond and Stinky Pink. These three have produced a ton of speckled trout and reds for us. A photo of Jerry Richards is included with a trout caught on Stinky Pink still hanging from its mouth. We fish the Lower Laguna Madre as often as possible and anyone who fishes there is aware of the floating grass problem and the way leadheads and topwater baits collect the stuff. Reeling in a soggy salad is not the best way to trick a wary game fish. Not so with the Grasswalker! Thanks to the weedless rigging, this bait rarely collects more than a blade or two of the floating menace while retrieving it under or even across the surface of floating mats. The lure also casts like a bullet into the wind and the accuracy that can be achieved lends handily to sight-fishing. I like to work the Grasswalker in different ways. Sometimes I’ll fish it the same as a soft plastic on a leadhead, retrieving line slowly while twitching the rod tip to make it hop. I also like to walk the dog with the lure running just slightly under the surface. Another presentation I use often is allowing the bait to sink and then sliding it along bottom, lifting with the
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1) Author displays solid speck taken on Trout Support Grasswalker.
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2) Jerry Richards with speck on Stinky Pink. 3) Reds like them, too. 4) Red tail added to Bone Diamond. 5) Generous belly slot enables weedless rigging. 6) Author prefers to use Eagle Claw Trokar Magnum 3/0 Swimbait Hook. Note the angle of the point is above the eye – no bend modification required.
20 | September 2018
to you until a fish tries to take it away. I have not yet had opportunity to fish the Grasswalker along any jetties but I’m looking forward to doing so next month. Having this weedless bait that I can cast up to the edge of the rocks and not have to worry about getting hung on granite is something I can’t wait to try. In any case, it has been said that you can’t reinvent the wheel, and that may be true. However, Tobin at www.troutsupport.com has proven that you can reinvent the fishing lure. The U.S. Patent license he has been granted for the design of the Grasswalker is ample proof of that. Be Safe.
MARTIN STRARUP
CONTACT
rod tip to break the surface every couple yards or so. The possibilities are many and you’ll figure out rather quickly the style of presentation and speed of retrieve that works best for you. One of my friends casts it up-current and simply keeps the line tight, retrieving slowly as the current brings it back to him. He landed numerous trout while doing basically nothing more than chunking and winding slack. In the photo of the lure, which is Bone Diamond, you’ll notice that I applied a coat of red tail dip. We have also experimented with chartreuse and yellow tails. Customizing lures with dips, dyes and paints has always been fun for me. For what it’s worth, the red tail on the Bone Diamond did very well for us, as did the PlumTreuse and Stinky Pink. Friends on another boat were slaying reds and trout with Chicken on a Chain and Coastal Gold, so I’d suggest you buy some of each color and find which one is your favorite. Or works best on any given day. If you’re like me you’ll really want to try them all. The worst that can happen is that you’ll have to force yourself to change colors when you’re already catching fish. Or, do like my son Sterling, when his lure wears out from too many fish chewing on it he automatically switches to another color. We’ve used the Grasswalker with great results along the deep cuts across the Lower Laguna flats, and also casting into shallow areas then working it out toward deeper water. We’ve used it in areas with lots of oyster shell where conventional lures will hang up on just about every cast…but not the Grasswalker. It just keeps coming back
Martin Strarup is a lifelong saltwater enthusiast and outdoorsman. Martin is also a collector and dealer of vintage fishing tackle and lures, especially those made in Texas. Email
Trouthunter@swbell.net
Corpus Christi
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Daniel and John Benoit celebrate a Sabine double!
STORY BY CHUCK UZZLE
W
ithout a doubt, one of the best things about fishing with new people are the conversations that occur throughout the day. Wide ranging topics from politics and sports to religion and food are cussed and discussed with some goodnatured trash-talk thrown in for fun. Inevitably several questions always come up no matter who steps in the boat. There’s always the standard stuff: What’s your biggest fish? What’s your favorite species to fish for? What’s your favorite way to fish? The list is endless. I had a client ask recently, “If you were limited to fishing with only five lures, what would they be?” I must admit that one twisted my brain a bit. Every time I thought I had my choices locked down I’d come up with others to consider. After much deliberation, I think I finally came up with my personal Fab Five. My disclaimer will be that this list is good until I change my mind. There is no way I could ever compile such a list without mentioning the Rat-L-Trap. My first taste of saltwater fishing when I was a kid centered solely around this ultra-versatile lure as I probed the shorelines of the Sabine River and ICW looking for redfish. The standard 1/2-ounce Trap in chrome or gold is a proven producer for just about anything that swims. It can be presented in a multitude of ways, from standard cranking to vertical jigging along jetty rocks.
The ability to cover large areas of water with bullet-like casts allows fishermen to eliminate water and find fish quickly. The Trap really shines on schooling redfish hanging below small trout, cleaning up scraps as the specks shred bait near the surface. Maybe it’s the wiggle or maybe the rattle, whatever, it draws vicious strike after strike from copper brutes. If the Trap has a downside it would be the tendency of its small trebles to hang in landing nets. But hey, that means you’re catching fish. Next on my list is generally from the soft plastic category. A difficult choice considering there’s at least a million of them. My nod for top spot goes to the TPE Manic Shrimp by Savage Gear. A little unconventional to some, so let me explain. When most folks think of soft plastics they think rattails and paddletails on jigs. But through a wide-angle lens the Manic Shrimp covers a lot of bases – bouncing bottom for flounder, dangling under a cork, freelined with the current – it catches fish however you present it. The Manic Shrimp comes in several models, pre-rigged on weightless and weighted swimhooks. I have yet to find a bait that matches the production and durability of this shrimp lookalike, and it’s just crazy how long they last. Seldom do I ever leave the dock without having at least one rod rigged with this great little bait. My next pick was a staple in every tacklebox twenty-five years ago, yet I doubt many of today’s under-40 crowd have tied one of these old-school stickbaits on their line. Rapala currently calls it the
Originally chrome and blue Rat-LTraps…before the redfish found them.
Savage Gear’s Manic Shrimp is a super-tough soft plastic shrimp imitator with myriad presentation possibilities.
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Floating Original and there are many lookalikes, in more colors Old-school than anybody will ever need. A floater at rest, the lip enables it stickbaits still do what they to dive below the surface and it performs exceptionally well in were designed 2- to 4-foot depths. Very user-friendly, meaning all that one really to do many needs to do is cast it and wind it back. I often use the Rapala in years ago – situations where I have folks on my boat who are not comfortable catch fish! with suspending lures such as a Corky and Corky Fat Boy. Cranking it deep enough to bang shell and then pause for just a moment will produce jarring strikes from quality redfish and speckled trout. The added bonus is that if you hang in shell and break off, it often floats back to the surface where it can be easily recovered. I am a big fan, given all the options it offers while so easy to use effectively. Now we get to the easy stuff – surface lures. Looking back at past trips, I noted a pattern of steadily working my way toward the MirrOlure She Dog or She Pup. Don’t get me wrong; I love to throw Super Spooks, Skitter Walks, and Chug Bugs, but this MirrOlure duo just flat produce for me. The raucous high-pitched rattle can definitely draw an outsized share of strikes. On Sabine and Calcasieu we tend to drift deeper water than our counterparts to the south, and the signature sound of these plugs helps summon fish when the pattern calls for it. If I was pressed to pick between the She Dog and She Pup, I would lean toward the smaller version as it performs for me in more situations. The smaller size works great in super clear water when you need to downsize and it still has enough bulk and noise to catch fish when clarity is less than desirable. The only detracting trait of the Pup is that redfish and larger trout will inhale it so deeply that extraction can be difficult. Both the Dog and the Pup are top choices for me when I’m scratching the surface looking for that big explosion that keeps you coming back for more. The fifth and final member of my five lure arsenal came down to a photo finish, so I guess I’m going to have to bend the rules a bit. One of these is probably more useful to the general fishing public so, I’ll call it 5A and the other will be 5B. H&H Tackle Company’s Usual Suspect swimbait is a definite winner and my 5A pick with its big thumping paddletail that can actually be felt through the rod during the retrieve. A dinner bell for fish on Sabine if there ever was one. It comes in a rainbow of colors in 3-inch and 4-inch sizes with beefy hooks and will do a number on trout and redfish in the open lake. It also shines when probing deep water. A great shad imitator. So we’re down to 5B, the distinction I award to the Stanley Ribbit, perhaps my all-time favorite lure for catching shallow marsh redfish and largemouth bass. I turned to this lure years ago to help combat grass that choked marsh ponds to the point of unfishable with other lures. Rigging the Ribbit weedless on a wide-gap 5/0 hook allows you to fish it through practically any vegetation situation. Run it like a buzzbait on a constant retrieve or work it erratically like a topwater. This frog imitation really comes into its own when sightcasting to redfish, they simply cannot ignore those floppy legs. The multitude of presentation techniques combined with explosive surface strikes assures it a reserved seat in my tacklebox. So there’s my list. I would be crazy to think that everyone will agree with these choices. They definitely reflect my favorite ways to fish my home waters, yet I look forward to hearing thoughts and comments from TSFMag readers. If nothing else, consider what I’ve had to say and how you might be able to apply it to lure selections in your own waters. One thing’s for sure, there is no right or wrong in anybody’s favorite lure list, only new ideas and useful alternatives.
Top pick in the surface lure category goes to MirrOlure’s She Pup.
H&H Lures created a dinner bell for fish on Sabine when they made this one.
Stanley Ribbit conquers vegetationchoked marsh water like no other lure. Redfish cannot resist those floppy legs!
CONTACT
CHUCK UZZLE
24 | September 2018
Chuck fishes Sabine and Calcasieu Lakes from his home in Orange, TX. His specialties are light tackle and fly fishing for trout, reds, and flounder. Phone 409-697-6111 Email wakesndrakes@yahoo.com Website wakesndrakes.com
TSFMAG.com | 25
Slinging spoons over calm green water and schools of passing mullet—it doesn’t get any better than that when you’re a jetty rat. On this day we discarded live bait hooks and tied spoons directly to the same leaders rigged with rattle tubes.
SPOONS STORY BY JOE RICHARD
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coveted spoon has returned to the coast, a serious little slab of metal offered up in multiple colors that caught us fine trout and mackerel this summer. Called the Dixie Jet, surf-wading anglers slightly older than me remember it well from back in the day, while working the suds from Bolivar or Galveston and further south. The Dixie lineup perfectly suited the needs of Texas surf waders, who often had to drill long casts to reach green water. (Chocolate water is still considered nearly useless for artificial baits). In our surf along the muddier Sabine Pass/Louisiana border during the 1980s, I actually climbed jetty towers, just to spot spoon-friendly green water on the horizon. I contacted a long-time fan of spoons, Houston Chronicle outdoor writer and friend Joe Doggett, for advice on the Dixie Jet. If memory served, he’d written about them with some exuberance years ago. Could I trust my memory? Turns out, I was right. J.D. wrote back: “The 3/4 ounce Dixie Jet was a “killer bait” in the surf during the late ‘60s and ‘70s, mainly because it has great ballistics into the wind and retrieves with authority amid waves and current. Better look and action (I think) than the wedge-sliced Mr. Champ and Kastmaster. Its big rival was the Tony Accetta 5H (for “heavy”). The 5H was good but the Jet was better. “Original Dixie’s were made by Schumacher Company in Houston and were triple-plated for exceptional durability… I toured the Houston plant several times and made a point to stuff all available pockets with “test samples.” Silver, gold and copper, with the latter being the real prize for sandy-green water. The Dixie Jet arches like a well-driven golf ball. Remains my all-time favorite surf spoon.” As it turns out, the Houston company abruptly went out of business in the early 1970s, when the owner was said to have passed away—about the time my crew became serious jetty rats. As a result, we never saw Dixie spoons in tackle stores. Not in Port Arthur Gibson’s, anyway. Instead we used cheap knock-offs made by Acme, which suited our needs at the time. We quickly realized that spoons were by far the most efficient lure out there for filling Igloos, and we lost hundreds of them during 15 straight summers of rock hopping and casting. The more refined, better-built Dixie Jets deserved better water than we fished, which was filled with snaggy rocks, sharptoothed mackerel and treacherous marine growth that sooner or later sent us all to the ER. Fast-forward a few decades and we have the opportunity to try the recently re-launched Dixie Jet spoons, now made in Missouri. That is of course freshwater reservoir country, where it enjoys a big following inland. The company is so new that few retailers are located in coastal states, none in Texas that I know of.
With a handful of these colorful spoons (available in 11 colors), Miss Amy and I headed for the surf and jetties this past July and hit pay dirt. After a windy June with too many wave chops and muddy water, the surf and jetties magically cleaned up as soon as the calendar flipped. Which is typical. (Note to self once again: skip coastal vacations in June.) We’d been live-baiting in sketchy water for weeks, with rattle tubes and circle hooks tied beneath. But on this fine July morning we were pumped to see green water surging into the jetties and piling up on the beach. Such was our haste that we left the rattle tubes in place, cut off the hooks and tied the new 3/4-ounce spoons straight to the same mono leaders. I remember thinking: This is gonna be great! When a 21-inch trout stopped Amy’s spoon on the first cast, well, we’d finally arrived. Forty yards away sat a single boat with two older guys. Judging from their relaxed body language, they’d just about caught their limits. We could see them casually tossing out live baits. They caught one last trout and then just sat there watching us releasing fish; their faces were too far away to make out expressions as I dropped several 20-inch trout overboard. They watched us stick fish from far and near, with 23 sizeable trout released, and keeping two more that would not have survived. Out of 15 mackerel, we kept three for a neighbor. All 10 sharks were released. With countless mullet of all sizes swimming by in occasional swells, spoons were the perfect choice. The tribulations of a windy June were magically wiped away. Our fish were caught on five different colors. It was great action, much more fun than soaking sluggish, stationary live baits. We stayed on the fish as long as we could but by 2 p.m. we had to drop our rods and say, “Enough!” Five limits of trout in the boat, all big to not bother measuring, handled as gently as possible and without a landing net; nearly all returned to the water. We only lost one spoon, which is amazing, but some days turn out that way. On other days the mackerel hit differently, causing more serious losses when we use mono leaders. A thin, short length of wire will prevent that, unless they hit the swivel, which should be very small and black. We started that day with 20-pound mono for leader, increasing to 25 and finally, 30-pound. Why heavier? When trout are on a feed, a little heavier leader won’t slow the action, and it may prevent cut-offs from
Miss Amy with another jetty trout. Dixie spoons were deadly that day.
Trout alongside the boat, caught on a shiny new silver Dixie.
Red and white spoon with keeper trout near the surf.
28 | September 2018
Chartreuse/white Dixie spoon with trout near the jetties.
saw-toothed mackerel. This chartreuse Dixie The Dixie Jet’s treble hooks were big and sharp, though spoon scored all day on brown, so I haven’t seen how long they last in a corrosive Gulf trout, until it was sadly lost to a mackerel. environment. Anyway, I rinse spoons and plugs thoroughly after a dunk in saltwater. Spoons are built to last, depending on their coating, while treble hooks are replaceable. In the future, for added wiggle and less line twist, we will add stainless steel split rings to each spoon. This may also keep the knot just out of bite range. And, the leader isn’t likely to be cut during a long cast, against the stamped metal hole in front of the spoon. Even better would be adding a small black swivel to the split ring. Split-ring pliers are handy for that job. Forget using a knife or thumbnail. Doggett was right when he said, “Spoons used to be top-shelf items. I don’t recall [famous Texas wader] Rudy Grigar being a big Jet user, mainly because he concentrated on the bays (lighter 1/4 and 1/2 ounce Johnson Sprites were his go-to spoons). Incidentally, the greater concave on the Sprite is great for downwind shallow-water bay work but tends to catch onshore beachfront wind and dip and dive erratically in flight. Joe Richard has fished the Gulf since 1967, starting out of Port ArCountless anglers today have relegated spoons to the sidelines thur, but his adventures have taken him up and down the entire coast. or have never used them at all. Soft baits and plugs have taken over. He was the editor of Tide magazine for eight years, and later Florida The soft baits are very effective, even forgiving on the strike, because Sportsman’s book and assistant a fish will hold onto them. But the average strike isn’t nearly as hard, magazine editor. He began guiding compared to spoons. Soft baits are expendable and I sometimes out of Port O’Connor in 1994. His wonder what a fish does with them, after biting off a piece of plastic. specialty is big kingfish, and his latest book is The Kingfish Bible, They probably swallow it. New Revelations. Available at The spoon is a clean alternative, and deadly effective. You just have to Seafavorites.com believe in them, like first mate Miss Amy who will throw them all day long. We will be browsing the Dixie Jet web site, before our next trip.
CONTACT
JOE RICHARD
TSFMAG.com | 29
R Blue-winged teal in full plumage – lots of blue-wings winter on the Lower Laguna.
30 | September 2018
Plan a
easons to escape a tired old routine are as numerous as the stars that twinkle above the Laguna Madre on a clear night. Almost as plentiful as the nonstop flights of wigeon, pintail, and redhead ducks that trade across the salty backwaters at sunrise and sunset. Fishing out of Port Mansfield last fall, I was mesmerized with the incredible numbers of puddlers and divers that filled the skies during the chilly morning boat rides up to Gladys Hole. A genuine blue norther had drained about a foot of water from the Laguna Madre the day before I arrived. If you’ve ever experienced what happens in the expansive gut that runs along Gladys’ south shoreline under these conditions, you will understand why my shotgun never left the truck the two days I was there. When the tide falls rapidly, lots of trout, big trout, settle into the safety of that mushy-bottomed swale until the water creeps back. I probably could have knocked down a limit of teal and pintail with a long-handled shovel but the chomping the trout were putting on my Corky Fat Boy and MirrOlure Top Pup simply wouldn’t allow it. What a dilemma. Capt. Ruben Garza and Capt. Aaron Cisneros, who both run fishing and waterfowl hunts for Getaway Lodge, and know me to be a waterfowl fanatic, had been steadily sending reports of limit shoots. “You need to get down here,” resonated all too clearly. Especially since the hunting on my waterfowl lease in Calhoun County was uncharacteristically slow through the middle of last year’s first duck split. The fish ended up winning that tug of war, assisted in great part by the dream that I will someday get that ten-pounder. And though my biggest speck through two days didn’t quite stretch the Boga beyond six pounds, I lost count of them. As for redfish…I’d have needed a calculator.
Getaway
Harbor view of the lodge.
STORY BY EVERETT JOHNSON
Swinging out of Getaway Lodge’s driveway for the four-hour trek back to Seadrift I vowed to return soon…and shoot some ducks. But the chance to roll world-class shotgunning and wade fishing into a single day outdoors isn’t limited to just duck season. Situated a short drive from the Rio Grande Valley’s famed whitewing fields makes cast and blast adventures of that flavor another great reason to visit Getaway Lodge. September and October are both prime months. Fishing heats up as the bay cools down and the doves…well, they just keep coming. On one memorable trip, Pam and I caught a trainload of redfish with Getaway’s Capt. Paul Johnson in the morning and Ruben took us to a sunflower field in the afternoon that reminded me of Argentina – sans the grueling 20 hour plane ride. We strapped limits of plump birds as fast as we could load the guns and our dogs could pick them up. Equal to the quality of the days on the water and in the fields is the lodge itself. Mike Sutton purchased the place when Bruce and Shirley Shuler retired and settled into the peaceful countryside up near Belton. Mike set about almost immediately to renovate and redecorate what was already a comfortable sportsman’s retreat. Sandra Garza is the lodge GM, overseeing all the scheduling of guests and guides who take them fishing and hunting. She also manages the kitchen staff and housekeeping. Busy gal! A lifelong angler, Sandra is as handy with a rod and reel as her fishing guide husband, Ruben. But don’t tell him I said that. In effort to better acquaint Sandra with lodge guests and a perk for her hard work, Sutton
Capt. Ruben finds a red against the King Ranch shoreline.
TSFMAG.com | 31
sometimes assigns her “fishing duty.” A nice change of pace from the rigors of lodge management that is appreciated by female guests who enjoy having another woman on the boat or wading beside them. Nothing beats a turnkey deal and that’s what we love most about Getaway. We’re there to have fun in the outdoors and relax. What’s not to like about getting off the boat and sinking into a comfortable chair in the shade, or cooling off in the pool with a cold beverage? Seems every time you turn around, Capt. Steve Ellis who doubles as fishing guide and head of hospitality, is offering hors d’oeuvres and freshening drinks. All we ever do is rinse our tackle and wipe our guns. Guides clean and bag your catch and pretty soon the kitchen crew rings the dinner bell. If you love authentic Tex-Mex food, put in a request ahead of time for Sandra’s signature carne guisada. And don’t be bashful when she starts passing ‘round the homemade tres leches cake and key lime pie. Oh, and the ribeyes are to die for! Get the full package – guide services with meals and lodging – or bring your own Big smiles all around with this crew boat and book the lodge for a comfortable place to stay and enjoy great food. Either that hunted with Aaron Cisneros. way, Mike, Sandra, and Steve will do all they can to provide a pleasant Getaway to the great South Texas outdoors. Getaway Lodge – Port Mansfield, TX – 956-944-4000 Tailgate filled with www.Getawaypm.com whitewings and happy gunners…gotta love South Texas.
When Aaron says he’s covered with wigeon…he ain’t lying!
Sandra Garza is as handy with a rod and reel as her guide husband, Capt. Ruben.
Craig Nyhus with Lone Star Outdoor News swings on an incoming bird.
Pam’s Lab, Daisy, had as much fun as we did.
That’s Pam grinning with a six pounder. Yours Truly helping Wink find a bird.
Just like Argentina – sans the 20-hour plane ride.
Street view of Getaway Lodge.
32 | September 2018
The pool is certainly inviting after a hot day afield or wadefishing.
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TSFMAG.com | 33
Troy Jesse with a heavy 27-inch redfish.
J AY WAT K I N S
ASK THE PRO
THE POWER OF IMAGINATION Angler’s on my boat frequently ask, “What is the singlemost important characteristic that expert anglers have in common?” Great question! For years I hesitated to give a specific answer, simply because while I could rattle off many attributes of great anglers, I was not able to put my finger on just one. Since then I have come to believe that the most important characteristic that the absolute best anglers possess is imagination. They have the ability to imagine their success, capture that image, and then systematically apply it to whatever situations and conditions the day might present. This might sound pretty cocky but I used to mentally rehearse the speech I would deliver after winning a fishing tournament. I was able to imagine myself, sometimes my team and I, winning the event and I believe it boosted the confidence it takes to fish smarter and more attentively throughout the day. Today I see success for the day in my ability to imagine what the day will have to offer prior to its offering. I certainly use the all the tools available to predict weather patterns and such, and my past experiences in seasonal 34 | September 2018
patterns, but each sunrise presents a new canvas upon which to paint our day. Tracy Lawrence’s song “Paint Me a Birmingham” comes to mind. I paint myself onto the canvas and become part of the day’s picture. I can imagine in specific detail the column of water I am presenting the lure in and the movements of the lure through the water in relation to the motion and rhythm of my fishing rod. I believe it takes a creative imagination to be able to place oneself in situations that will prove to be productive for the time frame in which you are fishing. Let’s start with imaginative selection of fishing areas. I see tons of things on the water each day that the guys sitting next to me might never notice if I didn’t point them out. For example; when running outside the drop-off of a barrier island, we frequently see elongated slicks stretching downwind between our position and the shoreline, (remember that slicks are always round and small when they first appear). These are old slicks that popped much closer to shore than their present location and grew as they drifted. My knowledge of the area allows me to visualize where the slicks likely originated;
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TSFMAG.com | 35
guts, grassbeds, etc. From this I can then imagine the feeding pattern these fish are on and how I might apply it to similar areas farther along the shoreline. So we know that an area of interest has been established, we need to start looking for additional signs. This is where imagination really comes into play for me. The presence of bait in an area is always a good sign but, more importantly, I try to observe whether they are behaving normally or possibly reacting to the presence of predators. Let’s say we see mullet or menhaden lazing along and then suddenly changing their behavior when they reach a certain point. I imagine that predators are holding tight to bottom structure and as the baitfish enter that zone they sense their presence. Short hops, flips and multiple zig-zagging jumps should get our attention. Add a sucking noise and small foam ring and you definitely need to investigate. Have you ever been running across a shallow flat and observed a large school of mullet frantically jumping, way out in front of your boat? Mullet closer to the boat are getting out of the way but not panicking. This is another situation where imagination comes into play. Could it be that a school of reds, being naturally warier than mullet, began fleeing well ahead of the boat and spooked that distant school of mullet? Once bait presence and activity is well established, we have to get creative with not only our lure choices but also how we present them. Many believe that soft plastics, especially the rattails I prefer, are basically do-nothing baits. Nothing could be farther from the truth if you use your imagination in the presentation. I try to work the lure through the entire water column until the fish tell me where they want it. This can change by the hour, so paying attention to how and where you are receiving strikes and the action you are imparting to the lure all become critical. At this point in my career it has become instinctive to simultaneously twitch and reel to remain in contact with the bait. I am able to imagine, and at times predict, the exact moment when strikes are most likely to occur on any given cast. So, there I am with that supposed do-nothing lure, paying careful attention to every detail of my presentation and how the last trout I caught reacted to it. Certain subtle pops and twitches with the rod cause my lure to move erratically and, here comes my imagination again, a trout mistakes that erratic reaction for a baitfish that suddenly sensed the presence of a predator. Bingo - the trout tries to eat it. I believe this imagination scenario is real and it works, for me anyway, and that’s all that matters. Great are the numbers of anglers that have stood alongside me for a day and had me walk them through every step of my thought process. I like to think out loud anyway and it has become an effective form of teaching‌I think. Now we are in an area and catching fish, some good ones now and then but nothing crazy good. How often are we getting bites and from which point or portion of the structure that we are working? I find that within small areas of structure the fish will mill about from one portion of the structure to the next. We can almost draw a line from where the bites begin and where they stop. How long between strikes within this area? Say that I imagine it might take five or six minutes for a small group of the right fish to effectively hunt the area they are in. If an angler in the group is receiving a bite within this space of time, I look at his position in the line and try to imagine the direction the fish are moving. 36 | September 2018
Yours truly with a beautiful sightcast trout.
Chantal Piefer landing one of many fish on this day.
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38 | September 2018
fishing patterns. I hope this article awakens your creativity and allows your imagination to become a bigger part of your fishing. ------------- () ------------In closing, I say goodbye to Danny Adams. Jay Ray and Ryan’s grandfather, Danny went suddenly and without suffering, which was such a blessing. He was a fishing guide in Rockport for many years and taught me more than I could ever tell any of you. The man literally knew every piece of shell in St. Charles Bay and I will think of him every time I fish there. I know that on Heaven’s shores he was greeted by his mother, dad, brother, and other family that went before him. Danny, may the southeast wind always be at your back, the waters cool, the bottom firm, and the fish biting as you wade through eternity. Rest easy my friend. If ever your wade path crosses with my dad’s, tell him I love and miss him. May your fishing always be catching. -Guide Jay Watkins
C O N TA C T
If I am the left angler in a group of three and the right angler gets the first bite, then the middle guy, and then me, I imagine that the fish are hunting along the structure from right to left. When they reach the end of the structure, turn and start working back down the line, I’ll get the first bite, then the guy in the middle, and so forth. Happens all the time and I have pointed it out to hundreds of anglers over my career. Only my imagination has allowed me to continually develop and prove this concept. I once had an elongated depression on Traylor Island that I called Seven-Minute Pothole. One day when fishing the area on our last wade of the day, I caught a nice trout immediately upon stepping out of the boat. We decided that if we did not get another fish within ten minutes we’d call it a day. I honestly was not watching the clock for the first two fish but I know that on the first one I was already heading back to the boat. Then a third and a fourth were hooked. At that moment I checked my watch and it took seven minutes for the fish to cover the distance around the pothole before they returned to us. Since that day every time I stick a fish in a smaller defined area of structure, my mental timer starts ticking and I slow down and imagine what the possibilities might be for that area. My imagination of what I can make of the situations and conditions that befall us during a day of fishing has great influence upon where and how I fish. It also plays a role when I formulate my game plan the night before or early in the morning when getting underway. I believe that a good imagination coupled with good skill is a terribly hard combination to beat. The best anglers I know possess very creative imaginations that allow them to discover and take advantage of
Jay Watkins has been a full-time fishing guide at Rockport, TX, for more than 20 years. Jay specializes in wading yearround for trout and redfish with artificial lures. Jay covers the Texas coast from San Antonio Bay to Corpus Christi Bay. Telephone Email Website
361-729-9596 Jay@jaywatkins.com www.jaywatkins.com
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Stingray on the Humminbird Solix.
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AN INCREDIBLE NEW SONAR I often get asked what soft plastics I throw. When I respond with D.O.A. I get a confused look and, “You only throw a D.O.A. shrimp? I thought you threw some paddletails and other stuff.” Well of course I do. D.O.A. Lures has a variety of those, and a whole lot more. I first met Mark Nichols several years ago in his booth at a fishing show. We struck up a conversation about his shrimp because it was one of my favorite lures for tossing at tailing redfish. To be honest, at that time, I didn’t really know much about any of his other lures. I found myself back at his booth several times during that show soaking up his knowledge and ingenuity for solving various fishing situations. Mark’s mind is always working on figuring out how to catch fish and I’m a bit of a nerd for that too. I’d always just thrown the shrimp as it was rigged from the factory, but he opened my eyes to experimenting with different ways to rig it, when necessary. The best part was picking his brain regarding tarpon and snook. I’ve had a lifetime of chasing reds, trout and flounder. I’m pretty comfortable with my methods for those species. At the time I met Mark I had been fishing for snook and tarpon in Florida several times and wanted to get better at targeting
40 | September 2018
Ed Zyak with a snook on the 5.5” jerk bait.
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42 | September 2018
Capt Barrera with a snapper on the Swimmin Mullet.
tight to the columns up under the causeway. Paddle tails, jerk baits and the 2.75” TerrorEyz all got thumped. While we were hanging out up in the bay, Captains Lee Alvarez and Andy Salinas ran some of the guys out to the jetties where they threw the larger 4” TerrorEyz and Bait Busters for snook and tarpon on the rocks. As much as I hated to, I had to head back home to run some scheduled trips while the rest of the crew made plans to run offshore the following day to hit the TPWD artificial reef system. Back home and getting gear ready the next day, it was hard to open message after message with photos of smiling faces and large snapper jiggedup with the 1-1/4 ounce Swimmin’ Mullet. To add insult they also managed to snag some nice kings. I need to schedule better. It was pretty cool to see the mixture of fish caught over that three day period under a wide variety of situations. It served to confirm that Mark’s diverse lure offerings were capable of covering most anything you wanted to do, but another interesting aspect was having Mark and Ed asking for thoughts and ideas for new lures they could produce. They weren’t talking about just recycling old ideas or putting out a new color but looking outside the box to develop a lure to solve a problem. It’s really fun to hang out with a group of folks who are so completely eat up with fishing and I can’t wait to do it again.
C O N TA C T
them in Texas. Mark lives in Florida and has Capt Ruby Delgado with a nice red on the chased tarpon and snook DOA paddletail in the for years. I threw him new Texas Croaker. scenarios, locations and conditions I was running across. In turn he would give me ideas for lures, rigging and methods. A friendship was formed. Since that time I’ve had the pleasure to spend a good bit of time with him on and off the water. Along the way I’ve also gotten to know Mark’s righthand man, Ed Zyak. Ed works for D.O.A. and also guides in Florida. The two of them put on what they call “writer’s events” where they invite outdoors writers to come and fish for a few days with local guides on their pro staff. I’ve been fortunate to attend several of these events, most recently last week in the Port Isabel area. Mark and Ed have put together a great group of young guides down there who are passionate about chunking lures. What struck me on this trip was the wide variety of fishing we were able to do within a relatively small area using nearly their entire line-up of lures. Day one I was paired up with Capt. Ruby Delgado. We ran all over the Lower Laguna Madre fishing a mix of shallow grass and sand. Every stop produced reds and trout. It’s been far too long since I drifted these beautiful clear flats dropping lures in front of eager fish. We threw shad tails, jerk baits and the Sna-Koil. On this day the fish seemed to prefer the shad tail in their new Texas Croaker color. Day two I hopped on Capt. Brian Barrera’s boat along with Ed and Bill Carson, the marketing manager for Hummingbird and Minn Kota. Brian has the new Humminbird Solix unit on his boat and I was anxious to see it in action as well as have Bill give me a lesson on its use. I was beyond impressed. This thing is basically like watching an underwater video. We were even able to clearly see a stingray sitting on the bottom in 9’ of water. I’m talking the full outline, tail and the eye hump. I’ve already got one on order for the Dargel so look for a future article on this unit once I get some time under my belt with it. I think it’ll be a real game changer fishing the jetties, beachfront and nearshore. Bill and Ed showed me some screenshots where you could easily tell the difference between snook and tarpon. Simply incredible. Brian took us up the Brownsville Ship Channel to hunt for snook. Unfortunately, the tide refused to move as scheduled. We managed to scratch out some fish throwing the 5.5” jerk bait and PT-7 soft body topwater, but snook love water movement and just wouldn’t turn on, so we relocated to the Old Causeway Bridge and a few other areas of structure. The side scan on the Solix put us on fish holding
Capt. Scott Null is a devout shallow water fisherman offering guided adventues via kayak, poled skiff, and wading. Telephone Email Website
281-450-2206 captscottnull@gmail.com www.captainscottnull.com
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B y J a s o n Fe r g u s o n | E c o s y s t e m Le a d e r, Lo w e r L a g u n a M a d r e L a b
FIELD NOTES 10 YEARS LATER: A REVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF THE 5-FISH BAG LIMIT FOR SPOTTED SEATROUT IN THE LOWER LAGUNA MADRE In 2007, Dr. Larry McKinney, who was the Director of the TPWD Coastal Fisheries Division at the time, wrote a couple of articles for this magazine discussing the need for a regional management approach for spotted seatrout (SST) in the Lower Laguna Madre (LLM). At the time, the population of trout in the LLM was in a state of decline while the rest of the Texas coast was experiencing an increase in numbers. Dr. McKinney argued that since trout do not migrate long distances over the course of their life, and because the LLM is relatively geographically
isolated, a regional change in SST regulations would be more appropriate than a coastwide change. In the articles, he presented several different options for regulation changes, and using TPWD models, he predicted how each change would likely affect different life history parameters of SST in the LLM. Of the options considered, a reduction in the bag limit from 10 fish to 5 seemed to be the most appropriate, and as most are aware, that regulation was implemented for the LLM in September of 2007.
Figure 1. Spring gillnet catch rates for spotted seatrout – Coastwide and Lower Laguna Madre, 1985-2017.
Figure 2. Length frequency distribution of gillnet caught spotted seatrout in the Lower Laguna Madre, 1998-2017.
44 | September 2018
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The majority of anglers I’ve spoken to in the LLM region claim that the reduction of the SST bag limit was successful and greatly benefited the fishery. In fact, positive testimony by LLM anglers helped fuel the argument for the 5-fish bag limit to be expanded further up the coast in 2014. However, not everyone agrees, and anecdotal observations are of limited value. Therefore, it is useful to take a more scientific approach and examine how the SST fishery has changed in the last 10 years. Since the maximum life span of SST is about 10 years, the impact of the regulation change should be fully realized in the entire population. To examine this impact, I used TPWD data to compare various SST life history parameters for the 10 years prior to and after the regulation change. This allowed me to not only quantifiably measure how the SST fishery has changed, but to determine the accuracy of the predicted outcomes made by TPWD in 2007. The first parameter examined was catch rates of SST from TPWD gillnets (Fig. 1). This data provides a measure of relative abundance of the adult fish population. Higher catch rates indicate more fish in the Laguna. As you can see, following the lower catch rates experienced in the mid ‘90s through early 2000s, the LLM trout numbers started trending upwards after the regulation change. In fact, the mean catch rate from the 10 years prior to the regulation change (19982007) was 1.08 fish per hour, while the mean catch rate from 2008-2017 increased to 1.25 fish per hour. That may not sound like much, but it actually equates to an increase of nearly 16%, which is five times higher than the predicted 3% increase in population size. Of course, abundance estimates aren’t the only information that can be obtained from TPWD gillnet data. Fish captured in our sampling gears are also measured, allowing us to calculate length frequency distributions, mean length, and the percentage of fish in the population larger than 25 inches. Figure 2 compares the length frequency distributions of SST from 1998-2007 and 2008-2017. Prior to the regulation change, there was a noticeable decline in larger size classes, which is an indicator of increased mortality due to fishing pressure. After the regulation change, the percentage of fish in the 20+ inch size classes increased. Naturally, the increase in the number of larger fish also led to an increase in the overall mean length (Fig. 3). The 10-year mean length increased from 18.2 (1998-2007) to 19 inches (2008-2017), representing a 4.4% increase in mean SST length after the regulation change. However, perhaps the statistic that stands out the most to all the trophy trout hunters is the percentage of trout 25 inches or greater (Fig 4). From 1998-2007, the average percentage of fish in this size class was just over 10% of the total population, while the average percentage from 2008-2017 increased to 15.6%. This represents a whopping 56% increase in the number of 46 | September 2018
Figure 3. Annual mean lengths of gillnet caught spotted seatrout in Lower Laguna Madre, 1985-2017.
Figure 4. Annual percentage of gillnet caught spotted seatrout that are 25 inches in length or greater in the Lower Laguna Madre, 1985-2017.
large trout out there, which is considerably higher than the predicted increase of 38%. These results suggest that regional management has been very effective in the LLM and the current population is now much more robust than it was prior to the regulation change. This means that not only is the fishing better, but the trout population stands a much better chance of quickly recovering from a major freeze or other natural disasters. Perhaps even more importantly, the LLM continues to remain one of the best places in the country to go catch a trophy trout now, and hopefully for years to come. McKinney article #1: https://www.texassaltwaterfishingmagazine. com/fishing/education/texas-parks-wildlife-field-notes/spottedseatrout-lower-laguna-madre-a-regional-approach-restoring-worldclass-fishery McKinney article #2: https://www.texassaltwaterfishingmagazine. com/fishing/education/texas-parks-wildlife-field-notes/spottedseatrout-lower-laguna-madre
Check the TPWD Outdoor Annual, your local TPWD Law Enforcement office, or tpwd.texas.gov for more info.
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S C O T T S O M M E R L AT T E
F LY F I S H I N G
YOUR MAN PURSE So…What’s in your gear bag? It doesn’t matter how close I shave the hair on my head, I apparently will never be able to pull off that commercial that Samuel L. Jackson does for Capital One credit cards. You know… the ones where he ends it with, “What’s in your wallet?” Yep, I’m guessing I will never get paid millions to say, “What’s in your gear bag?” On a totally different note, let’s talk about what is in your gear bag by talking about what is in mine. Now I will be the first to admit that I, in fact, do not have it all figured out but, I am closer than most due to the numbers of days fly fishing over the last three decades. The point is, as a guide and traveling angler I have logged some pretty serious hours on the water both here and afar and have figured a few things out. The first and most important, you should try to be prepared for anything. That is where a great, well provisioned, gear bag can come in handy. So I called this piece “Your Man Purse” because that is exactly what it is. You see, nothing to me (at least as 48 | September 2018
of this writing) is as important as a day on the water or in the woods. Whether you are a fisherman or a hunter, you need to have all those little things that may make the difference in a successful trip and they will not always fit in your pockets. Oops… just remembered that some of the fishermen reading this might be of the XX chromosome type, hence lacking the Y chromosome, which incidentally means you are of the female persuasion. I will go back to calling it a gear bag. Sorry, I just have to give a finger to the PC police every now and then. Anyway, there are a ridiculous number of gear bags to be found out there but it is important to find one that suits your needs and will carry the gear you feel absolutely necessary for a successful and safe trip. Whether fishing the flats of Matagorda or in some remote waters elsewhere, you can customize your bag for each situation that you might encounter. As regards my personal favorite bags, I have two. I prefer a bag made by Fish Pond for guiding both here
Needs vary; my gear bag also includes sundries such as line cleaning towelettes, silicone line dressing, nail knot tools, lens wipes, micro-fiber cloths and ceramic scissors for trimming flies.
Stuff’ hidden deep in your gear bag. LOL! So here are a few other items that you can bury in your bag that may come in handy; ear plugs, band-aids, Neosporin, some hand salve (I like the Burt’s Bees), a wader and jacket repair kit, and reading glasses for knot tying with aging eyes…like mine. All in and all done, a gear bag is a personal thing, just like a skiff! All I can leave you with is one important lesson- do not ever use a pair of gloves to land a bull red, jack, tarpon or any other fish and then put those gloves back in your gear bag for any longer than 30 seconds. You will regret it for days or even weeks or months. The next piece I do for you all will be a special one. Look forward to hearing from and or seeing you all next month.
C O N TA C T
and in Florida, and another made by Mangrove (an affiliate of Temple Fork Outfitters) for traveling. Different needs of course. In the fishing guide category, there are a some things I consider absolute must-have items. First is the Garmin inReach handheld GPS unit; it could literally save your life. Next up is a handheld VHF radio for contacting the Coast Guard and other first responder organizations should things go terribly awry. Believe me folks- it may not happen often but it can damn sure happen. I always carry spare fishing pliers; Van Staal is my favorite. And while on the subject of pliers, I also like to include a Leatherman Multi-Tool. I also consider a sizeable selection of leader materials essential to match the variety of species and conditions we might encounter during a fishing trip. Perhaps a bit less essential but still very useful to have along are extra sunscreen and lip balm. And you can never have too many knives in you skiff. Other handy items include spare drink coozies and eating utensils for me and my customers. Headlamps with spare batteries and hook hones are also part of my list. A couple of other things I cannot live without are my 15-lb Boga Grip and Baker Stainless Hookout tool. Add a few zip-ties and spare pair of gloves and we are getting close. Also, despite the fact that we are snobby fly anglers, we all, just admit it, throw a little lighttackle from time to time. You need to have a stash of the ‘Bubba
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.mangrovefly.com TSFMAG.com | 49
DAV E R O B E R T S
K AYA K F I S H I N G C H R O N I C L E S
BACK TO THE BASICS If there is one thing about myself that I can say with certainty, it would be that I try to stay busy and I’m always on the move. Any bit of spare time, no matter how brief, is dedicated to fishing. Driving somewhere or performing other tasks, times when I cannot fish or work on fishing gear, I think about fishing. Sometimes it’s past trips and sometimes its trips I hope to make, it doesn’t matter so long as it’s fishing. There are times when I think about the old salts of bygone days, how they plugged their way up and down the Texas coast, and how efficient they were. Even though I know the fish populations and regulations were very different then I still marvel at the catches they made. Their primitive rods and reels now collect dust in attics and their lures rest in antique shops and hang in shadow boxes – tackle has come a long way. One thing about it though, the old timers still caught plenty of fish. I often wonder if it might have been their simplistic approach to fishing, not having to worry which lure to try next, and that sort of stuff. They could only work with what they had. Here recently I got a lesson on how basic is best. My buddies and I attended a CCA banquet last year and, like always, we had a great evening and enjoyed supporting the mission of an organization I truly believe in. When it comes to raffle prizes and auction items, they always have everything an angler could ever want or 50 | September 2018
need. Well, one of the auction items was a six nightseven day fishing package to Costa Rica, the kind of trip we’ve long yearned to take one day. Long story short, we left the banquet needing only to purchase airline tickets to make it become reality. Everything else was there and waiting on us. As the date of our departure drew nearer we began looking into other things to do while we were there. Since it was a fishing trip, I figured there had to be a few places we could fish on our off-days and maybe catch a few new species. After some research, I came to learn that Costa Rica has a great snook fishery along the beaches where we’d be staying. I kept digging and discovered one of the best places for really big snook was the mouth of a river that emptied into the Pacific. Luckily for us, the Nosara River was but a short drive from where we would be staying and looked like a promising place to try our luck. We finally got to our fish camp and once settled in it was time to do a little scouting. We drove our golf cart down the road and eventually found the mouth of the Nosara. That night we rigged our rods with flashy lures, large topwaters, and everything else we thought a big snook might eat. In other words – we assembled an arsenal of gear. The next morning we arrived at the river and, no surprise, the locals had already beaten us there. We lined up beside them and begin casting away into the Pacific.
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52 | September 2018
because I crammed too much thought into one morning of fishing. I believe that this same concept needs to be implemented in our kayak fishing. In a day of fishing, we are limited in certain ways: the distance we can travel, the time we can spend fishing, and the amount of gear we can fit on our kayak. There is not much need to clutter your kayak with rods, multiple tackle bags and other unnecessary gear; it will only end up getting in the way. I also believe that a trip can be more successful if you stick to a known area and fish it thoroughly. When it comes to implementing these fundamental aspects of the sport, a simple plan will almost always prove best. And if you’re ever in doubt…just keep it basic!
C O N TA C T
As the morning went on we started to take note of the local’s tackle and what they were using for bait. Each of them held a plank of wood with monofilament line wrapped around it and were hand-tossing shad into the surf. We were the only fishermen out there using conventional rods and reels and artificial lures. We looked exactly like the tourists that we were! To keep a long story short, we never got a bite and the Costa Rican’s caught snook. We got out-fished by some people using wooden planks and hand-lining shad. It just goes to show that basic and primitive gear can be as good or better than the best equipment money can buy. Beyond gear, I also believe that when it comes to fishing, formulating a basic plan can be the best thing that an angler can do. I often look back at some of my more successful trips and realized that there was not much planning involved in them. Those trips consisted of focusing on one area and mostly throwing one lure; nothing complicated about it. There were times that I decided to bring four rods, all with different lures, and planned on hitting several spots within a short amount of time. Those days were not nearly as productive and I believe it was
Dave Roberts is an avid kayak-fishing enthusiast fishing primarily the inshore Upper Coast region with occasional adventures to surf and nearshore Gulf of Mexico. Email: TexasKayakChronicles@yahoo.com Website: www.TexasKayakChronicles.com
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Recreational anglers will have a much greater voice and access to offshore species such as red snapper with the final passage of the Modern Fish Act in the Senate.
Story by John Blaha
T S F M A G C O N S E R VAT I O N N E W S
HOUSE PASSES MAGNUSONSTEVENS REAUTHORIZATION BILL Landmark Fisheries Reform Takes Major Step Toward Becoming Law On July 11, 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 200, a bipartisan bill that includes the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017 (Modern Fish Act). This historic vote marks the first time the priorities of the recreational fishing sector are included in the reauthorization of our nation’s primary marine fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The provisions of the Modern Fish Act (H.R. 2023) were included in H.R. 200 by the House Committee on Natural Resources on December 13, 2017. H.R. 200 is sponsored by Representative Don Young (R-Alaska) and cosponsored by Reps. Garret Graves (R-La.); Brian Babin (R-Texas); Clay Higgins (R-La.); Gene Green (D-Texas); Robert Wittman (R-Va.); Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.); Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.); Steve King (R-Iowa); Marc Veasey (D-Texas); Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), and Austin Scott (R-Ga.). “Marine recreational fishing is not a partisan issue, which was illustrated by the support H.R. 200 received from both parties today in the House,” said Jeff Angers, president of the Center for Sportfishing Policy. “We owe great thanks to Chairman Rob Bishop, Congressmen Don Young, Garret Graves, Gene Green and Marc Veasey 54 | September 2018
for working together to properly recognize recreational fishing within the Magnuson-Stevens Act. These bipartisan leaders have made the difference for anglers from coast to coast.” In 2014, the priorities of the recreational fishing and boating community were identified and presented to federal policy makers by the Commission on Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Management in a report “A Vision for Managing America’s Saltwater Recreational Fisheries.” This group is also referred to as the MorrisDeal Commission, named for co-chairs Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, and Scott Deal, president of Maverick Boat Group. Many of the recommendations of the Morris-Deal Commission are addressed by the Modern Fish Act and included in H.R. 200. This legislation addresses many of the challenges faced by recreational anglers, including allowing alternative management tools for recreational fishing, reexamining fisheries allocations and improving recreational data collection. The bill aims to benefit fishing access and conservation by incorporating modern management approaches, science and technology to guide decision-making.
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“The recreational fishing industry is grateful that H.R. 200, which includes the provisions of the Modern Fish Act, has now passed the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Glenn Hughes, president of the American Sportfishing Association. “The Modern Fish Act represents the collective priorities of the recreational fishing community for improving federal marine fisheries management. There are 11 million saltwater anglers in the U.S. who have a $63 billion economic impact annually and generate 440,000 jobs. This legislation will help ensure that the economic, conservation and social values of saltwater recreational fishing will continue well into the future.” “We applaud the U.S. House of Representatives for passing commonsense legislation modernizing the federal fisheries management system, which will provide America’s recreational anglers and boaters reasonable and responsible access to public marine resources,” said Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. “The recreational boating industry calls on the U.S. Senate to pick up the baton, and immediately take up and pass S.1520, the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017 (Modern Fish Act). Millions of Americans are counting on it.” “We are grateful to our champions from both sides of the aisle in the House for recognizing the needs of recreational anglers and advancing this important fisheries management reform,” said Patrick Murray, president of Coastal Conservation Association. “This is truly a watershed moment for anglers in our never-ending quest to ensure the health and conservation of our marine resources and
56 | September 2018
anglers’ access to them.” “We thank the House Leadership, Congressman Young and the leaders of the House Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus for their leadership in finding bipartisan solutions to move the bill forward,” said Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation. “The provisions of the Modern Fish Act contained in H.R. 200 are a top priority for saltwater anglers across the United States and charts a clear course for effective recreational fisheries management while ensuring abundant, sustainable fisheries for future generations.” “We are on our way to pragmatic Magnuson-Stevens Act reform that will allow better access to rebuilt fish stocks while ensuring long-term sustainability,” said Jim Donofrio, president of the Recreational Fishing Alliance. “Passing these provisions of the Modern Fish Act means taking the next important step in recognizing the cultural value of recreational fishing and conservation contributions of American anglers,” said Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We will continue to work with our sportfishing partners to engage with senators and see to it that the Modern Fish Act becomes law—it is critical if we hope to see saltwater anglers benefit from the advances in fisheries science, data collection, and management at the heart of this important legislation.” Following today’s July 11, 2018 vote, the coalition encourages the Senate to quickly pass S. 1520. Marine recreational anglers and boaters are eager to see these landmark reforms signed into law.
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STEPHANIE BOYD
F I S H Y FA C T S
CATCH & CRYPTIC MORTALITY The finest gift you can give to any fisherman is to put a good fish back - and who knows if the fish that you caught isn’t someone else’s gift to you? ~ Lee Wulff Once you land a fish, there’s a decision to make – keep or release? In many cases, the decision is made for you by state or federal regulations. In others, maybe the fish is too big to fit in your cooler, or you want to return a magnificent trophy to the water so that you, or some other lucky angler, will have a chance to catch it again. Whatever your reasons, you want to give your fish the best possible chance of survival. After all, if the released fish dies from mishandling, then it defeats the purpose of releasing in the first place. Death after, and due to, release is called cryptic mortality. Researchers have studied methods of hooking, landing, reeling in, and releasing all over the world to determine which are most likely to result in a successful release (i.e., a healthy fish that can go on to reproduce). Here are some (but not all!) of the things to watch out for. 58 | September 2018
Lactic Acid Lactic acid is a byproduct of anaerobic metabolism, meaning that when muscles run low on (or out of ) oxygen, they begin to produce lactic acid. This is a normal biological process during strenuous physical activity, and under normal circumstances, the lactic acid dissipates with no lasting damage. It affects fish just as it would affect any other animal, by making it tired, and consequently more susceptible to predation. The longer a fish fights on the line, the longer it will take to recover. However, a fish can fight for so long that the buildup of lactic acid becomes non-reversible and causes blood acidification (called acidosis), which be fatal up to 72 hours after the release. This is often a result of using tackle that is too light for the species and playing the fish to exhaustion. Reasonable tackle selection and quick landings should mostly alleviate this particular danger. Pay attention to water temperatures as well. Know how hot is too hot for your target species. Fish that are already stressed by warm water temperatures or low dissolved oxygen conditions will tire and build up lactic acid much more rapidly.
Slime You probably already know that using dry hands or gloves to grab your fish can remove their layer of slime, but what is that slime and why does it matter? Well, it’s mucus – pretty much the same mucus that you and I secrete in our nose, lungs, bowels, etc. Mucus contains mucins, a type of glycoprotein (a protein with an attached carbohydrate). Mucins are created by goblet cells in the animal’s skin and rapidly form a gel when they leave the goblet cells and contact water. They are responsible for both the viscous and elastic properties of mucus (aka the ‘slime’ factor). However, fish mucus contains substances other than just mucins and water, such as enzymes, antibodies, and electrolytes. Fish that live around coral reefs even have chemicals that block ultraviolet light. Since fish mucus has multiple functions, removing it can be detrimental in several ways. Firstly, it provides a physical barrier against pathogens, fungi, bacteria, and ectoparasites. When the old mucus layer is shed and replaced by new mucus, the trapped invaders are also lost. Antibodies, antimicrobial peptides, and enzymes in the mucus also actively attack pathogens to prevent infection. Any open wounds are aided in healing by the medicinal properties of the mucus. These properties are so effective, in fact, that medical researchers are working to isolate the active ingredients for human application (not that you should smear fish slime on your cuts; remember that it also contains all those trapped pathogens). Not surprisingly, fish with poorly developed scales are often more slimy. Rubbing off this mucus layer makes the fish more susceptible to infection and parasitation. Secondly, in conjunction with the scales, the mucus layer partially
blocks the movement of water into and out of the fish’s body. This helps maintain the salt balance inside the fish. Salts in the body, or the ions they break down to in water, are sometimes also referred to as electrolytes or minerals. They can be dangerous if they become too concentrated. The mucus acts like an osmoregulatory filter – and not just for salts but for the gases involved in cutaneous respiration as well, which represents a small to moderate percentage of gas exchange. Thirdly, mucus fills in any gaps or irregularities between scales, reducing friction. Especially in speedy fishes, the drag resulting from small spaces between scales and projecting body parts can account for considerable energy loss in movement. The mucus smooths out these gaps. Finally, there’s mucus benefits particular to specific species, like the toxins produced by boxfish mucus, or how the fry of some cichlid species feed off their parents’ mucus layers. So next time you get slimed while grabbing a fish, just enjoy the moment and consider the slime’s value to its producer. A dry fish makes a bad photo! Organ Support Fish have evolved essentially in a weightless environment, nearly free of friction. Due to these conditions, their bodies are not designed for the gravity of an open-air habitat. The surrounding water supports their bodies and internal organs. Removing that support can have harmful effects if handled incorrectly. Improper holding techniques are well substantiated by studies of multiple fish species around the world. Holding a large fish vertically by the jaw likely condemns it to death. The spine cannot support the fish at that angle out of the water, and holding one like that can cause the
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vertebrae to separate. Internal organs are also at risk of shifting downward into the stomach cavity and potentially tearing. Additionally, the ligamentous structures and joint capsule of the jaw often can’t tolerate the pressure. A fish that appears to be healthy and vigorous can still die of starvation if the damage to the jaw is significant enough to interfere with feeding. Important to note that these are concerns for larger fish. A three-pound trout is not going to suffer the damage a trophy would, and it’s probably fine to hold them vertically by the jaw for a short time. For the big catches, use a landing net, preferably made of rubber or soft, knotless mesh – removes less slime (stay away from nylon nets, especially the knotted ones). In general, grab the wrist of the tail, then cradle the body (usually underneath the pectoral fins). Avoid squeezing too hard; your grip strength is stronger than their belly. Plus, squeezing a slippery bar of soap doesn’t make it easier to hang on to. Lastly, consider the gills an internal organ. Don’t hoist a fish you’re planning to release by the gill plate. Gills are particularly fragile and damaging those sensitive tissues risks hemorrhaging. Air Time How long can you hold your breath? Don’t guess – try it. Time it. One minute? Two? Fish don’t have the same breathing structures we do, so it’s not a direct analogy, but it’s a fair assumption that if you feel uncomfortable from lack of breath, odds are, the fish does also. Each second you keep a fish out of water decreases its chance of survival. In a study by Queen’s University (Ontario), rainbow trout that were exhaustively exercised and not exposed to air survived at an 88% rate. However, the rate of survival for fish exposed to air for thirty seconds was only 62%, and those that were held out of the water for sixty seconds had a mere 28% chance of living to fight another day. The researchers attributed the higher mortality to a significant reduction of oxygen content in the fish’s blood. For comparison, that’s like sprinting for half an hour, then submerging yourself in water for a minute. You’d probably survive, but maybe not without some damage. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a gripand-grin shot. Just use common sense and be aware of the physical condition of your catch. Release Once you have not over-exhausted, de-slimed, dangled, or suffocated your fish (congratulations!), you get to release it. If it is disinclined to swim away immediately, manually moving the fish forward through the water forces water through the mouth and gills, helping the fish revive. Never move the fish backwards though, as that motion can damage the gills. If a current is available, facing the fish into the current provides the same movement of water through the gills. When possible, revive your catch in clean, moving water rather than the water just muddied up by feet. (How would you like to recover from your run in the smoking lounge of an airport?) Fish caught in deep waters sometimes need more specialized treatment. When a fish is pulled up to the surface from deep water, gases dissolved in the blood come out of solution and cause the swim bladder to expand. The stress and physical damage that results is called barotrauma. A fish can often survive this event if it’s treated and released properly. There are primarily two procedures to 60 | September 2018
accomplish this: recompression and venting. Recompression involves returning a fish safely to the depths via weights so the increasing pressure recompresses the gasses in the expanded bladder. A variety of tools are available, including descender devices, release weights & baskets, etc. You can even make your own with a milk crate and weights. Venting involves puncturing the air bladder with a hollow needle. Inexperienced venters may be tempted to puncture what they think is the air bladder protruding from the mouth. This is the stomach, and puncturing it will kill the fish. Use established guidelines (or better yet, someone with experience) if attempting this procedure. In the not-so-distant past, anglers nine miles off the coast were required to have a venting tool on the boat. When federal guidelines changed in 2013, no longer requiring the tool, it wasn’t because venting doesn’t work but that other means could be used besides a venting tool. Venting can be controversial, and though it can be done effectively, scientists at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico say recompression tools are a better option. The Institute’s Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation has also launched a program called ReleaSense, a platform for anglers, industry, and resource managers to share information regarding the best catch and release practices for many prized sportfish species. Research shows that different species may not have identical responses to factors such as hooking location, fight time, and handling method. ReleaSense provides a continually expanding series of catch and release instructional videos, as well as interviews with leaders in the recreational fishing industry, fisheries managers, and expert anglers from across North America. Increasing awareness of these practices can improve survival rates of released fish, ensuring healthy and sustainable populations of harvestable fish for the future. This is a potentially powerful initiative because anglers are the backbone of fisheries conservation. Their actions can directly affect many fisheries. So should you always catch and release? Not necessarily. Fishing for your dinner is perfectly acceptable as long as you fish within federal and state limits. “Limiting your kill” rather than “killing your limit” ensures that some little girl or boy a hundred years from now gets to feel a tug on the end of their line. Beginners may ask why one fishes if he is to release his catch. They fail to see that the live trout, sucking in the fly and fighting the rod, is the entire point to our sport. Dead trout are just so much lifeless meat. ~ Ernest G. Schwiebert, Jr
Where I learned about catch and release, and you can too! TPWD tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing/catch-release-tips Harte Research Institute | Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation www.releasense.org/best-release-practices/ NOAA www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/recreational-fishing/catch-and-release-bestpractices National Park Service www.nps.gov/subjects/fishing/how-to-safely-catch-and-release.htm www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/upload/fishing-catch-and-release.pdf
Trout Unlimited www.tu.org/sites/default/files/Handling_Stress_Summary.pdf
Wet Web Media www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/f%27bodyslimes.htm
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission myfwc.com/research/saltwater/tarpon/catch-release/stress-effects/
Owlcation owlcation.com/stem/Fish-Mucus-or-Slime-Composition-Functions-andSunscreen#
University of Florida catchandrelease.org/ Loyola University www.loyno.edu/lucec/natural-history-writings/fish-slime Louisiana State University www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/resources/factsheets/releasecatch.htm
Take Me Fishing www.takemefishing.org/how-to-fish/how-to-catch-fish/how-to-release-a-fish/ Bish & Fish www.bishfish.co.nz/articles/general/releaserules.htm MidCurrent midcurrent.com/experts/good-trout-release-practices/
Chesapeake Bay Foundation www.cbf.org/join-us/more-things-you-can-do/anglers-for-clean-water/ responsible-fishing/catch-and-release-fishing.html
Angling Unlimited anglingunlimited.com/fishing/catch-release-properly/
Idaho Dept of Fish & Game idfg.idaho.gov/press/catch-and-release-fishing-future
Alaska Fishing www.mgfalaska.com/catch-and-release-or-catch-and-kill/
Oregon Dept of Fish & Wildlife myodfw.com/articles/rockfish-recompression
Walleye Central www.walleyecentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-398282.html
Redfish Connection redfishconnection.com/news/how-not-to-kill-a-redfish
How Stuff Works adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/fishing/fish-conservation/ responsible-fishing/catch-and-release.htm
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Christopher Flores caught his limit of nice eating-size kings, and a 58-pound cobia!
CURTISS CASH
I N S H O R E | N E A R S H O R E | J E T T I E S | PA S S E S
SO LONG SUMMER; HELLO FALL! Every season must come to an end and the summer of 2018 will definitely be missed. We were blessed with phenomenal catches this year of kingfish, cobia, tarpon, dolphin, red snapper, and trout. The extended red snapper season was a definite boon to our coastal economies. Good weather conditions coincided with weekends making for more enjoyable offshore trips. I noticed much more activity throughout the summer instead of concentrated effort during a shorter snapper season. The extended federal season may have decreased the effort targeting nearshore snapper. I expect above average state water snapper catches over the cooler months. The kingfish and cobia were 62 | September 2018
Trout catches have been excellent; young Stephen Woodruff put on a clinic this day.
very cooperative this season. Most nearshore trips yielded cobia and always large quantities of kingfish. It was the norm to have king limits and/ or release many. Most of the kings were of good table fare, under 15-pounds, and cobia were 38-44 inches mostly. We did have some larger kings in the upper 30s to 40-pounds, and cobia in the 50-pound class. One cobia when weighed was the CCA STAR Tournament first runner-up. It tipped the POC Fishing Center registered scale at 70-lb 13-oz. Seasons Change Summer is on the way out and fall is quickly approaching. The decreasing daylight hours, cooler water temperatures, and light frontal passages
all signal the change. Winds become Henry Manger has his arms variable and humidity drops once the light full hefting his big cobia on the way to the CCA STAR cool fronts start their coastal approaches. Tournament scales at the And the fish begin fattening up! POC Fishing Center. Concentrations of fish, large and small start the move, migrating toward the warmer waters of the Gulf. Baitfish and gamefish move toward the jetties and passes leading out of the bays. Many times schools of each stage at these exiting channels waiting for a signal, a push or primal instinct telling them to leave the bay systems. Until they are signaled, they feed heavily in these staging areas.
Tarpon catches have been consistent this summer; Patrick Brown caught this 120-pounder at the Port O'Connor jetties.
The Mullet Run The mullet run will be kicking off this month, just as it does every year. The predator fish sense this as well. As the mullet schools congregate you can look to many of the local hotspots to find them. Many mornings I let my nose tell me where to fish, often the smell of big schools are strong in the air. Look to channel edges, rock groins, passes, water bodies intersecting the ICW, windward shorelines and water body drains for schools.
Nearshore Structure September is an excellent month to fish shallow wrecks, reefs and submerged wellhead obstructions. These types of structure really come to life with the fish in transition. With the majority of state water depths of 70’ or less most bottom structure will host a variety of species. Red snapper, mangrove snapper, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, shark, cobia and bonito are all available. Larger red snapper start migrating into state waters and mangrove snappers will school up in the 40’ depth range, peaking around the full moon. As the month ages the nearshore structures really heat up. Upperslot reds and black drum invade from inshore and sheepshead gather, getting ready for an inshore return. Bluefish schools are more prevalent and the ever-present spadefish are more apt to bite a baited hook.
Nearshore Bait Schools Dusky anchovies are hitting their peak numbers and will form massive bait shoals this month. Most nearshore fish adore the anchovies and gorge on the schools. Look for terns diving or for bonito birds hopping across the surface to giveaway the anchovies location. I’ve seen very large sharks, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, bonito, bull reds, cobia, jack crevalle and tarpon gorging simultaneously within the same bait shoal. For the larger fish, a fresh dead or live mullet, pinfish, or menhaden gets guaranteed attention. With one cast being a 10lb kingfish and the next being a 100lb blacktip. Steel leaders get the most fish to the boat but 100lb and larger mono leaders work well, too. Smaller fish like Spanish mackerel and bonito can be caught readily on 1/8-ounce speck rigs with pink and bright orange colors getting the most bites. The same spoons we normally throw for them in the summer work just great for fall. The end of summer and beginning of fall make for some of the best times to get on the water. Now is the time for excellent catching opportunities, comfortable weather, and reduced fishing pressure. Come join us on the coast if you can, I think you’ll like what’s going on down here.
C O N TA C T
Redfish Redfish once again start schooling early in the month on bay shorelines. Groups of different sized fish mix to form a ravenous traveling mass. As the reds move toward the gulf they gain momentum and become very predictable targets. Wave after wave of fish concentrate where the food source is stacked up, close to the gulf. When targeting schooling reds I like to use the most readily available bait in the area. This time of the year mullet will get the most orders from the menu. A castnet is the best way to procure fresh bait. Some days fresh cut bait may out-fish a lively bait, so mixing up the offerings can increase catches. Spreading some chunks of chum in the intended fishing area definitely helps. Cutting up fresh mullet is good, but Spanish sardines and menhaden really get their attention. The oils in these fish travel much farther in the current bringing fish to you from a longer distance.
Capt. Curtiss Cash offers charters in the Port O’Connor area; specializing in fishing the bays, passes, jetties, surf and nearshore waters. Species targeted include speckled trout, redfish, flounder, tripletail, black drum, bull reds, sharks, snapper, kingfish, ling and tarpon, when seasonally available. Phone
361-564-7032
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Shark fishing at night has an almost surreal quality… and when a rod goes off…
E X T R E M E K AYA K F I S H I N G & S H A R K S F R O M T H E S A N D
ERIC OZOLINS
CHANGE IS COMING South Texas shark anglers are enjoying an exceptional year, some say the best they’ve ever seen. While our shark fisheries are not nearly as healthy worldwide as in the 1960s and 70s, you’d never know it from catches that have been brought to the sand. Countless tiger sharks and giant hammerheads have been scratched off many anglers bucket lists. For seasoned shark fishermen, the weather and water conditions have been a dream come true. Calm and clear water is usually highly-beneficial to surf fisherman and when it comes to big shark angling, the clearer the water the better. Pesky sargassum that hinders virtually every type of surf fishing has been almost completely absent all year. These near pristine conditions have attracted legions of shark anglers that contributed very strongly to the year’s exceptional landings. Apart from obviously great weather and water conditions, many thoughts and theories are circulating in attempt to further explain the excellent fishing. Initially it was believed that the lack of rain throughout the drought-like spring months were the major contributor, via the lack of river inflows and freshwater runoff – the clean water and abundance of bait attracting vast numbers of predators to the surf zone. Mackerel, bonito, and jacks are known to blast right up to the beach when 64 | September 2018
the water gets right. And sharks come with them. The lack of tropical weather activity through the summer also contributed to the water quality. May and June gave us some of the best action for the largest bull sharks we have seen in Texas in quite some time. We tagged and released quality fish up to nine feet in length on my charters. There is always a degree of mystery anytime a client, child or adult, fights a shark into the night. Without knowing what to expect, when they finally see it for the first time, it’s like they won the Super Bowl. Bull sharks really begin to fill out when they grow to seven feet, and when they reach eight feet they become beastly. For a period of about six weeks we were averaging at least one large bull on nearly every trip. Then came July and tiger sharks in great numbers. Ironically, the majority of tigers were not caught down south as they normally are. Most of them came from the PINS beach and farther north. From Corpus Christi to Port Aransas to Galveston, these apex predators delighted surf anglers all along the coast. Historically speaking, the upper Texas coast does not get a lot of surf tigers. The shallower and dirtier water evidently discourages this species from inhabiting the surf zone in that region, but in no way deters the bulls and
Lights from gulf shrimpboats working through the night off the PINS beach.
blacktips from making it their summer home. Having said that, and no surprise given this phenomenal year we’ve been enjoying, there were some very respectable ten and eleven foot tigers landed up there. July also marked an impressive milestone for one diehard angler. My good friend and regular client, Ray Cedillo, fought and landed a massive great hammerhead. Ray’s giant measured out at fourteen feet and likely would have tipped the scale to 1000 pounds, had it been weighed. Ray fought the beast on very appropriate gear and was able to land this shark that would otherwise have spooled many other shark reels. This beast of a shark is the largest to be landed from the Texas surf in modern history, topping Scott Nelson’s 13’-3” hammer and my own 13’-0” hammer. It is good to see a shark of such size caught here for once, instead of Florida. In addition to Ray’s enormous hammerhead, there were several other very respectable hammers landed during July. Both tigers and big hammers prowl the surf zone in search of large A great experience for stingrays, which is their favorite this father and son team landing a late-night prey. Mature southern and roughtail summertime bull shark. stingrays give birth to their young in the surf and the sharks key on these easy meals. Sometimes the meal will be the newborn stingray pups, other times it will be the adult. My last trip down the beach I noticed the remains of what would have been a southern stingray between 150 and 200 pounds. What remained of the ray had numerous large shark bites, some which appeared to be tiger, some bull. The sharks had eaten half of the ray before it washed up on the beach. With the Gulf shrimp season opening in mid-July, great numbers of smaller sharks moved out to the shrimping grounds, attracted by net
cull the trawlers discard, while the larger species lingered in the surf to dine on the stingrays. Naturally, with the abundance of smaller species following the shrimpers and only the bigger sharks present in the surf, the fishing on PINS became very slow and will remain so through most of August. Working our way through September, the beaches are going to come alive, the likes of which many people have never seen. From the coastal bend south, the dusky anchovies get pushed up to the beaches in millions. These small fish just over an inch long will school or “ball up” in huge masses, literally tons of them. The baitballs become established offshore and, as the day goes on, get pushed closer to the surf zone by predators feeding on them. This will draw the majority of the blacktips and medium-sized bulls back to the beach. In addition to sharks, millions of skipjack and Spanish mackerel join in the frenzied feeding activity. This period brings a great chance to land a large jack crevalle on fly or see a tarpon free jumping just outside the breakers.
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Good friend, Ray Cedillo, poses with a magnificent 14-foot great hammerhead; largest I have ever heard of in Texas.
C O N TA C T
There are many question marks looming for our fall season. It is only a matter of time until the western coast of Africa gets it’s show on the road with tropical weather developments. We have been protected for nearly the entire summer by a layer of Saharan dust lingering in the atmosphere and preventing the formation of massive low-pressure systems that spin across the Atlantic from West Africa and become hurricanes. Let’s all pray the tropics remain quiet and stable as we head toward the peak of tropical weather season. Another great concern is the annual late-summer and early-fall threat of red tide. Red tide is an algal bloom that happens almost without warning and can spread across vast areas in a matter of a few days. Its scientific name is K brevis and it is actually red in color. When the concentrations of this algae become great enough it can actually turn ocean and bay waters red for miles. Red tide is harmful to fish and marine life in general as it depletes the water’s oxygen content and also releases potent neurotoxins that paralyze the respiratory muscles of fish and mammals. We have suffered several massive fish kills along the Texas coast due to red tide in the recent past. The same as hurricanes, all we can do is hope and pray and wait and see. Right now, everything a coastal angler could ever hope for is aligning perfectly and September’s fishing could turn out to be one for the record books. Let’s all pray this dream season we’re living continues to come true.
66 | September 2018
For the past decade Eric ‘Oz’ Ozolins has been promoting shark catch and release and assisting various shark research programs. Eric offers guided shark fishing on Padre Island National Seashore. Also renowned for extreme kayak big game fishing, Eric is the owner of Catch Sharks Tackle Company. Email Websites
oz@oceanepics.com oceanepics.com | catchsharks.com
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THROUGH STEWARDSHIP
We were preparing for ICAST and scrambling to get the August magazine files transferred to our printer when my email inbox dinger sounded. Expecting a file from a contributor, I clicked on it immediately and found a message from Heidi Battle. Hi! We started getting your magazine recently and came upon your article on Plastic & Water Don’t Mix. It really resonated with us, as we have launched a fishing apparel company and our signature shirts are made with recycled plastic bottles. There are 6 bottles in each of our shirts. Our company is GrassHole Outfitters www.grassholeoutfitters.com and it was born from our two kids who became interested in the Texas coastal environment and how to protect it. We are going to donate a portion our proceeds back to seagrass conservation for that very reason. We would love to speak to you more about how we can support your efforts as a Texas based company, too. Heidi’s message hit me like a lightning bolt. I put my work aside and picked up the phone. I was so impressed with the story she related that I promised to feature GrassHole in the 68 | September 2018
next installment of the column. I mean, what more could you ask for; young parents teaching children to love, respect and conserve coastal resources, and a family business founded upon encouraging others to do the same? So, here’s the GrassHole story folks, in Heidi’s own words, how she and husband Tony are raising kids, supporting conservation of coastal resources, and helping recycle plastic bottles along the way. TSFMag asks that you consider supporting them in their mission the next time you go shopping for fishing apparel. “It all started as a normal family fishing day on the Texas coast, but for some reason the kids started asking us a lot of questions, curious about the marine environment and why there were signs posted to encourage fishermen to protect the seagrass. They asked if fish were scared when they saw us above the water and if they would hide in the grass for protection and, if so, why didn’t fishermen wear camouflage as hunters do? Eager to get his turn to fish, our 6-year-old son screamed out, “Dad, let me cast into the next grass hole!” Laughing, we
asked him, “Why did you call it a grass hole?” He replied, “You said the fish hide in the sand holes near the seagrass!” So, we started talking about making ourselves some “grass hole” shirts that depict the natural environment to help get the kids excited about fishing as much as we are. GrassHole Outfitters was born that day; a family effort during a family fishing trip. We decided to make our shirts out of RPET, which is recycled polyethylene terephthalate, fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. Plastic is unfortunately so prevalent in our waterways that we wanted to do our part to help alleviate the problem. Our RPET shirts would end up having at least six recycled bottles in each shirt and feel super soft at the same time. When we ran our first production last year, only 50 shirts, we figured we could give them to family and friends as gifts. What we didn’t know was that within the year we would receive requests almost daily from people asking where we got those cool shirts. We soon decided to make another batch and have them on hand if anyone asked, but then also decided we would make a donation to seagrass conservation efforts for every shirt we sold. A few months later we became affiliated with some great retail partners who believed in us and our mission. Today, our shirts can be purchased at Hill Country Outdoor Store in Bandera, Schott Country Stores in Fair Oaks and Helotes, Marker 37 Marina in Corpus Christi, Rockport Tackle Town, and Captain Steve’s Bait Shop in Aransas Pass. We also have an online store at www.grassholeoutfitters.com. Since designing our original Coastal Seagrass shirt, we have added three more patterns to the line; Cloudy Day, Stars on the Water, and Blue Water, all of which depict what you would see peering skyward through the water. We also expanded into women’s and youth fishing shirts, as we saw there was a need for it in the market and also because we wanted some cool stuff to wear…tired of Dad getting all the cool fishing gear! We also now offer an ultra-lightweight and breathable NeckTube/Gaiter and fishing caps that match the patterns of our shirts, and new shirt designs-ideas featuring freshwater backgrounds are currently in the works.
I guess you say that inspiration for our designs comes from the natural beauty of the Texas coast. Every time we go fishing we are on the lookout for ideas. The kids are getting great at it and snapping photos all the time. It makes us proud to see them respecting and appreciating the natural beauty of our environment and putting aside iPhones and iPads while on the water. We are a family from the Texas Hill Country, who believe in our motto - Do Good and Look Good! Our passion is rooted in the art of blending with your surroundings while doing good for the environment. Our signature fully‐sublimated shirts are made from 100% recycled plastic bottles and we donate a portion of the proceeds of our sales to seagrass conservation efforts. -Tony and Heidi Battle
TSFMAG.com | 69
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DICKIE COLBURN
DICKIE COLBURN’S Sabine Scene
S ab i n e
Dickie Colburn is a full time guide out of Orange, Texas. Dickie has 37 years experience guiding on Sabine and Calcasieu Lakes.
Telephone 409-883-0723 Website www.sabineconnection.com
It was a heads-up from the wife that I had never before received. “You haven’t sent your column to Everett yet and the computer is going to be down for a few days.” The reason it hadn’t been sent was not the result of another senior moment. I was going to fish one more day in hopes of filing a little brighter forecast concerning the trout bite. The wind switched to the north the night before and slightly cooler surface temps just might get things going. It didn’t happen! I have desperately clung to the “everything is running late” theory for the past six months, but reality is starting to sink in. Things have changed and we can either call in the dogs or keep grinding. I opt to keep grinding, but a world of Sabine Lake fishermen have obviously chosen to do otherwise and gathering helpful input is difficult. I learned long ago that successful guide businesses are not built on your gift of gab or your wife’s pimento cheese sandwiches. Those factors help, but repeat clients pay you for expertise and
confidence. They may say something different out of kindness, but let’s be real. Would you prefer to fish with a guide that had a charisma bypass early on in life, but consistently puts you on numbers of quality fish or a super nice guy that can’t find a live fish in an aquarium? Very few folks are willing to pay for eight hours of frustration on their day off.
Schooling redfish have saved a lot of trips.
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Our biggest concern lies in the fact that Sabine Lake trout do not just up and leave the estuary throughout the change of seasons. They will move a short distance in search of better salinity or more food, but they do not leave. There is no doubt that our largest trout have taken a hit a time or two, but the smaller fish have always been nearby and the bite quickly rebounds. The fishing pressure, as expected, is incredibly light, but when we do find an area holding a few keeper trout the news draws a crowd in a hurry. When the most favorable tides were taking place before dawn, we were leaving the dock at 4:00 a.m. and catching a few solid trout shallow before most folks hit the snooze alarm the first time. Smaller topwaters like the Chug Bug and Spook Jr were the ticket along with a five-inch rattail Assassin rigged on a 1/16-ounce head. I can’t recall ever fishing the Bone Diamond color as much as I have this year, but it has been hot for redfish as well. A stiff southwest wind most days has not been a friend as frantic shad and ladyfish are difficult to spot between the whitecaps. Hopefully, it is the beginning of a more promising bite, but we have recently gone “old school” and caught a few keeper size trout simply drifting tails under a cork in three to five feet of water.
A four inch Lil John in plum-chartreuse and a four inch Sea Shad in Chicken on a Chain or Watermelon will keep you busy setting the hook. So far this bite has been a mixed bag with everything from ladyfish to redfish running down the tails, but it beats a morning of casting practice. A Vudu shrimp used in the same application will undoubtedly get you more bites but beware of the gafftops. We have been able to bury the Talon and switch to a topwater when we catch a trout and catch one or two more before moving on. One more time The redfish bite has progressed from really before school starts! good to insane of late. If you can stand the oppressive heat the schooling action is excellent in the middle of the day but melting down is not a prerequisite for limiting on slot reds. We are consistently catching them running the protected shorelines with everything from tails to spinnerbaits. They will also crush a topwater and swim over dry land to ambush a Gulp tail rigged on a quarter ounce jig head. I haven’t guided enough days this summer to pay the gas bill, but I have managed to fish with every kid in the neighborhood at least one time. They couldn’t care less about quality as long as something is pulling on the end of their line. A slot red makes their day, but they don’t mind having to wipe gafftop slime off the side of the boat either!
TSFMAG.com | 73
CAPT. CALEB HARP
THE BUZZ on Galveston Bay
Galve s t o n
Capt. Caleb Harp has fished the Galveston Bay System since childhood and, now a charter captain and fishing guide, he uses his knowledge to enable clients to enjoy the excellent fishing the area offers. His specialty is the yeararound pursuit for trophy trout and redfish with artificial lures
Telephone 281-753-3378 Website harpsguideservice.com
74 | September 2018
We hear fishermen talking about transitions quite often. In a nutshell, a transition is a period of change, usually seasonal, that affects water temperatures, depths, and structure types that fish will relate to for prolonged periods. Transition of game fish (migrations) can sometimes also be traced to availability of primary forage sources. September is generally recognized as a transition month on the Galveston Bay System. When the fall transition begins, things will start to get mixed up a bit, the same as we see during the spring transition. It happens with the arrival of the first cool fronts, the effects of which are amplified by steadily decreasing hours of daylight in the fall – shorter days alone will bring cooler water temperatures. It’s not that the fish have somehow pulled a disappearing act. I see it as the schools becoming strung out, less concentrated, some are moving with the food and some continue to linger where they’ve been all summer. The challenge for fishermen becomes one of where are they headed, when will they begin to school
Every once in a while we pop a good one; like this trout that ate a MirrOlure Lil John.
back together, where and how can we find them in the interim. Once the fall patterns become stable, later in the month toward October, these fish will stage back up together and be easier to target. All the patterns so far this year seem to be running a few weeks to a month late in developing, so please forgive me if it doesn’t happen exactly as I have predicted. As I’ve been saying right along, we’ve had a tougher than normal year for trout across much of the Galveston Bay System and it remains below par here in late summer. While I believe we have fewer fish in general within the three, four and five year-old age classes, and there is also less suitable habitat available than say 10 years ago before Ike, and we have other variables working against us. Never in my experience have I seen such an explosion in the shad population. Everywhere you look you find schools and rafts of shad of all sizes – from the size of a dime to nearly as big as your hand. Trout don’t have to look beyond their nose for a meal, so how willing should you realistically expect them to be when you offer a plastic imitation? They say hurricanes and the floods they create greatly enrich the estuaries. Looks as though Harvey did a bang up job – shad-wise anyway. Believe it or not, there are reports circulating that tankers in the Houston Ship Channel have been fighting overheating issues from clogged cooling water intakes. You guessed it…too many shad! Shad have a marked preference for the upper portion of the water column. Here lately we are seeing trout and redfish schools staging very near the surface. Just the other day we had a boat within sight throwing live croakers with little success while we had it going on
pretty good with soft plastics. How could that be? My guess is that the game fish had all been chummed into the upper two feet of the water column to take advantage of the shad explosion. Poor guys slinging croaks a couple hundred yards away were only drowning bait on bottom – nothing down there to eat them, while the trout were hitting our lures before we could even engage the reels after the cast. Let’s talk about tides for a second. As most of you already know, tide movement can sometimes be the most powerful trigger to get a good bite going. I hear people say, “Wow, we have an amazing tide tomorrow, it’s going to be screaming in (or out) all day!” Well, current can be definitely be a good thing, but that’s about the worst tide you can experience in the deeper waters of Galveston Bay. Trout are opportunistic feeders and like to have their food delivered by current, but they’re not accustomed to fighting raging currents all day and probably won’t be anxious to feed when there is no structure available to block the current and provide ambush points. Shorelines are different. On a shoreline or in a shallow bay, a steady strong tide all day might be something you want, but not in deep water. Picture yourself on a treadmill and someone offers you a hamburger. You’d likely say, “Not right now. Let me get off this thing and rest a bit and I might eat.” In deep, open water we typically find a better bite when the water is just beginning to move. Remember to fish smart and conservatively. Keep only what you need for a nice meal and release the rest. Dead fish photos aren’t nearly as cool as they used to be.
TSFMAG.com | 75
BINK GRIMES
THE VIEW FROM Matagorda
M ata go r d a
Bink Grimes is a full-time fishing and hunting guide, freelance writer and photographer, and owner of Sunrise Lodge on Matagorda Bay.
Telephone 979-241-1705 Email binkgrimes@sbcglobal.net Website matagordasunriselodge.com
Light north wind in late summer means two things – the surf is flat and hunting season will soon be upon us. The Gulf surf gave us great catches in July and August; and, though many anglers discount the surf in September, those same trout we caught in August are still in the first gut in September (along with a few more redfish). Boaters tossed baits in the first gut at daylight, but those willing to brave the heat really worked on trout around midday as tides receded and trout eased off the beach and staged on the edge of the second gut in about five feet of water. When the surf produces, so does the bay; and, often boat traffic is light because so many anglers are out in the surf. There are some days when the surf is hot that the bays are nearly devoid of boats. Most trout this summer in the surf were caught by waders tossing croakers, but the good ole artificial guys still duped a few big girls on Super Spooks, Bass
Assassins and Down South Lures. The south shoreline of West Matagorda Bay has been up and down. Sand and grass flats closer to the Port O’Connor jetty and Pass Cavallo are traditionally good this month on She Pups, Super Spook Jrs. and Down South Lures. Fishing from the boat, never discount Half-Moon
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76 | September 2018 ECS-NewHorizHalf.indd 1
7/18/18 11:35 AM
Reef in West Bay as it has been on fire all summer while drifting with live shrimp under a popping cork. Redfish guides in Matagorda know things get tough when water temps reach the upper 80s and tides fall 1-2 feet below normal during the summer. Redfishing was tough all summer, but that should change in September. Hopefully it will happen on the bloated tides we have been waiting for since April. Swelling tides offer more real estate for redfish and allow all captains a chance to float the backwaters where autumn redfish love to roam. The best pattern this summer for redfish has been drifting in the
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middle of East Matagorda Bay. All those redfish on the south shoreline had no choice but to fall to the deeper shell in the middle of the bay. The jetty should be great for reds in September. Most of the fish are near the bottom and best caught on live baits such as finger mullet, croaker and large table shrimp. Please allow me to switch gears and address an issue that really bothers me. I have witnessed a large number of trophy trout brought to the cleaning table this summer, more so than any other summer I can remember. East Matagorda Bay is a special place with lots of very big speckled trout. We work all year to protect this estuary by taking care of our large trout only to annually endure the summer tournament season that kills so many sow specks. So, I am asking all anglers to take a deep breath and think again before tossing a big trout in the cooler. Is killing a big trout worth a little tournament change, a plague or a Facebook post? This is not an anti-croaker or anti-tournament rant - just a plea for a careful attitude for our special big trout resource we call East Matagorda Bay. Our editor, Everett Johnson, is all about conservation, preaching “Just Keep 5” long before it became a law. Let him know what you think. Always err on the side of conservation. We can’t continue to take, take, take and expect the bay to give, give, give. Follow Grimes’ reports weekly on the Texas Insider Fishing Report on Fox Sports Southwest, Facebook and Instagram. Check out Sunrise Lodge video: http://vimeo.com/m/58631486
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CAPT. SHELLIE GRAY
MID-COAST BAYS With the Grays
Port O'Connor Seadrift
Captain Shellie Gray was born in Port Lavaca and has been guiding in the Seadrift/Port O’Connor area full time for the past 16 years. Shellie specializes in wading for trout and redfish year round with artificial lures.
Telephone 361-785-6708 Email bayrats@tisd.net Website www.bayrat.com Facebook @captsgaryandshelliegray
78 | September 2018
Fall is just around the corner and I can almost smell it in the air. Not really, but there were a few days recently when we had some cooler and drier north breeze that teased my imagination. Sadly, the extreme dog day heat and humidity returned all too soon. Other than scorching temperatures over the past several weeks the fishing hasn’t been too bad. We had plenty of catching going on for the most part with only a few less than stellar outings. Westerly wind has been a nagging problem many days this summer. Typically our prevailing summertime winds are from the south and southeast. Occasionally during prolonged periods of high atmospheric pressure we get some wind from the west but not nearly as many as this summer. Westerly winds push the water of our middle-coast bay systems out into the Gulf, leaving us with lower tides and dirtier water. A few days of this is no big deal but when it lingers for weeks the fishing can get pretty tough. Luckily, that weather pattern has passed and we’re back to normal tide levels, better water clarity, and more consistent fishing. You can pretty much bet that any stretch of calm days in summer will set the gulf surf on fire. The fish
It is always a great time when I get to fish with Glenn and Jill Hollis.
you find gulf-side are much more Adam Hill with a nice San aggressive in their feeding habits Antonio Bay flounder. than the trout we catch in the bay this time of year and we have enjoyed many action-packed days catching both trout and redfish. Trout tend to linger in the deeper second gut while the redfish seem to favor the shallower first gut, sometimes within a few yards of the sand. Keep in mind that redfish will become the predominant surf species during September; speckled trout numbers will begin to decline with the arrival of the first cool fronts, usually during the second half of the month. As much as I enjoy the surf, I do not get to fish there as often as I would like due to some clients suffering seasickness even in the gentle swells associated with nearflat surf conditions. No matter how good the catching can be out there, one person on the boat trying their best to sell Buicks puts a total damper on it for everybody. Bay fishing has been really good of late but we definitely see a difference in the size of the trout. Most fish you catch in the surf don’t require measuring whereas fishing San Antonio Bay reefs requires sifting through varying quantities of undersize to find nice keepers, some days more than others. Also of note, bay trout do not fight as hard as similar size surf trout. Maybe it’s the cooler water or just growing up in a tougher neighborhood. Most reefs in San Antonio Bay have plenty of mullet on them lately but the best producers will also have a few shrimp skipping on the surface. Our best catches have been coming from clusters of small reefs rather than large single reefs in the middle of the bay. The redfish bite has also been very good with small schools scattered along sandy shorelines of Espiritu Santo and San Antonio bays. Since our water levels are back up and with more consistent SSE breezes, most of the redfish are holding close to shoreline grass and grassbeds, feeding on small shrimp, mud minnows, and tiny crabs. Quite a few days recently I have come across tailing reds and oh what fun that can be. Even though tailing reds have a reputation for crushing lures I still recommend scented baits to make the most of the encounter. Tailing reds are looking down and rooting the bottom for their prey, so you have to get the bait close to get their attention. However, the last thing you want to do is spook them by casting a bait right on top of them or plopping a topwater too near. When one bolts they all go. With a scented bait you can cast slightly right or left, let it fall to the bottom and just wait for them to pick up the scent. Fishing this way can allow multiple hookups from a school before they scatter. I’m not expecting any major cooldowns anytime soon, so my guess is that summertime patterns will continue through much of the month. The areas and tactics I described will remain on my go-to list for several more weeks. When that happens I will be talking more about the back lakes, but until then, start your day early, stay hydrated, and always be considerate of other anglers no matter the situation.
The owner of Diamond J, James Rosalis, was a partner in Circle J Enterprises at the time our office and son’s home were built by Circle J. Workmanship and attention to detail were both excellent! – Everett Johnson, Editor/Publisher, Texas Saltwater Fishing Magazine
TSFMAG.com | 79
DAVID ROWSEY
HOOKED UP WITH Rowsey
Upper Laguna/ Ba f f i n
David Rowsey has over 25 years in Baffin and Upper Laguna Madre; trophy trout with artificial lures is his specialty. David has a great passion for conservation and encourages catch and release of trophy fish.
Telephone 361-960-0340 Website www.DavidRowsey.com Email david.rowsey@yahoo.com @captdavidrowsey
September is going to be a double-edged sword for me this year. Like many Texans I hold the dove season opener right up there with Christmas when I was a kid. I’ll still make it out, bang some birds, and enjoy the company of friends but it will be with a dark shadow on my heart. My big Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Finn, came down with liver failure and was suffering greatly. Sally and I had to make the hard decision to send him to dog heaven to be with his predecessor, our beloved Scout. For that reason, the opener will be a little fun and bunch of sad, and one without a gundog at my side in more than twenty years. Somewhere in my youth I read a story about a man that had to do the same and had his dog-buddy cremated. He took it a step further and unloaded the BBs from a few of his shotshells, loaded them back up with the ashes, resealed them and took them into the field where he had shared his fondest memories with his dog. He loaded his shotgun with those “reloads” and fired them off at the first two birds that came by. That was his way of spreading the ashes and referred to it as “The final shot.” I did the same with Scout and will do so this season with Finn. Classy tribute to a beloved pet and hunting buddy.
Calm days and oppressive heat on the water have just about cooked whatever brains I have left this summer. Trout fishing with lures has been tough during these dog days. The croaker crowd are still bringing them in, but even they have been complaining about the number of dinks they have to go through to catch a keeper. I have been giving the trout the first two hours of daylight and then I am moving on to greener pastures – make that red pastures. Schools of drum are easily identifiable throughout the Laguna and Baffin. When I find a large school of drum I can usually count on about 25% being redfish. Ideally I’m finding them in wadeable water and it is fishing as usual. In the far reaches of Baffin, the schools are out deep and it’s all about the trolling motor and Power-Pole. Either way, we have kept the lines tight and the Waterloo rods bowed up. Good times. I was on the water yesterday and experienced a rare August north wind. I swear I almost canceled the trip because I thought it would jack up my schools. My premonition was correct, it did. As luck would have it, running to check on another school, we were passing a giant flat that was just glass calm. Off in
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Parker Holt displays 7-pound “bonus” trout he found hanging out in a redfish hole – Bass Assassin – CPR!
the distance little shimmers of light kept sparkling on the surface. I knew immediately that the schools had moved up super shallow. Now I love my big Haynie 23 Magnum with her 350 horses of Mercury power and how they work together but, on this day, I knew we were in for a good walk if we wanted to catch lots of fish in boot-deep water. I explained the situation and everybody was up for the journey. We packed a full day of water and made tracks toward all those tails glistening in the sunlight. Getting into range, everyone was hooking up and stayed that way for hours. One of the clients said, “I feel like Genghis Khan, crossing these flats to conquer these reds and take over their country.” I cracked a smile at his analogy, as I almost felt the same as we were staring down hundreds of tails all around us. It was a site to behold and the hookups were almost automatic. Days like this are the kind you store in the memory bank and reflect on when you are too old to do it anymore. I’m blessed to have many. Throughout September, trout will start putting some weight back on, gorging on mullet migrating toward the gulf, as though they are aware winter is coming. Redfish will be doing the same, and the size of the schools will continue to grow into October. Look for lots of topwater action this month as large groups of mullet band together in fear of the all knowing and aggressive predators looking to fatten up. Spoil islands along the ICW will get hot over the next two months with quality fish being caught around them throughout Baffin and the Upper Laguna. Remember the buffalo! -Capt David Rowsey
TSFMAG.com | 81
WAYNE DAVIS
WAYNE’S Mansfield Report
Port Mansfield
Captain Wayne Davis has been fishing the Lower Laguna-Port Mansfield for over 20 years. He specializes in wade fishing with lures.
Telephone 210-287-3877 Email captwayne@kwigglers.com
82 | September 2018
Greetings from Port Mansfield, Texas! As I sit here to write this article I am wondering how one can have the best fishing trip of a lifetime when fishing has generally been slow. Which begs the question – what exactly makes a best fishing trip? For some it might be as many fish they can legally retain. For others it might be landing one truly trophy fish, or maybe it’s just being able to get away from it all – with or without catching. What about one magical event that occurs during a fishing trip? Not to discourage or be a pessimist, I mentioned fishing was generally slow because that’s my honest report at present. Keep in mind we still have some outstanding days with trophy catches, but day in and day out we face the “summertime grind” out there on the flats. For the record, the water is in great shape, bait is often found at every stop, but the flats lack the consistent sightings of multiple packs of redfish and the scattered big trout. However, having said all this, there has been a considerable uptick in redfish sightings and landings. Back to the theme of what makes a best fishing trip; that might best be viewed through the angler’s
Michelle Frazier also scored big with a Texas snook – CPR!
eyes. I will cite the example of what What a surprise - Mike happened yesterday – Frazier’s first-ever one of my absolute best Texas snook - CPR! fishing days. It goes like this. I was given a reliable tip from a good friend and fishing guide that there were snook in a general area, so I decided to investigate with three regular clients. For the record, I know little about snook; only that I have been snook fishing, caught several and, probably more importantly I have received many tips about snook and their behavior from my good buddy Captain Ernest Cisneros. With that said, I pulled near the area and decided to give it a wade. Within moments I hear that familiar “whip” sound of braided fishing line quickly being pulled tight on a hookset. I look over to see Mike Frazier with his Fishing Tackle Unlimited Green Rod doubled over. Tracing the fishing line with my eyes I watched a large snook come rocketing straight up out of the water and displaying the most acrobatic jumps I have ever seen. I immediately began recording with my camera and after a few minutes it was “picture taking time.” After a healthy release and quick celebration, the first thing that went through my mind was Captain Ernest telling me, “When you catch a snook don’t move!” I instructed everyone to stay put and for the next two hours we hooked ten snook and landed six! All of these were 25 inches or longer, with the largest going 30. Everyone hooked up and three out of four of us landed what I would call trophy Texas snook. Unsure if this is a sign of things to come or an incredible anomaly, whatever you call it, it was great. So, there it is folks - A best fishing trip when fishing has generally been slow. Now back to reality. Our trout catches have kept anglers busy but most have been undersized and you must sift through several to find a keeper. As of this writing our tides are again very low after the large influx of water we had about a month ago. As mentioned, there has been an uptick in the redfish action and this should continue as summer fades into early fall. Black drum have been schooling and most of the fish in the schools are perfect eating size. You can fool them with plastics, especially when they are in large groups. I have found a plumblue metal flake with chartreuse tail works best. We continue to start our days very early in order in order to capitalize on the coolest part of the day and, of course, the coolest water temperatures. To emphasize this point I noted water temperatures on the flats at 91° recently – and that’s HOT! Our three go-to baits have been the KWiggler Willow Tail Shad, 4-inch Paddle Tail, and the Ball Tail Shad. All three have their place in a day’s fishing and I utilize all three. Stick with the Willow Tails and 4-inch Paddle Tails early along shorelines. As you find yourself fishing deeper over potholes and grass lines, give the Ball Tail Shad a try. A few colors worth mentioning are Padre Punch, Texas Roach, Flo-Mingo and Strawberry Cool. You should be able to get it done with those. Until next time, stay safe and practice catch and release whenever possible.
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CAPT. ERNEST CISNEROS
SOUTH PADRE Fishing Scene Arr o y o C ol o ra d o t o Po rt I sa bel
A Brownsville-area native, Capt. Ernest Cisneros fishes the Lower Laguna Madre from Port Mansfield to Port Isabel. Ernest specializes in wading and poled skiff adventures for snook, trout, and redfish.
Cell 956-266-6454 Website www.tightlinescharters.com
84 | September 2018
Recently back from my annual Florida Keys fishing trip and reflecting upon what I saw and enjoyed, something that impresses me more each time I go is the conservation ethic of the guides over there. They completely understand that continued success in their career and livelihood depends on the health of their fishery. They get it that in their profession a live fish is far more valuable than a dead one. When I first started guiding, anxious to be seen as a capable guide, the more fish I brought to the dock the better – or so I believed. After quite a few years of this “kill ‘em all” mentality, I eventually matured and realized that fishing should be enjoyed today, tomorrow, and for future generations. There is nothing wrong with taking a few fish for dinner, but I see it as wrong to take fish just for the applause, not to mention the possibility of going to waste in the freezer. I have never forced my views on my clients, aside from the requirement to release all snook and speckled trout over 23-inches on my charters. I choose instead to lead by example and educate those who will watch and listen. For those of us that have fished the waters of the Lower Laguna Madre
Kristian got her first snook recently.
Kristian Faulk landed her best-ever trout at 7 lbs the day aftter her snook.
the past 20 years; we saw the glory days. Catching was easy almost anywhere you fished. Fastforward to the present; it’s a grind more often than not. Targeting redfish has become easier since my last article and, if the normal fall pattern continues to develop, we should see continued improvement through September. September tends to be a wet month for us which means lower salinity levels on average, especially in backwater areas where runoff is higher. This is a good thing for the estuary. The reds are now showing in small schools in less-trafficked areas with deeper potholes, near spoil banks, and defined grasslines in open water. On calm days it’s as though somebody opened a gate and the reds suddenly show up, waking across the eastside flats. Our catches have been best around deeper guts that have shallow water nearby. Google maps is a good resource for locating this type of bottom structure. Small topwaters have been good during early morning hours but the action fades when mullet become less active on the surface. I have been using a new surface lure from 13-Fishing that will be released soon called the Dual Pitch. I describe it as having a tight walk-the-dog action and sits low in the water at rest. The bait levels out as soon as you start working it and produces fishenticing action. I have thus far caught redfish, snook, and trout with it. When the redfish lose interest in surface baits, switching to KWigglers Ball Tail Shad in PlumChart, Mansfield Margarita, and Bone Diamond has worked well for us. Also, the KWigglers Willow Tails in Turtle Grass and Mansfield Margarita have worked well in shallower areas. Last year around this time we experienced a good run on big trout and this year is the same. Not as many as last year but considering how hot it has been it amazes me that we are catching any decent size trout. Early morning water temps have been running 80-82° which has been cool enough for trout to feed on the surface as well as below. From our catches, I will say the future of our trout fishery looks encouraging, especially with the numbers of small trout out there. Trout can be found feeding shallow early in the day but they move deeper as soon as the sun warms the water. If there is a magical depth right now for getting on good trout I would say around waist deep. Checking water temps throughout the day I have noted decent action on midto upper-slot trout with water temps even at 90° but the key to this has been tidal current. You need the water to be moving. Even with these elevated temperatures they will take soft plastics worked near bottom. Hopefully, with air and water temps declining slightly in September we will see even more consistent catching. One good thing that hotter water temperatures bring is a great snook bite during the spawn. In my opinion, this summer has given us the best snook bite in the last seven years. The peak of snook spawning occurs in September and October, which could mean the best is yet to come. My visit to ICAST was another great one. Look for an outstanding presentation of new products in January from a host of great companies including AFTCO, Simms, and Costa Del Mar. TSFMAG.com | 85
FISHING REPORTS
Lake Calcasieu Louisiana Jeff and Mary Poe - Big Lake Guide Service - 337.598.3268 September is a transitional month, one which represents the start of our favorite time of year. We love football season, blue-winged teal, and massive schools of trout and redfish roaming the lake. At the beginning of the month, we stick to our summer patterns, but later, fronts will push baitfish out of the surrounding marshes. This creates a buffet for hungry trout and redfish. Fishing the mouth of these marshes on falling tides is very productive. Birds will help us locate hungry fish. In September, undesirable species like gafftops, sand trout, and ladyfish will be present under working birds. Shrimp imitations and topwaters will be our preferred lures this month. Often, topwaters will cull the undesirable species. If you find a group of birds where ladyfish are present, try to work soft plastics quickly through the school to trigger trout bites. Bull reds will swarm the surf all month. Soft plastics are usually effective to catch 'em, but live mullet are always irresistible. It is also arguably the best month for inshore tripletail fishing. Trinity Bay - East Bay - Galveston Bay | James Plaag Silver King Adventures - silverkingadventures.com - 409.935.7242 The catching has been good in deep water for James on recent trips, though the techniques he's using aren't necessarily easy to mimic. “We are catching best in seven to ten feet of water near the ship channel. Soft plastics like Bass Assassin Sea Shads and MirrOlure Lil' Johns have been working best. If the fish doesn't grab it when it hits the water, best bet is to let it sink down close to the bottom and basically reel it in slowly. If currents are running light, casts can be made in any direction from the boat. If they're stronger, most all of the bites will come while the lure is coming in with the current or cross-ways to it. Once the lure swings behind the boat, the current will pull the lure up and out of the strike zone. Normally, in August, we have good days on topwaters out along the channel, but that's been pretty slow lately. The action might pick up in September, though. When we aren't trout fishing, we'll chase the silver kings. We've been seeing some tarpon already on calm days. Our ability to consistently catch 'em usually peaks in September.” Jimmy West - Bolivar Guide Service - 409.996.3054 Jim reports decent catching on 51M MirrOlures and topwaters on recent trips, but the action has been somewhat streaky at times. “We did catch several solid trout, up to nearly five pounds, on one recent outing. Customer wanted to throw MirrOlures and topwaters, and he's good with 'em. We couldn't quite produce limits, but the average size of the fish was well above average. Bite has been easier on soft plastics, for sure. As long as the tide isn't too strong and the winds are manageable, we're catching good numbers, well over 50 fish on some days. Once we get some weak fronts in September, we should have birds working and more consistent action. I'm also gearing up for hunting seasons right now. Heading over to show a couple guys around a deer lease right now. I will also be busy putting people out to shoot doves starting September 1st, and teal season follows close behind. The fields are looking good, so I expect some fast shooting and easy limits for folks who know how to handle a shotgun.” West Galveston - Bastrop - Christmas - Chocolate Bays Randall Groves - Groves Guide Service 979.849.7019 - 979.864.9323 In September, Randall anticipates the onset of several different 86 | September 2018
ORECASTS F from Big Lake to Boca Chica
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migrations in the San Luis Pass area. “We have been doing well in the surf, and we want to spend as much time out there as possible in September too. Normally, the approach of autumn stirs the beginnings of migrations which provide us some productive patterns to fish. In the surf, some of the pelagic fish venture close to shore to intercept schools of baitfish moving from the bays into the Gulf. Normally, we key on giant rafts of mullet along the beachfront this time of year to target everything from speckled trout to king mackerel and tarpon. When winds don't allow us to function in the surf zone, we'll target redfish along shorelines in backwater lakes and main-bay coves, throwing topwaters and soft plastics on light jigheads. When looking for trout in the bays, we fish deeper water in open areas, using Norton Bull Minnows on quarter and three-eighths ounce heads. Often, we find plenty of trout lurking under schools of migrating menhaden.” Matagorda | Charlie Paradoski Bay Guide Service - 713.725.2401 Charlie says both bays in the Matagorda area have been producing steady catches lately, and he predicts the action should remain good through the start of fall. “September is a bit better for redfish than for trout, in an average year. Of course, every year is different, but usually, when the equinox bull tides roll in, the action for reds picks up in the remote corners of the bays, in lakes adjacent to the ICW, the coves in both East and West Bay, and on shallow grass flats in both bays. Of course, trout action can still be fantastic this month, especially early in the month in the surf, when light north winds allow clear water to move all the way to the beach. Catching trout in the bays this month is easiest on live bait. We've had kids in the boat a bunch lately, and it hasn't been a problem putting them on fish using live shrimp or Gulp! products. Wading some of the mid-bay reefs early in the morning with topwaters and twitch baits can be good too. Light winds help make this plan productive, since they provide excellent water clarity.” Palacios | Capt. Aaron Wollam www.palaciosguideservice.com - 979.240.8204 We've had some good fishing despite the extreme temperatures. The deep reefs and shell pads in West Matagorda Bay continue to hold solid fish, and we're catching lots of 16 to 18-inch trout. Live shrimp rigged under popping corks have worked best over reefs, while free-lining live shrimp with a split shot has worked best around shell pads. Redfish have schooled earlier than usual this year. They've been abundant along local shorelines. Quarter-ounce gold spoons and pumpkinseed/chartreuse DSL lures have accounted for the most bites. Tripletail fishing has taken off as well. We've landed several fish on live shrimp around old well pads and markers out in the bay. September is a great month to fish Palacios because we have so many options. The back lakes are loaded with redfish, the trout attract birds in East/South Bay for easy pickings, and the flounder will be staging at the mouths of drains and bayous. The surf also provides excellent potential when early north winds knock the waves down to a whisper. Port O’Connor | Lynn Smith Back Bay Guide Service - 361.983.4434 Lynn hopes to be fishing a variety of patterns in September. “Mostly, we target trout more than redfish. I like to target trout in areas with lots of grass and mixed sand pockets along shorelines with a fairly fast drop into deeper water. We'll key on rafts of mullet and make casts in
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and around the bright spots where we see nervous bait activity. Topwaters work well when we're fishing this way, especially early in the mornings. Small ones like Super Spook Juniors in white with either pink or chartreuse head seem to draw more strikes than the bigger lures most of the time. On other days, we'll shift our focus to shell reefs, in places like San Antonio Bay. Around the oysters, topwaters will still work at times, but soft plastics seem to be more effective on average. Most of the fish will be on top of the shell early in the mornings when the tide is moving, and they'll move to the edges of the shell, where the bottom is a mix of shell and mud in the heat of the day or when the tide is slack. We'll also fish the surf when winds allow this month.” Rockport | Blake Muirhead Gator Trout Guide Service - 361.790.5203 or 361.441.3894 For Blake, September signals the anticipated return of cast and blast season. “I am anticipating some fast and easy dove hunting. We've had lots of rain, and food is plentiful for the birds all over the area. Teal hunting is always harder to predict, but we'll be working to take our share of those early ducks when the season opens in the middle of September. If I am hunting the marshes early in the morning in the air boat, I like to start my fishing close to the blinds, looking for redfish in shallow backwater areas. We find them in large herds at times just before and after the beginning of the fall season. They are often aggressive toward topwaters this time of year, which makes catching them more fun, of course. For trout, the action is usually better along deeper grass beds on main-bay shorelines where the bottom is firmer, mostly hard sand. We also do pretty well on some of the mid-bay reefs this time of year, especially when winds are light. Best lures to throw for the trout are Gulp! products and Norton Sand Eels.” Upper Laguna Madre - Baffin Bay - Land Cut Robert Zapata – rz1528@grandecom.net - 361.563.1160 In the ULM, trout are not hanging around as long in the shallows along shorelines as they were earlier in the season because of the warmer water temperatures. They are moving into three to five feet of water a little earlier in the day this month. I’m using natural colored Bass Assassin Elite Minnows and Turbo Shads rigged on one sixteenthounce Spring Lock jigheads early. Then, as the day progresses and the water warms up, I usually switch to Bass Assassin Die Dappers in colors like sand trout, chicken on a chain and salt & pepper silver phantom/ chartreuse, also rigged on the sixteenth-ounce jigheads. I’m still finding redfish in schools along shallow shorelines and near spoil islands. Once I spot the redfish schools, I will approach them quietly from upwind and cast to the outside edges of the groups of fish with the Die Dappers or half-ounce weedless gold spoons. Redfish and black drum continue to go after shrimp-flavored Fish-Bites in less than twelve inches of water while we are sight-casting. Corpus Christi | Joe Mendez – www.sightcast1.com - 361.877.1230 In September, Joe finds the fishing much the same as it has been all summer, as hot weather lingers on the ULM and Baffin Bay. “Herds of reds will be prowling the shallows, especially in areas around the JFK and in Corpus Christi Bay. We have a lot of calm mornings this time of year, so it's best to look for the reds by watching for the wakes they make as the boat spooks them, then circle around and troll toward them slowly. In the heat of the day, when winds usually pick up some, finding herds in deeper water requires using good polarized sunglasses to search for orange spots on the bottom. This works well in places like Emmord's and Beacroft's Holes, when the water is clear. Trout fishing stays predictable this month. The fish prefer areas close to the shallow sand bars on spoil banks and rock bars early, then move to deeper parts of these structures, along grassy edges as the sun climbs 88 | September 2018
higher in the sky. Topwater lures work well when the fish are shallow, but soft plastics produce best overall, especially on the tougher days.” P.I.N.S. Fishing Forecast | Eric Ozolins 361-877-3583 | Oceanepics.com Here we are, facing the most dangerous (potentially) season of the year for serious surf anglers, with increased chances for hurricanes and red tide outbreaks. With the approaching fall season, the surf zone comes alive with bait migrations. Dusky anchovies in acre-size balls get driven right up on the beach by mixed schools of king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, skipjacks, jackfish, tarpon and sharks. You may not be able to target any species in particular, but topwaters and large spoons will at least reduce the chances of hooking skipjacks. Literally hundreds of screeching gulls hover above the melee, while sharks hurl themselves onto the sand chasing bait. Be alert when wading for sharks and stingrays in the shallows. Along with the baitball action, you should be able to catch trout on tops and tails in the mornings and afternoons over defined structures. Shark fishing will improve as blacktips and bulls retreat from shrimpboats to hammer baitballs nearer shore. This is a chaotic but extremely fun time in the surf. Keep an eye on the tropics! Port Mansfield | Ruben Garza Snookdudecharters.com – 832.385.1431 Getaway Adventures Lodge – 956.944.4000 September usually brings continued light winds and some showers. The East Cut and surrounding flats offer consistently productive fishing opportunity throughout the month. The trout bite is spurred by tidal currents and redfish begin to school in the area as they prepare for their annual spawning run to the Gulf. Reds of all sizes can be expected – barely legal slots all the way to mature bulls. Don’t be surprised to find an occasional trophy speck hanging with the reds. Topwater action can be nothing short of amazing when a feeding school is located. September also offers fantastic fishing at the jetties. With the redfish heading to the Gulf, you can encounter huge schools of them off the beachfront and jetties. While you are there, the kingfish and tarpon fishing can also be phenomenal. The trout bite can be very good along ICW spoils and the Saucer area. I like to start with tops early, then switch to a KWigglers on eighth-ounce jigheads. Willow Tails and Ball Tails in Mansfield margarita, red/white, and turtle grass draw lots of thumps. Lower Laguna Madre - South Padre - Port Isabel Janie and Fred Petty | www.fishingwithpettys.com – 956.943.2747 We begin Texas International Fishing Tournament week. Every year the waters surrounding South Padre Island are filled with anglers and boats participating in the largest competition of the year. With boats entered in the bay and offshore divisions, the demands on the fishery will peak. Freddy says. “We fished it every year during the 80s and 90s, with some beautiful trophies to show for our efforts. Congratulations to all the anglers who participated this year. Hope to see you again for the next one!” When the wind is up, fishing is steady, with occasional oversized reds and some nice trout, though the numbers are down a bit from last month. We've not seen many flounder, like what we saw at this time last year. We’re throwing red FP3s with Berkley Gulp! Live shrimp on a sixteen-inch leader with an eighth-ounce screw-tight jighead, targeting potholes and drop offs. Some days are mirror calm and you might luck out on a herd, but wind is the key to drifting grassy flats in September. Be safe, and let’s stop open bay dredge disposal.
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Estevan Rocha South Padre Island - 27” redfish
3 generations of Patrick Layhee Galveston Bay - bull red
Rhett Bynum Matagorda - 8 lb trout CPR
Danielle Khampannha Galveston - 35” bull red
Cynthia Faubion POC - personal best red snapper!
Noah Grady Eric Pena Port Isabel - 23” sheepshead Arroyo City - 32” personal best red! 90 | September 2018
Dylan Valusek Redfish Bay - 8 lb redfish CPR
Shelby 9 Mile hole - 41” personal best!
Ashley Ann Vanek Matagorda - 32” trout
Kevin Bardwell Shamrock Cove - 27.5” redfish
Rhonda Welch Matagorda - first keeper red
Hector Ortiz Aransas Pass - 38” bull red
Margaret Casillas Estes Flats - 21” redfish
Hunter Canfield West Bay - 27.5” 7.85 lb first red!
Kyle Manak Port Aransas - 22” flounder
Landon Sinclair Corpus - 22.5” personal best trout!
Weston Klutts POC - 120 lb tarpon
Robert Strickland Baffin Bay - 9 lb trout
Andres Martinez Galveston Bay - 27” trout
Connor Causey Laguna - first speckled trout!
Ace Ingram 27.5” 7+ lb - first redfish!
Derek Schutte Bolivar Jetty - 42” red
Jacob Stahl Port Mansfield - 40” redfish
Please do not write on the back of photos.
Email photos with a description of your Catch of the Month to: Photos@tsfmag.com
Travis Potts Matagorda surf - 25” double reds
Pat Sweeney Port Aransas - redfish
Mail photos to: TSFMag P.O. Box 429, Seadrift, TX 77983 TSFMAG.com | 91
PAM JOHNSON
Gulf Coast
Got ideas, hints or recipes you’d like to share? Email them to pam@tsfmag.com or send by fax: 361-785-2844
Margarita Beef & Shrimp Skewers These skewers are quick and easy to make and taste terrific. With tender top sirloin, you don't need to marinate a long time to tenderize the meat, just long enough to impart the flavors of the citrus and garlic marinade.
INGREDIENTS
PREPARATION
• 1 cup margarita mix
1. Combine margarita mix, salt, sugar, garlic, and vegetable oil in mixing bowl. Toss sirloin cubes in marinade solution and soak 30 minutes refrigerated.
• 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1 tablespoon white sugar
2. Preheat grill for medium heat. We like the Big Green Egg.
• 2 cloves garlic minced
3. Assemble skewers; alternate sirloin chunks with shrimp and veggies, beginning and ending with mushrooms as shown. Brush with remaining marinade. Grill to desired doneness, turning once, approximately 10 minutes total at 350° for steak to be cooked medium-rare to medium.
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil • 1 pound top sirloin steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes • 1-1/2 pound shrimp (16-20 count) peeled and deveined • 8 metal or bamboo skewers, soak bamboo in water 30 minutes • 16 mushrooms with stems • 1 onion, cut into 1-inch chunks • 1 large red or green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
92 | September 2018
We served ours over rice pilaf and fried okra. Provides four to six adult servings.
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The Heat Is On…for Deep-Sea Skate Eggs If it took more than four years for your eggs to hatch, no one could blame you for seeking a way to speed things up. It appears that deepsea skates, a relative of sharks and rays, have found a way to do exactly that—by using the volcanic heat released from hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean.
Over 150 skate egg cases were discovered near a hydrothermal vent in the deep waters near the Galapagos Islands. A research team collected four egg cases using a remotely operated underwater vehicle. Credit: Ocean Exploration Trust Water heated by Earth’s crust reaches the ocean through hydrothermal vents, where only creatures that have evolved to withstand the extreme temperatures typically live. But when scientists recently sent a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to explore the hydrothermal fields near the Galapagos Islands, they found several layers of large egg cases. They counted 157 of these cases, often called “mermaid purses,” and used the ROV to bring four of them back to the surface. The scientists analyzed the DNA and learned the eggs belonged to the skate species Bathyraja spinosissima. Though these skates live deeper than almost any other skate species, they have not been observed regularly near hydrothermal vents. Yet more than half the egg cases were found near the hottest vents. Could the skates be using heat from the vents to help their offspring develop more quickly? That’s what the biologists believe is happening, based on similar behavior of two other animals, a rare bird in the South Pacific and long-necked dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period. But their hypothesis is just that — a plausible idea the scientists must test through more observation and research. Hopefully they will learn whether deep-sea skates really are trying to skate past their extra-long incubation periods with a bit of help from Earth’s heat.
Kyle Nethery
www.ScienceAndTheSea.org © The University of Texas Marine Science Institute
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100% composite 7 year hull warranty Our boats are designed and built to maximize horsepower efficiency, shallow water capability, quality of ride, and fish ability . Come design the JH model that’s right for you!
3925 FM 359, Richmond, Texas 77406 • Ph: 281-238-0060
WWW.JHPERFORMANCEBOATS.COM