Pike on the Edge

by DOUG PIKE :: TF&G Senior Contributing Editor

Keep Freeze-Surviving Trout Off Your Stringers

NONE OF US WILL EVER FORget this past February’s freeze. In addition to killing people and wildlife and plants statewide, it also exposed the greed and self-absorption of people who don’t care much about Texas’s coastal sheries.

I’ll concede that our coastal anglers were not legally bound a er the freeze to stop targeting speckled trout, nor required by law to quit laying trout llets on the grill. e Texas Parks and Wildlife Department did reduce the daily bag along roughly the southern half of the coast from ve sh to three, but they le the number up my way at ve.

By not changing the bag limit statewide, by not seriously considering (publicly) a temporary moratorium on retention of trout, TPWD sent a message that almost nothing had changed. ey implied we could continue down the same path we had followed prior to this brutal weather event.

Almost immediately a er the minimal changes were announced, lines were drawn. I want to believe that most experienced shermen leaned my way and ignored TPWD’s well intended, but misleading generosity and that we opted instead to lay o taking trout altogether for a while. at, undeniably, would have given the remaining stock time to spawn at least once and expedite the species’ recovery.

On the other side were shermen, mostly younger people from my observation (but not many folks are older than me anymore), who couldn’t wait to get back to stringing speckled trout. ey were o ered no reason to be conservative, especially along the upper Texas coast, because they perceived TPWD’s favorable assessment of the surviving trout population and subsequent instruction to stay the course as indicative of there being nothing wrong.

at nding, however, doesn’t take into account the extreme di culty and high potential for inaccuracy in the counting of live saltwater sh—or even dead ones— especially when every coastal angler in Texas is demanding right-now answers.

Under pressure a er the freeze from impatient Texas shermen who wanted de nitive numbers and guidelines, TPWD raced dozens of wardens and biologists to the coast to count dead sh.

Given the sense of urgency surrounding that project, their counts were about as good as could be expected. However, I have great con dence and good evidence that they missed dead trout. Lots of them—especially along the upper coast. at’s not a knock on TPWD sta —hindsight’s always so clear—as much as it is a recommendation that when the next sh-killing freeze happens, we give the department reasonable time to make its assessments and draw its conclusions.

Back here in a more optimistic present, now ve months removed from the event, I do see things returning to normal. Temperatures in the 90s are reminder enough that every Texas winter is followed by a Texas summer. e world’s still turning, all sh still are spawning, and our speckled trout population is in recovery.

People are catching sh. We’re all catching trout, at least those of us who know where to look and what to throw.

In a sidebar, I’m forever tickled by anglers’ incessant hue and cry over any proposed reduction in the bag limit on speckled trout. No ma er the limit through recent decades, 20 when we were forced start counting, then 10 and now ve, the average licensed coastal angler who targets speckled trout for the day returns with one.

Whatever the limit, though, there’s always someone who sees that magic number of sh on a stringer as a measure of their skills behind a rod and reel. Who’s really be er, though? e angler who worked all day to catch ve “beepers” (barely keepers) and put them all on the cleaning table, or the sherman who caught and released 30 trout to six pounds before lunch, trailered the boat and went home to catch a baseball game?

During my Sunday radio show on May 2, I came up with an idea to show our support for conservation, especially of speckled trout just now but generally of all Texas sheries. Instead of posting a photo of dead specks on a cleaning table, occasionally release all your trout that day and do this: Coil your stringer, set it down, and post a picture of that “zero” on social media captioned with, “ is isn’t how many sh I caught today, but it’s how many I killed.”

We’ll never know how many trout we had before the February freeze, and we’ll never know how many we had on a speci c day since. But whatever the true count on any given day, no ma er how many speckled trout actually swam in Texas that day, wouldn’t more be be er?

We’re all catching trout, at least those of us who know where to look and what to throw.

Email Doug Pike at ContactUs@fi shgame.com

HE 2021 DOVE SEASON IS JUST AROUND THE CORner. For many of the state’s 300,000-plus dove hunters, the September 1 opener in the North and Central zones won’t get here soon enough.

Opening day of dove season is to Texas hunters what that first flicker of Friday night lights is to high school football junkies. It’s a really big deal. However, it’s not just because it’s the opening kickoff for a long line of hallowed hunting seasons that lure thousands of Texans to the woods and water before winter gives way to another spring.

Texas dove hunting is as rich in tradition as tailgate parties. Tasty bacon-wrapped breasts are often served up in the wake of banner shoots alongside busy croton fields or isolated water holes.

There is plenty to like about dove hunting, but one of the really cool things is it’s a highly social sport. Hunters can converse and poke fun among themselves without much worry of spooking the birds. It also poses the challenge of hitting dipping, darting, diving targets. Doves are known to come zipping in unannounced from odd angles, often at speeds in excess of 40 mph.

Another neat thing about dove hunting is it doesn’t cost a lot. In fact, dove hunting represents what is arguably the best opportunity for a high-quality, low-cost hunting experience.

The September 1 opener falls on a Wednesday this year. Don’t sweat it if weekday work obligations force you to sit out the first act. Texas has a 90-day dove season divided into two splits.

If you can’t shake loose until Labor Day weekend, just roll with it and play it as if the first day in the field is opening day. A late start could add up to some better shoots, anyway. There will likely be more hunters in the field to help keep the birds stirring.

Hunt where the doves are, such as grain fi elds and watering spots.

Here some things you can do to improve your chances having an enjoyable and productive dove hunt:

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Most dove hunters are mediocre shots at best, at least that’s what the numbers say. e average dove hunter brings down one bird for every ve shots red. Do the math. at’s 75 shots, or roughly three boxes of shotshells, for a 15-bird limit.

Hopefully, the ammo crunch will have eased up by the time this issue hits the streets. If so, spend a li le time at the skeet range to brush up before the season gets underway. Even the best wingshooters get rusty during the o season.

USE PREMIUM AMMO: Steer clear of “blue light special” ammo. Quality ammunition costs a li le more, but it will increase your kill ratio because it pa erns be er.

USE THE RIGHT CHOKE: e choke dictates the degree of bore constriction at the muzzle end of the barrel. e tighter the constriction, the tighter the shot pattern. Less restriction allows the shot pa ern to expand. A full choke is a bad choice for dove hunting. It restricts the shot pa ern too much and narrows the shooter’s margin of error.

Modi ed or improved cylinder choke tubes are preferred for dove hunting. ese chokes pa ern nicely out to 40 or 45 yards, which is pushing the e ective range for most wing shots.

SHOTGUN CHOICES: ink 12 gauge and 20 gauge. e hard-hi ing 12 gauge may not be the best choice for everyone, but I am a devoted fan. It slings lots of shot.

Youths and ladies might opt for the lighter weight 20 gauge. A 16 gauge isn’t bad, either, if you can nd ammo to feed it. Shotgun style is a ma er of preference. Some guys like pumps. Others like autoloaders, double barrels and over-and-unders.

DRESS FOR THE OCCASION: Doves have extremely good eyesight. Wear drab clothing, preferably a camou age material that blends with the surroundings. Keep your head down and use the bill of your cap to hide your face when doves are approaching.

BE MOBILE: Doves like to y certain routes. Don’t be afraid to change locations if birds are consistently skirting you, unless it will infringe on other hunters. Sometimes moving 30 to 40 yards is all it takes. may bump into as many as six dove species, but only four of them are legal to shoot— mourning doves, white-winged doves, whitetipped doves and Eurasian collared doves. Mourning doves and whitewings are the most plentiful.

Brown, rockmorton, Coleman, Taylor, Medina, Bexar, Uvalde, Williamson, Bell, Karnes, Live Oak, Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron, Atascosa and Matagorda are among the top dove hunting counties. e tallest whitewing numbers are found in counties west of San Antonio (Bexar, Atascosa, Medina, Frio, Uvalde), south of Houston (Wharton, Matagorda) and around Rio Grande Valley (Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr.)

SWEET SPOTS: e best hunting is always where the doves are, and that can change from one day to the next, o en in coincidence with shi s in weather patterns. Places with abundant forage such as harvested grain elds, sun owers or goat weed patches are magnets for doves, as are watering spots including tanks or ponds with plenty of bare ground along the edge.

USE A DECOY: Careful placement of a ba ery-operated dove decoy such as the Mojo Voodoo will at times bring birds into shooting range. e decoy a aches to a steel stake, which elevates it about three feet above the ground. Four AA ba eries power a small motor that causes the wings to spin in tight circles. Doves can spot the ashy white wings from a considerable distance. At times, the decoys can work almost like magic.

GET LEGAL: Every hunter, regardless of age, is required to have a hunting license and proof of HIP certi cation on their license. A migratory bird stamp also is required of hunters 17 and older.

Hunt Safe: e No. 1 cause of hunting accidents is tracking birds and pulling the trigger just they cross paths with other hunters. It is called swinging on game.

Know the whereabouts of every hunter, whether they are a member of your party or not. It is also a good idea to make sure other hunters know your location. If you decide to change spots, make sure everyone knows it.

It is easy to get excited out there. Don’t take shots you might later regret.

HE PRESENCE OF GREAT WHITE SHARKS in the Gulf of Mexico is undeniable. Now, a great white off the Texas coast has been confirmed. Last February, we broke the story about Acadia, a 1,000-pound female great white tagged by research group Ocearch in Nova Scotia in September 2020. With her satellite tag “pinging” about 140 miles off the Texas coast, she has “z-pinged” twice which means the transmitted signal did not give an exact location. That means Acadia could be farther from the coastline or perhaps closer.

Digging past easily accessible research data, there is fascinating information about great whites in the Gulf.

In a 2014 I wrote a piece for Tide magazine called “Jaws Rising” that included an excerpt from Seasonal Distribution and Historic Trends in Abundance of White Sharks in the Western North Atlantic published by PLOS One.

It details that red sh are among the items preferred by the Gulf’s great whites.

“Analysis of white shark stomach contents from this region are extremely limited, however, documented prey items include dolphins, sharks, red drums, sea turtles, and squid.”

Great whites feeding on red sh might seem at odds with the images we see of them throwing sea lions into the air in the northern Paci c and o the coast of South Africa, but as time goes on, it seems there is much to learn about these intensely apex predators.

NOAA has some extremely interesting older data on great whites in the Gulf of Mexico. eir earliest recorded white shark was o the coast of Sarasota, Florida on a set line in the winter of 1937. Another specimen was caught in the same area in 1943.

In February 1965, a female was captured in a net intended for bo lenose dolphins at Mullet Key near St. Petersburg. In addition, National Marine Fisheries Service o cials reported 35 great whites as bycatch in the Japanese longline shery in the Gulf from 1979 through 1982.

In the 1963 book Shadows In the Sea; Sharks, Skates & Rays, the presence of great whites in Texas waters is mentioned as far back as the 1950s.

A great white shark seven feet long was caught in 15 fathoms, 12 miles o Port Aransas, Texas on February 9, 1950. Seven days later, a second great white 11 feet, 4-inches long was caught in the same area. Ten days later, a third, this one 12 feet, 2 inches long, was caught there. Yet, there has never been a previously reported catch in Texas waters. e research of Ocearch has shown numerous tagged great whites using the Gulf of Mexico over the last decade, but there are other sharks, not tagged, showing up as well. In early March 2021, a 12-foot great white was caught and released on Pensacola Beach by a group of Idaho anglers shing with Big John Shark Fishing Adventures. In 2015, Gabriel Smeby caught and released a ninefooter o Panama City Beach, Florida.

And although these recent con rmed catches and scienti c surveys of the past are insightful,

I was the kid who saw Jaws and wanted to get in the water. I remember standing with my Dad at the end of the 61st Street Pier in Galveston at age 12, pondering whether there were any great whites in the Gulf and even in Texas waters. ere de nitely are now, and if trends continue more are on the way.

Acadia is the great white shark that showed up off the Texas coast. She was tagged last fall off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Big Flounder. Big Redfi sh. Big Speckled Trout.

THOSE ARE THE THREE MOTIVATING FACTORS FOR ANGLERS along the Texas Gulf Coast, and for great action for super-sized specimens of the Big 3—and much more—Port Arthur should be on your radar.

On the shores of Texas’s northernmost bay, Port Arthur’s Sabine Lake o ers ample opportunity for anglers in bay boats and kayaks, as well as those who prefer to sh from the bank.

Sabine Lake is where it all starts.

Texas’s smallest major bay system holds the state record ounder caught by Herbert Endico in 1976.

Few sh records have held that long, showing the magnitude of the catch. Fortunately, the skin mount of Endico ’s sh is on display at the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur.

Red snapper are within reach of anglers fi shing the oil rigs and reefs south of Sabine Pass.

Seeing this historical sh is worth the visit, but there is much more there, ranging from natural history to music history. e Gulf of Mexico out of Sabine Lake gave up the state record red sh, a 59.50-pounder caught by Artie Longron in 2000. e water body record speckled trout is 11.50 pounds caught by Kelly Rising in 2002.

Not surprisingly, Sabine Lake also holds several saltwater records for typically freshwater species. at includes Bobby Hutchinson’s 42.78pound blue cat sh, Dale William’s 50.15pound athead, and Michael McKinney’s 33.62-pound freshwater drum (gaspergou). e reason for those huge freshwater sh in the system from time to time is that Sabine Lake is fed by both the Sabine and Neches Rivers, two major systems, and has solid freshwater ow during spring and early summer. is struggle of fresh and salt is what makes the ecosystem so fertile.

My favorite part of the greater Sabine Lake ecosystem is the marshes along the Louisiana shoreline. e winding canals that feed the rich estuary into the lake provide some of the best ounder and red sh action in the country. I have spent many mornings watching the sunrise over the marsh and sat

Nathan Childress caught his fi rst-ever black drum while fi shing the seawall at Pleasure Island.

August is Redfish Tournament Time

AUGUST IS A BUSY MONTH FOR TOURNAMENT REDFISH action in Port Arthur.

The Contender Series One Man takes place August 11. It will attract some of the top anglers on the Gulf Coast to fish for a $10,000 prize, heavyweight championship belt and a chance to fish the Elite Redfish Series tour.

The 2021 Elite Redfish Series Pro Team Tour then competes at Port Arthur August 13-14.

“The Port Arthur Pass” is the finale of the 2021 Elite Redfish Series tournament season. At its conclusion, the team with the most points will take home the T.O.Y. title, Championship Trophy and the $70,000 Tidewater Yamaha McClain Trailer Rig.

This event will also qualify the top two teams to move onto the $50,000.00 ESPN televised November Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship. The Port Arthur Pass weighins are free to the public and begin at 3 pm Friday and Saturday at the Sabine Pass Port Authority and Marina.

in wonder at the incredible beauty.

I’ve fished all along the Gulf Coast of Texas, and it is one of the few areas other than Lower Laguna Madre where one can find true solitude. Hit those marshes on a Tuesday morning in the middle of February, and you will probably see no one else out there.

On the opposite side of the lake is Pleasure Island, and it brings anglers some of the best bank fishing and crabbing anywhere.

The Walter Umphrey Pier at the causeway is a popular destination. It is strategically positioned at the juncture of Sabine Lake and Sabine Pass that flow into the Gulf of Mexico. That means outgoing tides bring action from the lakeside, and incoming currents bring in everything from big redfish to sharks from Gulf waters.

The seawall around the Pleasure Island Yacht Basin has another popular pier, but perhaps even more productive is its seawall. Many anglers like to walk the wall with live finger mullet or mud minnows and verticalfish for flounder. Both the north and south levees on Pleasure Island offer miles of bank fishing opportunity. The revetment areas off both levees offer easy kayak access and can provide some good paddling and fishing opportunities.

Moving south to Sabine Pass, the jetties are the drawing card for anglers and sport fishers. The only jetties in Texas longer than Sabine’s are in Galveston, which means several miles of fishing access into the Gulf of Mexico.

At times, the mid to upper reaches of the Sabine Jetties holds incredible numbers of speckled trout, and the first thing anglers should be mindful of is water clarity.

I have seen pockets of clear water at jetties produce fish when other areas seemed barren of specks. Sandy green water is good. Clear water is excellent, but chocolate-colored water means you need to go somewhere else.

Savvy anglers should look for emerging slicks, the small round spots of fish oil spilled when trout feed on shad and other prey. The smaller the slick, the better because it means the fish are still nearby. Avoid fishing slicks around crab traps. Those usually come from the bait inside.

Shrimp jumping along the surface and birds are a more obvious sign, although, at the jetties, birds usually lead to Spanish mackerel more than trout. Birds on the lake are traditionally trout or reds. Birds at the jetty area could be anything.

Moving toward the bottom layer of the ecosystem, redfish rule.

The boat cuts are an excellent place to start because, during tidal movements, you have a lot of baitfish moving through. The boat cuts in a jetty system have the most intense tidal flow because they are a small opening. You will get lots of shrimp, shad, and crabs pushing through, and the reds will lie in wait. Another great spot to find bull reds at the jetties any time is the deep holes usually found around the southern tip of the rocks and back about 50 yards. These spots are where the current wraps around the rocks and carves out large holes.

The Sabine Jetties are arguably the greatest spot on the Texas coast to catch a 40-inch plus redfish.

Surf anglers will also find ample opportunities in the area as Sea Rim State Park offers quality access to beach areas managed by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Additionally, there is access a little farther down the road through the McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge.

Like the jetties, this area is known for bull redfish but is also an excellent spot to catch big blacktip sharks.

If you want abundant opportunities to catch big fish, give the Port Arthur area a try. There’s plenty of places to fish and plenty of fish to catch.

To request a free Sabine Lake Fishing and Waterways Guide in the mail, check out visitportarthurtx.com.