Hello JimD,
The following is an email sent to you by Joe Guilbeau via your account on TexasKayakFisherman.com. m
I
Message sent to you follows
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I really need to sort of edit this compilation of posts, these are the 1st rough drafts of things that chose to save before submitting to the board.
I cut and pasted them into this message...looks like some formatting is needed to get them to come out right.
Here goes...
On the subject of banning croakers, fair fishing rules, depletion of species, and limits, it was a hot subject with lots of posts getting to be rather negative, so I threw this in to lighten the mood…
Not to worry…
In a few more years...
With the TPWD’s newly developed studies that places emphasis on appropriate bias-free quality of fisher-people in order not to discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, language, geographic location, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical ability, size, and marital, parental, or economic status, the following enhancements in our Marine Fisheries Department have been identified to insure fee-based equality across the broad spectrum of Texas Fisher-people, whom we so proudly serve.
Genetically engineered trout will be in the 45-75 lb range this season, with genetically altered bio-engineered “bait” (sold 5 to a package, with the appropriate “Bio-Stamp”) featuring the enhanced bio-acoustically engineered embedded chips (Model 3ZT-85), so as to mimic the pre-set acoustic response stimuli for the desired species (Cynoscion Nebulosus Extravaganzas). New for this season, is the auto-enable feature, simply select the “slot-range” desired, length, weight and feed pattern (aggressive, top-water, or bump), and scan for credit approval.
This will insure that supply/demand economics are met with one degree of separation, with just-in-time inventories, in order to insure the esteem building necessary to assure that the required goals set forth in the last “Task Force on Unfair Competition in the Federally Funded Fisheries Program” are met.
Additionally, scientific research has shown promising leads in the miniature estuary developed sailfish categories, where Blue Marlin have shown remarkable resilience to the prevalent Red Tide, as they live out their lives in the 2 foot tidal pools of the Lower Laguna Madre, thus enabling Guide License’s Fees to increase 300-fold.
Orwellean regards,
JAG
On the subject of Barometric Pressure and it’s effects on Fishing…
What’s all this about pressure?
I would ask Paw Paw, “Can we go fishing now?”
He would look at me, sigh, and brush a bit of cigar ash from his chest, then making like he was just thinking on his feet, move around the room, and come up with a yes, or no.
I finally figured out that he was easing over to the barometer, and checking it out, before he answered me.
Red Drum and Trout are sensitive; they can feel acoustical vibrations, and sense barometric changes.
Hint...Why is a spoon, retrieved slowly, bumping along the bottom of a sandy shoreline, a killer on Reds?
Don’t any of you know someone who complains when the weather changes, usually when the thunderstorms are on their way?
That is what got me pumped up about mullet’s post. I have an Avocet Barometric wrist watch (REI) and so I sometimes monitor the pressure on an hourly basis.
Now, with what I learned from Paw Paw about changes in barometric weather patterns, I began to have some curiosities about how these things affected the fishing.
Here is what I found to be true for Red Drum, and along with the Reds, I suppose Trout.
Wind from the West...Fish bite the best
Wind from the East...Fish bite the least
Well, sort of... during long patterns of high pressure, fish settle into a feeding pattern that has more to do with tidal ebbs and flows than slight changes on atmospheric pressure. Here I am talking about weeks, not days.
Just before a thunderstorm or northern hits, fishing picks up, on a falling barometer pressure, and I’ll bet a nickel that ole mullet had a falling barometer when the fishing started to turn on. Probably had nothing to do with the tide, they started to bite, due to the barometric pressure changes coming riding in on the tails of those thunderstorms. Now, I am doing a lot of supposing, cause I wasn’t actually there.
Wind from the West...Fish bite the best, down here on the Gulf Coast the prevailing wind is out of the South East, now when a front or other weather pattern comes boiling down on us, the winds shift, from South East to West and finally to North.
Wind from the West...Fish bite the best...this describes the time between the shift from the South East to the North, and that, my friends, just happens to coincide with...that’s right...a Falling Barometer.
Now after the barometer hits bottom, GO HOME. Stay home, until the barometer starts to rise, and you might get some fish. Once the barometer stabilizes, then things get back to a pattern. During the low-pressure areas, tides will be a bit higher, due to the lower pressure that the atmosphere places on the water surface. Reds will be scattered, due to higher flood stage on incoming tides, and will be off and exploring new territories. Guess what, they have not stopped biting, the fishing crowd just has a hard time finding them, and so the “fish aren’t biting”.
Along with this comes varying opinions on barometric pressures and fishing in general, cause if you are out there, when the fish start biting, and your buddy is home, due to the fact that the barometer is not where the pundit’s claim is should be, then you just might have some opinions on the validity of the views. Aberrant variations on variables misunderstood or neglected by the observers. Operator errors as it were. In other words, it is like the three wise blind men describing their first encounter with an elephant. None of them were wrong; they were all right, well sort of.
Just like young kids at a Toys-R-Us, take a young-un to 5 different stores, and see if you can predict the patterns. Good bet that they would end up migrating to their favorite new toy, or the latest and greatest this or that. But here is the rub, in those different store locations; the toys will be in different areas, just like the Reds, favorite forage, different locations.
I know that fish have only one way to make a living, and that is with their mouths. They have to eat, just like everything else; the difference is that they have survived, where the vast majority of their spawn mates have long ago helped fertilize the salt marshes. They know what they are doing, that is why we get such a great pleasure with artificials and flies. It isn’t easy, and the novices (we were all novices at one time) marvel at the ability of the old salt who is standing right next to them, throwing the exact same thing, and they get bite after bite. Frustrating, right. TS, you got to put in your time...
So, even on those bottoming out low pressure days, after a front rolled in with torrential rains, we would go out and catch Reds on the out flowing tidal ebb flows at cuts. Guess why, they got hungry, and we were where the bait was.
They got to eat, but in my experience, they eat best just as the barometer is dropping. Maybe they know, from genetic coding that all hell is about to/might just break loose, and it will be hungry time, as they sit on the bottom, waiting out the crazy wave action on top. Remember, these guys/gals like the ankle deep stuff. No Buenos, when those storm systems hit.
Wind from the East...Fish bite the least, makes sense also, for that very short transitory period when the front passes and the winds start shifting back to their seasonal patterns. In our case, that would be from North, and with nothing coming down from the West to affect it anymore, the wind shifts from North, and slacks off, and the South East winds begin to prevail, and they come from a more easterly direction, and then from the east and finally settle in with that South Easterly prevailing pattern.
Short transitory periods.
Haven’t any of you been fishing the flats, say down at the Lower Laguna Madre, on a hot sunny day, when suddenly a line of showers heads your way? What did you notice about the fishing as it cooled off and the temperature changed? Unless you took off in your ride, and were running before the thunderstorms, I’ll bet a nickel that the fishing picked up.
By the way, if this happens to you, get to shore quickly, and drop that graphite rod off on the beach and go lay down. Lightening hits the water near you; you might just drown in 4 inches of water.
So, forget all the fish finder sonar stuff, go out and buy you a Great Big Round Brass Barometer, and wait for the pressure to start dropping from 30 inches to 27 something, good fishing is just around the corner.
Or hang a rock from a string outside your window. If the rock is hot and dry, the weather is stable, if the rock gets wet, its raining, and if the rock is banging your window, and the rock and string are soaking wet, then there is a rain shower with down gusts of wind, if the rock and string are frozen in place, it is winter and you will need a coat.
Why 30 inches o mercury you might ask? Well, it seems that when the young scientific minds were marveling at Oliver Cromwell and the abolishment of the House of Lords, while the Ming dynasty took her dying gasps, while the Turks were killing the Cretes, Romans, and Poles, while Peter the Great ushered in modernization to Russia... those scientific minds were investigating why in the heck a hand operated vacuum pump would only pull water up a column so far, investigators were stumped. Most opined...”Nature abhors a vacuum.”
Eventually, a device was invented that had a tube, and this tube was filled with mercury and the end was placed in a shallow dish of mercury. The atmosphere asserted a pressure on the mercury in the dish, and that kept the mercury in the tube...guess where.
Yep, about 30 inches from the surface of the mercury in the dish.
Ergo...30 inches of mercury at sea level is where we are still at.
Don’t even get me started on why Railroads Ties are set the distance they are apart, or why there were not any standards for railroad ties in Australia until just very recently.
Australia has 30 or so different sizes, and it wasn’t until the mid-70’s that they could get it together enough to find a way to have a trans-continental train. Lots of switching from one-track size to another as lines changed, and gauges changed.
You see, it all started with those pesky horse Asses in Rome, and ended up at the Cape Kennedy.
Don’t believe me? Read on...
It goes something like this; the US Standard for railroads gauges is 4 feet 8.5 inches. Kind of odd, wonder why that was?
Well, because that’s the way they did it in England, and guess who designed the US Railroads?
Well, OK, but why in the world would...
Well, read the rest for yourselves
Some interesting VHF Radios for those of you who have fishing boats and roam around…
It is my understanding that the next generation of Very High Frequency (VHF) radios will include Digital Selective Calling (DSC) system for Global Marine Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and, some early units are now available.
ICS Electronics has a VHF3 Radio and a DCS3 DSC unit, which includes a rear cable interface for Global Positioning System (GPS) input. I have included a link below, and got the technical specifications printed in this post from that website...(can I be reading the price right?)
http://www.icselectronics.co.uk/icsnet/ ... pecial.htm
The VHF portion has a 2-Watt (8 Ohms @ 10% distortion) and draws 300ma full volume and illumination, and covers the 156-163 MHz range. Power consumption at 12Vdc is 5.5 Amps @ 25 Watts transmit, on 55 international channels and meets the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Standard 300 147.
The DSC controller receives its power from the VHF Radio, and its Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities support Isolated International Electrotech Commission (IEC) 1162 input (interface specification), compatible with NEMA 0183 and supports CGA, GLL version 2, RMC, VTG, and ZDA.
Digital Selective Calling provides a means of automating ship to shop and ship to shore communications.
In an emergency, the system alerts all vessels using GMDSS and transmits the Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) which is a unique nine digit code assigned to the vessel. The digital calling information is transmitted on specially designated channels, on a VHF radio this is Channel 70, which is dedicated for DSC use and under no circumstances is to be used for anything else. If a GPS receiver is plugged into the DCS unit, the GPS position will automatically be transmitted along with the vehicle MMSI.
On fishing the surf areas and how to read the surf to find a good spot…
There has been some discussion on fishing the surf recently and so when I was “surfing” the web and came across this picture of what Hurricane Bret did, (they will always be “she’s” to me) at South Padre Island National Seashore, it got me to musing again. (And some Paw Paw memories)
This was taken in September 1999, just a few weeks after she (Bret) hit, and if you look at the top right quadrant of the picture, you can see how several new cuts were formed.
Just outside the cuts, you can see evidence of submerged sandbars, where water goes from shallow to deeper in quick order.
See the submerged sandbar jutting out past the newly formed island? To the lower right, coming off the peninsula...and just past the sandbar the water drops off and is deeper, there a kind of channel forms. Then just past that, the surf is breaking. Things that make you go...Hhmmmnn....
So, with regards to some pretty fishy areas, the deeper water located just between that submerged sandbar and the breaking surf, would get a close scrutiny by me. If you also guessed that this is a good spot, then go to the head of the class. You’ll have lots of company!
I can’t tell you how big of a grin my Paw Paw would have had coming up on this in his Willy’s Jeep with all those surf casting rods-n-reels. Some fast action indeed, we would have filled that trailer!
He taught me to “read” the water, in our example, between where the surf is breaking on the outside and the little breakers on the submerged sandbar, is where there is deeper water. A likely spot for Reds to hang out, milling around the bottom of the deeper water, awaiting bait to be swept by tides over the submerged sandbars (see the line of breakers coming toward the peninsula, on the outside edge of the second sandbar?), is where the bait will scramble to find an eddy to collect themselves, they won’t be alone...
As you scroll down the picture, you can see how the rest of the surf is arranged, the breaking waves rolling onto the sands, and just beyond, the 2nd sets of surf breaking, all pretty standard.
Notice how the tides are pushing everything to the top (North) of the picture. That should give you all you need to know about where the bait will be coming from, and where it will be swept (over the southerly breakers, into the cleft, and out through the mouth of the cleft).
That sandbar point would be a pretty good place to start. In any case, a picture is worth a thousand words, and this one’s a ‘beaut.
As always, just in case...
http://www.mgec.com/s101a.040r.JPG
An interesting note on Bioacoustics and Reds and Trout///
There is a lot of scientific research going on about this subject, Trout and Redfish are natural subjects because they are from the Drum family (prolific noise makers).
One study found that during spawning, Reds and Trout continued to make sound, while dredging, and boat traffic were near, the only time they went completely silent, was when Dolphins entered the area.
So the Reds and Trout knew which sounds indicated a threat, and acted accordingly. Hhmmmnn…
Lure manufactures are already trying to imitate feeding fish.
The angler…”A Thinking Man”…who better understands the habits and environment of these game fish will adjust his/her target aspect accordingly, so as to not have 90% of the focus going out in space, never to return.
I feel another musing session coming on…
On the subject of girlfriends and spouses (Humor?)
Last year, I upgraded my Girlfriend 5.0 to Girlfriend 5.1, which installs itself as ‘Fiancée 1.0’.
Recently, I upgraded Fiancée 1.0 to Wife 1.0 and it’s a real memory hog. It has taken up all my space, and Wife 1.0 must be running before I can do ANYTHING. It is also spawning Child Processes, which are further consuming system resources. Some applications, such as Poker Night 10.3, Beer Bash 2.5, and Pub Night 7.0 are no longer able to run in the system at all.
Additional plug-ins were automatically installed, such as Mother-In-Law 55.8, and there is no uninstall feature for these plug-ins. No mention of these behaviors was discussed in the brochures or documentation, although other users have reported similar problems. Because of this, some users that I know have decided to avoid the headaches associated with these upgrades, and simply move from Girlfriend 5.0 to Girlfriend 6.0. Unfortunately, this is not without peril as well, as all traces of Girlfriend 5.0 must be removed from the system before attempting installation of 6.0. Even then, Girlfriend 6.0 will repeatedly run system checks (usually in the background, and often late at night when the system is asleep) to find evidence of previous versions. To cap it off, Girlfriend 6.0 apparently has a nag feature reminding about the advantages of upgrading to Wife 1.0.
However, I do like some of the features that you are planning to include in the upcoming Girlfriend 6.1 release:
A ‘Don’t remind me again’ button
A Minimize button
A Shutdown feature
An install shield feature so that Girlfriend can be completely uninstalled if necessary (so you don’t lose cache and other objects)
Unfortunately, since I’ve already upgraded to Wife 1.0, I don’t think I will be able to take advantage of any of these new features, unless you decide to include them in the next Mistress release.
But, of course, there is a whole raft of problems associated with the use of Mistress 1.0 and Wife 1.0 on the same system—most notably are system conflicts and continual disk thrashing, which starts shortly after Wife 1.0 detects Mistress 1.0. Interestingly enough, all versions of
Personal Lawyer still works fine. Finally, Wife 1.0 apparently deletes all MSMoney files before uninstalling itself; following that, Mistress 1.1 will refuse to install, claiming insufficient resources.
I personally find all these new tools and conflicts to be too confusing and time consuming. I’m sticking with Dog 1.0b3. It slobbers and chews up the paper, but all in all these bugs are tolerable. It is simple to operate and we get along fine.
On the subject of a Port O’Connor Wade fishing Trip
43-Trout...4-Reds...2-Gaff top with this info someone knowledgeable can pretty much guess what went on. I bet Vincent can tell ya’ll what happened...for the rest, here goes.
Wade fished Powderhorn for 10 hours straight today, no breaks, using only artificials.
Started by going in on the Tidal Flats just between the Oil Depot Salvage and the Bridge. Took my motorcycle, wade belt ant two rod/reel.
Waded Powderhorn’s western shore heading North towards the Creek, windmill and duck blinds on the northern shore at that pocked.
Highest tide I seen for some time, as the normal high tide zone was buried. The hot ticket was Pumpkin Seed/Motor Oil with a Fire Tail on 1/8 oz jig, with 10 lb test, on bait casting reels Calcutta 100. We are running out of these and no one seems to make them anymore.
Seemed as if the bite was just turning off, when I arrived. Had some undersize trout pick up the tout tails and about swallow them ¾ of the way down, and lost interest fast in fighting. You never felt them hit, my retrieve was normal at first, but they would pick up a slow retrieve, not so for normal/fast, had to slow way down and bump it along the bottom. They (juvie trout) would pick up like a flounder, and you could see your line go sideways a bit, set the hook...on a 7 inch Trout!
Saw three of those Egret White Crested something or others, you know the one’s that run each other off from a good fishing spot? Etc... Well, these three got to squabbling, (I am now just past the Microwave Tower and have just left the cliff area) and, WHAM, WHAM, WHAM,, in succession, three real quick. Two underside Reds and a trout. Then a 24 inch red, and from there till noon, not much happened. The birds got off their stalk and the mullet quit jumping. I seem to be watching Herons, egrets, gulls, pelicans etc, more and more to get a clue from them.
Kept wading past the creek and into the pocket by the windmill, really nice sandy bottom, some oysters, saw some trout hitting the surface. Water was a soft green, the clarity of Iced Tea (waist to shin visible) on the North shore. By now the wind is 15-20 knots, whitecaps on the lake, and the water is beginning to get nasty, chocolate in color. Looked lake a band or two from Lili had started to set up.
Water is dead, nothing, tried all the grubs, spoons, TTK’s, (I &II) TRK’s, all with motor oil or pumpkin seed or red with gold glitters and white tail, Gold Spoon, Johnson Sprite Silver Spoon with the Chartreuse tape with red spots, white green glow in the dark TTKs I, nothing, it is getting late afternoon, So I keep wading thinking that I might go ahead and wade to Magnolia and catch a ride back, done that before, but was in better shape, so decided after wading way past the Cedar Motts on the North Side of Powderhorn (houses cleary visible and can see folks outside in yards) to go ahead, bite the bullet and cross the lake, looks to be about 2-3 miles straight run, no problem, done that before too.
Take off, and get about a third of the way there, the water is up to my armpits, INTERESTING>>>, no problem, here is when the wind picks up, and it gets a bit frothy...no problem, the lake is only a few feet deep anyway, only thing out there might be a Bull Shark or Alligator/Gar, not likely tho. Saw quite a few porpoise, 6-8 of them, guess they were hunting the trout.
So here is where the problem starts, in a BIG WAY!
I am looking right at the Oil Depot Salvage area, a long way off, and guess what I see, in the afternoon light. BIRDS! WORKING!!, 6 or 7 groups, banding up, diving, a mile stretch, nothing but diving birds, rebanding, splitting off. It’s nuts...and look where I am, up to my neck in waves, with a mucky bottom, and having to trudge it out, one step at a time. 45 freaking minutes later, each minute watching BIRDS, DIVING, cartwheelin. Cavorting birds. FINALLY...I am one with the birds and the Dink Trout on the Western Shore of Powderhorn lake, right east of the Microwave Tower, about 400 yards out from the cliffs. This place is normally the dead zone, we never fish this area!!
EVERY CAST, one hits, gets off, another hits before I can complete a single revolution of the handle. One gets on, then off, then two get on, on==and==off, and finally the fourth or fifth trout hits it as I am pulling it up to get a another cast. No matter what I use this goes on for about an hour and a half. I am still neck deep in water. I stop counting at 22, and note that the first gaff top was 24, the second gaff top was 25, the keeper trout was 38, and as I am putting him on the stringer, they are friggin JUMPING out of the water, to grab the plastic artificial that is about an inch or two above the water, as I drop it overboard from the net, IN NECK DEEP WATER, AND THE
HOOK THEMSELVES!! I lose the hemostats due to having the rod under my arm. Why aren’t I using my rod holder, well...cause the trout are so crazy, that they have “Spooled” my Calcutta. 100, w/10 lb test, by simply eating up the monofilament as they hit the lure 8 or 10 times as I bring the cast back, I keep re-tying the jigs, the keep cutting the line. The Lew Childre is in the wade belt rod holder, about 2 ½ feet underwater...
These are “Dink Trout” 7 to 11-inches each. Beautiful iridescent purples, and blues, Jet Black Spots, under select groups of feeding trout, hide the bulldogs Gaff top, 7 pounders, no problem getting your hand around them, there is lots of room. Never used the net once, the trout would get themselves off the hook, mostly if left alone and a slack line, but the problem with this, is that as soon as the line is free of a trout, it had better be out of the water, otherwise look-out.
I haven’t seen action like that since the days of double yellow spec rig’s in Port A and 200-300 trout a night under the lights at the Oil and Petrol docks.
So, my advice is take the yaks out before daylight, and get on to the bite. Go on back and relax, check out the weather warnings to see if it is a good idea to go out again. Arrange to have someone drop you off at Coloma Creek, at about 3:OO Clock. After fishing, paddle back to the bridge, where they can pick you up. Bring at least two rods, you will be busy. When they start like this, they go on for a week or two, usually. Then the redfish...
Saw another interesting site, a 39 inch Red; floating up against the western shore, near the creek...things that make you go...HHMmmnnn
I had a blast, and currently am under the care of Jim Beam Black Label over ice...Nice!
Did I say WOW, what a way to be welcomed back to my old stomping grounds, I have a picture from 1971 or so, that shows four of us, just back from Coloma Creek, with Yellow Cats, Reds, Trout and no electric fillet knives back then...as a matter of fact, some of the ole salts probably recall scaling redfish, how some things change...
Anyway, looks as if the trout fishery is going strong in Powderhorn, these are juvenile adults, next year they are gonna be jus right...
Can you image being SPOOLED by a bunch of 7-11 inch trout, a little bit at a time. I’d have bet my left leg, that this could never in a million years happen...Blew me away!
On the subject of preparations for a Powderhorn Fishing Trip…
Heading out the door, for Coloma Creek, 10 lb Test, ¼ Oz Gold weed less spoons, Texas Red Killers Pumpkinseed/White and Chartreuse Tails, and those Red and White tails all on 1/8 Oz jigs. Gonna check out the TTK’s I in Motor Oil and White tail tip, and TTK II’s in Motor Oil and Chartreuse. And finally, my one and only 1/8 Oz Johnson Sprite Silver Spoon w/Chartreuse with Red Spots.
Any one seen these around town?
Reds should be up on the flats, I’ll report back with water Clarity, temp, wind, tides, and maybe some serious
action.
You never can tell...
Let’s see...
Stringer*
Wade Belt*
Hemostats*
Nail Clippers*
Rod Holder*
Both RodsnReels*
10 Lb Trilene XT*
Serengeti Osprey’s*
License*
Repel 100*
It’s all here...and I’m outta here?
6:03 already..&^$^%#$(
JAG
Indianola Places:
Beachcombers - 361-553-6359
Indianola House Bed & Breakfast - 361-552-2389
Burns - 361-552-6863
RV Parks:
Circle H RV Park - 361-553-6303
Powderhorn RV Park - 361-552-7481
On the subject of Schrs post on cooking up some Mescal Plants and the not so pleasant tasting results, another stab at humor…
I have known a lot of cooks in my time, and believe me, there ain’t one of them (myself included) who is gonna serve up a meal without sampling it...so, my story would have gone something like this...
As I carefully followed the instructions...OK, yes I have my list of ingredients and have faithfully followed the documented procedures, got the pit nice and deep, and the fire is going good...now, for the wet grass, ugh...hard to keep that heart wrapped up right... hey, never seen one of these buttons before...wonder if they will affect the taste much? Let’s just taste one and see...YYeeccchhhh!!.. I’m not gonna put THAT in with my mescal...OK!
Now, got that heart out and wrapped, got the grass wet, hey! I’m cookin...and so on through out the evening, into the next day...Geeze, this is taking forever... getting kinda hungry, ya know what I mean there Bro?... and come to think about it, those buttons weren’t all THAT bad, and it sorta cut down on my appetite too! Lets just see, yeah! there a couple more of them over there...just another taste...HHmmnnn, not so bad as that first one...Wow, I’m still cooking on the second day...you know, those buttons sure grow on you, hey, I’m feel pretty good, this air up here agrees with me!, now if I hadn’t put all my grass in that stupid fire, I’d have me a smoke...Wait a minute, that kinda slipped away from me, geeze...stupid fire,...think I’ll have another button...Aha, here’smygrass, Damn...it’s allwet, doggone it, musta some mixed up there the other day.....hey...wonder what day it is...anyhow....What!?, get OFF MMEEEE!!!! Oh, jest menever mind...stupid thing...not soo humgrey anymmone, smmmooookkennnnnnoowwww, sschoopppeeddd fffierrreee.
Now would be about the time that I would “Figure Out” that if I put my spare tire on that fire, why, it would burn a lot longer, and not need near as much tending, wouldn’t burn my hands as much anyway, geeze...these burns look bad!...wonder why they don’t hurt....
So, yeah, I guess that cooking mescal on a pit might not taste so good. I guess it sorta depends, kinda like that Indian, when he described the way he remembered the mescal tasting...fairly sweet, like succulent squash....or maybe sweet potatoes....remember, these guys used buffalo chips as their cooking fires...
On the subject of Spotted Seatrout
Cyno - Greek for Dog Like
Scion - Greek for Sea Fish
Nebulosus - Greek for Dark and Clouded
Nicknames: Trout, Sea Trout, Spotted Sea Trout, Speckled Trout, Spotted Weakfish, Specs, Sow Trout, Schoolies
Now, anyone who know me will ask themselves why in the world is Guilbeau writing about trout?
He lets most of them most unhook themselves or throws the majority back in the water, muttering under his breath something about Slimefish, messing up his Redfish stalking, scarring up the artificials (and by the way, anyone who can come up with a warehouse of that Clear Tape with Red Spots that Johnson Sprite has got archived somewhere, can get with me and we will retire as millionaires, you know how those trout canines cut up that tape) and pulling the Tout Tails off the hook. They generally disrupt the area, as semi-crazed, bug-eyed anglers, crowd one another to get a shot at those silver flashes, dashing hither and yon, wreaking havoc and creating general mayhem on the coast.
If you have ever fished the birds, you know of what I speak. A man could get flat run over trying to set up a drift.
Maybe it is just me, but the anglers that go nuts after this species, have to my way of thinking, been wrapped a bit too tight.
Hell, they’re not even Trout! That’s right! They are some sort of second or third cousin, once or twice removed, to the drum family, a red headed stepchild (if you will) to the King of the saltwater species, namely the Redfish.
Now before any of you get up on your soapbox and start my e-mail inbox on fire, just hang on a bit; we’ll get there.
I just want you to know that I am not, have not, never have been, never will be, nor would I ever want to be a trout aficionado. I don’t really know why, perhaps it stems from my youth, and wading the shorelines without a boat, miles from the vehicle, no ice, and no way to keep them from spoiling.
Put those babies on a stringer, and wade for about 4 hours, dragging them around on the bottom with Reds alongside them and you can get my point.
Ah, my pet Reds, like underwater submarines, big shouldered brutes, sometimes playful and whimsical, as they gently nudge and rub against your legs like a favorite feline, other times pulling and tugging me off balance. Hey if you have ever had six or seven large reds on a stringer while wade fishing and had a mullet explode into the midst of them, well…lets just say that you’re gonna get wet.
Not to speak of the chance of letting the end of THAT stringer get loose while trying get that feisty spec on!
Now... there is a scene not to be missed! Watching that angler try to run in shin deep mud, throwing up vegetation and hunks of smelly black bottom everywhere, covering his shirt with muck, risking the wrath of stingrays, in an attempt to retrieve that stringer, and when it is all over, seeing their fishing partners look of scorn, ask me how I know…
Put those nasty specs on the stringer and watch how quick those Blue Crabs can take hunks out of them. That oily, nasty flesh that just about falls apart, the way they “fool ya” into thinking that there is something substantial at the end of all that rattling and shaking.
What is with that nasty slime that they have all over them anyway? You have to wash your hands off after every single fish, sometimes over and over, and over again.
By the way, before the advent of hemostats, you just try to remove that hook from a big sows mouth, without getting your knuckles bloody from those canines. My thumbs were permanently scarred by canines in my yourh. And speaking of blood, what about the Sharks? “I” never had the sharks attack “my” Reds, but I HAVE been on more than one trip wading on the Gulf side of a pass like Cedar Bayou on San Jose and had sharks take good sized bites out of Trout on the stringer. This is all taking precious time away from productive stalking of Redfish, in my opinion.
Just kidding, well... mostly…
On the subject of the Flounder
Most of these musings were stumbled upon while fishing for Redfish...
Paralichthys - Greek for Parallel
Lethostigma (Latin-To forget one’s spots) Southern Flounder
Dentatus (Latin-Toothed) Summer Flounder
Albigutta (Latin-White Spotted) Gulf Flounder
The three species of flounder that inhabit Texas waters are the Southern Flounder, the Gulf flounder, and to a lesser extent the Summer Flounder When hatched, they swim in a normal manner. When the larvae hatch, they feed on zooplankton, for approximately 30 to 40 days, and later feed on very small crustaceans. As they mature, they feed predominately on mysid shrimp and small fish decapods, then larger crustaceans as they reach adulthood, becoming even more picivorus (Pici for Pisces or fish, and vorus for voracious). Menhaden, mullet, shrimp and other fish (small trout and reds), become their prey.
When they reach a length of about half an inch, a very odd change begins to take place. They begin to swim and rest on one side. The eye on the resting side actually begins to migrate to the topside. It seems that they are genetically predisposed to lie on their right side, which eventually turns almost white. The right eye begins the migration to the topside, and skeletal changes begin to affect the spine and the head of the flounder along with the nervous system and musculature tissues. This metamorphosis takes about three weeks to occur, and during this time the sex of the fish is determined.
Researchers have noted that the sex of Japanese flounders can be influenced by variations in the surrounding temperature, within this time period. The flounder then spends the remainder of its
life lying on its former right side, and being predatory in nature. Flounder do not scent their prey, rather they are visual feeders, and will settle on the bottom of a sandy or muddy area, where tidal currents sweep baitfish, as in a pass. Covering themselves up with the muddy or sandy bottom, they will settle in and wait to ambush unsuspecting baitfish swept overhead by tidal currents. Their razor sharp teeth assist in securing a good grip on their prey.
An interesting camouflage technique utilized by flounder is their ability to mimic the texture, and color of the bottom that they are resting on. Flounder will feed by lunging at its unsuspecting prey, while flaring the gills to create a vacuum. Studies indicate that flounder are active primarily during daylight hours. Flounder reach a length of about 12 inches at the end of their first year. Adult summer flounder move inshore after spawning in late spring and show peak populations in coastal waters from July to September.
Acid rain, and pollution runoff’s into estuaries affect vegetated summer flounder nurseries. Pesticide, fertilizer, and sediment suspension loads in these areas adversely affect the flounder population. Since the flounder moves out of the estuaries to spawn and into the Gulf to spawn, they are somewhat protected from the near term effects of pollution. Degradation of the sea grass nurseries and habitat have had a long-term decline on flounder populations dating from the early 1980’s.
Adult flounder return from the Gulf to the estuaries in late February and continue on thru June, where they reside until it becomes time to spawn in the fall. In the estuaries they seek smooth cord grass and other sub aquatic vegetation. The maximum age of flounder is predicted to be about 20 years.
Spawning begins at about the age of two years, in Gulf water at depths of 50 to 100 feet. Females may shed mature fertilized eggs throughout the October thru January spawning season. Male flounder rarely get over 12 inches in length, with females having a growth rate of about three time that of their male counterpart. Therefore most of the legal flounder caught by anglers are female. Fish that are 1 to 2 lbs and legal at just over 14 inches are right at two years old. Sabine lake produced the Texas record at about 13 lbs. A small percentage will remain in the bay and spend the winter there.
Tagging studies in the early to mid seventies indicate that flounder tend to be homebodies, with movements of 0 to 18 km over periods of 3 to 212 days. The most rapid movement recorded was 9.3 km in 3 days. One individual tagged on November of 1993 in Aransas Bay was recovered a year later 451 km to the east. I guess she heard about that new nude beach on the Florida Gulf Coast.
Southern flounder (Paralichthys Lethostigma) are the largest of the species. Adults have dorsal fin rays from 80 to 95; the ocellated spots are not normally present in mature adults. Pectoral fin rays from 11 to 13, lower gill rake’s are 8 to 11. This species tends to feed in daylight hours, setting up in submerged vegetation, while still maintaining an active disposition at night. They can change their pigmentation to match their environment. Optimum salinity levels may not be an overriding issue for the flounder, as they can be found in freshwater river channels to the deeper Gulf Waters offshore. They reach a size of 7 lbs or greater.
Gulf flounder (Paralichthys Albigutta), exhibit the same behaviors. Dorsal ray fins generally number between 70 and 85. The Gill rake’s on this species number 10 to 12 on the lower arch. Black Spots appear on the younger fish in a triangulated patterning, and tend to be absent as the fish grows larger. These flounder are much smaller than the Southern Flounder.
Summer Flounder (Paralichthys Dentatus) Young flounder have 5 small ocellated spots, which generally are absent in larger specimens. Gill rake’s number 13-18 on the lower limb, with dorsal fin rays numbering 80-95. This species normally occupies the Atlantic Coast.
Now, knowing what we do about the habitat and biology if the flounder, we can better target the species. Much like redfish, these guys are bottom feeders, choosing to ambush their prey from camouflaged hiding spots in muddy and silty bottoms. Their habitat during daylight hours includes sub aquatic vegetation. That sounds a lot like salt marshes and back lakes on the Texas Gulf Coast, with salty or muddy bottoms being better than hard sand bottoms.
The species is also territorial, and much like Bass that are on their spawning beds, will grab intruding aquatic species and forcibly remove them from the premises. You hear of bass fisherman, who bounce sinking lures off of spawning beds? Well this will also work for flounder, sometimes they are just not hungry, and they just want their privacy.
Flounder will hit a tout tail, a Gold Spoon, or even a top-water She Dog, when the mood strikes them. Most unsettling to those of us who thought that we had them all figured out. Now, like most of us, they also like to have a little snack, to bide them over, just before they turn in for the night.
Locate those silty, muddy bottoms, near passes, near sub aquatic vegetation, with tidal current flows and mark these areas as prime fishing ground for flounder. Fish the incoming tides on dark evenings. Understand their migration patterns into the Gulf when the temperatures begin to cool off. How do the following spots fit the above description…Rollover Pass, Seawold Park, San Luis Pass, and the Freeport Jetties, the Colorado River as it dumps into Matagorda Bay, Pass Cavallo and the Land Cut between Baffin Bay and Port Mansfield?
Well, we’ve mentioned grassy vegetated back bays, in shallow water, so how the heck am I going to get a lure in there without hanging up on everything. I already know that I am supposed to fish the dang thing slow. Well here is where that Mansfield Mauler comes in handy, just rig the tout tail 6-8 or Gold Spoon inches off the bottom, and pop away. Use this technique on channels, cuts, etc… you are fishing the tides aren’t you? Live bait works just the same.
Now for the strike, there have been volumes written on this subject, let me give you my take. I believe that they stun and kill their prey, waiting until movement has ceased in order to feed. Think about it, if you had two eyes on one side of your head, do you really think that you could grab a mullet that had just escaped your grasp, while you were sideways and starting to get upside down? I seriously doubt it; more likely you would hit hard (remember that moniker Dentatus…or toothy), and settle down to let the prey perish. (Here is where most novices set the hook, thereby jerking the bait out of the flounders mouth). Give the fish a moment or two to take the lure or bait.
Here is where the flounder will swim a short distance, in order to feed. Do you eat in the kitchen, or move your dinner to the dining room, or most likely the couch? Give that couch potato time to settle in!
How do you know that the flounder has taken the bait? Well, the retrieve should have been real slow, and the line will move off to one side or the other when the fish picks up the bait and swims with it.
Remember, they may be mouthing the bait, trying to kill it before settling down on the bottom for a leisurely meal. I have a Lew Childre Reel (BB-1NG) reel, mounted on a 7-ft Talon “E” Striker Graphite Rod, designed for ¼ to ¾ Oz Lures on a 7 Oz SPR blank, spooled with 10-lb Trilene Big Game monofilament. The Lew Childre reel incorporates a free spooling feature that I use for flounder. I can cast, and flick the thumb slider to free the spool then continue the retrieve. When I feel anything, I stop and wait, letting the flounder pull line off the spool as I keep light pressure on it with my thumb, watching the line as it enters the water. Hey! It’s moving, and so now I wait for the line to stop moving, or to tighten, and let the free spooling continue, until the line has moved several feet. Then I set the hook. Sometime you can wait up to 15-20 seconds or so and still set the hook and land the flounder.
One of these days, a snook is going to pick up, and I am going be in a world of hurt, trying to undue that backlash.
Hey, sometimes you can land a flounder in a net, without even setting the hook, and that’s when you know that you are on top of your game, because at this point in your angling career, you have identified the fish at the end of the line, and knowing the habits of the species, used that knowledge to catch and release, without a hook set…Volia!
I keep reminding anglers that flounder, like so many of us will return to the place that they spent time at in their youth. The quote “Them apples don’t fall far from that tree” comes to mind. Where you catch one flounder, you just know that others are in the area. Just fan cast, and come back to the spot in the future, over, and over, and over.
Now lets take a look at that flounder shape, reminds you of…well, nothing actually. If it were shaped like a dolphin or a barracuda, I would say that the species is FAST. Remind you of a snook? Naw, look at the tail, nothing like it. Hmnn, doesn’t resemble any of the species that seem to be able to cover long distances in a hurry.
As matter of fact, I am not quite sure that the flounder can outrun me in my kayak over any appreciable distance. So, when flounder migrate, where the heck do they go, my best guess, and proven by real time research is the Jetties. Here is where that fish finder will come in handy, find the holes, the soft bottoms, the edges of the last pieces of jetty rock at the end, where the tidal currents flow. One last thing about flounder… I believe that they tend to like company, and therefore if you don’t get any bites, they probably aren’t in the mood, much like people.
On the subject of a 1st Aid Kit for a Kayak
Stuff the following into a Nalgene water bottle, Most of it will fit into those small zip loc bags that very small parts go into, 2”x4” bags.
Roll of Gauze Bandage
Maxi-Pads (Medic!!...Medic!!!!...they Work, OK...?) place them over the wound, bind with gauze
PhiSoHex (Active ingredient Hexachlorophene) good antibiotic soap from hospitals
Johnson & Johnson Liquid Bandage (7 Swabs/pkg) this stuff is great and waterproof
Xylocaina Spray 10% From Mexico...(Lidocane…ask any dentist)
Repel 100 Insect Repellent (95% DEET)…Wal-Mart, your offspring don’t need to know this…
Benadryl Gel Topical Analgesic and Tablets (Itch Relief)…Wal-Mart
Chlorpheniramine Maleate (antihistamine by United Research Labs, at HEB $2.12 per 100 tablets)
Bayer Aspirin 500mg (Oral and Topical use) any Drug Store
Advil/Motrin etc/... (Aches and Pains) if you prefer
Arm and Hammer Baking Soda (Poltice and Stomach upset), gets rid of odors also
Aloe Vera Gel (as pure as you can find it at Health Food places) Great for healing wounds
Vinegar is good for Red Ant (Fire Ants) Jellyfish stings, Man-O-Wars (Portuguese)
Clove Oil for pain relief
Shaving crème and razor
Duct Tape is real handy, will fix/repair and bind most things including limbs and legs.
White Distilled Vinegar (Jellyfish/Portuguese Man-O-Wars), wash off with Salt (Not Fresh!) water, and use the vinegar to flood affected area, then using shave cream, shave the area to remove most of the venom (jellyfish and Man-O-Wars have barbed imbedded stingers that stab and stay in the skin), after shaving to remove the barbs, re-apply the vinegar.
Now you are set for cuts, abrasions, stabs, stings, aches and pains, sunburn relief, bacterial infestations, and most of the above can be had a Wal-Mart.
If you buy one of those real cheap Propane or Butane Gas One Burner Stoves (fuel on bottom, burner on top), you will be ready for Sting Ray emergency aid (Boil Salt Water and immerse affected area for pain relief) and as a plus, with a non-stick small fry pan, you will be ready to dredge those trout fillets in rice flour, and plop them into Real Cream Butter until golden brown. You will not need any seasonings. Try it!
On the subject of the pleasures of fishing the Texas Gulf Coast and the magical TGS…
Yessir!
Bum said, “You gotta dance with them whut brung ya...”
I feel like I have found a home here, and would like to contribute some of my observations along with other musings, on the subject of the outstanding fishery we find at our doorstep.
For the Texas Gulf Coast Fisherman, those folks who fish the estuaries and tidal flats from Sabine Pass, to Sea Rim State Park, along the Bolivar Peninsula inland to Galveston Bay encompassing East Bay and the Trinity Bay.
For those, who upon hearing the words “San Jacinto River” entreat forgotten memories of that battle cry...”Remember the Alamo!!!”! For Galveston Island, West Bay, Chocolate Bayou, San Louis Pass, Follets Island and Christmas Bay. That great Offshore staging area…Freeport, and Cedar Lakes, then down to Matagorda Peninsula, and East Matagorda Bay with the influx of the Colorado River. West Matagorda Bay protecting Tres Palacios Bay, Caranachua Bay with those 6-foot indigenous natives, now long passed away.
Port Lavaca Bay and Pass Cavallo, on to Matagorda Island. Espirito Santo Bay and San Antonio Bays along with the Aransas Wildlife Refuge and St. Charles Bay, which pioneered the Red Drum Stocking Program in our great state. Copano Bay, Aransas Bay and Aransas Pass, with San Jose Island and Cedar Bayou, the “Fish Pass” so critical for Blue Crab Migration which compose upwards of 80% of the diet of the wintering Whooping Crane population.
Mustang Island, protecting Corpus Christi Bay, Nueces Bay and the Upper Laguna Madre. Padre Island National Seashore, Big Shell and Little Shell, and 80 miles of protected barrier island, providing shelter for one of our finest Trout fisheries…Baffin Bay, home of the some of the greatest Sow Trout in the State. Lower Laguna Madre and the Land Cut, alongside the King Ranch and down to Port Mansfield and the Laguna Atascosa and on to South Bay and Port Isabel, with Caribbean like waters. Boca Chico, with its distinction of having been the site of the Last Battle of the Civil War, dated May 11th, 1865. Those of you familiar with these stretches of water, can no doubt point out areas that I have glossed over. This is one of the magnificent points to be made about these waters. Yet within all of this, there are three words, that when uttered, bring about a near mystical mood which settles gently upon inland and coastal anglers, illiciting deep musings and faded memories reaching far back in time.
Namely, the “Texas Grand Slam!!!” No, we are not speaking of the Desert Bighorn Sheep, Pronghorn Antelope, Desert Mule Deer and a South Texas Whitetail Buck hunt.
Hardly, these are small potatoes, when compared to the dedication, effort, and blind luck needed to accomplish the angler’s dream version of this fabled feat.
The accomplishment of taking by rod and reel, the three species known scientifically as Cynoscion Nebulosus, Sciaenops Ocellatus and the Paralicthys Dentatus... Respectively, the Speckled Sea Trout (10 Trout limit 15-inch minimum), the ubiquities Red Fish (3 Redfish total within the 20-28-inch slot limit, with one possible tagged fish going over 28-inches), and that bottom dwelling doormat, the Southern Flounder (10 Flounder limit with a 14-inch minimum), all taken the same day.
Do this with a Kayak and the feat assumes epic proportions, a Herculean task, and worthy of only those who have achieved the pinnacle of angling perfection... Or, perhaps, those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time!
Knowledge will help, and with luck, perhaps one of the members of this board might bear the moniker of having accomplished Texas’s inshore angler’ most prized accomplishment, that of having either filled their ice chests (yes, several will be needed) or released the equivalent of the “Texas Grand Slam”.
We are mere stewards of a small, perhaps insignificant speck of dust in the heavens, yet who will, By God; fight to the death to protect this heritage passed on to us by our ancestors. To this effort, I would like to add my own observations and summarize my studies of these three aquatic species, in order that we become better acquainted with these marine species that inspire and challenge us, and in that process, perhaps bring us together in camaraderie.
A quote of Henry David Thoreau comes to mind…
“Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after”.
Stay tuned for some musings on Trout and Flounder.
On the subject of the King of Inshore Game fish…. Red Drum
Most of these musings come from a lifetime of pursuing Redfish...
Sciaenops Ocellatus;
Sciaenops is Greek for perch-like marine fish
Ocellatus is Latin for eye-like colored spot.
For the first three to four years of their lives, reds live in the estuaries or in the surf zones along inlets feeding on the bottom for crabs, shrimp, menhaden, and mullet. Most reds reach sexual maturity when they are about 30 to 37 inches long, thus the 28-inch length limit was imposed. As they mature, they are more frequently found in the ocean but still use the estuaries and inlets to feed and spawn. Some fish are still taken that are as much as 60 years old.
When they are this size, they tend to hide and ambush other species, from behind structure, such as pier pilings, and sunken objects in the surf. In the surf, reds will “ghost” schools of trout feeding on shrimp and baitfish schools, picking up the scraps as the feeding frenzy is occurring over their heads. They will also use the cuts, and troughs to ambush their prey.
In the early summer to late fall, September, October and November, female reds return from the Gulf of Mexico to the tidal passes near back bays and estuaries protected by the barrier island to lay their spawn. Males are smaller than females. During mating periods males present themselves to females by darkening their backs to a brown color and their bellies lighten to a white. It is my personal belief that they sunburn in the shallow back bays.
The males also broadcast their presence with the drumming sounds and the females respond with a lower drumming sound, thereby earning their handle of “Red Drum”. Years ago, we were wading in the Lower Laguna Madre, and you could hear them, sounded like Daytona bike week in the far distance. The encounter of sexually active fishes can lead to violent chases and the eggs being released just before sunset. The optimal temperature is 25 degrees C; the optimal salinity is 30 parts per thousand.
Once the eggs are fertilized they will float to the surface, and eventually sink to the bottom. Females will prefer areas adjacent to muddy vegetated tidal flats protected from strong currents. The eggs will hatch about 24 hours later. Once hatched, within about 48 hours, the larva will form mouths and feed upon copepods, which are aquatic crustaceans (smaller relatives of crabs). These larva’s hang around shallow water tidal flats and grass beds, with little or no current and mudflats with appropriate salinity levels. The optimal temperature is 25 degrees C; the optimal salinity is 30 parts per thousand. Juvenile’s frequent backwater protected flats with muddy bottoms with grassy clumps as they feeding on amphipod shrimp, decaying crabs, copepods, small mussels and other bivalves.
As they grow, they school together and hunt. Now, knowing all of this, and putting some common sense in the mix, we can pretty well target this species. I think that most reds are like most humans, in that home to them holds a special place in their hearts, although they may not be able to reason this out on their own. This is why I wade the cord grass shorelines, in tidal flats, along estuaries, sometimes free lining fingerling mullet or perhaps shrimp on ten pound test, other times using Gold Spoons, and other artificials. Release studies of reds indicate that over 97% survive being hooked and released.
Larger reds (female) will be found in the Surf and Jetties. Incoming and outgoing tides play an important part in the lives of the reds, as they search for baitfish. Always fish the tides. Biologists have discovered that increased light levels trigger a hormone in reds that stimulate activity and feeding. This is why the early mornings are so productive. Riptides under piers come to mind here, in the Fall, when sexually mature females come back from the Gulf to spawn.
Ever wonder why the biggest reds encountered are those in the surf, jetties, or around surf piers? Them apples don’t fall far from the tree.
How about it, anyone want to take on Trout or Flounder? We would then have quite a nice database on the “Texas Grand Slam”.
On the subject of what fishing is like after a Tropical Storm hits…
Lets look at what happens, the Tropical Storm does several things, like push water into the back bays, tides are 1-2 feet higher than normal for the bays and estuaries.
Baitfish are pushed up onto grassy areas where they normally are not privy to. The barometric pressure drops. So before the storm front, fishing should get better on the tidal flats, back lakes and marshes. Kinda like the passing of a cold front.
Out in the Gulf there have been buoys reporting 15-20 high waves, but once you get 40-50 deep, underneath the wave action, I doubt that things are that disrupted, just at the upper surface. Closer here to the Middle and Upper Coast, things are not that wild. There are other storms on the horizon, and so a lot of what you read here might just apply in a few weeks.
Inshore, winds and rain are making the back bays choppy, muddy, and thick with salt grasses and other vegetation churned up by the storm. Baywater visibility is getting worse. Fish like Trout and Reds are looking for shelter, and they are disrupted from their normal feeding habits, can’t see as well, Reds don’t really need to see to feed.
As things peak out, wind, rain and gusts up to 30-50 miles per hour whip up the bays, and the fish are really hiding now. Offshore or at the Jetties, not so much change, the fish just have to hide in deeper holes. Jetties might be 30-50 feet deep and protected rocks jut out, blocking a lot of the tidal surf.
If you could safely get out and fish, probably cut bait in deep holes would get some Red, Drum etc..., I doubt that the Trout will be participating, but here too, the Jetties will have a leg up on the inshore bays system. Too nasty to get out though, the boat would sink, and forget a kayak.
And so the storm passes...
Now, as things settle down, in the Back Bays and Estuaries the fish are hungry, but they are not at the same places that you would normally find them. Scattered, a bit shell shocked, and wondering what the hell just happened, a bit spooky.
Reds will settle down right away, as they never seem to get so upset that they wont eat, they are bottom huggers anyway, the submarines of the aquatic back bays, cruising along checking things out, they come across some current that normally isn’t there. If it has rained a lot, then oxygen levels will be down somewhat. Fish need oxygen.
Sediment resuspension mixtures of non-source pollutants (learned that in Austin) will also lower the available oxygen levels. For you Galveston fishermen.
Fresh water runoff, from the Storm surge perhaps, is draining back into the Gulf, or into back bays, or through cuts, or formed new cuts. Here is where you will find the Reds, for them, this is great, new stuff being served to them on a platter, all the have to do is hang around that fresh inflow, and wait for the baitfish on the tidal flats to be swept up and flushed out those cuts, in the surf they will be in the tide rips, and anywhere the water returns to the Gulf. Interesting smells abound for the Reds, so they just stack up, and mill around, awaiting the smorgasbord coming their way.
If you have a 4-wheel drive, now is the time to cruise the barrier islands, looking for water, returning to the Gulf.
Be quick though. Set up your surf rods with cut mullet, chum a lot, the Reds will be in the 2nd and 3rd troughs. Where is that Spud launcher when you need it?
The fresh water is lighter than the salt water, so the Trout will have it a little tougher in the Bay systems. Reds don’t mind the fresh water; Trout will seek the higher salinity levels. So there is a clue, higher salinity levels will be found near the Gulf passes, San Luis Pass, Galveston Jetties, Pass Cavallo, Cedar Cut if it re-opens, Aransas Jetties. Trout will seek the higher salinity levels. Trout will also be looking to move into the deeper sections of the Back
Bays gotta think about spawning this time of year. Hanging out over shell reefs etc... but they will be scattered, drift fishing is a hit or miss with kayaks, as you cannot cover enough territory with a fish finder to get a good feel of where they are hanging out at, before it is time to go home. If you know the area, you are ahead of the game.
Remember those fresh water rivers, well they are dumping copious amounts of water (rainfall normally associated with Tropical Storms) into the bay system.
Jetties are deep, and here is where the heavier Salt water will settle, along with where the incoming tides will bring clean high salinity salt water from the Gulf. So that fresh water can just flow right out of the Jetties, if that is where it needs to go.
Aha, looks as if the Surf might be the best choice, with Northern winds, the Blue/Green water may slip in close. This can be very true, but where is there guaranteed to be... Salt Water, Baitfish, Tidal Currents (time to get back to normal feeding habits) and a cleaner (not chopped up, slity, muddy water) environment? Remember that Blue/Green water pushing up against the surf zone?
My vote goes to the Jetties, in and amongst the Rocks, I’d free line live bait to those hungry Trout and Reds, at night on a Full Moon, when the wind dies a bit, got a Green Light?
The wind will have subsided, if only a bit, but should be from the North or Northeast, thereby changing the spots that the baitfish will have leeward shelter in the Back Bays.
Jetties will hardly be affected, back to normal, right away.
Anyhow, that is my take on the subject, and now you probably know why the Port O’Connor area is my fishing ground. Powderhorn Ranch just north of POC insures that non source point pollution is at a minimum, the tidal flats and back bays are second to none on the Gulf Coast, Cedar Bayou and POC Jetties along with Guadalupe River give proper salinity levels, Aransas Wildlife Refuge is a hop, skip, and a jump away, as is St. Charles Bay. Matagorda Island with it’s back lakes, Pringle, Conte, South Pass, Corey Cove, Pats Bay, Twin Lakes, Cedar Lake, Panther Lake, Panther Reef...All of these places hold enormous amounts of Reds and Trout, and yes, Flounder.
Can you tell that I love this place, it truly is something special, very little pollution, lots of salt grass, teeming with ducks and wildlife.
Anyway, perhaps not so much rain, so adjust your plans accordingly, I hope all who read this can tolerate the musings of a guy who has fished this area since the 60’s, starting with Blue Crabbing in the creeks and seeing my mom catch a 51 lb. Redfish at the Jetties in POC, about 1961 if I remember correctly, maybe ‘63, to returning to the area, over and over, finding things much the same as in those early years. Most of us have to go down to the Lower Laguna Madre for that experience.
This place is special to me, lots of memories. When I get squared away, let me know, and I can tow some of ya’ll over to the Matagorda Island north shoreline, I have a 21 Foot Gregor Sea Hawk Aluminum with a 45 HP Honda 4-Stroke, I haven’t camped out on the island in the longest time. Food, Beverage, Ice, and more Ice, camping equipment can be loaded on the Gregor for transport, and what Kayaks can’t be brought on board, can be towed across the bay, and back.
There will be a new Kayak Trail System located in and around the Magnolia/Indianola Beach areas.
Included will be a Kayak livery with 16 Kayaks (tandems) for use by the public and the local school systems.
If any of you have fished the cut at Powderhorn Lake and Port Lavaca Bay, you know how nice of an area this is. Speaking of which...
When we were teenagers, we went to Ed Bells (small fish camp on the Northern Bank of the cut) and rented a small flat bottom boat with rope pull-start outboard.
There were five of us stuffed into that flat bottom, we had seven poles between us, tackle boxes, some beers, and very little food, because Ed Bells was right there and open most of the night.
The tide was going to flow that night and it was a full moon, it was November and the bite was on, conditions were perfect! We anchored out in the middle of the cut with a strong outgoing current flowing and proceeded to set hooks several of many Reds. We were chumming cut mullet, and dead shrimp and had 7 poles out, three on top, one with live fingerling mullet, one with live shrimp and one with a live croaker.
Four of the poles were fanned out fishing the bottom with cut mullet; these were just about dropped over the side of the boat, two in the middle and one at each end of the flat bottom.
Some nice Reds and several trout on the live shrimp had already been put into the Ice Chest, heck it was only about 10:20 PM, and we had already made the trip worthwhile.
Jon had just set out his bait, a live perch under a poppin cork and a number 5 long shank hook, and tu