I wanted to let anyone know that plans on showing up tomorrow (Friday) that instead of launching at 6:30am that I will be launching a little after 7:00am. I spoke to Sea Pony. The shop doesn't open until 6am on Friday. This is the reason for the change in launch time. Rick, the owner of Sea Pony bait shop, told me that he has horse mullet so there will be bait there to purchase for tomorrow.
Now, on to another matter. As of yesterday, the winds were predicted to be around 11 mph for Friday. That's doable but it's boarder line for me as anything over 15 mph (depending on the swells and the intervals) is not really fun to fish in. I am going to watch the forecast for winds to see what they will do. If the winds stay in check, we are good to go. If not, I personally will not fish tomorrow. As of now I am good to go. I will post something up later today around 6pm. Stay tuned.
It has been brought to my attention that there might be some work going on at the HI beach line. I called Rick and asked him about this. I was told that this is going on out at the McFadden beach line. Rick didn't think that it hit the HI area yet. Here is what I propose. Let's meet at the McFadden sign (on the HI side) for a meeting spot. If you get there and see any kind of construction or anything that looks like we can't park and launch, that will mean we have changed locations. The location then will be at "The Slabs." If you are unfamiliar with how to get to the slabs, here's how I do it (MythMan, if you see this post, can you reply with a map to The Slabs on here (the satellite image you have used in some of your previous posts). Coming from the Winnie area on Hwy 124 and you just did that hard right curve to enter on to the Port Bolivar peninsula on to Hwy 87, follow down for a short time. As you are going down Hwy 87, look to your left on the beach line. It's hard to see over the raised sand dunes and the concrete walls but try and look for some really huge boulders that are on the beach line between the water and the dunes. This is what we call The Slabs. Right after you pass it up, fairly quick there is a area that opens up to where you can enter the beach line. If the sand is too thick there and you are unable to enter, there are a few other options to choose from.
Option 1
Park along side of the road and make sure you bring your kayak dolly's so that you can walk your yaks to the water. I've done this before. It's not fun but it is manageable. As long as you park on the side of the road and your vehicle is not on the road at all, you will not be ticketed or towed (a few years back I spoke to Galveston PD on this and that is what they told me).
Option 2
This is what I do when I fish at The Slabs (assuming the entrance of HI is not under any kind of construction). I turn on to the HI beach line (which is 2wd friendly) and when possible, I do a U-turn and drive down the beach line. Coming from this direction has always been 2wd friendly for me in the past. Follow the beach line until you see The Slabs (I am not exactly sure how far down the boulders are but you will see them and these boulders are very obvious). Pass the boulders up and pull your vehicle up to the water so that you can unload. After we unload and are set up, everyone pulls their vehicles up against the dunes to park. The only part that is not 2wd friendly sometimes is the entrance. The beach line is usually pretty good.
THE ONLY TIME THIS OPTION IS NOT THAT GOOD IS IF WE HAVE A REALLY HIGH TIDE AND IT PROHIBITS ME FROM MAKING IT DOWN THE BEACH LINE BECAUSE IT'S UNDER WATER. MY ONLY OTHER OPTION LEFT WOULD BE TO DO OPTION 1.
I'll post up later today on things. Have a great Thursday!
