Oct 4 2018, San Luis Pass lights

[Chubs]

I had a window to go fishing Thursday night with no lighting in the forecast so I went for it.

I'm trying a new format for my reports and logging them in OneNote. Let me know how this looks or if you would record more/ or other data. Sorry for no pictures, I brought my camera with good intentions. I even wanted to get underwater pictures of lights (waterproof tg tough). Just got caught up in the fishing and exploring.

Time fished: 8pm - 2am
Goals: explore San Luis pass at night time. See what lights are normally on. Test out the camp ground lights. Check out Titlum tatlum bayou. Check out the dock lights at the far south end of the pass. Test various lures. Catch some fish!
General Path: launched at San Luis boat ramp, travel to furthest reach lights along camp ground. Travel across to titlum tatlum bayou, back to SLP to furthest house with light on. Then fished around houses them back to camp ground lights for a bit.
Previous recent weather: lot of rain and lighting. Water still taste salty
Wind : south east mild high
Tide/ current: flat to start then incoming rest of trip
Sky: night time, lot of stars
Water temps: low 80s
Fish caught: one 16 inch spec, a few almost keeper specs, and a number of throw backs. Many sand trout, keep 7 of the bigger ones, one almost 15".
Bait used: Most liked lure was smaller baits, both the marabou buck tail jig in black and chart; and also the matrix minis in dark blue.
Caught keeper spec on black vortex shad with 1/4 oz
Stomach Contents/ bait present: Saw 2" long shrimp in water jumping away. Saw shrimp floating in the water, looked just like a DOA transparent shrimp. Saw a barfed up little minnow fish looked just like a paddle tail, about 2" long

Frustrations: Anchoring was impossible at San Luis pass mostly. Some spots were 30' Deep right up to the shore! Rope to short.
My cast kept getting interfered with on right hand side, couldn't reach back as far as I needed.
Tried to anchor to a dock and had difficulty but eventually got it with my claw anchor.
My spinning reels with braid would keep eventually tangling up and a big knot would get stuck in the guides. Had to cut and retie a few times. Not sure if a swivel would help but I don't like swivel at night.
Bait caster worked great until I made an overhand cast into the water and had a hopeless birds nest unrecoverable.
There were a lot of fishermen out at the lights at the campground. Was annoying because it was a Thursday night and they were out till 2 even! Get to bed people!
Hooking up the wheels to the kayak is very hard if not on the truck.
Lessons Learned: don't bother with titlum tatlum at night unless you see a house with lights on. I went all the way to that bayou and spotted no dock lights on. burned an hour in travel time. I did make a few casts, had a bite but but no takers.
The water is very deep near the pass mouth and also in the bayou itself. Need to figure out a better anchoring system so I can have a short rope for marsh, and long rope for passes.
I tried to point my down scan imaging sonar at a 45 degree angle to see if I could get 1/2 of side scan. Didn't work to well.
Other observations: the folks I talked with weren't fairing to well. All of them were catching throwback specs. They didn't have the same mobility as I.
The mouth of the pass at the end of the rv lights is an interesting area. Your kayak gets pulled to a place then suits stationary for the longest time. You paddle back where you want to be and will soon get pulled back to where to were.
I saw a flock of birds working some lights on my return from tt bayou, but didn't go to them because my goal was to explore and I'd already checked that area. Was sure hard not heading to them though

[Angler]

Nice report! Pass at night solo! You need a wing man dude!

Seriously, I haven’t hit the passes in a while, but it is interesting to hear how it went. Timing for water movement was always fun to me. Well, unless I lost track of the time and had to go against incoming on short cycle days/nights.

Fishing at night is so different. Totally agree about the dock lights...can really be a time vampire if you gamble and nobody has em on.

Last time I hit the pass a few years ago, my buddy and I got caught on the wrong end of incoming tide and it drained us both just getting back to take out. We just lost track of time working far shore and missed the chance to ride outgoing back to take out. That really sucked. Lessons learned.

Anyway, sounds like you had fun and learned some good stuff. How much line do you think it would take to anchor? What type of anchor? I wonder if a BTB anchor rig would work ok with more line?

[imaoldmanyoungsalt]

Nice report and wow, 30 ft deep! Yeah, I wouldn't be prepared for that either. I have a 50ft rope/anchor I use for freshwater lakes but I only take a 6 ft rope/anchor and a stake out stick for salt . Sounds like you had a good time tho and caught some fish. I think I could definitely get into some night/light fishing down there if I lived closer. Maybe when I retire, I can get the wife talked into relocating. Good job, Chubs!

[OrangeQuest]

I know where that big hole is..very deep!! Hard to anchor up in the pass if there is any current, lots of hard clay and the sand shifts around. Best to find a shallow sand bar to anchor on and drift your rode out enough to where you can fish the channels. Very good report. There are a few places in Cold Pass that have deep holes also but the current isn't as bad.

Like to hit that area on Monday mornings before the sun comes up.

[karstopo]

Interesting. Sounds like a different world at night. I haven’t done a night trip in years. I’m such a chicken.

[Chubs]

Thanks for the feedback all.

Was a real neat trip. Good tips for anchoring. I noticed the hard clay, actually thought it was concrete I was trying to drive my stake out pole in so gave up.

I did try to get a wingman but everyone I asked couldn't come

Anyway I wasn't too worried but also knew not to get myself into a situation where I could have a hard time recovering.

I did time the tide wrong though and was paddling against incoming tide while trying to get out of tt bayou. I consider myself a good enough paddler but was going 1.5 mph according my gps lol. Normal speed is about 4 while underway. Took awhile to get back to the lights but was not winded, just made sure to pace myself.

I should note, I've got a gps (Garmin 78sc) which has proven itself very dependable, I chart my course out exactly as planned doing recon on Google earth before the trip. That way I know what way to go and not get lost, and plot it out for the deepest parts of the bayo do I don't ground myself in the dark. I always wear my life jacket, and have a floating vhs radio strapped to myself if things get hairy.
That said, I'd not recommend going out alone before you've put all your gear to the test and know how to use it. Def not recommend going alone without those gear if you plan to leave the lights on an adventure. If you stay by the lights things seem pretty safe, but of course there are no guarantees you cant get into trouble. I'll note I had 2 boats that passed by when I was anchored to the docks one time. They passed me by then I overheard them say "oh there is a kayaker, I didn't see him!" I've got the 360 light but I'd say get to the edge if you see boats coming

I think the most dangerous thing I did was drive home unfortunately. I need to append my report for that lesson learned. I got so sleepy on the ride back that was pretty dangerous. I should have pulled over and taken a nap. That's a big lesson for my next time. Know my sleep limits

[kickingback]

Good thorough report Chubs. I have fished SLP at night MANY times. I have posted reports in here as well. I do the same route except I go left out of the launch and hit all the lights in channels and then the long dock has lights on and people fishing sometimes. Good for a bite or two. I then continue on to John Wayne cut and go into the marsh and catch big reds and trout at night in the deeper holes. Used live shrimp and gulp. I then move out and go around the west end of Moodys Island and come back through Titlum Tatlum and fish all the docks for flounder. Yeah some lights would be good and I have hit a few in TT if people are there but early morning bite in TT is unbeatable. You can go into the marsh at the mouth of TT across from launch and the reds are tailing in the mornings and evenings. Trout are under the birds in Cold Pass all the time. Hit them if you can reach them.
The tide is the NUMBER ONE issue I look at when I go there. I launch on and incoming and recover on outgoing. It has saved me time by not fighting the currents.
It's actually a great time to start searching for flounder in that area as well! They are starting to stage at the mouths of marshes and moving closer to the channels leading to passes. They aren't running yet but they are staging. TT is perfect for flounder all along the banks and around the docks.
Check out my old posts on "san luis pass". I have maps of route I traveled as well.
And I go alone every time I have been. As long as you tell someone your route like I do and tell them when you will return and have a radio to call USCG and have lights and have a phone and have anything else you feel will help you in case of emergency. It's not hard to go alone if you are safe and smart.
Also STUDY google earth "history images". You would be surprised at what you see when the water is low there. Sounds like you missed the sand reef in the middle of Cold Pass. I have beached on it many times.
And I would have gone if you asked?

Here are a couple of the links...
http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/foru ... s#p2264898

http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/foru ... s#p2233682

[OrangeQuest]

Night fishing is a blast but when you have boats coming at you remember the lights in the background. Your 360° light blends in with them. If you wear a head light turn it on and take glances at on coming boaters. If they flash their light at you they see you.

[Chubs]

More good tips.

KB thanks for the offer, I'll have to take you up on it next time I'm too chicken to take your full loop path alone for now lol.

Here was my path, just 4.something miles. Wasn't worn out or anything at the end even with the paddling against the current out of TT Bayou.

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Scariest part though was that trek across the pass. Not bad but at one point I saw some lights coming at me in the distance from up cold pass and thought uh oh, here is where I make the news! Fortunately it was just a car on the highway so I was in 0 danger lol