Five days in the Texas tropics

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Ron Mc
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Five days in the Texas tropics

Post by Ron Mc »

Up front, no kayaks, and a vacation for the extended family in Arroyo City. My dad's 89 now, hasn't been fishing in 3 years, so this trip was overdue. For 9 years in a row, over late 80s to mid- 90s, my follks would rent a house or condo for the month of October or November somewhere between Key Allegro and S. Padre.
Back then, $1100 would get the full month in a nice place with 3 or 4 bedrooms, and a dock / boat slip.
My dad would be out in his boat every morning, with or without a companion, but extended family and friends did our best to keep him in fishing company. (He also needed to remember how much work this is, because he's been threatening to do S Padre for a month - solo.)

Rent-wise, Arroyo City is the best deal on the coast, with a range of boys-only fishing shacks to really nice places where you want to take your sister, wife and mother.
With any Arroyo trip, boat runs to Laguna Madre are secondary to the spectacular dock fishing into the 40' deep navigation channel.
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Keep in mind, this trip was a bit of reminiscing, catching up, and focused fish slaying. Fresh fillets from ice bowl for family meals of fabulous fish tacos and fried feast with hush puppies - the ladies are really good at this part. Also, my mom's goal is to stock her freezer - there are obviously cheaper and smarter ways to do that - but none other quite so fun.
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The place we had was big enough for the extended family, had a good dock and boat lift. Anyone needing space can retreat to the palapa above the boat dock.
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This was the overdue first time I've fished with my BIL. He grew up with a family cabin in Flour Bluff, he and his brother have bought guide time from Louisiana to Slow Ride in AP, and I've even fished with my nephew from the Flour Bluff cabin.
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We had new moon, first-light low tides, prevailing SE wind, mid-70s to pushing 90 for the entire week. The north wind just hit yesterday morning while I was chugging at Adolph Tomae Park launch waiting for my dad to back in the trailer.

The Bays - We were off like a herd of turtles every morning, getting the boat out as late as 9a after a late breakfast, though made 7a one morning. We covered a lot of water from Oilfield Flat (marker 39) to marker 109 and beyond, we also fished Peyton Bay (and I accidentally turned into Rattlesnake Bay one day, but we got the boat out).
The flooding up the coast is affecting the tides this far south, driven by the gulf stream currents and making its way down the Laguna and through the cuts. I've never seen Oilfield flat 3' deep at low tide. We also had brutal winds as the morning pushed into afternoon, making siesta an important part of the day.
Many little trout, a few rats, and I got one 22" slot red on Oilfield.
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We found the just-right wind respite, exactly the right color water, grass and sand holes, and countless tourist trout at Green Island. My BIL and I had a blast catching them on TSL grasswalkers - he learned to use my favorite lure this trip.
Pink was my color for early morning light and in murky Peyton Bay, I switched to Birthday Suit for high sun and the slightly off-color seam we found on the west side of Green island. My BIL fell in love fishing Golden Roach, and he and Dad also caught fish on Chicken on a Chain.
I was totally happy releasing a dozen 14" trout every morning in the bay, because I had already limited-out by 5:15 every morning at the dock.
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Just said again, I got up alone every morning to fish the dock and had a limit of 16" to 18" specs every morning by 5:15 (that's about when the others would get up and try their luck). By mid week, I was waking up with sore hands every morning from filleting all of mine and my dad's fish.
FWIW, I only filleted 3 female trout the entire week - the rest were males.
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The first morning I counted, switched between fly rod and lures, and released 40 fish to get my limit. Over the week, I got better at getting my lure down to bypass the nursery trout, sitting on the dock to watch the fish sign and focus-cast to the schoolies as they moved in and out of the lights, so I would get my limit in 15 or so casts.
Changing up was everything. On the fly rod I fished small whistlers and high-ties. For the spinning rods, I caught schoolies on Bone Diamond TSL grasswalker, blue Wildeye shad, spec rigs, and a long-thin Westin minnow in silver.
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Both after sunset and before first light, the quality of the dock fishing varied from walking on fish, visible dozen schoolies swimming by the dock, to dead-calm shy stealth fish - though they were there the whole time - they just went deep and got shy. Other than the next dock light, there was nowhere else for them to go at a new moon.
My BIL hit his good run after the rest of us had retired one evening. My dad hit one great walking on fish run, right at sunset, caught several schoolies and his first ever snook, measured 18". I got the same size snook to the dock right behind him - in fact we had two on the dock - but had put the lens cap on the camera before I sat it down, and the photo my dad took of me holding snook just didn't come out.
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It was a week of misses for me. Missed a hook set on my big sow trout at Green Island.
Yesterday morning, very last morning on the dock - Dad was up fishing with me - I broke off my lifetime snook.
I saw him right under my nose, creeping past our dock to the next dark dock - easily 28"-30". When he began his slashes in the dark, I threw over a blue wildeye shad, which he instantly sucked in, but would break me off. Thought I had my drag set just right from many running specs, but a giant charging snook is something else - especially before coffee. He was still feeding and I tried a few more casts, but couldn't turn him again.
Still, probably best in this crowd to let the big ones get away - they wouldn't understand releasing the meat on a trophy fish.
Of course no regrets, and I'm going back next year for that snook.
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Last edited by Ron Mc on Sat Nov 10, 2018 2:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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karstopo
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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Wonderful. Never been to Arroyo City, but your report makes me want to go. I feel like if get to 89 years old and I’m out enjoying fishing with the family, things have mostly gone alright for me.

Nice photos and narrative, thanks for the share.
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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karstopo wrote:Wonderful. Never been to Arroyo City, but your report makes me want to go. I feel like if get to 89 years old and I’m out enjoying fishing with the family, things have mostly gone alright for me.

Nice photos and narrative, thanks for the share.
thanks - here's our all-boys trip with kayaks last year
http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/foru ... 8&t=245506
If we could talk the National Wildlife Refuge into letting us launch kayaks at Red Head Bluff into Rattlesnake Bay, this would be a killer kayak destination. But you can also use your kayak for fishing snook at the Arroyo docks at night.
Here's the boat's eye view of the boy's fishing shack, where we stayed last year, 5 doors down from the nice family digs we rented this year.
While you wouldn't take your mother to this one, it had huge enclosed space and a really great fishing dock
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and while I'm at it, more fun photos
This heron ruled our dock, and I asked permission to board a few afternoons shuttling from the boat.
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palapa respite
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view down the Arroyo
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another good sunset
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Last edited by Ron Mc on Mon Nov 12, 2018 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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shoffer
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

Post by shoffer »

Great report, Ron. Thanks for posting. I like to learn about new fishing destinations, and your report fit that bill, as well as very nice visuals.
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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thanks friend.
The whole range of choices is here, and you can make this fishing trip on the cheap, or in family comfort.
It's also a pretty reliable winter destination.
The boys fishing shack was $425 for 3 nights, v. $200/night for the nice family digs, which is also a really good deal compared to anything up the coast or S. Padre.

The county park has Great facilities - classy fishing docks, RV hookups - great launch.
http://www.cameroncountyparks.com/adolph-thomae-park
there's also a good google map here if anyone wants to see the geography.

We took kayaks there last year, and the dock fishing was the highlight of that trip.
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The 3-mi paddle from the county park launch to fish Rattlesnake Bay and another mile on to Green Island doesn't sound like much, but it is. If you do it, you'll remember the 10 miles there and back.
If enjoying the paddle is as high a priority as fishing time, do it.
Also keep in mind the big water from Horse Island across the ICW and over Green Island Flounder Hole is intimidating.
if you make the paddle, East side of Green Is. is where you want to start - even stake your boat and wade.
The house we rented this year is owned by Spencer Bell, famous Green Island fly-fishing guide - he's now full-time in CO.

On the to-do list is exploring down the natural arroyo to the north end of Peyton Bay. If you check my link below, there's a launch at Sanchez Bait Stand that will put you right on this spot.

There are also incredible short-drive kayak launches all around there, from Mansfield down to South Bay.
The kayak launch point map lists 30 launch choices in Lower Laguna Madre
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewe ... jdG5uojp7k
I'm going to try to talk my buddies into an early spring trip to The Shack, with kayaks trailered.
S. Padre convention center from last year's trip.
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Last edited by Ron Mc on Tue Nov 27, 2018 6:31 am, edited 14 times in total.
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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Really enjoyed the post Mr. Ron. Felt like we were there with you!
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Ron Mc
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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Very Blessed to be able to take my 89-y-o dad out on an adventure like this - of course he's obviously not feeble.
Hope I've lived as well when I get there.

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Something else to note - every place I mention blue wildeye shad for fishing in the dark, I'm actually fishing the Japanese copy of this lure - Tsunami SS3- color Blue Back
These come in a 6-pack (instead of 3 for the same price)
https://www.tackledirect.com/tsunami-ss ... -lure.html
I fished through 6 last week - the specs tore them up - and just ordered a dozen for next trip...
I religiously use Procure Super Gel Inshore so the trout won't taste the steel.
https://www.tackledirect.com/pro-cure-b ... -gels.html
2 oz will last you several years - I also squeeze this stuff in the hook slot of TSL grasswalkers.
Also use it on the heads and hooks of spec rigs - also using "spec rig" to equate with TTF super shad rig as well as brand-name spec rig - we were fishing some of each. The TTF rigs have the advantage of glow-in-the-dark.

Also ordered myself another 8'6" Lamiglas G1000 med-light steelhead rod, this one for baitcaster - there's a big advantage being able to cast halfway across the arroyo and nab those sly schoolies.
Last edited by Ron Mc on Tue Nov 27, 2018 10:25 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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Wow! Great post Ron. Will have to get Arroyo City on the radar.

-Jeff
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

Post by Dandydon »

Ron, terrific fishing report, but I gotta say I'm reluctant to go fish an area where only THREE speckled trout (out of hundreds!) were female. I prefer catching big female trout! Those grunting little males just piss me off, kinda like some of the grunting knuckle-draggers on this board, ha ha.


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Ron Mc
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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Dandydon wrote:Ron, terrific fishing report, but I gotta say I'm reluctant to go fish an area where only THREE speckled trout (out of hundreds!) were female. I prefer catching big female trout! Those grunting little males just piss me off, kinda like some of the grunting knuckle-draggers on this board, ha ha.
Schoolie trout are predominantly males, by definition, and big sow trout aren't going to come to the dock - have to settle for big snook.
The females off the dock were 16" nursery trout that hadn't yet headed out to stake their turf. Tried to get across the meat-fishing aspect of this trip - hunting big trout is good for sport, but inappropriate for meat-fishing.
A 16" trout is the most perfect fillet the gulf coast produces.
(If you hang around enough fly fishermen, you will run into a high percentage who anthropomorphize all fish and to whom any meat fishing is anathema - and any non-fly-rod fishing, for that matter.)

We didn't try fishing the S. Padre grass line this trip, hunted a bit with the boat, found fish where we expected. Plus, my dad is not one to get out of the boat, so drift-fishing the flats was the boat priority - this is all bigger water than you would want to kayak. Drifting is a great way to fish 3 people in a boat without wading (can also anchor into a cut if you have the tide to fish). Navigating east of Green Island is also a bit tricky in a power boat (easier farther south).
There was no bait for my dad to fish, unusual for here, and affected by the coast flooding. We also didn't have good daytime tide movement to target - the best tides were night.
We were scheduled around fishing the dock, so the boat runs were secondary.

Way back, I had a Nov week with a spec over 25" every day, which is a sow, by definition.
This was at Green Island, and a 27" trout (actually a different week).
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a 25+ along the S. Padre grass line, where we found the most big trout (this was the week).
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This is a big schoolie, 22"
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Last 2 Arroyo trips, I've missed my big trout, one at Green island this year and one in Rattlesnake Bay last year.
My buddy last year paddled over a 30" sow sitting in a sand hole in Rattlesnake Bay.
Next trip, I'm paddling the natural arroyo to the mouth in Peyton Bay, and expect to have a good shot at big sows.
Last edited by Ron Mc on Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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Here is a fly guy that likes a fresh fish dinner preferably caught by my own efforts. I agree a 16” trout is about ideal. I release trout that get too much over that size unless they appear to be or are somehow mortally injured. My family and I love redfish for the table and lower slots are our favorite. I keep any flounder within the limits I get over about 16”. I’ll keep bigger croaker, whiting, sand trout. I’ll keep bigger Spanish mackerel and bluefish. I don’t keep black drum as a rule or sheepshead or gafftop not because I don’t know they are good to eat, but mostly because of slime, worms, or how they are to clean.

I’m not sure what it is about the fly fishing crowd that hates keeping fish. Maybe it’s the anthropomorphic thing. Coldwater trout seem to be in peril in many places, maybe that sentiment spills over to saltwater fishing. I have done limited coldwater trout fishing and release them all unless they are caught in a stocked pond.

Everything I’ve come to understand about the Texas gulf coast fishery is that it is sustainable. It doesn’t mean I’m going to keep every fish I’m entitled to keep under the law and I’m not going to pile up a bunch of fish in the freezer, but the 22” redfish that’s in the marsh this year probably won’t be in the marsh next year because like you have pointed out they will be out in the gulf looking to make more redfish. The numbers are there to allow for a harvest.

It’s one thing if someone is a vegan or something and just hates eating flesh or having captive animals. If you eat fish, why not eat a wild caught specimen from a sustainable fishery instead of some farm raised knock off that’s likely far more distructive to the environment than the catch and cook of the recreational fishermen and women?

I don’t like the fly fishing community’s repeated moralizing about the evils of catch and cook across the board for every situation and fishery. They probably don’t like that I retain some of my catch. If one moralizes on this, one had better be sworn off all forms of meat including fish.
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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Even an occasional little rainbow cut out flat and sauteed in butter is a pretty good meal, especially on a camping trip.
As a GRTU committee chair, and long-time board member (applies to all lease members), I am sworn-off any kill fishing in the Guadalupe tailwater, and also practice catch-and-release for almost all freshwater fishing.
The exception is white bass, which are fecund and impossible to eradicate - the perfect freshwater meat fish. They also deplete the forage base for all other fish.

My limited coast trips have a limited meat fishing factor dialed in - we eat while we're there, and my buddies usually want to take a meal home to their wives, so they'll have permission for the next trip.
Like you, bro, frozen fish just don't do it for me - I want the fillets from the ice water, and never freeze any for me.

a pair of 20" reds from a late afternoon start at Estes flats
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straight to the Cobb grill - this is a great little device if your fillets are small enough to fit (and of course any slot red is too big to blacken)
The Cobb will cook a meal on 5 or 6 briquettes
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Last edited by Ron Mc on Wed Nov 21, 2018 8:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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karstopo wrote:...I’m not sure what it is about the fly fishing crowd that hates keeping fish. Maybe it’s the anthropomorphic thing. Coldwater trout seem to be in peril in many places, maybe that sentiment spills over to saltwater fishing. I have done limited coldwater trout fishing and release them all unless they are caught in a stocked pond.
...
I don’t like the fly fishing community’s repeated moralizing about the evils of catch and cook across the board for every situation and fishery. They probably don’t like that I retain some of my catch. If one moralizes on this, one had better be sworn off all forms of meat including fish.

Many of those people even freak about fish photos.
There are countries in Europe and specific waters in UK where catch and release is prohibited - you must kill any fish you catch. Really not a great situation if you like to catch fish, because you're forced to retire the day with your limit, which may be one or 2 fish. That includes under-size fish, which we would automatically release. The logic is that catch and release is cruelty, and excessive runs on too-light tackle and excessive handling will slowly kill a fish from build up of lactic acid in their blood. If you think about it, travel to Scotland, hire a ghillie, paddle out in a loch, catch two 6-8" trout, and your day is over except for the meal. Time to play golf.

I've seen photo session results that I believe had to kill big fish, just for the number of people handling the fish and the number of photos taken.
But fish are pretty tough and can be properly handled and released - I've caught more than a few where I extracted broken-off bait hardware along with my fly and released them just fine.
A big buck I photographed on the Guadalupe one New Year's day was photographed again by another FFR member 3 months later.
Also caught a spec once in the surf that had been filleted down one side by a shark - missing that gill, gut sack intact, and long scarred-over dark red.
In the PNW, you're not allowed to take your gamefish out of the water, must handle and release them in the net under the water surface.
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

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btw, if anybody is curious about power boat navigation on this trip, I figured a way to save the NOAA chart-view gif as a jpeg.
The house is right where the natural arroyo and ship channel diverge to opposite ends of Peyton Bay.
Marker 109 flounder hole is the 3' depth east of the ICW at the north end of the chart.
South of Horse Island is Rattlesnake Bay.
Oilfield flat (Marker 39) is east of the ICW at the south end of the chart.
And for low tides this trip, add a foot to everything on the chart.
You can chase it down on texmaps to find all the scoop - http://www.texmaps.com/go/texas-fishing.html
On Texmaps, the seagrass overlay will show you the S. Padre grassline - a good place to hunt big specs - we didn't make it this trip - but in closer, Rattlesnake Bay is also good big spec water.

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All those roads through the Laguna Atascosa NWR sure look inviting - Red Head Bluff, Realitos Point.
I tried e-mailing to ask if there was access to launch a kayak, but the e-mail link was aimed to a defunct account and bounced. May have to call them to ask again.
Though I did find this on the NWR website - Bayside Dr. is closed for construction until early 2019
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Laguna_Atasc ... Drive.html
They sell hunting permits for the NWR, so I'll keep asking...
They've let us launch kayaks in Aransas NWR before.
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Re: Five days in the Texas tropics

Post by BlessedAngler »

Great report and great information.
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