We're back!!!!

So happy to be back and so happy to be Winter Texans! This area has to be one of the best places in the world to spend a winter...especially if you happen to spend your summers in the great white north and you love fishing. Yesterday the surf looked a little brown...the kind of brown the catfish like but when it's your first chance to fish you just have to go for it. Caught five different species and enough for a good meal so no complaints from this cowboy. On a sad note, a buddy had a MONSTER fish on and after a difficult 15 minute fight, the line parted as the fish got it's first view of it's potential captors. We just saw the swirl and it left quite the eddy with it's departure. Quite likely a bull red and a big one at that. A few pictures of the first day mediocrity in the surf coming up...

Whiting

Croaker (?)

Pompano

Hardhead catfish

Gafftopsail catfish

A friend just sent me a picture of an unknown angler from home...would you rather be there?

Bye till next year....

Well, all good things must come to an end and so ends our sojourn as winter Texans.We've arrived safely back home, mainly due to some heroic driving on my part and gobs of good luck. First two days were perfect, the last provided 4 hours of white-knuckle excitement on black ice and blowing snow between Sioux Falls and Fargo. Fair skies and clear sailing after Fargo followed by a home driveway freshly pelted by Tuesday's storm. Of the two entrusted with keeping the driveway clear, one had the audacity to go to Arizona and the other, a small, frail widow broke a shear pin after getting in 50 feet. A big cheer for snow-blower equipped tractors.

Had a great winter with several species netted; ladyfish, sheepshead, pompano, whiting, catfish, speckled trout, croaker and even a big ole crab that just didn't want to let go of the shrimp. We're already planning some fishing for next year and may head out for sharks and also red snapper. I'm also planning more time on the flats for red fish and specs. See you next year.

A couple of hours on Laguna Madre...

My buddy Bill was able to get away for a few hours this morning so Lamar, Bill and I headed out to the bay near the convention center. After a breakfast burrito and a short wait for enough light we headed out on the yaks. Lamar fished the grass and soon had a trout on but no cigar, it was a little too short. Bill fished the edge of the channel and nailed this nice 21" trout within the first few casts. He also hooked something BIG that headed west and was never able to turn it before the hook was dislodged. I had a trout on but lost it and later caught a catfish on a mullet. And so ended our morning. Bill doesn't like to clean fish but I do so this story had a happy ending for me. It'll be my first taste of speckled trout.

Just another day in paradise...

Fishing continues but the reporting has fallen behind, just in case you haven’t noticed.  The main reason for the lack of reports is my inability to figure out a camera solution for the surf. Anyway, lots of whiting have been caught and several of us had some success using fish bites for bait. Success amongst our local condo group of 5 or 6 guys has been steady with a few different species caught, a few large fish and a few bite offs...all from the surf in front of the condo. I’ve caught a ladyfish while another angler landed a sheepshead and a number of pompano have started to grace the stringers. I’m almost the last guy to have caught one and it sure hit the spot, both my ego and my palate needed that catch. I’ve had three BIG fish on momentarily, each culminating in a broken/cut line. One was just a result of a frayed line but 2 looked like they were bitten off. These LDRs are always frustrating but the speculation on what they might have been is fun.  A trade-off of sorts I suppose. A solution might be steel leaders and it’s something we’ve discussed. Still haven’t hit the bay in back but if/when I do you can read about it here.

Not much new...

I'd love to report about that bull redfish or 4 foot shark but the fishing gods, although kind, haven't been extremely generous. A good catch of whiting and a B-I-G fish that took my shrimp and abruptly headed for deeper waters was it for me. The big one-that-got-away was likely my fault since the parted line showed evidence of fraying but I'll never know for sure. A buddy caught a beautiful pompano and a pretty large Atlantic ray. All the fish were caught on frozen shrimp and my experiments with "Fish Bites" were less than successful. Many have reported spectacular results with them so I'll likely give them one more try since they stay on the hook so well. Can't really complain since a good feed of fresh whiting is a welcome conclusion to any day of fishing in the surf.

Changes...

Yesterday the waters of the surf were clear, today the winds have given us a light brown soup, part sand and part water. Not the kind of water to search for pompano or even the bigger whiting. This brown stuff is the playground of smaller whiting and the hardhead catfish and today's catch reflected that reality. Five small whiting and then three hardheads in a row chased me off the water and onto the balcony for a cool beverage. While the water stays murky I'll break out the smaller spinning and fly rods to try my luck in Laguna Madre.

First Day Fishing...

I opted out of an invitation by friends to do some kayak fishing today in order to catch up on some much needed sleep. I hit the surf instead, caught a few fish and even had an adventure of sorts. I was fishing 2/0 circle hooks with frozen shrimp, hoping to catch a few whiting or perhaps a pompano or two. After putting a couple of whiting on the stringer I got an odd hit, more of a sustained pull than a tug or nibble. I set the hook using the circle hook technique and suddenly found myself firmly snagged. I pulled back on the 12’ Ugly Stik as hard as possible followed by snaps of the rod, trying to free it. I couldn’t figure out what was going on here since I was fishing a sand beach with no apparent bottom obstructions. After a few minutes of this I walked down the beach 100 feet or so to get a different angle on the snag. I pulled again a few times with no apparent effect. Suddenly, my line felt free and the ‘snag’ started swimming away. Holy crap, this was a fish and a big one. An exciting aspect of fishing in the ocean is that you have no idea what has taken your bait when that big one takes off. The runs were powerful but short and it likely didn’t take longer than 10 minutes to beach my catch. I had caught an Atlantic stingray estimated to be 2 feet across and later research suggested this is as big as they get. I couldn’t turn it over and ended up just cutting off the hook and eventually coaxed it back into the Gulf. What a thrill that was! Unfortunately the camera operator hadn’t come down yet so pictures aren’t available. Why did it feel so solid at first? My theory is the ray dug into the sand on first feeling the hook and when I pulled straight forward it was...just stuck in the sand. When I later changed the angle of pull, I was able to pull it sideways out of the sand. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

 

So how many fish did I catch in total? As the Nordic God says “enough to stink up a fry pan” . And that turns out to be a perfect amount since I’ll have to go out fishing again tomorrow to collect the next meal.