# Why so little Texas coastal & skiff discussion?



## CKEAT

I was just wondering why there is so little activity on this section? Do we need a Texas site to enjoy more discussion on Texas waters? By that I do not mean where to fish, there is already too much of that but just all related discussions around Texas boats, flies, general waters etc. 

Any ideas?


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## sjrobin

Start the discussion. People will join


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## CKEAT

I just meant that under that section / forum area there is very little. Interesting is all. 

I know there is a growing number of folks fly fishing in Texas coastal waters which has also been accompanied by more tech skiffs.

I don’t have much in particular at this moment to discuss but was curious why it is not used more by Texas skiff owners / fisherman.


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## Smackdaddy53

There are definitely many more “weenie boats” on the water here...(funny story) 
I’ve post up on that section and not gotten much response.


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## CKEAT

Weenie boats? I am used to the crazy amount of freakish flats rockets but not weenie boats


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## Smackdaddy53

CKEAT said:


> Weenie boats? I am used to the crazy amount of freakish flats rockets but not weenie boats


Two falls ago I dragged my skiff to Delacroix and fished with a buddy for two days after hurricane Harvey and caught a bunch of largemouth bass so decided to run to Empire and Venice and fished there a couple of days then fished with some local guides for two days to entertain some work clients. The guides were in their 30’s and we had to laugh because we were fishing on Majek Extreme 25+ bay boats chunking lures and they complained all day about all the “weenie boats” showing up on “their waters”. The end of the last day I broke the news to them that the “weenie boat” at the lodge was mine and we had been poling their marsh for two days prior. They commenced to “crawfishing” and retracting their statements by attempting to justify their hate for the poling skiffs around every corner by saying they just aren’t used to all the new boats on the delta. I still dropped them a decent tip because I learned a few new terms to bring back to Texas.


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## CKEAT

Hahahahahahaha, interesting. 

Sound like mighty educated fellas. That’s a funny story, thanks for sharing


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## CKEAT

If you type a smiley face it puts that dang wink face, these auto corrects suck


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## richg99

Guides, in general, don't like any non-guide boats on "their waters".


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## MatthewAbbott

richg99 said:


> Guides, in general, don't like any non-guide boats on "their waters".


Funny... I don’t like most of the guides on “my” waters...


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## ifsteve

I don't like anybody on "my" waters.....


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## BudT

Wish I had something to offer to a "Texas Discussion" but my home waters have been hammered since before Havey in the fall of '17. Sure we're still catching fish but it's not like it used to be. Redfish?? All day long and all you want. Trout, especially good trout, is a different story. My situation was also compounded b/c I was waiting on my boat to be finished. I primarily truly enjoy fishing in the winter and fish during the summer b/c I have a dependency problem, I just have to feel it sometimes.


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## richg99

BudT, may I ask what general area you fish? I'd love to catch some of those reds but I am only in Texas November through April.

SJR, where do you guide?


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## EdK13

richg99 said:


> BudT, may I ask what general area you fish? I'd love to catch some of those reds but I am only in Texas November through April.
> 
> SJR, where do you guide?


https://gulfcoastedgellc.com/
Everywhere.


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## BudT

richg99 said:


> BudT, may I ask what general area you fish? I'd love to catch some of those reds but I am only in Texas November through April.
> 
> SJR, where do you guide?



Yes Sir Rich, what I claim as my home waters is the Sabine Lake system. It should be understood that this encompasses all surrounding estuaries such as the Neches River, Keith Lake, Texas Bayou, Blacks Bayou, Sabine River, Sabine NWR.


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## richg99

Thanks. I fished at the big park on Sabine 10 years ago. Reds were cooperative, and a few trout, also.


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## GullsGoneWild

BudT said:


> Yes Sir Rich, what I claim as my home waters is the Sabine Lake system. It should be understood that this encompasses all surrounding estuaries such as the Neches River, Keith Lake, Texas Bayou, Blacks Bayou, Sabine River, Sabine NWR.


fellow border boy here. What skiff do you run?


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## BudT

GullsGoneWild said:


> fellow border boy here. What skiff do you run?


Just recently took delivery of Cayo 173, tiller.


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## BudT

EdK13 said:


> https://gulfcoastedgellc.com/
> Everywhere.


Was a little puzzled by this post originally, partly b/c it was posted by Edk13, got it, nice.


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## R-Dub

So here’s a topic. 
I read Sikes’ article in the Salty Dangler a few weeks ago and he put a spotlight on a group called Flatsworthy. Have any of you guys joined? I joined because I’d like to see how they plan on educating and convincing people, who I believe truly don’t give a shit, to not burn flats. It was odd that I never received a welcome email or any kind of newsletter since I joined a few weeks ago. Not going to join Facebook to check out their page. Anyone have any knowledge on how they are approaching this?


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## Smackdaddy53

R-Dub said:


> So here’s a topic.
> I read Sikes’ article in the Salty Dangler a few weeks ago and he put a spotlight on a group called Flatsworthy. Have any of you guys joined? I joined because I’d like to see how they plan on educating and convincing people, who I believe truly don’t give a shit, to not burn flats. It was odd that I never received a welcome email or any kind of newsletter since I joined a few weeks ago. Not going to join Facebook to check out their page. Anyone have any knowledge on how they are approaching this?


I’ve heard of their organization but the only thing I know that came from them is taking part in having parts of Aransas Wildlife Refuge shut down to public boat traffic because some dumbass airboaters were running all over it like a race track. I may be mistaken, it was a couple of years ago. I’ll try to dig up the article.


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## jay.bush1434

Here is my latest West Galveston bay report. In between all the wind we have had the fishing has been hit or miss. A couple weeks ago, we had a nice stretch of calm winds and the surf was on fire. A few of the migratory tarpon were seen off the beachfront. The bay is loaded with small baitfish that have flushed out of the marshes. Random birds working in the bay have held nice trout using sink tip fly lines or just heavy flies. Lots of ladyfish too so sometimes it is worth it to just move on. Redfish have been still cruising in ones and two's and not many reports of them schooled up. Neighbor got into them really good last week under the birds on a shoreline after the fish had balled up school of small menhaden. We spotted a couple really big trout on the grass flats but they always stayed just out of casting distance. Every so often, solo jacks cruising the shoreline crashing mullet schools have got the blood really pumping. The wind has blown a lot and from all of the directions. The last week has just sucked with really windy conditions, 20+ many days and the last few days lots of rain. The tides have been running fairly high as well so the reds are pushed WAY back in the marshes in some very hard places to get to. Near offshore sight fishing has been unusually tough mostly due to water quality. I did get into some more ladyfish and some Spanish mackerel but no ling, triple tail or other worthy gamefish.


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## Smackdaddy53

jay.bush1434 said:


> Here is my latest West Galveston bay report. In between all the wind we have had the fishing has been hit or miss. A couple weeks ago, we had a nice stretch of calm winds and the surf was on fire. A few of the migratory tarpon were seen off the beachfront. The bay is loaded with small baitfish that have flushed out of the marshes. Random birds working in the bay have held nice trout using sink tip fly lines or just heavy flies. Lots of ladyfish too so sometimes it is worth it to just move on. Redfish have been still cruising in ones and two's and not many reports of them schooled up. Neighbor got into them really good last week under the birds on a shoreline after the fish had balled up school of small menhaden. We spotted a couple really big trout on the grass flats but they always stayed just out of casting distance. Every so often, solo jacks cruising the shoreline crashing mullet schools have got the blood really pumping. The wind has blown a lot and from all of the directions. The last week has just sucked with really windy conditions, 20+ many days and the last few days lots of rain. The tides have been running fairly high as well so the reds are pushed WAY back in the marshes in some very hard places to get to. Near offshore sight fishing has been unusually tough mostly due to water quality. I did get into some more ladyfish and some Spanish mackerel but no ling, triple tail or other worthy gamefish.


Middle coast in a nutshell-
If I’m on my 6 days off wind will be blowing 25-30mph sustained, if I am working my 8 days in a row winds will be calm...


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## CKEAT

I will be in Port O Conner third week of July, haven’t been in while. Be interesting to check it out. Also taking new boat (to me). 

Wish I could take two boats.


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## mrbacklash

BudT said:


> Just recently took delivery of Cayo 173, tiller.


I fish Sabine Lake and Keith Lake as well seafoam Cayenne


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## fjmaverick

Isnt that what https://www.2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/ is?


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## CKEAT

2cool's fly fishing / skiff forum is lacking a tad bit. I meant more of a pointed skiff / light tackle / fly fishing forum where more Texas discussion occurs. 

It very well could be there are less of us. So just not worth it. Was just curious on folks take on this.


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## ifsteve

I know its fun to discuss topics we all enjoy but let me give you some thoughts. Discussing even general fishing areas on open internet forums is asking for long term sadness.


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## LowHydrogen

Texas discussion....every one I've ever had goes like this, just sticky this paragraph and it'll be covered.

Texan: Sam Houston, boats = tunnels are best, non-tunnels will strand you in a "back lake", fishing gear = baitcaster > spinning, BBQ = beef > pork, everyone not from Tejas wants to go to Austin but real Texans hate Austin, Hook em horns, Nolan Ryan, remember the Alamo, the end.


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## LowHydrogen

No offense to my TX buddies @sjrobin @Smackdaddy53 @CKEAT @jay.bush1434 just having some fun. I am actually typing this from Houston.


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## jay.bush1434

LowHydrogen said:


> No offense to my TX buddies @sjrobin @Smackdaddy53 @CKEAT just having some fun. I am actually typing this from Houston.


What? I don't rate enough to be included in your sleight of our magnanimous character? 
Oh and you forgot "Gig'em Aggies"

Since someone brought up 2Cool. I have been on that forum pretty much from the beginning. It has always had its ups and downs with the various member responses. Over the last few years it just went downhill with a lot of junior game wardens, holier than thou, and straight up snowflakes whining about this and that. I know a lot of folks on this board from 2Cool and even DosFrio. For me, I just stopped going to either one because the type of fishing I do, the boats I am interested and to some degree the way I approach fishing and the resource are much more in line with the majority of folks on this board. Besides, Smackdaddy got banned so many time from 2Cool it just wasn't worth it anymore...


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## Smackdaddy53

The snowflakes, trophy trout skin mounters, meat haulers and straight up posers couldn’t handle me but after the New Yorkers bought the forum and people started dropping like flies they asked me to come back...nah, I have a new home now.


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## richg99

2Cool has come back some. It ebbs and flows with helpful and stupid responses. Lots of the guys have moved over to Dos Frios. 

Truthfully, as dumb as some parts of it may be..Facebook is a whole lot easier to keep up with. I only follow some fishing guides I have used in the past, and some special interest groups i.e. kayaks; SoloSkiff; specific boat brands; location fishing (Texas City Dike) etc.

There is something about the ease of clicking on the Facebook site and getting updates from 5 or 10 groups all on one page. 

A Billion+ people must agree with me. Yes, I know there are some real crazies on FB, but I just block them immediately and never see them again. I resign from Groups that go crazy too. There isn't just one answer for everyone.


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## Zika

I'm shocked, shocked mind you, that a model poster like Smack would ever get kicked off a reasonable forum.


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## sjrobin

BudT said:


> Yes Sir Rich, what I claim as my home waters is the Sabine Lake system. It should be understood that this encompasses all surrounding estuaries such as the Neches River, Keith Lake, Texas Bayou, Blacks Bayou, Sabine River, Sabine NWR.


Lots of rain in the Golden Triangle = not optimal sight fishing short term, but when the rain stops for a while...


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## POCtied

I feel like I've been stuck in Houston for the last 6 months, only making it out to Galveston area maybe 3 times this year and every time the weather isn't cooperating, so not much to discuss.


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## MatthewAbbott

Went to Galveston this mourning. Made it halfway out of the marina and my motor decided to die on me. Was able to get back to the marina and trouble shoot potential issues and load her up. 


To rub salt in the wound; I ended up getting rear ended at 61st and the sea wall....


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## MatthewAbbott

For what it’s worth the water looked ok at watermans....


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## GullsGoneWild

mrbacklash said:


> I fish Sabine Lake and Keith Lake as well seafoam Cayenne


Ice blue caimen tiller. Did we see each other at the 4way last year? I think you may have been fishing with your daughter that day.


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## jay.bush1434

MatthewAbbott said:


> Went to Galveston this mourning. Made it halfway out of the marina and my motor decided to die on me. Was able to get back to the marina and trouble shoot potential issues and load her up.
> 
> 
> To rub salt in the wound; I ended up getting rear ended at 61st and the sea wall....


Is the boat OK?


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## MatthewAbbott

jay.bush1434 said:


> Is the boat OK?


Seems to be. She hit my prop and not very hard. No visible damage.


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## sjrobin

MatthewAbbott said:


> Went to Galveston this mourning. Made it halfway out of the marina and my motor decided to die on me. Was able to get back to the marina and trouble shoot potential issues and load her up.
> 
> 
> To rub salt in the wound; I ended up getting rear ended at 61st and the sea wall....


Which motor is giving you trouble?


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## jsnipes

Going to try and get out Sunday, fished 7 days so far in Galveston / Marty this year so far. Spring seemed way worse than normal w all the rain


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## MatthewAbbott

sjrobin said:


> Which motor is giving you trouble?


30 hp etec.


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## BudT

We had a year about four or five years ago where our big fish stayed stacked in one area for an unusually long period of time. One of our long time guides predicted that we would see the consequences in the next few years. 

So many are not satisfied with the hunt and conquer today. They have to take several pictures and post them on their SM pages to feel accomplished. There were a lot of BIG fish KILLED that year.

I say this b/c any time you stack them in one area for an extended period of time, the resource becomes very vulnerable. All this fresh water is doing the same. I'm afraid our heyday is over for a while.


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## sjrobin

MatthewAbbott said:


> 30 hp etec.


Rough idle/starting? What is your fuel treatment plan?
1) spin on 10 micron filter/ water separator between tank and engine
2) fuel tank always kept full (refill after every trip)
3) Startron/Stabil fuel treatment every tank

If you don't do this check/replace the fuel filter under the cowling.


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## MatthewAbbott

sjrobin said:


> Rough idle/starting? What is your fuel treatment plan?
> 1) spin on 10 micron filter/ water separator between tank and engine
> 2) fuel tank always kept full (refill after every trip)
> 3) Startron/Stabil fuel treatment every tank


Idled fine until it didn’t. Ran it at the house before I left and it started and ran like normal. Same at the ramp in the mourning. Acts like it has water in the fuel. Got a pump late last night. Going to drain the tank and check it out.

She sat in the garage for the last two months because I was working nights at work and didn’t have time to take it out. I normally pull it out and run it on a hose if I can’t go for a while but didn’t this time.


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## Sublime

MatthewAbbott said:


> 30 hp etec.



Didn't have my 30 etec long enough to form an opinion , but the 50 etec I ran on the BT for 9 years was ABSOLUTELY flawless. Never had one issue with it.


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## sjrobin

Sublime said:


> Didn't have my 30 etec long enough to form an opinion , but the 50 etec I ran on the BT for 9 years was ABSOLUTELY flawless. Never had one issue with it.


Good fuel treatment plan. Most of the time it all goes back to human behavior/actions.


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## MatthewAbbott

Sublime said:


> Didn't have my 30 etec long enough to form an opinion , but the 50 etec I ran on the BT for 9 years was ABSOLUTELY flawless. Never had one issue with it.


October will be two years of owning this boat. This is the first issue I’ve ran into with it. 

Pulled the water separator and don’t see water.


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## MatthewAbbott

sjrobin said:


> Rough idle/starting? What is your fuel treatment plan?
> 1) spin on 10 micron filter/ water separator between tank and engine
> 2) fuel tank always kept full (refill after every trip)
> 3) Startron/Stabil fuel treatment every tank
> 
> If you don't do this check/replace the fuel filter under the cowling.


I have a water separator

Normally keep at least 3/4 of a tank. I fill up the mourning of fishing and usually don’t run much out.

Occasionally I’ll use seafoam but not every trip as I don’t run much fuel out.


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## sjrobin

MatthewAbbott said:


> I have a water separator
> 
> Normally keep at least 3/4 of a tank. I fill up the mourning of fishing and usually don’t run much out.
> 
> Occasionally I’ll use seafoam but not every trip as I don’t run much fuel out.


Sorry you are having problems. Small six gallon tank not kept full? I did not mention Sea Foam.


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## Sublime

sjrobin said:


> The reality of sight cast fly fishing in Texas is there are on average about seventy days a year where hunting fish shallow is good. Good meaning seeing at least twenty red drum or other species and getting ten or so shots depending on quickness and skill level with the fly rod. I am not counting large ten to hundred fish schools or pods of red drum, just individuals or pairs. Some years we may get a hundred days and some years just fifty. It does not matter which part of the coast you hunt fish in. Those are average number of days. These numbers are affected by rainfall, clouds, water levels, wind direction, water clarity, and fish behavior(some days fish do not feed or swim shallow in spite of great conditions) Increasingly the number of good days are affected by water levels due to rising ocean temperatures. High water levels and strong winds are devastating to spartina grass marshes. The waves destroy the root systems. Encroaching black mangroves also shade out spartina and aquatic shoal grasses. Continous coastal rains and run off allow explosive widgeon grass growth in still water ponds and estuaries making them difficult to fish and difficult to impossible for larger predator fish to forage in. We need to take care of our remaining estuaries.


Not totally convince about rising levels as much as I am with subsidence. An old man I new when I was a kid talked of days they would make their way to Follet's Island and camp for several days. He said they could go back in the dunes and dig down far enough and have fresh water for their trip. And my dad remembered when there was an artesian well in the middle of downtown Freeport. Days long since gone.


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## MatthewAbbott

sjrobin said:


> Sorry you are having problems. Small six gallon tank not kept full? I did not mention Sea Foam.


Usually not full. I’ll fill it up the morning I go. Normally never less than 3/4 when I put it back in the garage.


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## KurtActual

@LowHydrogen you nailed it.


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## Smackdaddy53

Too much boat traffic, tower boats, skinny boats and airboats running over fish day after day. All these boats being built and sold go somewhere. The bays don’t get bigger but the crowds do. Days of meat hauling need to be over, I don’t give a damn what TPWD and CCA try to feed us. I’m sick of seeing piles of fish and every guy with a 25” plus trout on the stringer. People can’t regulate themselves. These days it’s all about tournaments, meat hauling and double dipping bait guides posting piles of fish for social media likes. It sickens me. Fish are harder to find and when you do they are so skittish they are scared of their own shadow. 
Sorry for all the doom and gloom but we’re headed the ways of Florida with closed seasons and crazy restrictions because of mismanagement and greed.
I just love to fish, nothing more.


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## Smackdaddy53

LowHydrogen said:


> No offense to my TX buddies @sjrobin @Smackdaddy53 @CKEAT @jay.bush1434 just having some fun. I am actually typing this from Houston.


Next time you are down you can bring your non tunnel and pole me three miles to the areas I fish because you won’t be getting there with 14” of stainless hanging below the hull...


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## BudT

Next time you are down you can bring your non tunnel and pole me three miles to the areas I fish because you won’t be getting there with 14” of stainless hanging below the hull...



Need to change your name to "Tunnel Smackdown"!


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## Smackdaddy53

BudT said:


> Next time you are down you can bring your non tunnel and pole me three miles to the areas I fish because you won’t be getting there with 14” of stainless hanging below the hull...
> 
> 
> 
> Need to change your name to "Tunnel Smackdown"!


Had to reciprocate the feather ruffling, Travis knows I’m just giving him hell.


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## Half Shell

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Too much boat traffic, tower boats, skinny boats and airboats running over fish day after day. All these boats being built and sold go somewhere. The bays don’t get bigger but the crowds do. Days of meat hauling need to be over, I don’t give a damn what TPWD and CCA try to feed us. I’m sick of seeing piles of fish and every guy with a 25” plus trout on the stringer. People can’t regulate themselves. These days it’s all about tournaments, meat hauling and double dipping bait guides posting piles of fish for social media likes. It sickens me. Fish are harder to find and when you do they are so skittish they are scared of their own shadow.
> Sorry for all the doom and gloom but we’re headed the ways of Florida with closed seasons and crazy restrictions because of mismanagement and greed.
> I just love to fish, nothing more.


True. I fished the Corpus and upper laguna madre prior to moving to south FL. I thought I was moving to a fishing paradise but while the number of species is good and there are some beautiful waters with deep water a few miles out, some days I swear there is not a decent redfish south of Tampa.


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## BudT

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Had to reciprocate the feather ruffling, Travis knows I’m just giving him hell.


10-4 Mac, I know you've got thick skin, just had to gig you a little.


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## Derek Radtke

This fishing discussion is all well and fine but we need to get down to brass tacks. What’s everyone’s feelings on Whataburger being sold?


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## Smackdaddy53

Derek Radtke said:


> This fishing discussion is all well and fine but we need to get down to brass tacks. What’s everyone’s feelings on Whataburger being sold?


The Jews or Muslims?


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## Half Shell

Smackdaddy53 said:


> The Jews or Muslims?


Worse... chicago.


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## Smackdaddy53

Half Shell said:


> Worse... chicago.


Nothing surprises me any more


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## R-Dub

Ate there yesterday and it tasted the same. I figured Facebook would have beat the shit out of this issue already.


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## MatthewAbbott

Derek Radtke said:


> This fishing discussion is all well and fine but we need to get down to brass tacks. What’s everyone’s feelings on Whataburger being sold?


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## Derek Radtke

At least we will always have Bill Millers. Nobody will in there right mind would buy that place out.


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## Smackdaddy53

Derek Radtke said:


> At least we will always have Bill Millers. Nobody will in there right mind would buy that place out.


That sweet tea though...


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## BudT

Smackdaddy53 said:


> That sweet tea though...


Worked in San Antonio for a little while. People stand in line for pails of that sweet tea!


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## BudT

Would like to get some perspectives from those of you who have been on the water recently. I have made several trips, mostly just putting time on the boat trying to get a feel for it. I have checked several places and the water is tore up. Usually this time of the year it is green. I know we have had a continuous exceptional amount of rain, but the word I am getting from the offshore crowd is that it is dirty for miles into the gulf. Supposedly the Mississippi is pouring much heavier than usual contributing to the problem. Not liking what I'm hearing about dead zones and potential for red tide.


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## Smackdaddy53

BudT said:


> Would like to get some perspectives from those of you who have been on the water recently. I have made several trips, mostly just putting time on the boat trying to get a feel for it. I have checked several places and the water is tore up. Usually this time of the year it is green. I know we have had a continuous exceptional amount of rain, but the word I am getting from the offshore crowd is that it is dirty for miles into the gulf. Supposedly the Mississippi is pouring much heavier than usual contributing to the problem. Not liking what I'm hearing about dead zones and potential for red tide.


Lots of runoff from rain, crazy high southeast winds, lots of factors. We need normal summer patterns to get water to clean up in bays and surf. It’s unseasonably cool, windy and rainy for this time of year.


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## sjrobin

BudT said:


> Would like to get some perspectives from those of you who have been on the water recently. I have made several trips, mostly just putting time on the boat trying to get a feel for it. I have checked several places and the water is tore up. Usually this time of the year it is green. I know we have had a continuous exceptional amount of rain, but the word I am getting from the offshore crowd is that it is dirty for miles into the gulf. Supposedly the Mississippi is pouring much heavier than usual contributing to the problem. Not liking what I'm hearing about dead zones and potential for red tide.



Historic floods in the Mississippi basin and all western gulf rivers. Timing on your skiff purchase not great but think long term...well that might not be good either.


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## sjrobin

BudT said:


> Would like to get some perspectives from those of you who have been on the water recently. I have made several trips, mostly just putting time on the boat trying to get a feel for it. I have checked several places and the water is tore up. Usually this time of the year it is green. I know we have had a continuous exceptional amount of rain, but the word I am getting from the offshore crowd is that it is dirty for miles into the gulf. Supposedly the Mississippi is pouring much heavier than usual contributing to the problem. Not liking what I'm hearing about dead zones and potential for red tide.



Historic floods in the Mississippi basin and all western gulf rivers. Timing on your skiff purchase not great but think long term...well that might not be good either.


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## Sublime

BudT said:


> Would like to get some perspectives from those of you who have been on the water recently. I have made several trips, mostly just putting time on the boat trying to get a feel for it. I have checked several places and the water is tore up. Usually this time of the year it is green. I know we have had a continuous exceptional amount of rain, but the word I am getting from the offshore crowd is that it is dirty for miles into the gulf. Supposedly the Mississippi is pouring much heavier than usual contributing to the problem. Not liking what I'm hearing about dead zones and potential for red tide.


Haven't been on the water in more time than I want to admit. When I sold my skiff in the fall of 2016 things were sucketh and had been for a few years. Back in 2006 when I bought my first skiff and started this sight casting obsession, we would see a hundred fish in East Matty on a typical day. There were fish pretty much every stop we would make. Also, the water could look like crud in the middle of the bay and you could almost always find fishable water (and grass) on the shoreline no matter what the wind direction. The only variable was whether it would be clear up to 10 yds off the bank or 100 yds. A few years we had some really cold snaps that I'm sure did the grass no favors and also some intense droughts that again did the grass no favors. Hmmm, why am I building a skiff?

PS, the Mississippi dumps only a fraction of the sediment it did before levees and controls were implemented up and down it. At current rates, it would take over 14,000 years to rebuild the delta according to some studies. It's not the sediment that is causing the dead zone it is all of the fertilizer etc.


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## BudT

Sublime said:


> Haven't been on the water in more time than I want to admit. When I sold my skiff in the fall of 2016 things were sucketh and had been for a few years. Back in 2006 when I bought my first skiff and started this sight casting obsession, we would see a hundred fish in East Matty on a typical day. There were fish pretty much every stop we would make. Also, the water could look like crud in the middle of the bay and you could almost always find fishable water (and grass) on the shoreline no matter what the wind direction. The only variable was whether it would be clear up to 10 yds off the bank or 100 yds. A few years we had some really cold snaps that I'm sure did the grass no favors and also some intense droughts that again did the grass no favors. Hmmm, why am I building a skiff?
> 
> PS, the Mississippi dumps only a fraction of the sediment it did before levees and controls were implemented up and down it. At current rates, it would take over 14,000 years to rebuild the delta according to some studies. It's not the sediment that is causing the dead zone it is all of the fertilizer etc.



Yeah, admittedly I have a lot to learn about the red tide and dead zone topics, I was under the impression it was partly due to all of the "new" material flushing into the bays / gulf which would continue to decompose and deplete O2 supplies. I can attest that I have seen more aquatic plant life flushed into our bays recently than I can ever recall. I have always heard that the Mississippi contributed greatly to the dirty water that blankets the upper Texas coast as well as Louisiana. Anyhow hopefully it all goes in cycles and we are moving out of the El Nino as some have suggested.


----------



## BudT

sjrobin said:


> Historic floods in the Mississippi basin and all western gulf rivers. Timing on your skiff purchase not great but think long term...well that might not be good either.


It's all good, I'm gonna have a boat in the garage, whether it's a skiff, bay boat or something in between. Hopefully we will turn the corner on this soon. Although I don't think any of us want the other extreme, slab cracking droughts.


----------



## richg99

One of my customers was a Geologist. He explained why we have muddy water WEST of the Mississippi, and Crystal Clear water EAST of the Mississippi. "it is the Coriolis effect" he said. The spinning of the earth causes the outflow from the Mississippi to turn towards the Texas Coast. For millions of years, we have had the mud and silt from the Mississippi invading our waters and bays. We all know that a mile or so off-shore, the water is as clear as Florida.


----------



## salt_fly

MatthewAbbott said:


> Idled fine until it didn’t. Ran it at the house before I left and it started and ran like normal. Same at the ramp in the mourning. Acts like it has water in the fuel. Got a pump late last night. Going to drain the tank and check it out.
> 
> She sat in the garage for the last two months because I was working nights at work and didn’t have time to take it out. I normally pull it out and run it on a hose if I can’t go for a while but didn’t this time.


I had a 25 HP ETEC that I had to replace two fuel pumps on. Mechanic at Acie's told me to put a couple of ounces of XD-100 oil in the gas tank (even though it is oil injected) to keep the fuel pump lubricated and working smoothly. Sold that boat and now I have a Tohatsu 50 HP. Now I get Ethanol free gas at Buc-ee's in Texas City on the way to Galvatraz.


----------



## MatthewAbbott

salt_fly said:


> I had a 25 HP ETEC that I had to replace two fuel pumps on. Mechanic at Acie's told me to put a couple of ounces of XD-100 oil in the gas tank (even though it is oil injected) to keep the fuel pump lubricated and working smoothly. Sold that boat and now I have a Tohatsu 50 HP. Now I get Ethanol free gas at Buc-ee's in Texas City on the way to Galvatraz.


I stopped in and talked to them on my home that day. He told me the same thing.


----------



## backcast

I moved my Mitzi 15 to Port O’Connor in April. I have been seeing more reds than I did in Galveston. I did fish the north shore of Galveston primarily. South shore may have been better.
Fished in POC last Sunday and Monday. Did not catch a fish but did have some decent shots. We fished some really clear water in Pringle and the fish saw us as quickly as we saw them. I do think that fishing slightly off color water does give a better chance of presenting the fly. I saw a post on FB from Tom Horby for same days with some good reds and a large Jack.


----------



## Smackdaddy53

backcast said:


> I moved my Mitzi 15 to Port O’Connor in April. I have been seeing more reds than I did in Galveston. I did fish the north shore of Galveston primarily. South shore may have been better.
> Fished in POC last Sunday and Monday. Did not catch a fish but did have some decent shots. We fished some really clear water in Pringle and the fish saw us as quickly as we saw them. I do think that fishing slightly off color water does give a better chance of presenting the fly. I saw a post on FB from Tom Horby for same days with some good reds and a large Jack.


It’s because of the amount of boat traffic and people burning shorelines day after day. Ten years ago you could fish nearly anywhere and pole up on redfish and trout and catch them by just dropping the lure off your rod tip (I call it teabagging). Now most areas you will pole down a shoreline and the fish will stay just out of casting range as you move and will not let you get close to them. That is if you can pole for more than 20 minutes without some idiot burning the shoreline in front of or behind you for miles without shutting down. 
I don’t even mention where I fish or post about it any more because people are scouting the forums looking for people to potlick when they say they found fish...Pringle Lake is where I tell people I caught them just to throw them off. That lake gets pounded year round.


----------



## R-Dub

Yep. Same thing down here in CC. I fished an area for years and always caught multiple fish on any given day. I went there once earlier this year and now it’s a racetrack. Towerboats, Salt Life and Facebook/instagram have ruined fishing and fisheries. But I have had some fantastic days recently getting out of my box and looking in different areas.


----------



## jay.bush1434

richg99 said:


> One of my customers was a Geologist. He explained why we have muddy water WEST of the Mississippi, and Crystal Clear water EAST of the Mississippi. "it is the Coriolis effect" he said. The spinning of the earth causes the outflow from the Mississippi to turn towards the Texas Coast. For millions of years, we have had the mud and silt from the Mississippi invading our waters and bays. We all know that a mile or so off-shore, the water is as clear as Florida.


The other issue affecting the water quality West of the Mississippi River has to do with a counter current inshore of the gulf stream aka Loop current. The loop current flows West to East through the Gulf of Mexico. It runs fairly close to shore off of South Texas and progressively moves further out and making a big turn just North of the coastal bend area. The counter current obviously flows East to West and brings in dirty water from the river. You can see it with satellite imagery like Hilton’s Offshore Forecast service. As the Loop current moves so does the inshore current changing our water quality and how far we have to run offshore to find true blue water.


----------



## Teeser

Hoping to find halfway decent water in west Galveston bay tomorrow. Was thinking the south shoreline will be my best option. Will report back tomorrow.


----------



## MatthewAbbott

Teeser said:


> Hoping to find halfway decent water in west Galveston bay tomorrow. Was thinking the south shoreline will be my best option. Will report back tomorrow.


 Good luck today


----------



## Teeser

South shoreline was relatively clear and found a small school in the back of one of the coves - managed one out of the school.

I learned I do need to be schooled on wader protocol. On my way out of the coves I was chastised by a wader (the WTF hands in the air look) for idling through the inlet to the cove where I knew I wouldn’t hit sea grass - he was fishing the deeper inlet. I treated it like I would having a boat at the inlet of the channel. My other options were a) idling between him and his boat (and possibly hitting sea grass) or b) poling out. Was I in the wrong there?


----------



## Surffshr

How deep was the wader and how far were you from him?


----------



## Teeser

Surffshr said:


> How deep was the wader and how far were you from him?


I’d say he was about 3.5’ deep and I was 50’ from him. He was about 75-100’ from his boat which was in about a foot of water. Their were also waders on the other side of the channel about 150’ away in 2’ of water.


----------



## MatthewAbbott

Teeser said:


> I’d say he was about 3.5’ deep and I was 50’ from him. He was about 75-100’ from his boat which was in about a foot of water. Their were also waders on the other side of the channel about 150’ away in 2’ of water.


Probably should have split the difference and poled out. 50’ pretty damn close. Sometimes it is what it is though. I’m sure there was a ton of people out today. Glad you found some


----------



## Teeser

MatthewAbbott said:


> Probably should have split the difference and poled out. 50’ pretty damn close. Sometimes it is what it is though. I’m sure there was a ton of people out today. Glad you found some


10-4. Will be sure to do that in the future. Still trying to learn proper skiff etiquette - hopefully not giving a bad reputation to the rest of y’all.


----------



## sjrobin

Pole out.


----------



## Surffshr

Hey, at least you’re thinking about it. I try (although I struggle at times) to put myself in the other “boat”. When I have someone piss me off, I wonder if it is just a matter of what they are used to or I’m just a dick. As an example, I was out with my 8yo daughter poling a nice protected shoreline and had a guy burn the entire bank for about 2 miles coming at me. I raised one arm (and one finger) as he came past, and he stopped to ask me if I needed help...


----------



## R-Dub

Use the whole “do unto others” slogan . But don’t expect it to always be reciprocated. Every situation is different so look at all the moving parts and use the 90 degree rule to get out without making a bunch of commotion. Sound like you need to start looking for other areas since there were two other parties utilizing that same area. Last year as my buddy was pulling in a fish and a boat passed by at full speed and noticed we had one on and the immediately nosed into the shoreline about 100 yards north of us and 4 dudes deployed on a wade. I continued and poled through their nonsense. I got the same WTF hands in the air like I was the dick. You won’t make everyone happy.


----------



## MatthewAbbott

Teeser said:


> 10-4. Will be sure to do that in the future. Still trying to learn proper skiff etiquette - hopefully not giving a bad reputation to the rest of y’all.


Hey man sometimes it is what it is. I know of a couple coves on the south shore line that are popular wade spots and there isn’t a “good” way out without pissing someone off. We’ve all been on both sides of the coin on this one...


----------



## MatthewAbbott

R-Dub said:


> Use the whole “do unto others” slogan . But don’t expect it to always be reciprocated. Every situation is different so look at all the moving parts and use the 90 degree rule to get out without making a bunch of commotion. Sound like you need to start looking for other areas since there were two other parties utilizing that same area. Last year as my buddy was pulling in a fish and a boat passed by at full speed and noticed we had one on and the immediately nosed into the shoreline about 100 yards north of us and 4 dudes deployed on a wade. I continued and poled through their nonsense. I got the same WTF hands in the air like I was the dick. You won’t make everyone happy.


I’ve , on more than one occasion, done circles around groups that have done that to me in the past. I’m a little older and I’d like to think wiser now so I just try and let things go without getting too upset.


----------



## AZ_squid

R-Dub said:


> Use the whole “do unto others” slogan . But don’t expect it to always be reciprocated. Every situation is different so look at all the moving parts and use the 90 degree rule to get out without making a bunch of commotion. Sound like you need to start looking for other areas since there were two other parties utilizing that same area. Last year as my buddy was pulling in a fish and a boat passed by at full speed and noticed we had one on and the immediately nosed into the shoreline about 100 yards north of us and 4 dudes deployed on a wade. I continued and poled through their nonsense. I got the same WTF hands in the air like I was the dick. You won’t make everyone happy.


I got Burned twice this weekend by tower boats. Pretty much killed the shoreline afterwards.


----------



## Surffshr




----------



## AZ_squid

Surffshr said:


>


Haha perfect!


----------



## Smackdaddy53

sjrobin said:


> Pole out.


I’ve tried that and just about every time I do I’ll be on the pole for ten minutes just to be courteous and the closest guy to the other boat wades to it, cranks up and picks the other guys up. When people are wading shorelines it’s just tough to make everyone happy. By the time you pole a mile of shoreline it’s just about inevitable that a boat full of wade fishermen are going to cut you off and force you to either pole past behind them, pole out 90 degrees or just crank up and get the hell out if there quickly and be on with the rest of your day. With the amount of boats on the water today you’ll waste half a day just trying to tiptoe around everyone.


----------



## sjrobin

With rare exceptions, Texas non-fly fishing anglers and fly fishing anglers are not competing for the same water. Pole or plane well behind or in front of anchored boats on deep edges. Drifting fishing boats are a different story and planing skiffs should use more discretion. A quiet poling skiff and a quiet shallow wader are competing at times but the skiff pusher can usually avoid the same path/route as a shallow wader. In some particularly crowded areas this might require poling past some deep waders to reach shallow zones you want to look at. Crowded areas might require more work. Remember a skilled and experienced poling skiff operator can hunt shallow water more quickly and efficiently than the very best shallow wader. So if the zone has too many boats and waders, fish another zone until they leave. The best fish hunting in Texas is usually 11am to 4pm year around.


----------



## Smackdaddy53

I had a client in April sight cast reds off 2 pods of tailers less than 100 feet behind a guy that waded up on the shoreline and cut us off after running his 25 foot googan craft aground in front of us a couple of hours earlier. Man that felt really good. I asked him a second time if he wanted my buddies number that has an airboat ready to pull him off and he declined again.


----------



## Surffshr

sjrobin said:


> With rare exceptions, Texas non-fly fishing anglers and fly fishing anglers are not competing for the same water. Pole or plane well behind or in front of anchored boats on deep edges. Drifting fishing boats are a different story and planing skiffs should use more discretion. A quiet poling skiff and a quiet shallow wader are competing at times but the skiff pusher can usually avoid the same path/route as a shallow wader. In some particularly crowded areas this might require poling past some deep waders to reach shallow zones you want to look at. Crowded areas might require more work. Remember a skilled and experienced poling skiff operator can hunt shallow water more quickly and efficiently than the very best shallow wader. So if the zone has too many boats and waders, fish another zone until they leave. The best fish hunting in Texas is usually 11am to 4pm year around.


I’m not surprised that Steve had the best response to the quandry. Dude understands more water than I’ve seen.


----------



## FireTurtle

I don't really have anything to add. I'm a sub par freshwater fisherman way the hell North of any salt water quarry up in DFW & I don't own a functional skiff yet. It might be a total POS that's not worth using when I'm done with it at that. LOL


----------



## MariettaMike

richg99 said:


> One of my customers was a Geologist. He explained why we have muddy water WEST of the Mississippi, and Crystal Clear water EAST of the Mississippi. "it is the Coriolis effect" he said. The spinning of the earth causes the outflow from the Mississippi to turn towards the Texas Coast. For millions of years, we have had the mud and silt from the Mississippi invading our waters and bays. We all know that a mile or so off-shore, the water is as clear as Florida.


Your geologist customer must be an Aggie.

Everybody knows the Gulf Stream flows West to East along the Texas-Louisiana coasts.

in addition the "Mississippi" isn't millions of years old, but it has moved. 5000 years ago the main channel was the Bayou Teche (New Iberia), and 2500 years ago it was Bayou Lafourche (Thibodeaux). There were also changes in the Red River, and Atchafalaya River channels that also added huge amounts of silt to the Louisiana Coast. Silt is what makes water muddy when it rains, and that muddy water you're seeing in Texas is from your local silt deposits carried by your local rain runoff.

As for Louisiana, the levees along the Mississippi that stop new silt from getting added is why South Louisiana is eroding from the inside out. To fix that they are now letting muddy Mississippi waters flow back to the inshore waters to the West. It sure does make the sight fishing suck. But its better than having Highway 90 for a coastline.

If you want to fish gin clear saltwater come over






























to Citrus County.


----------



## sjrobin

MariettaMike said:


> Your geologist customer must be an Aggie.
> 
> Everybody knows the Gulf Stream flows West to East along the Texas-Louisiana coasts.
> 
> in addition the "Mississippi" isn't millions of years old, but it has moved. 5000 years ago the main channel was the Bayou Teche (New Iberia), and 2500 years ago it was Bayou Lafourche (Thibodeaux). There were also changes in the Red River, and Atchafalaya River channels that also added huge amounts of silt to the Louisiana Coast. Silt is what makes water muddy when it rains, and that muddy water you're seeing in Texas is from your local silt deposits carried by your local rain runoff.
> 
> As for Louisiana, the levees along the Mississippi that stop new silt from getting added is why South Louisiana is eroding from the inside out. To fix that they are now letting muddy Mississippi waters flow back to the inshore waters to the West. It sure does make the sight fishing suck. But its better than having Highway 90 for a coastline.
> 
> If you want to fish gin clear saltwater come over
> View attachment 81786
> View attachment 81788
> View attachment 81792
> View attachment 81798
> 
> 
> to Citrus County.


Great post Mike, and ya'll do have some great saltwater habitat to hunt fish in.


----------



## BudT

Smackdaddy53 said:


> I had a client in April sight cast reds off 2 pods of tailers less than 100 feet behind a guy that waded up on the shoreline and cut us off after running his 25 foot googan craft aground in front of us a couple of hours earlier. Man that felt really good. I asked him a second time if he wanted my buddies number that has an airboat ready to pull him off and he declined again.
> View attachment 81778
> 
> 
> View attachment 81776


I hope the tide was going out on a full moon with a north wind.


----------



## BudT

Teeser said:


> South shoreline was relatively clear and found a small school in the back of one of the coves - managed one out of the school.
> 
> I learned I do need to be schooled on wader protocol. On my way out of the coves I was chastised by a wader (the WTF hands in the air look) for idling through the inlet to the cove where I knew I wouldn’t hit sea grass - he was fishing the deeper inlet. I treated it like I would having a boat at the inlet of the channel. My other options were a) idling between him and his boat (and possibly hitting sea grass) or b) poling out. Was I in the wrong there?


I wade a lot, my thoughts are if I'm wading the inlet then I'm subject to having boats come through. Do I like it? No, but it is gonna happen. Depending on how tight the inlet is, usually the courteous guys will drop the trolling motor move through and then crank back up. Some guys don't know any better, some don't give a damn. I just realize that I am subject to it If I'm on a cut.

What does piss me off is when I'm on an inlet / drain and I have a dick pull up and anchor on me. Hundreds of square miles of water, numerous open drains in the vicinity, and you have to flounder fish the drain I set up on 30 min b4 daylight b/c I have been on big fish here?! Oh, and you showed up at 07:30.

I will also say that I have had numerous experiences where the bite was on, a boat motored through, bite shut down temporarily ony to turn right back on, so all is not always lost.


----------



## Michael_Baber

On the subject of fishing etiquette I’ve had tower boats run so close to me in Sabine NWR I could have jousted them with my pushpole.


----------



## mrbacklash

Pretty sure those a$$hats are not supposed to run in the ponds only pole or troll?


Michael_Baber said:


> On the subject of fishing etiquette I’ve had tower boats run so close to me in Sabine NWR I could have jousted them with my pushpole.


----------



## CKEAT

The airboats are the absolute best, plowing over the marsh in 6-8 inch back lakes in July. Much to accomplish there.


----------



## Michael_Baber

mrbacklash said:


> Pretty sure those a$$hats are not supposed to run in the ponds only pole or troll?


I think you’re right, especially when you’re constantly planing out with a 250HP.


----------



## CKEAT

Many have 400 racing motors now, I mean it’s important to be able to hit 100 on the flats


----------



## Derek Radtke

Speaking of airboats, does anyone who fishes down south know if they are “allowed” to run the national seashore shoreline? There was one running up and down that shoreline south of bird island today. I was finally able to find a pretty decent school of drum with some redfish mixed in up on the shoreline feeding, had some fun and then the airboat started heading south and completely turned the bite off.


----------



## CKEAT

They demolish any opportunity within hundreds of yards and they run over the marsh with no regard to anything. That shit should be illegal.

That literally does no good except prove you can build a vehicle that can run over habitat and make sure anyone else that wanted to enjoy the outdoors anywhere close to you is now all f’d up!


----------



## HTown

Haven't seen too much traffic on the West Bay, right now I am catching most fish on a popping cork and I cant seem to catch them on anything else. Anyone have any luck with fly fishing and what flies are you throwing, I have been thinking about tying some flies with MP Magic heads to create water movement so that fish can find the bait, anyone throw something like this before?


----------



## MatthewAbbott

HTown said:


> Haven't seen too much traffic on the West Bay, right now I am catching most fish on a popping cork and I cant seem to catch them on anything else. Anyone have any luck with fly fishing and what flies are you throwing, I have been thinking about tying some flies with MP Magic heads to create water movement so that fish can find the bait, anyone throw something like this before?


Haven’t seen too much traffic in West bay?

West G-bay? Ima call bullshit. I seen at least 30 boats at Buc-ee’s Saturday mourning and plenty of boats in every cove or shoreline you could imagine trying to fish. That’s San Luis to Tiki...


----------



## Finn Maccumhail

MatthewAbbott said:


> Haven’t seen too much traffic in West bay?
> 
> West G-bay? Ima call bullshit. I seen at least 30 boats at Buc-ee’s Saturday mourning and plenty of boats in every cove or shoreline you could imagine trying to fish. That’s San Luis to Tiki...


Fish during the week.

Everybody knows about the grass flats on the north side of West Bay but there have been tons of times I've fished them Tuesday - Thursday and had them all to myself but go back on a weekend and there will be waders stacked up like a picket fence.


----------



## MatthewAbbott

Finn Maccumhail said:


> Fish during the week.
> 
> Everybody knows about the grass flats on the north side of West Bay but there have been tons of times I've fished them Tuesday - Thursday and had them all to myself but go back on a weekend and there will be waders stacked up like a picket fence.


I normally fish during the week and can find areas that dont have people in them but usually there’s still plenty of people running the bay. Fished the weekend on a buddies boat and couldn’t find a stretch of bay that wasn’t covered up.


----------



## MatthewAbbott

Finn Maccumhail said:


> Fish during the week.
> 
> Everybody knows about the grass flats on the north side of West Bay but there have been tons of times I've fished them Tuesday - Thursday and had them all to myself but go back on a weekend and there will be waders stacked up like a picket fence.


I normally fish during the week and can find areas that dont have people in them but usually there’s still plenty of people running the bay. Fished the weekend on a buddies boat and couldn’t find a stretch of bay that wasn’t covered up.


----------



## MatthewAbbott

I was actually amazed at the amount of people out there as I haven’t fished a weekend in awhile. Can’t wait for September... and


----------



## Smackdaddy53

This time of year it’s covered up no matter what day you go. I’m ready for the masses to go to their deer leases and duck blinds...


----------



## jay.bush1434

Some really significant bay draining tides this past week but even with SW winds, the bite has been really good. Surprisingly, flounder have really turned on. I'm going to try and fool a few on fly when I'm off Monday.


----------



## jay.bush1434

West G bay: SW winds have been a little persistent which keeps the water off color. Scattered storms have kept the water temps in the mid 80’s. Still lots of baitfish. Reds pushed way back in the marshes and back lakes. They are biting good and many are schooled up. Big trout are still around but as usual, they are singles and good luck with that. Best shot is to go early. Flatties have been biting too but more of a bonus than anything consistent.


----------



## CKEAT

Nice report!


----------



## No Bait / Lures Only

Smackdaddy53 said:


> The snowflakes, trophy trout skin mounters, meat haulers and straight up posers couldn’t handle me but after the New Yorkers bought the forum and people started dropping like flies they asked me to come back...nah, I have a new home now.


I like that! Thin skin, sorta like a trout?


----------



## Smackdaddy53

No Bait / Lures Only said:


> I like that! Thin skin, sorta like a trout?


Even thinner...like snowflakes


----------



## jay.bush1434

West G bay: NE winds and high tides have made a lot of the reds to really push back into the back back of the marshes. Still some good reds to be had on the North Shore. We had 6 good shots at them yesterday late morning/early afternoon. Early morning seems to be best for the bite and for the winds. Tide levels are getting back to more normal levels but there is a late afternoon dump so get your fishing in before lunch. Baitfish patterns still working for specks. Flounder bite seems to have slowed from last week but still better than it usually is this time of year. Overall, the fishing has been much better this summer than years past.


----------



## Micro Thinfisher

Zika said:


> I'm shocked, shocked mind you, that a model poster like Smack would ever get kicked off a reasonable forum.


So he’s a male model?


----------



## Smackdaddy53

Micro Thinfisher said:


> So he’s a male model?


Why, you interested?


----------



## Micro Thinfisher

Nope, completely hetero here.


----------



## Smackdaddy53

Micro Thinfisher said:


> Nope, completely hetero here.


Yeah me too, I have a badass 4 year old and beautiful woman. Glad to know because lots of ********* milling around these days. 
On a lighter note, slot reds have moved back into the back lakes in force and I ran across some big schools of over slots 28-32” on main bay shorelines. It’s going to be a great fall and I’m dying to chunk Fatboys for trophy trout while most guys are sitting in duck and deer blinds.


----------



## Micro Thinfisher

Cool pics and looks like you got yourself a nice Mav, wish we had the reds we used to have here in SW FL, red tide killed a bunch along with a lot of nice snook. Need to take better care of what’s going into our waters.


----------



## Smackdaddy53

Micro Thinfisher said:


> Cool pics and looks like you got yourself a nice Mav, wish we had the reds we used to have here in SW FL, red tide killed a bunch along with a lot of nice snook. Need to take better care of what’s going into our waters.


Yeah guys here seem to finally be getting it. Now to control guides meat hauling, every day fishermen regulating themselves more and figuring out how to regulate all these kill tournaments and numbers of tournaments in general...


----------



## MatthewAbbott

Meat haul and split cost “guides” are bullshit. It would be badass if we could limit the number of tournaments per bay system. 


Smackdaddy53 said:


> Yeah guys here seem to finally be getting it. Now to control guides meat hauling, every day fishermen regulating themselves more and figuring out how to regulate all these kill tournaments and numbers of tournaments in general...


----------



## Smackdaddy53

MatthewAbbott said:


> Meat haul and split cost “guides” are bullshit. It would be badass if we could limit the number of tournaments per bay system.


There are rumors of tournaments requiring permits and a limited number per area coming soon. That will cut out a lot of the riff raff with overlapping tournaments and people just putting on tournaments every time someone needs money. It’s ridiculous and lots of folks have had enough of it. Maybe if they were required to have a permit, regulations and give back a percentage to restocking and helping research the resource it would drop these people from assembling fishing tournament after fishing tournament with no idea or consideration for what’s already going on.


----------



## MatthewAbbott

I’d be 100% behind that @Smackdaddy53


----------



## commtrd

Would be gr8 if tournaments were abolished completely. There should be much more respect shown to the resource IMHO.


----------



## Smackdaddy53

commtrd said:


> Would be gr8 if tournaments were abolished completely. There should be much more respect shown to the resource IMHO.


Baby steps...


----------



## richg99

Its all about the money. Manufacturers like their boats/motors/gear to be given the stage. Locales like people renting condos/apartments and buying food. Guides like the exposure for their areas. A few fishermen take home most of the winnings in some tournaments. 

Hard to stop. Look at the Bass scene.


----------



## Smackdaddy53

richg99 said:


> Its all about the money. Manufacturers like their boats/motors/gear to be given the stage. Locales like people renting condos/apartments and buying food. Guides like the exposure for their areas. A few fishermen take home most of the winnings in some tournaments.
> 
> Hard to stop. Look at the Bass scene.


How many bass tournaments require killing fish? Inshore tournament fishermen treat fish like garbage, even live weigh ins aren’t conducive to the health of the resource if you think about how they go about it. I can elaborate if you would like.


----------



## richg99

I agree with you. But, it will be hard to stop. 

Bass tournaments release the fish, but no one knows how long they live afterward.


----------



## Smackdaddy53

richg99 said:


> I agree with you. But, it will be hard to stop.
> 
> Bass tournaments release the fish, but no one knows how long they live afterward.


Longer than the 8# plus trout that are mandatory to kill for weigh in for the Texas CCA STAR...if you had any real idea how many trout over 6 pounds get unnecessarily killed for that tournament you would blackball the CCA all together. Idiots that aren’t even entered throw big trout in their ice chest to go weigh in and get denied because they didn’t sign up. Then you get the people that do enter but don’t read the rules or own a scale and try to weigh in sub 8 pound trout when there’s an 8 pound minimum. Then you have the rocket scientists that are entered and catch trout over 8 pounds and kill them just to get to the weigh station and find out there’s already one or two on the board that are heavier because they didn’t bother to check the leader board that’s accessible from their phone (the same phone they are using to take hero shots and post on social media of the decade old fish they wouldn’t have killed if the STAR put a bounty out on 8# plus trout).
See where I’m going with this? HUNDREDS of huge trout are killed over the three month tournament just to fill 3 slots on the lower, middle and upper coast. If you guys support that tournament you are supporting the decline of the trout population. Very unnecessary...did you know Florida’s STAR is catch and release? Wow
I hope your post doesn’t represent the majority of guy’s thoughts on the subject. I take it very seriously, it’s my son’s future and he deserves to have good fish to catch from a healthy fishery...


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## EdK13

MLF for Saltwater would be fine. I would fish that kind of tournament. Fish back in the water in 30 seconds.


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## jay.bush1434

commtrd said:


> Would be gr8 if tournaments were abolished completely. There should be much more respect shown to the resource IMHO.


Abolish kill tournaments. Catch, photo on verified check it stick, release back to water right where you caught it. Turn in SD card at weigh in.

I'm going to put on a new heaviest stringer tournament. Heaviest stringer full of garbage and trash pulled from our bays system win personal satisfaction of a job well done taking care of our resource. Side pot for most amount of single use plastic water bottles not taken on your boat. Encourages hydration and less plastic in the landfill or worse, the water. You can fish along the way...


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## richg99

I dropped my CCA membership back when it was still GCCA. Long story.


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## sjrobin

richg99 said:


> I dropped my CCA membership back when it was still GCCA. Long story.


So did I Rich. I know that some local chapters are focusing on habitat, but that takes legislative changes to coastal development, climate change moderation, etc.... I have said this before, instead of voting single issues, like abortion, tax reduction, or firearms regulation, natural resource users should vote environmental issues. But human nature, even in a democracy, tends to drift to greed and short sighted selfishness. Most humans have to see the threat to respond.


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## Smackdaddy53

sjrobin said:


> So did I Rich. I know that some local chapters are focusing on habitat, but that takes legislative changes to coastal development, climate change moderation, etc.... I have said this before, instead of voting single issues, like abortion, tax reduction, or firearms regulation, natural resource users should vote environmental issues. But human nature, even in a democracy, tends to drift to greed and short sighted selfishness. Most humans have to see the threat to respond.


Reactive vs Proactive regulations...
Why wait until the fishery is suffering to make changes? We have too many tools at our disposal for that, it’s not 1930 any more!


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## Snakesurf

Not a big tournament fisherman but I will keep fish for the table. Don't keep any more than I will eat. Big trout over 5# are just not good table fair and I can't see a reason to keep them. I have caught very large trout and released them without pictures because I knew by the time I got to my camera the fish would be near dead. I totally agree about kill tournaments and using a GoPro is enough for me.


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## commtrd

If saltwater fishermen in TX could just learn to take much satisfaction from catching really large trout and watching the big girls swimming away unharmed, rather than only thinking about the meat haul, that would be a revolutionary thing and so positive for the fishery long term. Unfortunately, I just don't see that happening any time soon (ever). 

My personal best trout (prolly will never catch another one like her) was fishing South Bay with JR Ellis on his Majek scooter many years ago. There was 3 of these mega trout swimming along over shallow pot-holes in gin-clear water. Threw out a twin tail cocaho on eighth ounce jig head and was fortunate enough to not spook them; caught a big old girl and worked her in. JR asked "What ya gonna do with her"? I was a poor broke student, no money to mount, even if I was inclined to do that (I was not) and certainly not going to put the knife to her (plumb full of eggs). Nope, she is going right back into the water right now! She measured at 31.5" and 10 lbs 1 ounce. 

Watched her swim away; JR said "Man that was so cool! Can't believe you did that". It felt really good to watch that trout swim away. It is hunting, with the intent of releasing the quarry back to where they came from, unharmed. The only way to improve upon that is to do it on the fly. That is the pinnacle. And IF at least some of these brain-dead morons would get over the big meat-haul, the fishery and future generations would be eternally grateful.

Rant over.


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## Smackdaddy53

commtrd said:


> If saltwater fishermen in TX could just learn to take much satisfaction from catching really large trout and watching the big girls swimming away unharmed, rather than only thinking about the meat haul, that would be a revolutionary thing and so positive for the fishery long term. Unfortunately, I just don't see that happening any time soon (ever).
> 
> My personal best trout (prolly will never catch another one like her) was fishing South Bay with JR Ellis on his Majek scooter many years ago. There was 3 of these mega trout swimming along over shallow pot-holes in gin-clear water. Threw out a twin tail cocaho on eighth ounce jig head and was fortunate enough to not spook them; caught a big old girl and worked her in. JR asked "What ya gonna do with her"? I was a poor broke student, no money to mount, even if I was inclined to do that (I was not) and certainly not going to put the knife to her (plumb full of eggs). Nope, she is going right back into the water right now! She measured at 31.5" and 10 lbs 1 ounce.
> 
> Watched her swim away; JR said "Man that was so cool! Can't believe you did that". It felt really good to watch that trout swim away. It is hunting, with the intent of releasing the quarry back to where they came from, unharmed. The only way to improve upon that is to do it on the fly. That is the pinnacle. And IF at least some of these brain-dead morons would get over the big meat-haul, the fishery and future generations would be eternally grateful.
> 
> Rant over.


Damn straight


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## BudT

I don't need the tournaments, pictures, record books, witnesses, video, or FACEBOOK to validate the fisherman I am. The hunt, stalking, landing and releasing that fish is enough for me. I can't say it's always been this way, but I can say it's been this way for several years. It's not a fad but an appreciation for something that I love. I've let my ego cause me to make some poor decisions along the way, I don't want to be that guy anymore.


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## FireTurtle

richg99 said:


> I agree with you. But, it will be hard to stop.
> 
> Bass tournaments release the fish, but no one knows how long they live afterward.


There have been extensive multi-year studies done on it. Most of the fish live & continue to thrive. The majority of the studies showed that Largemouth bass usually don't travel more than a couple of miles from the release site, but Smallmouth will. So the weigh-in release sites would have a stockpile of LMB within a couple of miles of them. They started using release boats a few years ago to disperse the fish over wider ranges. Sam Rayburn here in TX is one of the most tournament laden lakes in the US & TPWD have figured out that even with the hundred plus tournaments each year doing weigh ins, that all the fish weighed in combined for an entire year represent 1/20th of all the bass, so little is done to harm the fishery even if they don't spread the releases out. 
I'm a big fan of the MLF concept with judges in every boat certifying the catch & the fish get caught weighed & back in the water in less than a minute or two. Plus it's all live streamed so it makes cheating nearly impossible. Even for the one's still doing weigh-ins, most of the mid-level tournaments do hourly weigh-ins now, so bass don't languish in a small livewell all day long and it also keeps them from holding them in weigh-in bags for long periods of time while they wait for other fishermen to weigh-in with the anglers being more spread out & the fish get released throughout the day. When I was a kid, we used to go to all the tournament weigh-ins at Lake Fork to see the excitement & look at all the fish. I took my kids to one there this summer and I'm really impressed with how far they've come from the methods in the late 80's and early 90's. 
I don't really see why the MLF format couldn't be adapted & applied to SW fishing tournaments to protect those resources too.


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## FireTurtle

All that said, there's still a lot of room for improvement on the bass tournament scene. It would be nice to see no weigh-ins during the spawning season for one.


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## hipshot

I've heard the biologists say that bed fishing (if the fish are properly cared for) is not detrimental to the fishery. But to me, it always looked like interfering with something sacred. I don't do it, and I wish others wouldn't, but as long as its legal -- and backed by qualified biologists -- I'll hold my tongue.........


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## commtrd

Money always talks doesn't it?


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## Tx_Whipray

commtrd said:


> If saltwater fishermen in TX could just learn to take much satisfaction from catching really large trout and watching the big girls swimming away unharmed, rather than only thinking about the meat haul, that would be a revolutionary thing and so positive for the fishery long term. Unfortunately, I just don't see that happening any time soon (ever).
> 
> My personal best trout (prolly will never catch another one like her) was fishing South Bay with JR Ellis on his Majek scooter many years ago. There was 3 of these mega trout swimming along over shallow pot-holes in gin-clear water. Threw out a twin tail cocaho on eighth ounce jig head and was fortunate enough to not spook them; caught a big old girl and worked her in. JR asked "What ya gonna do with her"? I was a poor broke student, no money to mount, even if I was inclined to do that (I was not) and certainly not going to put the knife to her (plumb full of eggs). Nope, she is going right back into the water right now! She measured at 31.5" and 10 lbs 1 ounce.
> 
> Watched her swim away; JR said "Man that was so cool! Can't believe you did that". It felt really good to watch that trout swim away. It is hunting, with the intent of releasing the quarry back to where they came from, unharmed. The only way to improve upon that is to do it on the fly. That is the pinnacle. And IF at least some of these brain-dead morons would get over the big meat-haul, the fishery and future generations would be eternally grateful.
> 
> Rant over.


I've always found it weird that one of the more popular fly guides in S Texas has a side business doing skin mount taxidermy. Every time he posts pictures on instagram I shake my head.


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## Smackdaddy53

Tx_Whipray said:


> I've always found it weird that one of the more popular fly guides in S Texas has a side business doing skin mount taxidermy. Every time he posts pictures on instagram I shake my head.


Nothing looks better or lasts longer than a fiberglass replica done right. The best I’ve seen are from New Wave Taxidermy. They have just about every length and girth you can imagine and paint it to match the photos of the fish. 
It’s hard to believe people still kill these big fish and try to justify it with ignorant “facts” from the 1980’s. One thing people forget about the fishery...MAN RECREATIONALLY FISHING WAS NOT PART OF THE FORMULA!


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## Zika

New Wave Taxidermy does awesome work. Why anyone would want to kill a trophy fish for a skin mount is incomprehensible, especially when the replicas are so realistic and won't degrade over time. And the trophy can still be swimming around, spawning future generations.


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## Smackdaddy53

Zika said:


> New Wave Taxidermy does awesome work. Why anyone would want to kill a trophy fish for a skin mount is incomprehensible, especially when the replicas are so realistic and won't degrade over time. And the trophy can still be swimming around, spawning future generations.


Greedy gammas


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