# Hello From Rockport, TX



## coconutgroves

Welcome! There are enough of us Texas boys around here. I am in Austin and fish up and down the middle coast.


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## commtrd

Anderson Guide Service said:


> I have watched this site for a long time and finally decided to sign up. I know this is mainly a Florida forum but I figured ya'll wouldn't mind a Texan hanging out!!


Nah they put up with us providing a little color if nothing else...


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## Smackdaddy53

Welcome! Tunnel hulls are LIFE! Haha


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## 'Nano-Skiff'

Welcome. I'm in Houston but visit my parents in Rockport when I can.


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## EdK13

How is the Oyster Mining going?


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## Padre

Welcome from one of the FL boys. And I love that there are Texans on here. I hope to get there one day. I have a friend who lives in Corpus and he keeps begging me to come over there.


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## Anderson Guide Service

EdK13 said:


> How is the Oyster Mining going?


This year is crazy. Not trying to start anything but something has to happen with all these out of town boats. They have really torn up the reefs this year.


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## Anderson Guide Service

Thanks guys!


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## 'Nano-Skiff'

I like to sit in Turtle Bayou and watch the big boats hit that shallow water at full throttle and throw up the brown rooster tails. I'd prefer they didn't, of course, but it can be entertaining.


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## jddurango

Welcome from Cowtown.


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## Roninrus1

Welcome from upper Texas coast.


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## EdK13

Anderson Guide Service said:


> This year is crazy. Not trying to start anything but something has to happen with all these out of town boats. They have really torn up the reefs this year.


Tis the season. Hear half the reefs in St Charles are stripped.


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## coconutgroves

Texas Parks and Wildlife needs to do a lot more along the TX coast. Airboat abuse and congestion in certain areas is sad to see. There is a fishing town I used to go to, but don't any more because I got really tired of seeing 8 guys being dropped off a time by the same boat on one of the best flats in the area. It's their water too, but come on - respect others and don't abuse the same spot day after day with the same tactic.


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## Smackdaddy53

coconutgroves said:


> Texas Parks and Wildlife needs to do a lot more along the TX coast. Airboat abuse and congestion in certain areas is sad to see. There is a fishing town I used to go to, but don't any more because I got really tired of seeing 8 guys being dropped off a time by the same boat on one of the best flats in the area. It's their water too, but come on - respect others and don't abuse the same spot day after day with the same tactic.


But they have all the SALT LIFE shirts and stickers on their vehicles...


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## Anderson Guide Service

Air boats have really been tearing up the St. Joe island. The refuge is starting to come down hard on anyone touching the salt grass. I don't mind the waders as long as a boat full of them doesn't cut me off. The crowds are everywhere these days.


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## Anderson Guide Service

St. Charles was hit hard. I saw TPWD doing surveys after the oyster boats already left. You should have seen the boats on cedar reef today!


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## Smackdaddy53

Run them off from one area and they rape another.


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## coconutgroves

Anderson Guide Service said:


> Air boats have really been tearing up the St. Joe island. The refuge is starting to come down hard on anyone touching the salt grass. I don't mind the waders as long as a boat full of them doesn't cut me off. The crowds are everywhere these days.


My issue with waders is that they run up on a perfectly good flat and park their boat in 1 foot of water, spooking all the fish off that flat. Then they get out and walk away from the flat and stand in neck deep water. Why leave a perfectly good 40k boat? Why blow up a flat for others? I'll pole directly down the flat and get yelled at and waved off by those assholes. Every person doesn't do this, but the ones that do have a complete disregard for others. 

And don't get me started on airboats. I wish I had a grenade launcher. I was poling a flat that usually can't be fished because of a constant south wind and open exposure to the bay. But that day the wind was a light north and the water cleared up nicely overnight. The flat was packed with pods of reds. Like double digit day just on one flat. Some asshole in an airboat blew by me - I could have made a 100' cast and hit his dumb ass right between the eyes. I swung my pole towards him and gave him the finger - jerk off just stared like he had no clue what was going on. Somehow airboat owners have learned they must hug every shoreline to stay safe. They don't realize, or maybe don't care, that when they do this, they are ruining someone else's day.

I would love to see parts of the coast ban airboats. I write this every year in my TPWD survey.


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## Smackdaddy53

coconutgroves said:


> My issue with waders is that they run up on a perfectly good flat and park their boat in 1 foot of water, spooking all the fish off that flat. Then they get out and walk away from the flat and stand in neck deep water. Why leave a perfectly good 40k boat? Why blow up a flat for others? I'll pole directly down the flat and get yelled at and waved off by those assholes. Every person doesn't do this, but the ones that do have a complete disregard for others.
> 
> And don't get me started on airboats. I wish I had a grenade launcher. I was poling a flat that usually can't be fished because of a constant south wind and open exposure to the bay. But that day the wind was a light north and the water cleared up nicely overnight. The flat was packed with pods of reds. Like double digit day just on one flat. Some asshole in an airboat blew by me - I could have made a 100' cast and hit his dumb ass right between the eyes. I swung my pole towards him and gave him the finger - jerk off just stared like he had no clue what was going on. Somehow airboat owners have learned they must hug every shoreline to stay safe. They don't realize, or maybe don't care, that when they do this, they are ruining someone else's day.
> 
> I would love to see parts of the coast ban airboats. I write this every year in my TPWD survey.


The sad thing is most of these guys learn this from other guys, usually guides or buddies they fished with. There is nothing wrong with wading or owning a shallow running boat but just because your boat is able to run in 6" doesn't mean they have to burn every shoreline instead of running the channels. These jackoffs either don't realize or care that they just ran all the fish off that shoreline and ruined it for the next guy. Some don't know better and In my opinion airboats should just be banned completely because the idiots that run them are scared to death to run in anything over a foot deep and also run over mangroves and grass like it's not there. Duck hunting has gotten ridiculous and needs to be regulated because there are absolutely too many blinds and there tends to be a "we own the water" attitude with most of these hunters.


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## coconutgroves

I had duck hunters shoot in our direction before. We were about 100 yards away on a flat loaded with reds. We could hear them yelling about the duck hunting sucking thanks to the fly fisherman. We held off that flat for a long time and didn't see one damn duck and said screw it, we are going in. Glad we did - we landed 14 reds on that flat.


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## Smackdaddy53

coconutgroves said:


> I had duck hunters hoot in our direction before. We were about 100 yards away on a flat loaded with reds. We could hear them yelling about the duck hunting sucking thanks to the fly fisherman. We held off that flat for a long time and didn't see one damn duck and said screw it, we are going in. Glad we did - we landed 14 reds on that flat.


Hoot in your direction? That's a hell of a lot better than getting peppered for not seeing some douchebags wearing camo for getting too close to them. There are areas that are absolutely PLAGUED with duck hunters, airboats and surface drives. I reported several guides for flattening out mangroves with airboats and a few areas got trenched by surface drives running over grass bars that are a few inches deep. I am not much on preaching about wishing for more regulations but these assclowns need to be put in check in a very bad way.


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## coconutgroves

Hahaha, Hoot. That is funny. I love posting from my phone. I changed it - they shot in our direction.


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## Anderson Guide Service

I agree with airboats running you over. I was on St. Joe during hunting season trolling down a shoreline. Crystal clear water and pods of redfish everywhere. Then here came the airboats. Four of them passed me within casting distance!! I would have understood if it was rough and they did not want to run in the big waves out in Aransas. An airboat running in that stuff is not safe but it was slick calm!! Frankly though outboards do the same thing and most don't know they are doing anything wrong. Airboats are just a lot more annoying when they do it.

Biggest thing that gets me with guys wading is they seem to think that they get to claim a mile of shore. Personally I wouldn't want to walk all they way back to the boat!!


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## 'Nano-Skiff'

Maybe the airboats are just trying to get the fish used to it. If they do it enough, the fish wont really mind anymore. lol.


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## commtrd

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Run them off from one area and they rape another.


Welcome to fishing in TX.


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## Sublime

I know the duck hunters like doing their thing and I like doing mine. I just wish they would give you a friendly wave when you are getting close. I've poled or idled into a shoreline where I know there is a duck blind before and have seen no deeks out and no boat up in the grass only to get close and have them go off on me. Geesh.


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## 'Nano-Skiff'

Maybe put up a flag with a photo of a duck on it lol


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## crc01

You guys share my same frustrations with Texas fishing. People will claw each other's eyes out just to get their end of the day hero shot with their 5 fish limit of iced down 15-18 inch trout. They don't have respect for anyone else in the area. 

There are still a few great spots around the middle coast that people ignore, but over the last couple of years people are starting to find them. Last time I was out in one of those spots, we spotted a huge school of reds feeding in a channel across an exposed mud flat from the flat we were poling. Not 30 seconds later here comes bubba in his tower boat jamming Jason Aldean as loud as the speakers would play it. This "channel" was very narrow and shallow. He runs aground not 20 yards from where the school WAS feeding. Guess his tower boat didn't make him any better at seeing obvious fish.


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## crc01

Sublime said:


> I know the duck hunters like doing their thing and I like doing mine. I just wish they would give you a friendly wave when you are getting close. I've poled or idled into a shoreline where I know there is a duck blind before and have seen no deeks out and no boat up in the grass only to get close and have them go off on me. Geesh.



Killing those insanely stupid redheads is serious business to them.


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## Sublime

I will say that most duck hunters are crazy committed to it. More so than I am to being mad at fish.


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## Tx_Whipray

yea, I don't even try to fish Seadrift/POC during duck season unless I can get out mid-week. The duck hunters in fall/winter are almost as annoying as the guys in the bluewaves/predators/cajuns anchored up in the only channel deep enough to run back into the lakes in the middle of summer soaking dead shrimp with their grand kids.


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## crc01

Tx_Whipray said:


> yea, I don't even try to fish Seadrift/POC during duck season unless I can get out mid-week. The duck hunters in fall/winter are almost as *annoying as the guys in the bluewaves/predators/cajuns anchored up in the only channel deep enough to run back into the lakes in the middle of summer soaking dead shrimp with their grand kids*.



We experience that dang near every time we fish that area. They look at you like you are peeing in their breakfast. I don't know what it is about people in Texas that think anchoring in, or near a channel that enters a shallow bay is a good idea.


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## WillW

I duck hunt pretty regular & it does piss me when getting run up on by fisherman when my spread, blind, & skiff are pretty obvious. That said after say 9-10am "my spot" is fair game in my mind, whether it suits my wants or not. That said I strictly fly fish these days & go out of my way to slow motor, troll, or pole by anyone I see fishing or hunting. The only exception to this rule are people posted up in channels or marsh drains. For that you get blown by with no acknowledgement of your existence, lack of fishing etiquette, & common sense.


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## Smackdaddy53

Tx_Whipray said:


> yea, I don't even try to fish Seadrift/POC during duck season unless I can get out mid-week. The duck hunters in fall/winter are almost as annoying as the guys in the bluewaves/predators/cajuns anchored up in the only channel deep enough to run back into the lakes in the middle of summer soaking dead shrimp with their grand kids.


I love when they anchor in the entrances, I just run right around them and wave like an idiot.


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## Smackdaddy53

WillW said:


> I duck hunt pretty regular & it does piss me when getting run up on by fisherman when my spread, blind, & skiff are pretty obvious. That said after say 9-10am "my spot" is fair game in my mind, whether it suits my wants or not. That said I strictly fly fish these days & go out of my way to slow motor, troll, or pole by anyone I see fishing or hunting. The only exception to this rule are people posted up in channels or marsh drains. For that you get blown by with no acknowledgement of your existence, lack of fishing etiquette, & common sense.


What do you think about every back lake and shoreline having a blind or hunters laying in the grass every hundred yards or so? I guess TPWD should just shut fishing down during duck season. I HOPE some restrictions are put in place one of these days because it seems like every year there are a hundred new blinds popping up all over the place when the area was already overrun with hunters. There needs to be some balance don't you agree?


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## WillW

Smackdaddy53 said:


> What do you think about every back lake and shoreline having a blind or hunters laying in the grass every hundred yards or so? I guess TPWD should just shut fishing down during duck season. I HOPE some restrictions are put in place one of these days because it seems like every year there are a hundred new blinds popping up all over the place when the area was already overrun with hunters. There needs to be some balance don't you agree?


I don't love it but with TwitterFaceInstaBlog it's all about that "look what I did today" mentality which means more than ANYTHING. With public land yes there should be restrictions but regulation is key & as we all know good common sense regulators are in short supply. Luckily where I'm at isn't probably as bad as where you are. My rule during duck season if fishing is: never before 10am if a conflict zone. I know some days that screws me out of prime time but what's less stressful?... missing the window or a literal firearm drawdown in the marsh over a fish or damn duck (which I've had on the fishy end & is nasty). There is always a point of diminishing returns with anything. Old un-removed blinds anger me most, it's just the laziest thing ever. Just this past wkend I poled around some posts that were about 4" below the waterline at a medium/lowing tide in a pond I've been all over at least 20 times. From the looks these posts were 2-4 years old. Note that I've poled/run this particular ponds lots of times. Point being; at best hitting these things would ruin a day, at worst ruin a motor. In short if you hunt, pick up after yourself, even if that means removing a blind you only used one season.


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## Smackdaddy53

WillW said:


> I don't love it but with TwitterFaceInstaBlog it's all about that "look what I did today" mentality which means more than ANYTHING. With public land yes there should be restrictions but regulation is key & as we all know good common sense regulators are in short supply. Luckily where I'm at isn't probably as bad as where you are. My rule during duck season if fishing is: never before 10am if a conflict zone. I know some days that screws me out of prime time but what's less stressful?... missing the window or a literal firearm drawdown in the marsh over a fish or damn duck (which I've had on the fishy end & is nasty). There is always a point of diminishing returns with anything. Old un-removed blinds anger me most, it's just the laziest thing ever. Just this past wkend I poled around some posts that were about 4" below the waterline at a medium/lowing tide in a pond I've been all over at least 20 times. From the looks these posts were 2-4 years old. Note that I've poled/run this particular ponds lots of times. Point being; at best hitting these things would ruin a day, at worst ruin a motor. In short if you hunt, pick up after yourself, even if that means removing a blind you only used one season.


It sounds like you are one of the good guys, I wish more shared that mentality. I have a bunch of old blind posts marked that I found while running and they are all right at or just below the waterline on a normal tide. I can't pull 4x4's out or I would remove them.


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## Tx_Whipray

Everyone has a right to public land, but no group should have more right than the others. I get where duck hunters are coming from in that it's a short season to pursue their passion, and it's a lot of work to set out decoys, move the boat, trudge back to the blind in knee deep muck, etc. Heck, I enjoy duck hunting myself, and it's a heritage passed down to me from my cajun grandfather...one I am passing down to my own son. Also, I'm with WillW in that I try really hard to stay out of known conflict zones early in the mornings during duck season. 

That being said, I think there are some areas where duck hunting should be limited more for public safety than anything else. I'm talking about places like the Lagoon and Shoalwater, Lighthouse Lakes, etc. Those places are just so high traffic it's just begging for an accident, or worse yet a conflict that boils over. As outdoorsmen, we all have more in common than not, and when we fight amongst ourselves it makes it easier for those that would like to see us lose ALL access.


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## Smackdaddy53

Tx_Whipray said:


> Everyone has a right to public land, but no group should have more right than the others. I get where duck hunters are coming from in that it's a short season to pursue their passion, and it's a lot of work to set out decoys, move the boat, trudge back to the blind in knee deep muck, etc. Heck, I enjoy duck hunting myself, and it's a heritage passed down to me from my cajun grandfather...one I am passing down to my own son. Also, I'm with WillW in that I try really hard to stay out of known conflict zones early in the mornings during duck season.
> 
> That being said, I think there are some areas where duck hunting should be limited more for public safety than anything else. I'm talking about places like the Lagoon and Shoalwater, Lighthouse Lakes, etc. Those places are just so high traffic it's just begging for an accident, or worse yet a conflict that boils over. As outdoorsmen, we all have more in common than not, and when we fight amongst ourselves it makes it easier for those that would like to see us lose ALL access.


The exact areas I am referring to and throw in Brown and Root flats and the south shoreline of East Matagorda too. The taxi guides that haul airboats of people out all morning are the biggest problem. I have personally witnessed one airboat guide pick up over 15 groups of 3-4 hunters in one morning off the side of Hwy 361 on the Brown & Root Flats side and blew past anyone in a boat like they weren't there. I think a guide should be limited to one group per trip for many reasons. 
We derailed the OP's thread but it's something he probably deals with as well.


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## Anderson Guide Service

Oh yeah, I know exactly who you are talking about. I forgot how many hunters he ran this year but it was some crazy numbers like 800-900. They don't charge much at all for the ride out there. Then again they don't shoot very much either. They might get some of those elusive redheads and bluebills but that is about it!!


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## sickofAirboats

coconutgroves said:


> My issue with waders is that they run up on a perfectly good flat and park their boat in 1 foot of water, spooking all the fish off that flat. Then they get out and walk away from the flat and stand in neck deep water. Why leave a perfectly good 40k boat? Why blow up a flat for others? I'll pole directly down the flat and get yelled at and waved off by those assholes. Every person doesn't do this, but the ones that do have a complete disregard for others.
> 
> And don't get me started on airboats. I wish I had a grenade launcher. I was poling a flat that usually can't be fished because of a constant south wind and open exposure to the bay. But that day the wind was a light north and the water cleared up nicely overnight. The flat was packed with pods of reds. Like double digit day just on one flat. Some asshole in an airboat blew by me - I could have made a 100' cast and hit his dumb ass right between the eyes. I swung my pole towards him and gave him the finger - jerk off just stared like he had no clue what was going on. Somehow airboat owners have learned they must hug every shoreline to stay safe. They don't realize, or maybe don't care, that when they do this, they are ruining someone else's day.
> 
> I would love to see parts of the coast ban airboats. I write this every year in my TPWD survey.


PLEASE get these Airboats banned. Obnoxious watercraft as well as the drivers.


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## Smackdaddy53

sickofAirboats said:


> PLEASE get these Airboats banned. Obnoxious watercraft as well as the drivers.


Which troll are you?


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## Cassio

Im all for public land use but all the duck blinds baffles me. How can you be allowed to build a permanent structure then just as easily abandoned till the following season or for good? Or am I missing something here.


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