Fishmas 12/1 and 12/2/16.

FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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I often have good intentions on posting each day when I am gone on a trip, but we fished dawn to dusk, and by time the eating festivities were done it was off to bed for another early start.  So there is lots to tell and some pictures to share.  I want to thank some of the boys in advance for stealing some of these pics from their Facebook pages.  Thanks Ken, Ro, and Dez for the pictures.

Day 1  –  Garcitas Creek

The crowd, which included around 15 guys coming from multiple places, would be trickling in from early Thursday through Saturday.  Ken came a day early and camped at the Texana so we could hit the creek Thursday at daylight.  It was cool with a wind around 15mph out of the east when we started.  Our first bank was about half way down the creek, and from then until we quit shortly before dark, we caught fish most of the day.  Though little ones dominated the day, I was able to limit on ok fish, and we ended up with 6 keepers.

Weather

69/63 Sunny  Wind E 10-20 mph  0% chance of rain.

Tides

Tidal coefficient is high with a high range of currents and tides.   Low 12:24 pm -0.1  High  11:58 pm  +1.0   It is a major 3 fish day.

Solunar Periods

Very High Activity  8:37 to 9:37 am  and then another Very High Activity  2:04 to 4:04 pm.

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The Great Outdoors!  What more can you say about starting your day than this?

We ended up fishing quite a lot of the creek from halfway down out to the bay.  Plastic paddles tails was the ticket.  I think I did catch one on topwater, but that was about it on top.  The best areas were the little flatter sides near the shoreline grass.  Many of them were on the first or second drop.

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                    Me with a rat.                         Ken catches another 14 15/16″ trout.

It never was fast, they definitely bit in spurts.  Around noon Todd, with a few of the boys, joined us but it was a little tough on them.  Without a trolling motor they struggled with the wind to stay in good position.  They did manage to catch a few on plastics, and John boated one on a rattle trap.  I think they only kept one keeper, unless you are trolling it can be pretty tough to fish it without a trolling motor.

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         Just hanging with my bro.                                Todd and the boys.

We on the other hand caught them off and on.  I have been on the reeling the paddle tail pattern and it did not let me down today.  All 5 keepers I put in the boat came while reeling it at a steady pace.  I really think that with the fish feeding heavily on mullet is why it is so effective right now.  For me it has been the bigger baits, 4″ or more, on a 1/8th jig head reeled above the bottom at a steady pace.  And a bigger paddle tail on the bait seems to work better with that technique, though the Down South will work, but not nearly as effective as the bigger tail.  My favorite part of reeling it is keeping the rod pointed directly at the bait and it feels like they slam it when it stops.

Ken figured we caught around 25, and that is a fair guess.  We kept 6 keepers out of the bunch and never did boat a keeper red.  We did catch 4 or 5 rats, but no flounder.  The wind was not that bad, but it was one of those days where it did not seem to really warm up all that much.  Finally an hour before dark both boats called it a day with the hour ride down to POC to join the rest of the crowd.

The best report I have from the other boats out on Thursday came from Dez.  He fished the Oil Cut and he and a buddy had a good afternoon trip.   Any time you boat a fish this size is a good trip, no matter what else happens.

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Dez with one around 60lbs!  That is a fish.

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               Really are big uglies.                                       The rest of their catch.

(Note:  Dez, the owner of Super Nova, is a real pro at boat lighting and accessories.  He did Todd’s boat and the lighting is awesome inside and out.  Some of the work he has done on kayaks is just plain cool and functional.  If you are ever thinking of adding fishing or accents lights to your boat, or anything else you want to make yourself awesomely cool, have a real pro do it.  Check out his work at Super Nova Fishing Lights.  Tell him Doug sent you.)

https://www.facebook.com/SuperNovaLights/?ref=br_rs&pnref=lhc&qsefr=1

Meanwhile Ro and his bunch got down late Thursday afternoon and as he loves to do, started on Welder’s.  They caught some reds, they always do, though some of them struggled with the mud.  Welders can be tricky to wade, but they always manage to sack a few reds to start their trip.

As the evening wore on folks trickled in until most were there and we met at their duplex for some supper and adult beverages.  Ro was up to his usual cooking prowess and we ate like pigs.  His salsa was to die for, and topping it off with a Cajun shrimp and sausage concoction over rice, along with cornbread casserole, hit the spot.  It was nice to see the boys get together.  This is an annual thing they all really look forward to and some of them do not see each other until the annual Fishmas trip.  We talked some trash, drank some brews, and around 10 we headed back to our rental to get some sleep.

Day 2  –  POC  – Put on your big boy pants!

So here it is, Friday morning, and to get to the point, the wind is not quite howling, yet.  But lets put it this way –  When our 3 boats got to the ramp to start the day we were 3 out of 4 trucks at the ramp.  No wonder, the forecast sucked.  And let me tell you folks, this forecast did not do it justice with how down right @#&%^ the weather would get before the day was over.  And that is the thing I love about fishing with these guys.  They look forward to this trip every year and nothing, and I mean nothing, is keeping them from fishing.  You often here the description, it was a grind, and today that was the truth.

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Look out fish here comes the Austin Boys!  The fish are freakin’ scared!

Weather

71/65  Windy with showers developing late.  Wind E 20-30 mph.  40% chance of rain.

Tides

Tidal coefficient will be high with a range of tides and currents.  The only tide during the fishing day is a low at 1:03 pm -0.1.

Solunar Periods.

High Activity  9:26 to 10:26 am  Very High Activity  2:54 to 4:54 pm

With the wind already blowing like a mofo out of the north our boat decided to blow off the wading and head to Pringle to drift fish.  Todd likes to throw shrimp on the popping cork, as he says, “I like to catch fish.”  And catch fish we did.  David joined us and we made our stand.  The other boys headed to the Big Pocket and Lighthouse Cove area, which was about as out of the wind as you can get.

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The boys had them surrounded in Big Pocket.

When we got to Pringle it wasn’t to bad, the rollers inside Pringle were only 2 feet and it had not muddied up yet.  We dropped the 2 drift socks over the side to slow that big Shallow Sport as we drifted.  The wind was blowing right down Pringle which allowed us to make long drifts before having to pull up and head back up to start again.

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                                                  Todd with a couple.

Todd stuck with his shrimp most of the day, David alternated between shrimp with the cork and plastics, and I stuck with plastics all day.  We started catching fish right off the bat, and continued until we called it a day.  15 0r 20 on every drift, it would be impossible to estimate how many we caught, but 80+ would be a really conservative estimate.

Before it was over Todd and I both limited on trout, Todd added a keeper drum and redfish, and David finally managed to break out of the 14 1/2″ mode and add a keeper to the box.  Keep in mind that we could have easily limited for ourselves and a few more if we kept those line touching shorts.  So many of them were in the just missing or touching 15″, but Todd and I both subscribe to the same theory –  If it is not over, it does no go in the box.  I am not interested in the cooler shrinkage thing, no reason to get a ticket over a fish a 1/16th short.  Kind of like us men, jump in cold water and the shrinkage happens, no different than throwing trout on ice.

I threw plastics with big paddle tails, which was no mean feat as we were drifting right along with the 25mph wind.  My limit came reeling it at a speed that kept it from the bottom or the top.  There was a ton of floating grass on top, and with much of the water under 2 feet the speed had to be constantly adjusted to keep it off the bottom or top.  One thing about reeling it steady with the rod tip pointed directly at the bait, you could feel them.  Was it easy?  Not by any stretch.  But under these conditions a limit was a thing of beauty.

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A great result for one of the toughest days I have fished in a while.

Around 3 the wind was howling, and I mean flat out banshee screaming at 30 mph.  The rollers were now over 2 feet in Pringle and we wanted to leave with at least an hour and a half of daylight left in case of something bad happening on the way back.  So we get all organized, tied down, and closed and off we go.  On the way out the tide was so low we bottomed out and had to grind our way out of Pringle.  That was but a taste of things to come.

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                                                          Holy $&%$ Batman!

When we hit the open bay it was ugly, and calling it ugly is like calling an elephant kind of big.  The wind had shifted to a little more NE and it was blowing right on the island.  As we motored out once we got 100 yards off the bank it was real apparent, there was no freakin’ way we were going to be able to cross over to the Grass Island area and then down the interior islands.  In fact, after taking a monster wave over the nose of his Shallow Sport, we headed back to the shoreline.  The rollers were manageable, barely, so we motored all the way down the island to make it back via the Saluria.  It was an exciting ride, one I do not intend to repeat anytime in the near future.  But that big wide and deep Shallow Sport got the job done along with Todd’s good driving and an hour later we were cleaning fish.

The other 3 boats came in shortly after we got in and they had managed to grind out a mess wading.  Not limits for all by any means, but plenty of fish for the Fishmas party.  Don caught a nice red and he said it looked like he had eaten a softball.  He opened him up and it was a huge pile of blue crabs.  The redfish are on the chew.

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These will do any day!

Ro reported on Facebook that Saturday was windy but the heavy rain held off.  As a 3 boat group they managed a half limit of reds and trout.  Not to bad on the heels of a cold front, high winds, and off-color water.

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Nothing says it more about the weekend.   Grinding out a few with really tough conditions.  Thanks for the pictures Ro.

After everyone cleaned fish we headed to the duplex for a great dinner.  Carnitas, fish tacos, and flan polished off our day.  We were tired and headed back to the house around 10pm with the next days plans up in the air.  During the night it rained like crazy with thunder and lightning.  When we got up the wind had laid to around 15mph but it was drizzling and raining, and the forecast called for up to 3″ of rain, so Todd and I called it a trip.

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       Mike with a Big Pocket slam.  Flounder love them some Gulp.

To bad it had to end like that, but the other boats did get out for awhile on Saturday.  I am sure there is more to tell, but one thing is for sure, they are the best bunch to fish with that I have had the pleasure to go with.  No whining, no fighting, no cry babies, just a bunch of good guys who get together every year to catch fish and have a good time.  I want to thank them for letting me tag along.  They hit it hard, and if it turns into a grind they soldier on.  All of us fishing all day Friday was a testament to them as hard-core fishermen.  I am sure I have missed a thing or two with this post, and will include anything else if I hear it.

Not sure what is next, but it is still pouring as I write this.  We are getting in the 5″ category at this point.  The bay will recover pretty rapidly, the river and creek on the other hand may have just been finished off for the year.  I can not imagine any scenario where this big an influx of fresh water will not shut it down.  In years past when this happened it ended the big fall river fishing, so only time will tell.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

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Good Luck and Tight Lines

About Redfishlaw

I am a retired attorney who just loves to fish. I was a freshwater guide for about 20 years and now have moved to the salt. I am not the greatest fisherman, but I am committed. So if you love fishing, and want to learn what little I have to offer, stop by anytime.
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