Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 615 Location: somewhere on 130 miles of beach
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 3:11 pm Post subject: PINS 12/19-12/20
"There must be some kinda way OUTTA here...said the joker to the thief...there's too much confusion...I can't GET no relief..." Red tide 2011.....
Whatsup peeps! Thought I was out of action? Think again! The computer gods destroyed my crappy laptop, however thanks to Ace Computer service and a $125.24 I am pimping the 'net yet again. And of course, living the life by fishing as much as possible. Which-due to this year's holiday insanity of run people over to get to the next store, dress up like a basketball star and head to the mall to "represent," and in general act like all others must be cut off and run over in traffic festival, has been lacking lately. Got home from the el tugboato last week to about a year's worth of Christmas stuff to do, and broken gear, leaders needing to be made, truck with rotting nasty connections, you name it. Plus one knarly Buddhahead Custom Rod and Party Connection Christmas party last Saturday night. Which by the way, was awesome, next year let us book ZZ Top and rent a venue! Quick shout out to Dig-On-Me who remains the reigning champion of party photographer with ahhhh....512 photos??!! Time for the beach? Looks like a quicker trip than usual because gotta get back to work on Friday!
Knowing red tide to be ever present, I got home from the recovery session in San Antonio to crash out and wake up Monday to quickly pack and roll OUUUUTTTT! In the falling rain and cold winds of the Towboat Pad driveway, I didn't know whether to pack heavy or light...deciding while packing to pack for bear because we never know what the Island might offer us...
Pressed for time, and knowing this time of year offers fun experiences with high water and soft loamy sand, I made a quick pit stop with my homey Lyle at Clem's and jetted out. By the way, Lyle is the man and there are no rotten @#$#$#$#$# shrimp there versus "ahem, ahem" other lesser competitors!
As I creeped by, the camper was empty as was the truck....but the water was lapping at the axles....I remember so vividly my camper days....
Yep, camper pimping at M-field....
My homey Fish-Ka-Bobs awesome jeep at one of the get-to-gethers I know so many will remember....
The beginning of the shark addiction.....custom rack....the DOT basically told me get this overwidth heap of garbage off the highway system....and yes, a kayak attached this way WILL just about/will hit the side of the JFK causeway bridge and one WILL crap their pants.
Heck, why not bring everything!!!!
I miss this wonderful 3 comforter queen size bed every time I'm on the beach nowdays...notice random piece of underwear on floor....lol....oh, and standing at that kitchenette cooking dinner all warm and dry while listening to the wind howl outside....fridge that ran on 12volt, 120 volt, OR propane on the right...tv on top of that...
But all things must come to an end, even extreme PINS camper pimping....notice truck of "Chang" in background...
The hardheads were still bad up by the dunes, which unfortunately was where the water was heading...and at the 6 or so this was the LAST human being I would see for 54 miles.....
And as in past years, the fog would come and go, leaving me with a feeling of timelessness and mystery...and I once again fell in love with this beach all over again...even though the increasingly high water was more than a little cause for concern even with the lack of an influential storm presence in the Gulf....
But the red tide aerosols were still so bad...little did I know this was only the beginning for the pain my body would have to endure...
Note here....when the water is hitting the dry stuff and gives this appearance...either leave....or commit....that you will do WHATEVER...IT TAKES....because you're staying...
And the Man 'O War were ever present in the hundreds if not more....never seen this before, and what could it mean, if anything?
And this fool was laying as I found him...
No sympathy after turtle "ATTACK" 2011.
But because I know folks are wondering, NO! The shell is NOT hard, it's soft and ROTTEN!!!!
And as before, lo and behold, I drove out of the corpus area funk and into the beautiful sunshine of my south beach sand....and into a world where one mistake could cost a man his rig, his gear, his pride, and his sense of control which is most of all...important to us little humans....
And coughing and blowing my nose, I continued on. But doesn't it LOOK...nice?
And my net from last month was still hangin' around, albeit a few miles...more like 8....south. Guess we now know which currents are strong, northerlies or southerlies!
And the first of a few crap traps showed up that I would see...
How long do you guys think this floated before hitting "the deck?"
And ledges starting appearing where they shouldn't have, where they shouldn't be, and where I didn't want or need to see them... And the wind cried...."Mary."
Shout out to Damo, my music lyric database!
Now knowing this dune sand mixed with goat's foot is holding hardheads, some with spines up and out, some with spines folded in and out of the way, which track does a man take?
I say the track/path least traveled.
I haven't mentioned it, but the whole way south, as normal, I had been fishing, live bait, dead bait, artificial bait, and lures.....and not a hit....NOT....good.....
But as always, chest up, head HIGH, we give fishing, life, work, and our lives our all!
And the sun began dropping, leaving me to the wind, the DEATH that surrounded me, and to myself...and I once again pondered how easily we ALL take life for granted....when so quickly it can be snuffed out....and how highly we value our lives....when nature's creatures so quickly are born and die...without even a grave to call a final resting place...with nothing but the wind and water to bury them....and no one to remember they fought and struggled to stay alive harder than we do even on our best day...
And I set up camp for the night....strangely enough...like I started out on the beach...on the ground, and in an area I feel most comfortable in alone...which I always am anyway...
This area is called "Big Pimping." There, I have revealed all! At one time...this particular spot held mucho females and one massive brisket, a basset hound, and a lot of wild people!
And the nightfall was quiet, with still not a nibble to be had...
And the sun set with not a single shark drop out....
And night fell with me never stopping fishing...
And I would finally call it a wrap and attempt to find protection and shelter in my tent cot from the red tide aerosols and the smell of death that remained the only dominant force on the beach....
As such, I knew the much forecasted front would arrive around 6am. What I didn't know, because of experience down Island, was what would precursor the front, or occur during it's landfall to my area. One never knows anyway what may occur during the night down there. And like my good friend Mrs. Mason says at the checkgate which has always stuck with me since she told this years ago...."The park is a different place at night." And it is.
For some reason...I slept badly. I lay in the dark hearing the angry surf and worrying about my rig. I heard thunder and would wake up and look out to see it's lightning crack out across an angry Gulf, filled with a benign and unpredictable red tide, and I would every so often as we "Beach-Tards" often do, hear the results of a periodic yet quick burst of 40 or 50mph wind gusts shoot through my camp. And I was glad. Because you know what? We are so small, so puny, and so weak but we think we aren't. After a long windy and rainy night alone on a deserted beach with thunder cracking closer and closer while watching God's power boom out over the angry ocean we realize that life is more than this rat race that we have created for ourselves here in our comfort zones. And it's called fishing.
And the morning came with my alarm clock waking me, as it always does, until the day it doesn't.
And I was glad to be right there, at that very moment in time, at that very place.
So I made a song!
And I began fishing around 4am, the DEVIL'S HOUR down there....if you don't believe me or want to laugh...get up at 330am and see for yourself who else or what else is out at that time of the night...even the animals are laid up....and for all beach shark fisherman....props go out, this isn't fishing the end of Slackery or BHP, this is fishing the middle of nowhere...with an injury meaning a life-threatening event, whether a small bull or a tiger, you all are brave in my eyes!
And guess what. I covered about 15 miles in the foggy darkness. The death was all over. I then drove the pimp-sled back north, and covered another 10 plus miles to jetty during sunrise. And still nada. Goosebumpy from the lack of life. Not even a hardhead. Much less a trout.
At the jetty I ended up.
And the rollers were huge.
I gave a quick update to super Sex-Wagon Tyler T! Lol, sorry Tyler...and got back at the fishing.
And something some of you from last month will remember....
My eyes are that good, remember this people! My FLOAT FROM LAST MONTH THAT WAS LOST IN THE NORTHER! YEAH!!!
From now on all floats will have TT stamped on em!
Herein lies the secret to the breakoff I have been pondering on this 26 feet of water drop.....
And a no go....while tangled up with one of my short drops lines, this drop had been chopped off between the float and the longline clip...err leader for those unfamilar. I personally believe a fellow sharkman took the leader. But why leave the float? Hmmm...mysteries of the beach continue....
Having no choice but to leave immediately having had low water at 5am, I had too much to gain and do by being back at the towboat palace so off the beach I would have to go. Even though...strangely, I wanted to stay.
And yet again, the death was astounding. How easily we feel we are invincible!
When I die....let me go like this, kicking, screaming, clawing, biting....but in peace....
Because fighting was honorable in cultures past, and still is in my book, if you believe in it, FIGHT for IT.
And my beach was desolate.
Only my tracks existed, and they were almost erased by the rising water...
And of the many deer I encountered, I only pestered these two for pictures....but the deer are not only BACK after this drought summer of death, but they are FLOURISHING.
And as often happens, I drove right into the soon to be front, albeit late about 4 hours! Here's looking back south. Temperatures dropped 20 degrees....and the wind started blowing about 40 out of the north northeast...
And things got creepy!
And then.....things got BOB MARLEY!!!!!
Look guys...I realize and understand if these reports are driving some of you nuts. I can get that. I'm not sure...and I'm not totally understanding why the way down south beach isn't producing right now. Personally, I have a theory I share with a good friend W. Bluntzer that until we receive 8 to 10 inches of rain in the bay system that the bay system will continue to feed @#$# water into our surf zone. The Rio flows northwards we know that. Mansfield flows north, we also know that. What about packery? I have a few friends that claim it rolls south. That I haven't much knowledge of, but I do know this. All late spring and summer people with limited beach experience were catching anything from whiting to ling and kings from the beach front on crapsphere combos. And as soon as red tide started...down south quit producing and up north particularly SBHP guys were catching the bulls...shoutout to ZIA.... I personally didn't hardly wet a line until I was south of the get-run-over while trying to fish zone, aka north of the 30. Sad to say, but we have SPID-tards on the sand these days. We know the red tide started down south, supposedly Brownsville area. The areas south were tough at least for me this summer, while those up north in Rape Pass I mean Fish Pass were nailing 'em. Hmm. If the theory holds true, then could Packery be the last most northernmost common demoninator in this equation of feeding bay water into PINS with the focal point somewhere in the high banks or south? The red tide locally seems to be concentrated there, but heck, it's as far reaching as Galveston area this year. We do know that Mansfield was dredged deeper again, and also Packery recently. I'm not sure about anything, but I know this. They weren't biting...or....they have gotten smart and moved out past the red tide....this past few days. Or they just weren't there. But that's why I went, because how can I understand the Island if I'm not there, and if I don't fish these events? How can I claim to say red tide stinks if I never went? If I never suffered or put in my time? If I never saw the dead stacked up 6 inches high? How can I know what species were trying to pass through different areas if I wasn't there to see the carcasses? How would I know certain things exist in our area that I've never heard of but I saw the remains of the fangs and the bodies on my little sacred stretch of sand? As always, I regret nothing, in 100 years not a single of us will remember this post, remember me, or remember I chose to study, love, and revere this last remaining stretch of sand that we are lucky enough to experience.
So many thanks for reading guys, sorry for the lack of fish pics, I know that sucks, believe me, I'm living it. Take care, enjoy the holidays, keep your gear in tip top shape and your minds and bodies ready, because one of these days this Rojo Tide is gonna Rojo it's !#% on outta here and the fishing will be back ON! Fair winds, following seas, and best wishes.
-Towboat _________________ Protect Padre at all costs for future generations to use and enjoy and never forget our freedoms aren't free.
Good reporting. Sorry the results were not what you were after and thanks for the realtime update via texts! _________________ Like Corpusfishing.com on Facebook!
Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 1227 Location: San Antonio TX
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 6:39 pm Post subject:
What? No fish!? Moving on... lol jk. Thanks the report TBT. Its always a pleasure. You always make the best out of it and that's what its all about
Rickey
Joined: 01 Mar 2007 Posts: 330 Location: Kingsville / Raymondville / Port Mansfield
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:27 pm Post subject:
That was the couple I helped out! I hope they got out before the tide got them... Also I guess the park rangers didnt go and pick up that gill net. I stopped some on the way out and told them about that and they said they would go haul it off. Great report _________________ "Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 422 Location: San Antonio
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:09 pm Post subject:
It's interesting TbT how the idea of the adventure turns into itself as expectations are clarified by being where you want to be charging headlong into whatever waits for you to see. Dang neat.
Yo, hit it Kool!
Gracias,
Damo _________________ Don't let your meat loaf - Cheech Marin
A good read as always brother. Be safe and have a good Christmas and New Year! _________________ TAKERS GET THE HONEY, GIVERS SING THE BLUES.... - ROBIN TROWER -
Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 615 Location: somewhere on 130 miles of beach
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 7:49 pm Post subject:
Thanks guys....for all the good words. I appreciate them. Ya'll are the best! May the new year bless all of us with great fishing, healthy fish, and good fellowship.
I was talking and visiting with Ralph Wade this morning, just having Christmas together...and from his stories I gather this, that we only have so much time here on our little stretch of life. If anyone doesn't know, Ralph is eighty.....nine? Have I got that wrong? But I love him dearly and love his beach tales even more. Let's cherish what time we have, and remember that it's more than limited.
Merry Christmas guys, see ya in three weeks! _________________ Protect Padre at all costs for future generations to use and enjoy and never forget our freedoms aren't free.
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