Corpusfishing.com

[lifeaquatic]

Spell-check picks some interesting words when I'm not paying attention to the text I'm sending. In this case I was sending a list of groceries contained in the cooler for dinners while in PM. The text ended in what I thought I typed as, "We will be living large."

Arrived Sunday and left Wednesday. It is highly unusual for me to fish on weekdays, yet one of the guys in the group will not fish on weekends, period. It's been at least five years since this particular combination of buddies has gotten together due to scheduling conflicts. The memory of the very first trip we made together, like 15 years ago, to Rocky Slough, the Land Cut and the Meadows was reignited. I remember how proud he was of his new-to-him boat. That old Shoalwater Stealth has since been traded around among the inner circle of buddies that once knew it in all its glory. The most recent owner made a father/son project of rebuilding it and it is well purposed for their outings - still making memories.

Port Mansfield is what you make it. For me it's an outpost. Remote, friendly, a place to simply enjoy. I don't know why some folks bring their "baggage" there. I've witnessed it. Just leave it behind. I was in a business meeting where a lady got tongue tied and made up a new word. Maybe she was trying to say extraordinary or maybe astronomical. Either way, it came out as "extranomical". Let me say Port Mansfield is without a doubt extranomical. It might even be astro-ordinary! This fishing trip certainly was.

to be continued....
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kick your shoes off and cast a line

[mickeyd]

And the fishing was????????
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Mike

[Predapex]

I use to have a shallow sport there back I'm the day..it is heaven. No crowds and the town is so isolated, like you said .

The harbor master always would say my name over the PA and say "NO WAKE IN THR HARBOR" at us over the Speaker. Lol became a long running joke.

[mickeyd]

And the fish fry is when????
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Mike

[lifeaquatic]

Sorry for the delay. This is going to take me some time to post in installments between doing other stuff.


continued...

It has been said we live and die by the wind. The best we have to go by is a variety of forecasts; none of which are going to tell me what it is going to be like better than when I walk out the back door in the morning.

Forecast says: Wind SE 10-15 knots. Nope. Try 15-20 and South. You captains out there know the difference this little adjustment can make. On top of the higher winds, they are now not projected to drop until the day we leave. "You should have been here tomorrow.", was our joke.

Making plans for the day comes down to the eventual debate of going north or south. Our feeling is once you commit in one of the two directions there is no turning around until going back to the harbor. Monday we went north.

"We don't need no stinking bait." Picture of the first stop by Butchers. Pay attention to that custom rod on the right.



Water was gorgeous. Already wind streaks across the surface of the water in the morning. It's going to get hot too.

Tried a couple spots until we found fish. The count was nada trout, a foul hooked sting ray and a skippy. Then we got into the grass carp. We didn't get out of the reds for the rest of the day with about 20 landed in total and each bringing back his limit. I took the pleasure filleting nine mid-slot reds.

We stayed shallow and worked our way north until about 4:00 and headed back.

And remember the custom rod? It's going back to its maker after a little pressure from a day on reds.


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kick your shoes off and cast a line

[lifeaquatic]

[lifeaquatic]

Celebration mode set in. If you go to the Pelican, ask for a "Boat Drink." We taught them how to combine a few ingredients in the proper proportions; grapefruit juice, cranberry, orange/pineapple, vodka, and a slice of lime. They are mmmm good after a day on the water. A couple Boat Drinks and you are feeling no pain.

Conversation drifted form catching up with what each of us has been doing lately, to zero turn mowers, to inspecting a piece of mesquite brought for the grill that definitely had a "bobcat sheared" edge. We also had a consensus that he thicker the steak the harder it is to screw it up.

Lovin' Large....and coolers make good dinner tables.


_________________
kick your shoes off and cast a line

[lifeaquatic]

Stay tuned for Tuesday's fish report going south.
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kick your shoes off and cast a line

[Predapex]

[5moreminutes]

PM is very nice. Lots of areas to wade and like you mentioned north or south your committed.
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Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

[shallowsport]

PM is indeed a great little fishing village. The deer have taken over the place. The fishing is consistently very good. Nice post.

[lars]

We bought Bob Nortons boat in the early 90's and fished Mansfield. My husband caught his largest trout to date that I made him throw back for good luck. He won the Crotch Port the next weekend so that trout was GREAT luck. Would LOVE to go back and fish Mansfield. Thanks for the report and memories.

[Predapex]

We would wade that north shoreline before I could afford a boat. We barley had a drivers license. We caught many 30" trout in the winter on that shoreline throwing big broken backs when there was no weed. Wonder how that is nowadays? Also, waaay way up the intercostal they had dredged canal off thy main channel, like streets with culdesac at the end. I assume it was gas exploration. These canals would be full of reds cruising the edges. And if the tide was right lots of trout where the water was pouring in off the flooded flat. Wonder if those are still there?

[lifeaquatic]

Final part of the report...apologize for the delay.

The previous day proved the trout were not shallow so we decided to go deeper and go south on Tuesday. As we got on plane out of the harbor the water was chocolate milk. Soon a visible color change appeared marking the edge of a tide line. Grass mats collected along the edge. The definition was precise. We also noticed the markers are renumbered and going in a decreasing order instead of ascending. When did that happen?

Beating down the ICW against the wind past the Saucer we passed boat after boat anchored on the east side fishing bait. My buddy described a spot he knew off the channel so we thought we'd give it a try. As we slowed to an idle it became obvious birds on the other side of the spoil were over water feeding about 30 yards out. So what happens next? Here comes another boat. He runs past us, shoots between the spoils as we are quietly putting in that direction and circles toward the birds. He doesn't stop. He runs right through the birds, the fish, and then back out. It was incredulous. Guess he was lost...really lost. After it settled down we still got a shot at some sight casting and pulled a couple of 25-inch reds out of the spot. Although, it could have been epic. Back on the channel side of the spoil we set up casting out into the turquoise water and in a couple of hours had 12 trout between the three of us running 17 to 21. We ended the day with two more reds and fish marked for the grill that night. Just a great trip all around.



In a couple of weeks I'll be staying with friends on North Padre. Hope to see some of you the weekend of the 19th.
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kick your shoes off and cast a line

[lifeaquatic]