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PINS 1/30/17-2/2/17

 
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Towboat Trash
Member White Shrimper Boot Club


Joined: 25 May 2009
Posts: 614
Location: somewhere on 130 miles of beach

PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 4:11 pm    Post subject: PINS 1/30/17-2/2/17 Reply with quote

Tiny pinpricks of light shone through the blinds, yellowed with age and uneven. It was darn hot outside and I had just come back off the Island from another good four day trip alone. Ralph came back into the room followed by the yips of Maggie, his little black poodle, with a fresh cold glass of sweet tea and handed it to me. "You sure you don't want some more pie? Best apple pie you've ever had! No more? Well alright then but don't go telling nobody how good my cookin' is! Or nothing bout my tea neither!" And Ralph grinned at me, and I grinned back, and there wasn't a darn thing in the whole world at that moment in time other than him and I, just a 25 year old young man and an 85 year old, older one, bound by the bonds of the beach and the water and the afternoon sea breeze that was just starting to blow outside his old home that was built before my daddy was even out of diapers.

"So you had some trouble, eh? That's about right...I ever tell you about that time way down Island? No? Well here goes. Well I had done had some trouble with some of them drug smugglers running the beach at night and I had about done had enough of it! Enough I tell ya! They'll run you over in the night ya know! Killers! And all that doggone driving around in the dark messes up the trout bite in the morning too! So after I put the last trout in the cooler for the day, I found camp and set up my tent there next to the truck ya know, so's nobody could come down that beach at 2 am when I'd be asleep and get crossways with me and my tent and run me over! And sure enough, about 2 in the morning, I woke up and just knew that sound! It was the same old boy I had done reported several times before for running that DOPE, and he had found out about who told on him! So I jumped up outta that tent real quicklike, and grabbed my piece of course, and set up by the dunes there. And I'll be a monkey's uncle if that son of a %$#@% didn't gun that truck and head straight for my tent and run slap over it! And then he turned around and figured that he'd finish the job, and he went right over the top of it again! And me? I didn't let off no shots because I figured I'd just go on 'head and play possum and let him think he got me. But he didn't, and I'm here today and I'm here to tell the story."

--talk with Ralph Wade about fishing in the 60's on PINS, surf fishing legend and WWII hero. RIP Ralph, we all miss you.


"You hadn't never gigged no flounder at Mansfield cut before! Well then you just ain't lived yet son! They stack up I tell ya! Stack up thicker than thieves! Well, one night down there I had gigged about 60 flounder and my back was about give out when here comes a shrimp boat from offshore. And I says, "Well doggone ain't my luck good, cuz I'm about to go trade these boys some flounder for some of them shrimp they got! And something told me to hold back, hang on a minute, so I set down in those dunes there and got comfortable and waited in the dark. And after they pushed into the bank, they started unloading some big old bundles and it darn sure wasn't no shrimp boy! It was them green shrimp! And after that, well, I hightailed it back to the truck and all they seen of ole Ralph was the taillights!"

And Ralph flashed me one big old Cheshire cat grin...

--talk with Ralph Wade about what is like the 60's fishing PINS


"Lord, I wonder
Who's gonna fill their shoes?"


--George Jones, 1985 "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" album

"I'm tellin you son, back in my day in my prime, when I was your age, I wasn't nothin' but a GIGOLO!" Big grin. "Like Duece Bigolow, Europeon Gigolo?" I asked. "You doggone right boy! JUST LIKE THAT!"

--an anonymous visitor at camp, telling "stories" around the campfire

We'll just leave this one here...



I suppose there won't be a day that goes by that any of us don't miss those who are no longer with us. Past and gone, but their words and memories remain alive. Suppose that's the way it goes, right? It's hard to be strong, to do right, and walk the thin line. But it's easier on Padre. Out we go for another trip, with no clue what the mission would be this go round and no limit to the days to be spent on the hallowed ground of the Isla de Malaquittas....


But first...galvanization in the hot dip tank!!!!!


There will BE no more rot!


Ranchhand bumper paint is a doggone embarrassment....so it's gone!!!


And my youngest brother was having a ball at Ranger school at Fort Benning!


God bless our military!



And on Monday morning the skies were clear and the humidity so low that the Samidan rigs 6-8 miles of Bob Hall beach were clear as day from Park Road 22.


Amazing the distances that could be seen....



And the beach was laid down quite flat, and I figured I would go on ahead and get a quick limit of snapper before fishing my way south to target pomps and eventually shark fish.




And I got a kick out of this fella about to use his scuba gear. Was just that flat and clear that day.




And pretty quickly started sorting through the teeny boppers!


With the old sounder dead, I had replaced it with a new Lowrance downscan model, but the wiring was untested and not working...so I had to rely on coords for various spots and was unable to "find" my big Kahunas that day.


But I hit the beach with a limit and took a swim before loading up to go target some pomps.


AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT CRAFT SON!!!!




And I fished my way south, pompless for the most part and stopped and visited with Kenneth for a little bit. Good seeing you bud, thanks for the fish reports.


And out baits went in a spot quite south, and me still without a drive to really pursue any one activity over the other. But I was pretty happy with a Jack head, a Jack tail, a Jack mid section, a Pomp out, and pomp head out on a cast out.


And right as the sun set....the steady pomp bite finally started up!!!


Steady pomps!




Darn right!


And the sun set...




But I kept right on fishing.


And the Kronks watched...







And all was quiet.


But they kept on biting even after dark! Hot dog!




And the moon shone on and the stars popped out one by one.


And it got darn cold, so I suited up in that 48 degree breeze.


And lit off a little fire and waited for the sound of a clicker, five baits out and holding.


And ate a good solid Moody's ribeye.


And watched flames dance and weave through the dark night, and thought about how many winters I've done this, and how much it all means to me.




But morning came quietly and I grabbed a quick breakfast before heading out in the boat.


No one close and no one coming.




Best stuff ever for those snapper and general beach cuts!


But no help for infected ripped off hangnails!


But the pomps were back and running right after sunup!!!!


Started with the doubles!






And soon enough I pulled baits and took a run to the wreck of the Nic to trout fish and sheepshead fish a little bit.


That boiler is still pretty intact after 105 years sitting on bottom in this spot isn't it!?


A steam driven vessel, the Nicaragua wrecked here in 1912 when her rudder chain parted and she lost steering in a storm.


But conditions have changed this past week a lot, and there were only 9 or 10 sheepshead for me to fool with that I could see.


But just look at all the ribs and the hull still left on the old girl!




Louis Rawalt used to just sit on the outboard side of her after her grounding, and just drop a bait down for trout. The old timers used to say there were unlimited trout on her, but at that time she was darn near right ON the beach, not out past the bar. This is one GOOD example of beach erosion...


But meanwhile, fresh baits back out again, and back at camp....


Here we go again.


Thankfully they stayed just offshore of where I had my drops.




And turned straight offshore after "seeing" what I was doing...


And then after they left.....


Bam!


Green female sandbar shark on the beach!






At 72 inches, I wasn't overjoyed, but heck, I just steady KEEP a bad attitude about these little fish these days! What's wrong with my arse!?




And I shot a few pics before the release....this is all you see you know when they run the side of your boat...just that dark and long slender shadow...


And one solid interdorsal ridge! Part of id'ing these fellas!


And just look at that copper sheen. One healthy fish.


After a strong release that I shoulda go pro'd because it was pretty cool in that clear water, off she went. And I pulled some other baits and saw that they had all been trifled with quite literally at the same time while I was in the boat resetting baits one by one.


What I wanna know, is where is this big bad boy??


So back some better baits went, and there we were.


Just a'smiling in the sun....


And all quiet on the homefront of South beach...


Except for yet another ignorant fool up to no good....see anything here?


Eh?


What's that look like to you?




Musta been pretty heavy too. Sat long enough for the wind to billow up some sand underneath that bundle.




Humph...




They need themselves some of this next time!!! Evil or Very Mad


Trying to mess up a man's fishing hole!!! Evil or Very Mad


But eye in the sky sees everything down that way....and even Osama Bin Humpin or whatever his name was couldn't hide from Captain Drone or the USCG...


Uh-yep....


God bless our law enforcement because they are the ONLY thing standing between you and I and jail for having to put some of these ignorant fools down ourselves...the world will never be perfect but we've got some darn good professionals with high American values and morals watching over us all whether we know it or not...and I for one have got their backs. And ya know, it isn't that me and mine have never had the bracelets on our wrists, it's that every time we did we always had it comin! So enough with all the whining about Leo's already! Evil or Very Mad


But soon enough I was alone again and the sea was mine to behold....


And the wind blew and the seas bobbed and weaved and danced and all was well with the world.


And I sat and watched the water rise and the suck out over the bar fill up again...


And about a day or two early, I couldn't believe my eyes! Ole' Steve and Warren showed up out of nowhere right before dark! And I had KARMA in that camp I tell ya! KARMA!


And Steve was gracious enough to let me share some of his old pictures so I thought I would. Back in these days, they would fish offshore and for shark and sell the meat at the fishhouse when they got back in.



Sure did.



Look at that stern!












And they caught a few jewfish too! Which I've never even seen!


WOW






And they ran zodiacs before I WAS outta diapers too. Very Happy


And other stuff too, before kayaks were even invented yet.






And did a lil beach fishing too.



And build a few rods.




BEATIFUL HARNELL RESTORATION


HARNELL 553 RESTORATION




And a few more Harnells...actually....just about EVERYTHING is/was Harnell or Harrington!




But anyways, I digress, sorry! Back to sharkin!






Out we go! Freshen up those baits!


While Warren got that campfire ready!









And then I dragged them back over the dunes, because aw heck, IT'S TRADITION DOGGONIT! So get to humpin and no COMPLAINING!


And hopefully it was worth the walk.






All I smoked em out!


And while those boys ate cold wet lunch meat sandwiches on old nasty whitebread, I went on ahead and helped myself! Sure did! Laughing


But it would prove to be a long long night. All of the baits but the castout kept being picked up and dropped. A hook would set, I'd jump up and start to reeling, only to feel it pull.


Finally, after daylight, two reels took off at the same time with drag burps and I felt the fish on both. While reeling each reel a little at a time, both hooksets pulled and NO FISH. Argh!!!! Very Happy Mind you, this is AFTER announcing to the old timers that "I've got two at a time, lookout now, here it comes, get ready!"


Sad, it really was. So I kept right on sharking through my shame while receiving advice from those wiser than I, which doesn't take much. Laughing


And I thawed a random roughtail I had in the bait locker of deep freeze death.


And I ended up alone on the dune this night, but it was ok, baits were out and set and things were ready for another night of anticipated action.


And watched the old timers, and realized that this fishing is a lot like life. Those fellows can only tell me so much, a lot of it I've got to do and learn and find out for myself. But some of that just may be due to having a hard head. Lol.


And realized that the bucket I had set up for one of 'em to sit on had black widows living all in it...and thought about the butt whipping I was gonna take if they found out about that....so ya know, I kept that one quiet. Very Happy


And we lit off another great fire.


And I smoked 'em out again while old boys ate some more of that twice a day cold lunchmeat deal. Doggone do they eat rough on the sand! Doggonit!


BOOM! COMPLETE WITH COSMIC BROWNIE BABY!




But oddly enough, night turned to day without a burp from a reel whatsoever.


And it would be a hot one today, around 80.


And my company bid me goodbye, and headed home with a good amount of pomps for themselves. What to do? Keep right on sharking!


All alone again.


But by noon I packed it in, and headed to the jetty.


Sad.




And after visiting with a friend who showed up, I called it a trip.


And the northeast winds arrived and the fog rolled in...









And by the time I got to the blacktop hours later, it was cloudy and cooler and blowing again out of the Northeast. And that was a wrap.

Sorry for the length and the extra pics, but it occurred to me that a man can never know where he's going if he doesn't know where he's come from. In no way, shape, or form am I or anyone else completely original, but rather, we've learned from those who came before us. Steve has taught me a lot, especially about the zodiac game, he was doing that well before I was even in diapers-and many others have shed their influence my way and YOUR way as well. We all learn from each other, and while I know that I personally truly can't help but try and remain an Island alone, there have been many that have taught me whether I knew it or not. And all I can hope for is to shine a little bit to others one day and maybe pass that on...

As for this trip, four days and three nights for one small shark? Lol, I think I need more practice. Yeah...that's what I need. Laughing And soon too. Laughing But I DID get to tear up the pomps a little bit, and I got to run various experimental leaders and even swap out my deep drop leader every day during daylight hours to a floating trace leader, set up for Makos WAY off the beachfront...and at least I got a limit of snapper out of the deal too! Thanks for the company Steve and Warren, and I promise next time to quit bringing up that poop bucket thing that I saw with the toilet seat mounted on top. Very Happy And whatever ya'll were saying about gigolos around the campfire, I'll keep that a secret too. Oh, and about those black widows? I was just kidding about those, promise!?

Ya'll take care and tight lines.

--Colin
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deputydawg
Full Grown Flour Bluffian


Joined: 17 Mar 2010
Posts: 1991
Location: Humble

PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That might be the best report yet! I loved it!!!

I needed a little pick me up. All my buds are gearing up to go on a offshore trip with Capt James. I had to give up my spot because of stupid work responsibilities with this damn stupid bowl! Glad it's about over so H town can get back to its normal crazy self! It's been a freakin mad house the last week!

Thanks to your brother! Those boys are the hero's that rarely get thanked. Please tell him to stay safe and thank you from me the next time you see him!
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Tyler
Site Admin


Joined: 06 Mar 2006
Posts: 12829

PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 10:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for a great report and history lesson from Ralph. He sure is missed.
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HungerBuster
Flour Bluffian in training


Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 371

PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That was a beautiful shark, even if the only one. And that stretch of surf sure looked productive! Great report as always my friend.

HB
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SaltyMutt
Member White Shrimper Boot Club


Joined: 12 Feb 2012
Posts: 629
Location: Corpus Christi

PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 3:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Awesome report. You truly made my night so much better. Steve is an outstanding individual. I had the pleasure of meeting him at one of Stan's Famous Fish Fry's a few years back. He had a tremendous amount of knowledge to share at inspired me to do more surf fishing. Would love the opportunity to hang out again and spend the day absorbing all his great stories and knowledge. Thanks for sharing!
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BayFly
Full Grown Flour Bluffian


Joined: 02 Sep 2014
Posts: 1647
Location: Austin/Flour Bluff

PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 11:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Loved it! Thanks for taking me along!
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BayFly
Full Grown Flour Bluffian


Joined: 02 Sep 2014
Posts: 1647
Location: Austin/Flour Bluff

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 11:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TowBoatTrash, I thought I would encourage you to add a thread on what you had to do to galvanize your bumpers, including preparation, cost, vendor, etc.
I look forward to your thread if you are willing.
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gut bucket
Horse Mullet


Joined: 11 Mar 2015
Posts: 102
Location: san antonio

PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice report as always towboat! I'm itching to make my way down the beach!
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