Here is the new PINS Webcam

 

5/8 Friends of Padre Report 5/7 - Jeff Wolda filed this report for the Friends of Padre

FOP BEACH REPORT 05/07/13

Air Temp: 78
Water Temp: 75
Winds: 5-10 ESE
Waves: 1-2 ft
Water Clarity: Gin clear length of the beach
Weed: Little new weed coming in except in the 30's. Lots of dead on the bottom of the 1st gut length of beach. Dead weed will be an issue for some time with old weed being pulled off the beach.
The bird migration is still going strong on the beach. 11,069 Black Terns. 41 Red Knots. 1 Curlew. 1 Yellow Crowned Night Heron. 2 Caracara. 1 Peregrine Falcon.



17 Spotted Sandpipers. 5 DC Cormorants. 90 Blue Wing Teal. 900 Sanderlings. Lots of Ruddy Turnstones. 2 American Avocets.




1 Wilsons Phalarope.

Lots of bait in the water the length of the beach. Skipjacks could be seen length of beach. Small Jack Crevalle and Spanish Mackerel length of beach.
Driving conditions are excellent but starting to get soft in the high banks.

And Here's a quick report from South of Bob Hall Pier via Bamared54 - Report

4/23 April Martinez' report from 4/20 - April sent in this report: Hi, my husband Richard Martinez, caught this Jack Crevalle just after the 20 mile mark. In addition, he caught this 25" red and they were both caught using whiting as bait. The water was full of seaweed and tons of plastic. I, April Martinez, caught this awesome sack which we filled with all the plastic we pulled out of the water today. The entire sack contains only what we pulled off our lines and nothing else. And there was plenty more just floating everywhere. Hope you enjoy the pics!

4/13 Friends of Padre Beach Report for 4/12 - Report prepared by FOP member, Jeff Wolda.

Air Temp: 71
Water Temp: 69
Winds: 15 E
Waves: 3-4 ft
Water Clarity: Dirty length of beach, clearing in the afternoon
Driving: 2WD length of beach. Road above weed getting very bumpy. Some soft areas in the high banks.
No reports of Kemps Ridley nests. Birding was excellent today. 1 Reddish Egret at the 48. 1 Yellow Headed Black Bird at the 46. 1 Scissor Tail Fly Catcher at the 44. 1 Caracara at the 40. 1 White Tailed Hawk at the 34. 1 Osprey at the 14. 1 Shoveler Duck at the 8. 8 Curlew 70 Cattle Egret the length of the beach.
Sargassum is now in full effect south of the 30. 1st gut is full in some places with large mats coming ashore outside the 3rd bar. North of the 30 there is some new weed coming in and a lot of old weed being pulled off the beach.

4/10 Constant wind has water about to the dunes prior to today's front

4/7 Friends of Padre Report - Jeff Wolda is now a member of Friends of Padre and we will soon be putting up reports like these with pics on the soon to be revamped website at

www.friendsofpadre.com FOP will also be at Earth Day at Heritage Park this Saturday April 13th

FOP BEACH REPORT 040713

Air Temp: 72
Water Temp: 68
Winds: 15-20 SE
Waves: 3-4 ft
Water Clarity: Green
Weed: 0-30mm has old weed at high tide line with little in surf.



30-60 new weed moving in with new and old at high tide line.
Driving: 2 WD the length of the beach. Some soft areas forming at the 17 and in lower 20's.

A small Green Sea turtle was found by turtle patrol on my way south to the jetties at the 37. It was missing its front left flipper. I gave the turtle patrol a bucket with fresh Sargassum in the bottom to take the turtle to the shack at the 39. Amos came and picked it up. No update on if it
made it.



Driving north from the jetties I came across a large dead turtle washing in at the 57. It appeared to have been dead for some time. No visible injuries such as a shark bite. Notified turtle patrol heading north at the 52.



There were very few birds on the beach outside of the regulars. Only exception was 60 American Avocet at the 46. Did see 2 Curlew over the 60 miles. No birds of prey.

4/5 First Time Report via Seabreezetwo - Here

4/4 April Fools Trips one via Shallowsport - Here

And BamaRed54 4/1 - Here

 

3/23- 3/26 via Seanu21 - Pomps, big ulgies , reds and a big bull shark - REPORT HERE

3/21 PINS report 3/18 via Hightide - I went to the PINS this morning not sure what to expect. Some 8 miles past the blacktop I ran into Zia. He told me he had been farther South and that all he had gotten were a few Whitings. With that information, I decided I would head back North for about 1/2 mile. I caught 2 Pomps and no more, so I decided I would go home. As soon as I could get a signal, I called my wife and told her I was heading home. She said she was out shopping and wouldn't be home for a while. That's all I needed to try it one more time. I was very close to the black top when I stopped. A few cast later and I had landed 7 Pomps, a 22" Red, a Sheephead, and 2 large Whitings. Threw back some Whitings and a Bonnethead shark. The shrimp I used was from HEB. I didn't use fishbites. I just wanted to see if it would work without them. I guess when they're biting they'll hit anything. While there, I saw this Heron feeding.



_________________
HighTide

 

BamaRed54 got into some nice shark action also on the 18th Report Here

3/15 PINS Report via Jebsays - Full report HERE

Say What?

3/11 PINS Report - Today water remains dirty and rough PINS 3/9 via SilverTundra4x4 - "Water - chocolate milk
Bait - went to South Padre Winds - BLOWING!
Pompano - could only manage 6 in the pinch between MM15-20

Also landed 2 Bull Whiting - atleast 16-18" or so"

Earlier in the week we were plagued with back to back blows with two fronts and little fishing reported.

2/26 The Big Shell Cleanup - It was a huge success with more details later. Here are a few shots from Jeff Wolda

Meanwhile on Sunday Finonspins had a good assortment of fish with redfish, drum and pompano read his story HERE

2/15 Surf Update from Jeff Wolda - "Surf Report

It's been typical winter surf fishing the past few weeks. Every few days a new cold front dirty's up the water and just when it clears, another front hits. Weed has also started becoming an issue or more of a hassle than anything. Expect it to continue to increase in volume as always. LOTS of Portuguese Man of War washing in. Many are just the size of a quarter but can still cause some serious discomfort. Reds are still plentiful on shrimp and plastics. The occasional black drum on shrimp. Pompano are there one day and gone the next. Really need some time between fronts for the water to clear for them to show in force. Trout on swim baits worked very slowly against the first bar. You really have to grind it out but, they are there. Driving has taken a turn for the worse recently. Need another big cold front with strong NE winds to fix it.
"

2/8 PINS Update from Jeff Wolda -"Just to give you a quick beach update before you go down range. Driving is getting worse by the day. A week ago the beach was like a highway. Drove off this afternoon with lots of 4x4 from the 30-7. If everyone would stay in the same rut driving down the beach instead of all over it would make driving much easier. Weed starting to show itself but still fishable. Small front tonight shifting winds out of the north will bring some more in. Portuguese Man of War the size of a quarter line the beach. I'd strongly recomend waders just to avoid them. Pomps on the North end and reds on the south end. Trout have been on and off down south. Look forward to your reports! Jeff Wolda.

2/3 PINS report from FINSONPINS - Fished for a little while this afternoon and made stops at the 6&10mm's. Pomps were there, but the action was slowww. Weed wasn't a problem and the water was nice and green. Managed 5 pomps and a handful of whiting in a couple hours then headed home.

1/24 Zia's back down and Mary took some nice pics! - PINS REPORT 1/23 Here

1/18 Once again Ziacatcher's report South of Bob Hall - Fished SBH from late morning to about 4PM. For the first few hours The only bait lost was to seagulls attacking the shrimp on the tailgate. Between Dale and I, we had 5 poles out with various baits in various distances and nada. About 2PM tides change and so did the catching. I wound up catching 11 whiting but that was about it. Only poles touched were those with shrimp/fishbites. Cut baits of various types were not touched. Weather was nice and water was great, as was the company.

1/11 Just North of PINS via Ziacatcher - Mary and I met up with some friends SBH this morning. Was going to be more of a sit around and visit, with some fishing thrown in, kind of day. Water was not too rough but pretty churned up when we got there.



Although the water wasn't too nice the flowers in the dunes were!




For the first couple hours not much of anything was caught. Slack tide. When it started coming in, it came in with a vengeance. We had to move our rod holders and vehicles at least 5 times. Finally parking at the base of the dunes. Water started clearing up and we started catching some fish. 1 pomp, 1 24" red, a couple harheads and about 20 whiting. Kokopelli really enjoyed his whiting sushi this evening.

Rods rigged with finger mullet, cut whiting, cut skipjack, pig perch were not touched. All fish were caught on shrimp/fishbites.

This guy came for a visit so we kept him well fed.

12/15 Great time last weekend by Red and and his Dad - Check out his "Pompano Bar" report from the past weekend here

12/6 P1NS -Sent the last 3 days down the beach. Conditions changed every day with the passing of a cold front on the middle day. Made for an interesting 30 minutes Tuesday night about midnight! My tent cot actually came off the ground a few times with me in it. Caught fish each day. Reds and Blues on plastics and pomps on shrimp and pink fishbites. Weed is an issue south of the 35. Driving is still good. Water is trout green the length of the beach. Saw 10 does and 1 buck on the way down Monday morning. Arctic cold front coming in next week. It will soon be time to grind it out throwing artificials looking for those big winter time sow trout! Here's a pic of one of the many reds caught. He went 27 99/1

11/30 PINS - Between fronts fishing has been excellent. Nick Meyer of Breakawayusa.com says when the winds are out of the NE the bait moves off but when the winds shift back to SE, the bait and reds and bluefish and pompano are there. Wind and tide looks good through Monday. Weed is present from the 15 mile mark south and fresh weed is thick from the 52 south but as you can see it is still fishable. Here is Jeff Wolda's group from Wisconsin from Padre Island Light Tackle Adventures 11/29.

 

11/15 PINS - Water had been to the dunes earlier in the week and back down today. Weekend looks better with two to three foot seas though NE winds will persist. Prior to the front and the high water. Sharks and Jacks were all over the place in addition to slot reds. Finger mullet and flies resembling bait worked well for the jacks. Redfish were caught on mullet and gold spoons. Here is Robdog with a fly caught jack prior to the front.

 

 

11/2- PINS - Pomps on the north end plus jacks and big spanish macks south of the 18. More sargassum coming in this afternoon. Here's a Halloween Report from Pablo

 

10/24 Towboat Trash PINS 10/23 - Went down the Island.

Surf blown out majorly, winds way above forecasted levels. Caught a few reds, and was lured away from fishing via dune explorational endeavours.

10/19 Word from Captain Billy Sandifer - "Fishing was poor then reported exceptional on 17 Oct. and dropped off yesterday. We may or may not go pre dawn this morning and will go Saturday morning. We’ve missed the Black Tern migration and this is not unusual. It is less common than getting them though. Jack Crevalle and Reds should start raising hell Saturday. Tides and driving remain high and tedious."

10/11 Ziacatcher is at it again 10/10 Report - Went to PINS with Mary this morning.

Pelicans flying at sunrise.


Guess where we stopped?



Mary left her footprint at little shell. About the 18.



When we first got there I put some cut bait I brought from home until the mullet started showing up.



Caught some mullet and the skippies were plentiful.



Put mullet on one rod and cut skip on the other. Cast out the mullet and when I went to put the rod in the holder it was completely slack. Started reeling it in and nothing. Was thinking how could I have lost my spider weight. Kept reeling it in then all of a sudden reel stops and line starts being stripped from my reel. 38" Jack



I then catch a 20.75" blue on cut skip and a 25" red on live mullet.



About 30 min. later I get a bend in the rod with skippie and pull in a clone to the first Jack. Another 38"er.

Re-bait with mullet and put rod in holder. Went and grabbed a beer and before I could uncap it I get a hit on that rod I just threw out. This one knew how to fight. It eventually took me out to the 3rd gut. Finally get it tin and it is a 40" beast.



Stayed a little while longer without much of anything but skippies and hard heads.

Mother nature's dune restoration.



About the 5mm I noticed the water in the wade gut and 1st bar was really black. I thought that maybe it was churned up seaweed. No! It was a 1/4 mile of shad.



Hoping that it was more than skipjack munching out I threw a shad looking spoon but nothing but ladyfish.

10/6 Jay and Coyote filed a report on Friday's conditions - Here

10/4 The latest on PINS from Guide Jeff Wolda of Padre Island Light Tackle Adventures - Spent the last couple of days down the beach. LOTS of reds if you know where to look. Water has cleared in the 40's and is now crystal clear the length of the beach. Still crazy amounts of mullet in the first and second guts. Driving is excellent the length of the beach. You know its good when you see a 4 door car headed north and you're at the 54! Lots of birds offshore early. Still waiting for that first cold snap!!! See you on the beach.

9/27 Sharkathon this Weekend on PINS - The tournament is sold out and unless you want to chat with participants I suggest fishing north if you want some space. Rain is in the forecast but fishing could be great. For more information visit http://www.sharkathon.com/

Meanwhile Ziacatcher got a couple of nice jacks south of Bob Hall Pier on 9/26

 

9/24 Trashheap's Pomp Quest 9/23 - "The tide was very high and the surf low, making it difficult to pick places to stop, but the water clarity wasn't too bad. The best points were in the 30s, but mostly occupied by the pre-Sharkathon camps. Watched on small group being torn up by a school of jacks near MP 30.

Fished as best I could while headed south, but found I'd left the Fishn'Strips behind, along with the gaff and measuring board. Got only hardheads, baby jacks and a single small whiting.

Beyond MP 40 the beach straightened out again, and the second gut became very wide. Finally wound up at about MP 48, where I caught one small pomp on shrimp among a ton of hardheads, so I started putting finger mullet on one pole. That produced a whopping smack and several runs, one of which was a tiny skipjack, as I assume were a couple of the others. Had a really nice run on the shrimp as well, to which I had added by this time a white wiggle-tail grub that sometimes catches pomps when the hardheads are thick, but when I reeled in the hook was broken.

Driving conditions were passable on the way down, and much better on the lower tide on the way back. There was a little dead weed in lower Big Shell and the upper 30s, but nothing to bother a long rod. Finger mullet in several sizes were abundant. Huge flocks of sooty terns were everywhere."

9/23 Epic Towboat Report Isla Blanca 9/15 - 9/21 - HERE

9/8 PINS Report and BTB via MakoMark - Did a quick trip to PINS and found a large school of oversized Reds. Only caught one but hand fun hooking others. Their was also a lot of sharks following the Reds one of which got one of the Reds I hooked. School went down after that and could not find them again. Sat met up with a few other kayakers and ended up with a limit of snapper and one Ling. Seen a lot of Kings caught but I didn't catch any my buddy ended up catching 3. Ended up being a fun couple of days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiU4PBmsd3o

Robdog's Fly Fishing Mansfield 9/7-9/8 - Tried to download a video. Hope it works. A few fish landed on the jetties. A drum sight casted in the shallows and Cuda loosing a red he sight casted. This also has the video of the landlocked drum he caught with his hands that had been shark bit. I am new at the go pro so most of the fish I landed just show up to the point they are pulled ashore. All fish where released.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MqMw2zqS8s

8/31 Big Weekend at PINS Sobriety Checkpoint Saturday Sept 1st - DON 'T DRINK AND DRIVE - No word from down south mainly due to PINS beaches being closed due to Isaac.

Here's a report from Ziacatcher south of Bob Hall 8/31 - "After the Time Warner guy left I hit the surf SBH. All the mullet I wanted was caught in ankle deep water. Only thing I caught on them were 2 skippies that went 24" and 26". Nothing else.

Stopped at NPJ on the way home and was throwing soft plastics and bringing them back between the rocks. Caught 9 trout in about and hour but only 5 were keepers. It was fun just the same. Will not get on the water until at least Tues. after all the crazies go home."

 

And Another from 8/29 from Bmfdop - Made it to SBH just before noon, went down a few miles. Water was very calm. Visibility was very good. Water was slightly cool, but warmed up. Weed was present on the bars, but was mostly broken up and not a problem. Driving was a breeze. Tides must have packed the beach good. Soaked cut bait, gulp shrimp and fishbites. Caught the usual trash suspects, hardhead, skippies, pinfish and whiting. Caught two very large whiting, about 18 inches. Did have something make a good run but did not get hooked. No mullet present. Did see a bunch of shad jumping out of the water away from something. Here's a couple of pics of the surf. [img]http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/Bmfdop/Beach2.jpg[/img] [img]http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h23/Bmfdop/Beach.jpg[/img]

8/28 PINS BEACHES CLOSED TO ISAAC - .. High rip current risk now in effect through Wednesday
evening...
... Coastal Flood Advisory remains in effect until 7 am CDT
Wednesday...

* coastal flooding... long period swells will result in higher
than normal tides and result in minor coastal flooding during
the times of high tide along the Gulf facing barrier islands.

* Timing... the high rip current risk will continue today through
Wednesday. Minor tidal overflow will be possible during high
tide late this evening through tonight.

* Impacts... dangerous rip currents will be possible along barrier
island beaches of the mid Texas coast. The rip currents will be
most frequent and strongest near the vicinity of structures such
as jetties and piers. Both the strength and frequency of these
rip currents will result in surf that is dangerous for all
levels of swimmers. Rip currents are life-threatening to anyone
entering the surf. Tides are currently running half of a foot
above predicted levels. Tide levels are expected to increase to
1.5 to 2 feet above mean sea level during high tide Tuesday
night along the barrier islands. At 2 feet... water levels may
reach the dunes leading to minor flooding.

Jayandcoyotes South of Bob Hall 8/35 and Padre Island National Seashore 8/26 - Went SBH Saturday evening for some family beach time. I had one rod and a couple of spoons. Did a little digging and sand castle building with my son and decided to try the spoons. Caught a red that went 29.5" right before sunset. Red was tagged and bagged with only six days left.

Went down PINS Sunday morning. Tide was up and driving sucked. This pic was after tide was going back out.

Went as far as the 17 or so. Decided to turn back since the water looked better back north. Stopped at Y-Pass to get a couple of pics.

It does not look like anybody has crossed over lately.



Water at the 15MM.

Water looked a lot better around the 10MM after the tide went back out.

There were plenty of small whiting on crab or shrimp flavored Fishbite strips. I used a whiting for cut-bait and that got me a few skippies up to 24" that I then used for bait. That got me a huge gaftop and a snapped line when I was fighting a mystery fish.
I really didn't see anybody catching much or say that they caught much. I did see a guy that caught his pinky finger with a treble hook pretty bad. He said he was just going to yank it out.
I told my son I would post this pic from few weeks ago. We were "master/blaster" fishing for whiting.

Have a great week everybody.

8/22 Pins Report from MWJUST 8/27 - 8/19 - Finally made it down to PINS Aug 18,19 for the first time in 3 years.. Always seems to be something happening but with my son heading off to college this weeknd we just had to make time. Went with my wife and son and took our dog for her first trip to the beach. First 2 miles extremely crowded but driving was pretty good. Some weed on beach but almost none in water. Water was pretty with decent waves.


Driving was pretty good except for a few spots where people camp in road. Made it down to 21 miles easily with a few stops along the way to wet our lines. Was going to try Yarborough pass to cast net some mullet but it was way too soft especially since I had no one else with me to pull me out if stuck.

Our dog Wrangler loves the lake water and the beach was no exception. She had a blast fishing with us.


Never caught much most of the day except small whiting and a small pompano. Set up camp and fished with topwaters last hour of daylight. Caught a bunch a skipjack and a another small pomp. My son hooked into about a 2 1/2 foot tarpon that jumped once and broke the line. That last hour was a blast. Nothing like a topwater bite.

Woke up next morning to a beautiful sunrise(aren't they all when fishing).



Tried topwater again and caught a few more skips. Worked our way back up the beach stopping several times. Caught more small whiting and son hooked a nice red that came off right before landing it. Right before quitting for the day had a pelican dive on my soft plastic and get a hook in its beak. Twenty minutes later had another pelican fly into my line as I casted. Got both birds untangled and released unharmed. Decided that was it for me so I cleaned up. Son kept fishing a bit longer but only more small whiting.



No big fish but it was a great weekend. Just hope its not 3 years before I go again. Going to try late September but don't know yet.

8/09 Quick Report from Capt. Billy Sandifer - Driving has gotten a lot softer but is still O.K. Let's call it a 6 out of 10. It appears to me the total reason for the poor driving is a LOT of vehicular traffic during the past week. Sargassum is sporadic along the entire beach front. Some places not fishable at all; others O.K. Water color is excellent. In the past week the Dusky Anchovies have disappeared and with them at least 1/3rd. of the fish eating bird species. In my opinion this is not migration but simply following the schools of bait during a layover in migration on PINS. Good Curlew and Marbled Godwit numbers as well as Piping Plover. We only fish lures. 3 people caught 10 trout and 2 reds.

7/27 PINS - PINS might be a bit rough Saturday from all the wind lately. 3-5 foot offshore etc but supposed to calm down some this weekend. Towboat Trash called me this morning and said he could not buy a trout while fishing down there with his brother. Water was way cool down in the thirties also. Driving bad in the usual spots 18 to the 30.

A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatching release is scheduled for 6:45 am on Saturday July 28 at Padre Island National Seashore, on North Padre Island. No fee is charged to watch our public hatchling releases. However, sometimes hatching speeds up or slows down, so before you come to the release you should call the Hatchling Hotline at 361-949-7163 or check this Facebook page to make sure that the turtles are ready for release on schedule. If the release date must be changed, we will post a cancellation message on the Hatchling Hotline and on this Facebook page. If these have not been done by 2:00 am on Saturday July 28, then the release will be held as scheduled.
RELEASE DIRECTIONS: The release will be held in front of the Malaquite Beach Visitor Center at Padre Island National Seashore. To attend, follow park road 22 out to Padre Island National Seashore. No fee is charged to attend the release. If the National Seashore Entrance Station is open, identify that you are attending the release, and you will not be charged park entrance fees. About two miles after the National Seashore Entrance Station, you will see a hatchling release sign on the right and the large Malaquite Beach Visitor Center parking lot on the left. You should turn left there, park your vehicle in the large lot, and meet on the deck of the Visitor Center. A park ranger will meet you there to deliver a program about the turtles and lead you to the release site. However, the hatchling release sign and ranger will not be present until about 6:20 am.

At the release, you should not bring or eat food since it will attract gulls, and you should not wear white colored clothing or white colored footwear or take photos using a flash, since all of these will disorient the hatchlings.

7/22 PINS - Here's an article about PINS during a rare Monday session with Capt. Billy and Caller Times Outdoor Writer, David Sikes. ARTICLE What David failed to mention is that he got one trout I got three and a redfish below. Billy got well not as much :)

Driving is difficult in the Big Shell at high tide but then again it always is. There was more weed on the north end but only a bit. I have heard that south of Bob Hall Pier has been unfishable.

The shark fishing should have slowed down with the start of shrimping season on the 15th of this month. They hit the free buffet and leave the near shore at times. Redfish, ladyfish, spanish mackerel, trout, pompano and whiting have been caught recently.

There was a controlled burn on many areas in close so don't be surprised to see a barren landscape from the Bird Island turnoff to the restrooms at the end of the blacktop. The burn was done to keep that fire that started on the 15th from getting out of control. Lightning was the cause of that brush fire.

7/11 Texscrambler's 7/7 Report with the Double Gabby's :) - GO TO REPORT

7/8 Quick PINS update - We tested out the new old jeep on PINS Saturday. The entrance was really chewed up and the low road was completely blocked off by all of the parked vehicles for the first mile or two. Four wheel drive was needed in the way in but not the way out as many had left. We managed some skipjack and one undersized trout. Sargassum was light. We only went as far south as the 4. I saw Nickaway and Brenda and they picked up a couple of trout in a suckout north of us. As we headed off the beach I decided to check out south of Bob Hall from the sticks north to the pier. Much more sargassum was present and the wade guts were very shallow. There was bait in the first gut and I even saw a jack and some reds cruising along but nothing except for a few curious skipjacks wanted anything to do with my topwater. :)

7/6Weeklong PINS report from OZ -

http://extremecoast.com/reports/report062712.php

6/27 PINS Report via Towboat Trash - Report Here

6/19 6/17 PINS Report via Seanu21 - Sean went down south and filed this REPORT

Sean also reported on the status of the Yarborough Pass Entrace

 

6/8 PINS Weed Down so is water temp - Looks like the sargassum is diminishing but there is a pesky coldwater upwelling impacting many areas of the beach causing the water to remain dirty in spite of lighter winds and surf. Generally fishing it difficult in the dirty water. You are lucky to get whiting and hardheads. There have been quite a few blacktips caught though for those kayaking baits beyond the dirty water. Driving is better in the evenings as the tide drops and of course always tough in Big Shell with the lack of rain lately.

6/3 Report from NaplesJohn - Late start to the day, got up read the paper, drank coffee, and then noticed wind was not blowing as hard as forecast. Figured me and the pooch would make a little trip down PINS.

On the way


The sign sums it up


Arriving at the beach, and the water is still churned up, though pretty clean green water was maybe 1/2 mile off the beach. It was a parkning lot for the first three miles.


Can we stop yet?


Well once I got down to about the 7 the water was still cruddy, and the driving still not so great. The good news is there was no weed, so now all we need is a few decent days to let the water settle and maybe thing will start happening. Lots of hard heads and only a few small whiting on shrimp and fish bites. I had one long rod out with a jumbo finger mullet, and was pondering calling it a day when the rod went off. Finally a good bend, and taking some line on my Breakaway LDX Fish took off to the North up the second gut in the strong current. Well up this guy comes, my first Texas surf shark, a feisty 36" blacktip...



A couple people came up to watch, and offered to take a pic w/ me in it, prior to a quick release. (thanks!) Though this one was relatively small, I can see why the serious shark guys enjoy what they do.

5/25 5/24 report from Towboat Trash - Weeds and Wind for the weekend and lots of Turtles nesting - 27 nested on Wednesday alone 87 have reported so far on PINS. Report

5/18 BEACH TO BAY THIS SATURDAY 5/19 PLAN YOUR TRIP OUT TO THE ISLAND FOR BEFORE 6AM OR AFTER 11AM. Weekend prospects look great in fact the sea forecast is 3 feet or below through Tuesday. Look for jacks, spanish mackerel and skipjacks if you see birds working. Try topwaters in those areas that will give you enough room between the mats of sargassum. Driving is tough in Big Shell and BEWARE of the rotted sargassum down low near the water it can be like quick sand. Watch out for nesting Kemp's Ridley sea turtles. So far 49 nests have been found on the Padre Island National Seashore.

5/10 PINS Report from Seanu21 5/5 - 5/08 - I could complain about the week leading up to this trip. If it could break on the truck, it did... that week. I was second guessing for the first time in 4 years whether the trusty Tacoma would be able to make the run. Got it all squared away Thursday at midnight for a Friday after work departure. I could complain about the seaweed and bumpy ride to the 30. I could really complain about the 2 boats at the jetty Sunday afternoon, both of which ran through our lines(think Red\Trout rods, not Shark lines deployed) as we were actively fishing them. But that was to be expected because I just knew fate was out to get me for making the journey and I was just waiting for the truck to catch on fire at the jetty.

Well, luckily no truck fires and I fought back. Weed from the 30-jetty tapered off to nothing and was extremely fish-able. Driving was good same area. Water was stained but not horrible w a killer color change just offshore. Fishing poles, whiskey and cigars in hand, it was easy to forget it all and just look out and smile. Me and some friends had met up down there to do some fishing. We got into the normal, Reds Jacks and Trout. We had a great time. One guy from work rode with me, and he's never been to PINS or surf fished anywhere for that matter. So Sunday, when everyone else left, me and him were staying til Tuesday. I decided time would be better spent running the beach in search of victims. Ran into some of the usual suspects out there, exchanged random beach info, and carried on. I found a spot that would make the sweet baby Jesus smile if he had just rolled up on it and that was camp Sunday night. Deep wade gut pinched off just South of us and a really deep 2nd\1st that I could cast into. Reds and Jacks on the low tide, then 2 cast baits at sundown for the incoming high tide. First reel to sing I told my buddy was gonna be all him so to be ready cuz it was gonna happen sometime that night. First toothy was at 10pm. Hooked up and reeled in.

4'10" BT on my 4/0. His first Shark.



2nd reel would be me. And what a decision that was. I cast the 4/0 back out, and I got hit at 3:45am Monday morning. Short run, thought the fish dropped it. Convinced myself I HAD to get out of the tent-cot and at least try to get the weight to reset. It reset into something that tugged back. So game on. My buddy was sleeping like a little princess in his tent and I figured just another small BT so I would let him sleep instead of watching me reel it in. A few minutes later, I got a glimpse in the moonlight and it didn't look normal. Finished up the fight and got my buddy up to take some pics of this one.

4'5" PINS Nurse Shark (check the leader)



From what I can tell, this is a rare jewel for PINS. It wasn't even on my radar of hard species to catch out there with Lemons and Tigers and Hammers still on the list. This is an amazing catch for me personally. It's been an amazing year really. Got my biggest Shark earlier in the year and my first Sandbar (same Shark) on the 4/0. Now I've got a Nurse on PINS (that sounds naughty) on the 4/0. I'm not the superstitious type but when I re-spooled the 4/0 at the beginning of the year, it was because it never caught fish and I had no faith in it so I was going to re-spool with some decent line so I could make longer drops and double as my yak Shark reel because I wouldn't cry if it went overboard. Now it is quickly becoming my favorite reel on a 12ft Ugly Stick. That's the combo and it's working for me. It really is showing up the 9's and 12. When I deploy\cast it, I no longer feel like that was a waste of time. Funny how something simple like line can take something from garbage in the closet and make it a go getter. It also has my biggest yak Shark. Faith in what your doing is how you'll catch fish.

My buddy ended up on his first PINS trip catching his first Shark, first surf Reds\Trout and first Jack. He had a blast.

Stop by and say hi if you ever see me on the sand.






Check out the color change


Later
Sean

4/26 PINS Report from Towboat Trash 4-19 - 4/23 Epic with 9 foot Lemon - Caution heavy on pictures and intrigue! REPORT

 

4/23 PINS 4/23 - Lots of weed on the beach. Looking at the fabulous weather no matter what you "needed" to do you had to go to the beach. We headed out after noon and played around near the 4 mile area. Too much weed to fish the long rod. I ended up tossing topwaters and mannolures. No trout, plenty of mullet around and I got one small skipjack. I saw RArnold and family out there. Maybe he will report.

Driving was really bumpy not soft but you could not go very fast even 15mp at times without rattling your teeth.

 

4/10 - 4/11 CRMN - Report HERE

3/29 PINS via Crmsn 3/26 - 3/27 -But first! PINS has put out a press release saying that the 15mph speed limit will produce no significant impact therefor the speed limit of 15mph will be in effect now and in the future from March 1st each year until the end of the Labor Day Weekend.

Crmsn's Report

 

3/22 PINS via Ziacatcher - Mary and I planned all week to go to PINS today and spend the day. Got to the end of the pavement, stopped, looked for a place to drive. There was none. Went back toward north sticks and this is what the conditions were. And this was like a highway compared to PINS



Also, these guys were almost as thick as the weeds.


Did find some clear water with relatively little new weeds coming so we tried for about 45 min. Got one whiting and couldn't give any more bait away.

Stopped by Packery on the way home. Saw a few ovines being caught but more rocks were being caught than fish. Decided to go home and fish ULM.

3/17 PINS - More weed showing up but it was fishable earlier in the week and the water held fairly green. 3/14 was good for HRod2222 who reported good luck with his first time using Fishbites

Took the girls out to the north sticks for some sun and waves. People have been ranting and raving about fish bites so I thought I give them a try. Water was clear.
Caught a handful of whiting's and upper slot reds with a piece of shrimp and crab fish bites. I'm a believer and so is my lil helper.



_________________

3/8 Spring Break starts - Forecast looks bad until Monday but good after that. Sargassum is coming in. Be sure to watch out for hardhead spines when walking the high tide line where the red tide killed fish are buried. Here's a report from Tony Cortez fishing 3/3 - 3/5

"Tyler,

My wife and I headed out to pins late saturday night from Austin, its about a 4 hour haul until you hit the sand. Got to yarborough pass about midnight and thought forsure since the winds were so calm saturday night I was going ot clean up on gigging flounder but had no such luck. It was still too murky I guess from the wind that day.
Drove over to the surf side at around 8:30am the next morning on Sunday only to see dark brown rough water. I thought forsure with that north wind it was going to be flat and semi-clear. Ofcourse Tonette and I fished anyway and turned out to have an awesome day of fishing! Put 5 pompano in the fish box along with 2 slot reds. We also caught and released one oversized blackdrum and one oversized red fish at 33", Caught them all on peeled shrimp in the first gut. The reds were on cut frozen mullet.
Monday morning turns out to be calm and clear and ofcourse we caught nothing but whiting. Packed it up and headed back to Austin around lunch time.
I realized this trip that everytime I go to PINS I always hope when I drive over that last stretch of pavement until you hit the sand that its going to be calm and clear and when it is I never seem to do that good, except on mackeral and skippys of course. But when its rough, dark brown water the fish bite always seems to be on. Good times this weekend...and Monday.

-Tony

Tony's Drum andTonette's Pomp

 

3/1 Ziacatcher's Report South of Bob Hall and down PINS - HERE

3/1 Big Shell Cleanup Successful in spite of the weather Thanks to all who came out! - Weekend prospects could be okay with mostly gusty northwest winds to knock down the surf. Expect plenty of whiting, black drum, redfish and possible pompano if the water clears. Meanwhile here is a brief report on the Big Shell Cleanup check out the weather radar from Saturday morning on weatherunderground.com

 

Big Shell Cleanup - Done! It started with wind and rain and temps near 50. Rain continued until about 11am. 246 volunteers - about half the number but pleased with the turnout considering the miserably cold and wet conditions! I think we cleaned 8 miles of beach. Thanks to all of those who came to help out. Thanks to Candace, Roadkill Willie, Al, Rodney and the rest of the crew who served us chili cheese dogs and Domino's pizza. Thanks to Daniel Dain's folks for bringing out the pizza to the volunteers. Thanks to Ace Leal for the great job on wrangling, producing and getting the shirts and swag bags passed out to the volunteers. Thanks to David Ainsworth's crew for hauling trash and providing ice and water for everyone.

Thanks also to Todog15, Raiderred, James, Curtis, Kingkilla, Augs, David Spooner Webb, Clay Wernli, Jeff Wolda, Kevin, Mako, Oz, Porkfetus, Old Salt, Towboat Trash and hot date, Bizzy, CCBOBBER, Russell Yakmon, Fishinglady, Corpus Christi Chapter CCA, Rockport Chapter CCA, and the rest of you board folks I may be forgetting who showed up. Those there can tell you it was brutal but together we got it done.

Here is the weather radar from 6:43 yesterday morning stolen from Naplesjohn's Facebook :).

 

 

2/24 Big Shell Cleanup Saturday Feb 25th RAIN OR SHINE - I hope to see you out there and thanks to all of the volunteers who make the Big Shell Cleanup Possible! Meanwhile here is another in depth, inside the head classic Towboat Trash report from 2/16 - 2/19 HERE

2/20 NaplesJohn went down Sunday - He got into some nice pomps and whiting. View the report HERE

 

2/11 PINS Report - No reports made this week, a lot of that was due to the rainy weather. Prospects look wet and cold for the next two days though you should be able to get whiting, and black drum when the weather calms down. Driving is still lousy around the 5 mile area and this is due to currents and the makeup of the beach. Don't forget the Big Shell Cleanup is Saturday February 25th!

PINS Wants your input on a study and EA proposed for the Windflats on the back side of the island. See what Caller Times Outdoor writer, David Sikes has to say about it

http://www.caller.com/news/2012/feb/08/work-to-reclaim-pins-tidal-flats-needs-research/

2/2 PINS Report 2/1 via Ziacatcher - With the weathermen predicting light winds, temps about 80 and fog burning off in the AM Mary decided that she wanted to go to PINS for some shelling and fishing. Drove as far as the 20 and with the fog really thick and seeing several areas where vehicles had gotten stuck we decided to head back north. Driving was fair at the best. One of the worst areas was about 6mm where one of the oil rig trucks was stuck. Those trucks really tear up the beach. But that's another post.

Here is what the conditions looked like at 10:30 AM.



This was what it was like about 1:30PM.



Mary, with one of about 8 whiting and a pomp caught, about 2:30.



All we had was about 1 1/2 hours of sun all day. On the way back we drove SBH and the water was a lot cleaner. Was going to stop to fish it but was tired and winds were picking up so came home instead.

David Sikes article on Sargassum(seaweed)

The Caller Times published an article on 7/8/01 with the headline Kenedy Foundation comes out against Bombing Range - read the story here

On 7/4/01 the Caller Times published an article saying that without the support of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, the bombing range proposal including the use of amphibious training on the National Seashore, is all but dead. Hutchinson said all along that if the locals didn't support it, she wouldn't support it. She received a five page letter from the Kenedy County Commissioners outlining their opposition to the plan.

Read the article

Below, you will find a list of names and addresses of politicians and civic leaders should you want to contact them concerning your opinions on the Navy Proposal.

Click here to read the first story that broke Bombing Range Story

Click here to read the second story which detailed the use of PINS to include aphibious training with three proposed cuts in the Seashore beginning at the 15 mile mark

Here is some great contact info for you to use should you want to comment on the Navy Range Issue or any other matter concerning our fishing resources.

Governor Perry
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Web: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/contact information/email/email_the_governor.htm

Carole Keeton Rylander
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Post Office Box 13528, Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711-3528
(512) 463-4444
carol.lauder@cpa.state.tx.us

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison [Republican]
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
915-676-2839 (tel)
512-916-5834 (tel)
214-361-3500 (tel)
210-340-2885 (tel)
713-653-3456 (tel)

Email: senator@hutchison.senate.gov
Web: http://www.senate.gov/~hutchison

Senator Phil Gramm
370 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4302
Email: Phil_Gramm@gramm.senate.gov
Web: http://www.senate.gov/~gramm

Senator James Inhofe
453 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-3603
Web: http://www.senate.gov/~inhofe/webform.html

Texas State Senator Sen. Carlos Truan
The Honorable Carlos F. Truan
Suite 1E.14
P.O. Box 12068
Capitol Station
Austin, Texas 78711 4531 Ayers, Suite 402
Corpus Christi, Texas 78415
(361) 853-2693

Representative Solomon Ortiz
2304 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-7742 3649
(361) 883-5868 3505
(956) 541-1242

Richard K. Armey [Republican]
Washington DC 20515202-225-7772 (tel)
District Office9901 East Valley Ranch Parkway
Suite 3050
972-556-2500 (tel)
Web: http://armey.house.gov301

Henry Bonilla [Republican]
1427 Longworth HOB
Washington DC 20515

202-225-4511 (tel)
202-225-2237 (fax)
210-697-9055 (tel)
210-697-9185 (fax)
210-726-4682 (tel)
210-726-4684 (fax)
210-774-6547 (tel)
210-774-5693 (fax)
915-686-8833 (tel)
915-686-8819 (fax)

Email: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Web: http://www.house.gov/bonilla

Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff
Capitol Station
P.O. Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711
512 463-0001

Other:
http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/activist/tx/index2.html
Texas State House of Represenatives: http://www.house.state.tx.us/house/member.htm

PINS Resource Management Division at (361) 949-8173 extension 227 (Ken McMullen).

PINS Superintendent
PO Box 181300
Corpus Christi, TX 78480-1300

Ron Kitchens, President/CEO
Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation
361-882-7448

Gary Bushell, Consultant to Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce
Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce
1201 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Corpus Christi, Texas USA 78401
(361) - 881-1800
Fax (361) 888-5627
361-814-2008

Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce
Melissa Longoria
Director of Public Affairs
mlongoria@theccchamber.org

Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce
Tom Niskala
CEO
tniskala@theccchamber.org

Thanks for all of the reports guys and send pictures and I will post them!

Tyler