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.

1/26 PINS Report - Good pomps and whiting reported on the north end last Thursday. No red tide. Towboat Trash posted another Epic report 1/18 - 1/21 which you can view HERE

1/13 PINS Report -Free fishing weekend at PINS for the Martin Luther King Holiday. Free admission to the park. Pablo filed this report from 1/7 Wish this was a report with huge redfish and maneating sharks but it is not..LOL. Anyway, woke up yesterday morning and it was beautiful!! With all of the options, Neil and I decided to pack up the boys and head down the PINS. It was absolutely gorgeous out there and we had fresh mullet. We had a long talk on the way out to the beach and decided that we were not really mad at the fish today and decided to give them a break. Subsequently, only one hardhead was caught. It looked calm enough to get a bait off of the 1st bar, but after watching my 6'3" friend get a hello from the gulf down his waders i opted out of that one. A few people we spoke with had a few pomps and some whiting. Tide was high when we went, so driving was pretty rough especially in the twenty's. On the positive side, the beer was cold, it was a beautiful day, the boys had a blast, and it was definitely better than a good day at work

12/31 PINS Report - Great driving on the low tides this week thought the catches have been a bit slow. Trash Heap reported decent results with 6 2lb Pompano earlier this week along with some whiting. No red tide aerosols or dead fish reported. Be careful running the high tide lines as there are plenty of dead hardheads to cause flats. Prospects look great after the next front.

 

Cj8mule filed this report from 12/28 - he beach and weather were totally awesome. Driving was mostly 2-wheel drive all the way to the 37 with only a few spots around the 7/8 and at big shell. Overall, the beach was an interstate highway fully equipped with speeding tickets and everything..... (note*** this is not my ticket!)





There were 5 people in our group who were very excited for a pomp window. Unfortunately, the pomp's didn't cooperate. We did manage to box 2 pomps and some nice fat whiting. The bite was pretty good until low tide and then seemed to completely shut off for the next 4 hours. There was no bait present except for some birds working it some 3 or 400 yards out. No red tide was evident to me except the still familiar rotting dead fish aroma every now and then.


All in all it was another beautiful day on the beach that I thank God I was allowed to enjoy.

12/15 Towboat Trash's Tragic Red Tide Report - He went down the entire length of the beach and found red tide to be present the whole way down. Only large dead mullet observed reddish brown foamy water and strong aerosols. The wind died down some so he hit the backside through Yarborough and even there you could still breath the aersols from the beach coming in. Really distressing he said. No mullet no birds, only bay weed in there and catfish caught with reddish gills.

12/8 PINS Report from 12/4 First Bull Reds from Mullet - My fiance and I headed out to PINS Sunday morning determined. Casted out frozen mullet for an hour or so and nothing. Moved down the beach some almost to the 4x4 sign and casted out 2 lines. Within 30 minutes my 10' rod gets jerked out of the back of the truck. I run to grab it at the waters edge and start pulling in nothing but slack...after about 20' of nothing I feel it. Swimming at me most of the time I land my first ever bull red. Coming in at 40" I was proud. After about 10 minutes of reviving she swam off. A few minutes later fish on for my fiance..She landed a 39" bull and as i'm releasing it the other rod hooks up. She grabs it and lands another 36" which was also released. After these 3 we only got a small blue. Very exciting Sunday for us.

My first bull


Her first bull


Her second bull

12/1 PINS Report - Red tide killed fish, mostly mullet were observed earlier this week to about the 10mm. Great action reported further south of Big Shell for Pompano. Curtis Mai got this Triple Header fishing 11/29.

Thanksgiving Weekend Report from IBTEXAS - We arrived at PINS at noon Friday to great looking water only to start coughing and sneezing due to the red tide. It got better the further south we went . After meeting up with our friends and family we pitched camp and started fishing.Started catching Blues And large Spanish Macks.



We were literally camping on the dead fish from about 2 weeks before from what I understand. The smell was not to bad until you raked the area clear so you could pitch your camp. I think the red tide was present in the sand because it made you sneeze and cough as you raked.





Saturday morning was still mild but the clouds gave us a warning that change was coming. The fishing was good after noon and kept getting better as the day went . The Major feed started about 230pm just before the front hit and kept going as the sun set.









We thought the wind would slow down during the night but it howled all night and looked like a Arctic scene in the morning but the fish were still there.
It was a great adventure shared with friends and family that will not be forgotten.

 

11/18PINS Report via Captain Billy Sandifer - Billy wanted me to give a quick update to you all. He cannot tolerate any red tide aerosols so he has not been down. A friend of his fished just a tad south of the 5mm yesterday and caught and released 18 reds to 34lbs yes lbs not inches as he asked :) His friend said there were no finger mullet but he brought frozen bait.

In other news the science crews from PINS were down two days ago. They encountered red tide aerosols in the Big Shell and down near the 55 mile area but no new fish kills reported.

11/11 PINS report from Pablo - Went out this morning with a buddy who came in town. I was kind of worried because of the high tide and surf conditions from yesterday. Got out today and it was beautiful. Driving this morning was like a highway and the water was clear. Ended up with four reds, one smack and a blue fish. All on cut mullet in the 20's.

Red Tide Update 11/8 from Ranger Buzz Botts who says "Hi Tyler,

I just spoke with Jim Lindsay, the park's Resource Management Chief, and his crews went down to Big Shell yesterday to collect water samples. They sampled Malaquite Beach as well as Big Shell and then checked the cell count afterwards. The good news is that the levels are way down and virtually back to normal. That doesn't mean that the red tide is done for since they have been known to give the impression it's over and then pop right up again a few days later. But hey, let's hope for the best. It's time to be pompano fishing!

People are still reacting to aerosol residuals blowing up off the beach but once you're by the water's edge it is not bad unless someone is especially sensitive to it. Recent outgoing high tides pulled a few of the mummified fish back onto the beach from up by the dunes, but no recent fish kills have been reported in about 3 weeks.

One thing that continues to occur is that coyotes are dying from consuming the red tide killed fish. Please remember to either leave you dog at home or to keep them on a short leash if you bring them with you. Otherwise the same toxins that kill coyotes can kill or seriously injure a pet."

Halloween Report from Pablo - Went down the PINS this morning with a buddy and our two boys (let them play hookey). Water was beautiful and no red tide or fish kill. Redfish were off the hook! We ended up with four limits, one pomp, two smacks, and a blue fish. We let two bulls and another slot go. We were only 8 to 9 miles down from the pavement. Mullet were there but deep.

10/30 PINS Pomp Report via Trash Heap - Hadn't been down PINS since the turtle slow down in April. Got the idea when I saw how calm it was this morning to test drive my new tires and front bushings. Tried @ MP 22: couple of whiting. Tried @ MP 33: 4 more whiting, 3 small pomps, a 26" red, a 36" black drum, another red about the same length as the drum, and a break-off during a fight like the last. Tried one more time @ MP 36, but only a pair of hardheads. Went to MP 40 and turned around.

Bite as you can see was extremely slow. Targeting pomps, I used only shrimp & Fishn'Strips on 2/0 and 3/0 thin wire circle hooks, vainly hoping the big stuff would straighten the hooks so I wouldn't have to bring them in or break off. There were plenty of finger mullet in the wade gut.

Water was medium clear, waves about knee to waist high, wind at first from N at 1 mph, shifting ESE at 10-15 by 2 PM. Little current or tidal movement. Driving pretty good except for between MPs 20 & 25, where it was a little soft. No visible red tide, and no watery eyes or scratchy throat, but from Yarborough Pass south the dead fish and their smell are everywhere just above the low road, so try to hit that area south of MP 15 during low tide to avoid driving through the dead hardheads. Saw no new dead fish, but I did drive by 2 dead coyotes. Leave your dogs at home until the dead fish have entirely disappeared.

10/18 PINS 10/17 Tow Boat Trash's Report -Some good things come in twos. While none of the following have happened to me, hot twins, duplicate twin tax refund checks, catching two sharks at the same time on the same drop, you name it...all of these things are possible. Thinking of cashing in on yesterday's bait gathering success, I planned on getting up today and heading right on back down to PINS aka "Stank Zone." Little did I know while pondering the wiseness of heading back out today in a predicted 3-5 foot sea....what the Island would have in store for me today...but off I went around nine this morning after getting some much needed rest.

Getting to the beach earlier than yesterday was my plan, after seeing the predicted sea state to be on a definite increase in the afternoon hours. If all else failed, I planned on just heading to Yarborough and harassing every trout and redfish that got left behind in the bay and didn't get the word that it's time to head to the beaches and go south...but I wasn't sure if the bite would be on so much earlier in the day.

Upon getting on the sand, I quickly realized that the increasing swell size was pushing water up on the beach, and bringing in a lot more green water to replace the red tide nastiness. Sadly, I even saw the dreaded WEED in small pieces getting pushed into the beach. And I'll be honest, if the weed makes a return along with the red tide we are currently dealing with, I will take up roller skating.

The smell started.....ehhhh....about HERE!


Back again, argh!



And the scenery hadn't changed much in 24 hours, if anything, today there were a lot less trashfish and more gamefish washing in...




This picture does NO justice to how freaking huge this guy was.


Apparently these dudes can't smell.....ugh....






Finally I got geared up and headed back into the obviously slimy feeling alge laden water....




I quickly realized that the swell state was A LOT bigger than it looked from the beach. I hate the first 15...because of how long and sloping the seafloor is in this area, and today brought that point home in a big way. I fought my way out through the surf zone, hoping for a better sea past the 3rd bar. NOT! After getting out there past the 3rd bar, which by the way is like 3 times the distance as anywhere down island....it quickly became obvious that there were every bit of 6 foot swells rolling like freight trains every other breath! I quickly began to hook up on Spanish....and one bruiser just about caused a kayak sleigh ride much to my disbelief...what a beast....thankfully he spit the hook as it was so raunchy that getting pics was even out of the question. After a quick troll out to about 35 feet of water, I knew it was WAY time to began the sucky, awful, most uncool trip back in through the punch you in the face surf zone.
At least today I got real and brought a hat and a mask...


Now, I've never ever....had, or chosen, to come back in facing offshore. But today...the swells were big enough that opening the hull hatch/rod pod deal really caused me a bit of concern, so I bungeed down the gaf, the rods, and ME and stowed anything and everything with anything so much as resembling a sharp point, and once on the 3rd bar began the 30 minute super long ordeal of coming in backwards. I've mentioned it in the past, during running baits one morning last early spring, that sometimes.....you just KNOW that not only is it gonna be PAINFUL but coming back in is probably going to involve getting thrown on top of the bar, dragged across the shells backwards, and maybe even hit in the face with the paddle. Awesome! Not. But never have I had to deal with all of the above during red tide scum-water, dead stuff everywhere, can't breathe, and for sure don't want to get in that stuff! But like all things Mother Padre, I had made my bed, now it was time to lie in it. The high point of the trip in backwards was dead fish flying out of big waves and me having to dodge them or else get hit in the face with nasty, dead, bloated, red tinged, rotting fish! Thankyou Mother Ocean!!!

At some point I made it back to two feet of water, at which point fate chose to deal me a quicky blow upside the head by dumping me...ehhhh....about "half" way over, just enough to throw me out and then get hit in the knee caps with the kayak, and in the ear with a random rod tip. AWESOME! Thankyou decision making skills or lack thereof!

Oh well, all's well that ends well, even if on a beach that smells like my trashcan since the city went to once a week trash pickup.

I was about a quarter mile from the truck.



The truck was a loooong way off....


Thankful just for being in one piece, I decided to go on a Sanford and Sons Junk Hunt. And it was buoys galore!




Now you tell me....do you think Mother Ocean was making it up to me with these totally awesome lifevest?






And the reds started getting a LOT thicker further south...




The water was coming up higher than yesterday very quickly....

And the tide came in super higher than yesterday, and driving became bad quickly....


You know, today wasn't a bad day, just another learning curve in the great cycle of growing, learning, and hopefully and just maybe becoming a little better at success in this constantly changing, ever evolving, and always challenging island of ours. Unfortunately, I guarantee this isn't the first, won't be the last, and definetely won't be the worst lesson I've had, or to come. Old dogs don't learn new tricks, and some boneheads just never learn, and honesty just might be the best policy! Lol... Until the next time I get flipped out of the yak and dragged across the 2nd bar backwards resulting in A%# rash....

-colin




This is just a bonus video from yesterday...and I apologize for the soundtrack but a certain fish that now resides in my super deep freeze felt like jumping back OUT of the yak after apparently pretending to be dead for like 10 minutes and the words that were coming out of my mouth were WAAAAAAAAY less than appropriate for the public to hear. Fighting two 25plus pound jacks from a yak at the same time darn sure isn't easy!! Lesson learned....be careful what you wish for when trolling double lures....

_________________

10/14 Red Tide Continues! - At times it is possible to fish even with the red tide aerosols but keep in mind the throat and lung irritation is worse in some than others. Here is the latest from Ranger William "Buzz "Botts who

Hi Tyler,

I just spoke with Adam Reimer in the Resource Management Division. He drove to Mansfield Channel today and said that the red tide is highly visible in the water offshore all the way down. The fish kill has worsened since they last drove it on Friday, October 7. He said a rough estimate of the dead fish is currently about 3 to 5 fish per meter. His estimate is that the majority (80%) were skipjacks and most of the rest were mullet and hardheads but a variety of other species are turning up as well.

The kill increases, not surprisingly, as you go through Big Shell. The worst thing he saw was an area from the 34 to the 37 where he counted a couple of hundred red snapper washed in.

I wish we had better news. Thanks for helping get the word out. As soon as we see noticeable changes (for better or worse) I'll pass them along to you.

10/7 SURFCATS THIS WEEKEND, REPORTS OF RED TIDE - Check the red tide status here  Reports from Sharkathon weekend showed some aerosol effects from red tide. 10/6 reports said "Biologists are investigating two fish kills today: the first near the Mansfield jetties stretching south for approximately 2 miles along the gulf beach, and the second at the Port O'Connor front beach. DSHS confirmed moderate concentrations of K. brevis around the Port O'Connor area, including the little jetties and big jetties as well as the Dolphin Point Marina. Low concentrations have also been found at South Pass. " PINS folks reported red tide cells on 10/5 at 186 parts per ml. though no aerosol or fish kills observed.

Last weekend's Sharkathon was a big success and several folks from our message forum were among the winners including R.Arnold! He got this 27" Trout and won $3500 dollars and a kayak.

10/4 67 Shellback reported "My wife and I hit the beach just as the sun was rising and stop at a nice looking spot around the 8 MM. There was a lot of finger mullet in the water , but, they were out a little to far for my meager abilities with a cast net. Did manage to get about 10 to use in addition to the shrimp I bought as Cos Way. We caught 1 red at 22.5" and a lot of nice size whiting. The bite stopped and we moved down the beach stopping about 3 times on the way to 19 mm. Caught several more whiting that were small and a bunch of lady fish. Headed back home around 1:30. The driving was great, no soft spots where the 4x4 was needed. The water was very clear and the surf was 2 - 3 ft. This was our first beach trip in some time. The only regret is my sore back, but that's another story in itself. Sorry forgot the camera"

South of Bob Hall Pier producing slot reds, pup sharks, bluefish, trout and whiting.

 

Go Here to see Sharkathon 2011 Winners and Winning Fish

9/29 SHARKATHON THIS WEEKEND AND SURFCATS NEXT WEEKEND EXPECT HUGE CROWDS! Fishing is good especially for variety. Bait of choice is finger mullet Charlie Golla filed this report from 9/24 - Fished PINS again on Sunday with Cathy and Justin. Drove down late Saturday and camped in the deep 40s. Caught a few Jacks on silver spoons at sunup. Caught a mix of redfish, trout and spanish mac's on live mullet. Windy conditions and strong currents for the most part but water clarity remained good. Driving was tough in a few places during high tide. Around 3:00 PM on the way out we found a large concentration of anchovies and birds in the mid 30s. Nothing under them but small skip-jacks. No sign of red-tide. Should be good for Sharkathon, sure hope we don't see a government shutdown this next Saturday where the park is closed.
Charlie

9/22 PINS with Mike Hummell - I snuck out with former Corpus Christi Councilman and country lawyer Mike Hummell to show him how to read the surf and have a little fun for a short time this morning. Mike is a noted outdoorsman and hunter so I knew he would catch on about how to read the surf. People who are observant of nature as in hunting tend to be quick studies on observing the nature on the beach. Short story is that we got 3 trout and one undersized red lots of small jack crevalle. We ended at 11am. Driving was good with only a little bit of 4 wheel drive around the 25 this morning and around the 8 mile mark. There are loads of finger mullet present. Sargassum is zero and there were mature Jacks in the 20's showing in the curls around the second bar though we were not able to get any hookups. We did see three illegal aliens that came from behind the dunes at the 30 mile mark. We gave them water but did not grant their wish of giving them a ride which will get you in big trouble. Weekend prospects are excellent. Remember there is a GLO Adopt a Beach Cleanup. Be at Malaquite Visitors Center at 9am Saturday if you would like to particpate.

 

9/18 Golla Family Report - With so much going on this time of year, it gets a little hard prioritizing which way to go. Dove still need thinning out in San Antonio. Deer feeders and cameras need checking in Concan. Bow blinds need fixing in Rockport, season starts in just two weeks. Trout are thick at the house boat. Black Drum are all over the east shore line. Big schools of redfish started exiting the bay system. And there's probably Tarpon on the beach. What's a man to do with only two days in the weekend?

Well, a beach trip was long over due so the boys and I started out Friday evening after work. Coming on the beach with only a few minutes of sunlight, we found a big concentration of birds and bait down to the 10m. Shot down to the 30s and made camp for the night.

Saturday we fished all the way south to the jetty and then back north to the 40s. Sunday was all north.

Mullet were in the wade gut the entire beach. Anchovies were on the north end on Friday but we didn't see much of them down south. We came across a few schools of menhaden in the 40s on Sunday and harvested some for winter bait.

Fishing was hit or miss most of the trip. Nothing overly consistant other than a good redfish bite on live mullet in the wade gut. Both mornings saw a short lived run of Jacks busting mullet in the wade gut. On Sunday we found a few Tarpon in casting range but no takers. Also had a few sharks in the wade gut we sight casted to but they turned there heads up at cut Jack. The better bite occured on a rising tide. No fish holding up at any of the wrecks. Need a good cold front to get things in motion.

We saw no signs of red tide anywhere. Water was off colored from the 50s to the jetty. Driving was really good with low tides during most of the day. The high banks would be pure hell if the tide was up.

Chris found a cool section of Columbian Mammoth tooth. One of the bigger pieces we've found in a long time.
Charlie

9/15 Via Captain Billy Sandifer - Accompanied some birder friends down to the jetty and back. Not many mullet until you get in the 30s. Anchovies must be in the 20's and 30's as that's where the birds are. Saw what appeared to be Tarpon working far offshore in the 30s in one location. Down in the 40's and 50's water wasn't near as clear as the rest of the beach but lots of mullet. We estimate we saw 1/2 million Black Terns. If you add all the other species that's one heck of a bunch of birds. We gotta' get a norther before it gets right. Driving is great.
Billy

9/9 Tyler Fishing Again with Capt. Billy - I went fishing with Billy Sandifer again yesterday. We got a late start at 10 because of the moon and the trout bite has been in the afternoons on the beach all summer.
We headed down to hundreds of thousands of terns and other birds, pelicans etc. working over the dusky anchovies in the Little Shell. We saw plenty of skipjacks and spanish mackerel working but no signs of tarpon so we headed south.



I finally got a shot of the new bollards they have placed in some of the washover areas. Billy and I discussed that going back there was not illegal just going behind the vegetation line but that's the way it has been lately.



We saw plenty of finger mullet and folks were doing well catching redfish who wanted nothing to do with our topwater trout lures. Buzz's group got one to hit on a silver spoon.

Bottom line is we were trout fishing on a redfish day using lures.

Billy got two trout a 2lber and a 3lber and I got a 3lber to hit twice and that was it! It was a ball anyhow.

We saw Bo and his group and they looked like they probably had limits of redfish. The swells from the Tropical Storm Nate down in the Bay of Campeche blew out the holes in the afternoon. Photos by Shell got a nice trout and there was another one was caught by a group in the high banks on finger mullet. The dangerous road cliff just south of the 39 is gone but so are a lot of the holes that were there last week.

Driving was good except for a few spots near the 7 and in places in Big Shell.

Here's Billy with one of his trout.

9/1 Tyler Fishing with Captain Billy Sandifer - 7.5lbs 27.5" Caught fishing with Captain Billy Sandifer and released to fight another day!



Lots of Skipjacks, some smaller trout, and a redfish and a spanish mackerel. Lost my She Dog to a Blacktip I thought might be a bull red or a tarpon. I was wrong. Watch the weather as water should go to the dunes this weekend.

8/17 Tony Cortez's Report from 8/14 - 8/15 - My wife and I went down PINS sunday through monday around the twenty mm. Caught some good trout on top waters a few small sharks and saw tons of rays. Caught a couple of cownose rays in the castnet, dropped them off in the blue water for hours and they went un-touched. Beautiful conditions, tons of bait in the water and good times.

 

-Tony

8/16 JC's Report from 8/13 - 8/15 - Driving is great, water was getting prettier when we left. Fishing was fair with a smorgasborg... hardhead, gafftop, whiting, croaker, skipjack, bluefish, redfish, bonnethead, blacktip and LING! We camped from Saturday morning until Monday afternoon in the mid-30's... the best bite was midday... Sunday at high noon a casted sharkbait gets blasted in the back of the first gut and it sure seemed like the typical 4' tipper... we were excited because Erica had finally hooked a decent fish on her custom jawbone. When she got it into the wadegut and I went to leader it I flipped out! Taped out at 49.5"

We hit up a deep dead-end wade gut in the high banks on our way off the island Monday afternoon to find prettier water the farther north we went... it was full of mullet, croaker, whiting and redfish... hard to leave the fish biting but it was definitely a memorable trip

jc

(Corpus Christi, Texas)- The National Park Service (NPS) is making available for public review
an Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect (EA/AoE) for the construction of a new law enforcement division headquarters at Padre Island National Seashore.

The new law enforcement division headquarters would replace the previous facility that was
destroyed by fire in 2005 and the temporary modular facility currently being used. The new facility would be constructed within the footprint of the existing paved surface at the visitor center at the same location as the existing facility and would not result in any new ground disturbance.

The NPS encourage your review and comment on the EA. The EA will be on public review for
30 days, with comments accepted through September 17, 2011. The document is available electronically for review and comment online by visiting http://parkplanning.nps.gov, the website for the NPS

8/11 Hot and Dry - Ranger Buzz sent word that the maintenance crews have cleaned out the entrance to Yarborough Pass so that is good news unless you like white knuckle rides through deep powdery sand.

Archpeligo filed this report from 8/5 - 8/7 "Set up camp at about the 6mm on pins fished at night with cut croaker and mullet caught two pup sharks and a huge gafftop along with an assortment of hardheads and one large pomp with a castnet in about 2 feet of water. The next morning threw plastics in the surf got into a few skipjacks for bait, started throwing out the skipjack chunks around 9am and caught a large bluefish and a the biggest skipjack of my life(cannibal) fishing mostly in the third gut. Fishing slowed in the afternoon with just a few whiting on shrimp and fishbites. Water was fairly clear and there was very little weed and driving was quite nice on the north end."

 

8/5 Weekend Looks Good! Wave forecast is for 2 -3 footers to 4 footers Sunday so that means trout are in play. Fishing has been much better with live bait though there have been some trout caught on Topwaters and soft plastics. Watch for baitballs and birds working the dusky anchovies to catch ladyfish and trout. Most of the activity has been offshore and out of casting range. Check out this interesting picture from Breakawayusa.com's Nick Meyer who says "Jacob Garcia and his dad were fishing PINS in the 30s when they hooked this nice plus 4ft shark. Then as it was coming in we think a big Bull by the size of the bight cleaned it for him."

 

7/28 T.S Storm Don has weekend plans ruined. Expect the park and local beaches to be closed due to high waters caused by the storm surge - Fishing has been pretty good though a bit slower than the past two weeks. Cold water upwellings have been common. Trout still biting on topwaters. Look for tides to erode the guts and depending upon strength could erode a few dune faces. The beach will take a couple of days to rebound with new guts forming. Expect lots of reds and other gamefish to be around for the bait that gets tossed out into the gulf when the storm waters recede from the bay.

Carole Allen the lady that wanted to close PINS offshore waters to commercial and recreational fishing sent out a newsletter for the Sea Turtle Restoration Project to write or call Congressman Blake Farenthold to complain for putting an amendment on Sea Turtle Funding.

She says Call Representative Blake Farenthold To Oppose His Amendment No. 24 to H.R. 2584

Remind him that two years of research and public opinion have shown that vehicles on Texas park beaches should not exceed 15 mph during the sea turtle nesting season. Share your opposition to Farenthold's amendment cutting funding for the ongoing process to modify speed limits on sea turtle nesting beaches. His office phone numbers are as follows:

Corpus Christi Office; (361) 884-2222
Brownsville Office; (956) 544-8800 or
Washington D.C.; (202) 225-7742

 

I say call him and thank him!

H.R. 2584 OFFERED BY: MR. FARENTHOLD, AMENDMENT NO. 24:

At the end of the bill,
before the short title, insert the following:
FUNDING LIMITATION RELATED TO SPEED LIMIT
REDUCTION IN PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE
SEC. ll. None of the funds made available
in this Act may be used to issue a preliminary
rule or a final rule, or to take any other action
to reduce the legal speed limit in Padre
Island National Seashore.

7/14 Kid Gets First Trout! and Oz has Epic Report AGAIN- Looks like some cold water down south but Robert Arnold found some trout last weekend and Hayden got his first. Here is the story from 7/8 and 7/9 Not sure why the surf goes up and down every year, but it always seems like every 3rd year is amazing and this year is that one. Went Friday down PINS where I always go trying hard and Saturday just playing with the kids and caught all kinds of fish both days. My friend's 6 year old son saw his dad catch a trout with a plastic standing on the 1st bar working the deep gut, so he asked his dad to rig him up. At 6 years old, with a spinning combo bought in the hill country with 6lb test the kid caught a 20" trout, 1st one ever. and while getting slammed in the chest standing on the bar and walked it all the way to the bank. I forgot about all my fish and thought that was the coolest thing ever.

Oz got his first Greater Hammer click here for the report

 

7/7 Good Fishing But Trouble Looming with Park Regs! - Please read my friend David Sikes' article in the Caller Times. He advocates Alternative 5 just as I do regarding vehicle speed limits and the Environmental Assessment on the P.I.N.S http://www.caller.com/news/2011/jul/07/15-mph-beach-speed-limit-an-unreasonable-reach/ After the high tides from Arlene things calmed down and there have been some good reports since the past weekend with most coming from the north end.

Big Sky says on 7/7 "I hit PINS early today...was through the gate at 5:45 AM from Rockport, and was greeted by incredible driving conditions, small waves, and very clean water.

I made my way down the beach, and found a nice looking place to chuck some topwaters looking for trout, and found what I was looking for...a nice deep wade gut that was pinched off on one end...so to work I went.

On the second cast, I hooked up with a nice fat trout that went a cool 22" long. I made about 10 more casts and nothing, so I moved a couple hundred yards down the beach...and repeated the process...and I was rewarded with 3 more trout...the biggest going 25" long...the smallest being the 22" trout I started the day with.

I did not fish any long rods or bait today...just lures, and they were all over my super spook jr.

I did have one disappointment today...I hooked what might have been my biggest trout ever, and maybe one to take to Roy's to weigh in for the Star Tournament...when she hit, I got a good look at her, and she was HUGE. She peeled off a good bit of line, and as I had whipped her, and she was coming...right at the wade gut, she gave one more shake, and threw the lure from her mouth...upon inspection...she had apparently bent the hook out quite a bit....but c'est las vis. It's just disappointing that a brand new lure has such low quality hooks on it.

I wish I could go again tomorrow, as the trout are certainly there...but I have to wait until Saturday.

No pics as I dropped my phone in the water today...Motorola Droid + Saltwater= Verizon Insurance claim.

Bighead"

7/6 Double A Ron filed this report - Conditions were just too beautiful today, so I took the day off to go to the beach. Tons of whiting, one shark(could someone please ID) and a huge ladyfish of which I did not take a picture. This was just past the 5mm. I tried topwaters early in the am but nothing. Everything caught on fishbites and dead shrimp.

It was a gorgeous day, wish I could have stayed out longer, but the sun was beating us up. Weed was a non-issue, water clarity was great.

Also any tips or info on shark handling, my wife was sure my finger was going to get bit off. I don't target sharks yet, but maybe next year I will get some shark gear. I sure wasn't expecting to catch one today, I am getting some longer casts with my breakaway setup.

6/30 High tides associated with Tropical Arlene - Closed many area beach access roads in Nueces County and sent water to the dunes in most areas. Weekend prospects are much better as the water recedes. Driving conditions could improve as far as "softness" is concerned but expect slow going because of all of the "whoopdie doos". The water should be great by Monday but expect dead debris washed in from the tide to hamper efforts early in the weekend.

No nesting Ridley Sea Turtle has ever been hit on the National Seashore. How about another startling statistic. There have been 34 vehicle accidents on the 62.5 miles of South Beach at the Seashore in TEN years! 3.4 per year on that 62 plus mile stretch for a park that gets 600 - 700,000 visitors per year. That sounds remarkably safe to me. If these folks ran the traffic department in town they'd make all of Corpus Christi a 15 mph speed limit. Think of how safe you would be and how many lives would be saved.

The long time 4x4 beach users at PINS have cleaned up over 2,118,000 pounds of trash in prime sea turtle nesting grounds in 16 cleanups at the annual Billy Sandifer Big Shell Cleanup. This past year our 501 volunteers picked up another 44 tons and the last three years we have been rewarded for our efforts with longer seasonal speed limit reductions. Please let's keep the speed limit at 25 mph per south of the 2.5 mile area and go for 15mph safety zones around people, vehicles, tents and structures the length of the beach and ticket those who break the law.

Be sure to add your comments on Beach Driving at the bottom of the page below

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=86&projectID=32158&documentID=41741#content

6/23 Wind and Offcolor surf - The wind has blown out the surf and it looks like a coldwater upwelling is impacting the surf zone at present. Conditions could improve with decrease in wind. Right now the prospects don't look good for the weekend. In the meantime here is a press release on the beach driving EA There is a pdf file at the bottom of the page

The document is 155 pages long but at a quick glance it looks as though the preferred alternative the park chooses is number 3 with stricter rules than we currently have. Alternative 3 would have a 15 mph speed limit from the pavement to the 2.5 mile marker year round. From the 2.5 to the Mansfield Jetty it would be 15 mph from March 1st through Labor Day. This alternative reduces the speed limit to 15mph for another 2 .5 months and means the Annual Billy Sandifer Big Shell Cleanup will be going south in slow motion reducing the amount of trash the volunteers can pick up by making the round trip to the cleanup a 3hr trip in a 7 hr event.

(Corpus Christi, Texas)- The National Park Service (NPS) proposes to manage beach driving at Padre Island National Seashore to reduce the risk of injury to visitors and employees from vehicle accidents, and to improve protection of wildlife (including threatened and endangered species) from potential adverse impacts of beach vehicle use.

An Environmental Assessment (EA) for this proposed action has been prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act to provide the decision-making framework that analyzes a reasonable range of alternatives to meet project objectives, evaluate potential issues and impacts to Padre Island National Seashore's resources and values, and identifies mitigation measures to lessen the degree or extent of these impacts.

The Environmental Assessment for this project was released on June 23, 2011, for the 30-day public review period. This document may be accessed at the NPS website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/, or by visiting the park's website at www.nps.gov/pais and then clicking on "Learn how you can stay involved in the management of Padre Island National Seashore" link, as found on the website's front page.

The NPS encourages you to review the EA and submit your comments by July 25, 2011. You may submit comments online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ or you may deliver comments to the park by mail or hand-delivery. Your comments will be considered as the NPS moves toward a decision.

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=86&projectID=32158&documentID=41741#content

 

 

 

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