Corpusfishing.com

[HungerBuster]

Well, it was that time for our annual "go big or go home trip" for the fall. GP Medium, M1948 Mess tent, and we used the 16x32 liner for the Medium as the biggest EZ Up you'll see. And that was the BOMB for shade. Enough shade that even the radiant heat from the sand was all but eliminated.

We set up camp at Green Hill on Wednesday afternoon/early evening. The water was silly calm (see TowBoat's pictures-- it was BLUE from the edge of the surf all the way out). Gin clear and duskys in the billions. We thought we were in for some fishing!

Mornings were still and hot, with winds shifting constantly in the afternoon throughout the week with the weather system that passed through. Got caught in my tent cot Thursday night and was too lazy to get up and put on the rain fly. My gamble did not pay off-- woke up in a 1 inch pool of water. They are water proof on the bottom.

Anyway, we brought 13 guys down. Camp included four 3x3 solar panels that ran a refrigerator all week. No stinking generator noise. No gas. But LOTS of cold water, coke, and of course beer.

The catch list: 200+ hard heads-- this is no joke. It wasn't until I was reminded (by a good friend) of the limitations of shrimp that we shifted to skipjack, whiting and mullet from the surf that the onslaught of those prickly buggers was at least slowed down. And another little tip about the success of fishbites ALONE on the hook in such circumstances led to some nice reds. We also managed some blues on spoons, a handful of pomps, a jack and had some fun fighting through the skipjacks (over 100 of them).

The water stayed clear over those five days, though it did get churned up with the winds in the afternoons. And the driving was first class-- two wheel drive all the way to Green Hill and back, and camp was high enough that the surf pushing up was a non-issue. The beach was SKINNY to non-existent Thursday evening through Friday. Translation: we were ALONE on the beach for as far as the eye could see.

All-in-all, was a great trip with tons of good fellowship and a couple visits from an old friend who may have saved our trip with a couple insights. heh. I don't get down-island as much as I used too, but this trip was well worth every effort. The beach was as clean as I've seen it. No weed to speak of. More birds than I have EVER seen on the island. More species than I have seen too.

When TowBoat came through camp Thursday afternoon with reports of red tide further down island, we were worried we see it, especially since we were planning on being there through Sunday. But nothing. No aerosols, no dead fish, not even a hint.

We came off the beach with seven freakin bags of trash from folks leaving prior camps at Green Hill. It should be clean for a while. Driving off was about as good as I've ever seen it as well, 2 wheel drive all the way at low tide.

Man I love that place. It was, for lack of a better word, epic. Would have loved to catch more fish, but just being down there on the sand and experiencing all that the beach and that one dune in particular has to offer is spiritually cathartic.

If everything holds, it should turn on BIG here soon.

Tight lines.

HB
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Fish ON!

[ironmanstan]

Awesome, yes the hardheads have been bad. A friend of mine even caught some on a silver spoon.
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I LIKE MINE FRIED.

[Towboat Trash]

Jeff,

it was good to catch up. Real good. Eating breakfast with you guys for the first time in years really made me think. Where have the last 10 years gone? And I betcha the next ten will be just as fast. Blink of an eye. Back home this morning with a sick baby, but thanks for you all's report. Green Hill was in good hands with you guys, and kudos to all of ya'll for getting all that trash outta there. Ya'll went above and beyond. Loved your refridgerator by the way. Too cool. Good to see all you guys, till next time take care.
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Protect Padre at all costs for future generations to use and enjoy and never forget our freedoms aren't free.

www.padreislandexpeditions.com

[Tyler]

Thanks for the report HB looks like you all had a great time! Thanks for taking that extra trash off.
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