Corpusfishing.com

[Towboat Trash]

"I pulled into Nazareth, was feeling 'bout half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head
Hey, mister, can you tell me, where a man might find a bed?
He just grinned and shook my hand, "No" was all he said...

Catch the cannonball, now to take me down the line
My bag is sinking low, and I do believe it's time."

"The Weight", written by The Band, Music From Big Pink album, 1968

Well I remember the year that Clayton Delany died
They said for the last two weeks that he suffered and cried
It made a big impression on me althought I was a barefoot kid...

I remember the year that Clayton Delany died
Nobody ever knew it but I went out in the woods and I cried.

--The Year That Clayton Delany Died, Tom T. Hall, 1971


The sun beat down like a blowtorch on the back deck while the old 65 foot trawler bobbed and rolled offshore, and it was gonna be a hot one. We had just hauled back and dumped the bags, and Captain Darwin was more fired up than usual. With a self satisfied smug grin he said, "Dump em NOW GOTTDANGIT we putting EM BACK DOWN and aint wastin no time, you can pick through em later!!!!" The try net had told us we were in the money, and there wasn't time to spare. With the nets back down draggin', we started picking through dual piles of 5 foot high and 7 foot wide catch when to the back deck ole Darwin came just a yelling. "HEY! GOTTDANGIT! DON'T LET NO SHRIMP GO OUT THAT HOLE! NOT EVEN ONE GOTTDANGIT! DOGGONE DUMMIES! MORONS! DUMMIES!" And that's when it happened. The other striker wasn't acknowledging him because the "Thong Song" had just come out, and his headphones were in again and I knew trouble was afoot, as we had been at sea for days and the "Thong Song" had been a less than vital part for most of it. "HEY!!! YOU DA*N DUMMIE! HEY!!" and as Captain Darwin used his boot to try to slide some of the pile out of the way to reach him to smack him across the back of the head, I heard him yell a yell I had never heard before followed by words of which cannot be repeated in normal company. A southern ray's barb had went clear through his white shrimp boots and directly into his big toe. I'd never seen him visibly hurt, he had never showed pain before, but he did that day. The rest of the day he stayed in the wheelhouse with a death grip on the wheel, and not only did he keep us on that back deck heading shrimp until midnight, but if one were to get within 10 feet of the wheelhouse a whole lot of cursing and carrying on about "that GOTTDANG Thong Song!" could be heard transmitted over the radio. And the other captains all agreed in reply, "That GOTTDANG Thong Song gone' be the ruination of shrimpin gottdangit!!!! These youngins all on that back deck worried about a THONG when they need to be worried about SHRIMP!!!"


--Just another shrimping trip with Captain Darwin on the Santa Maria, in the Atlantic Ocean off Georgia, 1997


"For 40 odd years I stomped around barefoot in the surf and bays like a stormtrooper totally ingnoring stingrays, broken beer bottles, and innumerable other unforeseen harmful entities and remained unscathed. Oh, I encountered plenty of stingrays. It was common for me to feel their slick backs and wings slide out from under my feet as I touched them most days, and on many occasions several encounters during the same day. BUT I NEVER GOT HIT BY ONE. Then everyone began to endorse sliding your feet to avoid being stuck by a stingray and I began to slide my feet as suggested. I got hit twice in three years plus one in the thumb."

--Billy Sandifer, TSF Mag article, July 2013.

"Fish and sharks die, even in the pursuit of catching and releasing. Mine (and others) issue is that this isn't occurring "for conservation." These are the same guys (but next generation) that are killing large sharks but somehow vindicating their actions in the media by stating that they were tagging the sharks that they were catching, and "it's for science." I think "science" is a little too convenient of an excuse when a large shark dies. I think folks out there chasing their own personal glory by targeting large sharks without having the proper equipment and team is irresponsible....I'm not saying that was the case (recently) and it's hard to explain, but I don't think some are meeting that "conservation" spirit."

--Article from the smartest friend I have in the Island Moon, July 19, 2018. God Bless you for saying what a lot of us haven't.

Right up to my camp the vehicle raced. "Dude, you didn't need to write a report on the dead spinner shark!! Sharks die. It's not YOUR fault. Next time just drag 'em up in the dune. That's ALL you gotta do. They die, it's what they do! Just last month alone I've had like 7 smaller blacktips and several bulls die on the line. I just haul em up over the dune. They can't pull the weight up and they die on the line sometimes, it's not like it's YOUR fault! No one even has to know, just throw 'em in the dune!"

--my quite thoughtfully given advice from a "shark fishing personality of the western Gulf", late July 2015.


What a hyprocrite I am acting today. Offer shark charters and yet sit here presenting evidence of the REAL deal, what a lot of folks know and can't say. Sometimes in this life a good thing is turned into less than a positive thing later down the line, eh? I sure do love my friend there, he's got bigger you know what than I do! Good on you dear sir for writing what you really thought, for putting yourself out there. If you can do it, I can too. Besides, it's darn embarrassing being lumped in with these folks running around in "tournaments" all year long while throwing dead critters over the dune. Not a one of 'em could hold a candle to the old school lure fishermen on that beach who HUNT their fish and understand the dynamics of such a place. And I guess that's why I stand dead in the middle, because there will never be a day that some tournament glory could be more important than the environment. And in the words of old Billy, "To those who do not like me, you have my most express permission not to!" Hah. I'll stand alone and I never will give a doggone because Padre and her inhabitants are what's important.

But first! Time for some Texas beach shrimp and some Thong Song!!!!







I sure do miss Captain Darwin! But boy did he hate that doggone song!


Opening day Cappy and I've got em high and tight for you....


Awww is that sight a salve right on my soul...


South Texas beach shrimp!!!!!! You can put that shark nonsense where the sun don't shine!!! Size 9.5 there!










Big whites not any crummy itty bitties!!!!


Perfect for boiling down on some Old Bay!!







A lookdown fish!


Told her it was Nemo! Haha!


Atlantic Moonfish!


And boy was that Saharan dust thick.




Yes sir!








And the upwelling cleared and there we were with my white shrimp heading offshore by the day.


And dozens of tourists swimming way out to the 2nd bar literally where I catch the bulk of my rays...


And being careless not waiting for about 5 rays to expire first, I guess I did what I always knew I would do. Got a double barbed ray spine right in the hand while debarbing to put in the cooler.


And I tell ya'll what, I kept right on dragging for almost 2 hours, until I thought I couldn't get the net up if I didn't haul back. I got the net in the boat and by the time I hit the ramp things were not so cool. I hauled butt to the house, and I tell you what, if that isn't like a blowtorch aimed at ones skin I don't know what is. It has totally made me rethink my preparedness, from now on I WILL have hot packs in the truck. Because the minute the hot water had a few minutes to cool off, the pain came roaring back. On the beach that could be a real problem.


So soon it was time for the first personal trip of the summer!


With low seas continuing.


And a full moon.


Time for offshore antics!




And the 2nd bar was alive with glass minnows and pup blacktip sharks.





After catching one pup shark on topwater, and him almost sinking the gottdang boat with his biting, I called it a day and headed offshore!





King Mackerel!


And the snapper and spadefish were thick!


Hey there old buddy!


Got friends!


Sure do!


But the kayak plague had struck again, and they had fished it out to the point there was nothing to catch.


Back pipsqueak!


And someone in the distance began circling....


And Ling began coming up from below to check out the Kings...








And the "fish with the big lip" returned!


Soon it was time to hit the beach for trout, as the tide was JUUUUUST about to start falling out.



The hunt was on!


I got your booties right here!!!!


And I even found a few lures.




See anything here? Hint-the water temperature was 84 degrees which is good!


How bout now?


Bam!


They were thick!


So I celebrated with some Thong Song for old times sake!!!!


"Point the way to your friends!!!"


5 lb 3 oz trout is great off the beach! Heck yeah!




With good lengths!


So do you see it now?


There it is! A come again go again rip! See those bubbles? They're heading due offshore! A perfect trout ambush point!


And I'd pull that topwater across their heads and my GOSH did those trout DESTROY those lures, they were the most ferocious hitting trout I've ever caught actually. Just straight ANGRY at those lures.


And the mullet swam and the wind blew and what a blast it all was.


What a spot!


And miles later, there we were for the night.






With an incoming front, way worse than I had expected. In fact, it would turn out to be similar to the big storm that blew my camp away in 2007 with the old truck camper that Ralph Wade and I bought.




Fishing my dear friend Steve's old 553 Harrington, because some things are special that way.


And his 555 too.


And I looked over and saw Billy's old butt plate, and knew he was scowling at me again from the rustling sea oats in the dunes.


And I heard those Indian flutes of Billy's again, and into the dunes I went.


And I watched the old Navy WWII Banjo tower, and thought about Ralph stealing the glass out of it for a table in his dining room and laughed. Gottdangit, I missed my friends, this crowd today doesn't hold a candle to those old timers.


I miss you Ralph, Jim Moyer, Mexico Mike, Captain Darwin, Dave Lester, and now Billy. And another friend of mine has cancer now and it just won't end this year....


And a long pelican flew while I waited for the bottom to drop out and the storm to hit.


Yes, the storm was almost there...


And there it was, undeniably in my face. And all I could think about was how it was gonna mess up the gottdang trout bite! Haha.


And it absolutely howled, and it dumped 3 inches of rain in my buckets, and my weights drifted and I had to creep down the beach with them as they drifted.


And lightning cracked all over and around me, and there we were.


But the morning came after a wet night laying down in a tent kot with 3 inches of water in the bottom of it.


But the lines held, and all was well.








Black coffee time!


What a beautiful morning.


But upon arrival to the morning's fishing spot, oh HECKKKKK NAWWWW!!!


I counted 7 boats that showed up that morning! Man take that thing offshore where it belongs and the fish are bigger!


And it was a snapper festival.


Water temps were off, but the fishing wasn't!


Boom!




Hooked up!




I had a blast, and soon it was time to come in for lunch. To the beach!!!




Yes!






And beach burgers!


And I checked out a bag of goodies my good friend Lawton was kind enough to give me. And decided to take only two. Better pick well!


Pink and red it is!


So well made....good work brother.


Down you go to Davie Jones Locker!





But i grew restless hunting Tarpon, and headed back in to the beach to hunt trout during the afternoon bite...








And after 30 hours of solitude, the folks of the outside world started to show up.


Hurtling beer and soda cans out the open sides of the jeep and trying to climb the dunes. It was all I could do not to go start some stuff, but I'm not law enforcement I'm just a hopeful good steward of the resource just like Billy always demanded, and these folks are just disrespectful googans drinking beer with a teenager in the back seat. Shameful.




And I'll be darned if I'll act like this.


But the day wound down.


And there we were.


And I went up into the dunes to spend time with Billy and Ralph and Mexico Mike and even Jim.


And I looked at the last camp of Louis Rawalt, and I spoke his name. None of you are forgotten, nor will you be.


Not as long as I wander around in your old haunts.




And I saw more googans trash pile from camping here.


Filthy animals.


But I sat as the beach evening primrose opened up all around and everything was ok.






And I reconnected once again with my love for Padre and my love for the National Park System. We are so blessed to have this to enjoy.


And the railroad vine too...


But soon it was time for dinner.


And the morning came and all was well.






Time to pull up the roots and go hunt down south a bit!




And the water temps remained cooler, a mild upwelling in place.


Well that isn't good.


But the beach sure was pretty. And no one around.




Sure was pretty.


And a super low tide.


Really exemplifying the structure we see at high tide or even during the spring bull tides.


And I headed back north to warmer water.


And I fished my way off, deciding around 1630 hours to call it a day, and get back to those two babies and Kathy and help out around the house.


There were some great trout out north of the 30 mile marker and warmer water too. Didn't find my jacks, and didn't manage to land any of the cobia I saw, but heck they were all undersize anyway. Didn't even bother fishing bait in the surf, but the mullet were all larger ponies if ya found em. Lots of small juvenile whiting nearshore in the wade guts. Here's hoping the cooler water stays away. And kudos to the Senior for saying what was on his mind. If he can do it, I reckon I can too. As far as laughing hysterically about Billy getting somehow stuck by a ray in the hand? Yeah, I suppose I'm over that now. In fact, I'm over stingrays period! I know I don't have all the answers, but I'll tell ya this much, we never stop learning and if we stay humble, then maybe we'll just pick up a lil something along the way. Ya'll take care and no playing the "Thong Song" while adulting, it's bad for the concentration and all.


--Colin
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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]

Ouch on the stingray and the stupid googans. Kudos on the nice trout and great shots of a fishing hole or as Life Guards call it a riptide current!

Oh and those shrimp and snappers. White shrimp are the best!
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[HungerBuster]

That looked like some tense sand/shell down south for driving. Glad to see confirmation on the temps coming back up too. I gotta be honest with ya though--I get tired just reading some of your posts. Heh. Dunno where you find all that energy. And that tent cot picture made me chuckle. Ive had a few of those pooling moments...I call em jacuzzi baths when the wind's blowing. At least you eat well.
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Fish ON!

[Tyler]

[deputydawg]

Good stuff! The thong tha thong song made me laugh! I had forgot about that!

I spent a couple of great days off shore last week and got at a first trip after swordfish this weekend but i miss the sand! Hope to make it down soon.

Hope the family is doing good. Cant wait to see a report of all of yall on the beach!

[mechdave]

I picked up my bags, I went looking for a place to hide
When I saw old Carmen and the Devil, walking side by side
I said, "Hey, Carmen, c'mon, let's go downtown"
She said, "I gotta go, but my friend can stick around"
Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free
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Live like you're dying

[piermom]

always enjoy your posts sir!
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[BayFly]

Enjoyed the trip Colin, as usual! Is the 75 Stinger the "parts" engine I gave you? Sure surprised you were able to revive her fully.You must be a better mechanic than I imagined!

[Towboat Trash]

[BayFly]

I just watched your post again, and realized I missed a few shots! Those shrimp are huge! BTW, I appreciate your one man set up for the beach, but I expect to see a significant change before too long, and when the wife and kiddos demand to be along for the adventure!

[reallifetexan]

Towboat,

I was curious about your shrimp trawling, if you'd care to share any details. I've never done it, and don't expect to for a long time, but some day, maybe...
- How big is the net you're using?
- How fast do you go, and for how long before bringing up the net?
- Does the net drag the bottom, or sit in the middle of the water column? I'm hoping it doesn't have to drag the bottom, as I would then expect all kinds of net damage to occur...

[saltyhook]

Your beach stories sure do " take a load off" my land locked blues fanny. Thanks for the ride along. Im surprised you could still fish after that Ray jabbed you, not sure I could have.
Truck on Bro.
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Fishing is not a matter of life or death it is much more important then that !
Saltyhook