DaParson's Fishing Adventures

This was a small drum that we caught. All the fish today were a slow tap tap tap bite. We remembered that the Drum Run bite is much the same way. Much more subtle that the Bull Red Run bite. Probably due to the cold water. The water was 58.2 degrees and we fishing a slow outgoing tide then later a strong incoming tide. The wind was out of the NNW about 5-10 in the morning then switched to the SE late in the afternoon.

Dewey Sr. finally got into the fish catching action. He caught this small drum - Dewey is always a gracious host and it was good to fish with 3 generations of Dewey's - Dewey Sr., Dewey Jr. and Dewey the 3rd. Dewey the 3rd caught the most fish today - several whiting and sand trout.

Dewey Jr. caught this nice Bull Red. He went about 32" inches. It is always great to fish with Dewey Jr. 

This was the biggest Bull Red of the day. He went about 43". You can see that he was pretty scratched up. He was hooked deep in his gullet - so I cut the leader - vented him and sent him on his way.

This was the last Red of the day. He was a beautiful Red about 34" long. All in all - a gorgeous day on the water - great water conditions - thought we would have caught more fish - but still - beats being home taking down Christmas decorations!

You know when you get to the boat dock at the end of the Dike and there are no other boats, trailers or cars in the parking lot - you are either a die hard fisherman or a lunatic. Such was the case today. Dewey Jr was in from Arizona, so we headed out in some fairly chilly weather. The only other boat we saw when we got out to the Jetty was TARPON - Iron Mike lived up to his name today with a client fishing as well - Waved hi and gave him a wide berth. Later in the day, there was another boat that made it over form the South Jetty. Fishing was S L O W ... and it was C O L D ... but we were able to land 2 Black Drum and 2 Bull Reds on the day. This was the first fish of the day caught on shad fished on the bottom.

Laugh all you want. But it was 41 degrees with a North Wind at 15-20 when we got on the water this morning. Tide was moving out - swells were 2-3ft at the Jetty. Water was 50.9 degrees - we caught all fish in 26-34ft of water using cut mullet and cut shad on the bottom. With an insulated jump suit, pants and jacket on - I was able to stay warm. Of course, there was a thermos full of Starbucks that helped immensely!

Dewey Jr. caught this Big Ugly Black Drum. The drum grabbed the bait and took off with the current. It was a fairly good tussle. Dewey is down for a couple of weeks - so we should be out on the water a few more times before ringing in 2006.

Dewey Sr. caught this nice Bull Red. Again, the bite was very very slow. On 3 out of the 4 fish today - there was little to no indication the fish had taken the bait. With the water temperature at 50.9 - the fish seem very sluggish. 

This was the last Red of the day. Total for the day was 2 Black Drum and 2 nice Bull Reds. The best bite of the day was frost bite. (groan) 

This was a nice Black Drum that Dewey caught.

After reading all of the reports on 2coolfishing.com about Captain John's Fishing Pier in Seabrook - one of my church members, Charlie Bundick, Ken (a friend of his) and I decided to do some fishing. Captian John said there wasn't much bait working and the fishing was slower than usual, but it still was a productive evening. This is Charlie holding one of the Reds he caught. He was the big fisherman of the night. Catching 2 Reds and 1 Trout - Plus hitting Captain John with his Rod (grin). A great nights fishing!

Here was the 28" Red I caught. I caught him on a Gold Spoon. I missed 2 other nice Red - one on soft plastic and the other on a Catch 2000. I also caught one Rat Red on a Gold Spoon.

Here is Charlie holding the stringer of fish. 

Here is a picture of the stringer. I think we added 2 more Reds after this. The largest red was 28 inches long. The largest Speckled Trout was 22 inches. All in all a fun night of fishing Captian John's Pier. 

We fished an outgoing tide - water was still when we arrived at the Jetty - but a front blew through and the water chopped up pretty good. Clarence Nieman - one of the members at Bayshore - went with us. Clarence is the Manager of Discount Tire in League City - tell him you saw him on the Blog and maybe he will give you a discount! (Probably not - but it is worth a shot!)

This was a pretty Black Drum that we caught. It should be about another month of two before the Black Drum run starts. Seems to be a precurser of what is to come The water was 64.7 degrees - sained with the outgoing tide. We tried to make it to the end of the Jetty - but the swells were a bit too much. About noon - the swells had dropped enough to allow us out to the end.

Clarence caught this second Bull Red. It was a slow day - but we stuck with it and picked up 3 Reds and the Big Ugly. 

This was the last Red of the day. This was one of the fattest Reds I have ever seen. I believe she was a female still filled with eggs. Clarence had a time with this one. All in all it was another great day on the water. 

It was a cold, blustery day on the Jetty. With winds out of the ENE at about 25-30, significant swells rolling in and temperatures in the mid 40�s - it bordered on foolishness to be out at the Jetty. However, David (my brother) and his son Johnathan came down from Bastrop to try and catch some reds. So we headed out. The water was about 65 degrees and was very very muddy. This is the first Bull Red that Johnathan caught. Notice the joy etched in his face! (grin) It really was pretty miserable out there.

It wasn't too much later that we had 2 rods take off. Here is David fighting his fish.

After the fight was done - here is the big ugly - and the fish he caught. This black drum went into the 40lb range. It put up quite a fight.

Here is Johnathan fighting his fish.

His Red was the last fish of the day. We only fished for a little under 2 hours - we decided to go in as the swells were continuing to build along the Jetty. It was a short trip and a difficult day - but still a good time had by all.  

We were asked how we made our leaders for fishing out at the Jetty. I thought it would be fun to make a video explaining and showing how we make them. Please understand - these are leaders for bottom fishing from a boat or pier. I have no idea how to make leaders for surf ... so ... Here is the video - and again - it only works with Explorer Web Browser. Click here to watch it . Any comments are welcomed! Mark

It was a wonderful day to fish -- still a little warm for November - but that will change soon. The water was back up to 73 degrees. There was a front coming in the afternoon - so we thought we would have a very good day. We caught alot of fish - but really not near what we thought we would. There was a SE Wind at about 10 - and we fished an outgoing tide. Dewey caught this Spanish Mackerel early in the morning. He hooked several others - and one bit through the 80lb mono leader we were fishing with.

We had fished most all morning with little to nothing to show. We were just about to move when one of my rods went off. It was the fish on the right - about 42" Bull Red. I got him in - then rebaited my line and put it out. While I was venting him - my Rod went off again. So I brought the smaller Bull Red - 35" in and had my picture taken with a double! We vent all the Red Fish and send them on their way. 

We caught this Stingray - as best as we could figure - he was about 3 foot across. We didn't get him in the boat - but cut him loose. They are a fun fight. One of my favorite fishing sites is www.2coolfishing.com - it is where I post the results of many of our fishing trips. It is also where I have learned a great deal about fishing and the fish we catch. A member named Privateer_01 saw this pic and told me it was a Cow Nose Ray and gave me this link to more information. I think this is the first Cow Nose Ray we have ever caught! That is pretty stinking cool! Thank Privateer_01 for the heads up!

Here is another picture of the stingray. 

Even though the Black Drum Run isn't for a few more weeks - we caught this Big Ugly today. He weighed in at a little under 40 pounds. 

Dewey caught this Bull Red - and though you can't see it on this picture - the Red had some kind of bright red growth all along his right side. Neither of us wanted to touch this Bull Red - so we got him back in the water very quickly.