DaParson's Fishing Adventures

Dewey and I headed out to the Jetties this morning. It was the first time in quite a while we have been able to get out. The water was 74.5 - with a NE then ENE wind at about 10 - we fished a slack tide - then into a strong outgoing tide. We spent the entire time - from 7 to 12:30 at the Moon Rock. On the day we caught - as best as we can figure - 27 Bull Reds - (1 at 46" and 1 at 48") - about 1/2 Dozen 3-4 foot Black Tip Shark - 2 Gaftop and a couple of Hardheads. All fish were caught on cut shad fished on the bottom. This was probably one of the most productive days for Bull Reds we have had on the water. Here is a video of the trip. Enjoy!

This Red went 48 inches long - she was probably one of the Top Five Bull Reds I have ever caught. My personal record is still 49 3/4 inches and 51 lbs. This one was a beauty though! Here are some of the other Reds we caught. This was one of the larger Reds we caught - he was about 46 inches long.

Here are some of the Reds the Dewey caught on the day. He also caught a couple of 3ft Black Tip Shark, a Gaftop and of couse - Dewey caught some hardhead! (grin)

Dewey and I were able to carve out a couple hours fishing on Friday Morning. It really is different fishing on the Weekend vs fishing on Monday thru Thursday. Many more boats - and few more novices also. We had a guy try and anchor up his boat next to us three times on the left - twice on the right. Never got anchored but almost drifted into our boat twice! (grin) Gotta love the weekenders. We fished toward the end of the Jetty - Moon was in it Full Phase - water was 79.3 - wind was ENE at about 12 mph. Water clarity was average. One the day we picked up 4 Bull Reds in about a 45 minute span. Then the bite died with the tide slacking. Even though the bite died, there were many fish on the fish finder swimming through on the bottom. We saw several boats around us catching Reds also - but no one really tearing them up. We fished with cut shad on the bottom.

This was the second Red of the day. She was healthy and beautiful. After venting her, we placed her back in the water.

While I was unhooking and venting this Red, Dewey's other line took off. It was then we thought we were going to have a great day of Red Fishing. However, it was far from what we expected. Shortly after this, the incoming tide died down and so did the bite. There were tons of fish on the depth finder, but not would cooperate.

This was the last Red of the day. We caught all the Red's within about 45 minutes of each other. It was good to get back on the water with Dewey. All in all a good day.

There were about 15 from our church - Bayshore Baptist - that loaded up and went offshore with Captian John's today. It was a blast. While most were bumping the bottom for Red Snapper, I freelined off the back of the boat. I caught this 51" long King Fish - it is by far the largest Kingfish I have ever caught. He put up quite a fight - a really strong, beautiful fish. The accomodations on Captian John's was wonderful! The air-conditioned cabin provided great relief from a hot day. The water was absolutely flat! I would highly recommend fishing with Captian John! We will be going again!

This picture was taken later in the day - on the way back to the dock. This was a beautiful fish - it is the largest King I have ever caught. There were others that posed with this fish - but they were merely 'posers' - I was lucky enough to catch the biggest fish of the day!

This is the largest Ling I have caught to date. He was about 42" long and put up a whale of a fight. There were 2 other ling that were caught on the day. One was larger and one was smaller than this fish.

Dewey caught this runner - this was Dewey's first trip in quite a while. He has been on the PUTP (Physically Unable to Perform) but was able to get out and do some fishing today. It was good to be back on the water with him. I miss outfishing him everytime. Oh ... and just for the record ... Dewey DID NOT catch a Hard Head today! (laughing)

Lynn caught this pretty little fish. The photo does not do the beauty of this fish justice. They told us what this fish was, but I don't remember. After we took this photo, the fish was tossed back into the water.

Wayne caught this barracuda early in the day. It was the only one caught on the day. As you see - he is quite proud of his catch!

This was on the inside of Captian John's Boat on the way in. Shortly after this picture was taken - a mean set of dominoes broke out. Dewey said, "I may be outfished - but I won't be outdominoed!" It really was a great day!

Micah strutted around the boat like his was "King of the Fisherman" - but at the end of the day - Melody's stringer was heavier, fuller and more impressive than his! As you can see by the look on his face, Micah was not amused. However - everyone else way highly amused by this apparent fact!

Lynn caught a limit of Snapper. It was fun fishing next to Lynn - he has been a friend since I was just a little snotty-nosed little boy. I have learned more about fish and conservation from him that any other person I know.

Here is Frank Cannon and his son Mark showing off their stringers. They had a limit of Snapper and several Spade Fish for a nice stringer of fish!

The Texas Parks & Wildlife needed some Red Drum Brood stock. We have worked with them several times over at the HL&P Spillway - but this time we coordinated several boats to fish the North Jetty and try and pick up some Bull Reds. On the day there were several caught - we had hoped for more - but it really was early in the season. TP&W had 2 boats that took the Reds to the "Mother Ship" and then on to Lake Jackson to the hatchery. It is very important to me - and a great priviledge - to help the Red Fish Population through these efforts. Special thanks to Lance at TP&W for heading this up. Also, special thanks to Monty Weeks for allowing us to use 2coolfishing.net to coordiate the effort.

Many times, the Black Drum and Red Drum run in schools. I caught this black drum just a few minutes after we caught the Bull Red.

This is when I vented the Black Drum. Although is was a good fish - the Sea Center didn't need any Bull Drum - so this one was returned to fight another day!

Though there were several other boats fishing in the effort - these are the only pics I have seen posted on 2coolfishing.net.

Here is another one of the Reds that one of the boats caught.

Here is another one of the Reds that one of the boats caught.

Here is one of the pick up boats that TP&W used to ferry the Reds to the "Mother Ship."

On behalf of TPWD's Coastal Fisheries Division I want to say thanks to everyone who helped in this effort and especially to Mark for coordinating the volunteer effort. Though we didn't catch as many bull reds as we would have liked (or that SeaCenter could have used) those that were collected will certainly help in our efforts to replace brood fish lost during hurricane Rita. We realized this was early in the season for the big drum run but staff field sampling responsibilities increase dramatically from September through November and man-hours become very limited. We'll look at schedules later in the fall and see if there is another opportunity for a collecting trip. I know SeaCenter would welcome a couple of dozen 34+ inch red drum. Thanks again for your help and interest in supporting Texas' fisheries. Lance Robinson Regional Director TPWD-Coastal Fisheries Dickinson Marine Laboratory