Fishing Megathread: Looking For Big Girls Who swallow

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Just to get this on a better plane, here's a couple pics I never posted from last month from down at Oyster Lake wading.  Ground it out one evening and one morning, caught a few but it was tough sledding.  But man nothing like being out there with nobody around except birds.

[DCA_HORN 725]

Fished east bay today. It was more out of curiosity than anything because it was pretty windy for a while but ended up a pretty decent day. 3 slot reds, 1 keeper size flounder and a bunch of dink reds, trout, and flounder. Only sign of any fish kill was one 30"+ redfish washed up near the ramp.

[Dry Elbows 142]

On 2/19/2021 at 10:30 AM, 4th and 5 said:

 

 

In thses types of cases, blood draws will always be well after the time of driving. In this case there is a boating accident a distance from a hospital so far more delay than a traffic stop in an urban area. There will be lots of issues there. What kind of draws. Legal blood draws or medical blood draws are not the same. Time of draw. Was there both? BAC. Extrapolation factors, if known. Medical treatment prior to draw. Warrant issues, if no consent. 

Article in the Victoria Advocate said he had a .21 bac. 

[Johnny Chimpo 478]

38 minutes ago, Dry Elbows said:

Article in the Victoria Advocate said he had a .21 bac. 

I believe that is considered “piss drunk”. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

Damn.  That’s fucked. 

[huge 3793]

My BIL wants to get a charter in a couple of months to catch snapper (and whatever else I assume).

Any recommendations out of Galveston?  Or possibly Freeport?

[fattyflattie 4639]

I typically don’t watch but someone sent this to me. Does bay by bay with local guides and what they saw.  Anyone fished with Capt Null before?  I could get along with that guy. 

Presented without comment  

 

[midtown 3345]

Yesterday action

[Brew 3049]

After dealing with the after effects of red tide fish kills, you can see a fishery recover quickly if people are responsible and reasonable. Sometimes it takes regulations to help push that along. 

On the topic of C&R, I’m probably close to 100% throw it back at this point. If anything, I’ll keep something to eat that night or the next or if there are issues where it doesn’t make sense to throw something back, but for the most part I’m fishing to be on the water. There are days when I’ll spend more time hanging out rather than actually throwing lures. The guides I fish with on occasion are 100% C&R also. They mainly guide for sight fishing though, so it makes sense.

The older I get, the more conservationist I become in my thoughts. Take what you need and will use, not what you want. Duck hunters and fishermen seem to be the worst about it.

[midtown 3345]

I realize thats a lot of fish.  I take what I can eat the rest of my time here.   Belize is pretty poor and they have had a very tough time with covid and lack of tourism.  Especially guides etc.   Tino will feed his family and friends with what I didn't take. .  I'm OK with that. 

[CHIEF 5075]

3 hours ago, Brew said:

After dealing with the after effects of red tide fish kills, you can see a fishery recover quickly if people are responsible and reasonable. Sometimes it takes regulations to help push that along. 

On the topic of C&R, I’m probably close to 100% throw it back at this point. If anything, I’ll keep something to eat that night or the next or if there are issues where it doesn’t make sense to throw something back, but for the most part I’m fishing to be on the water. There are days when I’ll spend more time hanging out rather than actually throwing lures. The guides I fish with on occasion are 100% C&R also. They mainly guide for sight fishing though, so it makes sense.

The older I get, the more conservationist I become in my thoughts. Take what you need and will use, not what you want. Duck hunters and fishermen seem to be the worst about it.

A round trip for me to Port O is now over 700 miles. With a guide, gas, and lodging it costs over a grand. The three of us in my family take three full limits and relish every bite. However, we go maybe once a year at most. I would be strictly "take only enough for one meal" if I lived within 30 minutes for sure. That is the mindset that will keep the fisheries in good shape. I don't understand living in Victoria and keeping a limit twice a week.

CHIEF

[Brew 3049]

To be clear, I have no issues with those that keep and eat whenever they get around to it or that give to others. That was what I meant with take what you will use. If I can get a trip to Alaska, I’m going to freeze enough salmon to keep me going for a long while.

However, more often than not now when I’m at the docks, I see guys wasting whole fish, trimming the easy part of the filets and tossing the rest, trying to find guys in the parking lot to take their catch, etc. It’s even worse with duck hunters in our area. We used to own a convenience store near a major hunting area and they  would find bags of ducks stuffed in the garbage cans every weekend morning.

[troph 24781]

That’s infuriating. 

[CHIEF 5075]

34 minutes ago, Brew said:

To be clear, I have no issues with those that keep and eat whenever they get around to it or that give to others. That was what I meant with take what you will use. If I can get a trip to Alaska, I’m going to freeze enough salmon to keep me going for a long while.

However, more often than not now when I’m at the docks, I see guys wasting whole fish, trimming the easy part of the filets and tossing the rest, trying to find guys in the parking lot to take their catch, etc. It’s even worse with duck hunters in our area. We used to own a convenience store near a major hunting area and they  would find bags of ducks stuffed in the garbage cans every weekend morning.

Yeah, that absolutely sucks. Guys like that should loose their ability to get a hunting and fishing license for life by TPWD.

CHIEF

[hookemATL 11701]

So what killing for the sake of killing?  People like that can fuck right the fuck off. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

I’m so fucking lucky a buddy of mine loves to eat them.  He literally gets 95% of my ducks.  @Brew are you sure they aren’t just breasted? I know 10 people that just breast them to every 1 that plucks the whole bird. 
 

1 hour ago, CHIEF said:

Guys like that should loose their ability to get a hunting and fishing license for life by TPWD.

 

Wanton waste is a thing, and they’ll nail you for it.  
 

I once lost a single trout (one of many) in the ice chest while I cleaned the others and found it a day or so later (hot) and had to toss it.  I swear that karma followed me for a year, and was a pure accident. Can’t imagine dumping just to take a pic. 

[Brew 3049]

21 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

I’m so fucking lucky a buddy of mine loves to eat them.  He literally gets 95% of my ducks.  @Brew are you sure they aren’t just breasted? I know 10 people that just breast them to every 1 that plucks the whole bird. 
 

Wanton waste is a thing, and they’ll nail you for it.  
 

I once lost a single trout (one of many) in the ice chest while I cleaned the others and found it a day or so later (hot) and had to toss it.  I swear that karma followed me for a year, and was a pure accident. Can’t imagine dumping just to take a pic. 

No solid ducks, we would find them everywhere during duck season. I’ve got guys I know that can’t stand duck that hunt all season. It’s stupid around here, but we’re on a major flyway and everyone duck hunts. I talked to a guy I know well a month ago that splits a property with 9 others. They tracked their season and killed a little over 3000 birds this year. They have been tracking it because they are trying to flip it for high dollar to these groups from north of us that come in and scoop up prime duck ground. Shit’s stupid and just turns me off to the whole thing.

On the fishing front, I may go 100% fly this year and see how it goes. About 40 more days of all work, then I’m heading south to fish the start of tarpon season.

[CHIEF 5075]

32 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

I’m so fucking lucky a buddy of mine loves to eat them.  He literally gets 95% of my ducks.  @Brew are you sure they aren’t just breasted? I know 10 people that just breast them to every 1 that plucks the whole bird. 
 

Wanton waste is a thing, and they’ll nail you for it.  
 

I once lost a single trout (one of many) in the ice chest while I cleaned the others and found it a day or so later (hot) and had to toss it.  I swear that karma followed me for a year, and was a pure accident. Can’t imagine dumping just to take a pic. 

I swear that's a thing. I truly believe it. If you kill one of God's creatures, then waste it, it seems you always get your "just" reward on the next few trips, even if unintentional. I lost two deer when my freezer went out, lost my lease right after that.

CHIEF

[fattyflattie 4639]

We’ve got a group of guides out of Matagorda that do the same thing. Young guys (20’s when started) and they’ve been VERY successful.  Every bit of their hype was built up on hero pics. They were “sponsors” on the local forums so calling them out would get you a timeout.  About 5-7 years in they built a 7-figure lodge and focused mainly on corporate deals. What’s better than taking 5 limits of trout off your croaker hole? Taking 30+ limits 2x a week on 5-8 boats.   Seriously. If you fish anywhere near Greene’s or Cottons in the summer, you’ll see them every time you are there. Couple dozen people scattered about, baitbuckets floating, ready to take another 75-150 trout out for the day.   They run several thousand acres of duck leases too. My understanding the duck leases are done right.  Small groups, big money to get in. 

[CHIEF 5075]

3 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

We’ve got a group of guides out of Matagorda that do the same thing. Young guys (20’s when started) and they’ve been VERY successful.  Every bit of their hype was built up on hero pics. They were “sponsors” on the local forums so calling them out would get you a timeout.  About 5-7 years in they built a 7-figure lodge and focused mainly on corporate deals. What’s better than taking 5 limits of trout off your croaker hole? Taking 30+ limits 2x a week on 5-8 boats.   Seriously. If you fish anywhere near Greene’s or Cottons in the summer, you’ll see them every time you are there. Couple dozen people scattered about, baitbuckets floating, ready to take another 75-150 trout out for the day.   They run several thousand acres of duck leases too. My understanding the duck leases are done right.  Small groups, big money to get in. 

I just looked it up it's only $210 to get a guide license in the State of Texas. That's criminal. It doesn't remotely pay for the resource they are overusing. TPWD spent $3.7 mil this last year restocking trout, reds, and flounder. Raise the price, or charge a daily fee for the guides to pass on to their charters. Make C&R guides exempt.

CHIEF

[Pescado_Rojo 19413]

6 hours ago, CHIEF said:

I just looked it up it's only $210 to get a guide license in the State of Texas. That's criminal. It doesn't remotely pay for the resource they are overusing. TPWD spent $3.7 mil this last year restocking trout, reds, and flounder. Raise the price, or charge a daily fee for the guides to pass on to their charters. Make C&R guides exempt.

CHIEF

Or start a fund to buy back guide licenses like they do bay shrimpers

[Paper_jam 831]

On 3/6/2021 at 8:42 AM, Brew said:

After dealing with the after effects of red tide fish kills, you can see a fishery recover quickly if people are responsible and reasonable. Sometimes it takes regulations to help push that along. 

 

After the '83 freeze, didn't TPWD tighten the size/bag limits on speckled trout and redfish? Is there any indication of how this winter storm compared to that one, in terms of impact on the bays?

 

[fattyflattie 4639]

6 hours ago, Paper_jam said:

After the '83 freeze, didn't TPWD tighten the size/bag limits on speckled trout and redfish? Is there any indication of how this winter storm compared to that one, in terms of impact on the bays?

 

https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20210310c&fbclid=IwAR1pqSGmYLffZG7PqecQUBYq-7YVTGF3VEf8dfyXV4qAae_clDSgSwE7Qzg

 

Looks like it was about 25% as bad as the '83 freeze.  Of course, there was probably only 5% of the people on the water as there is today in '83.   Those I know and trust that lived thru it said the bays were terribly impacted for several years, and then of course '89 happened it went back to shit right as it was coming to normal again.  A lost decade pretty much, to hear them talk.  

[Dry Elbows 142]

30 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20210310c&fbclid=IwAR1pqSGmYLffZG7PqecQUBYq-7YVTGF3VEf8dfyXV4qAae_clDSgSwE7Qzg

 

Looks like it was about 25% as bad as the '83 freeze.  Of course, there was probably only 5% of the people on the water as there is today in '83.   Those I know and trust that lived thru it said the bays were terribly impacted for several years, and then of course '89 happened it went back to shit right as it was coming to normal again.  A lost decade pretty much, to hear them talk.  

In some areas I do not think the TPWD survey was representative of scope of the kill.  East Matagorda specifically.

[fattyflattie 4639]

6 minutes ago, Dry Elbows said:

In some areas I do not think the TPWD survey was representative of scope of the kill.  East Matagorda specifically.

For better or worse?

[Restinmybones 111]

Does anyone know whether the freeze affected fresh water fish in south and central Texas?

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

2 hours ago, Restinmybones said:

Does anyone know whether the freeze affected fresh water fish in south and central Texas?

Haven't seen much about it, but I doubt it was as bad as saltwater. Most freshwater fish are more adaptive to cold and can go dormant for periods of time instead of dying.  At least that's what I remember.

[fattyflattie 4639]

1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Haven't seen much about it, but I doubt it was as bad as saltwater. Most freshwater fish are more adaptive to cold and can go dormant for periods of time instead of dying.  At least that's what I remember.

Most can also get to deeper water much faster.  Unless you have a port or river access, the ICW is all these fish had.  And that's fine, until a tug comes thru and stirs it up, then they die.  

[Restinmybones 111]

1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Haven't seen much about it, but I doubt it was as bad as saltwater. Most freshwater fish are more adaptive to cold and can go dormant for periods of time instead of dying.  At least that's what I remember.

Thanks

[Restinmybones 111]

11 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

Most can also get to deeper water much faster.  Unless you have a port or river access, the ICW is all these fish had.  And that's fine, until a tug comes thru and stirs it up, then they die.  

Thanks

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

17 minutes ago, Restinmybones said:

Thanks

I saw a TPWD note on it somewhere a week or so ago - most freshwater fish in lakes and rivers should be fine - some younger florida hybrids may have died but not substantial.  Tilapia, believe it or not were hit in a lot of places (good!).  The only places that might have gotten affected badly would be private stock tanks with no deep water.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

Also it's interesting to me that one good feature of the dams, on the Colorado, San Gabriel and Guadalupe, are that the water getting released is a lot warmer than surface temps so it helps keep the downstream temps moderated.  So it shouldn't have affected much there, particularly the white bass.

[Restinmybones 111]

13 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I saw a TPWD note on it somewhere a week or so ago - most freshwater fish in lakes and rivers should be fine - some younger florida hybrids may have died but not substantial.  Tilapia, believe it or not were hit in a lot of places (good!).  The only places that might have gotten affected badly would be private stock tanks with no deep water.

Yeah. That's what I was concerned about. We have some land down in DeWitt county and it has a few ponds. One is very large and is probably 15 to 20 feet at its deepest. It's a great pond for largemouth bass, crappie, channel and blue catfish, and sun perch. My son and I love to fish that place. It sounds as though it might have been somewhat affected. We'll find out during Easter weekend. Thanks again. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

10 minutes ago, Restinmybones said:

Yeah. That's what I was concerned about. We have some land down in DeWitt county and it has a few ponds. One is very large and is probably 15 to 20 feet at its deepest. It's a great pond for largemouth bass, crappie, channel and blue catfish, and sun perch. My son and I love to fish that place. It sounds as though it might have been somewhat affected. We'll find out during Easter weekend. Thanks again. 

Good luck, hopefully 15-20 feet is deep enough that far south that it's probably OK.

[Restinmybones 111]

25 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Good luck, hopefully 15-20 feet is deep enough that far south that it's probably OK.

Thanks. I have a feeling we'll catch a few.

[Masshole Horn 769]

Largemouth, sunfish, crappie, and catfish all survive under the ice all winter, so they should be ok.

[Dry Elbows 142]

16 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

For better or worse?

From what I've heard, East Matagorda was impacted pretty significantly.  It was not mentioned as having a big kill in the TPWD release.  

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

3 hours ago, Dry Elbows said:

From what I've heard, East Matagorda was impacted pretty significantly.  It was not mentioned as having a big kill in the TPWD release.  

It’s a pretty shallow bay with the only relief being the intercoastal, and that was dicey.  

[fattyflattie 4639]

6 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

It’s a pretty shallow bay with the only relief being the intercoastal, and that was dicey.  

How deep is Mitchell’s these days?  I used to run out of there quite a bit in high school.  Biggest problem there is that whole side of the bay is so shallow (the whole thing is really, as you know).   It’ll never happen but I really wish they’d halt barge traffic during these once a decade events for 2-3 days.  Frustrating. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

1 minute ago, fattyflattie said:

How deep is Mitchell’s these days?  I used to run out of there quite a bit in high school.  Biggest problem there is that whole side of the bay is so shallow (the whole thing is really, as you know).   It’ll never happen but I really wish they’d halt barge traffic during these once a decade events for 2-3 days.  Frustrating. 

No idea, it’s been a mess to even get to there since Harvey and the last couple of storms.  Sargent itself is crazy with erosion and mud.  TLDR haven’t been to Mitchell cut in four years, but I can’t imagine it’s deeper than it was before.  

[fattyflattie 4639]

ncsb - When Harvey came thru, I was doing all the barging to FLNG there on Quintana. Quite literally, every item that was barged came in on one of my barges, including these huge structural modular facilities. 250’x70x70 envelope. Anyhow, we roll up to the dock to roll one off, and tug eats shit about 150’ out. It had gone from 13’ to 3’ deep over the entire area. I had to stash that thing in the port of Freeport, dock to dock like a couch surfer until they could get a dredge over there.   Half of the port of Houston over there near 10 was all sanded in and was crazy hard to find a dredge that wasn’t hooked up.  Anyhow, what a beating.  Harvey moved a ton of soil, even in innocuous areas of the ditch.   Iirc, they finally got it like 6-7’, and I put that bitch on the hard and rolled it all off on high tide. - Ncsb

[Dry Elbows 142]

16 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

How deep is Mitchell’s these days?  I used to run out of there quite a bit in high school.  Biggest problem there is that whole side of the bay is so shallow (the whole thing is really, as you know).   It’ll never happen but I really wish they’d halt barge traffic during these once a decade events for 2-3 days.  Frustrating. 

Barge traffic halting is voluntary, unfortunately. Problem with this event is that it was so cold for so long.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

21 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

ncsb - When Harvey came thru, I was doing all the barging to FLNG there on Quintana. Quite literally, every item that was barged came in on one of my barges, including these huge structural modular facilities. 250’x70x70 envelope. Anyhow, we roll up to the dock to roll one off, and tug eats shit about 150’ out. It had gone from 13’ to 3’ deep over the entire area. I had to stash that thing in the port of Freeport, dock to dock like a couch surfer until they could get a dredge over there.   Half of the port of Houston over there near 10 was all sanded in and was crazy hard to find a dredge that wasn’t hooked up.  Anyhow, what a beating.  Harvey moved a ton of soil, even in innocuous areas of the ditch.   Iirc, they finally got it like 6-7’, and I put that bitch on the hard and rolled it all off on high tide. - Ncsb

That whole area of the surf has changed on the Matagorda side.  For a long time we would drive about 7 miles down from Matagorda toward Mitchell’s, and past the third or fourth windmill you would hit an area sort of like little shell, where there was a lot of shell bank and the first gut was chest deep in spots. Was great fishing there at times, and remote enough to be fun camping.  Last time I went it was all washed out.  That was over a year ago, haven’t been on that stretch since.

[fattyflattie 4639]

Ha. That was pretty much exactly where we would stop.  13 miles had a lot of shell too. 

[ChickenSandwich 9824]

Cousin’s fishing team took second in the 2021 Freeze out tourney. 
 

 

He also took 1st for largest Red

Edited March 13, 2021 by ChickenSandwich

[ChickenSandwich 9824]

dp

Edited March 13, 2021 by ChickenSandwich

[fattyflattie 4639]

56 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Cousin’s fishing team took second in the 2021 Freeze out tourney. 
 

 

He also took 1st for largest Red

Man, they had their kicker fish for sure.  There are some hammers in that tournament, and deep pockets. 

[ChickenSandwich 9824]

I dream of catching a red that looks like that let alone during a tournament. I’d probably commission a statue of me holding that bitch. Fucker. 
 

honestly he’s cheatinG

http://treythetexasmedium.com

Edited March 13, 2021 by ChickenSandwich

[Braff Zacklin 13552]

So the last two weeks on one of my favorite rivers here in SE Idaho has been ... rewarding. Some highlights:

A super streamlined rainbow hen

A plump and lovely female 'bow

A mush-mouthed buck with a penchant for yellow sallies out of season

And three big, colorful bucks to close it out

[Braff Zacklin 13552]

Some additional pics hidden in a spoiler to avoid further longcatting of this page. #sorrynotsorry?

Spoiler

More of the streamlined hen--she put up quite the fight

Big buck awaiting extraction--their custom camo jobs never cease to amaze

A bonnie bonnie (i.e., an attractive Bonneville cutthroat)

A "banana" rainbow--the gingers of the salmonids!

And one bipedal ginger with a humble yet rare (for this water, at least) brown