Reporting this week from the Laguna Madre.
Thursday morning Ken Shannon and I met Capt. Eric Glass at the boat landing on Swordfish Road on South Padre Island. The weather looked threatening and we knew we'd
get wet but we wanted to get as much fishing time as we could before the rain started.
We got maybe an hour in. In that hour we hooked four fish and caught three, and we could hardly see because of the clouds. They were all what would be high end slot fish in Florida, 27 inches more or less. All fell for a #2 Merkin, light tan in color. The weather slammed us and it was a cold, wet, miserable ride back to the dock. We hung out for a while at Island Outfitters, the most unique tackle shop I'd ever been in' On the walls were the usual assortment of fishing lures, fly tying materials, sporting are, and fish and game mounts, but there was also a wall covered with dresses.
On the floor of the shop were displays of fine china, porcelain dolls, and fresh baked goods. The shop was full of anglers who had also been rained off the water, eating chili and drinking coffee, just a neat place.
The rain fell horizontally for the next two days, with high temperatures around 50 degrees, and we were unable to fish again at the south end of the Laguna.
Yesterday we fished with Capt. Chuck Naiser of Rockport. It was overcast most of the day, but there was no wind and the temperature got up to the high 60's. We got 15 or 18 reds between us, all on flies, all but two sightfished, all slot fish. Flies used included a chartreuse Clouser Minnow, a Silverio Clouser Minnow, a Mosquito Lagoon Special, and a bonefish fly I tied for the Bahamas. It didn't seem to matter.
These are some seriously stupid fish. You could cast to them four or five times and have them eat. You could flush them and cast to them and they would eat. Of course yesterday was a Sunday and we saw one other boat with fishermen all day. There's no one here to educate, or remove, all the fish. And, there's an unbelievable amount of water here. It's the way the waters around the Space Center were 20 years ago, except they don't get the big reds in the Laguna because they go out into the Gulf. I need to cut this short, we're meeting Chuck again in a few minutes.
Life is short- GO FISHING!
And life is great and I really love my work!
John Kumiski |
