Nearshore and Back Bay

 Rich Gidrey and I left Billings bait stand outside of Corpus Christy in search of some Hot Rod-bending action.   That is exactly what we found.  The winds were light and therefore we headed offshore, actually Nearshore to see what the Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico were holding.

Rich’s 24.5 foot Mako was great for the rough water at the mouth of the Packery Channel that led us to the open water of the Gulf of Mexico.  We were using live Piggy Perch and a few Croker.   

 

We caught some amazing Ling in the 55 foot water and the action was fast and furious.  We then went back-bay and caught some great Redfish and Trout.  We captured it all on HD video since Tony T was onboard for the shoot.

Anglers Note:

When you have light winds, consider going Nearshore for Big Fish.  We used Bay fishing tackle and had to really work the technique to land these big monsters.  Rich and I used 8- foot Soldier Bay rods what were Medium Heavy with a fast tip.  The line we used was 30 lb Power Pro braided line.  

We were broke off several times but we used the team approach to land the fish that we caught.  This involves the angler that is hooked up making a best effort to pull the fish from the rig.  He will instinctively try to go back up under the rig, if that occurs, you will be broken off.  The team approach involves the angler that is not hooked up, starting the big motor and drive the boat away from the rig to assist the angler in the heat of battle.  We caught two amazing Ling in 45 minutes and then headed for the back bay and loaded the boat with Redfish and Trout.   This time of year can produce excellent fishing. 

Knowledge is power on the water.

Thanks for your time today and I’ll see you on the water.

Dave

White Winged Dove Hunt

Daniel Sowell and I left for Hondo Texas at 3pm in search of a White Wing Dove Hunt.   Troy Leblanc, our cameraman was with us to make an HD Television show.

Hunting Season in this part of Texas, the South Zone, runs from September 17^th to October 31^st and December 25^th to January 18^th.. 

Texas Parks and Wildlife sets the Bag Limits at 15 birds with a Possession Limit of 30 birds.   The most common birds are White Winged dove and Mourning dove.

The White Winged dove are slightly smaller that the grayish-brown Mourning dove.  Their name comes from the noticeable white-marked feathers on the upper wing surface. 

They are migratory birds, wintering in Mexico and also Central America.  They inhabit scrub, woodlands, deserts and even cultivated areas.  They build a stick nest and generally lay two cream-colored to white unmarked eggs.  The flight of a white winged dove is fast and they have regular beats with an occasional sharp flick of the wings.  They feed on grains, seeds and fruit.

 The White Winged dove’s cooing sequence sounds like “Who Cooks for You”…and   “who, who, who” with the emphasis on the last note.

In the early 1900’s as farmers introduced irrigation and grain farming in Lower Rio Grande Valley, white winged dove populations increased to over 12 million birds.  Over the years the populations have decreased but they are still very strong.  In fact, Texas Parks and Wildlife estimates that 35,000 to 40,000 hunters travel to the Lower Rio Grande Valley to hunt White 

Winged doves.

Hunters Note:

Pay close attention to the layout of the area you are hunting.  In this case we first identified the flight pattern of the dove and identified where we can position ourselves to be able to take the birds in such a way that they would fall to us and not into a ranch that was adjacent to us.  If the birds fall into private property, you can not retrieve them. 

The migration patterns were very much as we expected.  The birds begin flying to the sunflower patches from the city at about 1pm and therefore they were coming from the North to the South.  Later in the day, at approximately 4pm, they were returning to the city and were coming from the South back to the North.  They had their fill of sunflower seeds and were on their return pattern. 

All in all it was an awesome hunt.

Thanks for your time today and I’ll see you in the outdoors.

Dave

Nueces Bay – Hot RodBending

Fishing Report

 Rich Gidrey and I left the boat ramp in Nueces bay at 7am in search of some Hot Summer Rodbending.  That is just what we got….The Causeway was in our sights.  The structure under the main bridge from Corpus to Rockport holds great Redfish, Trout, Mangrove Snapper, Flounder, Black Drum and Sheepshead. It is an amazing place to fish.

Today proved to be a Trout and Redfish day.   We were using live Croaker and Piggies and the bite was definitely on.  There are cement slabs submerged under the water.  They hold baitfish and gamefish.  Be careful in Nueces Bay, there are many-many uncharted obstructions just under the waters surface.  Some are tallis piles of debris, like cement blocks, not to mention the hundreds of shallow oyster reefs. 

We were looking for more moving current.  At first there was almost no current and that slowed down the bite but…over time the current picked up and so did the Rodbending.

Anglers Note:

I wanted to mention two points in this anglers note.  One was the use of the current to take the bait to the fish.  We would anchor up current and cast down current and let the bait be taken with the current to the structure under the Causeway.  Cast strategically and work the “Strike Zones”.  Keep you bait in the area where game fish are likely to be.  They will forage tight along the cement in search of baitfish that will hold tight to the cover.  Second…..We let the fish run with the bait for a few seconds ..and then lower the rod tip to the waters surface and ….set the hook.   This is a patient game and it is hard not the just set the hook.  Patience pays off.  Today we caught 19 keeper trout and 4 nice Redfish.

Tony D, our main cameraman caught it all on HD video for our television shows.   Be on the lookout for it on a TV station in your area. It was awesome !!!!! Thanks for your time today and….I’ll see you on the water !!!

Dave

Black Drum in Big Schools—Hot Summer Fishing

Rich Gidrey fished the Redfish Trail in a Tournament on Saturday that started in South Padre island.  They ran North to the Upper Laguna Madre area searching for schools of redfish in the flats.   They caught their two fish and made the long 2 hour run back south for the weigh-in.  That’s a picture of Rich and Sam in their big Mako bay boat.

On Sunday, Rich, Tony D ( Our Cameraman) and I Fished the Upper Laguna Madre area in search of some rod bending action and in search of a new fishing show in HD.

We picked up some bait at Billings Bait Stand in Corpus Christi and headed south.  We knew that schooling redfish were in the area so we kicked the Evinrude 250 hp in the tail and began to cover water.  The day proved to be a hot day on the water.  We did not have any wind for almost 4 hours and we were in the sauna.  Non-the-less, we stayed on the hunt.  We caught a few trout, 16 in to 20 in but nothing to write home about.  The slack wind made is tough fishing.  When you have no wind, the fish can see you just as easy as you can see them.  

Covering water is always critical to find fish that are feeding.  I never stay in one area more that 15 minutes.  Stay on the hunt.

 Anglers Note:

The big finish that we were looking for today came in the form of Schools of Black Drum and a few Redfish in the flats.  I am talking 500+ Black Drum in mega schools.  We located these massive schools by looking for choppy water or nervous water where there were no boat wakes or wind to cause such a messed up looking water.   We saw a large area of choppy water as we ran around in the flats and that proved to be just what we were looking for.  We found that free hooking with a chunk of shrimp proved to be most effective.  We were however able to catch them on hooks tipped with a chunk of soft plastic, preferable a bright orange or charturce color.  

As I always say, knowledge is power on the water.

We shot this show on our Sony Z7-U HD camera and we will air it in our new season soon.

Thanks for your time today and I’ll see you in the Outdoors.

Dave