Fishing, Fishing, Rocks, Doctor, Fishing, and more Fishing

Our rock shows were over for this winter and so it was time to go fishing, (we did run to San Antonio for a day and purchased some beautiful stones at the San Antonio Gem and Mineral Show). So, we planned on resting a bit, putting the rocks away till we reach Wyoming, and trying to catch some fresh fish.

Last year we caught the Spanish mackerel run at the south Jetty and caught quite a few nice fish. They smoked well and so we hoped to catch the run again this winter. However, we missed them by two days, those darn fish won’t stay put, and instead tried to catch some sheepshead,(not the freshwater variety).

Roy and I didn’t do very well as the only fish we caught were two puffers and two stingrays, (all safely released). Terry, Marlene, Bob, and Dave had better luck and caught six nice sheepsheads. Still it’s always nice watching the dolphins in the channel and seeing the big ships go past.

Two days later John invited us to fish a place where the reports of black drum frenzies were occurring and a friend in our rv park kindly led us to his spot. There were three boats taking turns and all of us caught our limits of fifteen black drum. It was some of the best black drum fishing I have ever seen.

While all this was going on Renita and I both got sick and went to the Urgent Care. It turned out she had a cold and I had an ear infection. Of course I asked the nurse practitioner how soon I could go fishing and she said as soon as I felt better. The next day I felt better and went fishing with John, Dave, and Roy returning to the same spot. The fish had moved. The excitement for the day was watching beautiful rosette spoonbills flying in their bright pink breeding colors and dolphin watching as the dolphins fed near our boat.

John decided that we needed to go to another of his favorite spots and the next days we anchored near an old dock in the main shipping channel. I caught two keeper sheepsheads, before Roy got hot and landed four more. Meanwhile John had broken off two large fish.

The next fish wasn’t so lucky and after a fierce run and fight I netted John’s twenty-five inch red! Roy and I were catching smaller sheepshead, while John caught another keeper red, this time a twenty-three-inch fish!

About this time, we ran out of bait. We tried casting jigs and as a last resort even tried some bait in a package. John put on a slice of shrimp flavored bait and he got anther keeper red! He put his pole down, and proudly stated that he had caught his first limit of reds, ever!

It was so appropriate for John , as he has worked so hard with others organizing work parties that have been aiding displaced Hurricane Harvey victims. The names of all the volunteers in the park who have helped is too numerous to mention, basically all have been either helping by providing physical labor or donating food and money for the meals our park makes and distributes, (we have been feeding about forty plus people two days a week).

So now we only have two weeks before we slowly wind our way north. Of course, we will make our usual detour to visit Connie and Gary, on Grand Isle, Louisiana, attend the bird festival there, and watch the Blessing of the Fleet as it prepares for this season shrimping and fishing. Clear skies