From chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6739893.html"GALVESTON — Overcast skies, drizzling wind and a brisk breeze did little to faze Ronnie Hickey and Auda Derby as they dangled their fishing lines into the roiling current of Rollover Pass, a 200-foot-wide channel cut through the narrowest point in the Bolivar Peninsula.
Like many anglers, they are saddened but resigned to the impending demise of Rollover Pass, a peninsula landmark for 54 years and one of the premier fishing spots on the Texas Gulf Coast.
The Texas General Land Office says Rollover Pass is speeding beach erosion on the peninsula. The GLO is seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to close it. The GLO will begin filling it in as soon as the permit is granted, Land Office spokesman Jim Suydam said. “It's causing massive rates of erosion,” Suydam said.
Hickey, 56, and Derby, 55, drove from Greenville to spend a week at their favorite fishing spot. Clad in rain gear, they sat in folding chairs on the concrete retaining wall that lines the pass and leaned their poles against the metal railing.
“I think it's a bad deal closing it down,” said Hickey.
Anglers drive long distances and sometimes camp for weeks to fish for grouper, red fish, flounder, shark and other fish.
Suydam says the GLO plans to build a fishing pier to replace Rollover Pass, which was the economic mainstay of the tiny Gilchrist community.
“If they don't put that pier out there, they will destroy this area,” said Warren Adams, a board member of the Gilchrist Association formed by community residents. The association opposed closing the pass but now is resigned to the inevitability.
Before Hurricane Ike, a trailer park and two bait shops thrived on business from anglers who parked their camp trailers near the pass.
Trouble from Ike
When Hurricane Ike struck Sept. 13, 2008, it scoured away nearly the entire Gilchrist community, leaving only Adams' yellow house standing.
A number of houses have been rebuilt since Ike, and Adams said a new housing project is planned nearby.
Before the channel was dug, Rollover Pass was a natural washover that was occasionally breached by storms. There are reports of small boats being able to cross the peninsula at Rollover Pass during high tide. The Handbook of Texas says the pass got its name from smugglers rolling barrels of contraband across the narrowest part of the peninsula.
The Gulf Coast Rod Reel and Gun Club eventually gained ownership of the property and entered into an agreement to dig the pass with the predecessor agency that eventually became Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Rollover Pass was completed in 1955 and immediately became a fishing destination for anglers.
But erosion problems emerged during construction that foretold Rollover's eventual end. Ray Newby, GLO geologist, said original plans called for the pass to be 80 feet wide and 8 feet deep. But the swift tidal currents quickly eroded the fresh cut to 500 feet and scoured it 30 feet deep, forcing the construction of a concrete retaining wall, Newby said.
‘Sad for this area'
A series of reports over the years found that the pass contributed to erosion of Peninsula beaches. Newby said sand that would normally be carried west to the beaches is sucked through the pass and dumped into the Intracoastal Waterway. Suydam said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is spending about $1 million a year to dredge sand.
Hickey and Derby don't believe the pass is causing any more erosion than would normally occur, but they are more concerned with fishing. Making the most of what might be one of their last trips to Rollover Pass, they teamed to bring in a 413⁄8-inch red bull. They also caught a 3½-foot shark.
Reflecting on the closure, Derby said, “It's really going to be sad for this area.”
harvey.rice@chron.com"
