It's been quite a while since I've posted a report. Sharing this adventure seems appropriate as it is a new area for me but something I've wanted to do since Milkjug used to post reports about it last year. My fishing buddy didn't want to pay the $20 (truck plus trailer) to the East Beach Nazis so we launched for free from Apfel Park. Even though Crazy Yak did some excellent technical planning to coincide with the tide movements it was a tough paddle out to and around the end of the jetty. Paddling back was grueling and I'll NEVER make that trip again. At my age and conditioning level it's worth it just to pay the extra $20.
At the 7:00am launch it was cold and the wind was a steady 15 knots. Later in the afternoon it was gusting to at least 25 but after about an hour of really strong wind it died down. The afternoon was beautiful and the water was a shade of green not observed for a long time. The fish finder indicated a 68 degree temperature.
Here's a shot of the ship channel a few minutes after launch:
This is the beach on the north side of the south jetty with Galveston in the back ground:
The closer we got to the end of the jetty and mouth of the ship channel the rouhger the conditions.
These guys were hooked up but I didn't get to see the fish:
At the tip of the jetty it's very crowded with power boaters. It's amazing how the boaters stack up in here and squeeze their way in fishing on top of each other. I failed to take a picture of them anchored/lined up right next to each other.
We anchored up with fresh crab on the bottom in the area but found some birds working about a 1/2 mile away and decided to give chase. That excursion didn't produce any hits but I did get a bump while trolling to the area. Here's Crazy Yak in his new Hobie Outback chasing what we think were a school of Spanish mackerel but we weren't able to get them to hit. Perfect boat for these conditions!
We returned to anchor up and several more boats crowd their way into the area I'm fishing. After a half hour or so and no runs I decide to fish the rocks on the calmer south side and leave this bumpy, crowded area to the PBs. It turned out to be a great decision as within a half hour I landed my first fish. Just under 20" but I was glad to catch find a hungry fish who hit a gulp pogy.
Right after I released him the wind really started picking up and blew me around for about an hour. I was getting tired just from fighting the wind and the waves and was starting to ponder the long paddle back. My plan was to beach my yak, drag it around to the north side of the jetty and then paddle back to Apfel in the channel. At this point I had no interest in paddling all the way around the jetty again as the wind was just brutal. But, suddenly just like the weather man said the wind died down and it was simply beautiful out. And the fishing picked up!
I found another at 29". I was doing some experimenting with various jigs and spoons as you'll see from the pics it worked out.
Here's what he hit. It's a diamond jig with a strip of gulp that I picked up in the clearance bin at Gander Mtn for $.25!
Crazy Yak had invested in some fresh dead shrimp and I hadn't used any of it so I thought I should at least give it a try. I was hoping to catch a sheep's head by free lining the shrimp on a circle hook. The wind and current made it difficult but once I figured out how to safely maneuver next to the rocks it was non stop action. I caught about 20 of these:
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And a whole bunch of these:
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And a few of these:
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As it turns out Crazy Yak had to meet his wife at 4pm or so to visit some friends. He had forgotten his phone at home so I get a call from her at about 3:45pm wondering where we were. I'm sitting about 4.5 miles away from the launch when I get the call. Oops! Is it that late all ready? I'll be sure to tell CY when I find him that we better haul a$$ home! I radio Crazy Yak and we decide to head in and he's pretty much in trouble but, he wanted to try for one more fish or something. I continue to free line shrimp and pick up another nice red.
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After a while I made my way towards the beach and realize that the surf is pretty dang big and I hadn't brought any leashes for my gear. Instead of taking a chance on a turtle in the surf I decide to drag the yak over the jetty. That was a dangerous experience but I managed to drag my Hobie Adventure (16' and heavy with gear) over the jetty and high tail it home. What seemed like a fairly easy 2 mile trip turned into a marathon. I had to talk, cuss, and prod myself to sack up and make the trip back. My legs were aching, heart racing and lungs burning as it seemed I wasn't making hardly any progress. It was misery! The GPS said I was making a steady 3 miles per hour but against the wind and tide and fighting the elements all day I was really hurting. I considered beaching and dragging my yak but I never would have heard the end of it from CY! I continued to suck it up and finally arrived at the launch to find CY waiting on me.
Even though I helped put him in the dog house with his wife he helped me drag my gear and load it up on the trailer! He reminded me what a wussy I was (didn't use that exact term) and I had to agree with him as I was really beat! I was spent and he knew it but we were both so happy to have had such a fantastic day (CY had caught a bunch of fish as well but I'll let him tell his own story) and to be back at the launch without injury made me feel like I had accomplished something! :lol: I'm sore this morning but happy to share my experience with you all. Hope you enjoyed it!
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