Breaker Good Buddy... Roger that Big Daddy

Thursday, June 25th, our neighbors put a couple of boats together for a trip to the Gulf for some offshore action. Earlier in the week Bud Baker from The Dunes Condo’s called me up about going out fishing again with him and Chuck Lamb (TCU Professor). I like an excuse to go out on the water. As you can see it doesn’t take much.

Both Bud & I called a few fishing guides in the Redfish Bay Area & Aransas Bay Area’s and they told us that things had been slow due to lack of rain & high salinity. Another guide mentioned that the water temp is at boiling point and you’ll find fish in some deeper waters.

The weather was looking very hot and calm and I’d been looking for a good time to run offshore into the Gulf for some action. We decided to invite our other neighbor, Eric Peschke, to go out with us since he has a lot of offshore experience and would know where to go.

Before we new it, we had 2 boats going out fishin together. We both had VHF radios and would be able to communicate with each other as our fishing plan evolved. Since the North Bays were slow we decided to try the Gulf first and if the wind made things to rough we would go to plan B, head south to Baffin Bay and Land Cut.

As we headed out through the Packery Channel and we could see that the wind would stay down and make for a perfect day to be offshore in the gulf. We navigated to the Standpipe MU-794L and started trolling. As we both circling around trolling we heard on our radio; Breaker Good Buddy FISH-ON…. Roger that Big Boy. Eric Peschke & Brian Ashline on the Fish Master Boat had the first catch of the day.

Not much action after the first catch so we traveled North to the next Standpipe and started Trolling and we got into some nice King fish. Chuck Lamb pulled in the first 35”/36” King Fish from our Blazor Bay Boat. Then Bud & I caught a King Fish trolling between these Standpipes.

About 30 minutes later both Chuck & Bud had King Fish on their line at the same time. That kept us busy for a while and It was a lot of fun for my Maiden voyage offshore to the Gulf of Mexico on the Blazor Bay. Both boats had a lot of success catching King Fish combining for over a dozen for the day.

Then I hear, Breaker Good Buddy, We need you to come take our Pictures of our King Fish catches. 10/4 Big Boy hold them in your live well and we'll catch up soon... Roger That.

Since the King Fish wasn’t something we wanted to keep for the dinner table we released them all back into the water. We enjoyed the morning with a lot of activity and decided to move inshore to the ICW to try and catch something for the dinner table before going in.

We first went to the power lines just North of Clems & Billings bait on the ICW and then moved to the ICW across from Snoopy’s. We were able to catch a speckled trout at each location. The largest of the two was Chucks 21”er.

Just a great day on the water at JustGoFishin.com. I sure enjoy getting out with friends, neighbors and of course family. Hope ya’ll have a great day of fishin.

My 2009 CCA STAR Tagged Redfish

I would like to preface this fishing story of a lifetime with a little bit of background information to help the reader better understand the root of my family’s excitement. My name is Ty Howard. I live in Richmond, Texas and am a Police Officer with Fort Bend ISD. My wife Brooke also works for the school district as a fifth grade teacher. I have two beautiful girls from a previous marriage, Courtney age 10, and Chloe age 8 who really enjoy camping and fishing with us. Brooke and I have an 11 month old son who we named none other than Fisher Howard. We share the love of kayak fishing all along the Texas coast and she holds the State record for catch and release redfish at 51” from her kayak! The personalized CCA license plates on my truck say “KYAKR”. I guess you could say that we are addicted to fishing in a big way.

For years we have entered the STAR tournament and had a discussion almost every time on the way or way home about what we would do if we were ever lucky enough to catch a tagged redfish. It seems that we are a blessed and lucky couple. Brooke won the showcase on The Price is Right five years ago and it seems like good things come our way often. After this weekend I am thinking that we are definitely the luckiest two people on earth. Now, on to the fishing story.
Man...what a weekend!!!

On Saturday June 13th the Third Coast Kayak Tournament day began at 5:00 am and it was business as usual... gas station coffee, powdered do-nuts, 2 Slim Jim beef sticks for a mid-day snack, and a Gatorade. We went to tournament headquarters and picked up our rulers and off we went.

As we arrived at The Fishing Center in Port O'Connor there were several other kayakers ready for launch and tons of boats screaming out of the marina. Myself, along with my two friends Tom and Kevin got unloaded and rigged up as we waited for safe light to paddle across the ICW to the flats. Soon after the first group of kayakers made it to the other side we headed out. Paddling across to the fishing area, the usual thoughts were racing through my head as with tournament morning. High hopes of getting into a school of good sized redfish and maybe even a big trout had me so excited. If I had only known what this day would bring!!!!

I was able to find some nice reds early on in the morning. I found a small school and anchored up with my Stakeout Stick. My first was a little guy about 15" long followed by a 21" and 22". It looked very promising but the bite turned off for me about 8:00 and by 10:30 I felt it was time to move out of the area. I called the other guys telling them that I was paddling down the ICW towards the jetties. I had caught several trout there the day before and I really needed one to go with my red for a stringer. By the time that I got to the jetty it was hot...REALLY hot!!! I fished for about an hour with nothing to show for it and by that time Kevin had made it out there with me. We agreed about 11:45 that it was time to paddle back to The Fishing Center. I figured that I had put enough miles on my Ultimate 14.5 for the day so I called my wife Brooke and told her that we would be headed back to the R/V park shortly.

We began to paddle back in and Kevin said that we should try working some of the structure along the ICW. There were grass banks, bulkheads, docks, and rock structures scattered throughout the length of the paddle in. We worked it most of the way back without a bite. Soon, we came upon a restaurant where some friends were having lunch overlooking the ICW. They saw us paddling up and jokingly said "there are no redfish around here". I replied “no kidding”. We had a good laugh and began to paddle on.

With a short distance between me and the launch spot, I put on a fresh Gulp jerk shad in pink and white. I noticed a rock pile just out from the bulkhead about two houses down from The Fishing Center. The cast found the edge of the rocks and the Gulp sank slowly in the shaded, clear water. While on the fall I noticed that a fish had picked it up so I set the hook. After a couple of cranks a redfish tail came out of the water. By the way the fish was fighting and the size of the tail, I knew it was not a big fish so I did not get overly excited. I gave the fish a couple more cranks and reached for my net. While raising my rod with one hand and starting towards the water with the net in my other, the fish's back surfaced. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next. There was a bright red tag sticking out of the middle of the fish's back. Luckily, he swam into the net on the first try. As I lifted the net out of the water and lowered it into the floor of my kayak. I realized that in the past 10 seconds I had actually caught a tagged redfish.

I folded the net over double and shoved it up under the bow skirt on my Ultimate kayak. I had about a 50 yard paddle to the boat ramp where there were a crowd of boats loading and unloading. I made it to the ramp and pulled my kayak up on dry land. There were a few people standing around and they could obviously see the excitement on my face. I stood up and looked down into my kayak. There was a TAGGED REDFISH with the hook still in his mouth flopping around. I looked at a couple of the folks standing there at my kayak and said "look what I just caught"!!! They were about as surprised as I was.

I quickly cut the line and put the fish in the cooler section of my kayak cooler bag. Soon, a lady that works at The Fishing Center came out and said "who caught the tagged redfish". I raised my hand with a huge grin and said "ME". She said that they are a CCA weigh station and she was very helpful getting all of the appropriate paperwork done and the fish logged and weighed.

Meanwhile there were crowds of people around inside the marina and I was trying to call Brooke (and everyone else I know) to tell her the amazing news. Kevin's wife Kathy called back on his phone b/c she and Brooke were swimming at the pool in the r/v park. I said "let me talk to Brooke". Here is how the phone call went...

Ty - Hey babe are you sitting down right now?
Brooke - Yes
Ty - Are you holding Fisher right now?
Brooke - Yes, why?
Ty - Give Fisher to Kathy!
Brooke - OK, what happened?????????
Ty - I don't know how to say this, but I just caught a tagged redfish!!!!!!!
Brooke - OH MY GOSH, TY JUST CAUGHT A TAGGED REDFISH!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!

This wild and loud display continued for a few minutes while I was grinning, listening to her yell at the top of her voice.

After all paperwork was done, we snapped a few photos and The Fishing Center retained the fish for CCA. At this point in the tournament, there are 3 confirmed redfish winners and 3 more pending polygraph. That would make me number 7 meaning that I am in line for a 23 ft. Haynie Bigfoot bay boat with a Mercury 150 EFI motor. A sweet prize for the fish of a lifetime!!!!!!

Ty Howard

Fishing Spots Make Online Impact

Contact: Dave Alexander
Telephone: 361-877-0054
Email: dave@justgofishin.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas---JustGoFishin.com, an online directory and information hub for the Gulf Coast sport fishing community, announces the launch of their latest website addition, Fishing Spots. Found online at fishingspots.justgofishin.com, Fishing Spots offers accurate, updated information specific to some of the best fishing locations on the Texas Coastal Bend.

The purpose of Fishin' Spots is to provide anglers with up-to-date information about where to drop a line in the Coastal Bend waters. Users can view an interactive map of the area they plan to visit, then select from popular fishing locations in that area. According to Just Go Fishin creator and administrator Dave Alexander, "With the information offered on Fishing Spots, you don't have to be a pro or have ten years of experience on the Coast to know where to fish. Even a newcomer to the area can quickly find out where and how to fish the best spots in the area." For the tens of thousands of out-of-area visitors who fish the Coastal waters each year, the advice and information available at Fishin Spots can help them plan a successful fishing vacation. Experienced anglers in the area can also benefit from the up-to-date weather information, exact GPS locations and maps, and links to the nearest marinas, bait shops, and boat ramps.

Just over a year since the launch of parent site JustGoFishin.com, the traffic and use of the internet resource has grown tremendously. More than 235,000 people visited the angler-oriented family of websites in May, and fishing- and tourism- related businesses are finding the website to be a valuable advertizing venue. For Alexander, adding Fishin' Spots to the Just Go Fishin group does more than provide useful, accessible information. "It is also," Alexander says, "a strategic part of search engine optimization. Because Fishing Spots serves people looking for specific information about popular fishing locations, our site is often among the first results they find when they search online." Indeed, Fishing Spots is already one of the most visible regional fishing resources on the web. Even the most recently-launched Fishing Spot sites already enjoy first-page listing on major internet search engines.

The amount of user traffic to the website also makes it a valuable marketing opportunity for local businesses. Owners of fishing- and tourism-related businesses, from hotels and restaurants to bait shops and guides, can sponsor a Fishing Spot near their place of business. When a business sponsors a Fishing Spot to be featured on the website, they gain exclusive advertizing header graphic and feature advertizment on that location's information page. This targeted publicity allows business owners to market their services to individuals who are planning a visit to their specific area. Currently, nineteen of the most popular Coastal Bend fishing locations are featured online at Fishing Spots, and over thirty more will be completed by the end of the year. Future goals also include incorporating fishing reports and advice from local experts for each Fishing Spot. "This is an ambitious project," says Alexander, "but the success of Fishing Spots and JustGoFishin.com shows that there are many anglers and local businesses who are already benefiting from both the consumer information and the advertizing value we offer."

For further information, contact Dave Alexander by email (dave@justgofishin.com) or by phone (361-877-0054).

Laguna Madre Fishin Tour

Last Friday I went out fishing with some friends Chuck Lamb and Bud Baker. After last weeks successful run we decided to do it again, run to Baffin Bay.

Chuck Lamb is a TCU Professor that has authored several books in the Business Marketing field. Very nice of him to give me a signed copy of a recent addition of MKTG 3. This will be useful for JustGoFishin.com.

Bud Baker is the Manager of The Dunes Condo’s in Port Aransas. Anyone that knows him would tell you he’s quite the character and will keep you in stitches or insults. He’s a lot of fun to be around. He’s also been a great support of some local fishing tournaments.

Anyway, Friday (June 12th,) morning we made our first stop at Bluff’s Landing for gas & bait. We headed south on my 22’ Bazor Bay to try out Center Reef again and check-out a new area Alazan Bay. The wind was strong out of the South East and the swells began to increase to white caps. Not the best sign for fishing.

As we arrived to Center Reef we tried anchoring & drift fishing with no bites. The water was very turbulent and brown from stirring up the soil. Tuff conditions for any angler. We decided to head over to the East side of Alazan Bay hoping to catch some wind cover and some shallow sandy areas.

Declared Emergency
As time was slipping by and no catches in our box I had to Declare an Emergency! We decided to leave Baffin Bay and head on down to the Land Cut for some wind shelter and fish some spots that should produce. This would take us about 30 to 40 minutes of our day to change our strategy.

We arrived to the Land Cut and anchored up at a favorite location. The water looked much clearer with the wind cover. We dropped our hooks in the water using shrimp & croaker and it wasn’t long before Bud had a FISH-ON. He was a fighter so we new it had to be of good size. As he got close to the boat he had caught a Jack Crevalle. That was the first time I’d seen this species caught in the Land Cut. He was a 24 incher.


We then started to get into some nice trout to fill up or box. All of us pulled in some nice catches of the day. Bud finished the day with a nice 25” Redfish.


All in all we salvaged the day by changing strategies from Baffin Bay to the Land Cut early on and having a lot of fun angling for the day.

Hope ya’ll have a nice day fishin,
Dave

Speckled Trout Fishing

I took some friends out fishing last Friday (June 5th, 2009); Bud Baker who manages The Dunes Condo’s & Chuck Lamb who is a Professor at TCU. We had a lot of fun and thought I would share a little about our fishing trip.

I talked with Captain John Little and he suggested that we try Center Reef, Tide Gage Bar and then Cat Head. I hadn’t ever taken my boat (Blazer Bay) to Baffin Bay and figured now would be as good of time as any. WE stopped off at Clem's for some Shrimp, Piggy Purch and Croaker.

So we cruised on down to Center Reef to try out this new fishing spot and see if it lived up to the hype. We arrived making a soft approach before power poling to our first spot of the day. Bud hooked his first croaker through the belly and tossed his line out in the water by the reefs. Slam… FISH-ON. Bud pulled in a nice 22” fat trout that made us all feel pretty good about our first fishing spot. Over the next hour we pulled in a few more nice speckled trout.

Had to laugh when I was holding another trout that Bud caught through the gills & tail and preparing to measure him. The trout had other ideas about being measured and started to FLIP and FLOP right out of my hands on to the deck of boat. I then proceeded, in an attempt to preserve Bud’s catch, to perform a Belly Flop on to the deck in a failed attempt in keeping him from FLOPPING out of boat. I had lost the fish. Bud & Chuck gave me high scores for the Belly Flop and were hoping one of the other boats around us caught it on tape.

The wind had died down to almost zero making the waters very calm and real hot in the boat midday. We decided to move on down to Tide Gage Bar where we found a spot to power pole. This area is best for wade fishing and the water was still real calm so we decided to have lunch. Bud had made some nice gourmet sandwiches with chips. Discussing what our next fishing spot stop should be. We decided on Rocky Slough to rap up the day.

We arrived at Rocky Slough softly approached our fishing spot and power poled down. We had more success with some nice fat Speckled Trout in the first couple of minutes. SWEET! This didn’t last long as we started to get a lot of Skip Jack. We caught a few Rat Reds and decided to call it a day since we had a good stringer of Specks.

I was real happy that we did well on a maiden voyage to Baffin Bay on my new Blazer Bay. Great day on the water with some friends, laughter, and bait on the hook. It doesn’t get much better then that.

Next week we hope to try out some fishing spots up North.

Robert Castaneda, Great Catch

Robert Castaneda caught this Black Bass (7 lbs) at Choke Canyon State Park at 7:am on June 3rd, 2009 around Mason's Point with a Livingston Lure Rebel Dominator Croaker Jr.

CCLEFT, Kid Fish 2009

There were some great catches at the 2009 CCLEFT Kid Fish. There were 175 kids register the this fun annual event. Kids had a good time fishing at the Texas Parks & Wildlife/GC CA Hatchery. Hope you enjoy the pictures.