Luis Tellez Great Black Drum Catch

Nice Black Drum catch by Luis Tellez while fishing the Copano South Pier. This water beast measured 44 inches long. It took Hector about 30 minutes to land him. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Rosa Hill First Keeper Redfish Catch

Rosa Hill, Guided by Captain John Little, caught her first "Keeper" redfish at Baffin Bay using live trout.

Megan Little Great Speckled Trout Catch

Megan Little caught this nice 20 inch speckled sea trout under the lights at the cabin by twin palms using live shrimp. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Captain John Little's Great Redfish Catch

Captain John caught this nice 43 inch bull redfish from the cabin in Twin Palms last Saturday the 24th on an overnight fishing trip. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Sandy Mader Great Speckled Trout Catch

Nice Speckled Trout Caught last Saturday in Baffin Bay by Sandy. This big fat trout measured in at 27 1/2 inches using live shrimp. She caught this on her 2nd cast in the Baffin Bay area. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Timothy's Great Redfish Catch

Looks like the catch of the day! Timothy out fishing with his dad Matt at the Packery Channel Jetty caught a nice 22 inch redfish on live mullet. Sweet! http://tales.justgofishin.com

Jimmy Francis Great Redfish Catch

Nice 23 inch redfish caught by Jimmy Francis on the packery channel jetty using live mullet. Jimmy is a local here and enjoys a great afternoon angling. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Floyd Henry Great Redfish Catch

Floyd caught a few bull reds on live mullet and released them. Kept a couple of slot reds measuring at 21 inches and 23. Floyd recently move here from San Antonio.

Paul Sokolyk Great Redfish Catch

Paul caught a nice redfish at the packery channel jetty using live mullet. Dinner will be on the table tonight. Visiting from Amarillo TX and enjoying the great waters of the Texas Coastal Bend. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Jerry Velek Spanish Mackerel Catch

Jerry Velek caught this Spanish Mackerel on mullet at the Packery Channel. He snagged him in the belly. I guess we get them any way we can. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Federal managers shut down another Gulf fishery

Federal managers shut down another Gulf fishery

Decision on Gulf amberjack shows federal management on brink of breakdown

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX - The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) continued its bizarre history of biased management regarding Gulf amberjack when it announced this week that the recreational season for the popular offshore species will close on October 24 due to the recreational sector overfishing its quota. This announcement comes barely two years after the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council arbitrarily shifted a significant portion of recreational allocation to the commercial sector

“There is no way to defend what the Council has done with the management of amberjack. It borders on outright disregard for the recreational sector,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of the Coastal Conservation Associations National Government Relations Committee. “Combined with what is happening with Gulf red snapper and the commercial catch share plan for Gulf grouper, this latest announcement gives recreational anglers no reason to have any faith in the federal management of recreational fisheries.”

In 2007, the Council declared that Gulf greater amberjack were overfished, yet increased the commercial share of the fishery while reducing the recreational bag limit to one and increasing the size limit to 30 inches. The recreational restrictions were implemented despite the fact that unchecked commercial overfishing since 1990 was the primary cause of problems in the fishery - see Recreational Fishery Hijacked, CCA Press Release, September 10, 2007.

“The reduction in amberjack recreational allocation in 2007 from 84 percent to 71 percent has to be the most egregious allocation shift ever enacted by the Gulf Council,” said Ted Forsgren, executive director of CCA Florida. “Anglers were punished for supporting conservation measures and the commercial industry was rewarded for fishing over its quota. The change in catch level was a direct result of NMFS’ failure to enact adequate measures to control commercial take and failure to ever enforce the adopted allocation. We are feeling the full effects of those failures today with a closed recreational season.”

“If the Council had left the allocation where it was in 2007, and where it rightfully should have been, recreational anglers would not have been over their quota as of the end of August, and likely would not have gone over even by year’s end,” said Dr. Russell Nelson, CCA Gulf Fisheries consultant. “This is a case where an unwarranted allocation shift from recreational to commercial two years ago is shutting down our season, even though we are not the root cause of the problem.”

Adding to the frustration of anglers is the fact that last year’s recreational harvest was under the quota, but that underage is not being taken into account this year. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, catch overages and underages from previous years may be calculated in the following year’s harvest limits, but doing so is not mandatory. In the case of Gulf red snapper, however, two years of recreational overages will result in a dramatically shortened season in 2010.

“The one-sidedness of federal fisheries management is at a level that makes it almost impossible to believe recreational interests will ever be considered in any meaningful way,” said Brewer. “No fishery has ever been overfished by recreational angling alone, and any number of economic studies indicates that the recreational sector is by far the most valuable part of our marine fisheries. And yet, fishery after fishery is closing down for anglers while the Councils bend over backwards to keep the longlines and nets in the water. In the eyes of many recreational anglers, the federal management system is on the edge of a total breakdown.”

Make your voice heard on this issue now!

Anglers can send their comments and questions on the arbitrary allocation shift that led to this closure, as well as its impact on recreational anglers, to the National Marine Fisheries Service at the following email address:

Dr. Roy Crabtree
Regional Administrator
for the National Marine Fisheries Service
Southeast Region
Roy.Crabtree@noaa.gov

Livingston Lures In Port Isabel TX

One Day Only... Halloween, October 31st Livingstons Lures and the South Texas Sportsman are teaming up to introduce their brand new products in Port Isabel. There will be prizes and demonstrations from 9:00am to 4:00pm at the 1401 West Hwy 100 Port Isabel TX 78578

There will also be "Buy One Get One Free" promotions available this day only! Great opportunity to speak with Fred Rodriguez of the South Texas Sportsman.

The Livingston Team takes pride in the Texas community and wants to provide more knowledge and education for beginners and even those who have been fishing their entire lives. Introducing their new products, and giving the community a glance at the future in fishing.

Robert Castaneda, President/CEO, founded Livingston Lures Inc about 6 years ago and developed the Talking Croaker. He had his "flash of genius" several years ago when he received a musical Christmas card. He ripped the card up looking for the small chip that provided the music for the card. Today, Livingston Lures has an actual chip in the Lure that makes the croaking sound when ever it's submerged in water.

The company is named after a town in Guatemala where his grand parents reside and often go to visit them. This is where Robert enjoyed fishing with his grandfather, uncle's and brothers.

Livingston Lures Contact Information: Bridgette Castaneda, 210-857-8381, livingstongear@yahoo.com

Livingston Lures has contributed to several Corpus Christi area fishing tournaments in 2009 and the Saltwater-fisheries Enhancement Association. http://reports.justgofishin.com

Tony Aiello Great Redfish Catch

Tony and Opok Aiello had a great day at the Packery channel Jetty. Visiting from San Antonio they took a chance that the red tide would blow through. As you can see, there gamble payed off.


Opok caught the smaller reds while Tony landed a nice 33" redfish on mullet. His redfish might have had 3 to 4 more inches on him if it wasn't for another predator that bit his tale off. Perhaps a shark or a dolphin, who knows? http://tales.justgofishin.com

Outcast Great Redfish Catch

Looks like the red tide blew through very quickly thank goodness! As long as the temperature stay's cool we should be out of the woods. Out at the Packery Channel Jetty today anglers were catching speckled trout and redfish.

Outcast bought a nice wagon recently at a local home improvement store to carry his gear out to the Packery Channel Jetty. Sure makes things much easier.

Outlaw pictured above caught several trout and redfish. Pictured is a nice 22" redfish caught on mullet. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Feds to 60 Million American Anglers: We don't need you

IRVINE, Calif. USA – October 5, 2009 – A recently published administration document outlines a structure that could result in closures of sport fishing in salt and freshwater areas across America. The White House created an Interagency Oceans Policy Task Force in June and gave them only 90 days to develop a comprehensive federal policy for all U.S. coastal, ocean and Great Lakes waters. Under the guise of ‘protecting’ these areas, the current second phase of the Task Force direction is to develop zoning which may permanently close vast areas of fishing waters nationwide. This is to be completed by December 9, 2009.

Dave Pfeiffer, President of Shimano American Corporation explained, “In spite of extensive submissions from the recreational fishing community to the Task Force in person and in writing, they failed to include any mention of the over one million jobs or the 6o million anglers which may be affected by the new policies coast to coast. Input from the environmental groups who want to put us off the water was adopted into the report verbatim – the key points we submitted as an industry were ignored.”

Recreational fishing generates a $125 billion annual economy in the United States and supports jobs in every state according to government figures. Through the Sport Fish Restoration program, anglers have provided more than $5 billion through excise taxes on fishing tackle to fishery conservation and education for decades.

In addition to the economic aspects, anglers lead the nation in volunteer conservation efforts on behalf of improving fish habitat, water quality and related environmental areas. “There was no mention of the fishery conservation efforts which anglers have led for over 50 years in every state – an environmental success story that has no equal in the world”, said Phil Morlock, Director, Environmental Affairs for Shimano. “The Task Force did not make any distinction between the dramatic differences between harmful commercial fishing harvest methods and recreational fishing, even though we spelled it out for them in detail,” added Morlock.

Claiming to be the result of a public consultation process the report states, “Having considered a broad range of public comments, this report reflects the requests and concerns of all interested parties.”

The original White House memo and not surprisingly the Task Force report contains multiple references to developing a national policy where Great Lakes and coastal regions are managed, “consistent with international law, including customary international law as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” - a 300-page treaty the U.S. has never ratified.

“We question what implications there will be for state authority and jurisdiction in the Great Lakes and coastal regions if the U.S. adopts the U.N. Treaty,” said Pfeiffer.

The report makes it clear that future authority for implementing the policy for coastal and inland waters will fall under White House jurisdiction with a new National Ocean Council comprised of over 20 federal agencies at Cabinet Secretary or Deputy Secretary level. No reference to Congressional jurisdiction is indicated.

“This significant change in U.S. policy direction is the result of a 90-day fire drill process as ordered by the President that, not surprisingly, lacks balance, clarity and quality in the end product,” said Morlock. “People who simply want to take their kids fishing on public waters deserve better from their government,” he added.

Shimano is joining with other members of the recreational fishing industry to urge anglers to contact their members of Congress and the administration to request this process be required to adopt the economic, conservation and social contributions of recreational fishing as key elements of the policy. It is critical that we ensure Congressional oversight and state jurisdiction and management continues.

E-letters can be sent to the administration and members of Congress by visiting KeepAmericaFishing.org. The future of fishing is in your hands.

###Editor’s Note: Phil Morlock is attending Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus functions this week in Washington, DC, but will make himself available for questions, interviews on this. Contact John Mazurkiewicz with Catalyst Marketing for arrangements.

The Ultimate Fishing Backpack

While hiking at the Port A Jetty last weekend to see what kind of catches anglers were receiving, I noticed a Fishing Backpack rig I had not seen before. Anyone that has walked the Port A Jetty knows that its not a walkway... your navigating through large cut boulders of granite stacked on top of each other.

Imagine what an angler goes through to get there gear out to the end of the Jetty? You have to carry your pole(s), tackle, bait, cast net, and yes something to snack on and beverage of choice. Then if you have a successful day fishing... you have to carry your fish out!

I met Brian Ervin with his own homemade fishing backpack he had created. Obviously he had already experienced the hardship I just described above. As they say "necessity is the mother of invention", and this is a great invention.

I'm reminded of a vacation my wife and I took earlier in the year to Costa Rica. My wife had the idea that we should pack our clothes in backpacks instead of the usual suit cases on wheels. As it turned out... this was a great idea. It was so much easier carrying our backpacks around then trying to pull our suit cases on unforgiving terrain while we transferred from cab to boat to jeep to bus to king air during our trip.

Anyway, these fishing backpacks Brian and his buddy created solves a lot of problems. He's easily able to carry multiple fishing pulls, all his gear, cooler for drinks and snacks. If he has a good day fishing, he has a C clamp where he hangs his catches to carry them out.

Very clever Brian! This is truly the Ultimate Fishing Backpack.

The Bull Redfish were running last weekend on the Port Aransas South Jetty. Be sure to send us your Fishing Tales! http://tales.justgofishin.com

Gary Turner Great Flathead Catfish Catch

Statham GA, Gary Turner caught this Flatehead Catfish with live bream while fishing 25 feet of fresh water. Fishing on a partly cloudy late afternoon he had a great time pulling in this 38 lb monster of a fish. Thanks for sharing... http://tales.justgofishin.com

Raymond Woodson Great Redfish Catch

Raymond Woodson was fishing with his buddies last night at the Packery Channel South Jetty and about 9:30pm caught this 23 lbs, 41 inch Bull Redfish. Caught this monster using dead mullet. The Packery Channel Jetty are still producing oversized redfish.

This photo was emailed this photo from his cell phone last night to share on our blog. If you have a Texas Coastal Bend Great Catch send us the photo to tales@justgofishin.com or submit your photo at: http://tales.justgofishin.com.

Fishing with the Jetty Bandits

Large Limes from Brownsville, Guadalupe Castillo

These wrangling anglers called the Jetty Bandits from San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and other areas met together for a Port A Jetty Rodeo where they lassoed several Bull Redfish and Gaftops. Congratulations on a great weekend of fun for the Jetty Bandits.

Special thanks to Brandt Engineering for sponsoring the Jetty Bandits.

Felix Cavavos Great Bull Redfish Catch

Felix Cavavos Caught this Monster Bad Boy Bull Redfish at the Port A Jetty while fishing with the San Antonio "Jetty Bandits". Using mullet and wrangling this Bull he measured out to 43 inches.

Richard Espinoza Great Bull Refish Catch

Check out this Bull Redfish measuring in at 38 inches caught at the Port A Jetty today by Richard Espinoza of San Antonio. Fishing with there club, "Jetty Bandits" he caught these on cut mullet. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Luciano Garcia Great Gaftop Catch

Luciano caught this nice gaftop at Port A Jetty today on cut bait and measure out to 22" inches. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Gene Johnson Great Redfish Catch

Port A Jetty is producing some fish this weekend where Gene Johnson has caught a nice slot redfish for dinner tonight. Gene caught this on Live Shrimp and Measured out to 22". Gene is local and lives in Port Aransas. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Jacob Guzman Great Gaftop Catch

At the Port A Jetty today Jacob Guzman caught this nice 23 inch Gaftop on mullet. Port A Jetty after the storm is producing a lot of Gaftop right now. These are nice fish for a fish fry. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Lupe Castillo Great Bull Redfish Catch

Lupe Castillo fishing with the San Antonio Jetty Bandits caught this Bull Redfish on Squid at the Port A Jetty. This bad boy measured out to 42 1/2 inches. Very nice looking bull redfish. http://tales.justgofishin.com

Nathan Peck Great Bull Redfish Catch

You'd be laughing and giggling like a school girl too if you caught one of these babies! Nathan Peck caught this 41 1/4th inch Bull Redfish at the Port A Jetty today using cut whiting. Fishing this weekend with the San Antonio Jetty Bandits they've enjoyed alot of success in catching Reds and Gaftop. How do you like the difference in expressions? Gaftop make a nice fish fry... but the bull red will provide some nice fillets!

Alex Ongoria Great Catches

Some nice catches at Aransas Channels where Alex Ongoria caught a 23 inch Redfish and 22 1/2 inch Gaftop on cut mullet. Weather didn't stop his family and friends from getting on and JustGoFishin. http://tales.justgofishin.com

When is the best time Gig Flounder?

So when is the best time to gig for flounder? I had to ask a few of our guides that provide fishin reports for JustGoFishin and enjoyed there feedback. There is a consensus that gigging is good year round. However, There seems to be insight that winter is better for gigging. Flounder tend to stay in deeper water when it's warm and come up closer to the shoreline when water is colder.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife has closed flounder gigging for the month of November to allow for the population to build back up. They will be allowing 2 flounder per day by rod & real only.

Helpful tips when gigging for flounder. Best to look for them in the sandy areas and watch for the gullies where food will be consentrated. You can tell when the Tide is going out or coming in by how the flounder are positioned. When you see a flounder facing towards the shore means the tide is headed out or if the flounder is facing the bay means the tide is coming in. They're positioning themselves to feed.

Safety tip while floundering. Keep an eye out for stingray. You can easily get stung if your not careful. If you see 2 eyes about a foot apart That means its a REALLY big stingray. http://reports.justgofishin.com

JustGoFishin Sources:
Captain Justin Ortez, Captain George Garza, Captain Steve Utly
Photo: Catch the Cure Fishing Tournament

Mark Harrison Packery Catches

Couple of nice catches at the packery channel jetty today. Mark caught a nice size mangrove snapper and a slot redfish using live mullet. Looks like a nice BBQ tonight! http://tales.justgofishin.com

Outcast Slot Refish Catch

This nice 23" slot redfish was caught by this salty angler known in these parts as "Outcast". Caught on the Packery Channel Jetty using live shad. http://tales.justgofishin.com

David Arredondo Slot Redfish Catch

The redfish are still running through and around the Packery Channel. David Arredondo caught this nice slot redfish this morning while using live mullet.

http://tales.justgofishin.com

Brad Freeman Sea Turtle Catch

Sea Turtles are running pretty strong through the Packery Channel right now and Brad Freeman accidentally caught what looks like a Green Sea Turtle. I Just happened to walk by when Brad was pulling in this beauty and was able to get a picture before he was released unharmed back into the water. You can see this Green Sea Turtle was looking at Brad right in the eye! Brad of Corpus Christi certainly wasn't expecting a catch like this.

Fishin Tales

Cathy and Floyd Great Refish Catch

Cathy of Dallas TX with the help of Floyd (Hunting Guide) caught this nice 34" redfish at the Packery Channel Jetty. Using live mullet they pulled in this Bull Red and tagged him up. Great catch!

Fishin Tales

Carlos Rodriguez Great Redfish Catch

Great 26" redfish catch by Carlos of Corpus Christi caught on live mullet at the Packery Channel.

Dave Alexander
http://Tales.JustGoFishin.com