My good friends Ray, Randy, Ray W., Don and Mike came down for a Cast & Blast weekend. I want to thank my dear friend Capt Sally Moffett ( www.captainsally.com ) and her labrador Kelly for their assistance. They made it very memorable. We all met around 2:30 on Thursday evening and headed to the dove fields. It was hot, I mean real hot. This was just before a frontal passage on Friday morning and it was absolutely stifling out there. The thermometer on the truck said it was 101 and I think it was just being kind.
The action started out a little slow but picked up and soon the dogs were working their tails off retrieving downed birds. Capt Sally and myself were busy handling the dogs and keeping everyone hydrated or something like that LOL. At sunset we loaded up our gear and headed home to clean birds and eat a scrunptious King Ranch Chicken casserole my wife had ready for us. Click on pics to enlarge.
We ate well and drank to excess but it was all good. Next morning we awoke to our newest cold front. Winds were whipping from the north at 25mph+ and it was overcast and pretty much a miserable looking day. We were still full of optimism and headed out with Big Girls on our minds. Capt. Sally had Don and Mike with her and I had Ray, Randy and Ray W. with me. The boat ride out was a little bumpy but the water was still warm so we waded wet. That'll probably be my last wet wade of the season. The temperature dropped steadily all day and so did the water temp.
As we expected, the fishing was slow for the most part. We managed quite a few small trout and a couple of reds but keepers were few and far between. By noonish, everyone was ready to take out their frustrations on the birds again. We had a sandwich lunch and headed for the dove fields again. The conditions were very different with the passage of the cold front. When we pulled out it was cool and overcast, by the time we began our hunt, the sun was out and we were having to deal with heat again. Not quite as bad as the day before but it was still plenty warm.
One other thing we had to deal with was the huge swarm of butterflies. They were every where. We even missed a few birds because it was difficult to spot them coming in with so many flapping wings around us. Fortunately they didn't stay too long and we had a great evening hunt. The birds were hot and heavy the last hour of the day and the dogs were put through their paces again.
We headed back to the house to clean birds again and set our tastebuds for a nice porterhouse steak with all the trimmings. We the waddled out to the front yard to enjoy some wine, drinks, and fellowship on a beautiful clear cool South Texas
night.
The calm was shattered by the dogs frantically growling and running towards us around the back of my truck. We were all a little perplexed about what might garner that type of reaction from the dogs when suddenly around the corner of my truck runs a full grown javelina not fifteen feet from where we were seated. I jumped up and the javelina whirled around to take off with the dogs in hot pursuit. Just as I rounded the bumper of my truck, the ticked off javelina turned the tables on the dogs and me and charged back my way. I didn't realize I could still move that fast LOL.
Well, it was good to see that all my buddies had my back because it seemed like instantly their was artillery everywhere. So now I know who has their CHL permit. Fortunately for the javelina, he decided to leave the premises before world war three broke out. We talked and laughed about it for quite a while before taking it to bed for the night.
Next morning we awoke to twenty mph north winds and very cool conditions. This bunch is hardcore to say the least and Capt Sally and I decided to give it a try. We headed out and made several long wades and drifts with little to show. A handful of keeper trout and Randy's topwater redfish were the highlights of the day. The camaraderie shared on the water was priceless however and very much welcomed. You just cant put a price on this kind of friendship.
We headed in one last time and cleaned our fish and ourselves before heading to Kingsville for a huge chicken fried steak. All was well with the world. Now this report doesn't sound like much to you I'm sure but some of the things that were said in parting proved prophetic.
We all talked about getting our trip kinda messed up by the front. I said it looked like Sunday or Monday would be a big fish day. "Might even catch a thirty incher" I said.
So roll the tape forward to this morning. I headed out with four more great guys and we rode out to cool but almost perfect conditions. The sun was just peaking over the horizon as we made our first wade. There were slicks all over the flat and dropoff we were wading. Not a lot of surface activity by baitfish but just enough to keep our attention. I was trying out a new rod that a good friend had made for me. The Swag Stick as he likes to call it was pretty in kind of a pimp daddy way. Metallic purple wraps don't exactly match my conservative style LOL. However, the results I got may move this rod right behind my Waterloos.
Second cast of the day with a plum Norton Sand Eel (woulda been a plum Devil Eye but I don't have anymore *hint*), was met with a resounding THUMP! I set the hook hard and felt instant resistance, a lot of it. I told Wes that this was a pretty good fish. I felt the power as she made for the rocks. I put the Swag Stick to the test and pulled back hard turning her away from her little haven. I worked her up on the flat with me and slowly played her out. She surfaced once and I said "Might go twenty-six or better". She made one more strong run with head down and I was thinking it was pulling pretty good for a twenty-six.
Just then she surfaced again and I exclaimed "Oh she's bigger than that, maybe twenty-eight or better". She finally played herself out and let me attach the Boga Grip to her bottom jaw, I lifted her from the water and the Boga pegged on seven and a quarter pounds. A quick measurement against the marks on the rod confirmed that she was indeed over twenty-eight inches by about half an inch. A heck of a way to start the day.
We continued probing the area and managed two more solid trout, a twenty incher and a fat twenty-four. I'll take it.
Fishing slowed so we headed to our next stop. We waded out to a small set of rocks and I made a couple of casts, probing the bottom for the little fish magnets we call Baffin rocks. On my third cast, I was greeted by yet another THUMP!! I again set back hard on the Swag Stick putting a hell of a bend on the rod trying to bury the hook in the fish's mouth. The water exploded in front of me and it was off to the races for this Big Girl. She quickly stripped twenty yards of line off my reel as she headed for deeper water. I turned the fish and patiently started the task of working her in and trying to land her.
She was having none of that and made two more hard charging powerful runs trying in vain to make good her escape. Finally, she rolled up to me in all her glory and I latched the Boga on her bottom lip. I immediately knew that I had to have an official measurement on this fish. I was only about thirty yards from the boat and quickly waded over to get my Check It Stick. I measured her and weighed her on the Boga before the pics and the release. She officially became number twelve for me personally to top the thirty inch mark at thirty and one quarter and weighed eight and a quarter pounds. A certifiable Baffin Big Girl.
Things slowed dramatically after that with several small trout and a nice keeper red. We managed another solid twenty-three inch trout on topwater right at the end of our day. On my final cast of the trip, I was greeted by a nice blow-up on my topwater there was a lot of thrashing but I didn't feel much weight. When I lifted the fish into the boat, I discovered I had hooked two fish!! One on each hook of my Super Spook Jr. What a way to end the day.
A great four day span in beautiful South Texas with good hunting, great fishing and even better friends. I can hardly wait to do it again.
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