My original plan for this weekend was to roam the offshore rigs near Port Aransas with friends Eric and Bret, but the weather was expected to get nasty and the seas unruly. I went to plan B and called my foul weather fishing buddy Johnny Quiroz. He and I did some time in Alaska and Patagonia, two places with unpredictable weather. We agreed on meeting in Port Isabel, Texas. We first tried bobbing on the twelve foot swells near the end of the south jettie. The few rolling tarpon were not receptive and just too close to the danger zone. We abandon that plan and ran my zodiac to a few known snook spots. Things were slow until the cold front hit. We picked up a few and called it early. The next day was still cooler and the weather dark, "snooky" I told Johnny. We did very well all morning with an occasional odd species on the line. We went back to the island to have lunch and meet a few of JQ’s friends. When I was done with my Wanna Wanna burger I launched the zodiac again. This time alone but with bedding and groceries. I got to the snook spot just as it was getting dark and I sat there a moment thinking about what exactly I was going to do. I had never slept on the zodiac and I was in a kind of strange place to camp out.
I decided to quietly cruise in search of a well lit area that may have fish activity under it. There was plenty of ambient light from the area to see where I was going and I had turned on a green beacon light in lieu of the required nav-lights. There was no wind, a light mist, and it was deadly silent. I hadn’t gone far when I saw a well lit area with a couple of bubble spots that indicated to me there had been activity, and Eureka! It was the spot I was looking for. To make a long fish story a short one, in two hours I hooked and landed over twenty fish, and of six species (snook, tarpon, trout, jack, lookdown, and snapper). That was enough action to send me to bed. Luckily the spot I picked to anchor up for some z’s was well protected yet with a nice breeze. With the exception of a few mosquitoes and an uneven surface to sleep on, I had a good nights rest.
In the morning I saw the little red crabs that hang around the shore there and I took some photos. You can see a few of my better photos from this trip, like the jumping snook, on my friend Captain Kenny's photo blog. I caught a few more fish and then headed back to the boat ramp to end a very memorable few days. Remember: There is no bad weather, just different conditions to catch fish!
