"Those waves look pretty big!"

Well, what can I tell you about another well planned outing gone bad? Impatience is not a virtue but a mortal sin. Dustin and I committed to going once he scheduled this particular day off of work. Destination: Padre Island National Seashore. We took Dustin’s 4x4 Toyota and packed my zodiac in the back. Like I do in my Nissan, we strapped my 9.8 Tohatsu motor to the back of the passenger front seat. About three hours into the trip we hit the sand. The bumps didn’t seem any different than on any other beach I had driven on. The morning light hit us about 15 miles down the beach. We could clearly see that the surf was a torent and the water like chocolate milk. Not even a line wet and we were thinking about plan B, drive the whole 60 mile of beach to Port Mansfield. So, we did. A thousand rough spots and 21 deer sightings later we were at the scene of my first fall 2009 weather beaten trip. Once again Port Mansfield was not about to just hand over the fish. Dustin and I fished the surf and off the jetties first. I prepared to air up the zodiac when I discovered that the high pressure pump had broken in the back of the truck. Not only that but beer bottles in my cooler broke and soaked my sandwiches. Double whammy! We inflated the zodiac to the max pressure we could get it without the HPP. It floated and plowed but could not get on plane without being rigid. We fished a few near spots with the dinghy and turned up nothing with artificial. Only dead shrimp that Dustin brought prevented total skunkitude by landing us some hardhead cats. These were not ideal fish to land on a zodiac. It was like giving a cat with sharp claws a balloon to play with and it would be just a matter of time before we had an accident. So, we gave up on that and called it. Why is it that I write more about failed missions than I do successful ones? Texas winters: sometimes good and other times not so good.

The San Marcos

Even when the weatherman gets it wrong and its 40 degrees in stead of 60, the San Marcos River runs warm from its natural springs. The few fish Mike and I did catch felt warm to the touch and you've gota love that about this river. What we could have used was some sunshine and that clear San Marcos River winter water. We threw the usual, bead head wooly buggers and small streamers. In hind sight we should have waited a few days after this cold spell, but when you get the urge to go it's just nice to be out on the water. Since few bass were to be had we stuck to targeting sunfish. I got to try out the new TFO 2wt. and it was a joy to cast. I think I'll stick to more sunny winter days on the river.

Young Guns

I just finished a plethora of rod-building projects and I've got a few more to go. Somehow I managed to slip in a few personal items like this TFO Finesse Series 1wt and Orvis T3 4wt.

I used REC nickel titanium recoil guides on both rods, single foot on the 1wt and double foot on the 4wt. The 4wt has a Struble nickel silver reel seat with a vera wood insert and the 1wt has a sealed burl cork reel seat with a Struble nickel silver up-locking hood and a polished aluminum slide ring. The silver butt tack is an antique button. Those are hard to come by. I used a preformed cork handle on the 1wt which I turned down and shortened. When I first started the 1wt rod I wanted to go cheaply on the handle and reel seat. Then the reel seat turned out better than expected so I should have not skimped on the handle like I did. The 4wt. has better quality white cork and small end pieces of burnt burl and rubberized cork in the handle. Both have nickel silver winding checks which are not visible here. Now they just have to be fished, and that will be remedied soon.
While I wrap thread onto hand turned work in progress I think about the diminishing red tide conditions on the south Texas coast. It has nearly cleared entirely, but has the fishing resumed to what it should have been? Fishing reports say it has. Once again I find myself waiting for a break in the weather. The last break occurred the week of Thanksgiving but my hands were tied with family affairs. I also want to take our new fishing dog on the river again and that should warrant some photo shooting and a blog post.
Now it’s back to the work bench to start the next project.