Friday, February 01, 2008

Palacios Pier Specks

I've been trying to get my friend Jared down to Palacios to see if we could connect with some specks for some time and the stars finally aligned on Friday night.

We arrived before dark and drove around to explore the area. After solving all the world's problems and "philosophysing" about religion, politics, life, love, and various and sundry other topics, it was time to fish. We grabbed a bite and picked up some frozen bait before heading to my favorite destination - the 1st Street Pier.

The weather was favorable and even though the locals weren't out braving the chill I was hopeful we would see some action. I should know better by now, if there's nobody fishing, that might be a sign of a slow night on the pier. What do they know that I don't?

Jared started getting some hits on the tiny shad but his lightning quick reflexes were proving to be detrimental to the nibbling bait stealers.

With some expert coaching from his guide he pulled in the first speck of the night.


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First Speck - More to Come

The tide began to move and the bite picked up. The fish were small but when they started hitting we had some fun for about an hour.



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Happy Fisherman

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Small but Fun to Catch! Where's your Mama?

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Headless fish?

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Double Hookup

As you can see in the pictures I'm wearing a new fishing scarf and hat knitted just for me by my little Woolwinder. Thanks Tracy! I was toasty warm.

We caught about 30 fish in all. Most all of them were specks caught on TTF tiny glow shad or Lil Speck Killers and a few yellowtails were caught on dead shrimp.

The big fish story of the night came when I noticed slack in the heavy line I had thrown out baited up with some frozen croaker. When I took up the slack, the line began to move but I soon realized that whatever was on the other end had me wrapped around the oyster reef. One big pull and everything let go. I'll never know if it was a bull red, a saddle blanket flounder, or just a "Big Ugly" black drum.

That's why fishing is such a draw for folks like me. The anticipation of the unknown on the end of your line.......

1 comment:

Bawana said...

If I have any toast that looks as cold as you, Im putting it back in for a re-heat! Glad you caught some fish for your efforts. I would like to know what broke you off.