Outdoors: Saltwater fishing is right for the season - Waco Tribune-Herald

-

Memorial Day in America is both a time of somber remembrance of those who died serving our country, and also the startup to summer. This weekend, folks all over the country will try to find a balance between those two, and to me, there's no better place to spend this weekend than at the beach.

Standing on the edge of the continent looking out to sea will put things into perspective, and the fishing and fresh seafood, along with overall beach recreation, make this a great time to be at the salty shore.

Whether you're a seasoned freshwater angler or just occasionally wet your line, saltwater fishing will put your skills to the test. Knowing where to fish can be a huge challenge in itself. There are plenty of options, including offshore, surf, channels, bays, cuts, flats, jetties, piers, and more, and each of those areas include factors that need to be considered when deciding where to cast.

Texas coastal waters are teeming with aggressive, tasty fish, and if you're setting out to catch some on your own, you can usually get some reliable advice from local bait shops on where to go, what to use, and how to fish. I typically use a cast net to catch my own bait, but always go by a bait shop to get a dozen mullet or shrimp just to bolster my supply and get some pointers.

People are also reading…

Most of the freshwater gear in your garage will do the job on the coast, but I'd advise leaving the ultralights at home, because a lot of what you'll catch would destroy those little reels. Besides, your heavier gear will sometimes seem like an ultralight if you hook into a bull red or a bull shark. Plus, when you get back home, you'll need to thoroughly clean your reels of salt and sand. Saltwater will also prematurely age your fishing line, so check the integrity so you don't break off a big one when you get back on your home waters.

Surf fishing will probably be a little trickier this weekend with the big crowds expected along Texas' beaches, but if you get a clear area, make your way out to the third gut to cast further out. Guts are the channels that run parallel to the shore, and they're sort of like fish highways. The first two aren't normally populated with many schools, so getting your bait out further is the key to catching. Some people use drones or kayaks to take their bait to the hot zone, but you can hoof it out there if those aren't available. Be sure to shuffle your feet instead of walking so you don't step on a sting ray.

One of my favorite things about saltwater fishing is that you never know what you might have on the other end of the line. We know more about the surface of Mars than we do about our own planet's oceans. You might just hook into something that's never been seen before.

Another favorite thing is eating freshly-caught seafood, and even if you don't want to cook your catch yourself, a number of locally-owned coastal restaurants will cook your fish for you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All In The Family: Maine Mother & Son Charged in Massive Drug Bust

-
Image
corso dog :: Article Creator Woman Hospitalized After Attack By 2 Dogs At Same Edmonton Home Where Boy Died: Lawyer UPDATE: On April 15, 2024, the City of Edmonton provided an update on the fatal attack. It said that prior to the deadly incident on April 1, "the city had no lawful basis to remove the dogs from the home." The city added that "all prior complaints about the dogs involved in this incident were investigated thoroughly and appropriate action was taken in accordance with the applicable legislation." The city also said a review found that its staff "acted appropriately in accordance with our standard practices and in compliance with the relevant legal constraints given the nature of past complaints and reports." A woman was hospitalized after being attacked in February by two large Cane Corso dogs at the same home where an 11-year-old boy was killed last week, the woman's lawyer told Global News. "I
Read more

Rare Frogs And Illegal Drugs - Palisades Hudson Financial Group

-
Image
Colombian conservationist Ivan Lozano has hit on a brilliantly promising strategy to protect his country’s rare and endangered amphibians. His plan: Flood the market with them. Lozano is not hunting rare frogs in Colombia’s Andean forests. He is raising them himself and selling them at prices designed to undercut poachers and smugglers. If he can raise the frogs cheaply enough, and in large enough numbers, he might manage to drive down the market price to the point that poachers no longer find it worthwhile to harvest and smuggle the creatures onto the black markets. Lozano told The Associated Press that his company also encourages collectors to breed their own frogs. Picture yourself as a poacher. If the government toughens the legal penalties and steps up enforcement, you will shrug your shoulders; legal risks are a basic cost of doing business. Since the demand for your product already exists among foreign collectors and other buyers, tougher enforcement merely reduces supply a
Read more

Burn scars, winter storms threaten rare and endangered species in San Gabriel Mountains - The Bakersfield Californian

-
Image
LOS ANGELES — Up until a few weeks ago, the West Fork of the San Gabriel River was one of the most abundant wildlife habitats in Los Angeles County, a secluded and rugged area defined by its steep peaks, lush canyons and mixture of rare and endangered species. Recently however, a team of federal biologists and forest rangers was aghast when it visited the stream following the Bobcat fire, which has burned more than 115,000 acres in the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Terrain that once resembled a High Sierra granite gorge now looked like ground zero after a nuclear explosion, and the usually clean mountain air was sharp with the stench of smoke. Particularly unsettling were the bare and ashen slopes that were now primed to dissolve under pounding winter storms. A heavy mudslide, experts said, could reverse decades of conservation efforts by inundating the last outposts for such federally protected species as the Santa Ana sucker fish and Southern California m
Read more