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Description:
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4th Annual P.A.C.K. Smith Point Weekend Outing
February 16-18, 2007
Yes, moved it from September to February!
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| Leaders: |
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Chris Arceneaux
Ron Romeis
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| Date/Time: |
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Friday February 16th through Sunday February 18th.
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| How to Sign Up: |
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If you want to go, contact a trip leader (or sign up at a monthly meeting) and provide your name, email address and phone number (preferably cell phone).
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| How to Get There: |
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Directions to Smith Point and the lodge are well documented on the Spoonbill Website
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| What to Pack/Bring: |
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Just your paddling/fishing gear and food/beverages.
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| Accommodations: |
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Spoonbill RV Park and Lodge in Smith Point, South of Anahuac:
Rent a cottage (RV Travel Trailer or portable building) at Spoonbill
Staying at Spoonbill Lodge: They provide:
- Rooms with 2 singles
- Rooms with single / queen size variations
- Rooms with king size beds
- There are 3 shower rooms in the lodge (1-men; 1-ladies; 1-either… not both)
- RV sites available, tent camping allowed. Clean shower and restroom in the RV Park.
- Participants can book both Friday and Saturday nights or either night. Participants can also make this as a day trip by paying $5 to the Lodge to park and launch.
Meals: Do-it-yourself breakfast (Cereal, milk, toast, peanut butter, jam, coffee, & fruit) is provided by the lodge. There are BBQ pits at the lodge. Each year we have cooked outstanding meals and fried seafood in the open air pavilion on the canal side. There is one very basic local restaurant in Smith Point as well as a commercial / retail oyster outlet. Please store personal ice chests in your room. There is no public refrigeration at the Lodge. Trip leaders will coordinate organized evening meals, such as burgers and fish fry. Please contact me by late January to acknowledge what you will contribute to meals and beverages.
Other: The lodge furnishes fish cleaning stations, coin operated laundry, ice for sale, tackle shop, and shell beach area to launch. (Smith Point has several good launch sites around town.) The Anahauc Wildlife Refuge is close by as well as the Candy Abshire birding tower.
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| Expenses/Fees: |
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Most Lodge accommodations are as low as $16/person if 2 or 3 people share a multi-bed room. Rates are as much as $40/person if you want a room to yourself. Check their website for details. Call to verify availability of rental cottages (travel trailers).
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| Fishing Options: |
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The shorelines of Smith Point, wellheads in Trinity Bay, oyster reefs in the bay, and marsh pockets.
For Additional Information:
· Spoonbill Website
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| Guest Participants: |
| (if you don't have a registered login account on this website we can list your name here; if you have a login account then use the enroll feature at the top of this page to become part of the auto enroll list below) |
- Robert Moreland's Guest
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| Trip Report: |
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The Fourth Annual Smith Point Outing was scheduled in February this year to fill and otherwise empty spot in our outing calendar. The weather man smiled on us a little with cold, clear, but windy conditions. The hearty souls who ventured out to Spoonbill on Friday afternoon chose to remain onshore and hope for improvement in temperature and wind. We had a very enjoyable hamburger cookout and were grateful to have the warm confines of the lodge in which to share the meal and hospitality of the group.
Saturday morning brought sunny, cold, and of course windy conditions. The temperature hovered in the low 40's for those determined paddlers who ventured into the protected areas around Smith Point in search of suicidal redfish. Conditions on the water were very tough. Off color and fresh water made the prospects of finding fish fairly grim. It didn't prevent a small armada from giving it there best efforts, but alas, no fish landed. A few guys made a trip over to the Anahuac National Refuge in hopes of finding some sheltered water and some reason to launch, but the wind shift that morning had turned that area to chocolate milk as well with a stout wind blowing toward the shoreline. Ron, Chris, Barry, and Jim passed the time instead making a walk along the Frozen Point shoreline scavenging lost relics to present to Bob. A fine hat, jacket, and discarded pocket knife were gathered up, but Bob failed to make the scene and the found treasures were donated to the trash instead.
The afternoon for most was spent lounging around Spoonbill, taking siesta, watching Chris A. work on his latest handmade wooden Kayak, and generally enjoying the warming weather. As evening approached, everyone again gathered in the lodge for a potluck dinner of jambalaya and chili.... who dreamed up that combination....A very sociable evening followed with hopes that the morning would bring improved conditions. Sunday morning did arrive with warmer weather and manageable wind, but the water conditions were little improved and no one found any pockets of fishable water. There always next time...
Smith Point didn't quite measure up for fishing success on this outing. It did however live up to being a pleasant, family friendly, comfortable place to escape the city for a weekend. Hopefully, those in attendance enjoyed the laid back atmosphere, the company of the group in attendance, and the time spent around the water... Until next time....
Ron Romeis
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| Click here to view the photos |
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