https://www.packtx.org RSS feeds for PACKTX 60 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/829/bolivar-trip-report#Comments 0 https://www.packtx.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=56&ModuleID=377&ArticleID=829 https://www.packtx.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=829&PortalID=0&TabID=56 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/829/bolivar-trip-report <p>FINALLY a successful Bolivar trip. If you recall, last year, the water was so high that we couldn't even launch from Stingeree and halfway through the trip, the weather got so bad that half of the people left. This year was just the opposite. As Ken Jennings would say, it was "ice cream" weather. Except for a little wind Friday morning the weekend was BEAUTIFUL and not one mosquito! Although most of the fish that were caught were undersized, there were still lots of keepers. (On Saturday, my friends Nicky Carnes and Lance Lestig caught 60 reds between them, though most were small.) There were also quite a few flounder caught, including at least three 22"ers, all of which were dutifully released. The majority of fish were caught in the marsh, even some keeper trout. No Big Uglies were reported.</p> <p> </p> <p>For the second year, we camped at the Bolivar Peninsula RV Park.  As usual, we had a terrific group dinner at the Stingeree Marina Restaurant. There were 11 of us altogether including Leo and Twan who came IN ALL THE WAY FROM DALLAS to join us!  And Chris Arseneaux drove in just to have dinner with us!</p> <p> </p> <p>It was an interesting "housing" arrangement. Three people had tent cots. David Garza had a home-made camping hammock. There were two brand news travel trailers and a couple of us actually slept in tents.</p> <p> </p> <p>There were however two unfortunate mishaps. While in the marsh, Nicky got a big hit and over-zealously tried to set the hook, and flipped over backward. At least he was in just one foot of water. Later, his stringer somehow broke and he lost three keeper trout and a beautiful red. Back at the boat ramp, Greg was preparing to take off in his outboard motor canoe, and when he tried to start the motor, he also turtled. Because his 2 1/2 HP motor was submerged, it would not start, and his day of fishing was over before it even began. At least this didn't happen in the marsh! Instead, he and his wife enjoyed themselves birdwatching at High Island.</p> <p> </p> <p>Brad and Bruce also had a good day Saturday, returning to the marina at dark. They then took some filets to the Stingeree Restaurant where they were cooked for them.</p> <p> </p> <p>I should also mention, that although the huge motorcycle rally was going on in Galveston, it caused no delays at all (at least for me) at the ferry. </p> <p> </p> <p>Due to the fear of passing a kidney stone while in my kayak in the marsh, I chose to restrict my fishing to the surf and the North Jetty, where I caught nothing. As it turned out, when I saw my doctor on Monday, he told me that I had already passed all the stone fragments following lipotripsy. Too bad I didn't know this BEFORE the trip!</p> <p> </p> <p>Joel Berry</p> brbjr Wed, 10 Nov 2021 02:48:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:829 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/443/boliver-hilton-2016-report#Comments 0 https://www.packtx.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=56&ModuleID=377&ArticleID=443 https://www.packtx.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=443&PortalID=0&TabID=56 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/443/boliver-hilton-2016-report <p class="MsoNormal">This past weekends Boliver trip was enjoyed by all. The weather was beautiful in every way. If I had brought my tent, I would've slept on the balcony and listened to the surf all night, instead of Buzz's "sleeping noises".</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Though the weather was wonderful, this years water level was the highest I've ever seen in the 12 years or so that I've led this trip. Consequently, this made the fishing more challenging, as the reds spread out into the grass and back lakes behind the marsh. Most years, the tide is considerably lower, thereby concentrating the reds in well-known honey holes, which makes for very productive fishing, especially with live bait. But this year, the honey hole only held rat reds, sting rays, and tiny bait snatchers. Those who caught keepers, went into the grass, and back lakes- Bruce saw a huge school of reds in the 7th lake, which was a stones throw from the big grocery store. (About a 2 mile paddle) Caught 9 nice slots on Saturday on topwaters. Will Henderson had some nice reds and a flounder caught in the grass in the marsh. Steve and Davin Spadoni had great luck in the intercoastal  using a popping cork and Vudu shrimp.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This was Doug Atkinson's first PACK event, and not only did he catch fish (reds in the back lake), but he gained a pound or two on the famous Boliver Hilton cuisine. Dinner Thursday night was at the Stingeree Marina, as usual. Friday, Buzz provided a fantastic chicken dish, and John made the rice and Steve brought cobbler AND brownies! Saturday night we parted from tradition- instead of fried fish, we grilled- some on the half-shell and some grilled both sides. Brad made an outstanding fried fish hor d'oeuvre before dinner .And as usual, Joel prepared a tasty breakfast each morning.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But back to the fishing. Chris Busch snagged the biggest trout of his life, in the first back lake. He was standing in his fancy Solo, throwing a blue top-water, when a huge fish hit and knocked it 3 feet through the air. Then Chris suddenly noticed the lure had disappeared, and soon the fight was on. Unfortunately, the monster got off the hook just as Chris was about to net him, but he was clearly well over 25"..It still was not a disappointment as he was going to let the fish go anyway. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Bill Leary caught his one and only keeper red on his very first cast of the day on Friday, at the entrance to the marsh. He also caught an undersized Grand Slam, but a Grand Slam nonetheless along with numerous small trout.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Though this wasn't a "meathaul" like many other Bolvier trips, it was still productive and everyone had a really good time. Thanks to everyone for contributing to another successful trip, and especially to Buzz for cleaning the kitchen! I look forward to next year. Joel</p> brbjr Tue, 01 Nov 2016 21:03:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:443 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/438/april-19th-pack-meeting#Comments 0 https://www.packtx.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=56&ModuleID=377&ArticleID=438 https://www.packtx.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=438&PortalID=0&TabID=56 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/438/april-19th-pack-meeting <p>I called Trini Mendenhall Community Center and verified they will be open for tonight's meeting. The meeting starts at 6:30 PM and is located at Trini Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Road,  Houston, TX 77055. Prior to the meeting we eat dinner at Goode Co BBQ around 5:20 PM, all are welcome.  Also today is the deadline to sign up for Saturday's Lone Star Kayak Series red fish tournament, if you are interested in fishing the tournament and have questions talk to me at the meeting. </p> <p> </p> <p>Hope to see you tonight,</p> <p>Bruce Behrens</p> <p> </p> brbjr Tue, 19 Apr 2016 16:26:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:438 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/432/turtle-bay-trip-report#Comments 0 https://www.packtx.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=56&ModuleID=377&ArticleID=432 https://www.packtx.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=432&PortalID=0&TabID=56 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/432/turtle-bay-trip-report <div class="yiv7737846052" id="yiv7737846052yui_3_16_0_1_1442882952373_2856" style="color: #000000; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Saturday September 19th twelve kayakers arrived at Turtle Bay and were greeted by calm winds and flocks of birds working in the middle of the bay. We unpacked as fast as possible with hopes of trout limits. Only Gafftop catfish and hard heads were caught in the many flocks of birds. I landed Gafftops on soft plastics and top waters. The tide was too high to paddle through the culverts so we opted to paddle two miles west to the other Sartwell Lake marsh. I landed a 29 inch red fish on the west shoreline. Upon entering the marsh I paddled upon a very large group of feeding Redfish. I called all that were close by on the vhf radio to join in on the fun. Three of us paddled up to the school and casted. Everyone hooked up but only two redfish were landed, my Redfish swam under Michael’s kayak. We followed the Redfish down the shoreline but could not get another bite. Several large Black Drum were seen in the marsh. Mike M, Mike E and I all caught keeper reds. Ken had a keeper trout, and several flounder were caught. Overall it was a great day of fishing.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bruce</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></p> </div> brbjr Mon, 21 Sep 2015 23:11:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:432 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/425/packtx-2014-flounder-trip-report#Comments 0 https://www.packtx.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=56&ModuleID=377&ArticleID=425 https://www.packtx.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=425&PortalID=0&TabID=56 https://www.packtx.org/news/articletype/articleview/articleid/425/packtx-2014-flounder-trip-report What more could go wrong with the 2014 flounder run? A two week “largest cold front weather system I ever recall” hit the Texas coast in mid-November while the little males, bait stealers and modest flounder females were passing through. The giant front knocked the water temperatures down from over 70 degrees to 51 degrees. As Mickey Eastman posited on his show, most of the best part of the flounder-run-to-come went deep to the ship channels, leaving slim pickings along most of the shorelines. Well there goes this year! Add some weather, car and boat problems the days prior to the trip and the game is on!<br /> <br /> Sunday morning, November 23, 2014, four hopeful flounder fisherman left the breezy dock in my boat at the end of the Texas City Dike to find Nirvana at “the green bush” on the Houston Ship Channel shore of Pelican Island. New members Jerry Hite and Mike Stanley teamed up with Lisa McGonigle and me to attempt to scare up some of the last straggling flounder that had not yet gone deep. Sun up brought 18 mile per hour southwest winds, ugly, brown (but protected) water, but a great all morning outgoing tide on a no moon. We had rescheduled the trip a day later due to a 100% chance of Saturday thunderstorms with severe weather warnings including possible tornado activity. We waded all morning for the duration of the tide to bring in only three 16 to 17 inch fish in the barren 54 degree water. After brief stints anchored off the destroyer in Sea Wolf Park watching a lot of empty stringers leaving the water (except my buddy Jack got 16 large in his little 8 foot square hole and left while we watched his two 20 inchers), we went back to work a few more stretches of the first shoreline before heading in. Same result, except the combination of wind, tide and passing tanker swells moved the boat just enough to finish our day with cold water in the waders. <br /> <br /> Back at the ramp we agreed to look forward to the PACK Christmas party - and to help Jerry figure out how to get out of his physics course final exam to his A & M Galveston students so he could attend also. We gave thanks for the enormous pecans Jerry passed out from his trees, for the PAC and our buddies, for the few fish we did catch and the prospect of next year’s run, and for a beautiful day on the water. Happy Thanksgiving. <br /> <br /> Dick McGonigle, trip leader brbjr Thu, 04 Dec 2014 12:18:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:425