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Cedar Bayou Perspective...Hope!!

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SightCast

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Posts: 234

8/19/2008 10:06 PM

PACK should support the revitalization effort of Cedar Bayou (includes impacts to San Antonio Bay and RockportBays)...perspective below from Capt. Chris Martin...

But, that was then, and this is now...

Those early morning hours had been hot and muggy back on that day not so present. We had three parties setup tight against the protected shorelines just adjacent to either side of the mouth of the bayou. Most everyone had either top waters or plastics tied on the end of their line, but a couple of the guys even had some live bait thrown into the mix that day. But they didn’t need it. Nope, if that day was to be anything like the previous months that I had spent in that same general vicinity, the fishing gods would be very generous to us today in our presentation of almost any artificial bait of our choosing. The fishing had been good for quite some time, and not just at the mouth of Cedar Bayou. I had spent practically the entire year fishing the southwestern most reaches of San Antonio Bay – from Ayres Point on down into Mesquite, and sometimes even beyond. Why? It was because I was successful at almost every turn of the way when I did so. The fishing had become more consistent in those areas back then, and it seemed as though you could depend on catching fish if you spent the required time it took in making the run down to the far regions of the lower bay systems. So much so, in fact, that I was forced into re-evaluating my overall business plan if I had any personal expectation of remaining a successful fishing guide in the Seadrift area. And one of the largest business transitions that I went through at that time was the reconsideration of my choice of boat models. Because the fishing had grown to be so good in some of those otherwise remote locations, and if I stood any chance at all of maintaining the acquired level of success we had grown accustomed to in those areas back then, I was going to have to opt for a faster boat in order to get me and my clients to those further southwestern hot spots ahead of everyone else each morning – thus was born my love for the Majek 22 Extreme. But back then, the pure number of fish available down in those distant portions of the lower bays had not become our only point of interest. Most any of the surrounding areas down there had gotten to the point to where they were consistently producing some big numbers of large trout – continued numbers of large trout that neither we, nor our clients, could ever remember witnessing on such a regular basis. I caught one of my personal-best trout back during that period immediately west of the mouth of Cedar Bayou while tossing a plastic Norton Bull Minnow up against the grass in shin-deep water. And that was in the heat of the mid-afternoon sun during one of the hottest times of summer. Go figure! The year was 2005. But, that was then, and this is now.

Since those days, the Cedar Bayou and Vinson Slough areas have undergone rapid deterioration from a quality flow of water perspective, and the quality of fishing in these areas has consequently declined as a direct result. By January, 2007, beach sand and sediment had caused the entrance to Cedar Bayou at the Gulf of Mexico to be closed during periods of low tide. Aerial photographs taken in February of this year reflected complete closure of the mouth of Cedar Bayou at the Gulf of Mexico, and as of this month you would not even recognize an opening ever existed from the Gulf side – the entrance looks no different from that of the rest of the beach that runs for miles up and down Matagorda and San Jose Islands. Coastal navigation charts dating as far back as 1884 and aerial photos from as early as 1967 portray, in fact, that there once was a naturally sustaining water flow union between Cedar Bayou, Vinson Slough, and the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, in the wake of the Bay of Campeche oil spill in 1979, Cedar Bayou was purposely filled-in as a part of emergency measures to keep oil out of our bays. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) later dredged Cedar Bayou in 1959, 1987, and again in 1995, but all three attempts at permanently restoring the pass to its original and natural state have proven unsuccessful. Experts in the field state new man-made waterways up and down the coast have altered water flow in the Cedar Bayou area enough to where there is now not enough outward water flow to maintain the once natural pass area. So, how does this have anything to do with recent downgrade in the quality of fishing in these areas? Well, exchange of seawater within any bay system is essential in allowing the bay to maintain its required ecological balance. With the closure of Cedar Bayou, the nearest resource of sea-quality water for lower San Antonio Bay and Mesquite Bay is suddenly now miles away at Port O’Connor and Port Aransas. Without intermittent open passes, like that offered by the presence of Cedar Bayou, it soon becomes an unreal expectation that any isolated bay system would be able to revitalize itself to a point where it can successfully support its water quality and fisheries. Open passes supply migration routes between the Gulf and the shallow estuaries and nurseries for organisms and many other members of the fishery food chain, like shrimp and crabs. With the nearest passes being many miles away on either side of these isolated bays, the present passes are simply unable to adequately support the many, many miles in between. After all is said and done, the quality of fishing gets worse as a direct result of the absence of many different members of the food chain. All of those quality numbers of trout and redfish, and the number of quality trout and redfish, that we caught in those otherwise isolated areas a few years ago were all being supported by the seawater exchange provide by open access to the Gulf via Cedar Bayou. As long as Cedar Bayou remains closed, you can expect to see a steady decline in the quality of fishing in the lower San Antonio Bay and Mesquite Bay areas.

On a positive note, the required Environmental Impact Assessment on Cedar Bayou has now been completed and will be reviewed shortly. The Rockport-based organization called Save Cedar Bayou, Inc., has now applied for the needed Coastal Impact Assistance Program grant from the Texas General Land Office, and if the project is picked for funding the Save Cedar Bayou group shall immediately proceed with putting out bids for the dredge project. They are currently working on the 3rd required permit which will be submitted in the last part of this month. Once the USACE has reviewed the permit, it will go on the USACE website for a period of 30-days for public comment. If all goes well, a permit should be issued and construction shall be allowed to commence on Cedar Bayou and Vinson Slough once the Whooping Cranes leave their nesting sites in April, 2009. Your offer to contribute to the efforts of getting Cedar Bayou re-opened is most welcome. At this time, the Save Cedar Bayou organization is gathering names and letters to be sent to the USACE for the public comment period. You can also go to the Texas Flats Fishing website (www.texasflats.net), sign-in, and then sign the petition.

In closing, Whitetail and waterfowl are but just a couple of the great game animals that Texas is known for. Join Joe Coogan, host of Benelli On Assignment, on Versus Country TV as he heads to southern portions of our state to partake in some Southern hospitality – Texas style. Joe visits Seadrift, Texas and Bay Flats Lodge to film both a duck hunt and Whitetail hunt. Airing times are as follows: 8/28 10:00 AM Texas Deer and Duck, 8/29 10:30 AM Texas Deer and Duck, 8/30 10:00 AM Texas Deer and Duck.

You can visit Versus Country TV at the following link...Enjoy!

http://www.versuscountry....showpage.aspx?sid=63

Capt. Chris Martin
Chris@BayFlatsLodge.com