Three in One Fishing Report...

We made a quick visit to Rose, Tim, Warren and Coraline last week and spent an afternoon at Surfside Beach. It was not crowded and the water was clear. 

In fact all water conditions indicated that it was going to be a great fishing day but it probably was somewhere besides where we were. Water was clear, bait was plentiful with me catching enough finger mullet on my fist cast net throw to last the day and the current gentle enough for a #1 surf sinker to hold a long rod in place. Water was so clear that artificial baits looked colorful and wiggly enough that I thought about biting one of them. 

Saltwater fishing is often governed by the rise and fall of the tide, the salinity of the bay vs. beach and so on.  

Great swim day for the grandkids though. 

Coraline works on bait catching. A grandchild that can catch bait is almost as valuable as a working wife. 

Brown pelicans just offshore. Cathy says these were almost extinct on the Texas coast when she was young and she is always glad to see them. 

Saturday back at the ranch Morgan, Ali, Parker and Cullen came for a visit. Me and Morgan headed out with the canoe to B. A. Steinhagen and the Walnut Slough paddling trail for some hot bream action. They were still holding in the same spot I had caught them in mid June and they were eager. 

Here's a big red ear shell cracker. Most fish taken on the longer crappie slider "do nothing lure." A few were caught under a slip cork on crappie nibbles. Total number was 17 that were all big enough to fillet. I saw a recipe where you can boil bream fillets in crab boil then when you ice them it causes the meat to be firm like shrimp.  

Ezra and Parker inspect the catch. Ezra was real interested in the fish cleaning process. A grandkid that cleans fish is worth almost as much as a working wife. 

Yesterday we made it to our evening Ratcliff swim and there were a few more people there than normal mid-week but could not be called crowded by any stretch of the imagination. 

I caught one big bream and me and Mary both hooked bass that jumped at the side of the boat about head high on Ezra and I think one of them left him dripping with water.  

Mary lives the mom life. One hand paddling while the other keeps the three year old in the boat. 

What Cathy did at Ratcliff was hold Luca. Hope Luca retains memories of how good he slept on this trip. Mary will need a third hand to hold him in the boat next summer. 

A Ratcliff trip is all about timing. The closest Sno-cone stand closes at 8PM.