Fly Fishing Padre Island National Seashore by Nils Pearson

Fly Fishing Padre Island National Seashore by Nils Pearson General Information: The combined length of North and South Padre Island is 113 miles and forms the longest barrier island in the United States. In 1962 the United States Congress passed legislation establishing an 80 mile section of North Padre as the Padre Island National Seashore (PINS). The Laguna Madre Separates Padre Island from the mainland. The National Park Service, the U.S. Department of the Interior administers Padre Island National Seashore. The rules and regulations regarding park usage can be found at the park web site http://www.nps.gov/pais/index.htm The Malaquite visitors center offers bathrooms, showers, and convenience store. To fish along PINS, you will need a current Texas fishing license with a saltwater stamp. The first 5 miles of the PINS shoreline can usually be driven in 2-wheel drive vehicles. A 4-wheel drive vehicle with reasonably high ground clearance is strongly advised. Even with a 4-wheel drive vehicle, timing your traveling to occur during a low tide is usually advisable. Most cell phones will work at the visitors center and the Mansfield Channel. You will not have reception when driving along most of the PINS shoreline. Accommodations: Primitive camping is available along the shore. Because vehicles travel up and down the beach all hours of the day and night, it is advisible to establish a campsite toward the dunes away from the path of the vehicles. If you place your camp directly in the middle of the commonly traveled path, you will force the traffic to be diverted to very poor sections of the beach and cause other travelers to become upset. Vehicles: If you plan to fish the full 60 miles of the shoreline, a 4-wheel drive vehicle is a must. Keep in mind that all you will find along the shore is sand, surf, and other travelers. It is recommended that you have a good spare tire, a tire patch kit, an air compressor, jumper cables, a shovel, and a tow rope. Always fill your tank with fuel before entering the park. When driving near families camped along the shore, please drive slowly and watch out for young children walking across the sand. Equipment: Best flies include clousers, spoon flies, baitfish patterns (i.e., almost anything chartreuse & white or red & white tied on 1/0 to 2/0 saltwater hooks). The surf is usually fished with 7-10 weight fly rods. Eight weight rods are the most popular. If the winds are calm, an 7/8/9 wt rod with intermediate sinking line with a 6 ft. leader and 50 lb shock tippet are recommended. On windy days, winds in excess of 10 mph, 9 & 10 wt rods with sinking lines are the best for penetrating the wind and shooting line over the waves. In addition to your fly rods, you may want to bring along a spinning or bait casting rod capable of throwing 1 oz spoon in case we run into strong winds. Supplies: Don t forget that it is going to be hot, you will be camping on the beach, and the nearest store is located at the Malaquite visitors center. Bring plenty of water (a dozen 16 oz. bottles), sunscreen, insect repellent, flashlight, sunglasses, and a hat. You will also need to bring any food or snacks that you plan to eat during your stay. It is a recommended that you bring along a well stocked first aid kit. You will probably acquire some cuts and abrasions during the day. At the end of the day, it is a good idea to clean any broken skin with hydrogen peroxide and apply an antibiotic salve to the wound to prevent infection. Directions: Corpus Christi is located about 250 miles south of Austin. Please consult a map or Mapquest.com for specific directions. In general, a simple route to Corpus would be to take I-35 south to San Antonio where you merge onto I-37 to Corpus Christi. Upon reaching Corpus Christi, follow the signs to Padre Island National Seashore. PINS is located southeast of the city of Corpus Christi. You will head East through the city on South Padre Island Drive (Highway 358). After crossing the JFK Causeway and the bridge onto Padre Island, continue about 10 miles south on Park Road 22. The physical address for the Malaquite Visitor Center is 20402 Park Road 22, Corpus Christi, TX 78418. Ron Cruse with State Record Jack Crevalle caught on an 8 wt fly rod

Charles Golla with Spanish Mackerel Photo by Charles Golla Fishing Padre in September by Charles A. Golla September is one of the best months for fishing the Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) because the Fall baitfish migration is in full force and hungry game fish are sure to follow. During this time of year, finger mullet are exiting the bay systems. Seeking protection, they travel along the shallow waters of the surf zone for cover as they stage and start swimming south to warmer waters. Large concentrations of Spanish mackerel and jack crevalle move in from off shore to feed on the mullet. In conjunction with the mullet migration, dusty anchovies start moving south from the northwestern Gulf. Large concentrations of tarpon follow the anchovies. Skipjack, bluefish, whiting, and pompano also congregate in the surf zone at this same time. Sharks also show up in large numbers to take advantage of the abundant food source. During the fall migrations, game fish will often gorge themselves in preparation for the winter. The activity steadily increases until the first real cold front in late November. Every trip down PINS in September promises to be an adventure. If you re already familiar with the national seashore, you know the excitement that awaits you during these fall migrations. If you re new to the seashore, this is a great time of the year to participate in the action. With practice, you will learn to read the surf. This includes locating bait concentrations and reading the surf structure. Baitfish, Birds, and Slicks Fishing at this time of the year will be at its best. I can promise you there is no better opportunity for a fly fisherman to encounter a trophy fish in the surf zone. And locating game fish is as easy as it gets because you can simply drive the seashore until you see bait frantically busting the surface of the water or birds diving into the water and catching bait. Bait Balls are large concentrations of bait. It s not uncommon to find every game species of fish under this mass of bait. Skipjacks, Spanish mackerel, and bluefish will be the first game fish you will see herding these bait balls on the surface Birds dive-bombing a bait ball at mile marker 55 on PINS Photo by Charles Golla of the water. Trout, redfish and whiting follow the bait activity from below, under the action. As the feeding activity intensifies, the bait ball will move in and out of casting range. The longer bait ball stays together, the greater the chance that jack crevalle and tarpon will move in around the edges. Bull and blacktip sharks will follow the jack crevalle. If the bait ball is moving north or south and in and out of casting range, the feeding frenzy is relatively fresh. As the bait wears down, it starts moving in a circular pattern and indicates the frenzy has gone on for some time. It is at this point that you have the greatest chance of seeing tarpon and a large concentration of game fish. Mullet are good indicators of structure and the presence of game fish. If you see mullet lazily moving through one of the bars, there s a good chance that no game fish are present. If you see mullet all pushed up along the edge or frantically jumping as they pass over a particular bar or structure, game fish are close by feeding on mullet. Birds are key indicators of the type of game fish present. Black terns stay with tarpon. Brown pelicans seem to congregate around larger concentrations of jack crevalle. Large concentrations of birds resting on the beach are a good sign that something has just happened in the immediate area offshore, and that game fish are normally still in close proximity. Any sign of bird feeding activity should be investigated. Slicks do form in the surf zone and will indicate feeding game fish. However, slicks

in the surf don t last very long because of the action of the waves on the nearby shore. Surf Structure Generally, game fish are lazy by nature and choose to stage in areas where they have to exert the least amount of effort to feed. In the surf, this means areas where the structure will either trap bait or where strong currents will bring the bait to the game fish. Surf structure comes in many forms and that structure can change in a mater minutes with the rise and fall of the tide. Bars are the shallower formations that occur between the deeper water guts. Waves break on top of the bars; normally there will be have a series of two to four bars. Guts are the deeper water formations that are found in between the bars. The first gut is directly east of the first bar and so on. The Wade Gut is considered the first deeper formation of water that touches the shore. One would normally wade through the wade gut to access the first bar. Splash Zones occur on the shore or over shallower bars. This agitation causes the water to turn off-color in the immediate area. Bait uses the off-colored water for cover. Game fish patrol the edge of offcolored water and will dart in and out in search of bait. You want to make every effort to keep your fly in this location. Chokes or Pinch Points occur where deeper water guts get necked down by the shallower water bars. This forms a funnel for water to pass through. The increased current in these locations allow game fish to ambush bait down current. Suck Outs with falling tides normally only occur on the first bar as the tide is dropping and wave action overfills the residing wade gut. Water pressure forces a narrow pass through the forward bar until the pressure is relieved. The area of a suck out normally turns a little off-colored with each wave action over fill cycle. Bait that is trapped in the shallower wade gut is forced through the suck out and into the next deeper gut. Game fish stage in deeper water just in front of these suck outs and await their prey. Chris Golla with jack Crevalle Photo by Charles Golla Chris and Justin Golla hunt redfish in the surf Photo by Charles Golla Close Outs are large shallow formations coming off the shore where there appears to be no wade gut. Bait will sometimes congregate on top of a close out for shallow water protection. Close outs also force larger bait to travel around the deeper point in the first gut. Game fish congregate in this location. Close outs also provide good access points to deeper water. Key Holes are deep pockets in the wade gut that are normally found directly down current of a close out. Game fish will stage in a key hole waiting for bait to come off the shallow close out. Key holes also provide cover for bait over night and are prime locations at sunrise and sunset. Rising tides are more favorable for key holes. Charles Golla is an avid surf fisherman and member of the Rockport Fly Fishers.

Helpful Resources When Planning a Trip to PINS Captain Billy Sandifer the PINS guide. He probably knows as much about Padre Island as the original Native Americans who inhabited these beaches. Take a surf fishing trip with Capt. Billy and you will get an introduction to Surf Fishing by the master. He is equally skilled with fly fishing tackle and conventional gear. Visit his web site to find out more information about his services. 361-937-8446 billysandifer@stx.rr.com http://www.billysandifer.com/ 30 25 Big Shell Beach 35 M an 40 s fi e ld C ha n ne l 55 50 Wreck of the Nicaragua 45 Eric Ozolins Go to Oz s Extreme Coast web site and follow his exploits. Oz and his friends provide excellent reports on PINS conditions and answers to all kinds of fishing questions. http://www.extremecoast.com/ National Data Buoy Center, Station 42020 Southeast of Corpus Christi, TX http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42020 Wind Direction (WDIR): SSE ( 160 deg true ) Wind Speed (WSPD): 17.5 kts Wind Gust (GST): 21.4 kts Wave Height (WVHT): 7.2 ft Dominant Wave Period (DPD): 8 sec Average Period (APD): 5.5 sec Mean Wave Direction (MWD): ESE ( 116 deg true ) Atmospheric Pressure (PRES): 29.78 in Pressure Tendency (PTDY): +0.03 in ( Rising ) Air Temperature (ATMP): 77.5 F Water Temperature (WTMP): 75.9 F Dew Point (DEWP): 72.7 F Heat Index (HEAT): 79.5 F

Y ar b or North-> 20 o u g h 15 s 10 Little Shell Beach 5 0 4-Wheel Drive Sign Visitors Center P as Nick Meyers or as most fishermen know him, Nickaway from Breakaway. Nick is a champion long distance caster who designs and sells conventional tackle for fishing the surf. His web site offers daily reports on Padre Island fishing conditions and instructional videos about surf fishing. Go by his shop at 2301 Rodd Field RD, Unit 2B, Corpus Christi, to check out the latest surf fishing tackle. (361) 723-0427 nickaway@breakawayusa.com http://www.breakawayusa.com/ Tide Prediction Charts http://nearshore.utmsi.utexas.edu/tides.htm by Anthony Amos

On Wednesday, October 13th, a small group of Austin Fly Fishers drove 60 miles down the sand along the Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) and set up camp at the Mansfield Jetty. We chose this remote location at the southern tip of North Padre Island because it gave us easy access to the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico, the channel at the Mansfield Jetty, and the Intercoastal Waterway leading to the Laguna Madre. And, as you will see, the efforts required to make this journey were well rewarded. Carroll Hall and I had packed my SUV with fishing gear, camping equipment, and food stuffs to last 5 days on the sand. After driving down from Austin, we met up with Jack Lehman and Dave Bush at the PINS visitors center. From there, we drove in tandem along the sand toward our destination. Fortunately, the low road along the surf was hard packed from the recent high tide and except for a couple of stretches, we stayed in 2-wheel drive. During our drive, we stopped and fished every piece of promising water we passed. By late afternoon, having not been delayed by any responses to our casting, we approached the wreck of the Nicaragua about 49 miles south. As we approached the wreck, we saw the large figure of our friend Scott Horn who had driven down from his home in Colorado to join us. After a brief reunion, we pressed on to the jetty. Once we arrived, we had only a couple of hours of remaining sunlight. We set up camp, fished a little, ate dinner, and racked out for the night. Most of Thursday was tough fishing because some time around 3:00 a.m. the wind kicked up violently. After attempting to sleep through the loud flapping of tent walls, we awakened to strong winds, choppy seas, and dirty water. Conditions not favorable for fly fishing. Undeterred, some of us cast our fly lines into the protected waters of the channel. Others, brought out their bait casting and spinning gear. Our determination paid a few but significant dividends when everyone hooked up with at least one good fish (i.e., tarpon, snook, redfish, and trout). Friday was another story because the wind practically stopped. We awakened to the smell of Dave s fresh brewed coffee and saw a calm Gulf with distant bait balls under attack by birds. I had brought along my kayak and thought that this would be a good opportunity to venture out Relaxing in the dunes at the Mansfield Jetty PINS 2010 by Nils Pearson

into the gulf for some kayak fishing. I asked the other guys whether they were interested in joining me, but they were not. Because it was my first experience kayaking into the surf and I didn t know what to expect, I didn t press them. As I paddled out past the breakers, I felt a slight breeze and not much current. To my surprise, maneuvering the kayaking in the small waves was easy. Now that I felt comfortable, I looked up and saw gulls attacking a small ball of dusky anchovies close to the jetty. I paddled out to it, cast a gummy minnow with my 8 wt. fly rod, and hooked a bonita. Zing the line flew off my reel and I was quickly 100 yards into my backing. After playing tug-of-war for about 15 minutes, I pulled the bonita onto my lap. For the rest of the morning, I paddled from one bait ball to another catching bonita each time. In all, I landed 8 bonita. After landing about half a dozen fish, I was getting a little cocky in my new role as bonita slayer. However, this would come to an abrupt end when some kind of freight train swallowed my fly. Without hesitation, that fish took 200+ yards of backing. No amount of drag or palming would slow it down. Before I knew it, I had been spooled and the monster had broke off. Sometimes, when both of my hands were engaged in casting at these schools of dusky anchovies, my kayak would drift into the fray. When I did, I stopped casting and put my waterproof camera underwater and simply pointed at the action and shot. Fortunately, my photos would come to reveal the identities the marauding fish below the surface. When I reviewed my photos later, I could clearly see Jack crevalles, bonita, and cobia were all present. As I was paddling back to shore, I saw Scott who had entered the water after me. He told me that had been crusing closer to shore having a blast kayaking around the bait. On Friday afternoon, we packed up and headed up the island to the Five Mile Marker to meet up with other club members. This would be our base camp for the remainder of our stay. We fished our way up the island, stopping at every spot that might hold fish. On one stop, we spotted fish breaking the water a long way out from the shore. Because we had a very low wind, low tide, and clear water, we were able to wade out about 100 yards into the surf. At first, we caught large skipjacks that stripped line right into your Gulls attack dusky anchovies from above Jacks and bonita attack dusky anchovies from below Bonita Gummy minnow fly with dusky anchovies Skipjack caught in the surf

backing everytime. In addition, we also caught Spanish mackerel that were milling around on the fringes of this crowd. But the real topper was Dave Bush s catch. He casted a 1 oz. spoon on spinning gear and after great efforts, caught an enormous king mackerel. Upon landing the fish, we inspected his gear and found that his hook was bent and his berkley clip had been pulled completely apart. Saturday was our last day of fishing. Most of us fished the surf but three guys crossed over to the back side of the island through Yarborough Pass and fished the bay. They spent the morning sight casting to reds. Dave Bush and I drove down the beach. As we went, we didn t see any birds so we fished every bit of structure we found. As we passed a little cutout, we noticed that some bait was jumping out of the water every once in a while. We thought that some predator must be lurking in that water. So, we started casting. I noticed something sitting above the sargasso grass that had settled to the bottom of the pool. It was either a piece of plastic or a fish. I casted at the object, stripped twice, and hooked into a red. That fish was literally 10 yards from the shore. Dave then casted into the same area and came up with another red. What an outing! Jack with redfish caught in the bay Redfish caught in the cut Spanish Mackerel Carved-out area along the shoreline