I suppose that it's time to update the fishing reports. I had wanted to use this blog partially as a fishing diary which could then be referenced year to year. Anyways, several fishing trips have gone unreported. Here's the August report!
July 30th: We arrived at dawn and were pretty hopeful of the conditions but were greatly disappointed at the beach front. A fairly light southwest wind had managed to stir up the mud and so visibility was very limited. Still, I think we tried for about 3 hours to catch something and only ended up with a hardhead or two. Conditions along the coast had been not too favorable for the entire summer and this day was simply a continuation of that trend. We decided to give the bay side a try and here the visibility was much better. Both Harry and I landed a new species (to us) that being mangrove snappers. As the water movement slowed at the bridge a better bite came into play. I also landed an 18" speckled trout. We left and headed back to Houston at around 11:30.
The mangrove snapper is not considered a game fish in Texas as it has reached its habitat limitations. Were we to get a cold winter, this fish would not survive very well. Nevertheless, it is an occasional catch within the Galveston Bay area. The water body record for Galveston Bay is about 13.7" and the one I landed came in at 12.5". Perhaps this is a lagoon record! Anyhow, the mangrove snapper is a very pretty orange fish though I read that their coloration varies widely during the course of the year. It is not a bright orange and may be somewhat mixed with brown and green vertical stripes, it is also known as the gray snapper. The fish is wonderful table fare, probably the best that the near-shore gulf/bay system has to offer. While only 12.5" long the fish has some shoulders and you can still get a legitimate fillet from them. The juveniles of this species will spend there time in the bay system before moving out to the deeper gulf waters as they mature. All of the fishing was done with live shrimp.
August 13th: Again we arrived at the beach front though probably about 15 minutes late. We were fishing with live shrimp. The water was flat with fair clarity and the baitfish were extremely active. We were very encouraged by these conditions, so much so in fact that I tried to draw some strikes on a bone colored topwater. After about 40 casts I became a little discouraged but still wanted to give artificials a chance and so went with a suspending plug for about 20 casts. Still, nothing. So I had to go with the regular old shrimp under a cork method that we usually employ. Here we had an OK day though certainly not the day we had hoped for. We landed a few sand trout and I caught an 18" speckled trout. There was a fair amount of luck in that as the major bite had by then wained.
Of note: we saw a guy out fish our naturals with his use of D. O. A. Shrimp artificials. He came off the jetty with 9 very nice trout. Also, had a salty person tell us that the best mega -bite under such good conditions usually is most notable on the first day of that green tide (green tide meaning fairly clear water). I believe we were also handicapped a little bit by the effects of an outgoing tide rather than the more preferable incoming tide. Still, to get massively out-fished by artificials, geez!
August 27th: I especially did want to comment on this particular day - a really big, REALLY BIG, day! We faced a moderate incoming tide until about 10:30 in the morning, fair visibility and wave heights at about 2 to 2-1/2 feet. A slight wind was present generally from the southeast. The moon had been full.
Anyways we hit the fish lottery! Harry landed 6 speckled trouts and I landed 4, I lost another 2 or 3 up close as I was experimenting with my knot. So, I least I know what doesn't work and I'll continue to use the uni-knot with half hitch.
One of the four fish I landed, at 22 inches, was the second biggest trout that I've ever caught. The weight difference between an 18 inch trout and a 22 inch trout is really surprising. As a matter of information, every inch above the 15 inch minimum seems more significant than one might expect. This day was Harry's best fishing day ever and was a very good day for me too. Natural live bait came through in a big way today!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
I wanted to add a fish dinner recipe inspired by a similar one found in cookbook written by James Beard:
FISH PASTA DELUXE!
1 fennel bulb
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion
14.5 oz. can chopped tomatoes with zesty green chile's added (Del Monte)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pignoli
1/4 teaspoon saffron
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 can anchovy fillets (drained and chopped)
1 lb. fish fillets cut into 1/2" strips
1/2 lb. pasta, preferably large pieces of a colorful type (spirals would be OK at a minimum)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut off and discard the fennel top and cut the bulb into thin lengthwise slices. Cook these in a big pot of boiling water until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to skim them out, set them aside. Leave the water at a simmer for when you'll cook the pasta.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onion until it is soft. Add the tomatoes, raisins, pignoli, saffron, basil, and anchovies. Cook this for 10 minutes.
Cook the pasta in the fennel infused water brought back to a boil.
Choose a time to cook the fish in the tomato sauce mixture so that the fish and pasta will be done pretty much at the same time (perhaps with 5 minutes cooking time left for the pasta). Don't forget to stir the tomato/fish sauce a couple of times along with an occasional stir of the cooking pasta! Just before the pasta is finished add the sliced fennel back into the pasta pot in order that it too will be reheated.
Drain the pasta, add pepper to taste and salt if desired. A splash of olive oil into the drained pasta helps too! Everything should be ready to serve.
NOTES OF INTEREST
This has been a very successful dish two out of the four times we've tried it. The other two times it has been okay though a bit dull. This implies careful selection of ingredients and I will try to further ascertain the exact brands to use.
Saffron can be bought over the internet and it's kind of a fun low risk purchase at about $4.00 per gram plus $3 shipping. Hey! It is the world's most expensive spice and a little bit goes a long ways!
FISH PASTA DELUXE!
1 fennel bulb
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion
14.5 oz. can chopped tomatoes with zesty green chile's added (Del Monte)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pignoli
1/4 teaspoon saffron
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 can anchovy fillets (drained and chopped)
1 lb. fish fillets cut into 1/2" strips
1/2 lb. pasta, preferably large pieces of a colorful type (spirals would be OK at a minimum)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut off and discard the fennel top and cut the bulb into thin lengthwise slices. Cook these in a big pot of boiling water until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to skim them out, set them aside. Leave the water at a simmer for when you'll cook the pasta.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the onion until it is soft. Add the tomatoes, raisins, pignoli, saffron, basil, and anchovies. Cook this for 10 minutes.
Cook the pasta in the fennel infused water brought back to a boil.
Choose a time to cook the fish in the tomato sauce mixture so that the fish and pasta will be done pretty much at the same time (perhaps with 5 minutes cooking time left for the pasta). Don't forget to stir the tomato/fish sauce a couple of times along with an occasional stir of the cooking pasta! Just before the pasta is finished add the sliced fennel back into the pasta pot in order that it too will be reheated.
Drain the pasta, add pepper to taste and salt if desired. A splash of olive oil into the drained pasta helps too! Everything should be ready to serve.
NOTES OF INTEREST
This has been a very successful dish two out of the four times we've tried it. The other two times it has been okay though a bit dull. This implies careful selection of ingredients and I will try to further ascertain the exact brands to use.
Saffron can be bought over the internet and it's kind of a fun low risk purchase at about $4.00 per gram plus $3 shipping. Hey! It is the world's most expensive spice and a little bit goes a long ways!
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