Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

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Ron Mc
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Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

Post by Ron Mc »

We rent this giant house on Arroyo Colorado for a new moon every winter, and invite family and friends to join us - the cast changes every year.
This year, we were joined for the first two nights by Michael (mwatson), whose company we enjoyed immensely, and were impressed with his fishing skill and persistence.
All four days and nights we had the prevailing SE - no fronts made it this far south - highs in the low 80s, and lowest low was 65 - we had a choice subtropical vacation.

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While we kayaked a bit during the day on Friday, the reason to be here is the night-time dock fishing under the lights. The drill is fish from sunset to 9 pm, take cat-nap breaks and get up again to sample the dock through the night.

Through the nights, we fished with dolphins, an alligator, a big gar which I sight-fished and wrestled a bit, pelicans, blue heron, night heron and egret.

The results varied with the bait and tide - the bait ranged from native poecilids, to finger mullet and balls of tiny glass minnows moved by the tide and wind currents.
In the apparent slaughter below, please note, every fish we filleted was a schoolie male, which travel 20 mi/day to chase bait.
Thursday sunset on the arroyo

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Michael can vouch this isn't exactly fish in a barrel, but takes stealth and skill to find where in the water column of the deep barge channel, and exactly how, the fish are willing to feed.
We honored our calendar day bag limits - starting new at midnight every night, and sticking to the 5-fish bag before the next midnight.
Michael fished hard Thursday night into Friday's wee hours, and had to release 2- or 3-dozen nursery trout that live here.
I'm not sure if we put a fish on the stringer Thursday night - bait under the lights was pretty sparse.

The house is located where the barge channel and natural arroyo diverge to opposite ends of Peyton Bay on LLM.
Friday we launched kayaks - I turtled getting in, but it was easy enough to get back in pushing off the bulkhead.

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We crossed the barge channel to fish the natural arroyo, found small specs on the first shelf, and Michael chased a slashing redfish against the bank.
Otherwise, it was a great paddle.
I overheard Lou and Michael chasing a wayward popping cork charged with a catch. Michael said he spent more than a few casts trying to snag it.

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When I drifted to it, snagged it with a double-treble plug on the 5th cast - but it turned out to be a hardhead.

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Lou's wife Susie flew into Harlingen Friday night, and Friday night was going to make up for the previous 24 hours.
Michael warming up at sunset.

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Susie and Lou added fish to Friday night's stringer, and I got up later to add four, but Michael's trip was made by this 21" male schoolie trout.

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While I added those four specs, my evening was made by an 18" snook caught (and released) on my UL baitcaster.

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This stringer became Saturday's fish fry - Susie is a phenomenal cook, and chases the rest of us out of the kitchen.

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These were caught on a mix of live shrimp, 2" tandem, 2" UL plug, and this half-ounce 3" Tackle House Rolling Bait, which let me sample deep, and was my best lure for this trip.

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Michael stayed for the fish fry, and a few more casts before heading home Saturday evening.
Everything came together Saturday night.
The bait was thick under our light - every time your line moved by the dock, 100 glass minnows jumped into the air.

Lou and I went into the evening with my single and his 3-fish remaining bag limits.
After I put my last on the stringer, I realized after casting out another shrimp, I should be done until midnight. Saturday was also my mom's birthday, and yes, I called her.
Hey Lou, if I hook up, you take the rod. Sure enough, I did, he did, and together we landed a 22" schoolie male.
Taking this one home for Mom - she loves those big trout.

It got better into the evening and after midnight.
Susie landed her lifetime schoolie spec, 24.5 inches - on XUL, and two 50-yd runs.
Guys, this was a male trout, and rare enough, the state keeps a 28" record male speckled trout.

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The fishing was good into the wee hours, and our Saturday night stringer included the biggest and thickest male schoolies we've ever caught here - 16" to 25"

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and every one a male - proof Susie's 25" trout was a schoolie male.

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First thing in the morning, the pelicans lined up for our filleted carcasses. One wise old brown didn't want the carcasses, only the rib trim.

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I think I slept most of Sunday day, while Susie enchanted the most phenomenal Waygu beef pot roast that melted in our mouths.
But before dinner, I was having fun yet with a small sunset snook.

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Lou and I agreed we would not fish past midnight, but finish our Sunday limits (1 and 2) and sleep to prepare for the pack out.
We were done by 10:30, Lou added a thick 19" stud, and I added 4 fish tacos to our ice water bowl.
We fished with good company.

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packing out Monday morning - we'll see you next year, old friend

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on the drive home, I made the good call to swing across SH 44 through Robstown and down to Water Street for lunch at Thai Spice - this only added 20 miles to our drive.
I had the shrimp and flounder

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I think my friends got tired of hearing me purr.

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December new moon was one for the books.
Last edited by Ron Mc on Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mike N
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Re: Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

Post by Mike N »

Heck, I pay for Sporting Classics magazine and the articles and photos aren’t half as good. Thanks for posting.

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Ron Mc
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Re: Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

Post by Ron Mc »

thank you Mike - just got back last night and it was too cold to wash my boat today until afternoon

Yesterday driving home, we hit the front about halfway home. But it's still stalling before getting all the way south to Arroyo.
We can't stay away in the winter and, apparently, neither can the fish.

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Paul Roberts
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Re: Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

Post by Paul Roberts »

Awesome outing! Great write up and pics. Thanks for taking us along.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

Post by Ron Mc »

Thanks Paul, I can only show about a third of the fun.
Susie also made a peach + blackberry cobbler that was to die for.

When Lou took off to pick up Susie at Harlingen AP, Michael and I had our required meal at Chili Willie's, the one and only pretty-damn-great restaurant in Arroyo City.
Their fried food is first rate, their onion rings a food group, and burgers among the top five I've had in Texas.
Michael had the fried shrimp basket (and onion rings) - I had to eat burger, since I eat about 3 a year on fishing trips.

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But at the table next to us, the waiter placed a mountain of fried fish, french fries and onion rings.
We learned this was their catch cooked up in Willie's kitchen.

I'll also add about Jerry's bait shop across the street - they sell Abuelita's homemade tamales - she was also running the grill and part time on the bait tanks. Unfortunately, they sold out when the lodge bought 12 dozen, and we only got two dozen for our arrival meal at the dock. I told Michael these would be the best tamales he's ever tried. After he ate his fill, he told me these were the best tamales he's ever tried...

Also should mention, part of our enjoyment were the families across the arroyo at the lodge docks, with the kids catching and hooting all night, catching and hooting all day.
At the lower end of the lodge bulkhead, fishing the wild arroyo bank, one kid was hauling up flounder after flounder during the day - and of course releasing them - TX flounder fishery was closed Nov 1 - Dec 14

Not Chili Willie's, this is Susie's cooking
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I'm going to add here that the Arroyo is the most successful conservation project in Texas.
When my dad and I ran up from S. Padre in the '90s to fish Green Island, terrible brown tides came out of the arroyo and polluted large areas of the LLM flats. They were caused by fertilizer run-off from citrus and sugar cane farming, combined with the tidal zone reflux.

In 2005, they began a project to save the arroyo. On maps and from the air, you see large tile fields along the arroyo from Mission to Laguna Atascosa. The tiles hold the agriculture run-off, and allow the nitrogen to evaporate before discharge into the Arroyo. All the land you can see here that's not cultivated is in Laguna Atascosa NWR, with a population of 35 ocelots.

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Our house, btw, is across the arroyo from where the natural channel and the barge channel diverge - it's forth to the left from the vacant lot.
The road ends at Tomae county park, with RV hook-ups, great facilities, and two lighted tee-piers for night fishing.

my lifetime spec, 27", came from the slope of the Green island flounder hole.
But I lost one that was 30" or more when we made the paddle to Rattlesnake Bay 5 years ago.
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Natural history - 10,000 years ago, the arroyo was the main channel of the Rio Grande, before the main channel moved 17 mi south. Now it's part of the delta, from Mission to Lower Laguna Madre. They dredged the barge channel from ICW to Port Harlingen. Port Harlingen is more than triple the distance that we were to LLM. The tidal boundary extends above the Port Harlingen turning basin. Where we were at, the incoming tide reverses the arroyo flow, and that's always when the fishing peaked.
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Re: Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

Post by Paul Roberts »

Wonderful resources and history you are a part of there. The convoluted estuary looks amazing. Wonderful quality experiences you are taking part in there.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

Post by Ron Mc »

Thanks Paul.
Arroyo fishing is a winter phenomenon - it's way too hot to be there most of the year.
The Texas coast is the ultimate place to own a kayak. The coast is lined with barrier islands, and there are 15,000 sq-mi less than 2' deep.
This was a February trip to the Estes tide passes - wading a shoal and catching fish from the deeper cut (Traylor Is.)
That's actually not the mainland you see behind Steve, but Talley Island, bracketing the flat and Trout Bayou - it's another mile beyond to the mainland.
Behind the camera is big Aransas Bay, 6 miles away to San Jose barrier island, with its own network of sloughs and salt lakes.
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Re: Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

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Wonderful land and water scape! We fishers are lucky souls aren’t we.
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Re: Arroyo docks Dec 2 to 5

Post by Ron Mc »

Thank you Paul.
Talking about my salt finesse tackle, I've mentioned Arroyo is the first-best place to use it, and the 2nd-best place is in the tide passes on Estes flats.
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btw, a baitcaster that will send 1/16 oz to 140' is crazy fun
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The second place is our most common kayak drill, since it's a 3-hr drive from home, very fishy, we know the water well over the major seasonal tide swings - even storm tides - and where to set up drifts on varying wind direction.
We mix up drifting the flats during low water movement, with wading the beach and shoals in the passes timed with good moving current.
Just above, Steve is wading the center shoal in Little Cut on a past Feb day.
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We use the tide and weather links to plan trips, and Steve has a dearth of personal days, because of surgery last fall.
Trying to plan around 3-day weekends, President's day weekend was neap tides - two tides in the same day, which equals no water movement. However, MLK-day weekend shows big tide swings with perfect timing and, on paper, tides that could duplicate this day last Feb with Donny, when we paddled across 300 redfish inside the cut, and between us released 45 redfish. viewtopic.php?t=23849
Unfortunately, weather link shows a northern blow coming in all day Saturday, but recovering quickly. Both weather and tide are perfect on Sunday. So Steve, Josh and I are planning a day trip just to fish Sunday's tide - will report later.
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