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Since moving to Galveston last October, I have only a barely legal flounder to show for all of my many efforts around Offatts. Nothing else, even hardheads. Not one other a bite. Skunked time after time! Wading or yaking; it doesn't matter. Moody's point or the airport or off Sportsman; it doesn't matter. Corkies or Gulp or popping corks or spec rigs; it doesn't matter. Even live shrimp or piggy perch; it still doesn't matter.
Naturally this lack of success is driving me crazy. Well, crazier: I've long said the definition of crazy is to keep going the same thing over and over expecting a different result.
It's really getting me down. I only go out now for the exercise, not expecting any excitement. I used to get so excited about catching little schoolies on Virginia lakes, that I couldn't sleep the night before. Now? I've got to set an alarm, then talk myself into getting up. Yet I still start fresh each time, attacking as if the fish WILL bite this time.
But it's as if I'm cursed. My old car, upon which I lash my kayak, has a dead-battery problem. Oh, it cranks okay -- until I want to go fishing. The last time that happened I hefted the yak atop little my Honda Fit, something I promised my wife Ellen I wouldn't do. I use two foam rubber 4by4 "logs" fore and aft with tie-downs, and didn't like how it made the roof sag, but it worked to get to Sportsman. I did put a tarp in the back to keep wet gear from contaminating the interior, but -- as she says -- stink is stink. So I'm going to trade in our battery-challenged old car for a pickup, when there's money that is.
Anyway, my apartment complex, Parc at Marina Landing on the water next to Moody's, disgustingly is completely fencing off the waterfront. The ability to launch my kayak just a few feet from my door is why I chose this place. This angers me, but it really only shuts off the point that sticks out from the Colonel. So now we need to move!
My only solace to this losing streak is the fact that nobody else, as best I could tell, was catching anything out of Offatts. At least when I'm there. As I try to make sense of all of this, I look for clues. Two weeks ago, there allegedly was a lack of live shrimp in all the bait shops on 61st Street. I was told it was because there hadn't been enough rain and the water was too salty for the shrimp. Perhaps that kept the Reds and Specs where the shrimp are. Is that true about the lack of shrimp? Any thoughts on salinity?
But my point in writing all of this is that, while giving up on Offatts for now, where should my little "clown car" transport my kayak for a chance at streak-breaking success?
You know, ever since fighting Reds at Corpus a couple decades ago, I've longed to hook into something that makes my reel sing, something that will put up a fight. Only the biggest of bass ever do that. The one lone flounder I caught sure didn't. I would greatly appreciate some advice to end this run of bad luck. Thanks in advance.
Oh, I did get our other kayak back -- the lone bright spot in all of this. Several years ago for Fathers' Day my wife got me a K-Mart $200 "Blue Light Special" 8-foot Calypso, which I customized with a hatch (for a battery) and a sonar unit. My gear and I were too heavy for it, defeating the scuppers, and "Bluey" was unstable in wind. So I got a 12-footer and gave her Bluey. But it was stolen our first night in Galveston when we were unable to fit it into our box-filled apartment. The other day, though, while driving around I saw a blue Calypso -- with a hatch -- on an apartment balcony. Looking closer, I spotted the holes where I'd put the fishfinder, so I called Police and got it back.
Naturally this lack of success is driving me crazy. Well, crazier: I've long said the definition of crazy is to keep going the same thing over and over expecting a different result.
It's really getting me down. I only go out now for the exercise, not expecting any excitement. I used to get so excited about catching little schoolies on Virginia lakes, that I couldn't sleep the night before. Now? I've got to set an alarm, then talk myself into getting up. Yet I still start fresh each time, attacking as if the fish WILL bite this time.
But it's as if I'm cursed. My old car, upon which I lash my kayak, has a dead-battery problem. Oh, it cranks okay -- until I want to go fishing. The last time that happened I hefted the yak atop little my Honda Fit, something I promised my wife Ellen I wouldn't do. I use two foam rubber 4by4 "logs" fore and aft with tie-downs, and didn't like how it made the roof sag, but it worked to get to Sportsman. I did put a tarp in the back to keep wet gear from contaminating the interior, but -- as she says -- stink is stink. So I'm going to trade in our battery-challenged old car for a pickup, when there's money that is.
Anyway, my apartment complex, Parc at Marina Landing on the water next to Moody's, disgustingly is completely fencing off the waterfront. The ability to launch my kayak just a few feet from my door is why I chose this place. This angers me, but it really only shuts off the point that sticks out from the Colonel. So now we need to move!
My only solace to this losing streak is the fact that nobody else, as best I could tell, was catching anything out of Offatts. At least when I'm there. As I try to make sense of all of this, I look for clues. Two weeks ago, there allegedly was a lack of live shrimp in all the bait shops on 61st Street. I was told it was because there hadn't been enough rain and the water was too salty for the shrimp. Perhaps that kept the Reds and Specs where the shrimp are. Is that true about the lack of shrimp? Any thoughts on salinity?
But my point in writing all of this is that, while giving up on Offatts for now, where should my little "clown car" transport my kayak for a chance at streak-breaking success?
You know, ever since fighting Reds at Corpus a couple decades ago, I've longed to hook into something that makes my reel sing, something that will put up a fight. Only the biggest of bass ever do that. The one lone flounder I caught sure didn't. I would greatly appreciate some advice to end this run of bad luck. Thanks in advance.
Oh, I did get our other kayak back -- the lone bright spot in all of this. Several years ago for Fathers' Day my wife got me a K-Mart $200 "Blue Light Special" 8-foot Calypso, which I customized with a hatch (for a battery) and a sonar unit. My gear and I were too heavy for it, defeating the scuppers, and "Bluey" was unstable in wind. So I got a 12-footer and gave her Bluey. But it was stolen our first night in Galveston when we were unable to fit it into our box-filled apartment. The other day, though, while driving around I saw a blue Calypso -- with a hatch -- on an apartment balcony. Looking closer, I spotted the holes where I'd put the fishfinder, so I called Police and got it back.
always the %$%^ wind), while it might not be the best idea according to those of the school of thought that you should grind out an area till you can catch fish there. And Im sure some have probably told you this before but check out going with a guide. Anyways just my 2 cents, keep at it, and if you ever see a orange jackson cuda 12 on a old black 4runner stop on by
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