Report submitted by 'Oz'

PINS Cold Water Surf Report Padre Island National Seashore, TX January 7-8th, 2009 Tweet

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Rocked down the beach with brother Tibs hoping for some cold water action. Our plan was to meet up with Chris and try to catch some big baits offshore then rig up and deploy for the night. Upon hitting the beach, the wind was very light, and seas were flattened by the NW wind. There was a slight bite in the air which was fixing to warm up but still fairly cool. Water temp was a very cool 58 degrees, but nice and clear.

After picking up some breakfast tacos at Stripes and fueling up, we were on the beach by 9am. Chris was already down the beach hopefully getting into something. We finally make it down south hoping the water was warmer but it wasn't. We finally catch up with Chris and he is in the inflatable offshore. Tibs and I head out the the yaks trying for anything and while we did get fish, it was very slow as a result of the cold water. We make it back to the beach and fish the rest of the afternoon nailing grander Whiting which we rig up for a possible Sandbar. Later in the afternoon the winds die, but still lags a chill in the air.

We organize and get baits out. Chris had a tasty frozen Jack and our fresh baits are mixed within a nicely executed spread. All we can do is wait.

Meanwhile, I begin casting baits out in a deep wade gut with the tide high. I immediately nail a super fatty tournament contending slot red. Fish gets put on ice and we bang out more grander Whiting in the mix. I throw cut Whiting out and before I get the rod in the rod holder I'm hooked up on a better fish. After a few minutes, I have a very healthy 45" Red on the beach.

We settle down for a bit and Chris cooks up some world class beach food and we enjoy over a comfortable campfire. About an hour or two later one of the 12/0's gets hit. Its one of Chris' Jacks. He hops up and fish on!

After a few minutes Chris gets in a 7' 1" healthy Female Sandbar. A couple of pics and she is released and swims off into the cold abyss.

Another hour or so elapses and Chris' 9/0 goes off. The bait is dropped and we leave it. Come the morning we bring in all the baits, and nearly all have been hit. A couple big sharks have inspected, but many smaller ones such as the pesky Sharpnose.

The morning is very pristine. Calm, a bit warmer, with clear water. Interestingly enough aside from the small sharks, things are slow.

I head out in the yak taking a rod to try for some pomps. It was certainly a most beautiful day.

The Pompano bite surprising wasn't on either, so headed out deep to check on a big bait. Ended up taking a pic of the scenery as I am about to head in.

We mess around catching grander Whiting in the afternoon as the activity would indeed pick up. Tibs managed to catch the first Pomp of the trip, but its fate was sealed as is thrown into the hour old bait tank ;) Whiting would be held there until I rigged my secret Sandbar concoction.

The afternoon remained incredible weatherwise. It was still cool, but much warmer that previously been. Nature decided to come hang out at the camp and interact with us (but i'm sure is was mainly due to the free finger mullet).

Chris has to take off and my brother and I duke it out for the night. We have 5 baits out and we feel confident with our chances.

We begin to get back into the Red action. The first one now joins the few grander Whiting in the fish hold.

Shortly after Tibs gets a slot Red, no need to over-populate the aquarium so this baby goes on Ice.

After a couple hours one of my Whiting combos gets picked up and the weight pulled free. Its obvious it is something small but I have to bring it in. It ends up to be a 50" Blacknose.

The next hour or two would be interesting as we would have a couple good baits picked up, then lines twisted/tangled in each other. We brought the lines in being picked up/dropped/picked up randomly throughout the retrieve. When we finally get the cluster cleared, we bring in both baits and both are demolished. Unfortunately nothing hooked up, but the fish are there. We have two rods left, one the rockstar-Whiting tube-eel on the 50w and Whiting on Tibs 4/0, both we figured been picked clean by the small sharks. Around 4am the Avet gets bumped and I think nothing of it and go back to sleep. About 30 min later bumped again and weight is pulled free. I decide to bring it in thinking it is something small and as I get it closer to the first bar it becomes a little stubborn. I beach it and wake Tibs up to tell him we have a Sandy on the beach.

A couple quick pics and the fat female Sandbar is released. Excited, we debate on running baits out, but it is still cold, and surf picked up slightly. We end up going back to sleep. About an hour later, the 4/0 we forgot about gets picked up and results in a good run. I wake Tibs up and he hops up on the platform. After a short fight, he gets in a super green cold water Blacktip.

Shark is released and we have all our lines in. We go back to sleep until the morning when the winds pick up, and so do we. We call it a trip and head off the beach.

It was a very interesting and for the most part productive trip. Unfortunately the random Texas winter for this year has and is playing a big role in the fishing. One day it will be near 80 deg and the next day it may not get out of the 40's. When a weather pattern like this persists, it is real difficult to find the fish, and if you do, much of the time they are not feeding. It is essential to have some sort of stabilized weather in order to be productive and this quick window allowed us to take advantage of it. Weather outlook doesn't look good as another front is coming through right now, and two more on the way. Oh well, at least it gives our fishery a break.

Regardless, it was fun to get out on the beach with my bro and always great to fish with Chris.

Til next time, see ya on the beach.

- Oz

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