Bruce Shuler has fished these waters for more than 50 years and says he has never seen so many crabs and shrimp. “The trout and redfish are as fat and healthy as I’ve ever seen,” he said. His only concern was the loss of eel grass in some of his favorite areas. “I’d say we’ve lost 60 percent of the eel grass between Port Mansfield and the Arroyo along the west side. I’m hoping it has a chance to bounce back before the winds kick up this spring. If not, the water could get really off color and further slow the return of grass by blocking out the sunlight.” Capt. Mike McBride echoed Bruce’s sentiments regarding the bait situation, “Everywhere you look there are crabs. I’ve never seen it like this. Throughout the fall there were enormous schools of shrimp. We would wade into them and they would erupt from the water all around us,” he recalled. He even noted that the crabs are so thick they’re attacking lures. “The dang things have torn up five of my Corkies and last week I hung one on a topwater.” McBride has been taking Dr. Greg Stunz and other biologists from the Harte Research Institute out into the bay for an unrelated trout research pro-
ject. While out there, the biologists have also been checking on the grass situation and are finding that although the tops of the grasses are gone, the root systems have remained viable. The eel grass may take a while to return, but they are already seeing signs of the shoal grass coming back strong.
To a man, everyone I spoke with was looking forward to some stellar spring and summer fishing.
Further south, Capt. Ernest Cisneros was very optimistic as well. While the period immediately following the flood created some tough fishing, the fall and winter fishing has been fantastic. Cisneros stated that the water around Port Isabel started clearing up in November and the baitfish population exploded. The trout, reds and snook responded by going on a serious feed-
ing spree. All of the fish he has been catching are heavy for their length and in his mind this bodes well for 2011. Capt. Rick Hartman loves to key in
on redfish but has noted a decline in the numbers of podding reds keying on the shrimp migrations over the past few years.
“The shrimp just haven’t been there, but now they are. I think we’re going to see some incredible schooling activity this spring,” he said. To a man, everyone I spoke with was looking forward to some stellar spring and summer fishing. Given the amount of available forage, the fish should be heavier than normal and fairly easy to locate. I certainly hope so, as I would love nothing more than to add a few new chapters to my memo- rable trips to the Mother Lagoon.
Captain Scott Null grew up fishing and hunting the bays and marshes of the Galveston Bay complex and has been a member of CCA since its inception. After a long career in the Houston Police Depart- ment as a homicide investigator, he retired to pursue his passion for the outdoors through writing, photography and guiding.
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