LIP GRIPPER
Lone star state? PHOTO: AARON REED
PUT-INS
The Arroyo Colorado requires a little effort to access. Paddlers can use several unimproved public launch sites on the freshwater segment of the river in the cities of Harlingen and McAllen, as well as boat ramps in Rio Hondo and Adolph Thomae Jr. County Park. The edge of the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge anchors a long stretch of the tidal segment.
[FISH ING HOLE ] TEXAS TARPON AND SNOOK I
t doesn’t look so good on paper. The Arroyo Colorado’s headwaters, near Mission in Hi- dalgo County, Texas, stream from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. The last 22 miles flow through a dredged barge canal into the Laguna Madre about midway between Port Mansfield and Port Isabel. Along the way, this ancient channel of the Rio Grande carries irrigation returns, more wastewater and natural drainage from over 700 square miles of the Nueces-Rio Grande Coastal Basin. The first surprise is that the little river exists
at all. The second is that a stream listed as “im- paired” by the Environmental Protection Agen- cy is a surprisingly beautiful haven for rare birds and other wildlife, including tarpon and snook.
ARROYO COLORADO RIVER HOSTS TROPICAL FISHERY BY AARON REED
“It’s probably the closest thing we have to a tropical, riverine snook and tarpon area, where you have heavily vegetated shorelines with a mix of woody plants and the water drops off pretty quickly,” Capt. Eric Glass of the South Texas Fly Fishing Company says. “We’ve had days where we’ve hooked 18 tar- pon in a morning.” Efren Salazar, an ACA-certified paddling instructor, owns South Padre Island Kayak and frequently leads day trips on the stream. “It’s a completely different environment from anything else we have in South Tex- as,” he says. “Some stretches of the river have zero visible development, and the high banks always give us an option to get out of the wind.”
Jaime J. Flores works as coordinator for the Arroyo Colorado Watershed Protection Partnership. An avid angler who says his pri- mary motivation is protecting a way of life he loves, Flores says there is reason for hope when it comes to the health of the little river. The voluntary partnership encompasses state and federal agencies, cities and towns, farmers, birders and academics. It’s focused on upgrading antiquated wastewater treat- ment plants, introducing integrated pest management and modern soil conservation practices in agriculture, and improving storm water runoff filtering from the area’s boom- ing cities. “We’re not seeing a continued degrada- tion in water quality,” Flores says. “We’re not seeing these bacterial levels continue to rise as we have been. So we do see progress being made. And we’re looking at different, alternative methods to treat the water in place. We have a project right now to put some solar-powered circulators up in the Port of Harlingen.”
In Flores’ eyes—and many scientists agree—the health of the Lower Laguna Madre, the most productive red drum and spotted sea trout fishery in Texas, is inti- mately linked to the health of its singular source of freshwater inflows. “If the Arroyo is impaired, that means the bay is impaired. It will be the Arroyo sick first, and then the bay will be sick,” he says. “If we can do something here, we can do the same thing all up and down the Gulf Coast.”
SUPERCHARGE YOUR PLASTICS READER TIP SEND YOUR READER TIP TO
editor@kayakanglermag.com
Scents appeal. PHOTO: JOSE CHAVEZ
22 …KAYAK ANGLER SUMMER/FALL 2011
TRICKS FOR SQUEEZING OUT A SLOW-DAY STRIKE BY JOSE CHAVEZ
On days strikes are few and far between, a few simple adjustments to a plastic bait can make all the difference. Add a small glass rattle; it’s a head- turner, attracting attention to the offering. Liquid scents entice fish to follow the lure. Get that follower to bite by downsizing the leader, reducing the chance of a last-second refusal.
PHOTO: KENDAL LARSON
PHOTO: KENDAL LARSON
PHOTO: AARON REED
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