Just Another Day in Paradise

Well, I've spent the last week and a few days roaming around south Florida doing some kayak fishing. The Everglades were beautiful as usual and Captain Charles Wright is still in charge of that wonderful backcountry paradise for kayakers. The gators along Highway 41 were enjoying the warm mid-day sun. And the tarpon at Robbie's were eating out of the hands of the tourists. Just another day in paradise.

Tonight I'm sitting on Little Torch Key at the edge of the water looking across Pine Channel. I thought maybe I'd have a few rum drinks and get a little Papa Hemmingway going for this month's story, but alas the fishing on the full moon has been a bit tough and the weather hasn't exactly cooperated either. So, there really hasn't been much in the way of epic fishing adventures to talk about. We've caught plenty of fish and had a wonderful trip, but the fishing has been secondary to just being here.

What has blown me away about this place is the richness of life on the bottoms of these flats throughout the Keys. It is absolutely incredible. Everywhere you look there is some sort of grass or other vegetation as well as sponges, corrals, and sea anemones. I've been to many places in the southern latitudes and nothing I've seen has compared to this place in bio-diversity. I spent a couple hours either side of noon today just drifting along with my polarized sunglasses on staring at the bottom. I saw the familiar tropical species of fish and invertebrates and many more that I had no idea what they were. The lush stands of eel grass stretch for miles looking like an underwater St. Augustine lawn.

All of this got me to thinking about my home waters of Galveston Bay. I sure wish we could have just a fraction of the bottom life that makes the Keys so special. I know that isn't a possibility due to the limitations of climate and other factors, but I do believe it can be better than what we currently have. Luckily we have people like Bob Stokes and Vanessa Mintzer working to get things done through the Galveston Bay Foundation.

The Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF) was established in 1987. Their stated mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the natural resources of the Galveston Bay estuarine system, and its tributaries, for present users and for posterity. These are worthy goals when you consider that Galveston Bay is home to the third largest port in the United States, is bordered by the fourth largest city in the U. S., and has more than half of the country's petro-chemical plants along its shores and tributaries. When you think about it in those terms it seems a miracle that there is any life left in this bay. Yet she stands strong as one of the most productive estuaries in the world. Pretty amazing.

And the coolest part in all of this is that you can help. The Galveston Bay Foundation is always looking for new members, volunteers, and monetary contributions. It doesn't require a huge commitment of your time or money to make a difference.

For example, a couple weeks ago I went along to see the seeds of an idea come to fruition in the kayak community. Mike Morosko runs a kayak tournament series in the Galveston area known as The Stars and Stripes. The series has been running for two years and has grown in popularity to the point that Mike wanted to give something back. He came up with the idea of a pro-am tournament in which some of the more successful tournament anglers would pair up with some less experienced kayakers. The proceeds would then go to a local charity. Quite a few of the "pros" stepped up to volunteer and it appeared that there were plenty of "ams" eager to participate. The only thing needed now was a beneficiary. I had some limited interaction with the GBF previously and suggested that Mike might want to contact them. It was a perfect match and everything got to rolling along.

On September 16th, the first Stars & Stripes Charity Pro-Am took place. The event was hosted by Fishing Tackle Unlimited in conjunction with a kayak demo day weekend at the store. FTU upped the ante by providing a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 160i as a raffle prize.

Eleven pros and thirty-three amateurs teamed up for some serious fishing. Okay some of the teams weren't as serious as others, but they all had fun. In the end, the team of Jim, Josh, and Will led by Jason Bryant was victorious. Their two redfish totaled just over 9 lbs. Good enough to earn the amateurs some nice paddles from Adventure Technologies (AT Paddles).

The following day Mike and his crew fried up all of the tournament fish and sold plates at the demo day event. Between the raffle, entry fees, and fish fry; almost $1400 was raised for the Galveston Bay Foundation's sea grass restoration project.

Fast forward to October 29^th. Not only did the tournament raise money for the project, but a good many of the participants also volunteered to help plant cord grasses in an area of the Pierce Marsh off of Highland Bayou. This marsh has been under an intense restoration program for several years and is a shining example of what can be accomplished in other areas.

The morning started with a trip to the Eco-Center near Baytown. This is where the grasses are raised in shallow ponds. Did I mention they're mud-bottomed ponds much like our upper coastal marshes? The volunteers soon found out just how muddy as they harvested the clumps of grass and placed them into huge buckets to be transported out to the restoration area. An hour or so of hard labor yielded fifteen tubs of grass that were then trailed to the boat ramp at Highland Bayou. Randall Hill volunteered not only his time, but also the use of his brand new boat to motor the tubs out to the chosen location.

The rest of the crew brought their favorite kayaks and set off on what turned out to be quite an adventure. The tide was blown out from the norther that had come through a couple days earlier. This left the mud flats nearly exposed and cut off any hopes of paddling all the way to the planting area. We stopped on a levee about 300 yards from where Randall and Bob Stokes were off-loading the tubs of grass. It looked like an easy walk from there, but it turned out to be one of the most hilarious sights I've witnessed in quite some time. Adults and kids were crawling, sloshing, sinking, and sort of swimming across nearly waist deep mud. Every single one of them had a smile on their face and a great attitude.

In the end the group planted sprigs along a levee/island for several hundred yards, thus setting the stage for a bright future in this healthy and diverse marsh. All around us were levees in various states of growth from previous plantings. It was very encouraging to know that this type of work is taking place and to know that there are hundreds of others volunteering to make the bay system a better place.

Thank you to all who participated whether you simply bought a raffle ticket, led a team of amateurs, or slugged your way through one helluva mud pit. There are simply too many people to mention and I know I'd miss someone. Suffice to say, you are all winners in my book. Again, thank you.