Emerald Anniversary Assertions

Once a month, for the last twenty years, I've submitted a written article to this magazine. For nearly a decade now, I've also compiled the Fishing Reports and Forecasts section in each issue, conversing or otherwise communicating with professional anglers from one end of the Texas coast to the other. Through these processes and from these people, I've learned many things about saltwater fishing over the years.

In April of 1998, when I sent my first article to Gene Baker, then-owner of Gulf Coast Connections, I created the document on a typewriter, using those little pieces of white tape to correct any mistakes I made in execution, then folded the 8.5” x 11” paper into an envelope and mailed it to him via snail-mail. Those facts seem almost comical today; so many things have changed since the calendar figuratively leaped from an old millennium into the new.

In the last days of the twentieth century, the internet had only recently appeared on the scene.At the time, no one fully appreciated the influences the worldwide web would have on the Texas coastal fishing community. People had no smart phones back then; most of us still used dumb gadgets tethered to a wall by a wire. GPS technology did exist, but I didn't have a unit on the helm of my boat, nor did many of my fishing buddies. We navigated by compass, with maps, memory and wits as our guides.

The carbureted outboard motors we used in those days spit and sputtered every morning when we turned the ignition key to start our day. We often had to choke and restart them several times before leaving the dock. Today's motors crank instantly and purr smoothly, without all the hassles and manipulation.

No one had ever heard of a Power Pole in 1998; now, most of us have one or two mounted on the transom, whether we prefer wading or fishing from the boat, recognizing the ways the devices facilitate our efforts and make our lives easier. We've experienced a similar evolution in the rods, reels and lines we use. Today's rigs weigh a mere fraction of what they did twenty years ago, and they provide more sensitivity to detect strikes and to maintain control over the lures we throw.

Overall, we've experienced mostly positive changes in our fishing lives since I started publishing my thoughts and ideas on the pages of this rag. But taking the time to think about the sport as thoroughly as I have for such a long time leads me to conclude some things really don't change. In essence, some truths related to coastal fishing remain the same, specifically those determining how the activity ideally fits into a generally busy lifestyle.

Best I can tell, most people who truly incorporate coastal angling into a healthy and rewarding lifestyle fully understand (either consciously or sub-consciously) three basic concepts. The first relates to their ability to clearly identify personal priorities related to the endeavor. This mantra affects not only to coastal fishing, but to any aspect of life worth pursuing. Self-help mentor Tony Robbins perhaps stated it best: “In order to get what you want, you must first identify exactly what you want.”

This assertion rings true in relation to coastal fishing because saltwater anglers can enjoy the sport in many different ways, at many different levels. Some prefer making forays to the edge of the ocean without a boat, backing a truck up to the water, casting out some kind of live or dead bait and waiting for any fish to swim by and start a fight. Others prefer wading into the water and chunking lures, preferring the challenges inherent to the attempt to draw strikes from predatory species.

Still others use boats to venture into relatively deep, open areas of the bays to target multiple species of schooling fish, while another group prefers targeting trophy trout by wading with artificial lures in remote, shallow portions of the estuaries. Among these folks, a percentage participate in tournaments on a regular or semi-regular basis, testing their skills against a corps of accomplished angling celebrities.

An activity which appeals to one angler, elevating their enjoyment of the sport, might ruin the endeavor for another. At one end of the spectrum, some view all fishing as a purely casual activity, one which provides escape from the house and from the workaday life, for relaxation.At the other end of the spectrum, serious anglers pursue the sport fanatically and/or professionally, competing with others either to achieve goals or earn money, or both. Between these two extremes stand a variety of other people, with lesser or greater degrees of seriousness underlying their motivations.

Some prefer to fish alone, perhaps at night instead of during the day. Others enjoy taking their friends and family along. Some relish the food-gathering aspect of the mission; for them, chasing working birds provides an appealing dual mix of anticipation and satisfaction in the end. For another group, catch and release angling makes much more sense; they enjoy the sport of angling and don't really like eating fish anyway, so they'd rather not make a mess for themselves at a cleaning table.

The variety of options available to coastal anglers motivates some to pursue many different types of outings and multiple species as the temperatures, tides and seasons evolve. Less versatile folks pursue the same species every time out, some chasing redfish in clear water, looking for sight-casting opportunities on shallow flats, others hoping to tangle with a monster trout on every trip they take.

Whether versatile or single-minded, whether serious or not, people who benefit most from participating in the sport of coastal angling share an important trait—they honestly understand exactly what they want to gain from the activity. Beyond this, they also resemble each other in a second key way. All of them have useful knowledge of the areas or bays in which they spend their time.

Of course, for casual anglers, this aspect proves pretty simple. These folks know where they can park the truck or boat and get maximum benefit for their purposes. The beach or shoreline might provide an ideal surface for the kids to frolic and play. The shallow cove or lake might allow one to anchor the boat out of the wind and avoid passing traffic, providing the desired combination of peace and quiet. Even for these folks, understanding how various weather and tidal elements influence these factors becomes important, since a shoreline providing protection from onshore winds can become wrecked after a frontal passage.

More serious-minded anglers surely benefit from extensive knowledge of the areas in which they make their efforts. They work to learn which parts of which bodies of water offer prime potential in various seasons, and with specific weather elements in play. For people in this category, fishing is fun, but catching is more fun. For some, catching big fish is more fun than catching small ones. In order to achieve consistent success and derive maximum benefits from their time out on the water, they study the topography of the bays thoroughly, including how different parts are affected by tides, winds and weather.

Obviously, serious-minded anglers adjust the timing of their outings to coincide with perceived high potential for catching fish. This might mean fishing from late-afternoon into the first hours of night, getting up early and catching the moonset before sunrise, making a trek out to the Boat Cut in the middle of a summer afternoon to catch a turning tide, or hunkering down in the lee of a protected shoreline and grinding through a frontal passage. Hard-core anglers often adjust their schedules to place priority on the timing of their outings.

Casual anglers benefit from a different mindset, heading out at the most convenient times, cutting sessions short as soon as their motivation wanes. They go when they can and remain only as long as their enthusiasm sustains them. Once the play starts to feel like work, they pull the plug and move on to some other activity, since they have no serious purpose in mind anyway. In part, this chasm between the serious and the casual starts and ends with the types of equipment they purchase, maintain, carry and use.

People who most consistently enjoy coastal angling acquire specific types of equipment and learn and refine special techniques which consistently provide them the highest payoff, given the priorities they've established. For the most casual-minded anglers, this might mean a cooler which keeps the beer cold longer, a more comfortable folding chair and a rod-holder designed to keep the line tight for them. For the really serious crowd, it means many different things to different people, depending on their specific priorities.

Boating anglers can program smart trolling motors to keep the boat in place while they cast at a visible target, or seek out specific lenses on their sunglasses to facilitate their efforts. Some focus on learning how to read the water, recognizing subtle signs which indicate the presence of schools of trout or redfish, while others use their feet to inspect the bottom of the bays, gaining intimate knowledge of subtle drop-offs and places where the consistency of the bottom changes. Some learn the details related to how best to hook a baitfish on a certain kind of hook to allow it to live longer and attract a predator, while others tweak the presentations made with floating plugs designed to trick a fish into taking a bite.

Regardless of their level of sophistication, seriousness or commitment to a single way of doing things, coastal anglers who extract maximum benefits from spending time at the edge, on or in the water, share these basic traits. They know exactly what they want to get out of the activity, they know when and where to try their luck at the given moment, they carry the right equipment to get the job done and they know how to use what they carry to maximize the potential for a positive outcome.