Rollin’ With the Changes…Relearning Fishing Areas

When we look at something every day we sometimes fail to notice subtle changes that others who have been absent for long periods see as glaring differences. Several examples come to mind: A relative or friend comes over to visit and says, “Wow! I can’t believe how much your daughter has grown!” Or, “Man, Steve! You’ve gained some weight!”

I recently had a client who hadn’t fished with me in a while make some comments about a particular area where we started our first wade of the morning. “Are you sure this is that cove we used to fish? Man! It sure doesn’t even look the same. I thought it was narrower than this. And where’s all the seagrass that used to cover the bottom?”

It got me to thinking about all of the little changes over time that continuously alter the characteristics of our shorelines, islands, reefs and sandbars and how we’ve had to adjust our strategies to effectively fish such areas. It’s funny how we don’t even notice the adjustments we make because they take place in such small increments over weeks, months, and even years, but someone who hasn’t visited our bays in a long time is visibly shocked by what they see.

Getting back to this particular cove; we used to anchor out on the northeast point and then wade through the grass-lined, silty bottom to get to the back. We would then methodically fish our way back toward the mouth, which was narrow at the time. The entire time we’d fan our casts while keying on a flipping mullet or two. Over the years erosion has not only widened the cove but the seagrass-lined bottom is now pretty firm sand void of vegetation. The point where I used to anchor my boat is now a sandbar that juts out into the bay and has actually become one of my favorite late-winter through early-summer spots, especially on windier days. 

Like many other coves and small peninsulas that line our shorelines, erosion and habitat loss have significantly altered the contour as well as the water depths in and around the coves. These changes have caused us to entirely change our approach.  We now wade more out in front instead of fishing the very back because this is where the wave and tidal action tends to push bait and subsequently trout along the outside drop-off of the sandbar. Like any stretch of shoreline I always try to focus on where the ripples along the shallowest parts lie and the direction of the current. In most cases the fish will be on the windward side. Wind and/or current-induced streaks of muddy water will typically show me the outline of the bar.

There are some coves that have actually gotten deeper to the point where they are now too deep to wade, even on an average tide. One in particular is Dana Cove on the south shoreline of West Galveston Bay. I caught (and released) one of my best stringers (for Galveston Bay) of trout in the back southeast corner of this cove in March of 2004 while prefishing for a tournament. There were two subtle troughs that intersected in that corner and there was a tiny patch of oyster reef there. That was the sweet spot. 

I caught ten trout ranging from 5-½ to almost 8 pounds on the trusty Paul Brown Original Corky in the pearl/chartreuse pattern. It’s hard to believe that was more than eighteen years ago. Silt from Hurricane Ike buried that little reef in September of 2008.  In addition, natural erosion and nearby erosion control projects, mainly in the form of breakwaters (revetment rocks), along with the overall loss of shoreline spartina (cord grass), have resulted in a deeper and wider cove.

As with all of the areas we fish that have undergone such transformations we tend to be initially disappointed because of the changes. Then, we force ourselves to relearn how to fish those areas and begin to realize that there are new sweet spots. In this case, because of the increased water depth, we target the back of this particular cove along with the eastern and western edges nowadays. While it’ll never seem to be as good as it once was it’s good enough for the time being. By “good enough” I’m mainly referring to the overall quality of trout compared to what we caught in years past.

Wave action is the main culprit when it comes to shoreline erosion. Waves hitting vertical surfaces reflect (bounce back) with most of their energy. Waves that wash over shallow reefs or sandbars first lose a lot of their energy, thus causing less erosion over a longer period of time. Wave energy is controlled by certain factors that are fairly obvious. Most of them are naturally occurring with the exception of tanker and container ship wakes. Wakes from barge traffic along the Intracoastal Waterway should also be included. The distance the wind blows (fetch), the wind speed, the length of time it blows, and the water depth all figure into the shoreline erosion equation. 

While most of the shoreline erosion projects seem to be beneficial, some can actually contribute to opposite shoreline erosion due to the eccentric reflection of wave energy.  Trying to prevent changes created by Mother Nature that have a negative impact is not always easy and it damn sure isn’t perfect. I applaud all the government and non-government organizations as well as the many volunteers involved for their efforts in trying to slow what is a natural process.

Many of the islands we used to wade are now reefs and sandbars. Some examples include Bull Shoals (aka Bull Hill), Mosquito Island, Shell Island and Dickinson Reef.  Hodges and Little Hodges over in Trinity Bay are a couple more that come to mind. All of these spots still produce fish but wading opportunity has become very limited compared to years past. The current sweet spots on all of them seem to be where the deepest drop-offs occur. Because of this, drifting is sometimes more effective if the wind allows. 

As we’ve seen the natural and man-induced changes take place in the areas mentioned, other projects have been constructed and rebuilt. The revetment Marsh Island project on the Trinity Bay side of the Houston Ship Channel was built several years ago and offers some great summertime fishing near the rocks and along the sandy-bottomed drop-offs on the east and west sides. Redfish Island is another area that has been rebuilt. The nooks and crannies along with the reefs on the west side of the rocks are excellent target areas especially during the late summer months. Evia Island (aka Bird Island) in East Galveston Bay is another man-made island that produces good results at times.

The power of the water is incredible. Naturally-occurring phenomena such as tropical storms, hurricanes, and longshore currents transport sand and silt to and from beaches, estuaries, and wetlands that causes constant erosion as well as attrition, not to mention habitat changes. In addition, ship traffic, barge traffic, and overall human activity as the population along the Texas Coast increases, further accelerates the process. 

Along Galveston Island, sand is mostly transported to the west but the natural longshore drift has been altered by rock groins that extend offshore of the seawall. The groins were built to trap sand moving within the longshore drift system and to slow the rate of beach erosion. They have also slowed the rate of sand delivery to beaches west of the Galveston Seawall. Most of the sand eroded from Galveston beaches is transported westward and ultimately ends up in the San Luis Pass tidal delta. The beachside as well as the bayside of San Luis Pass undergo constant fluctuation for this reason: (Anderson, John B.  2007. “The Formation and Future of the Upper Texas Coast”)

Deepening and widening of the Houston Ship Channel along with construction of the Texas City Dike, construction of the North and South Jetties as well as rock groins along our beaches have all altered the transportation routes for sand and affected the hydrology and salinity balance of Galveston Bay. The jury is still out on the closure of Rollover Pass. Only time will tell.