Tournament Fishing: Texas Style

Everything is bigger in Texas and this includes fishing tournaments. With more than 367 miles of coastline on the Gulf of Mexico and along the famed Laguna Madre with charters running from Galveston to Corpus Christi and all the way south to the Mexican border in San Isabel, Texas can satisfy your need for deep or near-shore saltwater fishing.

One of the largest tournaments, the Texas Star State of Texas Angler’s Rodeo run by the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) lasts a solid three months. This tournament with more than 45,000 participants is unusual in that tagged species of fish are specifically released throughout the coast for the purpose of the tournament. Registered participants have the entire summer to reel in those tagged reds and trout. Successful anglers can reel in their share for more than $1 million in prizes and scholarships. ccatexas.org, startournament.org

Chandeleur Island Fishing off Mississippi Motherships. Photo: Troy Gilbert

Down the coast in Matagorda, the Matagorda Bluewater Challenge is another monster multiple species tournament with boats allowed to leave from several ports. The tournament also includes a small boat (under 25 feet) class. The big action is offshore where winners are decided over the combined weight of multiple and specific species hauled in. This two-day event brings out the Who’s Who of Texas fishing and novices who charter vessels with groups of friends and try their luck at bringing in the largest kingfish, ling, and dolphin. Winning isn’t everything, but two days spent offshore is a perfect recreational investment for men, women, and children.

Not to be outdone and celebrating its 19^th anniversary on the legendary Louisiana barrier island of Grand Isle, the Swollfest Fishing Rodeo kicks off June 8-12. Headquartered at the Sand Dollar Marina on the easternmost reach of Grand Isle, this event has exploded from its humble beginnings as a group of eight guys going out fishing one weekend to one of the largest fishing rodeos in Louisiana.

With world-class offshore and inshore fishing throughout the waters of Louisiana, Swollfest was among the early to recognize and adopt the growing trend in spear and kayak fishing and have adopted them as classes alongside the standard fishing rodeo classes. Kayak fishing is ideal in these estuaries of southeast Louisiana with kayaks able to navigate all of the shallow coastal marsh and find those hidden and previously unreachable honey spots.

Located at the edge of Barataria and Caminada Bay and the deep-water oil platforms of the Gulf of Mexico that serve as incredible artificial reef habitats, Grand Isle is known for hosting multiple world-class fishing events. The species of fish from the multiple habitats are far too numerous to list, but there is a definitive reason why southern Louisiana is known as the “Sportsman’s Paradise.”

By Harlen Leslie, Southern Boating Magazine April 2016

The south Texas coast launches a new draw for curious cruisers.

The Laguna Madre is an unheralded and stunning cruising ground running along most of the 367 miles of Texas’ coastline. Lined with barrier islands, the vast stretch from Corpus Christi south to the Mexican border is a postcard of undeveloped dunes and massive cattle ranches such as the enormous and legendary King Ranch. Best known as a Spring Break destination, South Padre Island and Port Isabel are frequented by cruisers in the know, but now they are primed to become a cruising destination for something unexpected—rocket launches.

Cruisers on the east coasts of Florida and Virginia have long understood the cruising appeal of anchoring in the designated locations for rocket or (in the past) space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida, or the Wallops Island facility in Virginia. However, Texas billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX Corporation is constructing the first commercial orbital spaceport immediately south of Padre Island and Port Isabel and is expected to become operational in 2016. Local government officials are already in the planning phases to upgrade coastal parks and other viewing areas, including new boat ramps and mooring areas.

Located only 500 feet from the Boca Chica Beach on the Laguna Madre and the Gulf of Mexico, the site was originally a finalist for the Apollo moon launches before NASA selected Cape Canaveral in Florida. Only a few miles to the north, South Padre Island and the waterfront restaurants of Port Isabel will all see a boon to tourism as the launches will be easily visible from their decks, waterfront parks and campgrounds.

This past October, a wayward sailboat forced the scrubbing of an Antares rocket launch from
a NASA facility in coastal Virginia and the rocket subsequently exploded during the launch the next day. This boat violated the serious boating restrictions in place in the shadow of the launch trajectory, and while having no direct or indirect effect on the loss of the rocket, it makes the point of how serious NASA or private space corporations’ safety and security precautions are, and undoubtedly they will be in place in south Texas.

Rocket launches have always been a major draw for the curious and the enthusiasts with RV parks, motels and highways crowded with sightseers, but cruising down the pristine Laguna Madre in your Hatteras or Beneteau will be an ideal way to escape the traffic and congestion. Anchoring and grilling offshore with friends and family is one of the great boating experiences. Add to that the awe and anticipation of watching (and feeling) a heavy rocket launch or resupply missions to the International Space Station only brings the added depth of witnessing space exploration while conducting your own cruising explorations into new territory.

By Harlen Leslie, Southern Boating February 2015

Zebra mussels invade Texas

Invasive species are a very real threat and a menace to natural ecosystems across the planet, and the lionfish is one that has garnered a lot of public and media attention as of late. However, a new foreign scourge is rampaging through the lakes of Texas and has forced strict new boating and fishing guidelines in an effort to halt its spread.

The zebra mussel was imported from its natural Eurasian habitat into the Great Lakes around 1988 and has since spread rapidly down through the Mississippi waterway. Preferring still or slow moving bodies of water, their larvae can be easily transferred via rivers, bait wells or bilges and survive in this stage for up to 30 days and allows their population to multiply aggressively.

With colonies large and concentrated enough to actually sink buoys with their weight over time, the Zebra Mussels adhere themselves to keels, boat trailers, pilings—basically any solid structure under water. Very difficult to remove from even the hull of a boat, the mussels can damage or block any water system on a vessel including heads, air conditioners and engine cooling systems. On a larger scale, the mussel colonies are specifically wreaking havoc with drainage, irrigation, cooling supplies for power plants, and pipes for local water supplies. The colonies bloom out and adhere to each other and block these larger water intake and discharge systems similar to blocked arteries. The environmental damage to local ecosystems is also radical, with entire populations of fish dying off due to the large colonies of mussels’ ability to alter the temperature of lakes via their natural filtration of the water columns.

One of the many efforts the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are using to control the Zebra mussels. Photo credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.

Already discovered in Lake Texoma, Lewisville Lake, Lake Belton, and multiple others across Texas, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department began enforcing new regulations that went into effect over the summer. Applying to flatboats, skiboats, personal watercraft, sailboats, kayaks/canoes or any vessel of any size—whether powered or not—owners must now flush and clean all livewells, bilges, motors or any other item or machine that comes into contact with public waters, a good boating habit to begin with.

With their larvae capable of transiting in any standing water from one lake to another, cruisers are now the first line of defense in staving off infestation between bodies of water throughout the country. Already discovered in California and even Utah with recreational boats the likely transportation, cruisers throughout the South must become vigilant or the millions of dollars already being spent throughout the Great Lakes region on removal and eradication will surely arrive on lakes across the Gulf Coast—along with higher boating fees necessary to pay for the damage.

By Harlen Leslie, Southern Boating October 2014