Coastal Bend channel cats afford big-time fun
If the wind had picked up only a few more miles an hour, we’d have given it a name. As it was, we had already selected a few names for it anyway, none of which are printable here.
But that’s just part of Coastal Bend fishing. Just like the upper and lower Laguna Madres, wind is a near-constant factor, and virtually year-round. At 15 or less, it’s no big problem, thanks to the region’s barrier islands. At 35, with white, parallel foam lines tracing the direction on the frothy flats surface, it’s just too much.
Unless, that is, you have a fix on one of the Coastal Bend region’s many brackish-water creeks, places where wind is a mere nuisance and the fishing goes on. So it was last with with Capt. Frank Houser, a 3-decade-plus veteran of the area and a guy who has forgotten more about it than most will ever know.
Houser knew of a narrow and winding creek that led to quality catfish waters, so we loaded up in a borrowed 21-foot Carolina Skiff from Houser’s friend Capt. Chris Fortin and set out up an area creek … one in which the water got more brackish and fresh with every foot travelled upcurrent.
I fished the Black Salty baitfish, and took the biggest channel cat of the day (big live bait, big fish, and all that). Houser used dead shrimp, and Houston-area photographer Mark Hall of CoastalPhotos.net split the difference. The fishing was a blast. Those channels were a vibrant hue of goldish yellow like nothing I had ever seen, and they were feisty as all get-out.
They are also great fall-back options for days like last Wednesday, when the wind was squalling like a scalded cat.
Aside from that, the abundance of shorebirds, and the steady –running series of dewberry vines dripping down the creek banks provided some great “cake icing” options.
Trips up Coastal Bend brackish-water creeks and sloughs are extremely unique, and provide a fresh break from the everyday routine. The same can be said for fishing with Houser.
To book an outing with him, call Houser on his cell at 361-361-229-2527. Check the Web at www.rockportfishingcharters.com, and send email to captfrank@usawide.net.
Tell him I sent you. Hopefully, he won’t hold that against you.
Good fishing …
Boz
Howdy. I am 
