Last Saturday we had an interesting fishing trip. There were reports of lots of redfish at the Port Aransas jetties. Scott(702), his daughter Megan, Scott C., and myself went out in Scott's boat. We went around the end of the north jetty. There were a lot of boats there. We anchored up about one hundred feet from the jetty. Scott C. snagged a ladyfish with a lure. We used a piece of that for cut bait. We had three lines out. One was offshore tackle and two had a bay setup. Scott C. was using a bay rig for casting lures. Of course, a big fish hit the smallest rod and reel with twelve pound line. Scott gave it to Megan and she held on until she said,"Take it back. This is too much." When it got close enough we saw we had a Ling. This is unheard of to be in this close to shore. Ling are one of the most prized fish for table fare. They have to be 37" or more to keep them. This one was about 45" and full grown. Scott kept it on for about 10 minutes until it came to the boat. The rod was shaped like the letter 'U'. I got the gaff in the water, but the fish decided it was not yet ready. Another 10 minutes brought it back to the boat. Scott C. reached the gaff under the fish and yanked hard. The fish was jerked up into the air and splashed back down without the gaff in it. The fish headed straight down and under the boat. Another 2 minutes later and SNAP. The line had become frayed from going over the rod eyelets and broke just in front of the reel. Too bad. My record is intact. I have never seen anyone land a Ling.
We then headed into the gulf and trolled ribbon fish for several hours and never got a bite. We came back in and fished for reds in Sailboat Pass. Nothing was there and we came back in. Later that evening the guests in 207 came back in with a whole mess of reds. They said they were also in the Gulf, but came back in at sunset and stopped at the jetties again. The reds were everywhere and very hungry. It's all in the timing.

Rob finished up this condo remodel in the 100 building this week. He has this remodel business down to a science. After doing so many, he can knock them out in no time. There are over 80% of the condos now remodeled.
Rob also found time to come to the rescue on my condo this week. When I had the upstairs tub replaced eighteen months ago, Rob was in California so I had to have someone else do the work. Last week one of my family members took a bath upstairs and the water came down through the ceiling in the den area and down the wall. Rob came over and checked it out. The plumber had installed the overflow gasket upside down and it could not seal. Rob replaced the gasket and had Carlos come in to repair the den ceiling. We had some high school classmates coming in this weekend and Carlos finished just in time.


This deck on the bayside shows what happens when folks do some grilling on the deck. The burned spot is about dinner plate size. It could have been much worse. We used to have signs on the outside closet doors that prohibited open fires on the decks. Those are now all gone, but really need to reinstalled. Maybe that is why smoke detectors were such an urgent matter a couple of weeks ago.
I believe the onsite rental office rental agreement mentions the prohibition of fires on the deck, but there are three other management companies with condos under management and they may not include this warning.

Kevin(501) sent these pictures of the smokehouse that he and his dad built near Harper, Texas. When I look at these I seem to have the strong smell of delicious pork roast in my nostrils.

The new fish cleaning stand on the new pier now has a sprayer to rinse the fish and board. This has to be the fanciest sprayer on any fish cleaning stand in Texas. Rob said it goes back to his restaurant days. There is no water cut off on the pier so if anyone decides they need this sprayer more than we do, they will at least get very wet.

I had to include this photo because if you weren't here yesterday you really missed a chamber of commerce day. The water was clean and beautiful. The fishing was not so great however. I put two perch on each of two rods and put them out behind the condo in the morning. I pulled them up in the late afternoon and the perch were just as perky as when I put them out.

Blog Stats

Blog Stats

To see part of the information that Google sends to me every Monday. Click on the link above. It's pretty interesting. This does not include information that I get about activity from other states. Notice there were 103 unique visitors to the blog last week.

One owner found a way to deal with the finger pier tie up cleats. I don't leave my boat in the water very often and don't have to deal with problem. Many guests leave their boats in the water the whole week they are here. I've posted pictures before of boaters using two slips to tie up one boat. I would hope we could get this issue resolved soon, but I know we are woefully over budget already.
Yesterday morning the whole complex reeked of diesel fuel. When I checked it out, I saw that the flower beds had been sprayed with diesel to kill the weeks. This was probably to save money on Roundup, but not environmentally very responsible. I always disagree when the board jokes about using the "tried and true method" of pouring bleach on the cut ant mounds. Of course, I guess when we flush the swimming pool chlorine gets into the ground water then too. However, the cut ants always seem to pop again anyway.

Pat Vonasek(former owner of 306) and son, EZ, came by for a visit this weekend. Here EZ shows the nice trout he caught at the "pipe". We picked up one other keeper which was better than it has been. EZ caught his on a cocohoe and the other was caught on a DOA shrimp. It was great to visit with Pat and EZ again. Sisters, Anna, Brenna, and Beth did not come down this time. EZ had dad all to himself this weekend.
The red fishing in the mitigation site has slowed considerably. I did not see a keeper caught in the last six days. This morning Scott C. had a big red on a gold spoon, but it got away. There was a strong smell of a trout slick over the marina this morning. A trout slick smells like cantaloupe or cucumber. They result when trout go into an eating frenzy and regurgitate so they can eat some more.
Back to the two trout, when I filleted the two, they were both badly infested with parasitic worms. I have rarely seen this and then it has usually been associated with warmer waters. I wonder if this may have anything to do with the dearth of keeper trout in the bay.

Above is the flyer about our owners' fishing tournament. You will probably have to double click on the image to enlarge it to be able to read it.
Christie Jacobus has volunteered to coordinate the pot luck festivities on Saturday evening.

Austin public schools had a student holiday last Monday. Pat's(602) son, Rodger and his children Patrick and Elizabeth got to stay at the condos an extra day. Here the kids stand atop their vehicle to replace the basketball net that had worn out and been missing for the last three months. Now all we need is a free throw line!
The rim that we are using was given to me in 1968 when I worked for the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department. The San Antonio ISD had replaced the ones in the Fox Tech High School gym and I used this old one at the rec center on a homemade backboard like this one. I used it at home while my boys were young. This is a really high mileage rim when it comes to the number of basketballs that have passed through it. This was made before breakaway rims came into style.

The weekend guests in 207 picked up these nice reds this afternoon at the end of the south jetty. They had five more on the cleaning table. This is another example of why we need a "Kontiki" display board to show off catches like this.

Concrete bags have been placed near the channel wall to try to stop the erosion. The grass did not work well in this area. It looks like the bags will be covered over and grass replanted. (If the picture of this doesn't appear quickly, click in the middle of the blank area and it should appear.) Don't ask me why!
The official notice of the Phase I owners' meeting arrived in the mail today. It will be held on Sunday, November 8th at 12:30 pm. Scott(702) and others are trying to arrange a fishing tournament for the Saturday before the meeting day with a pot luck dinner to follow in the evening.

The monthly HOA financial information arrived in the mail today. There was still no notice of an owners' meeting. Recently, the meetings have been on the second Saturday in November. This year it may be on the second Sunday. The financial report shows that for the first three quarters of the year we are $405,533.60 over budget. That works out to about 357% over budget. I don't know if the problem is with the budget makers or the budget spenders. I guess we will find out when we meet.
The talk is still about the redfish fishing. The fishing guide report link at the top of this page will take you to what the guides are saying. They all agree the reds are everywhere. The mitigation site remains a hot spot. Scott C. fishes before he punches in for work. Monday he caught three reds. Tuesday one red and one keeper trout and today one red. Things could be slowing down. Bev and Joe Fischer(guests) came back for three days and did well again. The first day they caught three reds and two drum and the next two reds. One of the reds that was 26 inches had a queen cocohoe in the belly. It was plum and yellow with a swivel and about one inch of line. The hook point was rusted about two millimeters. I'm sure it was from about two weeks ago when folks were using those lures a lot. I tried my luck with a perch yesterday and got broke off under the pier. I'm still watching for the cork to come back up. This afternoon I saw two porpoises tearing it up in the marina. One was right behind the boat ramp. They may have spooked the reds for a short while.
I heard from a winter Texan today that had booked the unit they usually stay in and it has sold. The new owner does not want to rent monthly. I'm sure Jayme can work it out. Justin Martin, front desk, will be leaving soon to go to Australia for a year. He just got back from a short stay there.
The AEP rep came by to read the electrical meters yesterday. We can expect bills soon.
Rob is finishing the remodels in 103 and 305 this week. He will start another in the one hundred building and one in the six hundred building very soon. Rob is going to place an order soon for some more sliding glass door replacements. The glass in mine is fine, but the frame is about corroded away. I may need to put my order in.
Scott C. was busy repainting some skirting and railing today. Some he was able to bleach white that was stained. That white paint is going to take more maintenance than the natural look that we had. He is going to have to work on the washout of the sand near the Phase I pier. Grass was planted, but is washing out. I believe some concrete bags will be used to fill in the washout.
I've been shopping around for an outside AC unit. Mine is only seven years old, but the coils are corroded away. I found I can get a three ton Weather King installed for $1,250. The prices always get lower in the fall. It may be a good time to buy one as the R-22 refrigerant is being phased out and the newer R-410A is being brought on line. The R-410A operates at a much higher pressure and when a new condenser unit is needed, the inside unit must also be replaced.

Two loads of soil were brought in and spread near the concrete slab edge of the entrance. Esperanzas were planted to add a little color to Phase II.

What is this? This is what washed up in the boat ramp today. It is what is left of the bird nesting box that I built about twelve years ago. I stood on the bow of my boat and lag bolted it to the top of the post in the middle of the marina. I never saw birds nest in it, but the gulls, pelicans, and herons really liked to roost on it. It would be nice to put up some dowel rods on the this post and provide perches for our feathered friends. The post is probably about rotted off and should be removed. There used to be a post just to the west of this one and it rotted off about six years ago.

I just watched the Phillies rally with two outs in the ninth to beat the Dodgers. I think we have two very happy owners from the 500 building. They just realized on Sunday that they are both from Philadelphia. Of course, the Eagles lost on Sunday so I guess things even out.
Welcome to new owners Jim and Jeannine Vater of Spicewood, Texas. Jim was here this weekend and they will both be here this Thursday. I've heard from a number of owners who will be here tomorrow and more during the week.
I've been asked about the red tide. It started in South Padre early last week and moved up the coastline during week. The local newscasts showed miles of beach littered with dead fish. It had reached the Port Aransas jetties by Thursday evening. Later that night a norther blew through and sent the red tide back south and dissipated most of it. We had no problems here and expect none.
We got the golf cart out of the shop last Thursday and it seems to working fine. It needed a couple of batteries and minor work.
The new phone books arrived in the mail today.
The reds in the mitigation site remain very active. Scott Culberson caught three this morning before he punched in to work. Other folks caught several more during the day. They are hitting lures as well as shrimp and mullet.
Glen Huckabee and wife came in last Thursday to catch a few of the drum and reds and gave it a good go. Glen had a mishap when his cell phone fell out of this pocket in to the water. Sunday morning, Colson, Randy's(308) grandson,told me he found a phone in the water. I'm sure it's Glen's, but when I call the number I have for Glen, I get no answer. I wonder why that could be. The Huckabee family had checked out before I could show him the phone, although the phone is history.
Scott(702) and I spent three hours on Saturday and six hours on Sunday searching for trout. We tried Carlos Bay, Mesquite Bay, Ayers Reef, Sundown Bay, Long Reef, Paul's Mott, the "pipe" and everything in between. We mostly used DOA shrimp. We totaled five undersized trout, three gafftop, and three hardheads. We saw no feeding birds, one crabtrap line in Sundown Bay, no shrimp boats, and over all very little aquatic life in the bays.

Jim Canuteson(210) shows the red snappers that he and his sons caught this summer. His son, Wade, is next to Jim and Weston on the right.
Scott(702) has suggested that we put up a sign that displays "KONTIKI" that can be used to hang and display catches such as this. It would be good for PR and would make for good photos.
Marv and Rita departed back to Houston yesterday. They had planned to stay their usual one month, but decided to go back after two weeks.

I haven't been able to fish much lately with all the Columbus Day crowd gathered around the mitigation site. This evening I put a small mullet on the hook about 10:30 pm. The mullet treaded water for about 10 minutes and then this 26 inch rotund red ambushed him. The red was particularly heavy and large in girth.
I went by Sears today since it just reopened. All the inventory is new. The ceiling was replaced and floor recovered. The Malathion spray had covered everything.
More condos are coming to closing. Welcome to the new owners of 207, the Biggs family from Fulshear, Texas. Also, the Tahmoressi family from Dripping Springs who have purchased 407. The Granheim family and Mary Duprey have purchased condo 707.

Pete and Joyce(710) show that the reds are still in the mitigation site. Here they have a 22.5 inch red and one black drum drum.
The HOA golf cart is still in the shop.
The calico cat had four kittens last week. Keith and Sandra(508) took her home for the births. Two kittens were yellow, one black, and one calico. It looks like the yellow and black tom cats here are going to have to pull extra rodent duty while the calico is laid up. Keith said he is going to have the calico spayed and bring her back occasionally to visit the Kontiki grounds and her friends.

This is a good update on Cedar Bayou that appeared in the Rockport Pilot this weekend.

Heavy hitters throw support behind Cedar Bayou permitBy: NORMA MARTINEZ, Managing Editor
Published:
Friday, October 9, 2009 12:10 PM CDT
The future of Cedar Bayou could be known in as little as four weeks now that a representative from the Corps of Engineers has met with officials from 18 agencies regarding the status of the permit application for dredging of that bayou.

It was a meeting some said would never happen, but County Judge C.H. “Burt” Mills persisted and with a little help from Austin brought together 30 individuals to discuss the issue.

The judge originally hosted a meeting on Aug. 21 to determine where the process stood at that point, and if there is anything he or others could do to expedite the process.

At that time, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials were in attendance, but no one from the Army Corps of Engineers (COE), the agency who determines if the permit will be approved, was present.

Mills explained after that meeting, he then called State Rep. Todd Hunter’s office in Austin. Hunter’s administrative assistant Bech Bruun then began making telephone calls and the end result was the Friday, Oct. 2 meeting in Rockport.

Those who attended, listed by who they represent, are as follows:

Aransas County - Mills, commissioner Charles Smith, and county attorney Richard Bianchi.

Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies - Megan Reece (Corpus Christi), and Greg Stunz (TAMUCC).

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) - Pat Clements, Dawn Whitehead and Allan M. Strand (ecological services, Corpus Christi), Tom Stehn and Dan Alonso (Aransas National Wildlife Refuge), Denise Ruffino.

General Land Office - Rene Garcia (Corpus Christi), Rene Truan and Trace Finley (Austin).

COE - Casey Cutler (Galveston).

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul’s office - Jackie Gloor (Victoria).

CCA Texas - Bobby Byers (executive director of Houston).

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) - John Trevino and David Galindo (Austin).

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s office - Jesse Hereford (San Antonio).

Save Cedar Bayou Inc. (SCBI) - Lynn and Bobby Edwards.

TPWD - Leslie Williams, Paul Silva, Rebecca Hensley and Mike Ray (Austin).

Coast and Harbor Engineering Inc. - Josh Carter.

State Rep. Todd Hunter.

Office of Gov. Rick Perry - Tobey Baker.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s office - J. Hugh (San Antonio).

Blanton & Associates - Carlos Swanke.

Mills said he opened the meeting by stating he is behind this project, and asking, “Where are we in the permit process, where is the hold up, and how can we speed it up.”

A few of the agencies present, including the TPWD and USFWS, are responsible for providing input to the COE to determine if the permit for dredging should be approved.

Hunter began by asking, “Why is Cedar Bayou not open today?” When no response was given, he said it appears then, everyone agrees it should be open.

Mills said they addressed GLO representatives noting Commissioner Jerry Patterson has already stated he is ready to sign off on the permit. Representatives present reaffirmed that comment.

TCEQ representatives said that agency is on board.

USFWS representatives said they do have concerns about environmental issues, but said those issues may be addressed in the latest file.

TPWD officials expressed concern for seagrass.

Representatives from Paul’s, Hutchison’s, and Cornyn’s offices all expressed support for the project. Cornyn’s representative said he and Hutchison’s representatives will be looking into the matter further, and could seek federal funds.

Cutler, the only COE representative present, stated the applicant has “thrown down the hammer,” and demanded an answer.

The applicant, SCBI, is headed by the Edwardses who have been working on the permit for about seven years.

Cutler said the file is extensive, possibly the largest in COE history, and is now being reviewed.

He also stated a decision will be known in the next four to six weeks. Cutler’s statement regarding when a decision will be reached is the the first time such a comment has been made from anyone at the COE.

Mills said when the meeting began, it was somber as local officials made it clear they wanted answers.

By the end of the meeting, officials from different agencies were speaking to each other. B. Edwards said, “The light got brighter at the end of the tunnel.”

Mills and the Edwardses agreed it was an unprecedented meeting, noting the COE never attends such meetings.

Mills said his hat is off to Hunter and Bruun for getting all those officials from all the agencies in the same room.

The representative from Cornyn’s office told Mills they were unaware Aransas County was having these problems with the COE.

State and federal officials are now going to be watching the COE and waiting for an answer.

They won’t be waiting quietly, however, as Hunter told those present he is going to stay involved with the permit application and will keep Mills up to date on its progress.

Aransas County officials, as well as SCBI representatives (the Edwardses) have been watching the COE over the last seven years waiting for an answer. B. Edwards said with state officials now involved in the process, “the eyes of Texas are upon” both the COE and TPWD, and an answer is expected.

Christy Aguirre and some of her friends and sister, Sarah came in for the weekend. They found the fishing from the crossbridge is still quite good. Here Christy, her son Nick, and friends Caitlin and Nina show their catch. They caught two keeper reds and two mangrove snappers. I filleted the catch for them.
The Seafair crowd was large despite the weather which has not been too great.
Another open house is scheduled for this afternoon, but I understand only 503 is without a contract to purchase.
Electrical work was done this week. The tennis court now has 7 of 8 lights working for the first time in years. An electrical outlet was mounted on the security light post near the boat parking. This allows boat owners to charge their trolling motor batteries during the night. There had been one there for years, but it had been converted for use with the security cameras.

This is a picture of the 29 and 1/2 inch red that Daisy Lee caught in the mitigation site last week.


Here Daisy's son in law Frank Haring shows the 26 and 1/2 red caught the same day.
I keep referring to the mitigation site and I'm hearing that not everyone knows what I'm talking about. The mitigation site is the area of shallow water between the entrance road and the crosspier from the end of the 600 building to the boat ramp. It was developed as a protected area as required by the General Land Office when the bulkhead was built in 1985 behind the bayside condos. The permit to build the bulkhead required that since shoreline was being taken up by the construction of the bulkhead, new area had to be set aside and developed for fish habitat. We were even required to plant a given amount of Cordgrass and maintain the grass for aquatic species. That is the reason the "No Castnets" signs are posted.
There are two twelve inch pipes under the entrance road that allow interchange between the water in the mitigation site and the pond on HEB property to the north of the entrance road. Most times the pipes are not carrying water and seem blocked, but when enough hydraulic pressure is present, they open and flow freely. This flow seems to coincide with fish activity, as there is now, in the mitigation site.
I guess there is no restriction on fishing the mitigation site because game wardens frequent the area and voice no concern.

This 36 inch red was recently caught by Andrew Levi and Jeanette Musacchio while fishing with guide Terry Coufal. The one that I caught about the same date while fishing off the back wall was larger, but I didn't get as good a picture as this. Now I see why. It takes two people to hold up a fish as big as this.

The seasonal high tides along with high winds have combined to significantly erode the HEB beach as well as the area near our entrance road. Conceivably, the beach could reach our roadway in the very near future. We don't own this area and can do little to stop the erosion. Richy has asked Rob to give him a price to put shoregurad in to stop the progress of the erosion since it is encroaching on his property. The problem is that once the land is gone, it belongs to the state. The whole area has eroded faster this year than I have ever seen it. I don't see how this could be related to our breakwater, but we will have to have a survey next year to access the impact of the breakwater. If the General Land Office deems that the breakwater is causing a problem, we may have to take corrective action.
The fishing around the mitigation site pond remains brisk, to say the least. This weekend produced an unusually high number of guests and everyone seemed to want to try the mitigation site. I didn't even try because it was so crowded. Pop noted that even the rains didn't deter the activity. He had to keep the traffic moving on the entrance road as vehicles stopped to fish from the road because the crosspier was too crowded. Someone caught a number of reds with a plum and yellow cocohoe lure and suddenly that was the lure de jure. I went out last evening and watched two fellows pull in a red and a flounder on the lures. We have a number of monthly and weekly guests right now so I guess the pressure will continue on the reds and drum in the site.
I had a chance to visit with the Torres family on Sunday. They were driving through to see all the changes. They sold their unit(307) to the Killingsworth's family in the summer of '92. We shared stories of how things used to be then.
I still have heard no word on the date for the annual owners' meeting.