The dove with the nest under the roof of the fish cleaning stand has hatched one chick, but I don't believe the other egg is going to hatch.
Work began today on the irrigation project to automate the watering system.
I did notice on Saturday a "For Sale" sign has been posted in 101 and in 404.
Scott sent this note about the work that Maria is doing with the rentals.
I met Maria for the first time this past weekend. She works at the rental office by Phase II for Lynda Bohn. I met Maria when she was on her way to visit with a renter that had an issue they wanted to talk to her about. I was immediately impressed by her attention to detail and passion to make sure all of the tasks are completed correctly. She was busy all weekend conveying expectations to renters as they checked-in, checking vehicles for hangtags, promptly addressing any renter complaints and making certain that the rights of renters as well as owners were respected. It is very comforting to know that she is keeping an eye on things. With Maria "at the wheel" I am confident that all parties' interests will be protected. Thank you Maria for all of your hard work!

Larry Rabe worked last week on replacing more of the rotted window trim. He's made a lot of progress, but there is still plenty to go.
The relentless spring winds gave us a one day respite last Thursday. It was a great day on the water. Larry used this as his day off and fished the Mud Island area. I took Murlin(506) and Marv(guest in 307) out for a five hour trip. It's not two often I get to take two guys out that were born two decades before myself! We had a great time and caught a few fish. Marv used live shrimp and Murlin and I used lures. I used my favorite DOA shrimp. We tried Scotch Tom Reef first and caught only undersized trout. We then went to Mock Reef and I lost a big trout as it saw the landing net and decided not to stay around any longer. We moved to the pipe and I did land one keeper there. We were catching a lot of gafftop and finally kept two. We then went to marker 20 and Marv got a keeper trout there. That evening I took some gafftop to Alice Faye's to have it cooked. Anyone who throws back gafftop has not tried it fried the way Alice Faye's does it. It was great.
Speaking of eating, there is a new sign in front of the old Chili's that announces the opening soon of a K-Bob's Steakhouse. They will get some of my money.
An owners' meeting has been called for June 12th to decide what type of new roof will be installed to replace our hail damaged roof. Several options are being considered, everything from tile to metal to something like we have, but with more color. I'll be in San Antonio that weekend, but it only takes 16 for a quorum of our HOA members.

I had about given up on the Purple Martins this year when two pair began taking up residence in this house. These are about two months late. It could be a case of their previous house having been destroyed in the storm two weeks ago. Sometimes this happens after the martins have started nesting and they have to relocate quickly in order to have time to complete the nesting cycle.

I'm a little behind on this post. This was last Friday a week ago at the start of the Texas Legacy fishing tournament. The large tent was put in on Friday morning.

The tent was put up in just a matter of minutes.

On Saturday morning 22 guides were engaged to find the fish. This was Saturday afternoon as they came in for the weighin.

The guides' boats can be seen lined up along the entrance road as they await their turn.

Most that I talked to said the fishing was not that great, but from the looks of all the fish remains that washed up in the boat ramp Sunday morning, it must not have been all that bad. With the prevailing south winds, the fish that are cleaned at the gazebo cleaning stand always seem to find their way into the boat ramp.

Pat(602) sent this picture today. I thought he was going to say that he had shark trouble since a couple of these fish seem to cut in half!

All 14 before 10.am. dry line moved in at ten and they shut down. Croakers

David(205) is replacing both sliding glass doors and as well as his windows. I'll be interested to see if his place becomes more energy efficient. It should. Adding to the efficiency would be the AC unit. It's been struggling alone with two service calls the last month and yesterday, to resolve the issue, they took out the coils and cleaned them so his place should be set to go for the summer heat.
Long Nguyen has installed four used pier posts around the old gas well pipe in the marina. The plans are to put some kind of bird attracting structure here.

The dove still waits patiently for her eggs to hatch. All the fish cleaning activity this weekend did not bother her. Of course, while I was taking this picture my always alert watchful grackle was monitoring my activity and sounding the alarm for other avian species. He still watches my front door faithfully and follows my every move. I wonder if he dreams about following me in his dreams.

Some of the salvaged materials from the old pier are being used to add additional fishing opportunities as well as a place to just kick back on the crossbridge. It will be trapezoidal in shape with a base of 40 feet and the other base 20 feet. The width will be 10 feet.

Jeannine(401) sent this note about their fishing success last weekend.

Jim and I were at Kontiki this past weekend. Jim went out with a friend on Saturday and caught a 23 inch redfish on artificials. We both went out with guide Ray Burdette on Sunday, and I caught my first redfish. It was 29 1/2 inches (had to tag it). It was slow all morning, until this one took the bait (live croaker). Right after this, I caught a trout and Jim pulled in a flounder. I made crab-stuffed flounder Monday night - yum.
Jim may not have noticed that a Eurasian Collared Dove has decided to nest in the netting under the roof of the fish cleaning stand just over his right shoulder.

These doves are very prolific and as soon as the babies have fledged, another batch of eggs is laid in the old nest with a minimum of cleanup and renovation.

I want to show what I think is a great idea. Notice the tail lights on my trailer. This kit comes with two lights and the wiring from Harbor Freight for $9.99. The lights have magnetic bases and attach to the trailer frame. When I get back to the condo or before launching the boat, I just take the lights off and store them in my car. This way I never have a problem with the trailer lights after not using them for a while. It was nearly impossible to keep them working on a consistent basis. The same kit at Discount Auto here in Rockport sells for $45.99.
The work on the spillway continues with the framing for the concrete about to start. With the continuous high winds and tide this area has stayed wet and has slowed progress.

It didn't take long for Pat and Sibyl(602) to catch their limit in trout yesterday. They used croaker in south Aransas Bay and in two hours they had all these trout.
I took my boat out with some friends and we fished Blind Pass and near Allyn's Bight. After four hours we had a number of small trout and only one keeper.
Marv(guest in 307) went out today with a friend and guide Dave Posey. They caught 15 trout and one red by 10:30 and then fished for two more hours to boat one more trout. They fished near Estes Flats.
Pier fishing continues slow with only an occasional keeper trout.

Long Nguyen is just about finished with taking out the posts from the old pier. This tall one at the end was a little too long for Long. He had to call in a shrimp boat to pull it completely out. The plan is to reset this at the southeast corner near the spillway and use the lights to provide some fishing opportunities at this end of the property.
Notice the long PVC pipe the worker is holding. This is attached to a water pump that jets water down to the base of the posts and they are then lifted up and out.

A crew from the AEP came out on Thursday to repair the guy wire on the light pole. I had called this in in January. They came out the same day to say they would be back to fix it. At least it finally got done.

Work continues on the spillway project at the southeast corner of our property. These long stainless steel rods, $300 each, are placed in the trenches below to tie back the channel wall.

Pat(602)sent this picture of their catch from yesterday. They fished south Aransas Bay with croaker. They would have caught more, but ran out of croaker.
Catches have improved since the winds have given us a break. I went out in my boat yesterday with some friends and we brought back nine keeper trout with only one throwback. We had the best luck at Paul's Mott.
Today is the annual Babes on the Bay tournament and the weather is great. I would expect they will do well.

This grackle continues to follow me around and sound the alarm when he spots me. He watches from this perch in the oak tree so he can monitor my front door. He started this last June when I picked up a baby purple martin. I wrote about this at that time and he has not slacked off a bit. It's a shrill warning screech sound he makes and goes from tree to tree when I'm outside. He can pick me out of a crowd too.
Our purple martin colony did not return this year. A few have come around, but the starlings have fought them off. The owls took a toll on the martins last year as they are prone to do and we have a lot of owls. I'm also wondering if the wind might have something to do with their lack of residence. When some birds have come around they have had difficulty in doing their aerial acrobatics in this persistent wind. They may have decided there is just too much wind here this year. I used to see martins on nest boxes down Fulton Beach Road, but not this year. Something is different.
The Green Earth folks have been working the past few days to trim the palm trees on the property. It's been two years since they were trimmed. Some of the fronds will be used to refurbish the roofs of the fish cleaning stand and the cabana next to it.
Unit 101 has been listed for sale. They are asking $279.9K. It might sell at that price.
Colette is no longer working at the Phase II rental office. She was there a long time and will be missed. I wish her well.

Long Nguyen's crew began working on the bulkhead today. Owners approved the project at the last owners' meeting. Long thought he might be able to breakup the fractured parts with sledgehammers, but that was a no go. This jackhammer made short work of it. A new cap will be installed.
The wind is still howling and is getting to be a real bore. Very few boats have ventured out. John(301) went to Allyn's Bight last Thursday and did find 25 keeper trout. Other than that it's been slim pickings. A few nice trout have been taken off the crosspier and several keeper flounder. I think I have seen more keeper flounder the last two months than I saw all of last year. I think the restrictions on flounder are helping the population.
Saturday night three game wardens made a late night visit to our pier to check stringers and licenses. The stringer check was easy. No one had any fish.
It is interesting how the readership of this blog has increased. I checked back to this time three years ago and for that week there were 35 readers. Today's stats show that for the week just past there were 149 unique visitors.`

This is the Chisholm Trail Restaurant in Skidmore. It doesn't look like much, but the noon buffets are great. I don't normally go though Skidmore, but there has been work on 239 just before Kenedy and now with the newer highway that bypasses Sinton, this has become the preferred route to San Antonio.
They are closed on Mondays and no buffet on Saturday. It is worth the stop.

The hunt is still on for this porpoise entangled in the crabtrap rope and buoy. These posters are appearing all over town. No one has sighted her in the last few days and the news may not be good. She and her calf spent a lot of time in front of our condos two weeks ago.

Rockport sport fishing strong despite freeze
Posted on 05/05/2011 by jgoodspeed
By John Goodspeed
Special to the Express-News

ROCKPORT — On a balmy but breezy day in Aransas Bay, the big freeze of 2011 seemed like a lot of hot air.
If anything, the fishing is better than normal, with plenty of large redfish and many at the upper end of the 28-inch slot limit and over. That’s an unusual occurrence so early in the spring, Capt. Ron Matson of Reel ’N’ With Ron Guide Service said as he guided three anglers to his sweet spot.
Matson had feared the worst in February when a bitter cold front kept the air temperature ranging from the high 20s to low 30s for three days.
In the 1980s, three freezes devastated the coastal sport fishing population with a combined estimate of more than 30 million dead fish, and one in 1997 hammered speckled trout, red fish and black drum to a much lesser extent.
This year sport fish in the Rockport area dodged a bullet. Instead, mostly mullet and hardhead catfish took the hit.
“Nobody was complaining about losing the hardheads,” Matson said of the notorious bait thieves.
Big schools of mullet and shad and plenty of pinfish and golden croakers are all over the bay, he said while anchoring in a narrow, knee-deep tidal flow area between two small islands.
“We usually catch redfish and trout in the spring, but they are running larger than usual,” Matson said. “From what I’m hearing, everyone is doing really well and landing bigger fish. We’re catching black drum in good numbers, too.”
Almost on cue, Mike Nischalke of Hunter Outdoor Communications landed a nice black drum.
Jim Van Gilder of Corrosion X proved the freeze did not kill all the hardheads as he hooked several in a row.
Then a rod doubled over and a reel screamed for mercy as a redfish stripped line after striking a hook baited with blue crab.
The line was reeled in and the red took it back out several times for a couple of minutes until the fish tired and was brought to the side of the boat, where Matson netted it.
The red measured 27 inches.
“See what I mean?” he said. “It’s safe to say fishing is going to be pretty good this spring and summer.”
That also is the prediction of Karen Meador, Aransas Bay ecosystem leader of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.
“What anglers are catching so far this spring is reinforcing that,” Meador said. “And there’s no shortage of bait fish.”
Fewer than 2,000 sport fish were found dead along the Texas coast after the freeze, Meador said.
“If it had stayed cold for a couple of days longer, more sport fish probably would have been affected,” she said.
Water temperatures ranged from 47 degrees on Feb. 5 in Rockport Harbor to 38 degrees at the Copano Bay Causeway.
Mullet die at around 50 degrees while trout begin having potentially lethal problems around 46 degrees and reds at about 40.
TPWD temporarily closed fishing in several deeper areas, where fish congregate in warmer water, including Rockport Harbor and six subdivisions with canals.
As for why bigger reds are being landed this spring, Matson’s theory goes like this: At age 3, reds are usually 27-28 inches long and migrate into the gulf. These fish are younger and bigger.
“The only thing I can think of is that they are at the borderline for maturity,” Matson said. “Because last year was exceptional for food in the bays, maybe they grew faster than normal.”
Said Meador: “I don’t really know. His theory is as good as any.”
One thing that seems certain, though, is that it’s going to be a hot summer despite the freeze.

Rockport-area angling strategies
- Drift fish or anchor in shallow water during a changing tide.
- Capt. Ron Matson likes to cast for baitfish to catch redfish, black drum and speckled trout with what they are eating.
- Matson chums with cut bait, dead shrimp and even shrimp heads from dinner.
- Use a variety of baits on different rods to see what works including live mullet, croaker and shrimp; cut bait; and blue crab.
- Mann’s Baby Waker in Texas Sunrise is Matson’s go-to artificial lure because the crankbait doesn’t spook fish with a big splash, runs just deep enough and mimics an easy prey with just about any kind of retrieve.

Work began yesterday to repair another of those pesky water leaks. This one will be much more expensive since the outside stucco had to be removed. Inside work has to be done too.

Larry Rabe sent this note on Monday.

This pelican in the mitigation site had a fishing line with a 2oz lead weight wrapped around his left wing. I called the game warden. Warden Scott McCloud showed up within 15 minutes. We caught the bird with a landing net and cut the line off the bird, looked him over and released it to live another day. With my civic duty done, I felt good about it.