Winter Texans are seeing Kontiki at its best this year. I don't recall ever seeing such a warm and friendly January. Keith sent me these sunrise pictures.

That's what I always say, "Don't get mad, get even!"

Anglers leave Port Aransas, haul in huge offshore catch
By David Sikes

Thursday, January 26, 2012

CORPUS CHRISTI — Folks in Port Aransas and far beyond are still talking about one of the most successful tuna trips in recent party boat history.
Scat Cat Capt. Russell Sanguinet out of Fisherman's Wharf earned hero status when he returned Sunday from a 56-hour offshore trip with 72 yellowfin tuna mostly between 80 and 120 pounds each, 120 blackfin tuna, roughly 400 vermilion snapper, four dorado, three or four brushytail grouper and a 167-pound mako shark.
There is no bag limit on blackfin tuna, but house rules at Fisherman's Wharf limited each angler to five. The bag limit on yellowfin is three per angler.
"Word spread pretty quickly that the Scat Cat was coming in with a heck of a catch," said Fisherman's Wharf manager Scott Garrison. "By the time the boat pulled in there were 50 to 100 people waiting at the dock."
The 80-foot catamaran left Port Aransas at 6 a.m. Jan. 19 with 24 anglers who paid $700 each for a shot at catching the tasty and coveted yellowfin tuna. The yellowfin is considered the Gulf's premier big-game tuna, reaching weights of nearly 400 pounds. The boat traveled about 140 miles, charting a south-southeast course. The exhausted crew and passengers returned about 2 p.m. Sunday to an excited crowd of curious onlookers, Garrison said.
"We generally see smiling faces at the end of these tuna trips," he said. "But after this trip everyone was really singing praises to (Capt.) Russell and the crew."
Surprisingly, this trip does not represent the most successful outing for the young veteran seaman, who has been a captain at Fisherman's Wharf for four years. A November 2010 trip resulted in about 8,000 pounds of fish for Sanguinet. This week's trip yielded closer to 7,000 pounds.
Highlights of the trip included schools of 3-foot squid attacking the blackfin tuna as nighttime anglers reeled them in, a daytime yellowfin surface bite and the spectacular above-surface acrobatics of big makos.
"Just a good day fishing," Sanguinet said. "We had great conditions and dynamite fishermen. That makes a big difference."
The ship's manifest included passengers from Hong Kong, New York, New Jersey, California, Houston and Dallas.
"Those guys from New York were pretty impressed," Sanguinet said. "This was their first time down here, but they'll be back."

I don't know that I have ever fished so long and hard with no results. I have not caught a keeper in a month. I am trying this new lure that I found at Tackle Town. It's called a "Die Dapper". It is upside down in the picture above. I have heard good things about it and on my third cast with it I did catch an almost keeper, but 300 casts later, not another bite. The bay seems dead. There are no shrimp boats working. No birds can be seen diving on fish. No one has brought in any catch from the bay. Dick, Mike, and George brought back 5 trout, 3 reds, and one flounder on Thursday, but they had go far up St. Charles Bay to find them. I have seen some Sheepshead around the pier and one even got caught on a speck rig on Friday evening.
The Time Warner feud with Corpus stations continues. We have six less channels and the same price with no options. We have even less to watch with the news channels devoting most of their time to the destruction derby, otherwise known as the republican primary. It bothers me that no candidate is talking about education. If we want to improve the economy, we have to do something with the public education system. I watched a special with Dan Rather on education in Finland. They continue to be a nation with a world class education system and they do no standardized testing at all. Here we are seeking more testing. They don't even start school until age seven. In Finland 75% of adults read a daily newspaper. I think I see a pattern here.
The January electric bills are in. Mine was way down. I know last January was cold and this year has been mild. I looked back two years ago to get a better comparison. My bill then was $252 and this month it was $126. I have to think the extra insulation that I had put in has really helped. I wonder how other end unit three bedroom units without insulation fared?
Soon there will be no condos for sale. Number 608 is under contract and that was the only one on the market. I don't know that I have ever seen a time when we had no units for sale.
I went into Walmart last week to buy some Excedrin aspirin. The shelf was empty and recall signs were up. I don't know how I missed that news. I looked it up on the net and found that January 9th all Excedrin products were withdrawn. I checked the lot number of the almost empty bottle that I had and found it was on the recall list. Today I noticed that Walmart has their own brand on sale. I guess they are trying to take up the market slack.
The tides this winter have been way up and then way down. This could be the reason the mitigation site has not seen an overgrowth of moss as we usually see at this time of year. The moss seems to form on the edges and then the water drops out and the moss dies off. The high tide returns and the process is repeated.

Scott sent a story about his latest fishing excursion. The first picture shows it was a bit cold going out the jetties that morning.

Ray Luna, Paul Westburg and I went offshore the Wednesday between
Christmas and New Years. The waves were fairly flat, but it was
certainly chilly that morning as we headed out. We stopped at the nine
mile line to check a spot. We then headed approx 20 miles out to a few
rigs to try for AJ, grouper or Ling. None were found, but we caught some
of the largest snapper that have ever come into my boat. Unfortunately
it is not snapper season so they all had to go back. Ray and Paul
learned how to use the deflator tool to properly expel the air from the
snapper's air bladder. This is necessary so the fish can safely get
back to the bottom. We were also trying for any of the other snapper
species (mangrove, dog or vermilion), but none were found. We did
manage to box three gulf trout. This is very similar to sand trout; no
limit on size or quantity. Below are a few pics of the snapper we
caught. Ray caught the biggest at 29" and 14 lbs. That thing put up
one heck of a fight! We used cut bait of various types along with a
diamond jig to land all the fish. We tried trolling with no success.
We ended the day in state waters but were unsuccessful in catching
anything there. Those rigs are severely picked over. Reading various
blogs I understand I have to go 25 to 30 miles north out of the jetties
to find state water snapper . . . what the hell, its only gas.
We also did a trip into the bay at some point over the holidays. This
included Ray and Esai Luna, Paul and Jesse Westburg, Meg and I. Catching
was minimal (nonexistent) but a great time was had. Below is a pic of
some of the group. We tried Paul's Motte, Jaybird and Long Reef. Maybe
even a few more places, but seems the fish were not to be found unless
you waded St Charles. The kids got bored so we let them hop on an
island and do some beach combing.

Scott contributed the following story.

We (Lunas, Westburgs and Schomburgs) had a great time together over the holidays and I wanted to share a very fun night with you. It started over Thanksgiving with a small debate over good wines. This evolved into a wine tasting one night over Christmas break. The tasting would be a "blind" so you would not know which wine you were drinking. Each couple brought several bottles each from a different price range: a $0-$10, a $10-$20 and a $20+. This provided a great variety. All were red wines. We then were given a small amount of each over an hour or more. This was only interrupted by snack foods to clean the pallet and numerous great stories. Meg Schomburg and Jordan Westburg poured the wines and washed our glasses after each taste. the rest of the kids waited on us providing cheese, crackers and snacks. It was a really fun adventure. The Bernhardts even joined later in the evening. Below are some pics. Our hostess with the line up of the wines in their confidential paper bags, our servers, the wines in winning order from left to right, the group sitting around the table and lastly my score sheet. Most of the notes were added to the sheet after the results were calculated and revealed. The sheet started with three columns: first one had glasses 1 through 8; second column we rated the flavor on a 1 to 10 scale and third column was notes if you wanted to make any. The entire night was a ball. Honestly, it was really a reason to consume large volumes of alcohol with great friends!

Custom Electric came out yesterday to install the new electrical panel for the 700 building. Now everyone has power again. Keith had to install the new plywood panel in the center to mount the electrical unit to. The old one, like most wood things around here, was totally eaten up by termites and rotted.
I also had a surprise visit yesterday from Rob. It was great to see him again. He has been in California the last six months. He will be working the next two months on remodeling the Crowley house on Bayshore. It would sure be nice if he had the time to remodel some more condos here before he returns to California. By my count about 18 have not been remodeled. I'm hearing more and more from renters that they want to have remodeled units, but I'm not seeing many original condos sitting vacant.

Today's high winds blew out the water in front as well as in back. I've seen it much lower, but not recently.

Randy sent this article from the Victoria newspaper.

A pair of whooping cranes walk through shallow marsh water looking for food near the Aransas Wildlife Refuge in Fulton.
Originally published January 9, 2012 at 11:33 p.m., updated January 10, 2012 at 7:55 a.m.

FULTON (AP) - Raising its slim, white neck out of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, one of the world's last surviving whooping cranes hungrily searches a Texas marsh for the blue crabs and berries it devours during its annual migration to the Gulf Coast.
The high-protein diet is supposed to sustain North America's tallest bird through the winter and prepare it for the nesting season in Canada. But this year, the state's devastating drought has made food and water scarce, raising worries that the parched conditions could threaten the only self-sustaining flock of cranes left in the wild.
The lack of rain has made estuaries and marshlands too salty for blue crabs to thrive and destroyed a usually plentiful supply of wolf berries. In addition, a long-lasting "red tide" - a toxic algae that blooms in salty water - has made it dangerous for the birds to eat clams, which retain the algae's toxin and can pass it along the food chain.
"We're very apprehensive, very concerned, monitoring the population very closely to see what it is the reaction might be," said Dan Alonso, manager of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, the winter home of about half of the 300 cranes in the flock.
In 2009, when Texas last suffered a severe drought, an estimated 23 whooping cranes died between November and March, when they typically head north to nest in Canada's Wood Buffalo National Park. Tests indicated some had contracted rare diseases and were undernourished. Scientists believe some died of starvation.
This year, at least one crane has already died, Alonso said.
Scientists are alarmed because they don't normally see dead birds so early in the season. Usually, only 1 percent - or about three birds - die over the winter.
"I think we're going to lose a bunch again this year," said Tommy Moore, captain of a skimmer boat that takes tourists and bird lovers to view the cranes in Texas' shallow wetlands.
"The only thing I've seen them eat, period, is dead fish off the side of the channel ... there's just nothing here to eat," said Moore, who observes the birds nearly every day.
A century ago, the whooping cranes' majestic 5-foot frame and mournful call were common across the Texas shoreline and as far away as the East and West coasts. But by the 1940s, the pesticide DDT and disappearing habitat decimated the population, leaving only 14 birds in the whole country.
The eventual ban of DDT and efforts by scientists and Gulf Coast residents who view the cranes as a part of the tranquil landscape helped rebuild a small population.
In addition to the Texas flock, a smaller group cared for by conservationists migrates between Wisconsin and Florida by following an ultralight aircraft. The birds are trained to think of the aircraft as their mother.
There have also been attempts to rebuild the population in Louisiana.
Eventually, Alonso said, scientists hope to grow the population to 1,000 nesting birds and then list the species as threatened - a more secure status than endangered.
Drought can have long-lasting effects on a species' recovery. For example, if the birds don't get enough protein during the winter months, more of them could die on the 2,500-mile journey back to their summer nesting grounds, said Lee Ann Linam, a wildlife biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who grew up near the Aransas refuge and has spent most of her adult life working on the species' recovery.
Unlike other birds, the cranes don't stop to eat while flying back to Canada so the nutrition they get in Texas is especially important. In addition, Linam said, the high-protein diet is key to a successful nesting season. The cranes only produce one chick per season, so there is little room for failure.
Another concern is water. When the birds are in Texas, they normally survey a square-mile area on foot for crabs, berries, acorns, worms and insects. But if there is no water, they will fly to drink. That uses up precious energy and potentially makes it easier for predators to nab them.
"The whooping cranes don't do as well when there are lower amounts of freshwater coming into the bay systems," Linam said.
Still, scientists hesitate to interfere with the workings of nature. After the drought of 2009 caused some cranes to die, the refuge looked into raising blue crabs to feed the birds. But they quickly discovered that crabs are difficult to farm because they are cannibalistic. And it would cost some $2 a crab if they were successful - too expensive for a cash-strapped program.
So instead, the reserve has taken other steps to help, including trying to capture rain to replenish water holes, revitalizing windmills and burning hundreds of acres of refuge land to make it easier for cranes to forage.
"We need every bird," Alonso said, to help the species recover.

Our property manager's office has really taken shape. Notice the sign on the door.
The inside looks quite different than it did. I sold the old garage door on Craigslist for $50. Cheryl and Ralph(101) donated the ceiling light fixture. Keith's wife, Judy, donated the large desk. The frig was painted and looks new. We had the computer and microwave. We used the side door that was there on the bathroom in back. The new front door was an old door that used to go between the two sections of the building. What a difference!
Keith and Judy were here yesterday and today getting things organized. Today they brought two of their grandchildren, Audrey and Tyler. Tyler just turned 11 on the 29th.
Happy Birthday wishes today to Pat(506)as well as their son, Ronnie. When Ronnie was here last week he caught the first fish under the new light, a 17 inch flounder.
No one caught much this weekend, but George went out with some friends and did it again. They brought back 20 trout, 3 flounder, 1 red and 1 black drum from St. Charles Bay.
I witnessed something unusual yesterday. A pelican dove into the mitigation site to catch his lunch. It then flapped its wings and took off at low altitude and successfully flew below the crossbridge. The tide was a bit low, but I could hardly believe he made it.
Speaking of low tide, Scott was able to get his big boat out the channel this weekend. It was not that easy, but doable. We actually went out last night to try to flounder at St. Jose Island. The moon was full and navigation was not that difficult. The water temperature was 57, which is not bad for this time of year. The water had been still and clear for a few days, but for some reason it became murky by the time we got to the island. We tried several places, but found no clear water.

Our new property manager, Keith Burr, helped Larry Rabe attach two more large lights to the pole at the corner behind 308. This big sign truck usually rents for a minimum of $250, but he gave a break and only charged $100. He is a friend of Larry's. This truck is capable of reaching up 185 feet.
Keith and Larry attached the lights, powered them up, and then nothing happened. They replaced a breaker, but still the one in the center works, but not the two new ones. They worked in the shop before they were put up. Some more trouble shooting will have to be done.
Yesterday, the original installer of my kitchen counter top came out and reinstalled the sink under warranty. It had begun to come loose and my sink was sinking. I was surprised that they still would warrant it after three years. They have closed their Corpus office and had to come out of San Antonio.
Although the weather has been super, the fishing has been the pits. I fished all over the place yesterday and last night with no action at all. I'm starting to wonder if the new causeway construction could be a factor. They are driving in posts with a pile driver that makes a loud noise with every whack of the hammer. They hit it about 50 times a minutes. Early this morning I could hear it even with my ear buried deep in my pillow. As loud as this is on land, I can imagine the sound it makes in the water. It could be deafening to fish in the area. It has been a while since I caught any trout at all no matter the size. Even the ubiquitous sheepshead are not around.