|
River King . . . the world's finest fishing and working catarafts |
The Cataraft Chronicles The following is a chapter from my running journal of the six month effort to redesign the rowing frame on our Kingfisher catarafts. Here you will find an almost daily update of my current sea trials / shakedown / vacation trip to the Gulf Coast to try the new design in several different types of fishing water.
You can find the other chapters here: Cataraft Chronicles, Table of Contents
San Antonio is not far from the the Gulf so the drive south today to Corpus Christie
did not take long. As we drove closer to the Gulf the air took on that salty, wet
sweetness that I had become so accustomed to just a few days before. I had never been to
this part of the state. I was pleased to see that the intracoastal waterway was still
there, just as it was near the tip of Florida and all the other coastal areas I visited
along the way back. What a great concept. Sheltered, shallow water, with lots of boat and
wading access - and lots of fish. And it runs for thousands of miles.
The weather, though warm again, was fitful and stormy at times. I think the same storm we found in New Mexico was still venting its way through the south. I found a nice campground in Port Aransas, (Port A to the locals) about 15 miles north of Corpus. Had a wind storm one day which dampened the desire to fish but it was fun watching the wind scour the beach and transform the view in front of my eyes.
Here some tourists have parked their rigs to watch the storm. The lines from left to right in the sand are actually sand streams blasting along at about 35 mph.
Since Corpus was close, I commuted back and forth several times over the few days I was in the area. It was obvious that Corpus had seen more prosperous days. Back during the oil boom things were really hoppin' I heard, but it was nice being somewhere where things were not so heavily commercialized. The people were friendly here and it was not crowded.
Went to a folk festival one day and later that afternoon I finally found a 16' "Stiffy" brand push pole at a local boat dealer - possibly one of the greatest all time product names. We also found a really great fly shop, Gruene's in Corpus.
If it wasn't for the fly sizes averaging 2/0 instead of #18
I could
have been in Montana. They had plenty of fly tying materials of the salty kind, a variety
of quality rods including Sage and St. Croix and knowledgeable advice. I bought a great
video, "Fly Fishing the Texas Gulf Coast - Volume 3: Redfish". Shoulda bought it
last fall, before I came here. Oh well, now I got it.
Ever notice how when you're in a really nice fly shop you just have to buy stuff? Here Randy (rear) helps another customer (he was a redfish fanatic as they all seem to be around here) while shop manager Barry Box connects a saltwater fly line to my new St. Croix, 8'6"- 7 weight flyrod. With my wallet a bit lighter I headed back to Port A and looked forward to quieter winds and some fishing.
If you are ever in the area I'd highly recommend this shop. It's
Gruene's Fly Shop / see Barry Box
1233A Airline Rd
Corpus Christie, TX 78412
(512) 994-8361
They are still working on their web site but it's at: http://www.grueneoutfitters.com
Also, if you need a guide, I met Fred Lynch who was
introduced to me as one of the foremost flyfishing guides in the area. His phone is:
Office: (361) 215-1727 Home: (361) 992-4863
The next day, back in Port A, I launched the boat and headed up the coast through the ICW. It was still pretty windy at times but manageable. One of the wonderful things about the ICW - you can always pick one side of the ICW that is sheltered from the wind, whether on or off shore. The ICW has a lot of freighter traffic here.
Out in the ICW channel Dolphins followed us everywhere and came quite close to the boat. Despite the big boats in the main channel there were miles and miles of secluded flats to explore, just a few minutes away from the harbor.
Although I ran for miles and explored many secluded flats I barely scratched the surface here. There are hundreds of miles of flats towards Galveston to the north and Corpus is where the famous Padre Island National Seashore starts and runs south for mile after secluded mile to Brownsville. Next time I come here I plan to set aside at least a week for Padre Island alone.
With the storms blowing through and our lack of experience in the area I did not catch any fish here that deserve mention. However, we spooked and otherwise put down quite a few good size fish in my clumsy efforts. So I know they're here, waiting for my next trip south. Hopefully I'll be a bit wiser and better prepared. In any case I had a wonderful time and am are now aware of a little known, but huge fishery, right here in the good old USA. And it's only a 3-1/2 day drive from north Idaho.
Finally, it was time to really head back. What a wonderful trip this was, and what a great way to end it.
f you have more questions, you can reach us at:
Mail and shipping:
River King Catarafts
Port Ludlow, WA
Telephone: 360.316.1170
Or, send us E-mail: info@cataraft.com
Copyright Fusionair. (C) 2007 All rights reserved.