On Memorial Day I met a friend and customer on a favorite drive up flat of mine at dark thirty in the morning, near the Port Royal where I was staying and upon first look at the water clarity, water depth, the amount of baitfish in the area, firm bottom with good grass, and bright skies, I was optimistic about having one of those ‘good days’ pursuing Red Fish on fly.  After 3 ½ hours of walking and standing quietly observing without seeing a single Red, I was once again reminded of the importance of water movement during tidal flows.  The grass on the bottom was standing straight up, not bent over with a flow in or out, and the mud stir around my feet dissipated evenly around my feet.  Nothing was happening!  The ample baitfish were scattered about seemingly unconcerned about a predator except for feeding birds.  CURRENT MOVES BAITFISH INTO AND OUT OF SHALLOWS AND PREDATORS FOLLOW THE BAIT!  How many times have all of us used the expression “the fish suddenly turned on, or suddenly turned off” at such and such time, or as in the case I mentioned above, they simply weren’t there when you are in an area known to be a location they frequent in good to ideal conditions.  This holds true for fishing the jetties, channels, and even offshore fishing.  Without going into a lot of detail on how the water flows in and out of the bay systems and the moon phases, winds, low pressure systems etc. that can affect the water movement, let me just say the more you can educate yourselves on this phenomenon, and at least, learn how to read a tide chart, (I have current tides for our Texas coast on my Web site under links at www.rod-makers.com) the more successful you will become.  One of my customers mentioned he was out the same day and noticed a spot on the tail of a red fish buried deep in the grass, unconcerned with his presence just 3 or 4 feet away! Guide Chuck Naiser (naiser@dbstech.com) on that day said he had to go home to look in the mirror to see if he had a white stripe down his back (skunk!).  If you have the luxury of planning your fishing expeditions in advance, make sure you consult a tide chart before you book your trip.

Guides Jim Symcox (www.championguides.com) and Rick Cathy have teamed up and provide guiding service for the local lakes and rivers as well as Cathy guiding on the coast.  Both good guys and they know their stuff!

Lefty Ray Chapa is doing guided Kayak trips at the coast as well as casting instruction and public speaking engagements and can be contacted at his new Web site www.leftyray.com.  He said he has some ‘deals’ on guided tandem kayaking!  He also will guide you on the jetties!

Father’s day coming up – I DO SELL GIFT CERTIFICATES. . . . . . . ., got some new Tee’s in with a flag out of Sage rods, Sage pen’s (I am anxiously waiting for the new Sage toilet paper! Ha).

Mike Munoz and Gary Lehman were at the Port Aransas jetties earlier this week catching some nice sized Trout and hooking up with about a 45” Tarpon!  Said they saw several on the North jetty rolling.  How good is that to see Tarpon again in early June, at Port Aransas!

My inventory is good – come by for a visit or to buy something or just to cast some lines out back, and most importantly, maintain the good ‘attitude’ I enjoy seeing on your faces each and every time you come in the shop.

Dennis O. Freeman
RODMAKERS
13457 Blanco Road
San Antonio, TX. 78216
210-479-3477

www.rod-makers.com