Sorry folks, no local fishing for me lately. I went over to Sabine Lake the last two days to fish with my brother. Outstanding weather made for some great times. We managed to catch some keeper reds, a few speckled trout, and one nice flounder. Finger mullet and artificials did a pretty good job. Here are a few shots.
I notice quite a few regulars that visit my blog. I’m sorry that things have been so slow, but the dike still being off limits isn’t helping anything.
With that, I’ll try to keep more active on this blog. Even though it won’t include much from the dike, I’ll add anything that happens around it.
These shots are from my good friend Gerry Duplan. He is quite possibly the best fisherman that I’ve ever met. He is excited about fishing more than anyone that I’ve ever met…except possibly myself. He had a good time yesterday catching some big red drum from his boat in Galveston Bay.
The other shot is from my brother Jesse in Orange. He made a quick trip to Sabine Lake and caught some nice fish for supper. Enjoy.
The above video is a neat flyby of the dike. The local powered parachute club shot this recently.
The video below is also recent footage caught by the Galveston Daily News paper.
I wouldn’t have any problem fishing the dike with my old Jeep. Enjoy the videos. TexasCityDave
A year ago my family and I were scrambling to get our belongings together that we wanted to take with us to Houston. Hurricane Ike was bearing down on the upper Texas coast and Texas City looked to be in its direct path. That prediction turned out to be true.
I look back at the last year and many thoughts come to mind. Every time a hurricane gets close to our shore, I think of Hurricane Carla that almost wiped our home off its slab in 1961. We ended up with almost five feet of water and mud in our home and my folks endured financial hardships for many years after. I wondered if Hurricane Ike was going to do the same to my home some forty-seven years later.
For three days we were cleaning up our daughter’s home. Many trees were down in the Houston neighborhoods blocking the streets. We were finally able to make our way down to Texas City to survey the damage there. We were truly blessed. The seawall that was built shortly after Hurricane Carla protected Texas City from flooding by rising tides. Our home sustained wind damage, but no flooding occurred. Thousands of folks in the surrounding area were not so fortunate. We are all aware of the terrible destruction that resulted from the Texas hurricane of ’08.
I’ll never forget the sight as we crested Skyline Drive from the dike entrance road. Everything was gone as far as businesses. All of the bait camps were totally destroyed and only pilings remained on a few spots where fishing camps and piers once stood. I never dreamed that the dike would suffer so much.
A year later, the dike is still silent. No fishing, boating, or the sounds of diesel engines whining from shrimp boats dragging their nets for the day’s catch. Hurricane Ike came with a vengeance, but left almost total silence on the six mile strip of land and granite rocks that we fisherman called home. And a year later, we still wonder.
Last week, a Houston television photojournalist contacted me via email asking me to help him with a story about the dike. I jumped at the chance. I also asked him if we could include Boyd’s One Stop bait camp in the story. I met him at Boyd’s last Friday morning along with Jason Cogburn, the owner. It ended up being only a couple of minutes of footage, but Jason got some good exposure on his business and we were able to tell a little about the hardship that Ike put on fishing and the related businesses.
I really think the dike will reopen to the public. It looks like next summer if all goes well. Another hurricane will change those plans, of course. But hopefully the sounds of people fishing on the dike will return and we will look back on this as a reminder that we have no control on the weather.
The dike looks about the same it did after Ike hit, only about a year older. The city’s latest response to when it will re-open is maybe the end of 2010.
I can almost understand the lack of work going on at the present. We are about to embark on the most active time of the hurricane season. The Gulf of Mexico water is hot and ripe for tropical activity. The city has done almost next to nothing so far, so why should they risk making a show during hurricane season?
The city’s excuse for the ball and chain around it’s leg is funding. They are still waiting for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow called federal funding. C’mon Mayor Doyle, have you heard the old saying, “The check’s in the mail”? It’s not coming son. You would have gotten it long before this hurricane season. What happens this year if another big storm comes this way? You going to ask for dike repair money again? I don’t think so.
The city never has a problem suckering us into bond money. Howz ’bout putting a little bond-o on the dike Mayor?
My wife and I are making plans to move. Texas City really doesn’t have the appeal it used to. I grew up watching the sun and moon rise from Galveston Bay. Never really knew how much that meant to me until I lost it.
Who would’ve thunk?
Here’s a Galveston Daily News blog from this week. I didn’t see it until yesterday. I like a few of the comments posted after. The link: http://galvnews.com/blog.lasso?permalink=14df3ebc70600578
I really feel lost with this blog. It’s going into the middle of summer and fishing is almost non-existant along the bay here. A few boats launch at my friend’s home at Dollar Point. There is also a boat ramp at the Fish Spot at Moses Lake. Other than that, it ’s been slow. A few waders have been braving the brisk winds that we have had lately.
I put together some pictures of fishing from the dike. I have hundreds and will add more when I get some time. A lot of them were on my old website. So if you start yawning, logoff and watch some Leave It To Beaver reruns. ; )
Slideshow link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/texascitydave/show/
Just remember….I share your pain. Feel free to comment below each of my posts. It lets me know that I’m not just typing to myself. Take care. TCDave
Thought I had better make a post to let you know I haven’t died and gone to hardhead heaven.
I heard that the powers that be are planning on having a Tackle Time tournament this year even with the dike still closed. Details are sketchy to say the least. I’ll post up more on the tourney as I get info.
Also, there is a rumor that the city will open part of the dike very soon. There is some work going on and hopefully this will pan out. Again, I’ll let you know when I hear something credible.
I have had quite a few emails from you fine folks offering help on getting the city’s attention. I appreciate the support. It looks like something is going to happen, so let’s see what unfolds in the next week or two. Maybe the pressure to keep Tackle Time alive will put a fire under the rumps of our city fathers.
In the meantime, how about sending me some pictures of you and your families/friends fishing the dike or nearby areas. I’ll post them up here and at least we’ll have something to look at and share with each other. I’ll dump a few as well, although I’ve probably already put up most of my pictures on my previous website. Just send them to me via email and I’ll get them up soon. Thanks. texascitydave@yahoo.com
Got some nice shots from a viewer of some local fishing . Thanks for the pics Action Jackson.
The city continues to play a part in preventing local fisherman from getting any enjoyment from their hard earned taxes that are paid locally.
Wednesday afternoon’s ride to the dike indicated that there was not much, if any, repairs being done on the dike. Still barracaded, and no repair trucks could be seen.
This little person is going to have to wait for a while.
Took a left turn on Skyline Drive. When I made it to the intersection of the pump station and Skyline Drive, I sadly see another barricade preventing me from accessing any further toward the floodgate. That means all of the fishing areas from the pumpstation to the floodgate are no long available.
As I had mentioned in my last post, it looks like the city/county are making some repairs to the seawall and they feel it is necessary to block access to the public. I call it B.S..
It was a dreary afternoon. After making my daily ride towards my favorite fishing area since I was a kid, my disposition became dreary.
