"Smacked" in the Texas surf

[BryanM]

Howdy Folks,

If you have seen this report on the TKF site or Texas Fly Fishers, my apologies. Earlier this month I went down to the extreme west end of Galveston Island. I was usig my 8 wt rig, a farily recent purchase, so I was anxious to give a work out. The water was green and clear, low surf conditions, a lot of birds working the shore line and a lot of bait fish in the water. I caught a nice Spanish Mackeral (aka a Smack) on a chartruese and white deciever. I then caught more Skipjacks (aka Ladyfish, aka Poor man's Tarpon) than I care to mention, it was fun at first, but then after the first 50 or so, I wanted to catch more smacks, trout or flounder. I then moved down the beach a few hunderd yards, parked my car and quickly got back in the water. By this time the surf had picked up, so I headed back in. As I was walking towards my car I said to myself, "self that looks like an aligator next to your car". It was about a 6 footer, dead as could be, but an aligator none the less. That's not something you see everyday.

[img][url=http://community.webshots.com/photo/2306452390047028168XbonBs:1b139][/url:1b139][/img]

[Jed]

Sounds like a nice day. Spanish Mack's can be fun on a fly, as can almost any fish for that matter.

jed

[Okie_Noodler]

Hey Brian,
I see you made it out! Nice job on that smack. How long did it take you to land her? I heard about that Gator from someone else on another board...funny.

Are you game for an outing soon? Any idea what the forecast is for this weekend?

[BryanM]

Hey Okie,

Good to hear from you. It took a few minutes to get the beast in, I thought for sure the teeth would cut my line before landing. I was using a good size deceiver, so she chewed on it rather than my line.

I am up for an outing, this weekend looks like it may crap out. I went down early last saturday and was disappointed, rough water and murky, and there was the rain and lightening thrown in for good measure.

What kind of day passes have you earned? I am going to try and set up a day and post on the Texas Flyfishers site for a surf outing. I will keep you posted.

[Okie_Noodler]

Check your email.