Friends of Padre: Reports

Friends of Padre Beach Report 9/10/2016

By Bold Apps

Via Captain Billy Sandifer

Absolutely no sign whatsoever of any red tide encountered on the entire beach to the Port Mansfield jetties. Never saw a single dead fish. No aerosol effects encountered. Driving was 2 wheel drive the entire length of the beach. There are few shells or other items for beachcombers. Much fewer people than one would expect on a beautiful Saturday. Surf was flat and extremely clear the entire length. There are lots of birds but not in the numbers yet that will be present later in the month. The migration is really just kicking off. Overall fishing was apparently rather slow with small skipjacks and small whiting being the majority of catches. There were small shoals of Dusky Anchovies with skipjacks working them encountered now and then offshore but the most activity was apparently from Bob Hall Pier to the 10 mile marker on PINS where large shoals of Dusky Anchovies were at the water’s edge with some skipjacks working them. Apparently there were a few scattered redfish and Atlantic Bluefish caught on the North end of PINS. Few finger mullet were observed and they were North of the 20 mile marker. Bird species observed included 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, 15 Cattle Egrets, 76 Red Knots, 1 White-tailed Hawk, 4 Caracara, 1 Western Sandpiper, Wilson’s, Piping and Snowy Plover, 3 Ring-billed gulls, 2 Herring Gulls, 600+ Brown Pelicans, 2 Black Skimmers, 1 Turkey Vulture, 40+ Long-billed Curlew, 1 Marbled Godwit, 30,000 Black Terns (very few adult males), plenty of laughing Gulls, Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings. Caspian, Royal, Sandwich, Foresters, Common, and least Terns were in moderate numbers. Now if we can just continue to dodge the bullet on red tide as these first Northers come through our great fall fishing will kick in.
Be Careful, Be Courteous, Be Kind. Your Brother in the sand.

Billy

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Friends of Padre Beach Report 8/18/2016

By Tyler Thorsen

Friends of Padre Beach Report 8/18/2016
Via Jeff Wolda FOP REPORT Air Temp: 85 Water Temp: 74-84 Wind: 0-10 SE Waves: 3ft Water: Dirty and warmer from the pavement to the 31. Trout green and 74 south. Driving: Good to the 19 then a little soft through big shell. The south end has some 4x4 required. The cold water upwelling is still in place, especially on the south end. The water is much warmer on the north end but dirty to the 2nd bar. Very little bait was seen today. Very few birds on the beach with the exception of the regulars. If you’re fishing, make sure to bring silver spoons! FOP1 FOP2

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Friends of Padre Beach Report 5/20/2016

By Tyler Thorsen

Friends of Padre Beach Report 5/20/2016
via Jeff Wolda Air Temp: 80 Water Temp: 78 Wind: 15-20 NE Waves: 3-5 ft Water: Green the length of the beach Weed: None Driving was good with the exception of the 20-29 mile marker at high tide. The Northeast winds kept the water higher than it should have been for most of the day. It started to shift to the Southeast as I was driving off the beach and the water was dropping quickly. FOP1 Water is the perfect clarity for fishing. Not gin clear but, you have enough visibility for sight casting or catching bait. Caught jacks and skip jacks with little effort and did see a large school of dusky anchovies down south at the water’s edge. Lots of mullet in the surf from one end to the other. FOP2 Three kemps nests were found today just south of the turtle shack bringing the total number of nests in Texas to 100 for the year. Did see my first Frigate bird of the year at the 20 as I was driving off. FOP3 Birds observed: Royal Tern Caspian Tern Laughing Gull Herring Gull Willet Blue Heron Ruddy Turnstone Caracara Black Tern Brown Pelican Barn Swallow Red Knot

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Friends of Padre Beach Report 5/12/2016

By Tyler Thorsen

Friends of Padre Beach Report 5/12/2016
Via Jeff Wolda Air Temp: 77 Water Temp: 78 Wind: 5-10 ENE Waves: 2-3 ft Water: Dirty to 2nd bar Weed: None, some sea grass washing up south of the 48 to the jetties Driving: Excellent at low tide. The 20 to the 30 may require some 4x4 at high tide. There are several spots on the south end of the beach that are not passable (unless you drive through the water) at high tide due to the beach being so skinny. FOP1 After around 45 days of green or clear water especially on the south end of PINS, it has come to an end. The water is chocolate milk the entire length of the beach. FOP2 Most of it is to the 2nd bar but in some stretches it goes out to the 3rd. Never saw bait or birds working. My guess is, and I’ve also heard this from a few other people, is this is from the flood waters that hit Houston a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully it will not last long! Birds Observed: Royal Tern Caspian Tern Laughing Gull Herring Gull Willet Curlew Blue Heron Aplamado Falcon Red Knot Black Bellied Plover Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling

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Spring Adopt-a-Beach Cleanup

By Tyler Thorsen

Spring Adopt-a-Beach Cleanup
Friends of Padre was out to clean their adopted 1 mile of beach during this past weekend's TGLO Adopt-a-Beach Cleanup. Friends of Padre is one of seven local organizations that have come together to ensure this stretch of beach remains clear of trash and debris. Keep an eye out as we will be announcing dates for our Summer cleanup in the near future. Thanks to everyone who came out and made the cleanup a success! imagejpeg_2 imagejpeg_22 imagejpeg_21

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Friends of Padre Beach Report 4/3/2016

By Tyler Thorsen

Friends of Padre Beach Report 4/3/2016 Via FOP Secretary, Cody Moravits Winds: NW @ 10mph switching to WSW @ 5mph Waves: 2-3 ft Water: Brown south of the 30 mile marker, green and clear between the 20mm & 30mm, sandy north of the 20mm. The water south of the 30mm slowly started clearing throughout the day as the tide rose in the afternoon. Weed: Good amount of dead weed still in the guts the length of the beach FOP1 Driving: Excellent on low tide. 4×4 in a handful of places. FOP4 A few anglers gave reports of sheepshead, black drum, redfish, whiting, a few pompano, spanish macks, and 1 jack crevalle, all caught in the areas of cleaner water. Mullet were present but spotty in the wade gut. FOP2 Birds Observed: Sanderling Ruddy Turnstone Black-bellied Plover Royal Tern Caspian Tern Sandwich Tern Willet Tree Swallow Laughing Gull Herring Gull Brown Pelican Cattle Egret Cormorant Least Grebe Northern Harrier Caracara Red-Tailed Hawk Great Blue Heron

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Friends of Padre Beach Report 3/25/-3/26/2016

By Tyler Thorsen

Friends of Padre Beach Report 3/25/-3/26/2016
Friends of Padre Beach Report 3/25/2016 Via FOP President, Aaron Baxter Winds: E @ 15mph switching to SE @ 5mph Waves: 2-3 ft Water: Sandy Weed: Dead stuff present in the guts Driving: Excellent on low tide. 4x4 in a few places. Surf Birds consisted of only a few species, but some were present in large numbers. Multiple staging flocks of several species numbering in the hundreds. Species seen included: Royal Tern Caspian Tern Sandwich Tern Sanderling Ruddy Turnstone Black-bellied Plover Willet Grackle Laughing Gull Herring Gull Ring-billed Gull Brown Pelican Cattle Egret Common Loon (Injured) We took a couple future Friends of Padre down island to enjoy an overnight trip Friday-Saturday. This was the kids first time camping on the beach and they loved it. Kevin_Drum Bait was scarce the length of the beach. Driving was great on low tide with only a few soft spots requiring four wheel drive. Lots of camps from the 20-30. Fish caught included whiting, black drum, hardheads, bonnethead, jacks, Jackie_Jack and a guitarfish. Matt_Guitarfish Congrats to Matt for catching this uncommon fish!

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Friends of Padre Beach Report 3/13/2016

By Tyler Thorsen

Friends of Padre Beach Report 3/13/2016
Via Jeff Wolda Air Temp: 74 Water Temp: 69 Wind: 20 SE early 15-20 SW late Waves: 4-5 ft Water: Dirty north of the 15, clear south Weed: None Driving: High tide there is only one road and is soft. Low tide is not much better. FOP4 With a strong on shore wind and a 1.5ft high tide at 0800, there was little room between the water and the camps set up on the beach. Camps of spring breakers are solid the first 6 miles of the beach with a lot of little kids so watching your speed is very important! As the tide dropped throughout the late morning and early afternoon, the water did not recede as far as expected. Driving at the water edge still required some 4x4 in some places. The worst driving on the beach is from the 20 to the 30. Lack of a consistent road and the high water is forcing drivers into the soft sand at the vegetation line. FOP5 Only made a few casts but did see jacks running the surf in singles and pairs. They are not schooled up so catching them is possible but, still a grind. Pony mullet were observed from the 15 to the 50 in small numbers but fairly consistent. Birds observed were: Sandwich Tern Royal Tern Caspian Tern Curlew Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Willet Laughing Gull Herring Gull Blue Herron White Tailed Hawk Willet Cormorant

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