He did! I think he was in Iowa.

Last Friday, I think it was - we went beach fishing in a really nasty surf. I already had one rod out and stuck in a pvc sand-spike and I was getting my second outfit baited up. When I looked over my shoulder at the rod in the sand spike it was laying in the water with waves washing over it. Not good news. So I retrieve it and get the other rod ready. Long story short - both reels had been badly dunked before the day was over. These are Penn 4000's, btw. They cost $29 on sale and its cheaper to buy new ones than to fix any major problems with them. I was taking the first reel apart when I heard that dreaded sound - boing - and I knew there was now a completely decompressed spring rolling around on the floor of the garage somewhere. I found it and continued the clean up. The main shaft and the gear box weren't that bad but they still had to be disassembled and flushed out. (I use Hoppe's 9 solvent for everything like that). I got all that reassembled and started on the bail. That's where the spring came from. The exploded parts diagram doesn't show the parts back together. To make things even worse I suffer from a thing called "ET" that makes my hands tremble a bit. I called Penn fishing and a nice lady took my particulars and said she would have a technician give me a call. Well "Jim" called me the next day, understood my problem immediately and within minutes had emailed me pictures and hints on how to get everything stuffed back together. I say all that as an endorsement for Penn. I know their cheaper reels are made in China, but they are tight, made of good stuff and reliable. And I got to talk to a real, live person who knew what he was talking about and that's got to be worth something "extra" these days.

Hi Raj - welcome aboard. The Laguna Madre is a unique and wonderful body of water. One is tempted to make a universal assessment of the entire system and fish it that way, but don't fall into that trap. It is immensely varied and changes, sometimes on a daily basis. If you can afford it, go out with a pro and learn from a reliable source. If you want to pick it up on your own I'd recommend that you go to You-Tube and search specifically for videos on fishing the Laguna Madre, Brownsville, South Padre Island or South Bay. There are bunches of them. What kind of boat do you have? If you want to fish off-shore my experience line ends at the last rock of the jetties. I keep my boat at a marina in Port Isabel and if this weather ever clears up you are more than welcome to come out with me. We also have a group of duffers who get together occasionally for beach/surf fishing - which is a whole different game. If you have a lawn chair and a fishing rod/reel you're already well equipped for that. PM me for my contact info and we'll get you started down the primrose path.

Hi RVL - The neat part of beach or surf fishing is that you send that bait out there a long ways into a trough or a pool, then the stick the rod into a sand spike and wait for a bite. And that's good, because those rigs weigh a ton and you get arm weary very quickly. So, the main consideration is rod length vs $$. You can use a 13' rod and it will do the job but unless you spend some real big bucks it will weigh about the same as a jeep wrangler. Now you can go to a 10' rod for much less $$, but it will still weigh the same. I don't think anyone has ever done a comparison of rods that tell you specifically how much further a 13' rod will cast a 3 oz rig than a 10', but I'll bet it isn't all that much. I maintain you can put together a very utilitarian surf rod/reel combo for $100 if you're careful. My favorite outfit is a 9'Beefstick rod married up with a Penn Wrath 4000. With the money you save buy two of them and spend whatever is left on good quality braided line. The better grade of line will do more to add to the length of your casts than the extra rod length might have got you. If you're in fishy water the pin fish and piggies will pick your bait off in ten minutes and then it's time to rebait and recast and that goes on for hours. It's your choice, your money and we just do this for fun. Remember?

I don't think you can get out on Pier 19 anymore on foot. It's pretty rickety. If you have access to a boat the best places are at the elbow. You can also try the structures around the fuel docks in Port Isabel. You're right about the jetty, lots of people out there. In summer it gets worse. We need to get you out on the beach.

Good trip, Fly. Beautiful fish! We're bumping around 80F today but the winds are howling. I pruned the grapes yesterday and cut back a bunch on the trumpet vines but see no immediate signs of budding on either. But, as I keep saying, it's coming. Can't wait.

They should give you a "time-out" for medical furloughs.

Have a good trip, Saw. Texas welcomes you.

Welcome, El Rod. Always glad to see more Texans on here.

A rod over 8' will probably be made for surf or beach fishing and will be heavy. I favor long, lightweight rods, but I've got a fairly large boat and I don't usually have more than one other fisherman with me, so long rods don't get in the way of movement and access. Except for longer casts the long rods don't get you much advantage in a boat and you'll be surprised how much easier life is on a boat when everyone is using shorter rods.

Yup, some days are like that and you chalk it up to "acquiring data" or similar. We went out yesterday just because it was the best day in a long span of days that had any possibility of being decent. It wasn't. Ugly pounding surf that was about the color of mixed cement, bad riptide, etc., etc., etc.. I packed up and went home just as the tide was at its highest and I damned near ran out of beach a couple of times. By the time I got back to a road it was a twelve mile dash and the truck was covered with salt and sand as was all the gear in the back. I don't mind getting skunked when the conditions are stacked against me though - matter of fact I'm getting used to it.......lol

They came for the weather I guess. Sure hope they aren't too disappointed.

So did I, Gord. But turns out they are different species. Whiting = Merlangus. Atlantic King = Menticirrles. Something to do with the number of spines in the dorsal fin. Whoda thunk it?

There is no denying this winter has been tough for the beach fishermen on SPI. Near freezing temps, long days of sustained winds and gulf waters that are just plain cold. My equipment has never been in such good shape and that's because I have the time to work on it instead of being out fishing. But, to put things in perspective, I watched a video yesterday from BamaBeachBum. He spent ten hours fishing over at Orange Beach and got three bites and landed one fish. Granted, it was a mini-monster around 20 lbs, which takes away some of the pain. I noted that he had pretty ideal conditions; smooth as glass, gin clear water, and you could see the drop off 15 feet in front of the line of rods he had out. Also significant to note he caught that black drum on a steelhead rod, rigged for whiting with shrimp and 10 pound line and leader. So, what can we glean from all that? 1) Rig up to catch whiting and take what comes along. 2) We have to put the time in and get out there even though the return on your effort might be pretty minimal. 3) This winter will end, and rather soon, I hope.

I'm going to make two or three aluminum sand spikes today because the wind is around 28 mph and rolling my trash cans all over the driveway. It is also close to 70, for whatever that's worth. I don't really need any new sand spikes, but what else is there to do? I'm also thinking of tying up some Pompano jigs with some long-shank 2/0 hooks, but I don't want to empty my to-do list all in one day. Oh yeah, I learned the other day that some of those stud whitings we've been catching aren't really whiting at all. They're Atlantic Kingfish. You got to count the spines on the dorsal fin to be sure though. I'm going to go catch a nap.

Well I can't see any of those durn screens when I'm outside. My phone, camera and handheld GPS are all invisible unless I throw a blanket over my head.