Finally Fall!

Our first bona fide cold front arrived yesterday. The north wind was howling this morning and the thermometer on my back porch said 53°. I say every summer is the longest and hottest in memory, but memory can be selective. If you want the real facts you should consult the National Weather Service, not a guy drenched with sweat. One thing I can say with certainty though, when the water temperature in the shallows hits the low-90s it’s damn hot!

Luckily, summer is finally gone. The first really good norther usually signals the arrival of fall to the Texas coast. November is upon us and not a day too soon.

Fishing goes off the charts as cooler weather and water trigger phenomenal bites and, with spawning completed, seatrout grow heavier by the day. While they won’t be winter-fat for several months, the change becomes quite noticeable toward the end of the month.

There will be tough decisions for a great many anglers; whether to head to the woods and hills for whitetails, wetlands for waterfowl, or the bays and flats for the kind of fishing we have been waiting months to experience. You’d think by now I’d have this all sorted out but the older I get the more I struggle with it.

Just to prove a point here; a very good fisherman I’ve been acquainted with for years used to say that any outdoorsman who would so much as think about wasting precious fishing days to go duck hunting in November should have his head examined. Well, it turns out his grandson has the waterfowl bug really bad and talked him into “wasting” several days last fall. He called a few days ago to inquire whether I knew of any waterfowl leases with openings for the coming season. What’s that old saying…Never say never?  

My last two editor columns have included news of several industrial developments currently in the permitting stages within the Aransas and Corpus Christi bay systems – seawater desalination, channel deepening, and a pipeline through Redfish Bay. Texas residents benefit greatly from our state’s leading position within the nation’s energy industries and I would never want to want to see that diminish. However, with that said, I believe I speak for all Texas recreational anglers when I say we need to play watchdog and see that it gets done in the most eco-friendly manner possible.

The best way to insure our concerns are given full consideration is to funnel them into a collective voice and I can think of none better than CCA Texas. The CCA website has all the news you need regarding each of these proposed projects, along with their position statements and actions being taken to represent the interests of their 70-plus thousand members. If you are not already a member I would like to encourage that you join today.

Wrapping this up, I want to wish all our readers and their families a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Take the kids hunting and fishing. Be safe and God bless!