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
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. 
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. 
Birds observed: Royal Tern Caspian Tern Laughing Gull Herring Gull Willet Blue Heron Ruddy Turnstone Caracara Black Tern Brown Pelican Barn Swallow Red Knot
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. 
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
Driving: Excellent on low tide. 4×4 in a handful of places. 
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. 
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
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. 
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, 
and a guitarfish. 
Congrats to Matt for catching this uncommon fish!
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. 
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