Redfish Lodge, Texas - Day One

Wetting a line in the Gulf of Mexico in the name of conservation was reason enough to change this blog's name temporarily to Laguna Outdoors!!! This was my first trip to Corpus Cristie and I was glad to see the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, No. 16, in port - and there was no denying that she was the sistership to our own USS Yorktown, The Fighting Lady, No. 10. Traveling through scrub country to Rockport, Texas and the the final destination of The Redfish Lodge put the CCA anglers closer to making some casts for trout. The Lodge rests on a peninsula called Rattlesnake Point just south of Copano Bay and specializes in fishing year round and duck hunting in season. The acomodations are comfortable and the views are awesome, while the kitchen staff dotes on the anglers assembled in the dining hall during supper time. Incredibly, the lodge has some excellent trout fishing on its private beach underneath some special lights that they run at night in order to attract bait. Brad Gentner, a fisheries economist from Maryland, and I worked on those trout while others enjoyed libations after dinner. Gentner used a flyrod while I used a spinning outfit and when shrimp became attracted to the lights, they attracted a pod of gulls diving and flapping in our area. An exploratory casts revealed what we thought, that the trout were hanging out under those shrimp, and we went on to experience something akin to fishing anarchy, since we caught 50 trout in short order and were able to practice our catch and release methods through sheer repetition. What a great fishery!

PhotosByJeffDennis: Brad Gentner with a night-time trout caught at the Redfish Lodge beach; Surf and turf anyone?! ; Plenty of bird life was spotted like this great blue heron and even a roseate spoonbill !!

SCWF Celebrates legends of Conservation

The South Carolina Wildlife Federation continued their 80th anniversary year celebration by honoring a baker's dozen of conservationists in their 80's. To read my feature article in the Charleston Mercury click here.

PhotosByMyrtleAnnDennis: Anne Worsham Richardson in her Bird's Eye View Gallery

2011 Bohicket Gov. Cup Results / Fun Pics

Reel Passion leaped to the top of the Governor's Cup Series point standings by putting on a billfish release clinic at the 2011 Bohicket Marina Billfish Invitational. The meatfish bite was slow except for a very nice 73.8-pound wahoo caught by Stokely Holder on Thursday. The twenty-one boat fleet made the initial event in the Gov. Cup Series a big success due to their enthusiasm and participation.

To view more blog coverage from the 2011 Bohicket Gov. Cup click here.

PhotoByJeffDennis: Greg Smith is owner of the Blue Sky and displays a smile along with his winning 30.6-pound mahi; Bryan Richardson in the Boss of the Bohicket Boardwalk and welcomes Tournament Director Deidre Menefee; Jesse Alderson and Amy Dukes of DNR await the Gov. Cup fleet arrival for their flurry of work to begin; Blake Pearce grabbed the rod and called out Get the gaff! Then somehow this 9.6-pound skipjack came to the surface. He may have thought that the tale of this epic fish interaction would diminish the next day - but.... welcome to the Lowcountry Outdoors!!

Special SHOUT OUT to blog follower Greg Garner for questioning me about the lack of Governor's Cup blogging on Thursday and Friday this week. In fact, my blogger software crashed for those days and after some high level talks with the CEO of Google I was able to restore and then continue blog coverage. I'm sure blog follower Angel Brown had some concerns as well... and Thanks to all those who keep me straight!

Velux 5 Oceans Race re-start from HarborFest / Video

What: The fifth and final ocean sprint of the VELUX 5 OCEANS solo, around-the world race will start today from Charleston SC (USA), and the four remaining skippers will sprint towards La Rochelle, France to complete their global circumnavigation which started there on October 17, 2010.

Who: The skippers are Brad Van Liew (USA), Zbigniew ‘Gutek’ Gutkowski (POL), Derek Hatfield (CAN) and Chris Stanmore-Major (GB). Brad will secure overall victory in the race as long as he successfully completes the final leg. Derek and Hatfield are tied on points and the battle between them to decide second and third on the podium will be fierce.

The VELUX 5 OCEANS is considered The Ultimate Solo Challenge, the race covers five gruelling ocean sprints over nine months and the skippers have already sailed from Europe to Cape Town, South Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Southern Ocean to Wellington New Zealand, past the most remote spot on earth and around the treacherous Cape Horn to Punta del Este, Uruguay before battling difficult weather patterns up to Charleston.

When: The race departure ceremony will start from 12 noon (EST) today at Harborfest and the boats will then head out to approximately 7 miles offshore for the race start at 3pm (EST).

PhotosByJeffDennis: LePingouin leaves the docks as the only American in the Velux 5 Race; large crowds jammed the Maritime Center for Harborfest activities; Brad Van Liew with shore crewman Jean Christophe Caso; Jennifer Holtsclaw and Meaghan Van Liew greet supporters at the Rock The Dock function at SeaBreeze Marina

For past blog entries on the Velux 5 Race click here.

2011 Governor's Cup BEGINS

A typical summertime weather pattern which included an early morning thunder-boomer this week greeted the 22-boat fleet that is fishing at the Bohicket Marina Invitational May 12 - 14. A chance to fish on Friday the 13th did not scare away the saltwater anglers that gathered for the Captain's Meeting to explain the rules - specifically that there are NO changes in rules this year! The charter dock was awash with talk of billfish in the ocean and what might be the top secret lures being trolled to tempt them. Daily weigh-ins are 5 until 8 each day and Bohicket Marina will always have one of the top sunset views in the Lowcountry outdoors - so make the drive to John's Island and join in the family fun.

To view blog coverage from the 2010 Bohicket Gov. Cup click here.

PhotosByJeffDennis: SCDNR's Wallace Jenkins and Amy Dukes led the Captain's meeting; Comfortable temperatures saw plenty of fishing t-shirts and flip-flops in the crowd; Altantic Tackle has out done themselves with their second generation mobile tackle shop that has everything from teaser tackle to top-dollar lures for sale.

CCA Tide - Dolphin Tagging article

I was glad to help educate others about the good work being done through Don Hammond's dolphin tagging program with the readers of CCA's TIDE Magazine.

Here's the link. Click on 'My Bookmark' to view my story!

To view more stories by Jeff in CCA's TIDE magazine click here.

PhotoByDonGates: Netting a dolphin is rare, but it is a proper technique for handling a fish that is to be tagged and released

Guy Harvey partners with CCA South Carolina

South Carolina CCA has a new teammate, one of the planet's premiere Ocean Conservationists. None other than Guy Harvey has agreed to partner with CCA of S.C., Aftco tackle and Palmetto Moon retail stores to produce and sell a new Guy Harvey design t-shirt. A significant portion of the sales proceeds will benefit the Topwater Action Campaign that CCA conducts in South Carolina. The exclusive t-shirt design is available in several colors and features the crescent moon from the state flag and seven of the fish species found in S.C. waters. "Guy Harvey is a passionate advocate for the world's marine resources," said Steve Stock of Guy Harvey Inc. There can be no doubt this collaboration of conservation-minded organizations can only serve to raise awareness about responsible harvests, and protection and enhancement of our precious coastal natural resources. Guy Harvey magazine is a new outlet for oceanic advocates to read about regional and global conservation efforts and current events. CCA National has been publishing TIDE magazine for years now and continues to provide an undertow of information for anglers.

To view past blog entries on CCA's Topwater Action Campaign click here.