Stevo made a call on a weekend run to Palm Harbor RV park.
We decided we could do this even though rain predictions were 60-80% over Saturday through Monday.
Friday evening was dry and daylight when we landed.
Friday's meal was Mexican seafood and fishbowl margaritas at Los Comales.
Tried to connect with Mark, Ablecane, who's on Port A beach for the month, but he couldn't kayak, pedal or paddle, and this was Steve's trip.
Wanted to get Steve to East Flats on Mustang Is, since he's never been there.
Everything was staged and ready to roll Friday night, so we ran the drill to Island Moorings Sat morning driving through sheets of rain.
However, when we got to the launch, wind was 18 kt gusting to 26, and doppler showed continuous storms moving straight up the coast.
Mentioned to Josh, they've added porta-cans at the ramp, just the ticket after a 5am pot of coffee
(another launch photo here on another day accidentally caught him on a nature call - and yes, I cropped it out).
So we crossed back on the ferry, returned to the trailer, and began a movie.
Instead of watching the movie, Steve was watching the weather update on his phone.
At 10 am, we had a lull on both the wind and the rain, and that's the nice thing about camping at Palm Harbor.
We launched at the bulkhead and paddled out - instead of the predicted and prevailing SE, the 12-kt wind was NE, so we headed straight up Trout Bayou and began drifting.
We were getting a lot of dink action. Dead center of Trout Bayou, I hooked up a dink. Nope - when it got close to the boat, it turned on redfish shoulders.
Second time close to the boat, she did a tailstand flapping her head, and it was a major trout. Drift sock in, right now.
She made at least four trips around my boat and was giving me a sleigh ride. I measured a quick 26", but you be the judge - my beam is 28".
Caught on Z-man Minnow-Z, Mood Ring, and 1/8 oz Texas-eye jighead. The lure color is my favorite in clear water overcast, reflects blue and transmits pink.
Right after this, noon, the NE wind was back to 18 kt, and we had to tack across Estes Cove to get in - heck of a 2-hour fishing window.
Calorie deprived and jonesing, we made a run to Steer Burger
Sunday, we made our run again to Island Moorings, and this time, the weather looked great, but the wind was light - it also came back NW later in the morning.
We were joined Sunday by TexasJim, a TKF buddy who lives a half mile away from Palm Harbor.
We covered all of East Flats and East Flats Lake, mostly without fish.
We saw small tailing reds against Pelone Is - couldn't turn them even with a Buggs bunny.
The sun and lack of wind finally drove us in.
But we got enough wind coming back to drift the middle shelf on East Flats, and it turned into dink heaven.
Many small trout and reds, photographed this nice tail on my best 16" red.
Sunday afternoon, Steve treated Jim and me to a late-afternoon Mother's Day lunch at Mickey's in Aransas Pass at Ransom Rd. Marina.
(yes, I called my mom)
Jim first mentioned the place to us, and this was at least our fourth meal there - all the food is good, and their fish sandwich is double-stacked blackened flounder.
Yesterday, Monday, was a short day, launching on the Palm Harbor bulkhead at 6:15.
It was calm with a predicted prevailing SE coming on. Before that, the wind was all over the place, beginning with light NW.
We headed straight toward Little Cut.
Before we got there, the shoal was black with bait, small redfish tailing and slashing bait everywhere.
Monday, we were joined by Chase and his son Will.
Chase is Josh's friend, whom we met at the redfish rodeo last fall, arrived at Port A Sunday evening with his family.
They fished 3 hours and headed in.
Chase reported 3 reds, two of them just 1/2" under slot.
I was catching rats on my INX Supra 65 prop-tail topwater shrimp, which Jim dubbed Mr. Peanut.
Rats or not, this was fun fishing.
When we got enough ESE to drift, I drifted twice from the Traylor oyster close to Little Cut, and I found those nice just-under-slot reds Chase had been into.
They were in the grass about halfway to the first duck blind. Finished our last drift at the first duck blind and headed in to pack out.
This is a different color Z-man Minnow-Z green/grey with red flecks.
Better get in a photo of Steve in his Outback, and note, the mangroves are coming back on Talley Is
The mangroves were devastated by the winter storm of '21, and they only grow 1/4-inch/yr.
We finished packing out in light rain, and drove through walls of zero-visibility rain on the way home.
Great trip, would do it again in a heartbeat.
We outsmarted the weatherpersons.