Evening wade on July 1, 2008

I enjoy being in the water with the fish and think wadefishing is the most effective method. In the surf, one occasionally can lose fish to the sharks so I usually will string only a couple of trout before placing them in the cooler. All others will typically be carefully released. That was the plan last night but the trout didn't cooperate at my spot.

My wife and five year old daughter accompanied me down to the West end of Galveston island last night to play on the beach while I fished the last two hours of daylight. Everything about the beach appeals to my daughter and she continues to be amazed at new discoveries each time we make it down. As soon as we arrived, we saw a surf fisherman hooked up with a good shark. My daughter watched as the guy played and beached the fish , then watched carefully as he removed the hook and released the four foot plus bull shark. I wondered how she would react to getting into the surf after witnessing the catch and release. No worries on her part as she ran in and out of the surf. There is a guy in my neighborhood that owns the website saltwatersoul.net. I loved that name the first time I saw it. And I pray that my daughter continues to nourish her saltwater soul.

The water clarity last night was sandier than I had anticipated. Still the surf was small and manageable with pelicans crashing bait. There was a fair amount of bait within casting distance but I didn't find them. The tide was very low with the first gut and sand bar completely exposed. I had two small specks strike at my purple gambler paddletail. No hits on the Catch 2000. I think I was about twelve hours too early. I imagine the surf was on today.

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Currently Reading: Hemingway On Fishing by Ernest Hemingway