This may be hard to understand for some fishermen and it’s not entirely true about me. I will try to explain it the best I can. When I started fishing at a young age, I wanted to catch lots and lots of fish. In my late teens and early 20s, I wanted the same, plus big fish. It seemed to me then, that you judged the success of your trip on how many and how big! Not to mention the competition side of it. It seemed that getting skunked meant that the whole trip was a failure.

Gradually, my outlook changed. I realized that even though a trip didn’t produce a lot of fish, I started noticing there was so much more than just the fish. When I go wade fishing, all my friends know that I am in the water and casting 20 to 30 minutes before the sky starts getting that faint glow off to the East.

All of these sunrises I have seen over the years are gifts and extra bonuses. I have seen hundreds and more likely, thousands of these sunrises in my life. Never one the same but always unique and beautiful. Ducks flying so close, you can hear the wings and swishing through the air. A porpoise busting up a school of trout in pursuit of a meal. Just the sites and sounds of everything coming to life along with the rising sun is something else. All of these and many more are out there.

I no longer have a failed or bad day. I will tell you the truth, I usually always caught fish, but Capt. Mike had those days when the fish had total lockjaw! Even the best will tell you that there will be those days! Nowadays, If I am on the water casting and watching everything around me, my trip is a big success even before the first hook up! I will never grow tired of that tap, setting the hook and the head shake and tail dance of a nice speck trying to spit your hook. Only now there is so much more to add to my love of fishing.

I wrote a book and wanted to get a sunrise picture for my cover. My nephew is a photographer and took the picture. We left the dock at 5:10 am and got to a fishing spot in the East Pocket of Powderhorn Lake. A friend and I got in the water and started slingin’ assassins, my nephew close behind with tripod and camera. Ended up getting a great picture with me in it and fighting a good red fish.

The title of my book is “Fishing the Golden Waters of the Texas Gulf Coast.” I named it that because of the gold shimmering across the water as the sun rises. I always tell people that this our version of “On Golden Pond.” Only, we have a very big pond.

Mike at age 19, with shark he caught off Henry Apostolo’s shrimp boat.

About Michael Fossati.
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I was born and raised in Victoria Texas and still live there today. From a very young age, I loved fishing. My grandfather had a house in Port O’Connor. We loved going down to Port O’Connor. My cousin and I fished on the old pier that was there in the sixties. We also fished Boggy Bayou and other places. I just got to where I loved fishing so much. I would fish salt or fresh water, didn’t matter.

Grandpa’s house in POC was on second and Madison. It was almost leveled in Hurricane Carla, but rebuilt and today is owned by my cousin. My mom and dad were good friends of all the Apostalos in POC. I remember Alec, Henry and Tony Apostalo. I just recently came across John Apostalo on Facebook and hadn’t seen or talked to him in over 40 years. I remember going on Henry’s shrimp boat with my dad. Later on when I was 19, I caught a big shark off Henry’s shrimp boat.

As I got older, my roots took hold in the saltwater and is where they remain today. Don’t care much about fishing fresh water. I have fished the POC area all my life and also the Indianola/Magnolia Beach area in the last 25 years. My mom and dad built a house on Powderhorn Lake. I have fished the back bays of POC and offshore. I have guided some, but now I just like to go with family and friends. My book talks mostly about fishing in POC and Indianola.

My book, “Fishing the Golden Waters of the Texas Gulf Coast”, can be purchased by contacting me at 361 308 0613; by email at mikefishing4fun@gmail.com, or on my Facebook group: Texas Strong Coastal Fishermen.