Yesterday

Yesterday in the late fifties until the late eighties were the best of times in POC for my family and myself. It was a time we spent the holidays and vacation time fishing and gigging flounder. We walked many miles looking for flounder to gig. During November we gigged the flounder and froze them for the coming year. There was a time when there was no limit on fish. This was a better time – fewer building in POC and the islands, fewer boats on the water, no game wardens, few guides, and food that cost less. Gone are the sea foods I could buy at Clark’s and the visit in the morning with old timers at the bait stands. The young family member will continue to enjoy POC at family reunions and so will I. Change will continue and I hope the New Year will be a good year for everyone.

Charles Dullye

Thank You

Thanks for the help of getting this year’s Christmas Trees at the Community Center up …. lighting and putting the trees up were Brent Hart, Michelle Davis, Darla Parker, Lynda Hughes and Hayden Reigert…..running the electricity to the trees were Malcolm Hein and Chuy Espinosa.

Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce

Christmas Jar

My sincere thanks to the unknown person/persons who left a “Christmas Jar” at my front door the day before Christmas Eve. I was touched that someone had thought of me at this somewhat lonely time of year. I have already begun filling it up again to give to someone else next Christmas.

Joyce Rhyne

The Dolphin welcomes letters from our readers on any subject that is of general interest to our audience. Letters should be 300 words or less (exception at the Dolphin’s discretion). Letters reflect the opinion of the writer, and not that of Dolphin Talk staff, and we retain the right to determine suitability for publication. It is the policy of this newspaper to promote area interests; therefore, complaints against local businesses should be directed elsewhere. Letters must be signed and include day and evening phone numbers, which will not be published. Your name will be withheld upon request, but anonymous material will not be considered for publication.
Dolphin Talk,
PO Box 777,
Port O’Connor, TX 77982

From the Dolphin’s Archives, December 14, 2012…
Most of Port O’Connor’s “old timers” probably remember Mr. Raymond Northcut, but perhaps not by his real name. After settling in Port O’Connor around 1961, he became known as “The Goat Man”.

Raymond Northcut was born in Indianapolis on November 6, 1906, the son of a railroad man and science teacher. During his youth, Indianapolis was the hub of the nation’s auto industry, and Mr. Northcut was involved in it. He knew a lot about automobiles and could usually figure out what was wrong with a car just by listening to it. He fixed many cars and other engines in Port O’Connor, often at no charge. Many times he had the needed parts right on his own property in one of his many junk cars. The junk cars served two purposes: spare parts and homes for his goats. In December of 1976, according to an article in the Victoria Advocate, he had 13 well-fed goats living on his property.

Mr. Northcut’s home was a metal shed located on about a half-acre owned by Mr. Ira Corbin. His residence had a dirt floor and a wood-burning stove he had made from an old bouy. Scattered about were various auto parts and tools, lawnmowers, and other items brought to him for repair or being saved for future projects. His bedroom furniture consisted of a mattress on the floor.

Although he had traveled much of the world, working in many different occupations (metallurgy, mechanics, electronics, welding, industrial chemistry, business management, and demolition, to name a few), he was happy living a simple, independent life in Port O’Connor. “This hole in the wall is about the only thing I have anything to do with,” he told the Advocate reporter. Offering the reporter a cup of coffee, he volunteered, “I have only two vices – smoking and coffee. I am proud of my life.”

Mr. Northcut’s granddaughter, Vicky Noland of California, remembers visiting her grandfather around 1979, staying in a motel, since his home was short on accommodations. “He came to pick up my mother and me from the motel, but we were not the only passengers. Along with him, were several chickens. ‘Just scoot them over,’ he said. Although he was a reclusive man, there was a steady stream of visitors to his little shed,” Vicky recalls. “Many were bringing lawnmowers and other such items for repair.”

“Grandpa made his life plans and wasn’t accountable to anyone,” Vicky said. Somehow word got around that despite his meager living conditions, this reclusive fellow was actually rich. Some despicable scoundrel decided he could get Mr. Northcut’s money by “beating it out of him”. It is not known whether or not that criminal took away any riches, but he did take away Raymond Northcut’s independent life. Mr. Northcut spent the remaining year-and-a-half of his life in a Port Lavaca nursing home. “When we came to see him, he was happy to see us, but didn’t really know who we were,” remembers Vicky. “He did, however, remember his friend Ira Corbin.

Raymond Northcut passed away in 1989. His friend Ira Corbin arranged for his burial in Port O’Connor Cemetery and a headstone was ordered for his grave.

Fast forward to August, 2012, when Vicky Noland, while working on her family’s genealogy, searched findagrave.com to see her grandfather’s grave site. Instead of seeing a headstone, she saw only a cross made of pvc pipe. “I was horrified to discover there was no headstone,” Vicky said. “I was told it had been ordered, paid for, and installed 23 years ago.”

Searching more on the internet, Vicky found a Dolphin Talk article about the historical designation of Port O’Connor Cemetery. In the article Bob Allen was mentioned as the historian/caretaker of the cemetery. Bob Allen had installed the pvc cross as part of his vast undertaking to locate and mark all the graves in the cemetery a few years ago. Vicky contacted Bob and he was able to put her in contact with the funeral home that had been in charge of her grandfather’s service. Although the home had changed owners and the paperwork on her grandfather’s service was incomplete, the new owners graciously honored the order of 23 years ago, providing a headstone and installing it in late November.

“I’m so grateful to so many people,” Vicky said. “We lost track of my grandfather for several years before finding him in Port O’Connor in the 70’s, and then there was no headstone to mark his passing, so it was such a relief to know his headstone is now there. This could not have happened without the help of so many wonderful people.”

“Fishing Future”
Bay Flats Lodge

Cold temperatures will be in store for anglers as we enter another new year along the Texas Gulf coast. We can expect periods of exceptionally strong winds out of the north that will almost certainly be pushing a lot of water out of area bays, producing lower tides as a direct result. This should signal to boating anglers the need for them to heed extra caution while underway in any body of water, even those they may be fairly familiar with. Additional safety measures should include layered-clothing, extra dry clothes, rain gear, and leaving a copy of your float plan with family or friends before heading out. It’s also a good idea to always make sure everyone’s cell phone is fully charged and that each of the phones are stored securely in a dry spot in the boat.

Whenever the water turns cold, the trout are going to get cold, too. When the trout get cold, they’ll begin looking for warmer surroundings. This might mean locating water that’s only a few degrees warmer. And because mud is efficient as it is in its ability to absorb, store, and discharge heat means that the fish will be exploring muddy areas. The many lake areas like Pringle, Long, Contee, South Pass, and Panther are all good choices, along with Shoalwater Bay.

If January turns really, really cold, and consequently causes bay water temperatures to simply plummet, anglers can anticipate the need to look for the trout in some of the deeper locales around the region. A popular deep spot is The Army Hole that’s located across Espiritu Santo Bay out on Matagorda Island. Another deep water alternative is the approximate 19-mile stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) between Port O’Connor and San Antonio Bay. Occasionally, this particular leg of the ICW serves a dual purpose in that it can also provide protection from nagging winds on most days. Unless we experience an unexpected heat wave, January’s going to be cold, so plan to look for mud and for deep water (or mud that’s in deep water)! Good luck, and keep grindin’!

Hefty Double”
Bay Flats Lodge

“Hungry”
Bay Flats Lodge

The crabbing closure period is Friday Feb 19 to Feb 28, 2021. Help is needed throughout the closure, but Saturday Feb 20 will be the main mobilization day, with Saturday Feb 27 its bad weather backup. Please save the dates on your calendars.

Volunteers are needed out of Palacios, Port Lavaca, Indianola, Port O’Connor, Seadrift, Austwell, and Rockport. Again, a celebratory party in POC on Sat Feb 20 is planned.

Funding for this year’s effort is provided by a NOAA Marine Debris Removal grant. These funds will allow engagement of commercial crabbers to address root causes of trap dereliction. As in 2020, each boat is requested to use a free cell-phoned based app to mark location of each trap removed. This data is essential to reducing trap dereliction and is required by the grant. Sign-up is required and training will be available.