Pictured below is Dieter Erhard with his finished “bee” sculpture. The bee was created to raise awareness of the diminishing insect population in his native Germany and raise funds to purchase “insect hotels” to help replenish them.

(See July issue of Dolphin Talk.)

So far, enough has been raised to purchase 131 insect hotels.

Are you a full or part-time Port O’Connor resident interested in giving back to our community? If so, please consider attending our next Service Club meeting (see below). The Port O’Connor Community Service Club is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the Port O’Connor community by providing support and funds for programs and events for the betterment of this community. You would be a welcome addition to our group!

Upcoming Events:

Garage Sale: Every month, the Service Club ladies meet to sort and price current donations in order to be as prepared as possible when sale time arrives, and it will be here soon! Mark your calendars for the Fall Garage & Bake Sale scheduled for SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 at the Community Center. We also want to remind you about changes to garage sale policies announced last month:

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:

1) We can no longer accept ANY of the following items:
• Televisions
• Computers & Similar/Related Electronic items
(small appliances that still work such as toasters or coffee pots can still be accepted)
• Telephones
• Mattresses
• Pillows

2) All FURNITURE items must be inspected before we can accept them for the Garage Sale. To arrange an inspection, please contact Donna Vuichard or Marie Hawes (or any Service Club member, who can help put you in touch with Donna or Marie).

Christmas Luncheon: The annual Christmas Seniors Luncheon will be held at the Community Center on Friday, December 6. Plans are well underway for this, so mark your calendars and plan to join us for a bit of an “old-fashioned Christmas” with a delicious meal and fun entertainment!

POC Service Club’s next meeting: Thursday, September 5 at 10 a.m. at the Community Center (enter through the door at the rear of the building). Meetings are about 1 hour. Note that in September, the Service Club resumes its first and third Thursday meeting schedule, so if you can’t make it on September 5, join us on September 19!

Boy O Boy, it’s hot out there! Outside in general and Outside the Jetties. We have been working with some pretty good conditions lately for catching tons of fish. The light stable winds and typical August/September weather patterns have given Fishermen plenty of room to spread out and get to various reefs that haven’t been available as of late. Oh there are still some whining how close someone gets to your special secret spot that everyone fishes while you are away. So spread your wings and try some Mid Bay Reefs. West Maddy rigs and pump stations are holding plenty of trout with an occasional redfish. Sharks are also lurking around those pipe stands as well. If you still have marks of the ones that were taken down or the others that are gone the coordinates are still a great spot to catch trout. There is always debris left which is great structure to fish.
When you are fishing West Matagorda Bay it’s always good to take Shark Rods and Tarpon Tackle. You never know what you will run into in that Bay. For instance, We were fishing for trout at a Rig that had been destroyed by Harvey and hence taken down. As we eased up to the super secret spot that everyone fishes, we had a few tarpon roll out in front of the bow of my Mowdy. Of course I’m not a Tarpon Guide by any means but I have the stuff to catch em. As my luck would have it, I didn’t have my Tarpon Gear. See, I prefer fishing for Tarpon with the Legend himself, Captain Steve Reed. He put me on my 1st 100 #r last season. And being superstitious, I try to pick up the gas tab and guide fee when he needs a hand to scout for clients and go with him. He has the latest and greatest gear to successfully land those bucket list Tarpon. He also uses a side view bottom machine to find em when they are not breaking the surface. It’s crazy how detailed the new machines are these days. Crazy expensive but definitely gets you in the ball park of the school.

The other day Dawn and I went on a mid day cruise to the surf. She wanted some sun and I wanted a few trout fillets. We cleared the Jetties and went down the beach. It was a little rough. The waves were breaking just in front of the 3rd sand bar. Now usually I turn around because I feel the best Trout and Redfish Action in the surf is on the beach, 1st gut or the 2nd. Since I had a little time to kill, I anchored between the 3rd and 4th gut. The waves were small to medium rollers, nothing too bad. I have a long meat slinger from Waterloo that I Carolina Rigged with a 1 oz egg sinker with a kahl hook. I was definitely pessimistic because I felt I was too far from the 1st and 2nd gut. I slung one of my favorite Clark’s Employee barely inside the 2nd gut. Not expecting much, I missed the THUMP as I was GAWKING at my sexy wife in her bikini. Well what’s a guy to do when there is more going on in the front of the boat than in the back of the boat. Reeled in an empty hook, then hired another Clark’s Bait stand special and zipped that frisky fella midway into the 2nd gut. BAM! Trout On! Alright we have dinner. I’m on a diet so 1 fillet is all I need. Oh I’m not done with one. I get pumped fishing the surf. Is it me? Or do you think the fish hit harder in the surf? I hope you feel the difference and agree.

It’s gearing up to be a great fall pattern and if we have a mild winter everyone should have a great chance to catch plenty of fish.

I called my Flounder Gigging Guide buddies and they are still hammering limits of flounder. They also mentioned that they are getting some really thick ones. So get yourself a Gig Trip lined up.

Hey, if y’all want to get on some great dove shoots in Mexico give me a call. It’s a barrel burner and the Cerveza is cold. Plus its half the cost as Argentina!

We hope y’all are ready for Dove and Duck Season. Here’s a quick reminder. Go shoot a few rounds of skeet or trap so you can see how far you need to lead those birds.

The Saltwater Lodge Hotline is: 713 907 4796, Billy will hook you up!

Clean your guns, take a few shots and get your cleaning knives sharpened.

Captain Jeff Larson 281 217 0399

Some of our guests who have recently been wading amongst a good amount of mud and grass, and sand and shell, have had some tremendous results. With the higher temperatures we are experiencing right now, we’re finding that anglers seem to be doing better in the back country areas over mud and grass on those days which present us with higher tide levels, and not on days of lower tides. These back bays require a certain level of water in order to be attractive to the fish, especially in real skinny shallows, and especially during the summertime heat.

However, when you do look for fish in these secluded areas you should begin your search over a hard-sand bottom with a mixture of occasional shell. A lot of folks will catch their fair share of trout over shell in August and September as a result of their focus upon many of the larger, open-bay shell reefs while tossing live bait. Another favorite preference for many this month will be to do whatever possible in order to maintain concealment from the masses while throwing nothing but artificial baits.

Top water lures should be your first go-to bait this month, and you should be throwing them into the darkness of the very early light hours just prior to sunrise, and then again during the hours of the day just adjacent to sunset. Experiment if you will, but you should probably also be downsizing your surface baits this month to the smaller-sized lures, especially in instances of very slight wind conditions and little wave action across the surface of the water.

If you’re looking for alternative wading options, you might also like to try concentrating a few wading sessions this month along the leeward shorelines of Espiritu Santo Bay and San Antonio Bay while keying in on sand guts with intermittent grass patches. Anglers will be doing this a lot in August, and they’ll generally be looking for structure in a neighboring area that shows signs of depressions and pockets running parallel to skinny water along the shorelines. The top water bite generally doesn’t last much past sunrise, so be ready to switch to plastics while heading out to deeper water as the morning progresses. Good luck, and keep grindin’!