Port Aransas Fishing Guide

Tow to Tow: Coastal Bend on-the-water towing services offer bargain rescue plans

Optimism was high and winds were low for anglers, guides and their clients at Clem's boat ramp under the JFK Causeway.

It was, and still is, that coveted season in the Coastal Bend when springtime gales mostly have subsided into a dawn breeze that barely ripples the bay surfaces or hardly unfurls the yellow croaker banners that decorate the flagpoles at area bait shops. If we're lucky, the summer sun will become at least intermittently blocked throughout the day by massive cumulous formations. June in the Coastal Bend can welcome high temperatures generally below the sweltering caldrons of an August midday.

Adding to the atmosphere of anticipation, the previous day's outcome had been impressive for Tony Gagliano, his son Cory and visiting angler Rod Pinkell of Farmington, N.M. The trio had enjoyed an early trout bite along the King Ranch shoreline that impressed the well traveled Pinkell. The seasoned angler proclaimed the day one of his most memorable on the water.

For those of us who live here it's nice to know this perspective.

But it wasn't the fast paced trout action alone that had distinguished the adventure from so many others in Pinkell's memory. It was the second act of the day, highlighted by the powerful performances of brutish redfish, which stole the show.

There was nothing subtle in the drama that unfolded on Gagliano's Haynie skiff that day. Schools of upper-slot and oversized redfish were prowling the shallows, creating ripples and wakes against a silky flat surface that even a novice could recognize.

The trick is realizing the whereabouts of these schools and positioning the boat in such a way to intercept the fish. This generally involves an alert captain who knows how to read water well enough to avoid peril during these redfish hunts.

Let me be clear on this practice. This is not about surrounding a school of redfish with several boats and closing in on them or pushing fish against a shoreline or spoil bank, which borders on harassment in the eyes of the law. This does involve a certain amount of searching, which requires running a boat and scanning the bay surface for signs.

Reaching a school might require a quick run toward them, then a swift switch to electric power for the final approach. When this works right and the school steers within casting distance of the boat, what a hoot. Any lure thrown will become engulfed on impact.

Port Aransas Museum » Blog Archive » A Brief History of “Mathew's ...

Sim opened the “Silver King Café” in January of 1929. In June of that year, his 8-year-old son, Beany, drowned off the front of the main wharf. 8im closed the doors and didn’t open them again until 1933. All the restaurant equipment and stock were left intact (even the food).

Sometime around 1930 the Texas Land Commissioner and a man from Austin came to Port Aransas and confronted Sim with a claim to all of the property he had bought from the Young Estate. They claimed Sim’s title to the land was invalid. Sim held a Guarantee Title from the Young Estate and threatened to fight the Land Commissioner and his friend all the way to the Supreme Court. The two men left the island and S1m never heard from them again. It was believed that the Land Commissioner and the man from Austin were working together buying and selling coastal property. In 1934, W.W. Ousley and Sim went to the Pure Oil Co., where they negotiated for inclusion of fuel sales for the boats using the “Silver King” Docks. The fuel was stored in barrels in the storeroom south of the main structure. Gas was then carried in five-gallon cans across the docks and then poured into the boat’s fuel tanks, five gallons at a time. Several members of the family worked for Sim including Teddy Mathews, my father; Dora Moore, Sim’s sister and his brother Johnny. Teddy worked for Sim for 11 months and then took his boat out of his brother’s business and went back to Barney’s Place, which was owned and operated by Barney and Marie Farley. Dora worked for Sim, as his cook in the Silver King, until about 1938. Johnny also worked for Sim as a guide and construction expert. In 1933, Port Aransas was struck by a hurricane, which did a good bit of damage to the island, including damage to the Municipal Dock on Sim’s property. At that time, Jim Sims was City Commissioner and J. Hampton was City Judge. These two men hired Fred Farley, a friend of Sims, to tear down the Municipal Dock. Sim stopped Fred and began arguing with Jim Sims and Mr. Hampton. Sim finally hit J. Hampton, but could not catch Jim Sims. Sim argued that the dock’s construction on that site was never legal and that the dock was his property because it was located on land, which he did legally own. Sim’s attorney, Judge Sutherland advised Sim to build a fence at mean low tide, and shoot anyone who trespassed with intent to damage or destroy the dock.

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