Sunday, April 2, 2023

Success!!! The Third Time is a Charm

 Location: Quintano County Beach Campground; Freeport, TX

Today is moving day but the tow will only be about 1 1/2 hours, so I can leave around noon (It's 9:00 now). 

I checked the tide table last night and discovered low tide was around 8:00 am this morning with sunrise a little after 7:00 am. That cinched it for me, I would attempt to walk the jetty again. I've stayed at this campground two time before this current stay. Once on March 17, 2019 and again on February 15, 2020. Using those two dates, you can easily call up the posts from the archive listing on the right hand side panel. Both times I stayed here I attempted to walk to the end of the jetty, but failed miserably. Both times I made it about 3/4 of the way to the end before the waves began crashing over the jetty which forced me to turn around. On my last visit, I said I wouldn't be back for a third try. I inadvertently lied, almost like a politician, because I tried again this morning. As a bonus, I checked the "marine traffic" website and saw that a tanker was due to arrive at Freeport around 7:00 am. That would make it a trifecta; low tide, sunrise and a ship arrival. 

Well, one out of three ain't good, but it also ain't bad. The sky was a little foggy/hazy so the sun never made an appearance and something must have happened to the tanker because it also was a no-show. But, nothing stops the tide so I left the campground around 6:30 am and arrived at the beginning of the jetty 5 minutes later. I was surprised to find a dozen vehicles already there and fishermen everywhere. I definitely wasn't going to be alone on my jetty walk like I had been the previous two times. Most of the time I prefer being alone on things like this, but I had been having some bad vibes about making this walk alone. Not to question vibes, but that one proved to be wrong.

I made it to the end easily and talked with fishermen along the way. They told me they were catching Spanish Mackerel and Sheepheads. For the 30 minutes I was on the last half of the jetty, I saw at least a dozen fish being caught. One thing I noticed, or felt, was a few of the fishermen seemed suspicious of me. I wasn't sure if it was because I had a cell phone camera and no fishing pole or they thought I was an undercover ICE agent. There were only a few that seemed suspicious, the rest were very friendly and proud to show off the fish they caught.

The beginning of the jetty. I light at the end was a portable light stand that a couple of fishermen had with them. I asked if they had been out all night, they said, 'most of it'.

The guy of the left eagle eyed me the entire time I was there. The others were talkative.

That is the navigational aid at the end.

This group was very friendly and pulled in several Spanish Mackerel. At least that is what they told me they were catching.



This is just two of the ones they caught while I was there.

This group was catching Sheephead.


This looking across the entrance to the north jetty. It had about 5 times the number of people on the jetty I walked. 

Like I said, today is moving day and I'll be headed to Galveston Island State Park. I'll be entering the island through the back door over San Luis Pass Bridge. I'm a little concerned about this because the bridge is narrow, subject to random gusts of wind and fog. Looking out my window while I type is I'm see fog rolling in. I hope it burns off by noon or I'll be taking the long way around to get to Galveston.We will see how it goes and how much I pucker up. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

2 comments:

  1. If Galveston Is SP is right on the water that's where I spent a few days, I liked it!

    ReplyDelete