By Tony Vindell, for Lone Star Outdoor News
The recent cold snap resulted in some changes in the Rio Grande Valley. It forced the Cameron County Commissioners Court to shut down some areas for several days that are popular for fishing – namely Boca Chica Beach and a number of beach accesses on South Padre Island.
The closures impacted a segment of the fishing population, particularly those who know how a cold front brings plenty of fish to their favorite holes. Some anglers were not deterred by the weather and took advantage of the drop in the thermometer to the 50s for a number of days.
One of them was Carlos Casas, an avid fisherman who belongs to the group called Pesca Extreme, or Extreme Fishing.
As the weather kept staying on the cooler side, Casas told his 10-year-old son to get ready for some action.
He, Carlos Jr., a friend and oth- ers went fishing on an edge of the Brownsville Ship Channel, near Tex- as Highway 48.
The group arrived at about 7 a.m. on a day in the third week of November. Using a couple of lures, the father and son fished for about three hours. Each of them caught their limits of redfish plus four speckled trout.
“My son was pretty excited,” he said. “He caught one fish after another.”
Early cold fronts are a sort of a blessing for Rio Grande Valley fishermen. As soon as one fisherman runs into a school of fish congregating in a particular spot, the angler rings the alarm calling others, who in turn call others as well.
While the fishing can turn into a frenzy, on this day most anglers brought in redfish, black drum and some speckled trout.
But not everything always turns out rosy.
Eddie Jimenez wanted to try his luck on Boca Chica Beach but couldn’t drive along the beach, as the tide was reaching the sand dunes. He missed out on the good fishing.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I wasn’t going to take a chance of get- ting stuck.”
