# Old Texas Fishing Photos from the Past - Must See



## Lumberjack93

I hope you guys enjoy these pictures. I always find it fascinating how fishermen did it back in the day. I wonder how snapper fishermen in the 30's were able to make it to the flower gardens without GPS? I guess that they used a compass and dead reconing. Or, did they drag something like an anchor that told them their depth?

Also, feel free to add your own old fishing pics to this thread. I think that they are really cool.

Hope you enjoy these pics. Here is the link to where I got them:

http://www.corpusfishing.com/olddays.htm














































This may be the first pontoon boat in Texas ;-)

Looks like your Baystealth or Nautic Star came from humble beginnings ;-)


















*Judge John R. Beasley of Beeville leads a group across the water in a car boat at 8th Pass.*
*Courtesy of Jimmy Jackson*



















Later,

Lumberjack93


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## Txfirenfish

Wow, great post. Thanx for the pics lumberjack.


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## Crossroads

Excellent pics. I used to go out of Port O'Connor in the 80's with only a compass. Just went from rig to rig keeping track of the headings so I could reverse the course going back. Of course I never went more than about 20 miles and only got lost once missing the jetties by about 5 miles.


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## JWT

WOW! It appears that snook weren't an accidental catch back then.


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## Mr.Warsaw

*Thanks for sharing*

Very cool photos. How big do you think that Warsaw was? Are sawfish extinct. Never heard of anyone catching one in mordern day


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## Lumberjack93

Mr.Warsaw said:


> Very cool photos. How big do you think that Warsaw was? Are sawfish extinct. Never heard of anyone catching one in mordern day


I think that was a big jewfish but I'm not sure. I would guss that jewfish to be well over 200 lbs but I'm not good at guessing fish weights. If the guy in the picture is 6-4 then I'd put the fish at over 300. If the guys in the picture is 5-2 then thats a different story.

But, it's a heck of fish non the less.

Lumberjack93


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## bill

*Wow, I really enjoy looking at old photo's*

Now can you just think how funny that phone call was?
Dispatcher: Hello, do you need a tow?
Fisherman: No, we just got back from fishing and need a way to get our fish home.


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## Lumberjack93

JWT said:


> WOW! It appears that snook weren't an accidental catch back then.


I don't think that they were.










LJ93


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## Mr.Warsaw

*Grouper*

I was thinking Warsaw at 350 pounds. Could be Jewfish at about the same weight. Either way that is a freakin monster


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## Redfishr

Great Great old pics. My dad has an old album with pics of the same stuff.
He was part of the "Galveston Sharkers" back in the 60's 
I once read an article titled. "Where did the Texas Sawfish go?"
I do wonder where myself.
That is defeniately a Jewfish grouper. Warsaw dont get that big. 
I never would have dreamed snook were ever that thick in Port A.
I could look at that stuff all day.


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## Lumberjack93

*Here are a few more*



Redfishr said:


> Great Great old pics. My dad has an old album with pics of the same stuff.
> He was part of the "Galveston Sharkers" back in the 60's
> I once read an article titled. "Where did the Texas Sawfish go?"
> I do wonder where myself.
> That is defeniately a Jewfish grouper. Warsaw dont get that big.
> I never would have dreamed snook were ever that thick in Port A.
> I could look at that stuff all day.


Here are a few more:



























































































LJ93


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## Omanj

*Old Photos*

Great photographs Lumberjack93! As to the snook, if you go to Oshman's Sporting Goods, I have seen a photograph of some Galveston fishermen with a great catch of speckled trout, spanish mackeral and snook! I have a book (Gulf Coast Fishing) by A.C. Becker that has some really good old photographs of fish caught in Galveston.


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## SteveB

*I think this shows...*

I think that this shows how important it is to protect our fishery. I have never seen a sawfish caught off of the Texas coast in my lifetime, but it seems like they were plentiful in the past. Many of the fish in those pictures are seldom caught nowadays.

Steve


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## Mr.Warsaw

*Grouper*

Probably is a Jewfish, but warsaw do get that big and bigger. Florida recored is over 436. How would you like to hang into one of those?


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## Lumberjack93

SteveB said:


> I think that this shows how important it is to protect our fishery. I have never seen a sawfish caught off of the Texas coast in my lifetime, but it seems like they were plentiful in the past. Many of the fish in those pictures are seldom caught nowadays.
> 
> Steve


I don't think that those fish are gone now because of overfishing. I think that it's pollution. I think that only the hardiest fish can survive in Galveston Bay now. Snook get fished a lot in Florida and they are still there.

Now, Jewfish were overfished and thats a fact. They take forever to get big and the divers of the 60's and 70's really put the hurt on them spearfishing the rigs with explosive tipped spears. Thats what I have heard.

As to sawfish, I have never seen one so I couldn't comment. But, the next time that you get spooled near the Galveston Jetties don't say for sure that it was a shark or monster bull red ;-) You never know what is lurking around out there.

LJ93


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## deebo

*jewfish*

my sources tell me that the jewfish was caught at the freeport jetties and weighed in at 535 lbs. caught by C.J. Rogers in the late 40's.


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## Lumberjack93

Mr.Warsaw said:


> Probably is a Jewfish, but warsaw do get that big and bigger. Florida recored is over 436. How would you like to hang into one of those?


Here are a few more. These are from Rick Jacobson's website: http://www.redsnapperfishing.com/RJ%20fishing%20photos%20from%20the%20past.htm














































Ok, I'm done ;-) I have to get back to work.

Lumberjack93


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## SteveB

*I agree..*

I agree that pollution is probably the cause of the loss of most of these fish.

Steve


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## Levelwind

Read an article recently that indicated to me that sawfish probably are not extinct on the Texas Coast, just quite rare. That seems right, as I am pretty certain I saw a four or five footer near San Luis Pass around three years ago. I suppose it COULD have been something else but the next candidate would be a huge ray and although I never got very close I could make out the "saw" every once in a while. Tarpon and snook were very common not too long ago. I think most of the smart guys believe a few years of hard winters drove the snook south. They need VERY warm water.


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## limey

Great pictures! thanks for sharing them.


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## toyotapilot

If anyone wants to actually see a sawfish, there is one in the Aquarium Restaurant in downtown Houston... or at least there was last time I was there.


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## ComeFrom?

*Very Interesting!*



JWT said:


> WOW! It appears that snook weren't an accidental catch back then.


Wonder why/how/if they disappeared. Great pics. Thanks, CF?


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## makoclay

*oldies*

those are some good pics. My Grandmother (of all people) had the hide ripped off the end of her finger by a tarpon while fishig on Bob Hall Pier. My grandfather handed her the rod while he made a sandwich. She was sitting there wrapping the line around her finger like women do when the tarpon hit. We all still laugh about it and she takes it with good fun. I bet she was not laughing at the time though...


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## James Howell

Lots of reasons for the fish dissappearing. Snook and tarpon dissappearance could be because of cold weather, lack of freshwater inflow due to damming of rivers, and overfishing (most of our Tarpon come up from Mexico, and they used to dynamite those fish down there). The jewfish,er, I mean goliath grouper were massively over fished as stated earlier by divers with bangsticks. Warsaw were also overfished, same with the big sharks. The sawfish were wiped out by unrestricted gillnetting in the bays, but at least they destroyed the gillnets that caught them, a little poetic justice I guess.


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## JohnHumbert

*Cline's (or Kline's) Point Snook...*

Unless there's another Cline's Pt., the only Kline's Point I know of is back in Copano Bay..quite interesting....

Snook used to be very common at Aransas and points south. In fact, they used to be called saltwater "pike". If you ever read any old reports where they talk about pike being caught - they are really talking about snook.

When I was just a pup fishing around Rockport and Copano, we used to see sawfish every once in a while back in Compano - most often at night while floundering. Biggest one I ever saw was about 10 or 11 ft - and was in water less than 2ft deep. I haven't seen a sawfish (or heard of one) in Texas in 30 years.

A couple of springs ago, Cru (from this board) and I were fishing in Whitewater bay in the Everglades. In an area called Coot bay, while pluggin' shallow water for snook, we had an 8 or 9 ft sawfish swim right under our guide's Hewes in about 2-3 ft of water. What a beautiful sight...as we watch it swim away, ANOTHER one about 14 ft long came by right behind it. It was awesome!!! Truly a magical experience.

We didn't know it then, but there's a program going on to report ALL sightings of sawfish.

Incidently, I think there's actually two or three species of sawfish, although I cannot tell you the specifics on how you can tell one from another.

Another strange and rare sighting in the Gulf Coast is Sturgeon. Just a couple of years ago a dead sturgeon was found in a coastal river/estuary in Florida. It was about 6 feet long. I've heard they used to be in Texas too!


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## michaelbaranowski

After seeing those picks I am busy on the internet looking for info in Sawfish. Not much abouut them in Texas resently. But a few old picks on them and some in Florida.


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## Arlon

Sad, in 50 years someone who hasn't been born yet will be doing the same thing with OUR latest pictures....


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## laguna24

*Sawfish Info*

*HERE IS SOME INFO I FOUND ON SAWFISH*

*In the USA the smalltooth sawfish was once common in coastal and estuarine areas of the Gulf of Mexico and along the east coast. Today they are rarely encountered and are listed as Critically Endangered** by the World Conservation Union.

**Early accounts of the elasmobranch fauna of the east coast of the USA and Gulf of Mexico reported that smalltooth sawfish were abundant (e.g. Henshall 1895; Jordan and Evermann 1896; Evermann and Bean 1898; Bieglow and Schroeder 1953). They were so common in fact, that Evermann and Bean (1898) reported one fisherman in Indian River, Florida, caught 300 in a single season. 
*



*Today, however, the population of smalltooth sawfish in the USA (and other areas) has been severely depleted. Snelson and Williams (1981) reported that in Indian River sawfish had been extirpated. This story has been repeated throughout the sawfish's range. The population has been decimated by extensive gillnetting and trawling in coastal and estuarine areas, and habitat degradation that has resulted from extensive coastal development. Currently, the sawfish population is believed to be restricted to remote areas of southwest Florida, particularly the Everglades and Keys. 
*


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## Redfishr

Mr.Warsaw said:


> Probably is a Jewfish, but warsaw do get that big and bigger. Florida recored is over 436. How would you like to hang into one of those?


I oppolgise for that bad information.
I stand corrected, I had no idea that warsaw got much over 200 lbs.
I need to do better reserch, before I type.
Good call Mr. warsaw

Those pics sure bring back memories of the days and nights spent with my dad back in the 60's watching those guys fish for sharks with thier 12, 14, and 16/0 penn senators. Those pics look just like dads. Fantastic job.
I'm gonna see if I can find his old album now, you've sparked my interrest.


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## Lumberjack93

Redfishr said:


> I oppolgise for that bad information.
> I stand corrected, I had no idea that warsaw got much over 200 lbs.
> I need to do better reserch, before I type.
> Good call Mr. warsaw
> 
> Those pics sure bring back memories of the days and nights spent with my dad back in the 60's watching those guys fish for sharks with thier 12, 14, and 16/0 penn senators. Those pics look just like dads. Fantastic job.
> I'm gonna see if I can find his old album now, you've sparked my interrest.


I hope this thread takes off and we get some never seen photos from the past here. The funny thing is that every one of those pictures has a story behind it and is etched in steel in someones mind. I still remember in vivid details the first time that my father took me offshore fishing and I hooked a king mackerel.

Lumberjack93


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## ComeFrom?

*Here's One Of My Grandparents....*

"chillin'" at the C.C. beach, circa 1950. CF?


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## Lumberjack93

ComeFrom? said:


> "chillin'" at the C.C. beach, circa 1950. CF?


That looks like a much simpler time back then.

Thanks for the post.

LJ93


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## Lumberjack93

James Howell said:


> Lots of reasons for the fish dissappearing. Snook and tarpon dissappearance could be because of cold weather, lack of freshwater inflow due to damming of rivers, and overfishing (most of our Tarpon come up from Mexico, and they used to dynamite those fish down there). The jewfish,er, I mean goliath grouper were massively over fished as stated earlier by divers with bangsticks. Warsaw were also overfished, same with the big sharks. The sawfish were wiped out by unrestricted gillnetting in the bays, but at least they destroyed the gillnets that caught them, a little poetic justice I guess.


Here are some neat Port Lavaca Pics:














Nice Goose Hunt





Old Oyster Boat



Source:

http://www.nvo.com/vgms/portlavaca/

Lumberjack93


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## Lumberjack93

Here are a few more. I promise to quit ;-)























































Lumberjack93


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## Captn C

*More on Sawfish*

I read once they mature late in their life and are slow growing fish. The larger fish were around 80 years old it seemed. They also spawned in low numbers.....I can't recall for sure, but it seemed they were live bearers too....which means they don't have many when they do make babies!

The thing I read also meantion bay shrimping and polution as being key to their demise as well as the gill nets and shrimping the beach front....


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## Lumberjack93

deebo said:


> my sources tell me that the jewfish was caught at the freeport jetties and weighed in at 535 lbs. caught by C.J. Rogers in the late 40's.


Do you know the man that caught that fish? If so thats cool.

Lumberjack93


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## bslittle79

I'm going to take home a book my boss has here about Port Arthur and scan some of the pictures of the fish caught when the Sabine Pass Jetties were built. Some crazy Tarpon photos...

Brian


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## Lumberjack93

bslittle79 said:


> I'm going to take home a book my boss has here about Port Arthur and scan some of the pictures of the fish caught when the Sabine Pass Jetties were built. Some crazy Tarpon photos...
> 
> Brian


I can't wait to see them.

I have heard tales of nice red snapper limits being caught at the end of Galveston Jetties a long time ago. (40's & 50's)

I would love to see any old photos that you guys have of Red Snapper.

Later,

Lumberjack93


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## Rsnap

*That was when I had hair & a waistline*

The picture of the large Jewfish was taken at night by Doug Johnston with a flash. The Grouper weighed 362 lbs & there were 4 of us on the boat at the time. We still could not lift it over the transom rail as we could not pull him up tail first, and head first with a mouth that size he surely had an equal amount of water weight. We caught him off the 84ft. wreck listed in my book 28 miles offshore, and surfed him in behind the boat. The fork lift at Bridge harbor was how we got him out of the water. I was 18 when I caught him & used 80lb dacron line and a penn 4/0. He ran into the wreck and I used the anchor whinch to try and break the line. Was I suprised when he broke loose from the wreck and started swiming. He broke the anchor loose and he pulled my dads 32ft.boat aprox two miles. It took just over one hour to get him to the surface. I understand that Grouper is one of those fish that change sex when they hit a certain size. I know that Jewfish are now protected. When I first started fishing offshore Warsaw & other Grouper were so thick in the winter it was sometimes hard to catch Snapper. We need to stop com. & rec. fishing of these great fish (all Grouper) till we replace the breading generation we all did a number on over the years. Rik


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## Lumberjack93

Rsnap said:


> The picture of the large Jewfish was taken at night by Doug Johnston with a flash. The Grouper weighed 362 lbs & there were 4 of us on the boat at the time. We still could not lift it over the transom rail as we could not pull him up tail first, and head first with a mouth that size he surely had an equal amount of water weight. We caught him off the 84ft. wreck listed in my book 28 miles offshore, and surfed him in behind the boat. The fork lift at Bridge harbor was how we got him out of the water. I was 18 when I caught him & used 80lb dacron line and a penn 4/0. He ran into the wreck and I used the anchor whinch to try and break the line. Was I suprised when he broke loose from the wreck and started swiming. He broke the anchor loose and he pulled my dads 32ft.boat aprox two miles. It took just over one hour to get him to the surface. I understand that Grouper is one of those fish that change sex when they hit a certain size. I know that Jewfish are now protected. When I first started fishing offshore Warsaw & other Grouper were so thick in the winter it was sometimes hard to catch Snapper. We need to stop com. & rec. fishing of these great fish (all Grouper) till we replace the breading generation we all did a number on over the years. Rik


Check out this Warsaw Grouper


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## James Howell

Rsnap said:


> The picture of the large Jewfish was taken at night by Doug Johnston with a flash. The Grouper weighed 362 lbs & there were 4 of us on the boat at the time. We still could not lift it over the transom rail as we could not pull him up tail first, and head first with a mouth that size he surely had an equal amount of water weight. We caught him off the 84ft. wreck listed in my book 28 miles offshore, and surfed him in behind the boat. The fork lift at Bridge harbor was how we got him out of the water. I was 18 when I caught him & used 80lb dacron line and a penn 4/0. He ran into the wreck and I used the anchor whinch to try and break the line. Was I suprised when he broke loose from the wreck and started swiming. He broke the anchor loose and he pulled my dads 32ft.boat aprox two miles. It took just over one hour to get him to the surface. I understand that Grouper is one of those fish that change sex when they hit a certain size. I know that Jewfish are now protected. When I first started fishing offshore Warsaw & other Grouper were so thick in the winter it was sometimes hard to catch Snapper. We need to stop com. & rec. fishing of these great fish (all Grouper) till we replace the breading generation we all did a number on over the years. Rik


sound wisdom from an old salt.


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## galveston1602

For those interested in sawfish, I saw this article last month and read it with interest.

http://www.floridasportsman.com/features/050358/index.html


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## nuclear fishin

Thought I would share this one of my Grandfather (the man on the left side) I always wondered what kind of fish they were and when the picture might have been taken, any help?


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## Pod

*Padre Island Shark*

I was here the day this picture was taken in 1970 when I was 11 years old. We were living in Sinton at the time and were getting ready to move out of state. We went to the beach one last time and they had this shark hanging up next to the pier. They cut the jaws out, the man on the left side of the picture stepped inside and pulled them up around his waist and there was room to spare.


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## Phantom Fisherman

Great Pics. Thanks to all who posted pics. Maybe someday with sound management the great groupers will come back and we can catch them with a tag sort of like we do tarpon and oversized reds today.


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## Lumberjack93

nuclear fishin said:


> Thought I would share this one of my Grandfather (the man on the left side) I always wondered what kind of fish they were and when the picture might have been taken, any help?


I am fairly certain that they are Warsaw Grouper. Jewfish are a greenish / yellowish color with distinct patterns on them. They almost look camoflauged.

Some of the old salts on this board can give you a positive ID.

Lumberjack93


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## BIGSTICK

*Jewfish*

My neighbor used to catch jewfish at the Galveston Jetties. He has a picture of one over 400#'s. Said they used to have a tournament. The guy that won the tournament had a 501 #'er. Used hand lines. These old boys are too tough for me. I'll see if I can get my scanner working and borrow a picture or two.


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## jewfish

I can tell you for sure it IS a Jewfish. From the ones Ive seen at Sea Center and at the Aquarium in Corpus, it is way heavier than you might think. My guess is about 5-600 lbs


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## Lumberjack93

BIGSTICK said:


> My neighbor used to catch jewfish at the Galveston Jetties. He has a picture of one over 400#'s. Said they used to have a tournament. The guy that won the tournament had a 501 #'er. Used hand lines. These old boys are too tough for me. I'll see if I can get my scanner working and borrow a picture or two.


I'd love to see them. I really enjoy history and find nautical & fishing history to be very enjoyable.

For instance, most of us now use MPH to determine speed when in a boat.

In the old days I hear that the term "Knots" came from fisherman and sailors that used to tie knots in a rope (with a small weight at the bottom) and the number of visible knots behind the boat & above the waterline (while underway) determined your speed.

I have also heard tales of old commercial snapper fishermen draging a weight behind their boat which served as a depth finder. They would also attach a large bar of soap to the weight.

If the weight/soap bar assembly came back with marks and/or little pieces of coral on it then the fisherman knew that he was in the right spot. If it came back smooth then he was on a soft/silty bottom. This is how those old fisherman were able to find their way back to places like Stetson Rock and the Flower Gardens. Dead Reckoning, a sextant and a rope with "Knots" in it ;-)

Lumberjack93


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## Marlintini

*jewfish*

they look like bass on steriods.


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## Lumberjack93

galveston1602 said:


> For those interested in sawfish, I saw this article last month and read it with interest.
> 
> http://www.floridasportsman.com/features/050358/index.html


Thats a neat article. I wish that we could bring the sawfish back to the Galveston Bay system (and all of Texas) but we would have to stop the shrimpers first. Shrimpers and Pollution seem to be the root of most of our problems in Texas Saltwater fishing.

I will say this. As a duck hunter, it took more than limits to bring back the duck population. It took protection of the wetlands, the breeding grounds.

If we ever want to see fish like our grandfathers caught then we will have to stop shrimping in the bays. They are the nursery areas for many fish and that is where we are loosing most of our fish IMO. Pollution in Galveston Bay doesn't help matters any either but I think that shrimping in the bays does the most damage. We loose thousands of game fish to get a few hundred lbs. of polluted shrimp. I hope that they perfect the shrimp farms and commercial shrimping becomes a thing of the past.

Lumberjack93


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## esCape

HIP Sowden sure is in a bunch of pics of the largest sharks,,, anybody here friends with him?
Does he still get out and fish Padre like he appeared to have torn them up between 67-70? He appears to know a think or two about landing the biggest of the bad boys.


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## Lumberjack93

esCape said:


> HIP Sowden sure is in a bunch of pics of the largest sharks,,, anybody here friends with him?
> Does he still get out and fish Padre like he appeared to have torn them up between 67-70? He appears to know a think or two about landing the biggest of the bad boys.


I don't know him but I'm sure that there are some folks here that do. Some of those sharks were huge. I remeber my father telling me that he quit scuba diving in the Gulf of Mexico (out of Galveston) when he had a guy pull up next to him at a rig with a 16 ft. Tiger Shark hanging over the side of his boat in the early 80's. They had caught the Tiger Shark at a rig less than a mile away from where he was diving ;-)

I also remember my dad telling me about seeing a jewfish (about the same time that he saw the huge tiger shark) that he said was larger than a Volkswagon one time while he was diving. He said that the monster jewfish swam up to him, sized him up and then swam off.

He immediately swam back to the boat and that was the last time that he dove in the Gulf of Mexico. I think that he also had to change his shorts ;-)

Lumberjack93


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## Freshwaterman

*hip sowden*

Here is a link to Hips website. http://groups.msn.com/land-basedsharkfishingonlineclubhouse He is one very interesting fellow to talk too. He can tell you things about fishing the coast of Texas that is absolutely amazing!

As for the jewfish\warsaw debate. It is definetely a jewfish. Hip can tell you tons of stories about people catching those also. He has also witnessed what happened to the texas sawfish. I would suggest anyone that enjoys or great sport should at least stop by and say hi. Espically if you like sharkfishing. He was one of pioneers of monster sharkfishing from the beach down on PINS. Read the story associated with that pic. It is pretty cool!
Billy


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## Lumberjack93

billy10103 said:


> Here is a link to Hips website. http://groups.msn.com/land-basedsharkfishingonlineclubhouse He is one very interesting fellow to talk too. He can tell you things about fishing the coast of Texas that is absolutely amazing!
> 
> As for the jewfish\warsaw debate. It is definetely a jewfish. Hip can tell you tons of stories about people catching those also. He has also witnessed what happened to the texas sawfish. I would suggest anyone that enjoys or great sport should at least stop by and say hi. Espically if you like sharkfishing. He was one of pioneers of monster sharkfishing from the beach down on PINS. Read the story associated with that pic. It is pretty cool!
> Billy


Thanks for the reply. Those are some neat photos on that site.

Say, I can't post any of those pics here. Can you post them on this thread. Especially the ones of the sawfish and the big sharks? I don't know why but it won't let me do it.

Lumberjack93


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## Brian Castille

Those are definitely some wild pictures! It's hard to realize that people used to catch 10'-15' sharks off the piers, tarpon in the bays, and offshore species at the jetties. Most of us will never see anything like that in our lifetime.

You know what's sad? The oceans have been around for millions of years, but it took less than 100 years for us to screw it all up through overfishing, destruction of habitat, pollution, shrimping, gillnetting, and killing too many big fish to just show off and brag (like all the tarpon that used to be killed by the 100's).

Maybe someday it will all be corrected, but not anytime soon..... Maybe SCA Texas will raise enough money to buy back all the bay shrimping licenses someday?


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## Freshwaterman

I bet flourocarbon leaders and 4X hooks and spectra-power-pro were hard to come by in 1940. I guess axle grease and brass bushings were the best bearings you could buy.

What kind of lines were available then?


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## James Howell

Dacron, the original no stretch, high abrasion resistant fishing line.


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## Bret

*here's two more pics*

I got these from my Dad. here are some jewfish that were speared in the late 60's early 70's. I know two of the guys in the pics. Guy Allison and Jack Archer are the ones I recognize.. My first offshore trip was with Guy when I was 9. the boat was called the Courthouse (he's and attorney) They speared a 6'3" jewfish that weighed 450 lbs.. that was in '75. Back in the day..


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## Lumberjack93

*Wow!!!!!*



Bret said:


> I got these from my Dad. here are some jewfish that were speared in the late 60's early 70's. I know two of the guys in the pics. Guy Allison and Jack Archer are the ones I recognize.. My first offshore trip was with Guy when I was 9. the boat was called the Courthouse (he's and attorney) They speared a 6'3" jewfish that weighed 450 lbs.. that was in '75. Back in the day..


Wow, those are some incredible fish. Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

Lumberjack93


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## Tight Knot

Lumber thanks for starting such a cool thread-love the old pics.There are some cool pics and stories in this book-Aransas-The life of a Texas coastal county.I think alot of you folks would enjoy it,talks of the old days in Rockport,Lamar and Aransas area.

Bob


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## Lumberjack93

Tight Knot said:


> Lumber thanks for starting such a cool thread-love the old pics.There are some cool pics and stories in this book-Aransas-The life of a Texas coastal county.I think alot of you folks would enjoy it,talks of the old days in Rockport,Lamar and Aransas area.
> 
> Bob


I enjoy looking at these old pictures. It sure has me ready for fishing season this year. Here is an 815 lb Tiger Shark caught off of the Galveston Jetties.

Lumberjack93










​​


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## flatsfats

excellent thread. thanx for the photo's everyone.


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## purpletdude

Haven't posted in here in ages, but thought I'd throw in a few tidbits....my grandfather...Gus Pangarakis...holds both Texas state records for the Jewfish(goliath grouper) at 551# caught on 6/29/1937 and the Sawfish at 736# caught on new years day, 1939. I'm actively trying to get ahold of some pictures to scan and post in here for you folks.

Believe it or not...he caught both of these fish just off the seawall in Galveston...He told me that there was a pier about 250 yds off the seawall that you had to be ferried to by boat. He caught both of these fish on a Penn reel with dacron line and was using a 3 to 5 pound beef roast for bait....lol.

Gus Pangarakis or "the chief" as we in the family called him was a very wonderful...very colorful Greek man. As a young man he sold bread in Galveston and was known locally for his shark fishing....matter of fact he was fishing for sharks when he caught both record fish. He retired as a Senior Captain from the Houston Fire Department. 

I spent many a weekend sleeping over at their house with that huge jewfish head hanging over the fireplace staring at me on the couch....thought it would swallow me in one bite! I'll get those pics as soon as I can....


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## Lumberjack93

purpletdude said:


> Haven't posted in here in ages, but thought I'd throw in a few tidbits....my grandfather...Gus Pangarakis...holds both Texas state records for the Jewfish(goliath grouper) at 551# caught on 6/29/1937 and the Sawfish at 736# caught on new years day, 1939. I'm actively trying to get ahold of some pictures to scan and post in here for you folks.
> 
> Believe it or not...he caught both of these fish just off the seawall in Galveston...He told me that there was a pier about 250 yds off the seawall that you had to be ferried to by boat. He caught both of these fish on a Penn reel with dacron line and was using a 3 to 5 pound beef roast for bait....lol.
> 
> Gus Pangarakis or "the chief" as we in the family called him was a very wonderful...very colorful Greek man. As a young man he sold bread in Galveston and was known locally for his shark fishing....matter of fact he was fishing for sharks when he caught both record fish. He retired as a Senior Captain from the Houston Fire Department.
> 
> I spent many a weekend sleeping over at their house with that huge jewfish head hanging over the fireplace staring at me on the couch....thought it would swallow me in one bite! I'll get those pics as soon as I can....


Thats incredible. I can't wait to see those photos. Say, do you have a photo of the the mounted jewfish head? That would be neat to see as well.

Thanks for the info.

Lumberjack93


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## Hooked

Thanks for the memories everyone. Brings back memories of fishing with my dad in the early 50's.


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## Lumberjack93

Hooked said:


> Thanks for the memories everyone. Brings back memories of fishing with my dad in the early 50's.


Here is another neat photo that I ran across on the web.


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## Lumberjack93

Anyone ever seen one of these on the beach? Big Squid ;-)










Lumberjack93


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## Bret

not that big, but I have seen one about 30lbs 4ft caught deep dropping in Cost Rica @night.


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## Lumberjack93

Bret said:


> not that big, but I have seen one about 30lbs 4ft caught deep dropping in Cost Rica @night.


Here are some neat pictures that I found. Sea Bass and Tuna.

Tuna Trips in the past looked like a lot of work and they used Cane Poles ;-)










Some nice Sea Bass from San Diego



















Here is a more modern 60's era sea bass ;-)



















Lumberjack93


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## surffan

I don't care if I do catch something that big I ain't putting on a suit a tie for the picture!


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## Lumberjack93

billy10103 said:


> Here is a link to Hips website. http://groups.msn.com/land-basedsharkfishingonlineclubhouse He is one very interesting fellow to talk too. He can tell you things about fishing the coast of Texas that is absolutely amazing!
> 
> As for the jewfish\warsaw debate. It is definetely a jewfish. Hip can tell you tons of stories about people catching those also. He has also witnessed what happened to the texas sawfish. I would suggest anyone that enjoys or great sport should at least stop by and say hi. Espically if you like sharkfishing. He was one of pioneers of monster sharkfishing from the beach down on PINS. Read the story associated with that pic. It is pretty cool!
> Billy


Say Billy, I saw your post on the other board.

I also see that Hip is looking for a place to move his Fishing Forum to. You ought to have him contact the forum moderator here (Monte I think). Guys with his knowledge would be a great asset to this forum.

Just an idea.

Lumberjack93


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## Hang Time

Pretty amazing pictures. And to think that they did it without two speed reels, superbraid and color fishfinders. Just imagine the one that "got away". Keep um coming guys. Thanks


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## Flynm

What's amazing about these pic is, I have no idea what in the h3ll I'd do with something of this size (other than smile like hell) and thank the "water gods"!!!!! 

Can you really imagine the "cleaning" session that would follow?

Priceless.....


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## Freshwaterman

Lumberjack93 said:


> Say Billy, I saw your post on the other board.
> Lumberjack93


I also see that Hip is looking for a place to move his Fishing Forum to. You ought to have him contact the forum moderator here (Monte I think). Guys with his knowledge would be a great asset to this forum.

Just an idea.

Hi L J,
I will definetely talk to him about that. It's been awhile sine I've been on that one work has been keeping me pretty busy. I'm gonna post those pics you asked me to also tonight I will start on my next post and I'll have to split them up there are alot. I'll have to resize a lot of them also so it might take me awhile but bare with me I'll have them up ASAP.
Billy


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## Lumberjack93

billy10103 said:


> I also see that Hip is looking for a place to move his Fishing Forum to. You ought to have him contact the forum moderator here (Monte I think). Guys with his knowledge would be a great asset to this forum.
> 
> Just an idea.
> 
> Hi L J,
> I will definetely talk to him about that. It's been awhile sine I've been on that one work has been keeping me pretty busy. I'm gonna post those pics you asked me to also tonight I will start on my next post and I'll have to split them up there are alot. I'll have to resize a lot of them also so it might take me awhile but bare with me I'll have them up ASAP.
> Billy


No problem. I can't wait to see them.

I tried to copy and paste them into one of my posts but MSN doesn't work that way.

Later,

LJ93


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## Freshwaterman

L J,
Yeah and also I think you have to be a member of the board also. I'll have the first pics here real soon I'm starting on them now.

Billy


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## Freshwaterman

Here's the first set of pics. These are some more pics of Hip and the fiirst one was taken of him earlier this year.


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## Lumberjack93

billy10103 said:


> Here's the first set of pics. These are some more pics of Hip and the fiirst one was taken of him earlier this year.


Great pics!!! I'm glad to see that he doesn't let anything slow him down. Guys from his era are the first ones to step up to the plate and I bet he would still mix it up with a big shark if given the chance.

Thanks for the pics.

LJ93


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## Lumberjack93

billy10103 said:


> Here's the first set of pics. These are some more pics of Hip and the fiirst one was taken of him earlier this year.


I just noticed in the picture where he is holding the sharks mouth open that he had a leg brace. I'm even more impressed now knowing that he caught all of those sharks and that he didn't let his disability slow him down.

Inspiring is all I have to say.

Remember ol HIP the next time you hear your kid or a grown man complain about how heavy his Penn 6/0 reel is ;-) I bet guys from that era never complained about how heavy their tackle was. They just caught big fish and never complained or made excuses. No challenge was too big. I'm begining to think that I was born 30 years too late.

Thanks again for the pics.

Lumberjack93


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## Freshwaterman

Here are a few more Sawfish pics.


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## Freshwaterman

Ok here we go with a few more... The last pic is of Bob Hall Pier in I think 1970.


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## Freshwaterman

And some more.... This is fun! lol the last pic of Allen Rickets, he is also on the same site that Hip is on.


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## Freshwaterman

aanndddd now for your viewing pleasure.... lol


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## Freshwaterman

ok this is almost the last ones...


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## Freshwaterman

this is the last one that I have. I know it's not very old but it is one heck of a mako!!

As you might be able to tell I really love anything about sharks! lol


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## Carp

can anyone identify the shars in these two pics that billy posted


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## Freshwaterman

Lumberjack93 said:


> Great pics!!! I'm glad to see that he doesn't let anything slow him down. Guys from his era are the first ones to step up to the plate and I bet he would still mix it up with a big shark if given the chance.
> 
> Thanks for the pics.
> 
> LJ93


More than you would beleive! Last I heard he was plannig on having a weekend get together down on PINS later this year to help out and teach all of us youngin's how to rig for and catch big sharks like that.

Alan Ricketts is also in one of the pics I just posted he is going to be there as well at the sandblast. There are supposed to be some others there but I am not to sure who they are. If y'all want I'll post a link to the details about the Sandblast.

Well time to get some work done guys, Y'all take care.
Billy


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## Freshwaterman

Carp said:


> can anyone identify the shars in these two pics that billy posted


They are both Tiger Sharks


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## Lumberjack93

billy10103 said:


> More than you would beleive! Last I heard he was plannig on having a weekend get together down on PINS later this year to help out and teach all of us youngin's how to rig for and catch big sharks like that.
> 
> Alan Ricketts is also in one of the pics I just posted he is going to be there as well at the sandblast. There are supposed to be some others there but I am not to sure who they are. If y'all want I'll post a link to the details about the Sandblast.
> 
> Well time to get some work done guys, Y'all take care.
> Billy


Many thanks for posting those pics!!!!!!!!!

We will all enoy them. And, by all means post the info about the Sandblast. I would love to learn some shark catching info from those old salts.

Billy, thanks again!

Lumberjack93


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## Freshwaterman

Lumberjack93 said:


> Many thanks for posting those pics!!!!!!!!!
> 
> We will all enoy them. And, by all means post the info about the Sandblast. I would love to learn some shark catching info from those old salts.
> 
> Billy, thanks again!
> 
> Lumberjack93


Ok I looked but there would be way too many links to cover everything about the Sandblast. This is what I know so far. It's going to be in early june down on PINS around the 17 mm(mile marker). It's for people that want to learn land based monster shark fishing( 10 footers and up). It's not really for someone just starting out shark fishing. There are going to be several "Old Salts" including Mike "hip" Soden, Allen Rickets, and some others I am not really sure how many more or who they are. In addition to this there will be a first aid camp there ran by a nurse that's on the other board and she will be handing out a lot of stuff and pamphlets(sp) on the various things that can go wrong while fishing along with proper wound care. There is A LOT of people going to be there. I will post the exact date as soon as I can get it. Also there will be a cleanup involved with all of this. Not just what mess everyone will make but to try and clean up the beach some down there. 
For those that missed it this is the link to Hip's site. http://groups.msn.com/land-basedsharkfishingonlineclubhouse
They are always accepting new members so feel free to sign up and make some post while y'all are there. 
I'll post some more info when I get another break.
Take Care
Billy


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## txjeep

Mr.Warsaw said:


> I was thinking Warsaw at 350 pounds. Could be Jewfish at about the same weight. Either way that is a freakin monster


No kidding. And did you see the rod/reel the guy has in his hand? Looks kinda small for a fish that big.


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## Brewgod

Lumberjack93 said:


> Thats a neat article. I wish that we could bring the sawfish back to the Galveston Bay system (and all of Texas) but we would have to stop the shrimpers first. Shrimpers and Pollution seem to be the root of most of our problems in Texas Saltwater fishing.
> 
> I will say this. As a duck hunter, it took more than limits to bring back the duck population. It took protection of the wetlands, the breeding grounds.
> 
> If we ever want to see fish like our grandfathers caught then we will have to stop shrimping in the bays. They are the nursery areas for many fish and that is where we are loosing most of our fish IMO. Pollution in Galveston Bay doesn't help matters any either but I think that shrimping in the bays does the most damage. We loose thousands of game fish to get a few hundred lbs. of polluted shrimp. I hope that they perfect the shrimp farms and commercial shrimping becomes a thing of the past.
> Lumberjack93


Bay shrimping SHOULD become a thing of the past, h3ll, we now have a shrimp farm here in Nacogdoches, and "forward thinking"  city commission just passed a resolution for a shrimp festival(?).:rotfl:


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## Freshwaterman

*Hips Sandblast*

For those of you interested I have recently placed a thread on 2cool advertising the details on the 1st. anual Hips Sandblast. Here is a link to the info. http://2coolfishing.net/ttmbforum/showthread.php?p=162922#post162922

Thanks to everyone that posted pics I had a great time looking at them!

Billy


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## Lumberjack93

billy10103 said:



> For those of you interested I have recently placed a thread on 2cool advertising the details on the 1st. anual Hips Sandblast. Here is a link to the info. http://2coolfishing.net/ttmbforum/showthread.php?p=162922#post162922
> 
> Thanks to everyone that posted pics I had a great time looking at them!
> 
> Billy


Say, how did the first anual Hip Sandblast go this year?

Lumberjack93


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## MatagordaWader

Few Tarpon Pics


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## Scott

I know our thinking is different today - its still a **** shame seeing those fish hang like that!! Knowing they just ended up in some dumpster somewhere.....

I've only fished one tarpon kill tournament and there were no fish caught.... I got talked into it after a few beers - I don't intend to do it again.


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## Lumberjack93

MatagordaWader said:


> Few Tarpon Pics


Cool pics. Thanks for sharing.

LJ93


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## Lumberjack93

Scott said:


> I know our thinking is different today - its still a **** shame seeing those fish hang like that!! Knowing they just ended up in some dumpster somewhere.....
> 
> I've only fished one tarpon kill tournament and there were no fish caught.... I got talked into it after a few beers - I don't intend to do it again.


I wonder if people ate them back then? Never know.

LJ93


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## bigdaddyriverrat

The man holding the rod in the grouper picture I beleive is my grandfather (Gordon Mathis). He used to have a box of old fishing pictures from when he lived in Freeport after WWII. I remember seeing that picture in it . I have been looking for them but haven't been able to find them yet. My grandmother says my dad has them and vice versa. As soon as I find them I'll post some up.


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## EchoDuck Jr.

WOW. why cant i catch fish like that


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## Redfishr

What memories..........


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## Lumberjack93

Redfishr said:


> What memories..........


I love reading about catches of times past.

LJ93


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## MustangOrange

The old Yacht Club in Port Isabel has pictures of tarpon and billfish caught off Padre in past times when there was nothing else down there and PI was the end of the road (back in the 30's).


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## GinMan

I'll have to post the Jewfish Pic of my grandfather off of padre in the 50's. Great thread!


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## Charles Helm

GinMan said:


> Great thread!


Indeed it is -- too bad a lot of the pictures disappeared in the server change-over, but still a lot of great pictures there.


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## CHaRLie.DonT.sURf

I saw one of those fishing shows on TV a few years back (the details escape me, but I'm sure it was one of the regulars, Jimmy Houston or the like) but they were fishing offshore, and there were some Jewfish there.

Anyway, to get to the point... They took about a 4 ft. piece of rope, and tied some bait on it (no hook). They were holding it over in the water, and these 200#-ish Jewfish were nailing this bait, and they were "hanging on for dear life" to that little short piece of rope. After a few seconds of thrashing, the Jewfish would let go.

It was pretty funny. I wish I could remember more about when and where I saw that...


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## Overkill

Interesting pics, thanks.


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## haparks

wow i wish my dad was here--- he could probaly tell me all about the people in the pictures-- he was born in 1922 grew up in corpus and worked all around the docks and boats in corpus and surounding areas up and down the coast----those are outstanding pictures-- thanks alot--looking at the past--gives me hope for the future--if u were lucky enough to have known --david carol parks--u know what im talkin about---WWII vet-- world traveler----- and a really fine man-- sorry did not mean to take over thread those pics just made me think of my dad---


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## redfish bayrat

Cannot see pictures posted by Billy and some others. What do I need to do?


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## Lumberjack93

I think some of them were lost in the server crash that happened several months ago. Maybe Mont can't get them back. Don't know.


LJ93


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## SeaDeezKnots

It is now clear why I don't catch any fish. Apparently, they were all caught in the 40's and 50's by men in underoos.


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## Aggieangler

*Awesome Book*

If you like these pics and want to hear stories about fish like these from that timeframe, you need to check out the book:

Fishing Yesterday's Gulf Coast by Barney Farley

Go ahead and buy it in hardback. You will want to keep it. It is an incredible read. He is the guy that guided President Roosevelt when he went Tarpon fishing in Port A about 70 or someodd years ago. These pics and his book would make an awesome set!





SteveB said:


> I think that this shows how important it is to protect our fishery. I have never seen a sawfish caught off of the Texas coast in my lifetime, but it seems like they were plentiful in the past. Many of the fish in those pictures are seldom caught nowadays.
> 
> Steve


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## Aggieangler

Anyone know if Hip found a new home for his board? The MSN link is a bust now. I would love to check out some more on this same topic.



Lumberjack93 said:


> Say Billy, I saw your post on the other board.
> 
> I also see that Hip is looking for a place to move his Fishing Forum to. You ought to have him contact the forum moderator here (Monte I think). Guys with his knowledge would be a great asset to this forum.
> 
> Just an idea.
> 
> Lumberjack93


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## Lumberjack93

I found some of the old pics that were deleted in the server crash.


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## Lumberjack93

A few more.


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## Charles Helm

Lumberjack93 said:


> I found some of the old pics that were deleted in the server crash.


Thank you sir!


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## tcoronado

Hey man thats my home town Beeville Texas, pretty cool man.


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## gtty

My Great Grandfather. I think in the 30's. The redfish photo is in Galveston somewhere. I don't know where the bass photos were taken.


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## snap

I think you are correct that was a Jew fish. Check this web site.

http://www.corpusfishing.com/olddays.htm


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## bigd1

*Old Pic's*

Thanks to all of you for the great Pic's. I thoroughly enjoyed them.


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## wacker

Some of my favorites, Z. Grey was a tackle hoo!


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## Farmer Jim

That last pic looks like mcgolfer getting ready for a trip several years ago before he really stocked up.:smile:


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## redfish bayrat

If you ever go to Port A, go to the Tarpon Inn. Check out the autographed scales and some of the well known folks that have fished out of there. I think there are some old photos too.


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## Freshwaterman

wow! those r cool!


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## Red3Fish

*I am "in" awfully late on this string but...*

I had the great experience of growing up next to a man that owned ''big boats"(42' to 72') in the 50s and 60s. Very few sportfishermen ventured out to stetson and flower gardens then due to fuel constraints. The way you navigated was hit the farwell bouy and run a compass course for hours, until you arrived at an offshore platform. His charts were always marked with so many RPMs at such and such a heading, so another boat couldn't find the spot. "Spots" were a well kept secret even back then. We also had an old commercial fisherman (Capt. Pete) on board that could use a sextant (brass one from the late 1800s) if we really got turned around LOL! He always fished with a handline with 6 or 8 hooks on it, and wouldnt pull up till he had 4 or 5 snapper on it. I was supposed to get that sextant when he died, but didn't.

Anyways, once you got to the offshore platform, you would run another course at so many RPMs (maybe an hour or so), drop a bouy, and then start up the ole chart depth recorder, and running a pattern looking for the "hump". Sometimes you would search for a couple of hours before finding it. Then it was non stop bottom action.

Somewhere, I have some old pics of piles of big snapper, a 360# Jewfish, and some sails and marlin. For really big fish, they used to use what was called a "bicycle rig"....a car leaf spring welded to a 2" rod put into a holder in the transom, cable for line, and a "bicycle" rig, for a reel...the bicycle brake was your drag and a window weight or two for a sinker. Usual bait was a 4 or 5 pound snapper. Once you got a jewfish or warsaw 40 or 50 feet off the bottom, it was over when his bladder inflated.

Some of my fondest memories are being 12 yrs old and lifted up in the Capts chair and running the 72' boat off shore on a compass course for 4 or 5 hours while all the men were below, playing poker and drinking whisky. These trips always started about 1 or 2 at night and it was night running for 4 or 5 hours. My instructions were "hold it on course, watch the engine guages, and blow the airhorn if I saw any lights on the horizon, so they would come up and tell me what to do! LOL

We did have RDF (radio direction finder) that you usually could find your approximate position, but not very accurate.

The hard part was being the most junior deckhand and although everyone would pitch in, it still took 4 or 5 hours to clean up and refuel one of those big boats..not fiberglass!! LOL Lots of "brightwork". Refueling was usually 600 to 1500 gals of diesel. It held 2000 gal fuel and 1000 freash water. Heald banks and Claypile are a couple of other locations that come to mind. I havent been offshore again in 30 yrs! LOL

BTW the radio then was about 3' tall, by 2' deep and 2' wide! LOL

Sorry if I bored you, just thought some might find interesting.

Later
R3F


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## DCW

Great post Red3Fish. You didn't bore me! My Dad ran Charters out of Freeport back in the 60's. He always had a hand line out while snapper fishing. I think his largest Warsal was 150# on the hand line. I always wonder how many offshore boaters could find the way around without GPS. Dad had charts and a compass and used platforms too. It always amazed me that he went from rig to rig fishing and finding his way out but made a bee line back in and always found the jetties.


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## Argo

definately a great read.

That last picture looks like he might be related to mcgolfer BTW.


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## shanegair

red3fish, that was a great read!


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## Mr. Saltwater

Just found this old thread. Awesome old pics...must see is right!!


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## planohog

Great thread and pictures, As a kid I have spent countless hours on the end of bob hall. 
When jaws came out 1977 ish the place was super crowded for quite some time. 
Port Aransas, there is a place that is still operating today called the Tarpon Inn, 
It has been there a long long time and probably the walls could tell some good stories. 
It great we can document these things, for future generations, The old stories from 
the old guys , well they are mostly all gone now, Ill never forget my times on the old peir or over at port A on the wharfcat.


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## Bob Keyes

esCape said:


> HIP Sowden sure is in a bunch of pics of the largest sharks,,, anybody here friends with him?
> Does he still get out and fish Padre like he appeared to have torn them up between 67-70? He appears to know a think or two about landing the biggest of the bad boys.


I used to fish with him, he passed about 3 years ago from cancer.


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## Bob Keyes

surffan said:


> I don't care if I do catch something that big I ain't putting on a suit a tie for the picture!


Nope it wasn't for the picture he was fishing in a suit and tie, they did that back then.


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## Tortuga

Wow...cool old post.. regards pix on page 1


Think that was a jewfish. Used to see oldtimers fishing off the jetties at Port Aransas 
with handlines on a ROPE for them. 500 pounders were not unusual...and it would 
take hours of hauling for the fishermen to get them up on the rocks but they were 
worth about 50 cents a pound and one could be a months pay in them days...
and most restaurants in Texas sold it as trout or redfish or whatever...LOL

That 'pontoon' boat was probably down on the 'sixth' or 'seventh' pass on the 
east coast of Mexico.. My Dad used to go down there with his buddies fishing a lot.. 
Drive from one pass to the next with guides..then float over the pass in one of 
those things...into another beater truck to the next..and keep repeating till 
they got to the pass they wanted to fish.. FABULOUS fishing down there back in the day....
Tarpon off the beach...LOL...here is some pix of my Mom and my Dad with a few....


----------

