# Any old salts on here frequent the Gulf Haven/Dirty Pelican?



## Capt_Gilligan (Jun 8, 2016)

If so, I would love to hear more of those stories. My dad was a regular down there in the 70s and 80s. There’s some pretty awesome stories about that place.


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## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

I spent a lot of time on all the piers back in the day, and have lots of stories as a result. Here's one from back in the Gulf Haven days. It was fall and the circle on the end had rods side by side as always during "bull red season". At about dawn, a thunderstorm rolled through and everyone retreated to the covered area where the straight pier and circle met. As the storm cleared, I was the first to head back out, where I rebaited and casted one of my rods out. Before I could set the rod down, a bull red grabbed the bait. Afterwards, I told everyone I saw the red swimming by and casted to it. They all were skeptical, but couldn't prove I was spinning them a tall tale.

Those were good times spent with good people.


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## Capt_Gilligan (Jun 8, 2016)

I heard about and witnessed the red run in the early 90s. My dad said the jacks would come through and just as everyone sat down and tried to recoup from that, the reds would be right behind em.

FWIW, if you knew Big John (Garrison) or a guy called Bully or Steve Young, you probably met my old man along the way. He still has one of the old Fenwicks he built and a Lamiglas that Jerry Valentine built.


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## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

The time period I'm referring to is the 60s and 70s. Back in those days, what jacks were caught, and they were few, were in the spring and the bull reds were in the fall. Incidentally, while still under 20, I held the record for the largest shark caught off of the old Shorty's Longest Pier. Shorty's wasn't near as productive as Gulf Haven, or the old Black's (High Island) pier. My son and I were on Black's the day it washed away. When the swell started breaking up through the deck, we left. By the time we got home, the news was reporting that the pier had washed away.


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## SeaOx 230C (Aug 12, 2005)

Ive been on the Dirty Pelican a two but none of the others that I can recall.

It would be wonderful to have a new built in the area. The Galveston Piers are just not the same to me. I have always thought its because of the guts ands beach structure is not very defined because of the sea wall.


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