# Texas Two Step



## TrueblueTexican (Aug 29, 2005)

Its about this time every year we lose an experienced surf fisherman. I love to fish head high surf when the big specks are banging a topwater, likely not any more exciting fishing anywhere.

Slipping out to the third bar at lowtide can net you some monster trout with good timing on an a mid morning bite - it can also put you offshore over your head with just one wrong move - I don't know of many hardcore surf fishermen who have NOT made that particular slip- up but have lived to tell the tale -

I stepped into a rip outside Cedar Bayou in 1988 when I was in my prime and in good shape - fishing ALONE (mistake 1) in rough surf (mistake 2) and tiptoe to tiddy deep water on the third bar (mistake 3) trying to keep up with a moving school of 5-7# specks. Mistake # 4 (no PFD) and one step too many into the rip (mistake #5) - I was fifty yards BEYOND the third bar in 12' deep water with big swells/crashing surf between me and the sand by the time I managed to swim at rt angles out of it - even at that before I managed to get my feet on sand again, I was just about done in. Had I lost my head and panicked - I wouldn't be here to type the story - sadly you are likely to read of someone you know who will lose their life fishing the surf this year

Think about your wife , kids and family before you make the bet you can do it without a PFD - they will appreciate you coming home with the fish, instead of sleeping with them -


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

Mistake #4 is the worst.

The most common response I get on the importance of wearing a PFD at all times while fishing the surf is something like this " I wear a PFD when fishing around a pass but you don't need one on the beachfront".

WRONG.

I would rather have a PFD and not need it than need it and not have it.


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

Those are good words to go by for sure. 

There are holes out there also. I walked into one on my way in once and had to ditch my rod and swim in. Also, know when the high tide is coming in if you can wade to it. I have had to swim back in because of that too. Furthermore, it is a lot harder to swim back in than it is to swim out.

I don't head out to the third bar anymore. I catch plenty enough close in. I don't advise any beginning surf angler to attempt swimming to the third bar - even when you are wearing a pfd. If you can wade to it, ok, but be careful. If you have to swim to it, you are more likely swimming through fish you want to catch.

Also, learn to spot places where rips are most likely to occur - unfortunately, those are the spots most likely to hold fish. They are fairly easy to spot if you know what they look like. It takes a long time sometimes to develop an eye for that kind of thing. Surfside and Galveston are a lot safer places to surf wade and do not have many rips but Matagorda going south are abundant. There are a ton more big sharks close to the beach in those areas as well.

Last summer, a friend of mine caught an eight pound speck in the first gut during the heat of the day when those on the third bar weren't catching anything. I just don't see a need in going out there. Actually, I have never seen people catching fish out there when I wasn't catching them in close - I am sure it happens at times though. But, there have been times I have seen those out there turn around and fish towards the beach when I was catching them and they weren't......


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

Here ya go: A good description here and how to get out of one.


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

I can almost guarantee that someone reading this site is going to have an incident while wade fishing the surf and when they are in the middle of it scared to death they will have a flashback about reading this and wishing they had listened and worn a PFD.

Don't be like myself and TrueblueTexican and learn the hard way. Just wear a PFD at all times while in the surf.


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

Goose Lover said:


> I can almost guarantee that someone reading this site is going to have an incident while wade fishing the surf and when they are in the middle of it scared to death they will have a flashback about reading this and wishing they had listened and worn a PFD.
> 
> Don't be like myself and TrueblueTexican and learn the hard way. Just wear a PFD at all times while in the surf.


 It's like all of the signs at San Luis Pass and people still drown there every year. This is one thing you don't want to learn the hard way - that is if ya make it.


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## txteltech (Jul 6, 2012)

SurfRunner said:


> Here ya go: A good description here and how to get out of one.


Great video I'll keep that in mind next time I wade the surf, also gonna buy a pfd inflatable from west marine for that oh $h!/ moment

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## TrueblueTexican (Aug 29, 2005)

*Self inflatable*

x cross PFD that you can blow up yourself is what I use in the surf now - they don't encumber the wade and jump and are comfortable

Went without for 30 years and was lucky as I tempted fate far too many times - lost FIVE good experienced surf fishermen I knew well in that time -

This isn't directed to the novice but rather as a warning to those who are familiar with the surf and think it won't happen to them.


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## willygee (Jun 21, 2013)

I've always thought that a pfd was not as necessary in the surf vs in the bays relative to the unpredictability in bays but hearing from others i will be sure to have it on next time i go out. Very seldom see ppl with pfd on the surf...


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

Been there done that years ago at Crystal Beach by the old A Frame House at Salt Cedar Rd. I was very lucky to get out alive, and so were 3 more fisherman standing next to me when we started bobbing along with the current on the third bar. The problem was it was impossible to get back on the second due to a horizontal current like a flooding river. You would tire out and retreat back on the third and get drug along the bar, tip toe hopping. This went on for about 30 minutes to an hour before we broke out about 2 miles east at Boyt Road. I layed in the tide line recovering and thanking God for about 30 minutes, I lost rod-reel-big stringer of trout. I did not have PDF but one of the three other dudes did and it was still pulling him just as bad, of course he had an advantage staying topside. We all made it, but we were all in our mid 20's hard working in shape. Today, it would absolutely be a death sentence for me.


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## TrueblueTexican (Aug 29, 2005)

*Yep*



Sea-Slug said:


> Been there done that years ago at Crystal Beach by the old A Frame House at Salt Cedar Rd. I was very lucky to get out alive, and so were 3 more fisherman standing next to me when we started bobbing along with the current on the third bar. The problem was it was impossible to get back on the second due to a horizontal current like a flooding river. You would tire out and retreat back on the third and get drug along the bar, tip toe hopping. This went on for about 30 minutes to an hour before we broke out about 2 miles east at Boyt Road. I layed in the tide line recovering and thanking God for about 30 minutes, I lost rod-reel-big stringer of trout. I did not have PDF but one of the three other dudes did and it was still pulling him just as bad, of course he had an advantage staying topside. We all made it, but we were all in our mid 20's hard working in shape. Today, it would absolutely be a death sentence for me.


One of many of us lived to tell the tale --


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## troutless (Feb 17, 2006)

I have pulled out two people out of SLP over the years while fishing there and none of them had a PFD on. The tide rocks and rolls there on the tide change. I think there have been more drowning there than any other pass in Texas.


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## SolarScreenGuy (Aug 15, 2005)

Whatever you do, stay away from SLP during a strong outgoing current. Most dangerous time. I'm not too concerned about a strong incoming tide, but I picked up a new PFD recently and will be wearing it from now on. No more swimming to the next bar either. You can always get back in the truck and make a move to another area. If the cross current is strong enough to move the sand from under my feet, I'm out of there. 
I have also noticed a change around Mosquito Island lately that I don't remember from back in the early 90s when I fished there a lot. The bigger ships now entering and leaving the port are setting off tsunami looking wakes when the waves reach the island. Be careful out there and remember; it's better to float than not!


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## Dawn Patrol (Jun 7, 2014)

*being careful near SLP*

All the stories on this thread ought to be published in the outdoors section of The Chronicle. I can remember my Dad telling me when I was a little kid, "Stay the hell out of the San Luis Pass!"

Of course, I had to learn on my own. I was fishing the Brazoria side of the pass just east of the bridge while I was a dumb *** in college when the current, in less than waist deep water, quickly sliced the sand underneath my toes and kept going back towards my heels. I was lucky to be able to step back quickly; another second, and I would have gotten the long ride into the gulf. I have no doubt that in my currently enlarged state, I could not hope to be as nimble as I was in those heady days of yore.

I saw where the Coast Guard did rescue swimmer demo's out there over Memorial Day this year. I wish they would do that more often. SLP can be an amazing place to fish, a veritable fish super-highway; but it freaks me out when I think of how close to a bad death I have been out there.


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## TrueblueTexican (Aug 29, 2005)

*Not in Surf*

But lost a wader off TCD yesterday - swept away in current - an inflatable mae west - and likely he would be here today


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## kingfisher1 (Aug 24, 2013)

Wow, this thread has been an eye-opener for me. Thanks for the video SurfRunner.


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## Ancuegar (Jul 5, 2012)

i dont take the same chances anymore like when we were younger. we would swim to the 3rd bar everytime. now i realize i can catch just as many in the second gut as we did way out there. life is a gift and that why we call it present is the motto i live by now. got too many folks that would miss me now.


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## iamatt (Aug 28, 2012)

I had an incident at Surfside while wading inside at the base of the jetties where they start. Of course I wasn't wearing a PFD. Incoming tide early in the morning, catching solid ocean trout about waist deep. I could see a loaded tanker was navigating the waterway and was coming from my right and headed out to the ocean. I figured I had plenty of time and would get out before he passed and then wade back in and catch some more fish. 

As this tanker was approaching (still a ways off) I felt a change in the water, which soon turned into full on rush like a river going out. This was before the vessel had even crossed my path. It took all of my strength to keep my balance while some crazy physics was going on from the boat and the width of the jetties. The suction was so great that rocks and mini boulders were being sucked out and over my feet. I can remember thinking to myself I cannot believe this is happening. It was pretty scary but then the vessel induced tide slacked off as it passed me. Needless to say I got out of there as fast as I could and have never again waded inside that area. Also learned a good lesson on how fast **** can go wrong!


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## slabseeker (Mar 11, 2006)

I almost drowned about 20 yrs ago doing the same thing with no PFD by SLP. trying to make it out to the 3rd bar. not worth it .I have caught most of my fish in the second Gut over the years. I beg people not to even try it. unless its flat and calm. I would still were a PFD. be careful out there guys. I have made it to 52 so far....


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## hockeyref999 (Aug 12, 2005)

My friends all used to laugh at me for wearing a pfd in the surf. Until one of them about drowned.


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## TrueblueTexican (Aug 29, 2005)

*2 more needlessly died yesterday*

A PFD and they would be home tonite. 61 year old men -


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

I can't wade fish any more due to my back, but this whole thread is very true. Years back when I was bullet-proof I had a scary situation on far west Galveston beach in the vicinity of Rusty Hook.


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## Reel Screamer (Jun 8, 2004)

hockeyref999 said:


> My friends all used to laugh at me for wearing a pfd in the surf. Until one of them about drowned.





Whitebassfisher said:


> I can't wade fish any more due to my back, but this whole thread is very true. Years back when I was bullet-proof I had a scary situation on far west Galveston beach in the vicinity of Rusty Hook.


Me too. Glad to be here now. Still do not wers PFD but this thread has got me thinking.


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

swam back from the 3rd bar one-handed once w/my pole held above the water...
never again...
don't go there w/o PFD.
REALLY!


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

Better to have a PFD and not need it and than to need it and not have it. 

Words to live by.


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## troutless (Feb 17, 2006)

Thanks for the reminder, we all get relaxed and don't wear our PFD a hundred percent of the time. Now at 74, I don't leave home without it. and I don't fish the third bar anymore. Also I do more surf fishing with long rods and bait poles.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

iamatt said:


> I had an incident at Surfside while wading inside at the base of the jetties where they start. Of course I wasn't wearing a PFD. Incoming tide early in the morning, catching solid ocean trout about waist deep. I could see a loaded tanker was navigating the waterway and was coming from my right and headed out to the ocean. I figured I had plenty of time and would get out before he passed and then wade back in and catch some more fish.
> 
> As this tanker was approaching (still a ways off) I felt a change in the water, which soon turned into full on rush like a river going out. This was before the vessel had even crossed my path. It took all of my strength to keep my balance while some crazy physics was going on from the boat and the width of the jetties. The suction was so great that rocks and mini boulders were being sucked out and over my feet. I can remember thinking to myself I cannot believe this is happening. It was pretty scary but then the vessel induced tide slacked off as it passed me. Needless to say I got out of there as fast as I could and have never again waded inside that area. Also learned a good lesson on how fast **** can go wrong!


I've seen that water in the channel at Freeport do crazy things when big ships move thru there. I see people wade there, but I wouldn't do it.


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