# Mexico Specs ?



## FISHP (Jul 23, 2013)

Anyone fish Mexican surf below Rio Grand? I heard onetime that there was some really pristine areas down there. I doubt that there is much fishing pressure inshore down there, might be some monster Specs, Snook and Tarpon.


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

Years ago there was a guide who took people to 3rd pass. He had some kind of amphibious vehicle that went across the passes.


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## Jolly Roger (May 21, 2004)

Mexico still uses gill nets inshore, think you are going to be disappointed. 

Got to go a few 100 miles into mexico before getting into good fishing again.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

They have fished out their own waters below the Rio with nets, and now they poach in Texas waters. Gillnets were thick in the late 1980s in the Rio Grande, I was with game wardens who helped cut them in half, late at night. We just kept the half on the Texas side. We heard voices yelling at us from the cane on the Mexican side, they didn't support our endeavors, for some reason. Back then we were in Shallow Sport boats with *no* cover, but we wore heavy vests. Today game wardens there use more armoured boats, from what I hear, anyway.


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## smokinguntoo (Mar 28, 2012)

I think one of the legendary guides was Rudy Grieger. And yes, they had a amphibious vehicle to take you to the good spots. Remember reading about it in Joe Doggett's column.

SG2


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## daddyhoney (Dec 4, 2006)

Lots of shrimper and small boat drug smuggling comes from that area. FYI


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## Texsurfer (Apr 29, 2008)

FISHP said:


> Anyone fish Mexican surf below Rio Grand? I heard onetime that there was some really pristine areas down there. I doubt that there is much fishing pressure inshore down there, might be some monster Specs, Snook and Tarpon.


I grew up in Brownsville and Nicho Perez used to own one of two camps down at third pass called Nicho's Lodge. He was a friend of my old man's. Back in the early '80s we used take week trips every year when I was a boy to his and another one of my dad's places down there. We would ferry our 3-wheelers and 4 wheelers over the channel at the shrimping village of Mezquital south of Matamoros in Pangas and then drive the 11 miles down the beach to Nicho and Randy's place. Boy those were the days.... we wouldn't see another soul on that beach for miles and miles and miles. We would catch so much fish we'd be exhausted by the end of each day. At low tide the pass would literally be about ten ft across and we'd chuck those soft plastic red shrimp with the white tails and gold spoons...seems like those were the only lures you needed in those days. Nicho's place wasn't much to look at back then... just a shack elevated on poles set back a few hundred yards from the surf. By the 2000's he had gotten it setup relatively nice with multiple rooms, a kitchen, a large deck and a Palapa down near the beach and would cater to larger groups of wealthy mexican and american business men. Hurricane Dolly wiped it off the face of the map back in '07 though. And since the cartels have been ruining things down there I don't believe he has gotten it back up and running again. My dad (Joe white) and Randy Weber helped him build his first amphibious. My dad, Randy Weber, Homer Weaver, Tommy Jeter, and Jimmy George were the Brownsville crew that started making forays down there in the 70's and they actually built their first amphibious vehicle out of 14 ft Jon boat when I was a kid. I remember it a honda motorcycle engine on the back of it hahaha. I'll need to dig up the old photos from those days and share them with ya'll. That was a different time for a boy growing up in extreme South Texas for sure. Salud Bros. :cheers:


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## Bernard (Nov 7, 2013)

I'd like to thank everyone for the comments on this thread. I did not grow up here but respect and love the lore of regional fishing - especially its legends. I am inspired now to check out Rudy's book. Quite coincidental to this thread, I just read this post regarding poaching busts: http://www.thefishingwire.com/story/317537.
B.

p.s. Texasurfer: Dying to see images of these amphibious crafts!


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## DCAVA (Aug 5, 2013)

Texsurfer said:


> I grew up in Brownsville and Nicho Perez used to own one of two camps down at third pass called Nicho's Lodge. He was a friend of my old man's. Back in the early '80s we used take week trips every year when I was a boy to his and another one of my dad's places down there. We would ferry our 3-wheelers and 4 wheelers over the channel at the shrimping village of Mezquital south of Matamoros in Pangas and then drive the 11 miles down the beach to Nicho and Randy's place. Boy those were the days.... we wouldn't see another soul on that beach for miles and miles and miles. We would catch so much fish we'd be exhausted by the end of each day. At low tide the pass would literally be about ten ft across and we'd chuck those soft plastic red shrimp with the white tails and gold spoons...seems like those were the only lures you needed in those days. Nicho's place wasn't much to look at back then... just a shack elevated on poles set back a few hundred yards from the surf. By the 2000's he had gotten it setup relatively nice with multiple rooms, a kitchen, a large deck and a Palapa down near the beach and would cater to larger groups of wealthy mexican and american business men. Hurricane Dolly wiped it off the face of the map back in '07 though. And since the cartels have been ruining things down there I don't believe he has gotten it back up and running again. My dad (Joe white) and Randy Weber helped him build his first amphibious. My dad, Randy Weber, Homer Weaver, Tommy Jeter, and Jimmy George were the Brownsville crew that started making forays down there in the 70's and they actually built their first amphibious vehicle out of 14 ft Jon boat when I was a kid. I remember it a honda motorcycle engine on the back of it hahaha. I'll need to dig up the old photos from those days and share them with ya'll. That was a different time for a boy growing up in extreme South Texas for sure. Salud Bros. :cheers:


Sounds like a bad arse time, never salt water fished S/of the border, but we used to freshwater fish near Alta Vista Resort in the 80's, awesome trophy bass fishing.

Too bad Mexico has gone to chit....

U mentioned a 'Weaver' fella, is he from Los Indios, ar San Bene? My paternal Grandma's maiden name was Weaver, we are related to most of them here in the Valley.


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## Texsurfer (Apr 29, 2008)

Bernard said:


> I'd like to thank everyone for the comments on this thread. I did not grow up here but respect and love the lore of regional fishing - especially its legends. I am inspired now to check out Rudy's book. Quite coincidental to this thread, I just read this post regarding poaching busts: http://www.thefishingwire.com/story/317537.
> B.
> 
> p.s. Texasurfer: Dying to see images of these amphibious crafts!


For sure man! I'll have to get the old man to scan them and email them to me. He's in his late 60's now and a lumber man by trade (computers have never been his thing) so that may be a task easier said than done lol. But I'll have to get the pictures on here. The stringers of fish in these pictures will blow ya'lls minds.

Also if I remember correctly the first amphibious they built was named "Guacamole" cuz it was a green Jon boat hahaha.


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## Texsurfer (Apr 29, 2008)

DCAVA said:


> Sounds like a bad arse time, never salt water fished S/of the border, but we used to freshwater fish near Alta Vista Resort in the 80's, awesome trophy bass fishing.
> 
> Too bad Mexico has gone to chit....
> 
> U mentioned a 'Weaver' fella, is he from Los Indios, ar San Bene? My paternal Grandma's maiden name was Weaver, we are related to most of them here in the Valley.


I'll have to check. I know Homer was short for Homero and his family has been in the valley for a long time. He's still down there and does welding work. My mother is an Orive and we've been in the valley since it was Mexico! Were you talking about Lake Guerrero?


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## DCAVA (Aug 5, 2013)

Texsurfer said:


> I'll have to check. I know Homer was short for Homero and his family has been in the valley for a long time. He's still down there and does welding work. My mother is an Orive and we've been in the valley since it was Mexico! Were you talking about Lake Guerrero?


We would deer hunt, whitewing hunt and bass fish by Lake Guerrero, on the opposite side of the road from Guerrero there was a 'sendero' that ran for endless miles into brush and farm ejidos. Some compadres of my folks had family that own thousands of acres. They had farm land and cattle, pigs, goats u name it. There was a fresh water pond that the spring water came from the Sierra mountains maybe 1/4 mile away from where the houses were, we would ride there on mules and donkeys, fish with rooster tails, topwater lures etc. and would hammer huge bass, we would catch so many that all the families that lived in their ejido would eat fried bass, and the rest we would take over to neighboring ejidos. It was an outdoorsman's paradise.

Miss those days.


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## Texsurfer (Apr 29, 2008)

DCAVA said:


> We would deer hunt, whitewing hunt and bass fish by Lake Guerrero, on the opposite side of the road from Guerrero there was a 'sendero' that ran for endless miles into brush and farm ejidos. Some compadres of my folks had family that own thousands of acres. They had farm land and cattle, pigs, goats u name it. There was a fresh water pond that the spring water came from the Sierra mountains maybe 1/4 mile away from where the houses were, we would ride there on mules and donkeys, fish with rooster tails, topwater lures etc. and would hammer huge bass, we would catch so many that all the families that lived in their ejido would eat fried bass, and the rest we would take over to neighboring ejidos. It was an outdoorsman's paradise.
> 
> Miss those days.


I checked with the old man and he said that yes those are the same Weavers. Small world compadre! He also said something funny after I asked him about Homer, he said that when he and Homer were kids in the 50's he remembers asking Homer's daddy why his last name was Weaver when he looked mexicano and Mr. Weaver's response was "Bueno... Old man Weaver around the turn of the 20th century figured he wanted to learn spanish, so he did it by the best proven method, he married a mexicana". That about sums up cultural integration in the valley doesn't? hahahaha. I sure do miss it down there and it definitely is a outdoorsman's paradise. Take care primo.


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## DCAVA (Aug 5, 2013)

^^^Cool deal brother, I figured he had to be related somehow, having the Weaver last name, and yes, if I remember correctly, my pops told me that the original Dr. Weaver was an early valley settler from Europe in the early 1900's that married a mexicana. Most of the land on both sides of hwy.281 (military) from Los Indios to Bluetown was owned by the Weaver descendants, much of which was sold or lost in horse races and poker games over the years, according to my Dad. Many of the primos still have their lands and we still have a piece of land in our family that was my granparents in Los Indios that runs to the bordo and over touching the Rio Bravo. I guess u don't live in the valley anymore? Still the same, xcept I don't go into Mx. anymore for bottles and cigarettes! lol!!

Whenever u come back down, shoot me a PM and we can drink some cerveza fria!:cheers:

Dan Cavazos III


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## smokinguntoo (Mar 28, 2012)

Very cool Texasurfer. I love to hear those stories. Green to ya.

SG2


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## Whaler 285 (Jul 22, 2011)

My dad and grandfather started fishing la pesca in the late 60's then moved up to the 6th pass which if I remember correctly was the furthest south. We caught reds trout and flounder sometimes [email protected] a time. I remember a couple trips when the snook outnumbered the reds. We surely caught way more fish than we needed but back then we didn't know any better. The guide with the big buggy was named POPO. He kept the buggy at his house at the 3rd pass. He would drive it down the beach then across the passes. If I was smart enough I would post some pics. It was a lot of fun till the gill nets moved in


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## Texsurfer (Apr 29, 2008)

DCAVA said:


> ^^^Cool deal brother, I figured he had to be related somehow, having the Weaver last name, and yes, if I remember correctly, my pops told me that the original Dr. Weaver was an early valley settler from Europe in the early 1900's that married a mexicana. Most of the land on both sides of hwy.281 (military) from Los Indios to Bluetown was owned by the Weaver descendants, much of which was sold or lost in horse races and poker games over the years, according to my Dad. Many of the primos still have their lands and we still have a piece of land in our family that was my granparents in Los Indios that runs to the bordo and over touching the Rio Bravo. I guess u don't live in the valley anymore? Still the same, xcept I don't go into Mx. anymore for bottles and cigarettes! lol!!
> 
> Whenever u come back down, shoot me a PM and we can drink some cerveza fria!:cheers:
> 
> Dan Cavazos III


That sounds like a plan bubba! My old man's family were shrimpers and I did that every summer until graduation in '94 and then left Brownsville when I joined the Navy and finally settled in Austin with the wife and kiddos back in '07. This is the longest stretch in my life that I've been living away from the ocean and it is HARD. But my career keeps me in Austin so...you know how it goes. I mainly fish Matagorda these days because it's the closest drive but when I get down to the valley I always try to make a run up the beach to the land cut. I'll definitely hit you up for some cold ones next time.:cheers:


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## Texsurfer (Apr 29, 2008)

smokinguntoo said:


> Very cool Texasurfer. I love to hear those stories. Green to ya.
> 
> SG2


:cheers:


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## Texsurfer (Apr 29, 2008)

Whaler 285 said:


> My dad and grandfather started fishing la pesca in the late 60's then moved up to the 6th pass which if I remember correctly was the furthest south. We caught reds trout and flounder sometimes [email protected] a time. I remember a couple trips when the snook outnumbered the reds. We surely caught way more fish than we needed but back then we didn't know any better. The guide with the big buggy was named POPO. He kept the buggy at his house at the 3rd pass. He would drive it down the beach then across the passes. If I was smart enough I would post some pics. It was a lot of fun till the gill nets moved in


Not sure if you're familiar with it but one of Dad's buddies owns Rancho Mescalero down near Soto La Marina and we also used to fish La pesca and the surrounding areas. It really is cool to hear from folks who got to experience that area in its heydey. I wouldn't trade those memoires fro anything. I just wish I could show my own boy an area as unspoiled as that used to be. The laguna back behind the dunes south of mezquital and the 3rd-6th pass area is enormous. I can remember being a little boy and thing it was the biggest thing I had ever seen.


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## DCAVA (Aug 5, 2013)

Texsurfer said:


> That sounds like a plan bubba! My old man's family were shrimpers and I did that every summer until graduation in '94 and then left Brownsville when I joined the Navy and finally settled in Austin with the wife and kiddos back in '07. This is the longest stretch in my life that I've been living away from the ocean and it is HARD. But my career keeps me in Austin so...you know how it goes. I mainly fish Matagorda these days because it's the closest drive but when I get down to the valley I always try to make a run up the beach to the land cut. I'll definitely hit you up for some cold ones next time.:cheers:


 Cool bro, I fish the laguna launching out of Arroy City, so when ur down we will also go cast a line.


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## Texsurfer (Apr 29, 2008)

DCAVA said:


> Cool bro, I fish the laguna launching out of Arroy City, so when ur down we will also go cast a line.


Awesome I look forward to it.


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## RonH77 (May 9, 2010)

*3rd Pass and beyond!*

I have been many times to fish the Laguna Madre and surf beyond the Mexican border. We would drive in a 16 passenger van to the beach outside of Matamoros. We stopped in town for some food, ice and lots of Rum & sweet cokes and the little limes for Cuba Libres. We would load the buggy with all of our gear and supplies and head off to Third Pass. When "The Machine" came to a pass it just drove off in the water. It had 2 propellers underneath and it floated and the huge tires turned at the same time. When it got to the other bank it just climbed the bank and we kept going down the beach to the next pass. The buggy that carried us down was called "The Machine". It was owned by Ray Fiveash and he had a house at 3rd pass that we slept and ate in. The guides name was Popo Flores and he was quite a character. We had a cook that prepared our meals and there was a warm breeze at night to keep the mosquitos away. I have some photos somewhere if I can find will post.


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## Whaler 285 (Jul 22, 2011)

We went down to the 6th pass till around 1985. We would most always camp on the north side of the pass. Sometimes the would be a 16' dargel scooter rum the beach from spi and camp on the south side. I met that man again several years ago but I can't remember his name. Other than that group and local shark fisherman we never saw anyone besides popo's bunch


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## hog_down (Jan 11, 2010)

Awesome thread; love hearing the old stories about the 'old salts' and how fishing used to be...


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## RonH77 (May 9, 2010)

*La Pesca*

I also was fortunate enough to fish at the pass at La Pesca. Also we fished for Corbina on the Soto La Marina river. I grew up in Lake Jackson and belonged to an Explorer Scout fishing post in the early '60s. We drove to La Pesca to fish. There were only dirt roads and we had to do a river crossing before we got to the camp. We caught Jumbo shrimp at night in a net close to the camp where we stayed. We fished at the pass. The guides took us in big heavy wooden boats and we got out and fished where the river entered the gulf. Back then they had not started gill netting yet and you could drop in a shiny hook and catch a trout. We used double trout rigs and would catch nice specks two at a time and then we caught snook in the surf. When we came back to camp the guides would filet the fish and throw the rest in the water and the pigs would wade in and eat the remains. It was quite an adventure. Hope I get to do something like that again before I get old. Ha!


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