# I miss old POC



## Crowhater (Jul 21, 2014)

It is so sad, I wish I could blow all the bridges to POC. 20 years ago it was as close as you could get to perfect and now it has turned into Yuppie world.

I swear I watched a kid pull up in his daddies new black SCB at Sunday beach and he backed it up to the beach. I told Danny if I had my phone I would video it for 2cool. He let that 300hp reverse until the prop grabbed sand and killed it. 

Normally I avoid Sunday beach but the family wanted to go and as normal half the people had no idea how to drive a boat or simple protocol. Tie a life vest to your anchor line, secure your boat so it can not touch another boat. Do not get on or sit on another persons boat.


What on earth makes jetski IDIOTS think we are interested in seeing their freaking tricks? 50 boats tied up side by side, people swimming and floating around them, and these guys sending wake after wake. I swear if there was a loophole in the law that made it legal to run them down I would have jetski stamps all down the side of my boat like a fighter plane. 

While on the IDIOT topic, why do people insist on bringing their dogs to a setting like this and let them run free. I am an animal lover and I have brought me dog to the beach in the past but I keep him on a leash if others are around. Some people like myself for example get nervous when they see large strange dogs running up to their children. To the owner of the dog it is just his dog going after a ball, to the parent it is annoying. 


Oh I have another question????? Why when you get a large group of white guys together in Boats, ATV, UTV, 4x4, do they all start blasting rap music?


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

We used to launch our boat at Pat's Alley and head out to our shack on Big Bayou, hardly ever saw five boats in a bunch. I have thirteen years on you so I guess I saw the best. We got out of there in the mid 70's. Every time we left after a fishing trip Dad would stop at Jeco's and I would get a Dr. Pepper and a bag of sunflower seeds, the shelled kind and when we hit the highway I would say man, I wish we was just getting here. Helluva place to fish and make memories or was.


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## Crow's Nest (Dec 4, 2009)

/\/\All the reasons I never go near the Coast on Holiday weekends/\/\

If I did go, I would expect nothing less than everything you described.


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## FLAT FISHY (Jun 22, 2006)

so yer part of the holiday invasion and yer complaining!!! JAHA


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## juan valdez (Jun 21, 2014)

Crowhater said:


> It is so sad, I wish I could blow all the bridges to POC. 20 years ago it was as close as you could get to perfect and now it has turned into Yuppie world.
> 
> I swear I watched a kid pull up in his daddies new black SCB at Sunday beach and he backed it up to the beach. I told Danny if I had my phone I would video it for 2cool. He let that 300hp reverse until the prop grabbed sand and killed it.
> 
> ...


dogs and music i am right there with you. i've taken my dachshund a time or two but he certainly doesnt roam freely. i hate when a large dog comes running up on him. freaks him out, i get nervous he'll snap and that'll be the end of my 12 going on 100' weenie dog.

last time i was there was august, two boats were parked next to each other a little ways off the beach and had a competition on who could played worse music louder. i'm no prude and certainly learned a cuss word or two in my Corps but holy ****, when there's kids around maybe dont blare that **** at full volume for everyone to hear

i cant imagine going on a holiday weekend, you're braver than i


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## Stuart (May 21, 2004)

20 years was not close to perfect. JS


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## Crowhater (Jul 21, 2014)

I have run airboats for over 20 years and I would go so far as say I probably had the most expensive biggest HP airboat in Texas for a time but I would have never drove it to Sunday beach on a holiday weekend. People in general are not very happy to get prop washed by an airboat.


My Flats Cat is not even close to being the nicest boat at the beach but that does not mean I want a 100k SCB rubbing against it or a bunch of college students sitting on the side of it every time I walk away from it.

Times have just changed, people only think about themselves these days. My son and his friend were playing with water guns and they sprayed some adults in the distance by accident, I made them go over an apologize then explained the importance of showing other respect.


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## tstorm5 (Aug 27, 2009)

Lived in POC 27 years ago. Fished every day off and never even had a license. Never went to Sunday Beach and have still never been. Nothing there for me. We called it the Pass and I had never seen a boat anchored over there unless they were fishing or trying to figure out how to get into Fish Pond.

As far as pets, most people think because they love their dog that everyone should love their dog. Sadly the exact opposite is true. They let them run loose to **** in your yard and they act stunned to tears if you complain. 

Sunday beach is great if you want to hang around a crowd. So is Schlitterbahn and Garner. I would rather run all the way down to Greens Bayou and walk across to a secluded beach.


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

You should have been to POC 50 years ago...it was nice.

TH


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## Harbormaster (May 26, 2000)

Trouthunter said:


> You should have been to POC 50 years ago...it was nice.
> 
> TH


The table under the 10 pound flounder in Strykers was mine!


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## Crowhater (Jul 21, 2014)

You old timers had it made! All the best fishing, hunting, worst VD was crabs, no computers, no cell phones, no cable TV, you could still beat your kids legally, and America was the greatest country the world had ever seen.


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## RRbohemian (Dec 20, 2009)

I stay away from POC during holidays. And I don't go to Sunday beach. I like my peace and quiet out on Matty Peninsula. Some of the best therapy for city life headaches.


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## dk2429 (Mar 27, 2015)

I saw that same thing with SCB!! I was like, *** are you doing dude??!


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## Haute Pursuit (Jun 26, 2006)

Did you see a Desperado with plastic rod holders and Barbie Dolls there?


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## 6.5 shooter dude (Jan 8, 2008)

dk2429 said:


> I saw that same thing with SCB!! I was like, *** are you doing dude??!


Sorry my back up beeper stopped working 



Haute Pursuit said:


> Did you see a Desperado with plastic rod holders and Barbie Dolls there?


Bawhaaahaaaa


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## Crowhater (Jul 21, 2014)

dk2429 said:


> I saw that same thing with SCB!! I was like, *** are you doing dude??!


Oh yeah, lets not even go into the fact that you are powering into a swimming area in reverse. Oh my god if his father could have seen that I bet he would have taken the boat right then. On second thought, anyone who would let a kid take a boat like that to a party beach to get drunk with his buddies probably does not care about that SCB. I bet the call the dealership and complain about a prop vibration and how it should be fixed for free.

By the way I was the boat flying the Confederate Flag.


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## dk2429 (Mar 27, 2015)

I saw your boat then. I was in my buddy's 18' Shoalwater Flats with a 90 Nissan.. Where can I find me a confederate flag?? It would look badass behind the ole Majek


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## Hollywood1053 (May 15, 2009)

What you're describing is exactly why I don't go near the water on holidays.......


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## Copano/Aransas (Dec 18, 2011)

Crowhater said:


> Oh yeah, lets not even go into the fact that you are powering into a swimming area in reverse. Oh my god if his father could have seen that I bet he would have taken the boat right then. On second thought, anyone who would let a kid take a boat like that to a party beach to get drunk with his buddies probably does not care about that SCB. I bet the call the dealership and complain about a prop vibration and how it should be fixed for free.
> 
> By the way I was the boat *flying the Confederate Flag*.


How could you. :rotfl:


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## Crowhater (Jul 21, 2014)

dk2429 said:


> I saw your boat then. I was in my buddy's 18' Shoalwater Flats with a 90 Nissan.. Where can I find me a confederate flag?? It would look badass behind the ole Majek


I had to go on the web and purchase them, I purchase a couple so we could also run one on the outriggers of the offshore boat. Looks like I need to buy 10 or 20 of them because everyone kept trying to purchase mine. Heck I will give them away if people will fly them, it was Memorial Day after all.

I actually had a person tell me it racist! I laughed and told them to stop drinking the cool-aid and read a history book. The confederate flag had nothing to do with Slavery. Nothing as dangerous as ignorance and white guilt combined.


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## Rack Ranch (May 25, 2004)

I stopped going 20 years ago. How did you take it this long?


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## Porky (Nov 1, 2006)

My 1st time to POC was when they opened up Matagorda Island to camping at the AF docks I think it was 1978, Had the Army Hole to ourselves. Then we started camping at the old CG ruins when it was still high & dry(can you say shade). Quit going in the mid 90's. Now the place is a leg hunchers paradise.


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## Johnboat (Jun 7, 2004)

*I like crowds*

1. Whats wrong with crowds?
2. You lost me on the stars and bars. On Memorial weekend you should fly our country's flag :flag:, not the enemy/loser/traitor flag.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

We started keeping our 23 SeaCraft in Jimmy Crouch's rental trailer front yard across from the Catholic Church in 1988, and gave the tarpon and hundreds of bull reds lots of hell in the Pass which was still 30 feet deep. An earlier generation had stopped fishing there, or moved away. We'd tried living in Rockport in 1990 just as the brown tide arrived for a year. Kept the boat in POC and drove back and forth. If we didn't jump three big tarpon every sunset, something was wrong. At no time did another boat anchor in the pass, and try the same thing. So we moved the kids to POC in 1991 and stayed through the fishing season in '96. Jimmy Crouch was our next door neighbor. Madden's Bar was only 100 yards away, playing Achey Breaky Heart every night on the juke...Then we moved two blocks north to a bigger house. Had the Pass to ourselves, the kids ran the beach and built sun shelters out of driftwood. Lots of good times. Guiding was good too, there were only nine guides who lived in the area (counting Palacios) and three of them were...never mind. Clark's opened in 1994 and I was the only boat tied up in their slips. Henry Clark kept trying to grade that boat ramp, and used my boat on the trailer as a guinea pig. Then Capt. Joe Surovik glommed onto my spot the following summer, so I was #2 spot. Two Makos. Food inside there was fabulous. My wife would bring out a pitcher of Oktoberfest beer while I was cleaning fish...The daily bag limit of snapper was five, all year long even in federal waters. The Houston party crowd would show up in manageable numbers during summer weekends, and camped in our living room. And during duck season. But they never went to Sunday Beach. Some of the local kids 12 years old had never been to the beach.

Anyway we made many friends there and I return each summer, in fact I will arrive there Saturday. It's still quiet on weekdays and I enjoy pizzing in the front yard and walking to Alvins (now Speedies) for coffee and breakfast taco.


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## kinja (May 21, 2004)

Crowhater, I would suggest you've matured since the days of running your airboat to the roadside store for beer.

We are allowed to mature, just remember your dumb days as you pass judgement on today's kids.


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## tstorm5 (Aug 27, 2009)

I always considered this Sunday Beach place for the younger crowd. Meaning 18 to 20 somethings. I would expect to drinking, colorful language, clowning around and loud music. I know where it is and do not see myself ever visiting. 

And as for that pic of the girls as a crowd... That was not taken at Sunday Beach. But its fun to dream I guess. LOL!


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## FishRisk (Jan 24, 2012)

Ever heard of the Pass referred to as the Curvature? I remember the Pass before there was a Sunday Beach. We used to fish the Pass and load up with quality trout! Great memories and enjoyed the isolation of wading in waters void of fishermen (was easy to find back in the day).

Jimmy Crouch was quite a character, lots of fun 70's and 80's.

We moved on in '96...


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## tstorm5 (Aug 27, 2009)

I remember Jimmy. I also remember POC before Game Wardens and the law of any kind frequented that place. Clarks was a place for shrimp boats and live bait was something I had never heard of using to catch fish with. You could pretty much drive anything that ran all over town and never have an issue. Used to be an old Bell Helicopter that landed at that hotel across from the Catholic Church(1967-ish). The grocery store and movie theatre were the hotspots back then. LOL!!! I haven't been back there for any length of time in many years. To crowded for me.


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## Ted Gentry (Jun 8, 2004)

Haute Pursuit said:


> Did you see a Desperado with plastic rod holders and Barbie Dolls there?


I don't think anybody here would admit to seeing that boat and driver!


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## LaddH (Sep 29, 2011)

tstorm5 said:


> I remember Jimmy.
> 
> Jimmy is still kicking. I saw him and Barbara drive by yesterday.
> I have lived here since '91 and it has changed for sure. I would move but I can't figure out where I would move to. We lay low on weekends and fish during the week. There are times when it is still pretty nice .
> .A scary thought.- To the kids that are coming to POC now in 20 years 2016 will be remembered as the good old days.


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## donf (Aug 8, 2005)

So what has made POC and all these wonderful private places we knew, 30 years ago, so crowded? 
Well , it's too **** easy to get there.


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

I miss Froggies (I think it was Tweety's then) when the Morris' clan ran it and caught their own bait with the little brown boat. And the bleachers at the boat ramp there were a great place to drink your post-fish cleaning beers and swap lies while laughing at the tourists retrieving their boats. And the burgers at Stryker's were great, not to mention the $3.50 breakfast there.


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## POC Fishin' Gal (Nov 20, 2009)

Anyone remember when the fishing center had a "restaurant" and covered boat slips? We ate lots of meals there and kept our boat in the slips. And I danced with Lee Richter at the Hurricane Junction.

We camped at what someone called the "curvature" , got up the next morning and walked over to the surf with our lures hooked in our hats, and caught trout in the surf for hours. 

Also camped at the coast guard station-single men on level one, me and hubby on the top. Great breeze at night, cooking on the lower level, no flying bitters ever.

We left in 80's for Pt Isabel with an offshore boat, but returned in the 90's to just bayfish. Still there, have seen lots of changes. Seems like it may be coming around. There are now 5 places to eat! Two with liquor licences! And Sunday Beach on the weekdays, wonderful usually. 

I think we used to catch a lot more fish there, but limits and size were different, and I don't think we try as much as we used to, more just being there. I'll still take it anyday over Port a, Freeport ,Rockport or Galveston. It's little and I like it.


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## POC Fishin' Gal (Nov 20, 2009)

Oh and for ole timers, Mrs Raby died last month...........he's still alive.


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## dk2429 (Mar 27, 2015)

Crowhater said:


> I had to go on the web and purchase them, I purchase a couple so we could also run one on the outriggers of the offshore boat. Looks like I need to buy 10 or 20 of them because everyone kept trying to purchase mine. Heck I will give them away if people will fly them, it was Memorial Day after all.
> 
> I actually had a person tell me it racist! I laughed and told them to stop drinking the cool-aid and read a history book. The confederate flag had nothing to do with Slavery. Nothing as dangerous as ignorance and white guilt combined.


Haha! Hey man, people just don't understand the flag. Reason they say it's "racist" is because the slaves were black. Do I agree with slavery? Nope. But I don't care if they black, white, purple, brown, yellow, pink,.. It's the southern flag man!! And if you are willing to give one away or sell one, I'd be happy to pay for shipping (depending where you are.) Shoot me PM if your interested. I'll fly the thing on the truck and boat!


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Saw a guy in Iowa flying a big rebel flag the other day from his pickup, he was drinking coffee at Dunkin Donuts. I wanted to ask him if he knew how many thousand Iowa troops died in the war, shooting at that flag. I know the neighboring Illinois troops fell in heaps about five deep, at Kennesaw mountain.

Anyway Lee Richter and Leah have passed on, their house is being rewired for a sale, or some such. Lee Richter was on the History Channel, he flew B-26 bombers over Normandy. A feisty dude for sure. Crouch lived a hundred yards away, and various other old guys. One time Jimmy had about two years worth of palm fronds in a pile on his property in front of the rental trailers. We decided to burn it, and I poured a half gallon of gasoline in the pile. But nobody had a match. I walked back to the house and came back at least five minutes later. Made everyone back up, lit an extra palm frond and then tossed it on the pile and ran. The explosion rattled windows of nearby homes, and everyone fell backwards in the grass, but hardly anyone spilled their drink. Another day in paradise. Jimmy's trailers and his free training films (not suitable for youngsters) were always fun during a five-day tarpon trip. 

I'll have to stop by and check up on Jimmy. The little house next to his cost us $350 a month rent in 1991. Back in 2009 I stopped by and the renters said it was $1,000 a month. No telling what it is, now.


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## tstorm5 (Aug 27, 2009)

Was watching youtube video's of old WW II planes about 3 months ago and accidentally came across the video that Lee Richter was in. I was thinking, man I know that guy. Then they added his name in the caption. Guy was some kind of stud and I never knew it. Always liked him but knew nothing about him other than he worked hard or seemed to.


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## S-3 ranch (May 26, 2004)

Crowhater said:


> You old timers had it made! All the best fishing, hunting, worst VD was crabs, no computers, no cell phones, no cable TV, you could still beat your kids legally, and America was the greatest country the world had ever seen.


And we could land a plane on the beach ðŸ˜¬ Five minutes from POCO :ac550:
Life was good


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Lee Richter guided out of POC into his 80s. Mostly jetty trips and often at night. He had a big 24 Aquasport that got a little beat-up, he landed in the boat slips pretty hard. He got back from his proctologist one day and said, "I used to think John Wayne was the toughest man alive. But now I know it was Rock Hudson. 'Cause everybody got a piece of the Rock."

Lee also raced small outboards in the early 1960s. Seems like he owned the first Mercury dealership in Houston, not sure. But he said when the movie _Hellfighters_ was being made, John Wayne came to Houston and they all raced boats from near Clear Lake to Freeport and back. Lee won and got to kiss some actress that was with John Wayne. Lee tried to kiss her again and Wayne had to stop him. Lee said racing the boats, flipping them, maybe breaking a few ribs, it was all in fun.


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## Stumpgrinder (Feb 18, 2006)

Had a camp at what is now shoalwater flats for many years. What is now is not what was then.

I hated parting with the camp but it wasn't what I'd signed up for anymore. Mid 80's until mid 90's was pretty danged awesome. Now..... Testosterone freak show


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## GunDog (Jun 6, 2006)

I have been fishing down in POC for ~ 10 years and have yet to go to Sunday Beach. I would rather fish then sit on the beach.


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

Pocketfisherman said:


> I miss Froggies (I think it was Tweety's then) when the Morris' clan ran it and caught their own bait with the little brown boat. And the bleachers at the boat ramp there were a great place to drink your post-fish cleaning beers and swap lies while laughing at the tourists retrieving their boats. And the burgers at Stryker's were great, not to mention the $3.50 breakfast there.


Jim Morris and Howard Lewis had that place next to Doc's Dock back in 1985 or so. My Dad had a boat built by Mr. Lewis that was just like Jim's. Those two guys were the pioneers of hunting ***** in the daytime on the little islands all around Port O Connor. Jim had a bunch of dogs as well as Howard, I spent three months in Howard's shop putting Dad's together. This picture is at Doc's Dock.

I believe we were on the way to Doc's to launch it. April Fools day 1985 if I remember correct.


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## Deany45 (Jul 24, 2011)

Started going to POC on the regular back in the early to mid 90's. At the time I was probably 13. Had several buddies who had places down there and we spent a ton of time there. It was a wonderland of freedom for us. We had a little 16' aluminum boat we would cruise all around. Game wardens and coast guard didn't mess with us. It was almost hard to get into trouble down there. Very little boat or vehicle traffic so our parents didn't worry too much. I would never turn 13-14 year olds loose down there today. That being said, I do still enjoy getting down there and still find it relaxing. I've even been know to wonder over to Sunday beach a time or two after a day of fishing to kick back and have a cold one. Never on holiday weekends though.


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## prokat (Jul 17, 2010)

What's the history on this place?


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## sotexhookset (Jun 4, 2011)

Stumpgrinder said:


> Mid 80's until mid 90's was pretty danged awesome. Now..... Testosterone freak show


Same here. Used to go to Sunday beach on weekends and holidays in HS to walk across and hit the surf and fish then drink beer in the afternoons. No one there to mess with your boats/gear. Holidays there was never more than 10 or so boats. Strykers had the best cheeseburgers anywhere. You'd still see more boats in the Army Hole after a hard freeze (if you fished more than one rod in there Kelly Parks would threaten to walk across the bows and snap them in half and banned you from his water, lol) than you'd see all day on most slow weekends. 17 was apparently the legal drinking age at HJ. I sold my boat in the mid 90's and transferred to SA around 99' and literally didn't fish there again til 06 and then fished probably twice a month for 2-3 years. Big changes in those 7 or so years and unbelievable changes and crowds from the later 80's. I used to say to the older folks I knew that fished it back in the 50-60's how dam cool tohat would've been. Exponential change in those 30 years to the past 30 much less 15 years for sure. When I can I drive five hours south to put in now instead of the three east to POC half the time just because.


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## Crowhater (Jul 21, 2014)

Johnboat said:


> 1. Whats wrong with crowds?
> 2. You lost me on the stars and bars. On Memorial weekend you should fly our country's flag :flag:, not the enemy/loser/traitor flag.


Not looking to upset you but I was flying my flag! I fly either the Confederate or the Texas flag. Didn't the Federal government just Ambush and kill an unarmed Militia member in cold blood? What about the second amendment, or transgender bathrooms, or forcing me to purchase health care? I support all of our service members and I have family in the military right now but I don't support the people in charge.


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## juan valdez (Jun 21, 2014)

Wado said:


> I believe we were on the way to Doc's to launch it. April Fools day 1985 if I remember correct.


there's a name you dnot hear often anymore
boat key is still on a floating doc's dock key chain. i'll try to remember to snap a pic this weekend



Deany45 said:


> Started going to POC on the regular back in the early to mid 90's. At the time I was probably 13. Had several buddies who had places down there and we spent a ton of time there. It was a wonderland of freedom for us. We had a little 16' aluminum boat we would cruise all around. Game wardens and coast guard didn't mess with us. It was almost hard to get into trouble down there. Very little boat or vehicle traffic so our parents didn't worry too much. I would never turn 13-14 year olds loose down there today. That being said, I do still enjoy getting down there and still find it relaxing. I've even been know to wonder over to Sunday beach a time or two after a day of fishing to kick back and have a cold one. Never on holiday weekends though.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


i believe we started around 88 or so. prior to that my dad was a bass fisherman. not sure exactly what made him switch but i'm glad he did

used to run jet skis all over the place when not fishing, pretty much every weekend during summers were spent at POC. I remember a lot of these things the old timers are referencing but not real clearly. my memory is terrible, but that's a different thread altogether.

i guess i still like it better than the alternatives. i recently went to rockport (by recent i mean last year) and while nice, it isnt POC. I've never been to CC area much other than just day trips during HS for surfing etc.

I have access to a house and a boat in POC so I dont have any real driving factor to leave. To me the crowds arent real bad other than holiday weekends but as far back as i can remember it's been that way.

I was laughing the other day talking to my wife about Alvins, strykers and how much it's changed down there.

i'd say 9 out of 10 trips i dont have any issues with any boaters, but there is the occasional DB. somehow i doubt it's much better elsewhere though

edit:I keep meaning to ask my parents and keep forgetting, was beachcombers a restaurant down there "back in the day"


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## Deany45 (Jul 24, 2011)

Strykers was great. 


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## cva34 (Dec 22, 2008)

Back in 70s we we would camp on left between bay jetty and big jetty..Leave all camping gear set up fish bays and offshore and return to camp and everything was as we left ....(Try that Today)


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

gom1 said:


> What's the history on this place?


That is owned by the Brahman Family. Danny used to spend a lot of time there before he died.


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

*Doc's Dock*

I have this collage hanging in my reloading room, Jim's boat is hauled out in the background. Look how deserted it is around there, barely an audience on April first. It was an exciting day in POC.


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## Navi (Jun 2, 2009)

I can't say I'm a member of the old crowd. I first went to Poc around 2004. We enjoyed Sunday beach with some friends that year and the following. I ended up buying our own boat 5 years later to fish and take the family on the weekends to the beach. We slowly watched the crowd at Sunday beach turn from a family atmosphere to a wannabe lake havasu. Sadly two of the families we go with are members of the dog crowd you mentioned and it drives me insane. When I comment on it I get the wellllll it's Poc we are just letting them have fun, followed up by my comment about their dogs ruining other families fun which usually gets me the half laugh/half wanting me to shut up look.
We haven't been back in 2 years to Sunday beach. Maybe we will on weekdays or slow weekends but not seeing it happen on holidays.
Luckily there are other options and the crowds there are a little more respectful, however you still have dogs running all over the place kicking sand in people's setups. No jet skis that I've seen yet, and not too many flat bill cap wearing pricks think your boat is their bench to sit on.

/end rant


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

Best thing that could happen to Sunday beach is a storm take it away.


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## chicapesca (Jun 7, 2004)

juan valdez said:


> edit:I keep meaning to ask my parents and keep forgetting, was beachcombers a restaurant down there "back in the day"


Yes, the Beachcomber was a hamburger joint run by Mr. Turk. It is across Maple from the Coast Guard Station. He made a great burger and fries. They live there now.


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## DirtKat (Dec 10, 2009)

It was a blast getting down there in the summer. I was 12 when we first started going and pretty much cut my teeth in everything down in POC. Partying with Eloisa, fishing with one of the local girls and offshore fishing with Chuck or Joel. **** I miss those days! I was either on our boat or on Joel's for 2 summers straight. We were headed towards Tequila to catch some bill fish and Joel comes out of the salon yelling at me on the bridge " You have any snuff?". I yelled back "Nope". Joel said "Turn this ***** around we can't go out without Copenhagen!" so I did. We were already 35+ miles out when we headed back. Diesel was cheap and not a care in the world.

I could go on for days about "adventures" we had.

OK one more.
We had come in on Joel's boat and done a quick clean up of everything. Joel said "Lets go eat." Me:"yes I'm starving, but lets put everything in the boat first.". We had Cotton's dock covered is rods and lures. Cotton had already, about 817 times, told Joel not to leave things laying on the main part of the dock and to make sure he only docked in his slip. He says " Na, I'm hungry we will pick it up when we get back" Me:"Are you sure". Well we go and eat and when come back Cotton is waiting at the dock for us. That was the one and only time I had ever seen Cotton ******. At the end off the summer Joel had to move his boat to another dock.


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## chicapesca (Jun 7, 2004)

POC Fishin' Gal said:


> Anyone remember when the fishing center had a "restaurant" and covered boat slips? We ate lots of meals there and kept our boat in the slips. And I danced with Lee Richter at the Hurricane Junction.


That was Melba's, my grandmother always said the pies were so good there. We kept our boat next to Mr. Richter for a while. He and my dad wore those blue coveralls, aka POC uniform and could tell each other war stories all afternoon.


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## Pocboy (Aug 12, 2004)

*Saturday Beach*

Our house in POC was built right after Carla came through. I remember all the places mentioned here and they bring back good memories. We quit going to Sunday beach a long time ago and now go to the entrance of Pass Cavallo. It's much quieter and the water is nicer.


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## tstorm5 (Aug 27, 2009)

When I was a kid we would go to Bogey (when it was a real live city dump) at night with a flashlight and shoot rats. Who remembers the military doing all that flash bombing over on Matagorsa Island?


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

> The table under the 10 pound flounder in Strykers was mine!


Hell Harbor I'd bet you 20 that you couldn't walk across the rolling floor to get to that table after a 6-pack 

Melba's. I was just a little boy but remember my Dad docking his Helton or Yellow Jacket there and getting a chicken fried steak that covered the platter and the french fries were on top.

Carla got Melba's like it did everything else.

Mrs. Raby would hold me back 2 gallon zip loc bags of her crab fingers. We'd eat a bag on the way home to El Campo and save the rest for gumbo.

I picked up many a bucket full of .50 caliber machine gun shells and spent bullets over in the water at the Peninsula around Green's and I still have the 20 and 40 mm shell casings I found.

Anyone remember the old Army ambulance that used to be down near Green's?

It was a different place in a different time back in the early 60's up to the middle 70's.

My Dad and Willy Socha built a driftwood house at Green's after Carla from lumber found floating, they daisy chained butane tanks they found floating and hauled them over there. Couches tables everything. Spent many a night in that shack when I went there floundering at night with my Dad. Someone caught the place on fire in 66 or 67 and there was nothing left the next time we went over.

Couple of pictures of The Powder Horn and Indianola my Dad took just before and after Carla.

TH


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## POC Fishin' Gal (Nov 20, 2009)

wow! Thanks for posting...............


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

That was it! Docks Doc, not Tweety's, which was over by Baroid docks. That boat looks exactly like Buddy's and Jim's little brown boat, exact color match too. Remember the green net-skiff Mr Lewis built for Jimmy? That was a great little shallow running shrimping rig. I kick myself for missing an opprtunity to buy it from Jim.



Wado said:


> Jim Morris and Howard Lewis had that place next to Doc's Dock back in 1985 or so. My Dad had a boat built by Mr. Lewis that was just like Jim's. Those two guys were the pioneers of hunting ***** in the daytime on the little islands all around Port O Connor. Jim had a bunch of dogs as well as Howard, I spent three months in Howard's shop putting Dad's together. This picture is at Doc's Dock.
> 
> I believe we were on the way to Doc's to launch it. April Fools day 1985 if I remember correct.


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## Harbormaster (May 26, 2000)

Trouthunter said:


> Hell Harbor I'd bet you 20 that you couldn't walk across the rolling floor to get to that table after a 6-pack
> 
> TH


Bert Haynes is my uncle and Pam and Becky are cousins. I haven't seen any of them since Berts birthday party up on the highway some 25 years ago.

Lotsa Mertinks in Sargent though!


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## Red3Fish (Jun 4, 2004)

We started fishing there about 1959. Always breakfast at Melbas'. Pop and Cousin Bob bought 4 lots there after Carla.....$500 each. We built a house there about 1973 and only fished POC after that. 

Fishing in the back bays, we often wondered, if we broke down back there, how long would it be before a boat came by? LOL Mostly crabbers, netters and trotline runners. And they weren't too friendly to sport fishermen.

Don't run the bays at night on low tide! Trotline hooks hanging in the air nearly everywhere! 

Bob Brister and Joe Doggett of the Houston Chronicle publicized POC as "the best kept secret in Texas". That started the "ruination" POC.

Later
R3F


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

Wado said:


> Jim Morris and Howard Lewis had that place next to Doc's Dock back in 1985 or so. My Dad had a boat built by Mr. Lewis that was just like Jim's. Those two guys were the pioneers of hunting ***** in the daytime on the little islands all around Port O Connor. Jim had a bunch of dogs as well as Howard, I spent three months in Howard's shop putting Dad's together. This picture is at Doc's Dock.
> 
> I believe we were on the way to Doc's to launch it. April Fools day 1985 if I remember correct.


Docs was the place now called Tweetys?

I remember there was a boat ramp at Clarks, the fishing center, the little one to the west (Pats alley?), then Docs.


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## POC Fishin' Gal (Nov 20, 2009)

Tweetys is gone.............


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## SSST (Jun 9, 2011)

Yes, I remember Froggie's being Doc's. I started fishing down there around '90, I also remember Charlie's being Fulgrams? We had a Shiner crew that went out every year with Chuck Carter, consumed an enormous amount of Shiner Premiums in the process. I took my first guide trip with Ron Elkins in about '92, he took us to the surf and we killed the big trout, I remember thinking, dang this is easy, lol. Sure, POC has changed a lot over the years, but there's still no place quite like it on the Gulf Coast, there just always seems to be more options than anywhere else you can fish. I try to stay away on the weekends, just hate dealing with the boat ramps, I just put in at Indianola and cruise there by boat.


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## FishRisk (Jan 24, 2012)

Before Tweety's it was Bobbie's, remember Bobbie and Delmar?


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## tstorm5 (Aug 27, 2009)

Speaking of running the back bays at night. I left The Army base on Matagorda Island at 10pm one night, in the rain. Had no spotlight or anything. I took off on an angle that would put me at Farwell. About 40 minutes later I ran aground and had no idea where I was. I had a choice, left or right. I took off dragging the boat towards what I thought would get me to the Farwell area. In about 10 minutes I walked right up on one of those big channel markers at the army channel coming out of the canal. LOL!!!
How I got all the way there from where I started still baffles me to this day.


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## SSST (Jun 9, 2011)

tstorm5 said:


> Speaking of running the back bays at night. I left The Army base on Matagorda Island at 10pm one night, in the rain. Had no spotlight or anything. I took off on an angle that would put me at Farwell. About 40 minutes later I ran aground and had no idea where I was. I had a choice, left or right. I took off dragging the boat towards what I thought would get me to the Farwell area. In about 10 minutes I walked right up on one of those big channel markers at the army channel coming out of the canal. LOL!!!
> How I got all the way there from where I started still baffles me to this day.


Well, that worked out pretty good for you!


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## cpthook (Jan 16, 2008)

*lol*



Porky said:


> My 1st time to POC was when they opened up Matagorda Island to camping at the AF docks I think it was 1978, Had the Army Hole to ourselves. Then we started camping at the old CG ruins when it was still high & dry(can you say shade). Quit going in the mid 90's. Now the place is a leg hunchers paradise.


I made my maiden voyage to the island that same year when they opened up the AF base to camping and public hunting. I stay as far away as I can now except for my tarpon fishing and then weekdays only. I used to love to trout fish there but you could not pay me to trout fish it now. Galvetraz is less crowded than POC that's amazing. POC is the "Johnny come lately" fishermen's spot. Ruined for ever. lol smh.


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

FishRisk said:


> Before Tweety's it was Bobbie's, remember Bobbie and Delmar?


Thanks Donk. Brain gets foggy with age. Before Bobbies it was Pats Alley, there was a bar there back in those days.


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

Pocketfisherman said:


> That was it! Docks Doc, not Tweety's, which was over by Baroid docks. That boat looks exactly like Buddy's and Jim's little brown boat, exact color match too. Remember the green net-skiff Mr Lewis built for Jimmy? That was a great little shallow running shrimping rig. I kick myself for missing an opprtunity to buy it from Jim.


Those net skiffs were something to have. He put 454 Chevy's in them on a straight drive in a full tunnel. You could run until the grass wrapped up in the prop and killed the engine. When Howard got through pulling my dad's hull out of the mould he started the plug for a big all fiberglass net skiff. I don't know who got the plug but he did several glass skiffs around 1987-88 and his was gray with a GM Diesel in it. The rest had 454'S. I took a friend of mine over there that had one of the little green ones when he was in high school to buy Howard's but he already promised it to someone else. He was sick, wanted that thing bad. Before Tweety's I guess it was Pat's Alley by the Baroid docks. Pat Hawes owned it and we launched there and stayed in the little pink cabana's that were in the parking lot sometimes. There was a shuffleboard table upstairs and a beer joint that was something to see at Pat's Alley. I think they called that Carla Courts, maybe not. Pat hauled the materials over to Big Bayou where we built our shack with his shrimp boat. We almost got ran over by a tug and barges right in front of there one day, another story involving a boat with the steering cables hooked up backwards. We used to store our fish at Melba's in the cooler when we stayed on long trips, and was a treat to go eat there or at Charlie Stryker's place.


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## A Draper (Aug 14, 2007)

Tuesday seemed eerie after the crowds of the weekend. Saw maybe a half dozen other boats. The kids always want to go to sunday beach. I allow myself to be talked into it about once a year and usually regret it.


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## RedneckFishin (May 21, 2004)

This is the doc's dock i remember


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## bordovskyrl (Apr 22, 2013)

POC is still a great place, it just depends on what you are after. If you want to fish plan your trip sun, mon, tu, wed. If you want calm plan for October-February.


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## TatterTot (Jan 6, 2006)

bordovskyrl said:


> POC is still a great place, it just depends on what you are after. If you want to fish plan your trip sun, mon, tu, wed. If you want calm plan for October-February.


This ^^^^

I'm a Johnny come lately started in 2001 and I've seen the changes, but I still love it. There are a lot of places to fish in ESB or SB but it's not that big of an area. October - Jan can be fun and real quiet fishing. It's progress just like the Katy eagle lake prairie but it's still special. Still Texas.


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## TrueblueTexican (Aug 29, 2005)

*I've said pretty much the same thing*



Crowhater said:


> It is so sad, I wish I could blow all the bridges to POC. 20 years ago it was as close as you could get to perfect and now it has turned into Yuppie world.
> 
> I swear I watched a kid pull up in his daddies new black SCB at Sunday beach and he backed it up to the beach. I told Danny if I had my phone I would video it for 2cool. He let that 300hp reverse until the prop grabbed sand and killed it.
> 
> ...


And I fished it for 54 of my sixty years - but I did something about it two years ago - let the rude crowd have it - moved my catching down to Grand Isle La. still a sleepy fishing town on weekdays. Oh I still come back for a reunion with hard core fishing friends for three or four days first week of October (middle of week) other than that I'll give it over to the idiots before I kill someone. I miss my early morning Joe with Josie and that good ole warm taco before hittin the blue water. Learned a lot from him.


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## TxDuSlayer (Jun 24, 2006)

I first fished POC back in the summer of 97 with some guys from work, we would rent a condo right there by Clarks had a boat slip in the back. Great memories of that time of my life we would go down for a week every month starting in May thru September. We would fish all day and everywhere from Pringle to Pass Cavallo and everywhere in between. Then we would end the day with cold beer and dinner at Clarks every day. We always caught something back then. There were lots of folks fishing back then, but everyone had there spot they were heading to. You could be hooked up rod bent over and folks would drive by and wave. Lots of good memories we did this for several years til the group fell apart and I got the deer bug 
At 22yrs old I was living the dream fishing like that once a month for a week at a time, even back then it seemed remote once you got out on the water.


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## juan valdez (Jun 21, 2014)

chicapesca said:


> Yes, the Beachcomber was a hamburger joint run by Mr. Turk. It is across Maple from the Coast Guard Station. He made a great burger and fries. They live there now.


thanks. i knew i wasnt crazy. :ac550:


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## 2GemsRanch (Jun 27, 2015)

Some of my best memories. My friends family had the cattle on mat agora island. They also had a camp house over there. Run by generator. Very nice. They had 3 or 4 trucks on the island also. My friend and I would leave poc in his 16ft flat bottom and head to the island. We were prolly 17 yrs old or so( this was 40 years ago). Get to the island, load up the truck and head for the gulf beach. Sometimes we would stay a few days. Usually wouldn't see another soul the entire time. Great fishing and great times. Awesome beach combing also. Those were the days.


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## Crowhater (Jul 21, 2014)

I swear on my children I heard a guy at the fishing center Friday night say " oh my, I almost lost my rolex in the water ". Yep nothing like fishing in a Rolex. :headknock


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## Copano/Aransas (Dec 18, 2011)

Crowhater said:


> I swear on my children I heard a guy at the fishing center Friday night say " oh my, I almost lost my rolex in the water ". Yep nothing like fishing in a Rolex. :headknock


Sounds like this guy. 










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Captain Marty (Jul 14, 2006)

Hurricane Junction was the place to be on Friday and Saturday nights. Styker's restaurant has chicken fried steak for $5. Clarks' seafood, you could get 9/12 shrimp just of the boat for $3.50 lb. Then Clarks' Restaurant, great seafood. I loved their Shrimp Mousse. 

I had a great time there back in the 80's. I fished offshore for snapper, kingfish, ling, dolphin and amberjack. Back then there was no limits, we would boat on an average of 100 lbs of snapper a day. No size limit, no season, no nothing. Then the feds came in and I stopped fishing offshore.

The good old days.


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## RedRocket (Jan 13, 2016)

I remember:
Buying bait in Fishermen's cut from a barge
Josie's at the end of Maple on Byers
Where Hoopers is , teenagers used it as a beach and sailed there catamarans.
No houses between the coast guard and doc's dock
You were calm while at the boat ramp, not feeling rushed
Finding a ton of sand dollars on the beach
people not running the shorelines
Movie theater, grocery store, and hardware on the same street

I miss the old Port O'Connor everyday. I still go, my daughter likes Sunday beach because of the burger boat. Have to go early before the drunks and rude behavior. 
This Sunday there was only 4 or 5 boats so it was nice. 
Still enjoy POC just in a different way.


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## Centex fisher (Apr 25, 2006)

I'm a newbie too. Started fishing POC in '99. The changes since then are incredible. Wife likes to ride and look at the high $ houses. Me, not so much. I avoid weekends.


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

My first trip to POC in my own boat, 14' SkiBarge, fishing the farewell buoy back in the early late '80s










A few years later.....got fatter and had to get a bigger offshore boat ;-)










Bait Shrimping with Buddy Morris on the Little Brown Boat



















My wife driving the state ferry that ran to Matagorda Island State Park with captain Dwayne


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## Z (Sep 22, 2014)

*Was this the boat?*



Crowhater said:


> I swear I watched a kid pull up in his daddies new black SCB at Sunday beach and he backed it up to the beach. I told Danny if I had my phone I would video it for 2cool. He let that 300hp reverse until the prop grabbed sand and killed it.


Sir, was this the boat you saw?


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## cpthook (Jan 16, 2008)

lol the reality is POC will never be what is was, I do not say that in a bad way just stating facts. It is now a houston social event. the Johnny come lately mach 10 guys can only bash, simply because they will not experience what others have. oh well it is what it is, great place to go catch pencil trout, tell war stories and hang out with the Houston crowd. chive on.


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## LaddH (Sep 29, 2011)

*Pocofest*

The horror!
https://www.pocofest.net


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## Deany45 (Jul 24, 2011)

LaddH said:


> The horror!
> 
> https://www.pocofest.net


Aside from Kevin Fowler (who I can't stand), that's a great lineup.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## POC Fishin' Gal (Nov 20, 2009)

Holy Moly! I guess that's a good thing.......gives all the folks waiting for the boats something to do all day. I'm I reading the map correctly that they are taking over the Fishing Center parking lot for this?


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## tstorm5 (Aug 27, 2009)

Pocketfisherman said:


> My first trip to POC in my own boat, 14' SkiBarge, fishing the farewell buoy back in the early late '80s
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## DadSaid (Apr 4, 2006)

^^^^^
Hummmm,,, Busted..


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## juan valdez (Jun 21, 2014)

LaddH said:


> The horror!
> http://www.pocofest.net


i'm cornfused. so now they want people to park at the community center and shuttle in to fishing center? ***? does that mean no more parking in those lots between the trailer parking/camper parking? and now we have to pay to go to the weigh in?

and no dogs etc allowed? no cameras, no coolers, weapons, carts etc?

or am i way off base on this?


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## POC Fishin' Gal (Nov 20, 2009)

I read it the same way. I'm guessing- the locals are so sick of the parking,crowds,etc issue, this is a way they are trying to control the influx of traffic and people just wandering around in this area. Having been to a few, I see the problems.

Anyone in the know, please chime in...........


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Heck, I could barely afford to put gas in my boat's 6 gallon tank. Caught all our own bait too.



tstorm5 said:


> Pocketfisherman said:
> 
> 
> > My first trip to POC in my own boat, 14' SkiBarge, fishing the farewell buoy back in the early late '80s
> ...


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## DirtKat (Dec 10, 2009)

That outfit now is 500 bucks.


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

They're dressed more fancier than I used to. Dickey coveralls, khaki, best wading uniform ever lol.

TH


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## Rubberback (Sep 9, 2008)

Converse high tops were the style way back when.


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

Fished down there for 4 yrs in the early 70's when going to A&M, it was a major source of our protein. I remember my then brother in law (who was local) complaining about it being too crowded on weekends. I've been back once, maybe 15 yrs ago. Good memories of the place!


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