# West Bay Oysters



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

Not really fishing, probably more akin to hunting but I did take advantage of the resent low tides to find a new top secret "honey hole" and tong a few oysters for Christmas. Shucked a few and ate them on the 1/2 shell the rest were grilled on the pit with lots of butter, garlic and parmesan cheese.

I have a lot of 2coolers texting me and calling me to see if I was going to commercially tonging oysters this year.

I am now! Shoot me a PM if you want me save you a sack. Planning on going 2-3 days a week until my back gives out...


----------



## troutsupport (May 22, 2006)

Nice


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

troutsupport said:


> Nice


Tobin, I have been meaning to hook up with you. Just got a hand held Garmin now I need to get Reef Recon on it so I can find a few more "top secret" locations to get a few oysters on...

I will be calling you this week.

Thanks,

Glenn


----------



## johnbutte (Nov 28, 2018)

It like sucking down a loogy. Hard pass, but cool pic.


----------



## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

Awesome I love them! A little horseradish, red sauce, tabasco dash of lemon, and a ream of crackers and I can put away multiple dozen. I would be interested in purchasing a sack when you get up and running as well.


----------



## coolbeing (Jun 12, 2010)

Same here. Give me a holler


----------



## Sniper (Aug 23, 2004)

Are they safe to eat now?


----------



## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

Sniper said:


> Are they safe to eat now?


Month with "R" in them, is the general rule of thumb. Just needs to be cool water. Most of September we still have some high water temps though.


----------



## EIGHTSKATE (Feb 19, 2016)

I bet they taste way better off the tailgate than any where else.


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

EIGHTSKATE said:


> I bet they taste way better off the tailgate than any where else.


They were great off the tailgate. But off the charcoal grill with garlic butter, parmesan cheese and a piece of french bread was even better!


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

Sniper said:


> Are they safe to eat now?


Everyone who ate one either on the half shell or off the pit is still alive to tell about it.


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

1800's technology at work.

My entire theory on oystering is I can not compete with modern oyster boats. Nor do I want to. So I search for isolated reefs in super shallow water the dredge boats can't get too in hopes of finding virgin reef and big "cow-tongues". Oysters so big you can't hardly eat them without cutting them in half. 

So when I saw a set of vintage 1800 era cast iron oyster tong heads for sale on Ebay I snatched them up. It took me the better part of a day to figure out the angle of the wood that would close the heads perfectly but the final product is done. 

Performance unrivaled. They really new hold to build them in the good old days. I seriously doubt the person that built these 150+ years ago would ever guess some knuckle head would buy them off of someones wall as a decoration and put them back to work!


----------



## GSMAN (May 22, 2004)

Very nice set up! I have been thinking about a "secret" oyster spot only to see about 10 oyster boats converge on it the other day in West bay. I don't think they left a morsel for me. lol!


----------



## mullet1422 (Nov 12, 2018)

How much are you selling them for?


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

mullet1422 said:


> How much are you selling them for?


Pm
Sent


----------



## longhornbubba (Jul 7, 2006)

Should be easy to find today somebody pulled the plug in the bay last nite.


----------



## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

Its Catchy said:


> 1800's technology at work.
> 
> My entire theory on oystering is I can not compete with modern oyster boats. Nor do I want to. So I search for isolated reefs in super shallow water the dredge boats can't get too in hopes of finding virgin reef and big "cow-tongues". Oysters so big you can't hardly eat them without cutting them in half.
> 
> ...


Beautiful. Where are you located?


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

WillieT said:


> Beautiful. Where are you located?


Friendswood, shoot me a pm


----------



## TX1836 (May 5, 2014)

I've read multiple reports indicating the stress our coastal oyster reefs are under.
Repeated issues with drought, too much fresh water, parasites and illegal harvesting have decimated our oysters. Oysters unlike other aquatic species are unable to move from one location to another to avoid these onslaughts. 
Oysters of this size pictured should not be retained as they are breeding stock for our reefs and produce millions of spats. Please only keep those in the 3-4" size and only what you immediately plan on consuming.


----------



## FREON (Jun 14, 2005)

OALA!!!


----------



## Theblake (Oct 9, 2012)

*Oysters*

I'm in Friendswood also, I'll take a sack, or a half sack...


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

TX1836 said:


> I've read multiple reports indicating the stress our coastal oyster reefs are under.
> Repeated issues with drought, too much fresh water, parasites and illegal harvesting have decimated our oysters. Oysters unlike other aquatic species are unable to move from one location to another to avoid these onslaughts.
> Oysters of this size pictured should not be retained as they are breeding stock for our reefs and produce millions of spats. Please only keep those in the 3-4" size and only what you immediately plan on consuming.


In 2016 TPWD permanently closed 7 minor bays for oyster harvest to insure future spat production. In addition about 75% of our bays are closed because of water quality issues. So there is far more area closed to the harvest of oysters than there is open to the harvest. Oysters are growing on every pier, boat, piling and rock groin on the coast.

They are one of the most prolific organisms on our coast. In addition you clearly do not know that the oyster reaches sexual maturity and is able to produce spat at one year of age or 3" so there is no validity to your comment about "breeders".

Furthermore there have been studies done that indicate sustainable harvest of oysters is beneficial to the reefs because old oyster shells are dredged up and thrown back over to provide a future base for spat and help fight sedimentation.

The tasty little critters pictures were all promptly eaten on the half shell or grilled within hours of their harvest.

There were oysters before humans walked the earth and they will be here when we are gone...


----------



## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

Chesepeake Bay was once known as "Great Shellfish Bay". In the 70's, they were harvesting almost 20 Million bushels of oysters a year. In 2004, they harvested just 26,000 bushels. (They shouldn't have harvested ANY by then.)

An oyster can filter 50 gallons of water in a day. Imagine what 20 Million bushels of them can do for the water quality in a bay. Now imagine what losing 20 Million bushels of them in a single year did to hurt the water quality in Chesapeake Bay. 

Yes... oysters are prolific. But the population can crash just the same. We've seen it in our lifetimes in Chesapeake Bay, yet we still ignore it here. When the oyster population declines, water quality declines with it. When water quality declines, the oyster population declines, AND the ones that are left begin to succumb to diseases. It's a vicious cycle. One of the early signs is that there is a thin layer of living reef on top of flat, dead substrate (caused by constant dredging). We have that in our bays now, and if you don't believe it I can take you and show you.

It's not a question of whether some oysters will be around after humans are gone. It's about the health of the bays in between now and then. A thriving oyster population is vital to the overall health of the bays, and therefore everything that swims or crawls in them. A crash will do damage that will take more than our lifetimes to recover from. And I don't think we are too terribly far from that.

Certain people like to point to the "rebound" in Chesapeake Bay oysters, and the fact that they are now harvesting commercial quantities there once again. What they don't like to mention is that scientists are growing "triploid" oysters, and seeding Chesapeake Bay with them. Triploid means that they are genetically modified to have an extra set of chromosomes. It makes them more hardy and disease resistant. It also makes them sterile. So the rebound in oysters is really dependent on seeding the Bay with gazillions of little Frankenstein oysters every year, to give fishermen something to dredge up. 

I've been watching the oyster boats struggle this year. They are going after that thin layer, and in places I have never seen them dredge before. They used to congregate, and spend a week or more in a single location. This year they are spread out, and I have watched them spend an hour or so in a location and then move on. You can spin it any way you want to, but it's a bad sign. The massive amounts of fresh water we had this past year are part of it, but it should tell anyone that we need to give some time for new, healthy reef to establish.

And just for the record - the oyster shells that are dredged up are NOT all thrown back to provide a future base for spat. Mountains of them are sold for driveways and other commercial uses. And the resulting amount of calcium carbonate that is lost is another detriment to the growth of new oysters. The loss of buffer leads to swings in pH, which is another problem. If you mean that they throw back small oysters, that just returns what was already there. You know that the harvested oysters aren't shucked on the water. They are shucked on land, and very little of the shell is returned to the water. They have started programs for it, partly because a few of us have screamed for decades about the loss of calcium carbonate.

I know what happens after I write this - the same thing that always happens. But the things I said are truth, and scientifically sound. We don't need for SOME oysters to survive until after we are gone. We need a large, thriving population and deep live beds, to regulate water quality and create new habitat in our lifetimes and our children's lifetimes. A thin layer growing on pilings means nothing.


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

pocjetty, Texas as with most conservation issues has taken an extremely conservative approach closing as much of 75% of our coast to commercial harvest. New regulations passed in 2016 closed 7 more bays permanently, funded an oyster limited entry program buyback to reduce pressure over time, increased penalties for cheaters and outlawed the harvest of shell. In addition there are thousands of acres of private reef maintained like farms and a more extensive lease program is being developed.

There is absolutely no shortage of oysters in Texas. There is most definitely a shortage of oysters in legal water. It is what happens when you close more and more bays and force more and more boats into less and less water.

With 75% of our bays closed or "protected" the oyster populations will remain quite safe.


----------



## TX1836 (May 5, 2014)

tx1836 said:


> i've read multiple reports indicating the stress our coastal oyster reefs are under.
> Repeated issues with drought, too much fresh water, parasites and illegal harvesting have decimated our oysters. Oysters unlike other aquatic species are unable to move from one location to another to avoid these onslaughts.
> Oysters of this size pictured should not be retained as they are breeding stock for our reefs and produce millions of spats. Please only keep those in the 3-4" size and only what you immediately plan on consuming.


satire


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

TX1836 said:


> satire


My bad! Some people are serious on here so you never know!


----------



## BBCAT (Feb 2, 2010)

TX1836 said:


> satire


Are you sure?


----------



## troutsupport (May 22, 2006)

Biggest thing we could do right now is find ways to get more substrate added back to the bays.


----------



## Tigerhead52 (Oct 9, 2016)

> With 75% of our bays closed or "protected" the oyster populations will remain quite safe


.

It's Catchy,
First of all, let me say that I believe the way you are harvesting oysters is the ethical way to harvest and I don't believe it will ever put a serious dent in the oyster population, or totally destroy an entire reef. And I have no issue with targeting big singles with tongs.

However, I'm not sure I can totally agree with your statement above. I say that because I know how powerful the lobby for commercial fishing can be. They have shown that they can manipulate regulations to their advantage. So just saying that closing certain bays will ensure that oyster populations will remain safe can be a little misleading. The total oyster population across the state of Texas may remain intact, but that doesn't mean that significant reef habitat isn't being destroyed by dredging.

Look at what dredging did to the reefs in Lake Calcasieu La. Some old naturally established reefs, that survived tonging for decades, have been totally destroyed by dredging in a very short amount of time. Also, I will never believe oyster dredging doesn't have an effect on fish populations. The reef destruction and silt created by dredging surely has an impact on the eggs or fry of any fish that spawn on that reef.

I'm no biologist, and I would love for someone more knowledgeable to prove me wrong, but I tend to trust common sense more than anything and common sense tells me this is no different than gill netting and commercial shrimping. In my youth, I worked on a shrimp boat and have seen the tens of thousands of dead gamefish fry that are killed in the nets.

Anyway, good luck with your tongs. I did some of that in my younger years also, and it is a** busting hard work. Anyone who is willing to work that hard to harvest an oyster has my blessing.


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

Tigerhead52 said:


> .
> 
> It's Catchy,
> First of all, let me say that I believe the way you are harvesting oysters is the ethical way to harvest and I don't believe it will ever put a serious dent in the oyster population, or totally destroy an entire reef. And I have no issue with targeting big singles with tongs.
> ...


It is certainly hard work. And if done correctly it is much different than gill netting and commercial shrimping. Many of the same oyster reefs have been commercially dredged for over 150 years. It varies from year to year but I would estimate that less than 20% of the shell on any reef is living oysters. The rest is dead shell from years past.

The benefit to "sustainable" dredging is it continually "tills" the reef so to speak and pulls up dead shell along with live shell. The dead shell is pushed back over providing substrate for future spat to grow onto. So if done correctly studies have shown there is actually a benefit to oyster reef being harvested. It is more akin to farming than it is commercial fishing. It helps fight sedimentation created from storms and excessive runoff.

Key words are "sustainable" and "done correctly.

The future of our bays is going to be in expanding private leases and providing the substrate to create new reef. TPWD is currently working with the GLO to do just that. There have been no new leases awarded since the 1960's and hopefully that is going to change.

That along with the buyback program should significantly correct many of the issues with the oyster industry and I see it rebounding in the years to come.


----------



## Its Catchy (Apr 10, 2014)

I tonged up a few nice ones yesterday and met up with a fellow two cooler who promptly put them on the grill. I have not tried them like this but I am going to next time. Looks like all kinds of good stuff on that piece of french bread. Be back on the bay on Monday if anyone is interested...


----------



## Realvestor (Nov 19, 2009)

After all the pictures I just had to get a sack. Best oysters I've had in years!!! Thanks Its Catchy! We'll be doing that again!


----------

