# Fishing Porpoises



## DC31 (Sep 16, 2016)

Cruising the open bay (E Matty), saw 3 Porpoise working over an area. Looked like a female and 2 pups had some bait hoarded up and they were doing circles around the hoarded up bait. Looked strange. Upon closer look 3 large schools of redfish were working with them. They were circling like you would see under a submerged light. Immediately hooked up with upper slot rods. Brilliantly orange colored. Got those in boat and got 1 more before they went down. Never seen that in my decades of fishing bays. Couldn't tell if the Porpoise were feeding on the reds (maybe rat reds mixed in) or both species were working same bait. Ive caught trout with Porpoise (Porpoise love trout) in the area but never reds. Winds were light that day and lots of needle fish that day. Limited on both trout and reds. Anyone ever seen that?


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## fish4food (Feb 11, 2011)

Only experience Iâ€™ve ever had is the bite completely shut down when they show up. 

Bet that was pretty awesome to see.


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## TrailChaser (Nov 7, 2015)

mocity31 said:


> Cruising the open bay (E Matty), saw 3 Porpoise working over an area. Looked like a female and 2 pups had some bait hoarded up and they were doing circles around the hoarded up bait. Looked strange. Upon closer look 3 large schools of redfish were working with them. They were circling like you would see under a submerged light. Immediately hooked up with upper slot rods. Brilliantly orange colored. Got those in boat and got 1 more before they went down. Never seen that in my decades of fishing bays. Couldn't tell if the Porpoise were feeding on the reds (maybe rat reds mixed in) or both species were working same bait. Ive caught trout with Porpoise (Porpoise love trout) in the area but never reds. Winds were light that day and lots of needle fish that day. Limited on both trout and reds. Anyone ever seen that?


The reds were probably pushing bait and the dolphins moved in on the action. I've seen them do that a few times when the reds effectively push a large school of mullet off the flats.

PS: There are no porpoises here. They are found in almost every other large sea/gulf/ocean, but their are no porpoises in the Gulf of Mexico or any Texas bays. You're seeing bottlenose dolphins.


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

Iâ€™ve seen that 3 or 4 times. Itâ€™s amazing to watch them herd then stun their prey with their tails. Iâ€™ve never been able to tell what they had cornered but itâ€™s something to watch.

I know that there are no porpoises in Texas waters but I have called them that all my life and still do so. Communication is about understanding and I knew exactly what the OP was talking about.


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

TrailChaser said:


> The reds were probably pushing bait and the dolphins moved in on the action. I've seen them do that a few times when the reds effectively push a large school of mullet off the flats.
> 
> PS: There are no porpoises here. They are found in almost every other large sea/gulf/ocean, but their are no porpoises in the Gulf of Mexico or any Texas bays. You're seeing bottlenose dolphins.





WillieT said:


> Iâ€™ve seen that 3 or 4 times. Itâ€™s amazing to watch them herd then stun their prey with their tails. Iâ€™ve never been able to tell what they had cornered but itâ€™s something to watch.
> 
> I know that there are no porpoises in Texas waters but I have called them that all my life and still do so. Communication is about understanding and I knew exactly what the OP was talking about.


Ignorance is Bliss...These are the same folks that just can't wait to correct others for saying hot water heater


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

Blk Jck 224 said:


> Ignorance is Bliss...These are the same folks that just can't wait to correct others for saying water heater


There, I fixed it for ya...:biggrin:


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

bwguardian said:


> There, I fixed it for ya...:biggrin:


Thanks...Please keep a shotgun aboard to thin the porpoises on the bay...I have a surplus of 3" #2 steel if you need some


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## dunedawg (Jun 17, 2007)

Had them chase hooked kings offshore. Saw one grab about a 25# king and take him down after a release.


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## RedXCross (Aug 7, 2005)

M R delic, sautÃ©ed or fried.



Blk Jck 224 said:


> Thanks...Please keep a shotgun aboard to thin the porpoises on the bay...I have a surplus of 3" #2 steel if you need some


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## TL Comstruction (Mar 6, 2017)

There good eating, just have to cut the mud line out, like a Mullet :cheers:


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## pocjetty (Sep 12, 2014)

LOL. I saw the thread title and though, "Well, that guy will be having the porpoise/dolphin conversation. Truth is they went easy this time. I've seen that argument go on for pages. Just call 'em "sea-cows" next time. Everyone will still know what you're talking about, but it's fun picturing the heads exploding.


Wouldn't it be nice to get the answers to what was feeding on what there? When we flounder at night on a shelf next to a channel, the sea-cows will swim along beside us sometimes. Fish will swim off the shelf, and the sea-cows will grab them. I've seen plenty of redfish get nabbed, so I know it's a possibility. (I've also seen redfish swim up with stripes that I am sure came from sea-cow teeth.) If the redfish were herding bait, the sea-cows may have been nabbing whatever escaped them too. You can't just filet one to see what's in its stomach. :biggrin:


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## going_deep (Apr 13, 2014)

Blk Jck 224 said:


> Ignorance is Bliss...These are the same folks that just can't wait to correct others for saying hot water heater


If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black I don't know what is.


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## DC31 (Sep 16, 2016)

Sorry I misspoke. Love the comments. Living in Texas we tend to misspeak about wildlife. Here in Fort Bend county we have a lot of crocodiles and on my lease in DeWitt Co we have a lot of wolves and Russian boars.


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## Tortuga (May 21, 2004)

No dog in this silly fight...but funniest thing I've seen on the water is a couple of dolphins playing 'catch' with a flounder. One would surface with the flattie and chunk it about 20 feet and another would be there to grab it in mid air then he/she would sling it back to the other one. Went on for about six chunks and never a miss by either one. This was all taking place about 50 feet from my boat in East Bayâ€¦ Really entertaining and I am sure they were just playing until the last throw...then that one must have gotten hungry...

(and...they have always been 'porpoises' to me too...LOL)


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

going_deep said:


> If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black I don't know what is.


I'm not to sure what that actually means, but whatever you say.


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## BATWING (May 9, 2008)

I've seen dolphin toss reds and flounder in the air playing toss but never fishing with them.


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## captain sandbar (Dec 9, 2011)

pocjetty said:


> LOL. I saw the thread title and though, "Well, that guy will be having the porpoise/dolphin conversation. Truth is they went easy this time. I've seen that argument go on for pages. Just call 'em "sea-cows" next time. Everyone will still know what you're talking about, but it's fun picturing the heads exploding.
> 
> Wouldn't it be nice to get the answers to what was feeding on what there? When we flounder at night on a shelf next to a channel, the sea-cows will swim along beside us sometimes. Fish will swim off the shelf, and the sea-cows will grab them. I've seen plenty of redfish get nabbed, so I know it's a possibility. (I've also seen redfish swim up with stripes that I am sure came from sea-cow teeth.) If the redfish were herding bait, the sea-cows may have been nabbing whatever escaped them too. You can't just filet one to see what's in its stomach. :biggrin:


Technically a sea cow is the nickname for mantees, but I, as well as all my friends, call them porpie not because it is right, it just sounds better.

otherwise, I've seen porpie doing all sorts of things in the bays surrounding the rockport area. harassing my kids trying to string trout, but the worst was when one grabbed my stringer of trout out front of long reef bend and actually dragged me several feet before he let go of my stringer. took 4 strung trout off it in a matter of seconds. that was several years ago, the aggression has seemed to abate in the last few years, but theyre ever present; sometimes scaring away the trout, but often times not. Had one eat a trout that I had hooked, spooled me in a flash, was cool, and i'm glad I had several witnesses, because anyone not there has told me I am full of **** because they are smarter than that. my response is like people not all of them can be that smart. I am a bit leery after my F2F encounter but they are most times something to watch.


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## Captain Marty (Jul 14, 2006)

*Dolphin vs Porpoise*

https://www.2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=2599745


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## Hawglife (Mar 9, 2014)

Potatoes potatos 

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk


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## TrailChaser (Nov 7, 2015)

Blk Jck 224 said:


> Ignorance is Bliss...These are the same folks that just can't wait to correct others for saying hot water heater


Thanks for doing your part to perpetuate the porpoise ignorance that has plagued the Texas coast for generations. It's ignorant, plain and simple. If you know it's a dolphin and you openly call it a porpoise that's pretty ignorant. I'm just trying to help people out. I was being polite about it.

If I mistakenly called a dolphin a porpoise, I'd want someone to politely correct me so I don't make that same mistake in the future. We don't need people making it sound as if it's okay to call them the wrong name.

There are kids(and sadly adults) up and down the Texas coast right now who don't know we have dolphins here because people they know and respect keep calling them porpoises. How is that anything but ignorant. Might as well call them killer whales, manatees, or hell lets call them mullet.

When you see a cow in a field grazing do you call it a horse? They're both field dwelling mammals that eat grass, so by Texas coastal logic they might as well be called the same animal even tho they look totally different.

If you were a doctor would you want people to call you nurse? You both work at a hospital and eat the same food.:headknock


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

TrailChaser said:


> If you were a doctor would you want people to call you nurse? You both work at a hospital and eat the same food.:headknock


Interesting analogy...I am a nurse, but work exclusively with doctors within a hospital...The doctors don't eat the same food as the nurses, except for me that is...LOL


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

TrailChaser said:


> Thanks for doing your part to perpetuate the porpoise ignorance that has plagued the Texas coast for generations. It's ignorant, plain and simple. If you know it's a dolphin and you openly call it a porpoise that's pretty ignorant. I'm just trying to help people out. I was being polite about it.
> 
> If I mistakenly called a dolphin a porpoise, I'd want someone to politely correct me so I don't make that same mistake in the future. We don't need people making it sound as if it's okay to call them the wrong name.
> 
> ...


An atheist was seated next to a dusty old cowboy on an airplane and he turned to him and said, â€œDo you want to talk? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.â€

The old cowboy, who had just started to read his book, replied to the total stranger, â€œWhat would you want to talk about?â€

â€œOh, I donâ€™t know,â€ said the atheist. â€œHow about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?â€ as he smiled smugly.

â€œOkay,â€ he said. â€œThose could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff â€" grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?â€

The atheist, visibly surprised by the old cowboy's intelligence, thinks about it and says, â€œHmmm, I have no idea.â€

To which the cowboy replies, â€œDo you really feel qualified to discuss God, Heaven and Hell, or life after death, when you donâ€™t know ****?â€


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

Easy answer...is it a dolphin, or is it a porpoise...no, it's Flipper!


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## Tortuga (May 21, 2004)

Where does Mahi Mahi come into this BS ??.. I had some 'Dolphin' 
for dinner last night...and would hate to think I ate 'Flipper'..


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## EIGHTSKATE (Feb 19, 2016)

Perfect example of why people are afraid to post on here.


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## Whitebassfisher (May 4, 2007)

Tortuga said:


> Where does Mahi Mahi come into this BS ??.. I had some 'Dolphin'
> for dinner last night...and would hate to think I ate 'Flipper'..


And I think many say porpoise so that others will know that they mean a mammal not a fish.


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## batmaninja (Jul 15, 2010)

Wonder is they were native born or pasture born?


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

So it is possible that dolphin free tuna could still have some porpoise in it...Right?


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## Muddskipper (Dec 29, 2004)

to the OP ... I bet that was a cool sight for sure

if guys get worked up on calling them what they are not ... don't let it bother ya .... some 2coolers like gas on fires ... I might even be guilty of it myself ...


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

So your saying my boat is Dolphining not Porpoising trimmed up too high since there is no such thing in this area? How about mind your own business and let people call them what they want. Its not like they are bagging them with a limit. Who cares. You know what the heck they mean.


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## Txredfish (Oct 27, 2010)

Captain Sandbar, I had the same happen to me. I had about 18" trout and he dived under boat only to be grabbed by flipper. He started taking line and I pointed rod at him and tighten drag and he broke off. Another incident, I was wading about 10 yards from boat and just put a trout on stringer. I had a dolphin surface right behind me. I took the trout back to boat put in cooler and changed underwear. Scared the hell out of me.


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## TrailChaser (Nov 7, 2015)

fishinganimal said:


> So your saying my boat is Dolphining not Porpoising trimmed up too high since there is no such thing in this area? How about mind your own business and let people call them what they want. Its not like they are bagging them with a limit. Who cares. You know what the heck they mean.


I'll assume you're addressing me, even tho you apparently don't know how quotes work.

When you see dolphins breaching; what they are doing is called porpoising. Just like your boat, but you go right ahead and start using dolphining.
I'll just ignore the mind your own business comment, because who the hell are you to tell anyone to mind their own business? "boat trim dolphining guy"
"Who cares" Obviously I care, and probably thousands of the people who are mislead when they hear someone confidently calling dolphins porpoises like they know what they're talking about.

I saw that OP only had like 10 posts, so I was politely correcting him. Thinking he may not know. Then people like you come out of the woodwork to defend your ignorance right out in public like it's cool to be stupid or something. Grown men proudly talking about the fact that they know they're wrong. Why would you want either: A. mislead children or anyone unaware B. sound(dumb) like you don't know what you're talking about to people who know you're wrong.

As for the mahi mahi/dolphin excuse.. That's the absolute dumbest argument I've heard on the subject. You guys really need a better excuse for your ignorance. "Don't want people to be confused, so I'll just sound like i have no idea what I'm talking about."

Wouldn't it be easier to just admit that you're wrong and try and not be wrong in the future? What do you guys have invested in being wrong about this that makes you defend it like this.

Bottom line: There are no porpoises in Texas. It's really just that simple, sorry that's so hard for some of you to grasp.


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

We get it Mr. Perfect. I bet you fish alone a lot. Because not one person on your boat could do the right thing.



TrailChaser said:


> I'll assume you're addressing me, even tho you apparently don't know how quotes work.
> 
> When you see dolphins breaching; what they are doing is called porpoising. Just like your boat, but you go right ahead and start using dolphining.
> I'll just ignore the mind your own business comment, because who the hell are you to tell anyone to mind their own business? "boat trim dolphining guy"
> ...


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## hookemandcookem (Jul 14, 2010)

To switch gears a bit..... idk how many undersized snapper i fed the dolphins this year, way more than i got to keep. You could almost hand feed them on the "release".


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## Muddy Water Bohemian (Mar 1, 2013)

Thanks for the info Mr. Flipper I have been misidentifying them for years!


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## captain sandbar (Dec 9, 2011)

TrailChaser said:


> Thanks for doing your part to perpetuate the porpoise ignorance that has plagued the Texas coast for generations. It's ignorant, plain and simple. If you know it's a dolphin and you openly call it a porpoise that's pretty ignorant. I'm just trying to help people out. I was being polite about it.
> 
> If I mistakenly called a dolphin a porpoise, I'd want someone to politely correct me so I don't make that same mistake in the future. We don't need people making it sound as if it's okay to call them the wrong name.
> 
> ...


I just love this forum, and the pettiness it generates, but given your two posts, and defiant attitude about making sure we don't convolute matters and identification I provide the following comment on if you see a "cow" do you call it a horse. technically, a cow can cover a large breadth of things, see below

*noun, plural cows, (Archaic) kine.*

+ the mature female of a bovine animal, especially of the genus _Bos._
+ the female of various other large animals, as the elephant or whale.
_+ Informal_. a domestic bovine of either sex and any age.
_Slang_: _Disparaging and Offensive_. 
 a large, obese, and slovenly woman.
a woman who has a large number of children or is frequently pregnant.

So if you said there is a cow, it is just as vague and confusing as calling a dolphin a porpie.

Sorry couldn't resist.

I'm now headed to Goode CO seafood to have some mesquite grilled dolphin.


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

TrailChaser said:


> I'll assume you're addressing me, even tho you apparently don't know how quotes work.
> 
> When you see dolphins breaching; what they are doing is called porpoising. Just like your boat, but you go right ahead and start using dolphining.
> I'll just ignore the mind your own business comment, because who the hell are you to tell anyone to mind their own business? "boat trim dolphining guy"
> ...


Why would you want to be on a site with so many dumbasses? Why you here?


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## dirtdobber (Jun 23, 2009)

There is no such thing as a porpoise in gulf coast waters. You will not see any porpoise until you get around the Carolinas. What people see in the bays are gray Atlantic bottlenose dolphin they are also off shore along with spinner and spotted dolphin. A dolphin will have conical teeth (cone like) a porpoise will have spade shape teeth. A dolphin will have more of a curved dorsal fin and a porpoise will have a triangular dorsal fin.:wink:


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porpoise

Here we go, Wikipedia to the rescue.


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## TrailChaser (Nov 7, 2015)

WillieT said:


> Why would you want to be on a site with so many dumbasses? Why you here?


I'm here because I love fishing. I'm trying(and succeeding) to inform people that we don't have porpoises in our waters.

I talked about this to the guys at work yesterday, and two of them have been fishing the Texas coast all their lives and sincerely thought they have been seeing porpoises this whole time. That's 2 out of a very small pool of people I talked to.

The fact that people don't know the difference because they've been mislead their whole lives does not make them dumbasses. What makes someone a dumbass in this scenario is when they openly admit they're wrong, but choose to continue to mislead anyone within earshot when talking about dolphins. :headknock

I honestly don't understand where the pushback is coming from. I'm sure most of these people view themselves as pretty smart in general.

Also, for every comment that's argumentative I'm sure there are about a dozen people who agree with my point but choose to remain quiet on the subject because the people who are wrong get so defensive and sensitive about being corrected. I don't mind stirring the pot if it makes the end result come out better. There are probably several people who've seen this thread and decided to start calling them dolphins to not be seen as ignorant, and there are probably a few more who actually learned for the first time that what they've been seeing are dolphins.


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## TrailChaser (Nov 7, 2015)

fishinganimal said:


> We get it Mr. Perfect. I bet you fish alone a lot. Because not one person on your boat could do the right thing.


That's pretty funny, I actually have a(literal) list of people waiting to get a chance to go fishing with me. I take strangers out for free all the time to show them how to sight cast reds and they all seem to turn into my new friends.

I'm sponsored by multiple fishing companies, I don't buy any fishing gear. I have two brand new boats that were given to me by my sponsors.

My oldest son is in A school for nuclear engineering in the Navy, My daughters in college, my youngest son is on track to graduate early from high school. I'm 42yrs old and have been happily married to my first and only wife for over 18yrs... It's a really tough lonely life I'm living. lmao

What's your story?


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## 98aggie77566 (Jul 7, 2009)

Thatâ€™s it!!!

Iâ€™m gonna start calling them dolphins....maybe it will make my kids as smart as yours?

Is your wife smoking hot too?

PS - kinda funny your profile pic is in a dadgum kayak.


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## Stumpgrinder1 (Jul 18, 2016)

These threads are why weed should be legal


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*??*



stumpgrinder3 said:


> These threads are why weed should be legal


are you thinking they will act right on weed?? or will it allow you to understand what they are saying, because all are on the same page/drug??


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## captain sandbar (Dec 9, 2011)

stumpgrinder3 said:


> These threads are why weed should be legal


When you say "weed" to you mean cannabis sativa, or marijuana, mary jane, dope, reefer, ganga, kif or pot? Or just your garden variety weed from the garden? I'm confused! please be more grammatically/scientifically correct, or the man with two brand new boats (that were given to him for free) and unlimited best friends will undertake an endless crusade to educate and correct you, all while boasting about his and everyone around him's prowess.

Signed, Flipper (aka *Tursiops truncates, not *Neophocaena phocaenoides)

this just keeps getting better and better........


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## tbaker (Dec 20, 2004)

It is fairly evident that some folks are new to the interwebs.


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## 98aggie77566 (Jul 7, 2009)

I knew this thread was missing something....finally dawned on me.

Go ahead fellas....flop it on the table. The bar has been set.

I just hope the 12â€er is long enough for olâ€™ Trailchaser.


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## 348473 (Apr 12, 2017)

Is a porpoise or dolphin whatever you call it a game fish or non gamefish? Are we allowed to gig them basically is what I am asking. Thanks.


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## 98aggie77566 (Jul 7, 2009)

You can gig them...but the gig must be barbed (bigger barbs are better)....and the gig must be tied around your waist to avoid the risk of losing it.

May the best mammal win....please video.


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## BAMF32 (Feb 12, 2005)

*My story*



TrailChaser said:


> That's pretty funny, I actually have a(literal) list of people waiting to get a chance to go fishing with me. I take strangers out for free all the time to show them how to sight cast reds and they all seem to turn into my new friends.
> 
> I'm sponsored by multiple fishing companies, I don't buy any fishing gear. I have two brand new boats that were given to me by my sponsors.
> 
> ...


Well, my life was great until today when the Astros tanked, I don't have a nuclear Engineer as a kid and I found out I cant tell a dolphin from a porpoise.


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## BAMF32 (Feb 12, 2005)

98aggie77566 said:


> I knew this thread was missing something....finally dawned on me.
> 
> Go ahead fellas....flop it on the table. The bar has been set.
> 
> I just hope the 12â€er is long enough for olâ€™ Trailchaser.


Thank God it has a millimeter side


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## RUFcaptain (Aug 12, 2011)

Blk Jck 224 said:


> Interesting analogy...I am a nurse, but work exclusively with doctors within a hospital...The doctors don't eat the same food as the nurses, except for me that is...LOL


The doctors dining room is much better!ðŸ˜€


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

Lots of porpoises in the Galveston Channel today...Must have been after all the 10-12" flounder we caught...I think I saw one of Mike Williams customer stick a 13"...That dude ROCKS!


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## TexasGrandSlam (Apr 13, 2013)

If a dolphin identifies as a porpoise then what? I'm confused..


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## Flat's Hunter (Oct 18, 2007)

I have always wondered...









Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

I feel like SMACKDADDY has reappeared as TRAILCHASER to let everyone know how apex he is, and how much knowledge he has gained in such a short time on this earth. If this is true, then for those of you who donâ€™t know, be prepared to be called potlicker on a daily basis and bombarded with a long list of important people he knows on a best friend basis.

On a serious note, some of us are looking for knowledge on fishing around these aquatic mammals. My experience has always been the bite shutting off completely around their presence, but I have also heard of ppl using them to their advantage. That I do not know how. Hopefully we can get back to talking fishing instead of arguing with strangers on the internet?? Just a thought.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

SKIPJACKSLAYER said:


> On a serious note, some of us are looking for knowledge on fishing around these aquatic mammals. My experience has always been the bite shutting off completely around their presence, but I have also heard of ppl using them to their advantage. That I do not know how. Hopefully we can get back to talking fishing instead of arguing with strangers on the internet?? Just a thought.


I canâ€™t remember a time when the dolphin hung around for long, except fishing near structure well offshore where they would pull sardines off the hooks or get at released fish. I did one time jump out with a mask and snorkel and have the dolphin swim by close enough to see, but not close enough to touch.

I see more dolphin when Iâ€™m wading the surf than any other place I fish. Seems like most of the time, they are out beyond the third bar. A few times Iâ€™ve fished they been in closer in the second gut, maybe once or twice in the first gut. Never do remember dolphin camping out in a spot for very long, though. I couldnâ€™t say whether they ever shut down a bite in the surf for sure or if the bite did that on its own.

I enjoy watching them when they do get close. One time, in October several years ago, I was wading in about 24-30â€ of water on the Airport Flats of West Matagorda Bay. The wind was really ripping out of the NE, but the semi-protected water behind the breakwater there was calm enough to wade. The fishing was good, with a steady mix of fish. Four dolphin came into the scene and started getting closer. I stopped fishing and watched them feed. One peeled off and came right for me from about 100 feet out and passed 3 feet from me. I could have touched the dolphin as it swam by at about a fast walking pace. They moved on. Maybe the fishing slowed down after that, but I remember catching fish after the dolphin left.

They come pretty close when Iâ€™m out in the kayak. One time, I saw a dolphin in water so shallow it had to kind of get on its side to make it through. It was going into the shallow stuff not trying to escape it. The dolphin donâ€™t tend to hang around for long, but Iâ€™m not often in deeper water when in the kayak. Canâ€™t say they messed up a bite there, but I tend to move around some stalking shallow fish.


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## Castiron (Jan 29, 2012)

TrailChaser said:


> Thanks for doing your part to perpetuate the porpoise ignorance that has plagued the Texas coast for generations. It's ignorant, plain and simple. If you know it's a dolphin and you openly call it a porpoise that's pretty ignorant. I'm just trying to help people out. I was being polite about it.
> 
> If I mistakenly called a dolphin a porpoise, I'd want someone to politely correct me so I don't make that same mistake in the future. We don't need people making it sound as if it's okay to call them the wrong name.
> 
> ...


I've fished the gulf all my life (nearly half century) and been to plenty aquariums, so I should know this. But I don't recall learning that dolphins and porpoises weren't the same thing. So I am glad you posted, thank you, now hopefully I should remember. I usually call them dolphins anyway, except when someone gets a funny look on their face after saying we caught or ate dolphin.

It does annoy me when people use the wrong word and cop out with "you know what I meant, or you got the point" Ya, I did but someone else may not have, and they are no more educated for it.

As a late friend once told me after I had apologized about being wrong, "It's not important that I am right, but that you are not wrong!"


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## batmaninja (Jul 15, 2010)

Porpoises and people are the only creatures that have sex for recreation. You got to be careful fishing the porpi :an5:


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## Blk Jck 224 (Oct 16, 2009)

batmaninja said:


> Porpoises and people are the only creatures that have sex for recreation. You got to be careful fishing the porpi :an5:


In the spirit of TrailChaser let me immediately correct you...Primates will fark for fun as well...I saw a baboon orgy at the San Antonio zoo when I was a kid...I thought, Now that might be a good idea...Hmmm


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## 98aggie77566 (Jul 7, 2009)

My two cents....and how we got here.

We grew up calling a dorado a dolphin...and a dolphin a porpoise.

It was easier than trying to explain which â€œdolphinâ€ you were talking about.

Yes...saying dorado would have been easier.


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## batmaninja (Jul 15, 2010)

Blk Jck 224 said:


> In the spirit of TrailChaser let me immediately correct you...Primates will fark for fun as well...I saw a baboon orgy at the San Antonio zoo when I was a kid...I thought, Now that might be a good idea...Hmmm


Hard to say it was for fun, or defense. Even them lady primates can execute a clam jam.

_Female gorillas use sex as a tactic to thwart their rivals, new research suggests. Pregnant apes court their silverback male to stop other females conceiving._


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## Eaglebeaver (Jun 28, 2015)

I usta avoid...the fishing was good - when they showed up - and stayed good....as long as we could crank fast.....Now we look for them....and have mostly good luck!


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Thirty five years back I was fishing PINS and driving the beach looking for sign. When I got to the fish pass there was a raft of mullet pushed against the little jetty and the north pocket of the beach. The big surf tout and slot reds were thick in the rafts of mullet blowing them up. Birds were diving, it was a melee.
The ex and I pulled to a stop and made our way out to the line of surf casters catching fish. A long line of waders extending out from near the jetty base and almost everyone bowed up at all times. Shrimp were jumping all around.
It was a big trout or a slot red every cast, we were using Mud Bugs( having been on a fishing bender for two weeks we were getting down to the last of the lures) a deep diving crank bait that would dig in the sand when retrieved.
Limits were liberal and we were stringing them up fishing from the 2nd bar top.
Suddenly a group of dolphins started blowing and breaching as they feed into the melee, further pushing the mullet and game fish onto the beach. My ex walked on water getting out of waist deep water thinking they were sharks.
I stayed and those trout and reds were bumping into my legs at times chasing bait and soon dolphins were swimming right by me.
The water was very clear/blue and beautiful. I caught fish and released them for a couple of hours and at one point I was dangling a silver spoon right in front of me looking at the action when a jack about 5 to eight pounds snatched it up and stripped line, which had looped over the old fashioned ambassador 5000 release lever.
Line actually smoked for a second over that lever when that jack ran until hot line hit the water and parted.
It happened in a flash!
I'll never forget that day, beautiful water, fish all around and the dolphins added to experience in a big way.


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## DC31 (Sep 16, 2016)

OMG. I get back from the lease trying to kill Russian boars and wolves and I see this discussion has gone on for 10 days and 7 pages of posts. So sorry i misspoke "Professor" Trailblazer. I didn't know that calling bottlenoses Porpoise's was a "plague" and "plagueing" the Texas gulf coast. The ignorance is an intellectual crime that must be addressed so the younger sportsman won't perpetuate the massive problem. We should have 2cool do PSA's to correct this dilemma.
I simply shared a cool experience about animal behavior and possibly a tactic to use in the future for others. This is why I dont do the book of face and I seldom post on this social media site. All the social justice warriors ruin it for many. Hope I didn't have any grammatical errors that plagues our society in this message so I won't be corrected again. 
The bottom line is, at the end of the day, it's what it is.


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