Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - Magazine - Index

TOSHBROWN.COM PHOTO (PAGE 50) LEFTY RAY CHAPA PHOTOS (PAGE 51)
ten leaving neophytes stranded along the way.
The Big Shell shoreline is extremely
unique, its contour and geology influenced by
the collision of the Campeche current flowing
northward from Mexico, and Mississippi
River currents flowing southward. The colliding
currents push up large concentrations
of shell from the ocean floor and deposit it
on the beach. They also push up flotsam and
mounds of plastic debris. Sandifer and friends
help organize beach cleanups which have removed
over 200 tons of debris to date. (Did I
mention that Sandifer loves his beach?)
Several miles down from Big Shell is Codo
del Diablo, or Devil’s Elbow, where again soft
sand dominates the beach. Large, knobby tires
fought for traction as we slowed to a crawl in
the deep powder. While Sandifer drove with
one hand on the wheel, which was involuntarily
jerked back and forth as the fat tires
tracked weaving ruts, he made a sweeping
motion toward the beach ahead of us with
his other hand and exclaimed, “This is my
morning commute to the office.”
The other side of the Devil’s Elbow was a
startling contrast. No powder, no trucks, no
protecting it from development. This 65-mile
stretch of coast has it all: Start with speckled
trout and redfish, add a few ego-bruising jackfish,
mix in a handful of offshore species, such
as Spanish mackerel, kingfish and tarpon, and
top everything off with sharks—some longer
than the family sedan. No other Texas fishing
venue offers such variety. If you want your
string stretched, this is the place.
I made the junket to the Mansfield jetties
and back in Sandifer’s “experienced” fourwheel-drive
Suburban, and can attest that
the Padre Island National Seashore is the last
remaining stretch of virgin beach left in the
United States.
Sandifer defies classification: A raconteur,
quotable at book length, he is also part
geologist, conchologist, historian, botanist,
and birder. And outstanding fishing guide.
Through his biting wit, coupled with refreshing
political incorrectness, you quickly learn
that Sandifer loves his beach.
Eighteen miles south of the park entrance
is Big Shell Beach. Big Shell features eleven
miles of sand the consistency of baby powder
that will test the resolve of any drive train, of-
with anguish from the intrusion of oxidation;
exposed metal is reddish brown from
its high-sodium diet.
Captain Billy Sandifer of Corpus Christi
loves life on the edge. Affectionately known
as the “Land Captain,” Sandifer (www.billysandifer.com)
plies the soft sands of North
Padre Island in search of fish, typically making
the 60-mile journey from Malaquite Beach to
the Port Mansfield jetties and back every day.
No one knows more about fishing the Padre
Island National Seashore than Billy Sandifer.
Padre Island is the longest barrier island
in the world, stretching over 90 miles from
Corpus Christi to Port Isabel near the
Mexican border. In the 1960s a channel was
dredged through the island, cutting the thin
ribbon of sand into northern and southern
components. Granite jetties were then built to
help keep the channel open. The jetties, and
the outstanding fishing they offer, are only
accessible by vehicle via the beach or by boat
from Port Mansfield, which is located on the
western shore of Lower Laguna Madre.
The lower portion of North Padre Island
is designated as national seashore, thereby
Life on the edge is hard. The
environment is corrosive and gritty. All manner
of creatures live there that bite, sting, poke
or prick. Skin exposed to harsh winds and
bright rays quickly becomes raw.
But a small cadre of anglers are there every
night, their dreams filled with visions of
uninhabited beaches, vegetated dunes topped
with waving thatches of sea oats, myriad species
of shore birds running in the wash of the
first gut, aqua waves crashing over dazzling
sandbars, wheeling gulls and pelicans crashing
balls of bait beyond the whitecaps, and reel
handles whirring in reverse as line is stripped
by mighty fish.
What sort of angler enjoys life on the edge?
What genetic mutation is the origin of this
sub-species? Indeed, Fly Roddus Americanus
is a different breed.
Easily discerned from a distance, died-inthe-wool
beach fishermen sport a pronounced
set of coon-eyes and drive late-model, American-made
4-wheel drive trucks, powered by
huge V-8 engines—body panels pock marked
with holes where salt claimed victory over
painted steel; the mechanical joints groan
The Mansfield jetties provide access to deeper
water and the big fish that lurk there.
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