What? No Ammo?
Highway 87 Fishing Pier
Fishing appears to be the primary recreation in the area, evident by the many piers and bait shops. To our surprise, the area was not choked with tourists and fishermen, like in Aransas Pass. We did do a little afternoon fishing, when the tide started flowing. We paid five bucks each to fish from the pier at Indianola Fishing Marina. Although we did not catch much, the bait was cheap and there was easy access to shade and cold beer. There was a glut of pogies in the water, and some small aggressive fish that would steal your bait. I caught a small White Grunt, that had really sharp teeth.
White Grunt
Down the road from the hotel is the causeway bridge between Port Lavaca and Port Comfort. After not catching much at the Indianola pier, we tried to fish at the city park which is on the Port Lavaca side of the bridge. We did not catch anything here, and we ultimately called it quits for the day.
The city park had a bird walk, which was a semi-circular pier that was erected over a grass marsh (or estuary). There were various bird species in the marshes, with placards placed along the pier explaining things. There were also a billion or so mosquitoes (I suppose they could have been birds; they were certainly large enough).
Bird Walk - Mosquito Run
There is an old washed out road with a pier on the Port Comfort side of the causeway bridge. I took note of this as I passed over the bridge on my way to Palacios. I planned to catch some bait with my cast net, and try this spot out in the morning.
Early the next morning, I found a spot where a small bridge passed over a bayou with a public boat ramp. I threw my cast net a few times, and captured some pogies and finger-mullet. There was a small alligator (about 4 feet long) in the water, that swam around just out of reach. We tried fishing here for about 20 minutes, but after not getting any bites, we made our way across the causeway bridge to fish the spot I had picked out the day before. The water was very clear, and the tide was low. There were redfish chasing finger-mullet in the shallows. I was successful in landing a small redfish, that put up a formidable fight. I saw the redfish chasing bait, so I threw a silver spoon ahead of the fish and lured it to strike. The fish was not large, but it was not too small either.
Fishing from the bank can be difficult, so catching that one allowed me to finish my trip on a positive note.
Causeway Bridge
As I explored the area, I noticed lots of intriguing spots that I could reach if I had a boat. One of these days I will probably trade my bass boat in for a bay boat. I think a bay boat would be more flexible. I could use it for fresh water or salt water fishing. I really liked the area, and see why it is considered by some to be a diamond in the rough.