this is a conservation story about spotted seatrout and redfish along the texas coast based in port mansfield dealing with get-a-way adventures lodge and bruce and brandon shuler written by joe cermele

Conservation: Crusaders of the Cowboy Coast

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:00:00 -0400

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fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:00:00 -0400

End of the Line: Farm Road 606 comes to an abrupt dead end when it meets the Gulf in Port Mansfield, Texas.

Crusaders of the Cowboy Coast by Joe Cermele

It wasn't far from this dead end in Port Mansfield, Texas, where the Texas Rangers earned their reputation as guys you don't want to screw with. In the late 1800s, when notorious Mexican outlaw Juan Cortina was running ruthless guerilla raids on South Texas ranchers, the Rangers were brought in to clean up the lawless Neuces Strip. In the same area, the final, although largely unpublicized, battle of the Civil War was fought. And it was here along the shores of the Lower Laguna Madre that lines were drawn over a century later during what became known as the "redfish wars."

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Red Alert: A healthy redfish pulled from a Lower Laguna Madre flat.

It's hard to recognize the potential for disaster when you're actually knee-deep on the sprawling flats just outside of Port Mansfield's harbor. Redfish nearly bounce off your shins. Monster seatrout spray bait in clouds of silver all around. But in order to sustain healthy populations of these fish in Lower Laguna Madre, they need to have access to the Gulf of Mexico.

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Rattle Trap: A homemade surface lure created with stretched skin from a rattle snake.

Then there are the old skin-mounted monster trout, slightly dusty on the wall, mingling with an impressive array of deer heads and largemouth opening wide for various lures. Countless framed magazine covers deck the halls, some featuring Bruce, and some notables of the angling world who have paid a visit to his lodge. Trinkets fill every space, but the one I found most unusual was a homemade plug created by a client. He used a skin from a rattlesnake Bruce killed in the back yard to mimic a scale pattern.

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Getting Bombed: Jeff Samsel from Bomber Lures lifts a fat redfish taken on a Pop'N Shrimp.

Although the wind had whipped certain flats to a chalky froth, the redfish were still willing to smack topwater lures on our last day in Port Mansfield. The amount of activity we experienced made it that much harder to believe it could all just go away. Regardless of the future, a severe change to the fishery isn't likely to happen overnight.

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Young Gun: Captain LeeRoy Gonzales motors out of Port Mansfield Harbor.

Take, for example, LeeRoy Gonzales, a relative newcomer to Bruce's rotation of regular guides. Ask him his specialty and first he'll say, "women." Then he'll say it's chasing snook. Then he'll treat you to the Mexican word of the day, which I could never print here for fear of losing my job. You'll know that you've found LeeRoy's boat when you hear it. It seems he can't rig up in the morning without a healthy dose of Bob Marley cranking through the stereo on his flats boat. When he wades, there's either Texas country or rap playing on his iPod, although he keeps it low enough to hear any pops or slurps from trout.

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Water World: The Intra-Coastal Waterway outside of Port Mansfield is dotted with these tiny shacks completely cut off from dry land and used by fishermen and waterfowl hunters.

The commercial gill-netting nearly collapsed the fishery in the Laguna Madre and other Texas bays. Spats between roughneck commercial fishermen trying to earn a living and recreational anglers trying to hook a trophy were fierce on the docks and in the bars of small fishing outposts like Port Mansfield.

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Fish Fighter: Devout conservationist Brandon Shuler wades chest-deep in search of giant seatrout.

But when it comes to conservation, perhaps none of Bruce Shuler's guides have worked more dedicatedly towards keeping the South Texas coastal fishery alive than his son, Brandon. When I met him, Brandon had just found out he would be receiving a 2008 Conservation Award from the Federation of Fly Fishers. Among other projects, he was instrumental in the regionalization of the Laguna Madre, which allowed the bay to be broken up into separate zones with specific management plans for each area based on its issues and needs. Brandon is also no stranger to death threats from those on the other side of his various conservation efforts.

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Bite Size: Smaller seatrout like this one are kept for the table, while larger fish live to swim another day.

Shuler, among many others, would like to see the use of live croakers come to an end, but this issue is bound to turn into another war. Shuler's advocacy of the croaker ban has already earned him death threats. If you fish out of Get-A-Way Adventures Lodge, don't expect to use much live bait. Shuler prefers that large trout be released and smaller fish be kept for the table, and he has gone to great lengths to wrangle up a posse of guides who see it his way and have the skills to put clients on gonzo fish using flies and lures.