I grew up fishing that area, and it has changed SO much. It used to be there was only one fairly narrow channel that connected Powderhorn with the bay. There was always a LOT of tide current through that cut, and every fish that wanted to run into Powderhorn had to go past you. The other side, right across from that RV park area, was so close that guys with long rods could basically cast all the way across. I remember some guys taking a little boat to camp on the other side who got pretty liquored up, and chunking big weights within about 15 feet of the pier we were standing on (and laughing like crazy). If you stand on the shoreline of the trailer park and look to your right, into Powderhorn, you can see a small island. There is (or was?) a big reef there that I used to wade all the time. The main channel curved to the left around it, but there was a small cut through the reef that not many people knew about that used to have fish running through it consistently - sometimes it would totally load up with fish. There were some sand potholes on it, and I gigged one of the biggest flounder I have ever seen there. I was in water to the top of my knees and had the flounder's head pinned, and its tail came up out of the water. (Count the curve in the body, and you'll understand that fish was 30+ inches long. There was a lighted pier where the trailer park is, running parallel to the shore. At night the trout were always there within minutes of the lights coming on, but when the tide changed (especially to incoming) the trout action was crazy. They popped the top, gobbling minnows and shrimp, so much that it sometimes sounded like popcorn. Just a constant popping, and when we would hook one trout we didn't reel in right away because we often caught a second on a tandem worm jig. One night what we call gulf trout (think oversize sand trout) came in and we caught many doubles with one speck and one gulf trout. The gulf trout we caught that night mostly ran from about 15" up to 20"-21". I honestly don't know if they are just big sand trout, but the only time I've ever seen any that big other than off that pier was offshore, and they look different. Maybe just because of the size, but they always look like a different species to me. The channel was deep, and in the fall the black drum would gather up there. We always found that they didn't favor the lights, and we would wade up the shoreline and cast bottom rigs out to the middle. Some nights you could hear their low pitched drumming all around, so you knew there were a lot of them. We didn't like all the worms the big ones carry (and during those fall events they were all big), so we put them back. But you could catch big drum literally until your arms got tired. The man who owned that bait camp, much smaller then, was named Ed Bell, and he was the best fishermen I have ever known - even better than me 😁. I was 6 years old when I first went there, and I pestered him to teach me how to catch fish, and for some reason he tolerated me and did. Lures were pretty rare that far back, and he told me about a lure he made from a green toothbrush handle that would catch fish on every cast. So I spent all the money I could get from allowance and odd jobs buying green toothbrushes and whittling/bending them into lures. I learned a LOT about lure action and how to manipulate them from that. I didn't know until much later that Ed was known to tell tall tales, and in his later life when he was too old to get out in his boat alone, he became a regular on the story-teller circuit. But when he was into his 70's I saw him go out alone in a little boat and come back with an ice chest full of big trout and redfish. He also drug a shrimp net by himself and would come back with ice chests full of shrimp. Many times I watched him sit in front of his little shack at night, under a single light bulb, heading shrimp or shucking oysters that he had taken that day. The hurricane changed the entrance to Powderhorn forerver, I'm afraid, and the entrance is too big to concentrate fish the way it once did. Plus there is a second entrance that has opened up. The worst thing for fishing it at night is that the shrimp population is a fraction of what it used to be, plus there are just so many lit piers up and down every shoreline. Back then, lights were rare enough that the places that had them would draw fish much more so than now. In the warm months, there would be shrimp popping above the trout everywhere you looked. Now you can fish a whole night and maybe see 3-4 shrimp jump. Back then a shrimp would drift into the light, and you would see several trout competing as the shrimp jumped, until one of them got it. I know all that sounds like one of Ed Bell's tall tales, but it's just that the bays have changed so much, and there is so much pressure on the fishery. You fished a legendary spot in this video. Sadly, the only thing constant is change. But the one big thing I wish I would convince pier owners of (including the owner of the Powderhorn property) is that huge lights aren't better. Small lights concentrate fish MUCH better, and the bigger trout like to haunt the edges between light and dark. The last time I was at Powderhorn, they had put up big lights like you would use for sports. If you light everything, the fish get all spread out and you can't target them. I guess lighting a big area means that you can get more paying customers, but it doesn't improve the fishing.
Wow, man I loved reading that. Those memories you have are priceless and I am going to read this to my son and family. The part about being able to hear the drumming was beyond great to imagine as I read it. I had no idea about the lights spreading out the fish but it makes sense. I remember when my dad and I would go to a pier almost 40 years ago in Rockport Tx and we knew of maybe 3 lights on the whole pier. Totally true about change but honestly we are seeing more young people out fishing as we have been getting around to different spots which really makes me happy for the future of the sport. I want to thank you for the words and also invite you to our forum as other anglers would love to read about your experiences. Maybe we can fish together one day as we will plan another meetup there soon. Here is the link and if you need any help at all getting logged in just let me know. community.vastoverland.com
We can not wait to share the video we recently shot with you. Should be up early next week by the time we finish the editing. We had so much fun that night we talked about it the whole way home and we will have to go back to Palacios specifically to fish at night on the pier. Heard you guys are about to get some cold weather so stay safe and keep warm brother.
One of the best fishing memories I have, was a family trip to Indianola. Hope to get back down there soon. Thanks for the great video. Happy New Year 🎣
Thanks for watching I just subscribed to your channel. Cool video on cheap hacks and can not wait to see your croaker rigs. Keep those videos coming MDG_Fishing
Great Video guys.Ive got a video on my channel from a few years back at that place.Big Black Drum are plentiful there at Ol Indianola store.We were there at night and it was fun,they have Live music at night.Also playing Toma Todo and Loteria during christmas is always fun with La Familia.Guys keep up the great content. I’m hoping to put some content together soon to start uploading fishing videos again.Tight Lines and HAPPY NEW YEAR and much success in the future for your channel.🎣💪🏽-Pancho
That’s scary! I’ll be sure to keep an eye out! Also our video guy always has his focus on us so we will watch out for him. Thanks for the tip and thanks for watching our video.
Thank you brother I can not tell you how much it means to us to read things like this. We are not family but super close brothers from another mother. Houston, TX
Yes I just told my wife and she started telling me she wants to get it because she played when she was younger with her family. Toma Todo! Thanks for watching.
Nice we will cut one up next time. I know the small ones are really good tossed out live but it has been years since I saw my dad catch a big trout on a live croaker. Thanks a ton for watching!
This is probably something we need to learn about more so we can identify worms if we see them. I will ask this question on our community forum and see what the other anglers say. Feel free to join if you have time. community.vastoverland.com
@@VastOverlandsome species have em worse than others, trout , drum, sheepshead, amberjack especially. They’re not harmful and you can’t really see em if you cook the fish right. They’re just nasty to look ay
Oh ok so cooking them we don’t have to worry. I think we will be doing some catch and cook episodes in the future once we actually get good at fishing lol! Thanks for watching
Go fishing 🎣 in bridge creek in Staten Island western avenue it a saltwater wetland there are crabs 🦀 flounder and striped bass please 🙏 fish there in the next video please 🙏 i support your videos because i want you to be good 👍 in life please 🙏 fish there in the next video please 🙏 you will like 👍 it also there a striped bass blitz happening there so please 🙏 take a fishing 🎣 trip there drop the video January 12 please 🙏 🙏
I grew up fishing that area, and it has changed SO much. It used to be there was only one fairly narrow channel that connected Powderhorn with the bay. There was always a LOT of tide current through that cut, and every fish that wanted to run into Powderhorn had to go past you. The other side, right across from that RV park area, was so close that guys with long rods could basically cast all the way across. I remember some guys taking a little boat to camp on the other side who got pretty liquored up, and chunking big weights within about 15 feet of the pier we were standing on (and laughing like crazy).
If you stand on the shoreline of the trailer park and look to your right, into Powderhorn, you can see a small island. There is (or was?) a big reef there that I used to wade all the time. The main channel curved to the left around it, but there was a small cut through the reef that not many people knew about that used to have fish running through it consistently - sometimes it would totally load up with fish. There were some sand potholes on it, and I gigged one of the biggest flounder I have ever seen there. I was in water to the top of my knees and had the flounder's head pinned, and its tail came up out of the water. (Count the curve in the body, and you'll understand that fish was 30+ inches long.
There was a lighted pier where the trailer park is, running parallel to the shore. At night the trout were always there within minutes of the lights coming on, but when the tide changed (especially to incoming) the trout action was crazy. They popped the top, gobbling minnows and shrimp, so much that it sometimes sounded like popcorn. Just a constant popping, and when we would hook one trout we didn't reel in right away because we often caught a second on a tandem worm jig. One night what we call gulf trout (think oversize sand trout) came in and we caught many doubles with one speck and one gulf trout. The gulf trout we caught that night mostly ran from about 15" up to 20"-21". I honestly don't know if they are just big sand trout, but the only time I've ever seen any that big other than off that pier was offshore, and they look different. Maybe just because of the size, but they always look like a different species to me.
The channel was deep, and in the fall the black drum would gather up there. We always found that they didn't favor the lights, and we would wade up the shoreline and cast bottom rigs out to the middle. Some nights you could hear their low pitched drumming all around, so you knew there were a lot of them. We didn't like all the worms the big ones carry (and during those fall events they were all big), so we put them back. But you could catch big drum literally until your arms got tired.
The man who owned that bait camp, much smaller then, was named Ed Bell, and he was the best fishermen I have ever known - even better than me 😁. I was 6 years old when I first went there, and I pestered him to teach me how to catch fish, and for some reason he tolerated me and did. Lures were pretty rare that far back, and he told me about a lure he made from a green toothbrush handle that would catch fish on every cast. So I spent all the money I could get from allowance and odd jobs buying green toothbrushes and whittling/bending them into lures. I learned a LOT about lure action and how to manipulate them from that. I didn't know until much later that Ed was known to tell tall tales, and in his later life when he was too old to get out in his boat alone, he became a regular on the story-teller circuit. But when he was into his 70's I saw him go out alone in a little boat and come back with an ice chest full of big trout and redfish. He also drug a shrimp net by himself and would come back with ice chests full of shrimp. Many times I watched him sit in front of his little shack at night, under a single light bulb, heading shrimp or shucking oysters that he had taken that day.
The hurricane changed the entrance to Powderhorn forerver, I'm afraid, and the entrance is too big to concentrate fish the way it once did. Plus there is a second entrance that has opened up. The worst thing for fishing it at night is that the shrimp population is a fraction of what it used to be, plus there are just so many lit piers up and down every shoreline. Back then, lights were rare enough that the places that had them would draw fish much more so than now. In the warm months, there would be shrimp popping above the trout everywhere you looked. Now you can fish a whole night and maybe see 3-4 shrimp jump. Back then a shrimp would drift into the light, and you would see several trout competing as the shrimp jumped, until one of them got it.
I know all that sounds like one of Ed Bell's tall tales, but it's just that the bays have changed so much, and there is so much pressure on the fishery. You fished a legendary spot in this video. Sadly, the only thing constant is change. But the one big thing I wish I would convince pier owners of (including the owner of the Powderhorn property) is that huge lights aren't better. Small lights concentrate fish MUCH better, and the bigger trout like to haunt the edges between light and dark. The last time I was at Powderhorn, they had put up big lights like you would use for sports. If you light everything, the fish get all spread out and you can't target them. I guess lighting a big area means that you can get more paying customers, but it doesn't improve the fishing.
Wow, man I loved reading that. Those memories you have are priceless and I am going to read this to my son and family. The part about being able to hear the drumming was beyond great to imagine as I read it.
I had no idea about the lights spreading out the fish but it makes sense. I remember when my dad and I would go to a pier almost 40 years ago in Rockport Tx and we knew of maybe 3 lights on the whole pier.
Totally true about change but honestly we are seeing more young people out fishing as we have been getting around to different spots which really makes me happy for the future of the sport.
I want to thank you for the words and also invite you to our forum as other anglers would love to read about your experiences. Maybe we can fish together one day as we will plan another meetup there soon.
Here is the link and if you need any help at all getting logged in just let me know. community.vastoverland.com
I have to give it to u,fishing all day,then making time for me that night, this video makes me want to hit the water,good 1 guys!
We can not wait to share the video we recently shot with you. Should be up early next week by the time we finish the editing. We had so much fun that night we talked about it the whole way home and we will have to go back to Palacios specifically to fish at night on the pier. Heard you guys are about to get some cold weather so stay safe and keep warm brother.
One of the best fishing memories I have, was a family trip to Indianola. Hope to get back down there soon. Thanks for the great video. Happy New Year 🎣
Thanks for watching I just subscribed to your channel. Cool video on cheap hacks and can not wait to see your croaker rigs. Keep those videos coming MDG_Fishing
Great Video guys.Ive got a video on my channel from a few years back at that place.Big Black Drum are plentiful there at Ol Indianola store.We were there at night and it was fun,they have Live music at night.Also playing Toma Todo and Loteria during christmas is always fun with La Familia.Guys keep up the great content. I’m hoping to put some content together soon to start uploading fishing videos again.Tight Lines and HAPPY NEW YEAR and much success in the future for your channel.🎣💪🏽-Pancho
Thanks a ton Pancho. It's always great to hear from other fishermen. Yes get your videos going back again so we follow along. Happy New year!
I remember 3 Eduardo! They're hating and fishing with trebles, unbelievable!
@joeswoldier thanks man i swear they haters 😂
Lol using the trebles
Good video guys. I stumbled across your channel and love it. Keep the videos coming!! Happy new year too!
Thanks a ton for watching our little videos. We are having a blast making them.
Thanks for watching
You guys are at one of our favorite places in indianola we got a bunch of sheepshead there and in Port Lavaca
Awesome thanks for watching. Were you catching them on dead shrimp?
Great video. Watch out for the big alligator. I’ve seen a huge alligator swimming around there while fishing there at night under the lights.
That’s scary! I’ll be sure to keep an eye out! Also our video guy always has his focus on us so we will watch out for him. Thanks for the tip and thanks for watching our video.
Great video hope y’all have a happy new year . Keep your lines tight fish on. Ty for taking us along. Cuero tx 🤓👍👍👍
Happy New year!! Thanks so much for watching our little videos, we are having a blast making them. 👍🏽
@@jesusvillarreal4080 tjanks happy new year to you as well
We catch nice size reds at that RV spot at night. We have had big black drum tournaments at the marina I placed 1st place 2x and 2nd place once
Thanks for the tip on this spot we went there based on your recommendation! We need to try fishing there at night.
2:59 se llama toma todo
Exactly Toma Todo, my wife played it when her family came in from Mexico.
Yea lost all my money that day
Where you fellows from and are you family
Just saying I just run unto your channel and I'm hooked already
Thank you brother I can not tell you how much it means to us to read things like this. We are not family but super close brothers from another mother. Houston, TX
It’s called TOMA TODO
Yes I just told my wife and she started telling me she wants to get it because she played when she was younger with her family. Toma Todo! Thanks for watching.
Lets go 2025 i predict 3000 subscribers
Thanks we are happy to get to be meeting other anglers out there. Having a ton of fun fishing!
Y’all need to fish indianola pier at night. The trout bite is awesome when the tide is moving.
We are definitely going to check that out next time at night when we are down there! Thanks a ton for watching.
Pirinola/spinning top
I never played it, in our family Loteria was the game. My wife says her family played it. Thanks for watching our little videos.
Thanks yea i knew it was called that i lost all my money
Croaker is good bait for trout and reds!
Nice we will cut one up next time. I know the small ones are really good tossed out live but it has been years since I saw my dad catch a big trout on a live croaker. Thanks a ton for watching!
7:42 😭😭
Haha nothing but a candy lol. Thanks for watching!
I grew up fishing this area, lots of redfish drum and trout, all full of worms. just threw em back
This is probably something we need to learn about more so we can identify worms if we see them. I will ask this question on our community forum and see what the other anglers say. Feel free to join if you have time. community.vastoverland.com
@@VastOverlandsome species have em worse than others, trout , drum, sheepshead, amberjack especially. They’re not harmful and you can’t really see em if you cook the fish right. They’re just nasty to look ay
Oh ok so cooking them we don’t have to worry. I think we will be doing some catch and cook episodes in the future once we actually get good at fishing lol! Thanks for watching
Hey man I’m going to be going there for work do you know of any good alligator gar spots to bank fish from? @guitarwolfluke
@ I haven’t lived there in 20+ years but I’ve seen 5-6 foot long gars in lake Texana up by ganado
Can we eat the sand trouts? :)
Yes sir but I think they are best eaten the same day. Thanks for watching buddy we are still on the flounder hunt hopefully Sunday.
@VastOverland I'm not going to reject some trout either 😀
Game on my friend!
Go fishing 🎣 in bridge creek in Staten Island western avenue it a saltwater wetland there are crabs 🦀 flounder and striped bass please 🙏 fish there in the next video please 🙏 i support your videos because i want you to be good 👍 in life please 🙏 fish there in the next video please 🙏 you will like 👍 it also there a striped bass blitz happening there so please 🙏 take a fishing 🎣 trip there drop the video January 12 please 🙏 🙏
We're always looking for new spots to fish, thank you for the recommendation and thank you so much for watching.