Breakaway Tackle and the Shore Fishing and Casting Club Int.
Red Fish Rescue.
POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
SEE BELOW FOR UPDATES
This picture was taken 2 years ago at the same cut.
Sunday 15th June at 8am.
Lets save them.
In one of the cuts that was made by Hurricane Brett, we have a lot of 10 inch size Red Fish trapped. As the water heats and evaporates they will all die. Breakaway Tackle and SFCCI will be organizing and policing a fish to save them. We have very little time and we need to act now.
On Sunday 15th of June. 8am volunteers will leave from the Breakaway shop in an attempt to catch them and release them into the Gulf.
I was down there on Sunday and watched a friend of mine catch one every cast using a small spoon. Billy Sandifer said that one Red Fish that size released in the Gulf is equal to releasing a thousand fry in the bay.
Will all volunteers contact the Breakaway shop 361 949 8083 so we can coordinate vehicles and volunteers? We will need.
Vehicles, so we get volunteers and equipment to the 47.
Large Ice Chests with aerators to put the fish in for transporting across the beach to the Gulf.
It is important that we do not scare the small Reds, so we will need to be strict about the fishermen in the water at one time.
Thanks for taking the time to reed this. If you would like
to volunteer or have any suggestions please Email me. 
This is another
picture of the cut at the 47 two years ago. Note the dead Reds.
Progress report:
We are still waiting for the Park Service to return our calls.
David Sikes from the Caller Times will be sending a camera man in with the rescuers and also contacted Kyle Spiller.
Kyle Spiller from Texas Parks and Wildlife will be coming in with us. They are going to be bringing 300 ft nets to seine the cut after we have fished it. They will need 4 wheel drive vehicles to carry equipment and personnel in so please volunteer.
Update: 06/13/03
It looks like we have will have plenty of help with the rescue, Quite a few people have phoned and indicated that they will be at the shop on Sunday morning. Even had one person that is bringing his Bronco and has room for three volunteers who smoke.
Tyler was on the Jim Lago Radio (1440 Keys am) show this morning a did a nice job of getting the word out. Jim has Tyler give a fishing report every Friday at about 6.30am, worth listening to. Thanks Jim and Tyler.
We still have not received any formal permission from the rangers but we do know they are aware of the rescue.
As we will be using a seine to rescue these fish it would be a good idea for the volunteers to bring dip nets to assist with the capture.
Update: 06/13/03m 10.41am
The superintendents office at PINS have contacted us and asked us to delay the rescue as they need time to evaluate the situation. They have told me that they will be going to the cut on Monday with staff and people from Texas Parks and Wildlife. I will get back to you with their conclusion.
Update: 06/16/03
It might have been a good thing that we did not get to do the rescue on Sunday. We had some bad weather that might have caused problems. Some of the Shark boys did go back and fish the pond and said it was full of Reds and when they slung the cast net they caught Trout, Small Reds & Snapper (Mangrove). Lets hope they let us do the rescue before the pond dries and they all die. I will keep you posted. I will phone the parks service in the morning.
Update: 06/18/03
I have spoken with Mr. J. Whitworth who is the Superintendent of Padre Island National Seashore. His comments regarding the Red Fish Rescue were.
“ They have been down to investigate the fish in the drying lagoon and taken a Red Fish for age analysis and health state. He said the fish at this moment are healthy and that it is the park policy to leave nature to its self, more to manage but try not to interfere (I.e.: the fish will die but they will feed the Coyotes etc.) However they have made exceptions in the past and this situation is still under review. He thanked us for bringing this situation to his attention, and said how important it is for us to bring this sort of thing to their notice”.
I will keep all informed to any further information I get from the Superintendent. I will also keep an eye on the fish and get back to you all.
Update: 06/22/03
I got some pictures of the drying cut yesterday. The water is drying and you can now see the back of the cut clearly. I spoke to some people who had been catching red in it and they said they were still catching them every cast.
Pictures of drying cut 06/22/03. Click pictures to make them larger.
South side. 
Middle. 
North Side.
Update: 06/24/03
Jock Whitworth phoned yesterday and has arranged a meeting at the Breakaway shop to discuss the Red Fish Rescue and the communication between the users and park staff. He asked that the committee of SFCCI be in attendance and if possible Billy Sandifer. The rescue is still open for consideration, however it does potently conflict with Park policies.
We are in the process of getting some water samples, which we will have analyzed to give us a better indication of potential killing salt values. Apparently, and I might have this wrong (I will check this) but when the water gets to 33% salt the fish will die.
Update: 06/27/03
This is an article that David Sikes from the caller times published yesterday. 06/26/03
Click Hyperlink to go to it.
http://www.caller.com/ccct/recreation_columnists/article/0,1641,CCCT_868_2068912,00.html
Update: 06/30/03
I was down at the cut and I have taken a picture for a comparison shot. These pictures are a week apart. it looks as if the water level is holding. I did notice a lot of foot prints and traffic had been there. Here is the picture.
Top picture last week 06/22/03
Bottom picture 06/29/03
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