10 GULF COAST FISHERMAN

by Mike Price

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(Continued on page 18.)

Gulf Coast CloseupGulf Coast Closeup

Photo by author.Captain-Coach, Floyd Ciruti, with his fishing clients Todd Johse and Ryan Wagner.

CAPTAIN-COACHCAPTAIN-COACH

Floyd CirutiFloyd Cirutiaptain-Coach Floyd Ciruti is a fishing guide wholistens to his clients. Ciruti said, “I ask them whatthey would like to know and then I coach. I’d like thewhole experience to be fun for them. I want them to

feel like they learned something about reading the water,watching bait, and how to decide whether or not to fish an area.And I try to get them to understand and see nature.”

Ciruti has a unique background especially suited to hisprofession. A native of Baytown, Texas he grew up playingsports and fishing in Trinity and GalvestonBays. After high school, Ciruti went to collegeat Sam Houston State University in Huntsvillewhere he played baseball. In 1972 he wasnamed to the All-America first team in theNational Association of IntercollegiateAthletics Lone Star Conference as a centerfielder. After graduating from Sam Houston,Ciruti played semipro baseball for foursummers. He found his true calling, however,when he accepted a position with WhartonHigh School as coach and teacher.

The Wharton High School baseball teamwon 550 games in the 30 years that Ciruticoached. They only had two losing seasons,and were almost always in the playoffs.Fishing was Ciruti’s way to escape during hiscoaching career, to get away from everythingand sort things out in his head.

He said, “I didn’t have a boat when Imoved to Wharton, and I just started drivingto places to fish. Then I got a boat and startedfishing East and West Matagorda Bays, andhave been fishing them ever since.”

When asked what it took to be such a successful coach hesaid, “Good coaching is finding ways to get average kids toperform up to and beyond their capability. The ones with talentare going to perform well anyway.”

Helping fishermen perform up to their capabilities involvesa lot of factors but after retiring from coaching in 2007, Cirutigot his captain license and decided to take on that challenge.

I met Coach Ciruti in the early morning darkness atMatagorda Harbor. He made me and his fishing clients, DavidTovey, Todd Johse, and Ryan Wagner, feel welcome aboard his22 foot Gulf Coast boat with his friendly smile and handshake.Todd is a fireman who grew up in Wharton; he played baseballwith Ciruti’s son in grade school, and graduated from WhartonHigh School. He said, “Last year at a Wharton Fire Departmentfund raiser I talked to Coach about taking me to West Matagorda

Bay. I told him I that I have a 23-foot Majek and wanted him toshow me some spots and what to look for.” He said, “I’ll showyou everything I can, you can bring your GPS along and marksome spots that I take you to.” We left the harbor and headed forWest Matagorda Bay.

As the sun rose, we slowly approached the shoreline toavoid scaring the fish. Coach said, “What a gorgeous sunrise,and listen… do you hear all those coyotes singing? We are goingto get on this shoreline, and wade this whole flat. There are some

little guts in between patches of sand. It’s fine if you want to goup in those deep bayous, but the farther you get up in there, themuddier it gets.”

Later Todd said, “I really didn’t know where to startwading. Coach told us where the grass beds start in WestMatagorda Bay, and how the guts run at a northwest angle, thencut back west. Usually, I will wade one location for hours andnot catch anything, but Coach said fish for 25 minutes; if youaren’t catching anything, it is time to move.”

Coach uses Lacross snake boots to protect himself fromstingrays. He said, “My stingray fear factor is gone.” He wearsgloves and covers his face for protection from the sun, andcarries his tackle with a wide neoprene wading belt made by E-Z Wading Belt. His “go to” rod is a 7-foot American Rodsmith

18 GULF COAST FISHERMAN

S t. J o s e p h P o i n t, FL to S h i p S h o a l L i g h t, LA

To adjust for your fishing area, add (+) or subtract (-) hours and minutesshown above for the area you plan to fish from the Forecast time. No attemptshould be made to compare the time of high or low tide, shown below, to thetimes of current presented in theWells Fishing Forecast.

St. Joseph Point -:60Panama City -1.20Destin/East Pass -:40Pensacola Bay Entrance -:30Alabama Point -:20Mobile Point -:15Horn Island Pass SamePascagoula Pass -:10Chandeleur Light -:15

Wells Fishing Forecast Adjustment Times

N O R T H G U L F

Long Point/Lake Borgne +:20Bay St. Louis +:20Rigolets +:35South Pass/Delta +:20Empire Jetty +:45Barataria Pass +:55Cat Island Pass .+1:10Pointe Au Fer Isle +1:25

HIGH LOW

Bay St. Louis +0:53 +1:26Long Pt, Lake Borgne +1:29 +1:42Shell Beach, L. Borgne +3:22 +4:11Chandeleur Light -0:39 -0:21Gardner I., Breton Sd -0:19 +0:18Breton Islands -0:21 -0:15Jack Bay +0:12 +0:30Lonesome Bayou -2:35 -2:47Mississippi River Pass a Loutre ent. -1:48 -1:00 Southeast Pass -2:32 -2:46 Port Eads, South Pass -2:13 -2:35 Joseph Bayou -2:32 -2:35 Southwest Pass -2:34 -2:31 Head of Passes -1:47 -0:29Paris Road Bridge +4:09 +5:09Empire Jetty -2:47 -2:34Bastian Island -1:03 -0:37Quatre Bayous Pass +0:34 -0:32Barataria Pass -0:44 -0:59Barataria Bay Bayou Rigaud,Grand I -0:12 -0:03 Independence Island +0:45 +1:10 Manilla +0:48 +2:24Caminada Pass (bridge) +0:30 +0:45Timbalier Island -1:25 -0:26Pelican I., Timbalier +0:42 +1:37Caillou Boca -1:04 -0:01Racoon Point, Caillou B -1:47 -1:09Ship Shoal Light -3:38 -2:39

Tide Table Adjustment Times

Port St. Joe -0:24 -0:51 St. Andrew Bay

Channel -1:31 -2:02 Panama City -0:43 -0:44 Parker -0:05 -0:22

Laird Bayou, E. Bay +0:26 +0:40 Farmdale, E. Bay +0:35 +0:55 Wetappo Crk, E. Bay +1:01 +1:40 Lynn Haven, N. Bay -0:06 +0:20 West Bay Crk, W. Bay +0:18 +1:23Choctawhatchee Bay East Pass (Destin) -0:27 +1:20Harris, The Narrows +1:37 +2:51Fishing Bend,SantaRosa+0:41 +0:51Pensacola Bay Entrance -1:23 -0:34 Warrington, 2 mi. S. of -0:27 -0:30 PENSACOLA Times Shown Lora Pt., Escambia Bay +0:36 +1:03

East Bay +0:44 +1:17Bay Point, Blackwater .+1:23 +1:27Milton, Blackwater R. +1:40 +1:47Mobile Point +0:26 +0:12Bayou La Batre -1:17 -1:04Horn Island Pass -0:31 -0:53Pascagoula, MS Sound -0:40 -0:46Pascagoula River entr. 0:00 -0:42Biloxi, Biloxi Bay -0:32 -0:20Ship Island Pass -0:42 -0:30Cat Island (West Pt.) -0:44 +0:07

The daily tide tables are to be used only as a depth of water guide and haveno correlation to the maximum times of current. To adjust for your fishingarea, add (+) hours/minutes or deduct (-)hours/minutes shown above to thetimes of high or low as indicated by the tide tables.

HIGH LOW

Note: Forecast and Tide Tables have been adjusted for DST or CST, as appropriate.(Continued next page.)

Gulf Coast Closeup(Continued from page 10.)

medium light, with either a small lightweight Shimano Chronarch, or AbuGarcia Revo reel. And he floats a largeplastic container on a line as a shark prooffish box. He told us that sharks in WestMatagorda Bay will follow a stringer orbucket with holes in it, like following achum line, but they leave the sealed boxalone. As we approached one shoreline afive foot shark crossed our bow.

Ryan wanted to fish the bayou forredfish and asked, “What do you think Ishould throw at reds?” Coach handedhim a blunt nosed, five-inch-plum-coloredsoft plastic called Eel Diablo, made byHogie from El Campo, Texas, “This lureshoots through a wind like we have todaybecause it has a blunt nose.” I had a goldspoon on and Coach said, “You have alure on that a lot of people don’t useanymore, but it is probably the best lureever made.”

Coach fished the ED Special, ajointed swimming lure, handmade byEddie Douglas in Bay City, TX. Coachsaid, “It takes awhile to learn how to usethis lure but, when those fish hit it - theytag it, it’s a whack.”

Coach gave Todd a PlumtreuseFlappin Devil soft plastic from BrownLures. His favorite soft plastic colors aregreen and plum. For shallow water wadinghe likes a 1/8 oz. jig head, and in 4-5 feetof water he uses a 1/4 oz. head because itsinks faster.

He said, “I hop soft plastics, pumptwice – that’s what shrimp do. They taketwo hops and then shoot through thewater.”

David and Todd fished the flats withCoach close by, and Todd went into thebayou in search of redfish. “You see thatlittle bitty slick that just came up,” Coachsaid. David threw to it and caught a smalltrout. Coach told him to holler “yoo-hoo”, and thereafter whenever anyonecaught a fish we all shared the fun of itwith a loud yoo-hoo!

Coach’s detailed explanations of theterrain, above and below the water,reflected his 33 years of wade fishingexperience in West Matagorda Bay.

We moved to another bayou andCoach said, “This bayou is deep, you maywant to cross at an angle from this grasspoint to that other grass point. There is alake in the back of the bayou, alsosandbars, and oyster reefs. It’s a prettygood walk all the way back. You don’thave to come back to the boat, I’ll comeand get you, where ever you are.”

OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2010 19

DAY TIDE TIME HT-FT DAY TIDE TIME HT-FTOCTOBER 2010

NORTH GULFTide Tables

North Gulf Fishing Forecast

CURRENT MOVEMENTDAY DIR STARTS ENDS STRENGTH

CURRENT MOVEMENTDAY DIR STARTS ENDS STRENGTH

FRI O 09:20am 03:10pm V Strong 1 I 09:40pm 03:20am* Strong2 MID-MORNING TO MID-AFTERNOON BEST SAT O 10:30am 04:10pm Strong 2 I 11:00pm 04:20am* Strong LATE MORNING TO LATE AFT’N BEST SUN O 11:45am 04:45pm Strong 3 - - - - LATE MORNING TO LATE AFT’N BEST MON I 01:00am 05:00am Good 4 O 01:20pm 05:00pm Good AFTRNOON BEST TUE I 04:05am 06:05am Weak 5 O 03:15pm 04:55pm Weak EARLY MORNING, LATE AFTERNOON BEST WED I 08:40am 10:00am Very Weak 6 - - - - MID-MORNING BEST THU O 02:35am 04:25am Weak 7 I 04:40pm 06:40pm Weak LATE AFTRNOON BEST FRI O 02:55am 06:55am Good 8 I 04:30pm 08:30pm Good2 EARLY MORNING, LATE AFTERNOON BEST SAT O 03:15am 08:45am Strong 9 I 04:35pm 10:15pm Strong2 EARLY MORNING, LATE AFTERNOON BEST SUN O 04:00am 10:00am V Strong 10 I 05:15pm 11:15pm V Strong2 MORNING, LATE AFTERNOON BEST MON O 04:50am 11:10am V Strong 11 I 06:05pm 12:15am* V Strong2 MORNING, LATE AFTERNOON BEST TUE O 06:00am 12:10pm V Strong 12 I 07:05pm 01:05am* V Strong2 MORNING BEST WED O 07:10am 01:10pm V Strong 13 I 08:10pm 01:50am* Strong2 MORNING BEST THU O 08:20am 02:00pm Strong 14 I 09:15pm 02:35am* Strong2 VERY GOOD TO EARLY AFTERNOON FRI O 09:40am 02:40pm Strong 15 I 10:55pm 02:55am* Good MID-MORNING TO MID-AFTERNOON BEST SAT O 11:05am 03:05pm Good 16 - - - - LATE MORNING TO MID-AFTERNOON BEST

SUN I 12:30am 03:30am Moderate 17 O 12:25pm 03:25pm Moderate EARLY AFTERNOON BEST MON I 02:55am 04:45am Weak 18 O 01:45pm 03:35pm Weak EARLY AFTERNOON BEST TUE I 06:35am 07:55am Very Weak 19 O 02:50pm 04:00pm Very Weak EARLY MORNING, MID-AFTERNOON BEST WED O 02:10am 03:20am Very Weak 20 I 10:15am 11:25am Very Weak LATE MORNING BEST THU O 02:50am 04:40am Weak 21 I 03:25pm 05:05pm Weak LATE AFTERNOON BEST FRI O 03:00am 06:00am Moderate 22 I 03:50pm 06:30pm Moderate LATE AFTERNOON BEST SAT O 03:15am 07:15am Good 23 I 03:50pm 07:50pm Good EARLY MORNING, LATE AFTERNOON BEST SUN O 03:30am 08:30am Strong 24 I 04:05pm 09:05pm Strong2 EARLY MORNING, LATE AFTRNOON BEST MON O 03:55am 09:35am Strong 25 I 04:35pm 10:15pm Strong2 MORNING, LATE AFTERNOON BEST TUE O 04:45am 10:35am V Strong 26 I 05:15pm 11:15pm V Strong2 MORNING, LATE AFTERNOON BEST WED O 05:35am 11:35am V Strong 27 I 06:00pm 12:10am* V Strong2 MORNING BEST THU O 06:30am 12:40pm V Strong 28 I 07:00pm 01:00am* V Strong2 MORNING BEST FRI O 07:35am 01:35pm V Strong 29 I 08:00pm 01:40am* Strong2 MORNING TO EARLY AFTERNOON BEST SAT O 08:40am 02:10pm Strong 30 I 09:05pm 02:05am* Strong MID-MORNING TO EARLY AFT’N BEST SUN O 10:15am 02:15pm Good 31 I 10:45pm 01:45am* Moderate LATE MORNING TO EARLY AFT’N BEST

FRI Hi 04:48am 1.9 1 Lo 04:32pm 0.0 SAT Hi 06:02am 1.9 2 Lo 05:14pm 0.1 SUN Hi 07:23am 1.7 3 Lo 05:47pm 0.2 MON Hi 08:55am 1.6 4 Lo 06:08pm 0.5 TUE Hi 10:43am 1.3 5 Lo 06:04pm 0.8 Hi 11:06pm 1.0 WED Lo 05:30am 0.7 6 Hi 01:08pm 1.2 Lo 05:00pm 1.1 Hi 10:30pm 1.3 THU Lo 07:00am 0.4 7 Hi 10:37pm 1.6 FRI Lo 08:14am 0.2 8 Hi 11:07pm 1.8 SAT Lo 09:26am 0.1 9 Hi 11:49pm 1.9 SUN Lo 10:44am 0.0 10 - - - MON Hi 12:39am 2.0 11 Lo 12:11pm 0.0 TUE Hi 01:36am 1.9 12 Lo 01:39pm 0.0 WED Hi 02:36am 1.9 13 Lo 02:51pm 0.1 THU Hi 03:37am 1.8 14 Lo 03:42pm 0.1 FRI Hi 04:38am 1.6 15 Lo 04:15pm 0.2 SAT Hi 05:38am 1.5 16 Lo 04:31pm 0.4

SUN Hi 06:47am 1.3 17 Lo 04:31pm 0.5 MON Hi 08:25am 1.1 18 Lo 04:10pm 0.7 Hi 11:07pm 1.1 TUE Lo 05:36am 0.8 19 Hi 10:41am 0.9 Lo 03:18pm 0.8 Hi 10:23pm 1.2 WED Lo 06:29am 0.6 20 Hi 10:10pm 1.4 THU Lo 07:09am 0.4 21 Hi 10:14pm 1.5 FRI Lo 07:48am 0.3 22 Hi 10:31pm 1.6 SAT Lo 08:32am 0.2 23 Hi 11:00pm 1.7 SUN Lo 09:26am 0.1 24 Hi 11:38pm 1.8 MON Lo 10:34am 0.0 25 - - - TUE Hi 12:24am 1.8 26 Lo 11:52am 0.0 WED Hi 01:15am 1.9 27 Lo 01:04pm -0.1 THU Hi 02:09am 1.9 28 Lo 01:01am -0.1 FRI Hi 03:05am 1.8 29 Lo 02:48pm -0.1 SAT Hi 04:04am 1.7 30 Lo 03:23pm 0.0 SUN Hi 05:15am 1.5 31 Lo 03:46pm 0.2

He told Todd to stop and cast around,“You’ve got a good grass bed right out infront of you.” Shortly thereafter Toddcaught the best fish of the day, a 20-inchtrout.

After hearing a large splash in thebay everyone looked in that direction tosee a bottle nose dolphin causing theruckus. Coach said, “Bottle nose dolphinlike to eat speckled trout so I try to fishbetween the shoreline and the dolphinactivity. They chase the trout in.”

David, Todd, and Ryan went outwith Coach Ciruti in order to learn whereand how to fish West Matagorda Bay.They fished at five locations, and Coachhanded them a wealth of fishing tips.They were also made privy to Coach’sphilosophy about a truly successful dayof fishing: Yes, it’s feeling a jolt climb upyour arm from a big trout slamming yourlure, and it’s knowing how to spot a slick,and where the grass beds and guts are, butit is also hearing the songs of coyotes asyou step out of the boat while the risingsun peeks through the clouds.

For more information on Captain-Coach Ciruti’s “KNEEdeepFishing GuideService visit www.gofishmatagorda.com.He can also be reached at 979-533-0893or 979-532-3810.

Gulf Coast Closeup(Continued from page 18.)

GCF