I wish I'd have taken some pictures at San Luis Pass....

[Ultrastealth]

Went there after a crappy surf fishing attempt yesterday morning. It was an absolute garbage dump. I can't believe people can be that low. There were cans, bottles, food wrappers, potato chip bags, watermelon rinds, etc. These are the people who lose us the access to public launch areas and shore fishing. I wish there were a way to round them all up and make them live in their own filth.

[adanvjr]

That's sad, but I'm not surprised.

I agree with you 100%.
The main reason the public loses access to shore fishing is the littering.

I once shared a local bayou spot in Katy that gives good bass & bream fishing.
6 months later, I found a bank spot filled with beer cans, snack packing, plastic grocery bags, even 2 unopened packs of hooks....
Unbelievable...

For that, I'll never again share fishing spots.

[karstopo]

Surfside beach was the same. The amount of trash left behind on the beach was appalling. People have just given up making any effort to do what's right and be considerate of others. I'm starting to believe beaches closed to vehicular traffic might be the way to go in many places. It might discourage those folks that are too lazy to pick up their garbage from even coming to the beach. Maybe charge more for beach traffic. Maybe try Trash patrols with on the spot tickets handing out meaningful fines. Give out discounts or freebies to people bringing bags of trash off the beach.

Something has to change. I've never seen anything like it anywhere. Texas should be ashamed.

[Ultrastealth]

Surfside beach was the same. The amount of trash left behind on the beach was appalling. People have just given up making any effort to do what's right and be considerate of others. I'm starting to believe beaches closed to vehicular traffic might be the way to go in many places. It might discourage those folks that are too lazy to pick up their garbage from even coming to the beach. Maybe charge more for beach traffic. Maybe try Trash patrols with on the spot tickets handing out meaningful fines. Give out discounts or freebies to people bringing bags of trash off the beach.

Something has to change. I've never seen anything like it anywhere. Texas should be ashamed.

There are trash cans all up and down that beach too. And, from what I saw, it wasn't Texans doing the littering.

[Cityfisher]

Yep, It is appalling. Not only the trash, but in the last month I camped at Surfside 3 weekends in a row, and I could not believe how fast some of these yahoos were driving down the beach. Cars and trucks at the dunes and close to the water enjoying the beach. Kids playing football, flying kites and these fools are driving 60 mph in between us. One guy decided to stop, do a turn and a donut 100 yards from me and barely gained control when he got about 30 feet from heading right toward me by the dunes.
I also went to the bay side for a little more solitude. Nope! There was a man with his huge pop-up camper in the middle of where you would pull up to launch, 2 older guys with 2 - 1/2 mile sail lines out hogging the entire launchable area. I finally said the heck with them and pulled up next to them to unload and then parked up the dirt road out of the way. They didn't seem to mind, but I did drag my yak through about 20ft of muck trying to be considerate and not paddle over their lines. uhhhgg

[Ultrastealth]

Yep, It is appalling. Not only the trash, but in the last month I camped at Surfside 3 weekends in a row, and I could not believe how fast some of these yahoos were driving down the beach. Cars and trucks at the dunes and close to the water enjoying the beach. Kids playing football, flying kites and these fools are driving 60 mph in between us. One guy decided to stop, do a turn and a donut 100 yards from me and barely gained control when he got about 30 feet from heading right toward me by the dunes.
I also went to the bay side for a little more solitude. Nope! There was a man with his huge pop-up camper in the middle of where you would pull up to launch, 2 older guys with 2 - 1/2 mile sail lines out hogging the entire launchable area. I finally said the heck with them and pulled up next to them to unload and then parked up the dirt road out of the way. They didn't seem to mind, but I did drag my yak through about 20ft of muck trying to be considerate and not paddle over their lines. uhhhgg

My son was down there a couple of weeks ago, and one of the yahoos that you are talking about was flying down the beach with his girlfriend in a jacked up truck, took a sharp turn, and rolled so many times, his truck was just a ball of smashed steel. Both unfortunately perished. If I go down there, I get there early and leave early before the scum arrive.

[on a mission]

Yep, It is appalling. Not only the trash, but in the last month I camped at Surfside 3 weekends in a row, and I could not believe how fast some of these yahoos were driving down the beach. Cars and trucks at the dunes and close to the water enjoying the beach. Kids playing football, flying kites and these fools are driving 60 mph in between us. One guy decided to stop, do a turn and a donut 100 yards from me and barely gained control when he got about 30 feet from heading right toward me by the dunes.
I also went to the bay side for a little more solitude. Nope! There was a man with his huge pop-up camper in the middle of where you would pull up to launch, 2 older guys with 2 - 1/2 mile sail lines out hogging the entire launchable area. I finally said the heck with them and pulled up next to them to unload and then parked up the dirt road out of the way. They didn't seem to mind, but I did drag my yak through about 20ft of muck trying to be considerate and not paddle over their lines. uhhhgg

My son was down there a couple of weeks ago, and one of the yahoos that you are talking about was flying down the beach with his girlfriend in a jacked up truck, took a sharp turn, and rolled so many times, his truck was just a ball of smashed steel. Both unfortunately perished. If I go down there, I get there early and leave early before the scum arrive.

Some how I don't feel for them. I see all the antics in all above posts every weekend when the trash from Htown and Beaumont converge on Bolivar. My wife and I picked up many bags of shit , and that was just from the very large Hispanic crew that set up next to us. We even gave them bags. And passed out two dozen more bags while driving the beach. Next morning, yep, some of those bags were laying with the trash the fu#knuts left behind. Unfreakin real. WTF has happened. It should also be told that these filthy litter f#cks nearly all had the stars and bars and their come and take it flags flying. Trumpers I suppose . Just sayin. Out.

[Cityfisher]

Yep, It is appalling. Not only the trash, but in the last month I camped at Surfside 3 weekends in a row, and I could not believe how fast some of these yahoos were driving down the beach. Cars and trucks at the dunes and close to the water enjoying the beach. Kids playing football, flying kites and these fools are driving 60 mph in between us. One guy decided to stop, do a turn and a donut 100 yards from me and barely gained control when he got about 30 feet from heading right toward me by the dunes.
I also went to the bay side for a little more solitude. Nope! There was a man with his huge pop-up camper in the middle of where you would pull up to launch, 2 older guys with 2 - 1/2 mile sail lines out hogging the entire launchable area. I finally said the heck with them and pulled up next to them to unload and then parked up the dirt road out of the way. They didn't seem to mind, but I did drag my yak through about 20ft of muck trying to be considerate and not paddle over their lines. uhhhgg

My son was down there a couple of weeks ago, and one of the yahoos that you are talking about was flying down the beach with his girlfriend in a jacked up truck, took a sharp turn, and rolled so many times, his truck was just a ball of smashed steel. Both unfortunately perished. If I go down there, I get there early and leave early before the scum arrive.

Ah man!! I didn't see that and that is very unfortunate. They could have very easily killed some innocent family in that wreck also.

[Bridge]

Yep my wife and I stayed at the RV park got there Friday night in a bad rain storm and pulled out Saturday evening !! The beach area there under the bridge was packed with tents and lots of people !! Being new to kayak fishing I wanted to try out my new kayak so I fished a little across from the park there in the marsh lots of bait fish but no luck for me except one large hard head !! But nevertheless I at least caught something on my first outing on the new yak !! I did get to see what looked like a big drum tailing n that was cool ! But I knew that beach would be trashed people just have no respect for the great Texas outdoors !!

[wade2big]

The worst I've seen was on the public beach on south padre island. The beach looked like a landfill and I don't mean just one isolated spot either. It was terrible. A fishing guide there told me it is getting out of control. The valley trash come in, destroy the place and head back home.

[MobyYack]

DONT MESS WITH TEXAS!

[GoDoe]

I have a proposed solution. There needs to be a fee for an access sticker to any public beach/property. That will keep most of the trashy people off the property and then the money from the fees can be used to maintain the area.

The trashy minority ruin it for the clean majority.

You ought to see the beach on both sides of 361 outside of Aransas Pass after the 4th of July. It is so bad it hurts.

Just one out-of-staters perception,

John

[Ultrastealth]

I have a proposed solution. There needs to be a fee for an access sticker to any public beach/property. That will keep most of the trashy people off the property and then the money from the fees can be used to maintain the area.

The trashy minority ruin it for the clean majority.

You ought to see the beach on both sides of 361 outside of Aransas Pass after the 4th of July. It is so bad it hurts.

Just one out-of-staters perception,

John

I think that that is a great idea, but I don't like the way that it is implemented right now, with each community having their own permit. I'd like to see a state-wide permit that gives you access to all beaches, and, if you are caught littering or creating other issues that are annoying or dangerous to other users, you lose your beach access for life. Period.

[davethered]

I have a proposed solution. There needs to be a fee for an access sticker to any public beach/property. That will keep most of the trashy people off the property and then the money from the fees can be used to maintain the area.

The trashy minority ruin it for the clean majority.

You ought to see the beach on both sides of 361 outside of Aransas Pass after the 4th of July. It is so bad it hurts.

Just one out-of-staters perception,

John

I think that that is a great idea, but I don't like the way that it is implemented right now, with each community having their own permit. I'd like to see a state-wide permit that gives you access to all beaches, and, if you are caught littering or creating other issues that are annoying or dangerous to other users, you lose your beach access for life. Period.

$1,000 annual fee and if you get caught without the permit and can pay the $1,000 for the permit right then you get a $2,000 fine

[krfish]

This is the stuff that just ticks me off. I was fishing in the AP area a few weeks ago, and it was crap everywhere. Aluminum cans, a bag of trash, and also saw a huge pile of carpet someone dumped. P!sses me off! We're fortunate to have such a great resource to enjoy. It blows my mind how careless people can be.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Yaklash]

I have a proposed solution. There needs to be a fee for an access sticker to any public beach/property. That will keep most of the trashy people off the property and then the money from the fees can be used to maintain the area.
The trashy minority ruin it for the clean majority.
You ought to see the beach on both sides of 361 outside of Aransas Pass after the 4th of July. It is so bad it hurts.

Just one out-of-staters perception,
John

Fees work, but managing and monitoring is expensive. Probably (maybe?) not as expensive as what they spend emptying the cans and (presumably) scooping up what the trash throws on the ground. It has worked fairly well for the Texas City Dike. I have spoken with someone emptying trash cans on Surfside area beaches and he said he did it as a volunteer thing in his retirement.

The argument against such fees and/or restrictions will come from those (myself partly included) who see the Texas Open Beaches Act as already being raped all up and down the coast. But does the TOBA mean vehicular access? That is the big argument.

Another alternative? Go to one of the pocket parks on West Galv Island - there is very little trash at most of those - the effort to carry all your stuff over the dune bridge tends to weed out the lazy folks who are more likely to litter. I have done some surf-wade trips at a few of those over the years & whereas it was hit or miss from a fishing standpoint, it was a cleaner experience. But when wading the surf, it is better to be able to pick up quickly and drive a few hundred yards down the beach, which isn't possible at a pocket park.

[WisherFisher]

I always say, "you can't expect one's ignorance to be curtailed in public if it runs rampant at one's home. Most people who'll trash public areas, more often than not, usually have homes and yards that look the same way. They pay a house-note or rent and feel that it gives them the right to do whatever they want. Hell, i don't even throw my cig butts in my yard. Charging a fee for beach access would probably have the same effect. Thrashers will bitchingly pay a fee, and then feel even more entitled to live their home-lifes on the beach, leaving even more trash. They'll just figure they're paying for the cleanup. There's no way around it except to have beach monitors with axe handles, let them beat the shit out of every trasher they see in the act...kids too, after 2nd warning. Unless there's somebody with a badge and ticket book standing watch nothing's going to change...until mentalities do. As a former Boyscout, all i can do is feel good about doing my part. Where're the Boyscouts anyway? Isn't this a merit badge situation? It'd be interesting to see kids walk up to somebody's camp and shout, "WE'RE HERE TO PICK UP YOUR LITTER!"

[b737]

Put up a few "cameras", have some Law enforcement live monitor. After a few hundred tickets, the word will get out that the cameras will catch you. Please, make it a LARGE fine. Probably cheaper than paying for all the clean up.

[on a mission]

I always say, "you can't expect one's ignorance to be curtailed in public if it runs rampant at one's home. Most people who'll trash public areas, more often than not, usually have homes and yards that look the same way. They pay a house-note or rent and feel that it gives them the right to do whatever they want. Hell, i don't even throw my cig butts in my yard. Charging a fee for beach access would probably have the same effect. Thrashers will bitchingly pay a fee, and then feel even more entitled to live their home-lifes on the beach, leaving even more trash. They'll just figure they're paying for the cleanup. There's no way around it except to have beach monitors with axe handles, let them beat the shit out of every trasher they see in the act...kids too, after 2nd warning. Unless there's somebody with a badge and ticket book standing watch nothing's going to change...until mentalities do. As a former Boyscout, all i can do is feel good about doing my part. Where're the Boyscouts anyway? Isn't this a merit badge situation? It'd be interesting to see kids walk up to somebody's camp and shout, "WE'RE HERE TO PICK UP YOUR LITTER!"

^I like your thinking. I often say to my wife while driving the beach "too bad its illegal to shoot em".

[Copperfish]

The state already has littering fines in place that are far more expensive than speeding tickets. Local gulf coast police departments should set up a task force for littering on the beaches. No different setting up a couple officers with binoculars rather than a radar gun. Never understood all the times I've been to Galveston seeing people disregard local beach laws, glass, alcohol ext... I've never seen a police officer on foot even enforcing these laws. My biggest pet peeve, littering.

[potlicker]

DONT MESS WITH TEXAS!

they need a sign in Spanish too

[thinshavings]

I just started fishing the salt after purchasing a yak in late in 2014.
I was "stunned" at all the trash left behind on the beach and the launches at Drum Bay.
I lived in the Dallas area for 14 years before moving to the Houston area in 2001, the Dallas area is light years cleaner than the Houston area.
I never saw the amount of litter and trash along the Dallas highways that I see along Houston's.
How do you explain this?

[Ultrastealth]

I just started fishing the salt after purchasing a yak in late in 2014.
I was "stunned" at all the trash left behind on the beach and the launches at Drum Bay.
I lived in the Dallas area for 14 years before moving to the Houston area in 2001, the Dallas area is light years cleaner than the Houston area.
I never saw the amount of litter and trash along the Dallas highways that I see along Houston's.
How do you explain this?

Dallas benefits by being a few hundred miles further from Mexico.

[jopa]

I fished on Memorial Day at TX City Dike. I launched about 10 minutes before the sun came up. By the time I got back to my truck, I was surrounded by several trashed out cars, and trash everywhere. Had to ask some yahoos to move their beach chairs right behind my truck so I could load my kayak. This was about 10 AM, and they had trashed the area that was relatively clean when I launched. I paid 10 bucks to get on the dike because they double the price on holidays. I did come home with 2 nice trout for dinner (18 and 20 inch), but was disgusted with these people. I am not a tree hugger, but geez...

[5x5]

I have a proposed solution. There needs to be a fee for an access sticker to any public beach/property. That will keep most of the trashy people off the property and then the money from the fees can be used to maintain the area.

The trashy minority ruin it for the clean majority.

You ought to see the beach on both sides of 361 outside of Aransas Pass after the 4th of July. It is so bad it hurts.

Just one out-of-staters perception,

John

BS, we have fought for decades to keep our beaches open , we do not want to end up like California.