What's the deal with Rollover Pass?

[AntlerCollector]

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[Man]

They have been fighting to keep the pass open for years now. George P Bush the Texas land General put the squeeze on Galveston county to close the pass or lose some state funding. the Pass was opened in 1955 by the Texas Game and Fish Commission when they were granted an easement by the property owners. The intent was to increase bay water salinity, promote growth of submerged vegetation, and help marine fish to and from spawning and feeding areas in the bay.[1]

The sad part is Rollover pass gave anglers without a boat the opportunity at being able to catch a trophy speckled trout. There has been so many 8 plus pound trout caught from February through may there it was a trophy factory. I have seen 4 thirty plus inch trout caught from inside the pass in one day with the largest at 34".

The pass is what has kept East Galveston bay fishable the last.4 years with all of the floods. Closing the pass will be detrimental to the ecosystem in the East bay area. The loss of oysters has been due to all of the fresh water flooding definately not from high salinity levels.

Thats what confuses me about the situation..how is taking something that wasnt there in the first place...going to destroy the natural ecosystem of that bay?

[Man]

?

[AntlerCollector]

Good question

[Dale Moser]

Thats what confuses me about the situation..how is taking something that wasnt there in the first place...going to destroy the natural ecosystem of that bay?

It's not. This is just more of man thinking he is smarter than mother nature.

[toomuchsun]

I have been through 4 hurricanes. New passes will come and go. Sad for any pass to go. Packery has been a man made success. I remember fish passes built by nature (storms) in the sixties (yeh Im old). I have seen what a huge tidal surge can do. I remember The Million Dollar inn Being only thing on North Padre actually on the Beach area (other than Reds and Bob Hall Pier) and I was the chief hash brown cook and bottle washer driving my sometimes running 60's Galaxy. No one built on the island as it was a future loss. I rented Surf Boards from an old Van which the sand finally swallowed. Of course Port Aransas has had structure since Way back being a major port. I never made it to Rollover and regretting it now hearing closure.

[El General]

Thats what confuses me about the situation..how is taking something that wasnt there in the first place...going to destroy the natural ecosystem of that bay?

There are real benefits and drawbacks in regards to hydrology and the back bay ecosystem of East Galveston Bay regarding Rollover Pass. I'm not a scientist, so I am not going to go into all of them, but just try to answer this question at a 10,000' level.

With jetties, the Intracoastal canal, flood control, habitat loss, coastal development etc, man has indelibly altered the hydrology of all of our bay systems from their natural state. So, the concept of returning the coast to "how it was" is impossible.

All of Texas permanent and non permanent passes were filled in or opened on mother nature's own schedule in geologic time before the imprint of man. Generally speaking, hurricanes opened some and closed others, then rivers and tides would open some of the closed ones and close some of the open ones. The abundance of coastal marsh systems, lack of scientific observation, and lack of people meant that the bad times weren't really noticeable. There were still a ton of fish and just a few fisherman. In my grandfather's time, people measured their fishing days by how many cooler's of fish they caught. Now it is, relatively small in comparison, limits of 5 or 10 trout and 3 reds. Now, there are less fish and more fisherman, so even small dips in bay productivity are felt by coastal communities.

A buddy of mine's dad grew up fishing East Bay in the 50's and it had clear water and sea grass like many other Texas coastal bays. Those days are long gone.

Currently, Rollover offers some saltwater interchange in a bay that can get unseasonably fresh and it is a fish pass. It also causes silting, which some believe is one reason for a lack of sea grass in the bay. The silting is also a problem for the state in regards to dollars to dredge the Intracoastal Canal, and that is the bottom line in regards to closure.

Nobody really knows whether closure is going to be a good thing or a bad thing for the bay. It will probably be both.

There is no doubt that it is a loss of opportunity for fisherman.

[Mexico]

One thing I personally know for a fact, take it with a grain of salt... the turtle grass in East Galveston has all but disappeared since the opening of the pass. So there are consequences to our actions, some bad, some good.

[MadHatter]

Been on Bolivar for the last 2 weeks. Fished Rollover before the storm, and it was absolutely on fire! Never seen so many Reds, and Blacks caught. During the week at night, we pretty much had it to ourselves. After the storm, you couldn't find a Red anywhere. Black drum rolled in, in droves. Set a new PB.
All that to say, they started putting a fence up around Rollover today.
I guess it will be no more.
Glad I had the chance to spend some time there, 1 last time.

[ken]

It was man made, money had to be spent to dredge it and keep it open. Curious on the casino angle ?

Every conspiracy theory in Galveston County includes a casino and/or Tillman Fertitta.

[tmurray]

Well this sucks, didn't know about it till seeing this thread. We have a group of 18 guys that get together every year in early October and rent a big house down there. This weekend is the weekend this year. Our trip always includes 6 guides for Saturday morning so 3 per boat but half or more of the group always goes down Friday morning early and fishes rollover till time to check in to the house.

Any recommendations on another place our Friday morning crew can fish from the bank down there? A couple would be willing to wade fish and typically did down near the pass. Others would want to stay dry. Our house is right by Bolivar Yacht Basin but anywhere on Bolivar would be great.

[Pintail45]

Lots of misinformation on this thread. It's primarily an erosion issue although there are other factors involved. I can tell you when my grandfather built his beach house west of the cut in the 50s there was at least a football field of land in front of the house. When they sold it in the 90s you could fish off the porch at high tide.

[AlwaysGigEm]

Every conspiracy theory in Galveston County includes a casino and/or Tillman Fertitta.

This was my thought as well. All I have ever heard about is that basically any development or reconstruction is somehow for a casino.

[Pintail45]

Well this sucks, didn't know about it till seeing this thread. We have a group of 18 guys that get together every year in early October and rent a big house down there. This weekend is the weekend this year. Our trip always includes 6 guides for Saturday morning so 3 per boat but half or more of the group always goes down Friday morning early and fishes rollover till time to check in to the house.

Any recommendations on another place our Friday morning crew can fish from the bank down there? A couple would be willing to wade fish and typically did down near the pass. Others would want to stay dry. Our house is right by Bolivar Yacht Basin but anywhere on Bolivar would be great.

Bob road or N Tuna drive, Bolivar Flats if you want to wade the surf.