Authorities busy keeping people off Packery Channel

MUSTANG ISLAND - The project to connect the Laguna Madre to the Gulf of Mexico is still several weeks away from completion, but in the meantime, keeping people and boats away from the unpaved jetties and shallow channel has become a continuous task for authorities.

The channel itself may not be complete, but it's becoming hard not to find someone fishing, sitting, or taking a walk inside the restricted areas. The barricade on the jetty seems impossible to ignore, yet there are plenty that defy it.

It wasn't long before two game wardens spotted them. They politely told the fishermen to find another spot. Some tried to claim they didn't know the jetty was off limits. Guy Madison said it's not fair to be forced out.

"I said it's ridiculous, I mean you know, they didn't mind jacking our taxes to fund it, but now we can't use it," Madison said. Others feel the unfinished construction still poses a threat.

"Granite out there is slippery. If they slip and fall, you don't know if someone's going to see them or help them, and it's a construction area, they don't want people in there yet," Andre Lavoy said.

"I don't see the fact that any of the rocks or any of the slabs they've laid out here are going to move around or anything with us fishing on them, but I don't have the final say," Madison said.

On the beach side, there are these large metal pylons and a thick metal rope to block all cars. As you move further there are signs that say 'no trespassing' and 'hard hat area'. Closer to the highway 361 bridge, there is this orange fencing designed to keep cars out, but a lot of the fencing is down and people are still finding their way in.

"It doesn't matter what signs they put up. They keep putting them up, they get tore down, and the people go back," Lavoy said.

"Apparently, someone took the barrier down, so I guess we just took it upon ourselves to come out here, you know what I mean," said fisherman Joey Buentello. As the warm temperatures continue, there will likely be many more doing the same - even if a little early.

Along with Texas Parks and Wildlife, Corpus Christi police officers said they've also have to frequently clear people off the jetties. However, they said no one has been cited for trespassing yet and no injuries to visitors along the unfinished channel have been reported. The project is expected to be completed in late spring.